Chapter 25: The New SPEW

"I vill come vid you," said Rudolf. "Vair does Ron live?"

"94 Diagon Alley," Harry said. "Are we Apparating?"

"I'm not walking anywhere like this," said Ron.

"OK," replied Rudolf. "After tree? Tree, two, vun –"

Harry Apparated and found himself outside the SPEW shop. Rudolf and Ron were beside him.

"Let's go in," said Ron. Rudolf pushed open the door and Harry and Ron followed him inside. Hermione was sitting at the counter.

"You're back!" she said. "But, Ron, what's happened to you and – and who's this?"

"I was attacked by Pig," replied Ron, kissing Hermione. "He went sort of crazy. And this is Rudolf – I've mentioned him in my letters."

"Hallo," said Rudolf. "May I sit down?" He gestured to a seat.

"Feel free," said Ron, who went behind the counter and sat down beside Hermione. Harry slouched against the wall and watched Hermione mend Ron's wounds with her wand. "You'll be OK," she said. "Let's let Pig out."

"Be careful," warned Ron.

Cautiously, Hermione opened the door of Pig's cage. The bird made to fly out and attack her, so she pushed him back inside. "Ow!"

 "Can you tell what's wrong?" asked Ron. Rudolf was reading one of the SPEW booklets.

"Ask Harry," said Hermione. "He's the magical creatures expert."

"Not in the test he wasn't," muttered Ron, but Harry came forward to pretend to look at Pigwidgeon.

"I think it's a potion mixture," he said. "Maybe he drank a Craziness Concoction and a Babbling Beverage together for some reason."

"Of course!" said Hermione, comprehension dawning on her face. "Well, he'll just have to sleep it off. He'll be OK in the morning."

Rudolf looked up. "Vot is dis place?" he enquired.

"The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare," said Hermione proudly.

"Vell, don't you tink dat you're going a bit too far?" said Rudolf, holding up the pamphlet he had been reading.

"What do you mean?" said Hermione coldly.

"I mean, vid helping der house-elfs. Maybe if you yust raised funds to keep dem going when dey get old and ven dey are ill, you vud be more popular, vid boat vizards and elfs. Don't you tink?"

"I suppose," said Hermione. "Yes, maybe."

Harry and Ron were looking at Rudolf in amazement, but he continued.

"And maybe I could help you get it international? I haf quite a few foreign friends."

"Really?" said Hermione, looking as amazed as Harry and Ron. "Do you really mean that?"

"Yes," said Rudolf simply.

And so it began – SPEW's new look. Rudolf even thought of a new name – The Society for the Prevention of Elfish Welfare International – SPEWIN, or as Harry and Ron preferred to call it, spewing. He sent off owls to some of his friends who seemed to be living all over the world. He even painted over the name of the shop and made a two hundred Galleon donation. "It's nothing," he told them.

But Hermione clearly did think that it was something. By the time the shop had closed for Christmas she had had at least fifty owls asking for membership and it seemed that there would be many more – Rudolf had put an advert in the Daily Prophet and its German equivalent.

On Christmas Day Harry and his friends went to The Burrow. Everyone who the Weasleys knew was there and they all had a very enjoyable time. Rudolf had invited over his band and they played whilst everyone danced, or just watched. Then there was a time of present giving. Harry received more than ever before: something from nearly every single one of his old school friends, something from everyone at Andros, something from nearly everyone else he knew, and even a Muggle Christmas cracker from the Dursleys. It was a poor thing compared to Fred and George's marvellous exploding ones, but Harry was surprised that the Dursleys hadn't forgotten him now he'd left them forever. Harry was glad of all the presents – it made up for all the time and effort he'd spent on everyone else's – and reminded him of the people he'd forgotten. He wrote down their names on a small piece of paper so he wouldn't forget again.

After present opening, which took a very long time indeed, it was time for a small lunch – the main meal would come in the evening. When they had finished, the younger people present, and the 'young at heart' and Remus called himself, had a snowball fight on the paddock. There wasn't actually any snow, but Rudolf managed to conjure up great piles of the white stuff. Ginny didn't want to take part – her baby was due in less than two months. She stayed in the house with the older people, few else of whom were under thirty.

At six o'clock it was time for the big meal. It was marvellous – cooked by Mrs. Weasley with the help of Neddy. Harry had finally told Hermione about the elf, but after Rudolf's drastic changes to SPEW, she didn't mind as much as she would have done. The German's nose had turned pink in the cold, and Ron was calling him 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer'. It was lucky it was the festive season, because Rudolf would have turned very angry otherwise.

After dinner everyone headed for home. The Weasleys had offered Harry a bed for the night, but he had turned them down, apologising and saying jokingly that he hadn't spend so much on a house so that he could stay away from it all of the time. He took Neddy, and Apparated.

 It had been, on all counts, a very successful and enjoyable day, thought Harry as he lay in bed and took his hot-water bottle from the house elf. It was a well-deserved rest in the midst of his hard work at Andros. He had met new friends and remet old ones, and enjoyed excellent meals. It was a shame that in less than a week, he would once again be entwined in mysterious and unusual happenings.