After what seemed like an eternity, the four landed. Harry toppled sideways off his broom and lay on the ground, feeling as if he was encrusted in ice. Angel, Saka-Puko-Rana, and Ariella dismounted perfectly, swishing their hair behind them and- what else- grinning. Harry slowly raised his head up a few inches, glaring at all three of them and feeling a few of his icy hairs snap off.
"Why did we have to fly that high!" he snapped, gritting his teeth.
"So the muggles couldn't see us!" Angel chirped, giggling as Harry winced.
"And why am I the only one who feels like they were freeze-dried!" he snarled, standing up and attempting to brush off the icicles that had formed on his eyebrows.
"Because we're magic!"
"I'M MAGIC TOO!" Harry screamed, icicles flying off him.
"Temper, temper!" Angel childishly chided, waggling a finger at him. Harry, white-faced with fury, glared at her. He opened his mouth to scream something else, but Ariella had yelled 'we're here!'
Harry finally took the time to see where they were. They were right in front of the Leaky Cauldron. The three girls, shouldering their brooms, eagerly stepped inside. Harry reluctantly followed, lugging his trunk, broom, and cage behind him.
When he finally managed to get he and his belongings inside, he noticed that Saka-Puko-Rana was already talking with the Innkeeper, Tom (Harry wondered vaguely if he was her uncle), Angel was sitting at a table with a hooded figure, and Ariella was trying to haul her wand up the stairs. After shaking hands with Tom, Saka-Puko-Rana walked over to Harry, holding two keys.
"So, bro," Harry glared at her as she used the term, "I've gotten us some rooms. I thought we could share, since we're relatives and all." She dangled one of the keys in front of him, grinning.
"No, I'll have my own, thank you." Harry said quickly, snatching the key from her grasp and moving away to dash up the stairs. He nimbly dodged Ariella and her wand, who were still struggling with the first three steps. Harry glanced down at the key in his hand, scanning the room number. He then sprinted to the correct room, dodged inside, locked the door, and flumped down on his bed. Only a few minutes had happed before Harry heard three crisp knocks on his door, a sugary giggle, a grunt and a dull thumping sound, an annoyed hoot and a wheezy voice Harry recognized as Tom's. Scowling darkly, he crossed the floor and opened the door, staring dully at those waiting on the other side. Angel giggled again (Harry winced), Ariella was struggling to lift her wand, Hedwig was looking angry and flapping in her cage, and Tom was smiling toothlessly as he held Harry's luggage. Saka-Puko-Rana had her hand poised to knock again if Harry hadn't opened the door.
"Harry! You left in such a hurry that you forgot your things!" Angel announced, beaming.
"You probably just had to use the bathroom or something." Saka-Puko-Rana said, smiling.
"Hi, Daddy!" Ariella said breathlessly, waving but quickly returning her hands to her wand to try and balance it on its end. Harry twitched and closed his fists, pretending to scratch his arm when he really wanted to punch her for calling him 'daddy'.
"Would Mister Potter like me to take his luggage in for him?" Tom offered, patting the top of Harry's trunk.
"I'LL DO IT!" all three girls chimed, Angel waving her puffballed wand Saka-Puko-Rana holding up her hand and wiggling her glowing fingers, and Ariella unable to lift her wand, simply swishing one of its protruding twigs around. Before Harry could protest, Angel had pointed her wand at the luggage and yelled 'MOVE!" (not the most effective spell), Saka-Puko-Rana had already surrounded the trunk and cage with her palm-power, and Ariella's wand had rolled over onto Tom's foot. Everything seemed to happen at once. Tom had leaped onto Harry's luggage, howling with pain, Angel's spell instead surrounded Tom, Ariella tripped over her wand and fell on the floor, Saka-Puko-Rana lost balance as Ariella ran into her; her hands flailing around at the ceiling, and Angel had vaulted Tom into Harry's room.
The fast-paced motion turned agonizingly slow. Harry stared as Tom's bald head collided with his stomach, his luggage collided with the ceiling, and Ariella's wand rolled over her head.
Once again, everything sped up. Tom and Harry toppled to the floor, Harry out of breath and bent over double as Angel giggled and said 'oops!' as if to rectify the problem. His trunk and cage smashed into the dangling light, plunging them into darkness, and Ariella was yelling "Blood, blood, it's everywhere!" as she ran repeatedly into the opposite wall.
Five voices quickly chorused 'lumos!' and the hall was lit again. Harry looked around- Angel's lit wand was starting to catch the puffball on the end on fire; Saka-Puko-Rana was looking curiously around and commenting on how it smelled like burning feathers; Tom was on the floor, mumbling something about how he was thankful he had lost all his teeth already; and Ariella was still running into the wall, screaming "BLOOD! BLOOD! ALL OVER!" repeatedly, her wand end literally on fire from when she had paused her screaming to say the spell.
Harry looked over at Ariella first, where Angel and Saka-Puko-Rana had already rushed over to help. The girl had finally stopped running into the wall and had crumpled onto her log-like wand, sitting too close to the end and catching her miniskirt on fire. Saka-Puko-Rana quickly put out this fire, muttering 'nox' so that Ariella's wand would go out. Her own glowing fingers provided enough light, anyways. Tom crawled up from the floor, pulled out a knobby-looking and, repaired the hanging candelabra Harry's luggage had destroyed, and then quickly fled the scene.
Harry, not really caring if Ariella was dying or not, went over to Hedwig to see if she was alright. As he looked over her singed tail feathers (it seemed her cage had been the thing that had broken the light), he listened to the conversation that was going on between his two… sisters… and his… daughter.
"Blood, blood, it's everywhere, all over me, all over everything- I'm dying, dying…"
"Ari, dear, move your hands so we can see your face…"
"NOOO- BLOOOOOD!"
"Ew, don't! I'm squeamish, Saka!"
"It's pronounced Sa-ca, not Sock-a, Angel!"
"What ev-uuur."
"BLOOOOOOOOOD!"
"Let me see, Ari!"
"No! I hate blood!"
"BOOO- BLOO- BLOOOD-UH!"
"Ari, now!"
There was a frightened squeal and another 'Blood!', and Harry glanced up in time to see Saka-Puko-Rana wrench Ariella's hands away from her face. Both girls gasped; Harry stared.
"Oh, I forgot I was wearing these." Ariella removed a pair of rose-lensed glasses from her face and slid them into her pocket. "My great-uncle is the Wizard of Oz."
"Ooooh." Saka-Puko-Rana and Angel nodded understandingly while Harry took the distraction to grab his trunk and cage, throw them into his room, and lock the door behind him. He then opened Hedwig's cage and let her out the window so she could hunt, fell onto his bed, threw the covers over his head and fell asleep to the sounds of fists pounding on his door and the worried calls of 'Harry?' ringing in his ears.