Snowflakes descended upon the castle, coating the outside with a bed of white snow.
Perfect for the impromptu snowball fight Holly had started.
Harry leaned against the stone wall and watched as Holly threw a barrage of snowballs at everyone, at breakneck speed along with laughter with each target she hit. The grounds were filled with the usual caretakers of Holly that the Hogwarts populace were now accustomed to seeing around the rowdy and energetic child. Sue Li had built a small wall, blocking any incoming attacks, with Pansy providing the firepower of magically lifting and moulding the snow into snowballs. Susan and the Holly brigade were another faction, sending and defending snowballs, although not as fiercely as the others on the field. Any snowballs that neared Holly were deftly dodged with inhuman agility and the unlucky attacker pelted with return fire, evident by the white covered faces of anyone not named Holly.
'I wonder if this will tip them off about Holly?' Harry thought half-worriedly, a bead of imaginary sweat trickling down as he again witnessed Justin getting hit with consecutive attacks of snow as he dared to rise up from his cover to attack Holly.
"Agh, my precious face!"
"Get down man! She's going berserk!"
But the entertainment value was enough for Harry to not worry about it too much.
Seeing that she had worked up a sweat from the fun, he quickly called out to Holly and the others, not wanting her to get a cold, "Guys, I think the battle is already decided. How about we go in for a bit?"
Holly pouted a bit but stopped in her motion to throw yet another snowball. The others made to stop as well, but Ernie quietly made a snowball and threw it softly to the seemingly none the wiser Holly…
Who dodged it and sent a snowball straight at his face.
"Agh, how the heck is she this good!?" He let out a cry as he went down, Hannah rolled her eyes and helped the poor boy up.
"Serves you right." Hannah teasingly snarked out. Ernie grumbled as the others laughed at his expense, but smiled as Holly joined in on the laughter.
Coming from behind her, Holly let out a surprised yell of joy as Pansy lifted her up and settled her on her shoulders, "Come on, your stomach should be growling from how much you were moving out there."
To illustrate her point, Holly's stomach gave out a grumble, as if agreeing to her words. The others started the trek to the Great Hall, but were stopped by the Deputy Headmistress and Gryffindor Head of House, Professor McGonagall.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. The Headmaster requests for your presence at his office." As Harry nodded and reached out to take Holly down from Pansy's shoulders, she quickly amended her statement, "And he also requests that you arrive alone for now."
That made Harry pause. He turned to the others and told them to look after Holly for a bit while he spoke with Dumbledore, patting her on the head as she passed by him. As they disappeared from his view, he followed Professor McGonagall dutifully, arriving at the Headmaster's office without any problems. As she knocked on the door he could hear Dumbledore through the wooden door, "Come in!"
They entered with Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, the usual twinkle in his eye present and his trusty phoenix by his side, squawking at their arrival. After Harry occupied the seat in front of Dumbledore, the Transfiguration professor exited with a nod to Dumbledore and an encouraging smile to Harry.
"Welcome Harry, lemon drop?" He instinctively looked at the bowl where Dumbledore's favourite candy was placed in, but Harry discovered it empty and was baffled to see Dumbledore reach into his beard and pull out a piece of lemon drop wrapped in plastic, with a bit of beard still on the wrapper.
At his look, Dumbledore began to explain, "I've been perplexed about the mystery of my bowl. It still has the scent of urine around it and I am humbled to admit that I cannot discern as to how that is still possible, but I have figured out that the bowl and its contents will be covered with the stench, so long as I do not actually put in into the bowl I can still enjoy my sweet. And I find it more diverting to get it inside my beard."
Again, Harry found himself sweating, this time out of guilt. He didn't really think that the ploy would last this long. He took the candy with a nod and ate it up once taking it out of its wrapper, as atonement for forgetting to discontinue the prank he had put on Dumbledore months ago.
The sourness of the candy forced his expression to scrunch up at the flavour. Dumbledore, pleasantly surprised that somebody had finally accepted his offer of his sweet, continued on happily, "How is my niece? I hope she is not getting into or causing too much trouble."
"Not at all sir." Harry managed to let out after suckling on the candy, passing the sour phase and relaxing as the sweet inside of the candy spread in his mouth, "She has been behaved. The others have also been having a good time looking after Holly, they seem to be oblivious to her actually being Hedwig."
"Ah, and that is precisely why I have called you into my office, Harry. Hagrid has finally spoken to the owner where Hedwig was first sold, and even managed to find where Hedwig had originated from."
Harry leaned in with anticipation, hanging on to Dumbledore's every word. Finally, he would finally find out where Hedwig had truly come from, and what her circumstances were.
"And it seems everyone in Hedwig's lineage is that of the same owl breed."
Harry blinked owlishly…
"Wait, do you mean…"
"Yes, it looks like Hedwig had been truly just an ordinary owl before her transformation."
That had Harry stumped, his mouth agape, "But… But how did Hedwig transform? Why did she turn into a human?"
"I'm afraid I do not have the answer to those questions." Dumbledore solemnly answered, leaving Harry once again speechless.
He had fully expected for there to be an explanation, no matter how outlandish; but having no explanation was more numbing and odd than he could have ever expected.
Tactfully giving Harry a few minutes to process the information he had given him, Dumbledore told the young boy, "Spontaneous transformation like this is unheard of; living as long as I have and the opportunity to attain rare knowledge of every facet of magic. I can say for certain this is a first for me."
Harry held his face in his hands and let out a helpless sigh. Dumbledore smiled sadly, yet again giving Harry a few minutes to himself and his thoughts.
"What will happen to Hedwig, sir? If she was an owl before all of this, then that means she doesn't have a family or any human relatives to take care of her." Harry slowly expressed his growing worry for his first ever friend.
"That is true. Due to the unnatural nature of this situation, I do not believe that she will be recognised by any governing body to be a citizen. She is a blank slate, which leaves her in a position of danger; especially to anyone who would like to research her anomalous essence."
Harry's stomach dropped at the notion of Hedwig becoming a lab rat; to be tested like she wasn't a person. But she was; she loved to play, to draw, to read, to be with others…
To be with him…
"What about if I make her my family? My official family, papers and all?"
The inquiry had Dumbledore shaking his head, "As a minor, you will not be able to add anyone into your family until you are of age."
"But I can? If I was of age, that would be the best possible thing to do to keep Hedwig safe?" Harry stared at him with desperation.
Dumbledore steepled his fingers together and pondered for a moment, before responding, his mouth formed into a line, "Yes, but that will be when you are eighteen."
Harry shook his head, "That's too late. Can't I just get emancipated? I'm sure my Aunt and Uncle will jump at the chance to get rid of me."
"Your safety is paramount, distancing yourself from them will not only drag you into danger, but Hedwig as well." At Dumbledore's words, Harry bristled and retorted with a bit of heat.
"What? You mean the sentries you got near my window? Can't you just get them to move wherever I go?"
Eyes widening that he took notice of the Order Members keeping watch on him, Dumbledore promptly changed his attention to segue into another topic, "That is not the only protection on the Dursleys household. You must stay there, so long as you are not yet an adult. It is the safest place for you."
Harry bit back a scoff at the notion that he was safe at the Dursleys, but relented as he could feel that Dumbledore wouldn't budge from his stance. He gripped the arm of his chair in frustration. How could he keep Hedwig safe? There was no way he would even consider taking her back to Privet Drive. He had to do something…
'Drastic times call for drastic measures.'
Harry spoke up. Surprising the old man with his next statement, "I'll trust you sir. I need to talk to Hedwig, tell her about all of this. Thank you for your help, sir."
Having expected more resistance from the young Gryffindor, Dumbledore blinked back his surprise at his sudden exit and nodded, "Of course, Harry. And my door is always open for you."
Harry nodded and took his leave. It was true that he was going to tell Hedwig the truth about her.
But she wasn't going to be the only one.
Harry paced back and forth, and the four girls watched him pace restlessly. They had taken refuge in the private room that he and Holly shared, calling all of them, minus the Holly Brigade, and asking them to meet him here after they all ate. And now they waited patiently.
"For Merlin's sakes, can you stop just walking back and forth and tell us whatever you're going to tell us?" Pansy's voice dripped with a hint of irritation.
Perhaps not too patiently.
Harry stopped in his tracks and mumbled out an apology.
"It's alright, Harry. We're all friends, there's no need to be nervous." Susan took on a kinder tone, trying to calm him down from his nerves.
"Yes, and you're worrying Holly as well." The comment from Sue Li had Harry look at Holly, and her expression and body language told him that her words rang true.
Taking a deep breath, Harry started off by asking the three volunteer caretakers a question, "Alright, before I start, I've got to ask you three something. Have you three had any kind of reservations or suspicions concerning Holly?"
A look between all three of them were exchanged, but none of them spoke up to answer his question. Seeing their hesitancy, Harry sighed and asked another question, "Then how about this: Raise your hand up if you believe Holly is a normal child."
Again, his question was met with silence, but their inaction told him all he needed to know.
"Yeah, that's pretty much what I expected." Harry sheepishly said, before continuing on, ripping the band aid quickly before he lost his confidence, "To confirm all your thoughts: Holly isn't Dumbledore's niece. She's actually my pet owl, Hedwig."
Sue Li whooped in joy and threw her fist up in the air, an expression of joy on her usually blank face "Haha! I knew it!"
All eyes were on her at her unexpected outburst. Sensing their stares, she coughed and settled back down, adopting her neutral look and gesturing for Harry to continue. He chuckled a bit at her shout, before transfixing his stare towards the other two, "Did you two know?"
Susan twiddled with her thumbs anxiously, "I mean… I've always thought her peculiarity was because she was Dumbledore's niece. But I guess I just didn't want to dig into it too much."
Nodding along beside her, Pansy crossed her arms and looked up in thought, trying to remember the times she had interacted with Holly, "I had my doubts, but I didn't see any evidence of anything else. How did you figure it out anyway?"
Pansy directed her question to Sue Li, who shrugged, "Harry's pet owl was unique, even by owl standards. So when I noticed that it disappeared and hadn't made an appearance or even brought any mail for him, I entertained the theory that his pet owl had somehow transformed into a human and this was what Holly came to be. Truthfully, it was at the bottom of my list when it came to explaining her sudden appearance but it was all I got with the facts."
The bespectacled boy sighed once again in worry; hopefully no one else had made the connection. "I think telling it from the beginning will be easier…"
Harry recounted the days at the beginning of the year, how Hedwig had shown symptoms of being sick but not knowing what her affliction was, and how his pet owl had transformed into a human child out of the blue, and how Dumbledore aided in his plight to keep Holly's true nature a secret.
"When Dumbledore called me to his office earlier, it was to inform me of what Hagrid had discovered from the pet store owner he had brought Hedwig from." Like he had been minutes earlier, they all were enraptured, Holly most of all. So it was with a heavy heart that he said the next statement.
"And we found all of Hedwig's family. A parliament of owls." Holly looked crestfallen at his words, and the others also looked put out.
"Then she was truly just an owl before all of this?" Sue Li asked. Harry nodded, ready to talk about the main issue at hand.
"That's the part of why I ask you girls to be here." Harry looked at Holly, "Holly is virtually non-existent. She has no one and nowhere to go. And I spoke to Dumbledore about this, and he said I could adopt her into my family, essentially make her into a Potter. Only caveat is that I'm still a minor and I'll only be able to do it when I'm of age. If I don't, then she'll have to be entered into the system, maybe even get tested upon by wizard researchers. Something which I do not want to happen. "
Holly ran up to him and hugged Harry, who hadn't expected the sudden embrace, "I don't want to go. I want to stay with you all."
"Don't worry, buddy. Just like I said; I'll fight to stay with you, every step of the way." Harry whispered in her ear reassuringly, before addressing the others in the room, "I want to get emancipated, by whatever means necessary, and adopt Holly. Are you guys willing to help?"
It was Pansy who spoke out first.
"Alright, let's start planning this."
The other two smiled and nodded.
Harry smiled, eternally grateful for their support.
Holly smiled as well, although it was hidden behind the tears that trailed down her cheeks.
A/N: Chapter done! And I'm sad to say that the end of this story is fast approaching. But for now, please leave a review! The increasing gas prices have made me change my writing fuel from diesel to reviews.
P.S. Want to talk about this story or previous stories I have created? Join my forum, "Hitori's House Of Happenstance" and chatter with me!
