Disclaimer: See previous chapters for one
(A/N: Those who reviewed made me a very happy author. So, here's the next chapter! I only have 1.3 days left of school, but tomorrow night I'll be very busy. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. And for those who are about to read this, I apologize in advance for the title. ) )
(A/N 2: I just read the # of reviews... over fifty! I'm very happy right now! See author's note at end for more)
Chapter 7: Fowl Play
"That's it, steady Harry…" Hedwig said softly. She was on her favorite perch, looking at Harry.
For his part, Harry had his eyes closed, and was sitting on the floor cross-legged. A quill in front of him on the stone started to twitch. Sweat broke out on Harry's forehead as the quill slowly rose to his eye level. When he opened his eyes, the quill stayed there for a second before it dropped.
"Darn it, I almost had it." Harry complained, and grabbed the towel beside him to wipe the sweat off of his face. "And here I was thinking that these gifts were supposed to work automatically…"
Hedwig shuffled her wings. "You are getting better, Harry. A week ago you couldn't even make the quill twitch." She didn't even bother to answer that last comment. It had been explained to Harry that to receive the gifts, he had to discover them first, and then train with them before he could fully utilize it. Fawkes told him once that it wouldn't be a help if he didn't work for anything.
Harry sighed, and moved the towel around to wipe down his neck. "True. Of course, a week ago, I only discovered my tele-kinesis powers when I pushed you off your perch with only my mind." He grinned at her, and ducked as the owl swooped at him, barely missing his head.
That day, Hedwig was teasing Harry for the explosion he had made with a potion. It wasn't entirely his fault. Fawkes had finally managed to sneak up on Harry undetected, and startled him. That caused him to add too much at the wrong time, and the potion exploded. Harry, soaked with potion (luckily it didn't have any side-effects when it hit the skin), yelled at Fawkes. The Phoenix apologized, for Fawkes was also covered in Harry's potion. After all, Harry had told the Phoenix, he wouldn't be soaked if he hadn't sneaked up on Harry.
Hedwig, however, was laughing at both of them. Harry couldn't get her, but glared all the same. He sent his mind at her, knowing that she was sensitive to telepathic links. What neither of them had expected was Hedwig getting knocked off her perch. Afterward, she told them it felt like a punch thrown by Harry, which hit her in the chest. Harry apologized, and Fawkes told them both that Harry had telekinesis, and with him figuring out more and more about telepathy every day, it was probable that he had what Fawkes called the "tele-powers." It was the Phoenix's nickname for the combination of telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation.
Since then, Harry had practiced every day, trying to find out what he had done to knock Hedwig off. And he was getting better. He still hadn't quite gotten the hang of telepathy yet, and teleportation he had barely started training on.
Hedwig flew back to her perch, head held high. "Humans." She said, her voice sounded disgusting. She started preening her chest.
Harry chuckled. "Owls" He retorted, also sounding disgusted. He was about to say more when he stopped. Hedwig paused mid-preen. "Harry, what was that you said?"
"Hedwig, I… oh crud, it's gone. I actually spoke telepathically!" Harry beamed, and restrained himself from jumping up and down. For just a second, he had done what he'd been trying to do ever since he found out about the telepathy that all animals had a bit of.
"And I actually heard it!" Harry ducked again, just in time to avoid Fawkes' talons as the Phoenix flew up behind him. "Darn it, how did you know where I was?" The Phoenix sounded disgruntled. For the past few days, Fawkes had successfully snuck up behind Harry.
The teen grinned. "One of the feathers on your left wing is out of place. I could hear it a mile off." Fawkes looked stunned, and then peered at his wing. Sure enough, one feather was out of place. He quickly corrected that with his beak.
"I was sure that I had you that time. I could've sworn that all my feathers were preened before I came down here." Fawkes looked so grumpy that Harry had to laugh. "Aww, is de widdle Fenix mad?" Harry teased.
Hedwig watched rather contentedly as Fawkes chase a laughing Harry around the Chamber of Secrets. Two weeks ago, after the strange visit from Sirius, Harry had changed. He laughed more easily now, and seemed a whole lot more cheerful than before. He also set about making the Chamber a proper home, finally cleaning out the old Basilisk skeleton and setting up a nice little living area.
The leftover scales, bones, and fangs went into a box Harry transfigured from a piece of gravel and charmed quite severely. When Hedwig asked why he did that, Harry grimaced, and said that he'd rather not look at that stuff. Some bittersweet memories emerged, Harry told the owl, and he'd rather not think of those.
"Fawkes, lay off!" Hedwig looked up sharply to see Harry batting off Fawkes, who was tickling the young wizard rather mercilessly. "I did it again, didn't I?" Harry asked when Fawkes stopped in surprise.
"Yes you did, Harry. Have you figured it out yet?" Fawkes flew up, and perched on one of the snake statures near the teen. Harry shook his head. "Almost. I know how to do it, but I don't know how to do it. Am I making any sense?"
"No, but then again, when do you ever?" The Phoenix flew quickly away as Harry started climbing up the statue. When he was perched on the head, Fawkes flew over him tauntingly. "Aww, is widdle Harry mad?"
Harry joined in on the laughter, even as he tried to jump and reach Fawkes. On the way down, he didn't land quite right, his foot missing the flat center of the top of the statue. He scrambled for purchase, hands trying to grasp at the smooth stone. Harry's eyes were shut, and when he realized that he wasn't falling, he gave a sigh of relief.
"Um Harry, I think I know what Aragog gave to you as a gift." Harry heard Hedwig's voice in his mind. Slowly he opened his eyes, and looked around.
"Well, this is… interesting," Harry said, as he was perched on the side of the statue, looking up at the ceiling. His hands seemed to be clamped down on the stone, as well as his feet, so they weren't sliding downward.
The other two occupants in the room agreed.
Remus leaned back in the chair and sighed. The meeting with the werewolf clans had run unusually long. All of them had wanted to hear about Harry. Remus had obliged, and when he was described, the elders had nodded knowingly, and whispered something about "the Council's chosen." When told of what the Order was thinking about doing, all of the elders decided to stick with Remus' judgment. No one objected, which was unusual. Usually, there was always at least one dissenter at the clan meetings. However, after Remus had described Harry, the dissenters went quiet, and agreed quickly.
The werewolf's sense of smell, sharpened by the proximity of the full moon in a couple of days, picked up someone heading his way. He smiled. "Come in, Tonks." She was one of a few Order members who didn't want to take part in kidnapping Harry. Two days after Remus told the Order off, the Auror came right up to him and told him (after tripping over a very obviously set chair) that he was right, and she wasn't going to be a part of what the Order deemed "protection"
The Metamorphagus opened the door slightly, crept in, and smiled. "You do know it's kind of scary when you do that, right?" She said conversationally.
Remus grinned, and tapped his nose. "Full moon in four days, Tonks. I can't help it. Any news on Harry, yet?"
Tonks exhaled, and looked up at the ceiling. "Not really. His trial is tomorrow, and everyone in the Ministry thinks he isn't going to show up. There's even a betting pool or two going on, one on whether he shows up or not, and the other if he's going to go free or not."
"I take it you're betting against all of the odds, right?" Remus asked blandly.
Tonks grinned. "Of course, what do you think I am, stupid? Don't answer that," She glared at him as he chuckled. "I have some big money on my guess is that he shows up and goes free, and comes out better than he went in."
Remus chuckled again. "If I were to give you some money, would you put it in on your bet, so we can both be millionaires?"
"You think so too, eh?"
The werewolf sent her a sly wink. "I know Harry better than any of the others. He'll come all right, and go free. By the way, what are the odds on him?"
Tonks pulled out a piece of paper and looked at it. "Let's see, about 12:1 for him showing up, 4:1 for him not. If he shows up, it's 20:1 that he goes free, and 3:1 that he doesn't"
Remus rummaged in his robes, and came out with a small sack. "Put that in for me, please. All of it on the combination that he shows up and goes free."
Tonks held the sack in her hand, hefted it up and down, and grinned. "So, Mr. Lupin, when you become a millionaire, what are you going to do?" She teased.
The two of them laughed, and as Remus told Tonks exactly what he was going to do after he won the money he was betting, Tonks couldn't breathe for laughing.
The way the two birds got Harry down off the statue was quite simple: they tickled him until he let go. Of course, that did mean landing hard on his tailbone, but at least he was down. Or that's what the birds said.
"Gee, thanks guy and gal, you're all heart." Harry grumbled as he walked back to the little room he had set up, wincing with every step.
Fawkes twittered at him. "It's your own fault for not climbing down." The Phoenix protested, trying vainly to hide the amusement in his voice.
"Was it my fault that I didn't even know about this ability until about five minutes ago?" Harry retorted. By now, the three of them were used to Harry's switching between telepathy and spoken speech. He knew how to do it, but he couldn't do it when he specificaly wanted to. The gift was switching on and off, almost like a light bulb.
"Of course." Fawkes insisted. Harry glared at him and went to his desk. Almost all of his homework for over the summer had been done, due to the emptier schedule he had. When he wasn't reading over his books, he was making potions, or doing practical, everyday work with his wand. Harry reckoned he was going to be far ahead of his classmates in pretty much every subject when school started back up, but freely admitted that he had only gained that edge with his wand and his free time. The stuff he'd been learning was hard, and Harry was struggling to learn it without any experienced wizards around. Still, Harry was proud of himself for succeeding, more or less.
"Are you ready for tomorrow yet, Harry? And how are you going to get there?" Fawkes knew that teasing time was over; once Harry sat down at the desk, he didn't joke around until he got up.
Harry tapped the top of his quill to his chin. "I'm ready, that's for sure. As for getting there, I haven't really thought about it."
Hedwig, from where she had been listening in, blinked. Fawkes felt like banging his head against a wall. "You… haven't…really… thought…" It looked painful for him to even think about it. "How are you going, then?"
Harry shrugged. "No idea. I just know that I'm going."
Fawkes closed his eyes and counted to ten. "And pray-tell us how you were going to get to the Ministy of Magic?"
The teen flipped the page in a book and shrugged. "I'm sure I would find a way."
Fawkes' beak opened and closed in shock. Shaking his head, Fawkes went to Harry, and peered into his emerald green eyes. Harry looked up, eyes full of mischief. "So, are you going to take me, or not?"
Hedwig chuckled as she watched the normally dignified-looking Phoenix tumble off the desk into a heap on the floor. By the way Harry's shoulders were shaking, he was laughing as well. Fawkes did not share in the laughter, as he struggled to get to his feet on the floor.
Once he was standing up, Fawkes was even more hilarious. Red-gold feathers stood up all over the place, and he looked like a red-feathered ball. The Phoenix looked at his two laughing friends, sniffed, and flew up to the top of Salazar Slytherin's stature. There he preened his feathers, not bothering to look at Harry, who was wiping tears from his eyes, or Hedwig, who's body was shaking with laughter.
"Some fine friends you two are… Give me one reason why I should take you, Harry." Fawkes sent at them.
Harry grinned. "I'll give you two. One, because you love me, and two, how else would I get there? Oh, and another bonus answer… it would look really good for my case if I showed up with a Phoenix, the purest beings of Light."
Fawkes grumbled. Over the past few weeks, the Phoenix had grown fond of the boy. After the transfer, and the realization that these gifts wouldn't come naturally to him, Harry simply accepted. He didn't throw a tantrum because he had to train, or brag that he was getting these gifts, like other boys his age would have done. He also forgave Fawkes and the Council for making him forget about Sirius, and worked hard to try and find the gifts given him. Harry was also the only person in the world that could get away with teasing the Phoenix. Even Dumbledore would get pecked or had some other sign appear that said Fawkes was displeased with him.
Then Fawkes looked over at Harry, and winced. The teen was giving him the most adorable puppy dog eyes, and Fawkes struggled to resist. He wouldn't give in, he told himself, Fawkes the Phoenix will not give in.
"All right, all right! I'll do it, just stop with the face!" Fawkes gave in. As he cursed himself, Harry grinned, face returning to normal.
"Thanks Fawkes, you're the best!" Harry told the Phoenix who was in the process of beating himself over the head with his wing.
"Curse you and your adorable puppy dog eyes!" Fawkes shuddered at the memory. "I'd like to see you use that face on Voldemort! The cuteness of it would melt his little evil heart, and we'd all be free to dance around singing "Ring around the Rosie!"
The humorous tirade was too much for both Harry and Hedwig. Harry cracked up laughing, leaning against a statue for support and holding his sides. Hedwig flew away, chuckling. When she'd composed herself enough, the owl telepathically contacted Numa and Ra, telling them what happened. They started laughing too, and Hedwig knew that by the end of the day, every owl in England would have heard about it.
"F-fawkes, I think that might actually work!" Harry sent, unable to stop from laughing so hard. His comment brought another round of laugher, and this time Fawkes joined in. Hedwig sent that comment along via the telepathic link as well.
The Headmaster of Hogwarts looked up from his desk, filled with paperwork, and his eyebrow rose. "Professor McGonagall, what a pleasant surprise. What can I help you with?" She looked tired and worn out.
"Albus, I think someone's slipped all the owls Butterbeer."
Professor Dumbledore's eyebrows slipped up towards his hairline. "Oh? What makes you say that?" He pushed a bowl towards her, wondering if she still had side effects from that trip to St. Mungo's. "Lemon Drop?"
Minerva McGonagall looked at the lemon drops and twitched. "No, thanks. I believe you know I detest those things. Anyway, I was on my way to the Owlery to send off the school letters, when I heard a terrible ruckus. When I opened the door to the Owlery, Albus, the owls had gone mad! A great number of them were on the floor, shaking and hooting. More of them were flying crazily about, barely missing the walls! That was when I came here."
Albus leaned back in his chair. He hadn't heard about any curse that could do that to that many owls at the same time. Minerva would have been correct about the Butterbeer theory, but every owl should have stayed on his or her perch, not flopped down to the floor, if indeed they had been given Butterbeer. He also didn't think that someone had given them any type of drug, so it wouldn't be of any real use to check the feeders for some of the more illegal drugs.
His attention was captured by the whirring radio. It was charmed to come on if there was any news that might be relevant.
"… Have gone mad. Owners report their owls looking fine in one second, and flying crazily all over the place, hooting in the next. Some owls have been seen lying on the ground, shaking and hooting. According to our sources, England was not the only country affected by this strange behavior for owls. Reports from Ireland, Scotland, France, Bulgaria, and more countries in the Eastern Hemisphere have come in, claiming that whatever is affecting the owls here seems to be universal. All have come in just seconds and minutes after another. This just in! A report from the United States, claiming that the epidemic has reached them by some super human means…"
Albus turned at Minerva, somewhat alarmed. "I'd like to see this for myself. Lead the way to the Owlery, Minerva."
The Transfiguration teacher, perplexed by this outbreak of craziness among owls, did what she was ordered. At a slight run, Professor McGonagall reached the Owlery in no time. Right behind her, Professor Dumbledore opened the door with his wand.
Both teachers stared in amazement. Owls were picking themselves off the floor, shaking, and flying back up to the many perches placed everywhere. After a few seconds, all of the owls were in their places, hooting at each other. The only thing different was that the level was louder than normal, and occasionally an owl started shaking. They also all looked to be in good health.
Professor McGonagall turned to stare at the Headmaster, speechless. Blinking, she transfigured a pebble, and charmed it. In a matter of seconds, the Wizarding Wireless Network was on, sounding through the speaker of a rock-gray stereo. Later, the Transfiguration teacher would berate herself for not performing the transfiguration flawlessly. Right now, she was too stunned to think.
"… Appears to be stopping. I repeat, the epidemic appears to be halting. A few minutes after the epidemic, an owl affected will return to normal. Magical Creature Specialists believe that no harm is done to the owl, but will need more tests to be sure. New reports have informed us that the epidemic took only a minute or so to move from country to country, and five to cross the seas. It appears that every magical owl was infected. Please keep tuned as we investigate this strange happening."
The two professors could only blink in astonishment.
As soon as Harry could stand without support, Hedwig decided to tell him what she had done. "Harry, Numa and Ra were told about Fawkes' little tirade, as well as your response."
Harry looked at her, and started to grin wildly. "And I suppose that they spread that around the Owlery?"
Hedwig shook her head. "No." Harry frowned, and if Hedwig had had a mouth, he would have seen Hedwig start to smile. "They told that to every owl they could get in contact with. And those owls told other owls, and so on and so forth. So in reality, they spread it around the world."
Harry started to chuckle. "And…" he fished for more to the story.
"Every owl on the globe that has telepathic abilities has been told. The humans have noticed, and think that there is a plague going around or something."
In Dumbledore's office, at the opposite end of the school, the portraits inside all swore they could hear laughter from a long way away.
Well, there it is! I had fun writing it, so I hope you had fun reading it! Before I adress my reviewers, I just want you to know that you've made me very happy.Over50 reviews!I really,really love you guys (andgirls too!).A few of you even get lollipops! Oh, and the second question wasn't really fair. After all, it was too broad. I'll answer that question later. Also, some of you have been asking about the Council. I guarantee you that you'll have your questions answered soon. Just be patient as I get Harry through the trial. Then, it will be time for some Harry-training and you'll be introduced to the Council.
Now, to my reviewers!
kookyfaun3: Thanks! I'm glad you like! I also appreciate your review, it really makes my day when people enjoy my fic and say so.
Gwendolyn14: Thank you! I did have fun writing a few humorous scenes in here... Also, I'm glad you like my version of Harry. Nice, cheerful, powerful Harry is better than depressed, moody, unstable Harry, or so I think. Of course, some people like him all dark and dreary... Thanks for reviewing!
bumblebuzz: o-- You got the first lollipop! Congratulations, you were very correct that Harry is in the Chamber of Secrets, as you've undoubtedly seen by now. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you like my fic!
hds: Well, I did try to veer a bit from the norm. I'm glad you like it! Your guesses are very good (nice comment on #2... ;-D), but sadly, incorrect. Maybe you'll get some future questions right, and I'll give you a lollipop then! ;-)
PsychicLunar: o-- Only one... your other guesses were good, but incorrect. I think you can guess which answer got you the lollipop...Thanks for reviewing, and I'll update as soon as I can. (and I hope that your services behave... I like hearing from you!
Wytil: Thanks for reviewing! I appreciate it!
Rkhiara: I think so... thanks for reviewing!
sky: Wouldn't you like to know? ;-) Thanks for reviewing!
MKH: Thanks! I'll update ASAP
laer: Good guesses, but incorrect. Thanks for the review!
shdurrani: Considering my mind? I hope that means that you think I'm brilliant... or insane... or a bit of both... ;-) I'm glad you liked the chapter. Albus does get a little control-freakish sometimes, doesn't he? It seemed appropriate that one of the calmestmembers of the Order snap at Dumbledore, and even more appropriate that Remus do the snapping. Thanks for reviewing!
Danuschka:Very interesting reviews. I'm afraid I can't give you any lollipops, although one of your guesses was a little too close for the sake of secrecy... and Lol, nice ending comment. Very amusing, but untrue...
David M. Potter: Thanks!
Now for the questions...
1) What is Harry's animagus form going to be?
2) Harry recieved two gifts from Aragog, one being his freaky ability to emulate Spider-man (No, he's not going to become Spider-man, neither do I own it, so don't even bother). What is the other? (guess your hearts out, peeps)
3) Just for fun (cause I can't think of another goodquestion), what is the air speed of a swallow? (Two lollipops for you if you answer the question "correctly" and tell me what movie it's from? And for future reference, I don't own it.)
That's it for now! If you have any questions, please put them in a review, and I might answer them! (might being the operative word here...) For all those who are reading this now, good job, you've reached the end! As a prize, you have my blessing to review! ;-)