I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Extended Family
Chapter 148 – Speaking Five, the Hedwig Strikes Back
As per tradition, all over the timeline but the first instance happens during chapter 120.
Harry opened his mouth to retort but then smiled instead, looking slightly past her. "I mean, wouldn't make sense to swap out Seekers for scoring, but maybe if getting hit with a Bludger, I'll just have to not get hit."
"Not hard for you," Angelina said. "What's your hit record, one out of every four games on average?"
"If you don't count grazes or glances," Harry nodded.
Ginny brushed something off her head, not looking at it. "Our Beaters hate trying to go for you. You weave around all their shots."
"Most Beaters do," Oliver said. Something caught his eye and he started to smile. "Sir Harry's wily."
"Seekers always are, egotistical too," Ginny said with the smile she wore when she needled her brothers. She waved her hand again to brush something aside.
"Shelia and I work great together, thank you very much," Harry said.
"Yeah and I love Shelia but she's got ego to spare," Katie said lovingly. "In fact, that's why you two work great together. She has more than enough for the both of you." She started to snicker.
"Oh man, the first time I saw her get rowdy and call herself the Queen of Skye, that was amazing," Angelina said. "That was after our first game together as a team against Puddlemere." Her eyes started moving back and forth and she grinned, looking past Ginny too.
"Oh yeah," Oliver said, his smile turning feral. "When she headbutted Greens after he called her a broomstick trollop. That was awesome."
"Oh good, never liked him anyways," Alicia said approvingly. "What happened to him?"
"He got knocked out clean," Harry said, smiling at the memory. "He called her that and knocked her mug out of her hand. She drained his and put him down with a solid headbutt. It was awesome."
"Wish I saw that." Ginny looked at the twins and Ron laughing, their faces turning red. "What's so funny?" she asked irritably as she swiped at something that buzzed behind her head. She turned to look and saw nothing.
"Anyways," Harry said, fighting to keep the mirth from his voice, "I'll be fine on my own as sole Seeker. If you have concerns, you might want to bring it up to the co-Captain."
"Who, you? Aren't you co-Captains with Oliver?" Ginny asked.
"Nope," Harry said, popping the P with a lopsided grin.
Ginny paled. "Oh no wait-" She shrieked and jumped when Hedwig screeched loudly from behind her. Hedwig, wearing her co-Captain badge, had flown silently around her when Ginny started teasing Harry. She brushed Ginny's hair with her wing tips and talons, buzzing about much to the amusement of the rest of the team. Finally, Hedwig made her presence and ire known and chased Ginny down the pitch, chastising her loudly.
"You red-headed baby! I was buzzing you for ages and you didn't even notice it until the last minute! You're blinder than that flightless stick you ride on! You think you can tease my Chick when you're so unobservant? Hah! Good thing you don't have to hunt to survive. If hunting skills were feathers, you'd be worse than a newly hatched chick!"
Everyone watched and laughed as she ran around the pitch for the first part, fleeing the wrath of Hedwig before turning and chasing the cackling owl, howling at the top of her lungs.
"Chase me as fast as you can! You'll still never catch me!"
"She's never going to learn, is she," Katie laughed.
"Nope!" the twins chortled.
"Bloody bird's a menace," Ron said, shaking his head.
"Glad it's not me," Angelina said happily. "Though to be fair, she's mellowed around me some and I'm grateful for it."
"She's such a cuddlebug normally though," Mirabelle said.
"Like most people, she has complex relationships with all sorts of people," Harry said lovingly.
-0-
"Oh, so, I had some time today and I did a bit of research," Ted said, sipping a glass of wine. "I wanted to see if there was any established precedent about semantics over things and firing a catapult is more or less the same as shooting a catapult where the actions are used interchangeably. That said, baking and cooking are distinctly different enough despite having yielding similar end results."
"I knew it," Hailey and Hadley said together triumphantly while Alicia and Angelina groaned in unison.
Harry chuckled. "Okay, well, as you girls get older, we can amend the rules but for now, no baking or cooking or using anything with an active fire or heat source without adult supervision in the immediate vicinity."
"I knew it," Hailey and Hadley said together glumly to much amusement. "Okay, Papa Harry."
"Okay Daddy," Dahlia said.
Harry kissed them. "But I am proud of you for wanting to obey the rules, albeit the letter if not the spirit. And it was good of you to go to Auntie Luna. And the pies are very delicious." He watched fondly as Hedwig munched on her special pie: a bacon and egg one that she gobbled happily.
Ted grinned. "I also did some digging because I was a little curious. So turns out, there is an established precedent for nanny animals or animal guardians and that if proven to be intelligent enough, they can be legally recognized as guardians for supervision purposes. There was even a dragon that was responsible for an orphanage of sorts. And, when pressed to define adulthood or age of majority, it is actually an accepted practice that when it comes to comparing relative adulthood in beings that aren't humans, you compare them to average lifespan. Therefore, Hedwig is a legal adult and could be construed as a legal adult for adult supervision."
"I knew it!" Luna said loudly.
"I still disagree with that!" Hermione said loudly. "Hedwig is a special case! You can't put a blanket clause over specificity! Oh don't you give me that look," she said when Hedwig looked at her with eyes filled with affront. "Everyone here knows how smart and capable you are but even you can't tell me that's an inherent trait of all snowy owls!"
"Of course not," Hedwig hooted indignantly. "I am a paragon among snowy owls, the best of the lot. All should try to be more like me! But snowys are usually more better than most I will admit."
"But then you can argue a case in specificity," Luna argued. "And we're not trying to argue that all adult snowy owls can be legal adult supervisors. We are arguing that Hedwig, specifically, is suitable as an adult supervisor!"
"Thank you," Harry sighed to a grinning Ted. "Thank you so much for reigniting this argument. The last time this happened, Luna and Hermione went at it in spellball a few times and the argument dragged on for days."
"Sorry lad," Ted laughed. "I was legitimately curious from a legal standpoint and to be fair, it's really funny."
"You don't live here yet! That's why you find it funny," Harry laughed.
"You look me in the eye and tell me that all snowy owls are as smart as you, go on!" Hermione snorted when Hedwig turned her head away with lordly disdain. "Exactly!"
"I don't need to say that," she hooted. "Everyone knows the answer to that."
"Hedwig's singular uniqueness is a boon and not a detriment!" Luna said. "That is what we are judging and if anything, it helps with the legality and the responsibility!"
"I agree with Moon-song! She understands what's important!"
"And I did look it up the first time and it still has to be done in a legal setting. The dragon in charge of the orphanage had legal representation and it was proven in a court of law with stringent testing and we all know how Hedwig feels about tests," Hermione said.
"Tests are stupid," Hedwig barked. "I know what I know. I don't need for others to know what I do know or what I allegedly don't know."
"We can solve this regular way-" Luna said, getting out of her chair.
Harry pulled her back down. "No spellball. We are eating dinner and you two are still banned from spellball after the last time."
"But Harry," Luna and Hermione whined together, looking at each other with surprise while the others laughed uproariously, especially the bunnies.
"You are a perfect father," Andromeda smiled, kissing him on the cheek when he gave her a look.
-0-
"You are entirely too cute in glasses," Alicia said, kissing her daughter who wore her glasses happily. "Goodness me, my heart."
"Yeah seriously," Angelina said, smiling at Hailey wearing her own and smiling widely too. "The place is good?"
"Really good," Harry said. "Super nice, fast, didn't try to upsell or anything. Definitely going to see them for yearly exams."
"Might as well go too then," Angelina said. "Be nice to not have to worry about it. How much were the glasses?"
"For the girls? Nothing. I bought mine and another one and it made up for these."
"You got a second pair?" Alicia asked.
"Sort of." Harry whistled and smiled when Hedwig came flying down, landing on his arm.
"Is she wearing sunglasses?!" Angelina laughed.
Hedwig puffed her chest out and struck a devastatingly cool pose, wearing a pair of stylish black sunglasses. She tilted her head slightly, showing them off. "I look amazing! Gaze upon my wonder and praise me with great praise! And Chick too of course."
"I wanted to get her something for flying in the sun when she needs them," Harry smiled. He rubbed his head against Hedwig who nuzzled him happily and lovingly. "They're shrunk down to fit her, charms to stay up since she doesn't have external ears like us, and if they fall off, they'll stick to her harness."
"Are those Ray bans?" Hermione asked, impressed.
"Yup! Greg has a bunch of them for sale and when I saw them, I knew I wanted to get a pair for Hedwig." Harry said.
"She looks so good in them," Katie said. "I wish I looked that good in sunglasses."
"And I got transitions that also turn on a charm," Harry said. He tapped his frames and his lenses darkened. "Neat, huh?"
"Very neat," Alicia said. She started laughing. "My goodness, it's like you and Hedwig dressed up to match!"
"We're cool like that," Harry said and Hedwig cheeped loudly in agreement.
"So cool!" Hedwig barked happily.
"Yeah you are," Katie smiled.
-0-
"One more person needs to go before we do our second runs," Harry said.
"Who?" Colette asked. She shrieked when something flew by her face at a high speed. "Curse you Chicken!"
Hedwig flapped her wings at the start line, fluttering in air. She barked loudly, narrowing her eyes up at the hoops. "Okay, time to show you all how a real flyer does it!" At the blast, she flew hard, zooming through the air while the others cheered. She dashed through all the hoops in order and came back down to them, spreading her winds wide and landing daintily on Harry's head. "I am the best at flying!"
"One minute and thirty-eight seconds is the time to beat," Luna smiled, writing the times on the board.
"Oh, is that what we're doing then?" Angelina asked when Hedwig danced on Harry's head, mooning the other flyers and hooting happily. "Game on then!"
"Game on indeed!" she barked.
The second runs ended and Angelina was in the lead with one minute and thirty-five seconds. Hedwig was right behind at one minute and thirty-seven, Harry and Aimee at one minute and forty seconds, and Oliver and Fred at one minute and fifty seconds.
"Why don't you moon her back?" Alicia asked when Angelina made rude hand gestures at Hedwig who fluffed up with indignation.
"Because she has talons," Angelina said. "I'm not pulling a Weasley."
"You have to be more specific when you say that," George sniffed.
"I'm not pulling a Weasley twins and getting taloned in the arse," Angelina clarified.
"Better," Fred sniffed, rubbing his arse-cheek ruefully.
"Go on, just try it," Hedwig hissed. "I'll talon you in the arse too!"
The others did collective voting on flair and safety and despite the children clamoring, Harry was indeed at the bottom of the rankings for safety but they did separate it out between flying with others, he earned high marks there, and flying for games where he was firmly at the bottom. The others vied at the top for position.
"How should we do speed?" Oliver asked. "Timed course individually or racing each other?"
"Why not both?" Aimee suggested.
They decided that three laps around the pitch would be the course and they did individual circuits first. Harry cleared it the fastest, followed by Angelina, Hedwig, Aimee, Fred, and then Oliver. Then they lined up on the start line for the race.
"Oh, this will be very good," Alicia said eagerly, looking at them standing there.
"My money is on Hedwig losing," Colette said.
"No betting real money!" Dahlia cried.
"A bottle of wine on Hedwig losing," Colette amended.
"I'm betting on Angelina, she wants it bad," George smiled. "Go Angie! Make them eat sky dust!"
"Harry's got this," Katie said with utter conviction.
"Alrighty racers!" Dora shouted. "On your marks, get set-"
Hedwig, who was perched on Harry's head screeched loudly with surprise and pointed with a wing to one side. "OWL DISTRACTION!"
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, looking.
Angelina looked too then turned back, face twisting. "Hey! You're trying to trip us-"
"-GO!" Dora shouted and shot the starting spell once more.
Hedwig smacked Angelina across the face with her wing as she flapped hard, launching herself into the air.
"YOU BLOODY BIRD!" Angelina shouted, recovering and jumping on her broom to chase after. The others jumped and mounted and pushed off as fast as they could.
"Oh Hedwig," Katie said, laughing fit to burst.
"Get her!" Colette shouted. "Do not let her win!"
The watchers laughed and cheered as the racers jostled for position, flying about each other to try and take the inside curve on the course. Hedwig was fast but the others caught up to her fairly swiftly. She flapped hard, staying ahead by a feather's width for the majority of the race but started to flag at the pace. She dove to one side, making Angelina veer and the others scattered about some.
"I might not win but neither will you!" Hedwig screeched.
Harry stuck his arm out and managed to snag Hedwig from the air, hugging her to him as he bent low. Hedwig latched onto his broomstick and screeched happily when Harry put on a burst of speed, edging to the front of the pack. Everyone cheered when Harry crossed the line a second ahead of Angelina and Aimee with Fred and Oliver tucked right behind.
"Even with a passenger, he beats us," Fred sighed but smiled.
"He's all weedy and wiry," Angelina laughed. "Not shrimpy but light." She glowered at Hedwig who cheeped back snootily. "You cheating chicken!" She shrieked when Hedwig flew into her face. "I'll chicken you, you overgrown Land Chicken! Just accept your failures!" Angelina endured several nips and battering wings before she took off her jersey and rolled it up, snapping it at Hedwig. "Get back here!" she shouted, chasing her down the pitch.
"Come and get me no-wings!" Hedwig hooted as she flapped off. "It doesn't matter how many you are!"
Harry shook his head as Dora and Colette joined Angelina in trying to attack Hedwig. "At least they're having fun." He chuckled when the children joined the fray, waving towels that Luna helpfully conjured for them. "Well, now they are."
"So Harry won speed, came last in safety, ranked middle for agility, and is high on flair," Hermione said, looking at the board. "Angelina and Aimee shared second rank for just about every category with Fred and Oliver doing the same for third. Hedwig was highest in flair, second in agility, not sure how she technically scores in speed if we consider the race, and her safety factor was undecided."
"I still say she has high safety," Luna said. "Now if we are referring to other people's safety while she is flying, that can be up to debate."
"Agreed. Let's put her in the middle then." Hermione tallied up the scores. "Harry has the slightest advantage over Angelina with the others within points of each other."
"That tracks," Katie smiled. "Or like how Mum and MumAndi like to say it, you're a menace on the broom, a talented menace, but a menace."
"I'm fine with that," Harry grinned. He chuckled at the sight of the children tackling Angelina, Dora, and Colette to the ground and piling onto them, pinning them down. Hedwig landed and danced just out of grasping range, kicking her legs high and mooning the three witches while barking condescendingly.
"He he he! Captured by the grandchicks! Such good grandchicks! You three couldn't catch a fish on the plate! Gaze upon my tail feathers and realize just how outclassed you are." She rolled her rear at them in a large circle, cackling all the while.
"Never a dull moment," Fleur said, her smile as bright as the sun.
"I don't think we'd know what to do with it if we found one," Katie laughed merrily.
-0-
Their heads turned at a tapping noise and Katie scrambled to her feet. "Hedwig!" she cheered and ran to the window, opening it. The snowy owl flew in and went around the room, hooting and barking in greeting. She deposited a large package on the table and landed on Katie's shoulder, nuzzling her and pulling on her hair gently.
"Bon soir, ladies! Hi Sun-Hair! You look well. That's good."
"Just in time for dinner," Aimee smiled. She and the others cut pieces of their steaks off and piled them on a plate with fries. Hedwig nuzzled them in turn before she began to munch hungrily.
"Mmm, thank you. I do like steak frites now. Very tasty. More frites please, thank you. I need to get Chick to make some when I get back. Good protein and tasty frites," she said, munching happily.
"Ooh, lots of baked things," Katie said happily, opening the package. "For all of us to share. Letters for all of us. A box of candy for Gabrielle. Oh! New official jerseys!"
"How wonderful!" Fleur eagerly pulled hers on. She admired the rich royal purple and gold trim and the spray of golden stars as across the front. The number seven was emblazoned on the front over the heart and across the back with Potter written beneath both. "So comfortable!"
"So nice," Aimee agreed. "I cannot wait until we go back and watch him play again."
After a lengthy dinner and dessert, Katie retired to her room with Hedwig flapping after. As she laid in bed, wearing her new jersey, she smiled sleepily as Hedwig fluttered next to her. "Don't feel like roosting?"
Hedwig shook her head and settled next to Katie's head, fluffing up comfortably. She hooted softly. "You look like you could use a cuddle and so can I. It was a bit cold on the flight today."
"Sorry if I flail in my sleep and hit you accidentally." Katie laughed when Hedwig wriggled behind her head to fluff up between Katie and the wall. "Yeah, that's probably safer. Good night Hedwig." She smiled at Hedwig's cheeps and before she fell completely asleep, she reached out and lit the candle with her touch.
"Good night, Sun-Hair. Sweet dreams," she cheeped sleepily and lovingly. "I preemptively apologize for nipping you if you flail and hit me. It's a reflex."
Dreams came swiftly to her, full of warmth.
-0-
When the groups returned to the camp, they found Fred and George building a snow animal and Daphne relaxing on a snow throne.
"How has your arse not frozen?" Tracy asked.
"I'm sitting on a warm blanket," Daphne said, flicking her wand and sending a wave of snow at Tracy. "It's surprisingly comfortable."
"What are you two making?" Katie asked.
"Our latest masterpiece," Fred said, standing back with a flourish.
"Some of our finest work yet," George said, hands on his hips.
"Is that a donkey?" Luna asked.
"Oh Merlin," Alicia groaned. "Let me guess, a frozen ass?"
"Yep!" they said with identical smiles and the others laughed. That prompted the others to start making their own snow sculptures without magic and soon the woods rang with laughter as they got to shaping and piling and forming and building.
"Nice snow snake," Angelina smiled.
Oliver looked proud. "Thanks! I always liked making snow snakes. They're easy and you can make them coil and meander all over the place. When we were little, dad used to make a tunnel for us to crawl through and we'd pretend we were getting eaten. Then we have to fight the snake and save each other."
"That's adorable," the twins simpered, ducking under thrown snowballs. "Hey watch it! You've gotten better at hucking things!"
"I should hope so," Oliver snorted.
"What a cute little chicken," Katie said.
"That's a rooster," George said. "It has the bigger comb and the sickle feathers."
"You would make a snow-cock," Angelina snorted richly.
"And it's smaller, making it anatomically correct," Alicia said smugly, making them laugh and groan.
Luna and Hermione helped Angelina make a lot of snow bunnies while Katie managed a very respectable version of Bailey in snow form. Tracy helped embellish Daphne's throne with a cat at the base.
"Awww, that's adorable," Katie smiled, seeing Harry's creation.
"Thanks!" Harry looked proudly at his snowy owl made from the snow. It looked perfectly like Hedwig, even with the mottled feather pattern that Harry made with a stick. The snow snowy owl even had an especially smug expression on her face, one that they were all rather familiar with.
"Well bless my feathers! I didn't think you lot would enjoy being out in the snow. That's good that you do. It's nice to be out in the elements here and there to get big and strong like me."
A keening cry made them look up and Hedwig came swooping in. She was unbothered by the snow and the wind of course, her thick feathers providing perfect natural insulation. She hooted hello at them before inspecting her snowy likeness eagerly, fluffing up and looking happy at it.
"That's my Chick! Understands the epitome of beauty and grace! Such a wonderful depiction. Such talent."
"They're twins!" Luna smiled, seeing Hedwig sitting next to the snow sculpture.
Harry grinned when Hedwig danced around the sculpture before flying to him and sitting on his shoulder, fluffing up and yanking on his hair happily. "Thought you'd like it," he said proudly.
"I love it," she cooed happily.
-0-
"Watch out!" A shot from the girls' team was smacked aside by George and it careened towards the watchers. Luna ducked and Daphne flailed as she fell over, narrowly being missed by the errant missile. The snowball struck Harry a glancing blow, knocking him over and the explosion of snow splattered Hedwig too.
"HEY! You hit my Chick and splattered me with snow!"
"We can't have that," Luna said and Hedwig barked angrily in agreement. She took to the sky, holding a large snowball that Luna made for her. "Let's see how you like it!" She dove and released the ball at an angle like a dive bomber, and George fell over, hit cleanly in the head. The fight became a melee as the two teams dodged about with Hedwig joining the fray, being constantly supplied by Luna and Daphne.
"Mwa ha ha! Flee before me! I will teach you the meaning of aerial superiority!" Hedwig avoided thrown snowballs easily and her accuracy was incredible, almost always hitting her target.
After both teams capitulated to Hedwig, the fight was over and they warmed up with mulled mead and dinner was ready: a rich and thick bean and sausage soup, American biscuits, grilled fish, and spicy pickles.
"Note to self, next time pick Hedwig first," Fred said as he ate his soup.
Harry rubbed Hedwig's head as the owl gobbled her own bowl of soup hungrily. "She's a real MVO all right, most valuable owl."
"I am the Most Valuable," she agreed with a full beak. "More soup please and crumble an American biscuit into it please. Thank you, Chick."
"MVP works still," Luna said, "Most Valuable Potter owl."
"Oh right, isn't her full name Hedwig Jane Potter?" Katie smiled.
Hedwig nodded, fluffing up happily. "That's my name!"
Alicia smiled at that. "Okay, I can admit when I'm wrong, sometimes. This has been fun, but I still prefer fall camping or summer camping."
"That's fair, glad you came around to it though," Oliver said, kissing her cheek.
"Still can't believe we enjoy camping," Tracy smiled.
"It does depend on the company," Daphne smiled.
"At least you can have different treats for winter camping," Harry said. He ladled something out of another pot. "Like this."
"Oh my goodness what is this?" Angelina gasped, taking the cup and sipping it. "Alcoholic chocolate?!"
"It's red wine that I mixed with hot chocolate," Harry smiled.
"Oh this is dangerous," Hermione said, sipping appreciatively.
"Dangerously delicious," Luna said, licking her lips.
"Hey I want some of that too!"
-0-
Harry blinked slowly. At first he was terribly confused, seeing nothing but white, but he realized what it was and gently moved Hedwig on his face. He folded her wings and snuggled her close in his arms. "You really do like messing with Angelina, Dora, Colette, and the twins," he yawned before falling asleep once more.
Hedwig cheeped sleepily and nibbled on his fingers some before she fell back asleep too and the pair napped on in the warm afternoon.
-0-0-0-
odonnellzoo99 - I was pleasantly surprised at how nice Kreacher became and how fun he is. And funny. I remember moving to my first solo apartment for optometry school and it was a very sobering night. I moved states away for school and didn't know anyone and lived somewhere completely new. It was a bit scary. Luna is just that comfortable and adorable.
Ghostwriter - Yeah, I always liked Hermione having more friends, same with Luna, and it just feels nicer and cozier with everyone caring like that.
TheSphynx - That first time you move out on your own is such a big step.
poka - I hope you feel better and had a better day.