It was a restless, worried Daphne that entered the great hall that morning. She walked over to the far side of the Slytherin table, where the first years of her new house usually sat. It was now Tuesday of her second week at Hogwarts and things had mostly been great. She had been so eager in starting the lessons in magic and studied loads in advance. As such the classes had gone well and she had been able to earn some points for her house in various classes by answering questions correctly. Also finally practicing some charms and spells had been very fun, although she had wished that she would have been able to cast some of them faster, she had been average amongst her classmates, but she supposed practice would help her.
She slid on the bench, next to her new friend, Tracey Davis. She was happy she had found a friend like her so soon, they had had a lot of good times already in their first week together here. Like when she introduced Tracey to pumpkin juice, which she did not know since her family usually drank muggle drinks. When the girl took her first sip, she had found it so disgusting that she had accidentally sprayed the juice from her mouth all over the table. She later stated that "Surely this drink must be the work of some dark wizard". Befriending Tracey also fit in well with the conversation which she had with her father before she left.
Her father had called her in his study, a place where she and her sister were normally not allowed to enter. He sat behind his large, well organized mahony desk and asked her to stand before him. He had said, "Daphne, going to Hogwarts is also your first step in your wizarding career. While, first and foremost, I want you to study hard and have a good time when you are at this school, I also want to ask you to maintain a reputation that will help you and our family for the rest of your life. As I have explained before to you, we try to maintain a neutral position on the wizarding world, which helps greatly in our business efforts. However, neutral does not mean that we are disconnected from the world. In fact, it is important to maintain good connections within the complete society. The wizards and witches which I have acquainted myself with during my years at Hogwarts are still some of my most important business and political contacts today. You do not have to make friends with everybody, but please be respectful towards your fellow schoolmates and try to avoid conflicts. We have raised you well and I know you can do this."
It was the most serious conversation her father had ever had with the eleven year old Daphne, it had been quite intimidating. Still, she had gathered her courage and asked a question: "Father, how will I address unpleasant situations or indecent proposals? Like for example when me and Astoria had the incident with Draco and Gregory a few weeks ago?".
Her father had answered: "A good question Daphne, I am happy that we can discuss this. For a young, beautiful girl like yourself, such situations can be expected. Avoiding a conflict does not mean that you should avoid it all costs. Be firm but measured in your response and try not to escalate the situation so that reconciliation at a later point is possible. Observe other people and adjust your reaction accordingly. For example, in the case of the Malfoy boy, know that he is a very proud boy that will be triggered by anything that damages his ego, avoid putting him in a situation where he is humiliated, especially in front of others. When you run into problems with him, better talk to him privately and explain clearly that he crossed a line and that this is not acceptable. As a start, it would be better not to mention the crow incident at school to him or others. The Malfoy family is an important player in our society, we should keep good relations with them, while at the same time keeping some distance, since their political ideas can be quite extreme."
This is why she was so happy that she had found a friend in Tracey. As a half-blood Slytherin, she would be a person that was acceptable to people from the four houses, it would be possible to maintain good relations. Tracey poked her with her elbow and asked her "You are thinking deeply, what has you looking so worried this morning?"
Well, what worried her was the same thing that had been bothering her all week. "It is dread, my familiar. At least I thought he was my familiar. I guess I was mistaken, apparently our bond was not strong enough." She took some bread on her plate, added some cheese and started eating. "He was supposed to fly over here from home when I left for Hogwarts."
It was at this point the morning post started to arrive. A large brown owl started dropping off copies of the daily prophet to various older years at her table that had a description. A small tawny owl delivered a letter to Tracey that seemed to be from her mom. That's when Daphne heard some flapping besides her an a small weight landed on her right shoulder. "Ca-caw" the bird shrieked and Daphne exclaimed "Dread!". Relieved she stroked the bird's head, "I am so happy you are here!".
As a reply Harry nibbled the ear of Daphne for a moment, also he was quite hungry and was eying the bacon on Tracey's plate. When Daphne asked her friend if it was ok, she gave some to him and he swallowed it eagerly. It had been a long voyage north, which he did not undertake immediately. At first he had visited a few different locations, a small park with a playground in a city, a vegetable farm with lots of mice, a small pond which reminded him of the Greengrass garden,… But every time a feeling of restlessness had settled over him quickly. He had felt a pull northwards, until he finally decided that maybe he could follow the girl to this school she had been talking about.
He had taken off and started flying for hours, he was helped by some south-westerly wind. When he had started sensing he was coming closer to his target, he had seen a large castle on the horizon with a great forest and a dark lake next to it. When he approached he saw a large flock of owls going in the same direction. They were approaching an entrance to the castle that seemed to be particularly made for them, it had several small doors that opened when a bird approached so it could fly inside. The restless feeling, which had pulled him all the way up north, had told him to follow these owls inside. When the door opened, he was allowed entrance in a great hall where he had seen lots of uniformed students eating. Flying around the hall he finally spotted Daphne and knew that this was where he was supposed to be.
He now enjoyed his bacon and the caresses of Daphne and Tracey who had joined Daphne in stroking him. They did catch some attention from some of the other students at the table and people from other tables also started glancing, a crow was not an animal that normally entered the great hall. "What a beautiful bird Daphne, I can understand you were so worried that you lost him." Tracey said. "Thanks Tracey" Daphne replied "I cannot wait to show him the perch I put in my chamber, it also has…" She was interrupted by two identical looking red headed boys that jumped up from a large table at the other side of the great hall. "What is that? Is that your animal?" one of them yelled, pointing at Daphne and the crow on her shoulder. "Mister Weasley, can you please quite down and sit at your table? Even for your record it is quite early to start stirring up problems." Professor McGonnagal told the boy sternly. The two boys slowly sat down, but they kept staring at Daphne and Dread.
"What is up with them?" Tracey asked. "I don't know" Daphne replied, "Gryffindors are always so loud. I bet they are just jealous. Let's finish our breakfast and start preparing for classes. We have our first flying lesson today." Happily the girls left the great hall for their dorm, Daphne carrying around the bird with her on her shoulder, ready to start the day.