I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Hello everyone, hope all are doing well. I just wanted to say that I think a lot of you were waiting for the first scene to pop up and it was as satisfying to revisit and add to as I thought it would be when I first wrote it. Enjoy. Have a lovely week!
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Side Dishes
18 – Speaking With Words 7: The Fifth Year Part 2
As per tradition, takes place all over the timeline with the first instance starting at the 89th Course of Taste, Halloween of Harry's fifth year and the great arsoning.
Fawkes and Hedwig had joined them as they made their way through the castle, following them as they got onto the grounds. Dumbledore summoned a large amount of firewood next to a pile by the castle. He stacked them and started to wave his wand.
Harry gasped with delight seeing the wood shiver and shudder, changing shape and color. His delight became awe as he slowly recognized the shape the wood was turning into. "Is that Number 4?"
"As far as I can remember it," Dumbledore said. "I have a decent memory most of the time." He continued to wave his wand and soon a perfect miniature facsimile of the house and gardens was there on the ground, surrounded by tall stones. "What do you think?"
"That fence post is broken," Harry said, pointing at one. "Dudley broke it one year and blamed me and I got punished for it."
Dumbledore hissed under his breath and the post cracked under the weight of his ire. Regaining his composure, he picked up another log and once again transfigured it. It shook in his hand and slowly took the shape of a man with piercing eyes and neat hair, dressed in robes with a curious symbol over his breast. Without saying anything he put the figure in the middle of the house and stepped back.
"Fawkes?" Fawkes looked at Dumbledore eagerly. The man pointed at the model home. "Have fun."
"FUCKING FINALLY!"
Fawkes trilled, flying high into the air. His voice was like a trumpet, brassy and triumphant. He dove sharply and Harry fully expected to see the bird splat against the wood but instead of doing that, Fawkes seemed to dive into the wood and it burst into flame. Harry took a step back as the whole thing turned into a contained inferno, the fire roaring and rising high as it hungrily ate the wood. The phoenix jumped out of the fire and dove back in, like a dolphin in water, dipping and diving and jumping and cackling with glee.
"BURN! BURN BURN BURN! BURN TO ASHES! I hope you damn Dursleys can feel my ire! You too Grindelwald! Wherever you are!"
"Some cultures believe in burning the past," Dumbledore said conversationally, looking at the fire, "as a way to forget and move on."
"Fawkes looks and sounds really happy," Harry remarked. Fawkes continued to sing, his voice like a symphony of brass instruments, as he flapped his wings hard, fanning the flames to greater heights and intensity.
"MWAHAHAHAHAHA! FIRE GOOD!"
Hedwig had watched the phoenix set the wooden house to light with grim satisfaction, coupled with a vague longing to do it on a more real scale. She still remembered how the Dursleys had treated her and Harry. She still seethed over that and how much she wanted to enact a form of revenge one day.
She could still remember how empty and Harry was after that fateful day barely two years ago, the consequences of the dreadful lie. The lie that shook Harry's foundations in himself and all that he thought he knew. Then she got a flash of an idea and took to the air, flapping hard.
"I suppose he truly wished to burn down Number 4," Dumbledore mused. "I believe this to be the next best thing however." He noticed Hedwig flying off. "Is it too hot for her?"
Hedwig flew to Gryffindor tower and kicked the window to Harry's dormitory open. She landed in front of his bed and kicked the lid of his trunk open. She dove in, rooting about the things he stored there. "Where are they? I know he still has some. This will be good for him-ah ha! Found them!" She gathered the last of the things the Dursleys had begrudgingly given him and flew back to the fire.
"I don't think so," Harry frowned. "I've seen her sleep in front of the fire at Grimmauld." After a short time, he saw her flying back. She was carrying a bundle of things in her talons and he watched as she threw things one by one into the fire.
"Burn you worthless things!" she screeched, throwing the offending articles into the fire. "Burn away! Be forgotten forever!"
"Yes! Till nothing remains!" Fawkes sang, catching the clothing and dragging them into the heart of the raging fire.
"What is she burning?" Dumbledore asked.
"Those are my oldest things that the Dursleys gave me," Harry said quietly, recognizing the clothing. "I kept them at the very bottom of my trunk." He and Dumbledore watched as Hedwig took great glee in throwing those articles of clothing in and Fawkes would snatch them out of the air and shred them before immolating them to ash. "Should I be worried at how much they seem to be enjoying this?"
"Perhaps," Dumbledore smiled. "But we can let them have their fun too, I suppose." He let out a deep breath, feeling a weight slowly lift from his shoulders.
"You look a little better," Harry said with a small smile.
Dumbledore smiled too and rested a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I do feel better, thanks to you. I promised you that I will continue on to the best of my ability, and I hope to not fail your faith in me."
"I'll do the same," Harry said stoutly.
They stood together in the glow of the cleansing bonfire, watching the owl and the phoenix fly about and burning things until there was nothing left. The fire slowly died down but the coals and embers behind smoldered and burned, keeping the coming night's chill at bay.
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"Is there a single person in this damn place that isn't having a go at me?!" Aberforth shouted while the laughter increased.
"Hedwig isn't," Harry said, sending more food through the window. "She likes the bed you made for her." Hedwig cheeped and fluffed up in her bed that was in a small cubby that was cut alongside the window.
"It's a very nice bed. I will consider it your due repentance for being rude to Chick the first time we came here."
"I had to put one in," Aberforth said defensively. "Wasn't sanitary for her to sit everywhere."
"Awww, look at the grumpy crup all embarrassed for being nice to a pet," Ariana cooed. She shrieked when Aberforth kicked her in the rear as she walked past.
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Harry smiled when Hedwig swooped down, her bells tied to her legs and she danced energetically beside him on the table top, filling the air with silvery music. "I sent Hedwig to find you lot so you could get here first."
"Listen to me dance!" Hedwig hooted happily as she kicked up and down, the bells jingling merrily. "I am a delight to eye and ear! Beauty in sight and sound! Marvel and praise me!"
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"What's up Hedwig?" Harry asked, smiling as Hedwig waddled up to him and gently pecked his hand.
"Can you summon the Magical Me's please? I need their help with something," she hooted, looking up at him. She looked pointedly at his wand and patted her chest with her wing.
"You want me to cast the Patronus spell?" Harry shrugged when she nodded. "Sure. Expecto Patronum." A bright flash of light heralded the arrival of the three Patroni and they hooted lovingly at Harry and nuzzled him first before they turned to look at Hedwig.
"Magical Me's," Hedwig hooted with authority, nodding with approval when they lined up and stood at attention. "I need your help in pranking Chick's godfather. He needs to be humbled."
"This can't be good," Harry said as the owl and the Patroni bent low, heads together. They erupted into a storm of giggles and flapped off, flying out of the kitchen.
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"Hi Hedwig," Sirius said, looking up to see the owl flapping into his office. He took the envelopes from her. "Thank you." He smiled when she bobbed her head and fluttered off. Hedwig would occasionally deliver him mail as well, if she intercepted a message on delivery or it was convenient to get for whatever she was delivering for Harry at the time. She had been extra busy due to the season and her coming and going was not an uncommon sight. He watched her fly to the right after leaving his office which meant she would be going downstairs, so her work was most likely done.
After going through the envelopes, he rose from his desk and left his office too, going left. He read the newspaper as he walked, moving to the side to let Hedwig fly past. "Hi Hedwig," he said on reflex but paused and looked up when he realized what he said and what he saw. He turned to see the owl fly around the corner and scratched his head for a moment before continuing on his previous path.
Finished with the restroom, he opened the door and saw Hedwig standing on the ground, waiting patiently. "Hi Hedwig," he said and let her walk past him into the restroom. As he turned to look again, the door closed behind him and he looked at it dumbly for another moment before walking away. He then remembered something he left on the rooftop garden and walked up the stairs to it.
He opened the door and stood to the side, letting Hedwig flap past him. He acknowledged her hoot of thanks. "Hi…Hedwig?" He stared down the stairwell at the flying owl and was definitely confused at that point. Grabbing his pipe, he walked down the stairs and went to the kitchen.
"Hi Sirius," Harry greeted with a smile, looking up from a bubbling pot.
"Hi Harwig, I mean Harry. Uh. Dumb question. You only have one owl, right?"
"Yeah. I don't think Hedwig would tolerate sharing me with another owl," Harry said easily. "She doesn't share much."
"Huh. That's what I thought," Sirius mused, scratching his head.
"Ooh, Bad Master has obtained true status as Head of the Blacks," Kreacher said eagerly.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"He has gone mad." Kreacher tilted his head and grinned in an unsettling way. His eyes rolled independently of each other, turning around and around as he held a finger to his temple. Winky snorted and thwapped him with the towel she held while Harry laughed.
"He might not be wrong," Sirius said, crossing to a cupboard. "I swore I saw Hedwig multiple times in different places within moments of each other. It's as if she was in-" He opened the door to the cupboard and stopped when three sets of silver eyes and a set of amber eyes turned to look at him. "-in multiple places at once."
"SURPRISE!"
He shouted when the three Patroni and the snowy owl exploded out of the cupboard. They flew around him in circles, cackling with glee and he fell onto his rear with a loud thump. They landed and ran around him with their wings up and out, giggling mightily before they launched themselves into the air and flew to Harry. They landed on the counter and did a victory dance before the three Patroni faded with a wink and Hedwig settled on Harry's head, still giggling.
"Much like flying, being an owl, dancing, and everything else, I am the best at playing pranks. Marvel at me in awe."
"Right, the Patroni," Sirius laughed, shaking his head ruefully. "You know, normally you control the Patronus."
Harry's smile was from ear to ear. "I can direct them to fly somewhere but that's the limit of my control really."
"Pranked by an owl and a Patronus, that's pretty great," Sirius laughed. He climbed to his feet and nodded respectfully to the smug Hedwig. "Good show." He grabbed a large glass and filled it with water and sat at the counter. "Well, at least I'm not going mad."
"Yet," Hedwig hooted.
"Yet," Kreacher croaked as he walked past.
"Yet," Sirius agreed. "It might happen. Kreacher isn't wrong, it is family tradition."
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Harry pointed at various people. "Remus made a doghouse for Sirius and Sirius is doing the same back. Auntie Andi and Uncle Ted are making a house together. Grandfather is making a statue of himself and Grandmother is making a castle. Dora is making a small village because she's always wanted to pretend to be a dragon and eat a village."
"And Hedwig has a nest," Susan smiled.
Hedwig cheeped and fluffed up happily. She sat on a blanket that was tucked into a gingerbread nest that was built with logs of gingerbread and put together with white icing and decorated with green and red gummy candies.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Hedwig barked. "It smells nice, it's warm, and it tastes delicious. My Chick is the best chick ever!"
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"I should be surprised by this, but I'm not," Pansy remarked.
Snow fell heavily on Hogwarts and the surrounding countryside and more than a few students braved the cold to go out and enjoy the picturesque scenery. A snowball fight begun, started by the Weasley twins of course, and it slowly grew to include students from all the Houses. Those that were not currently fighting for their lives sat on the sidelines by fires in braziers that the house elves had brought out and lit for them.
Harry had played a little in the beginning and decided to sit out of the rest with a few other friends. Hedwig was unbothered by the cold and snow and came down to fly about and sit with Harry and the others. When a snowball thrown by either Fred or George had hit Harry in the head, Hedwig had been very offended and bombed the twins with snowballs made by Harry and the others.
"HEY!" Hedwig gasped, seeing Harry get nailed in the head by a snowball. She turned and glared at the laughing twins. "He stopped! Oh that's it. Time to teach you twidiots a lesson!" She grabbed a snowball and flapped into the air, diving at the apex of her climb and released the snowball with impeccable accuracy. It hit Fred in the face and managed to bounce off and hit George with the splatter.
That led to Hedwig joining the fray and she would helpfully hover over targets or gleefully bomb them with increasingly larger snowballs the others made for her: charmed to be lighter for her to carry and to stay together more easily while exploding messily on impact.
"She's having fun," Harry smiled. He waved his wand and their latest snowball-bomb levitated into the air and Hedwig snagged it as she flew past. She flapped hard, rising high into the air before diving steeply, her wings folded. At the last moment she extended her wings and veered off, releasing the ball with her talons. The ball-bomb flew on and impacted, knocking Cedric over and sending him flying into Fred. Others cheered at the sight and Hedwig flapped off, hooting in glee.
"Two for one! Take that!"
"She does make it look very entertaining," Daphne smiled. Hedwig flew evasively, dodging thrown snowballs and waggled her tail feathers condescendingly as she flew past.
"Missed me! Try again! Whoops! You couldn't hit the ground if you were standing on it and aimed down! Pathetic! I'll even stay still and-you still missed me! You're bad and you should feel bad!"
"What is that?" Padma gasped.
"If it works, it should unleash all the small snowballs and pepper them," Hermione said. She moved the large floating snowball around in mid-air, inspecting it from all angles. It looked lumpy, the large snowball made up of many small snowballs.
"Let's find out!" Harry sent it into the air and Hedwig grabbed it as she passed. They watched as she flew over the enemy snow fort and once more did a diving run. She released it and flapped off and just over head height, the snowball exploded outwards, peppering all the people underneath it in a hail of snowballs.
"I am the mighty Hedwig bomber! Queen of the air!"
"It's so satisfying when proof of concept is proven successful," Hermione said, smiling proudly. They chuckled, watching Ron and Millicent and Susan lead their team up the snow fort and throw out the ones who held it previously.
"Do you want more bombs?" Harry asked when Hedwig flapped to them.
"No thank you. I'm a bit tuckered out, truth be told." Hedwig shook her head and landed on Harry's arm. She waddled to his chest and pecked at his jumper. When Harry lifted it, she squirmed beneath and fluffed up comfortably, hooting softly. "Ahhhh, much better."
"It is getting colder," Padma shivered.
"To the Uncommon Room?" Harry suggested.
"Yes please," Daphne said with relief. They pushed their way through the snow and a few others joined them as they did. They finally got into the castle and with slightly chattering teeth and some shivering, made their way to the room and sighed with relief when the crackling fire within helped chase the chill away.
"How does some egg flower soup sound?" Harry said, putting his cloak up. "I can whip that up really fast."
"Sounds really good to me," Padma said happily. In a short time, they were tucking into a rich and silky broth that tasted of chicken, salt, pepper and ginger with ribbons of barely cooked egg threaded throughout the soup. Chopped scallion provided crunch and freshness, rounding the flavors out.
"I feel loads better," Lavender said, hands around the bowl. "That was fun but the cold really gets you."
"Tell me about it. I'm glad we learned the different warming charms and have the stones," Neville said.
"I'm glad our room here is super warm," Padma said.
"Inky and the others ensure it," Harry said gratefully. He set a second pot aside. "They're great." He refilled the bowls for Hedwig, Crookshanks, and Sunny before refilling his own.
"Mmm, you know, before Harry, I didn't care for hot food all that much," Crookshanks said, licking his chops. "But I'm a fan now. As long as he makes it of course."
"My Chick is the best," Hedwig hooted through a full beak.
"I'm glad we're magic and can eat human food. Can you imagine if we weren't and couldn't?" Sunny asked.
"No, that's too scary to think about," Hedwig said and the three of them shuddered.
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"Of course," Harry said. They hugged one more time and Harry left the library. As he walked, he thought a bit and went to the Uncommon Room. "Hi Hedwig."
Hedwig cheeped at him and fluttered to him, sitting on his shoulder and nuzzled him lovingly. "Hi Chick! I love you."
"Are you up for a couple of flights?" he asked.
"Uhm, always. What a silly question to ask!" She bonked her head against his, hooting sternly, making him laugh.
"Glad to hear it. You know the places too. Going to have you take a couple of messages and wait for a reply please." He wrote a few letters and helped her put on her harness. At her direction, he tied a pink ribbon bow around the harness and gave her a pre-flight snack. "Take your time," he said and watched her flap out the window. In an incredibly short time, she was already gone from sight. "She's getting faster and faster," Harry said admiringly.
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Durga looked up and smiled, seeing Hedwig swooping through the window. "Hello my pretty," the older woman said, holding an arm out.
"Hello!" Hedwig hopped daintily onto Durga's arm and cooed warmly at her. "I come with letter from Chick."
Durga put Hedwig on the roost they bought for her during the twins' first year when she became a regular visitor. She first poured water into a dish for Hedwig and filled a second dish with chicken before opening the letter Hedwig brought. "Oh that boy," Durga said fondly, reading the letter. "He takes care of those girls so well."
"Chick is the best and the sweetest," Hedwig said proudly, munching on the chicken. She watched with interest as Durga wrote out a few recipes and then went and got a bag and filled it with urad dal, small pale beans.
"This won't be too much, will it?" Durga asked, tucking the bag into Hedwig's harness pouch.
"Not at all," Hedwig hooted dismissively. "I can carry much bigger and heavier things. Though it would be annoying to have too much to fly back to the school. I still have to go to Gringotts."
"Such a good owl," Durga praised, petting Hedwig.
"I am!" Hedwig said, nodding emphatically.
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"Hello Hedwig," Diglin said, smiling as the owl flapped into Main One. They made it easier to Hedwig to come to the bank after Harry had started working there and in time, Hedwig could fly in from streetside and go straight to the kitchen herself without having to be escorted or given entrance.
"Hello Chef," Hedwig hooted, landing on her roost in the kitchen and offering Diglin the letter.
Diglin accepted it and started reading while Amythyst filled her water dish and gave her a steak to munch on. "Huh, that does sound good actually."
"What does?" Amythyst asked while Hedwig noisily enjoyed her steak.
"Harry wants to make pancake balls, aebleskivers. He just needs a specific pan for it and I have a couple here. The round one with the divots," he explained. "They make small pancake balls that you can dust with sugar and fill with jam and chocolate."
"Oh that does sound good," Amythyst agreed. "He comes up with some great ideas and suggestions."
"Yes he does!" Hedwig said, still chewing hungrily.
"Wants to make a bunch of different pancakes. I'll write him a goblin recipe." Diglin found some paper and a charcoal pencil and wrote swiftly, checking it and rolling it up. "Do you still have messages to send?" he asked. He turned to Amythyst when Hedwig nodded. "Take the pan and the recipe to Harry through Filius' Floo, please."
"Sure, I'll do it right now," Amythyst said.
"Thank you!" Hedwig cheeped to them.
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Lin opened the window and smiled as Hedwig hopped in. "Hello Hedwig, how are you?" she asked.
"I'm well, thank you for asking," Hedwig hooted warmly back. She offered Lin a letter and sipped daintily from her water dish that Lin filled for her.
"Harry's such a good soul and a kind heart," Lin smiled after reading the letter. Her smile grew at Hedwig's obvious pleasure and pride, fluffing up and nodding in agreement. "Normally this might be a bit tricky for people to make but I have faith in him. Especially since he can make dumpling wrappers already."
Lin wrote out the recipe for cong you bing and put it into Hedwig's harness. Then, struck by inspiration, the woman cooked up two pieces that she had in the ice box and wrapped one up and put in the harness pouch too. "There! So he can have a reference and this is for you to eat and you can tell him how it is when it's fresh."
"Thank you! Oh this is tasty! Crunchy and savory and oily in the right way," Hedwig said as she enthusiastically gobbled the scallion pancake. "Chick will make this perfectly and I'll help!" After finishing her snack, she nuzzled Lin and flapped off, disappearing into the sky in mere moments.
Lin waved as she left and went about her day, smiling for the rest of it.
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They broke into different groups based on what they wanted to eat more of. Parvati and Padma helped the others make the dosa and uttapam while Sue took over the cong you bing. The goblin jeon style pancakes were easy to for others to handle and there was plenty of batter for the aebleskivers and the American pancakes. Laughter filled the air as people cooked and ate and chatted, trading the different finished products about and commiserating at not so perfect ones while appreciating and praising the ones that turned out well.
"I'm glad the animals are partly magical too," Hermione said. "I'm pretty sure regular cats can't have pancakes and onions and syrup and things. Also pretty sure owls shouldn't either."
Hedwig, Sunny, and Crookshanks had done justice to their own fair share of the many different pancakes too. Crookshanks was sprawled out in his bed, having eaten himself comatose. Sunny was nibbling on one last aebleskiver and Hedwig munched happily on a crisp cong you bing.
"That would be really unfortunate," Harry smiled, rubbing Hedwig's head.
"That's what we were saying!" Hedwig said, nuzzling his hand back.
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"Aww, poor petlings," Millicent said. She saw Hedwig, Crookshanks, and Sunny clustered on the cabinet in the far corner, staring at the bottle of sauce warily.
"Are they insane?" Crookshanks asked, tail twitching. "That does not smell normal. Seriously. My eyes and nose are burning from this far away."
"Humans are weird and stupid sometimes," Sunny snorted.
"I like spicy but I don't want to melt my tongue and beak off," Hedwig muttered, shaking her head.
"They show more sense in this case," Pansy snorted.
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"You look a bit nervous."
Harry smiled nervously into the mirror. "I'm a bit nervous," he confessed.
"What for?" the mirror asked. "You look very nice."
"I'm going on a date and I really want it to work out," Harry said. He tugged on the collar of his shirt, finding it suddenly constricting and tight.
"Well good for you! Remember the last time you went on a date?"
"Chin up, be a gentleman, smile, pretend to have fun, and actually have fun," Harry said, smiling fondly at the memory.
"There you go! You've grown a bit since last and you're just as handsome if not a bit more."
"Thank you. I just…really want it to be a good date," Harry said. "I really like her."
"I'm sure she's a lovely lass and you will do splendidly," the mirror said encouragingly. "Go get her!"
With a grateful nod, Harry turned back to his bed. "Well? Care to give a second opinion?"
Hedwig looked him up and down critically before nodding. She hooted softly. "Despite my best efforts all these years, your hair refuses to obey the laws of physics or magic, so we won't worry about that. Otherwise, you look good! Such a big handsome Chick. Also about time you and Lavender finally admitted your feelings and are doing something about it. Bless my feathers but you two are thick."
"Thanks. Oh crap, I didn't get her something. I should be doing that right? I've ruined it before it even started!"
Hedwig rolled her eyes at him and sighed loudly. "What am I going to do with you?!" She fluttered to the dorm room window and kicked it open and launched herself into open space. She swooped down to the grounds and ducked into one of the greenhouses. She looked at the flowerbeds and pots with a critical eye and then deftly plucked a blossom out and flew back to the tower.
"Hedwig! You're abandoning me now?!" Harry cried after her. He looked blankly at the open window and was about to panic further before Hedwig returned. The owl flapped through the window with a flower in her beak and she landed on his head and dropped the flower daintily. He caught it and looked at the simple but pretty light purple flower. It was vaguely belle shaped with six petals that flared out some.
"A harebell?" Harry asked. "Just give her this?"
Hedwig nodded and yanked his hair around some before she landed beside him. She hooted at him, bobbing her head. "Yes, give the pretty girl a pretty flower, Chick. Goodness me. Okay, this will do. Now be a gentleman and have fun! And you be sure to tell her how lucky she is!"
"Okay, thanks Hedwig," he said. With a deep breath he left the dorm room and walked down the stairs.
"Hi Harry!" Lavender greeted. She was smiling brightly, beaming at him.
He smiled back. "Hi Lavender!" He dumbly held the flower out to her. "I got this for you, well had some help actually but it's for you."
"It's so pretty! Thank you!" She tucked the flower behind her ear. "Shall we?"
Harry silently promised to make Hedwig a very large piece of slab bacon as he felt Lavender take his arm and they left the common room together. They made their way out of the castle and down the path to Hogsmeade. Spring was there and the weather was warming, so they decided to walk to enjoy the sunshine.
-0-
"This is different," Daphne remarked.
The Uncommon Room had lived up to its name relatively early on, being the place where the friends liked to meet and relax outside of their House common rooms. As the O.W.L.s got closer, they used it as a place for studying as well. Quieting and deafening charms allowed those that wanted utter quiet to study close-by while others who did better with group study took full advantage of the space and proximity.
Even Hermione had to admit that the Uncommon Room had advantages that the library lacked. First, snacking was not only permissible in the Uncommon Room, but encouraged if not nearly mandatory. Second, the clothing requirements were more relaxed as well. Some, like Pansy and Daphne and Sue, were a little slow to embrace the casual/pajama attire the others embraced easily, but they eventually did to some degree. Third, and not least of all, it was nice to be able to take a short break and indulge in some conversation or something else before getting back into the studying.
Not to mention, there were always moments of delightful absurdity to enjoy.
"What makes you say that?" Harry asked, looking up from the pot on the stove.
"Normally, your head is the one she is sitting on," Daphne said. She looked over at Hedwig plumped up on Parvati's head. "Is Parvati's brain boiling, thus making her head more comfortable for Hedwig to sit on?"
"My head is as hot as your arse is cold, princess," Parvati said loudly, making the others snort and snicker and Daphne growl. "Ow! Hey!" Parvati yelped, looking up at Hedwig who pecked her and was shaking her head slowly. "Come on, that was funny."
"I mean it was a little, but be nice. This is a stressful time for everyone," Hedwig hooted sternly.
Harry grinned. "No, so apparently, I was doing really well on practice tests and after some deliberation, people thought that the reason why was Hedwig sitting on my head and blessing me. Owls are symbols of wisdom after all."
"Of course, that is the only reason you could be performing well," Daphne said with an arched look. "Not the fact that you study and work hard and are intelligent."
"Every little helps, I'm not discounting the fact that Hedwig's presence helps," Harry smiled. "So now, every so often, Hedwig will look at people's work and then sit on someone's head. She's sat on Parvati's head every other time now and I honestly don't know if it's because she actually needs the help or if Hedwig is messing with her a little. She's been doing fine on practice tests. Parvati, not Hedwig. Hedwig doesn't believe in tests."
"Tests are silly!"
Padma giggled. "Parvati is a hot head though, always has been."
"Hedwig does hate having a cold arse," Harry said with sincere seriousness. "So that could be the reason too."
"You don't like having one either! Don't pretend that's an unreasonable like!"
"I highly approve that your owl is waging psychological warfare on her," Daphne sniffed. "That is a very strange sentence to say and to mean."
"She does have a healthy sense of humor," Harry chuckled.
"What are you making? It smells lovely," Daphne asked, looking into the pot.
"Goan fish curry, it's an Indian dish," Harry said. He stirred the deep red curry in the pot and the air smelled of all kinds of spices. "Fish is brain food so this should help. It's spicy and savory and just a hint of sourness from something called tamarind. It's a fruit from Asia."
"Sounds delightful," Daphne smiled. "And these look incredibly soft."
"Naan," Padma said eagerly. "The roti we've made is unleavened while these have yeast in them and sat for a bit. So they're going to be a lot softer than roti. We have rice on the go too but a nice bit of soft naan to dip in your curry is very nice." She flipped the naan in the cast iron skillet, watching it puff up. "A bit of butter and they're amazing as is."
The curry was spicy and tangy, delicious with the fragrant basmati rice and the soft and buttery naan. Everyone ate hungrily, enjoying the new dish as well as a reprieve from the studying. After eating, they went back to studying with renewed energy if not vigor.
"Wait, what?" Daphne looked shocked when Hedwig settled on her head. "What did I get wrong on the practice test?!"
"Oh don't worry, she's doing comparisons for her nest," Harry said, seeing Hedwig's calculating expression.
"I do like blonde and yellow things," Hedwig mused. "A nice soft yellow nest would be good for the summer. Like sunflowers and golden-eye daisies."
"She sometimes likes to change the look of her nest so she's seeing how she looks in different color hair." Harry clucked at her. "Don't mess with people like that, Hedwig."
"Oh if that is her goal then I need not worry and she can take her time," Daphne said, feeling better. She turned thoughtful. "There was a time that I would find the idea of an owl sitting on my head to be very distasteful. But Hedwig feels very comfortable. Like a warm hat."
"Until she rearranges your hair to suit her," Harry smiled. He snorted when she fluttered over to demonstrate, plumping down and wiggling comfortably while yanking his hair about with her beak. "Like so."
"Yeah but your hair is already like a nest," Millicent teased. "She doesn't have to work hard to get it how she likes it. Or maybe harder. I can't tell."
"My nests are much more organized," Hedwig sighed. "Chick's hair is part of his charm though."
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odonellzoo99 - I always like a positive and close relationship between Andromeda and Harry.
alix33 - I like catfish. It has a very strong and distinct taste though.
Lucy Elizabeth Dawson - A good fried catfish dish is very satisfying. Much like Hedwig always being satisfying.
Wentley - Probably a nice thin gravy that suits fish well.
TheSphynx - Same. She will be greatly missed.
Hands Off MY Wolfie - Hedwig has the ability to easily not be bored whenever she finds herself being bored. Thanks for reading.
Shroudy9 - I hope your days are going well too.
poka - Thank you. She's so satisfying to write for and I'm glad to keep improving my banter and dialogue.
HoneyBear84 - Thank you.