I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters. Or the song, 'Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'. Or The Princess Bride.
Hello everyone, hope all are doing well. I have a bit of news for all of you that I'd like to share.
For you long time followers, you know that I go out of town for a week or so a few times a year, and the week of Thanksgiving will be one of those weeks. I will be gone for the majority of the week and while it's sometimes possible to post, I typically don't. So next week starting Monday, I will be posting extra to make up for not posting the following. That way y'all will have a little extra to read and to tide you over some.
I also decided that I will attempt to do a fanfic advent calendar for all of you. I want to show my appreciation for all of you and I think I might be able to post everyday for a couple weeks up to Christmas. I might be able to do it from the beginning of December possibly. I have a large bank of chapters for Side Dishes, some Extended Family, a good chunk of Reddit responses that I haven't posted yet, a one-shot, and something special.
Funny story, I was about ten chapters deep in my next project after Harry Potter and the Stone's Heart at the end of last week and felt with December coming and Christmas, and with the given state of the real world right now, I wanted to try and write something more topical and seasonal. I also saw a post on Reddit where someone was looking for cozy Christmas fics, and decided to try and write something up with that in mind. I am three chapters done as of today and think I might be able to finish it before December starts. So I will include that in the advent calendar challenge. Between all of that, I think I can post that much and not destroy my banks before the new year.
We will see though, of course, but I'm attempting it and will do my best.
Thank you all for your time and attention. Your kind words mean the world to me. All my best to you.
P.S. Also, one of my very favorite things I have ever written from a Hedwig viewpoint is in this chapter and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It made me so very happy to think it and write it and it fits her perfectly.
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Side Dishes
31st Course – Speaking With Words 11: The Sixth Year Part 3
As per tradition, takes place all over the timeline with the first instance starting at the 125th Course of Taste, when Harry gets sick with the flu.
One of Harry's favorite parts of the day at Hogwarts was breakfast time. Not just for the food and seeing his friends, but he always loved seeing the owls come into the Great Hall. At first there would be the general sounds of people walking about and chatting and then there was an explosion of movement and owls would come flying down from the ceiling, looking for the receivers of their post. Normally when owls fly during hunting, their feathers help reduce the sound of the wings flapping to help sneak up on prey.
When delivering post however, the owls did not care as much about flying or moving silently so there was a lot of hooting and barking and flapping as the owls exchanged words with each other before landing before their intended recipient. Then they would either wait for a reply or visit their owners for some time before flapping away.
For the first few years, Harry did not have anyone to write to. But Hedwig still showed up to visit with him and she would stay there until he left for classes. Eventually she was a little busier doing deliveries and exchanges for Lavender, then Parvati and Hermione, but unless she was actively out on delivery, she always came to be with Harry and his friends. Now she was a lot busier with regular correspondence with Sirius and the Tonkses, and before she regularly flew to France for the Flamels, but she almost always did those during the day to ensure she had time to visit with Harry and the others at breakfast as well as eat together.
When they got the Uncommon Room, they saw each other much more often. Many times, she would sleep there in privacy and comfort save for the times she needed owl socialization and would go to the Owlery to see her fellow owls. Otherwise she preferred the Uncommon Room due to its comfort, access to food, and to be with Harry and the others.
"Oh what a beautiful owl,
Oh what beautiful grace,
Praise my beautiful beauty,
Or get a beautiful owl to the face!"
This morning she came swooping in, gracefully dodging other owls while singing and extended her wings to slow her descent. She landed daintily in front of Harry, not a feather out of place and not disturbing a single thing on the table, not even the napkins. She executed a pirouette as she landed and puffed her chest out, striking a pose.
"Consider ye blessed, Chick and ye others. I look especially beautiful today and have decided to share my beauty with all of you. Chick first of course. Hi Chick! I loooooove yoooooou!"
"Very beautiful," Harry praised, clapping his hands. He smiled when she nuzzled him and bit his nose gently for good measure before she thrust her chest out again, giving him easy access to the pouch on her harness. "Hmm, what's this?" He pulled out a tube that had a letter attached to it. He opened the letter first and began to read. "Oh no," he groaned.
"Is something wrong?" Lavender asked worriedly, seeing his pained expression. "Did something happen?"
"You can say that," Harry said with a bright red face and gave her the letter.
She began reading with the others looking on with worried interest. The worry went away when Lavender started giggling mightily and the interest increased in degrees of magnitude. "Wow, she writes like she talks," Lavender said, still giggling.
-0-
"There you are!"
Hedwig kicked the window to the Infirmary open and kicked it shut behind her without even landing, minimizing the amount of freezing cold wind coming in. She landed on the sill and shook herself, shaking all the snow and things off before fluttering to Harry.
"Hi girl," Harry said weakly but his smile was full of warmth and relief.
Hedwig landed on the bed and walked up and down it, giving Harry's body a critical look. "You got sick," she huffed. "That's the problem with you lot. No feathers to keep you safe and warm. Darn it all. I had so many trips to make and I couldn't keep you warm. Oh well, no point in fretting over lost feathers. I'm here now and won't go anywhere until you're better again."
Harry sighed softly as Hedwig preened his hair gently and affectionately. "I'm glad you're here," he said sleepily.
"I'm not going anywhere," she hooted lovingly. "Not until you're healthy and strong like me again. Don't worry Chick. You'll get better soon."
-0-
"Did you receive a message or something?" Pomfrey asked as she walked over to the bed.
Harry shook his head. "No, why?" he coughed.
"I was wondering what your owl was doing here then," Pomfrey replied, narrowing her eyes at Hedwig who returned the gesture tenfold. The snowy owl had appeared not long after Harry had lain in bed, kicking one of the infirmary windows open easily before kicking it shut once more. She was now sitting on the bed beside Harry, fluffed up while glaring back at Pomfrey.
"I'm here because my Chick is here. What are you doing here then hmm?" she barked. "Rhetorical question. I know you're the Matron and healer but I said it in response to your frankly stupid question and to cast aspersions on your abilities."
"Keeping me company," Harry said. "She's the best."
"I am and as said best, I'm the best at comforting and caring for Chick therefore, with your efforts combined with mine, he will get better faster and sooner and even more better."
"I know you have watched over him in the past but those were more extreme circumstances. He's just sick and will recover fine," Pomfrey said.
Hedwig tilted her head in the body language equivalent of, "And?".
"And?" she barked in the owl verbal language equivalent of, "And?".
"I could force you to leave," Pomfrey warned.
Hedwig puffed up and narrowed her eyes more in the body language equivalent of, "I'd like to see you try".
"I'd like to see you try," she hooted in the owl verbal language equivalent of, "I'd like to see you try".
"She won't bother you," Harry coughed. "And no one else is here. Please, Madam Pomfrey?"
"Very well," Pomfrey sighed. She shook a finger at Hedwig who ignored her utterly and walked away. She smiled softly when she looked back and saw Hedwig pulling up the covers a little more around Harry and settled down comfortably beside him, hooting softly.
"For someone so good at healing, she's a bit dim when it comes to other things isn't she? Ah well, not everyone can be the best at many things like me. You rest easy Chick. That's a good chick."
-0-
Hedwig turned her head and watched with interest at one of the cabinets full of medical things. To most people, there was no sound coming from it but the owl could hear something shifting in the back. It sounded like wood scraping against stone and then the rattling of glass jars and things. Finally, the door of the cabinet opened and Sunny slid out from within. She daintily kicked the cabinet door closed and minced over, weaving her way past the curtains and hopping onto the bed.
"Hi Hedwig," Sunny greeted before looking down at a slumbering Harry. "Millie said he was sick so I came over. How is he?"
"Hi Sunny. Sick as you see and have heard, but on the mend, thankfully," Hedwig said gratefully. "The flu so says Pomfrey."
"Flu isn't fun," Sunny said sympathetically. "Millie had a touch of it a few years ago." She curled up on Harry's chest and purred softly.
"I didn't know there was a tunnel here into the Infirmary," Hedwig remarked.
"I didn't either! Most of the time I go into the tunnels and think about where I want to go and just end up there after some exploring. Some paths are faster than others, but others appear when I knew they weren't there before."
"Ah. Must be the Stone Nest's thing."
"Makes sense to me," Sunny nodded.
-0-
"Right then. Temperature check and let's have you drink some more water and…really?" Pomfrey moved the curtain aside and looked down and frowned again. "How did you get in here?"
Sunny looked up at Pomfrey and shrugged nonchalantly. She was curled on Harry's chest and looked up at the matron coolly. "Through a secret tunnel."
"I don't know," Harry said weakly when Pomfrey looked at him. "I woke up and there she was. I don't mind it though, she's very warm."
"And who does she belong to?"
"Millie, I mean Millicent. Her name is Sunny."
"And I suppose you're going to be staying here for the duration as well?" Pomfrey asked. She sighed when Sunny nodded. ("What do you think?") "And I suppose nothing I say or potentially do will change that?" She sighed more deeply when Sunny nodded again. ("What do you think?") "Well, I suppose I can allow it if you behave. Now let him sit up please."
She took his temperature with a charm and had him drink from a glass. "Things are progressing as they should. If you behave as well, then you should be out shortly."
"Sounds good," Harry said, lying back down. He shifted a little when Sunny retook her spot on his chest and Hedwig fluffed up beside his face. "Madam Pomfrey? Thank you for taking care of me."
Something in his voice made her pause and she looked back at him questioningly. "Well of course. Not only is it my duty, but I do happen to like you. Did you think I'd do otherwise?"
"No, but I still appreciate it," he said as he dozed off.
She looked at him for a moment longer before walking away slowly, lost in thought.
Sunny looked at Hedwig. "Why did he say that?" She blinked at Hedwig's growl.
"His previous caretakers, I won't call family, didn't treat him well at all. I always thought they were terrible after I came to be with him but there were signs they were even worse before I came. I wouldn't have tolerated it!"
"What?!" Sunny looked appalled. "Harry's the best person! Why would anyone not treat him well?! If they weren't a massive idiot like Lizard-Tongue?!"
"Lizard-Tongue?" Hedwig asked, confused.
"That boy that's not here anymore. Drac-something. The Malfoy."
"Oh him." Hedwig snorted. "Good name. But yes, it doesn't make sense to me either! That's why I was chosen to be his owl and I chose that he is my Chick. To give him all the extra love he deserves."
Sunny purred louder and more comfortingly. "Agreed. He deserves all of it."
-0-
"How is he?" Lavender asked.
"He is fine, recovering well," Pomfrey said. She quirked an eyebrow at the quartet of girls. "Are any of you feeling any symptoms?" She smiled when they shook their heads. "That's good. Then what are you doing here?"
"We made him some soup and was hoping he could have some," Padma said.
"That's very good of you," Pomfrey said approvingly. "Go ahead."
"Aww," Parvati said when they reached his bedside. "You got some nurses with you."
"Oh I want one of those little nurse hats," Sunny said. "That's a good idea."
"We can ask Lavender to make them for us later," Hedwig nodded. "Or get Chick to."
"I don't want to wear one," Crookshanks said sleepily. "Clothes and things are annoying."
"So are you but we still like you for some reason," Hedwig said and Sunny giggled while Crookshanks looked at her flatly.
Harry coughed and smiled weakly. "Wasn't expecting it but not complaining at all, well, not about them at least." He shifted a little and Sunny and Crookshanks moved off his body while Hedwig remained where she was beside his pillow. "Thanks for visiting. Did I miss anything important in class?"
"Not really," Sue said. "But we'll share notes of course when you get better."
"We made you some soup," Lavender said, opening the container they brought. "Unfortunately it's not as good as your chicken soups but we tried our best."
"It smells wonderful," Harry said with the biggest smile he had all day.
"Don't lie," Parvati grinned. "You sound stuffy. You probably can't smell anything right now."
"I can smell a little," he protested. "Would you all like to eat it with me? I miss eating with you." He smiled again when they divided the soup into bowls and they sat beside him and they ate together. "It's really good," he said, eating slowly.
"Yeah, we did a good job," Parvati said.
"Are you feeling any better?" Sue asked.
"A little. Still tired and coughing, but better," he replied. Eventually he finished the soup and Parvati, Padma, and Sue left, saying they would visit tomorrow.
Lavender fluffed up his pillow some and smiled when Sunny and Crookshanks resumed their places. "Such good petlings," she praised and the kneazles and the owl fluffed up at the praise. "I'm not surprised they came."
"We are the best petlings," Hedwig hooted smugly while the other two nodded.
"I am a little," Harry said with a small smile. ("You shouldn't be!" the trio said indignantly.) "Madam Pomfrey was more so. She tried to shoo Hedwig away, then just sighed at Sunny, but then barely said anything when she found Crookshanks."
"Success through persistence," Hedwig barked.
"Probably better that way," Lavender giggled.
"Thank you for coming and for making the soup," he said, looking up at her.
"Of course. I am your girlfriend after all," she said. "But even if I wasn't, I'd still worry and care." She happily took his hand when he offered it, holding it between her own. "Did you think I wouldn't?" she teased.
"No," he said. "I'm just happy you did."
She thought for a moment before her hands tightened on his and she frowned. "Oh. I see now." She throttled her rising anger and she looked down at him lovingly. "Harry, if you haven't figured it out by now, you're going to have to tell me to give you space because I'm going to naturally be in it."
"I don't think I ever will," Harry smiled. He yawned. "I like it when you're there. You make me feel warm and safe."
"I like being there too," she said with genuine affection. She held his hand until he fell asleep and was there for some time after, feeling content at seeing him sleep peacefully.
"Aww, they're sweet together," Crookshanks purred.
"They really are," Sunny smiled.
"My perfect idiots," Hedwig sighed lovingly.
-0-
"That's a crab," Blaise said.
Indeed it was. A very large crab sat on the tray. The outer shell was bright red, indicative of a cooked crab. It sat there with legs curled and two front claws held tight. The shell gleamed in the light and if it were not so obviously cooked, it looked like it was about to scuttle about and wave its claws in a threateningly crabby way.
"It's a crabcake," Harry smiled, making everyone groan.
"Is there crab meat in it?" Ron asked. "'Cause that'd be a little weird."
"No crab meat in it. It's a regular cake," Harry said.
"That looks like a crab." Parvati poked it gently with a palette knife. "Why?"
"I thought it would be cute and fun," Harry said, looking slightly crestfallen.
"It is cute," Parvati said, poking it again. "I just don't get it. I thought you do magic fooding when there's a reason."
"Oh well, it also does this," Harry said, tapping it with his wand. Parvati shrieked with alarm when she went to poke it a third time, the crabcake came to life. It grabbed the palette knife with a claw and tugged hard on it, making her lose her grip on it. It held it and waved it belligerently and began scuttling back and forth on the table making the others jump and yelp.
"Is it a real crab or is it acting like one?" Hermione asked as it moved around the table, clicking and clacking its free claw while waving the knife.
"Acting like one. It's a regular cake but there's a variation of the Animus Charm and it can act like an animal. The simpler the animal, the better."
"That's amazing," Lavender gasped. She howled with laughter as the crabcake chased Parvati around the table and Parvati ended up hiding behind Padma who was laughing just as hard.
"Apparently it was really popular for feasts for a time," Harry said. "Then it stopped being as popular."
"Probably something like a herd of cake animals got loose and caused a bit of damage," Sue smiled. "There's a story in Chinese history of how a cake that looked like a dragon basically ruined a palace and flew off."
"Cake Crab! I see you so armed and I challenge you to a duel! Have at thee!"
Hedwig swooped in and she barked a challenge, holding a cake knife in one talon. She fluttered in air and saluted with it, looking down at the crabcake. The crabcake burbled a reply and waved claw and knife before scuttling forward to meet the challenge. Owl and confection dueled around the tabletop, the palette knife and cake knife clanging off each other in a flurry of jabs, parries, and ripostes.
"Hi yah! Take that! I am Hedwig Pottertoya! You are my treats. Prepare to die!"
"What is going on?" Blaise asked, looking like a person that did not believe what they were seeing.
"Dessert and a show," Luna said happily as she clapped her hands. "Go Hedwig!"
The duel ended in fantastic fashion when Hedwig literally disarmed her opponent. Her blade cut through the joint of the claw holding the knife and it flew to the side. She flew up and then brought the knife down, neatly spearing the crabcake through the upper shell right between the eyes. The crabcake gurgled briefly before going limp and Hedwig sat on the handle of the cake knife and hooted victory to riotous applause.
"I win! I am the best at fencing and dueling!"
"I'm assuming you didn't know that would happen," Pansy smiled.
Harry grinned. "No, but I'm not complaining." He picked up the cut off crabcake claw and took the knife out and offered it to Hedwig when she hopped to his shoulder. "To the victor goes first spoils." His smile grew as she noisily enjoyed the claw of cake, munching on it happily and wiggling from delight. He then sliced the rest of the cake into pieces and everyone had some.
"Yum yum yum! Such tasty cake! My chick is so good at baking and cooking. Mmmmm, delicious! And all the better that I defeated it before consuming it. Victory is sweet!"
"I was really expecting it to taste crabby but it doesn't, so weird!" Millicent laughed.
"I feel a little crabby, does that count?" Astoria asked.
"No, that is your default condition," Daphne said, smiling at Astoria's frown.
"Now I kinda want to see other cake animals," Parvati said as she ate hungrily. "Imagine one of those big pegasi from Beauxbatons."
"Oh I'd feel bad eating one of those," Lavender said. "There's cute and then there's really cute."
"Oh now I have an idea to mess with my family," Sue smiled. "We do whole steamed fish a lot for big meals and I'd love to present a cake fish and watch them be super confused. Teach me?"
"Sure, as long as you don't tell them it was my idea," Harry laughed.
"No way, I'm taking all the credit for the idea," Sue grinned.
"Was it difficult to cast the charm?" Hermione asked as they helped clean up.
"A little bit. I think it was a little easier because I used the magically active sugar I learned how to do for the Yule Log cake and that makes charming things easier. But the sugar was mixed into the batter and it made the cake react a little differently too. And taste more differently but luckily not in a bad way," he replied.
"Fun to do every once in a while," Padma said.
-0-
"Oh, no one else is here," Harry remarked, walking into the Uncommon Room. He smiled at an indignant huff. "No one else as in other humans. You're always exempt from that."
"I better be!" Hedwig headbutted him and then nuzzled his cheek. She cooed happily as he brushed her feathers, wiggling with delight.
"Hmm, I should study for the upcoming potions exam," Harry mused after some time. "I also want some biscuits though and I'm sure the others would too."
"We can do both at the same time." Hedwig hopped onto the table and wriggled into Harry's school bag, rooting about within before crawling out, dragging a set of flash cards.
"Say, great idea!"
"I know," she cheeped. "Let's get you a good score on the test and get biscuits in my belly!"
Harry moved about, gathering his things and making biscuits by hand like he used to. Despite knowing copious charms for mixing and fetching and summoning and all that, he still enjoyed cooking things with minimal magic here and there. As he did that, Hedwig arranged his flash cards in a pile and would hold up one, showing the phrase or word to him and then read the definition or procedure written on the back.
"Silver knives are used because they cause the least amount of interference with delicate magical ingredients. Even gold ones are actually charmed to only look as such," Harry said, after looking at the silver knife words on the card.
"You're right! That goes into the right pile."
"Sharptooth Violet bulbs need to be sanded down before being used in the potion?"
"Sorry Chick, that's wrong."
Harry thought for a moment when he saw Hedwig shake her head. "Oh, no, it needs to be sharpened for this one. It's one of the few where it's the opposite."
"There you go! But it goes in the wrong pile for now."
"Hey you two!" Lavender walked into the Uncommon Room and found it surprisingly empty. Only Harry and Hedwig were there. She kissed Harry on the lips sweetly and then kissed Hedwig on the forehead who barked back and bonked her head against Lavender's. ("Hi you!") "What are you up to?"
"Doing some studying while going back to basics," Harry smiled. "I've been using magic so much for cooking lately, I decided to make biscuits by hand again with as little magic as possible while studying for the upcoming potions exam. Hedwig holds up a card and I recite the use of the ingredient or describe the law."
"Now that's good multitasking," Lavender smiled. "How's he been doing?"
Hedwig hooted proudly and showed the pile that Harry had gotten right and how much taller it was than the ones he missed. "He's doing well! Easily will pass the test but we want him to do the best he can. Even though tests are silly."
"I might need your help studying later too," Lavender giggled.
"Me or Hedwig?" Harry asked.
"Both," Lavender said brightly. "Actually, I should start now." She joined them as Harry finished mixing the dough and portioning out the biscuits, popping them into the oven. When they finished baking, he put the biscuits onto wire racks to cool and served a few to Lavender and Hedwig and they sat together to enjoy them.
"Mmm, delicious," Lavender said and Hedwig nodded in agreement.
"Chick's biscuits are the tastiest."
"Still really satisfying to do without magic too," Harry said as he poured glasses of milk for them.
"Yeah. Sometimes you'll want to do things an easier way, but other times you want to go through the process," Lavender agreed, holding the glass at an angle for Hedwig to dunk her biscuit into the milk a little more easily.
"Thank you! Yum yum. Milk and biscuits are so satisfying."
The door opened and Marigold and Clover were there. "Biscuits!" they said and ran in.
"There's plenty in the middle! Don't take them off my plate you two!" Lavender said irritably, pushing them away from her plate. She sighed but smiled when Harry refilled her plate. "There goes the peace and quiet."
"It was nice while it lasted," Harry grinned. "But this is good too," he said when more of their friends came in.
"That's true," Lavender smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"And we can try and get some more peace and quiet later," he added softly.
"That'll be great," she said, smiling even more.
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magitech - Thank you. It's disappointing, but it is what it is. I wanted to let everyone else know.
TheSphynx - Filius' has his reputation for dueling all sorts of ways and that's why everyone is very respectful of him.
Hands Off MY Wolfie - Most goblins care about hard work and good ethic, at least the Gringotts ones, and with their dim view of humans, it was a surprise to them to see Harry like that and that endeared him to them more easily. Emmie's is very good at saving lives through violence. Like Dee. Thanks for reading.
Wentley - I was very happy with how different Hog's Head and Gringotts Main One were and both were instrumental in Harry's growth in different ways.
minerdude - Thank you.
odonnellzoo99 - Emmie and Dee strength is nothing to be trifled with.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Not much can be done sadly, but I wanted people to know so they don't accidentally support them.
alix33 - Hedwig probably has not but she probably wouldn't be surprised either. She respects ability.
poka - It's discouraging for sure, but it won't keep me from doing what I'm doing. I just wanted people to know. I think the summer before fourth year was when the fic really hit its stride. The goblins are introduced solidly, Harry gets to experience things outside of the school, and the setting really started to develop. I am very happy with it and how things changed from there. Flitwick is a great character and I'm glad I went with him for this fic.
HoneyBear84 - Not yet, but who knows what will happen in the future.