Chapter 108

"I'll take that," Zach said, plucking the letter from Oliver's hand before he'd even had a chance to open it while the falcon had a treat and some water, resting from his journey.

"Fine, take it," Oliver said and threw up his hand in defeat, knowing he was likely never going to have another private letter, perhaps not even from his mum and dad, if it arrived here at the pitch anyway.

"Hey, listen up!" Zach yelled, calling attention to the team in the locker room as he opened the letter and looked at it. "We got a letter here, from Hermione!"

Oliver groaned with a self-deprecating chuckle as a cheer went up throughout the locker room, and Zach started reading the letter aloud.

"4 January, 1995," Zach read. "Dear Oliver..."

"Aww," Benjy and Freya crooned and Oliver picked up a towel and chucked it at Benjy because he was closer, making the man laugh.

"Alright, now," Zach said, holding up his hand for quiet before he continued. "I'm pretty sure that article hit Hagrid pretty hard. Harry, yes, and Ron and I..."

"Boo!" the team yelled.

"...went down to Care of Magical Creatures today and we had a supply teacher today, Professor Grubbly-Plank, because Hagrid was, in her words, indisposed. We were going to check on him after class, but she shooed us off to lunch before we could."

"What happened to Hagrid?" Ella asked in concern.

"Yeah, what happened to Hagrid?" Maggie asked.

"He wasn't sick, was he?" Freya asked.

"Was he sick or was it that witch's article?" Wilda asked.

"Well, if you'll be quiet and quit interrupting, I'd tell you," Zach said.

"Okay, sheesh," Freya said. "We were just curious."

"And concerned," Maggie added.

"Are you done?" Zach asked.

Freya raised her hand and waved at him to continue.

"Thank you," Zach said and continued reading. "We tried to go back after class, and although Fang was inside barking, Hagrid didn't answer. I don't know what happened, Harry said the night before he heard Hagrid talking to Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons so I don't know if it was something that could have happened while he was talking to her or if it was that Skeeter woman's article that came out today. Either way, I'll let you know what happens when I find out and I'll pass along your message to him when I see him."

"Is that it?" Benjy asked.

"Yeah, no mention of us?" Freya asked. "I know Woody wrote to her about us."

"Would you stop calling me that?!" Oliver snapped. "How many times do I have to ask?"

"You know she only does it because it bothers you," Wilda replied dryly.

"I know!" Oliver replied in defeat.

"I think it's okay that the team read my letters that I sent there..." Zach continued reading, and a round of cheers circled the room. "...but I guess if there's anything personal, I'll give the owl or hawk additional instructions to deliver when you're on your way home."

"Aww!" Benjy and Freya whined.

"Speaking of the hawk, where did it come from? Do you know? I've wondered if it's Viktor's but I haven't had a chance to ask him. It just showed up to deliver a message from you and take mine back a couple times. Not that I'm not grateful for its speed, I'm just curious where it came from. Hermione," Zach finished reading.

"So," Freya asked sadly. "No more letters from Hermione?"

"She didn't say that," Lucas answered.

"No, she didn't," William agreed.

"Yeah, just not the juicy stuff," Freya said with a pout that caused Oliver to shake his head and laugh.

"Well, come on," Zach said and waved the letter to Oliver in a beckoning fashion. "Are you going to write her back or what?"

Oliver feigned a groan and looked skyward before he moved over with a wide-eyed grimace and laughed as he took the parchment Benjy handed him, the quill from William and ink from Felix and sat down and began to write as the team huddled around him, though he was secretly relieved that Hermione hadn't asked further about the party given his teammates' earlier reaction.

That evening after dinner, Hermione headed to the dorm to give Crookshanks his evening meal before heading back down to study in the common room and found the falcon at the window again. Just before dinner that day, Harry had dragged her and Ron down to Hagrid's again when he didn't show up for breakfast or lunch, but they'd had the same bad luck getting through to him as yesterday. Once again, only Fang's barks greeted them at their knock. Turning to the window, Hermione opened it and the falcon flew in, landing on the back of the chair and dropping the letter onto the chair.

"Hello again," Hermione greeted the falcon, digging into her trunk and getting it some owl treats and giving them to the falcon. "Thank you," she said and picked up the letter. She hesitated, tempted to pat the falcon's head, but held back when she remembered that the falcon was quite different from an owl even though they were both birds of prey, and didn't want to irritate it. So she turned her attention to the letter.

6 January 1995

Dear Hermione,

Thank you for letting me know what is happening with Hagrid, at least as much as you are able. I hope you are able to talk to him soon. I agree that it could have been the talk with Madame Maxime not going well, or it could be the article. He could have even fallen ill. I hope that he's okay, and you find out soon.

I gotta say that you really upset the team, more specifically, Freya and Benjy when you said that you were going to start writing to me on more private matters. I have to be honest, it would be nice to have some privacy again. Since the team heard about you, I don't really get the chance to read them before they're read to the whole locker room. Freya will miss all the juicy details of your letters as she put it, so you might want to throw them a bone every now and then.

Yes, the falcon belongs to Viktor, or at least I assume so since I started seeing it when he started writing to me after the Quidditch World Cup. It could be Karkaroff's or even Durmstrang though. I never did catch his name, so you might ask Viktor when you get the chance.

Oliver

Hermione laughed and shook her head, smiling before she dug into her trunk for her supplies and began her reply. After a moment, she hesitated, thinking and then got out a second piece of parchment and began a second letter. When both were finished, she returned to her trunk and pulled the ribbon that she had saved from her first present from Oliver. Tapping it with her wand, she made it grow in length and cast a severing charm on it. Putting the original piece back in her trunk, she took the piece she cut off and lengthened and severed it again.

Taking one of the new pieces, she cast Colovaria on it and turned it from purple to a bright scarlet. She then took the second piece, and using the charm again, changed it to a bright blue. Grabbing her first completed letter, she folded it and secured it using the blue ribbon, elongating the ends so that it was the proper length to tie around all four sides. She then took the second letter and did the same with the red ribbon. Holding the two up for the hawk to see, she gave her instructions.

"Find Oliver alone first," she instructed. "Give him this letter, the red one," she held up the letter. "Make sure he reads it then let him get to the locker room and deliver this one. Understand?"

The hawk flapped its wings and chirped, then flew into the air, taking one letter in its beak and one in its talons.

"Thank you, and be sure to stop and rest as you need to," Hermione called as the hawk left, flying off once more.