𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 - Harry Potter x Fem!Reader¹

5.. THE DEMENTOR

Daniyar woke Y/N up bright and early with his usual persistent pecking on her arm, his amber eyes gleaming with an impatient, almost judgmental look.

She groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"All right, all right, I'm up," she muttered, shooting the owl a sleepy glare.

Daniyar hooted, clearly satisfied with his success. Y/N got dressed, pulling on her clothes quickly while trying to convince Daniyar to get back into his cage.

"No, you can't go out and cause trouble this morning. I've got enough on my plate without chasing after you," she reasoned, but Daniyar gave a stubborn flap of his wings.

Just as she finally managed to persuade him with a treat, there was a knock at the door. It opened, revealing Ginny, leaning casually against the frame, her red hair tousled from sleep.

"Morning'," the younger girl yawned, stifling a grin. "Awake already? You always wake up so early, I was hoping to be able to scare you."

Y/N laughed softly. "Daniyar wouldn't let you. He's worse than any alarm clock."

Ginny glanced at the owl, who was now perched smugly in his cage, clearly pleased with himself. "Anyway, everyone's downstairs for breakfast. Mum's already bustling about, and you know how she gets."

"I'll be right down," said Y/N, already smiling at the thought of Mrs. Weasley's warm, happy presence. She looked at Daniyar, who hooted quietly, his head tilted as if considering whether or not to cooperate for the day.

"Just behave, all right?" muttered Y/N, closing the door.

Y/N and Ginny headed down to breakfast, where Harry, Jonathan, Fred, and George were congratulating a irritable-looking Ron on infuriating Percy again, Mr. Weasley was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow, and Mrs. Weasley was telling Hermione and Mrs. Potter about a love potion she'd made as a young girl. All three of them were rather giggly.

Y/N had no chance to speak to Hermione, Harry, or Ron in the chaos of leaving; they were too busy heaving all their trunks down the Leaky Cauldron's narrow staircase and piling them up near the door, with Daniyar and Hedwig perched on top in their cages which were set apart at a reasonable distance. A small wickerwork basket stood beside the heap of trunks, spitting loudly.

"It's all right, Crookshanks," Hermione cooed through the wickerwork. "I'll let you out on the train."

"You won't," snapped Ron. "What about poor Scabbers, eh?"

He pointed at his chest, where a large lump indicated that Scabbers was curled up in his pocket.

Mr. Weasley, who had been outside waiting for the Ministry cars, stuck his head inside.

"They're here," he said. "Come on."

Mr. Weasley marched Y/N across the short stretch of pavement toward the first of two old-fashioned dark green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet. He made sure to keep Harry and Jonathan close-by as well.

"In you get, Y/N," said Mr. Weasley, glancing up and down the crowded street.

Y/N got into the back of the car and was shortly joined by Harry, Jonathan, and Hermione.

The journey to King's Cross was smooth, yet oddly surreal. Y/N noticed that the Ministry cars could slide through gaps that Uncle Lucian's new company car certainly couldn't have managed. They reached King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare; the Ministry drivers found them trolleys, unloaded their trunks, touched their hats in salute to Mr. Weasley, and drove away, somehow managing to jump to the head of an unmoving line at the traffic lights.