The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Forty-Four | Undiluted Bubotuber Pus

On Sunday the group had headed to the Owlery tower for Ron to send a letter to Percy, asking him the question Sirius had suggested. They used Hedwig, since she hadn't been out to deliver a message in quite a while. Nova had fluttered down from the rafters to Ariana's shoulder, expecting to be sent out, but was let down when her owner regretfully told her Hedwig was going out. The owl chirruped angrily and nipped Ariana's shoulder, then flew off to sulk in the rafters again.

After that, they made it down to the basement level to nip into the kitchens, which were quite close to the Hufflepuff common room. It was a large room that smelled strongly of the delicious dinner they had eaten a couple hours ago, covered in shelves of glittering golden pots and pans. Busy house-elfs rushed back and forth, cleaning the already clean-looking surfaces in the room.

Dobby, a whacky house-elf who Ariana and Harry had freed from the abusive service of the Malfoy family at the end of their second year, greeted them, his tennis ball-sized green eyes shining when he saw them visiting.

They had acquired some food to send to Remus and Sirius; a large ham, a dozen cakes and a pile if fruit. Hermione had attempted to spark a mutiny; she was a advocate for house-elves to be paid and have more choice in what they do with their lives. The thing is, they don't want to be paid.

Ariana agreed with Hermione, but she also knew that she risked insulting the elves by telling them they should be paid. As it happens, Dobby, the only elf who wanted it, was being paid by Dumbledore. The Headmaster offered him a generous wage and holidays, but Dobby didn't want to have so much freedom, so settled on taking a small fraction if that he had been offered.

Shortly after Hermione's speech, the elves had thanked them and ushered the group out of the kitchens, many hands pushing the smalls of the backs. On the way upstairs, Ron predicted that Gryffindor was going to have an atrocious breakfast in the morning.

Harry and Ariana separated from the bickering Ron and Hermione to send the food to Sirius and Remus, having had enough of listening to them constantly argue.

They gave Nova the majority of the load and let Pigwidgeon carry a small amount so he could stretch his wings. After watching the large and tiny owls fly out of sight, the pair remained there until night fell and the owl's in the tower began to wake up and soar out of the windows.

~~~~~

Thankfully Ron is no Seer, so his prediction about breakfast was incorrect. The Gryffindor table was overflowing with spectacular food as per usual, which tasted as good as it looked.

When the post owls arrived, Hermione and Ariana looked up eagerly. They were waiting for the owl who carried the Daily Prophet, so they could catch up on the happenings of the past couple of days.

"Percy won't've had time to answer yet," said Ron. "We only sent Hedwig yesterday."

"No, it's not that," said Hermione. "We're waiting for the Daily Prophet. I'm getting sick of finding everything out from the Slytherins."

Harry looked up above them, spring a grey owl soaring toward Hermione. "Hey, Hermione, Ariana, I think you're in luck -"

"It hasn't got a newspaper, though," the brunette said, looking disappointed. "It's -"

But to her bewilderment, the gray owl landed in front of her plate, closely followed by four barn owls, a brown owl, and a tawny.

"How many subscriptions did you take two out?" Harry questioned, seizing Hermione's goblet before it was knocked over by the cluster of owls, all of whom were jostling close to her, trying to deliver their own letter first.