Shake it, Bake it, Brew it

Kneazles in Need

Last Time:

Five, homework ... he grudgingly added mentally to the long list and finally went to sleep ...

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Emerald eyes fluttered open and Harry smiled at the sunlight. Never in his life has he ever slept so well. The nightmares that used to plague him gave him a merciful break to allow him to heal and rest for a night.

After stretching and making his joints pop he changed into part of his school uniform, the only decent clothes he had, and headed downstairs to make breakfast or brunch as it seems. It was 10:00! Now that was a good sleep! As he passed his cell he spotted the loaf of bread sitting next to his cot. He shrugged and picked it up. With the loaf in hand he head downstairs and into the kitchen.

"I bet no one thought this loaf of bread would be so satisfying for me" Harry snickered as he made three pieces of buttered toast with fruit and scrambled eggs. This was a chance to finally put weight on. He knew that he was way too skinny, but what can you do under the Dursleys' brand of tender loving care?

Neville was the first and only person who seemed to notice and kindly tried to get him to eat more little by little. The kind Gryffindor actually carried snacks with him and always offered them to Harry even after getting detention from Professor Snape for bringing food into class! That's brave!

Harry felt a warmth in his heart as he thought of the one person who really seemed to care and felt a few tears escape. He wiped the tears away and poured himself a big glass of milk. Neville is what he would call a true friend. Ron and Hermione never gave him that kind of advice or attention, which reinforced some suspicions he had about his so called 'friends' ...

He sat down at the small spot on the table that wasn't covered in books and carefully ate his food so he didn't upset his stomach by eating too much too fast. The 50 or so books were stacked in six piles with the titles facing outwards for easy viewing. In front of his meal were the charms book he was reading, the potions book where he found the potion recipes he has used so far, the bottomless bag filled with potion ingredients and his homework.

That tracking charm will be off him if the tests he had in mind went right. Of course, if someone put a tracker on him why not his stuff too? The realization nearly made him choke on his milk. He put his glass down, cleared his airways of the milk he inhaled and took his trunk out of the cupboard. After grabbing his wand he checked for a charm. Right in the center of the trunk directly under the handle was a gray glowing tracking charm. This trunk was everything he owned.

Hedwig fluttered downstairs with a mouse hanging from her beak and Harry froze. If someone went so far to put tracking charms on him and his stuff would they also put one on Hedwig?

"Umm ... Hedwig ... I found another tracking charm." The owl's head spun in his direction giving him her full attention. "This one is on my trunk and it made me wonder if ... if someone would go that far ..." He wasn't sure how to explain it, but he didn't have to. Hedwig got the gist of it and fluttered over the him. She perched on his trunk. If there was one thing Hedwig wanted it was to keep Harry safe and she will be damned if someone used her to find him.

With a wave of his wand and an incantation they got their answer when a gray glow was coming from Hedwig's side just under the left wing. That snowy owl was not happy at all!

Harry was trying really hard to keep his temper in check, "Ok ... if I cast my own tracker on something to fix this-ow!" Harry pouted and rubbed his hand where Hedwig nipped him. before he could saying anything she pointed her wing at his half finished breakfast "Oh, right ... food first. Yes ma'am." He blushed lightly and sat back down. He was being chastised by an owl!