Hidden Wings - Part I

Full moon

Mioha had spent the rest of the Sunday with filling single-malt whiskey into large barrels for the Abraxans.

What took her five minutes to fill one, only took one Abraxan half a minute to empty it.

There were nine Abraxans, and each had such a large thirst they drank four buckets of whiskey for breakfast each.

That added up, so all together Mioha needed three hours to take care of the Abraxans' thirst. Luckily, Hagrid made sure the Abraxans had enough to eat, otherwise Mioha wouldn't have made it to lunch in time if she would have had to do that too.

"I'm so excited for the dragons", the half-giant had said, rubbing his large hands together excitedly.
"Maybe we'll see a Hungarian Horntail, I've always wanted one of those."

To Mioha's dread, Hagrid had continued to wear a suit with a mismatched tie, plus a lot of cologne that smelled so strong, one could think Hagrid took a bath in it.
Today, he was wearing a grey suit with violet dots all over it and a neon yellow tie tied around his neck.

But Mioha hadn't had the heart to tell him his fashion sense was awful, for his face cracked a bright smile every time Madame Maxime came by to check on her steeds.

In the evening, Mioha made sure she was alone when she entered the Labyrinth.
Once safe through the hidden entrance, she took off her shield and flew the rest of the way, enjoying the feeling of stretching her wings again.
She turned sharply around several corners until she slowed down in front of a wooden door. Mioha folded her wings smoothly onto her back and landed lightly on her feet.
Laying her hand against the polished wooden door, she gently pushed it open, immediately greeted by the sound of rustling branches and chirping birds.

Mioha entered the room fully, which actually couldn't be called a room since it looked more like a large forest. She heard the creek whisper quietly behind the trees and breathed in deeply.
The air smelled clean of grass and water, wet dirt and wood.

No one was here yet.

It was nine p.m. and she had about an hour until the full moon would rise.

Mioha stretched her arms over her head and her wings to the side while bending backwards, enjoying the feeling of releasing tension from her muscles. Her bones cracked loudly as she straightened back up again.

What to do?, she thought to herself and started into the direction of the forest.

The light was dim beneath the canopy, the stars' light barely made it through the branches.

The ground was covered in moss, which felt so soft under her feet that Mioha took off her shoes and continued barefoot, holding her shoes in one hand.

After walking around underneath the thick trees for a few minutes, Mioha selected a tall oak tree with a thick, strong stem. She put her shoes beneath it and jumped up. With minimum wingbeats she flew upwards, spiraling around the large trunk until she reached the top, where she landed deftly on a branch thick enough to hold her weight.

The branch swayed slightly as Mioha folded her wings and sat down carefully, her face angled towards the door. She could barely see it beneath the canopy of the other trees.

The Slytherin leaned back and closed her eyes tiredly. She could feel the pull of the moon getting stronger with every second that ticked by.
Only thirty minutes left.

Mioha had almost fallen asleep when she heard something creak loudly through the silence.

Her eyes snapped open and she leaned forward, focusing on the wooden door beneath the trees that had opened.
The noise of wood clonking against the floor made Mioha's mouth go dry. She knew who it was before his hunched figure even entered the room fully.