the hermit (the chariot pt2)

13

It was seven thirty in the morning on the thirty-first of July. It was Harry's seventeenth birthday. Only he hadn't noticed and didn't care and was sleeping soundly. He was awoken by Hedwig clucking near his ear. He mumbled sleepily as she pecked at his cheek gently.

'Hedwig,' he grumbled and finally opened his eyes. She touched her beak to his cheek again and he smiled and kissed her back on her soft head. 'What's wrong, huh?' he asked as he moved a little, drawing his hand up and stroking her back. 'Are you hungry?'

She hooted and tilted her head towards his desk. He could see blurry, misshapen figures on his desk and he reached for his glasses. Putting them on, he looked again. Sitting there were five owls with an array of small parcels and letters around them. He sat up in his bed and Hedwig tugged at his shorts with her sharp beak.

'Ok, I'm getting up,' he laughed and padded over to his desk. First he reached for Pig, who skittered at him as Harry untied the letter he was fastened to. It was from Ron. Next were three owls, which had parcels from Hagrid and Lupin and Hermione. Last of all was a tall eagle owl, who was sitting rather proudly and haughtily on the edge of Harry's desk. Draco's owl. As soon as Harry untied the parcel and letter, he flew off to Hedwig and they both shared a bowl of water as Pig chirped loudly on the table.

Harry bit his lip and breathed in deeply before opening the letters. He took them over to his bed and began to read them. Five minutes later he folded them and tucked them carefully back into their envelopes and put them away in his bedside table drawer. Pig looked at him with wide eyes and bounced over to him, feathers flapping noisily for such a tiny owl. He sat on Harry's lap, his talons digging into Harry's bare thighs.

'Ow, Pig, you do hurt you know,' he said as he stroked the small bird under its beak.' Do you know which of these parcels contains food?'

Pig flew away from him and then landed near to a badly wrapped brown parcel. Hagrid's. Harry got up and undid the string, the paper opening on its own accord and presenting what it held inside. It was a cake. A birthday cake.

Harry stared at it hard for a while, reliving the memory of the first time he had seen Hagrid and receiving a cake for his birthday from the friendly stranger. Hedwig now flew onto Harry's shoulder and he broke off a piece of cake and fed her some. The other owls looked at the cake in interest and Harry fed each of them a small slice. He finally tasted some for himself. It wasn't bad at all. Usually it was better to be a little wary of Hagrid's cooking endeavours but the cake tasted very good.

He decided that he wouldn't open the rest of his presents just yet and was about to walk away when Pig now latched himself onto Harry's shorts.

'What is it, Pig?'

Hedwig gave Harry a knowing look and Harry understood instantly. Ron had probably told Pig that he wasn't to come back without a reply from Harry. Harry hadn't written to anyone so far over the holidays. He should.

He ran a hand through his bed-ruffled hair and sat down on the chair reaching for a something to write with. He would write in pen, maybe even enclose it in Ron's envelope for Arthur's Muggle collection.

He took out a sheet of paper and waited for a moment whilst he thought of what to write. A minute later he wrote out a few sentences and virtually wrote the same thing in four other letters. He sealed them all and tied each one to the appropriate owl. After waiting till each bird had taken flight, he pulled on a t-shirt and went downstairs.

The house was very quiet, very still and the air was humid and claustrophobic. Since Dudley and Uncle Vernon had left, Aunt Petunia had laid in every morning. Harry usually got up, made breakfast and ate it at the table in the kitchen. He would wash his dishes and then go and sit in the sitting room till his aunt came down.