Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 35: Nightly Delivery
That same day, at night, Harry made his way to the hall.
He was a bit concerned that he had yet to receive the materials that Lady Rose had promised to send.
"You don't think she tricked me, right?" Harry asked his partner, since this one seemed to know that mysterious woman a bit better.
"No, she would not do that. Lady Rose has built a reputation for being harsh but fair in her deals. But then again… I had only met her once during my younger years," V said.
"Hold on… just once?" Harry was now becoming suspicious. "How can you be so sure then?"
"I am a good judge of character. And what are you concerned about anyway? If she doesn't deliver what you want, then you can go somewhere else. It's not like you were spending your money…" V reminded him that the fortune he had acquired from the bank wasn't exactly his.
"Mmm… I suppose. I'm just tired of using this wand. It keeps fighting me every time I want to cast a spell. I have to put, like, ten times the effort for even simple stuff." Harry stopped walking for a moment when he arrived at the Gryffindor table.
He felt many sets of eyes landing on him, particularly those from the Weasley family.
'I guess they know already.' Harry thought about Dumbledore's suggestion of spending the summer with them.
Harry still wasn't sure how to feel about that. Living in a house like the Weasley one, surrounded by such a large family for almost three months… he was feeling anxious just thinking about it.
V had suggested that they should go away by themselves for a while. They could certainly spend a few months traveling around.
But this was not what Harry wanted to do. He did not want to distance himself from everyone he cared about because he felt awkward while talking to them.
He wanted things to return to what they used to be, before the incident with the time turners. And that would only be possible if he kept interacting with them.
"Harry, where have you been all day?" Hermione looked at him with an upset expression.
"I was doing some… study," Harry responded.
"You were studying without me?" Now Hermione looked even more upset.
"Hey, Harry. We heard the news from the Headmaster," Ron called for him. "Are you staying with us for the summer?"
"That was… the Headmaster's suggestion. But it's really up to Mr. and Miss Weasley to decide. If not, I guess I…"
"You really think Mum is going to say no?" Ginny raised an eyebrow. "She already considers you part of the family. I bet she will be delighted when she hears about it."
"Yeah, my sis is right," said Ron. "She is always telling me to bring you home, but you always go back with those muggles for the first half of the summer."
"Did something happen with your family, Harry? Why aren't you staying with them?" Hermione asked, earning an elbow hit from Ginny, who was sitting right next to her.
"You can't ask that!" Ginny whispered.
"Why not? Don't you want to know as well?" Hermione responded.
Harry made a complicated expression. He knew that at some point he would need to offer a more detailed explanation about what happened to him. Because right now, he didn't know how to tell them that the reason behind this decision was mainly because he didn't remember anything about his muggle relatives, other than that they never cared for him.
As if having planned the perfect timing to interrupt this conversation, a black crow flew through the upper windows of the Great Hall and sped across the room.
The students pointed at it, and loud murmurs erupted around the hall.
Even the professors at their table were watching with attention at what was happening.
The crow made a couple of circles around the hall before deciding its direction. Then it shifted its path towards the Gryffindor table and flew directly towards Harry, landing on the table right in front of him.
"Ahh!" Ron got startled and threw away the chicken wing he had been holding.
"A crow. What is it doing here?" Hermione was staring at the creature with curiosity.
"Look. It's carrying a small parcel on one of its feet," Ginny pointed at the object in question.
It was a small bundle, around the size of a tennis ball, and it was carefully tied to the crow's leg.
The crow glanced at Harry and let out a loud caw.
"Harry… I think that package is for you," Neville said.
"Oh… right." Harry realized that this must be his order from Lady Rose. He was no longer expecting it today.
'I guess I didn't get scammed after all.' He thought.
The crow let Harry untie the rope and release the parcel. Once this was done, the bird did not waste one more second and took off flying again.
"That was weird, right?" Ron asked. "Who uses crows for delivery nowadays?"
"I think they were used a very long time ago. Before the Ministry declared that everyone had to use owls," Neville offered a bit of information. "But yeah, that was weird."
"It's not just the crow. But no shop delivers at night," Hermione added. "There are laws against it. Where did it come from?"
Now they were all looking at Harry for an explanation.
"Ehm…" He noticed that it wasn't just the students at his table, but everyone in the hall appeared to be curious to know what that was about. Even the professors were watching him.
'Damn it! Why did that woman have to deliver me this at the Great Hall?' Harry lamented.
He could then hear V's laughter resounding inside his mind.
'This is what you get for purchasing shady stuff while you are still in school.'
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