NOVEL NEXT Chapter 139: Chapter 139 - Its cute
"Why did you drag me here today, Harry?"
"Well, you know how yesterday I bought myself the newest quidditch broom? Since you and your family were so good to me, I wanted to get a present for you."
Before Thomas could say anything to his friend, both he and Harry heard their names being called.
"Harry! Thomas!"
They were there, both of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor — Ron looking incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at them.
"Finally!" said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down. "We went to Thomas's house, but Mr. Grayson told you that you two are here so Hermione and I went on a hunt for you starting with Flourish and Blotts, then Madam Malkin's, and —"
"We… got all our school stuff last week," Harry explained. "And how come you knew I was staying with Thomas and his family?"
"Dad, of course" Ron answered simply.
Truth be told it was quite an obvious answer, after all, Mr. Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, would of course have heard the whole story of what had happened to Aunt Marge.
Breaking the hug with Thomas, Hermione turned towards Harry and put on her face a serious expression,
"Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?" said Hermione in a very serious voice.
"I didn't mean to," said Harry looking down at his feet, while Ron and Thomas roared with laughter. "I just … lost control."
"It's not funny, guys," Hermione snapped back sharply. "Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled."
When he heard her, Thomas turned to face and for the first time in a good while, all three of his friends saw the same face Snape does when he is disappointed.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you or Harry. I was just worried about him, that's all."
"It's not about that Hermione. Do you read the laws regarding muggles and muggle-born wizards and witches?"
This time, it was Hermione's turn to look disappointed at him. "Did you just assume I did read a book about laws?"
"Well, you did seem to have forgotten about the self-defense law where a wizard, especially one that comes from a pure-blood family like our friend, Harry over, can and should defend himself when he's being attacked by a muggle."
Almost as if struck by lightning, Hermione froze before turning away to the boys' enjoyment, after all, it was not a daily occurrence that Hermione Granger gets embarrassed by something.
"Anyways, while you two were out here spending your hard-earned gold, our parents had asked, Thomas's parents if we could stay for the night since you know tomorrow, we start our third year. And to our surprise, your parents were more than happy to have us."
Hermione nodded, beaming. "Just like Ron, Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things."
Thomas only smiled, knowing very well that this was one of his mom's attempts to stop him from overworking himself to sleep again.
"Excellent!" Harry jumped happily. "So, have you got all your new books and stuff?"
"Look at this," Ron said, pulling a long thin box out of a bag and opening it. "Brand-new wand. Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair. And we've just got all our books —" He pointed at a large bag under his chair. "What about those Monster Books, eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two."
"Oh, God don't tell me you want to beat Michael or me in how many subjects one could learn in a year," Thomas said with an exasperated expression on his face.
"Well, excuse me if I'm taking more new subjects than you boys. Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies …"
"Would you look at that, I too picked Runes, both ancient and Nordic, care of magical creatures and arithmancy. As for divinations… you can beat me in that."
That earned him a small smile from her for a second until Ron's voice made her turn towards him.
"What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" Ron asked confused, rolling his eyes at Harry. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"
"But it'll be fascinating to study them from the Wizarding point of view."
"Then you will be quite disappointed to hear to find out that it's quite outdated by today, muggle standards." Thomas stopped and approached her, before whispering to a now red-faced Hermione. "The wizards and witches of our world, don't quite see their muggle-born counterparts all that good, nevertheless the non-magical ones."
"Enough with the bloody boring stuff Tom! "Ron yawned after saying that while nudging Harry.
"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?"
"I've still got ten Galleons," she said, checking her purse. "It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present."
"How about a nice book?" said Ron innocently.
"No, I don't think so," said Hermione composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Tom got his strange owl that wears a suit, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol —"
"I haven't Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him."
For some reason, a strange feeling inside of Thomas made him glance at the rat, only for the little and pitiful creature to crawl back into his master pocket, away from the blonde boy's eyes. Choosing to ignore that reaction, Thomas decided to change the subject.
"Say, Harry haven't we passed by a pet store yesterday when we grabbed your broom?"
"Now that you mention it, there's a magical creature shop just over there. Ron could see if they've got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl."
So, after each of them got an ice cream, they crossed the street to Magical Menagerie. Truth be told, Hermione didn't have any preference when it came to owls as long as it could do what every other owl, other than Thomas's. Dr. Whoo as he called it, had started, for a good while now, to rule the owlery at Hogwarts, beating any other male owls who tried anything funny, and at the same time working closely with Filch on keeping the troublemakers from doing anything stupid in exchange for bribes.
When they walked inside, the first all of them noticed as soon as they walked in was that there wasn't much room. Every inch of the wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Thomas, Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited, looking over the cages for nothing in particular.
A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails.
Thankfully, not long afterward, the double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron approached the counter, a little bit shaky while holding his pet rat in hand.
"It's my rat," he told the witch. "He's been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt."
"Bang him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.
To the rat's horror, his master did as he had been told and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better look.
With no desire to stay and watch how the witch checks a rat, Hermione and Thomas left to search for an owl that Hermione could call hers, leaving Harry with Ron and his rat, not that either one of them would complain mind you—after leaving Harry Ron, Thomas and Hermione walked towards the exit, where a row of cages with different kinds of owls were displayed. Hermione had no particular preference for owls, as long as they could deliver letters and parcels reliably and of course, one that fell within her budget.
As they were about to move on, she stopped in front of a cage that contained a small, fluffy, gray owl. It had big round eyes and a curious expression as it tilted its head and blinked at Hermione, almost as if asking for her attention.
"Look at this one, Tom," Hermione said, dragging Thomas towards the cage. "It's so cute. Do you think it's a good owl?"
Thomas leaned over and peered at the owl before smiling at his friend.
"It looks like a scops owl. They're very smart and loyal and they can even camouflage themselves by changing their feather color. I read about them in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They're native to Africa and Asia, but they can adapt to any climate."
It didn't take a genius to realize that Hermione liked what she heard, but who wouldn't like the idea of having a clever and adaptable owl? However, when she looked at the price tag on the cage. It was 15 galleons, which was out of her budget.
Before she could leave though, Thomas grabbed her hand and gently placed it on the owl's cage. The moment she realized what her stupid friend planned to do, she turned her head towards him.
"Don't look at me like that. Considering your birthday present."
Not caring anymore, Hermione crashed right into his chest embracing him tightly. This was not the first time Thomas had done something like this for her and will certainly not be the last.
Thomas only smiled and gently ran his hand over her back. He didn't mind spending his money on his friends, as long as it made her happy.
After getting her second dose of Tom for the day, Hermione broke the hug with a red face, feeling a surge of emotion for Thomas. She couldn't believe how kind and generous he was, always surprising her with thoughtful gifts and gestures. She felt lucky to have him in her life, and she hoped he felt the same way about her. She grabbed her owl and thanked him again, before turning to leave.
However, as they were about to walk out of the shop, Hermione stopped in front of a cage that contained a large, ginger cat. It had a squashed face, a grumpy expression, and a bandaged tail. It looked at Hermione with a mix of curiosity and disdain, as if challenging her to take it home.
"Look at this one, Tom," Hermione said, dragging Thomas towards a big, fluffy, and menacing-looking cat. "It's so… cute!"
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