The Anger .

Harry grinned back and said, "Alright, then; I'll take it."

Nodding, the shopkeeper said, "That'll be fifty-seven galleons for the harness. The pamphlet is free. The harness has a lifetime guarantee to the life of the owl. If you need to replace either or both, come back and see me."

Harry paid the man after also picking up six months worth of owl treats as stock to take to Hogwarts with him. Next, he headed for the Diagon Alley offices of the Daily Prophet and organised a year's subscription in advance to the newspaper.

Recognising that near enough to an hour had passed he returned to the Jewellers.

Bringing the rings back onto the main floor of the shop the Jeweller had them side-by-side on a black velvet cushion.

"These are beautiful rings," said the shopkeeper. "I hope you don't mind; but, I've also polished both back to looking like new."

"No, that's fine," replied Harry. "And, thank you. What can you tell me about them?"

"The ladies ring is charmed to auto-size, has an anti-theft charm, has an anti-peril feature - which monitors the wearers heart beat and adrenaline levels, so that if both suddenly shoot up it sends a vibration to a matching ring - it has the ability to be linked to that other ring to allow the wearer of it's partner to track them down by pressing on the stone and vice versa; and has a built-in potion, poison and mind-altering charm detector, which causes the ring to vibrate and stone to glow slightly when it comes into near contact with such. The ring will also provide a minimal protection from the Imperious, Confounding, Obliviation and similar Curses. But, it's not foolproof against those.

"The other ring is the matching ring and has the same charms. The only thing missing is a new charm which detects if the wearer is hit with a harmful curse or hex and alerts the other wearer the same way as the anti-peril feature," said the shopkeeper. "However, it only detects those curses and hexes that are common knowledge. Some hexes and curses, such as those that are part of family magics, it might not detect.

"Are there any other protections you think could be installed?" asked Harry. "I want my betrothed as safe as she possibly could be."

Shaking his head, the shopkeeper said, "No, but I can update the anti potion and poison detector, and harmful curses and hexes indicator, with a more modern list. I suspect they'll both be missing quite a few. Plus, you may want to be on my mailing list I maintain to advise my clients when either indicator charms are updated."

"Alright then," said Harry, coming to a decision. "Update what needs to be updated on both rings and add me and my betrothed to your mailing list."

The shopkeeper drew forth a ledger from under his counter and asked, "And what names do I include on the mailing list, young sir?"

"I'm trusting in your discretion in this, sir," said Harry before flashing his Head of House ring. "It's Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass."

Taking a moment to glance at Harry's forehead, the shopkeeper said, "Never fear in my discretion, Mister Potter. I've never broken faith with a customer yet in over twenty years of business." Then he said with a small smile, "And might I say congratulations on your betrothal, Mister Potter. I dare say there will be many a young witch - and possibly some young wizards - who will be most distraught when it is learned you are betrothed and off the market, so to speak."

Harry harrumphed a little and said, "At least that's something I won't have to worry about facing any more. And, thank you."

Nodding a little, though otherwise distracted, the shopkeeper said, "Give me - two hours? - with these rings and they'll be ready for you to collect, Mister Potter." Before he picked up the velvet cushion and turned to walk back out the back with them.

"Thank you," called Harry to the man's retreating back before he left the store once more.

Heading back to The Leaky Cauldron, Harry went straight back to his room and hoped Hedwig had returned. She had, and with a short reply from Madam Longbottom. She advised caution with dealing with the Greengrasses and said she'd meet him on the platform at Kings Cross to make sure he was still okay. While Hedwig was resting on her perch with her little tray of owl treats and water, Harry brought the harness out of his pocket and showed it to her. "Feel like being gussied up a bit, Hed? This will identify you as the personal owl of the Head of House Potter, my owl." He grinned at her.

Hedwig looked at the harness with interest before giving a soft hoot and huff. Harry figured she approved so moved forward with it to fit it to her.

Working carefully, so as not to damage her feathers, Harry took his time in fitting the harness and making sure all the buckles were done up securely. Then he made a fist of his right hand and, holding the shield with his left hand, pressed the face of Head of House ring to the face of the shield. The shield gave a little flash of light before the entire harness began to glow. He pulled the ring away from the shield and left go with his left hand as the entire contraption shifted until it shrank down to fit.

When it finished auto-sizing the shield gave a final flash with an embossed copy of the Potter crest appearing in the middle of it.

Stepping back, Harry said to her, "Wow, girl! You look great. It really suits you."

In response, Hedwig stood up a little straighter and gave a happy little hoot. Harry even moved her to his shoulder and then moved to stand in front of the room's only mirror so she could see it for herself.

When she saw the image she gave a couple of little huffs and nibbled on the top of Harry's ear in pleasure. Harry chuckled and moved her back to her roost. "You'll be fighting the boy owls off now, Hed. You look gorgeous."

Next he pulled the pamphlet that described how to make Hedwig his familiar out of his pocket and read through it.

"Hmmm - this is pretty straightforward and easy," he said to her. "So, girl, how about it? Do you want to fully bond with me as my familiar?"

He received another happy hoot and huff in response.

With a grin, Harry drew his wand out of his left sleeve, held the parchment up so he could read it, and stood in front of the owl's perch. Pushing a little with his magic he made the required wand gestures and spoke the required incantations. When he was finished there was a light glow for a few moments around and between the two of them.

Stepping back and away a little, Harry closed his eyes and focussed on feeling his connection to Hedwig. It took a few minutes but he realised he could sense it quite easily. Plus, he also felt he could feel the – though, primitive - emotions coming from his avian friend. She was very happy.

Turning back to face her again, he said, "Now, according to this pamphlet, you should have a boost in your intelligence, had transferred to your mind some of my skills, be able to sense my thoughts and emotions similar to how I'm able to do the same with you, and it's extended your life expectancy somewhat. I think this will prove to be a very good thing for us both." He grinned at her.

"Now I'm pretty much all packed here, girl," he said. "I'll just give you a message to give to - Isabel to let her know I've sent you ahead of me and that I'm still on schedule to arrive at Greengrass Estate at 1.00pm, and you can be on your way."

.

.

.

🧿Visit my site at tiendup for more advanced content...🧿

🧿Read the complete novel in PDF, available at my Store!…🧿

https://fictiontopia.tiendup.com/