Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 729 Hedwig's Summer Vacation

Early morning on the last day of July.

Harry, wearing faded yellow sneakers and a black plaid shirt he bought last year (which had been washed several times and was slightly faded and bluish, with two buttons missing), walked out of the bathroom, still sleepy.

On the carpet next to my dorm bed, dozens of packages were piled up like a small mountain; these were birthday gifts from my friends.

Hedwig stood atop the hill.

Harry's eyes brightened slightly, and he seemed a little more alert. He rubbed his eyes, suppressing his joy as he walked over: "Good morning, Hedwig."

The owl tilted its head and looked at him, then opened its beak and responded.

Hedwig is now an adult snowy owl, with pure white feathers interspersed with a few black feathers. You can't tell her true size from her appearance; she's a fluffy, soft ball that looks and feels great to the touch. Her dark, bright eyes are still pure and clear, just like when we first met.

The owl was soon placed on the carpet and began munching on the dry, dried white rat meat.

Harry sat beside him watching, a smile on his face.

He never treated Hedwig as a pet, but rather as a loyal companion.

If we were to say who has always been by his side all these years, the answer would actually be Hedwig. Whether at Hogwarts or back on Privet Drive during holidays, Hedwig even stayed with him in the Dursleys' stairwell. When he ran away without permission that year, it was Hedwig who accompanied him on the Knight Bus and all the way to the Leaky Cauldron to stay overnight.

When conditions allowed, Hedwig was fed dried white rat meat and special nuts, which she ate with relish. When conditions were more difficult, such as during her time at the Dursleys' house, when the owl food cans ran out, he would feed her some dried meat and bread crumbs from his own diet, and Hedwig never complained.

Sometimes the food fed to her was too unpalatable, such as Hagrid's rock bread, which was really hard to swallow, so Hedwig would go out into the forest to hunt for food herself.

Harry would occasionally wonder if Hedwig would want to be with him.

Or were they trained to be like this, forced to obey their master's orders, follow him without expecting anything in return, and work as postmen?

Harry glanced furtively at the snowy owl pecking at its food and assumed Hedwig considered him a companion as well.

Harry casually picked up the top package and, while tearing open the outer brown paper, pondered whether Hedwig, now an adult, should be found a mate. Ideally, a snowy owl would be best.

Perhaps his gaze was a little offensive, Hedwig stopped pecking at her food and gave him a suspicious look.

Harry quickly composed himself and focused on unwrapping his gift.

Boarding school doesn't offer much of a social circle, so birthday gifts are mostly from classmates, and they're all pretty much the same things: candy, snacks, books, stationery, Quidditch toys, and some rather quirky items, like Weasley's Butterfly Friends Beans with a Weasley's Butterfly Friends label...

The packaging says "Flavored Beans," and it looks like Flavored Beans inside and out. In reality, it might just be Flavored Beans, but with the Weasley's Tricks label on it, he didn't dare to try it.

Remove the label and put it away temporarily, then give it to someone else when you have the chance.

As each birthday gift was unwrapped, sorted, and placed aside, and many birthday cards were stacked into a small pile, Harry clearly felt the love from his friends. A heartfelt joy welled up in his heart, which made him slow down, move gently, and prolong the process of unwrapping the gifts.

"...A birthday gift from Loren, 'The Origin and Development of Legilimency.' A birthday gift from Hermione, 'The Application and Practice of Legilimency.'" Harry held the two books, which were clearly from the same series, and fell silent.

Were they doing it on purpose or by accident?

Is this gift thoughtful or perfunctory?

I placed the two books by my bedside, intending to study them carefully when I returned to my dorm that evening.

The gifts that followed were mostly unsurprising and unexpected. They were all stored in the storage scales, some in the snack area and some in the miscellaneous items area. The bag of multi-flavored beans was kept separately.

When Harry finally collected the last bag of nougat into the scales, he still hadn't found Ginny's gift. He glanced to the side instinctively and saw only a pile of brown paper wrappings; there were no other packages left.

"Does Ginny want to give it to me in person when school starts?"

Harry scratched his head, not imagining any of those messy, melodramatic things.

……

The small courtyard, located on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, was more lively than the castle during the summer holidays. Even before Harry got close, he could clearly hear the chirping of birds coming from the woods.

As Harry walked along the path to the fence, he looked at the closed door and was somewhat surprised. Usually at this time, his hound, Tooth, would have already caught a whiff of his scent, wagged its tail vigorously, and run out to circle around his trouser legs.

Have they not returned from their patrol of the Forbidden Forest yet?

Just as Harry was lost in thought, he heard light footsteps coming from inside the house. It definitely wasn't Hagrid. Harry's eyes flickered, he reached into his pocket for his wand, and quietly approached.

Harry flung open the door and froze, his eyes widening as the scene inside the room came into view:

Ron, holding the cake, slurped his saliva. Loren, sitting on the sofa, was playing with Toothpick. Hermione, clinging to his shoulder, was whispering. Hagrid, carrying a teapot, stood in front of the fireplace.

The girl he had been longing for was standing right next to him. Ginny was staring at him blankly, her expression a little strange, a mixture of joy and panic.

The room was a little messy, with a few ribbons and scraps of kraft paper scattered around. It was clear that someone had wrapped a gift here not long ago. Considering Ginny's hurried action of pushing something behind the chair, it was probably his birthday present.

Loren looked up, rubbing his chin, and said to Harry, who looked touched, "Happy birthday."

"You...I..."

Harry mumbled a few words, then shut his mouth, put away his wand, and quickly stepped forward to embrace the red-haired girl. All his longing and words were poured into a passionate kiss.

Ron opened his mouth, but then stopped himself from speaking.

Loren glanced at him, paused briefly, and asked curiously, "Are you resentful of Harry's actions, or jealous of Ginny?"

"..."

Ron rolled his eyes.

The others in the room smiled.

The Apparition permit made distance no longer a barrier. Last night, they received a call from Ginny inviting them to join her, saying she had already spoken with Professor McGonagall and the school gates would open at nine o'clock this morning. Loren and Hermione accepted without much hesitation, first arriving at Hogsmeade, then walking to Hagrid's Hut…

The long-separated couple got so affectionate that they made the atmosphere in the room awkward. Ron's patience was wearing thin, while Hagrid was quite pleased to see this, like Harry's doting father.

"Tsk tsk..."

Loren was still scratching Ya Ya's chin. It was a pity he hadn't brought much dog food, otherwise he would have definitely fed it his fill.

Besides celebrating my roommate's seventeenth birthday, another purpose of returning to school was to observe my roommate's progress in Legilimency training and see if I could find any clues about Horcruxes.