127 Chapter 124

"Doing quite well Harry. Got a letter for you again."

Harry picked up the letter that lay on the desk and opened it. It was his school report card. He'd have to remember to get it signed by Nicholas. Pocketing it, he asked the red phoenix, "So how come there isn't a school owl delivering this? I'm glad you're here, but aren't report cards usually delivered by school owls?"

"Indeed. But Albus seems to have realized that young Hedwig here and I have become friends. He wants me to spend more time with people other than him. Thinks I need to…get out more," the phoenix said, sounding incredibly amused, "I swear he sometimes forgets that I'm a millennium older than him."

Harry chuckled before asking, "So what have you been doing after the school let off?"

"Albus and I had been gone for a while to Chile to meet an ICW delegate. Its not all that interesting, but the parrots that the delegate keeps in his house are quite the beauties."

"Sounds fun" Harry said before realizing that Hedwig was getting ice cream all over her feathers. "Eat slower Hedwig! Or I swear I'll have to give you a bath."

Letting out a trill of protest, Hedwig burst into fire at the same spot, drying all the chocolate, and then vigorously shook herself, making all the chocolate fall off. With a small chirp of triumph at Harry, she went back to her ice cream.

"She's a smart one," Fawkes noted, amused.

"That she is" Harry said, before something crossed his mind and he frowned.

"Anything wrong Harry?"

"Nothing…it's just that my friend Dean's birthday is coming up and he told me he'd send me a letter inviting me as soon as he got home. It's been almost two weeks and there's no sign of a letter. Not just from him, but from any of my friends."

"No letters? None?"

"None. Haven't seen an owl since I left Hogwarts."

"That is strange. Perhaps you should go visit them and talk about it."

"I would, but I don't know any of their addresses though."

"I can help with that!" Fawkes said, perking up. With a small burst of flames, he disappeared. Just as Harry started wondering where he'd gone, he flamed back in, this time with a thick book in his claws which he dropped onto the table.

Harry read the cover.

Hogwarts Registry: Deputy Head's copy

"Fawkes! Did you nab this from Professor McGonagall?!" he exclaimed.

"…Yes. And I recommend you look through it fast before she notices."

Harry dove in, quickly sifting through to the second year section and noting down the addresses of his friends. Fawkes quickly flamed out, replacing the book from where he had taken it, before coming back.

"Most of them are all pretty far from here. Reckon you could drop me off Fawkes?" Harry asked.

"I could drop you off, but I can't bring you back. Albus and I will be leaving for Japan soon and he'll be expecting me. I'm already a bit late actually."

"Well then, I suppose I should go to Dean's house then. It is the closest." Harry said "You can stay Hedwig, finish your ice cream. His house isn't too far away. I'll walk back."

Hedwig chirped an agreement and Harry grabbed onto Fawkes's tail feathers, disappearing in the flames and reappearing in a small deserted alleyway off of the Vincent Street near Vincent Square, around where the registry said Dean lived.

After saying goodbye to Fawkes, Harry spent a few minutes walking all around the Vincent Square, which was a massive playing field, looked at the series of buildings, looking for the relevant house number.

Suddenly he heard his name being called. "Harry! Oi Harry! Over here!"

Harry looked around. It was Dean! He was waving at Harry from inside the field, where he and a bunch of others were playing football. Harry waved at him and went around the boundary fence of Vincent Square to enter the field through the gate. He saw Dean tag out for another guy who took his position and then run over to Harry.

"Harry! How've you been doing mate? Why haven't you been replying to the letters?" Dean asked as they shook hands and headed towards the shade to talk.

Harry was thrown off.

"Letters? I haven't been getting any," he said, frowning, "That's why I came here to talk. I was wondering if anything was wrong."

Dean looked concerned, "That's odd. Ron mentioned you haven't been replying to any of the others' letters as well. The owls always came back without the letter, so they must've given it to somebody…Do you reckon somebody's stealing your mail? That couldn't be it could it?"

Harry thought for a few seconds before answering, "Maybe…I think that it could be. It's not a long shot"

There was a moment's silence as they let the thought sink in. Harry idly thought about how Filch had been intercepting their owls last year and wondered if Dumbledore was somehow involved.

Dean shivered with disgust, "Urgh…just the thought of somebody cutting you off from all your mail like that…so weird. I'll let the others know about it and see if they notice anything strange."

"Thanks mate."

"No worries. Oh, and you're officially invited to my birthday. Drop by early and you can help us put up the balloons and stuff."

Suddenly, a boy from the field yelled in their direction. "Oi Dean! Get back here quick! We gotta get Vikk off the pitch before he scores an own goal!"

"Coming Simon!" Dean yelled back and turned to Harry. "I'll be seeing you day after tomorrow Harry."

"See you then. Good luck for the match mate."

Dean grinned and sprinted back onto the field. Suddenly, a screen popped up in front of him.

Quest Alert!

Dean's birthday is coming! Buy a cool gift!

Rewards,

+1 stat point

1000 Exp

Failure,

It's not exactly hard, just buy him a bloody gift you dolt

YES/NO?

He accepted the quest. Making his way out of the field, he started walking towards the direction of Charing Cross for a few seconds, intending to finish this quest early, before remembering that he could apparate. Feeling a bit stupid, Harry dipped into a side alley and apparated to the roof of an office building near the Charing Cross.

He ran down the stairs and onto the road, making his way through the Leaky Cauldron and into the Diagon Alley.

Making his way into Scribbulus Writing Instruments, he picked out a set of eagle feather quills for Dean, who he knew liked drawing.

As he paid for the set and had it wrapped, a screen popped up in front of him.

Ping!

Quest Success!

Dean's birthday is coming! Buy a cool gift!

Rewards,

+1 stat point

1000 Exp

He waved away the screen before heading back towards the apartment. There was one thing on his mind. Someone was intercepting his mail, trying to isolate him from the magical world. Who? Why? How? He didn't know.