Ride to Hogwarts

"We still need to buy a messenger bird." Miles said as they got out of Flourish and Blotts, "I wonder if they have an eagle around?"

"What's your family's obsession with eagles?" Bill said thinking about that huge eagle Madam Patricia had with her, "All the wizards and witches are satisfied with owls, you can even get large ones if you like big ones."

"It's a signature of our family like how the Lestrange has their ravens. And besides, Kai isn't that bad, but just for some reason, he can't seem to stand you." Miles said shrugging and not paying attention to Bill's expressions, "Do you think, 'Magical Menagerie' will have it?"

"I guess."

After walking for a while, they finally reached the shop they were looking for as they entered it. There wasn't much room inside the shop. 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.

Miles looked around carefully at the variety of pets in the shop, There were 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 which were playing some sort of skipping game using their long bald tails.

"You can get the Ravens too, you know. You might not be a Lestrange but you're still a pureblood." Bill said looking at Miles, "And they aren't that bad as far as I know."

"Of course, they aren't." The saleswoman sitting at the front desk said looking at both of them, "So what can I help you with?"

"I want an eagle." Miles said as he looked at Bill then back at the saleswoman, "The bigger the better."

"I don't know much about big but we got just the one you might be looking for." The saleswoman went backdoors and came back with a huge cage, inside it, there was a decently huge eagle looking around left and right. "It's a Crowned Eagle, the healthiest one we have. It's been raised with a lot of care and expensive foods as you can see by its fancy and shiny feathers. Since it was fed with a lot of enchanted food, it is really strong. Strong enough to carry things weighing up to 90 pounds."

Miles went closer to towards the cage as both he and the eagle looked at one another for a while. Miles ignoring Bill's worried look nodded at the saleswoman, "I'll take her then."

"Good eye." The shopkeeper said nodding.

"How do you know its a female?"

"They are larger and I have spent enough time with them to at least know how to distinguish them, to say the least," Miles said paying the lady as they both went back to the Leaky Cauldron.

―==(oIo)==―

The day before his departure, Miles got a letter back from Natasha. Just as they were having dinner a huge eagle came flying in through the door and landed right at there table. Bill who had already grabbed his food in fear of the eagle stealing his, "You should teach it some manners at least."

"Her name is Ivy." Miles grumbled as he took the letter from her, as he pushed his steak towards her. Ivy without any hesitation started eating the steak shocking Bill again due to its huge appetite. He opened the letter and read:

Dearest Miles,

I am glad you remembered to send me a letter after you've arrived and I am really happy that you'll be attending Hogwarts. I thought you were being sent to a no-name school, whatever it is called, so I was already planning on going there to just kidnap you out of it but I guess that won't be necessary anymore.

Instead of sending a letter, I'd rather come and meet you but unfortunately, I am busy with some work. But at least, you can meet Blaise, he's going to Hogwarts this year as well and I hope you both can reunite and be friends like you used to be in the past. Though Blaise has changed a lot and has become what you and I like to consider 'annoying' so feel free to teach him how to have some fun. You know the rules, a stab if he insults you and two stabs if he insults me.

Anyway, I'll be seeing you at Christmas and don't you dare say no or else I'll cuddle you to death.

Yours,

Natasha.

"Well, she's still the same," Miles said sweating a little as he looked at the kiss mark on the bottom of the letter.

"Is that blood?" Bill asked

Miles turned the page to see some red dried marks all over the back of the page as he quickly crumbled it down, "Must be ink or some potions that spilled."

"Is it though?" Bill questioned but he went back to eating again not paying attention to it all.

==(oIo)==―

Next morning,

"Let's go." Bill said pushing Miles's cart while Miles followed behind him running through the train station, "Today of all day, we both had to oversleep."'

"I thought you were going to wake me up."

"I was but who cares about that now, let's go."

Rushing in they finally reached Platform nine and three-quarters where suddenly Bill stopped in his track. Miles saw two boys heading in for the wall while there were two women with flaming red hair standing next to the wall. One was an older woman while the other was just a little girl.

Miles heard Bill start to murmur something as he suddenly apparated away before the woman could turn back. Wondering what was going on, Miles took hold of his cart and started walking towards the wall between the two platforms.

"Are you Miles Rakepick?" The red-headed girl asked as he turned around to face her. The girl was pretty cute, to say the least as she stared at him with her eyes wide open.

"I am." Miles said not so shocked as the younger ones were always the type to recognize him, "Is there something you want little miss?"

"I-I am Ginny Weasley." The girl mustered out not knowing exactly what to say.

"I am sorry." The woman answered in her stead as she looked at time, "You must be getting late! Let's go, Ginny."

The woman said with an apologetic smile and pulled the girl away who kept looking back at him from time and time again.

Miles cursed Bill a couple of times in his head as he walked through the wall. Walking through it, he finally saw a scarlet steam engine that was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats.

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