CH 16

Harry let a little anger colour his thoughts and must have let slip in his tone what he felt about the Dursleys because Isabel leaned forward and asked, "Harry. Are you - ill-treated there?" Harry was a little uncomfortable with the question but replied with a frown, "What's done is done. They don't want me and I don't want them anywhere near me again."

It was clear neither Cygnus nor Isabel were happy with Harry's response but they didn't push. Instead, Cygnus said in a lighter tone, "Well, we cannot have the Head of a Noble and Most Ancient House residing at The Leaky Cauldron. As you and Daphne, as you suggested, should get to know each other before you depart on the Hogwarts Express, then I think I must insist you move in here for the next few days into one of our guest rooms. After all, you will be family soon enough."

Nodding, Harry said, "Then I thank you for the offer of your extended hospitality and heartily accept. I hope you won't mind if I move my things in tomorrow afternoon after lunch?" "That would be fine, Harry. I'll have the elves prepare a room for you. Shall we expect you at - say - 1.00pm?"

"Thank you," said Harry. "That time suits me perfectly."

On returning late to The Leaky Cauldron, Harry retired directly to his room. There, he immediately drafted the first of two letters to go to Mesdames Longbottom and Bones about his experience with the Greengrasses. He kept the information light and was reticent in what he included that he felt were private between he and the Greengrasses.

He sent the first letter off to Madam Longbottom that night with Hedwig before he settled down to meditate, to sort his new memories - creating a new section dedicated to Daphne in the process before going to sleep. Early the next morning he wrote a similar letter to Madam Bones about the meeting and, as Hedwig had not yet returned, posted it off using one of the post office owls in Diagon Alley.

He returned to his room and packed everything up ready for his short-term move to Greengrass Estate. With his glamours in place he went downstairs to enjoy a quick breakfast, his last for the time being at The Leaky Cauldron, and headed back into the Alley proper on his way to Gringotts.

Quickly finding a teller he asked to be taken down to his heirlooms and trust fund vaults.

From the trust fund vault he refilled his coin pouch before moving on to the heirloom vault. From within he went to the section where the jewellery was stored. From memory he knew just what he was looking for, and found them as he remembered them. The family rings.

He picked out a feminine looking ring with a brilliant cut sapphire mounted in a white gold band, plus a single gold band with a smaller but similar stone mounted almost flush within it for himself. He felt the stone and white gold were fairly well matched to the eyes and hair colour of his betrothed.

Returning to the surface he visited Bloodfang to let him know he was enacting the betrothal contract between himself and Daphne Greengrass, and to ask for assistance in getting the current charms on the rings checked and or updated. Bloodfang recommended a jeweller not far down the Alley above the second hand robe shop and mentioned it was the Potter family preferred jeweller.

In the jewellers he showed the two rings and said, "I'd like to know what charms or wards, or whatever, are on these rings. Then, based on that information, what I can have placed on them if they're not already there."

Giving a nod the proprietor said, "Give me about an hour, young sir, and I'll have that information for you, alright?"

"That suits me fine, thank you," replied Harry. "I'll see you then."

Harry then left the jeweller and walked back up the Alley to Eeylop's Owl Emporium. Inside, he approached the counter and waited until he was spotted. One of the reasons he liked to come into the Alley early in the morning was because there was less traffic and other shoppers at that time.

"Good morning and welcome back, sir. How can I help you, today?" asked the shopkeeper, recognising Harry as an often repeat customer.

"Good morning," replied Harry. "I have, of late, become concerned my owl mail is being intercepted. I'm led to believe my own owl can be - warded or charmed, to ensure mail carried by her cannot be so intercepted. Is that true?"

Frowning, the shopkeeper said, "It's unheard of in this day and age for owl mail to be intercepted because the penalties for such are quite severe. Furthermore, it disgusts me that someone would do such a thing - invade someone's privacy like that.

"However, if your mail is being intercepted, or you're just worried it might be, I do have an answer to your dilemma," he replied. "Is your owl used by your Head of House?" "Yes, sir," replied Harry. After a quick look around to ensure there was no one who could listen in, he flashed his Head of House ring to the shopkeeper. "The owl belongs to the Head of House Potter," he quietly said.

Looking a little surprised at the ring on Harry's finger, the shopkeeper said, "Well, it's good to finally know your identity, Mister Potter. And I can understand why you're concerned about your mail being intercepted. And, thank you for your trust. You'll have my discretion in this matter."

The old man walked into the back of the store for a few moments before returning with a small wooden box. Placing it on the counter between them he opened it to show what was inside.

Reaching in he withdrew a small harness with tiny buckles, leather straps and a blank shield on it. "This is the deluxe model," he said. "It's a harness that affixes to the chest of your owl and identifies it as the personal owl for official correspondence of a Head of one of the Noble and Ancient Houses.

"You strap it on to your owl and then touch the crest of your ring to the shield. The shield is charmed to them automatically display the crest of the House to which it belongs - in your case, the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter - and also cause the straps to auto-size to the bird. I assure you it doesn't harm the bird in any way, and we've been using these for years.

"The harness is charmed to repel water, dust and damage. It also protects the bird from mail interception up to and including Ministry sanctioned interceptions, protects the bird from other raptors, provides some protection from spell damage and provides the bird with auto-healing of light injuries, an intent-based Notice-Me-Not charm from those who would do her harm, an energy boost similar to a Pepper Up Potion for those extra long flights, and aids in providing a Featherlight Charm to any packages over a quarter of a pound in dead weight up to twenty pounds."

"Are there any other charms that can be added you think might be useful?" asked Harry.

Shaking his head the shopkeeper replied, "No, after many years of trial and error we've found this particular combination to be the best available. The only thing more you can do is make the owl your personal familiar. That grants her, or him, a higher level of intelligence. And will mean she'll be able to better protect your mail, herself."

Nodding, Harry asked, "And how do I do that?" The shopkeeper reached under his counter and drew forth a small fact sheet on the subject. He placed it on the counter next to the box. "You'll be surprised how many ask just that," he replied with a wry smile.

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