Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

0638 The Owlery

No matter what obstacles arose or trials came, the long-awaited Christmas that so many people had been eagerly anticipating of finally arrived amidst the gentle fluttering of snowflakes.

Every inch of space within the castle and across the campus grounds was filled with a festive atmosphere. The air seemed to shimmer and sparkle with holiday magic and cheer. Never before in many years at Hogwarts had there been a Christmas quite like this one, where such a large number of young witches and wizards chose to remain within the castle instead of returning to their family homes.

The delightful laughter and excited chatter of the students could be heard echoing through every corridor. These young wizards, gathered together in groups of three or two, huddled close to one another as they giggled energetically discussing about the much-anticipated Yule Ball scheduled for the evening.

The only unpleasant aspect staining the else perfect scene was the chilling weather these past two days, likely making the absolute coldest temperatures experienced in all year.

When Bryan with a large package, finally reached the top of the owlery tower after a long climb up the stairs, he discovered that the entire outdoor corridor exposed to the air leading to the owlery had its stone floor and walls on both sides completely covered with a thick layer of extremely solid frozen ice.

This unexpected change was undoubtedly quite dangerous and a serious safety hazard. If any unwary students were to lose their footing and slip on the ice-covered ground, Madam Pomfrey would certainly find herself with quite an influx of patients in the hospital wing.

Bryan blinked in surprise at the sight before him, then calmly withdrew his wand from within his robes and decisively waved it in a sweeping backwards motion.

A sudden intense gust of magically summoned wind surged forth, scourging through the air and scattering the gently falling snowflakes in all directions. The ground that had been filled with the layer of ice seemed to suddenly emit waves of heat, as if an invisible network of underfloor heating had been installed beneath the stones.

Under this detonation of intense magical warmth, the solid ice surface rapidly dissolved and melted away. Even the resulting puddles of melted ice water were instantly vanished, leaving the brown stone tiles completely dry and free of any trace of the ice or water.

The owlery, caught in the residual force of Bryan's powerful wind spell, also experienced quite a startling commotion. Many of the normally docile owls had their feathers ruffled by the unexpected disturbance, they flapped their wings in agitation and hooted in panic as they frantically darted out from the various windows and branches of the owlery.

"Oh, it's you—"

When Bryan stepped out onto the now ice-free corridor, he saw Harry and his two best friends stumbling out of the owlery in a rush, their hands were covering their heads protectively as they were battered by the panicked owls fleeing from the sudden disruption. Each of their faces and black Hogwarts cloaks were filled with quite a few flying owl feathers.

"Professor Watson?!" Harry and his friends exclaimed in surprise, having now discovered that the 'culprit' responsible for their rather disheveled appearance was none other than Professor Watson.

They all politely greeted him. However, Bryan noticed that in addition to appearing a bit caught off guard by his unexpected appearance, these three young Gryffindors also had expressions that seemed to indicate they had something they wished to say to him but were hesitant to voice it.

"What brings you three up here?" Bryan inquired casually as he let the large package, he was carrying to float along behind him with a flick of his wand. He stepped into the slightly dim interior of the owlery, and his gaze fell on Harry, Ron, and Hermione who remained standing uncertainly in the doorway, making no move to leave.

"Oh, I'm just sending a letter home, Professor Watson—" Hermione spoke up, answering his question. Her voice wavered slightly and she looked a bit nervous as she continued her explanation. "I ordered some Christmas gifts for my parents by owl post, you see, but unfortunately they arrived a bit late..."

Bryan's peripheral vision drifted over Hermione's flushed cheek and he easily discerned that her words were not entirely truthful. However, he chose not to pay attention to her small lie. In his experience, those who meddled in others' affairs without proper reason often only succeeded in making themselves disliked and unwelcome.

"It seems we are in a rather similar predicament—" Bryan said casually, as his gaze scanned the various owls perched throughout the owlery.

"I purchased some 'normal' sweets from Honeydukes to send to the children at the orphanage where I was raised. This took me quite some time, as I'm sure you can imagine. Selecting appropriate magical candies required careful consideration.

Sending something like Chocolate Frogs, which moved and acted like real amphibians, to muggle children... Well, I'm sure you can understand that it would be a disaster for them and, for me... Perhaps it's because of this snowfall, the owls' efficiency is also not very satisfactory—"

"You grew up in an orphanage, Professor?" Ron blurted out, unable to contain his startled exclamation. His outburst earned him a sharp kick in the shin from both Harry and Hermione.

As he suddenly realized that his thoughtless comment had drawn everyone's focus onto him, Ron's ears turned red with embarrassment. He vaguely recalled Harry mentioning something in passing last year about Professor Watson being an orphan, but the unexpected reminder still caught him off guard.

As Ron stuttered out an awkward apology, Bryan turned his gaze to Harry, one eyebrow raised slightly in mild surprise. "You didn't tell Hermione and Ron about those things concerning me?"

Harry quickly shook his head, his expression open and earnest. "No, I didn't say anything, Professor..." He hesitated for a moment before continuing cautiously. "Would it be alright if I told them though?..."

"How surprising..." Bryan said as he reached out one hand to neatly catch a gray owl that fluttered down to perch on his arm. "Considering you've managed to keep that information to yourself for this long already, I'd suggest you simply continue keep it a secret. " He turned back to Harry with a small nod. "Now, if you wouldn't mind handing me that sturdy-looking brown owl just above your head, Harry... It would be much appreciated."

In the end, it turned out that the collection of gifts Bryan had purchased for the orphanage children were quite heavy indeed. Even with four strong owls working together to transport the package, they still appeared to be struggling a bit with the large weight.

In order to lighten their burden somewhat, Bryan made the decision to unload some of the items. He removed several large bags filled to the brim with a colorful package of Honeydukes sweets and set them aside, hoping that reducing the overall weight would make the delivery a bit easier on the Owls.

"Consider these a little Christmas gift from me to you," Bryan said warmly, tossing a bag of the sweets to each of the trio.

The remaining bag he tucked it under his arm, intending to bring it along to present to Dumbledore later. Just the other day, when Dumbledore had agreed to release Winky, he had not-so-subtly hinted that he would greatly appreciate a thoughtful Christmas gift. This extra bag of sweets could serve that purpose.

"Ah, that reminds me..." Bryan sighed in relief as he watched the four owls carrying his lightened package disappear into the swirling snow on the distant horizon. He exited the dimly lit owlery and began to make his way back down the tower stairs, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were trailing along close behind him. "You'll be sharing the opening dance with the other Triwizard champions this evening, Hermione. Have you selected your partner for the occasion yet?"

Hermione, who had just been on the verge of pressing Professor Watson for more information, found herself caught off guard by his unexpected question. Reflexively, her gaze darted over to where Ron stood nearby. In the span of about two seconds, an obvious flush appeared across Ron's cheeks.

"Um..." Hermione hesitated for a moment but still answered truthfully, "It's Ron, Professor Watson."

Upon hearing her words, Ron quickly ducked his head down, apparently finding his scratched shoes to be utterly fascinating.

"Is that so?" Bryan's eyebrows rose a fraction at this, but his expression quickly levelled back into its usual composed manner. "I must admit, I'm a bit surprised... But it's a fine choice." He turned his attention to Harry then. "And what about you, Harry? Who will you be escorting this evening?"

Before Harry had a chance to voice a response, Bryan lightly tapped his own forehead as if remembering something. "Ah, forgive me, Harry. It slipped my mind for a moment that you had already informed me of your plans to attend the ball with Miss Delacour..."

Harry could only blink rapidly as he was briefly at a loss for words. He had been feeling rather down over the whole matter of attending the ball with Fleur these past few days, but suddenly, he found himself fighting the urge to laugh out loud. Fleur wanted to make her presence known in front of Professor Watson by doing this, but Professor Watson had completely forgotten about it—

As the four of them walked down the tower stairs, they encountered more and more chattering groups of students heading in the opposite direction, obviously for visiting the owlery to send off last-minute gifts and cards.

Hermione bit her lip, realizing that if she didn't take this opportunity to question Professor Watson now, it was unlikely that she'd have another chance once they reached the more crowded lower levels of the castle. Bracing herself, she took a deep breath and quickened her pace to step beside Professor Watson.

"Professor Watson, I was hoping to ask you something..." Hermione controlled her breathing and asked softly, "You and Professor Dumbledore released Winky, didn't you? May I ask where it went?"

Bryan's brow moved slightly. The heaviness in his gaze from a casual glance nearly crushed Hermione's hard-mustered courage.

"Well now, news certainly travels fast within Hogwarts, doesn't it, Miss Granger?" Bryan said, his tone of voice revealing no hint of anger or annoyance at her rather bold question. Still, Hermione felt her face grow hot with embarrassment as she rushed to stammer out an explanation.

"You see, Professor, Harry, Ron, and I went down to the kitchens to visit Dobby and he- he mentioned that Winky hasn't been back to work in the kitchens at all since that night..." Hermione twisted her fingers together anxiously as she spoke and the words tumbled out of her mouth in a nervous rush. "We thought that perhaps...perhaps it meant that you had released her..."

Hermione skirted around the topic, not telling Professor Watson that it was after she expressed her suspicions about Crouch to Harry and Ron that Harry suggested going straight to Winky to ask. That's when they unexpectedly heard from Dobby that Winky was no longer at Hogwarts.

"A very shrewd judgment, Hermione—"

Bryan said with a calm expression.

"Winky was indeed released... It's no big deal to tell you. You probably all know how unwilling Winky was to work at Hogwarts. It dreamed of returning to Barty's side.

Some time ago, I went to visit Barty. Oh, you probably don't know, Mr. Barty Crouch was sick and took a long sick leave from the Ministry. When I saw him, he was very ill, but he didn't want to go to St Mungo's, nor did he want anyone to take care of him. So, I proposed letting Winky return to look after his health."

'Barty Crouch was sick?'

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, both feeling that this matter was probably not that simple.

"Um, Professor Watson—"

Hermione knew that if she continued asking, it would be a bit rude. But she couldn't suppress the desire to know the truth. So, she hardened her scalp and continued asking,

"Professor Watson... The reason you went to check on Mr. Crouch in the first place... Was it- I mean, did you suspect that his sudden illness might have something to do with the Dark Mark that appeared in the sky the night of the Quidditch World Cup Final?"

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