The ballad of an orphaned lamb

Harry stepped out of Gringotts with about thirty Galleons stuffed in his pocket, trying his best not to be crushed by a stumbling Hagrid.

“I heard lemons are good for this.” 

“D’ya have a lemon?” Hagrid swayed as he stepped down the stairs, before collapsing onto a nearby bench. “Phew - I’ll tell ye Harry, tha’s why I hold all o’ me money under me pillow.”

Harry took a seat near him, thinking for a moment before finally voicing his concerns. He may not have a lemon, but he surely had something to say.

“You shouldn’t say where your money is, Hagrid.” 

“Ah, bollocks, what’re ye gonna do, Harry, hunt for them Sickles under the bed, with yer fortune?” Hagrid winked.

Hagrid was one of the only people in England he really enjoyed spending time with. He knew Hagrid had taken him from his house on the fateful night his parents died, and Lena ensured at least once a year, they would visit him. If anything, he wished he would be related to Hagrid more than his actual family. The half-giant was one of his best sources of information on Hogwarts, and would spend hours on end talking to him about the professors he’d have, what he’d learn, what it was like inside the castle, and every now and then, would regale him with tales of his parents. 

“How’s life, Harry? Madge still treating ye good?” What started as a mistake of Hagrid once forgetting Lena’s name soon became a running joke among them - and Harry had to admit he had a list of favourite ‘Hagrid names’, and at the top of that list was certainly the very apt ‘Magpie’.

“It’s all good there, yeah. We came to London yesterday, and… well, I got my letter to Hogwarts.” Harry handed it over to Hagrid, watching the half-giant’s eyes light up as he opened the envelope and looked over the letter. “She was going to come with me today, but said she had something to do.”

“Yesterday, huh?” Hagrid quickly interjected, getting up from the bench. “Yesterday, you got the letter… Blimey, ye should’ve said a thing! A very, merry, happy birthday, Harry!” 

With both hands, Hagrid clasped his shoulders with a smile barely visible from under his beard, and once again Harry had to brace himself against the ground, not to fall under the weight. He thanked Hagrid, who was looking around the stores, moving his head around. 

“Ye haven’t got yer animal by chance…?”

Harry shook his head.

“Perfect! Tell yeh what, I’ll get yer animal - come on. I can’t not, after forgetting yer birthday!” With one hand still on his shoulder, talking about the craziest pets students tried to claim were an ‘overgrown cat’ or ‘exotic owl’, Hagrid dragged him over to Eeylops Owl Emporium. 

Harry had to admit to himself as he entered the store that he didn’t half-mind having an owl. On the counter, he grabbed one of the tiny booklets with owl facts, and went directly to look up their lifespan. More than anything, Harry feared death lingering around him. He looked over at the owls, and thought about his pet cat Felix. When he found Felix, the poor soul was already old and slow, and it only made it a few more years. He remembered Lena saying they probably gave Felix a good few years he wouldn’t have otherwise had.

“Look, this one’s a beaut! Has the same eyes like that cat ye had.” 

Harry turned around towards Hagrid, putting the booklet in his pocket. He raised his eyes, and was faced with a beautiful snowy owl, who looked at him inquisitively with its large, amber eyes. His eyebrows rose as he approached the cage, and put a finger out. Harry watched the owl approach gently, and he lightly stroked its head.

He terribly wished for an owl, yet all he could think about as he looked at the owl was finding Felix curled up on the stove in the morning, unmovable.

“I don’t know, Hagrid. Owls don’t live that long, do they?”

“They do with care, Harry. You’d be surprised! I’ve seen owls live well in their twenties - sure, they can’t fly much and are fussy with the mail, won’t deliver most things, but they’re happy.” As he spoke, Hagrid’s voice turned cheerful, and he picked up the owl’s tag stuck on the cage. “And she’s pretty young.”

Harry nodded lightly, looking at the owl. Her eyes reminded him of Felix indeed, and Harry expected him to feel awful in replacing his last pet, yet instead he could only feel a warm, fuzzy feeling inside his stomach as he looked at the owl.

“So? What’s yer verdict, Harry? Taking the little feller?”

“I- I think I will, Hagrid. If you’re sure you want to-” Hagrid nodded, the force of it making several cages hung on the ceiling move, their owners hooting annoyed. 

Harry grinned, and thanked him for the owl - as he picked up the cage, as Hagrid paid, and as they exited the store, holding the cage carefully, as if he held a fragile glass ornament.

“Ach, don’t thank me Harry! It’s the least I can do.”

“Well… you did a lot - you came for me when my parents… well, when Voldemort - oh, sorry!” Harry apologised as Hagrid shuddered, before continuing. “What if someone else, one of the Death Eaters came for me before you did?”

Hagrid opened his mouth, but didn’t answer, simply looking down. There was a shadow over his face as he tucked his chin in his beard, and seemed to ponder his question. Harry couldn’t help but wonder if there was something Hagrid did not want to talk about. There was only another time when Harry saw Hagrid like this, and it was when he asked him about why he was expelled from Hogwarts. 

Wanting to change the subject away from it, Harry pondered. He still had to buy books, and a cauldron, and… oh, the robe measurements. Oh, of course, and his wand! He whipped his head to look at an enormous clock placed at the top of Gringotts, and realised he was supposed to meet Lena by now. Perfect hange of subject!

“Hagrid, do you know where Ollivander’s is?”

Hagrid nodded in agreement, and Harry continued by asking if he knows what’s the best way to care for owls. As expected of the Gamekeeper, Hagrid launched into a rhetoric of what people think is the best thing when it comes to their feed, and how it’s mostly just being misled by the latest ads in the Daily Prophet.

Led by Hagrid, Harry noticed the storefront at the same time as he noticed his guardian. A tall, lanky figure in orange robes, he couldn’t have missed her. Harry approached her with a sheepish smile. He felt like a small child again, bringing his future pet cat home. Lifting Felix up by his front paws, until the cat was almost his size, and shoving it in Lena’s face. This time, he lifted the cage slowly, and waited for her.

“And what’s this?” she finally asked, crossing her arms. Despite the seemingly serious tone, a smile was creeping up her face.

“Hagrid- uh, got me an owl, for Hogwarts. As a birthday present. I can keep it, right?” 

“Of course you can, sweetheart. Bad luck falls on the people refusing someone on their birthday.”

“That true?” Hagrid piped up, and Harry was happy to see that Hagrid seemed better.

“Old superstition.” she grabbed Harry by the shoulders, and gave him a quick peck on the top of his head. “Say, have you done anything else apart from shop for owls?”

“Not much… I went to Gringotts, and I was spending time with Hagrid. And we got her.” He raised the cage again.

Lena nodded, and rapped her fingers against his shoulder. 

“Do you want to make a start and go inside? There’s just something I want to talk to Hagrid about. I’ll come with you in a moment.” she put her fingers on top of the cage, and Harry let go of his owl, before stepping inside Ollivander’s. Before closing the door, he looked back, yet both of them had their bodies turned away from him. Yet Harry couldn’t help but notice Lena had her head at an angle, and watched him close the door fully before turning her head fully away from him.

Harry turned around, and heard a tinkling bell coming from the depths of the store. Suddenly, it was very quiet. The noises from the outside world completely faded, and Harry was now very aware, and very conscious of the noise his own breathing made. He tried to slow his breathing in vain to make it quieter, jolting up as he heard a soft ‘Good afternoon’. He straightened his back, and turned towards what was most likely mister Ollivander. An old man, with a pale face and paler eyes was now in front of him, smiling kindly.

“H- good afternoon.” Harry awkwardly mumbled. With a deep breath, he took a step forward, ready to soon leave the store with a wand.