Writing on the Wall
Terra’s secret was indeed kept between the Golden Trio and the Weasley Twins, but she did have to inform Rolf too just in case if he would stop by and not get a shock from new guests, the next morning they got an Owl from their Father.
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Dear Rolf and Terra, things are well here, and Frank is doing well too, things are still a bit rough with MACUSA, as you know the Laws in the US Wizardry are far different then the UK.
Happy to hear how the Kitsunes are doing Little Bow after your last letter, if their litter is to come any day make sure you have plenty of everything you need for them, and send photo’s when you can.
Love you both
Dad x
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Terra did keep a close eye on the Kitsune and spent more of her free time in her suitcase, even skipping meals, Rolf would bring her something from the Hufflepuff table reminding her to keep her health, remembering a time she did this before when Apollo was first put in her care.
On Friday two days before Halloween, she could not be thankful for that day to have afternoons off, after the lesson was done, she informed Harry, Ron, and Hermione that she’ll be in her case all afternoon knowing that she calculated that today could be the day. Several hours later, Rolf came running to the Golden Trio with Fred and George not far behind him, telling them he got a message from Terra, saying ‘it’s happening’. Without delay they hurried to the room trying not to look suspicious and somehow not getting followed, they entered Terra’s case. Removing their cloaks and wands hanging them on the coat rack and hurrying to the forest paddock, Shun hissed at them when he stopped them, Rolf told they have to do this in order to help after bowing to be giving permission to get near the den first, Harry was next, then Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George.
Terra is inside the den, kneeling over the female Kitsune, her sleeves rolled up so far it reached her armpits, her hair tied up in a high ponytail keeping it off her face, not far from where Rolf was where many towels, pink and boy blankets and bottles of pale green liquid, seven stools placed nearby. They take their seats.
Sakura whined loudly, the first pup is coming out, Terra aided her when the kit was half through, it fitted in her hand perfectly, its fur tan-brown, ears already formed, the umbilical cord snapped off at once on its own the kit was crying out for it parents, Terra moved it to the new mother’s face, and Sakura started to lick the first pup, they over watch in awe. After several minutes, Sakura started to whine again.
“Here Rolf,” she said quietly passing the pup to him.
While Terra waited for the second, Rolf began to show the Gryffindors on what to do, after taking one of the towels to clean the pup from the birth fluid and grabbing one of the bottles.
“This is the milk to give them,” he said while shaking the bottle. “It’s the closest we can get for Kitsune, this is how you do it.”
He placed a blue blanket over his lap, placing the pup on it, using his left hand to prop up the pup’s head high so it would not choke, and with his right, places the bottle in its mouth and right away starts to suck, making loud slurping noises.
“Also give the bottle a little squeeze so they can get a bit more,” Rolf finished explaining.
“Here’s number 2,” Terra says placing the second pup near it’s mum, this one had light grey fur.
After the pup was licked clean, Terra passed it to Hermione along with a towel and pink blanket.
“Aww,” Hermione cooed, as she correctly did what Rolf showed them, now the pup is feeding loudly like it’s sibling.
“What’s that smell?” Ron asked.
“New baby smell? Fred joked.
“No, it’s the towels,” Rolf says, looking up. “To make sure the pup know their parents scent with kept the towels and blankets with them, we don’t want these little guys thinking we are their parents.”
Not long came another brown furred third who was passed to Harry, then a grey fourth that Ron took hold, while waiting for the fifth, Rolf showed them how to burp the pup was their where full, then wrap them up the blanket for warm, Shun waited patiently, Terra explained that he cannot enter until the birthing is completed. Another brown arrived making the litter five was handed to Fred and then additional brown sixth came quickly after, Sakura was getting tired, Terra gently felt around the Kitsune’s stomach, feeling for anymore pups she noticed something is wrong.
“Oh no,” she said moving to the back of the Kitsune.
“Terra? What is it?!” Rolf asked.
“This last one is not turned!” she replied, seeing the pups back leg.
Using both hands, she managed to get the grey pup out, it is smaller than its siblings, barely fitting in her one hand, and it was not breathing, Terra quickly grabbed a towel wiping the birth fluid of the pups’ mouth and nose, then keeping a gentle but tight grip on it she started to swing it up and down three times. Rolf explained it was to get the air in its faced to get it to breathe, no movement, so she tried something else, sitting on the only stool left, with the same towel she clean it with, she started to rub up and down it’s back fast, everyone watches intensely, quietly, and hopefully.
“Come on,” Terra muttered under her breath. “Come on please.”
After what felt like forever and assuming the worse, they hear little yelps from inside the towel, Terra lifted the towel, then stroked her fore and middle finger down it’s back, it yelped again and kicked it legs.
“Oh, thank Helga,” Terra sighed in relief, taking it back to Sakura to clean.
“That was close,” Rolf commented. “I hate to think how Sakura would have felt losing another Kit.”
Terra soon sat back on her stool, while Rolf placed the pup back with mum, he told once the pups where done eating they could bring them back to Sakura, Terra started to help feed the runt but the lid for the bottle was too big, as Rolf went to get a syringe, the others waited.
“Thought we lost you there little one,” Terra said to the pup, keeping it warm in its pink blanket.
“That was amazing what you did Terra,” said Hermione.
Rolf came back and helped his sister by opening the bottle and getting the milk with the syringe, passing it to her and getting the pup to finally eat.
“7 kits, 4 boys and 3 girls,” Rolf says. “Well done everyone.”
“It’s not something you see every day,” said George, looking over at the Kits
“How fast do they grow,” asked Harry.
“Quite quick,” Terra replied, massaging the pups throat to get it to swallow as Rolf refills the syringe. “In about 4 months they will be the size of their parents, but they don’t mature till they are ten years old. And thankfully they only drink milk for one week then its fried tofu, rice and so on.”
After making sure the runt has had enough, she places her in the middle of her siblings, Sakura licked Terra on the cheek as a thank you, she leave the den all hot ‘n’ bothered, she wiped her forehead with her forearm.
“You can go in now Shun,” she says to the Kitsune father.
Immediately he brushed passed them not before rubbing his head on Terra’s knee, no doubt another thank you, they leave the paddock, pleased for helping and amazed.
They washed they hands in the outdoor sink near the shed, Terra went inside and used her wand to remove the fluid and leaves of her clothes after she washed her own hands, and got a pot a tea going with a tin of biscuits, for a job well done. Harry helped bring the empty mugs when he noticed one of the photo frames that did not caught his eye before, it was a group photo, a family photo, there was Terra, Rolf was standing on her right, and behind them where Oliver, and five over elders to who he assumes are her grandparents, great-uncles and aunt, but the woman on Oliver’s left hand a hand on Terra’s Shoulder, and they were waving at him.
“Harry?” Terra called from the shed door.
“Oh sorry, just looking at the photos,”
“It’s okay,” she said walking to him, to get the milk and sugar. “That’s the whole family it was taken a couple of years back, Bunty took the photo before getting in one herself,” she explain just as the photo had another woman enter the frame. “That’s her, and that’s Uncle Jacob and Aunt Queenie, next to her Grandma Tina next to Grandfather and next to him is his brother Uncle Theseus.”
“And who is the woman standing next to Oliver,” Harry asked
“My Mum,” Terra said, Harry picked up that her tone sounded sad.
Wanting to change to subject, Terra and Harry left the shed, the group sat enjoying they cuppa’s and chatted till they head of for tea.
Thankfully the weekend did help with making a new timetable with the new members in her suitcase, she immediately wrote to her Father tell her how the birthing went and how they are doing, while managing to do her homework, when Halloween came she thought of asking the Kitchen Staff who have helped with getting food for her creatures to make a couple of Sandwiches for the Deathday Party, having to recall that when the Wailing Widow of Kent invited her grandparents, Dad and M, Rolf and herself, and Oliver packing them some food as they will be nothing edible there.
She meet up with Harry, Ron and Hermione and soon headed to the dungeons as the Halloween Feast was starting. The party was not as bad as she fought, but for Harry, Ron, and Hermione it could have gotten better, for Hermione it was trying to get out of an awkward situation with a school girl ghost Moaning Myrtle who haunts a toilet on the first-floor girls bathroom. Terra did meet her one time a couple of weeks back to get away from Pansy sometime when trying to head to the common room from checking her creatures, she can say that the ghost girl did understand what its like to be teased and bullied but it did leave Myrtle very upset remembering her time when she was alive.
Ron thought that there was food but only to find out that it was rotten, but soon was cheered up when Terra got out sandwiches and a flask of pumpkin juice for the four them, then about an hour into the party, the Headless Hunt showed up, just as Sir Nicholas was about to make his speech drawing all the attention on the headless ghost instead of the host, after Harry tried to say that Nick was scary failed, they began to leave as they could not stand the cold dungeon anymore. Half way towards the steps to the Entrance Hall Harry stopped in his tracks.
“Harry, what’re you-?”
“It’s the voice again.”
“Voice? what voice,” Terra questioned.
She watched as Harry tried to listen while moving close to the stone wall, she concentrated on trying to hear this voice too, but all she could was the noise from the Feast.
“This way,” Harry shouted, and began to run the stairs. “It’s about to kill.”
Terra, Hermione, and Ron clattering after Harry sprinted up taking three steps at a time, Harry hurtled around the second floor, Terra panted along with Ron and Hermione, not understanding not is going on. Why can Harry hear a voice? And why can’t she nor her friends hear it?
“Harry, what was that all about?” said Ron. “I couldn’t hear anything.”
“Look!” Hermione gasped pointing down the corridor.
The cautiously walked down the corridor, seeing something red written on the wall.
THE CHAMBER OD SECERTS HAS BEEN OPENED ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE
Terra almost slipped but Harry caught her, there was a massive puddle, they inched towards the message, that’s when they spotted something hanging from a torch bracket, they leapt backwards, it’s Mrs Norris frozen stiff with an frighten expression.
Before they could leave, the corridors where filled with students fast.
“Enemies of the Heir beware?,” Draco says, reading out the writing on the wall. “You’ll be next Mudbloods!”
Terra could not help but feel hot anger to that word, but the fire was quickly extinguished when Filch came though the crowd and spotted his faithful cat.
“My cat! My cat! What happened to Mrs Norris!” he screeched, then his eyes fell on to Harry. “You! You’ve murdered my cat! You’ve killed her! I’ll kill you! I’ll-”
“Argus!”
Dumbledore arrived on the scene along with McGonagall and several other teachers. The headmaster noticed the words on the wall
“Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately,” Dumbledore told the crowd, the quartet turned to leave too.
“Everyone except you four.”
They stopped and the crowd departed as quickly as they showed up.
“She’s not dead, Argus,” says Dumbledore. “She has been petrified.”
“Ah thought so,” Lockhart spoke out after looking at the cat closely. “So unlucky I wasn’t there, I know exactly the counter-curse that could’ve spared her.”
Terra noticed how most of the teachers stared at Lockhart as if ‘really?’, especially a look coming from McGonagall.
“But how she has been petrified, I cannot say,” Dumbledore questioned.
“Ask him,” Filch said quickly gesturing towards Harry. “It him that’s done it, you saw what he wrote on the wall.”
“It’s not true sir, I swear,” said Harry. “I never touched Mrs Norris.”
“Rubbish!”
If Filch would give a student detention just for bring in a bit of dirt into the castle there was no doubt he was going to believe if a Harry was telling the truth or not.
“If I might Headmaster?” said Snape. “Perhaps potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The four second years looked at one another in shock at what Snape just said, as if he was going to defend them they have more of a change of getting blood from a stone then that.
“However, the circumstances are suspicious,” Snape says walking towards them while glaring at Harry. “I for wrong don’t recall seeing potter at dinner.”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the Deathday party.
“But why not join the feast afterwards?” said Snape. “Why go up to that corridor?”
“Because, because we were tired and wanted to go to bed,” Harry replied.
“Without supper?” said Snape with a flickering smile. “I didn’t think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties.”
“We weren’t hungry,” said Ron loudly, his stomach give poorly timed huge rumble.
“That is because I brought food with us,” Terra explained quickly before Snape could get a word in. “I-I have been to a Deathday Party before and I knew they would be no food for us to eat, so we didn’t need to go to the feast.”
“Then why where you heading to Gryffindor tower Miss Scamander?”
“I was going to lead her my notes for our Transfiguration homework Professor,” Hermione said.
That was not a complete lie, Terra has been struggling with work, but she might have been nearly felling asleep due to her concern with the Kitsune before Friday afternoon happened.
Snape turned back to face Dumbledore.
“Innocent until proven guilty, Severus.”
They are in the clear, for now.
“My cat has been petrified; I want to see some punishment!”
“We will be able to cure her, Argus, as I understand it, madam sprout has a very healthy growth of mandrakes, when matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs Norris. And in the meantime,… I strongly recommend caution to all.”