The Love Of A Wizard

Happenings


It was a week or so since Sirius had sent his enormous bird to his godson Harry, when one morning a message was sent back. Emma was playing with Sirius on the floor, Remus was writing yet another letter to Dumbledore and Claudia was enjoying a book. A beautiful owl was sitting on the window ledge pecking at the closed window.
“Look at that.” Claudia pointed at the window and both Remus and Sirius went to fetch it. The snow white owl soared gracefully into the house and landed on the arm of one of the dining room chairs.
“It’s for you Sirius.” Remus handed him the letter and scooped the owl on his arm and carried her to the kitchen window, where they had set up a perch and water for all visiting owls. Since Dumbledore’s visit, owls seemed to come in and out daily. Some of these letters made Sirius and Remus sit and talk quietly for hours with looks of intensity on their faces. Claudia knew that something was going on that was giving the wizarding world something to worry about. But they never included Claudia on any of their discussions and she never asked. It was what made their coexistence so amiable.
“Remus!” Sirius was standing stock still reading the letter that was sent to him. “It’s from Harry…Oh no…” Remus read the letter over Sirius’s shoulder and immediately grabbed another piece of paper and quill and wrote another letter.
“What’s wrong?” Claudia asked in a small voice.
“It’s Harry. I can’t believe this is happening so soon. Remus…what should we do?” He looked up into his friend’s eyes.
“I just wrote to Dumbledore now. I will send your bird to him. We can see what Dumbledore says about this new piece of information. I’m guessing, he didn’t write Dumbledore and tell him?”
“I don’t think so. Yes, send that off at once. Let’s see what he says. Claudia, I am sorry about this. Harry could be in some trouble and we are worried. But don’t worry, it will be ok.” He patted her on the shoulder and stood behind Remus and read the letter he wrote to Dumbledore and then tied it to his large bird’s leg. He then sat down and Remus followed him and they began to talk more animated than she had ever seen them. Claudia knew that they were not concerned about her at the moment, so she went to check on Emma.
Claudia and Emma went about their business the entire day, only catching glimpses of the two men writing letters, receiving letters and talking in hushed tones. It was well after dinner (Claudia brought them two plates and left them alone) that Remus came to her while she sat and read a book.
“Claudia, a word?” He gestured for her to come into the dinning room. When she sat down with them both she saw the table covered in no less than ten letters written in different handwriting. She assumed that this was what they were doing all evening.
“Listen, we need to impose on you a bit more Claudia. We wizard’s travel by different methods. Sirius said you know about apparition, brooms and of course our wonderful friend Buckbeak. But we have another method. Floo powder. Every wizard family or home is connected to the floo network through the ministry. There has to be an of age wizard in the home in order for that home to be connected. If it is alright with you, I put this home as my temporary home in order to connect it to the floo network. That just means that our friends can pop in and out without being detected. It is way more useful than any other method, well, other than apperating. Your fireplace works?” This was all said very quickly, very unlike Remus ‘s normal behavior. Claudia could tell this was important, even though she didn’t completely understand.
“Yeah. Actually there are three here. One in the family room and one in the downstairs guestroom and another…well two then.” She watched their faces and saw urgency in them both. Sirius was twitchy and angry looking.
“Thank you Claudia. Dumbledore said that all it would take is for your blessing. He can get that connected and then we need to discuss the next few weeks. Sirius is leaving for awhile,” Claudia’s eyes quickly darted to Sirius’s face and then went back to Remus. “But I will be in and out as will others who will come to put some spells on your house.”
“Put what on my house? I told you no magic on us! How could you!” She was standing now and her voice was higher than normal.
“No Claudia, on the house itself. If something is happening, or about to happen, we want to be sure you will be protected. Just some simple sensory spells so we are alerted when someone comes here. Trust me, it will not harm anyone or anything here. It is just a safety measure.” Somewhat subdued, Claudia sat back down and listened as they told her of Sirius’s plans to fly Buckbeak to be closer to Harry. “Harry is at the World Quidditch World Cup with Arthur, so I’m not worried about him now. But as soon as he is on the train to school, I am heading that way as well.”
The next two days were a blur of Owls flying in and out of the house. Emma thought it was great fun and decided to leave treats out for all of them. Claudia watched as Remus and Sirius walked and talked all day and into the night. She stayed clear of them and wondered what would happen after Sirius had gone.
On the third night, Claudia received the shock of her life. She was sitting reading in her favorite chair when all of a sudden her fireplace sprung to life. A green flame burned where only moments before, no fire burned at all. Before she could react at all, a man was spinning in the fireplace and then stepped out from the flames. It was Dumbledore.
“Good evening Ms. Moore. A pleasure to see you again. I didn’t frighten you did I?” He swept down into a bow before her and she laughed.
“Oh Dumbledore, nothing frightens me anymore. Are you looking for the dynamic duo? They are outside by the pool. Talking like they have been for days.” He swept passed her to the back door and she followed to watch in the window. Dumbledore approached Sirius and Remus as they sat and talked. They jumped to their feet when they saw him coming. They spoke for a few minutes and then all three headed back to the house. Claudia hurried back to her chair and pretended to read. They entered a moment later and found Claudia reading in her chair.
“Ms. Moore, a simple charm is being placed on your house tonight by myself, Remus and Sirius. In a day or two, I will send others to add their own flare to it. All this is done to protect you and to also make it where we can come and go undetected. The Ministry of Magic is only aware of Remus living here. I would very much like to keep it that way. I will just be a moment.” He went outside of the house, by way of the front door, and closed it behind him. Only a few moments later, he returned and clapped his hands together and smiled.
“I believe I have worked my magic.” His eyes danced with laughter at his own joke. Claudia smiled at him and said her goodbyes to Dumbledore.
“It was good to see you again.” She shook his hand and he stepped into the fire. With a flash, he was gone.
July was coming to a close and the heat was getting less intense. Sirius was preparing to leave and Emma was not the least happy about it. It was into the month of September that Sirius sent his reply to Harry that he was coming. Claudia watched as he and Buckbeak prepared for the flight. He said goodbye to Emma and gave her a hug. He shook hands with Remus and then turned to Claudia.
“I can’t thank you enough Claudia. Without you…I’ll be back. Please don’t worry.” With his last words whispered to her, he held her tightly and kissed her softly on the lips. She couldn’t speak at all. Tears were threatening to pour from her eyes, so she stood and watched him mount Buckbeak, give one last wave and they were off. She watched him until he was a speck in the sky. Remus came and put his arm around her shoulders, like Sirius used to, and led her back to the house.