Chapter 83: 7th September 1991, Saturday: Part 2

George bowed his head towards Flitwick before asking, "if that's everything settled, may I be excused? I should be receiving my first letters from home any minute now and my mother would never forgive me if I miss them."

Flitwick seemed a little surprised by George's acrobatic display which temporarily stunned him, his little black eyes looked a little glazed over.

Flitwick shook his head and exclaimed, "certainly my boy, don't let me slow you down."

George smiled and turned around, if he power-walked then he might make it in time for the owl's delivery.

Just as he took his first step, George heard Flitwick's voice, "Mr Linwood."

Whilst hoping that Flitwick hadn't picked up on his lies, George turned around while maintaining his happy-go-lucky smile.

Flitwick returned the smile and asked, "how are you getting on with your alarm clock project? Have you made any progress?"

George had forgotten about that conversation, but he was thankful for the reminder. Increasing the power of his alarm was certainly one of the more important tasks he needed to complete to start repairing his relationship with Theodore. Now that the Calming Draught debacle was cleared up, he could finally get around to the ever-growing to-do list.

George decided to be somewhat honest, "I must apologise sir. The first week at Hogwarts has been somewhat overwhelming for me and I haven't had the time to work on my clock. That being said, I have no reason not to have a look tomorrow. I will certainly have a new and improved bewitchment charm placed on my alarm clock by next week at the latest, don't you worry."

Flitwick put away his wand while saying, "that's no problem at all. Just remember to come and ask me for help if you're having any issues.

Oh and before I forget, your owl was probably taken to the Owlery by a house-elf, you should check there. If... Blinkie... isn't there then report it to Professor Snape. He'll be able to track it down."

George nodded his head, "certainly sir. I'll check the Owlery right away."

George was well aware that Blinkie would be in the Owlery since a house-elf had probably noticed the fact that he hadn't been feeding it. Sadly, he would have to check up on that pest at some point today so he could send his letters home.

Flitwick gestured with his hands like he was shooing away a cat, "now run along and don't let me catch you climbing up the Hogwarts clock tower. I've seen quite enough students hanging themselves for one day."

George merely broadened his smile and turned around to leave. Flitwick didn't need to worry, after such an intense awakening, George had no plans to sleep in the Hogwarts corridors again anytime soon. After properly storing his sleeping bag away, George arrived at the entrance of the Great Hall. He checked his watch and was happy to see that the owl post hadn't arrived yet. There was a scheduled time at the weekend when the mail service would deliver parcels or newspapers to the students, George and his family had decided to have his letters from home arrive at the same time. Since his family owned two owls, they did not need to use the postal service to send letters back and forth.

Due to his insatiable hunger, George was very tempted to enter the Hall because of the many apples neatly stacked in the centre of each table. In the end, his phobia of entering the Great Hall overpowered his hunger and he decided to remain at the threshold. He had been burned too many times by this cursed place and could live with the stomach pains. George looked into the Great Hall and sore about a quarter of the Hogwarts students seated at the house's tables. Most of the students were completing their homework, they had many parchments and books borrowed from the library sprawled across the table. Other students were simply enjoying the weekend by playing games or talking with their friends.

Just as George looked towards the Gryffindor table, he heard a bang and a large white flash blinded him. He squinted his eyes and waited for the purple blotches to leave his vision before recognising who had caused this explosion. The Trio along with Neville and Seamus were seated together and were completing homework. Seamus had his wand out and his face was covered in ash, the goblet in front of him was smoking as if a fire had been lit inside of it. All the other students at the Gryffindor table started laughing except for Hermione who was waving away the smoke which was blown into her face. George knew that this event marked the point in time when the mail would arrive, he looked towards the sky and waited for his delivery.

It only took a few seconds of George waiting beside the Great Hall's entrance for the first few owls to start arriving through the small windows at the very peak of the ceiling. Soon the roof of the Great Hall was full of owls flying through the air, all of which had small parcels and letters gripped in their talons. A hail of parcels fell towards all the students who held out their arms in anticipation. George was just eagerly watching for one particular owl which hadn't arrived with the rest. If there was one thing that owls were known for in the wizarding world, it was their punctuality when it came to deliveries. This was why George was surprised to see that his owl was absent from the flock, he wondered if there had been a problem in transit.

Five minutes went by and he eventually saw a particularly plump owl fly into the Great Hall. Even though he was several yards away, George could easily see Hoot with an extra-large bulging belly. That bird was clearly having to flap its wings far more frequently than the others and it wasn't because it was carrying something heavy. George was pondering if Ellie might be responsible for providing him with the first-ever diabetic owl in history, it was a wonder how she managed to overfeed it so severely. This was definitely going to have to be something he would bring up in his letter home.

The fat owl eventually flew over George and dropped a newspaper with some letters bound to it with string. He caught the bundle and was surprised to see the owl immediately turn around and fly out of the window, Hoot must have been gagging to fly back to Ellie so it could receive another treat. George forgot about the owl for now and looked down to see the newspaper.

Just as he had anticipated, the front page read, "Break-in at Gringotts, Gringotts Security Breached."

George read that the break-in had occurred on the thirty-first of July which he knew was the same day Harry and Hagrid had visited the bank. He felt reassured knowing that events were playing out exactly how he remembered.

Whilst reading the newspaper, George saw that his hand trembled slightly. His heartbeat also elevated which meant that the Calming Draught was wearing off. His gut instinct was to immediately pull out another vial he had made the prior day and down it in one gulp but he resisted this urge. Just because he had a large supply of Calming Draught didn't mean he could drink as frivolously as he had been the past week. His natural resistance had been building steadily and he couldn't afford to gain an absolute immunity before December.

This depressing fact unfortunately meant George had to start weaning himself off the potion as often as he could. He would only drink it if he was in dire need of a level head, such as during confrontations with Snape. Even then, he would avoid taking large dosages that lasted for several hours. George put the newspaper into his leather sack and took deep breaths to control his fluctuating heart rate. Whilst clutching a letter from home, he left the Great Hall and made his way to the Library. A bit of light reading from home should help with the turbulent emotions.

After a short walk, George arrived at the Library and sat down in a quiet corner where there weren't any other students around, he had an entire table to himself. Since it was the first weekend at Hogwarts, not many students spent their free time in the Library which meant he could guarantee a little time alone. Six months from now, when the exams were coming up, the Library would be packed. At that time he would have to find somewhere else to relax. He believed that staying in the Great Hall would have only stressed him out needlessly because he had so many bad experiences there. He appeared to have made the right decision since his heart rate went down and his hands stop shaking.

George sat down, opened the envelope, and pulled out two different pieces of paper. One letter was folded very neatly and was covered in beautiful curly handwriting, this letter had to have been written by Amanda. The other was bright pink and covered in glitter and ribbons which sparkled almost as brightly as the chandelier above him. The handwriting was barely legible and had to be written by Ellie. George placed Ellie's letter to one side and started to read Amanda's letter. Hopefully, their week had gone a lot better than his. The letter read as follows;

Dear George,

Even though you would normally spend every waking hour in your room reading your vast collection of books, the house seems quieter without you around. Dominic and I can't wait to hear about all the adventures you have been on, the friends you have made and all the magic you've learnt.

Mr Lupin told us that you were having a very good time and had already made some friends after a single day. I hope you weren't hiding anything from him, you can always tell us if anything's wrong. He has been visiting the house more frequently and Dominic had arranged for him to start practising for his driving test.

Dominic has been in constant communication with those two boys we met at the Gringotts Bank, he's considering hiring the younger one as his personal accountant. He would have written you a letter but, as you know, he struggles to express his feelings on paper. Ellie, on the other hand, insisted on writing her own letter to you.

Know that we are all missing you dearly and can't wait to see you again.

Love from

You are reading story Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon at novel35.com

Amanda and Domonic

George was happy to see that nothing as catastrophic as his week had happened at the Linwood house. Then again, literally anything would have seemed normal in comparison. He would be lying to himself if he didn't say that his stone-cold heart hadn't been warmed after reading Amanda's kind words. George neatly folded up the letter and placed it to one side, he then proceeded to read Ellie's sparkly letter. The letter read;

Dear George,

What's it like learning magic? Have you learnt anything cool yet? Mr Lupin said that there's a forest with loads of magical creatures inside, have you seen any? What's the castle like? Mr Lupin said that the staircases move, that sounds quite dangerous so you should be careful.

I know you're not meant to do magic at home but don't forget to bring some cool stuff back with you at Christmas. I would really like a dragon egg so if you could look around for one, that would be really nice.

Love from

Your favourite sister

Ellie

P.S.

Mum told me that I should write I miss you LOTS so there it is, I hope that's enough. Don't forget the dragon egg. Bye-bye.

George was a little taken aback by Ellie's letter since it was more of a list of demands than anything else. Knowing her personality, he knew no one else other than Ellie could have written a letter like this. He was going to have to disappoint her in regards to the dragon egg since there wouldn't be a legal or illegal way for him to obtain one, at least until the new year. One thing George couldn't predict was how effective her letter was at relaxing him, Myrtle really had been on to something. Reading the letter truly made him feel like he was back at the Linwood house, the smell of old leather-bound books from the shelf behind him was the only thing that brought him back to reality.

While contemplating the best way to respond, George pulled out a piece of paper and a normal ballpoint pen from his leather sack and laid them out on the table. He shook the pen a few times before writing a response. He wrote;

Dear Amanda and Dominic,

You need to keep your eye on Ellie because that owl barely made it to the school on time, she has been fattening it up like a turkey at Christmas. Nonetheless, I received your letter and was happy to hear back from you. Although it's only been a week, the days have gone by incredibly fast. There is simply so much to do and see that it's almost overwhelming.

Mr Lupin was indeed correct, I am truly having a brilliant time at Hogwarts. Not only have I made a few unexpected friends but the professors are equally as friendly. I'm friends with two people called Neville and Hermione and a girl in the fifth year called Gemma who is also a prefect.

That being said, I do miss every member of the family and wish I could tell you these things in person. I'm looking forward to receiving your letters in the future provided Ellie doesn't turn Hoot into a bowling ball. Also thank Mr Lupin for me, it was very nice of him to visit.

Love from

George

The rest of this letter is exclusively for Ellie's eyes only!

Dear Princess Ellie,

Since you ask so many questions, I will go through them one by one.

Firstly, learning magic is very fun but also very hard, it takes lots of practice and I have to spend most of the time in the Library so I can fully understand how to perform the spells properly. I haven't learnt how to cast any spells yet since it's only the first week, but, I will definitely have learnt a trick or two by Christmas.

There is indeed a forest near the school but students aren't allowed to enter so I haven't seen any creatures that may lurk within. I'll have a talk with the Groundskeeper at some point so I will be able to tell you more next week.

The castle is really big and is very easy to get lost in. It's just like something from a fantasy movie but in real life, it's hard to put it into words. There are moving staircases but I don't think they're dangerous, they seem to only move in the direction you want them to most of the time.

Finally, I will try to bring you something home that doesn't break the rules but I can't guarantee a dragon egg. Don't worry though, I'll make sure that you're not disappointed when Christmas comes.

I miss you lots and can't wait for our next tea party.

Yours sincerely,

Sir George

P.S.

Stop feeding Hoot so many treats or he'll explode!

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