A Wizard Among Bats

Chapter 3 - Morning

Harry was woken by a soft buzzing noise. In his groggy state, he couldn't remember where he was or why he was in an unfamiliar place. Then it came back that he was in the guest room, where Dick was staying, in Privet Drive. He was surprised that he hadn't had any more dreams since going to sleep.

"Hey, go back to sleep," Dick whispered to him. And Harry could hear the rustling as Dick made his way out of bed. "That was just my alarm. I've been going for runs in the mornings. I'll be back in about an hour."

Harry nodded, still groggy, and he looked at the clock. Seeing that it read six am, he decided he really didn't need to be awake right now. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

~

When Harry next woke up, it was a slow gradual waking. The kind that he had at Hogwarts on the weekends when he had the whole afternoon to worry about how far behind in schoolwork he was. He allowed himself to take a couple minutes where he just laid there, basking in the comfy bed and the warmth of the covers. Finally, he convinced himself that he should get up, it was probably past eight, and he liked to be out of the house before Dudley was up around ten. Rolling over to look at the clock, Harry was struck by how well rested he felt. He hadn't felt like this since Cedric. No, probably since his name came out of that damned cup.

Eleven AM.

Harry had slept over twelve hours last night. Admittedly, the first few had been restless and full of nightmares, but he hadn't dreamed at all since coming into the guest bedroom around three last night. Harry flopped back onto his back in the middle of the bed. That had been a really restful night.

An annoyed hoot pulled Harry from his relaxation. Hedwig was glaring angrily at him from her perch above him on the headboard. Harry blinked in confusion. Hedwig was not allowed around the house unless she was in her cage, and Uncle Vernon only allowed that grudgingly. But there she was, perched on the headboard above him, glaring down at him with her bright eyes. Now that he was awake, she seemed to have no qualms about clicking her beak to encourage him to get up.

"Relax, I'm getting up," Harry mumbled as he did so. "I'm sure you're hungry, girl."

Harry noticed how the window was open and how there was a nice breeze coming through. He got out of the bed and made his way over to Hedwig's cage. There was a note in front of it in a fastly scrawled hand.

Sorry, I didn't know if you kept food or if she was supposed to be let out to hunt. So, I let her out in case she needed to leave, but she seemed to just want to be closer to you! Hope she doesn't wake you up!

- Dick

P.S. I'm gonna be at the park if you wanna hang.

Harry smiled, it felt like it was something he hadn't done in a while. "Were you worried about me, girl?" He asked as he stroked over her head. She turned her beak up at him, as if to say of course not. But her disdain was ignored as she pressed her feathers more into his gentle fingers. Harry folded the note and carefully put it into his pocket. He convinced Hedwig to go back into the cage, because if he was seen in the hallway with her just on his arm, he would be in serious trouble.

She put up quite a fight, but eventually was coaxed back in. Harry made his way quickly through the hallway, back into his own bedroom. Going through his trunk quickly, Harry found some of Hedwig's food and gave her some.

That done, Harry went back to his trunk to get dressed for the day. His trunk was such a mess it took him some trouble. His wand was on top as well as some clearly magical textbooks, and Harry was momentarily reminded that Dick had dug through his stuff for a couple seconds last night. It must have been too dark for Dick to read the titles, Harry pointed out to himself. And Harry himself could have easily accidentally put them on top when he was digging for clothes at three in the morning. Dick would have asked about it.