Chapter 12: 12. The Mad Lad
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"But what are they doing?" Ron asked, "Keeping something like that locked up in school?"
Harry was equally bewildered. "I have no idea, but it doesn't make any sense. Hogwarts is supposed to be a safe place for students, not a place to keep dangerous creatures."
"And why would people need dangerous-looking creatures at a safe place?" Happy rhetorically asked.
"To ward people off!" Hermione remarked, "It's clearly guarding something."
"Something important, probably. The same reason why muggles have guard dogs." Happy added.
"What do you think it is?" Harry looked puzzled.
"Well, if it's something truly important, I don't see why they couldn't just keep it in a safe place like a vault in a bank or something." Happy gave them hints without saying too much.
"Wasn't Gringotts recently broken into?" Ron tilted his head. He still hadn't connected the dots.
"They did say the culprit broke into an empty vault..." Happy nonchalantly added, having nudged the three in the right direction.
"It makes sense. There's probably something precious in there, something valuable...Like a treasure!" Harry exclaimed.
"Be that as it may, the Forbidden Corridor is forbidden for a reason." Hermione added, "Now, if you three don't mind, I'm going to go study in the library before either of you comes up with another clever idea to get us killed... or worse... expelled!"
With that, Hermione left the three boys on their own and walked off toward the library.
"I hate this about her. She joins us excitedly, and if something goes wrong, she blames us." Ron commented as he shook his head.
"She needs some milk...and food." Happy muttered as he turned around and walked off.
Left behind, Ron mumbled to Harry, "This one has the same problem, but with food ..."
Harry chuckled, and both boys followed Big Eater toward the dorms.
....
Harry was quiet, still trying to process the events of the past few minutes and connecting the dots.
He had never seen anything like the three-headed dog before. Sometimes he would ask Ron a few questions as Ron rarely had some information and insights to offer, mainly when it came to magical creatures. His brother, Charlie Weasley, was a dragon tamer and had imparted some of his magical creatures studies to Ron, who somehow could remember some of them.
Meanwhile, Happy just ate beside them in the Great Hall and, from time to time, guided their discussion back to the more important things, such as the recently emptied vault, who might have emptied it, and why.
However, his goals extended beyond just that. Happy was determined to expand his social circle and make connections with students from Gryffindor and other houses. He was growing weary of passively waiting, and so he decided to take the initiative and start by building friendships with the two most approachable people in Gryffindor.
As Harry and Ron kept discussing their curiosities, Happy told them he wanted to get some other kind of delicacies on the table and left.
Happy approached Fred and George and curiously inquired, "I've heard that identical twins have a special bond. Is it true that if one of you is in pain, the other can feel it?"
Fred's expression instantly lit up, and he playfully smacked the back of George's head, "Nah, I don't think so. I didn't feel a thing, mate."
George also slapped the back of Fred's head, "Yeah, I didn't feel anything."
Happy chuckled and asked further, "Don't you two find me a bit suspicious? You know, like the rest of your friends?"
The Weasley twins snorted in disbelief and piled food onto Happy's plate, inviting him to sit. "Why on earth would we be suspicious of you, Happy? Ron's not exactly the brightest, but he wouldn't have stuck around if you were up to no good." Fred quipped.
George nodded in agreement. "Exactly. If you were evil, you'd have shown your true colors by now. But all we see you doing is eating and living like the rest of us. Here, have some of my chocolate cake too."
Both the twins nodded in unison, while George pushed a plate of chocolate cake in front of Happy.
Happy gazed at his plate and then back at George, "This isn't going to do anything strange to me, right? Change my hair color? Make my voice higher? Give me breasts?"
Fred and George exchanged a mischievous grin, fist-bumped, and burst into laughter.
"I won, Fred," George said. "He's a clever one."
Happy cheekily grinned and carefully picked the cake to go and sit with Harry and Ron.
This time, Happy gave the cake to Ron instead.
Without thinking, Ron said thank you and took a large bite.
"Ah! Ah!"
"..."
Ron's complexion turned ashen as he attempted to speak, but all that came out were grunts and moans.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Ron tried to shout at Happy in anger.
Happy tried to hold in his laughter, "It was Fred and George. I didn't do anything, Ron."
Ron quickly turned around and saw his two older brothers laughing loudly while clutching their stomachs. All Ron could do for the moment was keep his mouth shut, stopping himself from making embarrassing sounds.
Fortunately, the prank had a temporary effect, and by the time the group retired for the night, Ron had returned to normal.
…
The next day, it was Hermione's birthday. The four gathered at the breakfast table.
Happy decided to lend her a rare book called 'Herpo The Foul: The Man Who Tricked Death.'
"It's from my family library. It's of no use to me, but I thought you might like to read about the darker part of wizarding history. This book doesn't detail any dark magic but does talk about one of its biggest contributors." Happy explained as Hermione eagerly opened her gift.
"Thank you so much, Happy! I don't think I would have been allowed to check this book out from the library. Are you sure you want to give this away from your personal collection?" Hermione asked gratefully, hugging the book as if it was a priceless treasure.
Happy shrugged, "I'm more interested in fine cuisine than these dusty old books. Speaking of which, what did you guys bring, Ron and Harry?"
Harry stepped forward, shyly presenting Hermione with a gleaming golden feather quill. "I wanted to thank you for all the help you've given me with my studies," he said.
Ron, who was not as well-off, nervously held out his gift, "My elder brother works in a dragon enclosure. This is a dragon's nail. Not very expensive, but this is all I have."
Hermione took it with great interest, "Fascinating! I've only ever read about dragons in books. Thank you all so much. Life at Hogwarts would have been dreadfully dull without the three of you."
Happy couldn't help but chuckle, as he was well aware that his reality was quite the opposite. While others may have found Hogwarts to be just another school with magic, Happy relished every moment spent within its walls. He cherished the new experiences, the friendships he had made, and the magic that surrounded him every day. Especially the food!
"Come on, Harry, it's time for our quidditch practice," Happy said as he got up from the breakfast table. "I've got a surprise in store for you guys."
Ron and Hermione, intrigued, followed along, and soon they arrived at the quidditch field for the practice session. Happy was assigned as a reserve player, while Harry was given the opportunity to practice as the seeker.
'I guess, since my blessing is my luck...I should also spread some good luck around.'
Happy sat on the sidelines, watching the rest of the team. He was content to wait until the end of the training. And when finally the whole team gathered together after practice, he took the chance to address them.
"All right, everyone, gather around. I want to show you something."
Happy pointed at his back, where a pile of wooden crates stacked up, clearly waiting for them.
The team members huddled together, whispering and murmuring, wondering what Happy was planning. Of course, they were all curious, but some were a tinge bit worried.
"I've heard that rich folks have bought new brooms for the Slytherin team," Happy continued, "Since I dislike them having an unfair advantage, I've decided to one-up them and sponsor a set of Nimbus 2000 brooms for the entire Gryffindor team! So, ladies and gentlemen–come and get 'em!"
"..."
The shocked faces were expected, and Happy wasn't disappointed. With a smirk on his face, he strode off the training field like the massive mad lad he was, not looking back.
'I feel like the Godfather. Maybe I could have asked Grandpa God to make me Italian... Oh, the lost opportunities.'
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