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In the late summer, the weather felt less like it was warm that one would not need a jacket, to dampened skin and swearing towards the blazing sun under your breath. The humidity left no room for relief. Chloe and her brother had not dared step foot outside their Muggle residence on sultry days like these.
While they had portable fans to help make living bearable when they were in their city home, it felt more restrictive compared to the Lodge, where they had been staying for most of the hotter days. It was more refreshing with their second home being located in the countryside, and the family could cool off in the lake as they pleased.
Chloe and Alisa corresponded through their letters whenever Alisa was away in Scotland. She looked forward to each one, and now she had almost a hundred of these pages in the drawer of her desk, along with several of Alisa's brown feathers. Sometimes when Alisa wasn't physically there, and Chloe wanted to feel close to her, she would revisit their times together and apart through them.
One day, Chloe and her brother were at the kitchen table playing a card game, while their father was sitting at the couch, reading the Daily Prophet. A loud whoosh could be heard from the fireplace. The flames rose high, and quickly sunk again and a face emerged. A woman's head with long hair appeared in the fire. Mr. Perkins walked up to the fireplace.
"Ah, Mrs. Raywood. How are you?"
"I am doing alright, Mr. Perkins," said the woman. "Is Mary here?"
"Yes, she's here. Just a minute," He called up the stairs. "Mary! It's Mrs. Raywood from the Ministry!"
"Coming!" she called. Mrs. Perkins quickly rushed down the stairs and stood in front of the fireplace.
"Did S.P.E.W. find him?"
"Yes," answered Mrs. Raywood. "We've managed to find the location. A wizard wearing a dark purple cloak, smooth black hair, and a red tie. We've heard his name is Levet. He's in Godric's Hollow and he just sold an elf to another man with a large black cloak. We haven't identified him yet."
"Alright, I'll meet you there."
The face disappeared and Mrs. Perkins tossed some Floo powder in the fire.
"I may not arrive until later tonight, dears," she said. "You hold down the fort, Trevor?"
Mr. Perkins gave a small salute, which made her chuckle. She gave him a kiss and left in the green flames.
The department must have been short of helping hands again, Chloe thought. Not many worked at the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and because of that, some who worked there were more volunteers from other departments. Some of the volunteers were the elves themselves who aided both within the department, and on missions.
Though many of the volunteers had remained consistent in the department, there were few who only helped around once or twice, and seemed to have only done so to have some honorary badge of sorts to present themselves as separate from those who were indifferent to the continuous illegal enslavement of elves. Their little action did not entirely remove themselves from these witches and wizards, which was much more apparent when they didn't offer their assistance again with the excuse that they've already done their part, and had other things to do.
S.P.E.W. had not been around for long. Similarly for the Advancing Werewolves Obtainable Opportunities, not many were interested in supporting the creation of this new department. While working as an Obliviator for the Ministry at the time, Mrs. Perkins was one of the later volunteers who came after the slowly transformed subsection gathered its footing.
Those who worked at the department were tasked in checking the statuses of elves to keep track of any exploitation. An elf often came to them to report a missing co-worker, and followed it with a home check if it hadn't already been done. An elf acquiring their own house was very rare. Usually they lived within their place of work, or in small flats with others.
If they did not find the reported elf in either, or anywhere they have been known to go to, it would lead the department to suspect they were abducted to either be enslaved by their captor, or sold to another wizard for a high price. Sometimes a wizard, but usually the elves within S.P.E.W., would gather intel and develop a plan to catch the wizard and arrest them.
The thought of working with S.P.E.W. as well did cross Chloe's mind. She decided that when she became an Auror and wasn't constantly catching dark wizards, she would help the department using her skills from training.
Chloe was relieved when she saw that she had achieved her requirements for her O.W.L.s, and was happy that in a few days, she would have a more relaxed school year. The next day, she and Elijah gathered everything they needed for their annual expedition to Diagon Alley. With their list, Mrs. Perkins handed them two small sacs of money, and tossed some floo powder into the chimney.
"Now, you two have a good time," she said, hugging her children and placing a kiss on each of their heads. Chloe and Elijah reciprocated before letting go and stepping towards the chimney.
"Diagon Alley." he said.
One second, they could see their parents waving, and in a green flash, they stood in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. Bending down to not knock into the rim of the chimney, the two dusted themselves off and went to the familiar streets of Diagon Alley. Up ahead under the sign of Ollivander's Wand Shop, were Alisa and Jasper talking, each carrying a bag. Noticing Jasper's eyes veering off to his friends, she followed to spot them as well.
"There you are!" Alisa exclaimed, as she jogged over to Chloe and enfolded her arms around her.
"I was beginning to think we came a little too early when I didn't see you outside the pub." Chloe laughed, giving her a kiss.
They strolled down the shops alongside Jasper and Elijah, making stops for the necessities while taking their time to enjoy the surroundings. Chatting and laughing, the group enjoyed each other's company.
"Should we check for anything new in Quidditch Quality Supplies?" suggested Jasper.
"Definitely!" exclaimed Elijah.
The duo went into the store as if they heard word of a stash of galleons inside. As Jasper and Elijah looked meticulously at everything they had, Chloe and Alisa peered inside curiously.
"Are you considering getting a new broom?" she asked Chloe.
"No, I think mine is good enough." she answered. "What about you? Have you thought about maybe trying out for the team this year?"
Alisa shrugged. "No, I'm active, but Quidditch isn't really my thing."
"Yeah, you prefer the other kind of flying," she laughed.
Jasper spotted a display of broomstick servicing kits. Finding a black box with golden rims, he opened it to see polished broom tail clippers, polish, and a brass clip-on compass. He ushered his friend over. They hurriedly took some of the last of the kits, and bought them.
"Quidditch geeks," Alisa joked lightheartedly.
After their brief detour, they returned to their mission of hunting down the rest of their supplies. They went to Madam Malkin's for some new clothes.
As the four of them were looking through the uniforms, a few rows away was the most misplaced customer in the store. She was dressed far too opulent, wearing rosey-red robes with silver stitching. Over her shoulder was a handbag made of scales.
"Are you finding what you need?" asked the shopkeeper, taking notice of her visible disappointment with the glove display.
"You don't have any tasteful dragonhide gloves, do you?" she asked the poshed woman.
"I'm afraid not," replied the shopkeeper. "We do have Chameleon skin gloves-"
"No," the woman interrupted her. "I won't wear drabby skins like that. I'd like the dragon hide. It would go well with my hat."
The shopkeeper frowned, annoyed with the woman's insistence. Looking from the lavish lady to Alisa, Chloe saw her clear detest for her bag and hat. The base of her hat was made of the same brown dragon scales, and a bow of wing segments, secured with a tooth. What the rich dame saw as a display of wealth, she saw as abhorrent.
"Well then," the woman said, sullenly. "Twift and Tattings will give me better service than this rubbish."
She turned on her heel and left in a huff. Mumbling an apology, the shopkeeper went back to organizing her shelves. After buying their new uniforms, they left back towards the pub.
"Well," Chloe spoke. "that was…eventful."
"I was this close to giving her a piece of my mind," muttered Alisa. "Upset over not having a pair of dragon gloves. Pfft! Better than not having any dragons at all."
Chloe agreed. It was easier to make use of dead ones that came from disputes among the creatures themselves, or of ones who have roamed the skies for hundreds of years to eventually take their final resting place. Better than having a hundred wizards band together and lose some to kill one. It was a more economical and moral sense contrasted to a dragon poacher's method.
Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, she and Elijah said their goodbyes to Alisa and Jasper, taking the fireplace back home. Over the next few days, the twins packed for Hogwarts. After making sure they had everything for the school year, they went downstairs and placed their luggage at the door.
Besides neither of them going through tumultuous exams this year, her brother was particularly excited to see his teammates again for a new season. He had been eager to use his Firebolt II properly around the larger grounds of Hogwarts, and join Jasper on his flights.
Mr. Perkins put the sleeping charm on Dastro, and flipped a switch on the cage door, turning it into a carry-on bag. If it was opened, check-in would only see some clothes, along with a hairbrush and toothbrush. Their parents led them out the door to the car, and drove to King's Cross Station.
Chloe watched through the window as they passed through the streets. No more waiting to see Alisa over long distances. Nowadays, a part of her that looked forward to returning to Hogwarts was to see Alisa again. She was jovial with the thought of seeing her on a daily basis back at school. Learning more advanced magic was another thing Chloe anticipated.
At a light, her discerning eyes caught sight of a small bird gliding through the air across the street. Seeing a peregrine falcon was nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, this particular bird flew so quickly with elegance before disappearing from view. And in addition, it was going in the direction of the station. She wondered if it was merely a coincidence or an intuition.