Three

Thus armed, she was about to go to the library when she noticed the raven perched on her windowsill.

Hermione put down her supplies before she went to the window to take a closer look, fully expecting the raven to fly away as she approached it. It didn't, but remained sitting and peered straight at her. Upon closer inspection, it looked remarkably similar to the raven from her garden: about the same height, a bit too slim and the same row of feathers sticking out at odd angles on one side of its neck. Could it really be the same bird? It seemed very unlikely, and yet...

An insistent ticking noise interrupted Hermione's train of thought. The raven had begun to peck at the window pane. Well-trained by generations of owls, Hermione opened the window. The raven fluttered inside and landed neatly in the middle of her desk, upsetting one of the essay stacks. Almost in slow motion, the pile toppled sideways, and then, one by one, the pieces of parchment slid to the floor. Hermione's eyes narrowed. 'You'd better have an important message for me,' she told the raven as she bent to pick up the essays.

The raven tilted its head.

With the essays safely back on the desk and the raven right in front of her, Hermione noticed two things: there wasn't a message and – unless she was very much mistaken – it was the same raven. The odd row of feathers on one side of its neck was too significant to miss. 'That's a bit odd,' she said. 'You didn't come here by accident, did you?'

'Cr-r-ruck,' said the raven.

'What do you want?' Hermione asked.

'Cr-r-ruck.'

'Oh, look at me,' Hermione huffed. 'I'm talking to a raven. Seriously. I'd better get to the library.' She looked at the raven again. 'Shoo,' she said half-heartedly.

The raven hopped a few inches, then picked up one of her quills and dropped it on the floor.

'Yes, well, thank you very much.' She picked up her quill. 'I take you don't intend to leave, then?'

'Cr-r-ruck.'

'Yes, thought so.' She stared at the raven.

It stared right back at her.

At last, she came to a decision. 'Fine, suit yourself. You know where the open window is. Me, I'm going to the library. I've got some research to do.' With that, Hermione picked up her quills, lists and parchment again and marched off to the library.

*****

Hermione closed the fourth book in a row with a snap. All the books she had scanned so far provided interesting facts about magical mishaps and accidents, but none held any clue to the recent incidents at Hogwarts. She stared at the stack of books in front of her. One of them had a black cover that almost looked like a bird's coat. Her thoughts returned to the raven. Odd, that it would turn up again. Provided it was the same raven, but it seemed a bit too much of a coincidence that two ravens would seek her out within a couple of weeks. Hermione was certain that it was the same raven. She couldn't explain it, but she knew. Which really posed more questions than anything else. How had it found her? And why had it come? Had it sought out her specifically. And again, why?

Before she could pursue her thoughts any further, her growling stomach reminded her that it was almost dinner time. She picked up her things and decided to make a detour to her office. Of course, it was only because she didn't plan on taking her notes to dinner. She didn't intend to check if the raven was still there. Not at all.

*****

Hermione pushed open the door to her office and was greeted by a cold draught from the open window. The raven wasn't anywhere to be seen. Disappointment crept through her, quickly followed by a warm wave of relief as she spotted the raven sitting on the top shelf of her bookcase. 'There you are,' she greeted it, dropping her stack of parchment on the tabletop. 'I see you are still here.'

With a caw, the raven fluttered down onto her desk. If she hadn't known any better, Hermione would have sworn that it was studying her research notes from the library.

'Doesn't make much sense, does it?' she said. 'Trust me, even if you can read, none of it makes any sense.'

With that, she set off for dinner in the Great Hall.

Dinner turned out to be completely uneventful, which ... after the last few days ... made for a nice change. Yet, Hermione remained on edge, expecting something to happen at any moment. Around her, the other teachers appeared nervous, too. Rolanda Hooch kept gesturing wildly with her fork as she was talking, earning her a disapproving glare from Poppy when the second sprout in a row landed on the matron's plate.

'Sorry,' mumbled Rolanda, looking sheepish.

Neville ate hardly anything at all, but threw nervous glances around the Great Hall repeatedly. So did Minerva, who sat even more ramrod straight than usual in her Headmistress' chair. She, too, didn't seem to care too much about the food.

Hermione, on the other hand, was enjoying her pork chops. A year of not knowing where the next meal would come from had taught her to enjoy what food there was under any circumstances. As she speared another roast potato, it occurred to her that the raven would be hungry, too. What did ravens eat? He'd go out to hunt for his own food, wouldn't he? She leant over to Grubbly-Plank. 'Wilhelmina, what do ravens eat?'

Everyone among the staff knew about Hermione's penchant for all kinds of – sometimes odd – research, so without missing a beat, Wilhelmina answered, 'Carrion, berries, grain, smaller animals or birds. Versatile them, eat whatever they find. Magical ones are bit more picky. Need to know anything specific?'

'No. At least not at the moment. Thanks, Wilhelmina.'

Wilhelmina threw her a questioning look, but when Hermione didn't say anything more, she apparently decided not to pursue the topic further.

Hermione stared at her plate. Should she feed the raven? She'd obviously fed the late Crookshanks, but the raven wasn't her familiar. Maybe it preferred to hunt, anyway. But then, it couldn't hurt to offer it something. Also, carrion. Ewww. She quietly pocketed a pork chop and then left the table rather quickly after pudding.

The raven was still there when she returned to her office. It seemed not to have moved from its position on her desk. Hermione quickly transfigured a spare bit of parchment into a dish ... no grease stains on her desk, thank you very much ... and offered the pork chop to the raven, which it polished off in no time at all.

'Still hungry?'

'Cr-r-ruck.' The raven tilted its head.

'I suppose that means yes.' Hermione briefly contemplated going downstairs to the kitchens, but then decided against it. She snapped her fingers once, and the house-elf responsible for that wing of the castle appeared almost instantly.

'How can Blinky help?'

'Blinky, can you get me something to feed the raven, please? Some raw meat if you have it, and some cereal or fruit.'

There wasn't a reply. Instead, Hermione heard a tiny gasp, and she saw Blinky staring – as if transfixed – at the raven. The raven on its part was looking calmly back at her.

'Blinky?'

The elf snapped out of her trance. 'Yes, miss, right away, miss,' she said, disappearing with a soft "pop".

Blinky reappeared a few minutes later, carrying a plate with what looked like a very impressive fry-up. At first glance, Hermione noticed a couple of sausages, fried bacon, eggs and ... on the edge of the plate, neatly separated from the rest ... some grapes.

'Erm, Blinky, thank you, but...'

'Blinky knows what raven likes to eat,' the elf informed her. 'Also, he will need water.'

He? So, a male raven, then. Hermione wasn't sure whether this was supposed to be relevant in any sense, but she took note of the raven's gender, anyway. Also, judging by the speed and obvious relish with which the raven was snaffling its, no his, food, Blinky had been right.

'If the raven is still here tomorrow, can you make sure I have something to feed him, please?'

'Raven is staying,' Blinky said, the tone of her voice leaving no doubt as to the raven's intentions. 'Blinky will bring food.'

'Thank you.' After the day she'd had, the elf's certainty about the raven's plans seemed to be the least weird thing that had happened.

Once the elf had gone, and Hermione had given the raven some water, she finally tackled the essays she'd been planning to mark earlier in the day. Whatever else was going on here was no excuse to neglect her job. The raven had settled on her bookshelf and seemed quite content to watch her working. It was almost midnight by the time she tidied up her desk and rose to go to bed. With a caw, the raven swept down from the shelf. Hermione, feeling its weight settle on her shoulder, froze for a second. It was a very sharp beak, and it was very close to her face. But then, so far the raven hadn't shown any intention of harming her. She started walking slowly, her heart beating rather rapidly. The raven remained where it was. Slightly reassured, she made her way through the castle, the raven swaying on her shoulder. This late at night, the corridors were usually deserted, apart from the occasional ghost, but none of them seemed to be out and about tonight.

When they reached her rooms, the raven fluttered over to the sofa, took a place on its back and seemed to give his surroundings a once-over. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he flew through the open bedroom door. Hermione followed him in time to see him landing with a swoop on her bedside table where he picked up a pair of silver earrings and disappeared with them to the top of her wardrobe. Hermione's eyes narrowed. 'Oh, no, you don't. Accio earrings.'

The earrings landed in her outstretched hand. With an annoyed "caw", the raven hopped to the rim of her wardrobe and peered down at her. 'I like shiny things, too,' she told him. 'And these are my shiny things.'

If a raven could scowl, the one currently sitting in her bedroom would have done.

Hermione couldn't help but grin at the raven's miffed expression. 'Come down, and we'll find you a place to sleep. And some shinies.' She stored the earrings safely in a drawer of the bedside table before she walked back to the living room. She found a cardboard box, which she transfigured into a perch. A mug became a bowl; Aguamenti filled it with water.

No sign of the raven.

Hermione shook her head, still grinning. It looked like the raven wouldn't be pacified that easily. She pulled the cardboard box that contained her costume jewellery from the drawer of her bedside table. Rifling through it, she considered and dismissed a couple of pieces. The necklace with the red beads didn't look shiny enough to tempt a raven. Another necklace, this one made from glittering dark green, black and silver beads would have been more adequate, but it was one of her favourite pieces. Her hand dug deeper, reaching to the very bottom of the box.

'Ow.' She had pricked her finger. An inspection showed that there was no blood, so Hermione dug back in and pulled the offending object out. It was a brooch, its silver-coloured rings forming a flower adorned with dark purple and lavender beads. She stared at it. It was the brooch she had worn when...

Best not to go there.

Hermione stared at the brooch for a moment longer before she quickly buried it again at the bottom of the box and continued her search. After a bit more digging, she found the two glittering bangles she'd worn last Halloween and decided to offer them to the raven.

Apparently, she had kindled the raven's interest since he flew over to her, and she managed to lure him onto the perch. He turned around a few times as if to test its stability; then, he tilted his head and looked at Hermione.

'Satisfied?'

'Cr-r-ruck.' He hopped down onto the table next to the perch where Hermione had placed the bangles next to his water bowl. He seemed to inspect them closely before he picked them up and carried them to the spot on the table that was least visible from where Hermione was standing.

She smiled. 'I take it you like them, then.'

'Cr-r-ruck.'

Hermione decided to leave the raven to his own devices for a bit and to continue reading her new mystery novel. When she checked on him again before she went to bed, he was sitting on the perch, apparently sleeping, his head tucked beneath one of his wings.