What They Didn't Cover in Care of Magical Creatures

By: Mayhem

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places in this, just the idea of "what if this happened...?"

Note: set sometime after book 2 when he's had Hedwig a while, and before book 6. Inspired by taking my bunny to the vet at 1am.

-x-

Harry was perplexed. And worried. Neither of which was helping him solve his problem, but he did both anyway.

He had gone up to the Owlery to visit Hedwig after dinner, to spend some time with her and just get away from the busy halls of the school. She had quickly winged down to him, landing on his arm and moving up to his shoulder, hooting softly as she nestled against him. That was odd behaviour for her especially since she didn't even give him a little nip like normal. When he was ready to leave, he tried to get her to walk onto a perch and when that did not work, tried to lift her off. Hedwig wasn't having any of it though, and clenched tighter onto his shoulder.

Harry left anyway, carrying her with him. He went to the kitchens to get himself a drink and a bit of meat for her. The house elves were happy to see him and to please his owl as well and got him a plate of several raw meats to offer her, but she turned her head from Harry's fingers at each one. She nipped his fingers, causing him to drop the meat, and nestled close to him again. Harry sighed and thanked the house elves for their help, the pumpkin juice, and the meat before carrying Hedwig off again.

Harry really didn't know what to do now. Care of Magical Creatures had only given him a basic understanding of some of the bigger creatures, and all the owls were usually cared for by others while at the school. Hedwig was his first companion animal, so he was really not used to this though over the years he had been getting more used to her and her habits.

Maybe she was sick somehow? Harry frowned as that thought crossed his mind. Well... then what? He decided there was only one person who could help and started off across the castle, up stairs and waiting for others to finish moving while he was on them. He finally reached the hospital wing, pushing open half of the giant doors. It was not too late so the hush of the night time had not settled over the hospital beds and their occupants yet. There were a few students resting there, so he quietly slipped past them and knocked at the door to Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Harry Potter. What brings you here, and not grievously injured as you usually are when you come to see me?"

Harry smiled. "It's Hedwig, Madam Pomfrey. I went to visit her after dinner and she's been acting funny and won't get off my shoulder. I even tried giving her raw meat from the kitchens but she just kept turned away from it. I didn't know what to do, so I brought her to you when I thought she might be sick. If I was a muggle with a normal muggle family, I'd probably take her to a vet, but I'm not."

Madam Pomfrey nodded as he spoke. "Likely you wouldn't have an owl as a pet either. Well, I'll take a look."

She carefully pried Hedwig from Harry's shoulder and set her on the perch by her desk that her own owl used sometimes. She cast a diagnostic spell to see what was wrong. Madam Pomfrey had a bit more experience with magical creatures than the students usually did. Most wizards left the care of their animals to the house elves, and some did end up working with some of the magical creatures they learned about, but not everyone learned more than just what they learned in Care of Magical Creatures. Some healers however, did pick up animal healing as well as wizard healing.

Madam Pomfrey tutted as she looked at what the spell was telling her. "Hedwig has some indigestion that is bothering her. I can give her something to help move things along."

Harry nodded, stroking the feathers on Hedwig's chest as Madam Pomfrey went through the storage cupboards. She found what she was looking for, and had Hedwig open her beak while Madam Pomfrey used the dropper to give the owl 5 drops of whatever it was.

"There you are. She should be fine soon." Madam Pomfrey said, stroking Hedwig's head and smiling fondly at the bird.

"Thank you so much, Madam Pomfrey. I appreciate it." Harry said, picking Hedwig up to carry her off again.

He made it back to the Owlery and this time Hedwig quietly went on to a perch while Harry stroked her feathers some more. She nuzzled her head into his hand and nipped his fingers gently. Harry took that as a thank you.

"All right Hedwig. You have a good night, I will come check on you tomorrow." Harry told her before taking himself off to bed, leaving her sitting there quietly as the potion worked through her.