Hermione Granger and the Owl Whisperer

[Trutharchivist]

So. It's been a while since I posted a topic here. It's not that I didn't create anything; I just had a different outlet for it. Anyway, this is something I wanted to publish for a somewhat bigger audience. We'll see how this goes.

I didn't think of writing this on my own: @Knight of Iron came up with the idea. After I ranted a bit about how a Harry Potter crossover fic annoyed me, he said: "hey, maybe you can write a fanfic of Gal going to Hogwarts."

To those of you who don't know, Gal is a character I built for @Tesh's Let's Go Find a Dragon RP - you can find the character sheet in my about me here. He used a prototype of a magic system I wrote about here, and was partially a self insert, partially curiosity incarnate (he was part of the reason I chose Ookla the Questioning to be my Ookla name). He had a personality to him, I think. Anyway, I liked Knight's idea, and after moving and changing things a bit - with some thought here and there - I present to you this fic.

I promise you, the title isn't deceiving. Hermione isn't the main PoV character at first, but she will get her due. The fic itself takes place at the time of the original books - supposedly it may go through the entire series, depending on how far I'll be able to take it. It's going to be a bit slow paced on the start, I think, but I hope to pick up a faster pace later.

Anyway, tagging the third person who expressed interest - @Condensation, I summon thee! - and we may begin.

Chapter 1, which is unnamed as of yet:

Spoiler

Gal Owlson looked around him, frowning. He didn’t know where he was. Had he been a travelling researcher that would’ve been natural - the risk came with the job, he knew it - but he wasn’t there, yet. Why, just yesterday he went to class in the Parliament! So suddenly finding himself in the middle of a busy street was odd, to say the least.
Gal was an 11-years-old boy, about 4’8” in height. He had short brown hair, and his ears were more akin to the ones of a cat owl than ones of a human. Which essentially means, his ears were long and feathered and weren’t shaped like human ones at all. His eyes were yellow - a colour you might find natural in a bird of prey, not a human child, though he had features to go with it - angular and sharp, almost birdlike.
People were walking in multiple directions around him, entering and exiting buildings with large signs over them. Gal’s education indicated those are shops - places people go into to buy stuff like food, clothing, etcetera. He didn’t have any money, though. Was he in this Zemel city he kept hearing about? How could he-
Someone touched his shoulder and he turned, startled. “Hello,” said the person in front of him, smiling pleasantly, though he did start at seeing those piercing yellow eyes. “You seem lost. Where are your parents?”
Gal just stared at him for a moment. He had parents, sure, but the Parliament wasn’t inclined to let the kids meet them. They all grew together, basically. He knew the prospect, but…
The person frowned, looking worried. “Legal guardians? Adult escort?”
Gal finally recalled that he was told staring at people is considered impolite. He looked down.
He really would’ve liked to answer the man’s questions, but he was still puzzling through what was going on. He couldn’t see any reason for him to be suddenly standing in the middle of nowhere. Unless… Was he just invited to a major Parliament meeting…?
“Can you talk? Do you even hear me?” The man sounded worries
At that, Gal perked up. Questions he could answer! “I can talk, evidently. And similarly, I can hear you.” He said. He was still trying to think, how did he get here? He had to return to the Parliament, as soon as possible.
It was the man’s turn to be startled. “O-kay, then… Where are your parents?”
Gal shook his head, frowning. “Back in the Parliament, probably. Or somewhere out there, doing research. Or in a library, or a bookstore… Never really bothered to ask. It’s not like it mattered much.”
Now the man was completely baffled and extremely worried. “Your legal guardian, then. Who escorted you here?”
“I… Don’t know.” Said Gal, face worried. “I just… found myself standing here.” He shook his head slowly, looking down. What happened in that Parliament meeting? He had a hard time remembering, though it must’ve been just a few moments ago. Or hours. Was it late morning already?
The man stared at him. Apparently he wasn’t taught it was impolite. “So you apparated here? By yourself?” He seemed incredulous. “No, there must have been an adult. Who were you with before?”
Gal seemed to be deep in thought, not necessarily listening to the man. He Just got up before dawn, surely. On the Parliament meeting day. Then… What happened during this meeting? He usually had nigh-infallible memory, like all Owlsons, but this time… If only he could remember…
“Hey,” said the man, snapping his fingers in front of Gal. “Are you listening? Who was with you before you got here? A Hogwarts professor, maybe?”
How could it be? He reached to his Harvest stores - they seemed to be in order. His Growth, though, his natural memories… Well, since he couldn't use it magically, checking it wasn't much possible. Was there something off about his Harvest, too, though?
The man snapped again. “Hello? Are you there?” Gal shook himself out of his thoughts and looked at the man.
“Think hard.” Said the man. “Do you know who apparated with you here, and where he has gone to?”
“No one apparated with me.” Said Gal. “What do you mean by ‘apparate’ anyway? I just appeared here.” Probably sent by the Parliament, he thought. He knew it was a possibility. Though the time difference and the fact he couldn't remember it…
“What do you mean, no one apparated with you here?” Asked the man, even more incredulous than before. “How would you say you appeared here, then?”
“Teleportation through the Ideal Realm, I’d guess.” Said Gal. “I’m not completely brushed up on Realmatic theory, but I think it’s a possibility? I’d have required an anchor, though…” He looked around, and his eyes stopped on a quizzical cat owl perching right outside a shop with a sign saying “Eeylops Owl Emporium” above its entrance. “...Oh. Hello.”
The owl didn’t answer. The man did, though - he said: “Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no such thing as a, a, 'Ideal Realm' - is that something out of Plato? You clearly apparated here somehow. All I need is for you to tell me who did this. Were you kidnapped? And why, by Merlin's beard, are you trying to talk to this owl?”
The owl turned its quizzical look to the man, Then back to Gal. Then it hooted loudly.
Eeylops Owl Emporium exploded with sudden activity. All of the owls inside hooted improbably loud, and people immediately started running out of it. A voice that probably belonged to Mr. Eeylops asked people to stay calm, claiming that everything is under control, but to no avail. 
In the confusion, Gal lost sight of the man, while trying to consider what to do, ducking out of the way of humans and owls alike. Many owls flew around - whether they came out of the shop or from somewhere else, Gal didn’t know, but they didn't make things any less chaotic.
A barn owl went over, pecked him and flew away from the havoc. After flying for a while it turned around, went back and pecked him again, glaring at him accusingly.
"What do you want?" Asked Gal. "Can you speak, maybe?"
The owl pecked him again. It seemed a bit hurried. It flew up, then looked at Gal.
“Fine,” he grumbled, walking after the bird. It led him away from the Emporium and through the busy street.

If you spot spelling errors, lack of necessary elaborations, overt elaboration in wrong places or other problems do tell. There shouldn't be much of the former, but the latter two are definitely a possibility. Anyway, hope you enjoy reading this! Again, it'll take some time for the story to really take off, so please be patient.

[Knight of Iron]

Eyyy, it's Gal Owlson himself. This'll be a hoot

I look forward to future chapters and potential owl shenanigans.

 

[Trutharchivist]

So, I didn't get forward much. Luckily, I have the next part ready anyway, so I'll put it here. But I must warn you, it'll take me considerably longer to get the next few chapters.

I kind of hope someone besides the people I tagged will be able to enjoy it, but to be fair it's pretty hard to make it less LGFaD exclusive... Anyway, next chapter: probably called Owls' Point.

Spoiler

It is said that the Leaky Cauldron, and Diagon Alley with it, are far older than Charing Cross Road, where the muggle side of the pub is located. The same could be said about the darker Knockturn Alley - and the far less known Sofistic Alley, the residence district of magical London. After all, not all the shop owners in Diagon Alley live in their shops. It wasn't as famous as the other two magical alleys, though, and didn't have much on the side of glorious history. 
Whether it was sophisticated or not could stand to some debate - and certainly, it wasn't central in magical Britain's society, and not many Wizards went to live there. In any case, there was a gap between two of the buildings, which served as the local owlery. That is, the owls of the residents of the alley were usually set free, and were to be found there during most of their free time. The street residents didn't care much for having an organised owlery - the owls could take care of themselves without minders to pay for - and the owls seemed to like it there. The area was dubbed Owls' Point - a name that could stand being more creative, perhaps, but was good enough for the people.
It was to Owls' Point, then, that the barn owl led Gal - through the cobble-floored Alley, between the ancient buildings. The owl probably belonged to one of the families that lived around, since it landed on a corner in Owls' Point and started cleaning its (or his, since it was a male owl) feathers, completely ignoring the child he just brought there. 
Not that Gal himself knew any of that. He did see the sign saying he was entering Sofistic Alley, but it meant nothing to him - neither did the crooked sign that stood at the entrance to Owls' Point. He just followed the owl until he landed.
He wasn't sure what to do next. At least now he was alone - magically nigh intelligent owls notwithstanding - he could think a little more about everything that occurred.
Those almost intelligent owls were part of it, he was sure. He distractedly touched his own feathered ears. They were probably somehow connected to the Idei - a unique phenomenon, from what he knew about the totem animals and their relation to their Wanderer tribe and the Idei they symbolised. Usually, the connection meant nothing to the animals themselves. Sure, there were many owls around the Parliament - but that was mostly because the Owlsons liked to take care of the animals, whom they saw as something of their kin. Perhaps that the Owlsons literally had some owlish body parts also attracted the birds. In any case, those owls were the most likely candidate for an anchor - nothing else around the place he was in before seemed to be connected to the Great Owls. 
But the thing was… He couldn't remember using Ideal Realm transportation. He couldn't remember anything from the morning, as a matter of fact. The last thing he remembered seemed to be going to bed with the intention of getting up before dawn - he was called to attend a major Parliament meeting, probably as part of his studies. He probably did - control over sleep schedule was one of the things he trained on for a long time - but he couldn't remember it. The entire thing was jarring - and wherever he was, it was nearly noon already!
As if responding to the thought, his stomach croaked. He frowned and quickly calculated how hungry he probably was - resulting in the conclusion that he must've eaten this morning. At the same time period that was strangely absent from his memory. Still, it was a while ago. He looked around him - but naturally, didn't find any fitting food. There were many owls sitting around the Point - most were sleeping, though some were chewing on mice and small rodents. There were bones on the ground, remains from previous owl meals, most likely. Nothing that could satisfy his very human stomach.
He sighed, then turned to the barn owl that brought him there. "I'm hungry. Do you have a way to provide me with food? Why did you bring me here, anyway?"
The owl stopped cleaning his feathers and turned his face to him with a sudden movement. Gal was unphased - what will he do, peck him? Then, he hooted once and flapped his wings to hit the eagle owl that slept beside him, and returned to his business.
The eagle owl didn't seem happy about the disturbance. He hooted once, flapped his wings and tried to peck the barn owl. The latter just hopped away and hooted back at him. The eagle owl turned his gaze to Gal, body still positioned towards the barn owl - ninety degrees from his face.
"Can you give me something to eat, please? Human food?" Gal asked again. Perhaps it was the 'please' that convinced the owl, but in any case he took off and flew toward the entrance to Sofistic Alley and the shopping district Gal came from - better known as Diagon Alley. He returned shortly after, carrying a small bun in his talons. He dropped it into Gal's hands, landed, and hooted.
If those owls had a language, having cat-owl ears didn't help Gal understand it. It was kind of frustrating, he thought, while biting the bun. He could talk to them, since they evidently understood him, but puzzling what they might mean by specific hoots would be a chore. He couldn't tell apart the "come with me" from the "there you go" - he could only guess that this was what they meant by the context and how they acted. And he just lost a human contact in exchange for those owls.
He took another bite and kept thinking. On the other hand, those owls seemed like the most likely candidate so far for contact with the Great Owls. But the theory of Ideal Realm transportation usually offered using another Owlson as an anchor. Where could he be, then, that those owls were his best anchor?
Meanwhile, the eagle owl returned to sleep. And Gal kept on thinking. But while his line of thinking can be fascinating to some, others may find it boring; so let's leave him be, for the time being, and explore Sofistic Alley and Owls' Point a bit more.
For some of you, a place like Sofistic Alley would seem old fashioned: a cobblestone paved alley, on both sides of which stood houses in many shapes. There were tall, three-store houses with sharp angled roofs; there were short ones with flat tops, surrounded by fences. Some had backyards - never really big, since muggle London was just a wall away. They did sometimes push it back. Gaps between houses weren’t uncommon, and mostly were full of garbage, cats, or in one case - an owl perching corner.
The gap that got the name Owls’ Point was seven feet wide - one of the largest gaps - and thirty feet deep, and it stood between houses 11 (two stories, roof sloping toward the street as if frowning at it) and 13 (a narrow, round and tall house that looked like a small wizard’s tower). An oak tree grew in a patch of ground by the wall (from the pattern of bricks around it it’s addition wasn’t preplanned), and quite a few of the owls sat on it. Others sat on perching sticks and stone ledges that stuck out of the house walls. If anyone ever bothered to count, there were around forty or fifty owls perching around there most of the time. There was, as mentioned previously, a crooked sign saying that this was Owls’ Point, but it was obvious that no one planned the place. The owls simply decided it was theirs, and the people complied.
Not many people were around the alley on this sunny Sunday, at the beginning of the summer. Most went out somewhere - and thus, Gal was undisturbed in his thoughts
He was standing under the shade of the tree by the outer wall of no. 11 (by the ledge on which the two owls mentioned before perched), and after some time of chewing his bun his feet ached and he sat down.
And felt a weight getting off his shoulders a little.

Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for coming over.