The courting

Chapter 4. Heka

Harry POV

When I woke up in the morning there were a dozen owls in front of my window. I decided to let them in, but collect the letters later, I was really hungry!
Everyone was there already, so I sat myself onto my seat and took the bread and the jam. 

"I wonder why there are no owls. Shouldn't they deliver the letters of your suitors today?" Neville asked. "They are up in my room." He nodded and finished his cup of coffee.
"I will help you collect and sort them, then we need to go over them all. It wouldn't be fair to your suitors to let them wait." I nodded and after eating breakfast, we left to free the owls from their letters and surprisingly some of them had already brought gifts. 

Most of the owls were brown or black, but there, on my desk sat a rather big, grey one with a little packet on their leg and she didn't leave after I took what she carried. She rather sat down and let herself be pet by Neville and me.

 We checked the letters and everyone that wrote the wrong name on the cover was eliminated immediately.
Most of them thought my last name was Riddle or Riddle-Snape, so they didn't care to learn about Veelas.
In the Veela-nation, traditional Veelas are proud of their inheritance and give their children the surname of the Veela grandparent, (or in my case, the Veela grandparent with magical powers).

Some wrote my first name wrong. I've seen everything from Haary over Hadrian and Harrison to Harriet.
Those people must not have read the rules, where my full name was written onto. Before even opening I threw them into the eliminated folder and opened the letters of the people that were able to write my name right. There were still too many.
We made six stacks to twenty letters, and we drank a tea after finishing each stack.

I was shocked how many women wrote me, so they also went into the folder.
Everyone who was able to peek my interest by presenting themselves in an interesting manner, by sending me a list of their best traits or about writing a poem to me, was sent a letter back with a "Thank you" note.
It wasn't until after lunch we were finally able to open the letters with presents, and those took more time, because I had to open my little booklet and evaluate their presents. 

Happily, the grey owl still didn't leave, she had made friends with Hedwig and they were both sitting under the window.
Some men had sent presents like magazines, and those I found rather boring, they received negative marks.
But others had sent something that really represented them. Arthur Westwood, for example, was a professional dream analyst, so he sent a dream catcher with little feather charms that would keep away charms that would cause me to have nightmares or people to enter my mind while sleeping.
I had written him a letter stating that I liked his present and I would hang it over my bed. 

When I wanted to pick up the next letter, the new owl screeched and took a step back. Neville ran over from where he had poured out some new tea and snatched the letter. "Don't Harry, there is something wrong with this letter."
He cast a detecting spell and the letter turned a blue colour.
"As I thought. There is a bonding charm on this letter. It would force a bond between the person who touches it and the caster, and the person wouldn't be able to mate with anybody else. Please don't open any letters while I'm away, I need to report this to the council and your father. He will be furious!" 

Then Neville left and I stood up to pet the two owls. Then I sat on the ground and waited until Neville would return.
But, wait a moment!
Hadn't Neville touched the letter? I didn't want him to be forced to bond with that idiot, just because he was my enforcer! 

I heard an angry scream from Father's study and Mother came into my room.
"Are you okay Harry?" he asked and hugged me. "Don't worry, the council will deal with him. I will stay with you until Neville returns. We can open the next letter, if you want." I nodded and took the next letter from the stack. 

The writing was elegant, and the present was attached to the letter in a little bag. I opened the letter first (after Mother checked it).
The letter was written the right way, with the right space between each end of the parchment and the perfect height of each letter. He must be at least a pureblood, I thought and started reading: 

The writer was my age, born more or less half a year before me. He told me that he was a Pure Veela living in the wizarding world, when he wasn't staying outside of the country.
He was taller than me and I liked that, taller men often give me the feeling of safety. He had already taken his NEWT's, so he was smart, and if needed he would send me a fertility certificate.
So, he read the rules and didn't work on intuition. He informed me that he, even though coming from a rich family, he worked mostly from home and had a steady income.
After other trivial facts about him, he decided to explain the gift he sent me. He said it was a potion brewed by him to represent his skills in potion brewing. He also wanted the present one of his best traits: preplanning.
The potion was one to detect any possible harmful charms or potions on parchment, leather and other partially organic material. It would turn clear if the test subject was harm free, but stay black if not. 

In the last paragraph, he explained his owl.
Her name was Heka, and she was a new type of owl, bred to be able to carry packets that were a little heavier than the average.
She was a really friendly owl and would most likely start befriending Hedwig, if I liked it or not. If she should start becoming too much, I should give her a piece of ham, she was trained to leave when she tasted it. She would stay until I wrote him back or I gave her said ham, and I could send my letter back by her.
In the end, he asked for a little favour. He needed it for my next present. 

One of my feathers, one that had fallen out by itself.
In love, Draco. 

I started to blush, like so often. Mother was against the idea to send him the feather, even after approving of the potion he had sent and reading the letter himself. And Draco was his godson! After I had requested Father's opinion I won the argument and send Draco a letter with one of my feathers.
Let's see what he would do with it.

A/N I hope you liked his chapter and please vote and comment!

MeineKeime