A Grover Delivery Service
While Grover was dealing with his own problems somewhere else… Harry, Percy, and Annabeth were also busy.
Well… sort of.
They were shopping.
"So we just follow the bird and it'll take us to our friend?" Percy asked with mild interest.
"Exactly, young man. It's honestly strange that wizards don't really use this method to track criminals anymore, even though it used to be quite common in the past. Maybe criminals just got so good at hiding that most birds can't find them anymore unless they want to be found. However, Radagan is a bird of high lineage. It even has a bit of magical blood in its lineage, which means it's not just good at tracking, but also has some really strong talons. It can easily carry around fifty-five kilograms. Of course, it won't be able to travel very far with that kind of weight, but it could still be useful," the vendor added quickly, sounding genuinely excited.
"And how much does a sa—… a Grover weigh?" Percy asked, glancing at Annabeth.
"I'm not sure. I think a… Grover on average weighs around fifty to fifty-five kilos," Annabeth said after thinking for a moment.
The vendor looked slightly confused. They were talking about their friend as if he were some kind of species, like "Grover" was an actual classification. Still, he kept his professional smile.
"Well then, we can have it carry him part of the way toward us," Percy said with a grin. "Alright, Harry. Pay him."
Harry looked at him for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh. At this point in his life, he was already used to being the one in charge of their money. Not because Percy didn't have any—he did—but because Percy was absolutely terrible at managing it. So there was an unspoken rule between them: never let Percy carry a wallet.
Harry then glanced at a couple of books on the counter that he definitely hadn't picked. There were also some potion ingredients that might come in handy, along with a few other items. He looked at Annabeth, who was very clearly pretending not to notice anything. Obviously, she had added the books.
Not to mention the sword Percy had definitely slipped in there. It looked like a normal one, probably just for his collection.
With another quiet sigh, Harry pulled out a few Galleons from his magical bag and placed them on the counter.
"I… umm… I'll pay you back later. I'm a bit short on money right now," Annabeth added, a little awkwardly.
But Harry didn't seem to mind much.
"One more question. Do you happen to have a map of the Floo network in this country? Wouldn't it be much easier to travel using that?" Harry asked, remembering something important.
"The Floo network? Ah, you mean Floo connectors. Yes, I have them in all sizes and covering all sectors," the vendor replied quickly, flashing a wide, professional smile.
"Floo connectors?" Harry repeated, since it sounded both familiar and slightly different from what he knew.
"Oh yes. They're basically two fireplaces linked together, allowing travel between two fixed points using Floo powder," the vendor explained, assuming Harry wasn't entirely familiar with them.
"Only two fireplaces? They're not connected to a full Floo network linking every magical household?" Harry asked.
"No, no, no. That would be far too dangerous. We only use Floo connectors—each one links two specific locations, all strictly regulated by the Ministry of Magic. If you want to travel long distances, you'll have to use several connectors across different parts of the city. And sometimes, if one of them is discovered by Muggles, it's destroyed immediately. That's why some connectors tend to disappear. But don't worry, I have a map that updates them in real time. Only twenty Galleons," the vendor said with a confident smile.
Harry raised an eyebrow slightly. Destroying entire fireplaces just because a Muggle spotted one once felt a little extreme. But then he remembered what Sirius had told him—that on this side of the world, wizards tended to be much more cautious around Muggles than in Europe. Still, he hadn't expected it to go that far.
Even so, Harry took out the money and placed it on the counter before receiving the map. It showed small drawings of fireplaces glowing faintly across different locations, with lines connecting them in pairs. Just like the vendor had said, each one only linked two points. So if they wanted to reach their destination directly, they would need to switch between multiple connectors along the way.
"Now that everything's paid for, that should be all set. Radagan will return quickly once it finishes its task, so keep that in mind. Oh, and one quick piece of advice for new customers. Be very careful out there. The magical world on this side may seem completely hidden, and there's a very specific reason for that. So try not to show your magic too much," the vendor added, putting on a serious expression for a moment, breaking his usual professional salesman smile before smiling again. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again very soon," he added with a small wave.
At those words, Harry, Annabeth, and Percy couldn't help narrowing their eyes slightly as they nodded toward the vendor and headed for the door.
Meanwhile, Percy noticed the masked man from earlier walking toward the counter and placing a few coins on it while collecting his things, among them a bow and arrows.
When Harry, Percy, and Annabeth finally stepped outside, the vendor let a faint smile slip onto his face.
"So many demigods connected to the magical world… I'm not sure whether that'll be a good thing or a bad thing," the goblin said with a faintly amused smile before turning around, going back to whistling and casually writing down the prices of nearby products as if nothing had happened.
…
"So… um… could you bring Grover to us? In exchange, we'll give you a sausage," Percy said while staring intently at the bird, which stared right back at him with the exact same intensity, as if it were looking at an idiot.
Naturally, Percy held back his irritation for the moment.
Though the bird simply tilted its head to the side, looking like it didn't even want to acknowledge his existence.
Percy frowned in annoyance.
"If you already know all owls hate you, why do you keep trying?" Annabeth asked immediately with a faint smile, knowing perfectly well that the reason the owl disliked Percy had something to do with both his mother and his father.
"I still think it's unfair that they hate me over something I didn't even do," he grumbled, but Harry shoved him gently to the side.
"Hello. Could you bring our friend to a point somewhere between us? We'll be following behind you. And while the vendor didn't say anything about feeding you… I can offer these as payment," Harry said as he pulled out what looked like a few special treats from his magical bag. "They're from my owl, Hedwig. You might like them," he added in a soft tone.
The dark owl looked at him for a moment.
Then it looked at the treat and quickly snatched it with its beak.
And without thinking much about it, it spread its wings and launched itself upward.
The three of them lifted their heads to watch it fly above them for a moment, as if trying to figure out its direction… until it seemed to find its bearings.
And then it started flying south.
"Alright. Let's follow it," Harry said immediately.
And then he and the other two quickly ran after the bird.
…
After running for several minutes, all three of them were sweaty and slightly exhausted, slowly realizing that chasing a bird flying overhead was probably not the smartest possible plan.
Especially not on foot.
Which made them wonder how Gema and Adrien had managed to track them down before just by following Bitey.
But there wasn't much point thinking about it.
After all, they were adults.
And they probably had a car or something.
"Oh no… I think we lost the bird," Annabeth said while breathing heavily.
Even Percy, who was in much better physical shape, was actually getting pretty tired from all the running as they came to a stop in an alley between buildings, no longer able to clearly spot the bird from where they stood.
"What do we do?" Percy asked immediately, sounding a little nervous.
"Well, maybe—" Harry started to say, but before he could finish—
Suddenly, they heard a scream approaching from the sky.
So all of them looked up.
And then their eyes widened when they saw a bird barely a meter wide flying straight toward them with Grover dangling from its talons, while he screamed in panic and desperately tried to beg the bird to put him down.
Which, apparently, it decided to do.
Because all at once, it opened its claws.
Letting him go.
And dropped him without hesitation.
"AAAAAH!" Grover screamed in panic as he felt himself falling at full speed.
"Harry!" Percy shouted immediately.
Without hesitating, Harry pulled out his wand at once and pointed it toward Grover, who was rushing toward the ground at terrifying speed.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Grover's body didn't stop completely.
But it slowed down just enough for the fall to become awkward instead of brutal.
As if he were falling like a feather.
A pretty heavy feather.
Since he still ended up crashing face-first into the ground with a solid thud and a few pained cries.
"Wow… if Hermione saw that, she'd be proud," Percy said, giving his brother a thumbs-up.
"Could someone help me?" Grover asked while still lying face-down on the ground.