Hedwig's Story

[¡Snowy!]

Hedwig’s Story
Birth

January 10th, 1989. A tiny beak pokes its way out of an egg in an incubator. A woman opens the drawer, and assists the owl chick in escaping from her first home. Disoriented and blinded by the bright lights, the little chick flails about in the straw. But the woman just chuckles and strokes the little owl on the head.
“So, a little snowy, eh? Well, that’s a nice change, too many dull brown owls ‘round here. There you go, come on out of there,” she whispered.
The chick squawked a friendly reply.
The old woman mixed a small dish of ground mouse meat with magical herbs to help the little owl grow strong and, more importantly, smart. She hummed a quiet tune. She carefully fed the little chick her first meal. The mush filled her stomach slowly. She felt drowsy, and she slept.
When next she woke, she heard other voices, others that sounded like hers. ‘Squawk, squawk!’, they were yelling. It was so loud, she wanted to get away, but she could barely move an inch away without exhausting her unused legs. Breathing heavily, she resolved to just dig her head under the straw that was her bed.
“Hey! Looks who’s up, my little snowy!” The kind old woman ran her finger down the little bird’s spine. She felt better instantly. “How did you sleep sweet?”<br> The little bird chirped back happily.
All of a sudden, a new face appeared over the edge of her drawer, a tiny freckled face, full of excitement. “Wow, gran! A snowy owl, can I hold it?”<br> “Sure, go ahead. Take care, don’t drop her.”<br>The little boy gently picked up the little bird in his hands and giggled. “She’s so fluffy!
She was frightened, she didn’t know what this strange creature was doing picking her up like that but she didn’t like it at all, it was way too high up, not safe, not safe. She started chirping, but the boy just giggled and stroked her head. He wasn’t getting the message! She bit him.
“Ow!” He quickly put her down, which was what she wanted, and she quieted down. There wasn’t even a mark on the little boy’s hand, she didn’t know why he was making those pathetic whimpering noises. She was annoyed, so she put her head into the straw and tried to ignore him.


what do you think? thats only the first part, there's more to come.

[musicchc43]

This is a really cool idea for a story! So far it's been written very well. Keep it coming

[*HPfan*]

That was really good! Aww, now I want a baby owl as a pet. They sound so cute!

[orlandobabe726]

Me too! I want a baby owl! Only I dont know how that would go over with my brothers pet mouse. Why would he want a mouse anyway? I know! Ill go ask him!

[amiphist]

cool, its an original idea, you barely get those anymore ;D

[¡Snowy!]

Flight

Over the next week, she learned that the annoying boy was harmless, and she should just endure the excessive handling if she didn’t want to be scolded by the nice old woman. Now she was eating twice what she had been, and growing by the day. Though she liked to flap her wings and peck at the other chicks, she kept to herself most of the time. When her wings were strong enough, the old woman fastened a string to her leg, perched her on a gloved hand, and took her outside to learn to fly. She hopelessly beat her wings, but she couldn’t take off. She slept when the woman put her back in her nest, exhausted from the countless tries.
But she wouldn’t give up, she tried over and over, for weeks, then months, jumping and hopping and flapping and pretty much annoying all of her nest mates. A few times, she actually became airborne, but crashed down to the table after seconds in the air. Finally, after the first and second meals had been brought, she made it up, and soared across the room. She was so pleased with herself that she didn’t notice the sadness in the old woman’s face when she showed her the next morning. But as she tied the string to her leg, she saw it, that look of loss. She took off, flying around in circles, higher and higher, until her breast muscles hurt. She headed towards the woman, but she had never landed on a perch before, only sort of let herself fall onto the soft hay in her nest. She stretched out her legs, but did not slow down and only left a scratch in the leather glove before crashing into the ground. The old woman quickly picked her up and dusted her off.
“ You need to work on your landings dear. Now, next time, slow down much more than that before grabbing the glove.”<br>She took off and flew up into the air, ashamed of the pathetic job she had done, but when the old woman whistled for her, she slowed down like she said and she landed smoothly on the woman’s arm, only knocking it sideways a little bit. She took off for the third time, this time only staying in the air a couple of minutes, and when she landed, it was perfect. She took off a few more times after that, landing perfectly on the woman’s arm each time. She walked her back into the barn, and untied the string. She put the glove up on the shelf near the nests. None of the others were flying, or even thinking about flying yet. She felt proud of her quick learning.
“Tomorrow your real training begins, little snowy”, said the woman, and she stroked her on the head for a few minutes, finally saying, “ time for bed, good night.”

[¡Snowy!]

Leaving

Early the next moring, she found herself being woken up by the old woman. She put her into something made of wires. It had a perch and a door with a clasp to lock it. But she saw no more, because next she put a cloth cover over the thing and all was dark, all sound was muffled. She listened.
“Here she is, she’s a bit temperamental, this one. She doesn’t like being around other bird either, so mind you keep her away from the others,” said the old woman.
“Don’t worry, if she’s any bit as smart as you say, she’ll do what she’s told and that’ll be the end of that,” said a voice she didn’t recognize.
“Oh, do be kind to her, I’m afraid if you’re too stern she’ll turn bad. I’ve seen it before,” said the old woman, her concern making it through the cover.
“Sure, whatever you say,” said the voice again, and her perch shook and she felt herself being picked up, she didn’t like it any more than being picked up by that little boy. She held on tight as the motion stopped, this time the voice was much closer, and she understood who was holding her. “So that’ll be 17 galleons?”<br>“Oh no, I wont take a knut under 25,” said the woman, suddenly serious.
“That good, eh? All right, I’m in a hurry, here,” and there was a clinking noise, the perch gave another great lurch, and she had to hold on tight for fear of falling, this person was walking quickly, and wasn’t being too careful with the perch, not like the old woman’s gentle hands, she didn’t know who this person was, but she liked that old woman, and she didn’t want to leave her, not with this faceless gruff voice. Suddenly, she felt very queasy, like she had flown too high and fallen a great distance. But the feeling didn't last long. Her eyes suddenly filled with light, as the cover was lifted and she finally could put a face to that voice. It was a surprisingly kind face, but with a stern look of examination.
“Well, let’s see how you look, can’t see you properly in that cage,” he said. Cage? Is that what it was called? She wasn’t exactly curious about what to call this heap of rusty wire, all she cared about was that she was out, and she didn’t want to go back in.

[¡Snowy!]

New Home

She took off and immediately flew straight up to the rafters. Safe at that height, she took a look around. She was in another barn, but this one smelled strange, it was stuffy, no windows she could see, that meant no escape through flight. She looked down, the man was looking up at her, waving, motioning for her to come down, as she had learned from the nice lady who raised her. But she didn’t want to come down, she didn’t like that man and nothing was going to make her go back, she was going to get away, how, she didn’t know. The man gave up his attempt to call her down, walked across the barn, opened a door, and before she could get out, exited and slammed it shut. Now that she wasn’t being watched, she flew around to every patch of light she saw, but she doubted a sparrow could get through a single one, let alone a nearly full-grown owl. She gave up and flew to the center rafter. She was hungry, and thought she might be able to catch a mouse. She sat perfectly still, listening to every sound with all her might. She heard a faint rustling from one corner. She crept across her perch, yes, it was a mouse making a nest. She watched its every move, unmoving herself, waiting for the opportunity to strike. It moved a few more inches into the open, her muscles tightened. A few more, she opened her wings ever so slightly. A foot more, it was headed for a piece of bread in the middle of the room, perfect. It was too preoccupied to see the giant bird with razor sharp talons watching it scurry across the room. She dropped down and soundlessly and scooped up her struggling prey. She flew back up to the rafters, ripped off a bit of meat, and swallowed it. Downing the rest, she felt contented, and proud, it was her first kill, and it had been a success. Now to find a way out. She decided to just wait for the gruff man to enter the barn and fly out before he could shut the door. She waited near the door, silent.
It wasn’t until the evening the next day that the man came out to the barn. This was her chance, she couldn’t mess up, as the door opened, she dove out, her heart pounding, she flew. She’d made it! But, she heard the man shout something.
“Impedimenta!” I was a spell, she was frozen in the air, and she was falling. “Accio owl!,” he shouted, and it was like she had been lassoed, zooming toward the old man, into a sack that he quickly shut. She thrashed and slashed and clawed, but it must have been reinforced by magic, because she did no damage.
“You’ll not get away that easy,” he said with a chuckle. He opened the bag, and she fell to the ground. “Stupefy!,” he said and while she sat motionless on the ground, he tied a tether to her leg, knotting it tightly to a stake in the ground. As the spell wore off, she struggled, but couldn’t break free. She sat on the ground, occasionally lunging at the man, wanting to hurt him.
“Little bird, you need to be trained, you understand? Well, I know you understand me, so listen up. When I’m done with you you’ll be a post owl, that means you will have an owner who you will carry mail for. You got that? If you don’t like that, too bad, its your job, and I reckon it’s a more preferable life to one in the wild.” She listened, tugging without thinking at the tether. “ Now, tomorrow, after breakfast I’ll be teaching you to read an address, and you’d better not think you’re going to pretend you can’t read, because I know you can. It’ll get you nothing except an empty belly, you hear me? I’ll tolerate no funny business from you, I know you know better, you’re not some common forest owl who doesn’t know any better. So you get on into that barn and sleep, and don’t try to get away, because you know what’ll happen, and I don’t think you want to be summoned again.” He loosed her tether and she flew into the open door, but not before leaving a wide gash on the man’s coat. She wasn’t going to give up that easily, but she didn’t want any more spells put on her either, so, for now, she would obey. After all, carrying mail, whatever that was, couldn’t be that hard.

[Firebolt]

cool! very nice job

[¡Snowy!]

wow, this has taken me a while. oh well, here's the next chapter.

Learning

She slept easily, as the old man had quickly slipped a plate with a dead mouse on it through the barn door a little bit after she flew in. She was jerked awake by a sharp, loud whistle from the old man in the doorway.
“Come down here! We need to get going,” he said. She swooped down onto his wrist and he set her on a perch nearby. He took out a piece of parchment, with something written on it. “Take a look at this.” she did. “That’s an address, that’s the place where a person lives. See this,” he pointed to the first line on the page, “That’s the name of the person, my name in fact, Nicholas Plunkett. And this here, Alcyonia Road, that’s what that road at the end of my lane is called. Got it? Now here, Padstow, that’s the town this farm is closest to, now you can find all of this on this map.” He pulled a map of England out of his pocket and laid it flat on a table. “Now you look at this and make sure you know it well by tomorrow. But you’ve got the rest of the day for that, right now lets see how well you can fly.”<br>He took her outside, and set her on a metal stake, 4 feet high with a perch on the top. He conjured a dark piece of cloth, and covered her head, though she was reluctant to let him.
“You get that thing on or I’ll thump you good!” She sat still and let herself be blinded. “Get on my arm,” he said. She put out a clawed foot, and felt for his arm. She found it, and hopped on, grasping tight, she didn’t like not being able to use her most important sense. She wondered what he was going to do. She felt the same lurch in her stomach that she felt when the old man first came for her at the old lady’s farm. He pulled off her hood, and set her on a tree nearby. A tree? There were no trees in the open field where they were standing. He must have magicked them here. She didn’t like being magicked, not at all. She turned to the words he was now saying.
“Now, when a silver ribbon-looking thing comes your way, find your way back to the barn. If you can’t find your way, just stick to where you are and I’ll come find you. Oh, and if you’re thinking of escaping….Imperio! She felt herself forget what she was doing. But a voice brought her back. Find your way back, if you’re lost, just wait for me. Don’t fly away! She had her instructions. She waited on tree, watched as the man disappeared in a small pop! When he was gone, she looked around. She felt something, something pulling her to go to her right, she wanted to go that way. She waited for his signal. Waiting, for what seemed like forever, to prove she could find her way back. Something silvery shot past her, and hit a tree trunk, leaving a word carved into it. When the smoke cleared, she read it, GO! She took off, to her right. She flew on, through heavy brush, over bushes, under tree limbs, around the trunks, on and on. She saw no light break the darkness of the woods, the sun could not get through the leaves above her, and the woods were too wide to let in light that way, and that would be how she would know she was out. After what seemed like forever, she flew for around another huge tree, and saw a sliver of light, straight ahead, she was right! The woods ended right ahead of her, and it must be just another hundred or so yards to the barn from there. But when she reached the sunlight, the barn was nowhere in sight. Her heart fell, she was wrong, she was out of the woods, but there was no barn, no field, just a fifty foot patch of grass, followed by a creek up ahead, with more trees on the other side. She would have to fly around the edge of the woods until she came to the field. So, disappointed that her instincts had failed her, she set off, beating her already tired wings. It took forever to find the field, and, embarrassed, she flew off toward the waiting old man.
“Had some trouble?” he said with a laugh. “Well, that’s to be expected, you’ve barely been out of that woman’s home for a week, your head still tells you that’s the way to home. Oh well, we’ve got this here.” He pointed to the map. “Look here, this way’s north,” he pointed to the right, “that’s south,” he pointed left, “and east and west”, he pointed straight ahead and behind. “Now where you were hatched is here,” he pointed to a spot on the map. “My home is here,” he pointed an inch southwest of the first point. “Now unless I am wrong, you went right when I left you, well you were facing east, and your old home is north of where you were. So, your instincts told you correctly, just not the one I wanted. Now, look at the sun.” She did. “ In the morning, it’s in the eastern sky, and at night it’s in the west. If you’re lost, and you know which direction where you’re going is, just look at the sun, and it’ll tell you where north is. At night you use the stars, and I’ll show you that later, for now, you get into the barn with this map and study where these towns are. You’ll be taking your first practice letter in a week.

[¡Snowy!]

Leaving Again

It was early morning one week later. She was staring at the map, which she often did when she wasn’t flying through the old man’s rain, hail, and wind storms that he conjured right into his back field. She was now an expert at finding which way was north, instead of finding which way was home, thanks to the old man’s tests, in which he spun her around in the air blindfolded until she felt sick, and told her to face north, she felt from which direction the sunlight was coming from, and knew the time of day by it. So now all she had to do was use what she learned from this map to find her way to her fixed destination, which she would find out at 9:00, when the old man would hand her a letter with an address and walk away.
“I’m not going to walk you through this one,” he had said. She memorized the map, all the rivers, towns, and valleys were now etched into her mind. She closed her eyes and thought about it, forcing herself to picture the map in its entirety. She felt she could do it, and did a few warm-up circles around the barn, to work out her nerves, she didn’t want to get lost, and she was most nervous about that. By the view of the now un-boarded up window at the top of the barn, 9:00 was rapidly approaching, and she felt she was ready. She swooped down and waited on her perch, glancing at the map, trying to keep it fixed in her mind.
The door opened and she flew out to land on the old man’s arm, she looked at the letter in his hand, but he saw and deliberately covered up the name. He laughed.
“Ha, trying to get a peek are we?” She chirped a friendly response to his taunt. “You’re a clever one. I’m going to miss this, the first flight. You’ll be my last, I’m getting too old for the training, see, I can’t handle the rambunctious ones, you showed me that your first day here.” He laughed again, this time she detected a sad tone in it, and she was sorry for being so much trouble. “You know something?” he continued, “I think you’re my favorite”. She hooted loudly and nipped at his fingers lovingly.
“Here you go,” he said, holding up the letter. She read it quickly and took it from him. Samuel Eeylop, 17 Seymour Street, London.
Easy, she thought, London was the first place she learned. After one more nip at his fingers, she took off, glanced at the sun, and flew Northeast. She kept on her course until about 3:00, when she stopped and perched in a patch of trees somewhere in Wiltshire. Her breath was short, but she wasn’t exhausted, she’d been flying long days for weeks. She looked around, at the trees, at the afternoon sun to her left, and towards the direction of London over the horizon. After about ten minutes, she spread her wings and took off again, and she found that she didn’t even need to look at the sun, she was pulled immediately toward London, her instincts being honed by her training. In a few hours she would be in London, it would be night so she wouldn’t have to duck behind buildings or trees to hide herself from muggles. She flew on toward London, and the skyline came into view at about 7:00, it was only minutes away. She soared over the city line and perched herself on a street sign, which read Bayswater Road. She flew East and turned North onto Seymour Street, the house across the road read ‘14’, so she was close, she flew East again and looked to her right. She found 17 and landed on a lighted windowsill, and tapped on the pane, as she had been instructed, and waited. No answer. She tapped again. A man came into view, for some reason, she knew this man was not Samuel Eeylop, she held tight to her letter, and waited for the window to open. The man smiled, lifted the window, and reached for the letter, but before he could take it, she took off into the house. She left what appeared to be a kitchen where she entered, and came into a hall, she swooped by each doorway, slowing herself and looking in each room, until she came to a dark room, a dark room where she sensed a person hiding, a magical person. She didn’t know how she knew this, but she could sense that the person was magical. She landed on the armrest of a chair, and looked around. She hooted loudly, calling for the addressee. He didn’t come out. She listened, she heard breathing from the far corner, behind a high backed chair, she crossed the room and landed at the top of it, hopped down and pecked the crouching man sharply on the head for hiding from her.
“Alright, alright, I’m coming out,” he said, when she continued to peck him, it must have hurt quite a lot, as he was bald. “Nice one, I can’t believe you made your first trip in one day! Amazing, I’ve never seen this before, they usually get lost on the first trip! Well, let’s see then, give me my letter.” He reached out his hand and she obligingly stretched out her leg and let him take it. He opened and read the letter, smiling. “Well, it seems Nicholas won’t be surprised at all that you made it, he says you’re the quickest learner he’s ever had. I suppose I should tell you, this isn’t a practice, it’s a test. If you didn’t make it, I was supposed to find you, and take you back to Nicholas tomorrow, but, as you’ve made it here in amazingly short time, you’re to be taken to my shop in Diagon Alley, which I’m sure Nicholas has told you was your final destination after training.”<br>Yes, he had told her, but she was angry that he had lied. She took off and flew around the house in a fury, knocking things over, and diving at Samuel and his friend when they tried to recapture her. Finally, she landed in front of Samuel, exhausted, but satisfied that she had been able to take out her rage on the various lamps and vases in the house. She still clicked her beak angrily, but she didn’t attack Samuel when he came close, or when he reached out to stroke her gleaming plumage.
“Sorry about that, I’m sure you’re very angry with us, but he knew you wouldn’t do your best if you knew it might be the last time you see him,” he said calmingly. “But I promise I’m a nice person,” he said with a chuckle, and the other man entered the room.
“I can’t believe she could tell I wasn’t her man, Dad!” he said.
“Well, Nicholas says she’s smart, the smartest he’s ever seen. She’ll fetch a good price too, its hard to find an owl that can really tell who they need to go to, not just where.” he said matter-of-factly. Then he turned to her, “Come here, get on my arm, I’ll take you to a nice perch where you can rest for tomorrow, as I said, you’re going to my shop to go on sale, don’t worry, you’ll go fast to a good home, I promise.” He smiled at her, and she hopped onto his arm. He carried her down the hall, sidestepping a pile of broken glass, she now regretted losing her temper, he seemed like a nice man. When they reached a quiet, windowless room, he walked over to a perch and she climbed on.
“Have a good sleep, little snowy, big day tomorrow.” And he was gone. She immediately felt her eyelids droop and she slept, not letting her mind wander to the thoughts of ill will toward Nicholas, or her nerves about a new master.

[¡Snowy!]

Close Call

The next day, she woke early and flew out of her room, searching for Samuel. She found him in the kitchen, reading the Daily Prophet, and sipping coffee out of a mug that read ‘I images.google.com/images?q=tbn:nV8Ec14Tef4J:www.forzalane.net/rubriche/nonsololane/emoticons/heart.gif [/img] Owls’. She settled herself on the top of the chair next to him, he looked up, and smiled at her.
“Hello there,” he said cheerily, “All rested up?” She hooted sleepily, and looked around, there were several dirty dishes in the sink, some potion was throwing orange sparks into the air from its place in the fireplace, and something she hadn’t noticed on her rampage the night before, a crup was sitting in a basket in the corner.
“Have you met Eris? She needs disillusioning, I can’t let her out until I do. Come here Eris!” he coaxed her, and she darted across the tiled floor immediately, hopping excitedly, putting her paws on his knees and licking his fingers. He pulled out his wand and tapped her on the head. Immediately, it was as if someone were pouring some chameleon liquid over her, because she took on the exact color and texture of the tiled floor. Samuel walked across the floor and opened the door to the backyard, and said, “Keep to the yard, Eris.” Eris ran outside, and she watched the transparent blur run across the grass, leaping at a cat and taking it by surprise. She watched it dart out of the yard before Samuel closed the door again.
“Well, I’ll get your cage,” said Samuel. She didn’t like the sound of that at all, she clicked her beak and gave him a reproachful look. “Sorry, but I apparate to work and you have to be in a cage, its hard if you’re just holding on to me, I have to hold on to you. And once you’re sold, you’ll need to be carried in a cage wherever you go, if your owner travels. So you really ought to get used to it.” She cast him one last dark look and left, back to the room she had slept in. To let off her anger, she knocked over the perch. She landed on the floor and waited for him to come see about the noise. He came, saw, and frowned.
“Really, it’s not that bad, it’s not as if I’m never going to let you out. Once we get there, you can sit on a perch in the shop,” he said cajolingly. She let out another angry hoot, but fluttered up to his arm. He carried her back to the kitchen, settled her in a cage, and latched the door. Then he left the kitchen, and returned a minute later in clean, blue robes, carrying a briefcase. He grabbed the cage, and said, “Here we go.” She felt a lurch and closed her eyes. When she opened them, Samuel was sitting her cage down on a counter in a shop full of owls. He unlatched the door and offered out his arm, which she took. He walked over to an empty perch and she climbed on. She turned around and he said, “Well, this is it, my shop. What do you think, nice, huh?” She hooted kindly and looked beside her. To her right was a sleeping barn owl, to her left an eagle owl, which was looking at her and hooting a greeting. She returned it, happy to be around quiet, adult owls, and not her nest-mates from the nice woman’s barn. She spent the day preening herself as, one by one, people came, looked around, and chose owls. She noticed that each looked closely at her, showed signs of interest, but frowned when they looked at her price tag, which Samuel had tied to her perch.
“Thirty Galleons!? Is he nuts? Oh, he’ll never sell that one, not at that price,” said a witch to her companion. She found that this was the opinion of most people who entered the shop and looked at her. But Samuel would not lower the price.
“You’re really worth 35, if you ask me. You made it to London in one day, on your first trip, and you found me immediately!” he said, “No, if you’re going anywhere, you’re going for 30 Galleons, no less.” Though she enjoyed his praise, she wished somebody would agree and say that it was a fair price, she took it as an insult that nobody did.
But every day, first a week, then a month, then two, then five, every single customer was impressed by her looks and skill, which Samuel told to everyone who would listen after reading the price, said that it was still much too high. And every time Samuel just shrugged and said, “Better luck next time.”
One day, a man entered, accompanied by a small boy that was the exact likeness of him. “Are you sure you need an owl now, you don’t start school until next year Draco.” said the man.
“Yes.”said the boy firmly, and he began walking along the perches, poking owls to make them turn around so that he could get a better look. Most obliged, but the stronger willed ones tried to bite his fingers and he quickly made his way down the line. He stopped at the eagle owl next to her, his eyes widened, and he called, “Father, I want this one!”<br>“Draco, come back here, I will find a suitable bird,” said the man in a drawling reply. “Which is your best owl?” he said to Samuel, who quickly pointed to her, and told the man about her skill. But the boy stuck up his nose.
“Snowy owls are for girls! I want the eagle owl! Look at it, it’s much bigger, it must be better than her.” he said in a whiny voice which she did not think she wanted in an owner.
“Well, the snowy is the most expensive, I assume that’s because you think her skill is above the others?” said the man to Samuel, who nodded.
“Father, I want this one, I won’t take that one, it looks like it’s going to die!” he said at last. At this, she took off from her perch and scraped her talons at the boy’s face, barely missing his pointed nose. “AAAAAAAAAAGH! It’s going to kill me!” he screamed in an unnaturally squeaky squeal, and he dove for the floor. She flew back to her perch in a towering rage, clicking her beak and screeching loudly.
“You keep that bird in line or I’ll have it destroyed!” said the man, “Get up, Draco, it’s not going to kill you.” Samuel stroked her feathers to calm her. “Shhh, snowy, shhhh. It’s all right, he’s not going to buy you,” he whispered.
“Well? Give us that eagle owl, how much is it?” demanded the man.
“Fifteen Galleons.” said Samuel. The man dove into his pockets as the boy cautiously moved toward the eagle owl to take it from its perch, then he quickly backed away.
“Let’s go Draco, we’ve still got to go see Mr. Borgin yet.” and they left.
“Well, that was interesting, you need to keep your temper. I know he was awful, but what if he tells people?” said Samuel reproachfully. She didn’t care, she wasn’t going to be insulted like that, not when she knew how beautiful the feathers were that she cleaned every day, not when she made sure to eat her fill and exercise her wings everyday, and not when she saw the looks on the faces of every single other person that ever entered the shop having set eyes on her. She knew perfectly well that she was a healthy, beautiful owl, and she wasn’t going to let some pale brat say she wasn’t. And she certainly wasn’t going to let just anybody buy her, and she was going to be perfectly sure that Samuel knew that, if it took an outburst on every customer, she was going to get a respectful owner.

[POLYMAGUS]

his is great post more please

[¡Snowy!]

8
Harry Potter

For two months, she simply turned her back on any rude or obnoxious people whom Samuel directed toward her. Most lost interest after this rude behavior. She saw that other rich snobby children forced their uninterested parents into looking at owls. But she did not let them frighten or insult her, she found she could sense the bad character of these people from the moment they entered the shop. And she made sure to offend each one when they came to look at her, much to the dismay of Samuel, who tutted loudly and frowned whenever she did this. She thought it was a shame that the only people who behaved decent were the ones who were too poor to afford her.
After screeching particularly loudly at a pug-faced girl and her mother, causing the girl to squeal in fright just as loudly and dash out of the shop without buying any owl at all, Samuel marched up to her and stuck out his arm.
“Come here,” he said crossly, and she calmly hopped to clasp his forearm. “You’ll not scare away my customers just because you’re picky,” he said, walking into the back room, where he kept food and cages for the owls he sold. He grabbed a cage from a tall, unsteady pile which swayed dangerously, but Samuel was too much in a rage to notice. He slammed it on a nearby table, yanked the door open, and thrust her into the cage before she even thought of objecting.
“Colloportus,”he said, and there was a squelching noise as the door was sealed. “You can just stay in there if you don’t want to be sold.” And he left, slamming the door behind him.
Measuring by the sun in the window behind the table, it was about ten o’clock the next morning before Samuel entered the storeroom again. He grabbed a sack of owl food and left, glancing at her before closing the door. But he was back only twenty minutes later, his sack considerably lighter, by the look of it. He put food in her tray and filled her water tray with a wave of his wand. He looked at her with an undecipherable look, was it sadness?
“I’m sorry, but an owl that throws tantrums is bad for business, you’re smart, you should have known that. Maybe after you’ve calmed down, you can come back and stay in the shop again.”<br>But she did not calm down, not at all. She screeched and thrashed about in her cage from dawn until dusk, hating Samuel for doing this to her, just because she didn’t want to be sold to some pampered brat that would mistreat her, when he knew that she hated cages. Samuel remained as stubborn as she, silently filling her food and water trays every day, and leaving without a word, no ‘good morning’, no ‘good night’, but with a pained expression on his face.
It was July, and she longed to fly around, to stretch her wings. She’d been at it for months, she hadn’t caved. Samuel came and went as usual, and she screeched at him as he closed the door. If she could have, she would have been crying, her feeling of hopelessness was so great. She was actually silent that day, she didn’t make a sound. She felt as if the world was ending, she thought she would never get out of that cage.
But then Samuel came into the room, and, smiling, picked up her cage. She wondered what was making him smile so nervously, what was causing his hands to shake. Who was he taking her to? He carried her out the door as she wondered still what was going on.
“Here she is, the best owl in the place,” he said cheerfully to an alarmingly huge and wild-looking man, who was accompanied by a scrawny, nervous-looking boy with messy jet-black hair. He was dressed in dirty, oversized clothes that had many holes in them. She clicked her beak at the sight of this unkempt pair, surely Samuel wasn’t going to sell her to them.
“What do you think Harry?” said the giant man.
“She’s, she’s beautiful Hagrid,” the boy called Harry stammered back. “But really, you don’t have to. She must be really expensive.”<br>I am, she thought, and I ought to be, just look at me!
“Can I pet her?” asked Harry nervously.
“Of course, Mr. Potter, of course,” said Samuel obligingly, he unsealed the cage with his wand, and fumbled over the latch. He stuck out his arm and she climbed out, giving her cramped wings a flap as she did, causing Harry to take a step back.
“It’s alright, she won’t hurt you,” said Samuel. He smiled at Harry kindly, and gave her a stern look of reproach, plainly saying that she was not to frighten this boy again.
Harry slowly stretched out a shaking hand and stroked her immaculate plumage, she had kept up her grooming, even though she had been locked up for months. He had a soft touch and, once she got past his messy hair and scraggly clothes, he had a kind face, and, somehow, she knew she could trust this boy. She hooted happily and looked from Samuel to Harry to the giant called Hagrid, ready to be bought.
“Do you like her Harry?” asked Hagrid
“Oh yes Hagrid, I want her,” he answered rather quickly, then, as if fixing a mistake, he said, “I mean, if, if it’s not too much, you know…” he trailed off, looking anxious.
Hagrid chuckled, “It’s not problem, Harry.” He turned to Samuel. “So how much?’ he inquired.
“Er…” Samuel looked unsure. thirty Galleons you twit she thought impatiently.
“Um, twenty Galleons,” he said quickly, not looking at her.
Hagrid seemed to take this behavior to mean he was being swindled. “Really?” he asked, “Are you sure she’s the best?”<br>“Oh yes, I’m quite sure,” said Samuel happily, “well, you know, Harry Potter, it’s not going to break me.” He added in an undertone that she heard with her sensitive ears.
“Er, well, alright then.” said Hagrid, and he dug into his pockets, searching. Finding a small drawstring bag, he handed over the gold to Samuel.
Samuel took it, and, after placing her gently back in her cage, put it in a drawer behind the counter. “Well, have a good day then,” he said to them, “It was nice meeting you Mr. Potter, Hagrid.” He shook each of their hands.
The had turned to leave, Harry carrying her cage, when Hagrid turned around quickly, and, due to his immense size, caused her feathers to rumple in his wake. “Wait a mo’!” he said. “Um, would you mind if I used on of these,” he pointed to the perches of owls, “I need to send a letter to Dumbledore, tell him I’ve got his, er, I’ve picked up his, er, thing.”<br>“Dumbledore? Oh yes, of course, anything for a friend of Dumbledore’s, I’ve got a lot of respect for that man. I met him once, he was…” Samuel was off on some story, Hagrid scribbling a message on a scrap of paper from his numerous pockets, but she was feeling sleepy, she marveled for a second, that Samuel had dropped her price so low for this scrawny boy, and wondered why he was so important, but sleep was taking her. She put her head under her wing, and dozed.

She awoke with her perch rattling and shaking. Harry was in the seat next to her. So this is my master, she thought . He looked very nervous, getting stares from muggles. Harry dragged his new trunk and carried her cage through Little Whinging. When he opened the door at his home, he was greeted by a large boy, but he was gone with a squeak, grabbing his bottom. Muggles are stranger than I thought, she thought. Harry continued up the staircase and into a small room. He set the trunk at the foot of the bed and her cage on a dresser. He opened her cage and put out his arm. She climbed out and hooted happily. He stroked her feathers as he walked her to the window, she supposed he wanted to see her fly, and she was worried, because she hadn’t flown in months. She opened and closed her wings as he unlatched and opened the window. “I suppose you would like a fly around? Well, as it’s only,” he glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table, “three thirty, we’d better not, don’t want the Muggles to see. But you can fly around the room if you want.” Obviously disappointed that he couldn’t watch her fly outside, he held up his arm. She spread her wings and took off, she landed again quickly though, there wasn’t room to maneuver in this small space. He walked across the room, and put her back in her cage. He went over to his trunk, took out a few books and started to leaf through them. She felt drowsy again, and she slept, hoping he would wake her at sunset, she so wanted to fly.