OWL POST
Rating: U
Genre:
Comedy
Setting:
Hogwarts
Main
Characters: Erm…none really
Part 1
EVERYTHING STARTS OFF IN AN
It was
morning at Hogwarts. Not just any morning however. It was a beautiful morning.
The sun was shining, and the lake was a deep and magical shade of blue. Harry,
Hermione, and Ron wandered the grounds before breakfast. Ron and Hermione were
bickering about homework, Ron trying to get Hermione to let him copy hers,
Hermione saying that he would never learn that way. Harry just wandered along
beside them, listening to their argument and staring at the sky. The birds were
flying across the sky, enjoying the early morning sunshine just like Harry was.
A slight commotion was happening by the lake. It seemed that Fred and George
Weasley had enchanted a number of spiders, and were now making them fly at
passers by. Harry made a mental note not to let Ron go over that way.
He turned
his attention back to the sky. A couple of owls were now flying across it. On
their way to deliver the post he supposed. There was no sign of Hedwig, who he
had sent off with a letter for Sirius, telling him some of the things that had
happened at Hogwarts in the past few weeks. It was strange that it was taking
her so long to arrive. Still, maybe Sirius was further away than he knew. Harry
glanced at his watch. It was getting late, if they didn’t head back to the
great hall soon they would miss breakfast. He turned to the other two and
mentioned that they should head back. So, with Hermione and Ron still bickering
they headed back to the school.
Harry was
feeling very hungry as they sat down at their house tables. He quickly piled
his plate high, before eating as much food as he could. The owl post began to
arrive as he was halfway through his breakfast. Still no Hedwig though. Feeling
slightly dejected, Harry finished eating before heading off to divination. Ron
and Harry sat down at the back of the class, not looking forward in the
slightest to the lesson. Professor Trelawney was always predicting Harry’s
death, in some way or another. So, they weren’t altogether surprised as she
walked over to their table, intent on telling Harry how he was going to die
this week. As Professor Trelawney stared into Harry’s crystal
ball, her eyes widened in shock. Harry sighed in exasperation, preparing
himself for his death sentence.
“I see…
unusual behavior in the pattern of owls. My dear, do you realize what this
means?”
Harry stared
at Trelawney in anger. Trelawney, taking his silence as a “no” spoke again, in
a somewhat confused voice
“It means
that… the owls will be delivering… strange mail?” she looked up, surprised. “No
that can’t be right” She gazed into the crystal again “but it seems to be the
only message the crystal is telling me!” She walked back to her desk and
collapsed into her chair. “My dears, the lesson is postponed for today, it
appears my inner eye is not working very well today!”
Ron leant
towards Harry and whispered
“Not just
today!” Harry had to stop himself from laughing. They left the lesson, still
discussing the unusual prediction.
“The owls
will deliver strange mail! What kind of rubbish is that!!”
THE NEXT DAY
Harry had
overslept. He ran to the hall for breakfast as quick as he could. He arrived at
the exact same moment as the owl post arrived. Exhausted, he collapsed next to
Ron. An owl landed in front of Harry. It wasn’t Hedwig though. Bewildered, he
took the package that was tied to the owl. He glanced at Ron and Hermione,
noticing that they had both got packages as well. They looked as confused as he
was. Looking around, Harry realized that everyone in the hall had a package. Still
confused he opened the package he had been given. He stared in surprise. It was
a banana! Looking at the others, he realized that they had all received bits of
fruit as well. There was an outbreak of angry murmuring. Harry glanced at the
teachers. They were all staring dumbfounded at pieces of fruit in front of them
as well. Dumbledore glanced at the rest of the staff and stood up. Every face
in the hall was staring at him, searching for an explanation. But Dumbledore
seemed unable to give an answer.
“An
incredibly amusing joke I’m sure. Tell me, who came up with such an original
prank?” It was true. Dumbledore did seem amused by the fruit. But no one stood
up. Every single student and teacher in the hall had a piece of fruit in front
of them. “Very well” said Dumbledore “well, I can understand if you don’t want
to own up. Well done anyway”.
THREE DAYS LATER
The incident
still hung in his mind. It had caused a lot of talking around the school.
Nobody seemed to know what had happened. There was a lot of guessing of who had
sent the fruit. Still, it hadn’t happened again. Lavender and Parvati had
mentioned to everyone Professor Trelawney’s prediction. Harry sat down to
breakfast again. Hedwig still hadn’t shown up. Halfway through breakfast the
owls arrived again. And again everyone found a package in front of them.
Feeling slightly stupid Harry opened his parcel. There was a shout of laughter
from Fred and George.
“That is so
good! Why didn’t we think of that?!” Harry looked down
at his parcel. He was amazed! Someone had sent him a lump of cheese! Everyone
had received cheese. Hermione was staring at her cheese in bewilderment.
“Who on
earth would send everyone in the school cheese? It doesn’t make any sense!”
Harry
glanced at Dumbledore. He was speechless. Even Dumbledore seemed at a loss for
what was happening. He saw Dumbledore look around the room. Breakfast finished,
and the students left the hall still discussing the cheese. Harry saw
Dumbledore leave silently. The cheese had certainly caused a stir. But nobody
knew who had sent it again. It was a mystery plaguing the school. Why hadn’t
the culprit come forward? The custard trick seemed to have made them famous
around the school. It was all anyone was talking about.
THREE
All anyone
had talked about for the last 3 days was the cheese incident. Still, there was
no sign of Hedwig. Breakfast came round. Harry sat at the table chatting to Ron
and Hermione about Hedwig’s absence. The owl post came again.
“I don’t
believe it!” gasped Hermione. Sure enough, everyone had received another
package.
“Surely no
one can beat the cheese!” It seemed they could though, judging by the outbreak
of laughter around the hall. Harry ripped the wrapping from his parcel. It was
a bowl of custard this time. Ron was laughing beside him, and Harry couldn’t
help it. He burst out laughing as well. Of all the packages to receive, custard
had to be the most amusing. Even the teachers found the custard funny.
Hermione, through her laughter, mentioned that they needed to go to their
lesson. Harry stopped laughing almost immediately.
“Oh no! I forgot, I left my quill in
divination yesterday! I’m gonna need o go and get it!
Can you let McGonagall know where I’ve gone?”
“Sure thing
Harry”
Harry headed
up to the divination room. As he drew near he heard an uproarious laughter from
inside. Dumbledore emerged from a side passage.
“Ah, Harry”
“Professor! I just came to get my quill! I left it here
yesterday. What’s that laughing?”
“That,
Harry, is the culprit behind all of these packages.”
Harry and
Dumbledore ventured up through the trapdoor. There, with Hedwig beside her,
laughing her head off, was Professor Trelawney!
“Sybil”
Trelawney jumped.
“Pro…Pro…Professor
Dumbledore” she stammered.
“A very amusing joke. Care to tell us how you did it?”
“Wait a
second! Are you trying to tell me that Professor Trelawney was the one sending
all of those things?”
“Indeed I
am. And that is because she was” Trelawney looked sheepish
“I am
incredibly sorry professor. I didn’t mean to take the joke so far.”
“By all
means, it was fine! Incidentally, the custard amused everyone greatly. So tell
us how you accomplished such a feat.”
Smiling
slightly Professor Trelawney told them how the joke had happened.
“It all
started when this marvelous snowy owl came here. I suppose she was attracted by
my drink. I hear owls are partial to one of the ingredients in it. She arrived
after I had seen a prophecy of the owls delivering strange presents. When this
owl arrived here, I realized that I was supposed to make this prophecy come to
pass. The owl took orders for fruit, cheese and custard to town, asking for one
of each to be delivered to every student personally at Hogwarts. And the good
people at the shop sent the owls to them each time.” Hedwig flew across to
Harry.
“So…Hedwig
helped you to play a joke on the whole school?”
“That
magnificent owl is yours Potter? Here, she had this letter when she arrived.”
Trelawney handed Harry a letter from Sirius. Harry still couldn’t believe that
Trelawney had been the one to come up with all of these jokes. And he knew that
no one would believe him. Thanking her for Hedwig’s return and the letter, he
left, with Dumbledore just behind him.
“The
unexpected often happens it would seem. And the most unlikely of people is
often the culprit.” Dumbledore said, smiling. Harry couldn’t think of a reply.
He wandered down to transfiguration, Dumbledore words ringing in his head.
THE END