I was flying over the trees, looking for my next meal. Sure, I could have gone to my owner, but sometimes I liked getting a mouse or something along those lines. One can only live on owl pellets for so long. It was sometimes hard to find rats among the moor which my owner lived, so I usually had to fly quite a ways to find anything good.
I started to think about when my owner first bought me. It was when she first started to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was fairly young at the time when I saw a group of children coming through the archway into Diagon Alley. The owls that were beside me told me that they were Muggle-borns. They were to meet in the pub that was beyond the wall, called The Leaky Cauldron. Once the wall had opened, I had seen a stern witch ushering children and their parents to the large white marble building down the street.
One little girl, however, didn’t go to the building yet. She stopped and looked directly at me. She was fairly short (but all humans are short at that age, are they not?) with bright, flaming red hair. Her eyes were almond-shaped and the color of emeralds. She stroked my chest with the back of her finger, and I softly hooted. Her touch was gentle, and not like some of the other people who usually poked and prodded me.
“When I get my money, I’m going to buy you,” she smiled at me. I hooted my approval, and nuzzled my beak on her hand. Her smile widened
“What a gorgeous owl!” came a voice from behind the little girl. The lady looked almost like the girl, except she had brown eyes and her hair wasn’t as vibrant.
“Can I get her after get our money?” the girl asked.
“Of course you can, Lily. What will you name her?”
“I’m leaning towards Athena, as she is so beautiful.” I had finally gotten a name.
“Wonderful choice,” her mother replied.
Lily held her arm out, and I obligingly hopped on. She took me inside to Eeylop, the owner. He was a very old wizard with just a few wisps of hair on the top of his bald head. He walked hunched over from arthritis, and word was that he was about to leave the store to his son. His son was fairly young, but was said he would be a good owner.
I took in the surroundings of the inside of the small, yet crowded store. There were owls in every corner of the store, with a small part sectioned off for food, tonics, and other supplies. The owls that were inside were said to be the older owls, and weren’t sellable. Usually the Ministry of Magic brought these owls for a discounted rate, and used them to send out warnings and announcements to witches and wizards all over Britain. They didn’t seem like very friendly owls, as when I passed by on my new owner’s arm, they glared down at me. I shrunk a bit under their glare as the girl reached the counter.
“I would like to buy this owl, sir, but I don’t have the money yet. Could you possibly put her on hold until I go to Gringott’s?” Lily asked.
The owner took me from her arm with a nod, and placed me in a cage behind the counter. I looked longingly as she left the store and headed up the street.
Not more than twenty minutes later, I was walking out of the store with my new owner. I had a name instead of “Owl Number Three One Two.”
A few months later, I was in the owlery of Hogwarts. I had made many new friends, including this owl named Edwin. He was a handsome brown tawny owl, which on more than one occasion made me blush (well, if I could blush). I found out that he was the owl of a boy name James Potter. I quickly found out that my owner did not like the boy. She used to call him a number of names.
Then she entered her seventh year at Hogwarts and everything changed. They used to come up to the owlery together quite often. Nothing was really said about her change of heart, but according to Edwin, it had to do with a birthday present. This was odd, as a week before her grandmother had died. I thought nothing of it, and before long, she was getting married to James. Now I live with the handsome Edwin and James. I gave up on finding anything, so I decided to fly home. Owl pellets were better than having to find your food. As I got closer to the house in Godric’s Hollow, I saw Edwin fly past me.
“Edwin!” I yelled.
“Sorry, didn’t see you there Athena. Find anything good?” he asked, landing on a nearby branch.
“No. It’s hard to find food around here in the damp moor. Where are you headed with the letter?”
“I’m supposed to take this letter to Petunia Dursley in Surrey. I hope my old wings are up to the flight.” he laughed.
Suddenly, I saw flashes of green light nearby. Edwin and I flew quickly to our house, and saw the door blasted open. We exchanged glances and flew closer. In the doorway, Edwin’s owner, James, was lying on the floor with his eyes open. A larger man stood over him cackling. We both got a shiver at this man’s cackle as it was unnaturally high.
I saw a light coming from an upstairs window and went into a nearby tree. I saw Lily hold her baby, Harry. She sat him in his crib and ran over to the child’s bureau and opened a small box. She pulled out a small slip of parchment and mumbled to herself.
Throwing the parchment back into the box, she went over to Harry’s crib. Pointing the wand at her chest, she said, “Amor Contego!” A thin red string came from her chest. I remember seeing her sit before something called a Pensieve and put thoughts into it. I remember the fluid silvery substance. The substance that appeared to come from her chest was of the same consistency, but only it was red. The liquid hovered a moment over the child, expanded, and covered the child.
“You will be safe now,” said Lily.
Suddenly, the door blasted open. A tall man with pale skin stood there. Even I was afraid of him. I continued to watch as the events unfolded before my eyes.
“Hello, Lily,” the frightening man said.
“Voldemort.”
He chuckled humorlessly. “You welcome me with as much hospitality as your dead husband.”
“Sorry, I don’t have much hospitality for a murderer.”
“Now, I’m not a murderer. I just…dispose of those who need to be disposed of.”
“Like my kind.”
“Unfortunately, yes. But that’s just a coincidence. Let’s talk for a moment. I have never seen a witch like you before. I hear you had the highest N.E.W.T. scores since I was at school.” Lily shuddered to think that Voldemort was comparing himself to her. “I believe I can use you, Lily. If you join my side, you can…dispose of anyone you want. I hear you don’t get along with your sister, Petunia.”
“You leave her out of this.”
Voldemort tutted. “I can help you do magic you haven’t even imagined in your wildest dreams. Magic so old and so dark, that I barely know how to do it. I will reward you sufficiently. Would you like money?” At that, his hand overfilled with Galleons. “Or perhaps you want protection? I will give you everything and more than that old man ever will. So what do you say?”
“I will never join your side.”
“Well, there are ways to make you join. Stand aside!”
Seeing that he was looking at Harry, she screamed, “No! Not Harry, anything but him!”
Lily stood her ground in front of her son’s crib. “So you will die like your husband?” he asked, his wand slowly coming up.
“Yes. I’ll die before I let you harm my child.”
“Your silly maternal instincts are going to kill you.”
Lily threw her wand to the ground. “Like I said, I’ll die before you harm Harry.”
“As you wish,” Voldemort sneered. “AVADA KEDAVRA!” A jet of green light came out of the end of the man’s wand and hit my owner squarely in the chest. I whimpered slightly as the sight of her crumpling to the floor. I continued to watch as Voldemort walked over to the crib where Harry lay. I wanted more than anything to break through the glass and peck at him until he left. I knew my owner did something to Harry to protect him, I was just hoping that it held for whatever curse the man put on the small child.
“Harry, you silly boy. I might want to have a little fun with you before I kill you.” Suddenly lightening struck close to the tree I was perched in. I jumped as he cackled at the sound. “How appropriate,” he said. He raised his wand to Harry and made a slight flick of his wrist. Cutting itself into the little boys head was a lightening bolt cut. Baby Harry cried loudly at the pain.
At the cry, Voldemort lurched forward slightly. He grabbed at his stomach. Looking down, I saw something that looked like white smoke coming out of him. The smoke rose above Voldemort and Harry and encased them both.
“What sort of magic is this?” Voldemort cried.
The smoke then settled on the both of them and disappeared. Harry still hadn’t moved, and was still staring at Voldemort.
“That silly girl went and put a spell on you. Well, no spell can stop this. AVADA KEDAVRA!”
Then the unexpected happened. The flash of green light went straight for Harry, but as it looked like it was about to hit him, it bounced off and hit Voldemort squarely in the chest. Instead of falling to the ground, however, he started to glow. The light continued to get brighter and brighter. I saw Harry shield his eyes against the intense light. Voldemort screamed as his body was being killed. Eventually, a yellow mist rose over the ashes of Voldemort and flew out of the open window toward me.
After the mist was gone, the house started to collapse. I flew to a higher branch. I heard Harry cry violently, and at his crying, his crib magically flipped on top of him, as if to provide a shield. Harry sat there sucking his thumb. He fell asleep on top of the rubble underneath his crib.
I sat in the tree, unable to process any feelings. I was just in shock.
A few hours later, I was still sitting there. I then saw a man with black hair land a flying motorcycle. I remember seeing him quite a bit at Hogwarts and at this house. He went through the house and picked over the rubble, trying to find the boy. He finally got to Harry and picked him up. Harry hugged the man tightly.
Then out of nowhere, a large giant-sized man appeared. I remembered him also from Hogwarts. He had helped when I had a run-in with the Whomping Willow. A few words were exchanged, and the man with black hair handed the baby to the large man. He then disappeared as the giant took the flying motorcycle, and flew up near me.
After a few minutes, and after things quieted down, I took off. I flew aimlessly for a while, not realizing where I was going. After quite a bit of flying, I knew where I was going. Beneath me there was a large black forest, and straight ahead was a large lake. I flew to one of the topmost towers and into the open window. I perched myself at the Hogwarts owlery, the place where I would spend the rest of my days.
The Fateful Night by Drea
Chapter Notes: I know I don't speak Latin or anything, but my handy dandy dictionary says that "Amor Contego" means love shield.