Tag: fantasy

Hello and welcome to the seventh edition of Hedwig and the Owlery. There are now as many episodes as books, but we have a few more to go.  Tonight Hedwig rescues Harry and meets a new owl.  Perhaps something will develop romantically. You can find the last episode here. And the first one here.

Hedwig and the Owlery

Percy’s owl, Hermes, delivered a message to Ron and stopped by the owlery for relaxation. He was as obnoxious and uptight as his owner. “Harry Potter is dangerous,” he told the other owls. Hedwig knew it was bunk: Harry was completely inept and could barely jinx a bowtruckle. She tried telling Hermes how worthless he was on more than one occasion, but he didn’t listen. He was determined Harry had some dark power yet to be revealed. It was ridiculous, of course. And yet, something in his yellow eyes possessed her: it was completely unmagical and at the same time very magical.

He returned the next week. There was no package in his claws, but he said his business was of upmost important. Hermes seemed slightly coy and more nervous than before. Hedwig found it strange she felt the same way. “Don’t you have business of upmost importance?” Hedwig asked as Hermes paced along the roost.

“I do, but I’m not sure I agree anymore. Your owner, Harry, seems all right, and the Ministry… I could never say a word against my master, but…”

Hedwig put her wing on his. “It’s okay,” she said.

They flew through past the Quidditch pitch and rested on the goal posts together. They could see Hogwarts Castle in the distance. Hedwig had never appreciated its vast beauty before. The turrets jutted out becoming clouds and melting with the sky. Before she knew how it happened her beak touched Hermes. They were kissing like Harry and Cho Chang under the mistletoe.

Hedwig saw something that made her regret the moment. Harry and Hermione were leaving the grounds with Umbridge. If she was fast enough she might help them….

“Hermes, it has been beautiful, but my pet is in grave danger….”

Hermes was surprised but understood. He had seen the same trouble in the distant light. She flew away before he could offer his help.

If only she could find them in time. There were noises that sounded like hooves, possibly centaurs. And then, something that was unlike anything she had heard before. It crashed against the trees and caused the ground to thunder.

The half-giant Grawp thudded around the forest and it was clear. Harry could be trapped beneath him or in danger. She searched the area frantically. The miasma of centaurs, dust, and other creatures made it near impossible. Minutes passed and she didn’t notice the thestrals flying, with their being invisible, until too late. She would never catch up with them at the rate they were going.

Hedwig could only do one thing: find Dumbledore and rip him limb from limb. Nothing else could give her solace. By the time she found him, Harry had returned.

“How could you leave the castle and not stop him from going to the Department of Mysteries? That’s the most reckless, dangerous place he could have gone. You knew exactly where Voldemort wanted him to go and yet, there were no guards anywhere to stop him. Did you want him to risk his life with the other students?”

“Hedwig, it is about defeating Voldemort for good. We needed an opportunity to catch his followers. This was the best way to flush them out into the open.”

“How can you use young children as bait?”

“Dear Hedwig, it’s for the greater good. If I told Harry he would more than understand. He wants nothing more than fighting those responsible for his parents’ deaths.”

“He wants his friends alive more than he wants vengeance!”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

“Nor you!” Hedwig spat before pecking his face. She slightly regretted her tactlessness but guilt was short lived as the sixth year went by.

***

You can find the next episode here.

Much like J.K. Rowling, the fourth book gave me some writer’s block. I guess I understand where she was coming from. This Wednesday however, Hedwig speaks with a dragon and maneuvers Harry through the Triwizard tournament . You can find the last episode here. And the first one here.

Hedwig and the Owlery

Fawkes broke up with Hedwig before term ended. He told her several hurtful things that were not intended to be hurtful. “There are plenty more owls in the sky,” Fawkes said as he pecked her beak affectionately. “I need to stretch my wings, darling.”

The indignity was that anyone could break up with her. She was the most beautiful owl at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, she had dated the handsomest and only phoenix….

Hedwig tried to distract herself hunting over the summer. When this didn’t work, she observed the Dursley’s. If anything was representative of the futility of relationships or pair bonding the scrawny woman and her blimp husband were. They were nothing compared with the failures of the Weasley clan, however.

How did Mr. Weasley let his offspring slip the fat human candy? His tongue grew enormous before anything constructive was done. Wizards were incapable of watching their offspring, mused Hedwig. Her mother would have flogged her for such behavior. In fact, once she talked out of turn and had most of her feathers pecked off.

The events of the year unfolded and consumed her attention. She initially thought Harry might be safer without quidditch. The Triwizard tournament however was far from safe. Hedwig was enraged Harry could be put into a dangerous contest without her consent. She was his true guardian after all: not the transient canine with fleas named Sirius Black.

“You let him enter the contest!?” Hedwig screamed at Dumbledore. She had flown into his office upon hearing the news. Fawkes had woken but she didn’t care. His loyalty would soon be tested. “He’s a fourth year student. Merlin’s beard! I can’t protect him underwater.”

“The tasks are not life threatening and we have took all the necessary precautions.”

“Really? I’ve flown over the forest and seen your dragons. Tell me those are safe and I’ll kiss Buckbeak.”

Dumbledore, for once, did not have an answer for her. Perhaps he did not want to speak of any more preparations for the Triwizard tournament. It was not likely however she could tell Harry anything, given he never cared to learn owlish. But still she might find some other ways to fill him in.

She flew toward the forest and approached the fierce looking dragons. It was unclear which Harry might get, but she had a feeling it would not be the Common Welsh Green. “That boy has sour luck,” she thought seeing the Hungarian Horntail. Smoke fumed from its nostrils that soon turned to flame.

“Hello,” Hedwig said apprehensively. “You will likely be facing my human in the first task.”

“Am I now?” the dragon retorted.

“Yes. You are.”

“I suppose you’re here to ask for mercy.”

“I am.”

“Well you don’t need to. We aren’t trained to kill the humans. And we wouldn’t anyway. The idea is to scare them a little, you know? Make it look like a challenge.”

“That’s a relief,” Hedwig told her.

“Yeah, I bet it is. Everyone thinks dragons are so violent. We eat everything we see like mindless animals. No one mentions our contributions to science or culture.”

“Science and culture?” Hedwig hesitated.

“You think Dumbledore came up with the twelve uses for dragon blood? We practically told him. The most significant thing he did was learn to speak dragon.”

Harry lived as she maneuvered him through two more tasks. Dobby or Barty Crouch hadn’t really come up with gillyweed.  Nor had the maze been cleared for him by accident. She never trusted the false Moody but possessed a share interest in keeping Harry alive for the time being.

*

Months later

“How many humans smell like dogs?” Hedwig asked. Her friends were often amazed she could locate a wanted serial killer when the best wizards could not. Wizards were narrow minded, she concluded, and would not permit themselves to see obvious realities. Sirius Black only looked like a dog; he moved very much like a human. Hedwig could spot a human pretending to be a dog kilometers away. He walked much stiffer and more awkward than any others she had seen.

It was Dolores Umbridge she could not throw off. The woman had it in for her and was determined to find out her business. She was such a toad: and far from delicious at that. Hedwig would eat her, of course, but enjoy very little of the taste.

Filch did not help matters sneaking around. Why did he insist on being such a nosy squib? She could only give him the slip so many times before he caught up. But, as she was much quicker, it would not be easy.

It was an unpleasant day to begin with. Henry, a large screech owl, had brought a howler back to the owlery with him instead of taking it immediately to its owner. The result was noise and chaos in an already noisy and chaotic environment. It did not help matters when Harry came in and gave her a letter to send. Before she reached the boundaries of the castle something powerful had hit her. It must have been some curse, because she did not remember the event. Luckily, Harry found her. He wasn’t always good for nothing, she thought. In fact, he might be an okay pet… someday.

She soon had far greater concerns than noise or even Harry. Hedwig soon asked herself something she had never recalled any owl asking: can owls fall in love? Hedwig wasn’t sure until the day came.

***

You can find the next episode here.

Did everyone enjoy their weekend? This Sunday, Hedwig goes on a date over the Forbidden Forest and helps free a hippogriff. You can find the last episode here. And the first one here.

Hedwig and the Owlery

Very good, Harry, blow up your aunt and send Hedwig packing, the owl thought as Harry left Privet Drive. It was slightly humorous to see the overweight human bouncing through the air, but more inconvenient than anything else. She had a long journey to make by herself.

She already knew where he would end up. If adults couldn’t notice where he trounced off to she certainly could. Hedwig mused how she was already a better parent than Dumbledore and the rest of them. If she had hatched an egg the owl would be the Minister of Magic by now. But, as it stood, she hadn’t hatched an egg. She was an owl waiting for her pet at the Leaky Cauldron. There were pictures of a wanted serial killer posted everywhere but it didn’t unnerve her as it did most everyone else. She did not see the necessary determination needed to kill within his hollow eyes. Hedwig had hunted enough herself to know what the act called for.

Harry soon met up with her before boarding the Hogwarts Express. The year unfolded with worse things than serial killers on the loose. She dated Dumbledore’s phoenix Fawkes, albeit briefly. He was not unkind, but often aloof. Their first date over the Forbidden Forest filled Hedwig with a passion that went largely unnoticed by Fawkes. Somehow this and his incredibly good looks, made Hedwig desire him even more.

Hedwig could easily fight off a wizard: emotions were much more like Dementors which had recently been introduced to the Hogwart’s grounds. They filled her with the same dread as they approached and she sometimes saw her relationship with Fawkes in trouble.

Between avoiding their gaze and improving Hagrid’s lesson plans she had little time to spend with Fawkes. Hagrid did not know of course, but she scratched out most of his ideas for riding centaurs through the forest…

Initially, she had flown to Hagrid’s hut with the intention of telling off Buckbeak, and not rewriting Hagrid’s entire curriculum. Attacking students such as Malfoy, even if she was not partial toward them, was a grievously cruel act. The magical creatures of Hogwarts should know better.

It could very well have been Harry he hurt. In fact, the next time it might have been. Hagrid was too inept to properly manage his classroom, but Hedwig would take charge of it if she had to. “Professor Hedwig has a nice ring to it,” she thought before landing near the pumpkin patch.

“Buckbeak!” she yelled in fluent hippogriff. He was chained to a post and looked sullen. “What happened here?” Hedwig asked.

“I nicked that little Slytherin boy so they chained me up. If I had known they’d put me to death, I’d have done a lot more damage.”

Hedwig had to stifle a laugh. Hurting students was not funny, but neither were executions.

“Why did you do it? Is pride worth hurting a lesser creature? Human minds aren’t as developed as ours, you know.”

“I know, I lost my temper. The other boy gripped too tight when he rode my back though. I should have thrown him in the lake.”

“That would be losing your temper again. And if you hurt my pet, I’ll execute you myself.”

They both managed a laugh this time. Hedwig didn’t feel as strongly as she did before. Perhaps the creature was worth saving. She thought of Dumbledore, but asking him for help after last year seemed agonizing to her pride. Perhaps McGongall would be more open to reason….

McGongall, who understood her perfectly when transfigured as a cat, agreed that something should be done. The time-turner she had given Hermione might be put to good use if they were careful. “But, goodness, those children are seldom ever careful,” she mused.

After Buckbeak’s appeal failed, Hermione’s time-turner became the only option. She used it to fool MacNair and Ministry of Magic before any life could be taken. Hedwig, however still needed to protect Harry from Professor Lupin of all people. Lupin had gone into the Whomping Willow shortly after Harry and it was obvious from his gait and expression he had not taken his potion. Very soon he could turn into a werewolf with no conscience.

Buckbeak and Hedwig managed to draw him off of Harry, Hermione, and the others. They led him deep into the forest as they flew high enough to stay out of reach. Hippogriffs were the worst navigators in the magic world after humans and they nearly lost their way.

Buckbeak was one of the more intelligent ones of his species but remained painfully aloof as how to escape with Sirius. He did not let onto Hedwig of course. Buckbeak would rather die of exhaustion over a desert that admit fault.

“I’ll get him there safely, Hedwig, stop nagging me!” Buckbeak assured her about Sirius. “But just for future reference, could you tell me which way is north?”

Hedwig pointed him in the right direction with her wing, unsure if he was serious or not. She did, in truth, really want to think he was incapable of basic navigation. The sun and stars should have been enough for him. It always was for her.

***

You can find the next episode here.