Harry's Godmother - Part 2

Howlers and Halloween

           

Disclaimer: There are several quotes from the book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in this first part of the chapter. Those particular quotes belong to J.K. Rowling.

Second Year

            After Harry and Ron met with Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall after their Whomping Willow incident, they knew they next morning was going to be unpleasant. To their surprise, the had not been expelled, just given detentions. However, what followed was almost worse in their opinion. Dumbledore had promised to send word to the Weasleys as well as Tawny and Remus. That meant at breakfast that morning, they were almost positive a bright red envelop was going to appear in front of them.

            Both boys were nervous in the Great Hall that morning. Neither of them had ever received a howler, but they had seen other students open them. Then knew watching someone else open one was much less terrifying than having one sent to you. Ron and Harry sat down, pushing the food around on their plates, too nervous to eat.

            "It'll be fine, Ron. Mum has sent us plenty of howlers." Fred joked, sipping on his pumpkin juice.

            "They really aren't that bad. After a while, you just get used to them." His twin added.

            "You're not helping." Hermione hissed at them.

            It wasn't long after that the morning post came, and the room was filled with owl carrying letters, packages, and copies of the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly. As expected, the Weasley's family owl, Errol, crashed onto the table, dropping a bright red envelope on Ron's plate. Ron gulped as the picked up the letter, turning it over in his hands.

"Looks like Weasley's got himself a howler."

"Ron, it's best to open it. It'll only get worse if you don't. Gran sent me one once..." Neville shuddered at the memory.

"Open it, Ron." Hermione said, nudging him. Carefully, Ron tore off the wax, seal and opened the envelope. The angry tone of Mrs. Weasley began to pour from the letter, causing Ron to jump and drop it on the table before him.

"STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE! LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED! I'M ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!" The howler finished, and then ripped itself to pieces into a neat pile of cardstock.

            Harry looked up from the howler to see Ron's bright red face looking mortified. The room had fallen silent, just to listen to the terrifying voice of Mrs. Weasley. "See, that wasn't so bad." Fred and George said together, and went back to their former conversation about their beginning of the term prank.

After a moment, the room took Fred and George's que that it was okay to speak again. The silence lifted and the room began to fill with morning chatter once more. Harry took a deep breath of relief seeing that no other owls were flying throughout the room. He had dodged the howler bullet, at least temporarily. "Lucky," Ron said, stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth. "I was sure if mum and dad sent a howler that Tawny would too."

            As breakfast went on, Harry and Ron tried to forget about the howler, although the rest of the room didn't seem to. Harry could overhear Draco and his sidekicks from across the room reenacting the scene, and being overly dramatic of Ron's facial expressions. The boys had just begun to talk about their timetables that Professor McGonagall had handed them when they heard Hermione whisper, "Oh, no."