Book 1: Nepenthe
Book 2: Halcyon
Book 3 : Selcouth
Magic has always played an intricate role in the life of Harry Potter. He is the Boy Who Lived, a title hovering his head since the time he was one year old, marked by a lightning bolt scar. He lear...
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After an eventfully long day in Diagon Alley, Harry was more than happy to return home and celebrate the rest of his birthday among his friends and family. His school shopping trip hadn't gone the way he envisioned it to, still plagued by what Mr Ollivander had told him. Not to mention, being approached by the odd Professor Quirrell near the end, Harry hoped that his other professors at the school wouldn't approach him in the same manner. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, at least, not any more than he already received in the public eye.
However, the best part of the trip turned out to be the present that Hagrid had gifted to him. The small snowy owl rested in her cage quietly after the Potters arrived home. Currently, Harry sat in the kitchen, attempting to come up with names for his new friend, waiting for the guests to arrive at his party.
"Have you come up with anything yet?" Renata asked as she came to sit beside him at the table. The owl's cage sat before them, the little owl making soft hooting noises every so often while she slept on.
"No," Harry scratched his head, " nothing yet. Do you know any good names for her?"
"She's not mine to name, Harry," Renata told him, " you'll come up with something. Just give it a bit of time. You don't have to come up with it right away."
Harry nodded and then it grew quiet between the two as they watched the sleeping owl. He had been awfully quiet since returning home and there wasn't much he could hide from his mother, especially since she could feel what he was feeling. However, she didn't bring the incident at the wand shop up, instead, she had a story to tell.
"You know, before I met you, I had a job working at Eeylops Owl Emporium."
Glancing over in his mother's direction, Harry raised a brow, curious for her to continue. "You did?"
It was rare to hear a story about Renata's life before she met James. Harry knew little of what happened in the past, but he knew she didn't really like talking about her childhood or her parents.
"Yes," she smiled, " it was right before I met you. I had just started on the job and let me tell you, it wasn't the most pleasant job. I was responsible for keeping the cages clean and feeding the owls, not very difficult when you have a wand, but the initial smell is enough to make you avoid breakfast so that you don't end up losing it later on."
Finally, a smile broke out on Harry's face. "So what happened?"
"Well, one night, this little owl with the biggest eyes just started making the biggest fuss in his cage. Hooting and flying about, he just looked so sad. I can't imagine what it would feel like to have wings and not be able to fly freely," Renata said, standing up and leaning over towards the cage. " So, I opened his cage and set him free."
The owl opened one eye as Renata opened the cage door and began stretching out her wings.
"I let him fly around for a bit and naturally, the other owls were quite jealous and I couldn't show favouritism towards just one. So I proceeded to let all of them out so they could stretch their wings. I planned on leaving them overnight and coming in early to put them all back in their cages. But my boss showed up in the morning before I did."
