The shop itself was definitely larger on the inside. There was no way three whole separate rooms were fitting into this place otherwise - Four if you included the back room we had seen before.
The low warbling sounds coming from the army of owls grew ever-so-slightly more heated the further Harry strode into the building. It was almost as if the owls on display were offended at my brother for being passed over so easily.
Eventually, he came to a stop in front of an old, venerable-looking owl that was chained to an ornate-looking perch. The stand, oddly enough, stood apart from the rest of the cages.
The owl's feathers were greying in its old age, the once beautiful white and brown now tinged with a much darker array of colours.
The owl's eyes were closed, its fluffy-looking head tucked inwards snugly, evidently pointing to the fact it was soundly asleep.
'That thing looks ancient.' Harry commented, stepping toward the sleeping bird curiously. His eyes widened as he spotted something hidden beneath the owl's ruffled feathers. 'Wait… Is that a scar?'
「 I think you might be right. 」 I replied, staring at the thin slash trailing across the animal's left eye and beak, the scar barely visible underneath the room's dingy lighting.「 It's been through the wringer this one. 」
'Hold on - It's got something around its leg.' Harry muttered. He edged closer, leaning forward and squinting to read the pale letters carved into the silver band encircling its left leg.
"Gawain," The boy said, reading the tiny inscription aloud. "What, like the knight from King Arthur?"
「 Probably. 」I agreed, as Harry ran his eyes over the owl once more.「Not many other Gawain's are there? 」
Gawain's unscathed eye opened slowly; the owl likely awoken by its name being called. It stared ahead at him eerily.
As Harry looked into the bird's solitary eye, I felt an abnormal sense of familiarity wash over me.
My magic began reaching out toward Gawain subconsciously, slowly curling outward toward the aged owl; feeling for all the world as if it were seeking something.
Other than my first and only bout of accidental magic, and the incident at St Mungo's, this was the only time my power had ever acted without my consent.
It was intriguing.
「 Harry, 」I murmured, captivated by this new, strange feeling of belonging overtaking me.「 Can you touch that owl for a second? I need to… I need to check something. 」
'Okay. What's wrong?' Harry asked, sounding incredibly apprehensive. 'You never sound confused.'
「 My magic is acting up, 」I admitted.「 I think… I think it's because of the owl. 」
'That's… Strange.' Harry conceded, his eyes flickering back toward Gawain curiously. 'Alright then.'
The boy reached up a hand and tentatively moved it toward the unconcerned-looking owl.
Harry's fingers brushed the tips of Gawain's grey feathers; the brief contact causing my magic to slink away from me and delve its way into the owl's body.
The bird reared up in surprise, and it suddenly dawned on me how large the thing really was. The other barn owls we had seen before didn't even compare to Gawain's uncanny size.
Harry yelped in alarm, jerking his hand away from the owl as if stung. 'Art, what the hell are you doing? That feels fucking terrible.'
「 It's draining my magic away. 」I muttered in reply, now awarding the animal in front of me with my full undivided attention. 「 That cannot be a normal owl. 」
A magical owl? - I mean, it wasn't like it was in a cage like the rest of them were.
'It looks healthier all of a sudden. I'm guessing you did that?'
My brother's comment drew my focus back to reality.
The owl did indeed look a tad less grey than it did before.
A smattering of dark brown patches had suddenly appeared across its thick, feathery coat. The albeit subtle change was a stark contrast from the dark grey it had been mere moments before.
「 Touch it again. I want to see what happens. 」I instructed.
I hadn't planned on using any magic today anyway. I wouldn't miss the extra power.
Harry frowned but obeyed, reaching forward to gently stroke the owl's feathers for a second time. The disconcerting feeling of my magic being drained away began again immediately.
The owl stared into my brother's eyes before hooting loudly into his face.
My brother flinched backwards, staring on in a wary disbelief as Gawain's coat started to regain its youthful colour at a rapid pace.
In tandem with what I now recognised to be the bird's decreasing age, my magic reserves were further depleted; the exact rate having at least tripled from what it had been during our first contact.
"Art, I really shouldn't have to remind you, but this seems like a terrible fucking idea." Harry hissed aloud, looking at the now visible stream of grey-coloured magic that was rippling outward across the owl's feathers. "This isn't even our damn owl."
「 We aren't exactly harming it though, are we? 」I replied, totally entranced by the odd sensation I was now feeling.
It wasn't exactly comforting, but it was something at the very least. Better than being stuck in the numb limbo of not being able to feel anything at all
"That's not even the tip of this fucking iceberg and you know it." Protested an irate Harry. "I'm going to take our hand off of the magic-stealing owl now, okay?"
The boy retracted his outstretched fingers from Gawain's now healthy-looking feathers, shivering in relief as the soul-sucking feeling dissipated.
To my surprise, I was feeling rather moody with my brother's forceful detachment from the owl. Then I froze.
Why exactly was I feeling grumpy about that? It wasn't like me at all - Touch-deprived or not.
The scarred owl hooted imperiously, ruffling its now sleek coat and stretching its wings open widely.
The animal opened its closed left eye, now fixing Harry with an even more unsettling gaze. A thin but prominent imperfection traced directly across its large milky white pupil.
'Okay, now I'll be the first to admit that looks badass.' Harry said, his worry quickly lessening as his gaze flickered between both the owl's scar and its massive wingspan.
To be fair to him, the animal was rather distracting.
「 Let's take it. 」I said; feeling a sudden, almost foreign urge to make an extremely impulsive decision.
I had never seen anything like this before - Or heard it mentioned at all in the books.
I wanted it.
'Is that even allowed?' Harry asked, his gaze flickering across the cages that surrounded them.
「 McGonagall said to choose didn't she - And it's on display. Give it a shot at least. 」
My brother looked back to the expectant-looking Gawain. "Well then, what do you say little man? Want to come with me and my brother?"
The owl hooted in agreement, bringing up its unchained talon and deftly ripping through the thin ornamental chain that was binding it to its perch.
Harry grinned in response to the creature's unexpected resourcefulness, entirely forgetting his earlier concerns. 'The magical owl can understand English. How excellent.'
"Let's get going then." He said aloud, beckoning for Gawain to follow him back through the shop.
Harry turned around and made his way back toward the room's exit, listening expectantly for the telltale swoosh of beating wings to begin behind him.
My brother was not disappointed.
The massive owl landed onto him roughly, its sharp talons embedding themselves in either side of his shoulders - Practically forcing his head forward to make room for Gawain's massive torso.
Harry might have winced in pain, but his grin didn't leave his face. Its intensity instead doubled at Gawain's clearly attention-seeking behaviour.
"Quite the bastard aren't you?" He said loudly, earning himself a demurring, almost dismissive hoot in return.
'Yeah, okay.' Harry commented, walking back through the Emporium's cage-filled rooms. 'I'm stealing him if we have to. Wouldn't be the first time.'
「 Agreed. 」I said, nodding my non-existent head in agreement. 「 Don't make a habit of it though - And don't mention the magic if you don't have to. I still don't have a clue as to why that happened in the first place. 」
As Harry made his way into the last room separating us from the reception, a loud thud sound echoed across the room; the noise sparking a handful of offended-sounding screeches from the surrounding owls.
Gawain hooted loudly, glaring around at his fellows as if daring them to keep up the incessant racket. Sufficed to say, they shut up pretty quickly after that.
Harry's eyes scoured the floor below him awkwardly; as Gawain's heavy presence on his shoulders was doing no favours for his overall flexibility.
The boy slowly bent down to retrieve the cause of the noise, staring at it curiously.
'Well, would you look at that?' He muttered, standing back up and holding aloft the now unclasped metal band that had been attached to Gawain's leg. 'Great.' He deadpanned. 'We fucking broke it.'
My brother flinched reflexively as the band of metal suddenly twisted in his palm; the accessory swiftly morphing into a piece of aged, yellow parchment.
Gawain let what must've been his equivalent out an unimpressed snort at the unexpected display of magic, simply digging his talons deeper into Harry's skin to keep himself upright.
Written on the parchment's surface was quite probably the vaguest phrase I had ever set eyes on, penned in the most immaculate cursive I had ever seen.
" To you, my hunter, one hundred years into the future. "
"Sooo… What is this exactly?" Harry asked aloud, and it took me a moment to realise he was asking Gawain for an answer, not me.
The owl hooted in reply.
"Brilliant." He muttered, carefully sliding the slip of parchment into his trouser pocket. "How incredibly enlightening."
Gawain cuffed him around the ear with one of his massive wings.
'We'll talk about this later, yeah? We have been gone for quite a while now.' Harry proposed, ignoring the owl's reproachful stunt.
I sent him a flash of agreement which he acknowledged immediately.
My brother pushed the final door open, stepping through to rejoin McGonagall and MacMaster in the reception area.
The older witch's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline as she noticed the larger-than-normal owl that was perched atop Harry's shoulders.
"Bloody hell." Cursed MacMaster, gawking at Gawain, awestruck.
McGonagall's eyebrows shot right back down into a frown upon hearing the clerk's amazed swearing and pursed her lips together in disapproval.
The woman pressed ten gold coins onto the counter, an action that startled the clerk out of his daze. She glanced once again at Harry, then Gawain, before turning around and making her way toward the emporium's exit.
My brother made to follow her out of the door, but the clerk hastily called out in a loud protest.
"Hey, wait a minute!"
McGonagall stopped just short of the doorway, but Harry didn't bother.
"What?" She asked crisply, fixing MacMaster with an unimpressed glare.
"Well, I- I've never seen that owl in here before. I can't just sell it to you for that price, not when it's so… Well, big."
The stern woman glanced down at my brother questioningly.
"Hey, it was on display like everything else." Harry defended, raising his arms in a convincing, honest-looking surrender.
"Then it's ten galleons, and not a knut more," McGonagall snapped, doubling down as she saw the clerk open his mouth to argue. "And if I have to say another word I'll inform Erik of those ridiculous experiments you've been conducting in person, rather than through a letter."
MacMaster closed his mouth, wisely shutting up under the fuming woman's open threat.
McGonagall snorted derisively before pushing open the door and stepping over the shop's threshold.
Harry, being the emotionally mature ten-year-old that he was, flipped the poor clerk the bird before following McGonagall out into the main street; his broad grin twisting into a vicious smirk upon seeing MacMaster's jaw drop open in response.
'What a cunt.' The boy complained. 'Forget about upping the price - The bastard didn't want to sell us Gawain at all.'
「 Yeah, and for good reason I'm sure. 」I replied teasingly.「'On display like everything else,' huh? 」
'Oh hush.' Shushed Harry, waving his hand dismissively. A wicked grin broadened his face. 'It was funny watching McGonagall eat him alive.'
If I could have rolled my eyes, I would have.
Gawain caught a lot of odd looks from other shoppers as Harry walked past, but neither of us cared. Harry was used to people's stares at this point - His scar wasn't exactly hideable after all.
The rest of our time spent with McGonagall was uneventful. Well - As uneventful as strolling through a hidden magical alley could be.
The woman explained owl post and how it worked; how to contact her, and when he would see her again to pick up his school supplies; a date which was set to be shortly after his eleventh birthday.
She then dropped us back at the orphanage and left, but not before confounding the matron and her worried assistant into not questioning Harry about his new feathered companion.
✽ ✽ ✽
» A few hours later
Harry flopped onto his bunkbed's mattress tiredly, slipping a hand into his pocket and pulling out the weathered parchment that had once been Gawain's silver accessory.
'Any ideas what to make of this?' Harry asked me, turning over the note in his hands.
「 Not a clue. 」I admitted.「 It was probably left by his previous owner though, if he had one. 」
'Yeah,' Harry said thoughtfully. 'My only other working hypothesis is that this is either: A, an annoyingly elaborate prank; B, this guy's original owner was an aspiring poet; or C, this owl is actually over one hundred years old. Now I'm sure I don't have to say this: But all three of those sound a bit fucking ridiculous.'
「 All do. 」I agreed, having come to much the same conclusion as he has - Minus the aspiring poet part of course.「 And I'd normally that third option was impossible, but- 」
'Magic. Yeah, I know.'
A moment of silence passed between us.
'Guess I'll just ask Gawain tomorrow - With yes and no questions this time. McGonagall did say he'd come back when I needed him - Super magical owl senses and all that.'
The animal had left via our dormitory window shortly before my brother was called into the kitchen to help prepare dinner.
「 Sounds good. 」I replied.
We lapsed into a comfortable silence, both of us thinking back over what had happened that day.
Lily's situation was… Complicated, to say the least. I don't think there was anything to be done about her condition, not if a solution hadn't been found after all this time.
And the mystery of this owl…
『 It can't be, right? Or that's what I would normally say. 』I went silent for a second, somewhat bemused; mulling over the strange words written on the transfigured message.『 'My hunter'… 』
Then the shadowed world around us melted away as Harry drifted off into a deep, blissful sleep.
✽ ✽ ✽