The Lantern
by Sophia Kantsevoy
In a hidden part of a faraway mountain lies a hollow obscured by frost-covered stone. Not marked on any maps and unknown to humanity, the tiny cave serves as a rare refuge for weary lost travelers, its hard exterior protecting them from the predators that make the quiet mountain their home. A tiny, nearly-invisible hole in the roof of the enclave lets in trickles of soft, sparkling snow, and, over the centuries since the hollow was formed, it’s filled up with layers of frost. Though visitors rarely stumble upon the hidden shelter, and the constant cold has eroded nearly all traces of humans, one mark has been made on the obscured, icy cave.
In the spring, when the top layers of snow have melted, only a pile of the cold white crystals, soft and a few feet-deep, remains in the center of the hollow. Atop this heap of unfamiliar, undisturbed snow lies an old, ever-burning lantern, left by a traveler who’s certainly all but forgotten about the glowing contraption they left behind in a strange, hidden hollow on a silent, snow-covered mountain.
The lantern lights up the darkness
And warms up the cold.
It softens the starkness
And turns everything gold.
It’s a woolen coat keeping out the harsh wind
It’s an inviting word, erasing chagrin.
It’s a soft tissue soaking up salty tears
It’s an understanding look exchanged between peers.
It’s reading a book in a soft, cozy bed
It’s cutting into a fresh loaf of warm, home-made bread.
It’s the arm of a friend draped around shaking shoulders
It’s the roots of a tree sprouting up between two mossy boulders.
The lantern’s a light keeping nightmares at bay
The lantern’s jumping into a huge pile of hay.
It’s a soft, yellow duckling swimming across a still lake
It’s blowing out the candles of a sweet birthday cake.
It’s a mother cat licking the heads of her kittens
It’s putting on a pair of snug, knitted mittens.
It’s a rosy sunset emitting soft, golden light
It’s a silvery moon illuminating the night.
It’s a lone lifeboat floating in the roiling blue.
The lantern is comfort.
The lantern is safety.
But, most of all dears, the lantern is you.
*
Untimely
by Calder Greenleaf Moore
Prologue
As the Songs of the Destroyer streak the air with Sound of Void, and the Ones of Pure cover their heads to avoid entering the Void’s endless madness and insanity…
As the Destroyer enters, the horn blows, filling the room with the Cold of the Norther’s, the power of frost, silencing the chatter of the Gifted Darkness, formed from the Center of Chaos, the untouchable point, where all nightmares are formed.
“Oson the Destroyer, Survivor of the Void, we, the Gifted Darkness
come to serve your needs!”, Uvok screeched.
“Uvok, Captain of the Gifted Darkness, created by the Timeless Variable, I Oson the Destroyer, give you the power to wish one’s Shard to be Exiled, but only if you have proof of their wrong doings to the Kingdom of Shatizar, the kingdom that all fear.” Then the Destroyer Distorted to the realm of None.
Chapter 1
The Ones of Pure were on their training lessons and had hiked around finding creatures to practice on, their instructor once had to ward away a Distorter, which are very dangerous creatures, some even have their own Void Shards. This group is currently just starting to learn how to make throwable flame, or Vaintip, depending on how powerful it is, makes anything catch on fire that comes in contact with it.
They were about to pack up and go back towards The Glen, home to the Ones of Pure, when a Distorter burst through the trees. Everybody froze in shock, staring at it as it vibrated violently, then everyone was screaming and running, trying to find a place to hide, the Distorter waving through the air disappearing and reappearing every few seconds. Then all the sudden, it went crazy. The Distorter waving or Distorting through the air, killing over seven pupils of The Glen before disappearing back into the woods.
7 Hours Later
When the remaining Ones of Pure arrived back at The Glen, they were escorted to their rooms by guards, or Braks, who were chosen from The Glen’s most skilled inhabitants.
Chapter 2
“We require permission to let you pass!” The Gatekeeper of None roared, “All must have direct permission from the Kingdom of Shatizar to Distort over 80 thousand Furlongs!”
“I Oson the Destroyer, order you to open the gates!” Oson boomed, “Open them so I may pass!”
The doors opened, and Oson was taken to a place that knew of suffering, but not destruction. The Glen.
The Ones of Pure were learning the art of Txle, a god-like figure that had created The Glen when suddenly the entire building rumbled and cracks appeared in the walls, ceiling, and floor.
The Braks poured out of The Glen trying to see what was causing the collapse, when they spotted a 1000-meter-tall man, The Destroyer, a sorcerer of deep magic that penetrated the sanity of most men.
Just as the Braks were going to attack The Destroyer or help evacuate The Glen, The Destroyer placed a killing spell in the center of The Glen, almost instantly killing anybody inside of it.
The few remaining Braks realized the spell that the Destroyer used, knowing that there was no use in trying to go back for the others, so the Braks fled to the forest. Leaving the home that has protected them for generations.
Chapter 3
The remaining Braks met up at The Tree of the Living, an ancient tree that heals those of the light and destroys those of The Void.
“Noctem, what do you sense?” Sek yelled to his fellow Brak. “I sense the aftermath of an extremely powerful killing spell, the souls of the dead wandering around, unsure of the path to the Vivid, the weak ones have already fallen to The Void.” Noctem purrs in a seductive voice.
“Very well.” Sek yelled back, getting up and bringing a guiding crystal with him. “Gotta’ help them to the Vivid.” He pointed the crystal at the sun, the moon, then the North Star. The crystal shattered, forming a tinted red orb, becoming larger and larger until it turned into a gateway to the Vivid, which only the strongest of the dead could enter alone.
As soon as the gateway opened the spirits smiled their last smile to the mortal world, then jumped into the Vivid, free of the burden that The Void puts on the mortal world.
Noctem slightly smiled along with the spirits, sensing their happiness to be free of The Void.
“We gotta’ make camp, don’t want to be stuck out here with the Distorters.” Sek called to Noctem, “Make sure to gather some poppies and makeshift bandages for the wounded.”
“I’ll be back in an hour, is that okay?”
“One hour, and not any later, okay!”
“Very well.”
Noctem walked into the Velvet Moss Forest, which is known for easily getting lost in and containing heavily guarded structures that if conquered, could contain valuable rewards, such as bandages enchanted with healing our spirit pets that fight and gather supplies for you.
Chapter 4
About 30 minutes after Noctem had entered the Velvet Moss Forest, he had found a rogue fort, typically controlled by Zoyns, a mix of Orgs and Dwarfs. They are small, fast, strong, and brutal. And will do jobs for gold and gems, eventually being able to buy an enchanted bastion, meaning that the walls are indestructible.
Noctem was about to go back to camp and tell the others where it was, when one of the Zoyns screamed, “HUMAN! I SMELL A HUMAN WARLOCK! PROTECT THE EAST SIDE!!!” Zoyns started flooding the area, pouring out the building’s many entrances onto the trampled undergrowth, spears raised. Noctem fled, whispering an incantation that made the path through the forest clear, he continued running until he reached the Tree of the Living, a few of the Zoyns not seeing the barrier that the tree had made were evaporated, the rest ran back to their fortress.
“Noctem! Are ya okay there buddy?” Sek asked, jogging over toward Noctem. “Yeah, I’m fine. But the big problem is that all of the bandage grade cloth and poppies for healing have been plundered by those freaking Zoyns.” Noctem sneered, his eyes glowing with unforeseen power. “Whoa there buddy, calm down now, don’t want you to cause another time distortion, a lotta bad things came outta that.” Sek warned, caution and worry egging through his words.
“I've learned how to withhold it.” Noctem mumbled, annoyance in his voice.
“Well, putting that aside, what are we going to do?” Asked a large Brak named One, his arms showing the mark of Listener, one who hears snippets of others thoughts.
“We've gotta take it, not only will it get us materials, but it’ll also give us a place to stay beside the tree.” Sek remarked, thinking the situation over, “If we get dynamite we ca-”
“The walls are enchanted.” Noctem interrupted, “So that’s not going to work.”
“Shoot. We’ll need to make some denchanters so then we can use the dynamite, otherwise they’re gonna override us because of their numbers. Humph…” Sek queried, pacing back and forth. “Why don’t we just get some rest first, then we’ll think about it tomorrow when we’ve all got clearer thoughts. I can see right now that many of you have minds full of things unrelated to the topic at hand.” One said, ignoring several glares coming his way. After a moment Sek responded with, “Very well, we’d all like some rest before going into battle, especially after the Destro-'' He stopped and looked around, many surprised that he even brought up the painful and sensitive subject, but others were all-out distraught, they laid down on their makeshift cots and murmured unheard prayers to the many fellow Braks, workers, and pupils of the Glen that fell that day. Sek picked up a sacrificial sword and threw it into the fire, causing the trees to form a canopy, and then, he laid down to rest.
Chapter 5
-All Braks are trained to wake up according to their assigned shift, so some, during the attack, …some were woken up in the middle of their sleep, others had just started their shift, and some were just ending. So everybody was tired. The Destroyer seemed to have attacked during the period that everybody was either tired or sleeping, effectively and easily trying to get the greater number of casualties, and in that case killing 99% of the Glen’s population with one spell, he succeeded. But for the good news: the Destroyer used such a powerful, damaging spell, a killing spell that covered the entire mile long, wide, and tall structure, a structure built to counter such spells….meaning that even with the Destroyer's power and energy, he could be grounded for months without being able to do spells any more powerful than collapsing a bridge.-
Attack Report, Written by Falesy, The Glen’s Scriptologist in Training
Chapter 6
Noctem woke up in the middle of the night, breathing heavily, he started to wheeze and cough. “Noctem, come to me my little boy…”, a voice whispered from an endless hole. “Come back home, I miss you so much…”, the voice faded, and the hole disappeared, as though it was never there. Noctem shook his head, trying to shake the feeling, but he felt the power coursing through his veins, the power to Distort, enough power to Distort over 80 thousand furlongs, farther than any warlock has ever traveled. “Sek!” Noctem yelled in a voice that seemed to have no origin, “SEK!” “Huh?” Sek muttered in his sleep, then seeing Noctem on the ground wrapped in bonds of energy he jumped up and looked for Ethein running over to her and shaking her awake. “Ethine! Hurry! You need to come! Noctem’s in those bonds again!” Ethine jumped up and ran toward where she felt a strong pull of energy, gasping when she saw Noctem writhing on the ground, slowly being encompassed by the bonds. “Take it easy Noctem, this might hurt, ok?” Ethine whispered to him, then placed her hands on the bonds and imagined pulling all of the energy out of him, Noctem screamed, normally he would be dead already, but the bonds refueled his life force and kept him alive, nevertheless. “Too! Much! Power!” Ethine gasped through clenched teeth, “I can’t hold it all! I’m gonna blow!” “Just for another minute, please!” Sek pleaded, and finally the bonds depleted of their energy, and Noctem exhaled deeply, then fell unconscious.
Chapter 7
“Ok, ok, ok, ok, everything is ok.” Ethine breathed in and out, then told Sek “I have to release all of this energy in a place that's not going to bring harm to anything important, I’ve never held this much energy before.” “Would you be safe to go down to the bottom of the cliff, protected from blasts?” “Enchantments don’t work against energy explosions, especially when you put this much energy into it, the cliff would begin to dismantle.” “Wait! I just remembered about the Zoyns Bastian! Could you explode it to take out most of their upper forces, and all of the best stuff is in the bunker which is pretty deep under the ground, and the distance from here to the Bastian is about half a mile, that explosion’s not going any further than that, right?” “The furthest outlying pieces of the blast should only go about 200 furlongs, but the center of the explosion will destroy anything in its path, except for me of course, and will probably travel down to about 20 furlongs into the ground. That sounds like a solid plan.” “And then we’ll have everything we need to survive for a while.” “We better hurry, I can’t hold this much power for too much longer.” “We’ll go at it tomorrow; you can hold it for that long right?” “Oh, ah, yes, I can, that shouldn't be a problem.” “Tomorrow it is then.” “Tomorrow it is.”
Chapter 8
Night has come; everybody drifts off to sleep, Sek, however seems unable to, restless and tireless. His mind drifts back to when he was training as a Brak, so young, insolent, and unknowing. It was kind of a gift, but it only lasted for the first 60 years of a Pure One’s life, the next 200 years are spent working on the task for which they were chosen, and when a classes completion ceremony was completed, a huge party was thrown in favor of the hard work and challenges that they were put through. He remembered his class ceremony and party, staying up past curfew, getting his very own room, and receiving his one paper supply. Which might seem like a minor thing for such a big accomplishment but paper, especially spell paper, was laborious and difficult to make well, often requiring several attempts to correctly be made. Parchment was much easier to make but when used as spell paper it takes some of the power from the spell when you write it down. Remembering all of this information with excitement and interest, same approach as when he had first learned it, over 300 years ago. Then he remembered the day that he met Noctem, ‘The boy’ his mentors called him, saying that he was full of dark magic since the day he was born. But Sek felt sadness and loneliness inside of him, the wanting for a true friend, not just temporary, but real. A bond that lives permanent between two people is called a Friendship, a small ceremony were the families and other Friendships of the two people gather together to witness the oath, which reads in Sek’s dream: “I, Sekralious, swear an oath to the other of the bond, and eternal oath of which to protect thy in times of trouble, and to put you over myself, if you would to be in a time of need.”
*
Intruge
by Calder Greenleaf Moore
The flashing line representing the busy road was only put in for the passengers' amusement. All of the transportation in and out of å District was strictly controlled and monitored by the military. Colonel ¥re Valhal was on his way to a conference that would change history, bringing either prosperity and wealth to Earth and its accomplices, or it will cause disaster and Earth will be left alone and an easy target to any warship society. The times were changing.
A robotic voice filled the pod saying, “Everybody, please fasten your seatbelts, we will be stopping shortly and the G-force may knock you over. UnitedTransports™ is not responsible for any damages caused by malfunctioning equipment. Thank you for using UnitedTransports™! I hope you enjoy your stay.” The Colonel put on his seatbelt, and waited for about a minute before the voice spoke once again, “We are stopping in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1” The pod lurched and anybody that was standing would clearly have been launched nearly across the room. The Colonel unstrapped his seatbelt and walked out the door and into an elevator that required a fingerprint to open, and for extra precaution, though not stated, the buttons that were pressed to select the floor also sensed the fingerprint of the person. The elevator arrived at the first floor. The door opened and the Colonel stepped into a room full of people waiting for his arrival, a few of them shot weary glances at him as they looked at the papers in front of them, the Colonel sat down at the head of the table and the meeting began.
The Colonel had an ability to make people quickly agree with him. After just twenty minutes, all of the people who had looked wearily at him had all said that he was right and that their original opinion was very short sighted indeed, they added. They all said this in hope that they wouldn’t someday up and disappear like everybody else who had contradicted the Colonel. The agreement came to this: There would be a huge mining fleet sent to Ganvl, a planet that had just been recently discovered and was made entirely of hyper-valuable Tri-Metal Nitrate Alloy Steel, or T-MNAS for short. It is a material that had only ever been made by another alien species that either hasn't been discovered, such as the rest have, or have died off with their secrets. The T-MNAS was able to sustain against the airless bullets and multiple radiation weapons that other spices obtain, but the planet has been declared “in preservation for study” for all of the universe's spices. The fleet would be disguised as research ships. A city would be founded and control of the planet would be gained, causing Earth to become the most powerful of all of the species by far.
The ships launched, all of the mining equipment hidden inside unseen compartments of the ships. There was also plenty of real research equipment. The Colonel had thought why not also research the material and maybe give some of it up to the Inter-Planetary Protection Society, I-PPS as an even better disguise of the true point of the mission. The ships landed on the planet and started mining. Within 10 days of the ship’s arrival, a I-PPS official came in a mini cruiser to report that they needed to inspect the ships. The crew on board told the official that they needed 1 hour to prepare examples of their research. After they got the okay, the crew started shutting down the drill and returning it to its hidden place, and waited for the inspection to finish.
*
Rilani
by Sophia
Rilani hurried through the polished yellow tunnels, her ochre-colored skirt bustling around her scaly ankles. She kept her hands lightly wrapped around a basket made of a hollowed-out rock, trying to limit the bouncing of the plant fibers stashed inside of it as she speedily made her way through the tunnels that spanned the underground city she called home. Reaching an intersection of four different tunnels, Rilani stopped to catch her breath. As she inhaled the hot, dusty air, Rilani felt a strange tingly feeling make its way through her body. The intensity moved her gaze from the stone container to the roof of the tunnel intersection and she was frozen in terror as she saw an other-worldly blue light, ominous in its complete strangeness, descend through the ceiling of the tunnel.
*
The Space Probe and What Happened
by Liam
The Russian space agency Roscosmos sent a space probe to Venus to map its surface. But under the surface they found some ruins not created by humans. Now the question is: who created them and what happened to them? People could be studying what they look like and what they did throughout their history. How did they build these buildings and what did they do? What if this was created by humans? What if Venus was actually the place where humans, or early humans, were before Earth. What if overpopulation and global warming caused these people to have to move to a different planet? This can make you wonder how did they get here? What technologies may they have created to get there? Did they bring new animals from that place? We can only wonder and hope to find answers while sitting back and drinking a fiery cup of gasoline.
*
Hedwig Potter
by Victor S.
A big hairy man had just bought me. Yes, I know that’s a rather strange way to start a book, but eh it’s true. The man smelled like garbage, so much he should have probably gotten a badge for smelling worse than my droppings. (Hey, bird gotta poop) He carried me around until placing me on a shopping cart in front of some scrawny boy. Great, another spoiled brat. Probably like that disgusting kid Draco Malfoy. But then I saw a scar on the boy's forehead. Oh my gosh, did this boy crack his head open? He must be an even worse loner than Malfoy. Then what happened next stunned me. We talked. I don’t know where I got the scar from, he said.
Woah, we can talk to each other through our minds. I responded.
Yeah!
That’s like telepathy or something.
I didn’t know an owl had such vocabulary.
Well, when you get a proper owl like me you really must-
We were interrupted by Malfoy. We both turned our heads and scowled. (Well not me, I just rotated my head) He walked out of the store, with a disgusting grin on his ugly face. He walked away, apparently not noticing us. I was insulted. After Harry (I learned his name from Hagrid's constant talking) came out of the store carrying a stick, (I don’t know, you ask me why he paid so much money for a stupid stick) we went out of the store. Great thing about Harry- he was good at getting attention. People gawked at him as he passed, including this weird guy who looked like he was wearing a gigantic ball on his head named Quirrell.
So, you hate Malfoy? I asked.
Yup.
His hair looks like the color of my bird droppings.
And he has such small arms!
After a while we met up with this redheaded boy. Well, three of them. But only one was really Harry’s age. He talked with them for a while, and we headed to platform nine and three quarters. Even me, a bird knew that there was no such thing as “nine and three quarters” but eh. This is coming from a boy who cracked his head open and purchased a stick. I didn’t ask questions. I like Ron. (I learned his name by eavesdropping on their conversation) Apparently Harry was like a celebrity or something. But I didn’t care about that. What kind of celebrity purchases sticks? A stupid one. Ron glanced at me, and I winked at him.
“Um Harry? Did your owl just wink at me?”
“Never mind that Ron, but are we supposed to run into that wall?”
“Yup! I’ve seen it happen a million times.”
Now I don’t like Ron.
Ok, here goes.
Harry, what are you doing? I asked him.
Running into a wall.
ARE YOU SICK? NO DON’T DO IT. STOP. AHHH.
I braced for impact as we ran into the wall. Then suddenly we were in front of a train.
Where are we going? I asked Harry.
I don’t know.
“Ron! Where are we going?” Harry asked.
“Why to Hogwarts!” he responded.
Do not ask me why anyone would name anything “Hogwarts.” Like, I didn’t even know hogs had warts. Gross. I need to get that vision out of my mind. We sat down with Ron and bought some candy. Harry’s rich, because he overdid it with candy. I was hungry too, and I saw a frog on our table.
Is that frog chocolate? I asked.
Yup, do you want it?
Sure!
The frog did not taste like a frog, even though it croaked and hopped like a frog. It also walked like a frog. But it did not taste like a frog. As we got off the train, I saw Hagrid again, who was smelling worse than before. (If that was even possible) And he guided everyone towards small boats. When I looked up, I saw a castle. We crossed a river with boats, then everyone was guided towards this big hall. As we sat down, a man with a beard longer than Hagrid's stood up. He took a hat and called everyone in the room to put it on. (I didn’t know it then, but they were choosing houses) I guess he was giving everyone head lice or something.
Keep your lice to yourself, Harry.
Huh?
That hat definitely has lice.
Whatever.
Everyone went up to their dormitories. We walked into the Gryffindor common room. Large banners with a lion on them surrounded the room, and at the top there was a large window that let sunlight shine through. As Harry sat on the bed, he didn’t bother making a bed for me.
WHAT IS THIS?!? I asked.
A bed.
I KNOW THAT BUT WHERE IS MY BED?
You don’t have one.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
I guess he got tired of my screeching because he fell asleep.
I woke up to the sound of chattering. I looked to see Harry talking with Ron and some girl. I then remembered that the girl was on the train with us. I guess I must have not noticed because of the chocolate frog. Harry went downstairs with them and left me in the room without even saying goodbye.
My gosh, Harry did not have very fine manners. And even more strange is that he thought that an owl like me can’t pick a simple lock! I clawed at the lock until it opened. I got out of the cage, relieved to no longer be trapped in a small space. (It is one of my few weaknesses.) I ruffled by feathers and groomed myself for a bit, making sure that I looked elegant as always; I was always elegant. Just as I was about to snack on some of Harry’s leftover candies from the train, I heard a snore coming from a nearby bed.
I quickly followed the noise to see a small boy, Harry’s age, sleeping in his bed. Wasn’t everyone supposed to be up by now? He must’ve been sleeping in. Suddenly, I recognized his face. It was Neville Longbottom; I overheard his name when Harry was talking with Ron and the girl. I giggled. Longbottom? What a stuuuuupid name. (That is how the girl pronounced it, as if the “u” were extremely important.) Suddenly, Neville woke up.
“Huh?” he said. I quickly flew away, eager for him to not see me. “I slept in!” he yelped. Neville quickly changed and ran out of the common room. I looked to see a rat crawling around the floor. I licked my lips. Prey.
I dove down in a spiral and landed right on top of the mouse, and I picked it up in my mouth and held it upside down by the tail.
“Please don’t eat me!” the rat squeaked. I dropped it immediately after seeing how thin the mouse was. It was skin and bones.
“My names Scabbers,” the rat said, twitching his nose. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“I would eat you if you didn’t smell like garbage,” I snapped.
“My bad, I haven’t had a shower in a while,” Scabbers responded.
“Showers? Only humans have showers,” I stated. “You think your so cool acting like a human, WELL GUESS WHAT BUDDY I’M COOLER!”
“Who’s your owner anyways?” I asked Scabbers.
“Ron Weasley,” Scabbers yelped. “And yours?”
“Harry,” I said.
“You mean Harry Potter?” Scabbers said, apparently very intrigued. “Do you know who that is?”
I shook my head. “Who is he?”
“The boy who lived,” Scabbers said.
I smirked. Don’t most boys live? “What is so special about him?” I asked.
Scabbers took a deep breath and began to talk in a dark tone. “The most powerful wizard in the world, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, was also a very dark wizard, rivaled by only Dumbledore himself--,”
I laughed. “Dumbledore? What kind of name is Dumb-le-door?”
“Are you done interrupting me?” Scabbers said, as if he were mad that I paid no attention to the “dark lord.” I nodded.
“--He attacked Harry one night and killed his parents. But for some reason he couldn’t kill Harry, and that is how Harry got the scar. After that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named disappeared, and he hasn’t been seen since.” Scabbers stuttered.
Scabbers looked up at me. “Are you crying?”
I shook my head. That would be embarrassing. “It is just sometimes when I’m sad, water comes out of my eyes! It is most annoying.” I responded.
I sat there and waited for Harry to come, but I soon realized that he wasn’t coming anytime soon. I picked the lock at the window and flew out of the castle. Outside I could see kids running around, but Harry was not in sight. I flew into the grand hall, where many students were now having lunch. My stomach roared. The caviar that the students were feasting on looked much better than the bird food Harry gave me. I swooped down quickly and snatched a slice of apple pie from a nearby third year. I quickly flew back out and ate half of it while watching a fight brew between the third year and his friend. I chuckled and flew away in the direction of a small hut on the outskirts of Hogwarts. The homey little hut was made of stone and had moss growing on the outside, and the door was wooden. I flew inside to see Hagrid cooking something. The interior looked much better than the exterior. There was a lit fireplace and a bunch of home-made chairs surrounding a wooden table, which stood on top of a red carpet. Hanging from the roof were buckets and rope. I chirped.
Hagrid turned to face me. “Oh Hedwig,” Hagrid said, “Why are you here?” He took off his cooking gloves and sat down. I flew over and looked at him with a face that said, where is Harry Potter?
“I think he is in potions class,” Hagrid responded. “Second floor on the right.”
I nodded and quickly flew to the class, where a man with silky black hair stood, stirring a big pot.
“Now who can tell me what step I have to do next?” the man asked in a raspy voice. The girl whom Harry had talked to before raised her hand.
“Hermione Granger.” he said.
Hermione gave a long and tiresome speech of something involving a goats’ earlobe, which gave me the perfect opportunity to sneak behind the teacher. As I was creeping behind him, I saw a large, fat rat inside a jar. I set the slice of apple pie down on the teacher’s chair and scooped up the jar. The jar was a lot heavier than I thought, and I accidentally dropped it on the teacher’s head, where it shattered.
“AHHHH!” the teacher yelled in pain. He sat down, right on the apple pie I was about to give Harry.
The class burst into laughter, until Hermione uttered a spell to get the jar off the teacher’s head. Suddenly, an old man with an uncomfortably long beard walked into the room.
“What is going on here Severus? The man asked. Severus stuttered.
“W-why Harry Potter made a jar with a rat in it fall on my head!” Severus responded.
“Is this true Harry?” The old man asked. Harry shook his head. “Well then goodbye, as this doesn’t seem to be my business.”
“Goodbye Dumbledore,” Harry said.
“Goodbye Harry,” he responded. Suddenly, Harry spotted me.
Was that you Hedwig?
I gave him a wink and flew off, but not before using the restroom on Severus’s head.
“DANG IT YOU BIRDS!” Severus yelled as I flew to the common room.
I sat down on the couch in the common room, carefully grooming myself, waiting for Harry to come. A few hours later, Harry came in with some seeds.
Here, have some food.
I ate the seeds from his hand, even though I wasn’t that hungry.
Did you like my prank?
It was hilarious! Too bad Snape sat on the pie though.
I had to steal it from a third year!
Harry chuckled.
You are a little troublemaker, aren’t you?
I nodded. You couldn’t know that from just looking at me though, as I look like the most civilized owl ever.
Harry rolled his eyes. Suddenly, a bell rang.
I must go to Quidditch practice. Harry sat up and hurried out of the room. I knew very well what Quidditch was, as all the children at Diagon Ally talked about it. I ruffled my feathers and flew out of the window. I soared above Hogwarts, and I must admit it was fantastic. The wind blew into my hair, as the warm sky full of beautiful colors was above me. I dove down into the grand hall, where the second years were having lunch. I perched myself onto the chandelier, where there was an old gray owl eating someone’s mashed potatoes.
“Hello,” I chirped.
“Good afternoon, my name is Perselus,” the owl responded in a Hungarian accent.
“My name is Hedwig,” I responded. Perselus pushed the potatoes towards me, and I gladly took the offer.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Are you Harry Potter’s owl?” Perselus asked. I nodded.
“So, did you drop that jar on Snape’s head?”
I stopped eating. “How do you know about that?” I asked.
“Why all the owls heard about it,” Perselus responded. “News spreads very quickly at Hogwarts, even for owls.”
“I did,” I responded.
Perselus chuckled.
“Well, it was nice meeting you,” I chirped.
“Goodbye, Hedwig,” Perselus said.
I dove and snatched a cupcake from a second year, then flew in the direction of the Quidditch field. As I arrived, I saw Harry getting off his broomstick. He was dirty and had bruises on his body. I landed on his shoulder and handed him the cupcake.
Difficult practice huh? I asked.
Harry took a bite of the cupcake before responding. He nodded.
You should get cleaned no offense. I told him.
None taken.
We walked back into the common room, where everyone was getting ready for bed. I sat in the cage, waiting for Harry. Soon, he appeared.
Get me out of this cage, I hate it.
Hate is a strong word, Harry responded as he sat down on his bed.
It may be a strong one, but it is definitely the right one.
Fine. Harry unlocked the door to the cage, which Hermione had made difficult to unlock from the inside.
I walked out of the cage and groomed myself quietly. Soon, everyone was sleeping. I looked out the window to see the bright moon shower light over Hogwarts. This life is not too bad, I thought to myself. I flew out the window, which Harry had let open to get some fresh air. I perched myself onto the roof and let the light from the moon shine on me. I flew into the grand hall, where I saw Dumbledore talking with Snape. I passed the hall and decided to explore the inside of Hogwarts a bit more. I hid behind a statue, and soon Dumbledore came. He somehow made a statue turn into a staircase, and I followed him. He sat down at his desk, and I spotted a frail, red, bird sitting inside a cage. Poor bird, I thought.
Suddenly, the bird burned up. I began chirping louder than I have ever chirped. (And that is saying something)
“Relax, Hedwig,” Dumbledore said. My eyes widened.
“Yes, I know your name.” he said as if he were reading my mind. “You’ll find that I know a lot.” he chuckled.
“I assume you’re exploring Hogwarts?” he asked. I nodded.
I gave him a face that said, "Is the bird, ok?” Dumbledore nodded.
“It is a phoenix, and whenever it gets weak, it is reborn stronger than before.”
Suddenly, I saw a head peeking out from the ashes. It was a baby phoenix.
“His name is Fawkes,”
The baby was already ageing quickly, as the red and golden feathers appeared.
I had a lot of questions for Dumbledore, including why I had so much energy in the morning, (we owls are nocturnal) but I decided to head out. As I flew away, Fawkes followed me.
“Hello Hedwig!” Fawkes said cheerfully.
“Hello,” I responded, “how does it feel to be reborn?”
Fawkes shrugged. “It is sort of like when you take a long nap.”
“Interesting,” I stated, “What do you want to do?”
Fawkes grinned. “Follow me,”
Fawkes flew past the Quidditch field and stopped outside the dark forest.
“Aren’t we not allowed to go into the dark forest?” I asked Fawkes.
“That is only for students, besides, if I get hurt, I just get reborn,” he responded.
“But what about me?” I scowled.
“Nothing will happen Hedwig, just relax,” Fawkes said.
We flew over the forest, where there was a vast number of oak trees, but the leaves were different. They were darker than usual, and when I flew a bit lower down, I could see the ground between the trees, which was covered with dead grass and had rocks piercing through it. As I flew, I saw a black, hooded figure sucking at an animal. The sight of it made me shake in fear.
“WHAT IS THAT THING?!?” I hooted towards Fawkes.
“I’LL EXPLAIN LATER, QUICK, FLY AWAY!” Fawkes screeched.
The dark thing suddenly stopped as the unicorn fell to the ground. It looked like life and joy had been sucked out of it. It looked up at us and bolted towards us.
“FLY AWAY HEDWIG!!!” Fawkes shouted.
I darted away from the thing, but it was catching up with me and Fawkes.
“QUICK, I KNOW WHAT TO DO,” Fawkes screeched. We led the thing towards a big hole in the ground, where suddenly a dozen spiders appeared. Then even more. Soon, there was an entire cluster of spiders. As soon as the spiders spotted the thing, it began shooting webs at it. I suddenly realized that it wasn’t just shooting webs at the thing but also at us. A web hit the thing, and it crashed into the forest. Immediately a few spiders jumped on it, and I made a silent promise to make sure that didn’t happen to me.
“Well, at least we got that thing off our tail,” Fawkes said.
“But now we have an even bigger problem,” I shouted back. The spiders were still shooting webs at us, and I knew they were going to hit us at one point. Suddenly, a web blasted me, and I spiraled towards the ground.
“HEDWIG!” Fawkes screeched.
I landed on the ground, and immense pain flooded my right wing. It hurt so many words that I can’t explain it. A spider pounced on me, and it was about to bite me when Fawkes pecked the spider and let out a burst of light and warmness, which made the spiders move away in a hurry. Fawkes picked me up and flew away towards Hogwarts.
I woke up in Dumbledore’s room, where Fawkes lay beside me.
“Nothing will happen, eh?” I said in a dry voice.
Fawkes chuckled. “Sorry about that,”
I looked to my side, where Dumbledore sat. He had wrapped my broken wing in a cast and had healed it a bit.
“It’ll take a while to heal,” Dumbledore said. “Meanwhile you’ll have to explain it to Harry.”
I nodded. Fawkes carried me to the Gryffindor common room, where I slept. I woke up to Harry looking at my wing.
What happened to your wing Hedwig?
I told him the story of Fawkes and the spiders and the unicorn. Harry sighed.
From now on, you will stay out of trouble. Promise me that. Harry asked, but it wasn’t a question.
Fine, but you better let me steal food from the grand hall, or else I’ll take your lunch.
Harry laughed. But you can’t fly. Besides, I’ll bring you food.
It better not be bird food.
Fine, I’ll get you some “human” food.
Harry walked out of the door, and just as he left Fawkes flew in and picked the lock to my cage.
“Hey Fawkes, thanks for saving me back there,” I told him.
“No problem,” Fawkes responded. “I’m immortal anyway.”
I began grooming myself, which was hard with a broken wing.
“So, phoenixes can just burst into light?” I asked Fawkes. Fawkes nodded.
“It is one of our tricks,” he responded.
“That’s pretty cool,” I said. Fawkes shrugged.
“What should we do now?” Fawkes wondered.
“Well for starters, it better not have anything involving the dark forest,” I snapped.
Fawkes laughed.
“What did Dumbledore think of the story?” I asked.
“I heard he told the teachers, and now the dark forest is even more restricted,” Fawkes responded.
I sighed. There wasn’t much I could do now, I couldn’t even prank Snape.
“I’ve got to go,” Fawkes said. “Goodbye.”
“Bye,” I chirped as Fawkes flew out the window. I limped out of the window, where I could see a Quidditch match going on. It was Gryffindor against Slytherin. I spotted Harry on a broomstick, and he was trying to catch the Golden Snitch. The match went on, and Harry was zooming and diving for the snitch. Suddenly, Harry scooped the Snitch and held it to his chest as he crashed. The crowd roared. I myself got a bit cheerful.
Nothing exciting happened over the next month. My wing had healed, but Harry didn’t feel good about letting me out. That didn’t matter, as Fawkes regularly came to pick up the lock. We flew around Hogwarts in secret, until I finally convinced Harry to let me out more often. It was the day before Halloween, and I couldn’t wait to eat some candy. (Ron had eaten all the candy leftovers from the train)
I woke up late, as everyone in the common room had already left. Harry had left the cage open for me, so I hopped out and flew out the window, where everyone was having breakfast. I flew down and took a candy from a second year, which got him mad.
“Why should we let the owls eat our food?” he riled up the table. “It's time we fight back!” The second years began chanting as I flew to the chandelier, where Perselus was eating with a pigeon. Dumbledore rose from his chair and was about to calm the second year down, but the second year pulled out his wand in my direction and began to yell.
“GIVE ME MY CANDY BACK! Expelliarmus!” The spell hit the golden rim of the chandelier and ricocheted right back into the student, who dropped his wand right into somebody’s porridge. The whole table yelled at once, and chaos unfolded.
Dumbledore looked at the teachers and gestured to the table. “It's your problem.” The teachers sighed as Dumbledore left the room. Suddenly, Professor McGonagall muttered something, and the room immediately silenced.
“What did she do?” I asked Perselus.
“A silencing charm,” Perselus answered. “It makes everyone silent.”
“For how long?” I hooted. Perselus shrugged.
“I guess until she takes back the charm, which she’ll probably do by the end of breakfast.” The pigeon whom Perselus had been chatting with took its last bite of candy and flew away.
“So, Hedwig, how has it been?” Perselus asked. I shrugged.
“Fine since the incident, I’ve been waiting for some candy for a while though,” I carefully unwrapped the Snickers bar I had stolen from the student and began munching on it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the student scowling at me. “How about you?”
“It's been okay, nothing new,” Perselus chuckled. “I wish something exciting would happen.”
“Yeah, me too,” I responded. The conversation paused for a bit as me and Perselus ate.
“Has Harry used you for any spells yet?” Perselus wondered. I shook my head.
“What kind of spells?” I asked.
“Well for first years they’re usually simple spells, and if the kid does something wrong then the teacher turns the animal back to normal,” Perselus replied. I took the last bite of my food and ruffled my feathers.
“Well, see you around Perselus,” I said.
“Goodbye!”
I flew off the chandelier and outside the castle. The sun rays beamed onto me as I flew, which made it challenging to fly. I landed on Hufflepuff tower on the Quidditch field and began grooming myself. The quidditch field smelled of sweat and dust, and the sun’s rays showered over the field. I finished grooming myself and flew off to Hagrid’s hut. I peered out the window and saw
“Hello Fawkes!” I spoke.
“Hi Hedwig,” Fawkes responded.
“I want to take you to meet a friend of mine,” I told Fawkes.
“Okay then, lead the way!”
I flew over to the Grand Hall, where Perselus was waiting for me on the chandelier. I had conversations with Perselus at lunch, and I wanted Fawkes to meet him. I introduced them to each other.
“So, Hedwig,” Perselus said, “I saw a big pumpkin in the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid, and I think it would be perfect to eat, but I am too old and weak to get it. May you and Fawkes get it for me?”
“Sure Perselus!” I exclaimed. I waved over Fawkes and together we flew to get the pumpkin.
“Sort of an odd request, don’t you think?” Fawkes asked. “I mean, why would he get a pumpkin when he could get some from the Grand Hall?”
“Maybe it is some special pumpkin,” I responded.
“Maybe, but it still is a bit fishy.”
We flew over to the field, where there was somehow one of the spiders from a month ago.
“QUICK HEDWIG,” Fawkes shouted, “GET AWAY!”
I bolted away from the spider, but it began shooting webs at us. There was no way I was going break another wing from those arachnids. Fawkes and I got away, but Fawkes was suspicious.
“I think it was a set up!” Fawkes scowled.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I think Perselus knew there was a spider there!” Fawkes snapped.
“But how?” I responded, trying to talk some sense into Fawkes.
“Here’s the thing Hedwig, nobody still has pumpkins growing on Halloween, you already take them and bake them into something,” Fawkes responded.
“To think of it, I never saw any pumpkins,” I said. We flew high above Hogwarts where we could see the spider, but the spider couldn’t shoot us with its webs. There were no pumpkins in the field.
“Something fishy is going on,” Fawkes said.
As we flew back, we could hear screaming coming from Hogwarts. When we flew inside, we saw a giant troll stomping around and roaring.
“TROLL!” someone yelled. Dumbledore and some other teachers got everyone to safety. Fawkes and I watched from above.
“We need to find Perselus,” Fawkes said.
“But what about the troll?” I responded. Fawkes paused for a moment to think.
“I’m sure Dumbledore will get it under control, we need to find out what Perselus is up to.” Fawkes chirped. “Come on.”
Me and Fawkes flew away from the troll and to the chandelier, but Perselus wasn’t there. We were about to give up when we saw Snape running across the grand hall, but he was moving away from the troll.
“Shouldn’t Snape be helping with the troll?” Fawkes wondered. I nodded.
“Come on, lets follow him,” I ordered. As we followed Snape, we could hear screaming and shouts from the direction of the troll.
“Perselus has a strange accent,” Fawkes stated.
I nodded. “Hungarian.”
Fawkes paused to think for a moment. “Ask Harry what “Perselus” means in Hungarian, maybe he’ll know something we don’t.”
“How would he know Hungarian?” I asked Fawkes.
Fawkes shrugged. “Worth a shot.”
We kept following Snape up and down the staircases and hallways, where Hogwarts’ interior was decorated with Halloween decorations.
“But why would Perselus want us away from the troll?’’ I asked.
“I don’t know,” Fawkes responded. Suddenly my mind figured something out.
“What if Perselus released the troll, and he needed us gone so that we wouldn’t see him!” I exclaimed.
“But why would Perselus release the troll?” Fawkes asked.
I sighed. More questions, and not enough answers. Me and Fawkes followed Snape until we heard a giant roar.
“ROAR!!!” The troll bellowed from the other side of the castle, but we could hear it loud and clear. I hoped Harry was all right. We followed Snape until he walked into a room with Quirrell. They began shouting at each other. Me and Fawkes watched silently from above.
“What are they doing?" Fawkes asked.
“I have no idea,” I responded. Suddenly Professor McGonagall appeared.
“Come on Severus and Quirrell, quit the arguing,” McGonagall said hastily. “We need to take care of the troll!”
The three teachers headed out of the room, and Fawkes and I quickly flew in the direction of the troll.
By the time we got there, the troll was taken care of. I said goodbye to Fawkes and flew over to the Gryffindor common room. I sat down on Harry’s bed and waited for him to come. Soon, he came.
Hi Hedwig.
Hello, can I ask you something?
Sure.
What does “Perselus” mean in Hungarian?
Harry shrugged and called someone across the room.
“Hermione, what does Perselus mean in Hungarian?” Harry asked.
Hermione paused for a moment.
“I’m a bit rusty on Hungarian, but I believe it means Severus,” Hermione responded. “Why do you ask?”
“Just curious,” Harry responded.
My eyes widened. Severus. There is only one person in Hogwarts with the name Severus, and that is Professor Snape. I remember the first question that Perselus asked me. Did I pull the prank on Professor Snape? Of course, I did. So, Snape must’ve wanted revenge or something. After everyone fell asleep, I snuck out to Fawkes. I flew through the window into Dumbledore’s office, where Fawkes was pacing. I told him the information I had found out.
“So, Snape turned into Perselus to find out if you had pranked him?” Fawkes asked.
I sighed. “But how would he know it was me?”
“Maybe he saw you,” Fawkes responded.
I shook my head. “I am a master at pranking. There was no way he could’ve seen me.”
Fawkes chuckled. “But why would Snape go through so much trouble just to find out if you pranked him?”
I sighed. Nothing made sense.
“I need some time to think,” I stated as I flew off.
It was still afternoon, and the remarkable sun peeked through the clouds.
Not as remarkable as me. I thought, but the sun was still beautiful. As I looked down, I saw Slytherin practicing Quidditch. Only Severus would let his team practice after there was a troll attack. I dove down and prepared to give Snape (or Perselus) a wedgie, but Snape looked up and yelled:
WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA! Snape shouted as he blasted me with magic, making me float in the air.
“Why look it’s Harry Potter’s owl,” said a disgusting little voice above me.
Draco Malfoy.
The sound of his voice made me vomit right on Snape.
“AH! Stupid bird!” Snape scowled as vomit rolled down his face.
“Let's bring him to Potter,” Malfoy chuckled.
Snape nodded and, using his wand, blasted me right through the window of the Gryffindor common room, even though it was incredibly far away. Glass shattered all over the floor, but soon each individual piece of glass floated back to the window and repaired itself. Miraculously, I was okay.
“Stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupid Snape!” I exclaimed angerly. I looked out the window and saw the Slytherin Quidditch team laughing. Worst of all, Malfoy was already getting ready to tell the whole school. I was not going to let that happen.
“Hey Scabbers?” I shouted.
“Y-y-yes Hedwig?” Scabbers stuttered as he appeared from under the carpet. “Y-y-you're not going to eat me, aren’t you?”
I sighed. “Not until you actually grow some fat,” I responded, slightly annoyed. “Listen up, I have a plan. While Malfoy is heading to the Slytherin common room, you’ll appear and distract him until-”
“Hold on,” Scabbers said, twitching his nose, “why do I have to do this?”
“Because if you don’t,” I licked my lips, “its dinner time.”
“Well, I like apple pie, do you think the grand hall has any apple pie?” Scabbers said while twitching his tail.
I was infuriated. “THATS BESIDES THE POINT!” I screeched. “AND WHY DO YOU KEEP ACTING LIKE A HUMAN?”
“Oh!” Scabbers squeaked, with his eyes wide open. “U-u-mm let's move on from that, so how do I distract Malfoy?”
“Well, your disgusting, so I guess just be yourself,” I responded. “Anyways, you distract Malfoy until you hear a screeching noise, you’ll know it when you hear it. Then you can just run away, I’ll do the work from there.”
Scabbers nodded, unphased by my insults. “When do we have to do this?”
I looked at the clock on the wall in the Gryffindor common room.
“In about half an hour,” I responded.
Scabbers freaked out. He began scrambling around the floor, muttering things I couldn’t understand. I sighed.
“You’ll be ok, what is the worst that can happen?” I assured Scabbers.
“Umm, the worst thing that can happen is me DIEING!” Scabbers said angerly. He began biting his nails.
“WHY ARE YOU BITING YOUR NAILS?!?!” I chirped. “ONLY HUMANS DO THAT YOUR HUMAN WANNABE!”
“I’M JUST FREAKING OUT!!!” Scabbers was running around in a spiral so quickly that I thought he would faint.
“Calm down Scabbers, Malfoy is so spoiled that he can’t even breathe without some “special care”” I smirked.
“Um, ok fine let me get ready,” Scabbers said, stuttering with uncertainty. Meanwhile, I flew out the window to look for Fawkes, who was munching on some second year’s lasagna. I flew over and told Fawkes the plan.
“So, let me get this straight, you want to disturb me and Scabbers and risk getting Harry into even more trouble and embarrassment just so you can prank Malfoy?” Fawkes asked.
“Yup.”
Fawkes sighed. “I’m totally in.” I grinned. Fawkes finished up his lasagna and we flew over to the entrance of the Slytherin Common room. The hallway looked a bit like Gryffindor's, other than the fact that there were some ugly green banners with a giant snake on them hanging on the walls.
“Now we just wait for Scabbers to come,” I chirped to Fawkes as we perched up on one of the banners together.
“So, what’s your plan Hedwig?” Fawkes asked as he finished some leftover lasagna.
“We humiliate Malfoy,” I replied as I ruffled my feathers and began grooming myself. I wanted to look in tip-top shape when I humiliated him.
“Okay,” Fawkes responded, “but how?”
“The usual,” I chirped as I straightened out my feathers with my beak.
“Poop on him, claw him, screech in his ear-”
“That sounds a bit barbaric, don’t you think?” Fawkes interrupted. I sighed.
“Fawkes, he blasted me with magic and made me fly into a window,” I squawked annoyingly. “I don’t think a little bird poop will do that much harm.”
“Wait, but I thought Snape blasted you with magic,” Fawkes asked puzzledly.
“It doesn’t matter who blasted me with magic, I need to get them back somehow!” I snapped. Suddenly, a smile flashed onto Fawkes face.
“I think I know the real reason you’re doing this,” smirked Fawkes.
“Fine then, what’s the real reason I’m doing this?” I grumbled. I was annoyed with Fawkes. He was putting me into a bad mood right before I was going to humiliate Malfoy! No bird looks good when they’re angry.
“I think you want to help Harry,” Fawkes teased, “you’re becoming soft now.” Fawkes nudged me with his shoulder.
“I am not!” I retorted. Suddenly, the door of the Slytherin common room swung open to reveal an ugly deformed rat. I wish it was a rat- a rat was less ugly.
“Malfoy,” I snarled to myself. Fawkes giggled. I glanced around the hallway.
“Where is Scabbers?!?” I squawked, “he must have chickened out.”
“Wait,” Fawkes chirped, “but isn’t Scabbers a mouse?”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a figure of speech,” I replied.
“Alright Crabbe, see you around,” Malfoy finished as he began to walk away.
“It’s now or never!” I screeched as I launched myself at Malfoy.
“AH!” yelped Malfoy as I tore a piece of hair from his scalp. I clung on to his hair and flapped my wings as hard as I could. Surprisingly, Malfoy was extremely light. I flew up into the lunchroom with him dangling from my claws.
Tear. A loud, scary yet delightful sound filled my ears. I stared down at Malfoy, and saw that his ugly Slytherin robe had ripped, and now he was dangling from his underwear, which was a mucky white with faded red hearts dotted all over them. A strange feeling rose into my throat. It was... happiness. No, something else... laughter. A small giggle rose into my throat. Tears came to my eyes. Suddenly, Malfoy’s heart-dotted underpants tore along the place that I was holding them.
“AHH!” hollered Malfoy as he plummeted right into a pumpkin pie that some third years were eating for lunch. Sadly, the pie broke his fall.
“WHAT WAS THA-?” Malfoy began staggering up to his feet, his Slytherin robes in shambles and his pale, white hair messy with pie and milk. Soon enough, Malfoy’s grumbles were drowned by the laughter flooding the great hall. All around, grins sprung up from across the crowd. Even the pigeons were laughing a bit.
*
