Hello everyone! Thanks for stopping by and reading my new oneshot! The theme for round 4 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition is "Pet Me". Here's some more information about this round!
Team: Wimbourne Wasps
Position: Chaser 1
Position Challenge: Write from a pet's perspective about mistreatment or abandonment (of pets or people).
Prompts: (phrase) under the stairs, (word) pillow, (object) stick.
Hedwig stared out the window, now barred up with thick metal rods, longing to be outside, to stretch her cramped and aching wings. Before, there had been hope. Sure, she'd been bored out of her mind, screeching and hooting, if only to make those terrible Muggles as miserable as they deserved to be, but the padlock on her cage hadn't stolen the prospect of returning to Hogwarts. There, she was free delivering the mail, flying around the owlery with the other owls, but the bars on the window put everything into perspective. She and Harry were trapped.
Hedwig was angry. No, she was furious, and her lack of ability to move in her cage seemed to make it all the worse. She shifted her body from foot to foot, feathers puffed out in frustration as she recalled what had happened to put them in this predicament.
That house-elf! That stupid house-elf! She didn't care whether he really was only wanting to protect Harry; he had ruined everything, framing him like that! A levitation charm, in front of Muggles!
And those Dursleys! Hedwig let out an exasperated screech as she relived the overheard conversation from the floor below. Those people simply infuriated her with their hatred, yet complete lack of knowledge about the wizarding world. The big man had been yelling about how Harry must have snuck his magic stick from where it was hidden under the stairs.
Magic stick!
It was a wand!
But even worse was that they now knew Harry wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school. Now, they were both locked up with very little food and diminishing hope for getting back out.
Hedwig stared with disgust at the soggy vegetables her companion had placed in her cage. She was supposed to eat that? She was an owl, a hunter, and a pretty good one at that. But soggy vegetables? That was not a part of her palate.
"It's no good turning your beak up at it – that's all we've got," he told her.
She really was hungry, but also unconvinced that the few brownish coloured veggies sitting in her food tray would do anything to fill her empty stomach. She could barely remember the last time she'd used that gizzard of hers on a fresh kill. What she would do for even the tiniest mouse!
But Harry's pleading eyes suggested he agreed with her stomach that something, at least, needed to go inside, so she slurped up the disgusting food as quickly as possible, if only to make him happy.
Satisfied that she had eaten something, Harry flopped down on the bed, hugging his pillow close to his chest.
He seemed so sad curled up the way he was and Hedwig hated seeing him like that. He needed his friends; he needed his books, his wand, his broom. She wanted to see him happy. She liked it when he was happy. Here, he was excluded, mistreated, abandoned, hated. Harry had such a big heart and had been through such hardships in his short life, he deserved so much better than this. He deserved love, friendship, an honest go at the world.
She pecked at the large padlock with her beak, as though that would do any good, and made a whimpering hoot. They were there together, trapped, starved, forgotten. Hedwig wished she could do something to make this better. At least when the Dursleys thought Harry could use magic, they gave them food and let him roam a bit. He was a little more cheerful then.
Three days. It had only been three days, and Hedwig wasn't sure how much longer they would last like this.
A flying car and three heads of red hair changed the course of their summer. It was the middle of the night, and at first, the sight was quite startling, but it gave her a burst of hope.
From the moment she recognized the boys as Harry's friends from school, Hedwig could barely contain her excitement, nearly bouncing in her cage. But she stayed quiet. No matter how much she wanted to hoot with joy, Hedwig was smart enough to know that it wasn't a good idea to wake the beasts with the elation that was bubbling within her.
She watched as Harry woke and rubbed his eyes, squinting to see what had made his friend jump. His expression slowly transformed from utter confusion to delight as he clumsily dragged himself from the bed to prop open the glass of the window.
In hushed voices, excited greetings were exchanged before a quiet chaos began. The boys seemed to have a plan. In a flash, those dreadful metal bars blocking the window were gone, and Harry's belongings were being tossed into the air and stuffed into trunks.
Hedwig ruffled her feathers and watched through the darkness, her excitement building with every moment, with every possession packed.
A rescue mission! She just knew this wasn't going to be the end of them! Harry had good friends from school. He wasn't about to be abandoned by them. The owl nearly jumped with glee as one of the boys managed to unlock the door from the inside! How fascinatingly creative they had to be when they couldn't use magic.
They were going to be free! Free at last! Hedwig could hardly wait to be in the sky, to stretch open her wings. She could almost feel the crisp night air flowing between her feathers.
The boys rushed from the room to fetch Harry's wand, broom, cauldron, and other such magical objects from their hiding place under the stairs. Hedwig winced as she heard the large trunk bump on the way up. Would it wake the Muggles? What would they do if they found them escaping? She trembled with anticipation.
Hurry! Hurry! She wanted to hoot, to squawk, to call out in any way to get them there faster, but she knew it would wake the sleeping devils for sure.
They were almost there! Hedwig could see them coming around the corner, struggling to carry the heavy objects silently across the floor without magic. Oh, how she wished she could help somehow! It was agonizing to watch them struggle and not be able to help in any way! Stuck in that bloody cage of hers, she was useless!
Hedwig released a breath of relief as they made it to the window, and the large trunk was roughly pushed into the back of the car.
Almost done! They were almost out!
Wait. What was Harry doing? He was climbing out the window!
No! They'd forgotten her! This couldn't be happening! How could Harry, her Harry, leave her here with these people who put a padlock on her cage and refused to let her out, to even give her food!
Her Harry was deserting her, abandoning her!
Hedwig screeched like she hadn't in a long time, piercingly high and shrill, loud as can be, and gained the attention of everyone in the room.
And then, she heard it. A manly shout from down the hall and footsteps headed their way.
"I've forgotten Hedwig!" Harry yelled, finally seeing his friend, still trapped in her cage on the other side of the room.
He ran to her and roughly grabbed the cage, jostling Hedwig inside, and passed her to one of the boys in the car.
The sound of footsteps was followed by the appearance of a very disheveled and very angry Vernon Dursley. He carried in his hand a long, thick, wooden stick. Hedwig really couldn't remember what it was called, but it had something to do with a ball. What it was called didn't matter now; they were caught.
"He's getting away!" the man roared, lunging at Harry, who was diving through the window into the car.
Vernon swung the stick out the window but missed by hair's length.
They were off, soaring through the sky in a Muggle vehicle, free at last from the torment of Harry's crazy and hateful family.
Hedwig stared at Harry, still upset that he could possibly forget her so easily.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Things got a little . . . hectic."
What kind of excuse was that? She turned her back to him in the cage and made an angry hoot. He was going to leave her there with those horrible people! He had forgotten her!
Harry sighed. "Come on, don't be like that." He paused. "Maybe… Fred, could you pick this lock too? Like you did with the lock in my bedroom?"
There were a few moments of small tinkering noises as the redhead worked on the lock before Hedwig heard the loud clink of it opening.
"Why don't you fly behind us, follow us to the Burrow," Harry suggested. She swiveled her head to look at him. "Would you like that?" he asked with a small smile.
Yes, she would very much like to fly, to stretch her wings, to finally escape the cramped cage. Hedwig still was not happy about what had just happened, but she could wallow in that later. Right now, she could finally fly!
"There you go," Harry said as the door creaked open.
She hopped out, gave him a little nudge with her head to say thanks, and jumped from the car window. Her wings unfurled and caught the wind with magnificent speed, closing her eyes to relish in the wonderful feeling of being in the air.
Deciding it was time to have a little fun, she dove downward, spiralling, spinning toward the earth, feeling gravity pull her down faster and faster until she slowly unfurled her strong wings again. The wind once more caught between her glorious feathers, she soared skyward, pulling up behind the car.
This was what she had been missing all this time.
Freedom.
She was finally free.
A huge thanks to my lovely teammates who beta'd this story, Lun27 and tonberrys!