Owl Post
"Mummy! Daddy! Do we have all of my things?" Lily Potter asked her mom and dad. "Well, let's check the list. A wand. Check. A cauldron. Check. 7 different books. Check. Spellotape. Check. Brass scales. Check." Harry Potter said. There were several other things Harry said, before Lily butted in and said "A pet! I forgot to get a pet!" "I'm glad you remembered dear." Ginny Potter said. "Well come on, let's go!" "But we must wait for your brothers, they are still in Zonkos." "Oh well! We will catch up with them later!" Lily said. "Well, okay, but we-" "Oh come on!" Lily pulled her parents to the Magical Menagerie, a very crowded pet store with noisy sounds of many animals. "Are you sure you don't just want to go to Eeylops Owl Emporium?" Ginny asked. "No! There are more than just owls here!" As Lily walked in, a woman with heavy black spectacles said "Greetings! Are you interested in buying a pet today?" "Why, yes we are." Ginny said. "Okay, well let me bring you to the aisle over there. We have a fine assortment of very rare rats. They come in colors of black or grey or white or a mix between any two colors. Their history is very strange." As this point Ginny look over at Harry, who looked agitated. "We just want-", but she wasn't listening. "These particular rats were very hard to obtain." Lily sighed. "They were bred by the ancient…..". Lily lost everything the lady said. She was too interested in the large, snowy white owl in the corner of the store. "Mum, I do want an owl. I want that one over there." Ginny looked over. "Harry, dear, just sneak away. Lily wants the white owl over there." Ginny whispered to Harry. They were able to walk to the corner where the owl was, and the lady just kept talking. "Wow, Lily, that owl looks just like my old owl, Hedwig. I miss her. Are you sure you want this one?" "Yes, I do!" "Excuse me, excuse, excuse me! We are over here! My daughter wants this owl." "Oh yes. The white one. Let me get her." The lady said, like nothing had happened just before. "Yes, that will be…6 sickles." Harry pulled six coins out of his pocket. "Here you are!" "Why thank you. Enjoy your owl! Treat her nicely! Have a great day!" As the family walked out, Lily said "Let's name her Hedwig, like your old owl daddy!" "Okay, you do that. That is a great idea." "Oh look, it's James and Albus. Now we can go." Ginny said. "Diagon Alley is such a lovely place." Lily said.
"JAMES POTTER! YOU GIVE BACK THAT WAND BACK TO YOUR SISTER!" Ginny yelled. "Oh, come on! I wasn't really going to snap it in half!" "ALBUS! NO FLYING ON A BROOMSTICK IN THE HOUSE!" "Ok, ok! I'm getting off!" "You liar! You WERE going to break it!" Lily yelled. "NO I WASN'T!" "YES YOU WERE!" "NO!" "YES!" "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Albus said, still on the broom. "HARRY! HELP!" Harry came running in. "Really, everyone? I'm away in the living room for five minutes and a wreck happens in the kitchen. Albus go in the backyard with your broom. James give Lily her wand back and don't you dare take it again. And Lily, please stop eating all the fizzing whizbees." "Awww!" Lily said with a mouthful of candy. Albus opened the door and zoomed out the back door, while James slowly gave back Lily her wand. "Now, both of you, go outside and behave yourselves. "Watch this!" Albus zoomed off into the air, and at about 200 feet, did a flip and a wild spin, and then flung himself off of his broom. Lily gasped. "Wait! That's not it!" Albus's broom flew towards the ground, and Albus landed right on top of it while landing safely on the ground. Lily and James clapped. "Now, do you guys want to see something cool?" "Sure!" Lily and Albus said together. "Follow me." Albus led them to the very back of their backyard, then around the corner. They walked for about 5 minutes, and then came to a wooden fence. "Since you know we all live around wizards, this won't matter." Albus pulled out of his pocket what looked like a licorice wand, but smaller and twisted at the ends. He then struck it against the fence, and it set fire. He threw it over the fence and laughed. BOOM! It exploded. Pinks and blues and yellows and purples went everywhere. But then there was another bang. It was the sound of a door. Albus looked over the fence. He gasped. "This time, it isn't good." They had burned Mr. and Mrs. Finnigan's garden. They were Seamus Finnigan's parents. Lily took off running. "I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" She shouted. "JAMES AND ALBUS POTTER! I KNOW IT'S YOU!" A man shouted. They took off running too. As soon as they got in the house, Lily was on the couch, drinking Butterbeer. "That was close." Albus said. He ran right into Harry. When he looked up, Ginny and Harry both looked angry. "We just got news that you threw fireworks into the Finnigans' garden. Is this true?" "No!" James said. "YES!" Lily shouted from the couch. "Mr. Finnigan just popped out of our fireplace and gave us the news. So, not only are you in trouble for doing what you did, you are also in trouble for lying." "Great. Just great. You had to show us that didn't you Albus." James said. "So, Albus, you have to give me your broomstick and every one of your fireworks, and James, you have to give up your new items from Zonkos." Albus frowned. James, with his eyes really big, said: "No fair!" "Too bad! Not only that, you two are going to go and clean the Finnigans' garden." "What about Lily! She was there!" James said. "Because you two made her go there. And she didn't do anything. Now let's go." "Now?" "Yes." "And you can't use your wand." The family apparated to the Finnigans' home, and saw Mr. Finnigan standing on the doorstep. "It could be worse. You could have destroyed the WHOLE garden. But you didn't. That's good, at least. And the only part you burned were the plants we weren't very fond of, and a bit of a square of a plant we liked. But we will be fine. Just get to work." Ginny conjured three chairs with her wand, and her, Harry, and Lily sat down and relaxed. Mr. Finnigan brought out Butterbeer to them, and water for Albus and James. After several hours of cutting, and clearing, and dusting, and planting, James and Albus were done. They were treated with Butterbeer, then they left. As they got home, James and Albus were told to never bug them again, then they ate lunch.
A loud crash hit by the window. "What was that?" Lily asked. "Let me see." Harry walked over to the window to find a small barn owl sitting on the window sill. It made a little tweet, and stuck out its leg to show a letter tied to it. Harry untied the letter, and the owl tweeted happily and flew towards the table and sat down. "Who is the letter from?" Lily asked. "It appears to be to James. And it's from Zonkos. Are you ordering more things James?" "No. No, no, no,no. I didn't." Harry handed James the letter, showing him the address and James's name. "Well I don't know why that's here. Let me open it." James opened the letter, and pulled out it out and read: "Dear Mr. James Potter, We are glad to inform you that your shipment has arrived at Zonkos. Please come to pick them up immediately. Pleasure Doing Buisness With You, Zonkos Joke and Gag Shop." He gave the letter to Harry, who read it and then gave it to Ginny. "James, I don't think there is a mistake. It is addressed to you, no one else, you." Ginny said. "Well I didn'" Another owl zoomed in, dropping another letter in James's lap. The owl then zoomed over to where the other was. "Another letter? Who this time?" Harry said. "It's to me again. Let me open it." This letter read: "Dear Mr. James Potter, Your shipment has been given to someone else. We received a letter by owl saying that you weren't going to be able to pick the shipment up. Yours Sincere, Zonkos Gag and Gift Shop." James looked up at his parents. "Well, I don't know who sent that owl, but I'm glad they did. Now James, tell me the truth. Did you order something from Zonkos?" Harry said. "No, I didn't! How could I have?" "I don't know, but all we are trying to say is that it is addressed to you, James Potter, and our address. None of us ordered anything. It had to be you." "No! That doesn't mean anything!" "Yes, it kind of does." Lily said. "Lily mind your own buisness." Harry said. "Now, anyway, I don't want to, but I can pull out Veritaserum if I have to. You best tell me the truth now." James opened his moth, but was interupted by another owl flying in, dropping another letter onto James's lap. "WHAT NOW?" Harry said. "It's from the Ministry of Magic…to me." When James opened it, it read: "Dear Mr. James Potter, We have been aware that you have purchased many dark magic objects from unknown retailers. We will give yoou this one warning, but if we are aware that you are doing it again, you will have a disciplinary hearing on whatever date we set. Hoping that you are well, Mafalda Hopkirk." "Mmmmhmmmm….I thought you weren't buying anything. And dark magic items too! Who do you think you are?" "Fine. I did order things. But they weren't dark magic! They were only-" Another owl zoomed in. This time, it said: "Dear Mr. James Potter, We are very sorry for troubling you, and for a second time. We have found out that the items were not dark magic items after all. We are very sorry for any inconvience this may have caused. Sincerely, Mafalda Hopkirk." "I told you I wasn't!" "Well, I'm sorry we didn't believe you on that, But you still ordered things, and lied about it." "I'm sorry. I thought I had a great idea. But I was just being stupid." "It probably was a good idea!" Albus shouted. Before anyone could talk, another owl zoomed in. "Great. Just great. The 5th owl. Who this time?" James opened it, and read: "James, I am sorry you couldn't pick up your purchase. I had to tell them you couldn't because I knew it would get you into trouble. Especially since your parents don't know it was my idea. Oops, they probably do now…..I better go. Uncle George." "So it was George's idea. I would have never guessed, Ginny." Harry said. "Okay, it was. And he bought them too, but put it under my name. It won't happen again." "Okay. It's fine. I will let you go this time, but not again. Now go and do whatever, I don't know. I need to talk to your mother. Out everyone! Out!" Everyone left the kitchen, and Harry walked over to Ginny and sat down. "Ginny, I'm afraid George is putting a bad influence on James and Albus. I know he isn't doing anything horrible, and he's been like this forever, but I'm just worried." "I am too. Yeah, he's my brother, but he isn't helping. I think we should talk to him." Harry nodded. Ginny walked over to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, and threw it in. "George, come here, quickly." A loud crack erupted behind them, and there was George. "Yes?" He asked. "Hello, George. We need to talk." Ginny said. "What is it?" "We are afraid you are not acting like you should be around James and Albus. We already have enough problems with them acting crazy, but sometimes you don't help. Like what just happened 5 minutes ago." "Well, I just wanted to be a cool uncle. I understand. I'll try to be more careful;." "Thank you." "Your welcome. Now, where are they?" "I knew I heard Uncle George!" Albus yelled."There you are! Come here!" "Hey, I want to show you what I can do." Albus said. "Follow me." He brought George outside, and grabbed James's brromstick, since he lost his. He did the exact same trick he showed to Lily and James several days before. "Wow! That's great! Do you want to see what I can do?" "Sure!" George grabbed the broomstick and hopped on. He kicked off, and flew straight up into the air, close to a mile. Then, he did 20 flips and spins, did a zigzag, turned upside down, and still held on. Then, he turned right side up and stood up, holding his hands in the air. Then he flew straight down, and put his hand in his pocket. As he was going down, he threw 2 poppers at the ground. Then he landed carefully. James and Albus clapped. "That was great!" Albus said. "It sure was!" James said. "Now, let's get inside before your parents get mad." George handed Albus back the broomstick, and walked inside.
Harry had been ready for the summer to end these last few weeks. All there was turned into trouble. Mostly Albus and James. So when the summer break only had 2 weeks left, Harry tried to rush everything he could. "Don't do that! Do this!" "No go over there." "Pick that up!" "Pack! Pack, pack pack!" "What are you doing? I said to do it over there!" "Ughhhhh it's driving me crazy!" "I'm going outside. Nevermind I'm going inside!" It started to drive everyone crazy. "Harry, dear, would you please make up your mind?" Ginny constantly said. "I'm only human!" Lily would always say. James and Albus would just say it wasn't them.
(Add this later) As soon as Lily expected it, it was time to go to Hogwarts. "Is everyone ready to go?" Harry asked. "Let me check." Lily said, running up to make sure everything was out of her room. "I have everything!" "Us too! We packed everything we could." James and Albus said. "Great. Now let's go." "Wait, where is mum?" Lily asked. "Oh, I don't know. I thought she was right here. Ginny! Ginny? GINNY! Where are you?" No answer. They looked in every room, but there was no sign of Ginny. "Well, we haven't checked in the backyard. But I didn't think she would be there." Harry walked out in the backyard, to find Ginny in the garden, working with her wand. "Ginny! We have been calling you and looking for you! It's time to go!" "Oh no! I lost track of time! I was working on gardening without my wand for the first time! Let's go then!" She raced inside, leaving Harry to walk inside by himself. "Okay, now we can go!" Harry said. Then they walked outside and got into their car, and headed to King's Cross Station.
