Harry Potter was sitting on his bed behind a large cake, crying. It was his 18th birthday, but he couldn't be happy. His best friends Ron and Hermione had been killed in a car crash the day before. They had been on their way to the hospital because Hermione had been about to give birth… But now everything was gone: Ron, Hermione, the baby. The birthday cake was soaking wet with Harry's tears.
Harry looked out of the window. The only thing he could see was his beautiful owl Hedwig, who was pointlessly flying around in circles. Harry got very angry; he was sure he had never been that angry before. How could Hedwig behave like that at a moment like this? She should be sitting inside feeling sad, just like her owner. Harry took his half-melted cake, opened the window and threw the cake furiously at Hedwig!
The cake hit Hedwig straight in the head. The owl let out a terrified cry – and fell to the ground. Realizing what he had done, Harry screamed in horror, jumped off the bed and ran outside. There he was met by something that looked like a heap of feathers. "Hedwig!" he cried and ran to the owl that seemed more dead than alive. He lifted her up gently and carried her inside the house. He placed her on a soft pillow and patted her on the head. Then panic took over him. Hedwig was still alive, but she wouldn't survive without help from someone who was an expert on owls! And it was all Harry's fault… Soon Hedwig's feathers were wet with the boy wizard's tears, just like the birthday cake had been. Harry took off his glasses and covered his eyes with his hands as he tried to figure out how to save Hedwig.
But then something happened. Hedwig started to hoot softly… Harry almost screamed with relief, but then he noticed that Hedwig was slowly changing… The colour of her feathers, the shape of her beak, everything about her was changing! Harry couldn't move; he just stared at the thing that once was his owl. He almost fainted when he saw that Hedwig's wings had turned into – a pair of human arms. And soon, instead of a white owl, there was a girl lying in front of Harry. The girl was very beautiful, and Harry recognized her immediately – it was Fleur Delacour.
(Chapter 2 will be up SOON… whether you like it or not.)
