Chapter 6 - Owls Anyone?

Harry felt somewhat mollified now that he had given a plausible excuse for his behaviour. He really did not relish dishing out the white lie but under the circumstances, it was justified. As he roamed around the house, he noticed several things that had escaped his notice before. Perhaps because this was the first time he allowed himself to freely explore his new domain.

His housemates were nice and friendly but he did not want to intrude on their privacy. He was not that thick not to figure out that there were some things that he was not allowed to touch or even look at but he was okay with that. After all, their hospitality was commendable. However, after his i'confession'/i, the trio suddenly became extra nice and lenient with him. Billy even encouraged him to explore the house and read some books if he's bored. Matt had some reservations but he did not exactly contradict his friend.i"Maybe they had the same misfortune."/i he assumed and left it at that.

He carefully plucked a book from the shelf. It possessed a very interesting title - Advanced Cooking for Beginners. 'Might as well learn something useful from this.' he thought amusedly to himself. The book seemed over-used but the cooking styles of his current housemates was almost non-existent. Then, his jaw dropped when his gaze fell on the first menu. "How to concoct Polyjuice Potion - the Easy Way" He rubbed his eyes vigorously and looked again. Maybe his eyes was just deceiving him...but there it was...in big, bold, black letters. He gasped in shock and turned the page. "Draught of Peace", "Veritaserum" and "Wolfbane" followed the first menu. He glanced at the trio who were chatting happily with one another over several bottles of beer. He gradually and soundlessly closed the book so as not to attract attention. Then he casually joined the three. It was time for him to do the questioning.

"Hey guys! What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Just reminiscing about the good old times." replied Billy good-naturedly. He must have recovered from the Marge problem already.

"Really? I assume you've done your share of detentions when you were in school." said Jeric teasingly.

"You said it. You wouldn't believe serious-Matt here annoyed all the professors during our first year without even uttering a single word." said Chuck who was guffawing at the memory.

"And then, there's this broom incident..." added Billy but was stopped unceremoniously by a not-so-subtle kick from Matt who glared at the two furiously.

"What happened?" prompted Jeric as if he didn't notice the rude interruption.

"Nothing. I just shoved it down the caretaker's throat for being nosy." said Matt rather too nastily to be considered a joke.

"Chill out, bro. He's just asking." said Billy with an equally nasty glare.

Harry was saved from commenting by a tawny owl that suddenly sailed through the open window. The three visibly tensed, all traces of drunkenness gone. Matt glared once more at his two colleagues before bolting to his room and slamming the door behind him with a force that vibrated through the walls. Judging from their expressions, Harry became even more convinced that this was not just an ordinary owl. Feigning a look of absolute enthrallment, he gave the two a charming smile.

"What a fascinating bird that is! Is that your owl? I do love owls." he asked them casually.

Billy and Chuck looked as if they were doing some very quick thinking before one of them replied.

"Yeah - that's our owl. Fascinating creature. You know this one is extremely intelligent. The seller told us that if we train it properly, the owl could be used to deliver mail." said Chuck as he carefully retrieved a parchment that looked suspiciously like the Daily Prophet from Jeric's view.

"Really? How amazing!" said Jeric in awe while scrunching his eye to decipher the letterings on the parchment.

"Too bad the shop we bought it from was already closed." said Billy.

"Oh!" said Jeric, disappointment evident on his voice. "Is it okay if I also send letters through your owl? I umm-wish to inform my friends that I'm safe so that they won't worry about me but I don't want them to know where I am." he added quickly.

The two stared at one another again as if deliberating using mental telepathy if they were going to grant his request or not.

"Umm - we're not sure if the owl can deliver to any address but you may try." said Billy and gave him a very hasty explanation on how to use owl post.

Jeric would have loved to laugh and reveal that he already knew all about it but held his tongue. He still did not know what side they were on. Better it be a one-sided discovery until he finds out if they could be trusted or not. Besides, he was enjoying his current incognito status.

Chuck, thinking that Jeric was too naive to be suspicious, recklessly decided to show him the parchment.

Harry ogled the newspaper handed to him. He was right! It was the Daily Prophet!

"We better tell him about our little club, Bill. I really don't want to cancel our subscription. And this would make things easier for all of us." said Chuck to his friend with a slight wink.

Harry raised his eyebrows and wondered how on Earth were they going to explain this one to him. Surely, Chuck was not suggesting that they admit to being wizards, or squibs, or whatever. No self-respecting wizard would dare admit it to a stranger even if the stranger was living at their house.

"You see...we umm --- joined a little club a few years ago. You know us -- terribly adventurous and curious teenagers -- we fooled around with wizardry for a while to keep us from dying from boredom. It was really interesting. These newsletters never failed to amuse us."

"Yeah -- look at the moving pictures. Unbelievable - isn't it? That's one of the wonders of technology. Some of our members are really gifted at that."

Harry grinned at how well the two were lying through their teeth. There's no way a club like that would exist in a muggle world and even manage to get a subscription from the Daily Prophet. The Quibbler probably, due to its unorthodox practices, but definitely not the most conservative newsletter at the wizarding world. But he was willing to play dumb...at least for a while. This might even be wise.

"This is really awesome! I'm really glad that you took me in. I'm learning so many things from you." he said honestly as he leafed through the paper. 'Great! There's no news about me yet.'

Billy and Chuck grinned triumphantly at one another before they headed to Matt's room and left him to peruse the paper to his heart's content.

'So, this was the subscription that Matt was referring to. I wonder what else they were hiding.' thought Harry as he stared at his two new friends. He wished he had an extendable ear, one of the brilliant Weasley twin's inventions. 'Perhaps I'd better start writing that letter to Hermione and Ron.'

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Dear Ron and Hermione,

First of all, I want to apologize for leaving like that. I just can't deal with the guilt and pain anymore. The nightmares kept coming and every waking hour, I am slowly being tortured with the fact that many have suffered because of me. I hope you understand. You may call this cowardice on my part but I prefer to term it a necessary evil to preserve my sanity. Please tell Dumbledore and the rest that I'm safe and living with a nice muggle family.

Secondly, I don't want to be found so please inform them (you know who I mean) not to look for me. If they do, I would just try to escape again or die trying. I'm happy with my life now.

Thirdly, I wish we could still be friends despite of this. You don't know how much your friendship means to me. You're the family I never had. It's what has kept me going through all the hardships that I've encountered. I would probably visit you some time but I won't tell you when it would be for obvious reasons. Don't worry, I still have the invisible cloak with me but I'd probably give you the Marauder's Map when we meet. You need it more there.

Fifthly, again forgive me. May you both get high scores on your NEWTS. Take care of yourselves...I love you both....

Harry Hermione was teary-eyed when she finished reading the short missive. It was all there. Harry was never coming back. He has left the wizarding world for good.

"Where's the fourth?" commented a red-faced Ron.

"W-what?" asked Hermione distractedly. She was too agrieved to discern what Ron was talking about.

"You said thirdly then fiftly...where's the fourth?" replied Ron.

Hermione looked at the parchment again and true enough, there was a large space between the third and fifth part. She immediately performed a revealing charm on it but nothing happened.

"Let me try." said Ron as he grabbed the parchment from her shaking hands. He also performed a series of spells on the parchment but nothing worked.

"Harry probably used a very complicated spell for that one." said Hermione, a little miffed that she couldn't break the charm but too miserable to care. She retrieved the letter and was about to hide it when she noticed some letters appearing on the parchment. "Hey, Ron. Look at this!"

"Sixthly, divide this parchment horizontally into four parts. Give the topmost part to Ginny, then the next to Neville, then the next to Ron and the bottom part to Hermione. Please keep that piece with you at all times."

"Hmm...another mystery!" said Ron as he folded the paper neatly and followed Harry's instructions. He took his share, gave Hermione her piece and left to find the others.