I spotted Number Four, Privet Drive as soon as I came close to the neighborhood. It was early morning, and the neighborhood was just waking up. The post man was walking around, dropping letters, and I took my opportunity, landing on the roof of Number Four. The post man had just walked off, heading to the next house. I ruffled my wings and soared down, dropping my letter on top of the pile. The post man glanced back, as though he had thought he had saw something, but I was already hidden in the early morning shadows. He turned back, thinking it a trick of the light.

I kept to my perch, hoping to get a glimpse of Harry. Sure enough, he opened the door and grabbed the letter, curiously examining it. He had probably never received a letter. Poor boy hardly got anything. I felt a great surge of sisterly protection towards him, wanting to land on his shoulder and nip his ear, show him a world beyond his wildest imagination. But, I reminded myself, that was what the letter would do.

Only after he closed the door did I fly off. Although I knew nothing about the maps of London, I could successfully navigate the streets, and get to Mallory's flat even though I have no idea where it is. It must be part of an owl's navigation skills.

I landed on the window ledge, gracefully, and a ginger cat met me, licking it's paws and flicking it's tail and watching some Muggle sport on the television. I tapped on the window and the cat looked up, stretched, and turned into my best friend before me eyes. She opened the window for me, and I landed next to her.

"How was your trip?" She asked as I changed back.

"Good. I delivered Harry's letter. He seems as hungry as ever." I scowled profoundly, and Mallory must have noticed, because she shrugged and said, "Let's celebrate. Tea?" I nodded, known as brew might do me good.

I took a closer look at my friend. Something seemed to be… wrong. "Mallory?" I asked, thinking I noticed the peculiarity. "What color is your hair?"

She pulled a strand, and without thinking said, "Brown." But she blinked, unsure of her answer.

"It looks more brandy," I said. A change was slowly spreading down to the tips of her once-brown hair.

"It looks… It looks like the color of your animagus. Sort of.. ginger, almost."

"Good, I never liked that dusty color." She layed back down on the couch, now littered with cat fur. "Do you think that will be my animagus mark thing? Like McGonagall has her glasses?"

"I guess so. I wonder what mine will be," I speculated, draping myself over an over stuffed armchair.

"That, probably," Mallory said, pointing. I follower her direction to my arms, where a map of black dots where spreading to my fingertips. "It looks just like the marks on the owl's wings."

"Wicked!" I exclaimed, examining the marks. They looked like large black freckles. They might raise eyebrows, but nobody would think to much of it. Backfired spells had some strange effects.

I recalled a particularly nasty one where a Gryffindor student was practicing transfiguring a locket into a pocket watch and turned his own hands to metal. One Muggleborn shouted something about a winter soldier, but I didn't really understand.

It was common for witches and wizards my age to carry spell marks, as our spells commonly backfired. No one would find anything unusual about it. A bit funny, perhaps, but not unusual.

As for Mallory's ginger hair, no one would give half a glance to it.

For the rest of the day, we practiced transforming. Our appearances gradually changed. I got streaks of white in my dark hair, and Mallory's hair made the complete transformation to ginger. I'm not sure, but I swear I saw her pupils get thinner.

Occasionally, Mallory would tease me, "Do you need some help there, grandma?" I'd swat her and we both would laugh.

We did this until the night settled into a deadly black. Then, we went to get some sleep. My dreams consisted of me flying over Hogwarts, feeling the cool air rush to my face, the breeze ruffling my feathers.

A few days past. Mallory and I had fun, joking around and transforming. She had to fill out a letter of resignation to the school, so she did that at night while I flew around

The next day, I woke up a grey cat with markings similar to glasses. I sat up, startled. The cat turned into McGonagall, who sat down on the corner of my bed.

"Profe-" I started, but was cut short.

"It seems, Ms. Custos, that these Dursleys will not make Harry's life any easier."

I sighed, piecing together what might have happened.

"They stopped Harry from getting the letter?"

McGonagall nodded sternly. Then, the door opened, Mallory standing in the doorway.

"Let's get down to business."

I got out of bed, took a shower, and dressed. When I came out, I found McGonagall and Mallory having tea. McGonagall noticed me the second I came out the door and stood up with a swiftness I honestly didn't know she had.

"I will gather more Animagi and the owls at the Owlery. We shall bombard them with letters if we have to." She said, and I found a new sort of admiration for her and her determination. I smiled and nodded. Instead of flying, I got the extreme pleasure of Apparation. God, I hate it.

When we reached Hogsmeade, that's when I turned into an owl and flew to the ledge of the Owlery and waited patiently. I heard voices, but not familiar ones. They seemed to be getting closer. I tried to remember if I'd heard them before, but couldn't recognize them. What were other people doing here at Hogwarts during the summer?

Then, two owls, a eagle and a tawny came in. That's when I realized that the voices belonged to them. I could understand what they were saying.

"Just because we're animals doesn't mean we're inferior. We need to start an uprising, Phil, AN UPRISING!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Maxwell. They give us the fattest rats. I've got my eyes set on that tall red head's rat. I mean sure, it's lost a finger, but it's the fattest rat I've laid my eyes upon."

I fly over to them.

"Can you understand me?" I say-well, hoot. They look at me, and I can feel their attitudes radiating from their eyes.

"Of course we can, we're not French." says the eagle owl, Maxwell.

"Don't be rude," says the tawny, Phil, "Yes we can perfectly understand you, why do you ask?"

"Sorry, it's just that I'm an Animagus, and I didn't know you cou-" I started, but I was cut off by Maxwell.

"AH, so you're a human, eh? Mate, I've got a lot to say to you," Maxwell starts towards me. I slip off a ledge and frantically fly to another one. Maxwell flies after me, still spewing complains.

"Those Malfoys think I'm sort of servant. Am I house elf? No. I'm quite a handsome eagle owl, and yes, the elves groom me, and sometimes the wife grooms me personally but yet they still treat me like a ball of dung!"

Phil flew after Maxwell and hooted loudly at him, "Maxwell! Stop pestering the poor child! She's not a Malfoy, so stop pressuring her," Phil turns around to me, "You're not a Malfoy, are you?"

I shake my head. Maxwell narrows his eyes at me and flies away.

"Thank you, Phil." I say.

"It's fine, Maxwell has a bigger ego than the Malfoys, and that's saying something." Phil chuckles. He soon bids me goodbye and flies away. I remember what I came here for and turn to the other thousands of Hogwarts owls.

"Hello, everyone." I say. No one hears me.

"HELLO, EVERYONE!" I said a bit loudly. Still no one hears me. Then, two cats stroll in. McGonagall and Mallory.

Mallory runs to the middle of the room and shouts in a very, very loud voice, "OI, THICKHEADS, PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL'S GOT A JOB FOR YOU LOT, SO LISTEN UP!"

All the owls freeze and swivel their heads towards Mallory, who smirks and says, "Yeah, thats right, I called you thickheads. Now listen to McGonagall. This is important."

McGonagall lept onto a perch of owl feed and cleared her throat. "I have a stack of letters outside. Each of you are to take one, no, each of you will take five letters. You will take them to Number four Privet Drive, and got them into the house any way possible. Don't be shy about it. And some of you, go find other owls to help out. We're going to need as many helping beaks as we can. Now chop chop, we haven't all day." Still, none of the owls moved, just grumbled and complained, rearranging their feathers.

"COME ON OWLS, THIS ISN'T HARD!" Shouted Mallory, and all the owls simultaneously leaped off if their perches I'm fear of being swatted down by the fluffy ginger cat. Some of them flew out the windows to get owls from other Wizarding families. The rest swooped outside to get letters from a now-human McGonagall and Mallory.

I followed the second group, and allowed Mallory to put five letters into my beak. "Goodluck, grandma," Mallory said, smirking. I would have said something snarky back, but my mouth had quite a lot of letters in it, and I couldn't let them go at all. Insidead, I rose up into the sky, clipping the tip of my wing on Mallory's head as I went.

I followed a swarm of owls towards Privet Drive. We were all silent, the letters prohibiting much conversation, and our wings hardly made a whisper as they cut through the air. I loved the sky. But I had never done a full length flight like this before. I had always Apperated from place A to place B to cut time and preserve energy. But I had more energy than I thought I did. We flew over *English city* before I even thought of being tired. But by the time we got to Little Whinging, I had cramps in my wings and was eager to touch down and deliver my letter.

I spotted Number Four and started descending. The whole group, now twice as large as it had been when we started off, went down with me, landing on mailboxes, chimneys, and fences to rest. I noticed the Dursleys sitting in their sitting room, having tea and cookies, Harry offering a plate of sweets to Dudley like a waiter. They hardly payed him any mind. I would show them.

I flew up towards the chimney, and started dropping my letters down. The old next to me did the same. About a hundred owls started letting letters fly. The combined wing power of all of us forces the letters down faster and faster, a whirlwind of paper and feathers. Glancing through the window at the chaos we had created, I smiled. There was no way the Dursleys could stop Harry from getting his letter now.

Oh how wrong I was.

I looked through the window to find that Harry had grabbed a few of the letters and was trying to open them, but then Mr. Dursley had grabbed him, and soon enough, they had packed their bags and were heading out to the car. Some of the owls tried to stop them, but Mr Dursley just shooed them away.

They sped off, leaving us defeated. For now. I turned to the owls, saying, "No one follow me. I'm following them, and I'll come back with the information soon enough. The less owls the better. Am I clear?"

They nodded and flew off, probably to McGonagall. I turned back, stretched my aching wings for another flight, and took off.

It took me a while to spot their car, but once I did, I was in full pursuit. I don't think anyone inside the car saw me, otherwise something would have happened.

They kept driving until they reached a gloomy hotel in some place called Cokeworth. The sign read 'Railview Hotel'. I turned into a human just as they entered the hotel, and went in a few seconds after they did. I stood behind the counter just behind them, and listened to their conversation. They were taking room 17. I decided that I would take the room right next to them. Room 16.

I took lodge in the room. There was a queen bed and a twin bed. The sheets were damp and musty. I threw myself onto the twin bed and decided to wake up in the morning and deliver a letter then. I reached into my pocket and took out another letter. I lightly traced the seal on the front, then flipped the letter. On the back, the address had magically changed. The address now read-

Mr. H. Potter

Room 17

Railview Hotel

Cokeworth

I smiled. Sometimes, even the simplest of magic filled me with wonder.

I slipped the letter back in my pocket and closed my eyes. Suddenly, a very loud noise startled me. After a few seconds, I realized it was Dudley's snoring.

I could hear that little pig through the walls! I had forgotten how loud he snored. I grumbled and got up, deciding that I would deliver my letter now in case I couldn't get enough sleep.

I went to the counter and asked to speak with the manager. I handed him the letters, explaining that there may be a few more coming. He nodded and told me he would deliver them in the morning. I agreed and, getting an idea, I went out the front door and flew off to the Hogwarts owlery, where the owls were waiting for me.

I told them what happened and where to go, and they all nodded, grabbed a letter and flew away towards Cokeworth.

For now, I was exhausted and furious. How dare they deny the greatest wizard, the bravest wizard, Harry Potter his birthright to be taught at the place I called come? It boiled my blood to see him treated like this, especially after all I had seen him endure already, was he not allowed to have this one break, this one thing to go through without a struggle? I knew things would be hard enough in the future, so could they not give him one thing in peace? I was in a rage.

Flying back to Cokeworth wasn't hard with so much anger fueling every flap of my wings. I dropped my letter off at the post station and gathered with the owls in a large barn just outside the city. Now, with some adrenaline fading and anger dispersing, the fatigue was returning. The other owls seemed worn out as well, so I shouted out, "Do you guys want to spend the day here?"

A chorus of agreements went up around the barn, and sleepy heads started being tucked under wings. I had never slept in my animagus form, but it couldn't be that hard, could it?

It wasn't, thank goodness. But waking up was impossible.

First, it was disorienting, waking up in a body every molecule screamed wasn't your own. But after you got over the initial shock of wow I'm an owl, things got a little easier. A friendly owl who landed next to me made it even easier to drag myself out of a stupor.

"Hello," Said the owl. "I'm Jane." Jane smiled, or at least what I thought was a smile, owl beaks not being like human lips. Jane was a brown elf owl with a permanently surprised look on her face, but she seemed friendly. "The others-" she glanced around at the other owls, maybe hoping nobody would see us, "The others say you're a human." I nodded my snowy head. "Do you want to fly back together?"

"Sure." Her large eyes widened with joy, and we took off. Some were already soaring through the crisp early morning sky, enjoying some free flight time without a letter or a package to deliver.

"What's your name?" She asked, diving and swooping.

"Angel," I told her, making an ark through the air with my wings.

"Huh, an owl angel. Flying through the sky and protecting the masses. Fitting."

We flew in quietude, simply adoring the country fields and small cities below.

"So Jane," I asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Hmm?" She looked over to me with those big eyes.

"Are you a school owl?"

"Yeah, but I'm employed by the Ministry of Magic. I deliver the paper and the recipients give me gallions, some of which go to the school, and some of which go to the Ministry. It's one of the ways the school helps support itself. I'm honored to be apart of it."

"I wonder how large the school vaults are exactly. Huge, probably, since they've been collecting since the eleven hundreds."

"I wouldn't know," Jane said. "I'm only an owl, doomed to live a short and indistinct life. What's it like to be human?" her round eyes grew to the size of saucers, looking at me expectantly.

"Well, for me, it wasn't all that pleasant. My mum died when I was young, really young, then my dad got jailed soon after that. Then I was put in an orphanage and bullied, then I went to school, made some friends, but still got bullied. When I got out of school, I got put in a coma for eight months, so it hasn't all been a pile of happiness and smiled."

"Oh," Jane said. "I always thought it was good food and magic."

We didn't talk for a long time after that. Infact, only when we saw the castle on the horizon did I realize how long we'd been flying. When we had started off, the sum was just cresting above the sleepy hillside. Now it had to be something like midday. Jane flew in beside the castle, near the Great Hall, where we saw teachers eating a late breakfast of early lunch. A stone slid aside when we approached, opening up to reveal a dark space.

"This place must be crawling with spiders," I muttered after landing. My skin was crawling with all the prospective creepy crawlies.

"Oh, it is!" said Jane's voice somewhere to my left. Even in what should be the absolute dark, I could see an outline of her miniscule figure. "That's what makes it so great. Now we just have to wait for the next door to open."

The next door did not seem to be a door, only a thin blanket of glossimer. Like everything else, it was pitch black, but seemed to be the only source of light. The other side must be showing the sky above, clear and bright. I walked over to it and put a wing to it. What should have been silky was hard and cold as stone. I recalled a transfiguration lesson where McGonagall taught us how to keep an object looking a certain way, while changing the texture and durability. That was exactly what had happened here, except on a way larger scale. So large, I had no idea how big the chamber really was, or the time since a human had been up here.

I blinked, and the glossimer was gone, replaced by the Great Hall. Jane swooped down, and I followed. But, being the big show off I am, midair I turned back to human, several feet above the Slytherin table. I landed nimbly on the the wood, hardly needing to regain my balance. Jane was still doing circles.

I had the attention of the entire staff table, who had stopped eating and looked up at me. I smiled and hopped down to the stone, striding up to McGonagall. "Hello, Professor!" I said cheerily.

"Hello, Ms. Custos." The tips of her mouth twitched.

"I love the entry!" Mallory said, raising her voice for me to hear.

"Thank you!" I shouted back. I looked over the faces of the other teachers. Snape was scowling, but that wasn't a surprise. Of all his Slytherin favorites, I was at the bottom of the list. The Defence Against the Dark Arts stop was vacant, as was the Astronomy and Muggle Studies, but those teachers often ate in there office. Hagrid was beaming.

"Well done, Ms. Custos," Said Dumbledore. He was smiling, but I was struggling to keep mine. Was I not supposed to do that? "Professor McGonagall told me everything. You and Ms. Knox can go downstairs to your common room, while Professor McGonagall and I discuss in my office the next action to take. You can join us there when a house elf comes to retreive you." He nodded and smiled again. "And take an apple, I'm sure you're hungry."

I grabbed an apple off the tray and nodded thanks to Dumbledore. Mallory stood up to join me, and as we walked out of the hall, we heard Snape say, in his annoyingly nasally voice, "I'm not sure you should trust that one, Headmaster. Her father, you know…"

My grip on the apple tightened. He said that before we had left on purpose. He wanted to aggravate me, get on my nerves, crawl under my skin. My fingernails left crescent moons on the skin of the apple when I released my death grip on the fruit as we descended the staircase to the Slytherin common rooms.