Hogwarts Owlery
24 November, 1976, 12:34 a.m.

Mr Padfoot, my noble, munificent friend,

          You are not allowed to keep the window closed. I cannot close the windows of the Owlery, since the brilliant mind behind the extraordinary design of this castle apparently didn't consider the health of humans and stags when they forgot to include panes or blinds in the construction of this fine room. Thus, you MUST leave the dorm windows open and, like me, savour the delightful temperatures of forty-something degrees of this lovely autumn night. And you MUST, of course, clean my desk before my detention is over, or you'll find more than owl waste adorning your robes tomorrow morning.

          And perhaps I should remind you that no kitty cat would have spotted us if you hadn't started barking, I mean, laughing so loud. The mere thought of hearing about discretion from a bloke who still has to master the ability to whisper without waking the dead and who prowls about wearing pants two sizes smaller... I would laugh myself silly if I didn't fear collapsing on this filthy floor. I assure you that next time you start hopping around me claiming to have had a "superb idea" I will check with Mr Moony first. If he agrees to give your plan a try, I'll go along; if he pretends to have forgot his books somewhere and slips away, I will leave you to face Filch and McGonagall on your own. I do recognise he can smell an upcoming disaster much better than I do, and that's probably why in our first day at Hogwarts he made a point of getting the farthest bed from yours. (On the other hand, he ended up with his sensitive ears very close to Mr Wormtail's nightly blare, poor fellow. I wonder how he manages.)

          Nevertheless, I'm curious about those Potions hypothesis you've mentioned. I'm sure even McGonagall would agree that it's never too early to start studying for our NEWTs, and wouldn't that darling greasy classmate of ours be ecstatic with the chance to help us test our experiments? After you've helped him to test his enhanced Purgatio Kseron, he must be eager for an opportunity to return the favour. So what do you have in mind?

          I'm sending this through what I hope to be a smarter owl than the first one—which I had chosen because her plump head, yellowish feathers and vacant expression reminded me fondly of Bertha Jorkins. This one looks more alert and insidious, and her shiny black feathers and vulgar stance made me think of good old Bellatrix. I thought you'd like her. Hopefully she'll take after your charming cousin and mess on the right desk.

          Wishing you were here,

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written by Morgan D.
August the 9th, 2003

All characters mentioned above are property of J.K. Rowling and her associates, such as Bloomsbury, Scholastic Books, Warner Bros and Merlin-knows-who-else. This is fanfiction: created solely for fun, has no legal connection to the Harry Potter novels, and attains no financial profit.
The Purgatio Kseron is a creation of mine.