Owl Post (PA)
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Owl Post is the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Contents |
Summer holidays
The summer before Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been predictably tedious. The book starts with him awake in the middle of the night doing his History of Magic homework in secret, holding a torch in one hand and a large leather-bound book in the other (Bathilda Bagshot's A History of Magic).
The essay he is supposed to write for Professor Binns' class is Witch-Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless – discuss. He reads:
"Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognising it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burnt so much that she allowed herself to be caught no fewer than forty-seven times in various disguises."
Grabbing the ink bottle and parchment from beneath his pillow, the boy starts writing, pausing every few moments to check if any of the Dursleys have woken up. They have locked all his magic-related items during the summer, which is a problem to Harry, who was assigned a lot of homework, including a nasty essay about Shrinking Potions for Snape's class.
Harry had taken advantage of a day in which the entire family had left the house to admire Vernon's new company car to pick the lock, grab some books and hide them in his bedroom.
One of the reasons for which Harry was keen to avoid trouble with his aunt and uncle was the telephone call he had received from Ron Weasley in the first week of holidays.
Ron's phone call
The Weasley child, being a pure-blood and therefore not familiar with Muggle technology, had never used a telephone. When he called number four, Privet Drive, Vernon picked up the receiver and heard a voice bellowing, "HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I — WANT — TO — TALK — TO — HARRY — POTTER!"
Vernon was, of course, furious, and after finding out that Ron was a friend of the boy's from school yelled back that there was no Harry Potter in the house, and that there should be no further attempts to contact him. He then reprimands Harry for giving their number to people like him.
Harry assumed that Ron had told Hermione Granger about the episode; she had not tried to call in the four weeks since then.
Vernon only allows Hedwig to be let out at night because otherwise she makes too much noise, but Harry has sworn not to use his owl as means of contacting his friends.
July 31, 1993
Harry finishes writing the bit about Wendelin the Weird in his essay and puts his school stuff away. Looking at the clock, he realises that it is now one o'clock; he has been thirteen years old for a full hour.
He looks out the window, and sees a lopsided shape coming in his direction. As it approaches, the shape is revealed to be in fact Hedwig and a handsome tawny owl, both carrying Errol, who is unconscious.
Harry unties the parcel Errol is carrying from her legs, and puts the owl in Hedwig's cage, where it gulps some water. His own snowy owl is, too, carrying a package; he relieves both her and the tawny, proud owl of their mail.
Ron's letter
The boy opens Errol's package first: it contains a Daily Prophet clipping, a present wrapped in gold, and Harry's first ever birthday card.
The clipping reads:
"MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE
"Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.
"A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, 'We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank.'
"The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend."
There is a black and white picture accompanying the article, in which all the Weasleys are depicted: plump, little Molly, tall, balding Arthur, their six sons and one daughter. Ron is right in the middle of the picture, with his pet rat Scabbers on his shoulder.
Ron's birthday card for Harry had news about the Weasleys' trip. Bill took them to several tombs, showing them the oddest curses old Egyptians cast on the sepulchres. In the last one, which Molly forbade Ginny to enter, there were mutant skeletons of Muggles who had attempted to break in and had ended up growing extra heads.
Ron mentions that the amount of the prize was seven hundred galleons, most of which was spent on the trip. His parents have agreed, however, to buy him a new wand (CS5).
He also mentions that Arthur reckons he shouldn't have shouted on the telephone, and apologises for any confusions his call may have caused. Ron further adds that he is going to London to buy school supplies, and hopes that he can meet Harry there. There is a P.S. too: Percy was made Head Boy.
The present Ron bought to Harry is a Pocket Sneakoscope, which lights up and spins when someone untrustworthy is around. According to Bill, it's rubbish sold to tourists, because it kept lighting up during dinner—but he hadn't realised that Fred and George had put beetles in his soup.
Hermione's letter
Hermione sent her letter through Hedwig; she didn't know how to send her present, which she'd bought via owl-order after seeing an ad in the Prophet, and thought it fortunate that Harry's owl went to France to make sure he got presents.
She confirms Harry's suspicions that Ron told her about the phone call incident, and tells him that she is on holidays in France. She has discovered loads of interesting stuff about the history of witchcraft there, and rewrote her entire History of Magic essay to include her findings.
Hermione, too, will be in London on the last week of holidays.
Harry opens his present, expecting to find a heavy and informative book. He is extremely pleased and surprised to see a sleek leather case with Broomstick Servicing Kit embroidered in silver. Inside it there is a large jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, two shiny silver Tail-Twig Clippers, a small brass compass to clip on the broomstick for long journeys, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare.
Hagrid's letter
The last parcel is from Rubeus Hagrid. The package contains something that Harry notices only to be green and leathery before it quivers and starts to try biting him. He manages to unwrap it completely and sees that it is a book called The Monster Book of Monsters.
The book scuttles sideways along the bed and away from him; it then falls on the ground with a loud thump. After some effort, he buckles his belt around it, and looks at the card Hagrid has written.
It in, the gamekeeper wishes him a happy birthday and reveals that Harry might find the book useful during the coming year. The boy finds this somewhat ominous, but is happy nonetheless.
The Hogwarts letter
The tawny owl brought also a letter from Hogwarts, with the usual supplies list. There is something new this year, however: a permission slip for Hogsmeade visits, which Harry's guardians must sign in order for him to be allowed to go to the village.
He despairs with the thought that he will have to convince Vernon to sign. Nevertheless, at that moment, for the first time in his life, Harry is actually glad to acknowledge that today is his birthday.
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|---|---|---|
| start of book | Owl Post | Aunt Marge's Big Mistake |
