A Change in the Weather
Hermione Bronte (Hufflepuff)
It was cloudy today. Hot and humid, but cloudy. It also looked like it was about to rain. So I could say it was a completely normal day in London. Nothing unusual, at least weather-wise.
Right before breakfast, I was sitting next to a tree, reading some Yeats--my mom used to read his poems to me when I was younger, and although I didn’t understand them fully, I really enjoyed listening to them. It has become a need to me, and while I usually don’t get distracted easily, I couldn’t avoid looking away, more times that I’d like to admit, to make eye contact with an owl that--I might have gone crazy--has been following me for days now. It was white and brown. And I knew it was the same one every time, because it had a brown spot around its left eye, making it look like a panda bear. Or at least that’s what I thought the first time I saw it.
It’s not like it’s the first time I've had a weird connection with an animal; in fact, I'm usually like a magnet for them. It’s like there’s no need for words between us to understand each other. But this time was different. I could feel it. It seemed like it was…looking after me? All the time. Even while having breakfast, I could see it through the window, just in front of me, on our neighbor’s roof, staring at me. I couldn’t look away. And suddenly, it moved its wings and flew all the way down to our window. I looked at it, surprised, almost petrified, and then it knocked on the window with its beak. I slowly stood up and went to open the window, confused. The owl lifted its leg, and then I realized it had a letter on it. A letter with my name on it. I looked at my parents and then back to the owl, which looked at its leg as if it wanted me to hurry up and take the letter right away. My hands were shaking, but I finally untied it. As soon as I did it, the owl flew away.
I opened the letter, and, after reading it, I looked again through the window. And the weather today was cloudy, with a bit of magic.
