"How did you know it was time to leave?"
"Do you feel sick to your stomach every waking moment in that house?"
Romina stepped back for a moment and let out the breath she did not even realize she had been holding. "Y-Yes." she admitted sheepishly...
Along the vast hills surrounding Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry flew a brown owl, an urgent message safely tucked between its beak. Romina would never understand how Otis knew exactly where to go in her time of need. It was as though the bird knew that she may have had to endure more suffering if the letter was not given to someone in authority but another teenager with no real power. With the owl taking this journey often throughout the school months, the surroundings were familiar to him.
With a few more twists and turns, Otis soared down into an open window, finding himself perched on a solid stone wall. Black eyes searched his surroundings, although the room was unfamiliar, he swooped in further to inspect.
"Creee!" Screeched another animal from its perch along the metal bar he could often be found happily swinging on.
"Fawkes, I think you have had more than enough treats my friend."
The bird, a rare and beautiful Phoenix, screeched again at the intruder owl. It was not until the tiny claws on Otis' feet scratched against the wooden desktop did Albus Dumbledore look up over the rims of his thin, wire-framed glasses.
"My, my!" He whispered, holding his hand out to the owl with a gentle smile. Otis leaned forward to get one good sniff before letting out a low and simple 'hoo' sound as he opened his mouth and dropped the letter on the desk.
"I have never seen you before." Dumbledore checked out the owl closer, running the backs of his fingers against the soft feathers of the owl's chest before picking up the letter. "So, because I have never met you before, my dear new friend... I think you have brought me something that does not belong to me."
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, contemplating what to do with the letter that so obviously should not have been delivered to him. The owl refused to move, staring intently at the old man and then back down again to the letter.
He was staring off into nothing when Otis let out a soft noise, as if he were asking for a treat. "Ah, yes. Where are my manners?" Dumbledore chuckled, reaching into his top desk drawer, and plucked out a few treats, tossing them to the owl.
The older man continued sitting there in silence for a while. Every so often his eyes carried his attention back to the new letter on his desk and with another gentle exhale of breath, Dumbledore reached forward and picked it up. Brushing his fingertips along the rough parchment, he noticed the initials "R.R.L" in the top left corner of the envelope.
