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[ chamber of secrets ]
THE NEXT DAY, MAYA FELT LIKE A ZOMBIE. She felt exhausted as she was sat down for breakfast, and it seemed everything was just going to get worse from that moment on. The four long house tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the enchanted ceiling ( today, a dull, cloudy gray ). Harry and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione, who had her copy of Voyages with Vampires propped open against a milk jug, while Maya meanwhile, half asleep, was braiding Priya's hair.
Neville greeted the boys cheerfully, as Hermione kept her silence to show she was still disappointed of their travel to Hogwarts. "Mail's due any minute ━━ I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot."
Maya had just finished tying Priya's hair right when, sure enough, there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd. A big, lumpy package bounced off Neville's head and, a second later, something large and gray fell into Hermione's jug, spraying them all with milk and feathers.
"Errol!" Ron said, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol slumped, unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak.
"Oh, no━" Ron gasped.
"It's all right, he's still alive," Hermione, prodding Errol gently with the tip of her finger, said.
"It's not that ━━ it's that."
Ron was pointing at the red envelope. It looked quite ordinary to Maya, but Ron, Harry and Neville were looking at it as though they expected it to explode.
"What's the matter?" she asked the three.
"She's ━━ she's sent me a Howler," Ron said faintly.
"You'd better open it, Ron," Neville in a timid whisper said. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and it was horrible."
Maya looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope.
"What's a Howler?" she asked.
But Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners. Harry leaned over, his eyes slightly wide as he murmured a small, "you'll see. . ."
