Harry Potter advent calendar (Paused)

December 1, George

George

December 1, 1998.

A young, tall wizard with very visible red hair suddenly appeared from out of nowhere in the middle of the street. The only eyewitness to his sudden presence was a seemingly ordinary white owl. Besides from the owl, he thought to himself, the chances of being noticed were considerably few. He knew very well that it was far too early in the morning for anyone to be awake, and that the muggles in this neighborhood normally would be asleep for another hour. It was a small street with rows of little houses on both sides, each house with their own little lawn already decorated for Christmas. Personally he considered December 1 to be a little too early for Christmas decorations. The cold night that was, had left a thin layer of white snow all over the little town. He could not deny that the snow and cold weather came as a byproduct of the merry month of December, whether he liked it or not.

The air consisted of thick, ice cold fog, causing him to feel like there was not enough oxygen in the air for his lungs. All of a sudden, a shiver went through his body like he was struck by invisible, ice cold lightening. The abrupt incident got his legs moving. For a moment he jumped up and down on the spot, while trying to shake off the unpleasantness he had just felt. Shortly afterwards, he started walking down the street, keeping a steady pace, looking like he was determined a destination. No one was present to notice the young man's weird behavior, except from the white owl, sitting on an icy rooftop seeming to be half asleep.

Before he had come to the end of the road, George Weasley quickly pulled out his wand and disapparated. The only sign left, of the few minutes he had spent in the little street that morning, was the snow that swirled around under where his feet had just been standing a few seconds ago.

The new location he found himself in almost instantly was a snowy Diagon Alley, crowded with witches, wizards and children well underway with Christmas shopping. He took in the surroundings for a second, quickly attempted to blend into the crowd, turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction. He placed himself in the middle of the road, walking fast and steady. He couldn't help but noticing, that seeing familiar faces again after such a long time, immediately got him in a better mood. George didn't blend into the crowd easily, in the sense that he was considerably taller than the average crowd, and very recognizable. People turned to him and smiled as he walked past them. They greeted him with "Good morning Mr. Weasley," and "lovely to see you again!". He found himself surrounded by people who wished him well, which was quite enjoyable since he had not experienced anything like that in a long time. After he went away in September, he had constantly been by himself.

Outside of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, it was a bunch of cheering kids waiting for him. He took out a giant key from his key ring and unlocked the doors to let them in. Most of the kids ran inside. They yelled, cheered and grabbed their favorite goods at once they saw it. The last one walked politely through the door, as George held it open for him, and asked him a question.

"Did you enjoy your holiday Sir?"

George was taken aback, and couldn't answer. He thought to himself that his going away had not been much of a holiday, and if it were, he wouldn't wish such a holiday on an enemy. As a response, he nodded. The kid just accepted it, and went inside with the others.

George needed a moment to himself. As he stood outside alone, an owl appeared above him in the air. His first thought was Angelina. Maybe she had heard that he was back and wished to talk to him? But then he recognized it as the white owl form earlier that morning. It flew directly at him. He stretched out his arm to welcome the owl. It softly landed there as it made a sound that resembled a greeting. George loosened the piece of paper that was attached to the owl's foot. The owl then took off and disappeared in the distance. He opened the piece of paper, and there stood the shortest message he had ever received. It read: "Please help", signed with the letter "E". And that was it.

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