Hogwarts and the New Headmaster

1. An Unexpected Visitor

With one last desperate push, the owl squeezed through the crack in the stone and forced its way inside the crumbling wall. It scrambled along the narrow fissure, careful to protect the slip of paper clasped in its beak. Jagged bits of rock and mortar raked the bird's wings as it pushed deeper into the building, and several feathers were lost before the crack opened up into a dimly lit room large enough to hold the entire Hogwarts owlery.

The exhausted bird landed on a nearby rafter, a thick wooden beam cracked and splintered with age, and peered down into the room. Its bright yellow eyes darted about as they adjusted to the candlelight flickering up from the floor far below.

The building had seen better days. Once an imposing four-story tower that had commanded the surrounding countryside, its upper floors had long since collapsed, leaving the structure little more than a hollow shell consisting of a single, very tall room. A few modest pieces of furniture lay scattered about the room. A desk and chairs, several trunks, two bookcases, a small wooden table, and a sofa, all illuminated by nearly two dozen candles floating ten feet above the floor. A young man with brown curls was sprawled across the sofa, his body partially hidden beneath a tattered blue blanket embroidered with the image of an eagle. His soft snores drifted up to the owl.

After shaking bits of mortar and dust from its wings, the owl leapt from the rafter and glided down to the sofa in a long spiral, careful not to disturb the floating candles. It fluttered to a landing on the back of the sofa and dropped the note on the man's chest, then let out a screech that sent half a dozen mice scurrying off to shadowed corners. The man didn't move. The owl waited what it considered a reasonable length of time before hopping onto the armrest and pecking the man's ear.

The man brushed feebly at the owl without opening his eyes. "Go away, Orielle," he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. "It's too early."

The owl tilted its head to one side, as if considering this, then hopped onto the man's chest and pecked his other ear, harder this time. The man's eyes popped open, and he raised his hand as if to push the owl away, then stopped and squinted at the bird in confusion. The owl grabbed the note with one scaly claw and tossed it in the man's face, then leapt into the air and disappeared back out the way it had come.

Viridis Olwyn stared blearily after the owl. It had been scarcely six inches tall, which meant it probably belonged to Dawn. He yawned and opened the note.

I'm bringing someone by your place this morning!

Be ready.

D.

Viridis frowned. He hadn't talked to Dawn in over a month. Why would she be bringing someone by his house today? Shouldn't she be teaching a class? He lay there for a minute or two, still half asleep, trying to remember what day it was. Had Dawn mentioned something about this to him earlier? The feeling he'd forgotten something nagged at the fringes of his mind.

Another owl, even smaller than the first, darted in through a hole in one of the boarded-up windows. It circled the room twice before landing on Viridis's stomach. Without so much as a hoot, the owl dropped its note on his shirt, then launched itself back into the air and exited the building.

It's important you impress this person!

Viridis pulled himself into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. Why all the cryptic messages? Who was he supposed to impress? And why?