Freaks: Year One

A Very Special Owl

"What's the point of me going?" Alabaster asked. Adelaide shook her head, letting out a sigh. "What? It's an honest question." Alabaster closed his book, and pushed it a few centimetres in front of him. "Mother, and father only want me to join the Dark Lord, and continue the bloodline, I don't need to go to Hogwarts if that is all I am good for."

"You need to know how to do spells to join the Dark Lord." Adelaide told him. "To learn how to become a proper wizard. That is why you need to go."

Alabaster sighed. "I guess." He wished he would be able to do more, but if joining the Dark Lord, and continuing the bloodline made his parents happy, he was obviously going to do it.

He was now quiet, staring at the table. He was really sore, and his parents giving him more work to do was not helping. He knew they were doing this as it was what was best for him with Hogwarts approaching, but he couldn't very well focus when he felt like he was going to faint.

He had gotten the discipline curse too many times in the past week that his legs, arms, head, his whole body, ached.

Adelaide was now studying her brother, worried. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked exhausted. "Do you need a pain relief potion?"

Alabaster slowly looked up. "What?"

"Pain relief potion?" Adelaide asked again.

"Adelaide, don't be silly." Alabaster started, shaking his head, trying to ignore the pounding in his head. "Pain relief potion is for serious injuries. Me being difficult, and getting the consequences for it is not an excuse to get a dose of pain relief potion."

Adelaide sighed, and said, "Take a break." Alabaster looked up as he was about to open the book again. "Go see your owl, I am sure it needs company. Bring it down here. I'll get you some lunch, you didn't have any yet."

Alabaster gave a small nod, and walked upstairs into his room. Why did walking up the stairs hurt so much? He was only walking! When Alabaster opened the door, his owl looked over to him from the window. "Want to come downstairs?" The owl nodded, and hopped down. He was still having trouble with flying, but Alabaster was trying his best to teach him. Alabaster bent down, letting out a wince as the owl approached him, and then the owl hopped in his hands.

The owl looked at him with large, concerned eyes.

"I'm okay." Alabaster told him. "Don't worry."

But the owl was worried. He had heard him scream for minutes on end several times this week. "Hoo."

"Oh, don't worry." Alabaster told him again. "It is just a little pain. It will go away soon enough." The owl's worry did not ease, as Alabaster went back down to the living room where Adelaide was watching Paddy (who was their house elf) warm up a bowl of lamb masala with rice.

"Hoo!" Atticus pointed at the owl as soon as his eyes spotted him.

Adelaide shook her head. "It is an owl, hoo is the sound it makes."

"Hoo." The owl hooted, and Adelaide rolled her eyes as the owl did have a habit of constantly hooing when their parents were not around.

"Alright Mr. Owl." Alabaster said. "Let's practise flying." The owl nodded, but looked at his smaller wing. "You can do it, I know you can." Alabaster sat in front of the owl. "Start with flapping your wings."

The owl started to do just that, and started to float a bit, but the owl was unbalanced. Alabaster noticed the smaller wing was flapping a little too fast. "Are you overworking your small wing?" The owl looked confused.

Adelaide shook her head. Why was her brother talking to it?

"Like..." Alabaster started, trying to think. "Let's say I had a weaker arm, I would focus all my energy on that one right?" The owl nodded. "But then I would forget to use my other arm, so it would not be equal." The owl stared at him. "Try to remember to use your bigger wing. If you don't, you will never be able to fly."

The owl looked sceptical, but he did listen to Alabaster, and put less focus on his smaller wing, so when he started to float he was much more balanced. Alabaster clapped his hands. "You did it!!" He exclaimed, happily. "You're flying!!"

The owl had wide, disbelieving eyes, but Alabaster could tell he was happy. "HOO!"

"Yeah!!!" Alabaster was jumping for joy. "You're doing it! Hoo!!"

Adelaide stared at this scene, and shook her head, but she was smiling. She rarely saw her brother happy, and even though she thought it was a bit silly that he was talking to an owl like it was a real person, it made him happy.

The owl even made Atticus happy. "Hoo, hoo, hoo!" He was saying, clapping his hands.

The owl floated down into Alabaster's hands. "You did it!" Alabaster was absolutely thrilled for his owl, and this feat had cheered him up so much that he was distracted from the pain he was in. "I knew you could, it doesn't matter if you have a smaller wing, we all have setbacks." The owl nuzzled his cheek, and Alabaster smiled. "Such a special owl."

Alabaster turned to face Adelaide, and Atticus. "I knew he could do it! Just because he is different doesn't mean he should give up."

Adelaide smiled. "Which is exactly why you shouldn't give up on Hogwarts." Alabaster looked at her. "You have problems."

Alabaster bit his lip. "I - I know–"

"Let me finish." Adelaide said. "Just because you have problems does not mean you should give up. As you said for the owl, he has a setback because of his smaller wing so it is taking him longer to fly." She looked thoughtful. "Maybe you need more time to learn, just like this owl did. Maybe Hogwarts will help you identify the problem."

Alabaster stared at her. "I - I never thought about that." He paused. "But if I had a problem, mother, and father would help fix that right? I don't know if this can be fixed..."

Adelaide had not thought of that. Of course, their parents would help. "You have a point there, but going to Hogwarts still could help in some way."

Alabaster nodded, his sister was right. He thanked her as she handed him his late lunch, and he looked at the owl who was now getting petted by Atticus. "Yay Hoo!" Atticus giggled.

Adelaide shook her head. "His name is – wait what is his name Alabaster?"

"I - I haven't given him a name actually." Alabaster said, surprised that he had just realised this fact. "I have been calling him Mr. Owl, but–"

"HOO!" Atticus shouted.

"Yes, I know." Adelaide said. "The owl can't stop hooing, but that does not give you the excuse to shout Atticus–"

"Hoo." The owl hooted again, interrupting her.

Adelaide scoffed.

"Hoo." The owl said again.

"Can he ever stop hooing?" Adelaide asked, annoyed. "It is hoo this, and hoo that, and he never stops. He is always–"

"Hoo." Atticus said, and the owl turned to him.

Alabaster clicked. He knew exactly what he should name the owl, or better yet, what his little brother named him! He did a little jump, ecstatic that the owl would finally have a proper name. "His name is Hoo."

Atticus clapped, while Adelaide groaned.

Hoo hooted.