It was the day of New Years Eve. Jasper was at his desk writing Harry a letter. He had found that there was an Owl Post Office near his place, and there was also a floo place in one of the pubs nearby, so that was good news for the future in case Jasper ever wanted a way to travel that didn't involve a bus.
Everything was okay at home so far. His parents hadn't bothered him or his brothers. They had just been around, and that was fine with him. Jasper would much rather have his parents ignore him, and his brothers than do something else that could get them hurt.
It had been pretty quiet. His brothers were talking to him. All his brothers were, which made Jasper happy, and relieved. He was worried that after the first day home from Hogwarts that Francis, and Ethan wouldn't talk to him again, but after Boxing Day everything seemed to be improving.
Although, something that worried Jasper was that Edgar had been pretty quiet since Oto set the stove on fire. Jasper would have to talk to Harry about his owl. The danger Oto had put all of them in was not okay, and Harry needed to be informed. Still Edgar would not go near the kitchen, and stayed in his room most of the time unless Jasper came to him, but Jasper understood, Edgar was still frightened about the incident with Oto.
Harry,
The Owl Post Office has been working great! I am glad you found it. I am alright. Again it has been pretty quiet here. My brothers are still kinda getting adjusted to the fact that I am not here year round anymore. My parents too of course.
He added the parents bit as an afterthought, he didn't want to make anyone suspicious.
Though I do want to talk to you about your owl, and I would like to do it in person, but you better not send Oto again, I will tell you about it on the train, because I just think it will be hard to explain in a letter.
Also paper is better than parchment. Parchment doesn't have lines. It makes my writing all lopsided. Paper is better to write on, and so is a pencil, pencils are great. I like using quills, they are very cool, but the constant dipping takes time. When you were in a non magical school didn't you like pencils? You can erase with pencils.
Him, and Harry got into a discussion about paper V.S. parchment when Jasper used paper for one of his letters, and Jasper very much believed paper was better. It was a silly debate, but Jasper was right, especially about pencils.
Anyway, I do hope you have a good New Year, and I'll see you on the train!! I miss you.
Jasper
Jasper folded up the paper, and put it in an envelope. He left his room intending to go to the Owl Post Office, but he thought about his brothers. Should he leave them alone with their mother? To his knowledge they had been okay while he was at Hogwarts, but he decided it would be a good idea to take them all out of the house. They needed the fresh air anyway.
So Jasper went to Toby, and Ethan's room, and knocked on the door. Ethan opened it, behind him were Toby, and Francis playing a card game. "You finished writing your letter?" Ethan asked.
"Yes. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?"
Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. "Can't you just call an owl or something? Wave your wand, and make it poof away?"
Jasper shook his head. "Owls come, and go, and I am not advanced enough to transport letters. I don't even know if that is possible. My friend said there is this Owl Post Office, and I–"
"Owl Post Office?" Toby piped up, looking up from his cards. "Can we see it?"
"That is exactly what I was going to ask." Jasper said. "If you want to see it with me. It's a nice place."
Toby hopped up. "Oh yes!" He said excitedly. He looked to Francis. "Do you want to come?" Francis nodded, and got up.
Ethan still looked sceptical. Even though him, and Jasper are on speaking terms, he wasn't very enthusiastic about magic, at least to Jasper it seemed that way. "Well okay..." He said slowly, looking between the other two who did look like they wanted to go. "Only because the others are going." He walked out into the hall, going toward the stairs to the living room.
Toby, and Francis followed, and Jasper realised Edgar was not in the room, so he told the others he would be there in a second, and went to Francis, and Edgar's room, and knocked on the door.
"Ed?" He called. "Are you there?"
There was a crash like something just broke. Jasper quickly opened the door to see the lamp on the floor, the bulb broken, and Edgar at the other side of the room, his eyes wide.
"What happened?" Jasper asked quickly. He took his wand out of his pocket, ready to repair the lamp, and bulb before their parents found out, and Edgar backed away quickly. Jasper lowered his wand at this. "Ed, I am not going to hurt you."
"Sorry, sorry, I thought you were dad." Edgar said, still in a frenzy.
Jasper stopped. "Oh." A bunch of thoughts went through his head. Did he really sound like his dad? Did he really look like him so much Edgar mistook Jasper for him? The thought terrified him. He was only twelve. He didn't want to be like his dad, he didn't want anything to do with him. "H-h-how?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Edgar yelled, startling them both. "I wasn't...I wasn't..."
"...Ed?" Jasper asked slowly, concerned. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his younger brother so panicked; not even a few days ago when there was a small fire.
Toby suddenly appeared at the door. "Jasper, we need your help."
Jasper half turned, eyes still on Edgar. "But–"
"Quickly!" Toby pulled him out of the room, and Jasper just in time aimed his wand at the lamp, and repaired it.
Toby dragged him downstairs, Edgar peeked through, and Toby said, "A window just randomly broke, can you fix it?"
"Uh, yeah?" Jasper said, confused. How did a window break? Did one of his brothers break it by magic? That was Jasper's hope. "Did you break it?"
Toby shook his head. "No it was weird, it just exploded." Toby showed him the broken glass where Francis and Ethan were standing a bit away from it. Francis was attempting to grab at the glass, but Ethan had a strong hold on him.
Jasper was really confused how a window just broke. He thought he had his magic under control by now, but maybe one of his brothers had broken it without realising it was them. He waved his wand. "Reparo." The glass went back toward the window, and it was good as new.
Jasper turned to his three brothers. "Well lucky mum is out, and dad is...somewhere, so we're fine." He looked toward the stairs where Edgar was sitting there in the shadows. "Ed, come here, we are going out now."
"Maybe I should stay home." Edgar said from where he was sitting far from the others.
"You have to come with us." Toby told him, before Jasper could say anything. "Mum, and dad aren't here, and you can't stay here alone."
Edgar slowly came down the stairs, and approached them all. "Okay." He said quietly. Jasper was still concerned, but hopefully doing something outside of the house would cheer Edgar up, cheer all his brothers up.
They got their winter gear on, and left the house, Jasper locking the door behind him. The five of them walked around the neighbourhood, and into town to where the Owl Post Office was hidden.
"So where is this place exactly?" Toby asked.
"It is near the pub." Jasper replied.
The four of them stopped, making Jasper stop as well. "Near the pub?" Ethan asked.
"Yes..." Jasper said.
Ethan stared at Jasper, nervously shifting from foot to foot. "Well what if dad's there?"
Jasper mentally smacked his forehead. "No, no, no." He said quickly. "It is near there, not in there. If dad is there he won't see us."
"You sure?" Francis asked.
"I am. I have been to the Post Office before, just a few days ago actually." Jasper continued walking, holding Edgar's hand as the others followed. "We should be there soon."
They walked past many different shops. There were Christmas lights still up since it was New Years Eve, and they arrived at an abandoned building right near an alley way. "Here it is!" Jasper exclaimed.
Ethan burst out laughing. "Do owls live in old run down buildings that no one uses anymore?" He looked up to Jasper. "Where is the actual place?"
"This is the actual place." Jasper signalled for them to follow. "Come on!"
Ethan looked over to Toby, confused. "This doesn't look very magical." Toby just shrugged, and they both followed after Jasper. Edgar, and Francis were both holding Jasper's hands, and they all entered the broken wooden door, and...
"No way." Ethan's jaw had dropped.
Inside was perfectly fine, like it hadn't been abandoned at all. Owls flew all around, some were in their cages sleeping or eating, others were hooing to each other, and cleaning their feathers. They were now in what was considered the wizard part of town. There were a couple different doors leading to the different areas of town, and behind the counter, there was an older wizard counting coins.
Toby was looking around, wide eyed at all the owls. "So you just pick one?"
Jasper nodded. "One that isn't too tired." He looked around, there were many different types of owls to choose from.
Francis was walking around looking at all the owls, attempting to catch ones that were flying. One of the owls yelled at him, and flew off in another direction. Jasper quickly took Francis' hand. "Be careful, some owls have quite a temper."
"A temper?" Francis asked.
Jasper nodded. "They may bite your finger if they get too annoyed." Or set the stove on fire. Jasper thought to himself.
Toby, Francis, and Ethan looked around the Post Office, admiring the different types of owls. Toby was used to getting letters, and sending them to Jasper, but he had never seen so many owls in one place.
Edgar was still clutching Jasper's hand, nervously. Jasper had a feeling why. He knew Edgar was probably scared around owls because Oto set the stove on fire. Jasper crouched so he was at the same level as Edgar. "Don't worry Ed." He started. "These owls are okay, I am sure they are better trained than Harry's owl. Right?" He looked at the store owner for confirmation.
The old wizard looked up from where he was reading the Daily Prophet. "Um, sure." He went back to reading.
Jasper turned back to Edgar. "See!" He smiled, but Edgar still looked unsure. "Come on, I'll show you there is nothing to be afraid of." He stood up, and walked over to a snowy owl who was cleaning their feathers.
Jasper approached. "Hello."
The snowy owl looked up, their brown eyes staring.
Jasper turned to Edgar. "Okay, now just pet it."
Edgar looked at the owl, and slowly patted their head. The owl closed their eyes, content. "It is so cute." Edgar whispered, continuing to pet the owl's head.
Jasper nodded. "Isn't it?"He reached up to pet the snowy owl's head, but the snowy owl backed away, a disgusted look on its face.
Edgar, who was still petting it, asked, "Why does it not like you?"
"I have no idea." Jasper replied, confused by the owl's reaction. "What did I do?"
The snowy owl shook their head.
"What?" Jasper asked. "What did I do?" He was honestly confused. All he had done was try to pet it just like Edgar was doing. Why was it such a problem?
Francis emerged from one of the corners. He had an owl on his head, one on each shoulder, and was surrounded by them since he was near their perches. "I LOVE OWLS!" He shouted. He ran up to Jasper. "Look what I can do!" He pointed to one of the owls. "Can I have water?" One of the owls flew off, and came back with a cup of water in its talons. Francis looked up at Jasper, beaming. "They do whatever I want!" He was so excited. Jasper had never seen him so excited. He was usually stone faced so it was nice to see him so happy. "I AM THE RULER OF OWLS!" He shouted, and the owls all nodded.
Jasper stared at him, dumbfounded at this. "Well - well that's great Francis!" Francis went back to where a bunch of owls were waving him over, actually waving him over. "Owls are so weird." Jasper muttered.
All the owls stopped what they were doing. The ones Toby, and Ethan were feeding, looked up slowly, the snowy owl Edgar was petting turned slowly to Jasper, and all the other owls Francis was having fun with turned to where Jasper was standing.
All of the owls' eyes were on him.
Jasper stared nervously at them. "Um..." He didn't like that all these owls were staring at him. It felt like something out of a scary movie which was stupid to think as this was real life, and they were just owls, but then again, they were owls from the magical world. He didn't mean to say they were weird, not in a bad way anyway. "Look everyone, I didn't mean it that way, so let's just all–"
"ATTACK!" Francis yelled.
Jasper turned to Francis. "Francis!"
The owls flew toward Jasper, at full speed, hooing.
Jasper screamed, backing away quickly.
Toby, Ethan, Francis, and Edgar watched, wide eyed as Jasper was getting attacked by dozens of owls. "Oh my god." Ethan stated, watching this.
Toby quickly went to the store owner, who was still reading the Daily Prophet. "Excuse me sir? Can you stop this?" The wizard put down the newspaper, and Toby caught the word death-eater. He wondered what that was. He would have to ask Jasper...well if he was okay.
The wizard stared at the commotion. It was a blur of owls, and their brother's screams mixed with curse words. "Did he do something to anger the owls?"
Toby stared at the old wizard. "Does that matter? Stop it!" He looked at the wand on the table. He briefly wondered if he could stop it himself, but he didn't know if it was okay to take another wizard's wand as that was most likely very important to them. Toby remembered Jasper had said that the wand chose the wizard, not the other way around so he assumed a wizard, and their wand must be bonded in some sort of creepy, mystical way.
Plus this wizard had to be more skilled so he handed it to the wizard. "Here, can you stop it!?"
The old wizard waved his wand, there was a flash. and the owls all sqawaked and flew off to their posts. Jasper was covered in owl peck marks, and was bleeding a bit. He was breathing hard. He went to the counter, and put the letter down, muttered to deliver this, I am going to the loo and walked out.
Toby took the letter, carefully, tied it to an owl's leg, and the owl flew off. Toby turned to the three of his brothers, trying to form thoughts on what they had all just witnessed. "What just happened?"
"That was bloody amazing." Ethan exclaimed jumping up, and down.
Toby stared at Ethan. "Jasper got hurt."
"The way the owls listen to Francis, and they all come together and..." Ethan made a bunch of hand gestures – or well just flapping his hands, and then he ran around the post office, filled with energy. "That is something I will remember forever!"
"I am sure Jasper will too." Toby said. "But not as a good thing." They started to walk out, but Ethan quickly got distracted, still hyper, so Toby went after him. Edgar turned to Francis who was still with all the owls.
"Come on." Edgar said. When Francis didn't turn, Edgar tapped him, and when he turned around it was to see that Francis had taken his hearing aids out. "Why did you take them out?"
Francis looked at him quizzically, and Edgar shifted from foot to foot, awkwardly and pointed to the aids in Francis' hands. "Oh." Francis said. "Is it...quieter now?"
Edgar nodded, and once Francis put them back in, Edgar asked, "Don't you want things to be louder?" Wasn't that what those things were supposed to do?
Francis shrugged his shoulders as Toby was still trying to convince Ethan to stop trying to convince the shopkeeper to play him the record that was on the back counter. "I guess so, but sometimes it makes everything too loud."
Toby, who had finally gotten Ethan away from the shopkeeper, went back over to the younger two. "Let's go."
Francis sighed. "Goodbye owls!" Toby rolled his eyes, and dragged him out, all the while the owls were bowing their heads.
Once they were out of the post office, still in the wizarding part of town, Toby turned to Francis. "Really?" He yelled. "Telling the owls to attack our brother?"
Francis lowered his head. "I didn't know they would hurt him."
Toby sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"I wish I could go to Hogwarts." Francis said sadly.
Toby looked down at his brother. "I wish we could too, but we aren't magic like Jasper – well you could be, but we are all too young still."
Ethan crossed his arms. "It's unfair."
"I know." Toby said. "But we have to live with it." He shrugged. "I mean even if we aren't magic, at least we can see parts of the magical world. There is still hope we do have mag–"
"Ah, you muggles?" Asked a voice behind them.
They turned to see a man in black robes – well an older boy. He looked about 18 or 19 at most.
"Er..." Toby said, not knowing what that word meant.
"Non-magical." The wizard informed him.
"Ah, yeah." Toby said. "Our older brother is magical though."
"So a mudblood?" The wizard asked.
"Um..." Toby started, confused as the wizard had said the word with an undertone of disgust. "I guess?"
The wizard nodded. "Awww, well that's not fair, him being magical, and you being...muggles."
"I guess..." Toby said slowly. There was still a chance of them all being magical, low, but there was still a chance, and Toby wanted to hold onto that.
"You know..." The wizard started. "I am sure there is a way you could all go to Hogwarts."
"There is?" Ethan asked.
The wizard nodded. "All you have to do is come with me."
"Cool!" Ethan said, but Toby stopped him.
"Well we are waiting for our brother sir, he went to the loo." Toby said. He looked suspicious. "We are waiting for him. I am sure he will be happy to hear there is a way we can all go to Hogwarts."
The wizard smiled, but Toby was a bit put off by it. "Well you never know. He would have told you there was a way to go there. If he stole magic, I am sure there is a way you can too."
Toby looked confused. "He stole it?"
The wizard nodded. "Yes."
"Well then he should give it back." Toby said. Stealing wasn't okay. That's what their dad did sometimes.
Ethan snorted. "Uh, no way! I want to steal magic. How do I steal magic?"
"Ethan, stop it." Toby said, pulling him away from the wizard. He saw Jasper was approaching them. He walked up to him, dragging Ethan along with him as the other two followed. "You stole the magic?"
Jasper looked confused. "Huh? No."
"But this guy just said you did!" Toby told him.
"Well I didn't." Jasper said, wondering who the hell Toby was talking about. "I was born with it."
"But mum, and dad aren't magical, so how are you?" Ethan asked. "YOU MUST HAVE STOLEN IT!" He yelled, jumping up, and down, attracting other wizards' attention. "JASPER HOW DID YOU STEAL THE MAGIC? TELL US!!"
Jasper looked flabbergasted. "I didn't though!"
"But this wizard said you did." Toby said, lost.
"Who is this wizard?" Jasper asked, exasperated. Toby waved a hand behind him, and Jasper's eyes went to this young adult wizard talking to Ethan who must have ran back to him. "Hey!" Jasper yelled, running up to him. "What are you telling my brothers?" He pulled Ethan out of the man's grasp, but Ethan tried to resist.
"Jasper stop it!" Ethan pushed him away. "He is going to show us how to get magic. I thought you wanted that! Or do you want it all for yourself?"
Jasper scoffed, getting frustrated. "You know I would give you my magic if I could, don't be like that." He looked up at the wizard. "Leave us alone."
"And why would I listen to a mudblood?" The wizard asked, his face darkening which actually made Ethan back away from him. "All I wanted was to help your brothers. The Ministry could put you in Azkaban for taking magic, and here I am, wanting to help you!"
"What's Azkaban?" Edgar asked who was a few steps away with Toby, and Francis.
"The Wizarding prison, guarded by dementors, or something that you will understand more...demons." Said a wizard. "Your brother could go there for what he did, you know?"
Edgar stared at them, terrified. "No you can't take him there!"
Toby grabbed Jasper, and Ethan from the wizard. "Look he can give back the magic." Toby told him. "He probably didn't know he stole it, but don't send him there!" Toby said, clutching Jasper's hand. "He is only twelve."
"No, you don't need to be scared." The young man said. "I want to help you get magic–"
"Oh leave us alone!" Jasper snapped, getting irritated about the pure rubbish this wizard was trying to put in his brothers heads. "Go pick on someone your own size." He held Francis, and Edgar's hands intending to leave (or well run), but the wizard nabbed Ethan.
"You want to go to Hogwarts, right?" The wizard asked, holding onto him tight, and Ethan was squirming. "Well, let's go."
Toby grabbed the two younger ones, as Jasper rushed over to the wizard who had a hold of his brother. He took out his wand. "Let go of him!"
"You really think you're capable of doing spells that can hurt me?" The wizard asked, mockingly. "Who's the real wizard here, mudblood?"
Jasper was livid, and in a flash, he had thrown his wand down to the ground, and barreled himself forward toward the young man, and his first met the wizards face, surprising him, and in doing so he had let go of Ethan who had quickly backed off to the others.
Toby ran to his older brother who was also now getting attacked in retaliation. His brother had thrown his freaking wand to the ground, and decided to physically fight, sometimes he really didn't think, Toby thought as he tried to separate the two of them.
Suddenly there was the sound of an explosion that rocked the area, shattering some of the shop's windows, and scaring off some of the wizards who were wondering what all the commotion was about. Jasper briefly wondered what had caused it, when Toby had finally grabbed him, and a voice broke out. "JASPER?!"
Jasper looked over to the sound of the voice, slightly dazed. "Harry?"
Harry approached Jasper who was getting supported by Toby who had picked up his wand, and the younger ones who were standing a bit away looked terrified. Edgar was covering his eyes as Ethan did his best to calm him down.
"What the heck happened?" Harry asked, quickly looking at Jasper's bloodied face, and the wizard who was just standing up slowly from the ground.
Harry's mother, who had been a bit behind her son, quickly approached the brothers. "Oh my goodness, what happened?"
Toby indicated to the wizard behind them wordlessly.
Harry's mother whipped around to the young wizard who had just stood up. "What were you doing? Why did you attack a young child, what in the world is wrong with you?" The wizard was sputtering, trying to answer. "Don't you think you can spend your time doing something better in life like getting a job instead of attacking innocent children. Do I need to call an auror?"
"Uh - uh, n-no!" The wizard exclaimed, quickly. "He hit me like a muggle first!"
"Oh this little boy just came up, and hit you?" She asked, unconvinced.
"He - he tried to hurt my little brother ma'am." Jasper said shakily.
Before anyone could get another word out, the young man disapparated.
Harry's mother was glaring at the empty air where the young wizard had just stood. "I'll report him later..." She turned to Jasper, who was covering his nose with his sleeve as it was bleeding. "Here, I'll fix that up. Are you alright now dear?"
"Um - um..." Jasper was still shaken up. His brothers approached him from behind, looking at Harry, and his mother warily. "I - I was sending a letter, using the Post Office thing...with owls."
"It's okay, it's okay, none of what happened is your fault." Harry's mother told the group of them. "You're safe now, I promise." She indicated to Jasper's nose which was now covered by a tissue as Harry had given one to him. "Can I heal that for you?"
Jasper slowly nodded. "Okay."
As Harry's mother started to heal Jasper's nose, Francis was now clutching Toby's hand. "I'm scared."
Harry looked over to him. "Hey, it's okay, you're safe now."
"Are you sure?"
Harry nodded. "My mum isn't going to let anything bad happen to you."
Harry's mother had finished healing Jasper's nose, and the bruises that were forming on his face. Healing by magic had a weird sensation to it. Jasper realised, but after a few seconds he slowly felt his face go back to normal.
Harry's mum lowered her wand. "How does that feel?"
"Pretty good, actually." Jasper said, touching his nose, and found that there was no more blood.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah...I'm okay." Jasper said. Though he really wasn't. The others nodded, but Jasper was certain they weren't okay either.
Harry asked, "Do you want to do something?" He looked to each of them in turn. "I mean to get your mind off that...or..."
Jasper looked at his brothers, and Toby asked, "Like what?"
Harry shrugged. "Anything you would like."
"Can we go to the Owl Post Office again?" Francis asked, wanting to see the owls again.
"Oh, absolutely not." Jasper said. "I hate owls."
Harry stared at him. "Why?" When Jasper first came to Hogwarts, he seemed amazed by the owls, and the other magical creatures.
"Long story." Ethan murmured.
"Maybe..." Toby said. "We can do something er...safer. Like I don't know..."
"Get pizza?" Ethan offered.
Toby nodded. "Um, sure." He wanted to talk to Jasper later about something, but he would do it when they got home. So much had happened in the span of a few minutes, and he needed to talk to him, but he would have to wait. Right now they all just needed to try to calm down.
Jasper looked to Harry, and his mother. "Is...is that okay with you?"
His mother nodded. "Yes, of course." She smiled. "I know a place. Follow me."