Hogwarts: Apprentice at the Owlery

On September 1, 1991, Harry Potter and I rode the same train, arrived at the same castle, and entered the same year. But while he fought trolls, broke into the Chamber of Secrets, and matched wits with Voldemort, I was shoveling droppings for three hundred owls at the top of a tower. In the second week of term, Filch caught me and sent me to clean the Owlery. I found an old note tucked between the rafters. It read: “Sirius, I'm afraid I won't be a good mother. Will you look after him for me?, Lily.” The letter had been wedged in the tower for ten years, and no one had ever found it. The System lit up before my eyes: “Messenger is ready.” Later, I found a second letter, a seventh, a ninety-third: Snape's unsent apology, Regulus's undelivered reconciliation, Cedric's half-finished confession, and a joke Fred had tucked under George's pillow. On the day of the final battle in 1998, I stood at the top of the tower and looked down at all of Hogwarts in flames. The System displayed one last prompt: “All seven special letters delivered. Please choose: rewrite one irreversible ending.” I chose to give everyone the chance to say goodbye.