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The Great hall was bustling with noise. It was nine in the morning. It was a Friday, the day mail usually came. Most students were awaiting their owls and the mail the owls would bring. As they waited, the noise of laughter, talking and playful banter increased.
Louis Thomas sat at the Hufflepuff table, quietly picking at his food. His best friend Henry McLeslie wasn’t here yet, and the morning was boring him.
He was a muggleborn, so he didn’t really expect mail. His family didn’t understand the owl system. His younger sister, Lucy, did understand it, but he didn’t think she would bother sending him mail.
Soon, a huge parliament of owls barged into the Great Hall, from the big windows. They flew all over the place, dropping parcels and letters in front of the students’ plates.
As Louis slowly nibbled at a piece of toast, a parcel, the size of a brick, dropped in front of his plate. It was wrapped in black wrapping paper and tied with a grey string.
He stared at the package curiously. He was puzzled at its presence. Why had it come? Who had sent it? And why was it addressed to ‘Luie’, instead of his actual name? Numerous thoughts invaded his head.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a thud. He looked in front of him to see Henry sliding into the seat opposite him. He was helping himself with some toast.
“What’s up, bro? You got mail? That’s a first, no offence.”
“None taken. I am also surprised by the package. Man, I wonder who sent it.”
“Well, let’s find out!”Henry excitedly grabbed the black package. He tore apart the black paper, to find a wooden brown box.
“There’s a box here…” Henry said slowly.
“No shit, Sherlock. I see that. Open it.” Louis sternly replied.
“Well, there’s no need to be rude.I’ll open it, “ He opened the box with a soft click and there in the box was a white-coloured envelope. He picked it up and handed it to Louis.
Louis traced the envelope with his thumb. The material was made of muggle paper, so he assumed either of his parents had sent it, via the help of his sister, Lucy.
He slowly started opening the envelope, when there was a burst of blue confetti from the envelope. Along with the blast, the envelope had also transformed into the face of a person and was now floating above his breakfast plate.
A Howler he thought. And prepared himself for the worst.He had heard of them. But had not actually seen one ever before.
The face in front of him, suddenly took a deep breath and started singing the most infuriating song in the history of music.
“…gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry…”
The face sang it so loudly, the muggleborns and half-bloods around the Great Hall looked towards the Hufflepuff table and started singing along, with mischievous smiles on their faces, while the pure-bloods looked around with confusion and bewildered looks on their face. They did not understand what was going on.
Louis’s face burned red. He was drowning in embarrassment. Suddenly, he had an epiphany. He realised who had sent the howler.
And amidst all the chatter and the students’ obnoxiously loud singing, Louis opened his mouth, and with gritted teeth, he said,
“I hate my sister.”