Thank you all so much for all your comments! I am so happy to see that there are people who enjoy reading Hedwig's story as much as I enjoy writing it

Here is a rather...deep? Intense? Perhaps both of those things! We are approaching the climax of our story!

*★*―――――*★*―――――*★*―――――*★*―――――*★*



Year 1: Hedwig and the Origin of Species
■□Chapter Eight: Handpicked Destiny


As if the troll strolling leisurely into the castle hadn’t been enough of a sign, the tiny little brown owl that came to deliver a message on behalf of Fawkes was certainly an indication to Hedwig that her and Errol were in big trouble.

“I told you not to go poking your beak in things that you had no business in,” Artemis sighed flapping his wings before he returned to gnawing a mouse bone.

“I told you it was an accident,” she refuted whacking the bone away with her wing. “I was watching you looking into that ruddy mirror again when I saw movement in the forest and decided to check it out. Technically, this is all your fault.”

“MY FAULT?!” Artemis squawked with a crazy look in his golden eyes. “Someone as daft as you has no right to have a Coeur! You are an insult to the very name! I hope Fawkes summoned you to tell you that this honor has been taken away from you!”

Hedwig snapped her beak at Artemis and managed to pull a few feathers out in the process. If she was daft, then he was delusional.

“AT LEAST MY COEUR IS ALIVE,” she screeched. “AT LEAST I HAVE DONE A DECENT JOB PROTECTING HARRY THUS FAR SO I DON’T HAVE TO SPEND HOURS SITTING IN FRONT OF SOME MIRROR WASTING MY LIFE AWAY BECAUSE I FAILED!”

Artemis flapped his wings furiously, but not in attempt to attack Hedwig. No, he flapped his wings in attempt to get as far away from her and the Owlery as possible. Looking over his tail feathers only once before he took off towards where ever it was he was going to, Hedwig saw a mournful sparkle in his eyes that was enough to make her own small beating owl heart.

The other owls turned their gaze to Hedwig briefly before turning their tail feathers towards her.

“I say, Miss Hedwig,” wheezed Errol. “That was a bit harsh.”

Hedwig wanted to tell Errol where he could stick the bone he was chewing on, but her heart was sobbing about what she had just done to Artemis.

“Artemis has a good head on his shoulders,” Errol chirped finishing off his mouse bone. “He won’t do anything drastic or dangerous.”

Hedwig nodded her snowy head at the owl. She would have to find some way to make it up to Artemis. For now, she and Errol had a meeting they were going to be late for with Fawkes.

“Come on, Errol,” she clucked walking towards the entrance. “Let’s get this over with.”

The two arrived at the Headmaster’s window just in time to see the slimy haired man from the forest speaking with the grey Headmaster. It must have been the end of their conversation, for the moment Errol tapped his beak on the window, the man left the room with an elaborate twirl of his robes.

Dumbledore, hearing the tapping, glanced over a Fawkes knowingly and glided over to the window.

“Ah, I see Fawkes has some visitors,” he smiled as he invited the two owls in. “I’m afraid that my licorice snaps will prove less than appetizing to your taste buds. If only I had a stash of Cockroach Clusters left. Those would probably be more appealing.”

Dumbledore then glided over to his desk where he flipped through a few parchments, picked up a licorice snap and popped it into his mouth.

“I believe that Fawkes would like some privacy with you two,” he said nodding at them both. His eyes remained on Hedwig for several moments as his cerulean gaze seemed to pierce her very being. Hedwig waddled her feet in discomfort. “No need to be afraid,” he whispered before he too left the room.

The room was swallowed by silence as the two owls waited nervously for the phoenix to speak. Sitting on his perch, Fawkes watched the two with his dark ebony eyes, still choosing to remain silent.

“Y-Y-You summoned us…”Hedwig murmured taking a small baby owl step forward.

“I did,” the phoenix replied in an alarming calm voice. “Errol, you should have known better and done a better job watching over young Hedwig.”

“Forgive me,” Errol said bowing his head in shame.

“Just something to remember for next time,” Fawkes chuckled extending one of his sparkly crimson wings towards the window from where they had come from. “You may leave, but, not you Hedwig. You stay.”

Errol looked sideways at Hedwig and shrugged his brown wings. “Ms. Hedwig…good luck,” he bowed before flying with an unneeded haste back to the Owlery.

Hedwig watched Errol until he vanished from sight and then turned her attention back to the phoenix who was watching her and, as she felt, judging her. Fawkes jumped down from his perch and walked across the Headmasters desk, pacing, deep in thought. Hedwig opened her beak to speak, but felt that it was not the place for her to initiate any sort of conversation.

“Hedwig, do you remember the first day we met?” the phoenix finally asked breaking the silence that stood between the two of them like an impenetrable wall.

“Of course,” she chirped. “It was the first day of the term and you…”

“No,” Fawkes interrupted sternly, but not without a hint of a smile in his black eyes. “We met long before then. You were only a hatchling then though. Fresh out of the egg and as innocent as the first blossoms in spring.”

“That was you?!” Hedwig chirped and fluffed her feathers in surprise.

“I thought you would remember,” he chuckled. His laughter coated the room with a pleasant glow that put her quivering feathers at ease. “Do you know what I was doing with Headmaster Dumbledore on that day?” He paused for a moment for Hedwig to tilt her head to the side in confusion. “I was there with Professor Dumbledore to look at the new owlets. You see, we were looking for a very special owlet. One that would one day be given to a very important young wizard. One whose parents were hunted down and murdered by the most powerful dark wizard of our time, perhaps the most powerful in the history of magic. Do you have any idea who this young wizard is?”

“Harry Potter,” Hedwig replied swallowing hard. There was no hint of hesitation in her answer, but now came the part she had feared.

“Yes, Harry Potter,” Fawkes nodded. “This boy, while me may not look it, holds all the hope the wizarding world has left.”

“But sir, didn’t he already defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?”

“Banish for a time, yes. But defeat? No, the Headmaster and I do not believe that he has been defeated. This is why we specially handpicked you to become his Coeur.”

Hedwig’s feathers ruffled up even more now. He wasn’t going to tear all her tail feathers out for leading a troll into the castle? Or, was this an elaborate way of making her feel guilty about doing so? She was beginning to think it was the latter.

“Hedwig, has the concept of a Coeur been explained to you?”

“Yes,” Hedwig said feeling a sting in her chest as her thoughts traveled to Artemis. “Owls that become a witch or wizard’s magical familiar may find that they have an even stronger connection with them. That connection, like a spark, is a Coeur. It means I have to protect Harry.”

“Yes…and no,” Fawkes replied looking at the Headmaster’s empty chair. “What you have described is not much different from what a magical familiar is. Having Harry as your Coeur does not just mean you have a strong connection with him. It means that you are within his very heart and mind, so much that you can hear his thoughts and feel his pain. This is why many magical familiar, when they have found their Coeur, are unable to make the connection again with another witch or wizard. The connection is so intense that it really is like sharing a part of your soul.”

Fawkes looked at Hedwig and she had the sinking feeling that he already knew what had happened between her and Artemis.

“I do not think I need to tell you how foolish your actions were this evening regarding the troll,” he continued as his eyes hardened, but his tone remained lighthearted. “Just remember this, Hedwig. It is not only your soul that will be harmed if you cannot fulfill your Coeur. The souls of the entire wizarding world are at risk.”

Hedwig felt the air around her grow thick and heavy, as if she were trying to breathe in a pool filled with molasses. She hadn’t even thought about the impact that Harry was having, and would have, on the wizarding world and that realization was too heavy for her small owl shoulders to hold up.

“But…sir…I cannot do this alone,” she hooted.

“You are not alone,” Fawkes said smiling with his eyes. “Remember that and make sure Harry knows that as well.”