Chapter 11: Earl Gets Called In for a Chat

In the blink of an eye, with a flash of fire, Earl found itself in a spacious circular room. Portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses lined the walls.

It was perched on a massive desk, facing a smiling old man with a white beard.

Earl noticed a bird perch nearby, occupied by a phoenix with vibrant red feathers. Too bad Earl preferred smaller birds—what was that term the upright apes used? Lolicon?

"You know I don't do beast-human stuff—" Earl warned the old man.

"Ho, I'm getting old. It's hard to keep up with all these newfangled terms you young folks use," Dumbledore replied, unfazed by Earl's bluntness. Instead, he let out a hearty, Santa Claus-like laugh.

"Sorry for interrupting your date."

"How sorry are you?" Earl asked, tilting its head.

"…"

Even Dumbledore, for a moment, didn't quite know how to respond.

"Get on with it. Ask what you want. That way, I might still have time to snag a field mouse in the fields—you wizards always drag things out, which is why you never catch mice."

"Even in the magical world, talking owls aren't exactly common," Dumbledore said, peering at Earl through his half-moon glasses. "Mind telling me your name? Or perhaps I should introduce myself first—Albus Dumbledore."

"Earl. Very hungry. Wants to eat a field mouse," Earl replied dryly.

Dumbledore waved his wand, and a lively gray rat appeared on the desk.

Earl's eyes sharpened instantly. It lunged, clamping its beak around the rat's neck, and blood splattered everywhere.

Dumbledore didn't seem to mind that his desk—and the expensive silver instruments on it—were now stained with fresh rat blood.

"Mmm—you're way better than those little wizards who just say 'I love you' with their mouths," Earl said, digging in with relish. "Since you're so generous, I'll grant you a wish. I could steal that Gellert Grindelwald guy's underwear for you—"

"Actually, my wish might be a bit simpler than that," Dumbledore interrupted before Earl could finish.

You can't hide the gleam in a bird's eye, but Earl clearly wasn't great at reading the room.

*This owl knows a little too much.jpg*

"Oh?" Earl's head spun around again. "You don't mean… Ohhh—"

Earl's expression shifted to sudden realization.

"I'd like to ask you three questions," Dumbledore said, showing no strong reaction to Earl's teasing.

"Go ahead. You still owe me two more mice."

"Where do you come from?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"From a damn egg, obviously. Back then, I wasn't even as big as a field mouse," Earl answered. "Then the tree I lived in got chopped down by some old guy named John, so I crashed at his place. He's kinda like you, but he'd make a better main character—he doesn't talk."

"Why did you seek out Cohen?" Dumbledore pressed on.

"Are you that kid's dad?" Earl's huge eyes widened with awe. "Coo coo—no, wait, you've already—coo coo—you're…"

Earl struggled for words before finally blurting out, "Humans shouldn't—at least, they *shouldn't*…"

"Ten years ago, I and some other wizards found Cohen in a dark magic lab," Dumbledore said, leaning back in his armchair. His dressing gown, embroidered with stars and moons, made him look like an ordinary, weary old man at that moment. "That child was a… an experiment."

"You almost said 'weapon,' didn't you? That little brat's definitely bad news!" Earl perked up, instantly on guard.

"Everyone says you're some hotshot wizard. Can you break the *Owl Purchase Contract*? I'm outta here—leaving the Scottish Highlands—no, Britain—no, Europe!"

"Sadly, I don't know that spell," Dumbledore said with a slight shake of his head. "But there's no need to be so pessimistic about a child. A person's origins don't matter—what matters is who they grow up to be."

"That assumes he's a person," Earl said, flapping its wings uneasily. By now, the rat bones and dried blood on the desk had mysteriously vanished. "You should've just—" Earl made a throat-slitting gesture with its wing—"when you found him."

"The Ministry's Aurors tried," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "A terrible decision, but the good news is Cohen survived."

"My God, I need to see if there's an owl-to-the-moon program," Earl muttered, smacking its beak. "Dementors probably don't go to outer space—no memories or souls up there."

"Cohen's a good kid," Dumbledore said earnestly. "I hope you'll help him."

"Thank heavens, I'll teach him to catch field mice in no time," Earl said, preening its wing. "Once he's got that down, I'll teach him to deliver letters. He'll be a top-notch owl—if he can grow wings and talons, that is."

"Helping someone doesn't always require waving a wand or chanting a few spells," Dumbledore said, winking at Earl. "Sometimes, it's just about being there—or offering a few comforting words between friends."

"Thanks for humoring an old man's late-night ramblings."

Dumbledore waved his wand again, and the office window swung open.

"Wait—"

Earl was about to fly off but doubled back, landing on Dumbledore's windowsill.

"You traded that mouse for three questions, and you've only asked two."

It had a nagging feeling this guy might pull something with the third question—Earl swore it'd never eat a field mouse from a grinning old man again.

"Oh, I forgot about the third question," Dumbledore said, putting on a look of sudden recollection.

"Want wool socks for Christmas?"

"…"

Earl stared stiffly at the chuckling Dumbledore.

"You'd better mean it."

With a huff and a wiggle of its tail, Earl took off into the night sky.

---

"Dumbledore seems like a nice guy…"

Cohen, in his spirit form, had watched the whole thing from outside the headmaster's office.

He couldn't rule out that Dumbledore knew he was watching and had staged this little show for him—in which case, the old guy was way too bored.

Cohen figured he probably wouldn't turn into some undead Dementor bent on slaughtering the world—wait a sec…

Did Dumbledore just say… that a bunch of Aurors had tried to kill Cohen and failed?!

Or maybe…

Cohen suddenly realized where his fragmented soul integrity might've come from.

No wonder his childhood self had sucked up over three hundred souls and still had such a low soul integrity!

(*End of Chapter*)