He might’ve been embarrassed to have yelped aloud, if the post office was not taken up by more shouts, shrieks and screams than his. (And that was before one added the cacophony of distressed owls.) He had found himself almost frozen in his tracks, too busy watching the shelves splinter where the bludger had smashed into them and bounced away to think about where it was headed next - it was only when a female voice from near the floor shouted through the chaos that Elias regained his sense, whirled around to locate the ferocious black ball, and dropped to the floor on all fours, not far from the young lady who had had the presence of mind to warn him.

He let out a breath of tentative relief and leant back a little on his knees, ready to duck his head again if it whizzed this way again. “Thanks,” Elias began, offering her a grateful smile in between squinting up warily into the feathery mass. “I -” He didn’t get any further than that, because at that moment precisely, the bludger collided with a barn owl above their heads, and the poor bird flopped right out of the air onto the wooden floor between them with a sad little thump. Elias blinked, having completely forgotten what he had been going to say. “Er.”

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