Owl Postal Service

Owls delivering packages for wizards via owl post

Vernon Dursley: "What does she mean, 'the normal way'?""

Harry Potter: "Normal for us, you know, owl post. That's what's normal for wizards."

— Harry Potter informing Vernon Dursley about owl post

Owl post was a wizarding system of sending messages or items using owls as the carriers. Besides the Owl Post Office, individuals and organisations with their own owls used them as their mail bearers — owls were employed by wizards in such numbers that was estimated that virtually all of them were either the property of the Postal Service or individual wizards. Harry Potter's owl, Hedwig, was used as his primary means of communicating with his friends and his godfather, Sirius Black. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had a number of owls that anyone at the school could use. They, along with students' personal owls, were kept in the Owlery.

History

Hogwarts use

At Hogwarts, owls lived in the Owlery in the West Tower and delivered mail to students once a day, at breakfast – though more urgent messages were frequently delivered to Harry Potter in his dormitory.

Hogwarts also had a number of school owls, which could be used by students who did not own an owl themselves. Harry used school owls on several occasions when he needed to contact Sirius without attracting attention. These owls seemed to have been used on occasion even to communicate across the school, such as when Hagrid sent a note to Harry at the end of his first week at Hogwarts, though this method seemed to have been given up by Harry's sixth year, when notes were instead regularly delivered in the hands of students.

Beginning in Harry's fifth year, all owl post into Hogwarts was searched and inspected as a security precaution. This was originally seen as an overbearing method of control by the Ministry of Magic and Dolores Umbridge, but once Voldemort's return became public it was widely accepted. Intercepting owls could be done crudely or routinely. Hedwig was hurt when Umbridge intercepted her letter, but the Weasleys' mail and Hogwarts mail were later searched as a matter of routine, with no harm coming to the animals.

Business use

Owls were also used for institutional deliveries, such as when one arrived with Hagrid's Daily Prophet in the Hut-on-the-Rock. In this case, the owl had a pouch which it used to collect Hagrid's money. Hermione Granger also took out a subscription to the Daily Prophet as well, and the owls that delivered it did not seem to have collected anything.

Owls were also used by some businesses for Owl Order Service, to deliver goods. This service came into prominent use when a Slug Club Christmas party was approaching in Harry's sixth year, and girls bought Love Potions from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes through Fred and George's Owl Order Service. Fred Weasley and George Weasley conducted much of their business for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes via an Owl Order Service.

In 1995, the British Ministry of Magic enacted several laws regarding censorship of owl post.

Use of owls

"All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."

— Rubeus Hagrid

Post owls were quite intelligent, and could usually find their mail's recipient with little to no direction.

Other birds could be used for delivering messages. Sirius Black, while in hiding, sent unspecified tropical birds as message carriers while communicating with Harry Potter. This led Harry to speculate that Sirius was hiding in a warmer environment than England. However, the preponderant bird used for messaging was the owl. Muggles had their own form of post and therefore did not use owls, nor were they generally aware that owls or other birds could be used for correspondence.

Some magic was used by owls in finding their recipients; Hedwig, for example, was able to easily locate Sirius Black when he was on the run from the Ministry of Magic, even though Aurors were unable to do so. Hedwig also routinely hunted Harry down in Hogwarts, such as in the Gryffindor Tower or even his classes, and Pigwidgeon successfully delivered a letter to Harry while he was on the moving Hogwarts Express. However, wizards could not send an owl to someone they wanted to find and then "follow" the owl to discover the person's whereabouts.

Owl deliveries

Letters

Year	Sender	Reciever	Notes
1991-1992	Hagrid	Dumbledore	A note letting Dumbledore know he had successfully picked up Harry.
	Cornelius Fudge		According to Hagrid, Cornelius Fudge often peppered Dumbledore with owls asking for advice as Minister for Magic.
	Hagrid	Harry Potter	Invitation to visit and Harry replied "Yes, please, see you later" — his first owl post letter.
	Minerva McGonagall		A note along with a new Nimbus 2000.
	Charlie Weasley	Ron Weasley	Agreement to take Norbert, after Ron presumably wrote to him to ask and Ron replied.
	Quirrell	Dumbledore	An urgent note, supposedly from the Ministry of Magic, to lure him away from Hogwarts so he steal the Philosopher's Stone.
	Hagrid	Various	Hagrid sent owls to James and Lily's old school friends to obtain photos of them for Harry.
1992-1993	Ron Weasley	Harry Potter	A "thick wad of envelopes" were sent over the summer, but Dobby intercepted them.
	Hermione Granger
	Hagrid
	Mafalda Hopkirk		A warning against doing underage magic, shortly after Dobby performed a Hover Charm.
	Hogwarts	Second-years	Booklists arrived from Hogwarts, while Harry was staying at The Burrow.
	Ron Weasley	Hermione Granger	Ron used Errol to wrote to Hermione, and she replied with plans to meet them in Diagon Alley.
	Dumbledore	Weasleys	A letter regarding Harry and Ron crashing a car into the Whomping Willow.
		Dursleys
	Molly Weasley	Ron Weasley	A Howler when she found out he had taken the car.
	Fans	Gilderoy Lockhart	Harry addressed envelopes while in detention.
	Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore	Nearly Headless Nick	A letter rejecting his application to the Headless Hunt.
	Dumbledore	Azkaban	Letter to secure Hagrid's release.
	Governers of Hogwarts	Dumbledore	The eleven governers of Hogwarts, other than Lucius Malfoy, barraged Dumbledore with owls asking for his return to Hogwarts.
1993-1994	Ron Weasley	Harry Potter	Letters to wish Harry a happy 13th birthday.
	Hermione Granger
	Hagrid
			Third-year Hogwarts letter arrived with Hagrid's birthday gift.
	Hogwarts
	Augusta Longbottom	Neville Longbottom	Hogsmeade letter directly to Professor McGonagall.
			A Howler after he lost the Gryffindor Tower passwords.
	Hagrid	Harry Potter Ron Weasley	An invitation to visit him and to discuss Hermione.
		Hermione Granger	A letter to inform her that Buckbeak lost at his trial.
		Ron Weasley	A letter to inform him that Buckbeak lost his appeal as well.
	Sirius Black	Harry Potter	Received a letter on the Hogwarts Express, explaining the Firebolt, giving him permission to go to Hogsmeade, and giving Pigwidgeon to Ron.
		Firebolt Company	Sirius said that Crookshanks took his Firebolt order to the Owl Office, where presumably it was then sent in.
1994-1995		Harry Potter	Sirius wrote to Harry twice from his hiding place; the letters were sent not with owls, but tropical birds.
	Harry Potter	Sirius Black	Harry wrote to Sirius for the first time to let him know that his scar twinged.
	Ron Weasley	Harry Potter	Ron sent his first letter with Pigwidgeon to invite Harry to the 1994 Quidditch World Cup.
	Various	Ministry	A large number of people sent Howlers to the Ministry of Magic to complain about Quidditch World Cup security.
	Sirius Black	Harry Potter	Sirius wrote Harry to let him know he was flying north and worried about Harry's safety.
	Harry Potter	Sirius Black	Harry responded to Sirius to ask him not to return to Britain, and sent the note with Hedwig.
	Sirius Black	Harry Potter	Sirius wrote back to Harry with Hedwig to let him know he was hidden in Britain.
	Harry Potter	Sirius Black	Harry sent a school owl to inform him that Harry's name was picked for the Triwizard Tournament.
	Sirius Black	Harry Potter	Sirius replied and asked for a face to face meeting on November 22.
			Pigwidgeon delivered congratulations on Harry getting past the Hungarian Horntail.
			Sirius sent a brown owl with a very short letter: "Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl."
			Sirius asked Harry to bring him food and meet with him on the next Hogsmeade weekend.
	Trio	Percy Weasley	To ask whether he had seen Bartemius Crouch Senior; he responded irritably.
	Various	Hermione Granger	After Rita Skeeter's article defaming Hermione, she got hate mail; Hagrid said he'd received some too.
	Harry Potter	Sirius Black	Harry continued to regularly write Sirius in the cave near Hogsmeade.
	Fred Weasley	Ludo Bagman	They demanded their money, though the trio didn't figure it out until later.
	George Weasley
	Harry Potter	Sirius Black	Sent an owl to tell Sirius about his excursion into Dumbledore's Pensieve.
	Sirius Black	Harry Potter	Sirius berated Harry for walking the grounds with Viktor Krum and started sending daily owls.
1995-1996	Various		Mafalda Hopkirk expelled him from Hogwarts and informed him that his wand would be snapped.
			Arthur Weasley told Harry not to leave his house or surrender his wand.
			Mafalda Hopkirk again wrote, rescinding Harry's expulsion and notifying him of a hearing.
			Sirius wrote to tell Harry not to leave the house.
	Albus Dumbledore	Petunia Dursley	Mysterious message, "Remember my last."
	Hogwarts	Various	Hogwarts booklists — and prefects' badges — arrived at number twelve, Grimmauld Place.
	Harry Potter	Sirius Black	Sent a cryptic message to Sirius about Umbridge and Hagrid; Filch accused him of placing dungbomb orders but Cho backed Harry up.
	Cho Chang	Her mother	Sent a birthday message, as she met Harry in the Owlery.
	Percy Weasley	Ron Weasley	Percy sent an unexpected letter, urging him to distance himself from Harry.
	Sirius Black	Harry Potter	A note — "Today, same time, same place" — but Hedwig was intercepted and injured en route to Harry.
	Hermione Granger	Viktor Krum	Hermione wrote a letter to Krum, but it is unknown what was written.
	Molly Weasley	Various	A letter to Sirius, Harry, and her children that Arthur was alive after the snake attack, though it was sent with Fawkes rather than by owl post.
	Gilderoy Lockhart		Gilderoy Lockhart announced that he still received fan mail.
	Various	Harry Potter	When his The Quibbler interview was released, Harry received a number of letters from those agreeing and disagreeing with him.
	Percy Weasley	Daily Prophet	Sent an owl to the Daily Prophet when Dumbledore "confessed" to forming an army against Fudge.
1996-1997	Dumbledore	Harry Potter	Sent Harry a note to let him know he would be coming to pick him up at Privet Drive.
	Ministry	Sixth-years	Owls delivered O.W.L. results to Harry, Ron, and Hermione at The Burrow.
	Hogwarts	Trio	Booklists arrived at the Burrow, with news that Harry was made Quidditch Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
		Ginny Weasley
	Bob Ogden	Gaunts	Sent an owl to notify the Gaunts he would be coming, but they ignored it.
	Parents	Students	Parents sent regular owls to their children at Hogwarts, to make sure they were okay after Voldemort's return.

Items

Year	Sender	Receiver	Notes
1991-1997	Daily Prophet	Various	A Daily Prophet for Hagrid and delivered to the Malfoys, Hermione, Harry, and others in many places.
	Malfoys	Draco Malfoy	Packages of sweets, routinely delivered from home via the Malfoys' eagle owl.
	Augusta Longbottom	Neville Longbottom	A Remembrall.
	McGonagall	Harry Potter	A Nimbus 2000 broomstick.
	Augusta Longbottom	Neville Longbottom	Forgotten items.
	Kwikspell Company	Argus Filch	The Kwikspell course, though not explicitly stated, seemed to have been sent via owl.
	Ron Weasley	Harry Potter	A Pocket Sneakoscope, 13th birthday present sent with Errol and nearly killing him.
	Hermione Granger		A Broomstick Servicing Kit, 13th birthday, which Hedwig showed up to pick up.
	Hagrid		A copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, 13th birthday present, sent with a school tawny owl.
	Fred Weasley	Percy Weasley	Dragon dung, which Fred and George had delivered to Percy's office.
	George Weasley
	Harry Potter	Sirius Black	A ham, a dozen cakes, and some fruit, that Harry sends to Sirius when he's hiding in Hogsmeade.
	Various	Hermione Granger	Bubotuber pus, enclosed in hate mail.
	Molly Weasley	Trio	Easter eggs, though Hermione's was very small.
	Hogwarts	Ron Weasley	Prefects' badges.
		Hermione Granger
	Xenophilius Lovegood	Harry Potter	A copy of the The Quibbler, received after he gave an interview.
	Harry Potter	Various	Molly Weasley sent Easter eggs for her children and Harry.
	Flourish and Blotts	Harry Potter	A copy of Advanced Potion-Making, which Hedwig brought Harry from Flourish and Blotts.
		Ron Weasley
	Fred Weasley	Students	Love Potions, a part of the Owl Order Service.
	George Weasley

Behind the scenes

• It is possible to make oneself impossible to be traced by owl post; Sirius Black and Lord Voldemort both were able to do so to avoid having the British Ministry of Magic find them
• According to W.O.M.B.A.T., it may be illegal to send mail-bearing owls across international borders without authorisation.
• The non-canonical Educational Decree Number Forty-Seven required Hogwarts students to submit to their post being searched for illegal contraband. In the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix novel, Dolores Umbridge had her Inquisitorial Squad examine the post of all incoming owls, apparently regardless of student consent.

See also

• Letter

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter
• Pottermore (First identified as Owl Postal Service)
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Wizarding World
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened