1 December 1996
Dad! Dad!
LOOK!
It’s HARRY! Isn’t he BRILLIANT? Well, I don’t know if he’s really a he, if you know what I mean! Do owls have bits? You know, dad, BITS?! I could probably ask Susan cos she knows tons about owls now, but I don’t really want to ask her about boy and girl parts! You shouldn’t talk to girls about things like that, should you, dad? So do they? You know, have them? Owls? Because how else am I meant to tell what Harry is, dad?
What should I do? I don’t want to call Harry “Harry” if he’s a girl! What if Harry gets confused! Harry could always be short for Harriet, couldn’t it? Would that still be confusing? How would girl Harry know that Harry is a girls name and not a boys name? Well, that hers is a girls name? I mean if Harry really is a girl! First I need to find out what bits Harry has! But I don’t want to look, dad, in case Harry IS a girl and has girl-parts, because that would be really RUDE! I don’t want to scare Harry, dad! I’ve never noticed if birds have bits, but they must do, mustn’t they, because they have babies! Well, eggs, but they must have, you know, the stuff to make the eggs out of, so that means they must have the bits to make the stuff too, doesn't it? Does it say in any of your books? Are there any pictures?
Oh! I know! Do boy birds like boy things? Should I show Harry some pictures of Harry playing Quidditch to see if he’s a boy? Cos he'll like them if he is, right? But girls like Harry and Quidditch too! Girls seem to like Harry a LOT! Well, EVERYONE likes Harry - that’s Harry Harry and not owl Harry, although owl Harry is NEARLY as cool as Harry Harry!
What do you think, dad?
It’s all VERY confusing!
