The Owl Thief
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Overview
In October of 1981, every owl in the Diagonal Lane Owl Emporium mysteriously disappeared over a single night. The owner reported that, when they had locked up that previous evening, everything had been ordinary. Yet, when they opened the next morning, the cages were open, and every owl was missing.
The criminal clearly hadn’t a desire for secrecy as the door to the shop had been blown right off the handle. However, there seemed to be no evidence of a struggle from the owls. The shop, except for the door and cages, looked entirely untouched. This stumped the Auralocks, who, after a week-long investigation, declared the case unsolvable.
With the criminal still at large, every other pet shop owner was terrified that they might be next. Casting extra-strength spells on their shop doors, they braced themselves for the coming nights. But their fears never came true, and a year later everything was back to normal, the crime simply a faint memory.
That was, of course, until it happened again. In November of 1982, the same Owl Emporium was ransacked once again. While the door was not violently removed as it was the year prior, the lock had clearly been magically tampered with. Just like the year before, every owl was missing without any signs of struggle. Once again, Auralocks had a week-long investigation of the shop and its surroundings but were unable to uncover anything new.
Auralocks had managed to cover up the first incident, but this time newspapers were far keener on getting their scoop, and it was only a few days before the Daily Diviner had published a scalding article about the Auralocks' “incapability” at catching what the paper had dubbed “The Owl Thief.” In an interview for the article, the owner of the Owl Emporium simply said they wished the thief could be caught and that they hoped the owls were safe.
In London, many sympathised with the owner’s struggles and donated money to get them back on their feet. However, troublemakers across the UK began idolising The Owl Thief, trying to recreate the crime. While they were never as successful and always caught, one notable instance was in Kilkenny, Ireland, where a teenage wizard was reported to have been attacked by one of the owls they were trying to free. Still, these copycat crimes continued for a few months before they quickly died out after the wannabe-criminals realised that freeing owls was not as exciting as they thought.
The Owl Thief never struck again, leaving many to wonder who they were and why they would have done this. Many believed it was an animal rights activist who believed that owls shouldn’t be locked up. Others thought it could have been a rival pet shop owner who wanted to see the biggest owl store fall into ruins (though every pet shop owner denied this). There was even a small minority of people who believed it was a dark wizard that was using the owls for illegal potions.
To this day, the case remains unsolved, and none of the owls have been found. Still, the owner of the Owl Emporium makes sure to cast extra-strong protection spells on the door and windows every night, hoping that The Owl Thief never comes back.
Trivia
- You can learn about the owl thief and other crimes in Magical Crime Studies classes taught by the Academics team.
