Hedwig
From Hpwiki
Hedwig is Harry's owl, a snowy owl and a birthday present from Hagrid at the beginning of Harry's first year at Hogwarts. She was named by Harry after a famous witch. She has large eyes, a beautiful white coat of feathers and gigantic wings.
Personality
Like other magically associated creatures (rats, dogs,cats), Hedwig is able to understand humans to an extent and seems in tune with the action.
Hedwig is a very dignified bird, disapproving of scrap food and Pigwidgeon. She is not very vocal but hoots dolefully or indignantly to express understanding or annoyance. She sometimes falls out with Harry, but she is loyal to him and Harry is fond of her, since in the Dursley household she is the only one who doesn't flinch when he or she looked at him. As a result Harry often misses her when she goes out to hunt.
Plot involvement
Hedwig has been an important part of the plot since she sends all Harry's letters. She is remarkably intuitive, able to locate Sirius wherever he hides and rescue Errol when he is exausted.
In book six, Hedwig was injured as something tried to intercept her on here way back from Grimmauld Place. Her wing was damaged and she needed to be sent to Professor Grubbly-Plank.
- Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
At the start of book seven, Hedwig was tragically killed by a stray Avada Kadavra curse during the flight to the Burrow. J.K Rowling used this to mark the end of the innocence in the books- Hedwig was like a 'cuddly toy' to Harry, and killing Hedwig off took that comfort away and made Harry more of an adult.
Rowling, as with many of her character deaths, apologized for the death of Hedwig during her Bloomsbury Live Webchat. She said that a lot of people were upset by it.
