Kahlan wandered into the owlery after getting a note from Sly telling her to meet him at the owlery, but for some reason he didn't seem to be here yet. Sighing she moved over to the owl that she recognized as belonging to the Gryffindor and smiled as she ran her fingers down it's back, feeling the feathers and giggling at how they felt to her - so strange despite being used to owls. Maybe it was because she was more used to having a cat to snuggle up to.

Holding a hand out with an owl treat she smiled as the owl quickly gobbled up the treat, tenderly stroking it's back again.

"You're really beautiful" she told it.

A smirk crossed the dark-haired boys face as he noticed the girl had already arrived, definitely having gotten that note. Leaning against the wall he watched as she interacted with his owl, and by the fact that she hadn't bitten the blonde girl yet he figured the owl had already taken a liking to Kahlan.

Hearing the girl compliment his bird he figured that, considering he'd resisted the urge to flirt with the last girl he'd seen because he was afraid that he'd have his head bitten off he would at least compliment Kahlan, to see how she'd react.

"Actually, I think you're the one that's beautiful" the first year commented, a mischievous grin on his face as he walked over to her, thinking about possibly pulling her into a hug, instead just patting the bird as well so smooth Sylvester... so smooth.

The blonde flinched slightly as Sylvester snuck up on her, or at least that's what she'd call it, though she had a heavy blush covering her cheeks at the compliment. Somehow she wasn't used to them, only having received them from her brother and her father and that wasn't the same as being told that by someone else. Especially not by the guy who had been her first friend, and at the current time was definitely her closest friend.

"Whatever" she tried to shrug it off, but only ended up biting her lip to try to hide how she actually felt about it, which really wasn't working in her favour as she thought for a moment before she turned, pulling the boy into a hug for a few moments before she pulled away again.

"So why'd you choose the owlery?" she asked him, the blush still on her cheeks as she promised herself she wouldn't say anything about the hug and he probably wouldn't either.

Sly fought down the blush that was threatening his own cheeks after the blonde had hugged him and shrugged at her question. "I never really noticed many people here so I figured we could just talk here" he told her calmly as he watched her interact with the owl again.

"So how have classes been going for you? Have you used any magic yet?" he asked her, seeming to respect the not so mutual decision to not say anything about the hug.

"Oh... that makes sense" she replied with a small nod, biting her lip for a moment as she moved to lean against the wall.

Magic? Classes? The thought alone made the Irish girl smirk as she looked at her friend. "Well they're interesting... and I absolutely loved astronomy, you should've come!" she exclaimed, grinning as she remembered how she'd been running around the room after the plush planets. And on occasion threw herself on the ground to protect herself from them when she was attacked.

"Well, I've used a charm in Astronomy" a very funny charm actually. "And something my brother taught me... nothing too complicated though"

Aphrodite decided that she should see Jerome, a gift from her brother as start of her first year at Hogwarts.

Carrying the vacuum cleaner of hers, she slowly entered a room containing owls everywhere. She did not want to scare them because it was the last thing he hoped to happen today.

There she found Jerome who was looking at him, "Hi, baby boy! Fro is here, and this," she said as she reached into the satchel she was carrying all day and pull out a small bottle of water and a bag of biscuits that's Jerome's favorite, "This is for you, sweet boy," she said as she put the treats in his cage.

"Now, let me clean your cage, Jer. Remember .. do not move too much or you will be sucked into it," she said, giggling at her owl. Seemed to understand her words, Jerome off to the side and winked towards her owner, "Okay, are you ready? Here we go,

Vacavus,"

she said, holding out her vacuum cleaner to get close to the cage Jerome and .. accordance surprise, it clean his cage as usual. It's time, she has to go somewhere else and say goodbye to Jerome was enjoying his food, Aphrodite looking for other places to be cleaned.

Tora peeked her head into the Owlery searching for her lovely Jungle Owlet. Ahhh there he was! She whistled two low then one high and waited for him to come over.
Zebop had been wide awake over by one of the many many windows on a perch looking out. He was surprised that Tora had not sent any letters yet, other than to her grandmother of course, and so when he heard her special call he flew to her immediately.
"Give this to the Astronomy Professor please. Oh, and I'll give you a treat after" Tora said, not using Professor Flamsteed's name because she didn't think Zebop knew who that was.
Zebop hooted happily at the prospect of a treat and took the parchment from Tora's outstretched fingers. He knew exactly where to find the professor Tora had in mind. He silently flew out the window to do his job.

Tora leaned against a cleaner patch of the wall and pulled out her notebook. She would study for a bit until Zebop came back.

A little while later she felt a small weight on her shoulder and a hard beak softly nibbling her ear. Zebop was back and had deserved his treat. Tora stroked him for a bit before giving him one more letter to send to Gram back in the states. She didn't send these too often since it was a trip across and entire ocean for Zebop. This one would be a long journey and so Tora gave him an extra treat before she sent him off.
Zebop didn't mind the long journey. Or well he didn't mind the end of it because Tora's grandmother always gave him lots of treats before sending him off again. Still, he wondered how Tora would get on for a couple weeks having to send in mail with one of the school owls. He ruffled his feathers in contempt. He nibbled Tora's finger one last time in goodbye and took the letter. He sailed off into the night hoping his journey would be a relatively good one.

This-is-servant-stuff.

She couldn’t believe this was Hogwarts in question. They had a money crisis and found a clever way to keep things nice and shiny.

Mentally dashing all the things, she pulled the muggle cleaner into the messy owlery. She whipped her wand out and tapped the cleaner.

“VACAVUS!”

The cleaner buzzed to life. She took the arm holder and moved it towards a rather particularly dusty spot from the whole place, filled with stranded feathers, left out treats and general dusty things. She moved the cleaner and sucked the teeny things randomly. They just went ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

She grinned as she got into the mood of it. It really awed her that the things just…..vanished! So close to magic, eh? She continued her cleaning, trying not the suck in the owls that scooted down to see the buzzing black hole.

Eagle owls. Eagle owls. Eagle owls.

Ella was in search of some Eagle owls. She remembered reading somewhere that these feathers were used in Dragon Tonic and the blonde figured she could definitely grab a few from the owlery. Only...she was severely out of breath now and running out of time.

MEEEEEEP!

BREATHEEEEEEE!

Spotting a rather large looking Eagle owl in the corner of the owlery, the blonde scurried over and smiled at him or her. "Hello there, don't mind me." And she searched the ground underneath wear he was perched, careful that he didn't poop in her hair or anything. THAT WOULD BE AWFUL!

Scannnnn....

"AH-HA!" Three fallen feathers. Ella scooped them up and held them by the owl to double check that they were in fact from an Eagle Owl. Feeling confident in her find, she then scurried back down towards the castle.

kjdfnskjfnsjk

Sophie hoped she wasn't too late. After climbing all the way up to the Owlery, the girl caught her breath while looking around.

Mmm, somebody else had probably had the same idea and had been faster than she was.

Good thing, though, that the house elves weren't cleaning anything up that term, hehe! Otherwise it would have been really hard to find those feathers just lying there on the ground.

Sophie picked the few Eagle Owl feathers she saw and made her way back downstairs, one of her arms still somewhat wet from the water of the pond.

Jory hurried to the Owlery. He blinked when he entered and stared around. He had forgotten how many owls were there. Student and school owls. Just as he was there he scanned the Owlery looking for his eagle owl, Tobias.He didn't need Tobias's feathers as there were a lot on the ground. But Tobias found him first. He fluttered down and perched next to the bag of open Owl treats.

"Hallo, Tobias,'' Jory said, stroking the owl. "I haven't have anything for you to deliver today.'' It had been a while since he wrote home. He made a mental note to send a letter home soon. He bent and grabbed two feathers. Eagle Owl by the looks of it.

Before leaving, Jory grabbed one of the treats and gave it to Tobias. "I'll be back soon!'' he called. Tobias gave a hoot.

"Coco!" she called her eagle owl as she entered the owlery. She had just over half an hour to be back at the class, and only one ingredient in hand.

"Come down here" she called again, trying to spot the owl. Seconds later, her magnificent owl scooted down to her and nudged her cheek. She smiled.

"Yeah.. little girl.. I missed you too" she said, patting the owl. "Now, I'm in a hurry, mind if I take some feathers?" she asked, still patting. The owl STARED at her.

"No...don't.. I can't do staring contest now!" she grinned. The contest was EPIC. "Now..feathers..." she trailed as she tried to remove some feathers...slowly.

"There!" she sighed, hands tight around five feathers. "Off you go! I'll come back again...alright?" she added. The bird flew away, apparently angry at her as she turned around and ran.

The owlery was where Sarah was headed next. Not to see Angelina now, yet to get some potion ingredients, like a feather from the eagle owl. Angelina was a snowy owl so Sarah had to get around for more.

The floor was convered in feathers, so Sarah did not think there was a need to get some more for herself. Luckily she had seen what an eagle owl feather looked like so she knew which characteristics to get.

She went down on her hands and knees as she looked, finally she found a few. Her back hurt so she got up and put it away. A look at her watch showed that time was running out so she dashed out of the owlery. There was no being out of the ordinary now, she had to go to the obvious places

Daichi checked his watch as he jogged up the stairs to the owlery. Eeeek not much time left! He fastened his pace and opened the door to the owlery. Opening his bag immediately, Daichi took out a vial and walked to one of the little open windows in the room.

An eagle owl feather...where was an OH! Spotting an eagle owl sitting somewhere above him, the Slytherin climbed up the stair and reached for the owl with his hand... The school owl turned around when it noticed his hand and began to peck his hand. "Ow! hey! i just want a few feathers that all-OW!"

He took his hand back. It wasn't like he was going to pluck feathers from the owl! "I only want a few of those" he said and pointed with his finger where the owl was standing. "OW! YAH stop it!" He kissed his finger to make it better. That was what his mother always did when he got hurt and...eeehm...no one here can read minds right? AHEM!

TREATS! Oh of course! just give the bloody bird a treat and it will be distracted! Having an owl on his own (who was away to deliver a letter right now) he always carried some owl treats in his pocket.

"Here, eat them" he said and as the owl ate he quickly grabbed three of the fallen feathers. He placed it in a vial and after giving the owl another treat as a thank you he left the owlery.

Penelope wasn't overly thrilled about trying to look for potions ingredients, but it was a little more fun than being stuck in the room she supposed, so she'd go with it. She'd wracked her brain as she ran up the stairs from the dungeons to the ground floor for ingredients that would be easy to get and where she would find them, and finally thought of a few. One of them led her to run all the way up to the owlery.

Merlin, THAT was exhausting. Never doing this again if she could help it.

Trying to catch her breath, the Gryffindor looked around on the floor for the feather she was looking for. Hmm...eagle owl feather...eagle owl feather...come out, come out wherever you are...

...Aha!

She knelt down and grabbed the feather she'd found. Yes, she was pretty sure this was it. There were a couple eagle owls nearby, and it looked like it was probably from one of them. So now with the feather in hand, she made her way back down quickly.

She nearly gagged when the scent of the room hit her nose. Mika made her way into the room and carefully handed treats to all of the hungry looking owls. They seemed far happier now that they had food didn’t they – and maybe they wouldn’t scratch at her or try and do something silly as she cleaned the room right?

She held the nozzle of the vacuum up to show the owls what she had in her hand, it wasn’t a package and it wasn’t evil…even if it made weird noises that is. She carefully tapped the nozzle with her wand “vacavus” she spoke and watched as the bird poop near her began to vibrate and shift closer to the hovering vacuum nozzle.

She swiped the vacuum along the ground and cleared the disgusting matter off of the floor in what felt like moments. Yep she was just cleaning the main section of the visiting area so people wouldn’t have the misfortune of stepping in owl dung. When the floor looked mainly clean she moved along and began to clean every one of the school owl’s cages. After all the students could clean their own pets cages right? The school owls relied on them the students when it seemed no one else was cleaning the school.

One last ingredient to collect! And Derry had actually bothered to climb all the way to the owlery for it. She leaned against the doorframe once she'd got to the top of the tower and got her breath back - it was hard to get up all those stairs - before venturing further in.

Ugghhh it was gross in here. Luckily, all she needed was a feather. An eagle owl feather. She walked around, looking down at the ground for the right feather... barn owl... snowy owl... little owl.... OOH!!! Quickly, she bent and picked on up, cleaning it with her wand and examining it closely. This was an eagle owl feather! Because her dad had an eagle owl... WOO! All four ingredients collected. Now to get back to the dungeons in time. Derry stored the feather safely with her other ingredients and took off back down the stairs.

Mackenzie had grabbed the letter that Apple had delivered earlier that day and her jar of treats and went to the owlery to spend time with her pet. She had been too scared of what the letter said to open it in the common room, the letter was from her grandfather, and it had her full name on it, that couldn't be good news or just checking up on her.
Seeing her walk in Apple immediately flew and landed on her outstretched arm. She walked to the roped off area, and was pleased to find that she would be alone. Opening the jar as Apple flew to a perch next to her she fished out a treat and fed it to her.

Deep Breath

She carefully opened the letter and read her grandfathers words.

SPOILER!!: letter

Mackenzie,
I unfortunately am having to be the one to break my only granddaughter's heart. Your grandmother and I received word tonight that your mother and father have been missing for weeks,and have unfortunately been found dead in France. Law enforcement is investigating but there isn't much to go on. Why we were not notified the moment they disappeared baffles me.

Darling, this breaks my heart to be informing you this way. If you wish to come home before Christmas please just write. We will make more concrete arrangements during your stint home then. Your grandmother is very distraught and has been instant on you coming straight home just in case this wasn't a random murder and our family is being targeted. But do not worry I have reminded her how important your education is. If you need anything at all sweetheart please do not hesitate to write your grandmother or myself.


I love you Mackenzie.
Pop.


Steven Jones
Retired Auror
London

gasp Her hand covering her mouth, Mackenzie couldn't believe it. She re-read the letter as the tears swelled in her eyes. Wishing the words to change, she was dreaming she had to be. But no, there they were. her parents were dead

Did she want to go home? No, she didn't. She had quidditch, and studies to do. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle being back in the house. The estate and her parents home in London were full of memories.. As they should be.

She folded the letter hastily and stuffed it back into the envelope it came in. She reached over and realized that Apple had flew off while she was reading. Standing shakily she retreated back down the steps to the castle, unable to stop the stream of tears that were flowing down her cheeks.

Her grandmothers fears echoed in her mind, the murderer what if he was after the family? Was she safe at Hogwarts?

Sarah was feeling reestless and decided to take a walk on the seventh floor. just incase it was needed she took her trust old vacuum thing with her. It seemed that with assignment even dirt oblivious Sarah was noticing dirt and dust in places she never noticed dust before.

Yet all of sudden a thought popped into her mind. She should go visit Angelina. She did not have treats yet she had love.

The owls looked at her as she entered with her vacuum cleaner. Sarah looked at the feathers and dust on the floor and immidiately an idea popped into her head.

"Vacavus" she said tapping the cleaner's hose. The hose began sucking and Sarah directed it towards the floor. Slowly the feathers, dung, pellets and dust began to disappear from the floor. The owls looked at her with interest.

Sarah would have stayed longer there, yet she had to run to class. So she casted finte and gave Angelina a quick pat and left.

Minerva made her way up to see a special owl, okay two special owls, nope make that three. She had come to find a special black school owl her first term that she just loved and named midnight. She really never had to many letters to send, but liked to come visit him and bring him treats. Then there was a Snowy white owl that she had come to know very well. Harvey's Owl always seemed to greet Min when she came up to visit. Lastly was the super special birthday gift she had gotten just this term from Ethan. A very special little baby that didn't spend very much time here, but Minerva tried to force herself to let Liesel visit with the other owls and try to get comfortable there.

Entering she heard the Owls greeting her and she smiled and waved at all of them, because OWLs knew she was greeting them, yep they did. She had something very very special for the three Owls that made their way to her. "Hey guys." She picked up Liesel and cuddled her owl, because baby OWl needed human mommy cuddles. "Midnight you are watching over Liesel for me, right?" She giggled and pulled out their surprise. "I brought you all something super special today. It's owl treat ice cream. I mixed some of your owl treats in the ice cream." She set the bowl down and watched as the three started picking at it. She was excited and clapped a bit that they liked it. Now she just needed to start eating her own ice cream she brought.

As she sat there eating with her three favorite Owls Minerva looked at them and wondered if they could be that Golden Ratio thing. Yes she thought they could be. Pulling her parchment from her shoulder bag she jotted down owls. It seemed legit since they could use human faces, why not an Owl face. So yes she thought for sure she was right and Owl equaled Golden Ratio.

Dylan was ready to do his Arithmancy homework. As per usual, it was down to
the wire...Almost like he was testing himself to see if he could complete it in time...with absolutely no time left. It would've made sense...since the Slytherin enjoyed challenges so much...

Stepping out into the Owlery, he glanced about for Jackson. Yep, he was going to check his own owl for the Golden Ratio. Why not, Dylan figured...

Whistling loudly, it took all of a minute for the large black and white bird to make himself known. Dylan loved his owl. He'd had the creature since he was...nine years old.....and he was turning eighteen this year. Nine years was a long time to spend with someone...That was like a marriage or something.

Pulling out a ruler from his pocket, he eyed Jackson. "I'm going to measure your feathers, mate. Don't panic." The owl seemed to get nervous these days when Dylan checked his too thoroughly. He just chalked it up to increasingly old age...

Spreading out his wing, he chose a large feather...and then a much smaller feather, all from the same area of the wing. As he figured and assumed, they were both like exact copies of the other. One being much bigger...and the other being much smaller in comparison. No, he wasn't actually plucking them from his animal...if anyone was curious...

Pulling his notebook and taking some notes...about stuff...he lovingly ruffled the owl's feathers before releasing him to join the others. Off to another area!

Kace was thinking about visiting his sister's owl Charlene. He borrowed her's since he couldn't get his own. His mother though it cost too much. Yeah.....right...then why did Belle get one? Ah well...he would argue that when he gets back home soon.

As he made his way to the Owlery he noticed Charlene perched up. Kace smiled at her and held out his hand. Charlene shuffled and seemed like she was friends with another owl. Hmm....it didn't seem familiar. He shrugged and petted her. "Hey girl." he said softly. It hooted in response. "Just came in to visit you." he said still petting her. It was relaxing in here besides seeing all the owl poo. It was nice to get out of the castle.

It wasn't a visit she looked forwards to. She hated her owl very much. Everyone knew that and so did her family but he dad insisted that she needed to deal with her own choice. Which she saw unfair because she was eleven how could she knew then that owls were evil? She should have gotten a cat. Or just brought one of her cats back at home here. Though hers were spoiled ones. Would any of them like it here at Hogwarts. She hoped to know one day.

Cassia headed towards the owlery her bag containing treats for that vicious owl of hers. It hurt that she had to spend money on it but it was inevitable. Humph. The fourth-year poked her head in and glanced around to see if Snaty -her owl- was down. Hopefully, she wouldn't get to see it! Though it means she'd have to come again. Siiigh. As she finally stepped in she heard a voice. It didn't take much to locate the voice's source. Her lips twitched into a smile seeing the first-year. "Hey, Kace," She greeted the boy. She stood watching the boy pat the owl. Did he really like his owl? "You're owl is nice," She said almost in awe and disbelieve, "Mine is super evil." Not that she wanted to scare or anything. "My owl's name is Snaty. He's also stubborn. Like it'll take forever till he come down to me," And that is awful of course. Especially when you need to send an urgent letter.

SPOILER!!: Cassia :3

Quote:

Originally Posted by the fastest seeker

It wasn't a visit she looked forwards to. She hated her owl very much. Everyone knew that and so did her family but he dad insisted that she needed to deal with her own choice. Which she saw unfair because she was eleven how could she knew then that owls were evil? She should have gotten a cat. Or just brought one of her cats back at home here. Though hers were spoiled ones. Would any of them like it here at Hogwarts. She hoped to know one day.

Cassia headed towards the owlery her bag containing treats for that vicious owl of hers. It hurt that she had to spend money on it but it was inevitable. Humph. The fourth-year poked her head in and glanced around to see if Snaty -her owl- was down. Hopefully, she wouldn't get to see it! Though it means she'd have to come again. Siiigh. As she finally stepped in she heard a voice. It didn't take much to locate the voice's source. Her lips twitched into a smile seeing the first-year. "Hey, Kace," She greeted the boy. She stood watching the boy pat the owl. Did he really like his owl? "You're owl is nice," She said almost in awe and disbelieve, "Mine is super evil." Not that she wanted to scare or anything. "My owl's name is Snaty. He's also stubborn. Like it'll take forever till he come down to me," And that is awful of course. Especially when you need to send an urgent letter.

As Kace was busy petting Charlene, he never realized how quiet it was in here till he heard a voice. He jumped a little bit off his feet and turned around and noticed Cassia! Ooooh right he met her at the swimming dock, she helped him with his homework. He wondered how she knew his name. He smiled and said, "Hey Cassia."

Then he noticed she was awestruck by his owl. He grinned and said, "You can pet her if you want. She won't bite." He heard her talking about how mean her owl was. Awww *frown* That stinks. He didn't like animals being mean to their owners. Especially kind girls like Cassia. " I am sure your owl loves you deep deep down. Did she have a post traumatic past?" He was curious why her owl was acting like that.

"Charlene here can be a bit stubborn but that is only on her bad days. Sometimes they come and go. But today is her good day i can feel it. You won't get hurt if you pet her." he assured her.

He also wanted to tell her something else. OH right about the class work they did. "But thanks again for helping me with Astronomy. I owe you BIG time." he told her.