Seventh Floor: Owlery

[Wilber Winterbottom]

At the very top of the West Tower is where all owls, whether belonging to you individually or the school, reside. As you ascend the tower and its many stairs, constant hooting can be heard and you can feel the temperature gradually dropping. Once you open the door, you can feel a draft blowing straight at you because there is no glass where the windows would be. A few owls flutter in and out of the windows as the door closes.

Stepping deeper into the owlery, hundreds of owls lining the walls in their little nooks turn their head at you. Some even swoop down from their perches to say hello in the hopes that you'll give them a few owl treats that are in a closed bag inside a drawer of an old wooden desk that was placed in the centre of the room. If you investigate the desk further, you will find spare ink, quills, and parchment should you need to write a letter on the spot if you aren't here to just check up on the owls. Pellets, old animal skeletons, belladonna berries, and owl droppings cover the floor, so watch your step.

[Lottiepot]

Apart from her totally rational (in her opinion) distrust of squirrels and gnomes, Aurora had a love for all creatures great and small. Owls she was particularly fond of, especially her own Little Owl Flora who lived in the Owlery at Hogwarts and who had been working overtime carrying letters back and forth between her and her Mums and Ariadne with news of how baby Ander was getting on. Her bedframe had become a sort of shrine of pictures of the baby, useful advice from her sister and other items that reminded her of her family.

It wasn’t for her own need that she had made the trek to the Owlery that day but rather the sixth year Gryffindor Freddy’s who had somehow convinced her to deliver his letters for him. He was paying her for the effort although truthfully she would’ve done it for free had he not suggested being financially compensated. She felt sorry for him, it must’ve been awful to have a fear of such wonderful creatures even if he hadn’t outwardly admitted that to the Ravenclaw. Aurora was always ready and willing to help others in need and the extra pocket money would be spent on a small feast from Honeydukes when the time arrived.

With his letter clutched in her hand, she entered the airy room and glanced around for one of the school’s own owls who happened to be free at the time. She would give poor little Flora a break for the time being.

[AlwaysSnapesGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Apart from her totally rational (in her opinion) distrust of squirrels and gnomes, Aurora had a love for all creatures great and small. Owls she was particularly fond of, especially her own Little Owl Flora who lived in the Owlery at Hogwarts and who had been working overtime carrying letters back and forth between her and her Mums and Ariadne with news of how baby Ander was getting on. Her bedframe had become a sort of shrine of pictures of the baby, useful advice from her sister and other items that reminded her of her family.

It wasn’t for her own need that she had made the trek to the Owlery that day but rather the sixth year Gryffindor Freddy’s who had somehow convinced her to deliver his letters for him. He was paying her for the effort although truthfully she would’ve done it for free had he not suggested being financially compensated. She felt sorry for him, it must’ve been awful to have a fear of such wonderful creatures even if he hadn’t outwardly admitted that to the Ravenclaw. Aurora was always ready and willing to help others in need and the extra pocket money would be spent on a small feast from Honeydukes when the time arrived.

With his letter clutched in her hand, she entered the airy room and glanced around for one of the school’s own owls who happened to be free at the time. She would give poor little Flora a break for the time being.

Ezra wasn't the best at writing letters frequently to send to his parents, and they were probably used to it by now, but he did still try on occasion. And this was one of those times where he'd just finished a letter - a pretty short one, all things considered, but he was already writing essays for school. Why in Merlin's name would he add another to his list by writing a lengthy letter? Besides, if he missed something important, he could always tell them during the holidays.

So after stuffing the letter into an envelope, he left the common room and hurried up to the owlery to get it sent off before he forgot about it.

"Merlin, I always forget how cold it gets up here," he said to himself as he entered. Or apparently not just to himself, since it turned out he wasn't alone up here. "Oh, hey, Aurora!" He grinned.

[Lottiepot]

A particularly robust Tawny Owl perched on the nearest roost was selected by the Ravenclaw as the chosen one for her mission, much to the dismay of her own owl Flora who was pecking at her sleeve for attention. Her thoughts began to wander to how strange it was that Wizardkind still relied on their feathered friends to deliver post for them. Her parents lived in Shoreditch, a region of Muggle London where seeing an owl in the wild was a rare sight. With the number of letters she had been sending home, were her neighbours confused by the frequency of the birds of prey visiting the home or were the animals super secretive? She imagined it was the latter as she hadn’t heard of any newspaper reports of owl infestations in Shoreditch recently.

She handed the letter to the Tawny and sent him on his way with an extra scoop full of treats for his trouble when a familiar voice came echoing through the room. “Ezra!” The blonde beamed turning around on her heels to see her friend. The Little Owl flapped onto her shoulder begging for a tasty morsel. “I hope the owls are warm enough here but I guess their feathers keep them insulated better than we are.” Such was the fascination of the animal kingdom in their adaptations to their environment.

“Are you sending a letter too?” A stupid question perhaps considering that was what the Owlery was for but maybe Ezra just really enjoyed the company of birds?

[AlwaysSnapesGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

A particularly robust Tawny Owl perched on the nearest roost was selected by the Ravenclaw as the chosen one for her mission, much to the dismay of her own owl Flora who was pecking at her sleeve for attention. Her thoughts began to wander to how strange it was that Wizardkind still relied on their feathered friends to deliver post for them. Her parents lived in Shoreditch, a region of Muggle London where seeing an owl in the wild was a rare sight. With the number of letters she had been sending home, were her neighbours confused by the frequency of the birds of prey visiting the home or were the animals super secretive? She imagined it was the latter as she hadn’t heard of any newspaper reports of owl infestations in Shoreditch recently.

She handed the letter to the Tawny and sent him on his way with an extra scoop full of treats for his trouble when a familiar voice came echoing through the room. “Ezra!” The blonde beamed turning around on her heels to see her friend. The Little Owl flapped onto her shoulder begging for a tasty morsel. “I hope the owls are warm enough here but I guess their feathers keep them insulated better than we are.” Such was the fascination of the animal kingdom in their adaptations to their environment.

“Are you sending a letter too?” A stupid question perhaps considering that was what the Owlery was for but maybe Ezra just really enjoyed the company of birds?

It seemed the owls had taken quite a liking to Aurora, or at least one had with the way the little owl perched on her shoulder. Either way, it wasn't a surprise. She was nice and fun to hang out with and pretty. Who wouldn't like her?

"Yeah, they're probably way more comfortable than we are," Ezra agreed. They were probably accustomed to it with all those feathers they had. Meanwhile he had only his Hogwarts robes over his clothes since he hadn't thought to put on a coat or any extra layers to keep warm. He didn't plan on being here long, so he didn't see the point. But even after climbing all the stairs to get up here, he could already feel the cold air seeping into his skin.

And so, the task at hand. "Yeah, figured it was about time to send one to my parents." He glanced around at the owls, trying to figure out which one would cooperate with him today. "Are you sending one too?" He didn't see a letter in her hand though, so maybe she was just visiting some owl friends.

[Lottiepot]

Aurora wished she had some form of special connection with the owls but the truth was that the little bird sat on her shoulder belonged to her. “Oh this is Flora, she’s mine.” she grinned, noticing Ezra glancing in the bird’s direction. She lifted her finger up for the owl to perch on her hand and brought her towards her friend. “I thought I’d give her a break today, there’s only so much flapping a miniature owl can deal with.” Wouldn’t change her for the world though, a Little Owl perfectly reflected the Ravenclaw’s own petiteness.

The fact that Aurora wasn’t sending a message to her parents had begun to play on her mind with guilt. She had only sent a letter a few days previous and well.. not much had happened since. “Don’t you think Owls are such a funny way of sending messages? Like it’s been centuries and we are still using them. You’d of thought that they’d have a better way that doesn’t involve overworking birdies like..” Okay she didn’t have the imagination to come up with an alternative right now. “..like fireplace post or something?” If they could Floo themselves around then why couldn’t they do the same with letters?

Nope, she wasn’t here of her own accord today but rather as a sort of miniature postwoman. “I just sent the owl off on his way. It’s not for me though, do you know Freddy? He’s in your house but the year above.” She thought he was a sixth year but she didn’t really pay much attention to how old the other students were. “Anywaaay, I think he’s a bit scared of our feathered friends so he pays me to take his letters for him. I don’t mind because I like being up here and it’s not like it’s that far from our common rooms either.” Plus it meant she had extra money to spend on Hogsmeade.

[AlwaysSnapesGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Aurora wished she had some form of special connection with the owls but the truth was that the little bird sat on her shoulder belonged to her. “Oh this is Flora, she’s mine.” she grinned, noticing Ezra glancing in the bird’s direction. She lifted her finger up for the owl to perch on her hand and brought her towards her friend. “I thought I’d give her a break today, there’s only so much flapping a miniature owl can deal with.” Wouldn’t change her for the world though, a Little Owl perfectly reflected the Ravenclaw’s own petiteness.

The fact that Aurora wasn’t sending a message to her parents had begun to play on her mind with guilt. She had only sent a letter a few days previous and well.. not much had happened since. “Don’t you think Owls are such a funny way of sending messages? Like it’s been centuries and we are still using them. You’d of thought that they’d have a better way that doesn’t involve overworking birdies like..” Okay she didn’t have the imagination to come up with an alternative right now. “..like fireplace post or something?” If they could Floo themselves around then why couldn’t they do the same with letters?

Nope, she wasn’t here of her own accord today but rather as a sort of miniature postwoman. “I just sent the owl off on his way. It’s not for me though, do you know Freddy? He’s in your house but the year above.” She thought he was a sixth year but she didn’t really pay much attention to how old the other students were. “Anywaaay, I think he’s a bit scared of our feathered friends so he pays me to take his letters for him. I don’t mind because I like being up here and it’s not like it’s that far from our common rooms either.” Plus it meant she had extra money to spend on Hogsmeade.

Oh, so the owl was Aurora's! "Well, it's nice to meet you, Flora," Ezra said with a grin at the owl. "I'm sure she's very good at her job." The owl might've looked small, but she was probably just as good as any of the other owls at getting a letter from point A to point B.

Though, Aurora did make a great point about the whole owl-post-for-letters thing as a whole. "That's true. Fireplace post would be neat. That shouldn't be too much harder than transporting a whole person through the floo." Should be really easy, in fact, considering how small letters were. Surely there was some way to make that work? "Or maybe some kinda spell that could teleport your letter to someone. Or even stuff like, two-way mirrors, but with just one mirror that connects you with all your friends and family, instead of being limited to just a pair." That wasn't relevant to the letter issue, but it was still a useful way of communication. Like how he didn't need a bunch of phones to call his Muggle relatives. One phone could call anyone so long as they had the other person's number.

Freddy who was a sixth year in his house... Ezra considered for a second, then shrugged. "The name's not ringing any bells, but I've probably seen him around the common room." It was entirely possible he'd met him, even if just in passing, but he couldn't put a face to the name at the moment. "That's nice of you to help him out though." A fear of owls was not something he would have expected, but Ezra could understand it somewhat. Some of these owls did like to bite.

[Lottiepot]

Flora was able to get from point A to point B and back again which Aurora supposed was all that she could ask of her owl. That and the little feathered friend was the cutest of all the owl species and was too small to want to take a bite out of her and Anna’s Pygmy Puff. So in other words she was very good at what she did. “I’m fond of her,” The Ravenclaw replied, moving the owl back onto a perch so she could move around freely without getting a face full of wing.

Although navigating around the Owlery wasn’t the easiest thing to do considering the amount of poop on the stone floors and hooting birds flying left, right and centre. “I just think it seems a bit mean making owls do aaall the work when we are magical and they are not.” Magical in their own way perhaps but not in the literal ‘able to conjure things up mid-air’ way. “Like a magical telephone..? I know that muggle technology doesn’t work at Hogwarts but wouldn’t it be SO much easier?” She’d always assumed that doing magic was the easy way to get through, at least her Ma only did when she wanted to make something less complicated.

She pondered for a second on the best way to describe the sixth year to Ezra, settling on the fact that ‘like a Disney Prince meets a Grecian sailor’ was not an appropriate conclusion. In fact she had never actually met a Grecian sailor so it was entirely imaginative anyway. “He pays me! Although he doesn’t actually have to, I probably would’ve done it for free. Imagine not being able to speak to your family because you had such a debilitating fear of owls,” she rambled on, extra points for the use of fancier vocabulary.

[AlwaysSnapesGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Flora was able to get from point A to point B and back again which Aurora supposed was all that she could ask of her owl. That and the little feathered friend was the cutest of all the owl species and was too small to want to take a bite out of her and Anna’s Pygmy Puff. So in other words she was very good at what she did. “I’m fond of her,” The Ravenclaw replied, moving the owl back onto a perch so she could move around freely without getting a face full of wing.

Although navigating around the Owlery wasn’t the easiest thing to do considering the amount of poop on the stone floors and hooting birds flying left, right and centre. “I just think it seems a bit mean making owls do aaall the work when we are magical and they are not.” Magical in their own way perhaps but not in the literal ‘able to conjure things up mid-air’ way. “Like a magical telephone..? I know that muggle technology doesn’t work at Hogwarts but wouldn’t it be SO much easier?” She’d always assumed that doing magic was the easy way to get through, at least her Ma only did when she wanted to make something less complicated.

She pondered for a second on the best way to describe the sixth year to Ezra, settling on the fact that ‘like a Disney Prince meets a Grecian sailor’ was not an appropriate conclusion. In fact she had never actually met a Grecian sailor so it was entirely imaginative anyway. “He pays me! Although he doesn’t actually have to, I probably would’ve done it for free. Imagine not being able to speak to your family because you had such a debilitating fear of owls,” she rambled on, extra points for the use of fancier vocabulary.

"Looks like she's fond of you too." Which was good. Having a positive friendship with your owl probably helped with the whole letter-delivering thing. It probably made them even better at delivering letters on time and to the right locations.

Or maybe he was thinking too much about children's cartoons. All those shows about the power of friendship really stuck with a person, y'know?

But yeah, regardless of that, he still agreed that having owls send letters did seem a bit odd for people with magic. Though there was a certain magic to owls knowing exactly where to go when they couldn't actually read an envelope. Still, a telephone would be a great fix! "Maybe we could invent it!" Ezra wasn't sure how at this particular moment, but surely it was possible? There had to be some way to take a Muggle phone and make it usable around magical environments. But he supposed the real obstacle would be getting everyone to actually use it, instead of sticking with owls just because they had for ages.

And it would be pretty unfortunate to be unable to contact family because of a fear of the actual mode of delivery. Maybe even more of a reason they needed to create better alternatives! "Guess that would be pretty terrible. He's lucky to have you then."

[Lottiepot]

“She is!” The Ravenclaw beamed proudly as the Little Owl hopped along the perch and up to join the others roosting at the top of the Owlery. “I remember the first day I got her, she bit one of the other students who was poking their fingers into the cage. Their own fault really..” What was that saying? Never tickle a sleeping dragon or something like that? Well the new one should be to never prod a nesting owl. “I’m glad I picked a Little Owl though, I’d be worried that a bigger owl would want to eat mine and Anna’s Pygmy Puff.” Poor Merryweather did not deserve to be some owl’s fluffy snack. “I make sure she gets lots of treats for her troubles.” Food was often the way to many a creatures hearts, Aurora’s own was no exception.

Hence why she was so easily swung over to delivering an older students letters with the promise of receiving money for a Honeydukes spending spree.

As for the power of friendship, Aurora was firmly within that camp. She thought there was nothing more important than the strong connections that she had with her friends and family. If she was left with absolutely nothing but still had those she loved around her she would be incredibly happy. Cheesy perhaps but true.

“How do you invent a spell? Do you just make up a wand movement and incantation and hope for the best?” Or was it far more technically inclined than that in which case the creation of said spell would have to be shifted onto Ezra’s shoulders as he was older and therefore more intelligent in Aurora’s mind. It would be pretty cool to have a Wizard Card made of yourself because you had made something worthwhile - not that the Ravenclaw paid much attention to the cards whilst she was stuffing a chocolate frog into her mouth.

The fourteen year old couldn’t comment on whether Freddy was lucky to have her or whether she was just too gullible and easily persuaded to say no to an older student. She took it as a debilitating fear and felt sorry for him but maybe he was just using her? Naivety at its finest.

[AlwaysSnapesGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

“She is!” The Ravenclaw beamed proudly as the Little Owl hopped along the perch and up to join the others roosting at the top of the Owlery. “I remember the first day I got her, she bit one of the other students who was poking their fingers into the cage. Their own fault really..” What was that saying? Never tickle a sleeping dragon or something like that? Well the new one should be to never prod a nesting owl. “I’m glad I picked a Little Owl though, I’d be worried that a bigger owl would want to eat mine and Anna’s Pygmy Puff.” Poor Merryweather did not deserve to be some owl’s fluffy snack. “I make sure she gets lots of treats for her troubles.” Food was often the way to many a creatures hearts, Aurora’s own was no exception.

Hence why she was so easily swung over to delivering an older students letters with the promise of receiving money for a Honeydukes spending spree.

As for the power of friendship, Aurora was firmly within that camp. She thought there was nothing more important than the strong connections that she had with her friends and family. If she was left with absolutely nothing but still had those she loved around her she would be incredibly happy. Cheesy perhaps but true.

“How do you invent a spell? Do you just make up a wand movement and incantation and hope for the best?” Or was it far more technically inclined than that in which case the creation of said spell would have to be shifted onto Ezra’s shoulders as he was older and therefore more intelligent in Aurora’s mind. It would be pretty cool to have a Wizard Card made of yourself because you had made something worthwhile - not that the Ravenclaw paid much attention to the cards whilst she was stuffing a chocolate frog into her mouth.

The fourteen year old couldn’t comment on whether Freddy was lucky to have her or whether she was just too gullible and easily persuaded to say no to an older student. She took it as a debilitating fear and felt sorry for him but maybe he was just using her? Naivety at its finest.

"Can't blame her for that," he said with a chuckle. There were usually signs about not sticking your fingers in an animal's cage for a reason. Even he had learned that the hard way when he was little. Did the owl's size make them less likely to go after a pygmy puff though? "Might be best to still keep them separate though, just in case?" Hopefully the two pets were friends, but sometimes...well, instincts were instincts. He didn't want any harm to come to their pygmy puff either, though he was sure they both took great care of the little fluffy creature.

As for the actual mechanics of spell invention...well, Ezra couldn't say he was super familiar with it either. But, come to think of it, it did seem like a really interesting topic. He glanced up, though without really looking at anything, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I would guess that there needs to be some basis in a language for the incantation..." Considering most spell effects usually reflected something about whatever words it was derived from, whether Latin or something else. "But...yeah, maybe the wand movement can be anything you want?" He wasn't sure what rhyme or reason there was for some spells only needing the wand to be pointed at something, while others had some fancy movement attached to it. "Maybe we can find some stuff in the library about it." Or ask a professor, but that didn't seem as fun. If they looked things up themselves, then they didn't have to worry about a professor telling them not to do it.

[Lottiepot]

Aurora wholeheartedly agreed that it wasn’t the owl’s fault and that if a human was to go poking around in her face she might be tempted to bite them too. “People are such silly billies sometimes, I don’t think they think.” Rather ironically Aurora often didn’t stop and think things through herself, she was more of a doer but she did at least have SOME awareness of how to behave around creatures which would be mighty useful considering what she was hoping to do as a career. “I do! Merryweather lives in my dorm and Flora lives up here whilst I’m at school and then when it’s the school holidays Anna usually takes her home.” It was an arrangement that worked well, a sort of co-parenting deal without Aurora having to admit to her Ma that she had a pet without permission.

“That makes sense” The Ravenclaw nodded in agreement. “I don’t know Latin very well though. I wanted to learn a language so I tried Mermish but it wasn’t what I thought it would be so I kinda gave up.” Sadly she had discovered that Hogwarts mermaids were not the red-headed sirens with the princess voices and there would be no singing during the class. “What’s Latin for post?” Or fire post maybe? “And the wand movement should be a flame.” Because that made the most sense and would be the easiest to remember. The worst thing was recalling a spell whose wand movements didn’t make any sense to the type of spell she was casting and then she’d get all confused.

The library was not somewhere that the blonde often frequented. She wasn’t interested in reading books and preferred to do her homework in front of the fireplace in the common room around others. “It would come under Charms right? So maybe Professor Feirgrund would know too?” He seemed like a very knowledgeable man.

[AlwaysSnapesGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Aurora wholeheartedly agreed that it wasn’t the owl’s fault and that if a human was to go poking around in her face she might be tempted to bite them too. “People are such silly billies sometimes, I don’t think they think.” Rather ironically Aurora often didn’t stop and think things through herself, she was more of a doer but she did at least have SOME awareness of how to behave around creatures which would be mighty useful considering what she was hoping to do as a career. “I do! Merryweather lives in my dorm and Flora lives up here whilst I’m at school and then when it’s the school holidays Anna usually takes her home.” It was an arrangement that worked well, a sort of co-parenting deal without Aurora having to admit to her Ma that she had a pet without permission.

“That makes sense” The Ravenclaw nodded in agreement. “I don’t know Latin very well though. I wanted to learn a language so I tried Mermish but it wasn’t what I thought it would be so I kinda gave up.” Sadly she had discovered that Hogwarts mermaids were not the red-headed sirens with the princess voices and there would be no singing during the class. “What’s Latin for post?” Or fire post maybe? “And the wand movement should be a flame.” Because that made the most sense and would be the easiest to remember. The worst thing was recalling a spell whose wand movements didn’t make any sense to the type of spell she was casting and then she’d get all confused.

The library was not somewhere that the blonde often frequented. She wasn’t interested in reading books and preferred to do her homework in front of the fireplace in the common room around others. “It would come under Charms right? So maybe Professor Feirgrund would know too?” He seemed like a very knowledgeable man.

"Guess I can kinda relate to that though," Ezra said with a chuckle. He probably couldn't judge other people for not always thinking before acting since he did that often too. But he was also at least aware enough to know that it was his fault if there were consequences for it. "Oh, that's a good setup then." Sounded like the pygmy puff was pretty safe at all times, which was good. They had thought it out pretty well.

Wow, she had tried to learn Mermish? Even if she'd given up, that was still pretty cool. "Mermish sounds like a really hard one to learn." Which was why he'd never even considered learning it, so he had to respect her giving it a try at all. Latin seemed a little more doable, but he hadn't really tried that one either. "Uhhh...maybe lettere or something?" He said, just making up a word, but then he laughed, wrinkling his nose. "I dunno, I don't actually know Latin." And that was a really terrible attempt and probably wasn't anything close to the actual Latin word. "I like that movement idea though." Sounded cool to him.

And he supposed out of the possible options for the spell, charms made the most sense for what it would be. So he nodded. "Yeah, I guess he'd be the one to ask." Even if it seemed less fun to go that route, if she preferred getting a professor's thoughts on it, he could roll with it.