 Knock...
Seven o'clock on a Sunday morning. Not a time that 11-year-olds are normally expected to have already been wandering around for an hour or so but being up early meant that Ailsa had some time to wander before her cousin's antics created chaos around her. Plus, it was a glorious morning. The sky was clear, birds were flitting about, or, if they got too close to the Whomping Willow, being flung about.
She still wasn't sure what she thought about that. On the one hand, it didn't seem terribly good for the birds. But on the other hand, how could you blame a plant? I mean, one didn't get angry with spiders just because they sometimes caught butterflies. Ailsa supposed the Whomping Willow was one of those things that just was and just had to be lived with.
The little antechamber for the professor's office next to the barn was bright from the plentiful windows, but warm. She cracked a window slightly to allow some of the wonderful morning air into the room before knocking, once, lightly, on the professor's door. It was probably too early in the morning, but she'd put off exploring long enough. And she missed the animals back home, so maybe this would be something of a substitute.
While she waited for the professor, she leaned on the sill of the open window, watching the sun filter through the trees. A little jumping spider abseiled from the window's exterior frame and she watched it for several moments, studying it before it disappeared into a small crack in the stone.
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