"Um, well, no, nothing that special, other than some cards I got this morning," Violet answered the Professor, who thankfully hadn't seemed to have noticed Mack. "And no cake--yet," she went on, turning to the boy who had first spoken to her--Jude, his name was. "That sounds like a good idea, but I haven't got any. Maybe they'll have some for dinner." Violet wondered if you could just order the House Elves to make you birthday cake or what--it seemed like a lot of extra work, especially if they had to do it for everyone in the castle.

Turning back to the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, she observed, "Yes, the view up here is rather spectacular. I thought it would be a good day to step back and get the big picture, so to speak. Although," she continued, anxious to defend her House, "the view of the Great Lake from down in the dungeons is sort of special, too, in a different way."

Violet watched the professor giving treats to the owls and almost wanted to ask him if she could feed them one. But then she remembered Mack, who would be sure to come down and cause a fuss if he saw her feeding some other bird besides him. Even though not getting fed was entirely his fault for running away and hiding. Glancing up, she saw her troublesome pet was already showing a great deal too much interest in Amstern and his owl treats. Please don't come down, please don't come down, Violet thought furiously to herself, as if she could warn off Mack telepathically.