Having discovered exactly how to send a letter to someone by owl (and learning that you didn't even need an address, which had made him suspicious on every possible level), Daxton had actually done as he'd said and written a letter to Genny Tate. Oh, he was still quite unimpressed with her for scribbling on his notebook, and was not about to forget it. Retribution would come; he didn't mind biding his time. For now though, he had written to her just as he'd said he would. Though... it was partially because he wanted an answer to a new question than because he felt obliged to hold up any sort of promise.

The issue was sure to be getting one of these birds to take his letter and deliver it. Daxton wasn't sure he really trusted this messaging system, but there was nothing of any real value in the note, so he saw little harm in trying.

Other than the possible harm of being attacked by one of these birds. The chances of which, in Daxton's mind, were very high. He was suspicious of owls, he didn't like the way they looked at him. It also didn't help that the dust in here was irritating his allergies; first chance Daxton got, he was going to try and brew himself an anti-allergen potion and see just how well it worked, because this was frankly ridiculous.

It took some time, but Daxton managed it to silently coax an owl to him and attach the letter to its leg for delivery. He hesitated before sending the animal out of the window, highly dubious that this would work at all, but then the owl had taken flight, and his letter was gone. With that, Daxton left the owlery again, unwilling to spend more time around owls and disgusting droppings and feathers and dust than he needed to.

SPOILER!!: Letter

To: Genny Tate,

Ravenclaw.

From: Daxton Prince.

PS: Is your David named David Truebridge?

Brian sometimes didn't quite like the owlery, simply because Hermes was rather popular and always seemed to be surrounded by girl!birds. Or at least he assumed they were girl!birds, but he would be open to Hermes being surrounded by boy!birds or even a mixture or just birds in general. The main thing was that Hermes - that was his owl, by the way - was always hard to find.

Looking around for a particularly arrogant-looking barn owl, Brian probably looked really weird as he called out for it. "Here, Hermes!" he called at the owls in general. "I have a letter and you get snuggles if you decide to show up." Because Hermes liked snuggles. Always had. And preening. He was a very vain, affectionate owl. And Brian needed this very vain, affectionate owl to come down here pronto so he could owl his other and ask for help with the best friend's birthday present because to this day, girls were still the weirdest thing about the world and he would probably never understand anything about them. Ever. So complicated.

The owlery wasn't actually that far from her common room so she was just going to head up there and send off these letters that she had finally gotten around to writing.

She had so many extra ones to write this term. With Bart in Australia, Emmy in Alabama, Bianca in LA and Lux in London or somewhere, the others who already graduated too. She had to keep up with all of her friends.

With the pile of letters, that she was just going to send out all at once. Sorry Stache, she did being her owl extra treats for taking all of these letters.

Once she got up to the owlery, almost in the door she dropped the letters envelopes flying everywhere. Great, just great she started grabbing and chasing after letters as fast as she could. Ugh.

It wasn’t like Sha had an owl to come and visit in the owlery… she didn’t even have a letter that she wanted to send to her Mam or Tad or any of her gazillion family members. Nope, Sha was simply wandering and she was bored. And bored Sha led her to the Owlery. Basically, it led her to animals without having to go outside in the rain - who would have guessed it. Heh.

Though, that reminded her that she hadn’t seen Duchess today… wonder if she was off terrorising the mice and spiders on the ground…. Oh well! Maybe she was… and less spiders were definitely okay with her. She had seen far too many spiders in the last six months that if she didn’t see them for another decade that would be too soon… ESPECIALLY if they were acromantulas.

However, as she moved up the last few steps she grinned as she heard a voice that she recognised. With that, she bounded up the steps and BEAMED at Brian. ”Hi!” She called out, moving carefully over to him…. she didn’t want to slip on the… yeah no. That would suck. ”Fancy meeting you here.” Giggles, lots of giggles as she waited with him for the owl he had promised snuggles too - to make itself known. ”I’ll give you snuggles too…?” She added to the owl… she had no idea if it would help - but it couldn’t hurt.

Brian was still standing there, looking like a real idiot and probably being judged very harshly by all the owls there when he heard someone else come in. "Marsha! How are you?" he grinned. Finger wiggles and big smile for you, Sha! "Yeah, I've been having trouble with gift ideas and I was going to owl my ma - or my sister, but she never really answers my owls - for help." Maybe Maebh didn't answer the owls because she was too freaked out by the fact that a bird of prey was tapping at her window with a letter attached to his foot to consider that her poor little brother was SUFFERING due to his total inability to pick out nice gifts. And candy would not cut it this time. It wasn't his fault phones didn't work out here. Hmph.

"I'll always accept snuggles, though!" he said, holding his arms open for a hug. He could pretend he didn't see her giggling at him because it wasn't entirely unreasonable. What kind of weirdo coerced his owl out of hiding with cuddles anyway? Oh, yeah, be careful. Owl droppings were difficult to get off your shoes. Brian knew this from experience. And it was the kind of experience he could have done without.

"HermeeEEEEEees, come out please." Oh, look at that! Unintentional rhyming! He should become a poet. He would be the worst at poetry but at least he could make bad rhymes. "He likes being cuddled but he generally likes it when girls do it more than he does when I do." Lucky for him, Marsha was a girl. And maybe Hermes would be more interested in coming out now. Huge flirt, that owl was. And he would PREEN and STRUT about when girls were involved, it was almost embarassing. Seriously. Hermes even flirted with his ma. His MOTHER. Would you believe that? Insufferable owl.

As he had promised himself that he would write to some his fiends that had left Hogwarts and this was indeed what he would do. For today, he needed to send four letters. One each for Lux, Zhenya, Beverly and Jasmine. Admittedly he had only finished Lux's letter so far but he had brought parchment, a quill and ink to get started on the other three. They were all going to be similar letter so it wouldn't take him long to get it written and sent.

The Puffer coaxed one of the school owls down then tied the letter to its leg. "You find Lux and give her that for me,'' he told the owl which hooted before soaring off. He watched it disappear, wishing these four girls were still at Hogwarts. He missed them a ton.

Anywho, time to get back to letter writing!

Now that all one of his friends were at Hogwarts, Davie didn't have a whole lot of people to write to. There was mum and dad, and Uncle Robbie and Aunt D of course, but why would he send a letter to Char? That would be weird. He saw her like every day. Genny Tate he could write to, and he'd already received a letter from her, he just... hadn't written back yet.

What was he s'posed to say about Daxton "Silent Goblin" Prince? Davie chewed on the end of his quill as he leaned over a window, quite at home with the owls hooting and swooping in and out. He leaned on his parchment so it wouldn't blow away and adopted a thoughtful expression as he tried to think of what to say back to her...

Sending letters to Lottie over the summer was quite a task, but only because he didn't own an owl. But y'know, he already had a cruppy... And convincing his parents to let him keep her was hard enough. Imagine what they'd say if he brought home an entire owl!? As opposed to half an owl, right? But things were much simpler at Hogwarts. Well, they were much simpler at the start of the term when nothing had started going down hill yet. It was the calm before the storm.

So Zander was here to send mail. Because apparently that's what a person did before a storm. Mail.

So here he was in the owlery with letter in hand. See, unlike some people, Zander liked to write his letters BEFORE coming up here. 'Cause there was only so much smelly owl poop a person could take. Though, that little kid probably hadn't learned that much yet. La la la. Tying the letter to the bottom of the regular Hogwarts owl he used, the Gryffindor turned on his heel to head-- Wait a minute. "Oi! You're the one from Professor Myers' waiting room." Not like that was supposed to mean much but... He waved an accusatory finger at the boy anyways.

The kid knew Zander's name. And gave him a funny look. Well not really a funny look. But it was a look. Like he was thinking things. And thinking was never a good sign. That's why Zander hardly did any of it. All strategy.

So anyways. Here he was in the owlery pointing fingers at some random kid. What a day.

You know what Genny Tate might appreciate? A poem. A funny, rhyming poem about everything she had to look forward to next term at Hogwarts. Only problem was, Davie couldn't think of anything rhyming beyond "Tate" and "appreciate."

Fortunately, there was a big kid in here now, one who probably know loads of Hogwarts words that were easy to rhyme. Davie had just turned toward him to ask when LO AND BEHOLD... he was being pointed at. By oh oh oh! He knew this face!

"Zander Adair," the littlest Truebridge said again, in exactly the same insufferable know-it-all way he had outside the Herbology professor's office. "Did you have to interrogate the new professor too? That's what I was doing out there." In case he was wondering, what with his pointing and accusatory glare and all that.

SEEEEEEE?

....

..... SEEEE?

There he went again with his THINKING and the KNOWING and the WHO WAS THIS KID EVEN!?!?! Zander didn't like him. He made Zander want to think too. The horror, the horror. His sudden frustration was probably obvious too if the finger pointing wasn't an indication already. Zander was just confused. REALLY confused. How did this firstie know Zander's name and how was he so CONFIDENT about it????

"Yeah I did, but only because--Wait a minute!" The Gryffindor paused. Furrowing brows. Confused. Like what? Why were YOU interrogating the new Professor?" The pointing and accusatory glare and all that was still happening too, by the way. "And also who the heck are you and how come you know my name?" Well, how come he was so sure of it. 'Cause now that he was Head Boy there were quite a few others who knew his name too. But no one was ever this sure unless they actually knew him. And Zander was five million percent sure that he had never seen this kid in his entire life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

SEEEEEEE?

....

..... SEEEE?

There he went again with his THINKING and the KNOWING and the WHO WAS THIS KID EVEN!?!?! Zander didn't like him. He made Zander want to think too. The horror, the horror. His sudden frustration was probably obvious too if the finger pointing wasn't an indication already. Zander was just confused. REALLY confused. How did this firstie know Zander's name and how was he so CONFIDENT about it????

"Yeah I did, but only because--Wait a minute!" The Gryffindor paused. Furrowing brows. Confused. Like what? Why were YOU interrogating the new Professor?" The pointing and accusatory glare and all that was still happening too, by the way. "And also who the heck are you and how come you know my name?" Well, how come he was so sure of it. 'Cause now that he was Head Boy there were quite a few others who knew his name too. But no one was ever this sure unless they actually knew him. And Zander was five million percent sure that he had never seen this kid in his entire life.

This Zander Adair fellow was EXACTLY like Mum had described. He was even like Davie had pictured him, only more blonde and a little less quick on the uptake. Still... he didn't know who Davie was? Not yet? Well why spoil his fun already by just TELLING HIM who he was! Blah! That wasn't the Ravenclaw way!

The much shorter first year took an 'intimidating' step closer to the Head Boy. "I was sent there to interrogate him; had to make sure he was taking care of things," Davie answered honestly, if not vaguely. "I know why you were there too, Zander Adair." He tilted his head at him and made a soft tsking sound. "...You must learn to close your mind better, honestly, before you take your NEWTS."

Teeeheeheheehe.

... What?

W H A T ? ? ? ?

Sent? The Gryffindor furrowed his eyebrows even MORE, but slowly dropped his accusatory finger. And okay even though this--well, whoever he was-- was way shorter than the Head Boy, Zander felt weird. He felt weird about this whole thing and this whole stepping closer motion didn't help. Zander instinctively took a step back, feeling all too uncomfortable. This boy knew something. He knew something and it was making Zander VERY uneasy.

"You were SENT?" he repeated incredulously. "You were sent by WHO? Surely the Ministry would've sent a... taller less baby-looking interrogator. Unless this guy wasn't actually a first year and only looked like one. Maybe he graduated years early? And by years, Zander meant YEARS early. Still, something was off and Zander was growing more and more uncomfortable by the second.

... And every time the boy said his name it made Zander jump a little bit. Granted, not much, but the twitching was probably visible. "... Close my mind???" Zander gave him a good hard stare. He was going to figure out whatever it was that this guy was doing. And while he was at it he was going to try closing his mind because something was going on here and Zander Adair did not like it one bit. EEEEEEEEEEEEE. Was it closed yet? This kid had some brain reading power. Zander could actually FEEL it happening RIGHT NOW! Merlin. This was worse than he thought. HIS BRAIN WAS BEING READ!!!!!

But he was trying really, REALLY hard to look casual about it. Not panicking just PANICKING!! Aheeem. He took another giant step backwards, still eyes focused hard on the boy. Did mind control powers still work if Zander could see it happening? "You can't read my mind! I don't believe you!" Actually, no, he did believe him. He believed him a lot. And his finger was up again. And the other hand was ready to grab for his wand at any given moment.

Who was this guy? Sweet Merlin. Zander was gonna be put under the imperious curse. He could feel it.

Well, that was easy.

Davie had somehow managed to play his cards just right, and by 'cards' he meant 'seventh year head prefect' and 'just right' meant 'convinced the boy that he was a mind-reader.' No wonder he'd been scared poopless by Davie's mum. Just look at his wild, wide eyes! He was as skittish as a baby unicorn being confronted by a wandmaker! It took all of Davie's inner determination and highly developed self-control not to start laughing at this so-called Head Boy.

Ahem. No, he had to focus on this... character Zander thought he was. The one 'sent on a mission' to.... read minds. Or something.

"Don't worry about who sent me," the little boy murmured, following Zander with another small step closer to him and further from the window. "Worry about why they sent me." Hooooohooohooohaha. Wait til Char heard this story. JUST WAIT. Davie narrowed his eyes as though he were lasering in on Zander's thoughts. He even stretched his arm out toward him, slowly, in a zombie-like motion as though he needed to touch him to complete the mind-melding. "I think the young lion doth protest too much," he stated in a very clam, business-like manner. "I CAN read your thoughts, Zander Adair. Don't worry.... it doesn't hurt.... in a few moments, you'll feel a warm wave of calm float over you.... shhh shh shh, close your eyes if you must... for it will all be over soon...."

This was so hard to keep up. Davie was going to fall on the floor and start laughing if the Head Boy didn't stop him first. MWAHAHAHA. Being anonymous was the BEST.

Zander took yet another step back for every step that this "WHOEVER THE HECK HE WAS" took forward. He was trying to perfect an accusatory stare, but honestly at this point it probably just looked like his eyes were going to fall out of his head in terror.

And you know MYSTERY BOY, just because you say ‘Don’t worry about it,’ doesn’t mean Zander WON’T worry about it, okay? Because he was TOTALLY and COMPLETELY worrying about it. Was it obvious in his face? Yes, probably. But he was going to keep pretending that he didn’t believe the kid. And then there he went doing things with his EYES. Merlin. Zander was totally bugging out. And backing up some more. And still finger pointing. ”Oi! You better stop that!! He took another step back. ”No, no, NO I am NOT closing my eyes, are you INSANE?” Zander’s panicked tone contrasted with MYSTERY BOY’S calm one by a whole lot.

He wasn’t going to close his eyes because that’s exactly what the MYSTERY BOY wanted him to do. Ministry worker or not, Zander was NOT going to let this guy take over his brain!! ”I don’t believe you!” Lie. Merlin. Sweet Merlin WHAT WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO? Maybe if he threw an owl at the MYSTERY BOY the mind powers would stop working? Though, which owl would be willing to help? Uh. ”You don’t even WANT to read my mind! I haven’t got any information. I know nothing about what you need!” … What exactly did the MYSTERY BOY need?

HE COULD FEEL IT. THE MYSTERY BOY WAS RIGHT!!! HE WAS FEELING THE WARM WAVE. IT WAS HAPPENING. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

He was too YOUNG. So much POTENTIAL. And now he was turning into MIND MUSH!!!

Oh wait no, maybe that was just a homework headache. But this mind mush stuff was happening too, he knew it.

Giggling, Marsha smiled at her Hufflepuff friend. ”I’m good! How are you?” She asked as she moved to stand next to him, waiting for his elusive owl to come out and show itself. Herself? Himself? Who knew? Nodding, Marsha replied; ”Best to owl your Mam then… at least she might reply to you.” Cheeky grins and a little giggle for you, Bri!

YAY! SNUGGLES!

Laughing, Marsha stepped into the open arms of her friend, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist. Not that her arms were that long, so they didn’t fit all the way around his waist. Not to say he was BIG, he was just bigger than her. Her head rested on his chest as she gave him a cuddle before giggling. ”Herrrrmmemeeeeessssss. Look at all the snuggles you are misssingggggg.” She teased the bird. ”If you come out now, you’ll get cuddles too… I promiiise.” She looked around the owlery as she continued to hug Brian.

This would make Hermes jealous… right? Maybe? Was it working?

She didn't want to send more owl actually. But this one was for her big brother Dimitri and she truly missed him. Besides, from the letter that she got from Zhenny and a hate mail that she sent to her twin brother, Ava really wanted to tell him about those two. Perhaps she could convince him to talk to her older sister, and sent an owl to Teddy and reminded him that he still had a family here, in Hogwarts.

The brunette lioness climbed up to the owlery with a parchment that she wanted to send to her big brother in her hand. Since she didn't have an owl, she had to use the school's one and her pick was the big eagle owl. Ava tied up the parchment on the owl's leg and gave him a chocolate frog as the treat. "Fly safe, okay? I hope you can find Dima." She said at petted the owl's head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Zander took yet another step back for every step that this "WHOEVER THE HECK HE WAS" took forward. He was trying to perfect an accusatory stare, but honestly at this point it probably just looked like his eyes were going to fall out of his head in terror.

And you know MYSTERY BOY, just because you say ‘Don’t worry about it,’ doesn’t mean Zander WON’T worry about it, okay? Because he was TOTALLY and COMPLETELY worrying about it. Was it obvious in his face? Yes, probably. But he was going to keep pretending that he didn’t believe the kid. And then there he went doing things with his EYES. Merlin. Zander was totally bugging out. And backing up some more. And still finger pointing. ”Oi! You better stop that!! He took another step back. ”No, no, NO I am NOT closing my eyes, are you INSANE?” Zander’s panicked tone contrasted with MYSTERY BOY’S calm one by a whole lot.

He wasn’t going to close his eyes because that’s exactly what the MYSTERY BOY wanted him to do. Ministry worker or not, Zander was NOT going to let this guy take over his brain!! ”I don’t believe you!” Lie. Merlin. Sweet Merlin WHAT WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO? Maybe if he threw an owl at the MYSTERY BOY the mind powers would stop working? Though, which owl would be willing to help? Uh. ”You don’t even WANT to read my mind! I haven’t got any information. I know nothing about what you need!” … What exactly did the MYSTERY BOY need?

HE COULD FEEL IT. THE MYSTERY BOY WAS RIGHT!!! HE WAS FEELING THE WARM WAVE. IT WAS HAPPENING. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

He was too YOUNG. So much POTENTIAL. And now he was turning into MIND MUSH!!!

Oh wait no, maybe that was just a homework headache. But this mind mush stuff was happening too, he knew it.

Davie just CACKLED at the Head Boy, being completely ridiculous, unreasonable, and frankly, mad. "Come on, Zander Adair. Even right now, you're thinking: How do I know you? Who taught me to read minds? And why YOUR mind?" Davie casually crossed his arms, cool as a cucumber. "I bet you aren't even aware that I wrote gullible on the ceiling before you got here, and right now, I'm going to make you look up there."

....go on, Zander. Just look. You know you want to. David smirked while he waited (because OF COURSE that word wasn't really up there; but he didn't feel a need to check).

He WAS wondering how the kid knew him. And he was also wondering how he knew how to read minds. AND ALSO, WHY ZANDER'S MIND??? Zander WAS thinking ALL of this stuff. IT was worse than he thought.

UH... WAS MYSTERY BOY LAUGHING AT HIM????

Zander didn't know what was worse. The fact that he probably looked like a complete fool. Or the fact that his mind was being read. The Gryffindor was attempting to keep cool, still. Except that boat had sailed long ago, probably. But the important thing was here that he wasn't going to let the kid know exactly HOW MUCH HE WAS QUESTIONING LIFE on the inside.

Though, if he really could read minds. Man. This was a lost cause, wasn't it?

But ........... Blink. Blink. Blink.

... What? Gullible...? On the ceiling???

All the sudden every ounce of complete and utter panic fell from his face and he was just standing there deadpanning at the boy. Zander knew gullible couldn't really be written on the ceiling. He had two annoying older brothers and a dad who thought he was hilarious This joke was ancient and Zander had fallen victim to it too many times to fall for it again.

And along with the rush of thoughts in his mind, any credibility that this boy had once held flew right out of the tower window. And Zander took a step forward towards the boy. "How the heck do you know who I am?" The Gryffindor didn't even so much bat an eyelash towards the ceiling, instead he narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly, managing to get rid of that eye-bulging thing he had going on only a few minutes ago. This kid was just pulling one over on him. He couldn't read minds! He was like twelve!

Man. Zander sure felt like the world's biggest dufus.

Even though it hadn't been that long since he had seen his family at his sister's wedding, Henry was still a little bit homesick. He wouldn't outright admit that though, and he still was having a fun time at Hogwarts so far. Everything was so interesting! But he thought a little communication home might help.

It had been a little while since he had gotten a care package from mom, so he thought writing home might prompt something in return. And up to the owlery he headed with his completed letter in hand.

Maybe he could talk his parents into getting him an owl next summer, or even at Christmas, but for now he had to use a school one. As he entered the owlery, Henry noticed a girl already there. "Hi Ava!" he grinned. "Are you sending a letter home too?" His eyes looked up at the rows of perches. Which one should he choose?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

He WAS wondering how the kid knew him. And he was also wondering how he knew how to read minds. AND ALSO, WHY ZANDER'S MIND??? Zander WAS thinking ALL of this stuff. IT was worse than he thought.

UH... WAS MYSTERY BOY LAUGHING AT HIM????

Zander didn't know what was worse. The fact that he probably looked like a complete fool. Or the fact that his mind was being read. The Gryffindor was attempting to keep cool, still. Except that boat had sailed long ago, probably. But the important thing was here that he wasn't going to let the kid know exactly HOW MUCH HE WAS QUESTIONING LIFE on the inside.

Though, if he really could read minds. Man. This was a lost cause, wasn't it?

But ........... Blink. Blink. Blink.

... What? Gullible...? On the ceiling???

All the sudden every ounce of complete and utter panic fell from his face and he was just standing there deadpanning at the boy. Zander knew gullible couldn't really be written on the ceiling. He had two annoying older brothers and a dad who thought he was hilarious This joke was ancient and Zander had fallen victim to it too many times to fall for it again.

And along with the rush of thoughts in his mind, any credibility that this boy had once held flew right out of the tower window. And Zander took a step forward towards the boy. "How the heck do you know who I am?" The Gryffindor didn't even so much bat an eyelash towards the ceiling, instead he narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly, managing to get rid of that eye-bulging thing he had going on only a few minutes ago. This kid was just pulling one over on him. He couldn't read minds! He was like twelve!

Man. Zander sure felt like the world's biggest dufus.

Yeah, Davie was full-on laughing at Zander now, and not even bothering to hide it. Hehehehehe. Grinning, the boy pushed up his glasses and waited for Zander to realize that yes, he was messing with him. The whole time, actually, had been one big long joke to Davie.

"It's easy," the Ravenclaw explained, pointing to Zander's badge first. "You wear the badge, you match the description my mum gave me... and you've never exactly denied being Zander Adair, Head Boy." It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was, even though Davie was pretty close to being one. "I've Davie, Davie Truebridge," he added, offering him a genuine handshake since they were officially meeting now. No more joking for now.

It's easy? Zander cocked his head to one side, still keeping his eyes narrowed at the little boy. Easy? H O W? But he didn't have to ask because this kid was pretty quick at getting to the point. No doubt a Ravenclaw, though one look at his tie could've told Zander that. This just further cemented it. Because clearly Zander was very observant. Okay yeah, good points. All of them. He DID wear the badge (which he figured as much would give away his identity but this kid seemed to know more SO), matched mum's description, and didn't deny it.

Okay yeah. Sounds leg--MUM? "Your MUM's description?" Why the heck would his mum have a description of--

And then Zander's mouth flew wide open. And suddenly everything made sense. Was it too late to vote himself off the island because "Headmistress Truebridge is your MUM?" Well, exheadmistress, clearly.

That in itself just about set off every alarm in Zander's head. The headmistress was not his biggest fan. And he knew that loud and clear. Which only meant one thing. Uh oh. "What exactly did she say about me?" He was trying to keep the same accusatory tone, but tbh he was feeling a bit embarrassed at the moment. 'Cause if he had to guess as to what kind of stuff was said... Well uh, surely all good things right? RIGHT?

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay

Even though it hadn't been that long since he had seen his family at his sister's wedding, Henry was still a little bit homesick. He wouldn't outright admit that though, and he still was having a fun time at Hogwarts so far. Everything was so interesting! But he thought a little communication home might help.

It had been a little while since he had gotten a care package from mom, so he thought writing home might prompt something in return. And up to the owlery he headed with his completed letter in hand.

Maybe he could talk his parents into getting him an owl next summer, or even at Christmas, but for now he had to use a school one. As he entered the owlery, Henry noticed a girl already there. "Hi Ava!" he grinned. "Are you sending a letter home too?" His eyes looked up at the rows of perches. Which one should he choose?

As she watched the owl flew to Dimitri, the brunette girl decided to stay here for a while and pet some owls. Those owls were cute, weren't they? She didn't have owl because her parents only allowed her to own one pet, either it was owl or another familiar. She chose to own a cat that she named it Preston and she loved it. And she thought that having Preston as her pet was enough.

Ava grabbed something from her pocket, perhaps there were things that she could feed the owls. Bertie botts, hopefully they're gonna like them. She put some beans to her palm and offered it to the owl near her. Hehehehe, it's so cute watching it eating the Bertie botts beans. She was distracted by feeding the owls and didn't realize that there's someone called out her name. Once she turned back, she noticed that Henry was there. "Oh, Hi Henry!" She smiled to the Hufflepuff boy. "Yeah, I just sent one to my brother." It seemed like he wanted to send one too since he had the parchment. "How's you? Haven't seen you around lately," Maybe because he's in Hufflepufff while she's a Gryffindor and Teddy in Ravenclaw... Sigh, Teddy. Ava was still mad at her twin brother.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

It's easy? Zander cocked his head to one side, still keeping his eyes narrowed at the little boy. Easy? H O W? But he didn't have to ask because this kid was pretty quick at getting to the point. No doubt a Ravenclaw, though one look at his tie could've told Zander that. This just further cemented it. Because clearly Zander was very observant. Okay yeah, good points. All of them. He DID wear the badge (which he figured as much would give away his identity but this kid seemed to know more SO), matched mum's description, and didn't deny it.

Okay yeah. Sounds leg--MUM? "Your MUM's description?" Why the heck would his mum have a description of--

And then Zander's mouth flew wide open. And suddenly everything made sense. Was it too late to vote himself off the island because "Headmistress Truebridge is your MUM?" Well, exheadmistress, clearly.

That in itself just about set off every alarm in Zander's head. The headmistress was not his biggest fan. And he knew that loud and clear. Which only meant one thing. Uh oh. "What exactly did she say about me?" He was trying to keep the same accusatory tone, but tbh he was feeling a bit embarrassed at the moment. 'Cause if he had to guess as to what kind of stuff was said... Well uh, surely all good things right? RIGHT?

Yeah, his mum! The former Headmistress, yeah yeah! Davie nodded to all of this, even though Zander looked even more shocked now than he had when Davie had told him that he was reading his mind.

"Well, she said you have thick-ish blonde hair," still true, "you're in Gryffindor," still true, "you're a prefect who would likely make Head Boy," true, "you once had a detention with her? I think?" Not sure on that account, but, "you like Herbology, like, a LOT, just not her Herbology class," probably true, "and you're very brave, because you once went into the Forbidden Forest to try to rescue a boy, but you didn't succeed and he died and you felt rotten about it afterwards, but that you probably learned from the whole thing and became a much better prefect because of it."

Was that last part correct? Davie watched curiously for a reaction.

So how come no one thought to tell him that Headmistress Truebridge was leaving, but that her ACTUAL CHILD was gonna be a student instead??? Did no one think that would be vital information for Zander Adair??? Because clearly, it was of utmost importance. And He was probably the last one to find out too. He always was. Hmph.

But nevermind that, there was other vital information being shared here. For example, what kinds of things Davie TRUEBRIDGE knew about him. Thick-ish blonde hair? Yeah well, that made sense. Gryffindor, also made sense. Prefect who would most likely make Head Boy??? Truebridge thought he'd most likely make Head Boy? How. He got a boy KILLED. Ahem. That one made him raise his brows slightly, though he didn't say anything quite yet. Once had a detention with... Oh. Uh. Well. Um. Not exactly with her.... But yeah, she had shown up at the end to take their badges away. Though that made it sound even worse so YEAH let's go with that. He had detention with her once. Yup.

But Zander thought that Davie would end right then and there... Except he didn't. And the last thing he said made Zander stop completely for a moment. Y'know ever since the forrest incident had happened, brave wasn't really a word Zander would've associated with it. He would've used words that other people had used, namely "stupidity" and "irresponsibility". But Truebridge thought it was... Brave? Well, whether it was the Headmistress who had said that part or Davie who had added it in, he wasn't quite sure. But either way. Bravery was something he had never associated with the incident before.

He stayed silent for a few seconds. Bravery?

But then he straightened his back a little bit, letting his face soften. "Yeah, it's true," he said with a determined sort of look. "All of it." Especially the bravery part.... Could this be? Was Zander Adair finally coming to the realization that he was actually in Gryffindor for a reason? Did it really take all seven of his years and an eleven year old who could potentially read minds? Yeah, maybe.

"Y'know, kid... You're not all that bad," in fact, Zander just decided.