Dear Home Private Closed

Adlai had ventured up to the owlery plenty of times before to send one of the school owls off to send a letter or few to her family, who she missed ever son dearly. This morning she needed to send one off that covered the Halloween Masquerade which left out the detail of people being set on fire and attempted kidnappings.

Making her way up the winding staircase she could hear someone inside. She paid no mind to it though knowing it was most likely another student sending off a letter the same as hers. Reaching the top she saw the young boy and his owl. It wasn’t any of the ones she had seen that were owned by the school, so it must have been his.

Adlai hid away any stray hairs into her white hijab and smoothed our the nonexistent wrinkles in her plan beige dress. This causing the letter in her hand to wrinkle, the loud noise most likely letting the boy know of her presence.

She made her way into the owlery hoping to find an owl available, if not she would come back later in the evening before she had to retire for bed and forget about the letter the next day with classes and homework flooding her schedule.

Finishing off the biscuit, Mina let out another trill while holding out a leg to the Gryffindor boy. Gently John tied the rolled up piece of parchment to the owl's leg. Hopefully his letter would be to his father's liking. It wasn't long so he would just have to deal with that and recounted mostly classwork research he had done for History of Magic.

"Safe flight-"

A sharp hoot of protest made John's head turn swiftly towards the noise. A girl was standing not far off looking like she had her own letter to send out. A wall instantly rose up around the body's thoughts and made him stand abruptly. "H.hello." His voice caught in his throat as he adjusted his sweater.

John wasn't sure why but he felt an odd sense of worry about his appearance at the girl's presence. She had a plain appearance but something about it appealed to John. Clean, crisp clothing and she looked so well put together. And her eyes.. Clearing his throat he walked over to the girl and held out a hand, a smile crossing his face. Mina ruffled her feathers as the boy left her by the window.

"I'm John, are you here to send out a letter?"

@Adlai Rod

“I'm John, are you here to send out a letter?” Adlai heard the young boy say from behind her. “Yes, actually I am. I’m Adlai, Adlai Rod it’s nice to meet you John.” She said sticking her hand out to him as she held her letter in the other.

Adlai was a little shocked, no one had just flat out told her their name before. Especially not before starting a conversation. “Are you sending out a letter as well?” She asked peering over to the owl that sat at the window. Owls, such lovely creatures.- She thought before averting her attention back to John.

He was decent looking however he seemed to be tired, much like every other first year in the school as they had just begun to grow accustomed to their new daily like of early and late classes. “If you don’t mind me asking, who are you writing to?”

Adlai has always been one to ask questions, weather they were frivolous or not. She wanted to know things that she knew should couldn’t currently understand, being that she was very young. She hated when the older kids at the breakfast table would tell each other jokes that she couldn’t yet comprehend. Thus asking punctual questions came in handy, in her opinion at least.

@John Wolfe

John took the girl's hand and shook it gently in greeting. She sounded well spoken and like a kind person. John hadn't interacted much with anyone else outside of his classes, a couple people here and there.. it felt strange to be around someone outside of practicing spells or listening to lectures.

“Are you sending out a letter as well?”

The boy gave a nod and ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit. "I did have something short written up I wanted to send out." His voice sounding more formal. "My family has asked that I write to them each week. It is a little tedious though..." Answering the second part of her question. Even if it did sound a bit cold, John had meant it. Having to write made him feel like they were keeping watch over him... it was more of a duty than it was enjoyable.

"What about yourself?" His eyes fell to the letter in her hand then rose back up to match her gaze. "Are you writing to your own family as well?" A part of him wondered what she had written. Most likely something much different from his own letter... a recount of his time here.. John figured the girl would probably have much better news or more exciting things to tell her family about that they genuinely cared to know. Not just information that they would deem irrelevant or otherwise. He opened his mouth to ask more of the letter she held but felt it would only make him appear nosy.

@Adlai Rod

Adlai listens to John as he tells her that he is writing to his family and how they have requested him to write them every week, his tone sounding a tad bit annoyed. Adlai could see why, if her parents had required her to write them every week she shouldn’t be as excited.

“Yes, I am sending a letter off to my family. Though unlike you I’m not able to write them every week since the neighbors would start to pry for answers as to why an owl keeps knocking at the window.” She said as a shiver went down her spine at just the thought of her neighbors stopping by her home spewing honey coated complements to her mother, doting on her little sisters and gracefully praising her father with their plastic smiles and blonde slick back hair as they naw their way into her family. Each one of them begging for an answer to the strange phenomenons happening in their community ever since everyone’s beloved Adlai had left them for a “private boarding school.”

“Are you a first year?” Adlai asked hoping to meet someone else in her grade she could converse with outside of class. She didn’t think she had seen him around the Hufflepuff common room so she thought he perhaps was of a different house she had yet to learn more about. Being muggle-born Adlai tended to jump on any opportunity to better educate herself in the world she was so suddenly thrusted into.

@John Wolfe

A quizzical look came over the boy as Adlai mentioned her neighbors prying. She must not be Wizard born, John thought. It was strange how quickly his stance changed to appear more closed off, his arms crossing over his chest. His family had a very strict outlook on bloodlines within the Wizarding World. Even if he felt no malice towards or from this girl, she seemed very kind and genuine, it had been deeply engrained into him how he should feel. How he should react to this situation. Conversing with someone that was not of his same status... A nasty little voice reacted to this realization of the girl's status, making him tense.

“Are you a first year?”

The question brought him back to reality and out of his family's toxic cloud of judgement. "I uh.. Yes." John murmured feeling a little embarrassed that he was so low on the totem pole within Hogwarts. It made him feel inferior which he definitely did not like. Not one bit. Walking back over to Mina and stroking he feathers, John glanced back at Adlai. "Are you a first year too? I haven't seen you in any classes.. although I know some of them we seem to have strict seating guidelines." He grimaced. Even if he understood why the Professors did things that way, he didn't enjoy being placed next to people he felt were annoying to listen to huff over classwork or goof off while he tried to intently pay attention to each lecture. "You aren't in Gryffindor are you?" John took another treat from his pocket and offered it to Mina.

@Adlai Rod

Adlai noticed the shift in his demeanor and didn’t know why. Had she shared to much with? She had tendency to over share which could make some people uncomfortable. “I’m a first year to!” She exclaimed before listening to John say how he’d never seen her in class. “I tend to have most of my classes with people from Slytherin, so maybe that’s why you haven’t seen me rather than it being the seating arrangements.” She said.

No long after John said, “You aren't in Gryffindor are you?" Adlai shock her head with a grin. “I’m a Hufflepuff. Though I’m still not sure how the whole sorting thing works.” Her hand inched underneath her hijab and rubbed her neck before her eyes found the owl.

“Their gorgeous...” she said as she craned her neck to the side to see the owl better. “Are they ours?” She asked since she had never seen them before, being that Adlai has been using the schools owls to send her parents her letters.

Adlai had always loved animals from a young age, at some point she had asked her parents for a hippopotamus! As to why, no one was sure. Thus, when she came to Hogwarts and saw the magnificent winged beasts her heart instantly melted leading her to do her own research on them while she spent hours on end in the library.

@John Wolfe

John felt a pang of jealousy as Adlai mentioned having classes with Slytherin. If only he had gotten into that house then maybe his father wouldn't have sent the nasty howler the first official morning of classes. What a way to start the year... He had been less than happy about the news of John being placed into Gryffindor. So far though John was admittedly enjoying it there. There seemed to be a lot more of a welcome than Slytherin may have given, family status or not.

“I’m a Hufflepuff. Though I’m still not sure how the whole sorting thing works.” Answering his other question, John gave a slight nod. Huffepuff... he had only heard of their strange behavior. Overly friendly, accepting just about anyone into their fold.. the outcasts as his father had put it. "Oh.." He tried to give another smile not wanting to seem rude.

As Adlai turned her attention to Mina, a genuine smile spread across the boy's face. "Yes, this is Mina. She is a family own but I feel like she's been traveling so often... just for the sake of my parents." His voice trailed off. He really did worry about the owl. John's eyes drew away from the owl and back to the girl. "Did you want her to bring your letter as well? She's really great.. I know if I just promised more treats next time around she would be sure to get them their letter."

John hoped this sort of peace offering came off well.

@Adlai Rod

Adlai smiled as she did her best to politely decline his kind offer, “Oh no. Thank you though, I’m worried that she’ll get so tired since I’m sure she has the quite the journey ahead of her.”
She bit her bottom lip as she tried to find another excuse so that she wouldn’t be a bother to him. “Besides my parents are more familiar with what the school owls look like.” She swiftly implies afterward.

She was so very oblivious to the new world around her and how it worked. She didn’t know people still had prejudice against muggle-borns or half bloods. Even in the non magical world she was oblivious to the scorn and scowl of those around her, how some people stared at her family while they walked the streets or went to the mall. How her aunt whispered to her father every now and then during their weekly lunch dates, she knew nothing of it.

Surely this would lead to her down fall in some form or another, her innocence would soon degrade and wither like a flower wilting in winter. Until then she was in full bloom, bright and beaming, curious about everything and everyone she sees.

@John Wolfe