Flocks of Feathers PV Veda Lunar

Flocks Of Feathers

Veda sat at the desk in the Hufflepuff common room, a letter, blank piece of paper, and a quill next to her. She had gotten her letter a while ago, but had been so caught up in classes and work that she basically forgot about it. That is until she was cleaning out her nightstand and saw it. As her eyes landed on it, realization rushed through her. "Shoot!" she said, and rushed downstairs to write.

Now she sat staring at the blank parchment paper, unsure of what to do. When she saw the pen pal signups, she hesitantly, very lightly, scribbled her name on the form. At the time she thought it was a good idea to get out of her comfort zone, but right now, well, she didn't really agree with her past self. As soon as she got word the other student was Japanese, she worried she would have to write in their language. Thankfully, after re-reading the letter, she realized they could also talk in English.

Veda groaned at herself, "Just start! It's not that hard!" she thought. Carefully, she dipped the quill in the ink stationed at the common room desk, and began to write.

Dear Akari!

Hello! Sorry for the late response, I kind of got caught up in classwork. I am doing well, thank you for asking! Well, some of my favorite hobbies, if I ever get time to do them, are reading and writing. This experience is also new for me, so here's praying I don't mess it up. My name is Veda, and I'm guessing yours is Akari due to your signature at the bottom. You go to Mahoutokoro, correct? What's it like there?

Sincerely,
Veda Lunar

English - Japanese - Thoughts

@Veda Lunar

Mahoutokoro, Evening

XXXAkari usually didn’t forget about things. Things that would go on his mental ‘to-do list’ often floated around the back of his head, resurfacing whenever he decided that he needed something to do… or felt that he had forgotten to do something. The letter that he had sent off to Hogwarts seemed to have journeyed off into the unknown on the wings of the owl… The trip wasn’t that long, right?

XXXAkari tried to estimate the difference between sending a letter to his cousin in England and sending one to Hogwarts in… Scotland, or something? He was never really good at geography. The planet has so many places… And he didn’t even know if Scotland was further or not. Needless to say, when the owl fluttered down to sit on his head as he stepped out from the palace school building, Akari was both amused and confused.

XXX“Hello there,” he remarked, carefully scooping the avian off of his head. “Ooh, you’re a pretty one, aren’t you?” Akari giggled, giving the owl some light scratches on the head while it preened, sticking its leg out towards him. “…ah! A letter for me?” He almost wondered if his father was sending a second owl that week, only to open the envelope and find parchment with English words instead. The owl flew away again, most likely to take a rest in the owlery before resuming its journey back to Hogwarts. Akari had almost forgotten about this Quill Pal thing!

XXXDear Veda,

XXXNo worries, the classwork can be a lot sometimes! I don’t mind waiting. I have never seen a name like yours before, it is very unique and pretty! I do attend Mahoutokoro, but I have never visited Hogwarts before, so I am not sure how to compare the two schools. But it is quite lovely, with multiple buildings, fun classes and clubs, and beautiful gardens and animals. What about you?

XXXI also enjoy reading and writing! There is no way to mess up writing letters, in this case, at least. Mistakes happen all the time to everyone.

XXXBest Wishes,

~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~

Flocks Of Feathers

Veda was about to get ready for bed before she realized she hadn't done her daily owlery check. Every now and then her mom would write her letters, often complaining / talking about how hard it is to use owls as a mail system. One of her most recent letters states, "What about phones? Did we invent them for no reason?"Veda found it quite funny that this was the thing her mother was most surprised at, not well, not the fact she is a witch in the first place.

Then of course, there is the new recent addition of her pen pal. Veda still found it really impressive that an owl can fly all the way to Mahoutokoro without breaking a sweat. "Wait, do owls sweat? Whatever," she thought. Veda walked up the long staircase up to the owlery, knowing that nothing awaited her most likely. Her mom had written two days ago, and she only shipped the letter to Akari just after that.

To her surprise though, a barn owl stood perched in her spot. she gently pet the beautiful creature, and took the letter from its mouth. However, she knew it was almost curfew, so she rushed back to her dorm to read it. The common room at this our would be insanely busy, so it would be best to respond in her dorm.

She sat crisscross on her bed, and opened the letter. When she finished she hastily took out quill and parchment, and began writing her letter.

To Akari,
Thank you for the compliment! I still don't really know what my name means, but a girl told me once it meant separation from someone or somewhere. I checked in the library and it meant wisdom some other place, so I'm not completely sure.

Hogwarts is great! Even though I get lost a lot (the campus is huge) I got my daily route down almost to a T. There are some fun clubs here. I just signed up to be a broom racer, so we will see. Do you do any sports?

Talk to you soon,
Veda Lunar

English - Japanese - Thoughts

@Veda Lunar

Mahoutokoro, Morning

XXXThat morning was rather misty, a light fog dampening the gardens. The further Akari looked out across the horizon, the more nothingness he saw. Hopefully by the time class ends, the sun will have burned away most of the mist… It was a beautiful scene, but a world of empty white-grey was rather frightening to him.

XXXAkari contemplated heading up to the owlery, wondering if there would be an owl waiting for him. But just as he tilted his head up to look at the tall tower, he received his answer: a fluffy-feathered brown owl swooped and dropped a letter, right on top of him. Akari yelped slightly, stepping backwards to avoid getting hit.

XXX “Thank you,” he called out, picking the envelope up from wet grass. “But that wasn’t very nice.” His words, tinged with amusement, echoed slightly in the quiet morning. Hmm. I wonder if anyone heard that. A few of his classmates gave him curious glances before scurrying off to class. Akari hummed, stowing the envelope in his bag. He would have to read it later.

XXXDear Veda,

XXXThat is very interesting! Names can have lots of different meanings… for example, my given name is written like this: 朱莉. The first character means vermillion red(I do hope I spelled that correctly) and the second means white jasmine. Other people also named Akari might have different meanings depending on what kanji their name uses!

XXXWow, is it that easy to get lost? I think I would love to visit Hogwarts some day! I recently signed up as a duellist. I think it would be very fun to race on brooms, but I will stick with magic for now. Have you had any practice with broom racing?

XXXIt’s getting a bit chilly here at Mahoutokoro. I woke up and everything was covered in fog! Is it the same at Hogwarts?

XXXBest Wishes,

~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~

Flocks Of Feathers

Veda packed up her bag, thanking the teacher before heading out to the hall. She kind of just stood there for a moment, contemplating what to do. She always had this awkward twenty minutes of time between Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and she never really knew what to do. Most of the time she sat on a bench that was perfectly placed across from the classroom and read, but she might have forgotten her book today.

However, today was the day her mom was supposed to write to her, and even though it was very early in the morning for her, she maybe had written it by then? Hopefully? Veda sighed, there was nothing else better to do, so might as well. She headed off to the owlery.

When she arrived, she saw an owl, "Maybe horned?" she thought, in her spot. However, with the stamp she knew it wasn't her moms. It was Akaris! But as soon as she grabbed the letter and gave the owl some pets, she remembered that she has class. "Shoot!" Veda thought, shoving the letter in her bag. It would have to wait for later.

Dear Akari,

I love learning about Japanese, and languages in general. That's really cool that the characters have meanings other than your name. I didn't know that! Your name seems really pretty. What's the prettiest name of someone you know? Sorry if that seems like a weird question.

It is quite easy. I have to admit, my first year I was often running around the place, and quite a few times my teachers would have to help me to my classrooms. I bet Mahoutokoro is beautiful. I would also love to visit there, or maybe just Japan. I was debating dueling, but I don't love the idea of fighting, even if its not to injure someone. I don't really have any practice, I signed up to be on the waitlist really. However, I do have an friend who is showing me the ropes a bit.

It is a little cold here, but it really depends on the day. Somedays it's really sunny, and the others it's freezing. The universe can't make up its mind. How's school going? Do you have any interesting classes? I don't really know what's taught over there, but here we have classes such as potions, defense against the dark arts, flying, etcetera. Would love to hear if yours is the same!

Sincerely
Veda Lunar

English - Japanese - Thoughts

@Veda Lunar

Mahoutokoro, Evening

XXXAkari sat in his dormitory, nodding along to a song he was humming in his mind. It was extremely peculiar how he could follow and replicate a melody perfectly in his head, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the notes immediately gave up on him and started flying all over the staff. Minds work in strange ways. Of course, his singing was mediocre at best and abysmal at worst, so why taunt him with a perfect mental replica? Additionally, the sentence structure of his most recent letter was getting stranger, and Akari had no idea if that second paragraph even made sense.

XXXHe fiddled with his quill, rereading his writing with a concentrated expression. Did that ‘for’ belong there at the end of the sentence? Should he cross it out? Or perhaps rewrite the whole sentence? One thing Akari disliked about letters was that is caused him to doubt himself. He would never do this sort of thing if he was expressing his thoughts verbally instead of on paper. And this letter was getting kind of long…

XXXDear Veda,

XXXThank you very much! It’s not a weird question at all. I would say that the prettiest name I know is my mother’s, Amaya. (雨夜) Every time my father says it, it makes me smile. It means night rain.

XXXGetting used to a new place, especially big places, can be pretty stressful! Thankfully, the beginning of my first year at Mahoutokoro was fine because of the years I attended the day program for.

XXXI feel like duelling is just another expression of art. The main part is magic, and the victory or defeat is a side product. Even washing dishes with magic could be seen as art, right? It’s all about the experience and practice, not the fighting. But it’s great that you have a friend to help guide you through the basics!

XXXAren’t all of our classes interesting? I think all of the schools have more or less the same classes. Each class is one of the branches or subjects of magic, and graduating wizards and witches can’t be left without certain basic knowledge. I think my favorite class is the Study of Magical Creatures or Astronomy. What about you?

XXXBest Wishes,

~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~