Pen P-owls & Ink-troductions
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| Location: Hogwarts Owlery | Date: Late November, 2025 | Word Count: 937 | Writing |
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────A blank page. It's the worst, isn't it? Didn't matter if it was paper or parchment or screen, it sat there. A mocking void.
Henry wasn't quite sure why he'd signed up for this pen pal business. It was meant to be some means of cultural exchange, from the sounds of it. A way to make friends from outside of those you'd regularly interact with based on House or year or blood status or sport or even school. All of his owls thus far had been send to his home in Bristol; and while receiving little messages from his muggle family had been fun, they didn't get what it was like here.
He adored their correspondences, he genuinely did! Those anecdotes concerning his dad's latest DIY project gone awry, his mum sending him a news report that had won some manner of award or another, his sister complaining when he told her his phone didn't work here so he couldn't laugh at the latest TikTok trend with her, those were the highlights of his day when they came. Granted, his dad did routinely complain about whichever school owl he'd sent leaving owl pellets on the mantel place or nipping at his fingers as he tried to retrieve Henry's message. The grumblings were part of the fun at the end of the day.
Still. There was only so much they could relate to. None of them had come to Hogwarts - or any other wizarding school. As far as he was aware, not a single member of his family had ever so much as held a wand before him - not a proper, functional one in any case. How could he explain something like the delight of finally learning a spell or two? The embarrassment at being one of the few people who had no idea how to properly write with a quill on parchment? The feeling of dismay when some people turned their nose up at him - like he was a mangy mutt with no pedigree to its name that had somehow ended up at the dog show? They'd sympathize... but they hadn't LIVED it, nor had anyone in their social circle.
Thus, finally, after losing the staring eye contest against a sheet of animal skin, he reached into his satchel and withdrew one of his glitter pens. It was green, of course, which was undeniably the best color in existence - not that he'd ever tell his handful of new Slytherin friends that, most of their egos were plenty large enough as it was.
He stared down at the small slip of paper he'd been given about the person he'd be writing to. It listed them as an individual named Alicia Matthews who was a year his senior, an Italian pureblood who went to Durmstrang despite spending their holidays in the UK with their grandparents. And that was it, really. He sighed and ran his fingers through already mussed-up brown hair, blue eyes glancing up at the fluttering avian inhabitants of the tower - so far from the badger den. Eventually, he put pen nib to parchment and sparkly green ink began to cover the page in a mostly legible scrawl.
Hi Alicia,
It's cold up here in the owlery as I'm writing this. Maybe next time I'll write down in the Hufflepuff Common Room. It's cozy down there, once you've gotten over your homesickness a bit. Do you have Houses in Durmstrang? I don't know much about it, to be honest. Much of anything, as a matter of fact. The name's cool - but I guess anything's cooler sounding than Hogwarts. Who in their right mind names a magic school after a pig with a skin condition, am I right?
Winter holiday's coming up soon and it even snowed here the other day. Are you planning on going home for them or staying at your school? I'm definitely going home, I could use a cup of my mum's cocoa right about now. She even sneaks me a couple extra marshmallows sometimes, but only if I've managed to keep my room clean. And only if my big sister Helena isn't looking, of course, haha.
Do you have any fun holiday traditions in your family? We each open one present before Christmas day and watch A Muppets Christmas Carol on the telly. Do purebloods have televisions? I suppose they wouldn't. It's a muggle thing - like a box, and you run lightning through it, and the glass in the front lights up, and it shows you things. Sounds mental when I describe it that way, but that's basically how it works! I think, anyway. We mostly use it to watch shows and movies at my house, which are a bit like plays, but with a bigger budget. Sometimes they're are even about magic, but it's never really like what we learn at school - just stuff Muggles made up for fun. Then sometimes dad's boring and turns on the news and sports. I tend to go to my room when he does that.
I'm sending a tin of shortbread biscuits with my letter, hopefully they get to you in one piece. They're my gran's recipe. A bit worried the owl might get hungry and eat them. I'll be sure to give it a treat before sending it off to make sure that doesn't happen.
Looks like I'm running a bit short on parchment space, so I'll let you go. Sorry about the weird ink, by the way, every time I've tried using a quill it's ended up a disaster so far.
Warm regards,
Henry Holbrook─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
| Interacting with: @Alicia Matthews |
| OOC Notes: None |
Pen P-owls & Ink-troductions
Credit goes to the amazing Damien White!
Color: Cassidy Alicia
Alicia sat down with a sigh at her writing desk in her dorm room. It was her second year at Durmstrang and also the last year for her older sister Cassidy. The two were super close and even now Cass was lounging on her bed. "Sooo any plans for this year little sis? Maybe a new friend?" Cassidy asked with a grin as she leaned forward, brushing her black hair behind her shoulder. Alicia looked up from her notebook that she was doodling in. "Nothing much. I did sign up for quill pals though." Cassidy gasped in excitement, sitting up immediately. "Ooo!! Do you know who your owling??" Alicia took out a little sheet of paper she had received a week previously and read it out loud. "Henry Holbrook, English, attends Hogwarts, first year." Alicia looked up at Cassidy's laughter. "A boy? You're so shy around boys though!" Alicia shrugged. "Maybe he can break me out of my shell. Besides he's already owled me and even sent me some food!" Cassidy raised an eyebrow and Alicia gave her the letter and the tin of biscuits, taking one of herself and offering her sister one. Alicia let Cass read the letter as she herself turned to write her own with a red ink quill.
WC:600Dear Henry,
I'm writing from the nice and cozy warmth of my dorm room. It's too cold where this school is to even think about being outside or wherever your mentioned owlery is. We don't have an owlery here at our school. We don't have houses either. We have a red color coated uniform for us and since its cold here all the time usually a fur coat gets paired with the uniform. Durmstrang focuses a lot on the Dark Arts here. It's very interesting mostly because I've never known anything else. What does your school teach?
If it hadn't been for my mother's insistent pushing that I create friends, I probably would not have signed up for this quill pal thing. I did it to please her. And the rest of my family to be honest. They think I'm too to myself but I'm really not. I just haven't found any friends that interest me.
I'm planning on going home for my winter holidays. I have a older sister, her name is Cassidy, who attends Durmstrang with me but she is graduating this year. I also have a younger sister who is due to start next year. Her name is Charlotte and she's a little sweetheart. One family tradition we have is to decorate the Christmas tree together. That and we all have to open the presents on Christmas morning together. We do not have a...tellyision? is it called? Cassidy tells me it's a muggle thing. Hot cocoa is absolutely delicious! Add a tiny bit of butter beer and it makes it even better! I thank you so much for the biscuits! My sister and I are really enjoying them! I'm enclosing a wizarding candy bag full of chocolate frogs, fizzing whizzbee, and sugar quills. Cassidy tells me I should have included every flavor beans, but I won't do that for you. I personally think they are a torture device.
I can't wait to hear back from you! I'll send my sisters owl. I don't have one of my own yet. My dad says I won't be able to take care of it. He's totally wrong about that but whatever. Well, that's all for now! The ink is awesome by the way I love it against the parchment! I'll patiently await your letter.
Yours truly,
Alicia
INTERACTING WITH @Henry Holbrook
Lily McCoire's inpc
Pen P-owls & Ink-troductions
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| Location: Hufflepuff Common Room | Date: Early December, 2025 | Word Count: 891 | Writing |
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────Huddled up in his favorite golden hued chair by the fire, legs curled up onto the seat, and leaning slightly as he wrote a letter in response to the first from Alicia - yes, this was decidedly more comfortable than the owlery was. And the option to scrawl out another correspondence from said location held even less appeal now, considering the inexorable crawl ever-deeper into winter.
Hello!
You wrote back! Some of my new friends said not to be surprised if you didn't. Apparently the silly-billies thought Pureblood + Durmstrang = not a Muggleborn fan, lol (that's Muggle shorthand for 'laughing out loud').
A fur coat sounds really cozy right about now! All they give us are thicker robes, and the entire uniform is mostly black except for a white undershirt and little pops of color denoting your house. My house gets some yellow accents, sometimes paired with even more black. When I sent my parents one of those weird moving photos of me, my dad wrote back to say I can expect plenty of new bee-related nicknames. That made me smile, he likes doing that. Mostly, though, I don't bother with the uniform and wear my comfy clothes instead. A lot of the kids here do that, though. Most of the professors don't seem to mind too much.
Your school has a focus on the Dark Arts? As in defending yourself against them or doing them? We don't learn how to do that kind of thing here at Hogwarts (well, maybe in the restricted section, that would make sense, I guess). One of my favorite classes here is Defense Against the Dark Arts, though. The professor is really nice.
I'm sorry to hear you don't have many exciting options for friends at Durmstrang. I was surprised at how many I've started making here. There were even a few people here that I knew from before I even found out about magic - like my buddies Fred and Rin! Rin's a Ravenclaw (they're the smart ones and can be kinda unusual). She's a half-blood, but she lives with her wizard dad and her aunts look after her a lot. She likes playing in the dirt sometimes. Fred's a wizard-born (still trying to wrap my head around how that's different from pureblood but he promises it is) and he plays quidditch for Gryffindor (they're the brave ones and can be kinda loud). Do you have quidditch there? Hopefully I'm not too dull of a quill pal, but I'll try not to bore you!
I'm so glad to hear you have sisters who you can go to school with! I bet Cassidy was very excited once you finally got there! And it's wonderful you'll be able to do most of your schooling with Charlotte there as well! I'm sure she looks up to her big sisters so much. My big sister doesn't have magic, unfortunately. She's a pain sometimes but that's her job as oldest sibling, at least according to her it is lol. Mostly we get along, though. I think she'd be a Slytherin if she was here, they're the clever ones who are sometimes very ambitious. Apparently people used to think they were the evil ones too, but most of the ones I've met have been very nice.
Decorating the tree together sounds fun! My mum does most of that at my house. I think she suspects dad would have us laughing so hard we'd drop the ornaments if the three of us help. It's always really pretty, though. And thanks for the butterbeer tip! I'll have to see about sneaking some home and finding out if we like it!
Luckily I'd seen some of my friends with chocolate frogs before, because the ones you sent were very jumpy lol! I think they were grateful to be in from the cold. They were tasty, though! The sugar quills were fun too! My fellow firsties and I went through them in a single night, much to the chagrin of the prefects once the sugar rush hit, I'm sure. Fred said to save the fizzing whizzbees until I'm about to finish letter. He's so silly lol.
Your sister's owl was very well behaved, by the way! I borrowed an owl treat from a dormmate of mine and let it warm up by the hearth for a bit. I hope you can prove your dad wrong about the owl! And I love that you wrote back in red ink! I'm sending you a couple red glitter pens to try out, I hope you like them. When I'm back home, sometimes I forget mine in my pocket and it explodes in the wash, but luckily you probably won't have that problem in a wizarding family! Sending a few packets of my favorite brand of Muggle cocoa mix for you to try as well, do tell me if you like it! It tastes best if you mix it with warm milk, but water also works.
Popping in one of the Fizzing Whizzbees now. I like the flavor! Ooh, and they do fizz! I wonder why Fred said to wai- (abrupt squiggly line) OH! THAT'S WHY! I'm hovering off the chair now! Ok! It's like those fizzing lifting drinks from Willy Wonka! This is fun! Uh... blimey how do I get down!
Floating fondly,
Henry Holbrook─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
| Interacting with: @Alicia Matthews |
| OOC Notes: None |
Pen P-owls & Ink-troductions
Alicia cuddles in under a blanket in her dorm room as she read Henry's letter. She had a mug of steaming hot cocoa (from Henry) next to her. She couldn't help but laugh out loud at the last part and she made a mental note to tell Cassidy about it. She took out run of the pens he had given her and put the tip against parchment. Somehow it didn't work. She shook it. Nothing. She stared at the muggle thing in her hand and poked where the tip was. Then realized there was a cap on it. "Well that's new." she whispered before turning back to her own parchment and starting to compose a letter.
Alicia folded the letter up and finished drinking her hot cocoa. She stood up and went to find her sisters owl before attaching the food items to it and sending it on its way!Dear Henry,
Of course I wrote back! That's one thing about me is that I'll always do what I said I'm going to do
And I told my parents I gave it a shot, and so here I am! Giving it a shot! I really do enjoy your letters though, they are truly funny. I bet you look nice in yellow! Like a nice little bumblebee! (Sorry I couldn't resist. The opportunity was too good).
No my school focuses on how to use the Dark Arts. Sure we get the lessons on how to defend ourselves but also how to use the spells. If you'd like I could always show you someday! They can be useful to know.
Wow, Hogwarts sounds awesome and a lot more friendly than my school. Some of my classmates are friends with people from Hogwarts, meeting through international events and whatnot.
Yes, my sisters are super cool. I'm kinda sad that Cassidy is graduating in my second year, but Charlotte will be joining me in my third year so there's that. Charlotte can't stop talking about it, she's so excited. When I'm home sometimes all I want to do is strangle her cause she won't talk about anything else.
Oh wow! Trust me, my mom makes us decorate the tree. Dad gets the fluffing job and he absolutely hates it. He grovels about it any chance he gets. I'm glad you enjoyed my treats! Cassidy made some pumpkin pasties and cauldron cakes yesterday and she told me that I must send them to you. She's so very happy that I'm making a friend.
I'm glad her owl was well behaved! I was worried cause it can get temperamental when it doesn't want to do something. I'm sure it enjoyed that owl treat though! I'm writing with your red glitter pens now! For a minute I didn't know how to open it! I do like the glitter! I'm definitely a glitter girl. I'm drinking your hot chocolate right now! It's so creamy and delicious! I don't want to stop drinking it!
I'm glad you enjoyed the Fizzing whizzbees and I hope by now you've figured out how to get down, so I'll not explain it! If you are still floating...well then your friends must be enjoying themselves watching you float too much! I'll make sure to send some kind of prank you can use on them next time! Just don't spill the surprise!
I may be joining a game I've heard about soon. I think it's hosted by a Hogwarts student. Fawkes Chaos? I wonder if I might see you there? I think it's called the Hunger Games or something. I don't know. Why would we want to be hungry when we're playing a game? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Oh well I'll figure it out.
Can't wait to hear from you again!
Yours truly,
Alicia Matthews
WC:638
Interacting with: @ Henry Holbrook
Lily McCoire's inpc