Feather's Fancy
Classes had ended for the day and Morgan found himself climbing up a large spiral staircase that seemed almost never ending. Although he had only been at Hogwarts for a short time, he had noticed the numerous amount of owls that would fly about delivering packages and letters to students. After overhearing a few students in the halls while going to his classes, he had learned that there was in fact an owlery located in one of the towers here at the school and he, of course, had to go see it. And so here he was, climbing up the stairs in the west tower towards the owlery where he certainly hoped to find at least a few owls or at least feathers.
The young Hufflepuff had always liked birds, especially Sparrows, and growing up he would often spend hours lying out in the backyard or park listening and watching little birds go about there business to and fro. So, when he realized there was chance for him to visit a place that would very likely have many birds, he of course had to go, even if it was very high up.
Continuing upwards, he eventually made it to a circular room made of grey stone with what looked like a large birdbath in the center of it. It was rather chilly as there were places where there could be windows but no glass, he assumed to allow the owls to go in and out of the tower as they wished. A few feathers dotted the floor but he didn't quite see any owls yet and figured they must be higher up. Wrapping his cloak a bit tighter, he headed further up and his green eyes immediately lit up as, in little alcoves all along the walls, he saw little nests and in many of them owls of all sorts. There were all sorts of feathers scattered about and what looked like to be remains of previous meals for the birds but Morgan paid little mine to them as his eyes were focused on the owls.
Growing up, he had seen one or two owls about but never this many all in one place, especially so many different kinds. Very carefully, he took his journal and a pen out of his bag. Quietly standing to the side, he began writing little notes about the owls he observed and vague descriptions in the hopes that he could later look up what kinds of owls were here.
Word Count: 415
Feather's Fancy
Banner By Cirrus Mooney
Kennedy Cheek | April 21st, 2026 | Owlry | @Morgan Faughn | WC: 501
Kennedy took the steps up to the owlry two at a time, eager to waste no time on her journey. She’d missed the beautiful stone tower so much, she thought she was going to burst. Since returning for the new term, Kennedy was yet to make the trip up to the owlry, and honestly she was disappointed in herself for it. She had been surprisingly busy, this time last year the days seemed to slowly crawl by, but now they were flashing away like seconds. She had come with a letter to her sister Mayah, who had insisted that Kennedy write her so that the young girl didn’t feel left out. Mayah was almost 7 years old, and was had started figuring out how to write and send letters by owl. Kennedy was no seerer, but she saw plenty of stick figured drawings and misspelled words in her letters to come. She reached the top, taking a moment to pause in all its splendor. An owl hooted from above, and Kennedy quickly identified it as a snowy owl with wings of white ice. Looking up, she expected to see more owls, but instead a boy caught her eye. He was on one of the middle platforms with the owl nests. Kennedy couldn’t see well from the angle she stood at, but he appeared to be holding some sort of book in his hands. She stood there for a few moments, just watching him scribble things down. She reached into her satchel's front pocket, bringing out her own journal. Could he really be taking notes on the birds too? The thought sent a wave of excitement through Kennedy. In her time at hogwarts, she’d never really met anyone who loved birds the same way she did. Plenty of witches and wizards liked magical creatures, but they often thought birds were dull in comparison. Should she approach him? What would she say if she? Was she reading the situation wrong? He could always just be a new first year writing a rushed letter home to worried parents. Having talked herself out of approaching the boy, she turned to leave, deciding to mail her letter another time and leave him in peace. But in that moment, she caught sight of something else.
Valor
Her beloved friend and pet. He saw her at the same time, hooting happily and swooping down to land on a ledge near her. Momentarily Kennedy forgot all about the boy and cried out joyfully.
“Valor! There you are.”
From her bag she grabbed an Owl Treat and held it out to him, which he took and then nuzzled her fingers affectionately. Then he flew off again, soaring up and landing in a nest several feet away from the boy. Knowing now that the boy must have seen her, she began to continue upwards to where Valor perched so she could mail her letter. As she made eye contact with to boy, she lifted her finger in a shy wave and offered a soft “hullo”
Feather's Fancy
Morgan had briefly heard another person enter the owlery but was focused on his journal, deciding to just keep to himself. The owlery was were people could send off letters so he knew there were definitely going to likely be people coming in and out, especially since classes were out for the day. It was none of his business, however, so he continued to write a few more notes in his journal when suddenly a girl's voice broke out, causing him to jump slightly having not expected the sudden loud noise.
He looked up from his journal and saw an owl swooping down below, he peeked his head slightly to an opening to look below and saw the owl by the girl he has assumed been the one to excitedly exclaim just moments ago. His green eyes followed as the owl flew towards one of the alcoves with a nest, his head curiously tilting slightly as he observed the bird. He supposed the bird must have belonged to the girl or at the very least was friendly with her as he was pretty sure she had said a name, Valor maybe? He had seen that many of the students did own owls as pets, one of the interesting parts of attending a magical school, so he supposed it was fairly likely that this owl was her pet. I wonder what it would be like to have a pet owl? He pondered quietly to himself, to be fair he had never actually had any pets growing up. Unless, of course, one believed that a "pet rock" his brother had tried to convince him was real when he was younger was actually a real pet.
As he pondered for a moment, still observing the owl, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and he turned his head to see the girl coming up the stairs, his green eyes meeting her blue ones. She greeted him, her voice notably softer than just moments ago. Closing the journal in his hands slowly, he nodded his head in her direction greeting her, "Um, hello." Shifting slightly on his feet he broke eye contact, never having been very good with it, and his gaze instead moved back towards the owl. In his usual monotone tone, he asked the blue-eyed girl, "Is that your owl? Valor, I think you said? I um... didn't mean to overhear but you were somewhat well... loud."
Dialogue: Morgan - #786012
Feather's Fancy
Banner By Avery Gray
Kennedy Cheek | September 21st, 2026 | Owlry | @Morgan Faughn | WC: 222
Kennedy’s face flushed with embarrassment as the boy pointed out how loud she had been when she had greeted Valor.
“Oh- uhm yeah, He’s mine, and probably my best friend.”
She internally cringed from the overshare and tried to divert, hoping the boy hadn’t been too weirded out by it.
"I’m uh sorry for bothering you. You see- I didn’t mean to stop you from what you're working on, w-whatever that is.”
Kennedy’s eyes darted across the owlry as she spoke, too nervous to keep her focus on the boy. Her sights lingered on the closed journal in his hands, and even though she was filled with embarrassment, a spark of joy lit up inside her. He had been writing in a journal! Subconsciously Kennedy toyed with the tassels on her own journal and pulled it tighter to her chest.
“Uhm, not to pry, I mean I’m not really the nosy type I promise, but what were you writing in that journal?”
Kennedy turned an even darker shade of red, almost an inhuman color. She didn’t want to seem rude or impolite, she really hoped she hadn’t given off the wrong impression. However, if the boy’s answer was what she hoped, everything might be about to change for her. That is, if the boy didn't think Kennedy was the world’s biggest weirdo.
Feather's Fancy
So that bird was hers, that's cool, Morgan thought to himself after the girl had confirmed that the owl was hers. He couldn't help but wonder if she had come all this way up to visit her owl or to send a letter. Either way, he supposed it was none of his business so he supposed he wouldn't press, especially as his attention turned back to her as she began apologizing.
Nervous, was the first word that came to Morgan's mind as he focused back on the blue-eyed girl in front of him. He wasn't sure he had ever seen someone's face go as red as her face currently was. He realized slightly that it was possible his pointing out about how loud she had been previously had embarrassed her or made her more nervous possibly, or had led her to maybe believe he was annoyed which did make him feel slightly bad as that had not been his intent. Then again, he supposed maybe the girl in front of him was just naturally sort of nervous to which he supposed he could understand. It wasn't like he was exactly going to be winning any awards for best social skills.
That's when the girl asked about his journal and his eyes glanced slightly to his journal in his hands. It was a rather battered thing, pages slightly askew and various neon colored sticky notes sticking out slightly from between pages. He had a number of notebooks and journals such as this, all slightly chaotic but he always knew where to find everything.
"Oh uh, it's no worries really. I was just... taking notes on the owls here. I'm not really used to seeing this many and I wanted to note down the ones I saw here so I could research them later and find out specifics and um... yeah," Morgan's voice trailed off slightly as he began to think that perhaps he didn't need to explain every single detail. People tended to think he was a bit odd for constantly taking notes and all the research he willingly did.
Feather's Fancy
Banner By Avery Gray
Kennedy Cheek | September 21st, 2026 | Owlery | @Morgan Faughn | WC: 272
Kennedy’s eyes widened as he answered her question, her heart leaping right out of her chest.
“Y-you research birds too? I thought it was just me.”
She pulled out her well loved sketch book, and flipped through some of her more recent pages, allowing him to see them.
There were bird sketches everywhere, sometimes full body and sometimes only small attributes, and where there weren't sketches there was neat, careful scrawl detailing dozens of facts about certain bird specimens.
“Do you like all birds or just owls? Which one is your favorite? How long have you been taking notes? Isn’t the Owlery the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen?”
The words came flooding out all at once-the dam had been broken after keeping in the waters for far too long. Kennedy had never met anyone she could seriously talk birds to, save her father. Most people acted politely interested and commented that a certain species of owl “looked pretty I guess”, but now she just couldn't contain her excitement. However, she did force herself to calm down and talk a little slower.
“Sorry, I’ve never really met anyone else who’s studied owls. Most people don’t even bother to know the difference between a Barred owl and a Barn owl even though they are vastly different!”
Kennedy’s excitement caused her to gesture with her open hand, the one not holding her beloved book, as she said this. Her joy conveyed through her body language, and her grin that spread from ear to ear. Her blue eyes seemed to blaze even brighter than normal, as if they were the embodiment of wonder itself.
Feather's Fancy
The young Hufflepuff was caught slightly off-guard at the girl's enthusiasm, trying to keep up with all of her questions as he caught glimpses of the sketch book she was showing off. The sketches were so detailed and all the notes looked really neat and tidy, definitely a far cry from the slightly messy journal's he often kept. He's not sure if he had ever met anyone this excited about birds, it was odd but not a bad odd just in a he hadn't expected someone to not find him odd for taking notes. It was sort of... cool, even if the blue-eyed girl had a lot of energy.
Clutching his journal slightly to his chest, Morgan began to go through all her questions and answer them one by one, "Well... I like all birds. If you mean my favorite general bird I like sparrows but if we're talking specifically owls I like Eastern Screech Owls and Marsh Owls. I guess I've been taking notes since I could write basically and yes, I think the Owlery is really nice."
His energy was a lot lower than the girl's was, his voice rather one-note, but there was a willingness to engage and a very subtle excitement to meet someone who shared an interest, even if it wasn't incredibly obvious. "It's also alright, really. I don't really know anyone who really has an interest in any birds either. I also don't really know anyone else who actually can tell different types of birds apart, which is sort of ridiculous. Especially with Barred and Barn Owls, like you mentioned, they look nothing alike, it's really easy to tell them apart."
Feather's Fancy
Banner By Avery Gray
Kennedy Cheek | September 21st, 2026 | Owlry | @Morgan Faughn | WC: 245
While the boy’s energy wasn’t quite as bright as Kennedy's, it was still undeniably present as he spoke, patiently answering all of her questions.
“You have no idea how much this means to me,” Kennedy admitted shyly, “for my entire life birds have seemed like my one true passion. The one thing I could never get enough of, it my obsession. Every time I see them in the sky I can’t help but think about how it would feel to be one. But honestly, it's a bit of a lonely hobby, and makes me seem a bit odd to others sometimes. But you get it, don’t you?! You get what it feels like to fall in love with birds over and over again?”
She blushed again, knowing she was being a bit too upfront with someone she had only just met, but she couldn’t help it. When a person is that excited, it is near impossible to keep their emotions in check. So she figured the least she could do was make sure they weren't strangers anymore.
“My name's Kennedy, I’m a second year in Hufflepuff. You’ve already met Valor, he’s quite the charmer.”
Kennedy had never felt so full in all her days at Hogwarts, she felt truly seen and validated in her interests. It wasn't necessarily something the boy had done or said, merely the presence of another person that was similar to her, like the worlds way of saying she wasn't alone.