Training Jamboree Errand Finished

Open to Interactions
Word Count: 605/1000
Mentioning/Interacting With: @Cody Stevenson @Willow Anderson @Henry Knight @Antoinette Asteria

Interacting with @Henry Knight
Mentioning: N/A
Open to Interactions

Anyone who knew Starlee well knew that her and her owl didn't get along. While at first they had been inseparable, it had taken only two short weeks for her owl to decide that his owner was an unsafe lunatic and to never want to be around her for as long as birdily possible. Of course, shooting your bird like a cannonball out of an overturned train would probably do that to any pet, so who could blame him really? But that wouldn't stop Starlee from trying to bond more with her avian friend and when she saw the opportunity to give him a little training session, she jumped on it.

She had made her way up to the owlery to collect him, a large bag of treats in hand. "Oh Booooooorvoooo!" she cooed to the top of the tower, where he had decidedly made his nest to be as far away from her visiting as possible, waving a treat in her hand. "There will be a lot more than just this one treat if you come to the grounds with me!" This seemed to pique his interest, and he flew down to collect his first of many treats, and then she watched as he flew off down to a group of people down on the grounds.

Starlee trekked all the way back down from the tower out on the grounds, breathing heavily. She surveyed the group that had formed so far, and most of which she didn't recognize or only knew in passing. The only one she was certainly familiar with Henry. It seemed like he was just about everywhere. It seemed he was in the middle of teaching others, and she didn't want to interrupt, so she said a short "Hey Henry!" before wandering off to find a place of her own to get to work. There was an open rock available, so she called for Borvo who was circling overhead to land there. He did so, and she pulled out an owl treat. He gobbled it down quite happily, and began to survey the group, presumable to be aware of any troublemakers, while Starlee sat down and pulled together the items she had collected prior to today's training session.

She pulled out a small notepad, in which she had jotted down some general tips she found in a book in the library about owl care and training, and the entire rest of her bag of treats. She flipped through the first few pages and began mumbling aloud her notes.

"Trick number one: Hopping... Train your bird to hop by raising your hand above its head slightly and give them a treat every time their beak taps your hand. Do this a few times until it understands what this specific movement means, and then raise your hand higher until it has to hop. Well that sounds easy enough, ey Borvo? Let's give it a shot!" Borvo simply continued to stare at her, unknowing of what would happen next aside from the potential of more treats.

Hand empty, she closed it into a fist and held it right above Borvo's head. He stiffened, as he wasn't quite sure just what this child would have in mind, and, after a few moments, he looked upward to see her outstretched fist, and bit it. "I- OW Borvo!" she yelped, waving her hand around in the air while Borvo hopped around slightly and ruffled his feathers, looking somewhat pleased with himself, yet still surprised by how loud Starlee was being.

"Eurgh... You are supposed to touch my hand not bite it! TOUCH!" she chastised, knowing full well her bird can't speak, let alone understand, English. She took a moment, sighed, and held her hand up above the bird again, hoping this time he would get the memo.

WC: 635/1000

Interacting With: @Willow Anderson (Open)

Mentions: N/A

Valerie sighed, allowing the wind to blow past her hair. It was actually quite a nice day to go for a walk, however, Val didn't seem to be the only one with the idea. The grounds seemed to be buzzing with activity today, students sitting down chatting, strolling through the grounds, and even playing games.

However, as she turned the corner, something specific caught her eye. A training area of sorts was set up by a tree, a good handful of students running through the obstacles with their pets. There was a good assortment of them, cats, toads, owls. Val smiled. It looks fun. Shame she didn't have a pet, however. She had begged and begged her mum, but she just wouldn't give in. Perhaps, she could get one for her birthday. She just had to wait a month or so.

She shrugged it off, deciding to continue on her walk. She looked at the bright blue sky, not really paying attention to her surroundings when suddenly, she was knocked down. She fell to the floor, luckily able to catch herself, but the fall was still pretty heavy. She was okay though, probably just slightly scraped palms.

However, even though it didn't really hurt, she was still angry. Whoever knocked her down, maybe threw something at her, was in serious trouble. "Hey what was that for? You can't just-" she said as she looked up to meet the eyes of the culprit. But the culprit was... fluffy?

"Oh." Val sat up, a silver mackerel tabby still sitting innocently on her lap. "Hello there. Did you knock me down? Okay... maybe I'm not thattt mad," she giggled, petting the playful kitten. The cat purred, nuzzling into her chest.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" A voice called to her. Valerie looked up, meeting the distressed eyes of a Ravenclaw student. She seemed much older, perhaps a fourth or fifth year.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Val nodded as she pet the cat. "Hey uh- is this your cat? He's very cute! What's his name?"

"Oh thank god- I thought he like- seriously hurt you or something! And yeah, he's mine," she leaned over to pick the cat up as Val backed away. "His name is Socks," she smiled, but it didn't last long. "Gosh, I'm so sorry again- I don't know what's been going on! You see, I got him at the start of the year and he's just a kitten, he's not very well-behaved."

"It's alright," Valerie got up, brushing off her shirt. "It didn't hurt that much anyways." Then she got an idea. "I saw a training area earlier- maybe I could help train Socks or something?" Valerie suggested.

"Oh- I- are you sure?" Val nodded. "That would be so great thank you so much! I have some homework to get done so maybe you could meet me back here afterwards? Thanks again," the girl grinned.

"No problem," Val smiled softly as the girl handed her Socks. The kitten mewed, pawing at Val's chest. "See you later!" Val waved as the girl walked away. "Alrighty, should we get going?" She looked down at the kitten. She placed the cat gently into her bag. "You stay put, alright?" She looked back at the kitten who was poking his head out of the bag. He seemed to nod. "Okay then!"

Val approached the group, pulling Socks out of her bag and carrying him in her arms. "Hey, can I join you guys? This is open right?" She asked the girl who seemed to be in charge. "This is Socks- he isn't mine but I'm watching over him for today," she smiled, holding him up.

"Alright buddy, you ready?" She asked, setting him down in the grass. "Let's start with something simple... hmmm. Roll over!" She instructed. The cat looked curiously back at her, tilting his head. "Hey come on-" She began, before the cat suddenly jumped up on her, knocking her to the ground.

"Well. You're gonna need a bit of work, aren't you?"

WC: 671/1000 Words

Interacting with: @Willow Anderson @Valerie Laurier Mentioning:

-----------------------------------

Date: 6th November 2021 Outfit: x

Adelaide was secretly glad that Willow had come to intervene, the conflict was getting out of hand. She felt guilty as Willow told them off and Adelaide's expression softened slightly, Willow had organized this fun day to train your pets and instead a fight broke out. Honestly, Adelaide didn't expect it to escalate as much as it had, "You're right, this was meant to be a fun day, I'm sorry," she apologized while looking directly at Willow. Adelaide really didn't want to get onto a Prefect and Dueling Captain's bad side, especially for their first interaction. She offered the group that had gathered a small smile before picking up Misty and heading away from the group to actually try and teach Misty some new skills.

"Alright, I've already taught you how to sit so... how about I teach you how to lay down? That should be pretty simple!" Misty tilted her head in confusion and Adelaide sighed. "Hopefully this goes well," she muttered, mostly to herself. "Okay, sit!" She commanded Misty. Thankfully, the cat seemed to now understand what 'sit' meant. "Good girl!" Adelaide praised, "Now, lay down!" Misty stood back up. Adelaide let out a frustrated breath, "No, that's not exactly what I meant," she fished in the pocket of her dress (more dresses need pockets, that's a fact) for the bag of treats Misty's owner had given her. She had momentarily forgotten that she had them, this would hopefully make training Misty a lot easier. She took a treat out of the bag and Misty ran over eagerly, trying to get it from her hand. "No, not just yet! You can only get a treat if you are good, understood?" She repeated trying to teach Misty how to lay down until eventually, after what felt like the hundredth time, Misty finally lay down. "Good girl!" Adelaide held a treat out in front of Misty, and Misty eagerly took it.

She was about to start teaching Misty another trick until she saw someone fall out of the corner of her eye. It appeared that the girl's cat had knocked her over, Adelaide stifled a laugh at the situation and walked over to the girl, "You alright?" She asked, offering a hand to help the girl up. "Are you having trouble training your pet? I can relate, it took me ages to teach my cat how to lay down," She shook the bag of treats she had clutched in one hand, "How about we help each other out? I have some treats here that Misty's owner gave me, hopefully with treats they're a bit more eager to learn new tricks." She laughed, offering the other girl a gentle smile, "I'm Adelaide, by the way."

Interacting: @Starlee Kennedy

At last, a chance to gain Tanya's respect. Piper had always had a reverence for owls. Not only were they powerful-looking and elegant, but they were also functional and served an important purpose in the wizarding world. In fact, Piper reasoned, owls were probably the smartest animals to be trained in such a way. It was almost instinctive.Which made her even prouder to be the owner of such a gorgeous animal as an arctic owl. Tanya's glowing, golden eyes simply radiated intelligence and beauty. Unfortunately, the semester had conducted itself in a busy manner and it was now already November. Exams, homework, and the increased workload that came with graduation had all kept Piper away from her owl.

Now, however, the staff had put on an event specifically so she could spend quality time with her pet. The Slytherin had happily packed bits of meat in her bag. There were so many things she could teach Tanya. How to do it was an issue she could tackle when they got there. Piper marched her way up the stone stairs into the owlry. Wrinkling her nose at the distinct smell of animal and waste, she called out and waved half a treat in the air. "Heyyyy Tanya!" The white-and-black streaked owl swooped gracefully down and landed on Piper's arm as she had been taught. Piper pet her head with a finger and she settled down, but didn't seem too content. The bird was shifting and her eyes did not carry their usual warmth, though they were focused on Piper's bag that contained treats.

"Look, I would have come to see you more, but I had homework! Do you understand? And look, I've even done better in potions because of it." It was fascinating how Tanya seemed to communicate and think like a human sometimes. She just stared at the bag more, unresponsive. "It's kind of weird I'm talking to you, but I'm going to make it up to you." Piper promised, continuing down the stairs. She handed Tanya another bit of meat, which was accepted.

The amount of chaos at the grounds was palpable. A variety of pets rivaling the Menagerie ran about, and students had already arrived, bringing their pets and doing Merlin knew what with them. Among the crowd, Piper searched for faces she knew. Aha. Starlee Kennedy sat near a rock with her monster of a bird. Piper hadn't had a good look at it before. As she looked at Tanya, perched restlessly on her arm, an idea came to her. She would get bonding time with Tanya, of course, and train her, but she would also select a spot near Starlee to demonstrate the competence that Starlee so obviously lacked. Why, Piper was practically an animal whisperer with how obediently Tanya stayed with her.

Making her way across the grounds and ensuring she didn't step on any scampering rats or cats, Piper edged around and stood on the grass, roughly one and a half meters away from Starlee's selected area. "Hello, Kennedy," she said smoothly, showing as much of Tanya as possible. Yes, a last-name basis felt much less buddy-buddy. Carefully, the second-year removed the bag of treats from her pack and fed one to Tanya. "Have you met Tanya yet? She was a special birthday present...an arctic owl. She's super smart, and pretty, and we are such a great team." Piper took care to emphasize the right words with a smile. Regardless of whether Starlee was listening or not, she was now going to attempt to teach a trick.

Tanya would learn to sit on Piper's shoulder on command. That was it. Piper wasn't sure how to make her do it, but she could only try. Clicking her tongue, the Slytherin set Tanya on the ground and took a piece of meat. Tanya could only reasonably follow her hand, right? Piper slowly put a piece of meat on her shoulder, trying to ignore the smell. There was no time to react. With a whoosh, the arctic owl had flapped up, smacked Piper in the face with her wing, and grabbed the treat off Piper's shoulder. With the meat she also took a small piece of fabric from Piper's shirt. She contentedly returned to the ground with a look that clearly told Piper this was revenge for leaving her all the time. That was also combined with an eager look where she may have thought she was doing the right thing.

Rubbing her shoulder and looking nowhere but at Tanya, the mortified Slytherin felt her face burn. "Well...that was only try number one. Nobody's perfect, Tanya."

WC: 769/1000

Eun-ji didn’t have any plans for today. She was exhausted from her days full of studying since she needed to keep her outstanding grades. Well…she didn’t need to per se but she sure felt like she did. It was probably her Korean upbringing that made her think that way. She always aspired to do the best she could in anything she did. Whether it was important or not didn’t really matter. It was exhausting way to live but the Ravenclaw highly doubted she would change anytime soon. I don’t want to stay in the dorm whole day. She sighed looking outside the window. The weather wasn’t bad though it would probably be a little bit chilly. “Do you want to go out Mordred?” The girl asked her cat eventually. She always made sure to take good care of him even when she was busy and since today she was not, it was a perfect opportunity to give him some extra attention.

Mordred stretched lazily but he jumped off the bed, clearly done with his beauty sleep. “I’ll take that as a yes,” the witch smiled as she walked towards her dresser. Now this would be a struggle. Her grandmother definitely didn’t buy her any outdoor clothes so whatever she wore, she would look quite ridiculous in. Who in their right mind would wear designer clothes for a simple walk? No matter, I can’t spend the rest of the year imprisoned in the castle because of her. She shook her head and picked up a black turtleneck, unnecessarily fancy but warm dress and pair of black tights since the dress was rather short. Other than that, the girl only took her wand and a pack of treats for the feline before finally venturing out of the tower, Mordred obediently in tow.

Eun-ji didn’t have any specific destination in mind; she simply walked, occasionally pausing when her friend got distracted by some insect. At this point however, he was very well behaved and so once she called him back to her side, he would do so immediately. The Ravenclaw was proud of the progress he made. He used to be so distrustful towards other people and while he still was rather choosy, he wouldn’t swipe his claws at anybody. The worst he would do was give someone he particularly disliked a dirty look. With other animals however, the silver-coated cat acted surprisingly gentle. He would sniff at them and perhaps poke them with his nose but that was it. He would only play with them when he was sure they wanted to. Pygmy Puffs were his favorite although he didn’t have a chance to interact with them often as none of Eun-ji’s friends had one.

Huh? The girl paused mid walk. She didn’t know there was a pet meeting planned for today. Was it some kind of event? She wasn’t sure. Ever since she decided not to make new friends, she stopped looking out for any gatherings. This one would be difficult to ignore however. She loved animals dearly and hardly passed an opportunity to hang out with them. It was the people that discouraged her from going closer immediately. “Meow…” Mordred called to his owner impatiently. “You really wanna join them? There is a lot of people.” Was she seriously hoping the cat would be on her side and give her an excuse to leave? Well yes, yes she was…alas her furry friend didn’t have her back today. “Fine but if you don’t behave, we are leaving immediately.” Eun-ji warned him as if he could understand her. Well...he was incredibly smart but still.

Upon coming closer, the girl quickly realized this wasn’t just some random meeting. Considering the training course and people desperately trying to persuade their pets to do something, it was safe to assume this was a training time. That’s…good. She recalled her conversation with Flash and how he didn’t like animals mainly because he had a run in with many ill-behaved ones. It was sad to her that somebody never got the chance to bond with a pet simply because there were so many irresponsible owners. This here, was definitely a step in the right direction. These people obviously cared about their pets and she wished the Slytherin was here to witness it. Although perhaps not…he was not ready to meet so many. This would be his personal hell. Baby steps, Eun-ji reminded herself. Finally turning back to Mordred, she noticed how intrigued he was by the purple pygmy puff. Yeah, they were definitely his favorite. His owner however was already surrounded with other people at the moment so she wasn’t keen on approaching the pet. “Maybe later okay? Let’s do some training in the meantime.” The witch encouraged her pet. He already knew how to sit, give paw and come when she called him but she had yet to attempt teaching him to lay down. Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.

OUTFIT (no bag and wearing black tights)

Reducio

Everyone at Hogwarts seemed to have a pet. Liana felt pangs of envy jabbing at her chest as she walked through the field littered with students and their beloved familiars. She had neglected to ask Father for a little companion that could accompany her to school. Even if she hadn't, it wasn't a certainty that he would have granted her wish. While Marcus Kerr had an owl and a Crup, he did not show much affection for either. Both were for strictly functional purposes - Minerva the owl delivered his correspondence, and Kyra the Crup (small, albeit vicious) guarded their mansion from trespassers. For Liana there was no actual need to have a pet at this time - most of the ones Hogwarts allowed lacked any function, and she didn't even need to possess an owl herself to send letters home, since she could use a school owl just as well.

Well, at least for today, she could have a pet. Even if she didn't own it. Because she had rented one. A group of students at the edge of the field seemed to have come up with a business plan thanks to this event - they had a hastily made wooden sign that read 'BORROW A PET - 9 SICKLES / HOUR + 3 sickles for treats'. That seemed like a huge ripoff, but she could appreciate the clever idea. Students like her, who did not own a pet but wanted one, would likely come to this event to at least gaze longingly at all the furry, fluffy, feathery or scaly friends; the opportunity to actually participate in the training would convince plenty of them to part with some of their allowance. It sure convinced Liana. She had picked a pink Pygmy Puff (purple would have been preferable but they didn't have one), handed its owner twelve silver coins, received the little creature whose name turned out to be Skittles (that sounded odd, like a plural of something and not a female name at all; huh) and continued her search for the housemate who had invited her to this jamboree in the first place.

The bright ball of fluff in her palm seemed to be the confident and adventurous type, for it showed no anxiety at parting with its original owner. It was sniffing the air curiously and watching the multitude of other creatures scattered across the field. The redhead could already tell it would be painful to part ways with her new friend in an hour. Or maybe in two hours, since she could probably afford spending another handful of sickles. After all, she was getting allowance both from the school and from her father, and she barely ever had a chance to spend it anywhere - it's not like she could go to Hogsmeade. A few hours of joy seemed like a good purchase.

She finally spotted Avery, who was endeavoring to coax some sort of action out of his own pet. It didn't look like he was very successful. Hopefully, together they would fare better.

''Hey, Avery! Look what I got,'' she hailed her peer and held up the pink fluff ball for his inspection. ''Her name is Skittles. It sounds a bit strange, but I didn't name her, I only rented it out from a kid back over there,'' she inclined her head vaguely towards the far end of the field. ''I'm paying nine sickles per hour for her but I think it's worth it, just so Edward has company. You said he's a bit withdrawn, some company from his own kind might do him good, wouldn't you say?''

The redhead set her pink companion on the grass, a few feet away from Avery's purple one. Skittles emitted a gleeful squeak and rolled over to sniff her male counterpart. It did not seem like the little rental was looking for any education today. If anything, her body language appeared to indicate an attempt to get Edward to play with her. Liana blinked, somewhat intrigued as to how Pygmy Puffs play with each other, but also not willing to let them get carried away too much. They were here for training, after all.

''Did you know that a group of Pygmy Puffs is called a poffle?'' the redhead offered a piece of trivia to her classmate, while her fingers were busy untying the elongated pouch Skittles' original owner had handed her for the additional three sickles. Inside, there was a single banana. The girl pulled it out, pursing her lips at the outrage of having paid three whole sickles for a fruit that was only worth some knuts. It was a bit browned, too. Was this how Pygmy Puffs preferred them? ''Pygmy Puffs are a variation of Puffsakeins,'' she mused aloud, more to herself than to anyone else. ''And Puffskeins are omnivorous scavengers. So it might not matter what we feed to them, as long as it's tasty enough to work as a motivation.'' That sounded logical enough. She exhaled deeply, trying to let go of her regret of not taking any food from the Great Hall. That could have saved her money. She partially peeled the banana and snapped a small piece off of it, lowering it to the ground as an offering.

''Here, Skittles. A treat just for you. Come!''

The pink fluff did not need much encouragement. Once her attention was caught, she rolled away from Edward and back towards Liana, snatching the sweet snack with its small mouth and chomping it eagerly. While Skittles was feasting, the redhead picked up a stick and held it horizontally a few inches above the ground.

''Alright, jump over this. Come on. It's not very high.'' She snipped off another banana piece and held it on the other side of the stick, trying to lure the little animal over. However, the clever little bastard decided to be economical with its energy use. Rather than leaping over the stick, it half-scurried half-rolled around it and squeaked in disappointment when Liana lifted the banana piece up and out of its reach. ''No, that's not the way. Jump over,'' she insisted, showing with her treat-wielding hand what trajectory the pet should follow. However, rather than obeying the command, Skittles began rolling towards the half-peeled banana that the inept trainer had placed on the grass. The redhead huffed in exasperation and, to Skittles' dismay, plucked the fruit off the ground. ''Very clever, but that's not the way this will go,'' the first-year announced, placing the banana back into the pouch and then into the pocket of her robe. ''Now, let's try this again,'' she requested, holding the makeshift obstacle in front of the creature and the piece of banana on the other side. ''Jump over.'' Instead, the Puff attempted to squeeze itself under the stick, essentially getting stuck under it until the disappointed redhead raised the piece of wood higher.

''Oh, can they even jump?'' she asked of Avery, the thought only now striking her. Perhaps this was all futile, and she should come up with some other task for Skittles. ''Should we have them race each other perhaps? One of us holds them both in place, the other goes away some distance and holds out treats for them, and we see which one reaches the Finish line faster?''

Outfit

Bored. She’s so bored. She was just walking on Hogwarts ground doing nothing. NOTHING. God, she’s so bored. No friends- no drama- no rivals even, what is this, finding rivals usually come easy for her, the muggles used to hate her and she didn’t even do anything. She needs drama or some spice in her life. Or maybe friends? Ugh, friends.

And then she saw it, a crowd. Is that some sort of an event? She does think she heard there was some kind of event that took place somewhere around here. But as usual, she just didn’t care enough to actually find out what it is. Then she steps closer, there are animals. Loads of people and animals. She guessed, its some sort of event that required animals? She walks around seeing some ugly animals, and actually some other cute ones as well.

She didn’t mind animals, the cute and beautiful ones only of course. The ugly one, not so much. Well, her name even comes from an animal, the fabulous Pea-Fowl, the most beautiful animal in the world, she thoughts.

After walking around, she did see a familiar face, a prefect she thinks? she could not exactly remember her name. Is it related to a tree? Willow? She doesn't remember. Maybe she’s the one that started the event. And now to think of it, maybe this ‘event’ can break her boredom, playing with some animals. She looks around and maybe tries to find an animal she can borrow for a little while.

A toad? Nope, a rat? Absolutely not. cat? ..maybe. or owl? Hmm... Then she saw it, the moment she saw the creature, she just absolutely fell for it. It was a lizard, A small petite creature with pointed scales and skin patterned with black spots. Petite and chic. Now that she thinks about it, the pattern reminded her of one of her aunt's designer bags. “You.” She points her gaze at a boy that most probably owns the creature. “Would you mind if I borrow it for a little bit?” The boy somehow looks terrified of her but also a little stunned, most probably by a beautiful girl that suddenly starts talking to him. She grabbed the creature in her palm, it was small, but it also feels sharp and tough. Then it started to bite on its tail. “For today only, your name shall be Kelly” Like the name of one of her aunt's designer bags. The boy doesn’t approve of the name, but she didn’t care. She got some treats from the boy and put Kelly on her shoulder. So she supposed to try to train Kelly now?

Several minutes later, she tried. Obviously, she got bored. So she decide just to feed Kelly the treat without actually training her. And continue walking around with the lizard on her shoulders.

WC : 468
Mentioning : @Willow Anderson
Open for interaction