Owls and Letters Open Closed

@Edme Achillian @Youssuf Baid @Eliphas Dune

There was an awkward silence in the air when a new face appeared in the owlery introducing himself as Youssuf, also a fellow Gryffindor but strangely, Rachel doesn't recognize him. Rachel quickly glanced at Edme, hoping for some kind of help to ease the tension but she saw her looking... guilty? She was a little worried for them if they're alright but realizing that the silence was a little too loud at the moment, she cleared her throat and smiled at the new joined Gryffindor. "N-no, its alright! We were just uhm, talking but you can post your letter now. Dont let us stop you." She finished with a welcoming smile.

And after that, a new student joined in again but this time Rachel recognized them. "Oh hey Eliphas!" She smiled at him, hopefully it'll slighten the awkwardness in the air. The fellow Astronomy lover looked at the owls, confused, and asked a question to which Edme replied but was a little unsure. Rachel smiled at them reassuringly but answered nonetheless when she was asked by her. "Well, if you've got one of your own owls, you can use them to send letters to. But if you don't then there's many owls to choose from here. Just choose one, tie the letter on his leg or give it to its beak and tell him the address. At least, thats how I do it."

She said, shrugging. Realizing that none of them has sent their letter because of her, she stood at the side, leaned against the wall and smiled sheepishly at them. "Realized that none of y'all have sent your letters because of me so I'm just gonna stay here to not disturb y'all. But feel free to stay and hang around with me here after."

Lol, realized I mentioned Edme in the other thread instead of Eliphas, sorry 'bout that ;-;

@Rachel Davis @Youssuf Baid @Eliphas Dune

Edme saw Rachel turn to her for a moment, and a bright flash of fear passed through them. She wouldn't know what to say, especially not instructions. Thankfully, Rachel was able to clear it up a bit and invite the boys in, not hesitant to explain the directions to each of them.

"Oh, yes thank you." Edme replied to Rachel, hurrying over to a random owl they seemed fit and doing as told, handing the letters over to its beak.

Rachel had such a way with talking to people, one Edme couldn't tell if she envied or admired. It was such a simple thing, and yet it was so easy to see Rachel was good with it. Friendliness practically emanated off her. She was already friends with the Eliphas fellow, and who knew how many others she had befriended during her time here at Hogwarts.

Rachel mentioned that they could hang out around here afterwards, and Edme immediately decided to stay after the Owl flew off.

"Thank you again, your direction is very helpful." Edme smiled a genuine smile, looking over at Rachel gratefully.

It was true that Edme would most likely be a confused mess if Rachel hadn't been here beforehand.

There was confusion about, it would seem, among the First Years, as to how exactly they were supposed to send the letters via owl. The Ravenclaw he couldn't recall the name of tried to explain, but ultimately fumbled and gave up. He couldn't blame them, it was a mindboggling idea in the first place. No different, he supposed, than carrier pigeons, but they had been trained to return to a specific place.

These owls would take letters wherever they wanted them to go, and that idea was simply mental!

He offered her an empathetic smile, all the same, and then turned to look at Rachel as she explained it as plainly as she could. At least, she explained the method she had always used, and evidently it must have worked otherwise there'd have been a backlog of unread letters out there. Surely her family would have informed her of a lack of correspondence, or something, right?

Right.

"Thanks, that's really helpful to know!"

The only problem was, picking an owl. No, that wasn't even the difficult part... Handling it and giving it the letter was. It had been the real stumbling factor for him, the thing which had kept him away from the Owlery before now. But he couldn't be a coward all his life. As with the Grand Staircase, Eliphas Dune had to simply man up and face the situation head on. No more cowering.

He inhaled a slow breath, and relayed what Jack had said in order to coax him into motion. A very simple thing, in truth, one most everyone had heard before, and yet it had made it feel like something of a competition. And he couldn't quite pass such up.

Ready... His grip on the letters tightened for a moment, gaze scanning the multitude of owls present. One in particular stood out to him, a tawny owl. For whatever reason he felt drawn to it.

Set... Slowly but surely he inched his way toward his chosen owl, eyes slightly wide with apprehension. He felt like a dormouse or something to that effect, a deer in headlights in the eyes of a great predator. It didn't matter that the owl was much smaller than he, it was intimidating all the same!

Go! He let out the breath he had been holding, and hastily offered out his arm to the bird the way in which he'd seen the falconry folks do when they put on shows at the various castle ruins he'd visited throughout the years. He pulled back his head some as the bird surprisingly hopped up without much issue, and stared at him with its beady eyes. Like staring into a void... Nay, two voids.

"I... Uh..." His heart began to pound, but the worst of it was already done, right? He took a moment to compose himself, then he said the address of the first letter - the one destined for his parents - loud and clear for the owl to hear. It proceeded to take said letter from his offering hand, clasping it between its beak. Finally, with a fluttering of wings and a few loosed feathers it took to the sky, exiting the Owlery as quickly as it had hopped onto his arm, remaining in plain view in the sky as it began its journey to Lancashire.

It was only then that he realized he'd have to do the whole thing a second time, with the letter to his Grandma.

Instead he sheepishly looked around at the others, waiting for one of them to have a turn while he caught his breath and waited for his heart rate to slow. It hadn't been so bad, after all... Now he just had to remind his body to stop freaking out!

@Rachel Davis | @Edme Achillian | @Youssuf Baid

Youssuf smiled gratefully at Eliphas, as he observed carefully what to do. He'd already tied one letter to a brown owl's leg, who was now hooting impatiently and shifting from foot to food. He spoke his mother's address, enunciating each word carefully -

13 Bucknalls Meadow, LN12, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

The owl hooted once more, as if to admonish him for his accent, and then flew out of one of the open stone windows. Youssuf breathed an involuntary sigh of relief as he grabbed hold of another random owl, a tawny great owl.
It looked at him rather sternly and he accidentally pulled out a feather of its tail, because his hands were shaking. The owl made a low, growly sound and Youssuf hurriedly let go, his face flushing with embarrassment.
He suddenly grew more confident, and held out his arm to a tiny little owl, no bigger than his fist. The owl hopped onto his arm, and he started tying his letter to its leg. When he finished, he found out that the letter itself was bigger than the owl's whole body.
With a valiant effort, the owl flew to the window and out. Then it dropped for a full ten feet before it managed to catch the wind.
Youssuf grinned happily, glad that this daunting task was over with. Nodding to the group as a whole, he headed out of the door.

Edme watched as both of the others tied the letters to the owls legs, and they flew away, one graceful as a swan and the other nearly giving her a heart attack by the fear that it wouldn't be able to carry the large letter on its leg. Thankfully, it managed to catch the wind and glide off into the distance.

One of the boys nodded to the other three, and began his walk out the door.

"Oh, goodbye." Edme called sheepishly as he was already out the door, "Have a good evening!"

She turned to the others, looking expectantly for some conversation to spark. If the offer was out to stay, it wasn't like Edme had other things to do besides wander aimlessly through the halls. If any were to initiate the conversation, Edme imagined it to be Rachel, and with her and this other boy- Eliphas, it wouldn't be too hard to begin some kind of talk.

"Sooo..." they began, trying to find someone to begin talking through the endless screech of the owls. It was so loud it felt quiet, and Edme wanted more than anything for those birds to fly down and pick her up in their beaks.

@Edme Achillian @Youssuf Baid @Eliphas Dune

Rachel smiled as Edme gave the owl her letters and see that she decided to stay. She then tilted her head to the side a little as she watched Eliphas hesitated first then slowly but surely chose an owl and gave it one of his letters before the owl flown away. Only one letter left for him. Next to choose an owl was Youssuf. He chose two owls, one colored brown but medium sized and the other was small. No bigger than the letter. After the little owl successfully took flight, he nodded his head to the group and he left. Rachel bid him a goodbye as he headed out. Edme doing the same and after that, they began to spark up conversation.

Rachel was about to speak again when she remembered that Eliphas still had a letter left. "Need any help there?" She asked, although she knows that he can choose an owl for himself, she just wanted to ask and know if she can help. Realizing something, Rachel perked up and smiled at the two. "Oh! I don't know if you two already know each other since you're in the same house but Edme, this is Eliphas. Eliphas, Edme." She said as she gestured them to each other.

Suddenly Youssuf peeked back inside, and said -

Hey guys, why don't y'all post your letters and we'll have some fun? Maybe irritate the Caretaker a bit? You stay in here much longer, and the birds will start nesting on you. Two Gryffindors and two Ravenclaws, it shouldn't be too hard for us to think of something to do.

Then he snapped his fingers and said -

Well, whenever you find something crazy to do or some fun stuff to experience, I'll be there. See ya!

As Youssuf started (this time really) down the stairs, he thought on what he had said. He was a very impulsive spirit, and he tended to be a little mad. Ah well, he thought. All he had done was be himself. He did hope, however, that the guys upstairs would do something fun soon. They looked like a proper group of misfits. The potential to be awesome was really there.

He made his way down the Owlery, and somewhere around the second level, he decided to perch on a window and read some book. He'd brought his bag with him, and the first book he managed to grab was a fantasy - King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, a Muggle writer. He opened it at the first page, and was soon lost within the story.

Edme was grateful for the spark in conversation as Rachel offered an introduction for Edme and Eliphas. Edme was about to do a formal greeting, reading over the script in her head and preparing to speak it, when Youssuf popped out from the doorway, offering to "have some fun", as he said.

Edme wasn't a troublemaker. Nor was she one to make her own decisions. If the others were to agree, who was she to say no? It's not as though she'd have luck finding others. It was a labyrinth out there. And who knew, maybe it would be harmless fun. Like wandering the castle and writing out funny, washable messages in the walls.

"Well, what do you both think?" she asked, searching for a second opinion before jumping to their own.

If the others went out, she would have a group of people to do it with, and the comfort of friends. But if they didn't, she lacked the chance of getting in trouble. They decided it wasn't a decision for her to make. Not that she was going to make one anytime soon with the rate her thoughts were going at.

She turned back to the others, curiosity filling their face.

As everyone else finished up with the Owlery, Eliphas felt immense pressure to perform all at once. His flushed cheeks paled for a moment, and in his minds eye he played out the kind of scene you had when feverish and asleep, riddled with anxiety. Standing on a stage, with just your underwear! Silly underwear, at that. Only, when he broke through the haze of fear and actually glanced upon the gathered kids he realized none of them were rushing him at all, or frustrated with how slow he was being. Not even Youssuf's comment about finishing up truly felt pressed.

It was all in his head.

Sometimes, being able to carefully read the emotions and intents of others really came in handy, it allowed him to ground himself and fight back any irrational thoughts. Sometimes, of course, it had the opposite effect. Sometimes he'd be excitable, and believe he was making a new friend, only to realize that the other person was totally disinterested. Or even frustrated.

He gulped back that thought, and shook his head.

"Yeah, sorry, one second..."

This time he was much faster in approaching an owl, a great horned owl to be precise. It was beautiful, much bigger than the previous one. It had a look in its eye that screamed 'I could eat you whole if I wanted!' yet surprisingly he didn't find it as intimidating this time. Arm out, the bird perched there shortly after and this time Eliphas went so far as to lightly pet its head after handing it the letter. It wasn't so bad, was it?

Next he spoke the address of his grandmother, not quite as confidently as he'd uttered his own of course, and within no time at all the bird was gone. He smiled, sheepishly, and then turned to the others ready to acknowledge the name exchange Rachel had provided.

He wiped his hand on his trousers, worried there might be owl dander left behind, and then extended it outward toward Edme with a small yet genuine smile. "Pleasure to meet you, Edme," he said, hoping though not expecting for a handshake. "I really like how you style your hair!"

That left them with a few options, in the wake of Youssuf's departure. Did they try to find some mischief to get into? Or did they stand around and chatter, as they presently were? He didn't have anything to do for a little while yet, so he decided that either would do! He looked toward Rachel, curious if she had a preference.

"I feel like if we conquered the Owlery, we can do anything!" Maybe he was a little jumped up on adrenaline, maybe he sounded silly, Eliphas didn't mind. He beamed a triumphant grin, and then moved to lean against one of the window ledges. "What do you guys usually do, in your downtime I mean?"

Eliphas was always searching for new hobbies and places to haunt.

@Rachel Davis | @Edme Achillian @Youssuf Baid

@Edme Achillian @Youssuf Baid @Eliphas Dune

Rachel thought for a moment. She was planning on causing just a little mischief in her spare time. Realizing that she was the only one that haven't said anything yet, she grinned. "If y'all want to then I'm up for it. But! I think we should plan it out. I don't want us to be too impulsive that we could get caught too early. Now... What trouble could we all have fun with?" Crossing her arms on her chest, she faked thinking. Of course she already had something in mind but she wanted to see if anyone has something else to suggest.

"I heard that Hogwarts has a secret room. Room of requirements was it? I mean, if we are desperate for some fun like a large place where we can shoot random dangerous spells or something else then that place is where we could try to visit. Unless any of you already has a plan and place?" Maybe pranking some students or bewitching random objects to go wild wouldn't exactly be something exciting but she was considering it. Nonetheless, Rachel's still playing it safe at the same time of being impulsive if possible.

Turning to the students in the owlery, she cocked her head to the side with an eyebrow up.