ReOpened How to Celebrate an Owl's birthday Open

“Hello Owlbert. It’s your birthday today! Are you excited?”

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Emma had thought herself alone, otherwise she wouldn’t have acted so silly. Of course talking to Owlbert was only for her own benefit even though it seemed that he was happy to ‘talk’ to her. But she felt comfortable with the tiny owl who had claimed her not too long ago at the Magical Menagerie. She had been aiming for something different from the fuzzy, tiny owl, but he had almost dive bombed her and made her laugh. At that point, Emma couldn’t imagine taking any other owl. After all, laughter was truly the best medicine, and if she had a companion that could be useful in delivering mail but still cheer her up and make her laugh, then that was the best of both worlds truly.

She jumped in shock at the voice, as previously mentioned, not having expected anyone else to be here, although it wasn’t that odd to have people come up to send out their mail or visit with their owl’s. She had almost dislodged Owlbert, who was none too pleased at almost losing the opportunity to snack. She swore his stomach was under some kind of enchantment.

Tucking her hair behind her ear with her free hand, Emma quietly spoke. “….ummm…Oh, of course. It’s his first birthday with me so I wanted to make it special, you see?” Emma rambled a bit, taking the moment to look over the student, their dark hair and wide eyes making them stand out. Though she didn’t recall meeting them but she was pretty certain they were a fellow Hufflepuff.

Blushing as if she had been the one to receive the compliment, she nudged Owlbert gently, as he finished the last of the treat. “Say thank you Owlbert.” She calmly brushed her fingers gently over his head. “If you’d like, you can pet him. He’s very friendly. Do you have an owl that you’re visiting?” She asked, feeling at least a bit more confident in her conversation making skills then when she had first started at Hogwarts.
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Emma had just finished speaking to her fellow Hufflepuff, when Emma realized that she hadn’t asked them for their name. Only just talked about their owl, but honestly it wasn’t hard to talk about Owlbert, especially as she didn’t know how to just bring that up without being awkward. At least if they were focused on Owlbert, Emma at least wouldn’t be left scrambling to make conversation when in her head, she thought she was talking too much about herself or could have said something wittier.

Looking up at the sound of another voice, Emma realized someone else had joined them. Owlbert fawned over the attention, joyously soaking it all up. Owlbert was truly the opposite of Emma in that way. He loved attention and would sulk if he didn’t get any or was ignored whereas Emma much preferred being hidden in the corner or on the outside of the crowd. “Of course! Owlbert loves attention. It’s kind of a funny story how I chose him, well I guess he kind of chose me. He is quite adorable isn’t he?” Laughing, Emma looked down before taking a moment to look at the girl who had just joined them. She didn’t recognize them but it was a large school and Emma certainly wasn’t a social butterfly so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities that they only shared the occasional class. Emma could do poorly with matching faces with names.

Emma vaguely caught motion out of the corner of her eye, but it was the owlery and students could come up for a variety of reasons so she didn’t think anything of it. That was until they joined the conversation. Emma was heading to being overwhelmed but at the same time, Owlbert was soaking up the attention and she didn’t want to disappoint her owl friend. Plus she knew that she should make more friends. She always felt bad that she didn’t make friends as easily or as quickly as others. She also didn’t want to be rude or mean or exclude anyone. “It is his birthday today! This is the first year I had him so I wanted to make sure that I celebrated his birthday. Of course.” Pulling out an owl treat, she broke one into three pieces, and held her palm out of Owlbert’s reach and towards the two girls who had joined her. “He really does like attention and treats, so you can pet him if you’d like as well. Owlbert doesn’t mind at all.”
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Emma laughed happily but quietly as the girl wearing Slytherin robes offered Owlbert the piece of treat Emma had given to her. Owlbert’s reaction was expected, as he enjoyed the company of others. Honestly, he was probably super happy here surrounded by other owl friends, and with a large stream of students coming to send their packages or letters. It was to the point that Emma almost felt bad when she sent Owlbert out with a message, because he would be by himself for a little bit. Mind you, the twins and her parents seemed to dote on him as well. The twins were still shocked that she could have an owl as a pet. “He is. And he knows it. I understand, I ended up making a pro and con list and presenting it to my parents. That seemed to do the trick although maybe they were already going to get me one anyway.” Emma shrugged, looking down at where Owlbert still sat in her palm, soaking up the attention that the girl in front of her was giving to him. Smirking slightly, she kept her focus on Owlbert, unsure what to say now that there really wasn’t anything more to say about Owlbert.

Emma missed the rolled eyes, but could tell by the tone that the girl wasn’t being mean. Or at least she hoped so. She figured that the girl liked animals so she couldn’t be that bad. Emma just never had any idea of what to say when meeting new people, and she always worried about talking about herself too much. Technically she had been talking about Owlbert, so it wasn’t like she had been talking to herself.

Looking up at the question, Emma tilted her head slightly, waving with her free hand as she responded. “Hi Lily, I’m Emma Wynn. Hufflepuff. Your name’s very interesting.” Emma looked back to Owlbert, before facing the girl again, but making sure she kept an eye on the little guy so he didn’t cause any trouble. “If you could get a pet, what would you want?”
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Emma didn’t react when Lily mentioned she had pure-blood relatives. Emma had come across both people that had looked own on her for being muggle-born but also hadn’t given a hoot. Emma did her best to keep an open mind, because if she didn’t want to be judged for her blood-status then she shouldn’t judge others for their blood status. Emma just nodded to Lily’s statement, relaxing ever so slightly at the mention of being half-blood and almost entirely when Lily mentioned her mother was muggle-born. Emma hadn’t realized she had tensed up so much, but admittedly she had been worried. “Oh! I’m a muggle-born as well. I mean, you just mentioned your mum was a muggle-born and I’m a muggle-born….and…..” Emma just let the comment fizzle out, not sure where she had been going with that at all. Owlbert looked at her and hooted, as if to give her support. Scratching the kind owl’s head with a small grin, Emma made sure to pay attention to what was being said.

Emma brightened at the mention of the tawny owl, or pygmy puff. The pygmy puffs were so cute and she was enamored but she also wouldn’t give up Owlbert for anything, even only having him for a little bit. “Oh! What’s her name, and what breed is she? I wish we could have a dog or cat, but it was a bit of work to convince mum and dad to get me Owlbert, and I’d feel bad trying to advocate for one when I wouldn’t even be there half the year.” Startling at another person jumping in, Emma smiled at them, as she realized they knew her from the hot chocolate party. “Hi Rita! Right, that was fun! And thank you!” Oh! A cat! Emma thought she kind of slightly preferred cats only because they were so aloof most of the time, the cuddles seemed extra special. “Oh that’s awesome! I’d love to meet Peanut sometime!” Waving as Rita went off to class, Emma felt a little like a whirlwind had blown through. Shaking her head slightly, Emma focused back on Lily and the words that she was saying.

She was glad to hear that it was likely Lily would be able to get a pet this summer. “I’m sure you’ll do great, and my only advice is to not focus a ton. I was going for a more somber looking type of owl but Owlbert literally dropped out of the sky and I fell in love. It was shocking to my parents, I imagine.”

Taking a moment to think, Emma shook her head. “Nothing so exciting. I think my parents are planning a camping trip somewhere in Wales for a week, but I’ll probably spend most of the summer at home, trying to avoid the twins pestering and catch up with my grandparents, and maybe if I can my muggle friends, but we’ll see. Any plans for what you’ll do when you’re at the leaky cauldron?”
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She calmly switched Owlbert to her other hand, absentmindedly handing him another piece of treat as she focused on Lily. While Owlbert was tiny, his weight could still get tiring if she kept him on one hand too long. Plus holding her arm like that could be just as tiring. Shaking her arm slightly, Emma grinned as Lily talked about her dog, understanding that she must really like her and slightly disappointed that they weren't allowed dogs. Though Emma could also understand that might get a bit messy. "awww, she sounds adorable!"

Emma scratched Owlbert's head as she said, "If you haven't been to Wales, then you haven't heard of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, have you?" Emma fumbled the town's name, not quite butchering it but definitely not pulling it off fully. She also had to pause slightly in the middle to take a breath. The town certainly had a mouthful of a name, but it was quite interesting when the guides were able to do it in one breath. "The guides do a much better job of pronouncing it and certainly can do it in one breath. I don't know if there's training or something like that just to make sure they do it correctly but I wouldn't be surprised." Emma blushed slightly, embarrassed about going on like that but she enjoyed learning little tidbits like that and getting to share them with others. It was fun.

Emma chuckled when Lily mentioned the bit about not being broom racers or quidditch players. "Neither am I. Flying is a bit like any athletic skill I think, you can work hard at it or you have a natural talent. And I have no interest in improving my skills beyond the basics. Are you a duelist then? or not much into those kinds of things?" Emma wondered what she would say as she knew that not everyone wanted to participate in any of the three sports offered at Hogwarts.

Pausing, she thought for a moment. "well there's reading, and gardening. I enjoy the outdoors though I'd rather find a nice spot to curl up and read then hike. I've discovered an interest in archery since I joined the club and I've joined the dueling team as well. What about you?"
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Emma scrunched up her nose, imagining what chaos would ensue with dogs running around. "True, and dogs do need a bit more attention and care than the other pets we're allowed to have. It would probably make life difficult or there would have to be an adult to be responsible for them all." Emma's nose unscrunched and she grinned.

"I'm not sure, my parents haven't mentioned where we're camping this year. I've warned them that I think there's some summer camp coming up, I have a feeling they'll want me to go. I heard some upper years talking about it. I'm curious where we'll be for that."

Emma turned slightly red at Lily's chuckle in response to her question about dueling. She then chuckled to Lily's response, understanding the ground thing completely. She certainly wasn't meant to fly. "That's honestly one of the reasons I chose to do dueling. I'm not meant to leave the ground." Emma looked at Lily curiously. "Omnioculars? Are they like binoculars?" Waiting for an answer, Emma watched as Lily frowned, decided to move on.

"What do you write? Fiction, non-fiction, poetry?" Emma listed off a bunch of writing that popped into her head. She shrugged, adding "Not my thing, I'd rather be inside and getting ready for bed though that's mostly because I'm not really a night owl. But to each their own." She grinned, thinking that Lily might like to meet Bailey and they could talk baking. "It was one of the sports things I could participate in, so feel I was part of the school I guess, but then also teaches you how to protect others in situations that emulate real life scenarios without being as dangerous. I think it would be a good idea for everyone to have a bit of practice with duelling at least. That way it won't become an issue if you need to duel and evil wizard." Emma felt uncomfortable, unsure if Lily would think she was foolish for anticipating the negative or not.
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Emma was feeling chatty today, or at least Lily was easy to talk to. She wasn't sure which or maybe it was even a combination of the two. Whatever it was, she was happy to continue chatting with her.

"True. That would get a bit messy and difficult I imagine." Emma nodded sagely, chuckling along with Lily.

"Ah, fair enough. My parents took the opposite planning everything around summer camp. I think they think it'll help with the whole making friends, fitting in bit."' Emma's eyes widened at the unintentional confession, her arm starting to go up to her mouth until she heard a shrill hoot from Owlbert. "Ooops, sorry Owlbert." She waited for him to settle back, and then stroked him carefully, but he was shooting her a reproachful look as if she was awful for practically ignoring him and then almost throwing him. Obviously that was not acceptable behavior. Emma did her best to look suitably contrite.

Emma was interested to hear about Omnioculars. There was so much to learn and there seemed to be no time to study it all. She was sure that it would be impossible for even children raised knowing they were wizards to be aware of it all. "Oh! No, not even close. Muggle binoculars are just for looking through, they just magnify things in the distance. I'll have to add Omnioculars to my list of things to check out in future.

Emma carefully watched Lily, trying to determine how to lift her up without going too overboard. "I'm sure it's not terrible at all. Sometimes we're our own worse critics." Emma crinkled her nose at the mention of non-fiction and then hurriedly went on to explain so Lily didn't think it was against her. "Nothing against non-fiction, I just find.....it can be a bit.....dryyyy?" Emma struggled to come up with the words to describe her lack of interest in tat subject.

Emma nodded, not really sure what else to say. "Yeah, might be helpful, even to only know a few skills or improve casting or something like that."
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