Passing Parcels
Her fingers clutched the parcel, which had it been made by anyone else would have looked a lot worse. Most students sent and received normal box-shaped parcels. Not Maisie. For this young Ravenclaw, her mail was filled with fabric and half finished garments and trims and ribbons and everything in-between. And although that might in reality fix into a conventional square box, there was no reason for it to. Instead, Maisie carried with her a strange package with odd angles sticking out that somehow managed to still look somewhat elegant due to the fabric and her use of ribbons to keep everything together.
With this in hand, she ascended the tower to the owlery. She held it close as the wind seemed to whip around the tower with a deep precision that was not found elsewhere on the grounds and certainly not on the duelling piste (save that awful second year storm cloud spell). Carefully, she let herself in before shutting the door behind her.
Inside, the owls were a flutter—all different kinds. Sometimes, she wished she had to call her own, one that knew exactly which way was home, but she'd never give up Mischief. Both girl and bunny had bonded irrevocably. So, she'd have to find instead an owl that was capable of carrying this heavy and oddly shaped heap of a parcel. Walking slowly, she scanned the room, meeting each bird by the eye.
There! Oh yes, that one was perfect. Maisie walked her way up to the fattest owl in the room. Of course, she had no way of knowing if its weight was in fact due to weight or muscle, but the first year wasn't even asking that question. All she knew was that a bird that big could carry this—or so she hoped.
Approaching it, Maisie began to wrap some ribbon around it's leg as a precaution to fasten the parcel incase it was dropped from its beak. The bird let out a hoot or two in annoyance as it scuffled about. And so it was in this dilemma, she hardly noticed the door creak behind her.
For @Odette Leone
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Passing Parcels
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D A T E : 27 May 2025..◦..I N T E R A C T I N G : @Maisie Gemmell..◦..W C : 481 ..◦..L O C A T I O N : Owlery
O W L..F O R..I N T E R A C T I O N ..◦..Thoughts #6a5acd..◦..Spoken #483d8b..◦..B A N N E R..B Y :.. Robin Marie
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◦ P O S T ◦ #1 ◦Odette is exhausted, not from staying up all night crafting a strongly worded letter to her brother, but because of her current tormentor, the steps to the Owlery. Halfway up the winding staircase, the out-of-shape first-year leans against the railing to catch her breath. She hoped that after walking up and down the Ravenclaw Tower stairs–her arch nemesis–she’d have calves of steel, strong enough to run a marathon without getting winded. Yet, her twelve-year-old legs are just as twiggy as they were on September 1st.
Eyeing the envelope clutched in her hand, a new sense of resolve, determination, and a tiny hint of pettiness washes over Odette, filling her with invincibility and drowning out the pleas for mercy from her legs and lungs.
Her brother, Max, has been dodging her letters for the past two months—either ignoring her completely or replying with just a sentence or two. She might’ve felt hurt if not for the countless paragraphs he’d slashed out in ink.
It’s no secret Max is a terrible liar. His stories are always too elaborate to be true—like the time he claimed a stampede of garden gnomes trampled their mother’s flowers and devoured all the vegetables. Apparently, the gnomes were enacting vengeance for being flung over the fence for generations. One look at his red face, twitching nose, and the broken broom poorly hidden behind a bush had the family quickly piecing together the truth of his unfortunate crash landing.
Odette knows that Max will never forget about her so rudely. Though she’s ten years younger than her twenty-two-year-old brother, she’s fluent in Max-ese. His strange behavior can only be attributed to one thing—he has juicy gossip that he’s selfishly keeping to himself! As the younger sister, it’s her solemn duty to pester the truth out of him. What better way to do that than to send a howler?
A triumphant grin pulls across her lips as she finally opens the Owlery door. The flapping wings and content hoots sound like applause for conquering the stairs from hell. Well, that and the aggravated screech of an obese owl being dressed up in ribbons against its will. Curiously moving closer, Odette realizes that it’s not clothing but rather an elegantly wrapped package being attached to its leg by a fellow Ravenclaw.
Macey or Maisie, if Odette remembers correctly. They’ve somehow never spoken despite being in the same house and year, but now seems as good a time as any. Perhaps she can ask where the brunette witch gets her fabrics. The young entrepreneur would love to use them for a new product!
“I see you’ve chosen the feathered wrecking ball!” Odette calls over the loud trills of the owls, holding out a bag of owl pellets to the witch. “Need a hand before your ribbon becomes nesting material? It’s far too pretty to be sacrificed to whatever war that owl’s fighting.”ooc: sorry for the wait!
Who hasn't made a deal with a centuries-old entity of questionable moral standing and motives?
*aggressively drinks tea*
Here, hold my morals. I've got some sketchy stuff to take care of...
*aggressively drinks tea*
Here, hold my morals. I've got some sketchy stuff to take care of...
Passing Parcels
“I see you’ve chosen the feathered wrecking ball!”
The voice careened across the owlery without much effort, causing Maisie's brow to raise and her neck to turn. Across the way from her was another first year Ravenclaw. She was certain she'd seen her around the common room or in classes, but couldn't quite place her bright blue eyes and long straight brown hair. Ophelia or Odessa or somesuch.
Regardless, she seemed more than kind as she offered to help her in her struggle with the overweight bird. (Perhaps her parents had been right all along: an owl was a more practical pet.) She was still fiddling with the knot in ribbons. "Em, yeah, okay," she agreed with a chuckle, "Do you think maybe you can calm him down? That way I can secure the knot when...." Her voice trailed as she noticed the pellets. "Oh, that's a great idea!" Nodding, she gingerly reached out to offer one to the bird. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he was very happy to take it. "Thanks," she said with a smile, "Which one's yours?" Surely not this one, but you didn't just walk around with owl pellets if you didn't happen to have one.
It was only then that she noticed the girl's red letter—a howler! It had been a little while since she'd seen once, usually in the Great Hall when someone received one. An outgoing one, well, that was an owl of a different color. "Is that? Have you got a howler?" she asked, curious.
Meanwhile, she got back to work. Her head bobbed out from underneath the feathers as she worked on attaching her vastly over-sized and over-decorated package to this overly large bird. But in a few moments, she popped out on the other side. "Got it!" Wiping her brow she waved to encourage it to fly off, but it still seemed to be eyeing Odette's bag of pellets (or what was left of them.) "Any ideas how to get him to take off?" she asked, extending a hand, "I"m Maisie, by the way. What your name? That is, other than 'owl whisperer' or somesuch."
@Odette Leone
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