Too bad cats can't fly (Kynan)

Victoria stood in the corner of the owlery, shivering from the cold weather. The days were usually warm and pleasant, but as soon as the sun would set the temperature would drop far bellow chilly. Leaving her room the Ravenclaw ignored the cardigan sitting on her chair and just left it there - a decision she now regretted deeply. But taking the mail was a choir that should last a few minutes at the most! She, on the other hand, had been standing here in the owlery, trying to get her letters for at least half an hour. She couldn't stand to be in this place for one more minute.

"Alright you wretched old thing! Give it here!", she screamed at the almond colored bird that stood at a high up window far from her reach. It carried two letters tied around it's wrist: her mother's and her younger sister's. But Mika, at least that was how her mom called her, had no intention to give her either of the letters. "Mika! Look! I have treats for you. You would love them", Victoria said dangling the little snack high up in the air. But the owl simply hooted in protest and turned it's gaze away. "Alright, you can get the whole bag you greedy thing!", she shouted desperately, but Mika just kept ignoring her despite her shouting and her pleads. 

Victoria was never a fan of birds, even when she was a kid. And it didn't help that her family had owned the most stubborn owl there was. Her relationship with Mika was simple - neither liked the other. But the situation became worse when she moved to Hogwarts were Mika wasn't under her mother's supervision. She could do whatever she wanted, including not deliver a single letter to Victoria. "I warn you! If you don't come down...", she started not really knowing how to finish that sentence. This is why Victoria owned a cat as a pet. Too bad they couldn't fly and pick up mail for her instead of this wicked creature.

After spending the whole day at Hogsmeade, Kynan had spent too much time drinking butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks to notice the time. He had been trying to be productive and wrote a letter to his elder brother. It was a bit funny, because he never wrote letters. Usually, it was Aylee who wrote to their family, telling them how good she was doing in school and sometimes lying about how much Kynan was studying.

But, for once in his life, he was feeling homesick so he decided to write a letter to Ethan. If anything, the two were best friends at home, but last summer they hadn't been talking as much. Their mother had been fired from her job, as the business hadn't been doing well, so the family was depending on dad. Aylee said that that was why they had moved to a smaller apartment during the summer. In the last letter that Aylee had received, Kynan learned that Ethan had gotten a job as a chef in a local fast food store as a delivery guy.

The letter was only two pages long, compared to Aylee's usual letters which were at least four pages long. He took his time writing it, though, and by the time he was finished it was already evening. After paying for his butterbeer and stuffing everything into his bag, Kynan left hurriedly, hoping to owl it before his curfew. When he arrived back on the school grounds, he went straight to the Owlery and hoping that Aylee's owl would be there. He should've bought one of his own ages ago, but he never used up his pocket money for practical stuff. It was always wasted on prank stuff and sweets. I need a job, he thought. Maybe he could by an owl AND a broom, then. The school brooms were getting really stupid compared to other students' brooms. And he needed a decent model if he were to become a professional quidditch player.

Climbing up the steps of the Owlery, Kynan pulled his jacket tighter around him. It was growing colder now, so he ran up the stairs instead of walking, so that the exercise would warm him up. As he was reaching the top of the flight of stairs, he could hear someone yelling. He opened the door and stepped inside, mostly out of curiosity. There was a young girl there, looking angrily at an owl which was resting somewhere to the top of the Owlery. "Have you tried bribing it with sweets?" Kynan suggested, as soon as he walked in. He had to admit, the sight was funny, but the girl would probably end up killing the owl in anger and Kynan didn't think that her parents would like it. Aylee almost ended up doing it once, and the idea had caused chaos in the house.

Victoria pursed her lips angrily and gave out a deep sigh. Her patience was slowly running out and strange thoughts came to her mind. She could always take a rock and throw it at the bird. Not even a rock necessarily but any heavy object would do just fine. But then again her aim was never that good and she would probably miss, which would only make Mika even more angry. 

She could always use her wand to get the stubborn owl to comply but that meant risking hurting Mika in the process. Although she wasn't very found of her at all, she still didn't want to hurt her. "There is only one thing you need to do. That is deliver letters. And you can't even do that right. Stupid bird", she complained rolling her eyes. Why does she get stuck with the most ridiculous bird in wizarding history?

Ready to give up on her letters all together, Victoria turned her head only to see that she was not alone anymore. A Gryffindor boy with an amused look on his face was offering her advice. As if she hasn't already tried everything possible. "Yes. I have tried. And failed", she said holding up the large bag of treats as the proof of her failure. While almost every owl was eagerly eyeing the bag and hoping the treats were intended for them, Mika wasn't even paying attention to the Ravenclaw. "Here. At least you'll be happy", Victoria said softly handing the owl that was near her a large handful of treats. The owl responded with a happy hoot and devoured everything that was given to him.

"Do you know of any spell that could help?", she asked the boy curiously. "Not to hurt her of course! Just to get me that letter", she quickly added. Great, now he would think that she enjoys abusing animals. Which really wasn't true at all. She has a siamese cat whom she loves dearly. One of her favorite classes is Care of Magical Creatures for Merlin's sake! No, Victoria loved all animals. But her patience for this particular owl was growing thin by the minute. "Her name is Mika", she informed him. Perhaps the boy knew a better way to handle stubborn owls such as hers.

"I'm Victoria", she introduced herself realizing that she was being rather rude. "I don't usually stand around the Owlery and yell at birds. Just at this particular one", she explained with a chuckle.

The poor girl looked so desperate, Kynan would've laughed at her face if he hadn't felt sorry for her. But, he was only human, so he couldn't help but help. As the girl told him that treats didn't work, he watched as she fed another owl instead. Kynan chuckled and then walked to stand next to the girl, looking up at the owl. "Is it your owl, or the family's owl?" he asked, curiously, his eyes on the animal in case it might try to fly away. The stubborn bird seemed to look back at him, and Kynan only glared back. "Why does it hate you so much?" he questioned. He didn't get why a person, or even a family, would get an owl that hated them.

He looked away from the owl and back at the girl when she asked if he knew a spell that could help. As she quickly added that it wasn't to hurt the owl, Kynan quickly gave her an understanding smile and then tried to think of something. He wasn't rather fond of animals, and Care of Magical Creatures wasn't his best subject, so his expertise wouldn't really help. He decided to think of a spell, but that was really hard work as well. Kynan pulled out his wand and held it in his hand, as it sometimes helped him think. How to get that letter... just the letter, not the owl... should be easy, right?

"Of course!" Kynan exclaimed, grinning. Then he looked back at the girl and asked, "Haven't you tried Accio yet?" It suddenly seemed so simple! The Summoning Charm! Obviously. Then the girl was introducing herself as Victoria. "Oh, hello, Victoria," he replied, smiling. "I'm Kynan. What year are you in?" The girl looked a bit old, but younger than him. But she was a Ravenclaw, right? His sister could've solved problems like these when she was just a second year. But then he realized that he shouldn't compare everyone to his sister, because probably not everyone was a total book-nerd like Aylee.