Bobbing for Apples

[Wilfred Lichester-Raven]

The grounds of the castle were rather large, Wilfred found, and it definitely gave him some ideas on how to utilise all of this space. His first plan was to check out the Quidditch Pitch, as he had never actually been on the grounds of one before. Being a spectator had its advantages, but the Hufflepuff had always wanted to play, though he doubted he'd actually ever have a go. There was no point in trying - he knew exactly what his parents would think, and there was no point in trying to get either of them to relent when they didn't want to. Andre's return letter had made his parents wishes very clear - tata wanted him to be good and have fun, whilst Papi wanted him to above all else, behave.

Fortunately, the Hufflepuff was simply content with wandering along the grounds (for now). The stands towered over him, and he found himself constantly looking up and not watching where he was going. Fortunately, the pitch was level with trimmed grass that certainly reminded him of home. Andre, his owl, was perched upon the top of the Hufflepuff stand, and appeared to have no intentions on returning to his owner anytime soon. "Andre!" Wilfred called out, cupping his hands either side of his lips in a futile attempt to amplify his voice. The morepork would certainly be able to head him regardless, however it's posture didn't suggest that at all.
​

 

[Bradley Ahn]

Quidditch. He had heard multiple different students talking about it and from what he had gathered, it sounded like some sort of sport. Played up in the air on broomsticks, so of course, as soon as he had heard that he scoffed. What utter stupidity that was. Brooms that could fly, now that was something right out of a fairytale and he hardly believed that could ever be possible. So, he had decided pretty quickly that he was going to have to go and check out this supposed pitch where they played this sport to have a look for himself. Maybe he could see some of these flying people and see how stupid it looked. No doubt that was just fake and he honestly wouldn't be surprised it was just people running around with a broom between their legs pretending they could fly.

Brad was just a little disappointed that he had arrived to find no one flying around. The pitch was empty besides one other boy he could see in the distance. The Hufflepuff frowned a little, folding his arms across his chest as he stared up at the three tall hoops one end of the pitch. How was someone supposed to throw a ball all the way up there to score? Ridiculous, he just knew it. Shaking his head a little, he turned to leave, though paused when he heard the boy shouting something, a name. "Hope you're not shouting at me," he told him pretty simply, "Because my name is not Andre."

 

[Wilfred Lichester-Raven]

Wilfred knew he should have bought a princely frog. Amphibians (especially ones with crowns!) were nice, and bound to be better behaved than his owl. However, his papi's practical nature ensured that he got an owl instead - they could deliver and retrieve mail, keep pests at bay, and mostly fend for themselves. He should have brought treats with him, but the thought had slipped his mind. He tried to give the owl a stern look, but it did absolutely nothing to coax the bird down from the stands, and the Hufflepuff deflated slightly. Upon being addressed, he turned to look at his fellow 'puff with considerable confusion. Why he would be shouting at another human in such a manner was beyond him - he would have expected a little more cooperation from an actual person (unless they were his little sister, but Urielle was a special case).

"Of course not," he replied, a little too bluntly than he had intended. "I'm trying get my owl, he's sitting right up there." He pointed to show the way, and he frowned slightly as Andre began primping his feathers without a care in the world. "I don't think he'll be coming down too soon. Do you have an owl? I could really use some advice on how to handle them."
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[Bradley Ahn]

So, as it turned out, the boy hadn't been calling to him. And a good thing too, he would have been a little mad if some stranger thought he could just get his attention by yelling at him like that. And yelling out the wrong name to top it all off. Though it just seemed to be yelling up at his own. Brad turned his gaze upwards, frowning a little as he saw the feathered creature in question perched up on the hoops above them. And it didn't seem to want to come down anytime soon. Not that Bradley thought this was his problem. If the boy next to him wanted to pet them he should be able to look after it properly.

"I don't have any pet," he responded with a small shake of his head, "Wasn't allowed one." Not that he would have picked an owl if he did have the chance. That just sounded a little weird and he didn't really think owls were supposed to be kept as pets and used to deliver mail. Like he would trust a bird with an important letter. "Shouldn't have gotten an owl if you don't even know how to handle it properly."

 

[Wilfred Lichester-Raven]

Wilfred tilted his head slightly, a quirk he inherited from his tata, and it was coupled with an expression of confusion. The Hufflepuff had not really heard of anyone not bring a pet to school - his papi hated all animals (humans included), and he still proactively bought Wilfred an owl without complaining once. Above all else, the owl was a practical creature, and his papi could respect that. Wilfred couldn't, however. No matter how much he tried, he still saw a fluffy pet bird, rather than a means of effective communication. He was going to ask why he didn't get a pet, but the information was offered freely and served to only confuse the Hufflepuff more. "Oh." It would probably be a little presumptive to just ask why he wasn't allowed one, so he decided bide his time for a moment that was more acceptable to seek the information.

"Why not?" That sounded like a terrible philosophy. "I'll eventually learn how to handle Andre. It's all about learning something new! There's no point in bringing a cat, anyway - I'd never get a cat to deliver mail. Owl's are really practical." He was parroting his papi a little, but he was rarely wrong in these matters, anyway. "Besides, there's loads of stuff I didn't know how to handle until I got it. As long as I don't kill him - which I think I'll be able to avoid - it'll be okay!" His smile was about as bright as his at-times blind optimism. "Do you know anything about owls?"
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[Bradley Ahn]

Owls were just a weird things to have as pets. He would have thought that cats would be more normal for all this stupid magic nonsense, that was what was in the Muggle fairytales about witches. They all had black cats which sat on the end of their brooms while they flew around casting spells. Then again, those sorts of books always said that witches were ugly and covered in warts and he hadn't actually seen a wart on the face of any of the other students. Which really just have him more reason to not believe that any of them were actually magical and magic wasn't actually real. Oh, how he just wished he went to some normal school and not any of this weirdness he just wasn't used to and doubted he would ever get used to. Maybe he would write back to the orphanage and ask them to send him somewhere else before he was sucked into this weird life too deep to get out.

"Don't think you're going to get an owl to deliver mail, either," he scoffed with a shake of his head, moving his eyes from the owl sitting up above them to its owner standing next to him. "But why would you think I knew anything about owls? Do I look like an owl expert to you?"

 

[Wilfred Lichester-Raven]

Even Wilfred could see that the boy was being rather dismissive - it was certainly a change from spending time with Patrick, that was for sure. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) the Hufflepuff had a considerable amount of experience with being treated in such a way, and so he maintained his pleasant disposition nonetheless. After all, if he wanted to get face wrinkles by looking so pinch-faced all the time, that was his business. Wilfred didn't see why his negativity had to rain on his parade at all. "One day I will!" he assured him. "I watch my papi send letters all the time. He doesn't have owls like Andre, but I'm sure it's all the same technique." They were all birds in the end, and had similar degrees of intelligence - he just had to get Andre to trust him.

Perhaps it was a touch rude, but Wilfred snorted anyway at the thought of his fellow first year being an owl expert, of all things. He wasn't prone to underestimating people, but considering he had thus far offered no helpful advice, Wilfred couldn't help but conclude that he had nothing to add to the situation. "Not at all, especially after you said that you weren't allowed a pet." He giggled quietly. "That doesn't mean you don't have anything to say, anyway!" All observations were welcome to the Hufflepuff. After all, he tried to always be of benefit to others, and this mentality had to be shared by someone. He just had to find them.
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[Bradley Ahn]

He had heard of pigeons delivering letters, but that was years ago now and that was only because they were hard to spot and easier to get letters to people during the war times than posting them. But he had never heard of using owls to deliver letters, and he thought that was just a little bit cruel. Owls should be free to do owl things, not be trained to deliver letters to people. "It's still stupid," he did respond with a small shake of his head, and nothing was going to convince him otherwise. Owls delivering letters, what a silly thing. This wizarding world really was a rather strange place and he honestly didn't know if he would ever be able to get used to it. Not that he supposed he wanted to get used to it, either.

He heard that giggle and he was taking it as an insult like the boy was teasing him for not being allowed to bring a pet. "This is a school, not a zoo," he huffed, almost repeating what the matron back at the orphanage had said, just substituting the word 'orphanage' for 'school' and it worked just the same. Not that he believed it and did want to show off to his friends back home by having a pet of his very own, but sadly that was just not possible. Not unless he could get someone to look after it during the breaks from school. "But no, I don't have anything to say about your owl. You will have to find someone else to help."

 

[Wilfred Lichester-Raven]

His fellow first year was definitely coming off as a rather grumpy individual, and not very knowledgeable about the magical world if he didn't see the inherent use of owls and other birds. It was probably culture shock, something Wilfred himself was dealing with (though, in a rather different manner than to Bradley), and so because of this assumption the Hufflepuff located common ground for them. Wilfred gave him a warm smile, trying to bring comfort when he had obviously booped the other boy into a more defensive state. "Animals in zoos aren't allowed to go out, and they have zookeepers that clean and cook for them. We're in school and we aren't allowed to go out without permission, and the house elves and groundskeepers and everything cook and clean for us. So, it's sort of like a zoo."

He had one thing right, however. Wilfred would definitely have to find someone else to help him with his owl, and he couldn't help but look up at it with a disapproving look. "I might have to ask my papi about it," he admitted. Wilfred generally didn't have a problem with pride, but it was always difficult to go to his papi seeking advice - he wasn't really an 'approachable' type. "He said that it would 'come in time', but I think he was just saying that to get me to leave him alone," he explained, chuckling quietly.

Once his amusement came to an end, he looked back at his fellow HUfflepuff. "So, why don't you have a pet?" Wilfred asked suddenly, feeling like now seemed to be a great time to ask why the other Hufflepuff didn't have one. It had been eating away at the Hufflepuff for what felt like years! "Is someone allergic?"​

 

[Bradley Ahn]

Bradley was still completely and utterly convinced that owls sending your mail was a stupid the and the person who had come up with it needed to be bonked on the head a couple of times so they came to their sense. People did it better and they were simply more reliable as well. He had heard some people saying that wizardkind were so much more advanced than the ordinary person, but Bradley could only laugh at that. From what he had seen and heard it was actually complete opposite and these wizards were just so far behind it was unbelievable.

"That's... not helping," he could only say in response that that rather weird explanation that this was basically a school for humans. He was more or less correct about that as well, which just made him frown all the more as he thought about it. But that was actually starting to give him a headache so he tried to push it out of his mind and think of something else. "At least you do have someone to ask about it," he added pretty bitterly with a shrug of his shoulder. If he had an owl he had no father or mother to contact to ask about anything. Just a matron at the orphanage who didn't care about him in the slightest.

He shrugged. "Just not allowed one," and that was all he was saying about the matter. He didn't want someone feeling sorry for him or anything.

 

[Wilfred Lichester-Raven]

Wilfred gave him a look, mostly about the tone he used when mentioning his lack of ability to seek guidance. Last the Hufflepuff checked, it wasn't _his_ fault anyone was unable to ask their parents for help, but everyone had their own healing times, so his Tata said, and if he was going to try and be his friend (and he was really trying, here), he needed to keep in mind that everything was new for everyone, and sometimes that sucked more for some than others. There were three possibilities that Wilfred instantly thought up, with them being that the boy was an orphan, he was a muggle born, or that he couldn't for whatever reason contact his magical parents because they were either sick, illiterate or allergic to birds.

Not being allowed a pet certainly cut out his 'allergic to birds' theory, but there were plenty others to go with. "Well, if you need any help, I'm sure my papi would answer all of your questions!" This would definitely help his fellow Hufflepuff out. Wilfred couldn't fix the parental situation, but he could sign his papi up to receive the questions of a possible orphan or muggle born! It would probably be rather rude to ask which one he was. "He really likes being clever, sometimes it's really annoying actually. But with a letter, if he gets all rambly you can just ignore it. That's why they're so great! You can borrow Andre too - er, if he lets you. Or if I manage to get him to listen to me. But there are school owls we can use if Andre decides to never be my friend." It was a lot for the poor Hufflepuff boy to take in, but Wilfred felt he had a flawless plan here and just had to tell him all about it.
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[Bradley Ahn]

Brad did have to pause for a moment to look away boy he was still standing next to, to glance back up at his bird who still didn't look as though it had any intentions of coming down. Maybe he would have to start throwing things at the dumb bird for it to get the idea and fly down, but maybe this would just make the situation worse and the bird would, instead, just fly off somewhere different. Okay, maybe he was not the best person you could ask for plans about this kind of things because he really didn't have any idea how to deal with the situation. That probably just came from never having a pet bird or knowing anything about owls to know what might make them come down. It did seem as though the other Hufflepuff was going to have to ask his father for help after all.

"Why would I send a letter to your dad to ask questions?" He did have to wonder, tearing his eyes away from the owl to look back at his companion for the moment. "What on earth gave you the idea that I even have any questions?" Because he didn't have any, as far as he was aware, and even if he did he wouldn't really want to ask some random kid's father for answers, either. "Thanks for the offer and all, but no thanks, I'm fine," That was just a little of a lie as he did have a couple questions about this strange world he now found himself in, but those were questions he was simply going to be saving.