Clean Up On Owl Four

[Katherine Alicastell]

After encountering two young students in the Forbidden Forest, both of whom had given Katherine their childish attitude despite their already poor situation, it hadn't taken the Headmistress too long to set up a date for their detention, and a punishment she hoped would make them think twice about attempting to break the rules again, or speak to the school staff in such an atrocious manner. After lecturing the girls, she expected them to understand just how serious and risky it was for them to recklessly run off into the forest on their own, now that they knew of the dangers that lurked there, and the tragedy that had occurred years ago now. If she caught them again, their punishment would be far more severe.

Waiting for the Ravenclaw duo to arrive at the Owlery at the appointed time, Katherine sat behind a desk at the back of the tower's room, a piece of furniture wildly out of place given the location, and definitely one not usually present. The Headmistress had conjured it up as a surface to work on in the otherwise empty, straw-covered room, so she could keep an eye on the two students while they carried out their detention. While she could have simply allocated the task to another professor, she didn't think it entirely fair to do, nor did she think she could trust some of them not to be too lax with their punishments. It was easier to keep an eye out herself, and if she brought her work along with her, it was hardly an inconvenience. So the woman sat and worked in the cold, somewhat drafty room, a thick cloak covering his shoulders to keep warm, and waited for the two to arrive.
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[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe wasn't too bothered by being caught in the forest, thoughs he really wished she had gotten a bit more time to scavenge for cool things in the forest. But now she had detention, and that was just a consequence she would have to live with. Honestly, she had never had detention before somehow, so it was kind of interesting to learn how they would do that at Hogwarts. She didn't think her parents would have that view on it, but that was a problem for later.

They had been told to come to the owlery at a certain time, and she raised her eyebrows at the sight of a desk with Professor Alicastell behind it. Did she enjoy owls so much she wanted to work here? Or was that desk purely there so she had something to sit behind and look authoritative with while they served their detention? Phoebe figured it was probably a combination, as the headmistress could surely make someone else watch over them while they did... whatever they had to do. Phoebe could guess."Hi Professor. I'm here, I think Elly's right behind me." She said casually, looking around. "How many owls are here?" The question occurred to her, so she asked it. Surely the person leading the school would know it.

 

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

When Elly heard the detention would be in the owlery Elly immediately knew she wouldn't mind this detention. She loved owls and worked at the magical menagerie, because she liked to work with animals. Elly followed Phoebe to the owlery and hoped she was right with her thoughts of this detention. This was her first detention and it gave Elly a shot of adrenaline. She knew what she did wrong now, but it somehow felt good. Not like she would repeat the action a lot more this year, one flirtation with the dark side was enough.

When they both arrived at the owlery she saw the Professor sitting at some random desk. It seemed totally out of place and she was sure it was conjured up rather than temporary. If it was conjured up it meant that a desk was missing somewhere. She had learned you couldn't create furniture out of thin air, but could conjure it from somewhere else. Elly looked at the different species of owls. She smiled when she thought of the owls crapping on the headmistress. She couldn't read minds so this was her own secret thought. ''Hello Professor'' Elly said when Phoebe was done with talking. ''What are we doing here Professor?'' It was a polite way to ask what on earth they were doing here.

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

Katherine glanced up from a sheet on parchment on her temporary desk as one of the two entered the room, followed shortly by the other, and she greeted them both with a polite smile. "I'm pleased to see you're both here on time." The Headmistress responded, her attention turning to the numerous owls that were pointed out. "I couldn't give you an exact number - I know how many are owned by the school, but I can't say how many more here are owned by staff and students. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to count them while you're here, however." Which would no doubt be a while - and longer still if she did decide to spend time counting owls. The woman rose to her feet and walked to the front of her desk to address the two on what exactly they were here to do, as Elizabeth questioned it. "The house elves have been quite busy as of late, and it appears they've not quite had the time to get around to cleaning the Owlery. I can't tell you how thrilled they were to hear that I'd found them an extra pair of helping hands." The reality was that she'd asked them to skip this tower specifically after she had caught the two Ravenclaws. The house elves were too diligent as workers to have neglected it otherwise. "I'm sure you've noticed how messy it is by now - old straw, owl droppings, remnants of their...meals." What appeared to be mouse carcasses littered some of the owl's nesting holes, among other small critters and insects the birds snapped up from the grounds. "You'll both need to scrub the floor and walls clean, empty out the nesting holes and replace the straw with a fresh batch, which you'll find just outside the door, and clean up any stray feathers or other scraps you find. I want to see it spotless of droppings. It should only take you a couple of hours, if you're fast. Oh, before I forget, you'll be cleaning up with a sponge, scour, and a bucket of hot water. No magic. You can both leave your wands on my desk and get started." The woman instructed them, gesturing toward the cleaning supplies laid neatly to one side of the tower.
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[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe frowned a little at the professor's answer to her question, because it really wasn't much of an answer. Sure, she could count owls if she wanted but how would she know how many were out hunting or delivering messages? If the professor didn't know, Phoebe would have preferred her to say as much. She was also skeptical about the story about the house elves. They were thirteen, she could just tell them she wanted them to clean up because it would be gross for them as a punishment, rather than make up a story. "Alright." She said when the woman finished talking, heading over to the cleaning supplies. "One question, though. Can we keep any cool mouse skeletons or other animal bones we find?" She asked, hoping the professor wouldn't think of her question as an attempt to be funny. She was genuinely wondering, after all.

 

[Gwen Owens-Lee]

Sorry, ignore this

 

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

Elly smiled when Phoebe asked if she could keep the skeletons on the ground. She had almost forgotten that Phoebe was that into skeletons. She had brought a fake salamander skeleton into their dormitory on the first day. Elly didn't like skeletons in the place were she also had to sleep, but here it didn't matter as much. Owls ate animals and they couldn't do anything with the bones so they were left on the ground. Elly wondered if this Professor didn't know Elly was raised as a muggle, this didn't seem like a punishment at all.

When she was home she had to clean the house without magic and she didn't mind that. Elly left her wand on the Professors desk and grabbed the cleaning supplies.
This detention was pretty stupid, it didn't even feel as a punishment. She didn't want to show that so she gave out a fake moan. The only thing she missed now was working on homework and that wasn't that bad. She could always do that at night, she slept at odd times so she could always do it when she wasn't asleep.

Elly started to clean some of the dirt of the castle and looked at Phoebe. She shot her a smile, hopefully Phoebe thought this was easy as well.

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

Katherine blinked slowly, quite surprised by Phoebe's question. It was the last thing she had expected to hear during their detention. More groaning and complaints, which Elizabeth was doing a better job of. "Rather morbid. May I ask why?" The Headmistress inquired, unsure if she should be concerned, or if she should just let it go. Death could be fascinating to some people, sure - it had an understandable appeal with how little anyone knew of the subject, and how much mystery surrounded it, but collecting skeletons wasn't a hobby she considered befitting a thirteen year old. It could have been troubling still, considering the Scitorari still loomed over the wizarding community like a dark cloud, waiting for the inevitable rain, but she wasn't going to jump to conclusions of students wanting to practice necromancy at such a young age.
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[Elizabeth Chatwin]

Elly couldn't help but grin when the Professor answered Phoebe her question. The question was odd and if you didn't know Phoebe you could think wrongly of her. The mess the owls made was very bad, but manageable. The only thing that was suffering were her grades, she had to study and make homework for ancient runes. The subject was challenging to say the least. Elly wanted to blurt out that Phoebe had a skeleton collection and ask if the Professor wanted to see it, but she stopped. She didn't even know Phoebe had a collection, she only knew of the salamander one.

Although she and Phoebe weren't the closest of friends, she could relate with her. Elly found some bones that had probably belonged to a small bird. They didn't look like it had been from a mouse. ''Phoebe', I think I found some bird ones'' Elly said while handing them over to her. ''Just don't keep them near our dormitory like last time'' Elly said jokingly.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe sometimes forgot not everyone thought everything was as endlessly fascinating as she did, and Professor Alicastell's surprise showed her that. "I just think it's cool, did you know mice technically have more bones than humans?" She asked with a small shrug. "That was sort of why I was in the forest in the first place, to find interesting things to study." Surely at least they could agree that skeletons were fascinating to look at. The were like little puzzle pieces fit together to make a creature that could live and walk. It was amazing. Back in her first year she had been rather interested to know if she could animate her salamander skeleton, but had soon discovered that wasn't part of acceptable magic and had been forced to let it go. She shrugged again, not wanting to press the issue, then got to work. It wasn't long before Elly brought her some bird bones, and she gave the girl a small smile. "Where else can I keep them?" She asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't like she could just leave bones lying around int he common room. She wasn't going to keep them all anyway, just look at them for a bit. It would probably not be the most hygienic idea. She thanked Elly and then started to work more on scrubbing the owlery, though she was soon growing bored. Even if she occasionally found something interesting , this was mind numbing work.

 

[Vex]

The castle's intruder was getting up to mischief, as he was want to do, when he suddenly remembered Not Kingy saying something about a clean up detention. He had been innocently stuffing feathers in the candle holders in the common room at the time. The thought intrigued him and with his kettle hanging from his foot as he floated through the halls, Vex took that opportunity to drop water balloons on the heads of those who came too close. There was nothing to say the vexation could not have some fun on the way to other fun.

Reaching the Owlery, the poltergeist made himself invisible, and watched over those who would become his new friends. Vex was going to have a lot of fun with this little beings and he knew that the not Kingy would not punish him for making new friends. He floated down to sit on the edge of her desk and carefully blew out all of the candles in the room. He waited a few moments for reaction before laughing, a sounds that seemed to come from everywhere in the room.

It did not take the menace long to find something else to do, kicking up a fun though and immediately dashing about the room, messing up everything that had already been cleaned. Returning to his semi corporeal state, Vex bowed at the Not King, proud of his work here. "The Not King is proud of Vexxie, yes, Vexxie did good, teach bad little kiddies a lesson!"
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[Katherine Alicastell]

"I did not."[/color] Katherine responded to the young girl's fact about mouse bones. That was somewhat interesting, but she couldn't help but frown at the girl's explanation of it being why she had gone into the forest. "I see. Things that are already dead, I hope?" She commented, still feeling a little concerned about this interest in dead things, and studying them. A hobby was one thing, but to study it was something else entirely. Hogwarts wasn't without its disturbed children in the past, kids who tried to set each other on fire, or stun people mid-flight. The Headmistress made a note to keep a closer eye on Phoebe, just to ensure that any of the animals she did study were actually deceased when she got to them, just to be safe. The thought of suggesting she see the counselor crossed her mind, but she didn't voice it yet. It could have still been a harmless past-time.

It hadn't taken long for the detention to be disturbed, by none other than Vex, of course. He was everywhere, and she may have mentioned the punishment while he was floating around nearby. It was hardly a surprise to see him show up. Katherine set down her quill and watched with a straight face as the poltergeist messed up some of the work the two Ravenclaws had already done, before appearing before her. "Thank you, Vex. I'm sure you meant well." She told him. It was one of the few times she didn't particularly mind his chaotic ways. This was a punishment, after all. It wasn't meant to be any fun or easy for them, and she wanted them to think twice before wandering off into the forest again. Vex giving them more work to do was fine in this case. "Miss Chatwin, Miss Holland, please clean up the poltergeists mess for him, too."
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[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe frowned when ProfessorAlicastell asked her if the things she was looking for in the forest were already dead. What did she take her for? "I don't only like dead things." She said, a little offended. "I was collecting interesting plants and rocks. And one beetle, but it wasn't dead I put it in a jar with holes in the top." She kept the frown on her face as she continued to work. Though the work wasn't the worst, it was a waste of her time, which was what bothered her most about it. As she worked she first didn't notice the candles going out. When she finally realized something was wrong, she frowned as she heard laughter come from nowhere. As everything got messed up again, she first frowned in confusion and annoyance until she spotted Vex. She had never seen him before, but had heard stories. Phoebe gasped, abandoned her work immediately and headed over to the somewhat visible poltergeist. "You're Vex! I've heard about you." She said, and immediately launched into the questions that popped up in her head. "You're a poltergeist, aren't you? Is that different from being a ghost? Is that why you could turn invisible or is that something all ghosts can do?" She paused for breath, then continued."Does that mean you didn't die? You just started existing the way you are?"

 

[Vex]

Vex was terribly pleased he had done a good job, he liked to be helpful when he could and creating a mess was helping! He started to exclaim his wonderfulness when he was approached by one of the terrible troubles who started asking him questions! Vexxie never got to answer questions! He stared at her for a moment before brandishing his arm and bowing. "Yes, yes, Vexxie is me!" He was, of course, a magnificent wonder to behold and his crown appeared on his head quick as he thought it. The kettle, which he had previously left behind was now tucked into the crook of his arm as he grinned down at the pesky troublemaker who was speaking to him.

The non-being took a comfortable seat not he edge of the desk and beckoned the student closer like he was letting her in on a super secret secret. "Vexxie be the teacher now!" He even had a pointy thing! He picked up some of the straw on the ground and waved over his head like a wand. "Poltergiests are extra special ghosts. I am way more fun than the other ghosts because I have my kettle and my crown!" He looked over his shoulder and used his hand to mock whisper into the girl's ear. "I used to have a throne too, Kingy gave it to me, but Not King stole it. She thinks she's Kingy now." The poltergeist was convinced it was all some big conspiracy! "I was created from Chaos!" He was very proud of his birth and he especially liked being asked about it, because then he could remind everyone when his birthday was. "Did you get created from chaos too?!"


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[Elizabeth Chatwin]

When Phoebe asked her were she should keep the bones Elly could think of one hundred other places that could be a hide out for her bones. She didn't like the fact that they were so close to her bed. ''Well maybe create a secret hideout, or in your bedroom but tucked away so no one can see them'' Thinking back about the last incident made her shudder. She didn't mind that Phoebe wanted to experiment on the bones, she just didn't want to be near it when it happened.

Cleaning up after the owls was worse enough only to have Hogwarts most annoying ghost appearing. She had never met Vex, but knew this was him. She heard the stories from Geo and they those had sketched a nice image of the poltergeist. The poltergeist had made the spots she had cleaned dirty again and it annoyed her. ''Instead of making this worse, shouldn't you help us since you like to make trouble yourself?'' Elly only hoped this didn't make matters worse. ''I mean you like to be bad, we were bad doesn't that make us the same team?'' Elly knew Geo liked Vex and it wasn't like he could make this worse. It was already a very dirty job to do.

Elly cleaned some of the castle walls that were filled with owl balls and poop. It was disgusting, but doable.

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

Katherine pursed her lips as Phoebe stopped working to talk to the poltergeist, but she quietly allowed her to indulge her curiosity. After all, the girl was a Ravenclaw, and if she could learn something from being up here and interacting with Vex, she wasn't going to get into the way of it. They weren't going anywhere anytime soon, and the more they let themselves be distracted, the longer it'd be before they could leave. It was their own free time they were wasting away. Though as Elizabeth spoke up, Katherine turned her attention to the girl with a slightly raised brow. "Oh, so you're on the "bad team", are you? Sounds to me like you're asking for more detentions." The Headmistress got to her feet and folded her arms, looking disapproving at the young girl. "Misbehaving is nothing to be proud of, Miss Chatwin. I'll warn you - the both of you, right now - if this kind of behaviour is consistent, you'll find your stay here at Hogwarts to be very short. This is a school, not a playground. You're here to learn and to grow into upstanding witches. Wise up. Now Miss Holland, resume cleaning. If you leave Miss Chatwin to do most of the work, you'll find yourself back here again next week. Vex, keep your distractions to a minimum. You're free to answer and ask questions, as long as their work gets done. Unless you all want to be here all day, I'd suggest focusing on your tasks. Get to it."
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[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe grinned at Vex, glad he seemed to enjoy being asked questions. She listened to his answer seriously, moving closer when he beckoned her to. She laughed a little at what he whispered in her ear. It seemed like Vex was attached to the previous headmistress, and hadn't quite accepted Professor Alicastell yet. His claim about being created from chaos was pretty interesting, though, and she wanted to ask more about it. But the headmistress told Elly off for her comments and then told Phoebe to resume cleaning. She sighed. "Thanks Vex, I was not created from chaos but that does sound like fun." She said with a smal smile at him before returning to her task. As she was cleaning, she thought of more questions for Vex. "Can you touch more objects than regular ghosts? Are you more corporeal? " She asked him. He had messed up their cleaning, and she didn't think their house ghosts could do something like that, even if she wanted to.