Nixon's time at Hogwarts had been short although the experience itself had not been short of anything but amazing. His house always had an air of warmth about it even on the few cold nights that passed despite being in the middle of spring. Nixon never needed to cuddle up into his blankets and watch his breath steam in the air as he did when he was at home but Hufflepuff of course had more warmth to offer than that of a fire, instead also offering the warmth of the people sorted into the house. Whether they were older or his age, every Hufflepuff Nixon had encountered since his arrival to Hogwarts were all from different countries, families and blood statuses alike yet seemed to get along perfectly. Not only that, they were cheerful, constantly smiling and never refused help him out and point him in the right direction when he was on his way to classes. In his limited experience he could not say the same for the other houses or even fully assume every Hufflepuff was kind although he was happy to hold this belief until or if it was proven otherwise.
However unlike the other nights that week Nixon had chosen to venture away from the warmth of Hufflepuff house he appreciated, regardless of how much he would have loved to relax in a room of friendly, like minded people. He instead opted to climb to the highest section of the north tower, a small telescope in one hand and his mother's journal in the other with an intent to watch the stars closely enough to map them in the remaining pages. It wasn't his journal to write in but it was all he had aside from his school notebooks reserved for different subjects. He did not want to waste his school notebooks when he did not know how many pages his star mapping would take up so using the journal he had carelessly taken from his home was his only option. As Nixon reached the owlery, he walked to the nearest windowsill and placed the notebook down before leaning on the stone as he held his telescope to one eye, squinting the other and using his other hand to twist the focus around, ensuring he could see everything clearly. The days were growing longer and the night was still young meaning many of the stars were yet to come out and play though that did not deter Nixon from his task. He instead tried harder to focus on the stars he could find, hoping he would see a constellation he recognized.
Jocelynn was quite upset with the family owl her parents made her bring with her in order to write to them at home. He was the oddest little ball of fluff and while he did remind her of home, he was more trouble than she really cared for. He seemed to have a hard time in the Owlery and constantly flew up to her window instead to sleep in the cage she'd rather be keeping under her bed. Her Bengal cat didn't like the owl very much either constantly pouncing towards it trying to catch the bird. Jocelynn was determined to bring the owl to the Owlery and find it a mate so it wouldn't bother her and the girls in her dorm any longer. She huffed and puffed having to carry the very large cage up the long flights of stairs to the top of the Owlery. "Come on Piggy, it's not that bad, you'll find a friend here. Let's see maybe I can bait one down with some treats and you'll be friends then," Jocelynn said as she finally walked into the Owlery looking up at the Owls and other birds sitting on the many posts throughout the tower. It made her wonder if there was a way to the top of the Owlery where she could sit and pretend she was a bird as well and stare up at the sky.
Jocelynn looked around and was surprised to see a boy there standing in a window with a telescope. She hadn't ever been allowed to play with her mother's telescope. Which made her surprised to see a boy her age with one of his own. She had looked through her mother's before, but not very often. Usually she settled with laying in the long grass and looking up at the sky with her own eyes. Her mother enjoyed the study of Astronomy from school but never pursued a career with it, instead she was an artist. Her father was a Herbologist and Jocelynn had always taken a fancy to exploring the hills and woods with him looking for plants. "Oh hello there. I didn't mean to interrupt you, my owl has trouble making friends. It seems he might take after me a bit, although I think he is afraid of the larger owls and them picking on him because he can't quite fly straight all the time," she said her mouth rambling on and on while looking down at the owl in the cage. Looking back up Jocelynn smiled towards the boy and put down her owl cage. "I'm Jocelynn Moors, I'm a first year in Gryffindor, you?"
The sun still not fully set, leaving the sky in twilight meant stars were few and far between and many possible constellations unrecognisable, even with his telescope zoomed in. Though the telsescope was old, a keepsake from his first childhood home and exceptionally well used by his parents until they purchased the latest model, that did not mean it was useless. Even when his parents had left it to rot in the garbage until Nixon found it didn't make it unusable when he knew it was useful for mapping the sky. He had used it so many times before on the nights he could not sleep but for some indescribable reason the telescope wasn't working properly for him in Hogwarts, even as the sky grew darker. It left him frowning as he moved it away from his eye though before he could distinguish the problem a voice roused him from his thoughts.
Nixon turned to the source of the voice, inquisitively looking between the girl and the owl she was carrying in a cage. When she introduced herself as Jocelynn he nodded, allowing a small smile to appear on his features. He pushed the button to make the telescope collapse into itself and placed it in his pocket, forgetting the journal still sitting on the windowsill as he approached the girl. "I'm Nixon. First year Hufflepuff." He responded, again looking from her to the owl in the cage. "What's your owl's name? He's a bit of a cutie to be honest." He then said. Nixon was never allowed a pet of his own so he appreciated any interaction with an animal that he could get. Owls just happened to be one of his favorites as they were so smart.
Jocelynn was surprised when the telescope just neatly folded itself up, she hadn't excepted it to do that. Her parent's scope was rather large and she didn't think it would ever fit in a pocket, even one that was enlarged on the inside with magic. It also surprised her what his name was. She hadn't ever heard it before and she thought it was really interesting, she wondered what his last name was and his house. He was a first year like herself, but she was sure he wasn't a Gryffindor too. Not that she had spent much time with the Gryffindor boys yet but she had seen most of them in classes now. Looking down at the owl she smiled at the poor thing. "This is Piggy, my sister named him," she said looking back up towards the boy. She set the heavy cage on the ground wishing she had waited until after learning to the spell to make things float around. She wished her parents used more magic with words around her growing up, they did a lot of spells silently, but told her it would be a long time before she was able to do the same. If they had, she'd know a lot more spells by their names and incantations.
"Piggy doesn't like other owls because they pick on him. The girls in my dorm didn't understand that, I don't think any of them really care much for owls. I don't really either I guess. I have a cat. This is a family owl so I can write to my parents so he is supposed to stay in here," Jocelynn said admitting to the boy. She wasn't sure what the rule about two pets was, so she had to make it clear Piggy wasn't meant to be a pet, just an owl for her to use. Her mum hadn't been sure if the school had enough owls for those who came without them. "Don't get me wrong. I love Piggy. He is a great owl even if the others think he is weird. But he won't stay here because the others pick on him so much. And he just keeps flying around the room at night too so he can't stay there. I don't know what to do. I thought I could come up here and maybe help him make a friend, do you have an owl?" Jocelynn asked having been talking while looking up at the owls on the rafters before looking back at Nixon when she asked him the question. She hoped he might have an owl, then he could convince it to be Piggy's friend and Piggy would have someone to protect him from the bully owls.
Nixon's smile widened as Jocelynn said the owl's name was Piggy. Even though she explained that her sister was the one to name the owl, Nixon thought it was adorable. He knelt down on the stone floor when the girl placed the cage down, forgetting his task of star mapping entirely as he stared between the bars, gushing at the little creature. "Hello, Piggy. I think you're sooooo cute." He said to the bird in his pet voice, frowning when Jocelynn then elaborated the bird was having trouble with other owls. If Nixon was able to, he would gladly keep Piggy for himself and safe from any harm. Though it was a shame that could never happen, since Jocelynn explained Piggy was the owl that belonged to her family. "Having trouble with other owls? you can be friends with me instead if you want, little buddy." He continued to speak to the bird, feeling his heart flutter at how endearing the creature was.
Jocelynn then explained that Piggy couldn't stay in her dorm, either, and the idea to take care of the owl once again occurred to him. However Nixon did not know Jocelynn well enough to ask to look after the owl for her nor did he know that he would be able to take care of an owl. Not having much experience with animals, despite loving them, had prominent downsides and that situation was one of them. Nixon stood from the floor and looked back to Jocelynn. "I don't have an owl." He answered. "For what it's worth, I would totally look after piggy if I could." He said, shrugging his shoulders. The idea of Piggy feeling alone without owls to befriend or a human to keep him company tugged at Nixon's heart strings. "I would be happy to help Piggy make a friend so he isn't alone, though, if you want me to help." He offered, smiling hopefully at Jocelynn. Helping Piggy find at least one friend in the owlery would give Nixon peace of mind and save Jocelynn the trouble of keeping the bird in her dorm so it seemed like the best solution for everyone. He hoped he would be able to help at least a little bit to make sure the bird wasn't alone.
Jocelynn watched as Nixon talked to Piggy. She thought it was interesting how interesting he seemed in the owl. She supposed some might say she's similar when plants are around. "You want to be friends with my owl?" She asked curiously seeing how the boy was spending more time talking to the owl. It made her feel odd like she was jealous how her annoying owl was making human friends better than she was. "If only other owls actually wanted to be friends with him," Jocelynn said as she looked up in the rafters to look at the many owls. It seemed like Piggy was enjoying the company of Nixon and Jocelyn was glad the boy felt bad for the owl, he could have just ignored her and gone on looking through her telescope.
Jocelynn was glad to have put the cage down, she didn't look forwards to bringing it back to her room that night either, but at least Piggy shouldn't be in it but he was a small bird and didn't weigh much. It surprised her a bunch to hear that Nixon didn't have an owl. She thought everyone would have an owl so they could write home. "Well, if you ever need to write a letter to your parents I'm sure Piggy wouldn't mind taking it to them. Well, actually where are you from?" Jocelyn said but then changed her mind thinking the boy might be from the other side of the world. She wouldn't want little Pigs and his crooked flying skills trying to travel all the way around the world. "Oh yea, you're welcome to come and see him whenever you're up looking at the stars," Jocelynn replied with a smile. She thought the castle staff did a pretty good job of seeing that the owls here had food and water so she didn't think she'd need help with that sort of stuff. "It's a shame you don't have an owl, we could have convinced them to be friend." The Gryffindor reached into her pocket at that and pulled out a bag which had a few dead mice in it. Whistling like her parents did for their owls Jocelynn looked up and shook the bag to see if any would come down to befriend her owl.
Nixon followed Jocelynn's action of looking up into the rafters. The owls that were there were cooing, ruffling their feathers and generally minding their own business which almost made Nixon feel bad for thinking about bothering them on an otherwise calm night. However Piggy making friends, and joining the owls perched comfortably above them was more of a priority to him. He attempted to form a plan of how to capture the attention of the other owls but was distracted when Jocelynn asked him where he was from. He looked back to the Gryffindor girl and answered, appreciating that she did not mind him using Piggy to send letters if he wanted to. "I'm from New Zealand, in the south island. It's not crazy far from here so it shouldn't be difficult for Piggy." As he spoke of home his mind lingered on the thought of his parents and what they were doing in that moment, if they had read the letter he wrote during his first night in the castle or if it was still sitting unopened on the kitchen table, or if the letter had even got further than the mailbox.
Though he soon shook his head away from his thoughts as Jocelynn mentioned he could keep Piggy company. He smiled at her statement, then nodded in agreement when she said it was a shame he did not have an owl of his own. Nixon always wanted a pet to keep him company at home, but between his parents' busy schedules and their priorities to focus on their work rather than what he wanted, they had never considered allowing him to keep an animal. But at least at Hogwarts he could interact with animals, and now he was allowed to see piggy whenever he wanted. He watched as Jocelynn retrieved a small bag, whistled, then shook it seemingly to get the attention of the other owls. Nixon assumed the bag had some sort of treat in it, and marveled as a large brown owl flew down to greet them. The owl would be intimidating if it wasn't carefully, almost hesitantly inching forward towards them. Nixon again knelt down on the floor, watching the bird. "Hello, brown owl. Do you want to be friends with Piggy?" He said, continuing to watch the owl, a mix of curiosity and admiration in his eyes.
Jocelynn was surprised that Nixon said he was from New Zealand. She could tell from his accent that he wasn't from Australia and he hadn't sounded American or anything else. He was the first student she met that she remembered saying they were from here. "Surprising how many student come from so far to go here and yet for us it's the closest school, I'm Australian from near Perth," she said wondering if he knew where that was. She felt far from home but she wondered what it would be like to just go a few hours away for school. Jocelynn couldn't wait to write home and she hoped Piggy wouldn't have trouble crossing the ocean waters and the entire country to get home. The young girl thought it was amazing how they could hone in on certain people on earth to deliver letters.
For Jocelynn it was strange the boy hadn't brought a pet to school, she always thought it was a sort of rite of passage. Once you go to school you get your first magical pet a creature to bond with. For her it was her cat that was probably roaming around looking for mice to play with before eating. Piggy was just the family owl that her parents had her bring to the school to sit in the rafters waiting for the time when Jocelynn wanted to write home, they thought it was better than a school owl, Piggy would know the fastest way to get home. She hoped that her and Nixon never wanted to send letters around the same time, but it wouldn't really matter if he used Piggy before her. It surprised her when a huge owl flew down, it was one of the biggest owls she had ever seen and it was inching towards her and the bag with mice. Opening the top of the bag she pulled out a mouse by the tail. "Piggy give this owl your treat as an offering of friendship," she said holding the mouse out for the tiny owl to take. She was afraid he might just eat the treat but hoped that he knew she was planning on giving one to him. Owls were among the smartest of creatures on the earth in Jocelynn's opinion, she thought Nixon's look towards the large owl as he spoke was very true to how she felt about the large creature.
Nixon did not think for a second that the bag of 'treats' in Jocelynn's hand was actually full of dead mice. Seeing her hold one of them by the tail towards Piggy caused his stomach to churn uncomfortably and his expression to turn to a frown. He hated seeing dead animals or thinking about animals being hurt, even if it was for the sake of other, stronger animals having food but he simply looked away rather than having a strong reaction, trying not to let his disgust show. He was in the process of making a new friend, or in the process of creating the possibility to make a new friend, as well as an owl friend and the last thing he wanted was to ruin his chances of knowing people so early on in his time at Hogwarts. Being anything but a happy and kind person now would mean he would be alone in later years, and also would likely mean Jocelynn would not want to talk to him after that night. He breathed in and out slowly, counting in his head until he felt composed enough to act like his regular self again.
He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat and turned back towards Jocelynn and the two owls, frown turning to a smile when the dead mouse was gone, and the larger owl was even closer. "Is this owl Piggy's friend, yet?" He asked, not knowing how long he had taken to gather his composure over the dead mouse. He hoped it did not draw any negative attention to him, and that him looking away had not kept Piggy from beginning to make a new friend. "They look, comfortable, I'd say." Nixon commented, looking from the birds and to Jocelyn as he stood up from the floor. He squared his shoulders before turning to walk to the windowsill to pick up the journal he left there. After putting it in his back pocket, he said. "Do you think we should get attention from as many owls as we can? It might mean Piggy could make even more friends."
Jocelynn didn't notice her new friend turning away at the sight of the mouse in her hand. She thought it was common knowledge the birds ate meat and not seeds like smaller birds. She watched as Piggy took the dead mouse from her hand and she was pretty sure the larger owl was thinking of just eating Piggy if he ate the mouse but Piggy dropped the mouse on the beam and backed away. The bigger owl moved in and Jocelynn smiled and offered Piggy a mouse for himself while reaching out with her other hand to pet the larger owl. It was obvious that Piggy was intimidated by the large owl, the reat of their owls at home were only slightly larger than Piggy himself. She glanced over towards Nixon when he began to talk to her.
"Yes, I think," Jocelynn said looking back towards the larger owl she was patting on the head. "He might just be my friend, I think Piggy is a little scared of his large size," Jocelynn admitted although it felt weird to be so invested in her owl's friendships. She had her own to worry about. She could tell that some of the girl's in the dorm didn't really like her too much, probably because she was always talking about things trying to engage them when they didn't want to be engaged. She looked back at Nixon with his next comment. The two did look rather nice together sitting on the beam. "Yeah, I guess they do now," she said with a smile hoping it was true. She watched Nixon as he went back towards where she had first seen him. "I'm not too sure. I only have a limited number of dead mice and I'm sure the large owl will get the other owls to like Piggy. We could always come back tomorrow and check on them, that is if Piggy doesn't fly up to my bedroom window again," Jocelynn said sending a look towards the owl as if it could understand her. She took out two mice and placed them down for each owl to enjoy them and gave each a pet as she looked backed towards Nixon wondering if she'd have to offer him something to be her friend.
Nixon turned with the journal now in is pocket, walking back to where Jocelynn stood and nearby where the two owls were perched. They did look to be friendly even if Piggy seemed intimidated by the larger owl's size, and the larger owl seemed more interested in the food. Nixon attempted to not think of the dead mice again despite Jocelynn mentioning it, and instead looked up to where the other owls were perched in the rafters. It only made sense to return later to see if Piggy managed to make more friends out of the school owls, but leaving alternately worried Nixon as there was not a way for him to tell how well the night would fair for Piggy. The larger owl could easily leave the Piggy alone for the entire night as easily as it could introduce the smaller owl to all the other birds. Nixon pursed his lips in thought and decided to voice his worry. "Do you think Piggy will be alright if we leave?"
He waited a moment, ignoring the mice Jocelynn placed in front of the owls, before shaking his head and dismissing his thoughts as worries and nothing more. A smile crept onto his face as he looked down to Piggy who had now scoffed the mouse, and reached out to pet him, keeping his touch gentle to not scare the bird. "I'm sure Piggy will be fine, I shouldn't worry." He said. "Like you said, Piggy might always fly back to your dorm. That is if he needs you, anyway." Nixon hoped Piggy would not need to return to Jocelynn and that everything would be fine by tomorrow morning, but he was glad to use some reasoning to reassure his thoughts, keeping himself from worrying too much about the small owl's well being. "What time should we meet here tomorrow, just before breakfast? After breakfast?" He asked, looking from Piggy and to Jocelynn. "I don't mind the specifics as long as we can see what happens early tomorrow." He added, smiling wider. The night had gone from him taking part in lone stargazing, to him becoming entirely invested in a small owl making new friends and though it was unexpected, it was a welcomed and interesting interaction he was happy to remember as one of his first memories at Hogwarts.
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