Faraway Lands

[Benjamin Chase]

The familiar scent of the Owlery smelled heavily as Benjamin approached its entrance. He did not want to be in such a hurry even though he needed to attend a class soon. That class was surely tedious and it did not quite make sense to the teenager. Well whatever, he did not really pay attention to it anyway. Classes were things that he forced himself to do even if he knew that he wouldn't get any award from it. Just some serious information that he would need in the far future. Benjamin was merely interested in them. All he wished was to just pass his third year without any serious problems. He wanted to live quietly at Hogwarts and he did not wish to be any of the prefects. Secretly, he desired friends that he could trust and hang out with. The Fates just don't seem to agree with him whenever he tried to strike a conversation with someone. Benjamin felt his lips curl downwards very slightly as he entered the very Owlery of Hogwarts. Fortunately it did not smell too bad as before but still, his nose picked up the scent of faint owl droppings. He dropped his schoolbag somewhere where it was clean and approached the desk where a stack of parchment and a writing instrument was. He quickly unfolded the letter that he was going to send and started writing some new additions to it.

So isn't this the very Kialla Smith?

Hey. How are things going on there? If I remembered correctly, I actually told you the last time we met (which seemed like a long time ago) that I'll write to you. Perhaps you remember me, or maybe not.

Anyways, you're in Scotland right? I asked my father if he knew anyone in his associates list that had a surname of "Smith," and yeah he did. It's strange to talk about business with father but well, I really was tempted to ask.

It's actually boring here in Hogwarts NZ. Most teachers make me sleepy except for my Head of House. He's intimidating to be frank. Aren't you home schooled? Tell me something exciting about studying privately. Are there perks or is it more boring than being stuck in a classroom with a long lesson?

I need to go or else I'll be running late. I know it's short and I sincerely apologize.

- Benjamin Chase

He felt disappointed that he was able to write so little - since he began writing it for the past two days. He gently laid the quill near the bottle of ink and looked at the last two paragraphs he was able to squeeze in. He sighed and whistled for an owl that looked decent enough to fly for a few days or if any longer, weeks. "To Kialla Smith in Scotland. Stop if you need to rest." He attached it to the foot of the school owl and handed it a couple of treats on which it gladly nibbled on. When it was done, Benjamin's sea green eyes narrowed itself as he sighed again whilst watching the owl disappear from his view. He muttered something unintelligible and quickly grabbed his bag and headed to the class that would start in almost two minutes. <i></i>​

 

[Kialla Chase]

Kialla, to be perfectly honest was just about ready to walk out of this meeting. She was still trying to figure out, why, it was that she was even here. They never had invited her to meetings before. Why was it that all of a sudden, now that Isla was beginning to actually lead the meetings, she was asking for Kialla to attend. Meredith wasn't even here. Kialla wasn't even entirely sure if that Meredith had been invited. She sighed as she continued to pay attention to what was being said. Apparently Isla had decided to pull the family funds from the board and invest them into a bigger magical retrieval company. She had no idea what that meant, but she really didn't care all that much either. It was kind of boring considering she was not fully informed on the subject matter and so could not input anything. She didn't have any real interest in the company for starters anyway. The whole idea, to her was stupid. She sighed and left. She would deal with the wrath of her sister later if she had too. Though undoubtedly she would not get into too much trouble. She didn't really care anyway. There was nothing that they could do to her that would make her want to stay. Considering that she was of the same blood as they. She caught a few stares from Hailey and Isla but chose to ignore them, instead she left for her room, wanting to find something to occupy herself from the strange topic of finances. She soon found it with the arrival of an owl. She raised her eyebrow slightly and cautiously moved to find the letter that was attached to the unfamiliar owl. It was from Benjamin Chase. Kialla smiled, though if anyone asked her she was going to deny it. She settled down to reply after reading his letter. Her famous scrawl quite neat.​

Hey there Benjamin,

Yes, I am Kialla Smith. I do vaguely remember that you said something along those lines, so I am glad that you decided to hold your word. I do so admire that in a person. Of course I remember you. You did knock into me and I did call you a mud-blood. Sorry about that by the way. It was rather profound. It wasn't really that long ago... maybe three to four months ago or something I think. My sister and Grandmother have started calling me in on all the meetings, though I decided to leave early this time. I don't care about finances. They make me sleepy. I guess I am just lucky that I am not in my sister Isla's position. You know? Are you held to high regard in your line?

Yeah, just outside of Glasgow is where the manor is. Have you ever been to Glasgow. It's cold most of the time. Of course that is because of the Northern Hemisphere thing. I asked Isla the same question and she too knows of the Chase name. Though what our families discuss is not known to me as I really did not care too much to hear the details, you know? Business to me, is boring.

Is your Head of House a Kalif Styx? My brother told me all about him, though seeing as Abel is a wimp, I'm not surprised about him being "scary". Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that Hogwarts is boring. I've been trying to get a transfer, but as of yet, no luck. Home schooling is actually kind of hard. I mean for me I also have all of my other brothers and sisters too. Well except for Parker (exiled from the family) and Meredith (Beauxbatons and disliked). We are all kind of bunched in the study and given books, taught by Grandmother Mckay, our matriarch. After she steps down, it will be Isla. But by then, likely I will have Graduated. I suppose a perk would be that I am able to get help from many sources and that I have access to books that would not be in your library.

Great hearing from you.
Write back soon.

Kialla Smith.​

 

[Benjamin Chase]

Benjamin's prediction for the owl to come back was four to five days. On the fourth day after he wrote the letter, he trudged up the tower with nothing in hand. He felt the lazy vibes rapidly spread in every part in his body which forced him to yawn once every ten to fifteen minutes. Leaving the letter to an unknown owl made him at first hesitant but he reluctantly watched the animal leave with the parchment tied to its left leg. He rubbed his dark, sea green eyes and looked towards the direction of the sky. As cloudy as it was, he felt sticky for staying outside when it was previously sunny. Benjamin sighed sleepily and decided to sit on the chair that was facing a table with the materials needed to write a letter whilst waiting for the owl - if ever it will even come back. Before the first twenty minutes passed, he felt his consciousness pass easily to the tempting darkness.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Benjamin was pacing in the Owlery with his hands behind his back, laced together. His back was producing wee beads of sweat minute by minute. The last sixty minutes were almost pure torture for the teenage Slytherin since he needed to endure the rare heat that he felt in the middle of the afternoon. Gladly, those hot flushes were beginning to decrease as the night was blossoming in. Benjamin's green orbs narrowed itself when he spotted the moon and the sky as the background. The sky was beginning to darken itself and he knew that this hot feeling would soon vanish once he felt the gentle breeze on his skin once more. Benjamin halted as he reached the center of the room and bit his lip hesitantly whilst taking a closer look at the horizon. Wasn't the damn owl going to come by? He quickly decided that perhaps his predictions were wrong and went for the direction of his wand that he placed near the stack of parchments. Just as when he was going to stuff it in his back pocket, he felt his body perk up as the sound of hooting was picked up by his senses. A small relieved expression was widely held by Benjamin's young features and he felt himself sigh. Goodness, thank Merlin it was finally here. Benjamin felt the for owl's feathers and gave it a few treats. He took the letter attached and told it to go and rest. He, after all, had a soft spot for animals.

Apology accepted, I suppose?

Well yes, father does tell me that I soon will run the business. But I do not attend meetings like those or else... Merlin help me. I could not stand tedious activities like that and the meetings that are conducted are forbidden for others to know except for the people that have a part in it. My family are always strict when it comes to the finances. The fact that I am the eldest child in our family drives me insane, since it holds... special expectations. Makes me nervous somewhat.

As far as I can remember, no really. Travelling around for business matters is not my thing especially when father forces me to come along. But I would love to see your country if I were to spend some leisure time there. Well it's obvious that I live in North America so, I guess travelling in the European area would be something that I would like to do soon. I too find dealing with the business boring since it seems to have tonnes of work to deal with. But avoiding it cannot be done, unfortunately. Don't you think?

Professor Styx it is. I don't mind it when I'm with him, but I make sure to not do anything wrong when he is there watching. That man can be scary at sometimes but as long as you are in line, then I guess he would just ignore you or something. Our Head is the most intimidating among the rest. I don't really think I can befriend him or anything. I'm sorry to hear about that. Hogwarts needs to accept more Purebloods than the dirt they have here. It's odd for a magical school to be filled with more of those without pure magical blood in their veins.

Really, I could not imagine myself being home schooled along with my siblings. I have a younger sister who's named Victoria and the youngest in the family, Lucas. Victoria's questions sometimes drive me crazy and Lucas... Well, he too young to even understand our pure, magical blood. Are you familiar with the Hogwarts houses? Knowing that your brother is here in Hogwarts anyways, perhaps you do. Which house do you prefer?

- B.C.

After writing the letter, the Slytherin scanned it twice to see if there were any grammatical errors. When he felt satisfied, he summoned another healthy looking owl that seemed to be eager to travel in the dark. He attached the letter to the owl and gave it some treats. Once ready, he sent it off to the night sky and stood up to leave, with a contented feeling humming in his chest.
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