Open Tell it to the Birds

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan sighed as he made his way up to the Owlery. He was glad to be back at Hogwarts, but only because it was better than hanging around the shop all day with Ernie. Well, that was only partially true. He would take the owls over lessons any day. He didn't want to admit that he liked it up here with the owls. He had grown to like them over the past year and it also helped that he was always fully stocked on treats. Ethan dug into his pockets and pulled out some treats and handed them out to some of the owls closest too him. A moment later he heard an indignant squawk from behind him and he rolled his eyes. "Just give me a second. I have plenty for you." he said, turning to find Cosmo glaring at him. Some people would say owls couldn't glare but Ethan would beg to differ. He crossed the owlery and held out his hand flat so Cosmo could grab some of the treats. Ethan smiled to himself and felt his shoulders relax. The break had been nice but his mom had had to cancel her trip last minute and had to miss Christmas for the second time since he had come to live here. It shouldn't have surprised him but his disappointment had decided to stick around.

 

[Mischa Falter-Butera]

He'd only been back at school ten seconds and already his parents were trying to bother him to get him to send a letter back. Needy, if you asked him, but Mischa knew if he just kept ignoring them then they'd only end up sending a howler. Or thinking that he had gone and died or something. (His mother especially was known for being a tad dramatic). He hadn't poured his heart and soul into the letter in his hand, basically just informing his parents he was alive and to stop bothering him so much. But now with it written he needed to deliver it, and that meant heading up to the owlery. The Slytherin took the steps two at a time, crinkling his nose as he had to sidestep a whole lot of owl poop. And then he looked up, noticing a boy from classes feeding the owls. "Are ya gonna feed all of them?" He loudly interrupted from behind the boy, "Ain't that gonna take ages?"

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Most days there weren't many humans up in the tower so when Ethan heard someone ask him a question it made him jump and spill the rest of the treats that were in his hand. He let out a strangled cry as a few owls dove for the treats and he had to hop out of the way. He stumbled a few steps and felt Cosmo land on his shoulder and he winced as the owl's claws poked him through his shirt. Ethan turned slowly to look at the boy who had joined him. "That...wasn't the plan." he said slowly. He still had some treats left but he decided to save them for later when things settled down.

 

[Mischa Falter-Butera]

Mish really couldn't help but snigger slightly when it appeared he scared the other boy, watching as he jumped and ended up dropping some of the treats. And then he was swarmed by owls for a moment as well, which honestly made it all the funnier. Maybe he should consider scaring people more often, especially if they had treats. Watching someone getting attacked by a bunch of dumb owls was never going to not be funny. He absolutely failed to keep a straight face as he folded his arms, looking between the other boy and the owl on his shoulder. "Nah? Ain't that just favoritism. Ya can't jus' feed some of them and ignore the others."

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan frowned slightly as the other boy laughed at him. He could see why he thought it was funny but he didn't appreciate it and he felt his shoulders tense and it made Cosmo wobble to keep his balance. "I guess so." he admitted when he pointed out it wasn't fair. Ethan was pretty sure owls didn't really understand things like fairness. "They usually take turns. It's not always the same owls up here every time." he explained. But wasn't sure if he was supposed to admit just how much time he spent up here every week. "What are you doing up here?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

 

[Mischa Falter-Butera]

If some of the owls found out they weren't going to be getting any treats, Mish didn't really want to be around for that because he doubted they would appreciate it. But then again, they were just some stupid birds. "Yea, but you have to feed every single owl in here," he continued to just completely lie out of his mouth, nodding his head like he knew exactly what he was talking about. "Or it's still favoritism just ignorin' some of the owls, ain't ya?" But how you were supposed to tell the difference between some of these owls was beyond him. A bunch of them looked the same to him. And then the question and he shrugged, "Sending a letter, duh." It was not like he was here for fun or anything.

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan bristled at the other boy’s insistence that he was being unfair to the owls. “Well, are you going to feed them?” he asked, annoyed which made Cosmo flap his wings and let out a whoot. He winced as a wing hit his face but the owl stayed put. He knew that coming up here and giving them treats was just that. Treats. And that they were perfectly taken care of by the groundskeepers. It wasn’t like he saw anyone else coming up here to spend time with them. “Well you should probably do that.” he said once the other boy explained why he was even up here. Maybe if he sent his letter he would leave them alone.

 

[Mischa Falter-Butera]

"Nah," he wasn't planning on feeding any of the stupid owls, it was not like he had even brought any treats with him in the first place. "But I ain't feeding any of them, so it ain't favoritism or anything." If he just fed a couple of birds and left the others, then he would be a hypocrite. Then again, he'd never been against that. Fiddling with the letter in his hand, Mish craned his neck a little as he watched some of the owls flying around above his head, wrinkling his nose slightly. "Never really worked out how to get one of 'em to stay still long enough." With food, probably, but no chance he was wasting his precious galleons on buying stupid owl food.

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan didn't bother saying anything else to the other boy. He obviously wasn't trying to understand what he was trying to say so he let the subject drop and instead reached up to feed Cosmo another treat. He could hardly be accused of favoritism when it was his own owl. But he looked back and saw the other boy said he didn't know how to get them to stay still. Was he serious? "It's not that hard." Ethan said bluntly. "Do you want me to help?" he offered reluctantly.

 

[Mischa Falter-Butera]

This was why he didn't like sending letters because it meant having to deal with the dumb owls. Wizards really had to work out a better form of communication, then maybe they could ditch using owls as a form of manual labor. Surely there was a better way. But, for now, he stopped thinking about it, turning his eyes on the other boy as he offered to help. "I mean, it ain't gonna be hard. You probably jus' give 'em food or something, right?" That made the most sense. "I jus' don't have any." And that was not going to change unless someone was giving out free owl treats he could nick. And he doubted the owls would be fans of the licorice wands stuffed in his pocket. And even if they were, they weren't getting any.