Man Versus Owl ((Devon))

[Seth Wright]

"Don't struggle!" Seth tried to command firmly, but to no avail. Instead, the owl in his hands only seemed to struggle more. "Please," he pleaded forlornly. "Stop moving for one second so I can attach this..." He continued to awkwardly and miserably try to tie his letter to the owl's leg. Extremely indignant, though, the creature maintained its stubborn pecking of Seth's arm, wrist, hand, fingers, head - anything it could get its beak on. It was very against doing its job as a carrier of letters. Seth would have given up on this difficult owl a long time agbo - if it were not for the fact that half of the letter had already been attached, and he needed to secure it so it would not fall off during the delivery flight. Now he could neither properly and fully attach it, or remove it. Instead, he found himself floundering uselessly against a creature ten times smaller than him, but with a much sharper peck than he could ever muster.

"OW!" Seth suddenly yelled, springing away from the owl in alarm and clutching his head. His pain caused him to continue yelling as the owl hopped about oddly with a half attached letter by its leg and a lock of curly black in its beak. "My hair! Dammit, what was that for?! What have I ever done to you? Why do animals hate me so much?!" Actually, Seth's lamentations were generally unfounded; despite his lack of success at the Owlery at Hogwarts, he had always gotten along fine with the local stray dogs back at home in Leeds. Then again, the cats had hated him, always scratching him so he'd needed to have his wounds disinfected by his mum, and eventually Eva. However, due to the fact Seth was currently in pain and thoroughly frustrated, he had forgotten his love for dogs. "Do you think I'm enjoying this?" he demanded of the owl as he chased after it through the Owlery, for now it was hopping away from him at an alarmingly fast rate for a handicapped creature. "Come back here! If you're not going to send my letter then give it back!"

The owl was going to escape through the entrance of the Owlery, much to Seth's horror. If it did, it would take with it his letter, which he had spent time and effort writing. He flung himself with more tenacity at the owl, but at that moment, someone entered the Owlery, and Seth, of course, flew right into him, knocking the individual over completely onto the floor. Seth fell gracelessly on top of him; the owl landed on his mop of unruly hair. "Oh crap, I am so, so sorry," Seth began to gabble hurriedly, shoving himself off and away from the boy who was underneath him. Seth didn't get a good look of him; he was too embarrassed to talk or observe properly, for his cheeks were a flaming red and his speech jumbled from surprise. "That was a complete accident, I was just chasing this owl and I didn't see you, and if only it would give me my letter back. Now where the heck as it gone?! Has it escaped? Oh damn!" Seth continued his mini rant as he jumped up, about to run out of the Owlery to hunt the owl down, completely unaware that it was still perched precariously on top of his head.

[Devon McKon R4]

Devon walked out of his common room, yawning. He was wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, a poor fare against the morning cold. I love nightmares he thought sarcastically, not even caring about his dress code. After being chased by a werewolf, unicorn and a bloodthirsty Potions master, being caught by the walking carpetbag Mrs.Norris or her owner, Filch, seemed to be a maiden fallen from the heavens. There's no way they'll find me, with all the rest of the school and grounds open to them he thought confidently. Then, he stopped, struck by a quandary. Where am I going? It was just the start of another day in his weird life, and now he was struck by the possibility of the places open to him. After all, there were no classes that day.

Deciding to go where his legs took him, he walked idly, running over the events of the past week. It was a useful little exercise to improve memory power, and it was also the only effort he made to better his mind. Getting accepted to the Quidditch team, soaking his Potions homework, dousing fellow classmates with ink, accidentally, it had been an exciting week. But Quidditch now seemed to him quite a daunting prospect. He was only a reserve, true, he was quite good, true, but still...to carry the expectations of his house was still a feeling he hadn't accepted, with people offering appreciation, and of course, contempt.

Cough, cough . Devon froze, painfully obvious of who it's owner was. Then, as though signaling a great person's arrival came the carpetbag Norris, staring at him with detestable, bright eyes. She looked at him for a moment, then too off, running with amazing agility to a nearby corridor. Great. The only place in the whole school where they went is the one place i am Devon wondered whether Mrs.Norris could identify clothes, seeing as that was his only fault. It was better to run away, rather than sit in the musty office, looking at the gleaming iron chains, and the huge table where records of students were stored.

Bye bye he waved silently to where Mrs.Norris had been before taking off, jumping over the low walls leading to the Courtyard and sprinting across to the Great Hall, the school gate, and finally, the Grounds. He did not pause even now, but continued at a spanking rate to the Owlery, knowing that there was a secret compartment there, the only hiding place Filch didn't know... Atleast i hope so he thought, as he climbed the stairs, and literally pounced over the threshold - OUCH Devon cried out mentally, and fell to the floor, feeling like a sack of wheat. To make matters even worse, a huge lump of brawn fell on him, knocking the wind out.

Great. Come and fetch Filchy boy he groaned, internally as always, as the weight load got up, leaving him panting on the floor. He got up, pursing his mouth to stall any sound of weakness as the boy apologized, looking red in the face. He was bigger than him, a lot bigger. Ignoring the apologies, he got up, taking his wand out. A monster bruise had swollen up in his forehead, stinging terribly. He waved his wand over the would thrice, then got ready for the painful part, and poked it hard. "Ow!" he cried out softly, as the bruise disappeared as if it had never been. Hearing what the guy had said, he swiped at the owl, grabbing it by it's legs. Then, he stroked it under the beak gently, calming it down.

Within seconds, the owl was perfectly calm, and he handed it to it's owner again. "It's a nice owl, what is it's name?" he asked, making no reference to the bang. He sensed the boy was genuinely sorry. Still wary, he looked out of the window, expecting to see Filch at any second.

[Seth Wright]

Seth blinked, caught off guard by the calm exuding from the boy. Owlish staring allowed him to observe his company, a younger student who Seth had never seen nor spoken to before. He wasn't young enough to be in his first year - perhaps he was in his third, fourth or fifth year. He probably wasn't in Hufflepuff, since Seth didn't recognise him whatsoever. Then again, this was Seth's memory; it was completely unreliable. "Er..." Seth began uncertainly, his surprise stopping his processing of what the boy had just said. "Seth. My name's Seth." He quickly shook his head and frowned. "No no, you asked the owl's name. Er... I don't know," he replied lamely, still rather flushed. "It's uh... one of the School's... It lives here. Or something." Seth waved his arms out like a fish, laughing nervously, before accepting the owl back onto his arm with some hesitation. It appeared to be calmer, though... with no letter to be seen. Biting his lip, Seth let the owl hop off his arm onto a wooden ledge and began wandering around the Owlery, looking for his lost letter. "Um... I'm looking for a letter," he explained when he felt the boy's eyes on him. "I think I've lost it... Damn."

It didn't take long to find it again, though. With a yell of triumph and relief, Seth went towards another owl this time, reluctant to attempt to elicit any cooperation from the previous owl. Finding this new creature much more friendly, Seth smiled as he gently attached the letter to its leg and ruffled its glossy feathers. "Thank you," he murmured as it flew off out of the window. Seth turned around, about to leave, when he noticed that the boy from before was still there. His embarrassed flush returned as he apologised again. "I'm sorry about before. You're not hurt?" His eyes trained on the spot the kid seemed to heal before on his head. "You don't need to see Madam Pomfrey about that? It's uh... pretty amazing you could heal that on your own. I don't think they've ever taught me that and em... I'm in my last year." He gave a modest laugh, scratching his head. "Um, I'm Seth, by the way. Hufflepuff."

When Seth got back to his dorms this would certainly make an interesting story. He wouldn't tell Willow - she would be entirely disinterested, more enthusiastic about waxing over her own days and experiences - but he would mention it to Chace, who'd likely laugh at him in all jest and tell him to choose better owls next time. Really, he could've borrowed one of the Coxen's several owls, but Seth didn't like to bother the wealthy family, especially not during this difficult time, with Bruce's recent and raw death. Anyway, School provided lots of owls for delivery purposes; he just hadn't expected the one he chose to be so darn vicious.

((Sorry it's short!))