Owl Feather

Mazzie sat with her head on the cold stone ground. The wind whistled through the windows. Mazzie laughed as a feather danced across the owlery and landed on her forhead. Mazzie took her pine wand out of her black leather boot that came about 2 inches away from her knee. Mazzie thought about the day she got it and it strayed to her brother, Avan. She sat up and her periwinkle eyes filled with tears, and she blinked them away, silently laughing to herself. Your so stupid. Yo- but her thoughts were inturupted by an owl landing on her head. Mazzie couldn't contain it. She burst out laughing she shooke her haid full of long, blonde hair. She stood up and blinked when the sound of footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs to the owlery. Suzanna, her barn owl, landed on her head.

Cassie's entire letter to her sister consisted of boasting about all the new spells she'd learned since her visit at Christmas. Danae had been terribly jealous and that was just as Cassie liked it. Of course, over the summer holidays, Cassie would probably teach Danae some of the easier first year spells, just enough so that her sister could intimidate her fellow first years if it turned out that having a second year sister wasn't enough.

Reaching into her pocket, Cassie was just withdrawing the customary owl treat as sacrifice for the service of the school owl when she saw a girl lying on the floor of the owlery. Can you say gross?

"Merlin's Drawers!" she exclaimed. "I knew mudbloods were filthy, but until now, I thought it was a figure of speech. Are you the only one who likes to lie about in bird droppings, or is it a common problem among your kind?"

Mazzie blinked in surprise at the girl. Mazzie didn't like to be rude, at least the first time when talking to someone. She shruggd and tucked her hair behind her ear. The girl stared at the ground and rocked on her heels and awkwardly stood there being stared at by the student. "So, my name is Mazzie. I am in Hufflepuff. You?" she asked trying to be kind. Mazzie knew that Avan would leave with out a word, and Corey would slap the girl. But, Mazzie, was kind and fiesty. At least give the girl a chance. her consience scolded. Suzanna flew around, squeaking, and then landed back on Mazzie's head.

Mazzie then realized she was still sitting on the ground and stood up, the blood rushing to her head. The student then thought of something "How did you know I was a muggle-born?" she asked, clearly staying away from the word mud-blood.

Being asked her name irritated Cassie. She was a Crius; people ought to know who she was without her having to tell them. She would have to do something to rectify the situation as soon as possible if even insignificant Hufflepuff muggleborns didn't know who she was.

"Cassiopeia Crius," she answered, not bothering to say her house since no Crius had been sorted into a house other than Slytherin for the last century.

She watched the girl's inner struggle as she tried to figure out how Cassie knew she was mud-born. Honestly, muggles were so stupid sometimes.

"It was obvious," Cassie said. "Only a mud-blood would be disgusting enough to actually lay on a floor that's regularly covered in owl shit."

Mazzie was taken aback. "I-I cleaned it up." she said with a frown. "Just cause my parents are muggles doesn't mean anything. They love me, and my sister and brothers." Mazzie sighed and stared at the ground, a smile slowly crept across her face. Blue, Mazzie's cat walked in. "Blue!" She ran at her and picked her up kissing the cat's forhead.

She stretched Blue out to Cassiopeia. "This is Blue. She's a russian blue cat. Funny huh?" she asked with her huge smile. Blue's huge green eyes stared intently at Cassiopeia.

Cassie rolled her eyes and pulled the owl treat out of her pocket once more. This girl was pathetic. Barely worth wasting time on.

"You're hilarious," she said in a tone that clearly expressed how funny she thought the cat's name was. That is, not at all.

An owl swooped down and landed on a nearby perch, nicking the treat from Cassie's outstretched hand. She tied her letter to its foot and gave it directions.

Finally, Cassie turned back to the Hufflepuff.

"It means everything," she informed her. "Your parents loving you has nothing to do with how good they are. They're not magic, and their pathetic adoration of you can't change that."

"Obviously it does. Growing up with loving parents makes you who you are. You copy what you see your parents do. That's how you learn how to talk and walk. Your parents must be just like you. Annoying and oblivious to the world and everything else except themselves. And I pity you. You will never understand friendship or love." Mazzie spoke in one breath, then set down Blue down. Her smile falling. "I try to be kind to you. But you, you just. . . UH!" Mazzie face turned read with anger. She took a deep breath and calmed her nerves.

"Hufflepuffs are kind and fair. I am not going to yell, or curse or do anything I will regret later. But you should know, being rude and spitful will get you no where. God will give you what you need."

At this, Cassie merely laughed.

"And people say Slytherins are biased," she snickered. "You know nothing about me or my family. Just because you dislike people telling you the truth doesn't make them selfish. Or their families. For your information, I have three sisters and a brother and I doubt my parents would have kept going after me if they didn't love us all very much."

It irked Cassie that anyone would think her parents didn't love her. That anyone would think badly of anyone in her family just because she happened to say some things that were common knowledge, anyway.

"Besides, you are the one who is wrong, because I wasn't being mean or spiteful," she said calmly.

This was true. Cassie had been brought up to hate, and the consequence was that she didn't really hate anyone so much as spout hateful sounding things without thinking about it herself.

"I was just saying what's true. People don't care about how great you are until you can prove you had magical ancestors back when Hogwarts was built," she explained. "See? You should listen to me. I know about this sort of thing."

"I'm sorry Cassie. I was angry. Angry that we are so different. We couldn't get along. I'm okay with that. Maybe we could get along. Your parents do love you. Mine love me. We come from big familes. You were being a little rude, Cassie. But, so was I." Mazzie shrugged. "Sorry." she murmured. "So tell me about your family." she asked sitting down on the bench in the middle of the owlery.

Cassie didn't join her. One of the last things her parents had done before she got on the train was remind her to stay away from those nasty mudbloods. Besides, eleven years of conditioning was a hard habit to break.

She sighed, not because she was upset, merely because it would take some explaining and the hundreds of birds clustered into the owlery made the place stink.

"Let's go somewhere else," she said. "You muggles might like smelling like animals, but I don't."