House: Gryffindor
Category: Bonus 2
Theme: Winter
Prompts: Dirk Cresswell, Hogwarts Owlery
Word Count (excluding header and AN): 634
Beta: Tigger
AN: Did anyone catch the reference to Martha and Ilvermorny? :) I hope you enjoy.
Dirk pulled his Ravenclaw scarf tighter around his neck. The Hogwarts Owlery was frigid and the icy stone walls provided no protection against the bitter winter wind and flurries of snow.
'Why did they have to build Hogwarts in the middle of Scotland?' he wondered for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. He'd just returned from spending the Christmas holiday with his family in the Caribbean, so the freezing temperatures were especially harsh against his tanned skin.
Dirk held dual citizenship with the UK and the USA, so he had the option to attend Ilvermorny instead. But Massachusetts had, if possible, worse winter weather than Scotland.
'If Ilvermorny had been in California, that would have been a different story,' he thought wistfully.
He hugged his cloak closer to his shivering body as he ascended the winding steps of the Owlery. He had promised to send his mum a letter as soon as he made it back to school. She was still wary about him going off to boarding school, let alone a magical boarding school. His father, on the other hand, had been thrilled when Dirk had been accepted into Hogwarts. He claimed that his many times great-grandmother, Martha, came from a magical family, but there was no real proof of it.
Finally making it to the top of the Owlery steps, he brushed the offending snow from his clothes. Dirk attempted to wake one of the dozing owls. The lazy birds seemed to be huddled together for warmth and wouldn't rouse.
'I'm going to buy my own owl soon,' Dirk decided. 'I'll keep it in my dorm and won't have to make the trek up here all the time. Besides, Mum will probably appreciate having only one, familiar owl to deal with.'
He smiled to himself when he recalled his mother's reaction to the owl that had delivered his school list last summer. She'd been so startled that she almost slammed the kitchen window shut on the poor bird.
"What're you smiling about, Cresswell?" asked Evan Rosier as he rounded the stairs into the Owlery.
"It's nothing, Rosier," Dirk muttered as he finally managed to wake an owl, tie his letter to its ankle, and send it on its way.
He rushed to leave the Owlery, but found his path blocked by Rosier and his friends, Mulciber and Snape.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Mudblood?" sneered Mulciber.
Dirk was not a coward, but he knew he had little chance in a three against one duel.
"Just heading off to meet Professor Slughorn for a meeting," he said. It wasn't entirely a lie; he did have a Slug Club meeting, but it wasn't supposed to start for hours. But he hoped that the mention of the Slytherins' Head of House would allow him to pass without violence.
"I'll be attending that meeting, too," drawled Snape.
'Rats,' Dirk thought, 'I forgot he was part of the club, too.'
"I think we need to teach this Mudblood what happens when he lies to his superiors," Rosier said.
Dirk gulped.
"Stupefy!" Mulciber cried.
Dirk dove out of the path of the spell. Quickly standing up, he assumed a defensive position but was stopped from firing a return spell by a flurry of action.
The full parliament of Hogwarts owls dive-bombed the three Slytherins. Dirk stared into the fray as his tormentors shrieked and cowered. When the owls retreated, Rosier, Snape, and Mulciber were dripping with white mess. Dirk barely suppressed a laugh.
The Slytherins quickly ran from the Owlery, allowing Dirk to exit at his leisure.
Again, he pulled his scarf tight around his neck to ward off the winter chill. He didn't mind the falling snow this time. He'd much rather be coated in this white stuff than owl shite.