It was close to midnight and all was quiet in Thunderbird Tower. Most students were in bed or at the very least, staying silent in their rooms. Only the odd sound of the floor creaking and the tower settling could be heard. That was until Melinda Echoes scampered down the hall as fleet footed as she could. She didn't want to be caught out of her room during these hours out of fear of reprimand. The pace of her steps quickened as her curiosity about getting to her first ever super-secret meeting of the Society of the Feather grew.
"Who goes there?" A haggard voice rang.
Melinda darted behind a column near the spiral staircase. The torches along the wall flickered. She was shocked to hear another person out and about so late at night and she was equally perturbed with the Poplar boys for how far away their room felt. She took a moment, gathered herself and checked to see if the coast was clear before resuming her trek. She only needed to get to the eleventh floor after all. Unfortunately for her, she turned right into the sternum of a grumpy old man.
"Ouch! Watch it willya!" He growled, "Wait a second! You're a student! What are you doing out of bed at such an hour?"
Melinda gazed upward at the tall man. He looked weak because of how skinny he was but his grouchy attitude gave anything but that impression. His clothes were also baggy which made it look like they were weighing him down rather heavily.
"I'm sorry, sir," Melinda spoke softly.
The man groaned. He took a few paces back which enabled Melinda to see a mop and bucket by his side.
"A-are you the janitor?" Melinda asked preciously.
"Th'names Benedict Grumblegoff," He snarled, "And yes, I'm the janitor 'round these parts."
With a name like that, Melinda thought it would be wise to avoid agitating such a person.
"Well it's nice to meet you, sir," She curtsied.
Grumblegoff snickered at her feeble attempt to charm her way out of any wrongdoing.
"Where ya goin?" He asked begrudgingly.
"Up to the eleventh floor to see my friends, sir. I promise I will be quiet if you let me go without incident!" She pleaded.
Melinda watched as Benedict moseyed backwards tentatively. He snatched the mop from the ground and resumed his janitorial duties of mopping the tiled floor. She noticed how he would jab the mop at the floor rather violently. She just figured anyone within a janitorial role had to be naturally gifted grouches.
"On with ya," He nodded, eyes dedicated to his work.
Melinda could tell that although he was grouchy, Benedict preferred to stay in the shadows and that it was tough for him to show any sort of compassion so she graciously took the opportunity afforded to her before there was any chance of him recanting. She bolted up the stairs and left the janitor to his random mopping duties. She finally arrived at the door of the Poplars. She raised her hand to knock but the door drifted open instead.
"Okay..." She muttered.
She peered inside and saw six students crouched within a fort made out of floating blankets and couch pillows. She also noticed one of them had their wand extended towards the door which explained how it opened so quietly. She shuffled in and found a spot on the floor to sit down.
"Hi," She said shyly.
All eyes were on her as she was the only girl in entire room. The boys other than Timmy and Jimmy were unsure how to react to such a phenomenon.
"Well gang, this is Melinda. She's a super smart cookie that we met in potions class so we decided to bend the rules and invite her to this meeting," Jimmy spoke.
"Bend the rules? You broke them! No girls are ever allowed at the Society of the Feather!" One of the other students professed angrily.
Melinda suddenly felt out of place. It was as if she crossed the barrier into a nerd's most sacred space. She folded her arms and legs as she began to feel both uncomfortable and unwelcome all at once.
"I'm sorry. Maybe this was a bad idea. I should go," She suggested.
She rose from her seated position and stepped away from the floating fortress of cushions.
"Wait!" Timmy shouted, "We invited you here. You're here now. Stay with us. Everyone, introduce yourself to Melinda. Now! Even you, Irwin. The feather orders it!"
Melinda's eyes darted around the fort at each person. It appeared that the final phrase Timmy said made his orders official and binding and that only serious commands were followed by making it an order from the feather, whatever that really meant.
"Hi, I'm Dexter Rosemont," The first boy said with slurred speech.
Dexter had thick rectangular glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. His hair was messy and you wouldn't dare shake his hand for his fingertips were laced with remnants of Curly's CheeZee cheese powder.
"Allen Wonderbranch," The next student introduced.
Allen was the one that opened the door with his wand and enchanted the cushions floating around them. The group looked at Irwin as he was next but he turned his nose up at the opportunity and looked away instead.
"Jones McStrath and I know what you're thinking and the answer is no, I'm not a nerd like these dweebs. You might wonder what a guy like me is even doing here and I ask myself that during every single meeting. The truth is, not only do these guys need some quality control, but they also need a little credibility too. That's why I'm here," He winked.
Indeed, Jones looked nothing like a nerd. Melinda didn't even question it at first but it did become odd to her after thinking about it for a minute. Jones was handsome and sat in a nonchalant way that put her at ease. She felt compelled to sit back down in the fort.
"Irwin..." Timmy implored.
Ever reluctant, Irwin was the last of the unknowns to introduce himself to Melinda.
"I'm Irwin Plackmeyer and I am one of the three founding members of the society alongside Timmy and Jimmy. If you disrespect us, expect an unrelenting hand come forthwith," Irwin threatened rather hollowly.
Irwin looked by far the nerdiest, which was saying something. Every button on his shirt was done up, even the topmost ones. He sported a polka dot bowtie and way too much product in his hair as it was slicked back to perfection. He tried to keep a menacingly disapproving face whenever anything involved Melinda.
"And you know us already; Timmy and Jimmy," Jimmy pointed, "I should note that we each have unique roles here at the Society of the Feather. Timmy and I are the schedulers. We plan each meeting and remind everyone when it is. Dexter is the scribe. He records the meetings. Allen is facilities. He builds the fort and monitors foot traffic. Irwin is the knowledge base to which our conversations stem from and Jones... well he already told you why he's here. We want to look cool too you know."
"It's not always a pillow fort," Allen couldn't help but lean in.
Melinda noticed Jones turn his head towards her.
"Nine times out of ten it's a pillow fort," He whispered.
"Hey! I heard that!" Allen refuted.
Everyone in the group except for Irwin settled.
"Wh-what can be my role?" Melinda asked bashfully.
A hush grew over the group as they felt their needs were pretty much covered and didn't want to default to having her be the only girl for the sake of filling a quota and nothing more.
"Ummmmmm, uhhhhhhhh," Jimmy stalled.
"You're our defender," Jones piped up, "You'll protect the meeting from any TRULY unwanted guests. Always bring your wand to the meeting. You'll need it."
Jones said that with an emphasis towards Irwin's disapproving aura. It was quite a job to be bestowed upon a brand new member to the society, let alone a new student to Ilvermorny as a whole. She graciously accepted her newly appointed position as Society Defender.
"I will defend the society with all my effort... the feather orders it!" She announced stoically.
All members were rather impressed by Melinda's quick witted response - all except Irwin, of course. The night and meeting carried on. They spoke about the issues in the boy's washroom to which Melinda had an answer for. Then they spoke about the leak in the ceiling, which again, Melinda was right there with a sound solution.
"Well... it's getting late, yeah?" Jones brought up, "I got Quidditch practice tomorrow so can we wrap this up?"
Some of the other members were in agreement with Jones' proposal and they were about to close the meeting until Melinda spoke up one last time.
"Wait! I thought I was invited here to be told about the Curse of Thunderbird!?" She asked.
A silence befell the entire group. Stunned faces stared at each other. Even Allen had a hard time keeping the cushions afloat after hearing those words escape from Melinda's mouth.
"Did she just..." Irwin's voice trailed, unable to finish his sentence.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" She asked for clarification.
Dexter and Irwin motioned from their seated position as if they wanted to exit the conversation immediately. It wasn't until Timmy extended his arms outward, blocking anyone from moving, did the group calm down.
"No one moves a muscle. It is true. Jimmy and I asked Melinda here to educate her on the Curse of Thunderbird... because... as Jones has noticed on his own, she's strong - probably the strongest person we've seen come to this house in a very long time and if you don't believe us, then talk to those that saw her get sorted," Timmy referenced.
Things were starting to fall into place and make sense for Melinda in her own mind. Maybe being paired with Timmy and Jimmy in potions class was not a sheer coincidence. Maybe once they saw they were working with her, they wanted to test whether or not she was the real deal because the rumor about the rather unique sorting ceremony she endured had swirled around.
"Okay, we're listening. Spew it," Jones spoke for everyone.
"Well, okay. So as we said in class, each house has a curse attached to it," Timmy began.
"Allegedly," Jimmy interjected.
"Yup. Allegedly, but it's all true," Timmy quantified, "The Curse of Thunderbird is said to occur every half century. Seeing that Thunderbird is the house that represents the soul of a wizard, it has been said that a ghost appears around Thunderbird Tower every half century in an effort to lure the student with the strongest soul out to the Desolate Forest to corrupt their mind and force them to do its evil bidding."
An eerie sense overcame the group of students as they listened intently to every word Timmy had to say. Melinda's ears perked up when she heard Timmy say the word 'ghost.' She couldn't prevent thoughts shoot through her head from her Trial of a True Wizard when she encountered a ghastly ghost she pondered about ever seeing again.
"No one knows how the ghost came to be but if the timing is right, then you might be the target, Melinda. Jimmy and I have no doubt in our minds that you have the strongest soul in the entire house because of how you were sorted. So we wanted to forewarn you should you encounter anything strange," Timmy forecasted.
"Anything strange not including this group of overgrown nerds in front of you," Jones chimed in playfully.
This was all suddenly making too much sense. Melinda felt like she just got to Ilvermorny and asked for none of this. All she wanted to do was blend in with the crowd and be a normal student but now she felt like she had to have her guard up wherever she went if indeed what she was hearing was all true. The evidence provided was convincingly hard to ignore.
"So what should I do then?" asked Melinda.
"Well... we wait and see for the ghost to make a move," Timmy concluded.