Thomas was up with the sun, filled head to toe with excitement. Magic school. It was like a dream. He threw aside the red and gold covers and slid his feet out of bed and onto the lion-embroidered rug, barely noticing the cold Flagstones as he padded across the Dorm room to the bathroom. The shower room was huge, with a shower for each of the four six boys in his room. Thomas chose one near the middle and stood under the deliciously warm spray of water with a grin so wide he felt his face might split in two.

"You're keen." remarked a voice from behind him.

He peered over the shower stall door and grinned at Winston.

"Aren't you? I can't wait to see what Magical classes are like. Gotta be a different story from Muggle, yeah?"

Winston chuckled at him eagerness and he stepped into his own stall, the gushing hiss of hot water joining Thomas's like a second voice in a soothing and refreshing choir. As the boys washed and dried, the remainder of their dorm traipsed through, a few grumbling about the hour but most feeding off of Thomas's excitement to fuel their own.

The Common Room was already starting to fill with older students, and the fourth year who had offered to show Thomas the Owlery found him as the Prefects were aligning First Years to escort them to breakfast.

"Anybody else need to know where the Owlery is? Once on a lifetime opportunity here!"

"Don't be long," warned one of the Prefects - Thomas thought his name was Adam, "and make sure they get to breakfast okay."

The fourth year rolled her eyes and nodded. A few faces popped up eagerly, and Teresa appeared just as they were leaving, rushing over to Thomas's side.

"Figured i'd come for the walk." she grinned at him as they scurried after the long-legged fourth year.

The Owlery was pretty huge. Every room Thomas had seen at Hogwarts so far had defied spacial expectations. The floor was strewn with several inches of straw and thousands of feathers in a spectrum of colours. Every foot or so of wall had perches of all shapes and sizes, long ones like curtain rods and short blocks which seemed to be designated to the largest owls.

Thomas stared, enchanted by the sheer number of owls in the room. Even as they stood there there were owls flying in and out of the large arched windows, feather drifting down like speckled snowflakes. It was incredible. There were giant Eagle owls, golden brown and fierce looking creatures with long hooked beaks and frowning eyes. There were barn owls, brown and beige and golden blonde. There were several snowy white owls that stood out like pale white splashes amongst the hundred shades of brown.

The variety was so well-rounded that Thomas had to force himself to close his gaping mouth. There were tiny owls, itty bitty things smaller than the palm of his hand, with eyes that seemed too big for them and wings so delicate it seemed surreal that they could carry their weight. The room was filled with twittering, the odd screech sounding from unknown angles. The sound of so many wings shuffling and settling was like the sound of wind through snowdrifts, and Thomas couldn't help but grin. The Owlery was shucking awesome. He'd have to write to Chuck again, just to tell him about this. He knew the younger boy would be just as enthralled as him, if not more.

"Okay guys, you've got two minutes to get your letters tied off and then we're off to breakfast. Can't have you late your first day."

Thomas looked at Teresa, and was relieved to see he wasn't the only one overwhelmed by the number of birds in one place. Winston had already chosen a school owl, a quiet brown and black speckled barn owl with wide brown eyes. Teresa didn't have anything to post, but she reached out her arm for a small snowy to land on, stroking the bird's startling feathers and cooing at it. Thomas smiled. She was so fiery, from what he'd seen the day before and yet in that moment she was adorable. He felt his face flush a little and he looked away, up to the high sloped ceiling, thousands of eyes blinking back down at him. It was almost enough to make him feel dizzy.

He let out a soft whistle, a three-note sound that was answered by a familiar cry from far above. Thomas grinned as an owl dropped from one of the highest perches, drifting down gracefully on delicate wings. The compact body spiralled before landing on Thomas's forearm, rubbing the crown of her head under his chin in greeting. She coo'ed and Thomas murmured back to her, stroking her chest feathers softly. The tiny beak nipped affectionately at his fingertips and he laughed.

The owl wasn't the smallest in the room but she was on the small side. Her feathers were unique, a rare try-colour combination of ashy grey, sooty black and golden auburn. She had large round eyes framed by soft downy feathers and one was blue and the other green. She was an oddity that Thomas had taken to right away, and because she'd been abandoned as barely a hatchling and been with Thomas ever since, she was the best behaved owl anyone could wish for.

Teresa came over, her snowy greeting Thomas's owl with a short keen. The smaller owl blinked back calmly.

"Oh my gosh, who is this little beauty?"

Thomas beamed at her, loving the way her eyes glittered. He was very proud of his unusual little owl. He continued to stroke her velvety feathers as he introduced her.

"This is Glade. She's unique. No other owl like her, isn't that right?"

He punctuated the last part by dipping his face to tap her head with his nose as though it were a beak and she hooted softly back. Teresa reached out a slow hand.

"May i?" she asked, and Thomas wasn't really sure who she was asking.

Glade blinked and shuffled her small feet on Thomas skin before she leaned in, allowing Teresa to stroke her head. Teresa giggled, grinning widely. She turned thrilled eyes on Thomas and he could see the childlike delight in their sapphire depths.

After tying Chuck's letter to Glade's leg and giving her one last nose bump Thomas watched her take off into the air, swooping through the window into the morning sky. Teresa chattered about her all the way down to breakfast. Her enthusiasm was so infectious that Thomas forgot to feel nervous about their first day.