"Why does the Owlery have to be so far away from the castle?" Elliott groans, his every word getting visible through misty breath. "It's a marathon every time, and it's bitterly cold out here."

"Imagine having the owls in the castle," Leonora says. "You do realize that your robe would never be black again, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," he sighs. "But … don't they say that's good luck anyway?"

"Depends on your attitude, I guess?" Harper chuckles. "And your mice would've been in permanent danger with hungry hunters flying over the castle. As his partner in crime, don't you think so, too, Tom?"

She beams at me, and her red cheeks are by far the most comforting thing about this trip. This realization also makes me nod rather peacefully at last.

"Well," Leonora giggles as she grabs Elliott's hand, "a walk like this, in the quiet of winter - isn't that just lovely?"

Elliott grins, but I just keep trudging on gloomily through the deep snow. And by the time we reach the foot of the stairs, I simply can't hold back any longer. "Delightful, yes ... What could be more thrilling than freezing your nose off in this cold to collect some letters?"

"Oh, come on," Harper pouts with a wry smile on her face as she's also beginning to take the stairs, "why are you in such a bad mood?"

"I'm always in a bad mood, just in case you haven't noticed yet."

"Let's see who's there first!"

Leonora and Elliott engage in an impromptu and laugh-intensive race up to the Owlery, while Harper, for her part, stops and puts her hands on her hips.

"They say if you force yourself to smile, you'll subsequently be in a better mood. So will you be smiling for me?"

Wanly, I comply with her request.

"Are you really doing your best right now?" she asks in amusement. "Really your very best?"

She looks at me so impertinently that, against all odds, I do have to chuckle.

"Come on," I finally say as I take her hand, "we ought to follow those two merrymakers closely – in case we're required to help with some first aid."

"It's also out of self-interest that I finally want to get up there," she reveals to me. "I'm sure my parents have sent a letter – Christmas is just around the corner!"

"Yes, I can't wait for the feast of love myself," I say, "at the orphanage, we used to eat baked apples every year, and we would be holding hands sitting in a circle while singing Silent Night. It was heartwarming, I tell you."

She looks at me, clearly puzzled. "Really?"

"No. Of course not."

"Oh, sorry," she sighs. "It sounded pretty convincing, against all odds …"

This time, I stop her to give her a wry smile. "You'll find I can be very … persuasive."

"Indeed," she softly confirms, looking up at me before I steal a quick kiss.

"You'd better find a quiet corner in the castle for that," Elliott yells down to us. "Come on - get married later!"

Harper grins at me, whispering, "Well then! Who's up there first?"

I watch her run off, inwardly groaning, but then I eventually hurry after her even if I can't possibly catch up.

"Last one," Elliott announces as I reach the top. He's patting my shoulder as he adds, "Who would've thought you'd ever be last in anything?"

"I'm not sure if you're too familiar with the rules and regulations of a fair race," I retort, "but normally the starting point as well as the starting time are the same for all competitors participating."

"Which wasn't the case here?" Leonora asks.

I nod. "That's exactly what I tried to imply. So – shall we?"

"Yes," Harper says, moving into the circular, open space of the Owlery.

"Oh look, Elliott", Leonora, following her, shouts to point at a stone wall inside. "Ancient Runes!"

The walls - ashy white after centuries of providing a home to the owls - could hardly let more December wind whistle through their cracked joints. The dark wooden beams of the spire are full of cobwebs, and the owls' clucking and cooing resemble a lively first year class.

But the view through the glassless windows is captivating for sure. Scotland's Highlands have always been a sight.

For Elliott and Leonora, however, the stone walls seem much more interesting still.

Three runes can be inspected.

ᛟᚹᛚ

"Clearly Elder Futhark", Elliott mumbles, his look showing more focus than I've ever seen on his face. "Owy?" He grimaces and takes a step back. "What's that supposed to – oh! No! It's not the symbol for Eihwaz, it's Laguz, right?"

"Finally, Ell, I'm proud of you!" Leonora nods and turns around. "See, Harper? I have a feeling it's coming easy to him once he has the base. Told you he could be really good in it."

"Oh please, I'm good through and through", he jokes and causes Leonora to roll her eyes.

But that hidden smile on her face - we can all see it.

"You really need to get the fundament right to become well-versed in this", she goes on. "Once you know the symbols by heart, even if I woke you up in the middle of the night –"

"Just don't ever do that", he retorts, "I'm quite fond of my beauty rest."

She really tries not to, just like myself, but there he goes and leaves us chuckling.

"Truly, Ell", Leonora adds once she manages a serious tone again, "you need to practice regularly and –"

"Yes, yes, Ma'am. Actually I knew it was Laguz from the beginning. I was just testing whether you pay attention. That's all."

"Sure you were – now enlighten us, what do these three runes mean?"

"Owl, obviously", he says, winking. "Not Owy. I mean, I knew that. I really did." She grins even more so as he claims, "Once I get it perfectly right each time, it's over for you. I'm becoming a mastermind of Ancient Runes, wait and see."

"Now that ambition is pure Slytherin pride", I say. "And you're interested in something academic even if it's just for the sake of impressing a Hufflepuff. Good enough."

"Move, Riddle, spare me", Leonora sighs, "time for the owies."

"No, I knew it said owl!" Elliott claims, following her and Harper, while I take another look out the windows, likely because in a way that view really calms me. The Forbidden Forest reaches out to the northeast as far as the eye can see, and the Great Lake glistens in the light of the cloudy sky. If Hogwarts isn't the place to be …

"Jeannie!" Harper repeats it all over, looking for her owl. "Jeannie Harlow, where are you?"

"You named your owy after Jean Harlow?" I ask.

"Stop it!" Elliott is not as amused as I am.

Harper, however, turns to me in surprise and nods. "Yes. Jean Harlow. Obviously."

I shake my head, grinning.

"What?" she laughs. "We're American, we like Hollywood ..."

"Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?" I quote Jean.

"Oh, I forgot!" She nods, beaming. "You're another one of those people who occasionally watch Hollywood movies."

"You said it yourself the other day," I reply, looking around the Owlery as well. "We share interests in many topics."

"Yes, we get it, you're of one heart and soul," Elliott quips as he finds and picks up his own owl.

"So much for splitting into multiple souls," I murmur to Harper.

She winks. "Well, that'll have to do for now."

"Oh, watch out!" Leonora exclaims, ducking away from an incoming owl - something we instantly do as well.

Except for Harper. "Jeannie! There you are!" She follows the odd animal to the railing of her choice. "Guess you'll always have to make such a dramatic entrance, huh?"

"She's a Hollywood diva, after all," Elliott chuckles.

Harper waves it off with amusement and after stroking Jeannie's feathers for a bit, she, too, takes the mail from her.

No parchment, no wax seals. Obviously just a normal letter from a normal Muggle family.

"My dad put a stamp on it again," Harper sighs as she comes over with the letter in her hand. "You know, he says it makes him feel more confident that it will arrive in case Jeannie accidentally drops it."

"We all tell ourselves certain things to sleep at night," I find.

"True enough," Elliott agrees. "But maybe now that we all have our correspondence, we could leave again? I actually want my robe to stay black ..."

"But Tom doesn't have his mail yet," Leonora protests, looking at me with a smile. "We'll wait for you."

What is well meant is not always well done.

"That won't be necessary for lack of relatives," I inform her, already strolling back outside.

"Oh, of course – I'm sorry." Gritting her teeth, she and the others follow me into the pale light of this winter day. "I forget that sometimes ..."

"I'm not sentimental," I assure her.

"Well, here we go!" Elliott soon destroys the wax seal on his letter as we follow the stairs back down. "My son," he begins reading aloud, "as every year ..." After that, he just mumbles to himself.

Leonora, on the other hand, seems to become more indignant by the second as she's reading aloud the lines addressed to her. "Your dear brother Raymond reported to us that you behaved indecently?" She turns to Harper who's just pouting for her as well. "They're out of their minds!" Angrily, Leonora reads on, completely engrossed in her letter.

"Will we read mine together?" Harper asks me quietly.

I give her an irritated glance. "Why? It's yours."

"Yes, it is," she agrees, "but ... just trust me."

I eye her suspiciously. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," she says, but the corners of her mouth twitch. At least until she's looking ahead again and proceeds to grimace in annoyance. It makes me follow her gaze at once.

Elliott as well as Leonora are still staring at their letters and have almost reached the snowy meadows again - but neither of them see that Raymond has long since made his way towards them with some friends – and angrily at that.

"Not again," Harper groans. Shouting ahead to the two she warns, "Ell, Leo, look up!"

"That's exactly what I've told you not to do in Hogsmeade the other day!" Raymond already yells from a distance. "Why don't you stay away from them like I say? I'm your brother!"

"Well, if that's not an argument," I grumble as Harper immediately rushes to Leonora, too.

"Ray, please," she moans, "in the Three Broomsticks you were drunk, but today -"

"Don't speak to me like that!"

"Come on, Ray," Leonora also tries to calm him down, but he loudly cuts her off as well.

"How deluded are you two?" He shoves Elliott away from Leonora and Harper while I'm still walking toward the scenario.

"Do you really think they have good intentions? I can already predict how this is going to end for you!"

"Divination is an elective for a reason," Harper repeats my recent words, and smugly indeed.

"Ray, I know you're just trying to protect me," Leonora says, "but how dare you claim to our parents that I'm being indecent? I can take care of myself!"

"Like her?" Raymond points at Harper. If for nothing else, I finally quicken my steps because of that. "All of Hogwarts is already whispering about her being in Riddle's thrall!"

"Rest assured I'm in nobody's thrall," Harper hisses. "But unlike you, I'm not afraid of a tie colour! Just as Leo isn't afraid of green."

By now I've arrived by her side, too, and I smile friendly like a saint. "Raymond, there you are again," I say. "And just as charming as recently, I see."

"Have you ever taken a close look at your model student?" he growls at Harper, then he eyes me himself. "It's all a facade! The Professors are completely blinded by his oh so clever remarks, and you may like his face, but I know exactly what's going on inside his head!"

"I thoroughly doubt that," I remark. "But what an amusing thought."

"You're just playing with her!" he exclaims as his red friends nod dismissively. "Don't act like you didn't think her to be an unworthy mudblood!"

"Bold of you, Raymond," I retort, emphatically calm, "to call her that in front of me, of all people."

"Everyone in Slytherin thinks that way. Every child knows that!"

"That, you hero," Elliott now begins to mock, "is just as much a prejudice – so congratulations! You've just checkmated yourself."

Raymond looks at him in wary disbelief. "Quite the opposite, you filthy snake!"

He pulls out his wand, but I'm faster.

"Aerem exspergo!"

He's staggering back into his friend's arms instantly. He literally loses his breath. The pressure on the airways this curse causes is immense, and it will probably be as unpleasant as the forbidden books have described it to be. Judging by Raymond's face - already red and completely panicked - it's true. He's gasping miserably, and for the life of him his friends don't know what to do about it.

"Tom, all right, that's enough!" Leonora exclaims, and Harper, nodding hastily, also touches my arm.

Before Hogwarts, I could barely handle the magic inside me. Its rage would touch anyone who got in my way, relentlessly and out of proportion.

Since Scotland, it's a different story. I now control the magic. But at the same time, I can feel how much more damage I can now cause with it.

"Tom!" Harper shouts, and only reluctantly I lower my wand to let go of Raymond.

He's coughing, on the ground still, while his friends gather around him. Leonora also bends over her brother, worried at first.

"He still can't breathe," she then says to me, wide-eyed. "Do you know a counterspell?"

I look at the extent of chaos and cannot help but notice that it's quite pleasant.

"Come on!" Harper gives me a warning glance. "Now!"

I sigh, walking past her and towards Raymond with my wand drawn.

"Stay away from him!" one of his companions shouts.

"Oh, so you've got this?" I tiredly ask.

His friend balks, then backs away.

"Thought so …"

Closely followed by Harper, I raise my wand again. "Anapneo!"

Raymond immediately takes an agitated breath and gets enough air while Leonora and Harper pat him on the back.

I, on the other hand, just look down at him, ignoring all the horrified faces directed at me. I've learned years ago how to ignore them.

"Dippet's going to expell you for this!" one of Raymond's friends growls at me.

"Oh, you dare tell him?" I ask, seemingly surprised.

Silence follows. Thoughtful silence.

What a delight ...

"There goes the lions' courage," Elliott sums it up for the group of Gryffindors. Then he says to me, "It's much too cold and boring here, anyway, let's go ..."

That is what I like about Elliott. He knows no misguided pity that comes solely from his own ego ideal.

And even Leonora takes Harper's hand, standing up as she says, "Don't worry about it, brother, you'll be fine. Just don't stick your nose into my business again."

"How dare you!" Raymond gasps as his friends help him up. "Father will rage! You don't even have to show your face at home for Christmas, mark my words!"

"I have nothing to celebrate with either of you patriarchs anyway," she barks back, letting Harper lead her to us.

Elliott reaches out his hand to her, visibly proud, and Harper doesn't look back either.

"You're out of your minds!" Raymond shouts. "There'll be consequences, you'll see!"

After we have put some distance between us and them, Leonora says to me, "That was a little extreme, but ..." She takes a deep breath, looking at the ground. "As rough as he was to me the other day after Hogsmeade, I don't really care."

"Did he hurt you?" Elliott asks, sorrow lacing his every word.

"He was just angry," she evades his question. "Also about my clothing, he simply has some ... antiquated ideas. Just like my father." She sighs. "I really can't possibly go home for Christmas now ..."

"Then come with me!" Elliott is eager to suggest. "Well ... I mean, if you want to ..."

"Is that a serious invitation?" she giggles.

"Oh, yes! Yes, it is!"

"Well, that got cleared up quickly," Harper says, smirking before she turns thoughtful again. "But what if your brother is running to Dippet now?"

"Surely he won't," Elliott says.

"And if he does," I add, "then I felt compelled to act as a Prefect, since a wand was raised against Slytherin."

"Thank heaven you can be so persuasive, huh?"

I nod. "Never hurts."

"So when do we read my letter?" she whispers to me as Elliott and Leonora lead the way.

"Harper," I sigh again, "why don't you just read it on your own and leave me alone with -"

"No," she immediately cuts me off. "I won't. And aren't you cold, too?"

"What does one have to do with the other?"

"Well, I just think that today, after your valiant efforts as a Prefect, you might just as well make use of the merits of that role ..."

I chuckle. "Like on the fifth floor?"

"I knew you'd get me." She winks. "I'm sure we can get warmed up in a bath and then, we read my letter."

"I hate to admit", I say, "but you're obviously quite persuasive as well."