The Owlery was situated right at the top of the north tower. It was a pretty
cramped and smelly place. It was just a small cellar with shelves for the owls
to rest and windows at the top for them to fly through. The ground was littered
with hay. One could hear a crunching sound when walking through, which Janice
presumed was the remains of dead mice. They were told that they were welcome
to use the school owls to send letters to their family if they do not have a
pet. As they could no longer stand the stench, they quickly dashed out of the
Owlery, nearly puking.
"Well, that brings us to an end to our tour today. As for the rest of the
day, it's free for you. Classes would commence tomorrow morning at eight-thirty
sharp. You will receive your timetables tonight. Always carry the map along
with you. You will not receive another copy if you lose this, so keep this one
carefully." Professor Chang said, dismissing the group and allowing them
to go back to their dormitories.
"Tired day, huh? " Landy said, still smiling over the Library visit.
"You bet." Janice replied, yawning. It really was a tired day; she's
going to have a nice shower before going to the Owlery to send her parents a
letter.
"Hey Mudblood! Watch it you!" Someone sneered.
Looking up, she realised that she had bumped into Yang Yi and and Ivan, who were both sneering towards them.
"Are you girls blind or something? Now a Mudblood has
soiled my robes, I have to wash them all over again, thanks to Janice."
Yang Yi sneered.
"What's the matter, YANG TOU*? Sorry I didn't see you. I can
see that you look terribly stupid today." Landy remarked, her
eyes shooting staples into the two boys.
*(Goat's head in Mandarin)
The boys opened their mouth to say something, but they quickly closed it. Ivan sneered.
"Now where is Laundry and his Boat Quay? I can see that they are not around to protect his girls," he said sarcastically.
"Did I hear someone calling me Laundry and my friend Boat Quay?" A voice boomed behind Janice.
Turning back sharply, she saw Chee Hao, Boon Kee and Lawrence standing behind her, their wands pointing to Yang Yi. Janice had never felt so relieved before in her life to see them.
"Yes? Yang Yi, or should I say, Yang Tou, your newfound nick? I seemed to have heard my name somewhere. Are you guys talking about me in front of these two girls about how good we are?" Lawrence said, stepping forward, his wand pointing towards Yang Yi.
Janice was very astonished to see Yang Yi's face turn into a brillant shade of purple, making it look like a huge, overripe grape. Ivan stepped forward and snarled towards Lawrence and Janice.
"How about this then. A wizard's duel. A proper one. Who's your second?"
he sneered.
"Chee Hao will be my second." Lawrence said, patting on Chee Hao's
shoulder.
"Landy will be my second." Janice said quickly, not wanting to lose
out.
"Good. Next Tuesday, twelve midnight at the Hall." Yang Yi smirked.
After that, both of them walked off, laughing away.
"What's a second?" Landy asked, her eyes sparkling quizically.
"A second is a sort of a replacement of a wizard when the first wizard
dies." Lawrence explained, "Don't worry, what we would only do at
most is just some simple spells because we're not full wizards yet." Lawrence
said quickly, as he saw Landy panicked.
"Well, I guess we better go back to the common room now, you know, to look
for some spells." Janice said.
"Well, I guess that you are right." Boon Kee said.
With that, the five of them walked back to the common room together, their argument long forgotten.
When they had reached the common room, they promised each other to meet at the
same place in an hour's time to do some research on spells. Janice took this
opportunity to have a long shower and do a bit of unpacking from her trunk.
Later, she hastily took out a piece of parchment and a quill and began writing
a letter to her parents.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Hi! How's everything at home? How's Lily adjusting in Holy Innocents? I hope
it's okay. I'm fine down here. It turns out that my primary school loggerhead,
Lawrence (the one with really messy hair and never gets his homework done) is
a wizard. In fact, his buddies, Boon Kee and Chee Hao, are wizards too. They
are from a wizarding family. Now, we are really good friends with each other!
Hard to believe, huh? From loggerheads to friends. Well, I have to go now, Bye!!
Love from Janice
After checking her letter for mistakes, she rushed to the Owlery and hastily tied the letter on one of the owls. After the letter was tied, the owl set off, its wings swishing noisily in the wind. Janice watched it flew over some houses and out of sight. It was only when the owl had flew out of sight that she returned to the CuiHua common room.
