Hogsworth Owlery
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Overview
A short walk away from Hogsworth castle, the owlery can be found standing upon a small hill. Students are allowed to let their owls reside in the tower, which gets visited daily for food and cleaning by the Grounds Keeper.
In the tower, over 200 owls can find residence. It is rare to ever see it that busy, though, as a lot of owls are out doing their jobs or temporarily staying at their receiver’s house. They are also likely to stay at their owner’s dorm, but must be in a cage if they do. Thus, students often opt for the owlery to give their pets as much freedom as they can.
Background
Owls have been used as messenger birds for as long as most people can remember, but the owlery was only built in 1853. For a long time, students kept their owls in their dorms and let them roam free. Over time, it was proven time and time again that this was a bad choice.
Owls were fighting in the rooms, students forgot to feed them or clean their cages, some owls were lost within the castle, and much more. Due to the limited space in dorm rooms, the animals were easily fed up.
Headmaster Anthony David Brotherthon met up with the Grounds Keeper at the time to design a normal, working owlery. Over the course of a month, the construction was finished and all necessities were provided. Seventh-year students were the first ones allowed to leave their owls at the owlery because they had had more time to bond with their pet. It proved to be extremely successful and shortly after, all students were allowed to move their pets to the owlery.
Usage
Similar to Unmagicals using pigeons in the past, the wizarding community still uses owls as messenger birds. Students can write letters to people back home and let their pet take them to said people. Due to the sheer intelligence of these creatures, they can locate and safely arrive at an array of locations without any guidance.
The wizarding world does not use much technology and prefers to rely on more natural items. However, Unmagical students have had prior experience with technology, so they have to learn a whole new way of living. It is one of the very few ways they can communicate with their families while also having to teach them how to use the owl postage system.
Impact on Gameplay
Players can find the Owlery on the northeastern side of the castle grounds. Here they can also find one of many mailboxes to send mail to other players.
Trivia
- You can learn about the Hogsworth Owlery in Magical Archaeology classes hosted by the Academics team.
