Face half-hidden by a long curtain of frizzy, somewhat tangled red hair, Ruthanne Weaver-Jones sat slumped forward in her chair, gazing somewhat blankly down at her Charms textbook, her eyes slowly scanning the words on the page yet, judging by their dulled expression, seemed to be taking very little of it in. It wasn't as if Charms class bored Ruth, far from it, but while she had promised herself to diligently read at least a couple of chapters of all of her textbooks before the beginning of this year's lessons, her mind couldn't focus on such things as Summoning or Banishing charms. She couldn't even summon up the effort to recall anything she had learnt from last year. 

Because her thoughts were somewhere else entirely. Not on just one single thing, but on many things. Thousands of little, seemingly unconnected thoughts, some of them concerns, some of them questions, and some of them merely observations. While Ruth wasn't a particularly bright girl, she was curious and very observant, sharp-eyed. She noticed, for example, that fellow Hufflepuff Anthony Seamus O'Hamerson, known to most as 'Hammy', was hogging all the sweet rolls again, something another student was berating him for. Despite being in the same house as him, Ruth didn't really know O'Hamerson all that well and had never attempted to speak to him. This was partly because he was half-giant, and his height made him very intimidating to approach, partly because he was older and she felt as if all the older students had better things to do than talk to their underclassmen, and partly simply because, well, he was a boy, and other than her father and her younger brother, Robert, Ruth didn't have much experience talking to boys. In the past, when she had tried to make conversation with other boys, they usually end up making fun of her, as because of this, Ruth was particularly shy around them and made an effort not to speak to them unless they spoke to her first.

Ruth also noticed, in the corner of her eye, that one of the teachers had been looking at her, but when she had turned her ever-so-slightly towards the table, she couldn't see anyone focussed on her in particular and, feeling a little nervous, silently returned her gaze back to her Charms book.

Next to Ruth, one dark talon planted possessively on Ruth's plate - which was piled generously with Ruth's favourite foods, yet none of it had been touched by Ruth herself - was Ash, Ruth's only real friend, as she was too shy to start conversations with other students. He was loyal, mischievous, a bit of pain sometimes, but still a lot of fun to be around. He kept Ruth on her toes with his constant pranks, was there for her when she needed someone to confide in, and had the best sense of humour Ruth had ever known.

Oh, and, in case I forgot to mention, Ash was also an owl.

Yes, Ash was Ruth's pet Barn Owl, and was particularly notable due to his distinctive colouring. Ash had melanism, development of dark skin and feather pigment, while most Barn owls were pale brown and white in colour, Ash was a dark grey with occasionally patches of reddish brown here and there, particularly on his face. It was for this reason he was known as Ash, for his grey colouring had reminded Ruth of ashes. 

Ash nibble greedily on some of Ruth's food, before pausing to see the girl staring at her page, no longer following any sentences. It appeared she had gone off into a daze. Ash made the appropriate response, and yanked at a clump of her hair.

"Ow!" Ruth exclaimed loudly, causing a couple of students next to her to cast her strange glances. Ruth shot Ash a glare. "What was that for!?"

Ash tilted his head slightly and stared at her with innocent black eyes as if to say "Who, me?" before continuing to eat.