An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 5, 2023 4:46:37 GMT 10
DADA class had been... Well, it had been educational and what more could MJ ask for.
She had invited Giovi to join her in the Private Courtyard after class and since they both needed to find ingredients for different reasons, it made sense to do it together. At least, for this one.
MJ had other things she wanted to do but this would give her a chance to get to know Giovi even better!
"Thanks for coming along. I'm used to doing this by myself so it's a nice change to have someone to share the experience with." She said with a smile as they entered into the courtyard.
Thankfully it was pretty quiet for now. MJ found a spot to set down her satchel and looked around, "Any hints or tips on where to find this moss? It's one of the few ingredients I've never attempting gathering before."
If anyone was good to ask, it seemed like Giovi would be. She liked that he came across as sensible and mature in his mindset, not as childish as some other students (or rurde). And he didn't seem afraid of putting in effort during class either!
He was glad that class was over. Of all the things to be terrible at it was defending himself. It was no surprise the Gryffindor girl made fun of him. As rude as she was... he felt a pang about it. He just wanted friends but clearly that was something he wasn't doing well at.
So when MJ had asked him to the private courtyard he'd been eager to join her. Friends. Finally. He was getting used to the others being around him, was learning the ways of MJ, Joe, Charlotte, and Thorne. They, at least, were nice enough.
"There is no reason to thank me, MJ. I'm glad to have someone to hang out with, honestly." He was being honest. The idea of getting to know the others made him feel a lot better. Not to mention the fact that it was her the prettiest girl in Hogwarts! He was truly lucky.
"Where to find it?" He reached into his bag and pulled out the potion's parchment with the ingredients listed and nodded, pointing out what it looked like and what area it should be in.
"It should be right around here, somewhere." He stepped into the direction of the silkmoss keeping his eyes peeled for it. All he wanted to was find it - impress her with his knowing! Because he wanted to. It seemed Professor Snape wasn't the only one that Giovi Monbeau wanted to impress these days.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 5, 2023 6:29:25 GMT 10
"You're so sweet." MJ chuckled, her tone sincere. It was nice to think that Giovi wanted to hang out and be her friend! The feeling was mutual.
"I wanted to ask -- since you speak French, are your family from there? How did you end up in the U.K.?" She wondered if she could ask Charlotte to teach her some French to talk with Giovi.
She didn't even know her friend could speak the language! MJ smiled, wondering what other secrets Charlotte kept to herself and honestly like finding out these new layers over time.
MJ followed Giovi's lead, looking carefully for the Silkmoss, "We'll find it, for sure."
Her gaze scanned the stone wall to her side, looking higher and higher and over each possible inch. From experience with other ingredients, she knew it was best to take their time and not allow themselves to be too distracted.
Sweet? He was sweet? He glanced sidelong at her, questioning her but accepting and happy with her words.
"Merci." he replied, in his father's language, the thank you ready as he tried not to dismiss her compliment. But... no one else thought that, not really.
"My father is from France. He was a horseman there. Mother is from England. Father insisted we all know French and only speaks to us in his native language so we know it as well as English. He says it helps when you find a career." He gave a sort of half shrug at the answer he gave, not saying that they were both muggles might have been rude but... it was need to know information (especially with some of his housemates, he'd learned.)
"What about you? Where is your family from?" He wondered if she knew how fun it was to ride horses in an open field or to get up at the crack of dawn to complete chores that sometimes led to diving into a lake. A lot of people didn't but that was alright with him. He loved the simplicity of home compared to here sometimes.
It was a lot easier to be himself at home, surrounded by his brothers and sister... He missed them, he realized then, thinking about his sister who he'd not seen since September. She'd be taller now, seven and sassy as she'd always been. Pushing it aside he focused his attention back on the silkmoss search, stepping cautiously with his eyes toward the ground.
Peppering the stones with spots of green, Silkmoss grew a bit too high for a student to grab -- with no obvious way to reach it. A creative solution was required, as surely there was something nearby to aide the task.
Once the fragile Silkmoss was within grasp, it needed to be carefully collected to remain intact and viable as an ingredient.
He searched and searched, fingers rubbing together lightly as he thought about how embarrassing it would be to be unable to find the moss, especially when it seemed like MJ believed in him completely.
And he didn't want to make a fool of himself. Not in front of her.
Stopping next to a wall he glanced up, a slow smile pulling on his face as he saw it - just out of reach, even if he stood on tip toe and stretched.
"Look, MJ! I found some!" he called over his shoulder, all conversation about his home and family forgotten along with the sudden drowning homesickness that had swelled in his chest.
But as he looked he saw only a tree near enough - and a fence of stone. He smirked at it but, for a moment resisted. It was like swinging from rafters in the barns. He had the strength to do it but the last thing he wanted was for MJ to think he was anything other than refined.
Duty was duty, however, and he would get it however he could. He neared the stone fence, bracing arms to hoist himself atop of it wiht a pull before holding his hand down for MJ to take so he could help her up.
"We can use that branch to balance close enough to get it if it would hold... I can try first." He was probably suited to it, even if it was unrefined and would show more of what he did outside of school than he'd like. This was a conundrum but, he had to remind himself, it was for the lady. He was King Arthur and MJ was his Gwenevere!
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 5, 2023 22:31:46 GMT 10
"Your family sounds amazing. It's really cool that your dad taught you his native language." MJ smiled at the imagined picture she had of Giovi and his family.
"I was raised in England by my Granny and Great-Auntie, along with my twin brother." She explained as she moved over to another wall and studied it for some Silkmoss. She felt her family story wasn't as 'exciting' as Giovi's so would completely understand if he didn't ask her anything else.
She had intended to ask about the horses when he shouted over to her.
MJ pulled her gaze away from the wall she had just checked, her expression unreadable until she spotted what Giovi had seen -- then her face lit up with a smile.
"Oh, brilliant! Nice one, Giovi." She hurried over to his side and noticed how far up the Silkmoss was. MJ let out a low whistle.
The tree was their best bet for getting close to the Silkmoss and MJ nodded at Giovi's suggestion, "I'm used to climbing trees, I think it's a lot of fun."
Would he think less of her for it? Well, he was free too but he'd have a hard time getting honey or some other ingredients if he wasn't willing to put in the work. MJ stepped to the side to let Giovi climb first. Part of her worried that he didn't have much experience doing this kind of thing.
It wouldn't be nice if she let him get hurt so MJ was quietly determined not to let Giovi do this alone.
She intended to follow after him.
But to offer some encouragement, MJ gave Giovi a bright smile and a pat on the shoulder. "You got this, I believe in you."
As he listened to her he heard about her twin brother - which he couldn't place. MJ had a twin brother? He wondered which house he was in because surely he'd have been around MJ all the time... was it Joe? No their names were different. He frowned.
"I have two elder brothers! Which house is your brother in?" he asked eagerly as he grabbed hold of the branch and wiggled his way up it with only a bit of struggle. He felt the bark against his shirt and cringed. That would stain probably... he'd have to send an apology note with his uniform when it was cleaned.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one used to climbing. I used to swing from the barn all the time... my brothers hated it." he laughed at the thought. Elias always looked like he was about to explode whenever he didn't anything that was possibly dangerous.
Oh well, he hadn't keeled over yet!
He inched his way along the branch, reaching out toward the wall as he moved forward, fingers curling around the soft moss and carefully pulling it toward himself. He was tall so didn't have to go too far out but... he was worried about the landing. If he fell bad things could happen since there was stones down below.
He tucked the silkmoss into his bag (which dangled with gravity) and inched backward, dropping down onto the ground again with a wide eyed look that blossomed into a smile.
"Your turn. Be careful, ok?" He wondered if she'd be ok but he couldn't stop her. No, ladies could be super heroes too.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 6, 2023 5:41:25 GMT 10
"Oh, um, he didn't… Get a letter..." MJ rubbed her arm. It felt a bit awkward talking about Max now -- she shouldn't have brought him up but it would have felt wrong to omit him as well.
He'd have started his second year at the local High school, probably played Football with his mates during lunch and went to Rugby practice in the evenings with their cousin.
MJ smiled at Giovi, glad for the distraction before she got too sad about Max, "Really? That's so cool! You're like a Gladiator or something."
Which was a reference to an old show her Granny used to watch on Saturday evenings. It featured a lot of strong people who'd be challenged by contestants to best each other in events, doing various exercises or just being cool. The aim was to win as many points as possible for the final round.
Her favourites had always been Wolf and Jet.
"Okay, that was awesome. Nice job -- watch this." MJ found it easy to scale up the tree and headed for the same branch. She had the advantage of being able to watch where Giovi had put his own hands and feet and used the same holds.
She scooted along towards the wall, glancing down to make sure Giovi was still watching. She reached the wall after some careful stretching (and was thankful for her summer growth spurt that made her one of the taller girls in their year) and carefully eased the moss free with her right hand.
Once it was extracted, MJ put it into her pocket to begin the climb down.
MJ dropped to the ground and stood up again. She hurried over to her satchel to put the Silkmoss into her potions kit. After doing this, MJ turned her attention to Giovi and helped brush off any stray leaves, tiny twigs or pieces of dirt that might have got on his uniform.
[OOC: words that are bold and italicized are in French.]
Her brother didn't get a letter? Gio frowned a little at that but then... he paused to think about it. Was asking rude? Would she hex him if he did? Did it matter if she hexed him? Curious minds needed to know.
"Is he a muggle?" The question was flat, even and without emotion. It wasn't like Ravenclaws would judge much but there were some Slytherins that would tear him to shreds if they knew he wasn't at least half wizard. And he really didn't want to be a part of that terror.
Not when he was starting to make friends. So, Giovi decided, if her brother was a muggle then he'd share his secret with her in return.
He could trust her with that, right? Of course he could!
Her comment about him being like a gladiator made him laugh a bit. There was nothing really to climbing in and out of a tree, all he really knew was that the more he tried the easier it was. So he brushed off the compliment with a muttered thanks before he turned his eyes to her at her command - watching as she'd told him to do.
Silently, the Slytherin cheered her on as she climbed the tree, reaching the branch and inching along, until she was able to reach out and take hold of the moss in her hands and come back down.
"Very good, MJ! You're amazing!" he clapped for her, before translating the sentence with a flushed tone, letting their hands meet in the offered high-five.
He knew she could do it! MJ was one of the smartest and best girl in all of Hogwarts, after all.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 6, 2023 7:49:36 GMT 10
[OOC: words that are bold and italicized are in French.]
Of course, she hadn't told Giovi about her upbringing and it was wrong of her to have assumed he knew! "Yeah, I'm called a Muggleborn? There isn't anyone else magical in my family, just me."
She didn't know if Giovi would understand how that felt. His family all sounded magical but she had learnt that she wasn't alone at this school. It helped her to feel less left out to know some of her classmates also came from the same background as her.
"Very Good!" She attempted to copy what Giovi had said to her while they high-five'd but her pronunciation was a bit awkward.
MJ hoped he wouldn't be mad at that! She just thought it was so cool to speak another language.
"Are there magical languages?" MJ asked suddenly, thinking about it as she picked up her satchel. There wouldn't be anything else in the Private Courtyard for them to collect.
It was a shame to say goodbye but MJ had other plans. "I want to say thank you again. It was fun spending time together this morning. Where will you go next? Maybe I will run into later?"
And there was the Treasure Dig in the afternoon too. MJ was excited to try that out and hoped Giovi would go too.
[OOC: words that are bold and italicized are in French.]
She was muggleborn? He watched her for a moment, nodding slowly. He struggled to admit it even if he'd said he would, the sting of some of his classmates would be... a lot. He stuffed his hands into his pockets then and leaned closer to her in a conspiratal manner.
"I am too." he whispered, removing his hands from pockets and holding a finger against his lips to signify it was a secret. "I don't share it because some of the people in Slytherin are awful about it but I have older brothers that are fully muggle, too. And a seven year old sister, but I don't know if she's a witch or not. " It was too early to tell. She was only seven, after all.
When she mimicked his words (or tried to) he beamed at her. A step was always a step.
But then she asked if there were magical languages and he gave a pause, thinking. It was something he'd have to look into because he didn't rightfully know. So he shrugged, rather than answering, making it a point to ask the History of Magic professor because... honestly, it could be fun to learn. Although...
"Most spells are spoken in Latin. So I suppose that that would be a magical language if there were any. Like Lumos means light, you know?" Or... so he thought. Maybe that was the only magical language? Then again, did it vary region to region? Because there were some places that wouldn't have known Latin back when magic was wild and something not practiced in schools.
"I suppose I will go see Professor Snape. I have the ingredients he asked for and then some so I think I'd like for him to see what I've accomplished thus far. Maybe speak with him about teaching me some different potions." because Professor Snape was, to Giovi, excellent to spend time with! Giovi really admired him.
"But you don't have to thank me. I enjoy spending time with you. See you this afternoon?' Again, straight and dignified, Giovi was back into that usual air that he carried, pretending he hadn't been climbing trees and talking about his muggle family, pretending he didn't miss them. It was all just a part of the grand scheme of things, after all.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jun 6, 2023 8:41:11 GMT 10
"Oooh! Maybe she will be magic like you and come to Hogwarts as well!" MJ then wondered if Orla cared about her being a Muggleborn. It wasn't something they had talked about explicitly and Orla seemed to have a lot of fun at her house over the summer.
No, Orla was definitely one of the good Slytherins. And so was Giovi, she decided.
What he said about Latin made sense to MJ, "You're so smart. Are you sure the hat didn't want you to join Ravenclaw?"
MJ laughed and thought about her own sorting. She had been given the choice of three houses and went with her gut instinct.
"Good luck with Professor Snape. I think you've done a great job collecting stuff so he shouldn't be too hard on you." MJ thought about what came next and smiled. It would be better for Giovi to find out for himself.
"I'll see you in the afternoon then. We can catch up and talk about what we got up to." MJ promised.
She headed for the exit of the courtyard and made her way to her next destination.
"I hope so... but she's only seven so we'll see with time. Right now... I kind of hope she is." he responded, when mentioning his little sister.
He hoped she would join him so that he wouldn't be alone in the magical world but, at the same time, it might be easier for her to remain in the Muggle word. She wouldn't have to leave all her friends behind.
"The hat wanted me to choose Gryffindor or Slytherin, honestly... It chose for me, I think." he hadn't known then what it meant, but he was content for the most part.
Save for when it came to hiding that part of himself that had made him - his family. They were so important to him and yet... sometimes had to pretend they didn't exist to keep certain people from digging in their sharp words and hurting him with them.
Rude people. People that didn't like muggles.
She wished him good luck when it came to Snape and he gave her a puzzled look. He liked Professor Snape and the man was never overtly rude to him, so... he didn't feel he needed luck but, instead, he said a quick thank you before waving goodbye to MJ as she walked away.
He watched her go for a bit before turning on his heel to make his way to Professor Snape before all the fun started this afternoon.
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