IM RP: Tuesday, September 6, Great Hall, Breakfast, Ravenclaw Table
[The setup: Galatea has sat down across from Holly at the Ravenclaw table. She has been working up the courage all morning to talk to her; she noticed Holly crying the first night of term, and has watched her since then. She has found her to be the shyest and least scary of the other first years by far. Original text edited to make it less IM-y and for typos/spelling.]
Galatea : Hi, I'm Galatea. Are you all right?
Holly : *looks at her oats* yes. I'm fine. um ... are you ok? I mean, how are you?
Galatea : fine.
Holly : *has a ah ... what do I say now? expression on her face* cool. *nods* cool.
Galatea : so... you have a muggle book. Me too. I do too.
Holly : I saw. I'm a.. I mean, my parents were... muggles, anyway. Sort of.
Galatea : My dad is a muggle.
Holly : It's good. It's sad.
Galatea : I'm sorry.
Holly : You're sorry?
Galatea : About it being sad. You mean the book. I thought you meant your parents.
Holly : Oh. That's sad too, but ... I did mean the book. I mean, thatnk you. For being sorry. *looks like she would like to sink through the floor for being so damn awkward*
Galatea : What is the book about?
Holly : Um... this boy ... he's really good friends with a girl, Leslie, and they have this hideaway. They call it Terabithia. It's in the woods. I don't want to spoil it. I mean, you can read it. If you want. I have other books at home.
Galatea : My dad owns a bookshop in Kent.
Holly : Really? Muggle books?
Galatea : Yes.
Holly : You're lucky. Is he nice?
Galatea : Yes. He's very nice.
Holly : *feels like she asked something awkward* that's ...good. Does he send you books often?
Galatea : Yes, if I ask. And sometimes when I don't ask.
Holly : *laughs* What books do you like?
Galatea : *does not act as if that was an awkward question back there* I like most books, actually. My favourite is the one I have with me, the mythology book.
Holly : I like Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden.
Galatea : I like those too. I like fairytales.
Holly : I haven't read any fairy tales since I was little.
Galatea : You should. I'll get a book of them and you can borrow it. I like older stories better.
Holly: I'd love to. I didn't bring many books because I was afraid people would think i was... too muggly.
Galatea: I don't care what people think.
Holly: And Anne of Green Gables is old!
Galatea : I mean really old. My dad specializes in ancient books. That's how he and my mum met.
Holly: What does your mom do?
Galatea: My mum works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office.
Holly : *looks like she has no idea what that means* oh.
Galatea : She met my dad because she was trying to protect muggles.
Holly : from what?
Galatea : A dark wizard had enchanted a copy of... Of Ovid's Metamorphoses. So that bad things would happen to people who read it. Then they sent it to a muggle bookshop. And my mum had to go out and find it, so she tried specialty shops first and that's how she met my dad.
Holly : Wow. How did she ... I mean ... Did she have to leave the "wizarding world" to marry him?
Galatea : No.
Holly : When my mother married my father, she and my grandmother were all like they were never speaking again. But my mother wasn't a witch anyway.
Galatea : Oh, no, it wasn't like that.
Holly : I thought wizards didn't like muggles?
Galatea : Some wizards don't like muggles. Some do. My parents told me mostly bad wizards don't like muggles. But if your mother wasn't a witch then why did it matter?
Holly : *wrinkles her nose.* Maybe. But my grandmother doesn't like muggles and she's not *bad*...
Galatea : I think some of the things my parents told me were wrong. Like, they have nothing nice to say about Slytherins but a fifth year Slytherin was really nice to me.
Holly : Slytherin is the green house, right?
Galatea : Yes. I heard *she whispers in a low voice* that all of the dark wizards have come from there.
Holly :Like Volderwhathaveyou? I am doing so badly in Histoy of Magic. They're likely to kick me out even if I was magical.
Galatea: Yes, him. Don't say his name. People here are very scared of it.
Holly : Really? I always thought it was just because he killed my uncle that my Grandmother freaked out about it. I mean, I know the war was bad and all, but that's about it. The subject was sort of off limits.
Galatea : No, people are very afraid of him.
Holly : Isn't he dead?
Galatea : I think so. But people are afraid of him anyway.
Holly : Good to know. The wizard world (do you ever feel dumb saying that?) they aren't at war now are they?
Galatea : No, they aren't. I'm used to calling it the wizarding world. Since my parents live kind of half in each world they talk about both of them that way all the time.
Holly : My parents never talked about it at all. I didn't even know 'til they ... um. died. but anyway.
Galatea : I'm sorry. *looks away. Because she doesn't know what to say to people who haven't had family around forever like she has.*
Holly : It's ok. I live with my Grandmother now. I mean, except that I live here. I mean, you know what I mean.
Galatea : Yes.
Holly : *rolls eyes at self*
Galatea : I saw you have a doll. I don't have any. My dad's mum gave me one once and I never played with it.
Holly : Oh that. Grandmother gave her to me. I don't really play with dolls anymore. But I'd feel bad for her if I just left her at home. She can't help being a doll.
Galatea : That's true. *pauses. awkward...*
Holly : *realizes she's said something odd. to seem more normal...* I mostly read and play in the garden.
Galatea : We have a garden. It's little.
Holly : Grandmother's garden is huge. There's a fountain, but it's never on, and statues and bushes cut to look like animals.
Galatea : Why isn't the fountain on?
Holly : *shrugs* Grandmother doesn't really care about it much anymore, and it would just be a pain for the houseelves. *shudder*
Galatea : You have house elves?
Holly : Ugh. Yes. You don't?
Galatea : No. We don't really... well, there are a few reasons.
Holly : Like they're scary?
Galatea : I think my parents believe it's wrong. I agree with them. And also I think you have to have money or status or something, and we don't. People aren't mean to my mum because she married a muggle, but they always talk to her as if she were a little crazy.
Holly : I never thought about it. I thought it was just another exciting detail of wizarding life. Maybe that's why they're so miserable all the time though.
Galatea : Yeah. They don't get much thanks for the work they do.
Holly : I could never figure out why anyone would want them around. Grandmother says if I work very hard, I too can get a job doing elf-like work. exciting.
Galatea : That's not very encouraging. I don't think many people who go to Hogwarts end up doing that kind of work.
Holly : She doesn't know any muggles, so it's hard for her to imagine anything else. My mom went to Hogwarts and she became a doctor.
Galatea : That's a pretty important job.
Holly : Yeah. She was pediatrician. That's how she and my dad met. He ... do you have TV?
Galatea : At home, yes. We don't have a licence, though. We just have the television.
Holly : He had a TV show. For kids. A license? Do you mean cable?
Galatea : In England you have to pay a licence fee to get the BBC, which is 10 channels; then extra for cable which is called SKY. [OOC Note: Holly lived in America until she moved in with her grandmother. We'll assume Galatea could figure this out because Holly has an American accent.]
Holly : cool.
Galatea : We can watch videos. But not programmes.
...here we can assume that Galatea and Holly continue eating and chatting all the way to Transfiguration class, where if they do talk, they no doubt get in big trouble with Professor Montgomary.