Challenge #40 - Meanwhile in California
Title: Meanwhile in California
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for American teenager speak; Mary-Sue. (Though my dad is not a werewolf in real life. He just rides motorbikes. And I'm not from California.) Mentions of canon characters' deaths via news broadcast. Disdain for the British.
Characters/Pairing: All originals
Summary: American teenage wizards and witches respond to the news the day after Voldemort's downfall.
Word Count: 1046
Purchases: Registered.
Meanwhile in California
Anne swung herself around the door and into the music room, unsurprised to see a group of students skipping their classes as well, huddled in chairs around a television screen. Mrs. Pryor, the band director at Pinesdale School for the Gifted, was often lenient with letting the band students socialize in her classroom. Certain groups of friends and bonds were long-born of this experience. Anne, for her part, skipped Electricity every day. As a non-magic-born student, she didn't need to learn how it worked, and she'd already mastered the specialized charms that allowed, at least, her cell phone, laptop, and T.V. set to work in areas of high magical fields. As such, she had an A+ in the class despite having spent every single class period since the first week in the band room.
The kids clustered around the T.V. were speaking excitedly, joking, and today of all days, of course Mrs. Pryor was being especially lenient. Anne guessed that television sets all over the school were tuned to this, useless as it was. The students spoke right over the American Wizards' Network newscaster, unabashedly flamboyant Vincent Murr. Likely Murr wasn't saying anything much, since all the fuss was going on in England, where they apparently didn't 'believe' in Electricity Charms. There would be no footage to accompany the reports.
"What's up?" Anne asked, pushing her way into the group. She dragged a chair behind her and several classmates made room for it in their circle.
"Apparently Potter arrived last night and defeated Voldemort," Jimmy answered. "About damn time."
"I thought they didn't know where he was?" Anne asked. "Told you he was alive," she snickered.
Steve interrupted to speak about something else, something having to do with his parents and rebuilding their deck, and Anne rolled her eyes. "How can you be talking about your deck right now?"
Steve shrugged. "We might have people over this weekend."
Suddenly, Anne's focus changed entirely. "Awesome, what do you want me to bring?"
"BREAKING NEWS," Murr purred.
"I'll call you tonight," Steve whispered even as Philip hushed him with a wave of a massive swatting hand. Philip was part-giant and you wouldn't want to get caught with that palm across the cheek (though in reality, Philip was sweet and quiet, smart, and the best tuba player among all the teenage wizards in the state of California).
"THIS JUST IN--"
"How cliche is this newscast?" Anne whispered under Phil's arm to Steve. Phil's attention was too arrested by the impending breaking news to even bother to shush her. Steve, too, turned to the news and did not respond.
"IT APPEARS THAT A PROFESSOR AND FORMER HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS SCHOOL FOR WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY, SEVERUS SNAPE, WAS AMONG THE CASUALTIES OF LAST NIGHT'S INCIDENT AT THE SCHOOL. SNAPE IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN A DEATH EATER, BUT ONLY IN THE GUISE OF A DOUBLE AGENT, WORKING FOR THE HONORABLE AND LATE ALBUS DUMBLEDORE."
This time Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"OTHER WELL-KNOWN WIZARDING FIGURES WITHIN THE BRITISH MINISTRY WERE ALSO AMONG THE DEAD AFTER THE DUST SETTLED THIS MORNING. SEVERAL AURORS WERE MORTALLY WOUNDED. THE DEATH TOLL IS STILL RISING."
The teenagers in California had no witty comebacks for that. Steve's dad was an Auror.
"THE HOGSWARTS COMMUNITY ITSELF IS PROBABLY THE MOST GREATLY AFFECTED. STUDENTS AND FACULTY ALIKE WERE INJURED OR LOST THEIR LIVES IN LAST NIGHT'S ATTACK." Murr looked down at a piece of paper and adjusted his red velvet cloak cuffs. "AMONG THE DEAD, CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE IN BRITAIN, THE WEREWOLF REMUS LUPIN, ALSO ONE-TIME DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS PROFESSOR AT HOGWARTS, AND HUSBAND TO AUROR NYMPHADORA TONKS, WHO IS LIKEWISE COUNTED AMONG THE FALLEN. LUPIN AND TONKS ARE SURVIVED BY AN INFANT SON."
Anne sucked in a hard breath as a hush fell over the Pinesdale students. "Shit," Jimmy answered.
"Wasn't that--" Phil started, but then seemed to sense he ought to stop.
"What is wrong with the British Ministry?" Anne continued, already set on too much of a roll by Phil's aborted sentence.
"Way to go, dude," Jimmy hissed.
"I know," Phil answered, though not to Jimmy, but to Anne. "I don't know why they feel the way they do. It sucks all-around--"
"And then our lame government," Anne on a tear could hardly be reasoned with or spoken to, "won't even let in any more werewolf immigrants."
"The numbers have gotten too high," Jimmy interjected. "We can't have the whole country overrun by werewolves."
"It's a human rights issue," Anne barked at him as though he'd personally insulted her father, who they all knew to be a werewolf, though luckily an American werewolf and of Native heritage. He was thus respected and not cast out of society like the werewolves often were in Europe. "These people," Anne's voice broke, "they are dying. They would do anything to come someplace where they can just-- just live. For them, even abject poverty, even being confined to Reservations, is so much better. Can't you see? We're fighting for our economic welfare and they're asking for their lives. Did you know it's not even legal for a werewolf to have a baby in England? I don't know how that professor got away with it, but it's not."
"I didn't know that," Jimmy whispered.
"Well... it's not." Anne was starting to feel mildly embarrassed at her outburst, and was just about to excuse herself, fake a test to study for or something, when she was saved once again by the television. Even though every wizarding channel was covered with news of the defeat of Voldemort at the hands of a young wizard, the AWN had momentarily turned to sports and was flashing highlights from the local colleges' quodpot games. Phil gave a couple hollers of glee, as did several of the other boys in the band room that Anne didn't know, as the score showed USC defeating Marshings by a wide margin. She smiled herself. Marshings didn't admit non-wizards or non-magic-born students, and their very stuck-up students often went around proclaiming how much smarter and stronger they were than those from non-magic-born institutions. It was always a thrill to see them brought low.
Just as Murr came back on the air with another sad report of the wounded or dead, the bell rang and Anne grabbed her bag. She was headed off to history, one of her favorite classes, and she didn't want to be late.
Jess//Gryffindor
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for American teenager speak; Mary-Sue. (Though my dad is not a werewolf in real life. He just rides motorbikes. And I'm not from California.) Mentions of canon characters' deaths via news broadcast. Disdain for the British.
Characters/Pairing: All originals
Summary: American teenage wizards and witches respond to the news the day after Voldemort's downfall.
Word Count: 1046
Purchases: Registered.
Meanwhile in California
Anne swung herself around the door and into the music room, unsurprised to see a group of students skipping their classes as well, huddled in chairs around a television screen. Mrs. Pryor, the band director at Pinesdale School for the Gifted, was often lenient with letting the band students socialize in her classroom. Certain groups of friends and bonds were long-born of this experience. Anne, for her part, skipped Electricity every day. As a non-magic-born student, she didn't need to learn how it worked, and she'd already mastered the specialized charms that allowed, at least, her cell phone, laptop, and T.V. set to work in areas of high magical fields. As such, she had an A+ in the class despite having spent every single class period since the first week in the band room.
The kids clustered around the T.V. were speaking excitedly, joking, and today of all days, of course Mrs. Pryor was being especially lenient. Anne guessed that television sets all over the school were tuned to this, useless as it was. The students spoke right over the American Wizards' Network newscaster, unabashedly flamboyant Vincent Murr. Likely Murr wasn't saying anything much, since all the fuss was going on in England, where they apparently didn't 'believe' in Electricity Charms. There would be no footage to accompany the reports.
"What's up?" Anne asked, pushing her way into the group. She dragged a chair behind her and several classmates made room for it in their circle.
"Apparently Potter arrived last night and defeated Voldemort," Jimmy answered. "About damn time."
"I thought they didn't know where he was?" Anne asked. "Told you he was alive," she snickered.
Steve interrupted to speak about something else, something having to do with his parents and rebuilding their deck, and Anne rolled her eyes. "How can you be talking about your deck right now?"
Steve shrugged. "We might have people over this weekend."
Suddenly, Anne's focus changed entirely. "Awesome, what do you want me to bring?"
"BREAKING NEWS," Murr purred.
"I'll call you tonight," Steve whispered even as Philip hushed him with a wave of a massive swatting hand. Philip was part-giant and you wouldn't want to get caught with that palm across the cheek (though in reality, Philip was sweet and quiet, smart, and the best tuba player among all the teenage wizards in the state of California).
"THIS JUST IN--"
"How cliche is this newscast?" Anne whispered under Phil's arm to Steve. Phil's attention was too arrested by the impending breaking news to even bother to shush her. Steve, too, turned to the news and did not respond.
"IT APPEARS THAT A PROFESSOR AND FORMER HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS SCHOOL FOR WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY, SEVERUS SNAPE, WAS AMONG THE CASUALTIES OF LAST NIGHT'S INCIDENT AT THE SCHOOL. SNAPE IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN A DEATH EATER, BUT ONLY IN THE GUISE OF A DOUBLE AGENT, WORKING FOR THE HONORABLE AND LATE ALBUS DUMBLEDORE."
This time Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"OTHER WELL-KNOWN WIZARDING FIGURES WITHIN THE BRITISH MINISTRY WERE ALSO AMONG THE DEAD AFTER THE DUST SETTLED THIS MORNING. SEVERAL AURORS WERE MORTALLY WOUNDED. THE DEATH TOLL IS STILL RISING."
The teenagers in California had no witty comebacks for that. Steve's dad was an Auror.
"THE HOGSWARTS COMMUNITY ITSELF IS PROBABLY THE MOST GREATLY AFFECTED. STUDENTS AND FACULTY ALIKE WERE INJURED OR LOST THEIR LIVES IN LAST NIGHT'S ATTACK." Murr looked down at a piece of paper and adjusted his red velvet cloak cuffs. "AMONG THE DEAD, CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE IN BRITAIN, THE WEREWOLF REMUS LUPIN, ALSO ONE-TIME DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS PROFESSOR AT HOGWARTS, AND HUSBAND TO AUROR NYMPHADORA TONKS, WHO IS LIKEWISE COUNTED AMONG THE FALLEN. LUPIN AND TONKS ARE SURVIVED BY AN INFANT SON."
Anne sucked in a hard breath as a hush fell over the Pinesdale students. "Shit," Jimmy answered.
"Wasn't that--" Phil started, but then seemed to sense he ought to stop.
"What is wrong with the British Ministry?" Anne continued, already set on too much of a roll by Phil's aborted sentence.
"Way to go, dude," Jimmy hissed.
"I know," Phil answered, though not to Jimmy, but to Anne. "I don't know why they feel the way they do. It sucks all-around--"
"And then our lame government," Anne on a tear could hardly be reasoned with or spoken to, "won't even let in any more werewolf immigrants."
"The numbers have gotten too high," Jimmy interjected. "We can't have the whole country overrun by werewolves."
"It's a human rights issue," Anne barked at him as though he'd personally insulted her father, who they all knew to be a werewolf, though luckily an American werewolf and of Native heritage. He was thus respected and not cast out of society like the werewolves often were in Europe. "These people," Anne's voice broke, "they are dying. They would do anything to come someplace where they can just-- just live. For them, even abject poverty, even being confined to Reservations, is so much better. Can't you see? We're fighting for our economic welfare and they're asking for their lives. Did you know it's not even legal for a werewolf to have a baby in England? I don't know how that professor got away with it, but it's not."
"I didn't know that," Jimmy whispered.
"Well... it's not." Anne was starting to feel mildly embarrassed at her outburst, and was just about to excuse herself, fake a test to study for or something, when she was saved once again by the television. Even though every wizarding channel was covered with news of the defeat of Voldemort at the hands of a young wizard, the AWN had momentarily turned to sports and was flashing highlights from the local colleges' quodpot games. Phil gave a couple hollers of glee, as did several of the other boys in the band room that Anne didn't know, as the score showed USC defeating Marshings by a wide margin. She smiled herself. Marshings didn't admit non-wizards or non-magic-born students, and their very stuck-up students often went around proclaiming how much smarter and stronger they were than those from non-magic-born institutions. It was always a thrill to see them brought low.
Just as Murr came back on the air with another sad report of the wounded or dead, the bell rang and Anne grabbed her bag. She was headed off to history, one of her favorite classes, and she didn't want to be late.
Jess//Gryffindor