DE brat bonding - complete RPG log
Who: Scorpius Malfoy and Christopher Yaxley
Where: Random hallway around the school
When: Saturday evening
What: Scorpius and Christopher discuss the Daily Prophet article.
Status: Complete
Rating: PG
With his surname Scorpius normally felt somewhat isolated from his classmates, but these last few days especially so. The news of the abolishment of the Statute of Secrecy had thrown the proverbial Kneazle in amongst the pigeons, and while he had read the article over carefully several times and formed his own thoughts on them, he wasn't likely to vocalise them to extent that Izzy Finnigan and Edward Finch-Fletchley had. The idea of doing away with the protection of that law filled him with a vague sense of unease, but he was aware enough of his position to know that expressing as such would be a kin to wearing a t-shirt that said, "Hello, I am a Death Eater." So other than a few somewhat neutral and non-commital responses, he had kept his misgivings to himself.
There wasn't a lot of time for Christopher to think about the article himself -- he had been kept busy by schoolwork for the last couple of days, and what other people had written about the issue had not surprised him. He had decided to take a walk down the corridors, aiming for nowhere in particular -- it was just that he needed a breathing space outside of the Slytherin common room. He looked up in time to see one of his younger Housemates, and gave him a small nod. Christopher had no problem with Scorpius; his attitude was tolerable, at least, and he did not sprout nonsense like other people seemed to enjoy doing. "`Evening," he said as a greeting.
"Evening," Scorpius responded cordially, adding with a slight smirk, "Fancy seeing you out here." The remark was an allusion to how someone had obviously similar wishes to escape the dungeons for the evening. While he knew that with Christopher being the son of a Death Eater and with his father wanting to distance himself from that sort of thing as much as possible, he was aware that he shouldn't encourage the seventh year's companionship too much. However as Christopher was not only one of the few housemates that he could tolerate, let alone someone that he was actually possibly interested in getting to know better, he couldn't quite bring himself not to be cordial to the new Head Boy. Plus in spite of his lineage he had been selected for the role, and surely that was prestigious enough?
"I couldn't resist," he responded dryly. "Some of the Fifth Years were arguing about how Muggles should not be allowed to know about our valuable identities, and there are some Fourth Years who disagree with that. I wasn't in the mood to listen to the same points all over again." He was sure that they were still going on with their debate. "It's quite interesting, though, the reactions coming from the article," Christopher commented carefully, vaguely wondering what Scorpius would think about it -- for, in a way, they were in the same situation; their fathers were both Death Eaters. The difference was that Scorpius' father wasn't in Azkaban. This fact did not make Christopher resent the younger boy; he knew that situations in the past had been more complicated.
"Well, if you miss an attempt of Flowers' to beat Finch-Fletchley to a pulp tonight, I'm sure they'll repeat the show tomorrow, or the night after," Scorpius said blithely. While not particularly drawn to violence of any form, it seemed barbaric and vulgar to him to actually use your fist against someone when there was the option of hexing them instead. He couldn't quite explain why he felt this way, just that it didn't make much sense to do so as a wizard when there were other options available to you. "And yes, the article has certainly brought up a lot of different opinions on the subject." He glanced around to make sure that they were out of earshot of any passerby before adding, "Personally, I think that the people who are rushing to support it aren't thinking through the consequences properly. But saying so would be rather daft." Christopher's own father being a Death Eater, he felt that even if the older boy didn't agree with Scorpius's point of view, he would at least understand why it was one he could never discuss it in public.
Quite honestly, Christopher would rather miss whatever it was Edward and Nicholas wanted to do. There were a number of better, productive things to do than to be a witness to one of their antics. Eyebrows raised, he nodded in understanding at Scorpius' sentiments over the article. He doubted that anyone would be particularly interested in what they had to say anyway, considering their family members' side during the war. "Finch-Fletchley had a valid point regarding Muggle medicinal treatment, but the rest is too idealistic," he said. "There's a reason why so much effort has been done to keep the existence of wizards a secret."
Scorpius listened, weighing up Christopher's ideas as he spoke. "Yes, it does have good intentions, but it doesn't seem like people are thinking too much of the reality," he said eventually. "I can understand why Finch-Fletchley feels the way he does, but the Ministry should look at what might actually happen if they did away with the Statute completely, and by that I mean worse-case scenario. Muggles are used to being the most powerful thing on the planet. How are they going to react when they find out there's something out there more powerful than they are, and able to do things that they don't understand?"
"They will not give off a good reaction, that is for certain," he said without much hesitation. "They'll want to find out more, and they won't accept the fact that they are not able to obtain magical powers. It's possible that they'll even try to find ways to be a wizard. It will be bad for us." Before he could say anything else, a few Hufflepuffs passed by, and he waited until they were out of earshot before he continued talking. "The less they know, the better."
"Yes, Muggles don't have a history of being generous to things different to them," Scorpius agreed, waiting until the Hufflepuffs were around the corner before continuing. It was even possible they could view wizards as a completely different species in the same way that some of his ancestors had thought that they were a new, more evolved entity rather than simply humans who could do magic. "Just look at how they even treat their own kind for being different. There was slavery less than two centuries ago, and look at what they did to that one group during one of their wars. Imagine what they would think if suddenly they found out we existed. And what Finnigan from Gryffindor was saying elsewhere actually made sense." For once was the unspoken tag to that statement. "Humans are suspicious of things that they don't understand, and I can't see them suddenly becoming overjoyed when they realise there's a bunch of us who are capable of reducing their...their cars to rubble with nothing more than a glorified stick." He paused, realising the extent of just how much this had been worrying him. "They would likely want to keep an eye on us at any rate. We could be forced to register in the same way Muggleborns were during the war." A dry smile crossed his lips. "I admit I can appreciate the irony in that."
Muggle-born registration. His father was involved in that. Christopher chuckled in half-amusement. "That is a possibility," he said. "I don't think that the Ministry will get rid of the Statute of Secrecy right now, though. Thinking about it realistically, even if they do want to do something about it, a lot of planning has to be done, a lot of considerations, too -- and it will take a long time." Christopher folded his arms. "Getting rid of it will not make the Muggles any safer too. There's that issue of Muggles being allowed to see magical creatures."
"That doesn't seem particularly safe." Scorpius frowned. "I suppose if they had some of their...guns with them as they approached, but can't those things just kill, or wound if they're aimed for a part of the body that isn't fatal? It seems a bit drastic, don't you think? A wizard could just Stun a charging animal and no harm done." In spite of being the only two in the hall, both boys had been talking softly, wary of being overheard. Scorpius fired an anti-eavesdropping hex into a nearby stairwell, just in case, before he continued. "Plus - and I don't actually hate Muggles - but I really don't see how we could benefit from it. In theory we should be able to do anything they do if we knew enough about how they function without magic - and I do admit that their coping strategies are very clever and effective - while they can't do half of what we can. Imagining having to wait up to three months for broken bones to heal, when we have charms to fix things like that. It seems like if it does happen, all the gain is on their side. At best they get us to do things for them, like heal some of their terminal diseases, and all sorts of stuff. At worst they become fearful and try to exterminate us. As I said, given all that could go wrong other people are taking this far too lightly."
Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, he waited until the hall's new occupant, a sixth year Ravenclaw he knew from class and gave a brief nod to as she passed, disappeared around the corner before continuing. "Of course, it's not like either of us could say this publicly. Look at how Flowers, and Finch-Fletchley as much as Finch-Fletchely does, leapt on Finnigan earlier, and she's not only a halfblood who has two former Dumbledore's Army members as parents, but her mother is a werewolf so it's not like she's reaping the full benefits of being a witch. And she wasn't even saying that the law shouldn't be done away with, just that it should happen slowly and she was worried about what could go wrong." It was odd that he was agreeing with the flighty blonde Gryffindor girl, and somehow made his unease all the more real to be sharing his opinions with someone so different to himself. "If I said so, I doubt I'd exactly be receiving love letters with the breakfast post."
"All of this seems to stem from wizards who feel bad and think they should make themselves look better by intending to help Muggles, but dragging along other people in the problem," Christopher rolled his eyes at how ridiculous it was. The other boy had good points, though -- they weren't exactly going to get any benefit from helping Muggles. It was a charity case. He smirked a little at the mention of the Finnigan girl, remembering the incident about the Hair Potion. "Considering that it was her of all people saying those things, other people should perhaps think about her points." He lifted his shoulder, shrugging. "Plenty of things happened during the war; it's no surprise that they won't receive our opinions in the most welcomed way, no matter how much sense we make."
"Yes, and if she wasn't listened to, we certainly won't be. Not that I lack enough sense to try, of course," Scorpius added with some disdain. "A lot of what happened during the war was unfortunate and Muggle baiting is for pathetic people who like to pick on the defenseless, but there's no reason we should feel bad about any of it. Plus Muggles have coped by themselves for centuries. I don't see why we should suddenly have to swoop in and fix all their problems as if they're things Muggles aren't capable of solving for themselves."
"Agreed," Christopher responded firmly. "These people should learn something from history. It is necessary to keep the Statute of Secrecy. If they desperately wish to help Muggles, then they can do so without letting themselves be found out. There are ways to do that, I'm sure." His eyebrows furrowed. "The idea of getting rid of Obliviators is ridiculous, too, especially when Obliviators are specially trained to cast the Memory charm without completely erasing a person's memory." Looking around once more so that no one was around, he resumed, "and while there are certain cases where the charm goes awry, that kind of thing is usually very rare."
"Quite. All this high-mindedness about how Muggles have the right to know about us if we know about them is well and good in theory, but they're ignoring what could go wrong if that happened." Scorpius frowned thoughtfully. "Plus wizards who really feel like doing so could probably help them more effectively if they didn't know about us and didn't have to go through all the Muggle red tape and being questioned about what they were doing and having to explain themselves every step of the way. Honestly, the people who want to do away with the Statute of Secrecy and Obliviators are assuming that everyone involved has the best possible intentions, and with big decisions you just can't afford to do that. It opens the way for cruelty from both sides, and face it, neither wizards nor Muggles have the best record in terms of respecting others' rights. Look at slavery, colonisation and those two wars they had, and we've not exactly been kind to other magical beings either."
While not as callous as his father had been at his age, Scorpius had inherited much of his cynicism, plus a fair dollup of self-preservation. He paused, checking that the anti-eavesdropping hex was still working. "And as I said, there's no need for either of us to feel guilty about anything. We weren't even around when the last war happened, and Father didn't know what he was getting into and once he did, he only carried on to stay alive and protect his family. We don't owe anyone anything. And people who think that we do are being as judgemental as they might accuse us of being and besides, if you have that attitude, then you're trapped in the past and you can never progress."
He smiled a little. Scorpius was rather idealistic himself, though his words regarding progression from the past made sense. "It's quite easy to say those things, but to have other people realise you're right is another difficult matter," he said. Christopher wasn't going to comment too much on the topic; Scorpius had summed it all for him, and he preferred listening to what people had to say about the issue than give them his specific stance on it. "Your point of view was interesting to listen to." For some reason, he had a feeling that Scorpius had wanted to tell someone about it, but probably didn't have the right outlet to do so.
Sensing the conversation was drawing to a natural conclusion, Scorpius thanked him and decided to change the subject. "Hookum's been a bit creative with the partners this year, hasn't she?" he asked. "Who did you get?" Creative was a tactful word choice for it. Privately he had half-wondered if the Muggle Studies professor was hoping that some of her more volatile students would kill each other off.
That was one way to put it. In Christopher's opinion, the professor was being ridiculous and unfair. However, he knew better than to insult a professor, considering his status in the school. "She hasn't lost her touch at all," he commented, rolling his eyes in slight contempt. "My partner is James Potter -- who doesn't seem to like the idea of us being partners. Well, neither do I, but it's bearable, so far." He didn't particularly care what Harry Potter's son thought of him -- the most important thing was that he passed that class.
"I don't think there's many outside of Gryffindor who haven't been annoyed by James Potter at some point," Scorpius said equably. "His younger brother seems marginally better." Around someone else he wouldn't have dared expressed disapproval of the Potter boys - even though in his defense his dislike of James was down to his personality rather than who his father was, he thought - but with Christopher he felt comfortable saying such things. "Mine is Penny Pickle. I don't really know her very well, which is probably a good sign. Plus as she's a prefect I assume she's reasonably hard-working and responsible."
Christopher smirked. "True; it's much easier when you don't know someone when working on class work. At least they won't put too much expectations on you, or think that you won't do any work at all," he agreed, before glancing down at his watch. As much as he liked the conversation he was having, he had to meet Professor Quince to talk about students throwing some dangerous Potions substances in the loos. "I have to go," he said. "Good luck with Muggle Studies?" he offered, eyebrows raised slightly.
"Same to you," Scorpius replied. "And good evening." Smiling a goodbye at his housemate, he continued off down the hall, feeling slightly more clear-headed and oddly grateful, though he couldn't quite say why.
Where: Random hallway around the school
When: Saturday evening
What: Scorpius and Christopher discuss the Daily Prophet article.
Status: Complete
Rating: PG
With his surname Scorpius normally felt somewhat isolated from his classmates, but these last few days especially so. The news of the abolishment of the Statute of Secrecy had thrown the proverbial Kneazle in amongst the pigeons, and while he had read the article over carefully several times and formed his own thoughts on them, he wasn't likely to vocalise them to extent that Izzy Finnigan and Edward Finch-Fletchley had. The idea of doing away with the protection of that law filled him with a vague sense of unease, but he was aware enough of his position to know that expressing as such would be a kin to wearing a t-shirt that said, "Hello, I am a Death Eater." So other than a few somewhat neutral and non-commital responses, he had kept his misgivings to himself.
There wasn't a lot of time for Christopher to think about the article himself -- he had been kept busy by schoolwork for the last couple of days, and what other people had written about the issue had not surprised him. He had decided to take a walk down the corridors, aiming for nowhere in particular -- it was just that he needed a breathing space outside of the Slytherin common room. He looked up in time to see one of his younger Housemates, and gave him a small nod. Christopher had no problem with Scorpius; his attitude was tolerable, at least, and he did not sprout nonsense like other people seemed to enjoy doing. "`Evening," he said as a greeting.
"Evening," Scorpius responded cordially, adding with a slight smirk, "Fancy seeing you out here." The remark was an allusion to how someone had obviously similar wishes to escape the dungeons for the evening. While he knew that with Christopher being the son of a Death Eater and with his father wanting to distance himself from that sort of thing as much as possible, he was aware that he shouldn't encourage the seventh year's companionship too much. However as Christopher was not only one of the few housemates that he could tolerate, let alone someone that he was actually possibly interested in getting to know better, he couldn't quite bring himself not to be cordial to the new Head Boy. Plus in spite of his lineage he had been selected for the role, and surely that was prestigious enough?
"I couldn't resist," he responded dryly. "Some of the Fifth Years were arguing about how Muggles should not be allowed to know about our valuable identities, and there are some Fourth Years who disagree with that. I wasn't in the mood to listen to the same points all over again." He was sure that they were still going on with their debate. "It's quite interesting, though, the reactions coming from the article," Christopher commented carefully, vaguely wondering what Scorpius would think about it -- for, in a way, they were in the same situation; their fathers were both Death Eaters. The difference was that Scorpius' father wasn't in Azkaban. This fact did not make Christopher resent the younger boy; he knew that situations in the past had been more complicated.
"Well, if you miss an attempt of Flowers' to beat Finch-Fletchley to a pulp tonight, I'm sure they'll repeat the show tomorrow, or the night after," Scorpius said blithely. While not particularly drawn to violence of any form, it seemed barbaric and vulgar to him to actually use your fist against someone when there was the option of hexing them instead. He couldn't quite explain why he felt this way, just that it didn't make much sense to do so as a wizard when there were other options available to you. "And yes, the article has certainly brought up a lot of different opinions on the subject." He glanced around to make sure that they were out of earshot of any passerby before adding, "Personally, I think that the people who are rushing to support it aren't thinking through the consequences properly. But saying so would be rather daft." Christopher's own father being a Death Eater, he felt that even if the older boy didn't agree with Scorpius's point of view, he would at least understand why it was one he could never discuss it in public.
Quite honestly, Christopher would rather miss whatever it was Edward and Nicholas wanted to do. There were a number of better, productive things to do than to be a witness to one of their antics. Eyebrows raised, he nodded in understanding at Scorpius' sentiments over the article. He doubted that anyone would be particularly interested in what they had to say anyway, considering their family members' side during the war. "Finch-Fletchley had a valid point regarding Muggle medicinal treatment, but the rest is too idealistic," he said. "There's a reason why so much effort has been done to keep the existence of wizards a secret."
Scorpius listened, weighing up Christopher's ideas as he spoke. "Yes, it does have good intentions, but it doesn't seem like people are thinking too much of the reality," he said eventually. "I can understand why Finch-Fletchley feels the way he does, but the Ministry should look at what might actually happen if they did away with the Statute completely, and by that I mean worse-case scenario. Muggles are used to being the most powerful thing on the planet. How are they going to react when they find out there's something out there more powerful than they are, and able to do things that they don't understand?"
"They will not give off a good reaction, that is for certain," he said without much hesitation. "They'll want to find out more, and they won't accept the fact that they are not able to obtain magical powers. It's possible that they'll even try to find ways to be a wizard. It will be bad for us." Before he could say anything else, a few Hufflepuffs passed by, and he waited until they were out of earshot before he continued talking. "The less they know, the better."
"Yes, Muggles don't have a history of being generous to things different to them," Scorpius agreed, waiting until the Hufflepuffs were around the corner before continuing. It was even possible they could view wizards as a completely different species in the same way that some of his ancestors had thought that they were a new, more evolved entity rather than simply humans who could do magic. "Just look at how they even treat their own kind for being different. There was slavery less than two centuries ago, and look at what they did to that one group during one of their wars. Imagine what they would think if suddenly they found out we existed. And what Finnigan from Gryffindor was saying elsewhere actually made sense." For once was the unspoken tag to that statement. "Humans are suspicious of things that they don't understand, and I can't see them suddenly becoming overjoyed when they realise there's a bunch of us who are capable of reducing their...their cars to rubble with nothing more than a glorified stick." He paused, realising the extent of just how much this had been worrying him. "They would likely want to keep an eye on us at any rate. We could be forced to register in the same way Muggleborns were during the war." A dry smile crossed his lips. "I admit I can appreciate the irony in that."
Muggle-born registration. His father was involved in that. Christopher chuckled in half-amusement. "That is a possibility," he said. "I don't think that the Ministry will get rid of the Statute of Secrecy right now, though. Thinking about it realistically, even if they do want to do something about it, a lot of planning has to be done, a lot of considerations, too -- and it will take a long time." Christopher folded his arms. "Getting rid of it will not make the Muggles any safer too. There's that issue of Muggles being allowed to see magical creatures."
"That doesn't seem particularly safe." Scorpius frowned. "I suppose if they had some of their...guns with them as they approached, but can't those things just kill, or wound if they're aimed for a part of the body that isn't fatal? It seems a bit drastic, don't you think? A wizard could just Stun a charging animal and no harm done." In spite of being the only two in the hall, both boys had been talking softly, wary of being overheard. Scorpius fired an anti-eavesdropping hex into a nearby stairwell, just in case, before he continued. "Plus - and I don't actually hate Muggles - but I really don't see how we could benefit from it. In theory we should be able to do anything they do if we knew enough about how they function without magic - and I do admit that their coping strategies are very clever and effective - while they can't do half of what we can. Imagining having to wait up to three months for broken bones to heal, when we have charms to fix things like that. It seems like if it does happen, all the gain is on their side. At best they get us to do things for them, like heal some of their terminal diseases, and all sorts of stuff. At worst they become fearful and try to exterminate us. As I said, given all that could go wrong other people are taking this far too lightly."
Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, he waited until the hall's new occupant, a sixth year Ravenclaw he knew from class and gave a brief nod to as she passed, disappeared around the corner before continuing. "Of course, it's not like either of us could say this publicly. Look at how Flowers, and Finch-Fletchley as much as Finch-Fletchely does, leapt on Finnigan earlier, and she's not only a halfblood who has two former Dumbledore's Army members as parents, but her mother is a werewolf so it's not like she's reaping the full benefits of being a witch. And she wasn't even saying that the law shouldn't be done away with, just that it should happen slowly and she was worried about what could go wrong." It was odd that he was agreeing with the flighty blonde Gryffindor girl, and somehow made his unease all the more real to be sharing his opinions with someone so different to himself. "If I said so, I doubt I'd exactly be receiving love letters with the breakfast post."
"All of this seems to stem from wizards who feel bad and think they should make themselves look better by intending to help Muggles, but dragging along other people in the problem," Christopher rolled his eyes at how ridiculous it was. The other boy had good points, though -- they weren't exactly going to get any benefit from helping Muggles. It was a charity case. He smirked a little at the mention of the Finnigan girl, remembering the incident about the Hair Potion. "Considering that it was her of all people saying those things, other people should perhaps think about her points." He lifted his shoulder, shrugging. "Plenty of things happened during the war; it's no surprise that they won't receive our opinions in the most welcomed way, no matter how much sense we make."
"Yes, and if she wasn't listened to, we certainly won't be. Not that I lack enough sense to try, of course," Scorpius added with some disdain. "A lot of what happened during the war was unfortunate and Muggle baiting is for pathetic people who like to pick on the defenseless, but there's no reason we should feel bad about any of it. Plus Muggles have coped by themselves for centuries. I don't see why we should suddenly have to swoop in and fix all their problems as if they're things Muggles aren't capable of solving for themselves."
"Agreed," Christopher responded firmly. "These people should learn something from history. It is necessary to keep the Statute of Secrecy. If they desperately wish to help Muggles, then they can do so without letting themselves be found out. There are ways to do that, I'm sure." His eyebrows furrowed. "The idea of getting rid of Obliviators is ridiculous, too, especially when Obliviators are specially trained to cast the Memory charm without completely erasing a person's memory." Looking around once more so that no one was around, he resumed, "and while there are certain cases where the charm goes awry, that kind of thing is usually very rare."
"Quite. All this high-mindedness about how Muggles have the right to know about us if we know about them is well and good in theory, but they're ignoring what could go wrong if that happened." Scorpius frowned thoughtfully. "Plus wizards who really feel like doing so could probably help them more effectively if they didn't know about us and didn't have to go through all the Muggle red tape and being questioned about what they were doing and having to explain themselves every step of the way. Honestly, the people who want to do away with the Statute of Secrecy and Obliviators are assuming that everyone involved has the best possible intentions, and with big decisions you just can't afford to do that. It opens the way for cruelty from both sides, and face it, neither wizards nor Muggles have the best record in terms of respecting others' rights. Look at slavery, colonisation and those two wars they had, and we've not exactly been kind to other magical beings either."
While not as callous as his father had been at his age, Scorpius had inherited much of his cynicism, plus a fair dollup of self-preservation. He paused, checking that the anti-eavesdropping hex was still working. "And as I said, there's no need for either of us to feel guilty about anything. We weren't even around when the last war happened, and Father didn't know what he was getting into and once he did, he only carried on to stay alive and protect his family. We don't owe anyone anything. And people who think that we do are being as judgemental as they might accuse us of being and besides, if you have that attitude, then you're trapped in the past and you can never progress."
He smiled a little. Scorpius was rather idealistic himself, though his words regarding progression from the past made sense. "It's quite easy to say those things, but to have other people realise you're right is another difficult matter," he said. Christopher wasn't going to comment too much on the topic; Scorpius had summed it all for him, and he preferred listening to what people had to say about the issue than give them his specific stance on it. "Your point of view was interesting to listen to." For some reason, he had a feeling that Scorpius had wanted to tell someone about it, but probably didn't have the right outlet to do so.
Sensing the conversation was drawing to a natural conclusion, Scorpius thanked him and decided to change the subject. "Hookum's been a bit creative with the partners this year, hasn't she?" he asked. "Who did you get?" Creative was a tactful word choice for it. Privately he had half-wondered if the Muggle Studies professor was hoping that some of her more volatile students would kill each other off.
That was one way to put it. In Christopher's opinion, the professor was being ridiculous and unfair. However, he knew better than to insult a professor, considering his status in the school. "She hasn't lost her touch at all," he commented, rolling his eyes in slight contempt. "My partner is James Potter -- who doesn't seem to like the idea of us being partners. Well, neither do I, but it's bearable, so far." He didn't particularly care what Harry Potter's son thought of him -- the most important thing was that he passed that class.
"I don't think there's many outside of Gryffindor who haven't been annoyed by James Potter at some point," Scorpius said equably. "His younger brother seems marginally better." Around someone else he wouldn't have dared expressed disapproval of the Potter boys - even though in his defense his dislike of James was down to his personality rather than who his father was, he thought - but with Christopher he felt comfortable saying such things. "Mine is Penny Pickle. I don't really know her very well, which is probably a good sign. Plus as she's a prefect I assume she's reasonably hard-working and responsible."
Christopher smirked. "True; it's much easier when you don't know someone when working on class work. At least they won't put too much expectations on you, or think that you won't do any work at all," he agreed, before glancing down at his watch. As much as he liked the conversation he was having, he had to meet Professor Quince to talk about students throwing some dangerous Potions substances in the loos. "I have to go," he said. "Good luck with Muggle Studies?" he offered, eyebrows raised slightly.
"Same to you," Scorpius replied. "And good evening." Smiling a goodbye at his housemate, he continued off down the hall, feeling slightly more clear-headed and oddly grateful, though he couldn't quite say why.