Step 1: Ask Magnus Blackwood

Magnus was roaming the corridors of Durmstrang in his winter attire as he looked outside watching the snow fall onto the ground of the already cold and icy terrain that surrounded the school. The Russian boy sighed as it was early in the morning and he had to prepare for the morning run that they usually had almost every morning luckily he came prepared and wore his more comfortable black outfit including a lighter fur coat but was still very warm and kept him safe from the outside weather as well as his boots and his fur hat. He picked up his bag which included his spare fur coat as well as other supplies for school and continued to walk where the rest of the Durmstrang students would be at waiting for the morning run to start.

As he walked through the corridor he prayed that he got there in time so he could just slip by unnoticed, one thing about Magnus was the fact that he hated being near people and having to talk to people he was very antisocial and kinda shy so he hated when people tried to talk to him luckily no one here had tried that yet so he could just keep to himself with his books on magical creatures. Suddenly he heard a voice call out to him and his whole body froze in that instance as he just hopped whoever it was would just disappear.

But they did not disappear and instead they spoke to him but it wasn’t Russian, it was French. His body began to slowly untense as hearing someone speak to him in French reminded him of his father who he cared about deeply, he slowly looked to see a boy with dark blonde hair and hazel eyes that had a innocent gleam in them almost as they stared back into his light blue eyes. “ Euh... oui, je parle français, puis-je vous aider ?”[Um..yes I speak French can I help you ?]He asked as he looked at the boy, he usually didn’t speak French since most everyone at Durmstrang spoke Russian so being able to speak his favorite of the two languages made him happy but he still didn’t enjoy conversation with people but he had hope this wouldn’t be too bad.

Magnus immediately noticed the surprise the other boy had on his face at the fact that Magnus spoke French, and he got it as usually most Durmstrang students only speak Russian so it’s why he never really spoke French to anyone as he didn’t know anyone who could speak French so he didn’t want to be the odd one out and have people judge him or look at him funny. He already had a fear of being the center of attention to alot of people and he didn’t plan to attract any attention to him that he could easily avoid especially if that meant not speaking French to anyone. But knowing that this boy spoke French too it calmed him in a weird way made him feel like he maybe wasn’t alone here.

Once the boy asked what do they wear to the exercise in the morning Magnus face lit up as he was glad it was something he at-least knew how to answer. “Oh! We wear these um..black pants and shirt it’s like slightly skin tight but helps keep the heat in and on-top of that we wear fur boots and a fur coat but it’s much lighter than our normal coats” He quickly answered still a little nervous to be talking to this guy but he figured he could help him out. He felt more entitled to help him out since he was new and he could understand that more than anything. “Its quite alright I understand being new if you have any question I can um..try to answer them the best I can?” He quickly said before taking his hand and shaking it giving him a sheepish almost nervous smile. “Charmed to meet you Bastien I am Magnus Blackwood pleasure to meet you”

Magnus just stood there staying quiet as he didn’t really talk to a lot of people as he liked keeping to himself and making sure he didn’t attract a lot of attention to himself, but he did enjoy being useful as he knew a lot about Durmstrang due to his mother from a young age teaching him everything he needed to know about Durmstrang as that was obviously the only school he was going to be allowed to go to. So he was glad that he got to help someone who needed help besides It’s not everyday he gets to speak in French so he was happy about this opportunity.

Magnus just nodded as he gave the boy a small smile,“Its um…it’s no problem at all happy to help” He said while giving a nervous smile as he didn’t like when people stared at him and he could feel the way this boy eyes was studying him, he hated how it felt as the more nervous he got the more he was prone to swear or mutter words in French. For a moment he thought that maybe that was the end of there interaction and he could disappear back into the comfort of being alone but suddenly the other boy spoke asking Magnus to walk with him.

“Oh ! Um alright then!” He quickly said as he started to subconsciously pray he wouldn’t embarrass himself in-front of this boy.

Magnus tried humming a old Russian tune he heard from his mother music box that rang throughout the castle when he was younger as he remembered its smooth melody would calm him down easily and right now he needed to calm down.

As he inhaled a deep breath before letting out a smaller breath he felt calmer and turned to face Bastien more clearly hoping he wouldn’t make such a fool out of himself. He noticed how He had this wolf like grin which Magnus didn’t understand why but he did like how it looked on him.

He perked up as he listened to what Bastien had to say, it was while observing him that he noticed Bastien had quite an attractive face maybe it was due to him being French but he looked pretty good even though he was quite shorter than Magnus was at the moment. His eyes widen at what Bastien had asked him as truth be told Magnus barley knew anyone sure he probably talked to a few kids a few times he couldn’t really remember but with how antisocial he was he wouldn’t be much help on this front.

“Oh dear um…I don’t really know that many people as I tend to stay away from talking to people…” He quickly muttered before he felt a quick ping at his heart as it was true Bastien was at a disadvantage and that meant he needed all the help he could get. “B-but! I could help you however I can! Um…Arnold he’s prettt popular I hear so maybe he would be someone important to you! And maybe um…..OH! What if I gave you a tour of the castle sometimes and try to answer any questions about durmstrang itself ?”

He asked while looking at him his teal eyes meeting his hazel ones. He felt bad that he couldn’t help him out more but this way he got to maybe learn more about him while also being useful at something to help him.

After taking those deep breaths Magnus felt more relived and better as he didn’t feel so nervous especially with this huge crowds of people near them. He hated making a fool of himself he could just hear his mother whispering in his ear how a Blackwood never breaks under pressure and how he should remember that. He shook her voice out of his head as he continued forward with Bastien, Magnus didn’t know what it was but he felt safe like he wanted to talk more to him.

He didn’t understand it maybe it was because Bastien was easy on the eyes or maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t the only one at Durmstrang who spoke French now so that’s probably what it was at least that’s what he thought. He looked down at Bastien smiling at him softly.

Magnus was glad that Bastien accepted him giving him a tour as that way he could be helpful and mange to maybe make a good impression on him and hopefully make a friend. “Im glad that you think so! And just tell me when you’d want the tour!” He said smiling not feeling so nervous but still hated how many people were here.

Bastien asked a interesting question as to be honest he didn’t think there was since no one mentioned anything to him. “I don’t think so mainly it Someone bunk is already taken probably don’t try to take it but that’s common sense…I mean if you need a bunk mine is empty so you could join me” He said in a nervous stuttering tone as he figured having Bastien as a bunk mate would be fun.