Two Badgers Chasing Light
Soon to meet up with @Pamela Graham
Saturday, January 10, 2026.
Waiting in the darkness of Simon's vast hobbies and interests was photography. So much time for the beginning of the current school year had been devoted to his faith, thoughts of the summer, his studies, some reading, knowledge of magical medicine, broom racing, and spending time with AngelFyre.
The night before, his wizarding camera caught his eye in the corner of his small little private dorm and knowing that AngelFyre had plans the next early afternoon, Simon decided that he would take it out on the castle grounds and see what he could find of interest.
"Alright, got my camera," he said to hismelf as he patteed his camera bag. But then he slowed his steps just before the round honey-colored door of the Hufflepuff Common Room. "...Is that it?" he asked himself. Was that all he needed? Surely not. But it was all he intentionally packed into the camera bag over his shoulder.
Stopping, he detoured and made his way back to the sofa near the fireplaceplace. He dropped onto the sofa and opened open his bag, peering in to see what he might have forgottten.
His magical camera stared up at him as if unimpressed. "I know I didn't forget you," he said to the camera. It's been awhile, mate, I know. I haven't forgotten you. Let's do a proper check of other supplies...."
The first was extra enchanted film that was carefully tucked away into a side pocket. One, two, three rolls. Good. Next was an anti-smudge cloth that was charmed to wipe away fingerprints and dust. One knew a castle as old as Hogwarts was filled with dust, no matter how dedicated the school elves were.
Then there was his mini wooden tripod that he could enchant with an enlargement charm to make bigger, a brilliant trick he learned from AngelFyre with his motorcycle, and he found a small notebook and a self-inking quill.
All seemed to be in order and Simon began tucking everything away back into his bag as the crackle of the fire and murmer of other Hufflepuff students filled the room. The castle grounds was waiting beyond the door - full of hidden things, shifting shadows, and moments that only revealed themselves to thsoe who were paying attention.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Two Badgers Chasing Light
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10th January, 2026
Grounds
Interacting with: @Simon Kincaid
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Speech -- Thoughts
Pam was feeling joyous for no reason whatsoever.
On second thoughts, that wasn't really true. It was the weekend. She had slept well. It was winter and a deliciously cold morning. Breakfast had been good too. Her day had been pretty nice so far.
She skipped down the stairs, taking two at a time like she had often done at home. She was in the mood for something chocolatey and hence planned to walk down to the kitchen in hope for something good. Maybe hot chocolate? If there was any available.
The common room was less crowded than normal as Pam flounced in, weaving through her housemates without sparing any of them a single glance.
Bam!
Pam yelped as her feet hit a couch near the fireplace, pain greeting her toes like an overeager old friend. "Owie, owie." Pam muttered, stopping for a second to let the pain ease. There wasn't much she could do with her foot secured inside her shoe.
Stupid couch. Pam glanced up, prepared to curse out the sofa which had dared to stub her toe, but came face-to-face with a familiar older Hufflepuff.
"Simon!" Pam blurted, startled. She had only properly interacted with him once or twice, the more vivid memory was one which involved a pink haired boy and lots of throwing up. That memory was still Pam's biggest nightmare.
She'd seen him around quite frequently after that, but still, hadn't really gotten to speak with him again. "Good to see you again," she smiled at him, taking note of his bag, and the few stuff sprawled outside it, although she couldn't recognize any of them. "Are you heading out?" She asked curiously, resolutely avoiding taking a peak into his bag because that would be rude.
The morning felt too good to stay quiet, and Pam had a feeling this was about to turn interesting.
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"I'd rather be heartless, than have my heart in pieces"
-Calming Presence- The Muggle Condition
iNPC: Hikari Fujimoto
Two Badgers Chasing Light
Talking with @Pamela Graham
Simon wished they were meeting on better circumstances because he too had stubbed his foot a time or two on the bottom of the sofa and knew exactly how much that hurt so he grimmaced a little when it happened but was pleased to see that Pamela seemed to make a quick recovery.
"Pamela, good to see you as well! Shame on that sofa for attacking you like so - jumping out like that," he only teased and his smiled showed that. It was lighthearted and friendly and he never would try and actually play at making someone feel bad. It was an attempt to make the situation more lighthearted.
"I was. I noticed that we've got a cloudy morning but the light is still fairly bright - perfect combination for some photography. I was just checking to see if I have everything. Everything that I can, at least. AngelFyre," he spoke of his girlfriend, "couldn't make it out with me this morning due to her Magical Creaure internship and my pet Rascal wouldn't wake even for a bribe of a treat so I've got almost everything I need but some company."
He doubted that she would want to come along and didn't want to ask because that might put her in an awkward situation. Still though, photo taking was always better with a friend - especially for someone as social as Simon Ezra Kincaid.
"What are you up to?" he decided to prod. Maybe he could hint at her coming along.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Two Badgers Chasing Light
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10th January, 2026
Grounds
Interacting with: @Simon Kincaid
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Speech -- Thoughts
Simon was one of the most extroverted people Pam had ever encountered. Luckily for her (and more for him) he'd caught Pam on a good day. She'd woken up on the good side of the bed today, so she could smile and laugh at the older boy's teasing instead giving an awkward answer and running in the opposite direction.
"It's fine really." She waved him off, "I'm used to it." The pain was already receding as she spoke, settling into a familiar full ache she was sure wouldn't last for very long. Simon was already continuing, and Pam listened with growing curiosity.
"Photography?" She repeated, listening to him carefully. She found herself lighting up at the mention of a pet, "What animal is he?" Pam could relate to stubborn pets. Lumi herself was a mess, and Pam was way too scared of her to really say anything or stop her during her owlish tendencies.
She adored her nevertheless.
Pam had never actually been interested in photography, unless it was something she found beautiful enough to consider capturing. She felt that she lacked patience, and unlike her father, wasn't a big fan of nature that wasn't the sky, the sea or snow. So besides those three, the only pictures she had ever taken included large buildings, cities lighted up at night, and empty streets.
But she'd heard a lot of about wizarding photography, and had no idea how it worked.
"Can I tag along?" Pam blurted out, later realising it may not have been a nice way to ask. He might actually feel awkward to turn her down if he wanted to be alone or something. She hastened to backtrack, "Or not. I was heading to the kitchen so I could go my way. If you know, you wanted to do it alone..."
Great going Pam. Keep up the awkwardness.
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"I'd rather be heartless, than have my heart in pieces"
-Calming Presence- The Muggle Condition
iNPC: Hikari Fujimoto
Two Badgers Chasing Light
Invitation to @Pamela Graham
"Tag along? I'd love to have you join me!" Simon rephrased it so it wasn't just tagging along. "And if you're in need of stopping by the kitchens, we can do so on our way out. Everything's always better with friends," he smiled to her.
He hoped that didn't sound too eager but Simon Kincaid was a social creature and photography was fun for the science and the magic and the unexpected results and all but it could sometimes be such a solitary hobby.
Simon motioned for her to follow him as they began to make their exit from the Hufflepuff Common Room and onward toward their adventure that day. "Rascal is a rat, common gray rat but anything but actually common. He's a mennace but in the best way possible, a pesky one but I adore him. I brought him back after letting him stay home for a year thinking he was getting too old but turns out Hogwarts is where he still needs to be right now. Still likes his slumbering though."
"You into wizarding phtoography?" She was at least interested enough to come along. That was a good start. Maybe she already knew more about it and could teach him. Perhaps he could teach her if it was new to her.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Two Badgers Chasing Light
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10th January, 2026
Grounds
Interacting with: @Simon Kincaid
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Speech -- Thoughts
Yet again, it registered to Pam that Simon was a really nice person. Nicer than her at least. Or maybe she felt that because he liked company and she normally... didn't.
She shook her head, "No it's alright. I can always go to the kitchen after. It wasn't urgent or anything." Pam didn't want to make the older student take a detour because of her, especially after he'd graciously agreed to her presence.
It wasn't like hot chocolate would be going anywhere.
What was with people at Hogwarts keeping spiders and snakes and rats as pets? Since when could those even be pets? Was it a wizarding world thing? Keeping potentially poisonous and lowkey gross animals as pets? Why weren't cats or dogs more common? Even owls, why would one want to cage those gorgeous birds?
It was an ironic thought really, considering Pam's only pet was also an owl, yet Pam had always tried to give Lumi as much freedom as she could. Except the letter exchanges with her father, which Pam was pretty sure Lumi enjoyed because her dad always fed her well, Lumi was usually busy doing god knows what.
Sometimes Pam felt lucky she'd return at night at all.
Having grown up in a non-magical world where rats were pests in the non-adorable, disease-carrying way, Pam did not even want to even go near Simon's pet rat. So she just nodded along, hoping he wouldn't offer an introduction.
"I don't really know how it works." She admitted, "I don't always have the patience for it. And since my father likes to photograph, it's not something I normally do unless I see something I like a lot?" She thought a little, then continued, "But I got curious when I saw the pictures move. Your camera is a film camera right?"
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"I'd rather be heartless, than have my heart in pieces"
-Calming Presence- The Muggle Condition
iNPC: Hikari Fujimoto
Two Badgers Chasing Light
Passing his camera to @Pamela Graham
"Yea, film camera. My uncle taught me all the workings back in London of them - the exposure triangle and all that to get the lighting just right on a regular one. This one's a wizarding camera," he said and held it over to her if she'd wish to take it from him. He hoped that she would. Often, especially when something was technical like this, it was good to not only hear what was being said, not only see what was being spoken about, but also to feel the item. "It's a Cameraderie," he said proudly. It was one of the more well-known brands of cameras, in main competition with Cam City's cameras in the wizarding world.
"It uses film by MagicalChrome. I've never tried to use film from the muggle world and process it to see if it would develop still moving..... Huh," he said as his voice trailed off a little at the end because he grew curious if it would work. Simon would have to try that out someday on his own. That would open up a whole new array of film stocks.
"Mine here can go fully manual, meaning you set all the settings yourself - how much light you allow in, how quick the shutter goes, and so on....but for today let's just start with it on automatic and work on finding that artistic eye and the compositions you can make with it." If her father had liked photography, maybe it was in her genes.
"So for today, and if you should wish to borrow it further, this camera is yours. Let's go walk around the castle and see what you want to take photos of. It can be anything, but if you should be lost, I can offer up something like the color green or what do you find important and interesting at Hogwarts? as some suggestions for focus."
Simon smiled, hoping she wasn't bored by this but would be excited to go on a photo journey. "We could send off some of the photos to your father once they're developed."
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Two Badgers Chasing Light
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10th January, 2026
Grounds
Interacting with: @Simon Kincaid
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Speech -- Thoughts
Pam had never actually used a film camera before, although curiosity had made her research and she knew a fair share about film cameras in theory..
However, the practical was completely different from the theory more often than not.
She accepted the camera, turning it over in her hands carefully. Her fingers adjusted around the body, cautious as though one wrong grip could somehow shatter the whole thing.
Don't drop it. Do not drop it.
She examined every dial and switch she could see on the camera. She recognised most of them from articles and videos she had watched at two in the morning. In theory, she knew what half of it did.
She listened to the older student's words, clutching the camera in her hand like her life depended on it. Cameraderie. The name did not ring a bell at all. She knew of a Camaraderie, but that meant something totally different and was probably not what Simon was referring to. As for the word, Magical chrome, well, the magic in its name was a dead giveaway.
She returned the camera to its owner, inwardly glad that she wasn't holding it anymore. Reduced the possibility of being broken. "What's a Cameraderie?" She asked sheepishly.
Simon spoke rather animatedly, Pam understanding only half of it while the other went over her head. She'd only ever used a digital camera, and she couldn't remember ever being able to control how much light went in.
How did that even work?
She was grateful that the boy seemed willing to teach her though. She smiled as the two left the common room, "I'd like to learn please. What do you... normally photograph?"
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"I'd rather be heartless, than have my heart in pieces"
-Calming Presence- The Muggle Condition
iNPC: Hikari Fujimoto
Two Badgers Chasing Light
Walking and talking with @Pamela Graham
"Cameraderie is the brand, that's all," he said, taking the camera back from her. He hoped that she was still interested and felt it was best time to head out to the Grounds so he slipped the camera over his shoulder for now as the two began to walk.
"Well, I take a lot of Hogwarts. Crazy to think I'm nearing the end of my journey here soon and I'll want something to look back on it. It's become a sort of home away from home, you know? I could see why someone would want to become a professor just to stay near but my calling is to be a healer, I believe," Simon nodded, still always feeling in his heart that it was right.
"I try to photograph Herman, the giant squid.......but he hasn't been very cooperative of me. You'd think after he grabbed me the way he did during a broom race that he'd at least give me more than a tentacle or two above the water's surface but...... he's camera shy," Simon smiled widely and shrugged. The giant squid probably wasn't actually camera shy and Simon was just misfortunate in getting his photograph but he liked to play it off that way.
"Most of my photos are of my girlfriend. She has the most beautiful smile and eyes that somehow look different in every light. I've taken thousands of pictures, but none of them have ever come close to capturing how incredible she really is." Pamela might even have seen AngelFyre McCubbin around the Hufflepuff Common Room and at the table at meal times in the Great Hall to know what he was talking about.
"But the most important question is what do you think you want to capture? There's the mountains of the Highlands in the distance, some flora near the west side of the grounds, the marsh along the Great Lake, the castle. If you're into portrait photography, I could be your model but I must set out a disclaimer that I must stay fully clothed. My girlfriend might no longer be prefect but I still don't need another detention for lack of clothing upon the school grounds.... I've done that enough times in my day." Times. Plural.
Simon then hesitated, thinking he probably shouldn't have said any of that last part and shook his head. "We could even get on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest," it was best to continue and brush right over the prior conversation bit, "but I won't let you go inside. There are dangerous creatures that lurk in there."
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Two Badgers Chasing Light
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10th January, 2026
Grounds
Interacting with: @Simon Kincaid
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Speech -- Thoughts
Pam listened as she followed the older student out to the grounds. For people who spent most of their time within the castle walls, Pam supposed it was only natural to photograph the school most of the times. Pam's attention lingered on the last lines. "A healer..." she repeated thoughtfully. Whatever little Pam knew of the profession, it was a lot similar to what a doctor was in the muggle world.
Pam had occasionally found herself studying different careers for herself out of boredom and curiosity. The magical world had opened up a lot of things she was interested in, and she often wondered which of them she could like to pursue. However, healing was one she'd never really spared a second thought to.
Now though, she was curious, "Why... do you like healing? Is it similar to being a doctor?"
Pam hoped the word doctor was not exclusive to the world of no magic. If it was, she was probably about to sound very silly.
But somehow the words that followed sounded even sillier.
"The squid is named... Herman...?"
Pam blinked at how blatantly unimpressive it sounded. Alright, perhaps unimpressive was being rude. It just sounded, extremely ordinary. It was a giant squid in a large lake in front of a school of magic. I would've expected a name like... oh, I don't know, Marekhos or Caligryn or maybe even Danaerys— wait no—
The boy kept talking and Pam had to force thoughts of fantastical names for the Giant Squid out of her mind so she could pay attention to what he was saying. His girlfriend? Yeah I remember her... I think. If Pam was correct, it was that girl who had taken care of them during that time those weird vials were wrecking havoc among the Hufflepuffs. Bad, bad memories. Pam tried to not think about it.
What was her name though...
"Angelfyre right?" Pam asked, remembering suddenly.
She couldn't help but grin at his words, although photographing people sounded dreadfully boring. She wasn't about to bring that thought of hers to life though. "No, I uh..." She found she wasn't actually sure what she liked to photograph. The girl tried to remember what she used to do with her father's camera back at home. "Um... water... I think...?" She could remember a lot of beach pictures, since she loved the sea and her father would often take her on short trips to the seaside. But other than that...
"Dangerous creatures?"
Pam perked up at that thought. That sounded like something that could be fun to photograph. "Unicorns?" She grimaced at the words she had blurted without thinking. Unicorns were not supposed to be real. Then again, neither was magic. "Are those um... real?"
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"I'd rather be heartless, than have my heart in pieces"
-Calming Presence- The Muggle Condition
iNPC: Hikari Fujimoto