Rebellious Ideas for Bold Huffles PV Atlas Reid

Interacting With: @Lydia Cooper

Mornings. Atlas had never liked them nor had she ever gotten used to them. It was Easter break so usually she would take this time to sleep in extra late and become an unproductive blob before classes picked back up again but she could feel her stomach grumbling aggressively as she rolled her eyes begrudgingly hopping out of her bed as she threw on a pair of jeans, a lace tank top and a hoodie before slipping on her yellow converse and heading over to the Great Hall. 


She could smell the delectable fumes all the way from the hallway as she rubbed her eyes and let out an oversized yawn as she heard a roar of commotion coming from inside the large double doors. She had figured most of the students would be going home for the holidays but it appeared to be the opposite. No doubt, Atlas missed her parents and although they weren't big on the religious connotations of Easter she still enjoyed getting an easter basket and enjoying meals with her parents. Her father was off in Greenland on an assignment and her mother was swamped with something at the Ministry so her parents thought it best she spend the holidays safe at school with friends. 

The evening before she had received a basket from her mother full of baked goods, candy and a few books she had been wanting and a separate one from her father with treats local to where he was staying with some pictures of places he had ventured around to, her favorites being the one where he was blowing a kiss to her as snow sprinkled down and another where he was making a funny face while crazily dancing on this gorgeous cobblestoned street, and a delicate ring with a mystical symbol on it.

Puffling her cheeks out, Atlas stared groggy-eyed at the bustling Great Hall as she tried to find a spot at the Hufflepuff table to slide into. It was far too early for all this energy as Atlas managed to squeeze into a spot towards the end of the table as she stared at the options. Quickly pouring herself a cup of coffee as she added cream to it and 2 caramel candies from her bag as she watched them melt inside the mug. 

Taking a sip, she could feel her body relaxing as she grabbed a large pile of bacon and several waffles as she slathered them in butter and syrup as she dropped into her own little world thinking about what she had planned for the break and how she could maybe leave prank eggs around the school for people to find that were filled with stink bombs, puking pellets, and anything else she could get her hands on. 

Atlas vaguely heard someone across from her starting a conversation with another student around her as she took another sip of coffee but when she didn't hear a reply she looked up and around noticing the girl was staring at her. 

Her mouth full, Atlas replied "Hmm uh I'm sorry did you ask me something?" Atlas replied trying to dig into her sleepy head to remember what she heard the girl asking. "Something about food? The food here? Uhh my parents said it comes from the House Elves who work down in the kitchens. Basically the kitchens are identical to the Great Hall, so they just make the food and snap it up here or at least that's what they told me. We aren't the biggest supporters of the use of House Elves but to my knowledge, they get treated well here." She continued as she shoved a piece of bacon in her mouth. 

Lydia nodded to the fellow Hufflepuff girl as she gave her an apologetic smile. As she listened to her talking, the red headed girl felt her curiosity grow bigger, hearing for the first time how the meal system worked, and got slightly confused to why someone would be against having Elves helping with the meals.

"Why are you against them helping with the kitchens? Don't they get paid?" she asked, confusion written all over her face. It was in moments like this one, that Lydia could feel, in the back of her mind, all the anger she was feeling towards her mom for having lied to her about being a witch: if she would have told her the truth from the star, she wouldn't be bothering the poor girl that had the misfortune of sitting in front of Lydia that morning. "I'm sorry, I just don't know a lot about how the castle is run. My knowledge of the magical world is limited to what they're teaching us, even if I hope to learn way more than that, and for as long as I can," she added, and scratched her head, an embarrassed smile on her lips.

She had so many question, how did they know where to send the food, and how could they know if something needed to be refilled? And what did she mean when she said that here they were treated well? 
"Aren't House Elves usually treated well? Why would anyone treat someone working for them badly?"
It was probably a little bit naive for Lydia to think of the world that way, but for her whole life she had been taught to treat people with kindness and respect, so she couldn't really believe that people could properly mistreat a member of their own staff.

All of a sudden, she realised that she didn't even introduce herself, before submerging the other girl with questions and words. She scratched her neck, feeling embarrassed, before she offered her an apologetic smile. "I'm Lydia, by the way. I'm sorry, sometimes my curiosity takes control over me and I can't seem to be able to stop myself,"

@Atlas Reid

"It's not that I am antagonistic towards the idea of them working here, more that I don't like the use of house-elves in general. Something about having servants upsets me although I understand that some house-elves prefer the work as it is all they have ever known and they get treated well here so I suppose I'm glad they are here not somewhere else but it just a difficult subject for me as I want all creatures to be treated with love and respect and not have to wait hand and foot on us wizards..." Atlas replied as she shoveled some eggs into her face. "To my knowledge, they don't get paid but I would hope that if they wanted to, Headmaster Lear would pay them a fair wage." 

Based on the young girl's remarks, Atlas figured she wasn't a pure-blood. Not that it mattered in the slightest to her. She thought it was magical that someone with no wizard parents could magically be one and even cooler that they got to immerse themselves in both lifestyles. Her best friend was a half-blood and he was still incredibly skilled in magic. "No it's okay, I don't mind the questions, is one of your parents a muggle?" Atlas inquired, interested to learn more about this Hufflepuff stranger in front of her. 

Refilling her coffee cup, Atlas added in her preferred amount of cream and two caramels from her bag as she took another large gulp once the caramels had melted. "Unfortunately more often than not, house-elves are treated like slaves where they are forced to work endlessly with no pay and only a tattered smock to wear. If they do something wrong... Atlas could feel the anger building inside of her, they can be beaten and abused for it. It's not right and shouldn't be legal and yet...it is. My family is firmly against the mistreatment of house-elves so we've never considered even having one. But I'm almost certain nothing like that happens here." She assured the girl not wanting to start some crazy rumor from spreading. 

"Ah I'm Atlas, Atlas Reid, and it is perfectly alright. My curiosity always gets the best of me as I am always finding my next adventure or uh prank," she confessed letting out a soft chuckle as she took another sip of coffee. 

Lydia listened to the girl's words with as much concentration as she could put in that early in the morning. What she said made complete sense, wanting everyone and every creature to be treated with the same respect; these were thoughts that Lydia agreed with. When the girl, that she would have later found out was called Atlas, said that the house-elves were not paid, the red headed girl widened her eyes in shock: with all the food they always prepared for the school, they should have totally gotten paid!

"What? I can't believe they don't get a salary! They always work so hard for us," said Lydia as she gestured towards the food in front of them, a little frown on her face. Suddenly, the prospect of continuing eating didn't feel that right anymore. She concentrated back on Atlas' words as she sipped her hot tea, eager to know more about the topic. At her sudden question, Lydia widened her eyes and then looked down at her hands. What was she supposed to answer, if she wasn't even sure herself wether her father was a wizard? "My mom's a witch, but I was raised as a muggle kid, so I've never had the chance to ask about any of this," she replied, before giving Atlas a small smile, "What about you? Are you wizard-born?"

As they kept talking about the subject, Lydia's sense of justice kept screaming inside of her, making the girl feel upset towards whoever would ever think about someone, or another creature, as a slave. "How is it possible that the Ministry allows something as horrible as this?" she said, not really looking for a proper answer to her question, but more to vent out some of the anger she was feeling. "I really hope that the hose-elves are treated well and with respect here. Otherwise I wouldn't think twice about going into the Kitchens and cook my meals myself, no matter if I would end up breaking some rules!" 

Lydia had always been the kind of girl that would obey and follow the rules that the school, her parents or any authoritative figure would give her, simply out of respect for the elders. But if she thought that those rules were unfair, then she wouldn't have minded breaking them.

 "It's nice to meet you Atlas!" Lydia said and gave the other girl a warm smile, "I swear, I don't usually go around breaking rules! But if they are unfair, or make someone else suffer, then... " Lydia admitted, shrugging.

@Atlas Reid

Atlas was noticeably taken aback when she heard Lydia's mother was a witch but she was raised muggle. She couldn't even comprehend why that would be because she had lived with and loved magic her entire life and she couldn't imagine giving it up but it seemed like an uncomfortable subject to press on when the two were just getting to know each other. 

Running her hands over her coffee cup, Atlas was stuck on what it was like growing up in Lydia's home as she let her mind wander only catching the end of her question. "Who? Me? Uhh yeah both my parents are wizards. They both went to Hogwarts, and then my dad became an Auror, and my mom works for the Department of Mysteries so magic has always been a big deal my entire life. I mean I know people live without magic and manage because we travel in muggle places a lot but still, I could never imagine not having it."

The conversation started to pick Atlas's energy up as she became more engaged with her newly acquainted Hufflepuff. "I don't understand it either. My father just thinks they have more important things to think about and deal with that it really isn't on their radar. I was nervous to eat the food here too but I've talked with them and been told they are treated fairly here so I guess it is better than them being somewhere else." She replied taking a cinnamon roll off of a platter as she took a huge bite out of it. 

"Although it doesn't stop me from sneaking in there from time to time to get the first dibs at the delicious food." She confessed, a devilish grin appearing on her face. "Pranks and sneaking around are my specialties, always have been. I try to not break the rules--well scratch that--I try not to get caught and I haven't been yet. My father always said I have the lightest feet perfect for getting places I'm not supposed to be." 

She was revealing quite a bit to someone who said they don't like to break rules but she was a fairly good judge of character and something told her that Lydia would never tell. 

Interacting With: @Lydia Cooper

Lydia listened to Atlas talking about her family, and she couldn't stop herself from thinking about how her own life would have been if her mother hadn't kept magic away from her; she would have probably loved magic from the beginning, and who knows how many more things she would have been able to learn!

The red headed girl nodded and then took a big sip of her tea, loving the warm and calm feeling that the hot drink brought her.

As Atlas told her how at first she was nervous to eat the food there as well, Lydia felt less weird about it, and then decided that, since the house-elves had already prepared all of that food and she couldn't have done anything to stop them from doing so, she nibbled on some bacon, the salty meat making her tastebuds sing in happiness. 

Lydia's face light up in extreme interest when the fellow Hufflepuff girl admitted that she was kind of used to break the rules, and an idea started forming in her mind. Atlas would have been the perfect person to help make the Secret Blossom Ball, with her being used to sneak around and break some rules. 

"Well, sometimes rules just need... to be bent a little, I think," Lydia said as she put down her fork, uniting then her hands and placing them under her chin. She had to ask Atlas if she was interested in helping them, she would have been amazing at it, and the red headed girl really liked the way the fellow Hufflepuff student saw the world and justice. 

"Atlas... I have a question to ask you," she said, her voice definitely lower than before as she tried to avoid other people form overhearing their conversation. "Recently I have found myself, well... questioning some decisions that the school board has made. Have you heard about the Blossom Ball being cancelled? Well, me and a couple of friends, Hufflepuffs as well, were really looking forward to it, we thought everyone at school needed a night to relax and have fun, and I think that as a fellow Hufflepuff student you might understand why me and my friends were quite disappointed by the Ball's cancellation, especially after that horrible fire in our common room. So we had an idea," Lydia checked that nobody was eavesdropping, before she continued, "We want to throw our own student run Blossom Ball, a secret one. But we're not exactly used to breaking the rules, and we are just three people so far. We could really use the help of someone like you, with your kind of sense of justice and well, knowledge of rule-breaking,"

Lydia really hoped she hadn't come on too strong, but there was no use in lying to Atlas about something like that, they needed her help, there was no denying it.
"So, what do you think?"

@Atlas Reid

Atlas immediately perked up when she heard of Lydia's devious plan. It wasn't necessarily a prank but it was to a degree, breaking the rules and that had her interests piqued. She was never one for balls or dressing up and being girly but Lydia seemed really excited about this and secretly Atlas hoped she would be able to convince Ethen to show up as he always seemed to make every event or adventure more exciting and memorable with him there.

"I absolutely can help with it! I'm not sure what you have yet delegated but my grandfather was a professional baker and my mother taught me all his best recipes and tips and tricks so I can possibly whip up some fun treats for the party or otherwise I am quite the pyro aficionado so I can see about getting some fireworks set up or torches to light up the perimeter." She replied already feeling the ideas swarm her mind as she considered all the ways she could bring fire and lights to the party to give it a breathtaking memorable feel. 

"I'm honored you would ask me to help plan this large event with just meeting me this morning but you came to the right person. Your secret is safe with me and I will help you with whatever you need to make this a night to remember." Atlas continued as a smile appeared on her face, the energy finally waking her up. 

"So where do we begin?"

Lydia's face opened up in a bright smile, her eyes sparkling with happiness and excitement, once she heard her fellow Hufflepuff's words. She couldn't wait to tell her everything about their plan, and to pitch in her idea about the fireworks and the treats. She had almost started explaining the plan to her, but then realised that probably the weirdly packed Great Hall wasn't the best place to discuss a secret like that. 

"That would be amazing! I'm pretty sure that Aaron will love the fireworks idea as well!" Lydia said and then quickly finished her tea, that by then had already gotten quite cold. "Thank you Atlas, for accepting to help us. I'm sure we will manage to create something spectacular!" 

"Well, for a start I think we could meet up with Aaron and Sean, and we can explain you what we have so far. I would do it now but... I think the Hufflepuff Common Room might be a little quieter and emptier. So far we are all Hufflepuff, but we still want to find a couple more people," Lydia explained, before glancing down at her watch, relishing that she really needed to head for the Library; she still needed to write an essay for Transfiguration, and she wanted to get it done as quickly as she could, so that then she would have been able to properly concentrate on the ball - Lydia loved Transfiguration, she fount it really interesting and fascinating, even if it wasn't an easy subject - and she wouldn't risk forgetting about the paper.

"I really have to go now, I have a couple of homework to do today, but we could meet later in the Common Room, maybe after lunch, and I could introduce you to the others?" Lydia said as she got up from the table, her smile still bright and contagious. She had a good feeling about this, she really thought they could pull it off. 

"I'm so glad I met you Atlas! I'll see you later!" she said as she gave the other girl another smile and waved goodbye, before she started heading towards the Library, her schoolbag on her shoulders.

Lydia leaves the thread

@Atlas Reid