✰Good Luck Charm✰ PV Aaron Jones Finished

Aaron had woken bright and early that morning, as he had most days of summer camp. Although they were here on a summer vacation, he and his teammates had the Quidditch match hanging over their heads every day. That meant Aaron spent at least an hour a day training in the mornings, whether it be through Taekwondo, running or flying. He was trying to set a good example as Co-Captain - but also, this was just a natural part of his routine, even back at Hogwarts.

This morning, Aaron had chosen to go for a run to the post office tent on the other side of the campgrounds. He had sent a school owl home last night, and he was expecting a reply this morning. In a plain white tee and a pair of blue Nike sports shorts, he jogged around various tents, choosing the longest path possible to give him more of a workout. The sun was beaming and he had a sheen of sweat on his face by the time he reached the tent, but he used the towel he had brought to clean up a little before going inside.

The twelve-year-old was stunned to discover a package waiting for him. Not just any package either. A package shaped distinctly like a broom. After reading the attached letter, he walked out of the tent, his expression one of complete and utter shock. He walked like a zombie, holding the brown, broom-shaped package like it was the most fragile thing in the world. As he walked slowly across the grounds, staring in awe, he was startled by the sound of his name. And- Korean?

@Carolyn Hunt. She was wearing a nice white dress and was... barefoot? Aaron hardly batted an eye at the fact, much too preoccupied with thoughts of opening the package in his hands.

"Hi!" Aaron said, a smile finding its way onto his face. Falling into the Korean language was second nature for the boy, and he welcomed Carolyn speaking it. "Yeah, of course... wait, you want to give me something?" he asked, finally snapping out of the stupor he had been in. The shock at the fact that his parents had gotten him a broom was - well, it was insane. But he turned his complete attention on the friend he had made during the stargazing event a few nights ago. What could she possibly want to give him?

Interacting with @Aaron Jones

It seemed that even though Carolyn managed to grab Aaron’s attention, he was not fully there at first. Although, it wasn’t hard to figure out why once she noticed the package he was holding. “Oh, I see I’ve been upstaged already,” she chuckled quietly. No wonder he was so distracted. This must have been a huge deal for him. “Never mind me, it’s just a trinket, it can wait if you want to unpack your broom first,” she said with a smile. Just because she wasn’t a huge fan of Quidditch didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate others’ passion for it or the craft and effort that went into creating brooms. “That is unless you don’t want to of course,” she added quickly. She would love to keep him company but maybe he wanted to do it somewhere quiet or show his team mates rather than a girl he met that one time.

“Did your parents send it?” She asked curiously. Hopefully it was not rude of her to ask. The young Ravenclaw didn’t want assume anything either but it would be sweet of them. Although, she supposed it would be sweet no matter who the sender was. Clearly Aaron cared about Quidditch a lot. This must have made his day and she was genuinely happy for him. Her gift wasn’t all that important compared to this. She could wait and give it to him after he was done unpacking the broom…If he wanted.

It was clear to anyone watching - Carolyn included - that Aaron was becoming antsy. At first, he had just been in shock at the arrival of the broom. Now that the shock had passed, he was impatient. A broom. A broom! He never thought his parents were actually going to get him a broom! Sure, he had sent them clippings from wizard broom magazines, and sent them all the money he had made doing errands at Hogwarts, but he had nowhere near enough for a broom! That meant they must've scrounged up enough of their own money to convert to wizard money, then mail-ordered the broom! Of course, this was just a guess because they hadn't explained how they got it in the letter - but the how didn't matter at this point. What mattered is that Aaron Jones was now the proud owner of his very first broom!

"Yeah, it was my parents," Aaron's smile had resumed its huge quality as he launched into talking. Even in Korean, his excitement was incredibly evident. "I've never had a broom before! I've always had to use the school brooms, which aren't really the best, but... I just really wasn't expecting a broom of my own! I'ts a huge surprise!" Aaron saw a nearby bench and gestured for Carolyn to join him as he took a seat and laid the broom on his lap. "Come sit and check it out with me!"

Whether she sat down with him or not, Aaron would rip away the brown paper to reveal a sleek broom. "Comet 180" was labelled on the beautiful handle. With the wrapping forgotten on the ground at his feet, Aaron's hands glided along the sleek wood, eventually touching the nicely-formed bristles. It certainly wasn't the best broom on the market, and the craftsmanship wasn't at the same level as a Firebolt or Nimbus, but this was his broom and nothing could be prettier in that moment.

"This is so cool," he said in awe, his eyes completely lost on the broom. After just a moment, though, he looked at Carolyn and held the broom out to her. "I know you're not a big Quidditch fan, but here, look!"

@Carolyn Hunt

Aaron was getting jittery. It was clear to see that he needed to tear that paper to pieces as soon as possible. "Well no wonder you are so excited then. I mean even if it wasn't your first broom, it would still be pretty awesome but since it is…It's so much more special," Carolyn commented with a smile. Not being able to wait any longer, Aaron then invited her to sit with him on a nearby bench so he could unpack the treasure and Carolyn joined him without any hesitation. She didn't disturb him in any way while he focused on the pesky wrapping paper, merely holding her hands close to the end of the broom in case Aaron lost his grip. She doubted he would and even if it happened, the broom would be fine but Carolyn felt compelled to do so anyway.

Few moments had passed and the gift was finally free. It was definitely a good one. Aaron took a moment to take it all in and after he did, he offered the broom to her. "Oh no...I'm definitely curious as well. I'm not too enthusiastic about the sport but these, I can absolutely appreciate." The witch took the broom with utmost care and inspected its label. "Comet 180...,” she whispered mostly to herself. “So the first of these came out around 1940, right? It might not be the latest one but it has history. I’m sure it will serve you well." Carolyn may have not been the best flyer out there but what she lacked in practical skills, she tried to compensate with knowledge. Not to mention she was an artist and as such, she could appreciate the work that went into creating brooms. She often read about wand making too.

“Are you going to give it a name?” Carolyn asked excitedly before freezing and looking up at her companion. “Sorry, that was a weird question, wasn’t it?” She asked sheepishly feeling a bit embarrassed. She was by no means someone that went around giving names to everything but there were certain things that deserved one. After all, this broom would become somewhat of a companion to Aaron during his games and training. Her father loved their car and had a name for it too. He even let his daughter help him pick one. Was this really so different? Still, that was their thing and other people might consider it weird. She could only hope Aaron wouldn't.

Aaron was practically bouncing in his seat as Carolyn examined the broom. This was quite possibly one of the happiest days of his life, but he was confident it would be overshadowed when he and the team crushed Durmstrang at the Quidditch match.

As Carolyn spoke about the history of the broom, Aaron was a bit surprised. He knew all about the various brooms and such, but he hadn't expected her to. It was a happy surprise, though, knowing he was sharing his broom with someone who had an appreciation for them. "Yeah, it's quite an old model, but I'm still beyond happy," he reassured her, a big grin on his face as he looked at her. His dark eyes soon fell back to the broom, admiring it as Carolyn examined it.

Her next question caught him a bit off guard. Naming it? Aaron's mouth fell open into a little "o" of surprise at the idea. Wha- that was a terrific idea! As soon as Carolyn mentioned it was weird, Aaron vehemently shook his head. "No, it's a great idea!" he said, gesturing so he could take the broom back from her. Once he had it in his hands again, he looked at it with a very thoughtful expression. After a second, he looked at Carolyn again, "Do you remember Professor Bercegeay? She named her broom too, and I really admired her!" he said, referring to the flying professor before Professor Jemari. Olphie Bercegeay had been a huge influence on Aaron, encouraging his love of flying by always letting him have a bit of extra broom time. "She named her broom Nombus, I think."

His eyes fell back to the broom in his hands, and his fingers traced the "Comet 180" label. "Maybe I should name it after a comet..." Aaron contemplated, his brows furrowing in concentration again. Of course, he had not yet developed enough knowledge on space to remember any specific comets, but he was now determined to research more. At this point, he lifted his head and looked at Carolyn, "I'll definitely name it, but I'll have to take time to think about it... so, didn't you want to give me something?" he asked, his face now relaxed and happy (and a bit curious). He was quite elated with the day so far.

@Carolyn Hunt

"Yes, I can see that." Carolyn chuckled when Aaron admitted his excitement over the broom. It was quite obvious from both his face and body language. Simply there for everyone to see. She wasn't making fun of him though. In fact, she found his raw joy quite charming. And well...maybe just maybe, she envied his capability to just let go and give his emotions a free reign. Carolyn wasn't a stiff person per se but she was always somewhat guarded. Kind to her friends and respectful of others but mostly everything was done in a pretty calm and collected manner. Her mother often encouraged her to go out there and be a little bit crazy but the Korean side of her family taught her otherwise. Without even realising it, the young witch started following their example and the only time she let her guard down was during her playtime with Morgana. After all, dogs couldn't care less about your manners. To say Carolyn was happy with this side of her personality would be definitely a lie. She liked the fact that she was able to keep her composure even in extremely difficult situations yet it often made her wonder whether other children appreciated said fact as well. What if it just made her boring?

Still at times, Carolyn did let something more peculiar slip out. Like now with the broom naming. Thank God, Aaron actually liked the idea. "That’s good then," she replied with a smile, looking quite relieved. She carefully passed the broom back to the boy, letting him think for a moment. “Yes, I remember her but I didn’t know she named her broom,” she admitted eventually. “So you liked her better than our current Professor? Is it because she was so enthusiastic about Quidditch?” To be completely honest she herself preferred River a bit more because he wasn’t overly fond of the sport which made him more approachable to her. However, that is precisely why she guessed Aaron might have liked their previous professor better. “Her passion was quite admirable for sure.” Carolyn nodded eventually. Personally, she probably liked Professor Vernatis and MacTavish the best. They fit her both, personality-wise and teachings style-wise. It also helped that they taught classes she actually enjoyed. Not that she didn’t enjoy the flying class but it was definitely one of the least fun ones.

“That's a great idea! Very fitting.” Carolyn smiled when Aaron mentioned naming his broom after a comet. “I wish I could help suggesting one but I’m not too knowledgeable in that area. I find space fascinating but I don’t know too much about it.” She figured she would eventually learn more about the subject but there was still time to do so. For now, she had enough topics to read about. Maybe when I get home. “…so, didn't you want to give me something?" Carolyn was immediately brought back to reality by Aaron's question. “Oh yes, thanks for reminding me.” The Ravenclaw reached into her black bag to find a violet Norigae there. It was obviously not brand new but extremely well taken care of. “I got this with my first Hanbok” she explained assuming the boy knew what that was. He knew the language so he must have heard about the dress. Maybe his mother even worn one during special occasions. If not, she had no doubt he would ask. “I outgrew that one a while back and the Norigae doesn’t work well with my new one. Still, it’s a good luck charm so it felt wrong to just throw it away. I keep carrying it around with me in case there was someone who might need it.” Carolyn wasn’t overly superstitious but she liked the sentiment and she hoped Aaron would appreciate it as well. And who knows, since magic was real, maybe these things actually worked too. “I know you are more excited than nervous about your first big game but…maybe you could use a little bit of luck?” She asked, looking a bit unsure. What if he didn’t like it or thought it was silly. “Unless you don’t want to of course. It just felt right to give it to you.” She couldn’t really explain why, it just did.
The Norigae:

"I guess I did like her more, but I think it's just because I haven't really bonded with this professor yet... but also, he said he doesn't like Quidditch," Aaron pointed out, feeling a bit saddened by this fact. Professor Jemari had made it clear from the get-go that he was not a Quidditch player, nor did he want to be, and that had kind of disheartened Aaron. He wanted a mentor for his future career, and he couldn't help thinking that River (as he had asked to be called) would not be willing to be that person. Of course, this was just speculation since Aaron had been too saddened by Professor Bercegeay's departure to approach River outside of classes yet, but maybe he should try for next year. "So yeah, I guess it is the Quidditch thing... but I'll give him a shot next year for sure! After all, he can still probably teach me lots!"

The thought of next year at school was exciting. It was weird for him to actually be sad that it was the summer holidays, especially given how homesick he was feeling, but- the wizarding world was amazing! Flying was amazing! He was so excited to lead Hufflepuff to victory next year with Captain Quinn, and he could hardly wait to be back in touch with all of his friends. Summer camp was already half-over and he hadn't spent too much time with friends outside of the scheduled events because he was training for the upcoming match. In fact, he'd have to train twice as hard now to get used to this new broom.

Aaron shook his head free of these thoughts as he turned back to Carolyn, asking what she had wanted to give him. She went ahead and reached into her bag - which Aaron thought was very cool with the pirate-esque skull on it - and took out a decorative purple ornament. After a moment he recognized it as a norigae. Her mention of a hanbok brought to mind his little sister dancing around in the dress their grandparents had gotten her. The memory brought a smile to his lips as he nodded along with her explanation of not having a need for it anymore. If she allowed him, Aaron would take the norigae from Carolyn and examine it more closely.

"This is so cool," he said, his eyes eventually finding hers with a big grin on his face. "You're sure I can have this? For real?" The idea of having the luck charm with him during the game inspired a lot of pride in his chest. Yeah, he was definitely excited for the game, and it made a lot of his friends think he wasn't all that nervous. Truth be told, he was about to play in the largest stadium he had ever seen against a team he had no knowledge of. That in itself was terrifying. Excitement was predominant, but nerves were still there.

"I definitely want it!" he reassured her, looking back at the norigae in his hands. A thought struck him as he looked at the broom in his lap. "Look! It could go here!" he said, carefully grabbing the broom near the bristles and holding the norigae against the bundle. It would blow nicely in the wind while he was riding it. "What do you think?" Aaron asked, looking back at his new friend with his trademark smile.

@Carolyn Hunt

Carolyn nodded when the boy admitted his disappointment with the new professor. Exactly what I thought. It was understandable for him to be concerned. Carolyn had the same feeling about Professor Bercegeay and her enthusiasm for Quidditch. The young Ravenclaw wanted to learn about flying since it was a vital part of the wizarding world but she was not interested in the sport that came with it. Still, it would be nice to have a somewhat balanced professor so every student could get the knowledge they desired. “It’s good that you are willing to give him a chance. Perhaps he is not interested in Quidditch himself but that doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of helping you. Maybe he will have some useful advice for you anyway.” She said encouragingly and she sure hoped so. It would be sad not to encourage students like Aaron, who clearly had a great passion for the magical sport.

The conversation then moved towards the actual reason why Carolyn wanted to stop the boy in the first place. To be completely honest, she was a bit nervous about handing him her norigae. Not because she didn’t want to part with it but because he might feel uncomfortable and refuse the gesture. “You do?” She perked up when Aaron finally inspected the object and expressed the desire to keep it. “I’m glad to hear that,” she smiled heartily, feeling a great weight lifted off her shoulders “And don’t worry I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want you to have it. I was looking for someone to give it to anyway but I couldn’t find a person that might find it properly meaningful. You definitely strike me as the perfect man for the job though.” Carolyn admitted happily. She was sure her norigae was in good hands now.

This was confirmed soon after when Aaron took the good luck charm and put it on his new broom. Carolyn watched his action in awe. She would be happy even if he kept it in the changing room during the match so this was really sweet to her. “That is amazing idea. I love it,” she nodded excitedly. It was pretty rare for her to be this outgoing. She would usually keep her composure at all times but this was a first meeting where she felt incredibly comfortable. It was easy to talk to someone who shared so many things with her. She met a lot of new people during this year and each individual was interesting in some way but none of them shared much with her. There was Lyra, who also liked to dance but she was not too fond of ballet and then there was Elspeth with whom she clicked personality wise but she didn’t share any hobbies with her either. It always required so much energy to have a conversation with people that had different interests. It was intriguing of course but hard nonetheless. “I really hope you win. Also don’t get hurt?” Carolyn said hopefully. Everybody knew Quidditch could be very dangerous. “My mother works at St. Mungos Hospital but she is focused on Creature-Induced Injuries so I can’t guarantee any VIP passes for Quidditch players,” she teased the boy playfully. “I might be able to provide some first class Korean dishes though.” Oh how she missed those! “Although, I suppose you have your own source for that, don’t you?”

"We'll definitely win with this on our side," Aaron assured her, happy that she liked the idea of its placement. "I'll put it on later, and keep it here for now," he said, referring to the good luck charm. Rather than put it on the broom right away, he slid the string of it around his wrist for safekeeping. He would keep it in his tent until the big day.

His brown eyes turned back to Carolyn when she went on to talk about not getting hurt. His expression became very serious as he nodded in agreement. He definitely didn't intend to get injured during his first huge Quidditch match - he had even been practicing evasive maneuvers while here at the camp, since it's one thing he wasn't the best at. Sure, he was getting good at throwing the quaffle through the hoops when he got it, but evading things like bludgers and other players wasn't something that he had needed to do before when he practiced on his own. Now that he had a whole team to practice with, he was getting pretty decent at it. But it wasn't like he'd be the main target anyway, because usually the seeker was the one having to evade most attacks.

Aaron laughed a bit when she told him about her mom working at the hospital and being unable to guarantee VIP treatment passes. Carolyn had mentioned when they first met at the stargazing event that her mother was a healer and her father was a surgeon, but it was his first time hearing her mother dealt with specifically creature-induced injuries. "Don't worry, I bet I won't need it at all! But it's really cool she helps heal people like that! I bet she gets all kinds of crazy stories from the people that need her help," he said, thinking about all the magical creatures he had become familiar with in passing. Sure, he wouldn't be taking Care of Magical Creatures until third year, but he had heard mention of so many different creatures - like finding out dragons were real was crazy! - so he could only imagine what kind of injuries wizards had to deal with.

"Yeah, actually, my mum has been sending me food from home every so often in little care packages," Aaron said, his voice a bit wistful at the thought. "I can't wait for camp to be over JUST so I can go back to eating her cooking every day," he admitted. Before he could ask what Carolyn's favorite dish was, his brown eyes were drawn away to a passing familiar face. One of his teammates! Aaron was immediately antsy to go show off his new broom again.

"Ah! That's one of my teammates!" Aaron said, switching back to English as he got to his feet and pointed out the girl that was walking away from them. He turned to Carolyn with a genuine smile. "Thank you again, so much, for the charm, but I should really get going. Let's hang out again soon, and we can talk about our favorite Korean food!" With that said, he waved goodbye and dashed off back into the camp of tents, intending to find the Quidditch team and show everyone his new broom!

[Exit Thread]

@Carolyn Hunt