A new beginning . . . or Another Mistake? Complete

Samantha looked at Hui Ming stand up and leave. Did she perhaps say something that triggered the boy? She couldn't think of anything bad that she said; all she did was vent out how she felt. Yet somehow, she still felt like she did something bad in a way.

'Come on, Samantha. You might be overthinking. You couldn't possibly have offended the guy, right? Unless he went through the same, rough path as you did.'

'Yeah, that could be true, but... I better just check on him just in case. If he really just needs a breather, then I can just leave him be.'

With that, Samantha stood up, hoping that she didn't interrupt a conversation. "Excuse me, guys," she said to the other two with her. "I'll just go check on him. I'll be back soon." With that, she got out of the compartment, making sure that she gently close the door. Through the loud chatter of countless kids inside the train, Samantha looked for Hui Ming, calling out his name a few times just in case he's nearby...

Interaction/s: @Avery Chen @Hildegard Schneider @Hui Ming

OOC indications :
GREEN: Thinking
BLUE: Talking

Miss Schneider was glad that Hui Ming had left, that muggle-born made her uncomfortable with his behavior and attitude, and now here she was, alone with Avery in a compartment of the Hogwarts Express.
The pure blooded witch took the occasion to have a deeper look at Avery Chen's trait.
He had a friendly look, which lean a bit into that of a rowdy child. Compared to Hui Ming she preferred this kind of personality more.
Hildegard gave to the Asian boy a tiny smile as she was uncomfortable, since the silence that seemed to come would be awkward she decided to break it.

- Hey Avery, between us, don't you find that Hui Ming guy a bit... creepy ?I mean I do find you all Muggle-born strange, but him... he is.... creepy, a bit scary. Is he normal in the Muggle standard ? She asked.

-I mean, you and Samantha look fine, but him in the other hand... She added.

"I will have to avoid him for sure, hopefully we're not in the same house. Anyway from what I can tell he is an hermit so it will be fine, I just hope he does not turn into dark magic or something."

Interacting with @Avery Chen

So there were seers who could see into your future? That makes it seem like certain things in your life were determined by fate, but perhaps other things were determined by choice, as Hildegard mentioned. Avery agreed, it was best not to live a life of regret, always wondering what could've been if you'd just done something instead of remained passive and just let opportunities slip away from you.

As Samantha launched into her discussion of normalcy, Avery noticed that this was the first time the quiet and somewhat shy girl had a feeling of intensity about her, as if she was letting down her guard and pouring out a bit of herself. Avery wasn't sure whether it was because she felt strongly about something, or whether she simply felt comfortable enough to share things with the three of them -- probably the former. "...normal is just used to refer to things two or more people share something in common... something they could use to discriminate someone else." Avery supposed that's how people sometimes built camaraderie amongst themselves, by discriminating against others. For a girl their age, she seemed very perceptive, as if she had personally experienced discrimination like this.

Avery nodded as Samantha explained how her feelings about fate and destiny changed with her invitation to Hogwarts. He wasn't sure that he didn't believe in some kind of pre-determined fate before Hogwarts, but he could identify with her willingness to take advantage of what was now in store for them. He really needed this in his life; he felt stuck in his old life and his options just seemed so limited...

Before he could respond, his train of thought was broken by Hui Ming standing up suddenly. "Excuse me, I really need some air." With that, the boy left the room. What just happened? Avery looked around in confusion. Perhaps it was getting stuffy in here? Did Avery smell from hauling all his luggage? Did Samantha's words have something to do with it? The girl, probably feeling slightly responsible, followed him out of the compartment to check on him, closing the door quietly behind her.

Avery caught Hildegard's eye, and he returned her uneasy smile. He contemplated her questions about Hui Ming and muggle-borns. Of course Hildegard would find muggle-borns strange and probably very clueless, just as he found the world she grew up in strange. "Oh yeah he totally creeps me out, and somehow he reminds me a bit of my father -- tightly-wound and all." He paused. "So, there are other muggle-borns in the world like him... which I guess makes him not so strange." His father always did things for his own reasons, and also pushed his expectations onto his son, but ultimately he did what he thought was best for his family. One reason Avery felt so lost was because he didn't always feel he could match up to his parents' expectations of him.

He looked at the closed compartment door and wondered how things were going outside. Did Samantha find him? "Excuse me," he said apologetically to Hildegard, "I really feel like I should do something because I feel like I screwed all this up by barging in." He was pretty sure everyone got along better before he came into the compartment, from what he heard while standing outside.

He got up and left, forgetting to close the compartment door, then ran past Samantha and down the walkway in search of Hui Ming. He thought he caught a glimpse of him going through the doors to the connecting car, and rushed to follow. He flew past rows and rows of compartments, scanning the walkway window seats as he chased the boy, but lost sight of him for a minute. Guessing he was still heading in the same direction, he pushed on to the last car in the train, where he saw Hui Ming sitting quietly by himself at a walkway window seat. Deciding not to disturb him too much, Avery sat down quietly in a nearby window seat and looked at the pastures and trees fly by, waiting for Ming to acknowledge his presence if he wanted to.

Interactions: @Samantha Foster @Hildegard Schneider @Hui Ming

OOC: Received permission to find Ming at the far end of the train.

OOC: The different colours indicate the separate little 'voices' that are in his mind. The same voices will retain the same colours.
Sentence in italics but no colour alteration is indicative of a mantra or phrase that he's remembering from his childhood.

[font=Agency FB]Chooga chooga chooga chooga.[/font]

The train ran along the tracks, a slow rhythmical beat as it rolled over wood and rail. Everything was moving so quickly, and everyone was moving forward.

Hui Ming, however, was not.

[font=Agency FB]Chooga chooga chooga chooga.[/font]

Hui Ming had a blank expression; his eyes glued outside, looking but not really seeing the sights passing him by. His mind running a thousand miles a minute, and his chest was heavy with emotion. Tears pooled in his eyes almost threatening to overflow, but Hui Ming wouldn’t cry. Years of practice and experience had rid him of the childish notion that tears were a solution to anything. He had learned long ago that tears solved no problems, and created additional ones to boot.

He wasn’t a bad person. He wasn’t.

He didn’t mean ill to the people around him. They were just… rude. And selfish. And it had annoyed him that they would so openly display brash and unbecoming behaviour. He would admit that it would make him happier and more comfortable if they used the same social patterns he was used to. But did he hate them? Did he really want them to be miserable?

No, he didn’t.

Ah, said a sly little voice inside of his head. But that doesn’t really make you good, does it? All those bad racist people do their discrimination and their superiority too. And maybe they really believe that the way they see the world is better, and that it was these others who were unbecoming. Are you really all that different?

Shut up. Stop thinking.

No. No, it didn’t. No matter what he told himself at the end of the day, the fact remained that Hui Ming was a bigoted little boy, trap-

No.

-ped in a bubble of his own making. He would go on doing what he did because that’s just what he did-

No. Stop this.

-And that’s what he had always done. Just blindly follow orders, and impose his own view upon everyone else.

“Zhùkǒu,*” the boy almost shouted. He was breathing deeply. He was sweating. Why was he sweating?

[font=Agency FB]Tap tap tap.[/font]

The sound of approaching footsteps.

Hui Ming turned around, shifting his gaze towards the approaching footsteps, to find that Avery had followed him. And the first thing that came to his mind was his mother’s voice. The most fundamental of all rules.

Never show strangers your weakness.

Hui Ming did not acknowledge the boy this time, focusing instead on getting his breathing under control. Thankfully, blessedly, the boy did not comment and chose instead to sit down nearby.

Seconds slipped by, in silence.

[font=Agency FB]Chooga chooga chooga chooga.[/font]

Hui Ming focused on the metronome of the train tracks. A steady beat, rhythmical, predictable … almost soothing.

He could not say how long they just sat there in silence. Minutes, surely. Longer?

All Ming could say for certain was that when he had finally regained his composure, the Avery boy was still there.

“Do you think…” Ming asked the other boy in a small voice, his former formality gone. “Do you think I’m a bad person?”

*Zhùkǒu, 住口, is a Mandarin word that quite literally translates to "close your mouth", or "shut up"

OOC: A rather bit more dramatic than I'd originally intended, but there you go

Interacting with: @Avery Chen

He watched silently as the picturesque countryside flowed by. It was exactly what the first movement of Vivaldi's Summer felt like -- rushing intensity intertwined with melancholy -- fast-paced scenery on one side of the glass, interlaced with the boys' solemn silence on the other side. Avery didn't mind sharing a silent moment with Hui Ming if that's what the boy needed. Although Hui Ming hardly showed it -- his expression was stoic as ever, Avery knew that thoughts must be tumbling within that deep mind of his.

In truth, his father was often like this when he had something on his mind. The man was impermeable, and always wanted to remain strong for his family. Even when Avery's 爷爷(grandfather) passed, his parents did not share the news with him until after his violin grade exam that year, in an attempt to save him from his grief until after he had accomplished what he'd been practicing for. In the month up to his exam, he felt that something was wrong -- his father spoke less and kept a stone-cold front more -- but he had no idea why. Only until he passed his exam did his parents reveal the news a month late and take him back to China to visit his 爷爷's grave.

In actuality, Avery would've preferred it if he was told about his grandfather's illness and eventual death as they happened. He wanted to share the grief; he wanted to be able to do the little he could to console his father. He would also have been able to love his father all the same even if he were upset over 爷爷's illness. But, father and son had a generational and cultural gap, and those weren't so easy for anyone to change or reconcile.

His thoughts almost made him forget why he was there in the first place. Minutes upon minutes must have ticked by. Hui Ming stirred slightly next to him, and raised his head as if to speak. “Do you think…Do you think I’m a bad person?” the boy asked him, and this was the first time he heard any hint of vulnerability in Hui Ming's voice.

Avery's first reaction was confusion, and his expression probably showed it. Avery thought that it was his own fault and that Hui Ming ran out to escape his bumbling and annoying antics, which he was (almost) ready to apologize for, but it seemed that Hui Ming was worried about something deeper within himself. "Sorry," he said uncertainly, "but I'm not sure what you mean." He decided to continue. "I thought I did something wrong. And hey, if I did, please let me know so at least I can defend myself or apologize," he smiled weakly.

Avery shifted to rest his chin on his hands, watching a few birds fly into the distance. "And if you really were a bad person, would you be questioning whether you were bad? I thought bad people just do bad things and are happy about them because they wouldn't care."

OOC indications :
GREEN: Thinking
BLUE: Talking

Little Hildegard was now alone, she was relieve because of how odd they were.

-What's up with those Mudblood ?! It's just a trunk that walk and interact and all what's so strange about it ? She thought to herself.

Since right at the moment she had all the compartment for herself, she made herself at home by removing her shoes then she took a bit more place, the girl took her disable leg and laid it on the seat that was right in front of hers.

-Well I guess I will remove it if I see them come back.... Or whatever who care, if they ask me to I guess I will. After all I'm alone right now so why should I care ? Anyway I'm disable so I don't think they will dare to complain. She thought.

Miss Schneider started to eat her sugar quill, wondering about her future life at Hogwarts.
Everything was possible, and those people in her compartment, would they become friends ? Strangers ? Enemies ? From the look of it it was pretty unlikely that they would become enemies, except perhaps for Ming...

-Nah I think it will be fine.

Hui Ming had expected a lot of things – taunting, jesting at his expense, even perhaps some sharp words or a sneering contempt at his behavior. This, though. This was unexpected. A choked, half-laugh at escaped his lips before he was even aware of it, at the ludicrousness of the other boy’s apology, and the ensuing reassurance.

It was re-assuring, regardless of how new Avery was as an acquaintance, or how unexpected his words.

“No you’re fine, I assure you.” A pause, before the boy added. “Though how you get away with such restlessness, I can’t imagine. Baba and Ma would have been scandalized if I were to act so….freely.”

Hui Ming bit hip lip, considering the boy in front of him. Avery had a sharp mind, despite his tardiness. He wasn’t too bad Hui Ming concluded; his heart was in the right place, after all.
Always project an image of power, of being in control. People should think you are always in control.

No. You should do tis your own way

“I must apologise,” Hui Ming blurted out awkwardly. “My behavior towards you has been abominable, and this whole business of getting up and running away has been rather embarrassing.”

A pause, before he added more softly.

“Thank you for coming after me, though. I do appreciate it.”

Interacting with: @Avery Chen

OOC: IRL getting in the way, sorry

Samantha kept searching for Ming for a few minutes until she became a bit exhausted. She decided to come back to their compartment and just say what she wanted to say to the boy when he gets back. She just hoped that Ming wouldn't be too harsh on her when she apologized for something she felt that she did.

Once Samantha got to their compartment as quickly as her tired legs can go, she was a bit shocked to see that Hildegard was the only one left in there. She wondered where Avery went; did he go get some fresh air or something? Or he probably went to see Ming and made sure he calmed down? Samantha guessed it was the former; after all, he did seem pretty hostile towards Ming the first time the two boys locked eyes with each other.

With that, Samantha gave one tired wave to Hildegard and sat down where she was originally seated. As Samantha looked at the pale girl, she couldn't help but remember the way Hildegard asked if everyone else in the compartment were Muggle-borns. Samantha thought that Hildegard didn't exactly despise Muggle-borns like her; she felt like there's something else.

"Hey Hildegard," Samantha started, making sure that her tone is friendly. "I wanna ask you something. Please don't take it the wrong way; I just wanna understand.

"I noticed something odd about the tone you had when you asked the rest of us here whether we're Muggle-born or not. I don't wanna judge - and I might be wrong, but it sounded as if you're scared of people like us. Is it okay for you to explain why you used that tone when you asked us that question?"

Interaction/s: @Hildegard Schneider

OOC indications :
GREEN: Thinking
BLUE: Talking

Samantha's question destabilized Hildegard at first, she did not expect Miss Foster to be so outspoken.
The pure blooded witch took a more decent position while still being barefooted, her face became way more serious as she was looking at Samantha.

-Well I guess those Muggle-born don't know about people that might hate them hum.

Hildegard thought it might be a good idea to tell them about it after all they may end up believing that she was one of them, one of those scary pure-blood supremacist.
And it would be better for them to know about it before meeting one in person.

-Where are those two ? I don't mind about the Ming guy but Avery sound okay.

A small moment of silence occurred before Hildegard finally spoken :

You are right, I am scared of Muggles and Muggle-born, not of you personally

-Ming yeah but whatever.

As a group yes, but not individually...

She paused, thinking if she should really be the one to talk about it.


-Fine, I will tell you, but I think it is better if those two are here too, I don't really want to repeat myself. So please wait okay Samantha ?

Interacting with @Samantha Foster

Samantha nodded, respecting Hildegard's condition. She wasn't sure why the pale girl wanted to talk to the two boys. Other than repeating herself, Hildegard probably wanted to explain something else other than why she was scared of Muggle-borns as a group.

As a group...

Samantha may had a hunch about why. She had heard of people burning witches back then. She thought that this was something pretty stupid as she believed that no witches existed in the world... ever. Now that Samantha figured out that she is a witch herself, she started to believe that story. Though if these wizards and witches did nothing wrong, then Samantha didn't know why Muggles burned them at the stake.

To get Hildegard's mind off of a sensitive topic, Samantha smiled and leaned towards the pale girl. "In the meantime, let's get your mind off of it, then," Samantha started. "Let's try to get to know a bit of each other first. Could you tell me something about this magical world you're in? I'm so interested in how you wizards are able to hide in plain sight from us, and what you guys do.

"Actually, you know what, why not start by telling me what Kwuidich - if I pronounced it right - is. I heard it one time when I passed through a compartment filled with some guys in it. Is it some sort of food, or...?"

Interaction/s: @Hildegard Schneider