What Now? PV Dealla Prince 𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍

Offering her newspaper to @Simon Kincaid

Dee's mouth was set into a tight line when she finally got ready to move from the Ravenclaw table, her breakfast left half-finished, appetite gone during the discussion. She wasn't the most rational person, her temper flared easily when someone pushed the right buttons, found the right places to dig into. Weak spots, that's what they were, and although she tried to hide them wherever she could, they were undeniably there.

She couldn't really explain why exactly this business with S.C.A.R upset her this badly. It didn't really affect her personally. Not directly, not badly, none of her family members (that she knew of) were Squibs or half-breeds, nor were any of her closer friends or acquaintances. She knew they were around - the Dhampirs, the part-giants, it was hard for them to hide their physical differences. Part-Veelas and part-goblins were less obvious, but she still knew they existed and were allowed to attend Hogwarts.

It was also undeniable that S.C.A.R. had done terrible things. They had claimed responsibility for attacks and murders. Yet she had just jumped to their defense, irrational as it was, due to one encounter, more than a year ago, with a few allies of the organisation. It had been a memorable encounter admittedly, and one that had left within her the deeply imprinted knowledge that these people were the victims. Hence her irrationality.

The topic was still on her mind, and would likely not leave it anytime soon. She should do more research on it. Perhaps she could write an article for the Headliner. Make people aware that not everyone who was associated with the group was a murdering terrorist. Professor Mulrain wasn't. (Was he?)

Lost in thought, it took her a moment before she realised someone was talking to her. Because of the newspaper, again, of course. Their argument had not been quiet, it had likely drawn attention, and obviously they hadn't been the only one who had read it, murmurs and quiet discussions spreading along tables through the hall.

"No worries, I'm done eating anyway," Dealla replied, looking up to eye the boy. Distractions were preferable to wallowing, although considering his request, the conversation wouldn't be very distracting at all. "Um, sure. Here." She moved to hand him the newspaper, was done reading it for the moment, lest she started feeling sick on top of everything.

She took the moment to examine him more closely as she did, and bit her lip slightly. The pale skin, the way he moved? It reminded her of some other students. She wasn't completely positive, but perhaps this boy was much more closely affected by the topics in the paper than she was. A brief smile at his offer to return the favour with other publications, as much as she could manage at the moment, her usual spirit subdued with none of her usual brilliance to be seen. "Thanks... I guess. Not that interested in Quidditch, though."

Inviting @Simon Kincaid to sit and talk~

There was a little pause before Dee responded to the boy's question. She wasn't quite sure what he was looking for. What does all this mean? Philosophers had been trying to answer that question for centuries.

"I don't know," she replied, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Merlin, it was only breakfast, but she felt ready to crawl back into bed. The argument with Opeila had exhausted her, what a start to the day. "What do you mean by 'this all'?" Maybe she could offer some explanations, but it was hard to not knowing what the boy already knew. "It is quite a mess." Something they could agree on. She checked her watch, there was still plenty of time for breakfast. "Wanna sit down?" she offered. While exhausted, she still preferred company to being alone, and especially a stranger's company was welcome right now. Someone who didn't know her, and who she didn't know. That made it somehow easier to not keep up a face.

She hummed slightly as she accepted the newspaper back, involuntarily glancing back down at the offending article. "Do you know about S.C.A.R?" she asked. Maybe this was an opportunity to get another opinion. One that was less biased than Opeila's, perhaps. Less biased than her own, too, not that she'd admit that part. "What do you think about the article? About the people it's about, just from what you've read here?"

Trying to draw @Simon Kincaid out of his shell?

Dee looked up at the boy's statement. "The Headliner..." she began, then stopped, shaking her head as she remembered the fiasco a year ago. "No, you're right. It does seem to be everywhere lately." True, she hadn't had anything to do with the articles T.Ruth had published. She'd barely joined the team when the articles about Dhampirs had come out, didn't know who T.Ruth was, and had read the article itself for the first time after the issue had been released, same as everyone else. But she also hadn't done anything about it afterwards, nor about the consequent articles about other mixed race students.

The other boy's outlook was terribly bleak, though. Despite it all, despite the things that the Prophet printed, Dee could not believe things would go that far. There was a difference between being hostile towards other races and ousting them from society completely. They were people, they had rights. Right? She hadn't even thought of the possibility that they would have to go into hiding. This Hufflepuff had.

Narrowing her eyes, her earlier thought returning, Dee looked more closely just as the boy tried to excuse himself. He'd ignored her invitation to sit, the same as her earlier statement that she was done with breakfast, anyway. Perhaps she should have just let him go, determined as he seemed to get away, even after he'd approached her.

But she was curious now, wanted to know if her hunch was correct. Her way to test the theory was direct, blunt, a typical approach from her. "I don't think you'd have to go live in the shadows." State her assumption as fact, wait for reaction. "People wouldn't just let that happen, no matter what the Prophet prints." She nodded towards the article again. "And there are people fighting for more equal rights. I don't believe they're all bad, and I think the Prophet is probably lying about them, too."