A Non-Suspicious Request (Probably) PV Howard White Fin

@Dealla Prince

They had been in the air for hours that day. Drill after drill, this formation then that, whatever it took to improve. Hufflepuff had gone undefeated the first year the Quidditch program was reinstated, but since then they had faltered. Perhaps the other teams had simply gotten better or it was their own performance that had suffered. It didn't matter really. They needed to start winning and the squad would keep working until they did. The captains would eventually blow the whistle and bring todays practice to an end. Howard would land gently on the ground and catch his breath before jogging off to the locker rooms.

A quick wash and a change back into his robes would see him ready to get on with the day. His mind began to wander about what he would do to fill the rest of his free time. Hang around the stables? Stuff his face in the kitchens? See what Bloom was up to? However, the calling of his name would bring him back to the present. His long legs would stop mid stride as he turned to see who it was. A cock of his head and a squinting of his crimson eyes would signal a slight confusion. Dealla Prince. Not an unpleasant person to encounter, but he did wonder what she might want. Although friendly, they didn't hang our or run with the same crowds. "Uh...hey, yeah. Dealla, right?"

Pleasantries were skipped. No bother to Howard as he alway preferred a direct approach, but the subject was one that he would always approach with caution. "Nah, nothing suspicious. I know what you're talking about." S.C.A.R.A.B. The offshoot of the S.C.A.R. organization. They had recently been in the Daily Prophet and although they claimed to have distanced themselves from the extremists it still made Howard uneasy. He of course carried the treatment and rights of squibs and half breeds close to his heart, but what some of those people had done disgusted him. A wake up call really to how intense his own feelings were and how quickly that passion could turn to rage and violence. Howard wanted nothing to do with it.

He would simply shrug as Dealla brought up the school paper. It wasn't all that long ago really, but it felt like ages since his publish outcry against the Headliner. A lot had changed since then, well, he had changed a lot since then. The truth was he still felt a lot of those feelings. He never thought the paper was ever held accountable for what they had printed. Even those that had made some valid points weren't able to convince him otherwise, but he had learned to control those emotions to a degree and keep them from setting him off. "Sure. It makes a difference." It did. Openly stating that she was against what T. Ruth had printed went a long way with him. "But it's alright. I don't mind talking to you for an article. Just don't misprint me and we'll be fine." Howard was always willing to give someone a chance, but he would make the boundaries clear.

"So, what did you wanna ask?"

Howard recognised her, and Dee nodded, pleased enough to not mind that apparently her full name had stuck in his mind rather than her nickname. Not pleased enough to let it go, however. "It's Dee, but yes." As long as people insisted on calling her Dealla, she would insist on correcting them.

Her inquiry was not met with confusion nor with the animosity that mentioning S.C.A.R. often brought, which she chose to take as a good sign, her face lighting up with enthusiasm. "Okay! Good. Uh, yeah, I promise to not misprint you. I can give you a copy of the article to read through before it's published if you want, although it probably won't be for a few months... Issue after next, I think." The offer was made distractedly as she started rifling through her notebook again. There were several loose pieces of paper between the pages, letters from the looks of it, and one almost slipped out before she caught it by its corner and pushed it back in.

"You've read the latest Prophet articles? The one about the rally in London, that they changed their name, and then the stuff about the Noxwatch?" Better to know what she had to work with, anyway. One hand vanished into her satchel, rifling through the assorted objects in search of a pencil, the sort of convenient Muggle object she brought from home because having to handle quills and inkwells all the time was both impractical and annoying. Once she found one, shortened down to just a few centimeters after months of usage, she looked up. "Could you tell me all you've heard about S.C.A.R. and what they have been doing in recent years? How do you feel about the fact that they are now expanding to represent mixed races?" Which included Howard himself, of course.

She was curious to know how he felt about this organisation that now claimed to speak for mixed races, for people who had never met them, and it showed when she looked at him, expression expectant. There were notes she had made that she was itching to share, get opinions on.

@Howard White

@Dealla Prince

"Dee, gotcha." Howard said with a nod and committed the preferred name to memory. It was a minor detail, but he always responded well to people that were direct. "No need." He refused her offer to provide a copy of the article before it was printed. "If ya mess it up, I know where you work." It was mostly a joke as a smirk slid across his lips, but there was some truth to it as well. Howard had come a long way since his last trip to the Headliner's office though he wouldn't hesitate to revisit if the need be. Just without all the breaking and what not.

The conversation would shift to the latest Daily Prophet articles. "Yeah, I've read them, but the Prophet is a shit paper." Howard didn't hide his disdain for the publisher. "The tone they use in their articles is ridiculous. Only a step away from a tabloid if ya ask me." He had to shake away the thoughts before a full blown rant began. "Sorry, I can get a bit carried away. Let's see, S.C.A.R. Always seemed like a bunch of fanatics, but it's hard to tell just from news reports. Never met any of 'em myself. I mean, it seemed alright to have a group standing up for the mistreated. Squibs should have an equal spot here too, but if they were behind those attacks, they're just a bunch of lowlife terrorists." At one point Howard was drawn to the group or at least the idea of it. However, the senseless loss of life that was possibly tied to them disgusted him.

It would seem that the group was evolving though. Or some of them had broken off to reform to fight for their rights in a peaceful manner. "But yeah. I don't think S.C.A.R. is around anymore or they've scurried off like the rats they are. New group is going by S.C.A.R.A.B. now. I really don't know if the two are connected or what, but it's nice to see them include mixed races in their cause. It ain't been easy, ya know? Being a half breed. I mean, we all got a lot to learn and this new group seems to want to go about it peacefully. Hopefully it'll show that we can all be a good addition to society. Like, we can't go live in the Muggle world and if we can't live in the magical world, what's left? We need help, but we can help too, ya know?" Howard finished with a bit of a shrug.

"Is this alright? For your article I mean? Uh, if you wanna know anything more specific. Just ask, yeah?"

"I know you do," Dee responded with an amused twist to her lips. Howard's previous visit to the Headliner office had been... memorable, to put it nicely. "I'll do my best to not give you a reason to stop by, then." Which she was pretty confident she would manage. Her intents were honest, straight-forward. This wasn't a charade looking to twist his words into something they weren't.

She started scribbling notes as Howard talked, nodding along absentmindedly. "Agreed," she mumbled in response to his assessment of the Prophet. The reading she had done recently had very much strengthened this opinion. She still got a copy delivered whenever it came out, but she had taken to reading it with a much more critical eye than she'd used to. "Don't apologise, it's infuriating for me. Must be worse for you."

Howard's opinion of S.C.A.R. was a pleasant surprise as well: She was used to people buying whole-heartedly into the Prophet's narrative and baseless rumours, and her nods got more decisive. "Agreed there, too," she said, then grinned up at him. "Thank you for making sense."

A few last notes when Howard stopped talking, and then Dee started rifling through her notebook excitedly. "They are related, in a way," she confirmed, not looking up. "Same group, essentially, but re-named and with more members, obviously. But most of the leading people of S.C.A.R. now have leading positions on the S.C.A.R.A.B. council... or doing related things, like the Noxwatch." She stopped, her fingers trailing over a loose, folded piece of paper in her notebook. "They're working with the ministry for that. Would that be happening if they were terrorists?"

She glanced over her other notes. "Most of what they have apparently done was reported on by the Prophet, but again, not really citing sources or anything. Sometimes S.C.A.R even publicly denied being involved. Who can say what's true? For example, people having been blaming the Hogsmeade explosion on them. I have not seen a shred of proof for that, or even what caused the assumption. There was an attack, people blame S.C.A.R... I'm not even sure if they were behind the attack on the Hogwarts Express last year."

Leafing back to the notes she had made before, she finally looked back up, tilting her head slightly, watching Howard closely for a reaction. "I do know someone in S.C.A.R., actually. I met them in a bookstore in London. I'm not sure if they were part of S.C.A.R. back then, but they are now. It was a group of Squibs, some of them mixed race, and they were just making signs for a protest or something. I talked to some of them, they didn't seem... violent. Or like they wanted to harm anyone. They made a lot of sense, actually. And then someone smashed in the windows and set the store on fire, with all of us inside." Her lips tightened at the memory. It wasn't a story she had shared with many so far. "They didn't seem like the bad guys back then."

Shaking her head, she looked down at her notes as if to remind herself, then back up. "Yeah! Actually, I wanted to ask how you feel about how Dhampirs are being treated. Both here at Hogwarts and in general. I remember the clashes from last year, and I think a lot of things were mishandled... But do you feel at all like something has changed? How did you feel about the Trial by Fear event last year? I know it was meant to draw attention to the issue but I always felt like it was a terrible approach to the topic." Her face twisted in disgust. She had marched out on the event back then, abandoning the competition, and she still felt the same way about it even a year later. "Publicly calling people out for not liking that they were covered in blood and making it seem like that means they hate Dhampirs or some bullshit like that wasn't the right way."

@Howard White

@Dealla Prince

Howard's brow would raise as Dee told him that S.C.A.R.A.B and S.C.A.R. were essentially the same organization just reorganized. His reaction proved just how powerful the media could be as he had to stop himself from being biased. Just the mere mention of S.C.A.R. possibly being related to the terrorist attacks proved enough to influence his opinion of them, but she made a decent point. If these leaders still held positions approved by the ministry, could they really be criminals? "Wouldn't be the first time the ministry was overrun by the wrong lot." Howard spoke the counterargument as it came to his mind, but he really didn't believe it. The recent attacks seemed much less organized than the last time dark wizards had tried to take over the magical community. This felt much more like a small group of fanatics. However, perhaps that's how it all begins? Howard shook away the thoughts as the began to pile on.

"You're right." Dee pointed out that all of the attacks had been widely reported by the Prophet which they already established could not be trusted. "They would print anything to sell a copy. Regardless of who it hurts." Howard wished he could speak with someone within the organization, but who could really be trusted when the community was so spilt over the issue. Wouldn't both sides do whatever they felt necessary to further their own gains. Humans and even half humans were just too predictable that way. "Isn't there a way they could prove that they weren't involved? Even the Prophet would have to retract if they could prove themselves innocent."

It was almost as if Dee could read his mind when she mentioned knowing someone from S.C.A.R. "Really?" His red eyes flashed with intrigue, but the story would quickly sour as she went on the explain that the meeting had ended in chaos. "That's a shame. Probably trying to instigate them into a fight so they can make it seem like they are violent. Wouldn't be surprised if someone opposed to them had a hand in the Prophet's pocket." Howard's thoughts were running a bit far, but controlling to the media was a powerful tool. Considering how biased the Prophet was being, perhaps he wasn't too far off. "Sorry you had to see somethin' like that though. SHit like that is pretty intense."

The subject would switch to how he felt about the treatment of Dhampirs. "I used to feel like Dhampirs had it bad here at Hogwarts, but I should have done more to seek help in the beginning. I'm not saying that things are perfect for us here, but the school has made a lot of effort in making us comfortable and feel accepted. Obviously there are people here who think like people out there and don't want us here. All half-breeds that is. It used to make me really angry, but that never helped anything and only made it worse really." Howard would talk more on the subject if asked, but then the Trial by Fear was brought up. The feelings were complicated. "I dunno. It was at least an attempt to help, but it just turned into a disaster. You're right that it just wasn't the right way to go about it, but live and learn, eh? We just have to keep trying and learn from the mistakes." Howard paused there to allow for further questions.

Dee tilted her head to one side then the other, pondering his point. “True,” she acknowledged, trying to recall what she knew of magical history. They hadn’t gotten that far yet in class, the most recent lessons had been about the transition from the Wizard’s Council to the Ministry and Wizengamot, and her knowledge about the second wizarding war was spotty at best. “Still, if they were bad guys controlling the Ministry, wouldn’t that have more drastic effects? Shutting up the Prophet, for one.”

Howard seemed to share her low opinion of said newspaper, which wasn’t really a surprise. She had only recently actively noticed barely concealed anti-halfbreed rhetoric the Prophet was spreading. The same wouldn’t be true for the Dhampir, or anyone who shared his mixed heritage.

She wasn’t sure that proving their innocence would be as easy as that. There was a reason courts and lawyers and judges were a thing. It was a tempting thought, though, and she didn’t have a clue if S.C.A.R. had made any attempts in that direction. “I dunno, probably isn’t that simple? Professor Mulrain didn’t say much beyond encouraging me to look into the events, and pointing out a few inconsistencies in the stories. I haven’t contacted any of S.C.A.R.A.B.’s current or former leaders, although I wanted to ask Professor Mulrain if he could get me in touch with them… Not sure if they’d wanna talk to me though.”* She shrugged slightly. “Just a girl writing for a school newspaper, after all.”

A slight pause followed, Dee thinking back to the events of that summer. She hadn’t really considered what the goal of the attack had been; her mind had not gone farther than assuming it had been done to disturb the meeting inside, hurting and possibly killing its participants. It would make sense, she supposed, that it had been done with the specific intent of framing them for a following fight. “If so, it didn’t work: All but Mr Avery escaped out back.” Her thoughts had been along the same lines about the Prophet, though. The biased, one-sided way of reporting found in nearly all its articles was rather hard to ignore. “It’s okay,” she waved away his sympathy. It was now, it hadn’t been back then, but two years provided a lot of time for a young mind to heal. “I’m just sorry it took me so long to connect the dots.”

Her thoughts stayed distracted as Howard answered her question about his experiences ad a Dhampir, although she dutifully noted down his response. Parts of wizard society, both British and international, had been heavily criticising Hogwarts’ decision to open their doors to mixed race students, as the first wizardry school to do so. She wondered if those people would still be talking like that if they actually knew any of said students, if they could hear Howard talking like this. Probably, considering that some people attending the school themselves shared their views.

The corners of her mouth quirked up at his review of the Trials. “Kinda like, any publicity is good publicity, huh? Not wrong, I guess. I just wish there had been something to follow it up - something better, that showed people learned from those mistakes.” She paused again, thinking, eyes narrowed as she stared at her notes. “Kind of like S.C.A.R. and S.C.A.R.A.B., maybe. Bad publicity got them attention. Now they’re following it up with the projects with the Ministry?”

* Letters can be found here, this thread takes place after the first but before the second exchange.

@Howard White

@Dealla Prince

"True." Howard echoed Dee as conversation continued. It would make the most sense that if a terrorist organization had infiltrated the Ministry, the Prophet would have been as well. He was further along in his studies than she and although he was hardly a great student, history was interesting. Coming from the Muggle world it was exciting to learn all about a world he never knew existed until Howard was eleven years old! "You're probably right. If I'm not mistaken the last time the Ministry fell, the Prophet got right in line. Seems like they are always joined at the hip, but who knows?" He offered with a shrug.

Howard would nod along as Dee explained that her contact within S.C.A.R. had encouraged her to look into the attack, but hadn't offered much further help from there. Although slightly discouraging, it did lead to a thought. "Do you think you need this Professor Mulrian to get an introduction?" Perhaps she could just reach out or perhaps they both could? "Or maybe we could try together? If they knew you were helping a half-breed directly, maybe they'd be willing to listen to you or both of us? They shouldn't ignore us just because we are still in school, we need help here too. Proving they aren't involved in the attacks or even presenting it as a possibility is better than nothing." Howard looked to her with a bit of hope. He was not a talented writer by any means, but maybe a collaboration could get a lot done?

It would seem that they were thinking along the same lines as Dee continued. Her biggest regret from the attack she witnessed was that she couldn't connect the dots. Howard regretted the same thing with the Trial by Blood event. Decent idea, but it just didn't connect in any meaningful way. However, perhaps Dee was right. There were many things that had caught a lot of publicity and now maybe they could work together to turn it all into something that would help promote actually change. Students had changed the course of history in both the Muggle and Magical worlds, why couldn't they?! "I think you're exactly right, Dee!" Howard said with enthusiasm. "We could turn all this into something positive too, ya know? Even if its just here at Hogwarts. What do you think?"

There was something thrilling about someone agreeing with her notions and ideas, spurring her on, even jumping further and offering thoughts that hadn't even occurred to her. It seemed they were on the same wavelength, ideas in sync.

Dee grew more excited as the conversation went on, her face animated, voice urgent. She added the occasional note of Howard's thoughts between her own, then looked up thoughtfully when the Hufflepuff asked whether they couldn't try to get in touch with S.C.A.R.A.B.'s leaders on their own.

"It's possible," she agreed slowly. "I think they would be more open to talk to you than to me, at least. Maybe... Hmm." Her fingers started tapping on her notebook as she considered, the pattern arrhythmic, not consciously controlled. "We could try, although I do think it would be easier if Professor Mulrain could open the contact. Already one foot in the door and all, you know? I think I'll try that first, but if he says no, I'd really appreciate your help." She paused, then looked up from her notebook, meeting Howard's eyes if he were looking at her. Her voice was sincere as she added, "I do already appreciate your help. Most people aren't so open to what I have to say about them."

The notion that they could be building on a bad incident to create something better seemed to strike a chord with Howard, and Dee grinned brightly, his enthusiasm infectious. Granted, she hadn't really considered what she, they, could actively do to follow up the disaster that had been the Trials beyond the research she'd been doing, but really, why not? Why shouldn't they? Weren't they in the best position to? Change wasn't something to wait for, it was something they could do. "We should," she agreed, her eyes bright. "Even if it's just a little, a first step..." she trailed off, thinking it over. "What'd you have in mind?"

@Howard White

@Dealla Prince

Howard nodded in agreement as Dealla spoke. A smile crept its way across Howard's lips as they continued their conversation as the two really seemed to click. It wasn't everyday that he got to speak this openly with someone, especially about subjects as sensitive as this. In fact, Howard avoided them usually as in the past it had often led to an argument or a loss of his temper, but it did feel good. Perhaps he had reached a place where he was willing to try and do something about it again. One thing was for sure, it felt good to have an ally.

"Yeah, you're right. You should exhaust that option with Professor Mulrian before we try anything else. I'd be happy to help if noting comes of it thought. Not sure what I could do besides write a letter to the organization, but hopefully someone would be willing to listen." Youth were often disregarded in social movement, but if history taught people anything it was always a mistake to do so. "You're welcome. Honestly it feels pretty good to talk about it again. I have to thank you too for approaching me. Sometimes I forget there are plenty of people out there willing to help." Howard offered some praise of his own and another rare smile. Maybe he had just added another friend to his rather limited list?

Now, the big question. What were they to actually do about all this? The passion for change came easy, but figuring out how to bring it about was the real challenge. "Hmm. Let's see. You are already offering to write an article for the paper. That's huge if you ask me, but maybe we could also do something with a bit more...action. No more trials, I promise." Howard chuckled and flashed her a wink. "But what do you think of something more...public? Something people can participate in? If we can somehow highlight the unity between full humans and half breeds that exists here at school, maybe we can show the rest of the world that there isn't anything to be afraid of. Like a unity celebration or something like that? You could document the whole thing!" Howard wasn't sure if the student body would be interested in something like that, but action along with Dee's written word could go a long way.