Closed The Element of Surprise PV Maya

@Atticus Wade

When it came to magical mail, she would often get it right away from the owl service. But when it came to muggle mail, it was not so easy. Most of her days, she would be in the Wizarding World at Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, never getting her muggle mail. She found it a great investment to pay for a mailbox at the postal service building in Scotland; nearby where she worked.

Maya knew it had been awhile and that mail was possibly accumulating. She expected that most of the mail was junk mail, in which, she was looking forward to recycling the minute she opened the box. The key went into the hole of the mailbox, and as she turned it, she could feel the tension from inside. It was definitely filled to the brim with mail. Most were junk mail. She began to separate between junk mail and important mail-- the former being more than the other.

It wasn't until she saw a letter that came from "DVLA" that made her wonder. Did she pay her insurance on time? Why was she getting a note in the mail from them? Maya opened the letter to find that she needed to renew her driver's license and needed to go in for a new picture and update her information. Typically, this could be done over the computer, but she thought it a great idea to wait in line. Doing something muggle-related really brought joy to Maya. What better than to wait in line for a long time and people watch.

Arriving at DVLA, she stood in line for a good 30 minutes until finally, she was inside. Sitting down, she pulled back the hood of her cloak, revealing herself, waiting to be called upon by a social worker. Most muggles were staring at their phones, but there were a few who were looking around, too. It was not as interesting anymore than it was years ago before cell phones. Life in the muggle world shifted to technology.

As Maya was scanning the room, someone familiar walked in. It was none other than Hogwarts' cowboy, Atticus Wade. His presence obviously peaked Maya's interested. She got up from her seat and went to sit next to Atticus who was filling out his forms.

"Here of all places. What brings you here, Professor Wade?" she asked with a smile. Maya never had a conversation in their years working together. But from afar, there was something about him that made him feel like a mentor more than anything. She had no idea why, but she always wanted to figure it out.

Hexcode= #946F6F

Atticus looked up to see a familiar face attached to an unfamiliar voice and simply held up his papers before going back to working on them. She was a fellow professor at Hogwarts, and although it was odd to see her here, Atticus knew better than to be surprised by coincidence by now. In the wizarding world, everything was interconnected somehow and this was just another of life's interesting connections. Every so often in his age he had noticed that companionship would arrive in the form of a mysterious coincidence he could solve. Being that she was the muggle studies professor this one had a seemingly simple answer but that didn't pique his curiosity any less.

"Registration." He begrudgingly let go with a deep sigh as disappointment furrowed his brow and the papers hit his lap. "Apparently the Bureau of Motor Vehicles' standards aren't quality enough for the folks here." Expertly, he leaned over and whispered to his peer, hoping to cut her off before she asked the question. "and you might think I could just conjure up whatever papers I'd need, whenever it is I'd need 'em, but I've an appreciation for muggle identification processes."

Somberly, his voice lowered a bit as he recalled the past. "My old man made certain of that."

Shifting in his seat, trying his to get comfortable despite the seeming impossibility of such a feat, he recalled the memories of his first experience learning to drive. "Course when I started driving we didn't even have seatbelts, so I guess this is a fair par for the course," a chuckle would break the cloud hanging over his recollection. That business about old men getting lost in nostalgia was proving itself truer and truer as the years passed him by.

There was the matter of coincidence to address however so as he ticked off the various boxes, adding his signature to the forms and initialing wherever it was needed, he reflected her question back at her. "Strange turn of events seeing you here though," his eyes came up from the paperwork as he spoke, giving her a sidelong glance that would likely obviate his suspicion. "Can't be too often two wix-folk take a driving test. Let alone on the same day, at the same hour, at the same location." As he finished his paperwork, he folded his hands in his lap, raised an eyebrow and dropped the question. "You here for pleasure or business, Miss..." Her name escaped him in the moment.

@Maya Galim

@Atticus Wade

Maya looked at the old man and couldn't help but the smile at him. There was something about him that just gave that 'grandfather' feel that she never had. Perhaps it was the playfulness of his tone or his relaxed demeanor. Give or take, he was like a distant memory that came to greet her in the present day.

"It is good to see someone enjoying the muggle struggle," she said with honesty, although it sounded more of a joke. There was something about muggles and their use of time that was beautiful to Maya. Instead of getting things done in a blink of an eye, muggles would most commonly take things step by step. The Department of Motor Vehicles was a good example of this. "A driving test. Sounds brutal," she added, thinking about her first drivers test and how she got the 'wrong' person the first time around and had to do it again. It was never about how you drive, and rather about who was conducting the test.

"While I can always go to the local library and handle updated information online, I'd rather come and people watch," she said, holding her papers in one hand. Maya was there to update her residency as she had to change her muggle address. She lived in Hogwarts, but rented out a very cheap, small apartment in the muggle area and used that address for all muggle-needs. From time to time, she would also stay in her small apartment, but it was unlikely as her job often relied her to stay on campus.

"I'm just changing my address on all documents," she said with a smile. Again, she looked at the old man with the thickest mustache she had ever seen. The child in her wanted to poke it and determine how deep his mustache really was in relation to her finger. Would it be an inch? Would it be more?

"You know, you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago. He was a mentor of mine and raised me intellectually," she said, thinking of her late mentor, Professor Schine. He was a man who often told her not to forget who she was when she figured out she was magic. He, too, was a man of the Wizarding World, but he enjoyed the muggle presence more, which she admired. If it wasn't for him, she would not understand or have the urge to explore different cultures around the world.