Closed A Promise of Disaster PV Bubba

"Yes! It should be, I fully agree," he agreed vehemently. Alan did not get why some sentient beings had less rights than others and why wizards deemed it normal to oppress other creatures. "But the way SCARAB is going about this is entirely wrong and I wish there were less violent ways to do this, there is even a student who sneaks articles into the final prints of the Hogwarts Headliner, claiming how dangerous half-being creatures are!" He shook his head, this was really just awful and he wished there were more students standing up for what was right in a way that was good.

"Yeah, most wizarding households treated them as slaves, which was abhorrent, they also barely had clothes and most had to dress up in like rags, because apparently the only way for a house elf to be freed was if they were gifted a piece of clothing," Alan shuddered at the thought alone. "They were oppressed and weren't allowed to wield wands, because in theory their magic is natural and they don't have to bother with learning spells so wizards kind of feared their power I guess, they were forced to do a wizards every bidding... even after they were basically freed from slavery they barely earn money in most places, they trick them with just enough knuts to get by and only since recently were they given permissions to wield wands," he sighed sadly. And the injustice didn't stop there. Alan was no expert in the topic but he had studied a little bit on the topic because of Polry.

"My family actually employs a house elf, his name is Polry and he is basically in charge of the staff at house and deals with everything that concerns my parent's manor, he is very nice so maybe you can visit us and meet him one day," he said with a smile. Alan agreed with Bubba's example, when he compared it to a potion and he was a little frustrated with the topic and how there was so little that could be done.

"Oh no that is horrible, have you at least gotten treatment quickly?" he asked with a little bit of worry. It was stupid to still worry, after all it was something that happened a while back. But Alan still hoped that Bubba didn't have to go through getting poisoned again. "Wait how did you get detention, if you got shoved?" he asked and couldn't suppress the bit of laughter. This was a weird but kinda funny situation. "What was the detention like and who gave it?"

Bubba was visibly disgusted at the revelation that some kid was railing against half-beings in the Hogwarts Headliner. "That's so effed up. How do they let them get away with that? Surely whoever runs the Headliner should be able to put a stop to that." He shook his head sadly, it basically made him feel like they were making his point for him. "They do stuff like that and people wonder why things are so messed up. No wonder SCARAB does the stuff they do. I feel like people only resort to violence when nothing else is left to try." He knew he was being a bit naive by the end but he also thought there was some truth to it. Sure, some people liked violence, but most just wanted to be heard, and violence was certainly a way to get others to listen.

He felt distaste building within him as Alan talked about the history of house elves. It was absolutely deplorable. How could people he assumed to be so enlightened be so downright evil to creatures that should be viewed as their equals? Fear of their power might be a good theory but Bubba got the feeling it was more just plain superiority. The same people that thought the purity of your blood or color of your skin made you better than someone else. House elves were different and therefore not so much subject to contempt but below notice. "After the slaves were freed in America similar things happened. The States that had slaves would pass laws that basically made non-white people second-class citizens. It's gotten better but the fight for real equality still goes on today."

Bubba was positively shocked to hear that Alan's family had a house elf themselves. He was also flummoxed at the thought of him running their staff. Just how big was their house if they needed a staff? Instead of asking that question, Bubba asked the more important one to him, "Have you guys always paid him? What is that even like having... staff?" The idea was completely foreign to him.

Oh, the detention. How would he even describe it? It was downright odd to him. He completely ignored the poisoning question, he didn't like to talk about it and regretted mentioning it. The detention, however, he was happy to discuss. "Sam Salwis gave me the detention, it was all a bit... odd. Like I can't explain it, she just seemed to take more than a passing interest in me. And was oddly flummoxed for a prefect just trying to give a detention. As for why I got it, I mean all I did was use a few... choice words... to describe what happened."

Interacting: @Alan Vanes Mentioning: @Samantha Salwis

"I wish, but there were already a couple of articles on like dhampirs for example, that were just truly horrible," he said with a sigh. "My best friend is a dhampir and that article meant a truly bad time for him, he did end up burning the article in the middle of the Great Hall which was quite the spectacle," he said with a chuckle at the memory, though it was a bit sullen due to the heavy topic. But Alan still managed to smile at Bubba despite their conversation topic. "I just wished that SCARAB wasn't a criminal organization that targets a school with a bunch of innocent kids, they attacked the train once and made our compartment explode..." he explained to Bubba, shuddering at the memory, before forcing himself to push the thoughts away.

"Well we didn't really have staff for that long and we don't have a lot... it's nothing fancy like that. A few years back my father got sick and while he is now doing well, it was easier for my parents to just hire people to help out with the household, but yeah, as far as I know the staff is paid generously and my parents treat them well," he explained with a shrug. "It is kind of nice though, they are a great help for my parents, who are often busy and if I am home they have a lot more time for me," Alan added as he glanced at Bubba. Alan never really thought about how unusual it might be for some to have hired help at home and for him too it had been an adjustment at first but he didn't mind. Back then it was something his parents had needed and now it was just something that had been integrated into their every day life. "The kitchen help my mom hired also make the very best hot chocolate and scones," he added impishly. He was not even kidding, whenever he was busy or had a craving for something sweet, they had the best medicine at hand for him; baked goods and a hot chooclate!

Alan laughed at the description Bubba gave him for the detention incident. Not laughing at him, but generally at the situation itself. "You got into detention for your choice of language? That's kinda funny," he grinned. He didn't really know Sam that much, aside from knowing that she was part of the Ravenclaw duelling team and had been a prefect for a while. She seemed to be nice however, which made it a little surprising that he had gotten detention that quickly. "I didn't think Sam would be that strict," he added still laughing a bit. "What did she have you do?" For that he was actually curious. He often wondered about the detentions other prefects came up with, because he himself barely gave detentions. Then again he was usually oddly lucky when doing patrols or only found some mild rule breaks that were usually resolved by sending the respective students to their dorms.

Bubba nodded sadly as he listened to Alan talk about what had happened to his friend. It was horrible, despicable even. He was truly shocked that nothing had been done to stop it. It just seemed like something that the school could easily put a stop to. "I totally get what you're saying," he said as he listened to him lament SCARAB's actions, "It's a school and we're not defenseless but we can't really protect ourselves, and the teachers can only do so much." He said sadly, "I can only imagine how desperate they are for change if they feel their only option is to do that. I get it that they feel the need to get attention, but... surely there are other ways." He wasn't sure what else to say about it, or for that matter, what to say about his friend. "I'm really sorry about your friend, that's a horrible thing to do. It's just because people fear what's different from them." He smiled sadly as he added, "Still, I respect the way your friend handled it, because someone had to say something."

"That's good to hear," Bubba said with a nod as he listened to Alan talk about his family's staff, he still thought it was odd to have staff for a house but he guessed that if they could afford it, his dad would quite like some staff too. "I guess the image we have of rich people in America is that they just have staff that wait on them and they treat them very poorly. As long as you guys treat yours with kindness and respect that's really all that matters." Bubba laughed as he talked about hot chocolate and scones, who couldn't love that? "It's just my dad and I since my mom died, so we've had to adapt but we get by. My dad does make a mean shepherd's pie" Then he quickly added, "I'll never say no to hot chocolate though."

Bubba shrugged, "I called her a bitch, and that's exactly what she was being." He paused for a moment and decided to give a little more detail. "So I was just sitting by the lake, relaxing, and this other girl literally walked straight into me. Like she wasn't even watching where she was going." He said, getting more animated with each word, "And then she just kept berating at me and being really rude, then she picked my bag up and threw it in the lake." He paused and then added with aplomb, "And then she threw me in."

He continued and talked about getting the actual detention, "So she shows up, and I am getting out of the water, and for whatever reason Sam is looking at me and she just goes 'oh my god' whatever that means. And she's like - staring at me - it was really weird." He paused again, trying to recall everything that happened exactly, "And then the other girl goes - 'you just like him' - and Sam got super defensive. And... well it was just weird! All I did was get out of the water and - like what did the light hit me weird or something? Seriously she acts like that the throws me in detention!"

Interacting: Alan Vanes Mentioning: N/A

”Yeah, Howard is great and I totally agree with what you are saying as well. I understand that the topic is important and that something has to change, but there are other ways to spread a message than fear and pain,” he nodded in agreement. Alan glanced at Bubba. “Are you from America?” he asked the other boy, suddenly curious. He had found out many curious things about the wizarding world in America before and had a lot of questions about the individual habits and laws he learned through rumors and occasionally his parents mentioning stuff.

“I’d love to judge that one day,” Alan said with a chuckle, trying to lift the mood after such sour conversation topics. “A shepherds pie sounds incredibly delicious, I like them a lot,” he added. He wasn’t aware that Bubba no longer had his mom, but he would make sure to remember as to not cause any sorrow in his new friend.

The story that Bubba began to paint in the Gryffindor’s mind as he was telling him about the incident at the lake was so vivid, he couldn’t help but snicker slightly, especially when he reached the part, not being able to hide his indignation about being thrown into the lake, Alan couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, this is serious but it’s also kind of funny! I hope you knew how to swim?” he asked, still chuckling but forcing himself to calm down. Alan grinned when he began talking about Sam throwing him into detention. ”Did the other girl got into detention as well at least?” he asked. Maybe he needed to speak to Sam about this, the situation was very amusing after all and Alan hadn’t expected that Sam would hand out detentions so easily. But the both of them did insult each other, so maybe he too would have given them detention? Alan shook his head, smiling brightly at Bubba.

"I am, indeed, from America." Bubba said with a smile, "I'm from just outside of Boston, Massachusetts." He figured America was a big place so he'd try to narrow it down for Alan. "I don't know how much you know about American geography but, Massachusetts is in the Northeast, if you know where New York is, it's a little North of that. We have lots of rivalries with New York sports teams." He then realized he could also put where he's from in wizarding terms, "Oh, even better, in wizarding terms, the Salem Witch Trials... we haven't covered them yet but I'm sure we will... anyway, Salem is a bit Northeast of Boston but not far at all."

Bubba was happy to hear that Alan was a fan of Shepherd's Pie but decided to test his knowledge, it was fun and a bit less serious than their previous topics. "Aha!" Bubba said suddenly and pointed playfully at Alan as he continued, "But do you know... the difference between a Shepherd's Pie and a Cottage Pie?"

Bubba was pleased, but maybe slightly annoyed, that Alan enjoyed his telling of the events that happened at the lake so much. He could only assume that it was something in the way he told the story or... well, something. Still, it was clearly a sore subject. "Of course I can swim," Bubba said indignantly before continuing, "Regardless she didn't get me far, so it was a quick jaunt back to shore, and yes - she did get in detention too." Bubba said, frowning at the memory. "Instead of doing lines we had to do letters, apologizing to each other... mine took a while... well to be clear I wrote a lot of letters... that didn't take long... but Samantha kept making me stay because I wasn't 'sorry enough'."

Interacting: @Alan Vanes Mentioning: @Samantha Salwis

Alan listened carefully to the information as he tried to map out the area within his mind. Perhaps this would have been easier to visualize on paper or something. He took a look around and grabbed for a small stick and began to draw a rough outline, that barely looked like the US as it was, into bare spot in the lawn that revealed the ground beneath. He basically drew a rectangular box with a rounded bottom line and small shapes extending from the right-side corners. It was rough and while without context would look like a mindless doodle in the ground, with the context Bubba would probably be able to guess what it was supposed to be. He then circled in what would be the Northeast area of the country and nodded to Bubba. "So about there?" he asked, half expecting the younger student to be confused anyway. "This is so cool though, I heard there are a lot of different laws about muggles and wizards in America, they even have a different term for muggles altogether, it would be like a culture shock to visit there I'm sure and must have been for you too when you moved here," he began to discuss excitedly.

"Of course," Alan said, mocking indignation when Bubba decided to test his knowledge about shepherd's pie. He shook his head with a grin. "Every child knows that the difference is in the meat that was used, of course a shepherd would use lamb, which is the traditional way of making it... But since it's not the most common choice of meat, the term Cottage pie has been made for those who use beef and all that," Alan said, nodding proudly at the small lesson he was giving in cuisine history, or whatever this was called. "Either way it is quite delicious," Alan argued in the end with a shrug.

Alan snickered slightly, but also nodded a bit in understanding. He liked the idea of Bubba being kept there longer, because he was too prideful to actually write a proper apology to the girl. Though from what was being said, even though Alan only knew his side of the story so who knew how accurate it was, he clearly didn't feel like he was the cause of the upset in the first place. And he had been the one who was thrown into the lake, so he wasn't the one who had escalated it either. "I am sure you took creative freedom to the term apology letter," Alan pointed out, the bit of interaction with him had let him know that Bubba was prone to causing trouble and enjoying moments. There was no judgement in Alan's voice however, just curiosity. He never quite got the habit of being forced to be writing apologies or having to apologize for something you didn't do or didn't feel guilty of. Because that just meant the apology meant nothing at all, since it didn't come from the heart.

Bubba watched with great amusement as Alan tried to draw a rough map of the United States. And it was very rough. It looked like something a badger in the midst of a fit would draw. He could tell roughly what it was but it really was quite dreadful. Still, he could work out where everything was and didn't want to end up being rude. "Yeah, that's roughly where it is." He said looking at the map, trying to keep a straight face. As he listened to Alan he tried to remember as much as he could about the wizarding laws in America but he was so young when they left he didn't remember much, still he decided to tell Alan what he could remember. "So, yeah, in America we have 50 states. So the national government has its set of laws, and then the different States have their own different laws too, and then smaller parts of States can have their own laws. It all sounds quite confusing to me - and that's just the muggles." He decided to pause for a moment to let that sink in. He'd learned that much in school, but his knowledge of magical governance in the United States was considerably less. "We moved away when I was really young so I don't know that much about magic there, I know they call muggles no-majs... and I think their ministry is called... MACUSA? Maybe, I dunno like I said I was young."

As Alan expertly broke down the difference between cottage pie and shepherd's pie, Bubba put on a face of faux amazement on his face, as if he'd never met someone who knew the difference. "Ok, fair enough, not many people at Hogwarts seem to know that at least." He gave him an appreciative nod before continuing, "I know some people don't like it with lamb because it's gamey but I think it's good, but I'll eat either." He paused for a moment before continuing but decided Alan seemed nice enough to him in a bit more, "While my mom was still with us Sunday dinner was either shepherd's pie or roast pork. We liked to celebrate both sides of the family with our food."

Bubba grinned broadly as Alan speculated about Bubba's ability to write his apology letter, this he didn't mind talking about at all. "What ever would give you that idea?" He asked with a chuckle, "I had some fun with it, and by fun... I mean I can be really stubborn and I didn't think I had anything to apologize for." He said as he raised his hands in a 'what can you do' expression. "So at first, I wrote a non-apology, which I thought was great... Samantha did not... so from there, each letter got a little less passive-aggressive until eventually the last one just said. 'I'm sorry I called you a bitch'. I gave Samantha the paper and told her that was the best she was going to get."

Interacting: @Alan Vanes Mentioning: @Samantha Salwis

Alan frowned as Bubba went on with the explanations, though he had seemed to recognize the map he had drawn and approved of his understanding of the location of the state he was from, so what more could Alan ask for from his awful doodling skills? They had served him well enough for once or perhaps Bubba was just imaginative enough to make sense of the mess. Alan wouldn't be bothered to find out and took it as a small victory. "That all sounds very messy," it slipped out before he really thought about it. He couldn't wrap his head around one country with so many states and all having individual laws and that kind of stuff. It sounded like cause for a lot of confusion. Then again he would imagine that the wizarding world in Brittain would cause a lot of confusion too to someone who had not known of it previously, so he gave a soft hum as he thought about it for just a moment.

Alan was kind of happy that he had passed Bubba's little pass. "Roast pork also sounds quite nice," Alan found himself say with a light smile as he glanced at Bubba. "We don't really have any special food traditions unless its like a special occasion, like a birthday or a holiday," he added with a slight shrug. "But for birthdays it is usually the birthday person's requested meal," he explained, grinning now.

Alan thought about Bubba's words again, mock thoughtfully before he would reciprocate the grin. "I mean your side of the story makes it sound like you had nothing really to apologize for, except for maybe some hurt feelings but there are always at least three sides to a story," he said with a shrug. But he could imagine that whoever prefect had given him the detention must have been either quite amused or annoyed, or perhaps a mixture of both. He also liked how that apology letter resulted in just one sentence that was said in the least apologetic way, because it never really apologized for the situation, just that he said it out loud, but Alan wouldn't point that out because he was very sure that it had been intentional.

Bubba laughed when he talked about America being 'messy'. "It kinda is based on what my dad tells me. I was obviously not around long enough to really know anything but my dad follows it closely. It seems like with so many states and radically different sets of values across the country, a lot of times, the way things work, the minority view wins out over the majority." He shrugged before adding, "I don't know, it doesn't seem very fair to me but... don't have to worry about it living over here." Bubba privately thought that based on what he knew about politics in Ireland, it seemed much better. People disagreed but with a smaller country, the disagreements weren't as stark. He'd have to ask dad about it the next time he saw him (if he remembered).

"My dad's side of the family has a lot of German in it too so we'll have German stuff sometimes," Bubba said as they continued to talk about food. He loved having the German stuff, it was so different from the things they normally had. "We'll have sausages, red cabbage, spaetzle, all sorts of interesting things when we have a German night." As Alan talked about his family's food traditions Bubba tried to think of what his ideal birthday meal would be. Something German for sure but what, something from the family recipes for sure. "We normally just go out to eat on people's birthdays in my family... if it were something home-cooked..." he thought for a minute longer before finally deciding. "My grandmother had this amazing recipe for sour beef and dumplings... it was so good. That and some German chocolate cake would be a great birthday dinner."

Bubba shrugged at their continued discussion of the lake incident. He was really starting to be over the whole thing, he just wanted to get on with his life at this point. "I definitely don't think I had anything to apologize for but, it's blood under the bridge at this point. It is what it is." He finished with a shrug. At this point, he just wanted to change the topic. He searched in his head for something new to talk about. Unfortunately, he was having trouble thinking of something interesting. Finally, he gave up and said the first thing that popped into his head, "So, ever give a detention for anything interesting?"

Interacting: @Alan Vanes Mentioning: @ N/A