@Robert Toukmond

"That would be great, if I was put in the same house as you."

Pericles smiled to the side, expression encouraging, and he agreed "I'd like that. Though just know, even if you aren't, you're always welcome to come and see me again. I never mind answering questions or helping wherever I can." It was already apparent that Robert had a keen mind, and the Ravenclaw could appreciate his willingness to learn. He had a strong sense that the boy's guess was right, that they would wind up sharing a House, though only time would tell for certain. With the potions book passed off, Peri uttered a low "'Course," as if his help was to be expected, totally natural, and needn't be thanked.

As cozy as the conversation had been thus far, the boy's tentative way of pursuing information had inadvertently given him away. He breathed a low "Ah" as it was confirmed that the parents he had seen were, in fact, muggles. Yet Robert's active mind returned his question in kind, and for a moment that soft smile turned sheepish. They had followed a jutting finger sign to the section which read Defense Against the Dark Arts. Pericles hummed a contemplative note to buy himself seconds, scouring the shelves while multitasking on an answer. "Well, to tell the truth, many muggle-borns I meet are nervous just before they start school." He selected a copy of the Guide to Self-Protection, offering it out as he elaborated. "Their parents don't have prior experience to offer them, and some worry they won't have the same experience as wizard-borns. Not that it's a thing you should worry about! You'll be learning just the same as the rest of us, and after all, studies show that magical prowess is based on a person's capabilities, not their heritage." Though there were pure-blood houses which would consider this sacrilege, Pericles' family believed in fact. Blood had nothing to do with arcane ability after all. "Next is History, only three books to go."

Interacting with @Pericles Dralt

Robert nodded in understanding as the older boy explained to him that many muggle-borns were nervous about being left behind in the wizarding world, since they hadn't had the same experiences growing up as wizard-borns did. Robert naturally found this crazy. After all, he still had two weeks after today to study all these new textbooks before school started. He couldn't help but feel like Pericles wasn't telling him something, though. The way he had asked about the muggle-born's parentage made it seem like this was something taboo to talk about, not something simply stressful to some people. However, Robert was (surprisingly) able to clamp down on his curiosity and instead realize that if parentage was in fact considered taboo in the wizarding world, the older boy probably would not appreciate him pressing the subject.

Instead, he accepted the book handed to him by Pericles with a quick smile, opening it and looking through a couple pages before putting it with the rest of the books they'd gathered together. He looked up, startled, when he heard Pericles mention there were only three more books they had to find. And, since two of them were history books, that meant there were only a couple more sections of this amazing bookstore to explore before they would run out of excuses to stay. It seemed like only moments before that he had walked into this store, and now they were almost finished? Such is the power of a good bookstore, he reflected.

He did find one interesting topic that Pericles mentioned which he hadn't thought of before. "If magical prowess doesn't come from a person's parents, where does it come from?" Thinking aloud, he continued. "All characteristics of a living being come from either its environment or its parents. If I'm magical and my parents aren't, that means it can't be genetic." He quickly backtracked. "Well, it could be, but only if it was some type of mutation, and the way you and Professor Jensen talked about muggle-borns, it wouldn't make statistical sense for such a large percentage of the wizarding world population to have had the exact same mutation. That leaves environment, but I've never even imagined that magic could be real before my eleventh birthday, let alone been in contact with it. So, what does that leave?" If he was being honest with himself, he would realize that this was just as much a ploy to stay in this magical bookstore as it was to figure out this mystery, but he was quite curious all the same.

@Robert Toukmond

Pericles had tried to pass the subject off as calmly and casually as possible, but Robert was too sharp for all that, and his mind was hungry. Politeness and etiquette- while often a good guide for navigating society- had their shackles. Rules instilled in his upbringing left him wibbling over the topic, over whether or not to tell Robert more. The alternative was letting him hear of blood quarrels firsthand... worse, still, was the thought of him experiencing unwarranted discrimination unprepared. Those strange silvery eyes seemed to glaze as he rolled the "what if"s around in his head. Yet Robert spared him the need to answer automatically, instead posing an outright enticing query:

"If magical prowess doesn't come from a person's parents, where does it come from? If I'm magical and my parents aren't, that means it can't be genetic. Well, it could be, but only if it was some type of mutation."

"Not a mutation- a gene, as natural as they come!" Whereas Pericles had been tender-footed around matters of lineage, here he lit up, buying wholly into Robert's ploy to buy time in the enchanting bookstore. It was as if he had forgotten their hunt altogether, eyes shining and tone taking on the eager edge of a young scholar. This was clearly a subject he was passionate about. "Muggles might consider it 'supernatural', but magic is everywhere- it's simply a recessive gene in some of them. Granted, there are exceptions, like squibs: those who are born to magical parents but lack magic themselves. The inverse are muggle-borns like you, a witch or wizard with two muggle parents. That's quite common really, though squibs are rare. It isn't easy for them either.... I read about it in My Life as a Squib, the autobiography of Angus Buchanan." His excitement was dampened by a sheen of pity, smile softening and eyebrows creasing. Pericles imagined muggle-borns to be fortunate: they had all technological know-how alongside magic, but to be a squib, to see magic in one's family while unable to tap into it... he couldn't fathom the feeling. "That's why it's normal for squibs to marry muggles. Then, the magical gene is passed on, showing up again in later descendants. Maybe you have a squib in the family?"

Realizing only a moment too late that he may have dropped a bomb of familial mystery on poor Robert, Pericles got back on track with facts. The topic had been awkward to address bluntly, but here, approaching it along a meandering path of information, appeared far more comfortable for his sort. "A half-blood is a witch or wizard- or 'wix'- with one muggle parent and the other magical. A pure-blood is someone with 'wholly magical' parents, no muggles involved. At least, if there are any, they were either too far back to track or omitted. The terms are outdated in my opinion. For centuries, pure-blood families believed they could ensure wix descendants by strictly uniting with only other pure-bloods...." Peri had carried on casually, his gestures drifting and slow, though at this he hooked his thumbs into his pockets. "My father says it's mostly rubbish." The Dralts were fortunately a more "forward-thinking" family, granting Peri the benefit of a more open mind. Yet he was also a boy between generations, born of those who were raised by parents who believed in purity, only to accept the truth of the matter in their lifetime. While the boy was born being taught acceptance, he was also painfully aware of how novel- and often controversial- this way of thinking was. It was up to their generation- students such as Robert and himself- to truly banish the stigma from the future.

"A muggleborn could cast a spell just as effectively and potently as any pure-blood, so it isn't as if there's a 'strength' to the gene ensured by breeding. Discrimination based on blood-type is archaic, and more importantly unfounded by research... though I'm sorry t'say, it still exists in some circles...." He seemed intent on reassuring the first-year, or perhaps Peri was naturally optimistic, as he abruptly added "There's a lot less of it going around since You-Know-Who's time!" The heir was so immersed, it had not even occurred to him that the "Who" wasn't exactly in muggle books. He gestured down the line, seeming to remember the mission they were on, and assured as he resumed walking, "You'll read a great deal more about all that in the history books."