Lillian nodded but didn't really talk about her own thoughts of Voldemort. They were made up of tales her mother had told her, her siblings using his name to scare her, and a jumble of other things that managed to work up such an emotion in her. He seemed to be the wizard version of the 'Boogeyman,' and, although she knew that he was dead and couldn't harm any wizard anymore, she still couldn't shake her uneasiness at the name.

Glad that the subject was returning to lighter means, her nod became more enthusiastic as he talked about Hogwarts. "That's so encouraging!" she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I was worried people might look down on me or dislike me for being a halfblood. My mother warned me about that, but she said those people were the ones who felt superior to Muggles and just needed a reason to dislike them. It wasn't something against me." It was something her mother had drilled into her ever since her acceptance letter, much to her dad's horror. Seeing the chance that his daughter might be bullied, he was becoming a bit reluctant to let her go. This warning hadn't been given as seriously to her older siblings but was repeated constantly to Lillian, partly because she was the youngest in the family, and partly because her older siblings were much more confident and would be unaffected or stand up for themselves.

She laughed along at his joke out of politeness, since it took her a second to get it. "I grew up with Muggles. I doubt I'd need a wizard to teach me about them," she said naively, voice brimming with false confidence. She has a habit of thinking of every wizard as a pureblood unless told otherwise and didn't think pureblooded wizards would ever know as much about Muggles as halfbloods or Muggleborns. How could they? They wouldn't have spent as much time with Muggles, that was for sure.

@Bubba McGarry

Bubba hiked his shoulders in a 'who knows' manner. "I'll be honest with you, I don't necessarily disagree," he said, finding a shelf that was half full and setting his books on it, they were getting heavy after a while. "The thing is, and don't get me wrong I love the wizarding world, I've learned so many things that have made my life easier," he paused, trying to figure out how to best compose his thought, "But bugger me, like I get that we've walled ourselves off in our world and I get it, I really do. My dad was in the minority in accepting my mom unreservedly, he didn't run off, but the average muggle would absolutely lose it if they just saw random wizardry in the world," but, he paused again, fully aware that he was off on one now but figuring he might as well finish, "there are plenty of things muggles have that would make the wizarding world a bit nicer. Hell, even just pens and pencils. A quill and ink well is just a massive pain in the ass. Quaint is quaint but come on, you can take some minor things and not lose your identity." He chuckled to himself before finally concluding, "I'm sorry, sometimes when I get going I just have to get it out." He smiled at her, hoping she didn't think he was now absolutely insane, "It really is a great place, great experience, and like your mother said, those people don't care who you are, just what you are, and if they feel like that, it's their loss, not yours."

@Lillian Ward

She laughed a little at his rant, somewhat awkwardly. "But quills and inks are a small price to pay when you get to learn spells!" The only class in school she was excited about this year was Charms. She had seen her mother mutter incomprehensible things and wave her wand, and suddenly, something would start levitating or a broken object would begin repairing itself. No matter how many times she saw it, she still looked on in wonder.

"I didn't quite mind that rant. And, you're right. I am getting a little bit excited, but I think I'll be intimidated until I set foot in that castle myself." Her voice was partly amused, and she wasn't sure if she meant that last sentence as a joke or not.

"Thank you, but I'm really not looking forward to having to deal with snooty purebloods." She shook her head without realizing it, uncomfortable at the thought. Hogwarts itself may be a great place, but it was the people in it that would form the experience. She hoped most of the other wizards she would meet would be like Bubba; friendly and not holding a grudge if she broke some sort of unspoken cultural wizard rule.

@Bubba McGarry

Bubba gave a good-natured laugh when she talked about the trade-offs of being in the magical versus the non-magical world. This is something he just didn't understand. He accepted that there are of course going to be differences, but he felt like it was cutting off your nose to spite your face. What's the harm of having electric lights. Sure you can use candles and your wand, but electric lights just made things easier. He couldn't really help himself but he managed to at least maintain some self-control. "I mean yeah, doing spells is awesome, and if I have to choose I'm going to choose between turning some loud jerk's cellphone into a weasel and cooking some pop tarts, then someone's getting a weasel." He laughed as he said it, even though he realized it was a weak joke, "It's like going out to dinner and saying you can have pizza or wings. Why not just have a piece of pizza and a few wings?" He then added, "And thank you, but in fairness, it was more of a tame rant."

He nodded understandingly as she talked about being intimidated by going and then gave a sad smile when she mentioned snooty purebloods. These were both feelings he knew well. His mother and father had insulated him pretty well from the difficulties his mother had sometimes that came with marrying a muggle, and she hadn't really talked to him about it before her passing. His dad had tried to warn him about it but it was more of a general warning about people being prejudiced. He didn't blame him for not knowing since he'd never experienced it himself.

"Yeah, I totally understand being intimidated," Bubba said in a conciliatory manner, "It was a big adjustment for me. I'd always lived with my family when I went to muggle school." He paused and then continued a bit more sadly, but trying not to get too gloomy, "And then I also went a couple of months after my mother died, so it was a big change for me." He then added cheerfully, "I think every new student ends up intimidated when they first get there, it's just such a big place, but you'll get the hang of it soon enough." Then remembering the snooty purebloods comment, "As for the snobs," he said as a pulled out his wand, "Just hex 'em," he said with a roguish grin.

@Lillian Ward

"I will as soon as I learn how to," Lillian said with a laugh. She hadn't gotten her wand just yet, but was quite excited to get it. She had been told that a wizard's wand almost felt like an extension of themselves, like an old friend you hadn't seen for a while but had finally reunited with. She was a bit skeptical about it, but was looking forward to it all the same.

She was about to comment on how her past seemed to be a bit similar to his, until he mentioned his mother passing. That shut her up quick, and she shifted awkwardly a little, not sure what she was supposed to say. Thankfully, he moved on to happier tones pretty quickly, and didn't dwell on that sentence, so neither did she. "It's good to see I'm not alone. I'll be the one leading a horde of first years in to intimidate all the bullies." She giggled at that, more than she intended to at her lame joke. Clearing her throat, she spoke again, in a more serious tone this time. "But, yeah, I think it boils down to most of us not being used to being in castles. I fully expect myself to get lost and wind up somewhere I'm not supposed to be." She said that last sentence with a bit more humor to cover up the fact that she really was worried about that.

She had grown up in a mid-sized house, and most of her time was spent outside the house anyway. She didn't think she'd be able to navigate a place as large as Hogwarts. Her siblings had told her the castle had five floors! To her, that was three too many.

@Bubba McGarry

"I don't know what you're talking about, I grew up in a 25-room mansion," Bubba said, wondering how far he should try to take it and now curious to see how gullible she was. "I mean obviously it wasn't quite the same as Hogwarts. The pictures didn't move and we didn't have ghosts." He paused, making things up on the fly but trying to act like he wasn't. "And we didn't have house-elves, which is a shame really because they're really quite useful. We did have a maid, Millie, a lovely old lady with the nicest Irish accent, and our Butler named Burt. Burt fought in the war and he didn't like to talk about it but I can tell it wasn't a great experience. Still dealing with me was its own battle." He said with an embarrassed grin, the type that said he was a bit mischievous but really not all that bad. "Still though I was pretty used to the whole big house thing when I went to Hogwarts," he said nodding sheepishly, "Didn't have an owlery though if I wanted to mail something had to walk a couple of miles into to town so that is nice." He was running out of steam now but felt the need to finish with a flourish. "But I do have to say, our pool was way better than the great lake. We didn't have a squid but we did have a jacuzzi. It was wonderful." He finished with a satisfied, wistful look.

@Lillian Ward

Lillian's eyes widened as she listened, nodding slowly. So he was rich? Subtly looking him up and down, she tried to figure out if he was pulling her leg or not. It seemed like he put thought into her appearance, and it's not like she could judge someone by their appearance. A sentence of his threw her off, saying he needed to walk a couple of miles to town. Didn't rich people have servants? He had spoken of a butler. Couldn't he have gotten a butler to do it? Or taken a car, rather? Maybe he enjoyed the exercise. She did have a nagging feeling at the back of her mind that he was making a fool of her, but outright calling him out might also lead to her making a fool of herself if he was telling the truth.

"I'm guessing cars are too expensive, then. Or maybe no driver wanted to accept a job working for you." She accompanied that with a bit of a laugh, deciding the sentence didn't really show whether she believed him or not. She didn't really have reason not to, except for her own intuition, and she always tried to see good in other people. Innocent until proven guilty and all that. Truthful until proven a liar, maybe? she thought to herself, although that strategy would probably lead to her getting tricked at least a few times in the future.

@Bubba McGarry

Bubba raised his eyebrow at her comment about a car maybe not wanting to pick him up. He tried to make his lip curl in a way to indicate that she had insulted him gravely. He wasn't sure but he felt like he'd sucked her in completely. He stood there concentrating as hard as he could at making the face, he felt like he'd done it pretty well. Finally, he just couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing. "Oh dear... oh dear, oh dear." He said wiping a tear from his eye. He had thoroughly enjoyed that. "I live in a two-bedroom house in the middle of nowhere in Ireland. Millie is my aunt. Burt... I dunno who Burt is, just made it up." He smiled at her, it was a warm smile, not malicious. He couldn't help himself, plus a little playful needling never hurt anyone. "You're going to need to work on your bambiesque naivete before you get to Hogwarts lest you easily be led astray."

He liked her, she was very nice and seemed to have a good sense of humor. Those were the kind of people Bubba liked to hang around with. One of his biggest concerns going off to Hogwarts was that it was going to be like one of those tweedy, obnoxious prep schools that were a dime a dozen around New England. And there definitely were as well (mostly Slytherins) but most of them were just normal kids, like him.

"Ok, but seriously though," He said, regaining his composure, "I don't doubt that you'd be at the head of ickle firsties charging down the forces of evil," he said, twirling his wand absentmindedly in his hand before continuing, "But don't get ahead of yourself, you're gonna need to learn some spells or you'll just a bunch of lemmings," he looked over at her and remembered his experience as a first-year. "A bunch of adorable lemmings hurtling towards shame and humiliation -- oh don't look so stricken I'm only kidding." He returned the wand to the pocket of his robes before adding, "If it's a dude, just give him a kick in the knackers."

He ran his hand through his hair, he wasn't sure if it had been ruffled in their collision and he was self-conscious about looking nice, but as he did it he hoped she wouldn't see it as vanity. "Two things two remember if you're going to be the firstie defender," he began and put a finger before continuing, "Never let them see you bleed," he put up a second finger, "And always have an escape plan." He smiled at her before picking up his books, "Speaking of, want to continue this conversation outside?"

@Lillian Ward

When he burst out laughing, she knew she had been made a fool of. Glaring at him, she tried to look angry, although the corners of her lips tugged at a smile as she stifled a laugh. "I see nobody's taught you that lying is wrong," she said, trying to sound serious, but a giggle escaped her at the end of her words. She tried not to take offense at him calling her naïve, and settled for a defensive response. "And you're going to have to work on your honesty lest you be called a liar," she mocked.

She didn't really mind harmless jokes as long as they were just that, harmless. She wasn't too embarrassed either, which was a good thing or else she would've flushed red as a beetroot and it would've been pretty obvious. If he had fooled her in front of other people, though, she might not have felt as confidence. Right then and there, she decided she'd be getting back at him for this, just a little harmless joke.

She didn't really like being called a lemming by someone who was only a year older than her, but she let it slide. He didn't mean it harshly, and she had learned that a lot of times people did the wrong things, they had the right intentions. "Learning spells are the first thing I intend to do. I'm going to knock someone in the dirt, that's for sure." Nope, it wasn't for sure. She'd most likely be the one watching while someone else knocked someone in the dirt. At his next sentence, she burst out laughing. "Okay, that's one thing I'm definitely not doing. There's no way I'm going to be kicking anyone, dude or not."

Finally, his tone grew a bit serious when he spoke of not letting anyone see her bleed and always having an escape plan. "That sounds a little bit too Mission Impossible James Bond-like to me; I think I'll pass. And yes, let's go outside. This place is getting a little stuffy." More wizards had begun to walk in, and the store wasn't as empty or quiet as it had been before.

@Bubba McGarry

He turned and started walking towards the checkout counter, carrying his books under his right shoulder and trying to angle his head to talk back towards her as he walked away, careful not to run into anyone as she had run into him. "Look, I don't disagree," he said as he quickly checked in front of him, "I'm not a fan of violence, it's not me, but at the same time, I don't like to lose. So if I've gotta throw hands I'm gonna throw hands."

He turned as they emerged from the aisles and walked over towards the checkout line with one person in front of them, a little old witch in a dark green traveling cloak, her hat looked like it had seen better days and it was a little top-heavy with a lean that went decidedly towards the right. He laughed at her mention of it being too James Bond or Mission Impossible, "Well strangely it sounds a bit James Bond because it's a quote from James Bond." Then he hiked his shoulders in an unconcerned manner, "I dunno, I'm not much of a dueler, it's not just me, but it seems like good advice." He put the books down on the edge of the counter and saw that the witch in front of them had ten books that were getting rung up and bagged. He could only assume that she either read a lot or didn't get out much, his grandmother had been like that, she would go out once a week and do everything at once. "I take 'never let them see you bleed' less literally. If you're in a situation where you're fighting someone, physically or otherwise, don't show your weakness or wounds." He pushed his books forward as the witch in front of them paid in leave, "And it's always good to have a way out. That's just good planning."

He said hello to the checkout wizard who worked out his bill and told him it'd be 1 galleon, 5 sickles, and 2 knuts. Bubba fished around in his pocket until he'd found the exact change. He really should invest in a moneybag but he really didn't carry wizard money enough to worry about it. He took the bag from the clerk and thanked him, he walked to the door and waited for Lillian to pay for her books.

@Lillian Ward