"A shame, though I suppose you will have plenty of time to get to know her, when you make it on the team," he said. "Perhaps I will come cheer for you, unless you are up against Gryffindor of course," Alan offered without much pressure. He was truly interested in checking it out and from the very little he knew thus far about Bubba he couldn't help but think that with Bubba as a friend life would certainly never get boring. However what he said next kind of amazed Alan and made him curious. "So you went to a muggle school before? How was that? Is it any different? And what are the subjects and the homework like?" the soon to be sixth year gushed out a waterfall of questions, while the excitement in him undoubtedly grew with every next question he had asked the boy. He also listened to his explanation about rally racing, which was even more fascinating. It sounded like a game, or sport, that Alan would probably enjoy a lot. Alan loved jogging and running and if there was some kind of club that offered it in Hogwarts, he would probably not hesitate to sign up for it.

"Yeah, I heard she fell into the water so I don't think she got hurt, but some are more strict I guess," he said with a chuckle. He did feel just slightly bad that George had gotten into detention for it, but at the other hand, he did not worry too much, because George had at first enjoyed it until it had all gone downhill, fast. "You got poisoned? How did that even happen?" he exclaimed in confusion and studied the kid momentarily, just to make sure he was truly alright. Which seemed silly as he had said it had been a while since it happened. But still, could never make too sure that someone was alright.

The sudden shift in demeanor when Alan mentioned being a prefect himself caught the Gryffindor off guard and he was about to protest, when he narrowed his eyes at the boy. He was not exactly sure if he was serious or not, but Alan tried to not make it noticeable that he had been falling for whatever was going on even a second. But he couldn't help the little sigh of relief that had escaped him when Bubba seemingly calmed down and relaxed as he leaned against a tree, Alan shook his head in disbelief. "You are truly evil, you know?" he muttered with a grin, that defeated any meaning these words could have held. "Gryffindor though, so no worries, even if you probably weren't worried at all, what about you?" Alan slightly tilted his head, as he looked up to the other boy, which he had to do now since he was no longer sitting down.

Bubba allowed gravity to do its job as he slid back down the tree so he was sitting again so that Alan didn't have to crane his neck to look up at him. He smirked as Alan talked about rooting for him unless they were playing Gryffindor. It reminded him of Red Sox fans. Red Sox fans rooted for two teams every day, the Sox and whoever the Yankees were playing. That was just how it was at Hogwarts, house loyalty almost overrode friendship when it came to events, which was alright really. They were just sports.

Bubba laughed when Alan asked about muggle schooling, but it was a warm laugh. He was used to getting the question, "No need to ask if you're a pureblood then." He said with a smile before launching into muggle schooling 101. "Well first of all the homework is basically the same. You use your class notes and the textbook to write the answers down, the subjects are what's different." He couldn't believe he actually had to think about it. He'd only been at Hogwarts for a year but already it seemed like he'd forgotten a lot of what muggle school was like. "Right, there was math, english, science, arts, geography, history/social studies. History and social studies are basically the same thing they just changed the names in and out. That was my favorite subject." He paused, trying to remember the rest of the question. "Biggest difference is that Hogwarts teaches us actual spells, real skills we can use. I guess english and math are skills but otherwise, they don't really prepare us for life after school."

Then Alan asked him about getting poisoned. He decided he'd tell Alan what happened but not actually tell him who did it. He wasn't a snitch and he wasn't going to rat Hunter out. Plus, he wanted to get even with Hunter on his own terms. "Basically," he began, "I was told this person - I'm not going to tell you who it was so don't ask - was really got at potions. I get really anxious," he paused, not sure about opening so much to someone he didn't know. Still, any friend of George had to be okay, "Especially around exams, so I asked him to make me a Draught of Peace." He paused again, trying not to let the memory flood too far into his mind, he had no interest in reliving it. "He gave me what I thought was the potion, expect it was a mixture of doxy eggs and belladona." The memory made him grimace, it was one of the most painful days of his life. "Long story short there was a lot of vomit, fortunately, a kind soul came by and had the antidote so I was ok."

"I was half joking," he said honestly as he took the record off the player and replaced it with Led Zepplin IV, resetting the needle. "Prefects can be a bit stuck up and inflexible - no offense, it's part of the job - but you're friends with George so you must be ok." He turned the phonograph on and turned it down a little so they could talk and listen at the same time, "This is Led Zepplin IV, the end of the first side has one of the best songs of all time on it. The first record," He held up, Brain Salad Surgery, "Is really mind bendy progressive rock, I threw you in at the deep end. Prog rock is known for being long and full of improvisational sections. This is a bit more mainstream." He said as Black Dog started to play.

"As for being a Slytherin, it's kind of a joke but not really, I kind of have it in my head that all Slytherins are pureblood snobs." He said as he returned to his sitting position against the tree. "I know it's a bit prejudiced but in fairness, none of them have been particularly nice to me yet." He reached out to scratch Tiger on the ear but stopped halfway, thinking he should ask first, "Think Tiger would mind if I pet him?" He quickly added, "Ravenclaw by the way."

"I guess my questions did make that very obvious," he replied with a nervous chuckle. Alan did not really put too much value into the whole pureblood and non-pureblood discussions. He couldn't care less about someone's background but he felt deeply sorry for every stone that was placed into a muggle-borns path by some people who were not raised to be open minded about everyone and everything. Alan however did quite enjoy the explanations. He had asked George before, but he had refused to tell him more and Alan wasn't quite sure why George obviously did not want to talk about it. But Alan didn't mind dropping the topic whenever George seemed to not be comfortable talking about it. However with Bubba that was not the case, because Bubba told him all there was to know about Muggle school.

"You have a class for arts? Also how does Muggle science look like? Is it also like brewing potions? Is there an alternative to some of the subjects we have? Like for example herbology or care of magical creatures? Because surely muggles should talk about all the fantastic animals you have... like toucans and fennec foxes," the soon to be sixth year did not stop talking and the excitement in him took over once more, especially once he got to talking about the animals, the golden specks returned to his eyes, more prominent even than before. But then he thought about how Bubba talked about the downsides of the Muggle schools and how little preparation for real life issues it taught, how little one got educated on basic survival situations and the golden specks dissipated as if being overwhelmed by the natural green in Alan's eyes. "That sucks... I am glad you are here now then," he offered with a grin.

"Yeah, I am uh... friends with George, we've known each other for quite a bit," he said with a smile. He did however try to take what Bubba said as a compliment, after all. But he didn't get a lot of time to ponder over this, because Bubba began to show him more records and Alan tried to memorize all of it. "Do you have a favorite?" he asked as he began listening to Black Dog, once he began to start playing it. It was indeed different from what was playing before, but Alan did not know enough about this type of music to really know so he decided to enjoy the music quietly.

"There are quite a few people from Slytherin who are really nice, but I'm sorry to hear you haven't had great luck with those you met," he offered, grimacing at the mention of the word 'pureblood snobs' since he despised this part of the world he lived in. Why couldn't people just get along? He welcomed the newest distraction and nodded quickly. "Oh he loves pets, but be warned once you pet him he will demand them every time he encounters you while prowling around! Alan chuckled and it was clear to the eye that he cherished this cat as much as he would a beloved family member, because to him Tiger was just that.

"I've got nothing against purebloods," Bubba said with a shrug. What a person did and how they treated others influenced his opinion of other people and nothing else. "We all have magical blood in us now, no matter where we came from." Bubba had seen prejudice in the muggle world as well and he just didn't understand it. Differences were what made life interesting, if everyone was the same things would get quite boring. "In the wizarding world it's blood, in the muggle world it's race. I feel the same about either world: treat others you way you want to be treated." It was what his parents had taught him and good enough for him.

Bubba's face split into a wide grin hearing how excited Alan was to hear more about Muggle schools. It was fascinating to him how something so ordinary could be extraordinary to someone else. Then again he supposed it was the same for him when he joined the wizarding world. Things he found amazing were just mundane to them. He'd heard about fifty different questions in there and he decided to answer them in no particular order. "I suppose herbology and care of magical creatures are combined in muggle schools to just general biology. The study of living things, they were part of science class. The closest thing I think muggles have to potions would be chemistry, which also is a type of science class I think, but I never got that far, that's a high school class I think." He paused and tried to keep his train of thought going, "Let's see arts, yeah arts is like drawing and painting, just trying to stoke creativity I guess. Then if you want to sing or play an instrument those are subjects too. In terms of animals though, I love animals but a lot of people take them for granted. They like to look at them in a zoo but that's about it." He had to pause again, he was talking so much about muggle school he was almost running out of breath. "In terms of other similar classes, obviously history is just history of magic without the magic, but there's nothing I can think of that's similar to charms, defense against the dark arts, or transfiguration."

Bubba couldn't help but notice some hesitation on Alan's part when he brought up George. Maybe he['d been wrong, they seemed to be good friends in the detention but something seemed... off. He didn't want to press though, as it was really none of his business. He pivoted quickly to records to prevent any possible awkwardness. "A favorite... wow that's tough. It's hard to pick a favorite because the great thing about music is there's always music to fit your mood. Some favorites though... well you're listening to one now... hmm some others. AM by the Arctic Monkeys, Simulation Theory by Muse - those are both newer bands. Let's see back to the older stuff... The Stranger by Billy Joel and... to give you a round five... Abbey Road by the Beatles. But honestly, it's all about music that speaks to you." He said as he absent mindedly scratched Tiger behind the ear.

"Exactly!" Alan exclaimed and nodded in agreement. He also had no idea why people just couldn't let people live their lives in peace. "Blood purity and all that stuff is totally unnecessary and it doesn't even mean that much, it shouldn't mean anything actually! The only time where blood makes a difference is the start of the journey," he added and let himself fall backwards into the grass, now lying. Stuff like that could even get the usually calm prefect heated. "I like the saying though, it applies to all situations in life and if all people would live by it, the world would be a nicer place and we too would not have to worry about threats like S.C.A.R.A.B. et cetera," the older teen mumbled, before pushing himself back up in a somewhat sitting position, by using his elbows to prop himself up.

Alan however did enjoy the extra amount of information he was given and nodded his head every now and then to symbolize that he understood what Bubba was talking about. "That is interesting though, I would probably be very torn about whether or not I would like biology, because science and herbology might bore me eventually, but I love learning how to handle and care for different creatures... I heard I might get to learn about Phoenixes next year and I already look forward to it, I hope we get to see a real one!" he explained in awe. He doubted that seeing an actual phoenix was going to happen as it was quite the unrealistic expectation given their rare status, but Alan dreamed of one day seeing a real phoenix. They were simply majestic creatures and also had been a reason as to why Alan was dubbed the phoenix for some duels. Especially Santario called him that. "I would probably suck at art though, I mean it is fun, but all I am good at is silly doodles that I make when a class gets too boring," he chuckled. Alan was no artist, unlike Jake who would have probably enjoyed that class a lot. "But a lot about muggle school sounds interesting, I did just a little bit of research on Muggle sports before, because of the yearbook from last year. It had a question asking what sport I would like to do if I were a muggle or something like that," he explained causally.

Alan once more fell silent as he listened to Bubba's list of favorite songs. "Oh I know about the Beatles, but the others sound new to me... well I don't actually know about them or their music but I have heard of them," he said, before instantly correcting his statement as to not give Bubba some false image of him actually being knowledgeable about this kind of stuff. "But you're right, music is amazing and I wish there was more music one could listen to at Hogwarts, but I guess now that they sell these music phonographs, it will no longer be just a silly wish. I will have to see whether I can go to a place that sells records or something," he began to ponder, as he watched Bubba pet Tiger, which let a soft smile appear on the older boy's face. Tiger seemed to like him, which was a good sign for Alan!

As Bubba listened to Alan talk about the unimportance of blood he was glad to know that Alan seemed like the good kind of wizard. The purity of blood matters about as little as the color of the skin. Actions speak louder than words and that's how he chose to define himself. Alan seemed to be getting a little worked up and Bubba didn't want to stop him but he also didn't want to have upset him. Fortunately, Alan laid down and seemed to be alright, then Bubba was thrown for a loop, "Sorry, Scarab? What's that?"

When Alan started talking about muggle schooling more, Bubba suddenly realized that he may have been a bit unclear. It sounded like Alan was most interested in zoology than biology. "Sorry, biology isn't really studying animals per se, more life in general. They told me that in a couple of grades we'd be dissecting frogs or something, which I don't think is what you meant. I guess zoology would be more like care of magical creatures, and then there are marine biologists that study life underwater." Bubba silently shared Alan's concerns about art, he wasn't the artistic one, that had been his sister. Besides the odd doodle Bubba wasn't really artistic at all. He was creative, he just had trouble expressing it in a way other than words. When the conversation turned to sports Bubba became much more interested. "Oh? What are you interested in of the muggle sports? My favorite is baseball and then racing. You probably don't know much about either, though, given that baseball's American and racing uses cars."

Bubba looked over at his phonograph, it was definitely one of if not his most prized possession. It brought him so much happiness away from home and he couldn't think of life without it. "I got this in a dingy little store in Diagon Alley. I love mine, really glad my dad got it for me. In terms of building your own collection, there are plenty of record stores in muggle London. I can make some starting recommendations if you want but it's really down to you to find what you like. Everyone's tastes are their own."

Bubba continued to pet Tiger, who seemed to be enjoying it, when Stairway to Heaven started playing on the phonograph. "Ah," Bubba said with a serene smile on his face, "This is an absolute banger."

"Oh," Alan muttered with a glance at the younger boy. It was a surprise to him that Bubba hadn't heard about the group yet, but he also kind of envied the Ravenclaw for his unawareness. "It's some terrorist group, trying to stand up for squib and creature rights, but in all the wrong ways," he said a little disappointed. "I think their name stands for something like Something Advocating Rights for All Beings; they are very dangerous individuals" he explained with a shudder. "They used to call themselves S.C.A.R."

"Dissecting frogs? Why would you do that? I hope they weren't killed just for that?" the boy exclaimed in shock and horror. Also teaching something like that to kids? Alone the thought of such a lesson could have made him nauseous. "I don't think I would have liked biology after all..." he said jokingly, leaning back and looking up into the tree, where every now and then the leaves were rustling faintly. However he would have liked zoology! But sadly that was not a real subject in school. He thought for a bit, trying to remember the name of the sport he had researched a bit for the answer in the yearbook. "I think it was called track? It was like jumping and running, that kind of stuff. I am really good with running or being fast," he explained with a grin. "But yeah I don't really know baseball or racing, well i know broom racing but that's it," Alan chuckled.

Alan nodded. "Sure I would like some recommendations, that would be fun," he agreed with a smile. He was unsure when he would have the opportunity to visit Muggle London again. It was always so exciting to see it. Alan began listening when Bubba pointed out the song and tilted his head slightly. It was a very good song indeed! "What's your favorite place at Hogwarts? I really like the Lake and Courtyard," he asked then, once the song had come to an end.

Bubba was shocked to learn that there was a terrorist group in the wizarding world. He'd obviously heard about Voldemort and Grindelwald but he'd thought that all of that was in the past. This was news to him but it didn't really make him worry much and the most he thought about it he supposed there would be fanatics in every society. "Really?" Was all he finally managed to get out, "I'm just surprised, I mean we have terrorists in the muggle world but the wizarding world seems so... I guess unified? Like we're all wizards, I didn't think there'd be much to fight about."

Bubba laughed at Alan's exclamation of shock and horror at the thought of dissecting frogs. He'd never really thought about how messed up it was but now that he did, it really was. Killing some defenseless animals for no other reason than for a bunch of kids to poke around at its insides. "I guess it is messed up when you think about it," he said with a shrug, "I think it's done so you can see how organs and stuff are inside of animals." He could only guess that care of magical creatures was much less... clinical. "Wizards seem more inclined to live in harmony with nature and animals. I know we still eat them for food but muggles are... they're more what you'd call consumers I guess. We chew everything up and spit it out. A lot of muggle medicines are tested on animals." He was disappointed to hear that the only muggle sport Alan knew anything about was track. Bubba had no interest in track, it was just running for the sake of running. When he played a sport he wanted to do something. "Yeah, I'm more interested in the sports where you actually do things rather than running and jumping for the sake of it That's just me though."

Musical recommendations though, he could do musical recommendations. Something from each category for Alan to sink his teeth into. "Hmm... recommendations. Let's start with a few simple ones." He racked his brain for good starter bands or musicians. "Billy Joel, he's American, plays the piano, the writes a lot of stuff that people can relate to, well muggle people at least." He added with a grin. "Led Zeppelin is really good, classic rock that inspired a lot of harder rock and heavy metal." He paused for a moment, thinking some more. "The Beatles, they were a real revolutionary rock band a little further back. BB King, he played the blues which is a lot slower, but rock and roll took a lot from the blues. And for one newer act... hmm... the Arctic Monkeys. They're British, the first band to really get their start on the internet." Yes, he thought, that's an excellent starting place for muggle music. Well his type of muggle music at least.

"My favorite place at Hogwarts." He said with a laugh. "Well let's start with my least favorite places." He counted off hon his fingers, "Not the Abandoned Toilets, as I got poisoned there. The Great Lake is low on my list as I got thrown in recently. The dungeons are too bloody cold." He thought for a moment, "Probably the grounds in general, because I like being outside, the open spaces allow me to think and explore ideas."

"For the most part maybe, but there are many things that aren't great either... for example you know the way house elves used to be treated, right? Giving them rights was a big step for wizarding society, but now SCAR or well SCARAB came along and decided that either everyone gets rights or no one," he began to explain the gist. "At least they started getting loud shortly after the house elf thing happened, it's insane really," Alan added. "I mean there is however obvious tension, it's gotten a lot better since there is no 'Dark Lord' anymore to make things bad or claim all that pureblood nonsense, but even nowadays squibs and muggle-born still face prejudice by older generation wizards and families, you know?" Alan tried to explain all of that to the best of his abilities. "I heard a rumor that Hogwarts is the only school allowing mixed breeds and talents to attend their classes, like half giants and the likes," he murmured.

"Yes, very," he said with a affirming nod, dissecting frogs just to show a bunch of kids who probably didn't even care to learn about it, was a bit messed up. "Wait you guys test medicine on animals? Why? That is horrible!" this was even more messed up then having a bunch of children dissecting frogs for since, or equally messed up? Alan sighed. This was terrifying. "Well I do like football, but the one you actually play with your foot oh and like tag? But that's not a real sport is it? Just a game," he murmured.

Alan listened to the recommendations, nodding every now and then and trying his best to remember all of them, but he was sure he would forget half of them. Well not Led Zeppelin or the Beatles because he knew those already know. He doubt he would forget about the Arctic Monkeys simply because their name sounded very funny. But well he would have to see about getting his hands on the music if he ever had opportunity to do so.

"I don't like the Abandoned Toilets that much either, I don't see the point of hanging out there, but I do love the Grounds as well, I think we both agree on the outsides then," he said with a grin. "Well the Lake isn't that bad, but I guess getting pushed into it isn't the most fun... though, was it warm outside when you were pushed?" He asked impishly.

"I mean that's the way it should be isn't it?" Bubba was very confused by the way some magical people and creatures had rights and others didn't. He had thought wizarding society was a bit more enlightened than this but it seemed like was just as flawed as muggle society. "Don't get me wrong, violence is almost never the answer but everyone should be equal Where I come from some people didn't get rights for a long time and some still don't have them, but I thought wizards were better about that." He supposed this is just one of the things you had no way of knowing entering the world while also being one of those shameful things no one talks about. "And house elves, I've never seen one but I know what they are. What were they basically slaves before? Just cooking, cleaning, doing whatever else for nothing?" The very idea of it disgusted him. What kind of horrible person could do that to a sentient creature?

"I don't know a lot about it, just sometimes you see in the news people protest about it." Of course, it was messed up but there wasn't much he could do about it. He was just a kid, but the sting was taken out of Alan's indignation by what he'd just heard about how they treat their own magical brethren. "I guess they view it as like testing a potion. They have an idea and then they have to see if it works. But it's totally messed up."

"To be clear, I only went to the Abandoned Toilets because that was the meeting place. This person is really good with potions but he didn't want other people to start asking. At least that's what he said to get me there, obviously, I learned otherwise." The Lake isn't bad, easy for him to say, he'd gotten detention out of it with that odd prefect, Samantha. She had acted very peculiarly around him. "It was warm but still, I got a detention out of it, and I was the victim!"

Interacting: @Alan Vanes Mentioning: @Samantha Salwis