@Santario Martin | @Aurora Ranvier | @Dakota Olson

Howard would take the fountain pen in his long fingers, taking a few moment to twirl it in between his digits. It seemed nice as the varying shades of green swirled around each other to decorate a well crafted piece. He had grown so used to the quill and ink well that it almost felt foreign in his hand. "Been a long time since I've held a pen. Years I suppose." Howard spoke in a quiet tone as this once again reminded him of his past, but he wouldn't let that draw out long. "Too bad it's in those awful Slytherin colors." He said with a wink as he held it back out to Santario. Howard was hardly one for house pride, but it was always fun to tease.

"Aye." He echoed Santario's reassurance to Aurora as he held up his hand. Turning the back of his hand towards her put his claws on full display. "They ain't just for being pretty." Howard joked with a chuckle to himself. He knew full well that the elongated and discolored nails that extended from his fingers were slightly off putting to most, but he didn't care. "Yer welcome, now do try and relax. Ya know, we could play around with that hair color if you'd like." He hoped it was enough to settle the little one as he motioned to his wand. The hair color changing charm came to mind.

The conversation would shift as photographs were produced. Santario would move to get a better look, but in doing so she would suddenly end up much closer to Howard than before. His nostrils would flare instinctively as he took in her scent, registering it within his mental catalogue. Her hand would brush against his arm as she repositioned. Oh teenaged hormones. The slightest accidental touch from a pretty girl and all the sudden he was all smiles. "Not to worry." He said through his silly grin.

"Oh, sorry." Howard had assumed that Dakota was laughing at him, but it turns out that she could sympathize with wanting some peace a quiet. "Big family, huh?" That was something he knew nothing of as he was an only child and had little extended family. He'd pause for a moment to reflect on that, wondering what it must be like to siblings and grandparents. A part of him would be jealous of course, but it sure did sound terribly noisy. "Oi! Look at that!" Howard would lean forward and place his long index finger on the photo of Dakota's family's farmland. In doing so his knee would bump Santario's as his long legs took up more space. He however wouldn't bother to apologize. "Imagine all that space." Of course he knew that such a thing existed, but growing up in a city such a thing always seemed far fetched. Like the lords and ladies of old as they ruled over their lands. "Yo, do you all have like big American trucks and tractors and stuff?'

Santario would comment that she too was an avid photographer which made him curious. "Got anything we can see?"

Interacting @Howard White @Dakota Olson @Aurora Ranvier

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Interacting with @Santario Martin @Dakota Olson @Howard White

Quite fortunate for the brunette girl by ended up in a compartment full of nice people who could and would understand. Intimidating on the outside, maybe hello kitty on the inside, just like her step father. If she were with the wrong lots, they probably will either kick her out from her seat or making fun of her trauma. Some people in Hogwarts has anger issue that they need to work on, including her, apparently, but let’s not get into that for now. The excitement on Howard’s face made Aurora thought he was not familiar with a muggle invention called a pen. The one that the Slytherin has was way fancier and surely much more expensive than her less than one pound ballpoint pen. But still, she was quite surprised that he recognised the writing instrument on the spot. “You know a pen? The last time I showed my pen to someone, she was trying to eat it. But mine is a regular shmegular pen, unlike that.” The memory of that Hufflepuff girl, Melody, was quite comical. One of the first few acquaintances in the wizarding world that she knew, but barely seen her anymore, probably busy with school and things Aurora did not have the knowledge of. The fact that the pen eater was a pureblood could be the reason why the object was strange, as if it came from an unknown planet, brought by the UFO. It was still mind boggling for the Ravenclaw, honestly. She did not know some magical people were very behind in terms of their familiarity with muggles.

The previous reassurance admittedly did not make the scaredy cat less worried about her safety. She was calmer now, yes. Not calm enough to make her stay on her seat if something brush on her skin, however. Then a nail set on Howard’s fingers caught the attention of the young girl. Despite the discolouration and the length, it was somewhat unique and intriguing. Maybe it was the ‘Scratch Your Enemy’ type of style trend in the wizarding community. Is there any nail salon at Hogwarts? “Ooh! Cool!” Aurora moved her head closer to admire the magical nail salon masterpiece. “Are those acrylics or real?” Not understanding of the meaning of boundary, she would try and touch the nails out of curiosity and would continue doing so if he let her. The next offer from the older boy warmth her heart once again. Who would have thought he was as fluffy as the clouds. Her brown eyes once full of horror now filled with a glimmer of excitement, not noticing the wand motion that indicated it will be done with magic. “Y-you have a hair dye? Right here? Right now?”

Her focus shifted to Dakota’s photos. Each one of them made her want to live in the countryside instead and live that cottage core lifestyle, have a tea party with cows and chickens. What a dream. “Do you name and sleep with your cows in your bed?” Aurora legit thought Dakota’s family taking care of the same way as indoor cats would. Sleeping in bed with pillows and blanket and all that. Then Santario shared her photographs with the whole group. Stunning was the word that matched each of the shots. It looked like something you would see in a magazine or professional advertisement. “Wowie! You have mad talent! Those are beautiful!” Then, a question pounded her head. “Wait a second, I thought technology won’t work in Hogwarts, is your camera enchanted or something? Is it possible to do that?” What a peculiar thing magic was. It slowly made sense, some spells and potions could regrow bones, obviously making technology work in a place full of enchantment would not be impossible, right? “And is it going to work with phones? My ears can’t handle the absence of Taylor Swift music. I don’t even keep up with the beauty gurus drama anymore.” Wouldn’t it be fun to confuse the purebloods with muggle things? “And TikTok, I could make TikTok in Hogwarts! OH! That Glarrington and Charlie would be so confused! This is exciting!” To make it clear, Glarrington was Violet Carrington, her lifelong nemesis since the quidditch scrimmage happened, and Charlie was Everly Charlton, the one who saved her from the terrible asthma attack back in charm class. Just imagined the look on their faces to see the mostly cringy TikTok contents and muggle movies made her all giddy and over the moon. And last but not least, the most important thing of it all, “AND I COULD PLAY THE SIMS IN HOGWARTS!?”

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Dakota had been silently listening to the conversations going on around her, blue orbs flickering between each new person speaking as she seemed to be keeping track. Letting out a soft breath as a way to keep from laughing at Howard and Santarios interaction, it was quite interesting in her mind. Though Dakota had openly giggled at Auroras words, tilting her head softly “tried to eat it?” a bit of interest shone in the girls gaze “well, I guess that kinda makes sense, especially if your friend had never seen one before,” tilting her head as she spoke, Dakota seemed to be think about it for a moment before nodding, as if silently confirming her words to herself.

Though Howard had been most likely speaking with Aurora, Dakota shifted to look towards the boys nails he had been putting on display. Interest shimmered in her gaze as she peered towards the discolored and longer nails. It definitely wasn’t something that off putted Dakota, in fact the girls curiosity was peaked at seeing these. Though Dakota also hadn’t familiarized herself with the races of this world, instead, she’d prefer to get to know the animals here. It wasn’t something that was all too important for this world, at least, what Dakota was sure many witches and wizards believed, but Dakota found learning about the creatures to be something special.

Dakota had waved her hand at Howard’s apology, mumbling “no need,” as she seemed to be searching for something specific in the little journal that sat on her knees. Though, when she seemed to process the fact that she had been asked a question, her gaze went to Howard “oh—yes, actually, not including my moms side even,” on her fathers side remained many of the people she was close with. Her two older cousins were like brothers to her, of course she also had her siblings and plenty of other people that enjoyed peering over her shoulder to make sure she was alright.

Flipping another page, she seemed to find what she was looking for as she pointed down towards a photo with a bull standing in it, the sunlight that shinned on it seeming to be revealing the silver along its knees and ears. Maybe this was funny timing as once she had finished flipping and a array of photos displaying farm animals had been shown, Aurora had asked something. Turning to look at the girl, Dakota tilted her head before giving a soft snort, seeming to find the question a little laughable “sorry, erm, we name and number them but they stay out in the pasture or fields or in the barn if it’s storming,” with this, she turned her attention back towards the other Hufflepuff. A soft smile spread along her face as Dakota nodded her head “yes, we do, also dump trucks and I think a forklift, my cousins and siblings and I use to ride on the back of one and help peel the green stuff off of corn before feeding it to the cows in the fields,” sealing her lips for a moment, Dakota turned her gaze onto Santario.

Scooting over, Dakota peered at the photos that Santario was now showing. “Wow..” Dakota had breathed out, blinking up towards the Slytherin girl with a smile “they’re gorgeous!” enthusiasm was swirling in Dakotas voice. She genuinely found these photos amazing, something her Mimi would probably love to examine.

@Howard White
@Aurora Ranvier
@Santario Martin

@Santario Martin | @Aurora Ranvier | @Dakota Olson

Howard would simply smile as Santario joked that she was fated to love the color green. Although he had struggled to remember her name at first, the memory of their first meeting was coming clearer as they spent more time together. A pleasant debate about destiny as Howard awaited a reading from the Divination professor. At the time he had been sure they were fated for certain things, while Santario was strongly against the idea. For Howard that belief had lead him down a dangerous path for sometime, but things were changing for the young man as the ideas of free will and choice started to prevail within him. He wouldn't comment on it further, but would shoot San a knowing look.

"Yeah, I know pens." Howard replied to Aurora with a playful eye roll. "I..uh..wasn't born like this." He gestured to his Dhampir features as the proper words to describe his nature didn't come to him. "I'm Muggleborn actually, so I'm used to pens. Still not convinced on this whole quill and parchment business. Leave it to witches and wizards to be stuck in the dark age, yeah?" As much as he had become accustomed to the magical community, some things would just never make sense. Like using owls to send post? Most adults can literally teleport and they trust those freaky things with their packages? "Yeah, they get weird around Muggle stuff. Not sure what the hang up is. The ink is on the inside...wow." Howard said in an exaggerated tone as he gestured with "jazz hands".

Speaking of hands. Howard would show off his claws as he and Santario tried to convince the younger student that there was nothing to be afraid of. However, he couldn't help but laugh at her response. "What! No!" He said between laughs. "They ain't fake. Hundred percent organic I'll have you know." Howard held them closer as she leant in for a better look. His thumb and index nail would click together as he tapped them. "Suppose they could use a fresh coat of paint though. They always look so...blah." He finished with a shrug. "Nah, I don't have dye, but we don't need it." Howard would reach forward to retrieve his still lit wand. "I know a spell. Huh? What'dya say?" He asked with a bit of challenge.

Red eyes would shift as Dakota acknowledged the size of her family. Suppose with all that land there was no harm in filling it up with people. "Wicked!" He responded with a hint of glee when she confirmed they had tractors, dump trucks and even a forklift. A quick mental image of himself sitting on a farmhouse porch with a bit of straw in his mouth made him chuckle. Howard White: Dhampir Farmer.

Santario would produce some photos of her own after Howard asked if they might see her work. Talented was an understatement as he looked them over. The different lighting, the various angles. He knew nothing of the craft, but he knew what he was looking at was well above average at least. His eyes would search for his own image as she showed them pictures of the Quidditch matches of the year. "Hey, I remember that." He spied himself in the background of one of the previous summer camps. "Anything but boring, eh?"

Howard would simply smile as Aurora questioned the function of cameras in the face of magic as the energy had a way of making electronics malfunction. The truth was he had no idea why it happened or why it didn't effect cameras. Maybe because certain ones relied on mechanical pieces instead of battery powered? Was that even right? He kept quiet as to not misspeak. "Oh damn. A TickTok for Hogwarts?" Howard had heard of this latest trend, but he had been superheated from Muggle society for too long to have participated. All sounded like a bit of toss if he were being honest, but the mental image of people duck facing with Hogwarts in the background was pretty amusing. From there he would sit back into his seat and let the conversation continue.

Interacting @Howard White @Dakota Olson @Aurora Ranvier

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