THIS IS PART 1 OF "TRIP TO LONDON"

It was believed that the more an individual goes through their own exploration, the more they create memories. While having fun in tents that were miraculously bigger than what they are from the inside or conversing with one another under the stars or at a barbecue, it was time to have a meaningful learning moment for students to see the other side of the world: the muggle world.

For most students, worlds remain separate; for others, both worlds are blended together in perfect harmony. It was today that students were to tear down their personal barriers of magic, or show pride in their knowledge of muggles.

It is early in the morning, approximately 7:15am. The sun is slowly creeping up into the dimly lit sky and the slight nighttime winds were warming up. Professors @Elaine Pendrast, @River Dewlight and @Maya Galim, and Prefect @Jack Warren were awaiting students at the east side of tents. There, was a large yellow bus. It was believed by the staff running this trip that if they were going to learn about muggle London, they were going to fully experience it.

"Good morning. If you are here, it means you would like to explore London from the lens of a muggle. This is a learning activity where we will start with a tour of London led by Professors @Elaine Pendrast and @River Jemari, and Prefect @Jack Warren. It will end with a fun museum headed by @Boniface Murtagh MacTavish and myself," said the muggle studies professor, @Maya Galim.

"During our tour, there will be no mention of wizardry and magic. Knowledge of our worlds are to remain separate. We must do our part to blend in. Furthermore, conducting magic will not be tolerated," Maya added, her voice stern. It was a point that was to be taken seriously. Muggles were not allowed to witness anything magic-related. The repercussions that could occur if one did magic would have dire consequences on the student as well as the school and its staff.

"Please find yourself one partner and sit together on the bus. You will be together for our first half of our outing. On your seats, you will find a brown bag. It is your lunch for today. Keep it with you," Maya said thereafter. Brown bag lunches were as muggle as things were going to get. Food did not appear out of thin air. They were going to get a usual brown bag special: egg or tuna sandwich, apple or orange, animal cracker cookies, carrots or celery sticks and a large water bottle. Granted, the students were able to find food for themselves as they walked along, but it was a gentle reminder that they are living the life of a muggle for a day. The professors knew it would be a breeze for those who were Half-blood or Muggle-born, but those who were Pure-blood or Wizard-born may have a harder time with the drastic change in scenery.

Maya moved to the side and ushered the students to make their way into the bus. She knew it would take some time for them to find their tour-mate. Teenagers were commonly indecisive and their early start made up for a lot of dead time such as finding a partner and making their way onto the bus.

While Maya would love to be a part of the tour, she had other matters to attend to. She looked at Elaine and River and gave them an approved nod that she was done here. "I will meet you all during lunch," she said, and Maya walked back to the campsite, readying the second half of today's trip to London.

[Maya left thread]

OOC Guidelines for this thread:

- This thread is moderated by Professors @Elaine Pendrast and @River Jemari, and Prefect @Jack Warren.
- This thread is open only to Hogwarts Students (no iNPC from Ilvermorny or Durmstrang)
- In character (IC), this takes place on July 8th and lasts from the early morning until early evening.
- Refer to Hogwarts Summer Camp thread for more information on this and other activities.
- All posts must still exceed of a minimum 200 word count or higher.

The muggle world wasn't entirely foreign to Jack. Growing up, his mother had a somewhat volatile aversion to the wizarding world. The only glimpses of magic he had discovered was the occasional flick of his mother's wand. Maybe to do the dishes, or quickly clean up a mess. Thankfully, Mrs. Warren wasn't the type to completely shelter the boy, but muggle London was like a family reunion of sorts. He felt comfortable there, like sleeping in your bed after years away from it.

Getting up was the hardest part of the morning, but as soon as he was up, the boy reared to get going! The Hufflepuff prefect dressed up in a nice white t-shirt, jeans, and a bright red hat that he wore backward. His messy hair stuck out in several different directions from the edges of the cap. The hat was really only an excuse not to comb his hair. Bounding up the steps into the bus, Jack peered up and down the rows of seats. This was his first outing as a prefect, and he was sure not to mess it up. With a casual fluidness, he nodded to professor Jemari as he passed. Jack plopped his butt down in the back row because everybody knows that the back of the bus is where the cool kids sit.

Interacting with @Jack Warren
Open to other interactions

London. Jess had always wanted to go to London, to walk the streets and see the sights. She knew that this was technically a "muggle tour" meant to teach pure-blooded students or even the occasional half-blood how the Muggle world operated, and, being a Muggle-born herself, Jess hardly needed an introduction to the life she had known for the past eleven years. But still- it was London. Who cared what the purpose of the trip was, if it meant that she could visit the city that she had been longing to see even back when she had lived in New York? Jess looked around, wondering if the crowd of kids that surrounded her had grown up surrounded by magic and were going on this trip to learn about Muggle life, or if they were Muggle-born like her, and simply here to explore the city and participate in the summer camp's events.

Jess's thoughts were cut off by a Professor's words, warning the students that while on this trip, they were forbidden from using or talking about magic. That's fine, Jess thought to herself. She had grown up keeping her knowledge of her own magical abilities to herself, as her parents had feared what would happen to her if someone powerful- in the government, perhaps, were to find out that she was a witch. The entire concept of it, of her being able to use and control magic, solidified by the letter she had received inviting her to Hogwarts summer camp, was still fairly new to Jess. She was getting more and more used to it as the days passed, though, constantly surrounded by traces of magic and other people just like her- other witches and wizards.

Once again, the Professor's speech cut through the stream of Jess's mind as she bid the students to find a partner for the trip who they could sit with on the bus. Oh- Jess thought. Oh no. While she had spoken to a few other students during her time at camp, Jess couldn't really spot anyone that she knew in the crowd. Desperately hoping that someone she was at least faintly familiar with had already boarded the bus, Jess stepped up into the vehicle and walked along the rows, glancing from side to side as she tried to look for familiar faces. Having reached the end of the bus aisle, Jess realized that there really was no one for her to sit with on it, and to go back to the front of the bus would mean inconveniencing the people that had boarded behind her, so she couldn't do that, either. Crap.

Turning around to look at her side, Jess saw that the very last row of the bus was still unoccupied, save for a boy who looked a bit older than Jess already sitting there. With a flash of recognition, Jess realized that this was the Prefect who was supposed to help guide students on the trip. Well, if he was a Prefect, he was supposed to be nice, and willing to help out kids like her, right? Right? "Um, hi-" Jess said, trying not to think about how tall the boy was, or how cute his hair looked sticking out from under his cap like that. "Can I sit here?"