Sharing Secrets PV J. Brown Closed

Jane stumbled around clumsily as she ran through the hallways. She had promised to meet Ford at the abandoned toilets twenty minutes ago, but was looking for her handy calculator. Her parents being Muggles- quite happy to send her off to Hogwarts- packed her bag with all that a Muggle student would need. This included pens, pencils, erasers, and a calculator. They paid no heed to the "NO MUGGLE DEVICES" rule, because, as Jane thought it, they hadn't read it anyway. Jane's robe pockets held items that could get her suspended, yet she carried them along. 

Back in the Muggle world, Jane had never cared for electronic devices. She thought they did what humans should have done for themselves- calculate problems, talk, and even more. Yet, as she entered Hogwarts, where everything had one explanation- MAGIC- Muggle devices seemed so much more magical. They were made with electricity, by hardworking people, unlike magic that just DID things for the wizards and witches. And though pencils and erasers were not so much more magical to her, she brought them for Ford. Jane had never cared for quills or ink, as they always flowed rapidly, making her assignments look horrifying, though her cursive was honestly very beautiful. Jane decided to use  a deep black pen for her assignments, and pencils and erasers for scratch work. The same could prove useful for Ford.

Jane burst into the abandoned bathroom, noticing a quite impatient Ford.

"Sorry for my delay...I had to look around for my-" Jane stopped herself, closing the door, and lowered her voice to a whisper, pulling out her calculator. "for my calculator. I thought you may be interested in it. It was easy for me to bring one into Hogwarts, my Muggle parents just buried them in my suitcase. But I had come to see your device, hadn't I? Though my family used it regularly, my memory did not do justice to me, now- what was it called? An i-something, was it not?" Jane replied. She found herself quite talkative- and talked quite rapidly- but she also found that she did not want to waste her time talking slowly. She waited for Ford to reply- and, of course, for him to bring out the object.

Ford looked around cautiously as Jane finally arrived. They were the only two here, save for an old ghost that made horrible moaning sounds. He had been wary of her at first and was still a bit suspicious, but after listening to her blubbering on and bragging about how she had once met Harry Potter for the past twenty minutes he had decided that she was not a threat. The boy vaguely recognized the device that his companion held out. It was something that Muggles used for one of their school subjects... what was it again? Max? It was like a logic class, but with numbers.

The young Ravenclaw had always wished he could take a class like that. He knew many of the concepts behind it from his research and found himself using it in everyday life quite frequently. Yet he was jealous of the Muggles who grew up with formal training in the subject. If he'd had such opportunities, perhaps his projects would not have involved quite so much trial and error. Ford had briefly looked over the Hogwarts curriculum when he had first been told that he was going here, but the closest thing he could see was Arithmancy in fifth year. Maybe Muggle Studies? Still, this was no time to be daydreaming about school. The boy returned his mind to the matter at hand.

He looked at Jane, who was eagerly waiting for him to reveal his contraband. She seemed much more interested that he would expect considering that she was apparently from the Muggle world. In truth, Ford found her very intriguing. He'd never met a real Muggle before, despite his intense interest in their lifestyle. His father would never have allowed it. Of course he supposed she was not really a "Muggle" per se, since she was attending Hogwarts. But this was about as close as he was going to get for now.

He pulled the rectangular device from his pocket, holding it out for her to take. He had not planned on letting her touch it, but for some reason he felt that he could trust her. She had shown him these objects that could get her in trouble after all... "It's called a smart phone." Ford explained. The back screen glistened under the flickering bathroom lights. "You can use it to write words without having to pick up a quill, and send messages to people all the way across the world in a second!" These things were probably arbitrary to Muggles, but the wizard-born boy could not hide his passion when he spoke about them. The concept of instant messages was incredible when one was used to waiting for birds to deliver messages. "And you can use it to pay for things or play games or remind you of things- like a Remembrall, except it'll actually tell you what you've forgotten, and-" He paused, realizing that he was starting to ramble. "It's like a little computer that you can hold in your hand. You're from the Muggle world, right?" He looked at her with intense interest. "Did you have a computer?"

Jane smiled at his explanation of the smart phone. "Ah! An i phone! I knew it! The rest of my family had those devices; couldn't live without them. When I was back with my family, I did not care for them, for I believed that people should do their own work. Here, MAGIC does all the work, and electronics have become magical. These items are man-made, magic-free. And if I remember right, the phones come with a camera- they take clear portraits or photos of the surroundings, though they don't talk or move."

Jane was taken aback at the "Muggle" question. Here at Hogwarts, Muggle-Borns weren't important and could even be considered an insult if it came from rude, stuck-up Pure Bloods- though not all Pure Bloods were rude. But, to Jane, it seemed as if Ford found being from the Muggle world interesting, or a privilege. 

"Indeed I was, Ford," she replied. "And no, I did not have a computer, for my parents would not buy me one, for I was their dishonorable child who was known of as being a witch- dark and evil to Muggles. But my family did own two computers- large, bulky things, the desktop ones. They were magnificent, now that I look back. But, once, for Christmas, my mother bought my father and brother a laptop each- sleek and efficient. Both laptops and computers- and smart phones, as well- connected to the internet and World Wide Web, where websites shared information, provided games you could play, and even provided other forms of communications." Jane spoke quite quickly, and spoke a lot, but believed Ford valued this knowledge- unlike others.

Ford nodded, pondering Jane's tale with more interest than he normally would. The Ravenclaw boy seldom took an interest in people. Humans, their psychology, and everything related to it tended to annoy him. They were all so needlessly complicated... he'd often seen videos of people doing "heroic" or "romantic" things, ultimately harming themselves or inconveniencing others for some minor benefit that would have no bearing on the world in the end. They so often acted on emotions rather than logic and wound up in dire situations that could have been easily avoided. Yet with Jane it was different. Every word she spoke gave him additional insight into something he was quite interested in... the Muggle world.

For one thing, it seemed that Muggles were just as unaccepting of Wizards as the wizards were of them. Pity... he had hoped that they'd be a bit more intelligent than that. In the end it seemed they were still human. Yet it did make him wonder in spite of himself... Why did they think that way? Wizards thought of Muggles as blind and stupid for their lack of magical ability, yet still hadn't come up with a better system for delivering mail than paying a bunch of birds to do it for them. It was warped of course, but Ford had been around it long enough to understand quite well. Jane's family on the other hand...

"Why do they think you're evil?" He inquired, not realizing that his words may sound insensitive. "Did you hex them or something?" Ford would not have been very concerned if she had said yes, to be honest, He had wanted to do the same to his father more than once.