Equality Open to Interaction

Aly's family had told her for ages that Muggle Studies was a worthless class. First it had been her mother, back in third year when Aly had insisted on following her "ill-advised" interest in Muggle curiosities and things by taking the elective, and now within her newfound maternal family, who seemed to have nothing better to do other than throw big fancy parties, adorn themselves in jewels, and hate upon one of Aly's favourite courses.

And yet, Aly had just continued to love it. Going into her fifth year of the course, and readying herself to take a N.E.W.T. in it, it seemed that her interest in Muggles grew exponentially by the day. She was no longer the clueless thirteen-year-old who fell for a boy over him showing her cling wrap or band-aids, nor was she the nervous fifteen-year-old who snuck out of her family home into the neighbouring Muggle town of Welwyn Garden City and got confused about the different coins; instead, she was a seventeen-year-old who thought herself much more experienced about the world, both magical and Muggle alike. And that meant taking one more year of Muggle Studies.

Unfortunately, not all of Aly's classmates shared her passion for the subject, and many of them never had. Because of this, she was always quite ready for a bit of a verbal squabble during these lessons - just in case she ended up in some form of argument with a pureblood who didn't quite see those who lacked magical talent as the same form of equal that Aly did. As the Ravenclaw slipped into Muggle Studies one day, heading for her usual seat in the front row and readying herself for another riveting lecture on rivets (or whatever the professor had in store for them that day), she saw one of her fellow students standing directly next to her desk. Blond and emerald-tinged, she had been in courses with this boy for nigh on seven years and yet still only barely knew his name. Tristan something. And, of course, he was standing directly next to her chair. She coughed slightly, but when he didn't turn around, had to speak up more directly, placing her books onto her desk with a heavy thump. "Er, can I help you? You're next to my chair, and seem, er..." An eyebrow quirked up. "A bit lost in thought, to say the least. Everything all right?"

Fall 2025 | outfit in banner (Ravenclaw uniform) | #C47DDB | @Tristan Theramin
lovely & charmer affect everyone | sta 10, eva 14, str 5, wis 19, arc 7, acc 16

English

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Thoughts

Tristan was startled out of his reverie by a voice that asked, "Er, can I help you?" He searched for the voice and came to face a fellow seventh year. He had not interacted with his fellow classmate much, having found much of his company with students from other schools around the world. Fascinatingly, the one time he had interacted with Aly was the singular instance of duelling he had refereed. "Apologies, I was very much lost in thought! I have quite a passion for Muggle Studies, though one might not expect it. It's quite personal to me. Aly, right? It's a bit peculiar that I really haven't spoken to you at all these past seven years, but I definitely have seen you around these halls." Tristan gestured with his head at the surrounding classroom and smiled, "I am assuming correctly that you have a passion for Muggle Studies, if you find yourself here in our seventh year? What led you to that?"

Tristan sat down in the seat next to the place where Aly had set down her books and continued to speak as he took out his notes and books as well, "I feel it's a rare few who are interested in this class, after all. It's true you write for the paper as well, innit? I think I remember you writing about Muggles as well."

@Aly SalingerOctober 21st, 2025|Stamina: 8 | Evasion: 8 | Strength: 9 |Wisdom: 14 |ArcPower: 8 | Accuracy: 8

Aly’s not-so-subtle verbal nudge seems to snap her fellow seventh-year out of his reverie, as suddenly she was being regarded with wide, quite observant eyes. she couldn’t quite decide if they were somewhere on the hazel colour spectrum or edging closer to a blue hue, but either way, they were certainly new. She had only ever seen this classmate of hers in passing, in the occasional shared course or in one of the various activities, events, or balls that have been held by the school over the course of their six years and change here. The Ravenclaw grew ever certain that his name was Tristan as he introduced himself, in an antiquated, almost overly formal manner of speaking that reminded her all too well of some of her family members and the more extravagant purebloods in their class. At least he had the good sense to apologise, moving away from her desk so that his body wasn’t immediately infringing on her unassigned assigned seat. Manners: something far too many people didn’t have by the time they were seventeen.

What was further surprising about the boy’s antiquated speech was exactly the content of what he said. By the looks of him, Aly would have guessed that the curly-haired Slytherin classmate was somewhere ranging in the wizard-born to pureblood area, and yet he seemed to be claiming a passion for the subject for which they were here in this specific classroom. It was certainly odd. Aly had never exactly fancied herself a sort of pureblood saviour, nor the most unique of persons her age, but she did at least have the general impression that most people who shared her lineage tended not to care so much about Muggle Studies.

But here he was: a kindred spirit, perhaps?

“Yes, it’s Aly,” she said, dipping her head with a soft smile. Even more, he knew her name, which made her slightly more nervous to take a stab at his, in case she was wrong. “Aly Salinger, to be precise. I’m in Ravenclaw - though I suppose you probably figured that out by yourself.” A wry, slightly self-embarrassed chuckle escaped her lips as she plucked at the blue tie dangling from her neck. “You’re Tristan, right? I feel like I’ve seen you around, though I can’t exactly pinpoint where.”

Luckily, the blond boy solved that a moment later by mentioning the paper. Aly’s emerald eyes lit up, and she turned to fully face him for the first time, the smile growing ever wider across her freckled face. “Yes!” she crowed, halfway between victory and vigor. “That’s what it is. I knew it had been somewhere. I think your desk is all the way across the room from mine, and I bet we’re hardly ever in there at the same time. That’s why I couldn’t place you at first. But yes, I love the Headliner. Despite…” Her nose wrinkled, one corner of her lips turning up in something that was anything but a smile this time. “Well. Despite certain… recent changes in leadership.”

She returned her gaze to the front of the classroom, awaiting the arrival of the professor and the inevitable beginning of the days lesson. So, her curiosity was definitely peaked, and she couldn’t help but turned aside eye to the person who had now taken the seat beside her. “Rare it is indeed that people actually take Muggle Studies because they like it,” she ventured. “Do you mind if I ask what made you interested in this? I feel like everyone who does enjoy this subject has a bit of a different story behind it.”

Oct 21, 2025 | outfit in banner (Ravenclaw uniform) | #C47DDB | @Tristan Theramin
lovely & charmer affect everyone | sta 10, eva 14, str 5, wis 19, arc 7, acc 16