NPC: Squib Protesters

Outside of London Quidditch Stadium, November 2018

The outside of the London Quidditch stadium was crowded, as students of Hogwarts met up with their parents and families through portkeys that had been set up outside of the Hogwarts barriers. Any students who did not stay with their heads of house were welcome to go with their parents, and so they did. The children of the school had been escorted carefully to the Quidditch Stadium by their various heads of house. The chaos of Hogwarts students arriving into a crowd, along with adult wizards and students from other schools, was enough to make even the most seasoned traveler get lost in the crowd. The crowd spread out and thinned as people headed to the two sides of the arena, while shopkeepers from the nearby wizarding villages rushed around, waving around candy and merchandise for their teams.

The thrum and chattering of different mother tongues running through the air was a soft whisper of beauty in the setting. The words in the air were lilting and different, as were the mix of people running through the land. French wizards, African wizards, and American wizards were just some of the people talking and staring in awe.

The stadium was set in an ancient castle, which was protected by charms and ministry workers from the English Ministry of Magic, who had worked hard and long to make sure that the old castle looked like a ruinous wreck that nobody would ever dare step foot in. Even if they tried to set foot in the castle, the nearby muggles would want to turn away, feeling as if ghosts were watching them or something sinister was hidden behind the gates. By the castles, nearby fields were also enchanted to keep muggles away. These fields were set up with tents galore, split up by the decorations that supported the colors of the teams lucky enough to compete in the Quidditch world quarterfinals.

Some tents were normal with undetectable extension charms on the inside and others were large and looked like miniature castles or houses. Magical creatures stood outside some of the houses and tiny children rose up in the air on toy brooms, brushing their toes against the ground in delight.

A perfect stage for such an important game, but also the perfect place to gather up the whole community of Wizards, and a great place to set up the stage for drama. Reporters from various countries ran around, quills and pens floating through the air behind them. The day seemed calm, the people seemed even calmer, but chaos bloomed on the horizon. As wizards crossed through the gates into the open fields by the beautiful castle, they were welcomed by posters held in the hands of colorful protesters.

Everywhere one looked, colorful posters could be seen. Their vibrant colors and loud words caused quite a few of the purebloods in the crowd to stiffen and escort their children away, as the wizards seemed to grow more and more triumphant. But were they even wizards? There were no wands on any of the wizards, just victorious grins on their faces.

The posters stood tall, waving in the arms of screaming chanters.

EQUALITY FOR SQUIBS. SQUIBS ARE NOT LESSER! Under each poster, a symbol of a wand sat. Small and moving, apparently enchanted by a witch or wizard who supported the cause, the wand broke over and over again, repairing itself and then snapping again.

A blonde haired man stood towards the front of the crowd, squibs and wizards alike surrounding him. He couldn’t have been more than 30 years old, but he stood with the composure and grace of one much older and studied the crowd with a patience that was near endless.

When he started to speak, his words boomed and echoed through the stadium, even without the power of magic. As if he was used to public speaking and fighting against magic to be heard. The people gathered near him had equal expressions of tired alarm and wary joy, tentative and new to the squibs of the different nations gathered together.

“Brothers and sister squibs, wizards and witches. We are all one, are we not? We come here today to celebrate our world and the sport that brings us together. So why can we not be treated equally? We squibs have lived in the shadows for years, forced to cower and hide. No worse than house elves, yet house elves are freed creatures now, so why are we not as free? You think less of us, simply because of our genealogy and our lesser talents at magic, or more accurately the magic that does not linger in our skin. When the Israelites were disgraced by the people of Egypt and enslaved, they rained hell down upon the people. They cursed the land with ten plagues, after years of servitude. The shoving aside of squibs is NO MORE! We stand with you and among you, and we DEMAND OUR RIGHTS!”

The words rang out and echoed, as the chant was echoed. Soon voices were screaming and throwing their signs up in the air with an endless chant demanding rights. The man’s voice broke through the chanting, and the squibs, for the first time in years, allowed themselves hope. Grin on his face, the man let out a breathless laugh. Running his hands through a tangled mop of hair, the man’s grin widened.

“The Broken Wands movement is here, and we will not run. No longer will we squibs wish to be you. NO MORE will we spend our days attempting to use magic that is not there. No, we will be treated equally, won’t we? We live in this magical world with you. We keep secrets from the no-majs too. In fact, why do we keep your secrets? Why shouldn’t we tell the nonmagical world about you all? We keep your secrets and you treat us like the dirt under your feet. Treat us better, for we have numbers, and we will not hide. You cannot kill every squib or threaten us with your wizard laws. For, if you do not consider us wizards, why shall we listen to your laws? Why not follow the no-maj laws and report you all as threats?”

His smile was reminiscent of the devious smiles dark wizards had given to the masses in the past. The boy almost seemed like Grindelwald, even without magic. The mockery of an innocent smile on his face was enough to hint that the squibs had rallied under a dangerous leader. A dangerous leader, indeed. Yet, the smile faded and his eyes shone with fear. There seemed to be some hesitation in the boy’s eyes, along with the rest of his squib followers, but they still powered through.

“We don’t want to hurt you or expose anyone. Merely, all we ask for is equality.”

With that, the chant picked back up again and the roars of “EQUALITY FOR SQUIBS!” grew louder and louder.

I hope it is allowed to reply to this thread? Otherwise please owl me and I will delete my post. 

Ember looked around, unsure of how to act. Even though it was completely impossible, she had the feeling as if the people in close proximity to the young Ravenclaw were able to sense the magic surging through her veins and realize she wasn't one of them exactly. 
She had came here because of some leaflet she had seen lying around in the castlegrounds, propaging a demonstration which demanded "Equality For Squibs". It had reminded the girl of her cousin Alexander. A boy born in the pureblood branch of her family. Five years older than herself, he had tried to attend Hogwarts to make Ember's aunt and uncle proud even though the youngster had never shown any signs of magical power. Ember had been only six and not been able to understand most of it, but apparently, Alexander's secret had been discovered quickly when he was the only student in his years who didn't manage the Tarantellagra spell at all, even after trying for an hour. His wand had been broken in two. Ember's mother had raged about this for weeks, asking again and again how they could make an eleven-year-old undergo such a disgrace with the whole school watching. However, the child had also heard wizards and witches speaking differently. Stop getting all het up about it, darling, he's a disgrace for himself and his family anyway. Or: Half a Muggle, that's what he is, and to make this clear, I'm not a Muggle lover. This had been the moment in which Ember had realized that the differentiation between wizards and muggles also had its dangerous sides.
Thinking of this story had made the girl end up here. Hundreds of people were surrounding her, she felt their stares uncomfortably. For this day trip she had worn Muggle clothes under her robes to be able to go as a fighter for this cause, not as a magical student. One of her friends had taken them into the stadium for her. 
A roar went through the crowd of Squibs and supporting wizards like Ember, someone pressed a poster into her hand which displayed the slogan "EQUALITY FOR SQUIBS, SQUIBS ARE NOT LESSER!" Ember waved it purposefully as the mass moved forward. Everyone around her was screaming, and she caught herself screaming too, taken up and away by the wave of revolution around her. She saw an angry brunette about her age brandishing her poster like a bizarrely shaped sword, a young child sitting on his father's shoulders, both of them shouting as loud as they could.
The people silenced a little when a man walked forward towards the stadium, parting the crowd in the middle. Ember couldn't quite define his age. His looks pointed to a young man, only about thirty years of age, but he held himself with the poise of someone much older and wiser. Ember listened as he began to speak in loud voice. She cheered with everyone else as the male demanded Squibs' rights, but when he talked on and on, raging louder and louder, she started to panick. Why do we keep your secrets? We could report every one of you as threats... 
The Ravenclaw's eyes widened as she heard those angry words. She had come here expecting a peaceful protest, but this was far from being peaceful. Reporting magic to the Muggle authorities could mean disaster. Muggles mostly didn't know about wizards and witches, and they were afeared of the unknown. The stake-burning of magical beings in the Middle Ages had been bad enough, but at least there were magical ways of defeating simple fire. Muggle technology had advanced a lot since then. There were guns, electrocution, other dangerous objects. Dangerous even for wizards. Modern Muggles were trained and more strategic; they could steal wizards' wands which would make killing easy. Maybe her thoughts were running away with her. But this felt like imminiscent danger; she had the notion that this was a man who kept his word. Someone who really wanted to teach magicals a lesson by reporting them.
She turned round to ask a young woman, but while still stuttering to find the right words, both were swept apart by movements in the crowd. More people started brandishing their posters, but Ember let hers fall to the ground. She felt sick. 
Of course, towards the end of his threat, he had stated that he didn't want to expose anyone. As everyone here, the Squib simply wanted equality. But what if that would not be given?, Ember thought, feeling scared. Would Squibs started to fight for their rights with those strategies? 

As much as Tina loved quidditch and wanted to attempt to find her parents, she hated huge crowds. She felt suffocated and stuck as people pushed and shoved for seats. She had to constantly dodge people to avoid getting hurt. She eventually found herself outside she took in a deep breath and enjoyed the freedom. She was planning on going back inside when she noticed a crowd surrounding a blonde hair man. She would've went back inside if his voice wasn't filled with such passion. Somehow, it drew her into the crowd and she squeezed into the crowd despite her previous protest against huge crowds.

When he talk about demanding equal rights for squibs, she thought of her aunt. Her father's parents had put her in an orphanage so she wouldn't "ruin" the pureblood family line. This angered her so much that she began to feel happy that they had died in an accident. She shook her head to wave off the evil thoughts. She couldn't help, but to admire the comparisons that the man was presenting. She knew they were meant to appeal to people's emotions, but they felt true. She had to remind herself several times that there were still good wizards and witches who respected squibs and treated them as equals.

Tina had never heard of the Broken Wands movement, but it perked her interest. The movement's plans disappointed her. She was all for peaceful protest, but hated protests that put people at risk. If muggles found out about the wizarding world, all hell would break loose. Muggles would be scared about the immense power that witches and wizards held and wizards would be in constant fear of how the muggles would react to their ability to perform magic. She couldn't recall any history where it was alright for muggles to know about the existence of wizards and witches. However, a small part of her wanted muggles to find out about the wizarding world. She had always imagined a world where the two worlds lived together in harmony and they wouldn't have to keep hiding anymore. Still, she wasn't going to let this slide. Quite loudly, she says, "You know there are better ways to achieve your goals."

Hoping no one would realize she said that, she began to scramble through the crowd until she saw a familiar face. She walked up to the familiar girl and whispers, "Hey, Ember. Can you believe this guy? Instead of telling muggles about wizards, he could talk to the younger wizards and witches about the injustice that they are facing. That would make future generations of squibs, wizards, and witches more likely to treat each other with the same amount of respect. He has a very passionate and persuasive voice to do it. Or maybe he could talk to the Ministry of Magic with the support of wizards and witches? What do you think about this?"

Interactions: @Tina Addington 

Ember felt uncomfortable turning her back to the man with such dangerous ideas, but her longing to get out of what she would have thought was a peaceful demonstration was much stronger. She quickly turned around, accidentally walking into a group of people clinging to each other and screaming angrily, then quickly surveyed the situation and tried to locate the exit. 
Suddenly she noticed a familiar face in the crowd. To be honest, it was the hair she recognized first, strands of a bright red, the white bow neatly sitting on it typical for the Ravenclaw it belonged to. Tina was a girl she had already met a few times, the most distinct memory related to a certain Transfiguration class - and now, a new one, slotting into place here in this screaming, shouting, pulling crowd. As Ember looked more carefully, her fellow Ravenclaw seemed to be equally disturbed and disappointed by the opinion the blonde man was still uttering in a loud voice. and Ember moved closer to Tina - avoiding to push anyone over on the way - to talk to her about this. 
When she was only a few more metres away, she suddenly heard the girl say something, in a rather loud voice, then looking around to see if anyone had heard it with a tiny glint of fear in her eyes. Some of the Squibs were looking at her questioningly, but Tina didn't seem to draw much attention. Except for Embers'. The words echoed again and again in her mind. "You know there are better ways to achieve our goals." It was as if she had delved into Ember's brain, then outspokenly shouted out the words she was thinking. This made her urge to talk to the girl even stronger. She hurled herself into the crowd, dodging people on the way, when Tina abruptly popped up right in front of her. Ember jumped a little, but had a grateful smile on her face after her heartbeat had calmed again. "Hi, Tina", she said, leaning in a little closer as the addressed one started whispering. "Hey, Ember. Can you believe this guy? Instead of telling muggles about wizards, he could talk to the younger wizards and witches about the injustice that they are facing. That would make future generations of squibs, wizards, and witches more likely to treat each other with the same amount of respect. He has a very passionate and persuasive voice to do it. Or maybe he could talk to the Ministry of Magic with the support of wizards and witches? What do you think about this?" Ember was a little taken aback by this amount of knowledge, unsure what to say for a moment. Tina clearly knew a lot more about this topic. What if she said something completely silly now? What if Tina went around and told everyone that she was absolutely stupid and didn't even belong into Ravenclaw? No, Ember tried to reason, she wouldn't do that. Every time she had met the girl she had seemed quite nice. Finally, her spirits kicked back in. She took a deep breath. "Well, I think he should try to reason with wizards instead of threatening them. If he really manages to get that plan through, it will just be the sides reversed - the wizards maligned and living in permanent fear of the Squibs, not a permanent solution or equality. Also I don't think all Squibs would follow his plans. We shouldn't forget that Squibs come from wizarding families and might be rather attached to their relatives." She looked at Tina with interest, wondering what she would say to this. 

[font=bodoni monotype] Aurelia wasn’t much of a quidditch fan but upon hearing that they could out of the stadium to meet with her family, she was ecstatic. Since September, Aurelia hadn’t seen her mother and Father. Even though it was only a period of a few months, it felt like forever. Professor Wright had given each of them a necklace adorned with a pretty rose on the pendant. It had been charmed to lead the way when it was time for them to go back so Aurelia had no worries of getting lost.

The crowd was immense and it seemed almost impossible to find her parents. Being 5’1 made it even more difficult with tall adults towering over her. After searching tirelessly as well as screaming ‘Ma’ at the top of her lungs, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her lips spread into a wide grin as soon as she saw who it was. Thellea had given her daughter a brief hug before taking the girl’s smaller hand in her’s and leading her in the direction of their tent.

“Is Pa not here?” The girl asks in Dutch, the language she always used when talking with her Parents.

“He’s with Uncle Heinrich watching the games. They’d be back after Moldova.” The woman told her with the familiar comforting and yet assertive tone of voice that Aurelia had been deprived of for the few months in Hogwarts.

The girl couldn’t help notice that there were colourful posters all around. They weren’t about quidditch but rather some kind of oppression awareness movement. As she was led by her Mother’s firm grip on her hand, Aurelia turned her head abruptly when she heard some people yell over the already bustling crowd.

Squibs were non-magical folk born from the magical. Unfortunate they were not to possess magic. But the way the man seemed to structure his words, it sounded like he or they were attempted to threaten the ministry of magic. The brunette even spotted one who was about her age who was dumb or brave enough to speak up. It was foolish of her to think that she’d be able to do something by simply shouting over the crowd.

“Why is the man causing a riot?” Aurelia asked as she trotted by her Mother who was walking a bit to fast for her twelve year old legs to manage.

“A protest. Riots are protests with violence. ” The blonde woman corrected the child.

“We have nothing to worry about. The authorities would stop them as soon as they spot a fist or wand raised regardless of who it was.” she assured.

“Come along now. We don’t want to keep aunt Heidi waiting.” The girl received a light tug on her hand when her Mother noticed that her eyes were still locked on the man. Strange. It was strange that Aurelia hadn’t heard about the issue of squib oppression until now.

After about a minute’s walk, the familiar brown tent came into sight. As soon as she stepped inside, she was greeted by comforting warmth that relieved her from the late Autumn’s chills. It was warm enough to remove her coat that she later put on the wooden coat rack. The tent was a big as an apartment and looked like a modern one installed with electronics like Televisions and other power appliances.

Aunt Heidi, emerged from one of her room and like always, immediately pinched two of her cheeks. “ Aurelia, darling. Is so nice to see you again! You’ve grown taller! ” The words were said in German.

“You must be hungry. Taken a portkey I assume? So tell me dear, about you time in Hogwarts,” Aunt Heidi started as Aurelia was led into the kitchen. Her Mother was already on her phone, business as usual. Aurelia wanted to charge her phone too and see what ever she missed out in the muggle world.