An Inquisitive Kid, A Filthy Bathroom Finished

Robbie had been exploring some of the less traveled parts of Hogwarts in his spare time. Stalking through corridors nearer to the Headmaster's office, taking less-than-efficient routes to get a better understanding of the castle, peering inquisitively into locations that first years were not supposed to tread (though never stepping inside, for fear of reprimand), activities of that nature. While he didn't often find anything of particular intrigue, usually just the same looking halls with different pictures on the wall, he still kept up the practice even months after arriving there. However, just when Robbie thought he had found something really cool, it turned out he was just lost. Finding himself in a rank looking washroom, he frowned momentarily, before deciding to throw caution to the wind and to explore.

However, expecting the place to be empty, before he even fully entered, he heard the creaking of a stall door opening. Thoughts raced in his head; considering the potential reasons for the noise (none of which even began to touch on the rather rational assumption that someone else was in the room, good heavens, no). Perhaps it was a specter? He'd learned that those existed not too long ago (a fact that shook his formerly skeptical mind), and the abandoned toilets seemed to be a good place for some malingering spirit to avoid the afterlife. He slowly opened the door, somehow managing to keep the old door nearly silent.

"Geez, talk about freaky..."

Well. That cemented the existence of someone in the room. While Robbie didn't know much about ghosts, he couldn't help but think that the voice didn't really sound... Dead? He didn't know what he expected a ghost to sound like, but he didn't imagine that. Throwing caution to the wind, the boy stepped into view, looking at Sylvie with an expression of mild confusion, and perhaps vague recognition. Was she in his History of Magic class? He'd always been bad with faces, so that may not have even been the case.

Regardless, he couldn't help but notice that the other presence in the bathroom was decidedly living, which brought a warm smile to his face in wake of his skepticism. Now was as good of a time as any to make friends, and so he offered the girl a greeting. "Oh, hello. Exploring the castle like I am?" He paused to let the girl answer, but before she could do so he hastily added, "Oh, and my name's Robbie. What's yours, if you don't mind me asking?"

• • •

The longer that Sylvie stayed in one place, the more the noticed about the utter disarray that seemed to have befallen the washroom. The grimy floors that the girl could only assume were once pristine, were now cracked and crumbling. The mirrors were shattered in some places. She could hardly see herself in the reflection of some of them. Every sink had a faucet that was rusted over beyond salvation- She doubted she would be able to even turn the water knob. It all made her wonder; What made this bathroom fall into such disrepair? Especially in a school full of powerful magic users... Surely someone could wave their wand and... Fix the toilet? She wasn't very knowledgable about charms. She couldn't even do one yet, so what did she know.

All the while she had been lost in her own thoughts, she had yet to notice the door to the room open and a boy she'd never met peek inside the room. A voice cut through the eerie silence and she froze, her blood running cold.

"Oh, hello. Exploring the castle like I am?"

... Was that a ghost? Why would a ghost be exploring the castle?

"Oh, and my name's Robbie. What's yours, if you don't mind me asking?"

She slowly turned around, bracing herself to come face to face with a spectral figure of a time long passed. Only to be met with the face of an adolescent boy she'd never met before. Phew... "Oh, um. Yeah! My name's Sylvie. It's nice to meet you." She almost felt silly for being so nervous, but ghosts were a very spooky thing sometimes. Or so she heard from books of fiction. "You look like you're my age. Are you a first-year too?"

Robbie paused a moment to finally fully absorb his surroundings. The squalor of the washroom was.... Well, kind of a lot to take in. Dingy mirrors, rusted, exposed pipes, cracked tile, et cetera. If there was a possible affliction that a bathroom could have, these abandoned toilets certainly had it! That wasn't even getting into the pungent odor that wafted over it all, seemingly with no source. It came from the walls themselves, all encompassing and honestly kind of overwhelming. Still, though, Robbie put on a brave face, acting like he wasn't actually disgusted by it all, smile only widening as Sylvie responded not with vitriol to his careful olive branch. Maybe not everyone at this godforsaken institution was a freak after all!

Well... Considering the two had had an impromptu rendezvous in an abandoned toilet, maybe Sylvie's freak status was still up for debate.

Noting the nerves Sylvie seemed to exhibit, it was clear Robert had taken her slightly by surprise, something he hadn't intended. Making no move to step forward as a result, even stepping back slightly as he shifted foot to foot awkwardly, he gave her the kindest grin he could manage. Though, despite the boy's Hufflepuff sorting, he always had a slight air of mischief making, probably in the way his eyes never seemed to stay focused on any one place, constantly shifting focal points as he spoke.

"Pleased t'meet you too. And yeah, first year. Clueless as can be." He paused, before he rushed to amend his statement, "Not saying that, um, all first years or clueless or anything. Just me, I mean. You're not necessarily clueless." Excellently done, Robert.

• • •

Now that the girl knew the person talking to her in this freaky abandoned, crusty washroom wasn't a freaky, abandoned washroom spirit, Sylvie was much more relaxed. The fact that she wasn't the only person in the room kind of helped with the weird atmosphere of the place, even if the conversation was leaning a bit towards the awkward side of things. He looked to be a Hufflepuff boy. A coincidence that both of the Hufflepuff kids that she'd met had been in some sort of situation with her in some way. She gave Robbie a half-smile as if wordlessly telling him it was alright. "No, I'm pretty clueless honestly. Magic schoolwork is waaay different than the schoolwork I used to do back home. Still kind of adjusting." It was true. Despite both of her parents being students previously, as well as the two of them trying to prep her for her time at Hogwarts, Sylvie still found herself struggling a bit with her studies, unfortunately.

There was a moment's pause before she spoke again. "I wonder why they didn't keep this place in shape. Or try to fix it up a little bit? I mean, think about it. They definitely can. I saw a nurse fix someone's broken nose when I dropped by for a big bandaid a bit ago."

"No, I'm pretty clueless honestly. Magic schoolwork is waaay different than the schoolwork I used to do back home. Still kind of adjusting."

Robbie breathed a sigh of relief at that. The idea that someone else was at least cognizant of the significant difference between wizard homework and regular homework was a significant weight off his shoulders. The boy had started to grow to feel a bit isolated among his peers, feeling like the only one struggling as heavily as he had been. The fact that someone was willing to recognize the disparity (even if not the leap in difficulty) was welcoming to hear. "Gosh, you're tellin' me. Was already having a rough time as is in school, now we've got to learn a whole new kind of history? It's crazy!"

"I wonder why they didn't keep this place in shape. Or try to fix it up a little bit? I mean, think about it. They definitely can. I saw a nurse fix someone's broken nose when I dropped by for a big bandaid a bit ago."

The boy nodded in agreement. "I suppose you'd think so. I feel like the more I learn about magic and wizard history, the more I find out about how... Weird they are, about priorities anyways. There's definitely some kind of toilet-o fix-o spell that'd do the trick." Robbie paused, before continuing, "Like, with the medical ward. They can heal over wounds so quickly, cure a whole lot of diseases in a flash, and all of this stuff that the muggle world could be benefitted through. Like, if the only thing keeping wizards from helping muggles is the fact that wizards have to stay secret about their crap, pardon my French, then why are we being so secretive about all this?"

It had been something he'd contemplated for awhile, now. With every grand new spell he learned about, every potion to cure seemingly any ailment, he wondered futilely why muggles were all kept in the dark. Sure, there was that whole Witch Hunt thing, but if the wizards came out in a way that was subtle and benevolent, there's no way there'd be a similar reaction. Besides, it all felt unfair, and if there was one thing Robbie detested, it was imbalance and unfairness.

• • •

"Like, with the medical ward. They can heal over wounds so quickly, cure a whole lot of diseases in a flash, and all of this stuff that the muggle world could be benefitted through. Like, if the only thing keeping wizards from helping muggles is the fact that wizards have to stay secret about their crap, pardon my French, then why are we being so secretive about all this?"

That got Sylvie thinking. From infancy and onwards she'd grown up around magic. From something as simple as her father levitating the tv remote to his hand from the couch to kitchen magic, it had been an everyday part of her life in the muggle world, but Robbie was right. It was kind of strange being secretive about it all.
Every day before school she'd be told not to talk about her family's abilities, not to bring her favorite enchanted candy to school to share. Well- On second thought, maybe that was for the best. No muggle teacher would know how to handle her students eating Pepperimps and proceeding to blow flames from their mouths and smoke from their ears... But still!

"I don't know if I'm being honest. I was always told it was against the rules to say anything about it, but people in my family marry muggles all the time, and they know about magic. And my father is even a doctor in the muggle world. I've always wondered why he didn't just use a charm to help someone get better faster, but he always told me that's just how the world was right now. I think it kinda sucks." Sylvie gently (not really) kicked some rubble across the floor. It really was just how their wizarding world worked. Under secrecy.

As Robbie listened, his expression grew more guarded. He'd been cautioned by some of the Hufflepuffs he'd met to tread carefully around these pureblood types. You never knew who was wizard racist in this day and age, and even if this Sylvie girl seemed nice, who knew how that'd change if she found out his heritage. The bit about her father being a 'muggle doctor' also made him a bit unsure, even at eleven he was overly aware of the divide between working class Brits and those with greater means. While tempted to give her the benefit of the doubt, he chose his next words carefully to try and be as ambiguous as possible about his background. After all, a swirly in these toilets would probably make him contract like thirty separate illnesses, and also maybe make him radioactive.

"Yeah. It's annoying that we just have to accept, it is the way it is because it is as an explanation, but it's not like we're in a position to change anything right now. My family back home is fairly disconnected with the wizard world," disconnected of course being the understatement of the year, "and it's just weird to be super involved in it now. I miss 'em a lot, honestly." That last sentence wasn't even intended, but it slipped out and he felt it sincerely, so he didn't bother retracting the statement.

"I dunno. I just think the muggle world would be a lot better place if we helped out." Robbie's expression faltered, realizing that maybe all of this muggle sympathizing was going to get him hazed anyways, regardless of blood, but he maintained an even disposition to the best of his ability. He'd never been a particularly stoic character anyways.

• • •

The girl nodded slowly as Robbie spoke. She liked to believe that if people knew more, things would change. In many aspects of life, she felt this was the case, and in her young mind, the subject of muggles and the wizarding world was no different. But she was also well aware of the bigotry some wizards displayed toward their no-maj neighbors, muggle-borns, and squibs alike. She'd even been the subject of such by the hands of her own family, though she pretended it didn't bother her much. She never talked about it with anyone anyway. "I think you're right," she said, sighing a bit. "It kind of makes me wonder if the adults even really know why? Or if they're just doing what they're told like we are, maybe. I feel like if they could explain more, they would. At least, I hope that they would."

After a moment, she went to go lean up against the sink before she remembered where she was and recoiled before she could touch it. Her nose scrunched up at the thought of accidentally touching the nasty, grimy porcelain. "Do you think we should... Go talk someplace that's a little less, um. Gross?" She asked, almost hopefully. Having an activist solidarity moment in the bathroom was all fun and good, but breathing in contaminated dust and contracting some magical washroom disease? That would not be too fun.

Robbie spent a few seconds surveying his surroundings. Grime, mold, rust, disgust... It was all there in plain view. He didn't make any attempt to hide his relief at Sylvie's suggestion, nodding enthusiastically with a grateful expression. "God, yeah. It's pretty nasty in here." The library was a decent enough place this time of day, but Robert wasn't really feeling the atmosphere of a study space at the moment. He felt like their conversation had really been going somewhere, and he didn't want the vibe ruined by a bunch of Ravenclaw geeks shushing them.

"Have you explored much of the grounds?" The question was mostly an open-ended suggestion as a second location. In truth, Robbie had been spending as much time outside of the castle's walls as possible. The dark, looming corridors made him often feel trapped, and fresh air always brightened his spirits. He was hoping Sylvie felt the same, otherwise she might be affronted by the suggestion.

As he spoke, his eyes never stopped darting around the room, never quite settling on eye contact either. Whether it was nerves or constantly trying to observe as much as he could was difficult to discern, but his otherwise confident body language seemed to suggest the latter rather than the former. Still, though, he just looked a bit ridiculous at all times with his inability to focus on one particular thing.