[Sept 29 - ] Where's the Rhyme and Where's the Reason (Closed) Tags: September 29 2009 September 2009 Sasha Snow Zel Trumble Read 263 times / 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. [Sept 29 - ] Where's the Rhyme and Where's the Reason (Closed) on April 27, 2012, 12:28:57 AM September 29; 6AMNote: The following is a montage of snippets and excerpts from various interactions between September 29th and October 19thThere was nothing abnormal about being out and about at this time of the morning. Most mornings saw the Ravenclaw and the Shepherd out on trail along the edge of the lake for an early morning workout before showering and getting to his first morning class. There weren't many who braved the pre-breakfast hours but there were a handful. Zel, apparently, was one of them. Sasha had discovered that the previous morning when he'd spotted the Hufflepuff just ahead of him on the path. This morning, Sasha had reached the lake a few minutes early - early enough that Zel was behind him when he reached the trail. Taking a few shorter strides, the Hufflepuff was able to quickly catch up with him. "Morgan," Sasha offered, with a nod. "Did you start on those equations for Astronomy from last night?" After his daily morning swim with Raine Almasy, Zel had taken to jogging every now and then—only to see that Sasha Schlagenweit must have had very similar morning habits. It made for nice, awkward conversation. He was honestly, a bit surprised that Sasha had slowed down to allow Zel to catch up to him, and it made the werewolf feel special, like someone actually wanted to spend time with him. “Morgan.” Zelig responded, though at the mention of the Astronomy equations, his face fell. Astronomy was not Zel’s strong suit, no matter how much he enjoyed the subject. “I-I tried. I just don’t get it.” He explained. He felt stupid, telling someone who seemed to have no issue with studies about his own personal difficulties. Zel was intelligent, but Astronomy was just something that he had never been able to fully grasp. “Do you understand it at all?” Of course Sasha did. From Zel’s perspective, Sasha understood pretty much everything.Sasha nodded in time to his footfalls. "Ja. I understand it." He kept silent for a couple of strides, aware of other sixth year's embarrassment but not entirely sure what to say. He wasn't exactly the most qualified in the area of suave, smooth, emotionally-rooted conversations. "But, I have an advantage. I studied physics for a year; most of the math is easy review. Did you get the basic concept behind Newton's Law?"Basic concept behind Newton’s law? That sounded so complicated, even though it was so simple. He slowed to a stop and hung his head, “No. I don’t understand it at all. I don’t understand anything.” All Zel was hoping for, was to not completely bomb Astronomy. “How were you able to study physics?” Zel wasn’t even sure he knew exactly was physics was, but he wanted to save face in front of his fellow Bavarian.Sasha pulled to a stop a stride or two beyond Zel and turned back. "It's not really easy. It took me a while to get it when I first came across it. It's pretty muggle ... muggle-y. We can go over it sometime, if you want." Sasha shrugged. "I, you know, had textbooks. Muggle physics textbooks. I just studied it on my own. Fourth year."“My brother knows more about muggle subjects than I do.” Zel admitted. Not that he hadn’t ever wanted to learn, but growing up in a wizarding family did not really provide him with the opportunity to learn about physics or any of the muggle sciences. “Garrett’s a squib.” He added, “He lives in the muggle community now.” He hesitated, “D-do you like muggle.. Stuff?” Zel sounded worried that he might be offending Sasha with his question."My best friend's a squib. She's back in London, but we hang out a lot when I'm not at school." Sasha turned and started walking, again, whistling to call Baldur back to him. "I grew up muggleborn and have always kind of kept a foot in the muggle world. For a number of reasons. I ... I believe there are benefits to both worlds. I'm not sure I could ever leave the muggle world entirely."Zel nodded. He appreciated Sasha’s history with the muggle world. “I-I’ve always been interested. Especially after, well.” He paused, “My brother’s engaged to a muggle. They’re going to have a baby soon, it’s due in a couple weeks.” He loved talking about his family in as positive a light as he possibly could. Although he and Garrett hadn’t actually been in contact since before the attack, Zel still kept track of when his future niece/nephew was going to be born. “My stepfather’s a squib, too. He’s a lawyer for muggles. I don’t really understand how that works for muggles..” His voice trailed off, and he was left without knowing what else to say."So, you're going to be an uncle. That's got to be weird. And, exciting." Sasha couldn't imagine that - being an uncle. But, then, he was only two years older than his younger sister. And, neither of his parents had siblings. He didn't have a lot of experience around little kids. A couple more strides and Sasha grinned, again. "I can explain that, too," Sasha offered in regards to muggle lawyers. "I've had to deal with a lot of them, lately. All summer, in fact. Do you know what kind of law he practices? Not estate or private family practice, by chance?"He chewed the inside of his cheek and tried to think, “I once asked Rhys. He said he works with adoptions and child custody, and divorce too… And something about child support?” Zel sounded confused, even just giving the description. “He told me he works with married couples a lot. I don’t know what category that’d fall into.” Really, Zel was feeling very unintelligent when compared to Sasha. “B-but about being an uncle. It is exciting. I hope I get to see the baby.”Lawyers that helped with family dynamics and made sure children were taken care of. It sounded like this Rhys was one of those rare lawyers that tried to do the right thing. They wouldn't be connected with the lawyers that worked for the Schlagenweit family. Those lawyers concerned themselves with wealth: creating it, growing it and protecting it from others. "Why wouldn't you be able to see the baby? I mean, won't you be able to see it over the holidays?"Zel hesitated—unsure as to whether or not he should talk about this. It was so personal, and he didn’t want to paint his brother in a bad light. “It’s complicated.” The albino replied, trying to think of the proper way to word it. “Garrett left the wizarding world. I don’t think he wants anything to do with the family anymore. I haven’t heard from him for a long time.” He let out a sad sigh. He loved his brother—Garrett was like a father to him, and it was tough not to be able to talk to him about his life. “I think he got tired of not having any power in relationships. He dated a seer for the longest time. They were even engaged. He couldn’t handle being with someone magical, when he couldn’t do anything. I don’t think he liked the idea of raising magical children and not being able to teach them anything.” He furrowed his pale eyebrows together, “Do-does that make sense to you?” Sasha nodded his head in full understanding. If anyone could get the challenge of difficult family dynamics, he could. He hadn't expected Zel to elaborate and was noticeably surprised when the Hufflepuff did. "It does," he confessed. "I ... my sister. She's a muggle. I told her about being a wizard a year ago and she came back to London. She couldn't be in the muggle world, because of our parents. So, she tried to just sneak into the wizarding world, I guess. She dated an Auror for a while. Worked in Diagon Alley at Reducto Records?" He glanced at Zel for an indication of recognition. "But, I think she ran into the same thing and left." “That’s rough.” Zel acknowledged. He was curious as to whether or not Sasha’s sister knew his brother, but at the same time he thought that it was a silly thing to ask. After all, just because he lived in the wizarding world did not mean that he knew every single wizard in the community. “I know where that is.” He said, “But I don’t go in there much.” Just being in Diagon Alley was stressful—there were often too many people, and Zel did not know what to do with himself when in a crowd. “H-how many sisters do you have?”"It's a weird little shop." Sasha tended to prefer Flourish and Blotts to Reducto for his own personal shopping but it was fun to visit Reducto on occasion. Sasha took a few moments before answering Zel's question. Finally, in a slightly detached voice, he answered: "I have ... had two sisters. Jacoba is older than me - she's the one at Reducto. Anna was my younger sister. But, she's ... she's dead." He gave Sasha a sympathetic, yet understanding look. Death was difficult to deal with, and he felt like Sasha may have had more experience with death than most—just because Zel was quiet, did not mean that gossip didn’t travel back to him. He wasn’t one for passing on gossip, and he felt like it had been too hurtful and ridiculous to actually confront Sasha about. “That must have been tough. My dad died when I was seven. Werewolf attack.” Zel shook his head. “Got my older brother and sister, too. Emeline’s the one that got infected, though.” He hesitated, “I’m not sure if it was on purpose or not. See, Papa was very outspoken about his negative opinion about werewolves, so I don’t know if the werewolf attack was intentional, or just bad timing.” Zel doubted that he would ever know the answer to that mystery.Father killed by werewolves? Brother and sister attacked? Sister infected? Sasha scowled darkly. These stories seemed to be becoming more and more frequent. "I'm sorry," Sasha said quietly, shaking his head. "That's harsh. I know that was probably terrifying. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd killed him for speaking his mind." Perhaps, Sasha should take that as a word of caution. But, Sasha had already started taking measures to prepare himself for if he ever found himself confronted by one of those beasts, again. "I should go get ready for class," Sasha said, calling Baldur back towards him. "I need to try to get some of my History essay done before class starts."He nodded, “Y-yeah. I should get ready too.” Zel replied awkwardly. He wasn’t sure if it had been entirely appropriate or necessary to tell Sasha about his father’s unfortunate death. It had happened so long ago, that it wasn’t exactly an uncomfortable topic anymore. It was simply a part of history. “I’ll see you around?” He hoped that he could see Sasha again, he much liked the idea of making friends with someone whose hometown was so close to his own.It was hard for the Ravenclaw to imagine that such stories could become so familiar that they became simply a part of history. But, perhaps, that was an important part of it - time. But, talking about it with anyone wasn't easy for the Ravenclaw. But, studying ... keeping his mind occupied had become his safety net. When conversation hit too close to home, Sasha retreated. As he was doing now. "Ja," Sasha agreed, nodding. "Definitely." Sasha waved to the Hufflepuff and turned towards the Hospital Hut to see to the horses before heading back to the Ravenclaw showers. Skip to next post Re: [Sept 29 - ] Where's the Rhyme and Where's the Reason (Closed) Reply #1 on May 13, 2012, 01:28:35 PM September 30 12:00 PM Every chance he could, Zel spent his time outdoors. He couldn’t be in the sun for too long with his fair complexion, so he usually stuck to the shade. He had been sitting down underneath a tree,attempting to study astronomy and complete the homework, but had gotten so frustrated that he just had to set it down and focus on something else. He put the homework back in his bookbag, and felt his stomach growl. He knew that he should have grabbed more than just a couple pieces of bread for lunch—but at the same time, he hadn’t been hungry. Right now, he did not want to brave the Great Hall . There were so many students that it was uncomfortable. The autumnal equinox had passed little more than a week ago but, already, it was clear winter was on its way. The days were still comfortably warm but the shadows had shifted and there was that golden hue to the light. Winter would soon be upon them and ventures outside would be brief. Sasha had so little time to be outside as it was - it was usually dark now after his last class of the day. So, if the weather was halfway decent, Sasha usually went outside straight after filling up his backpack tin with whatever was set out at the tables for lunch. Sasha set across the lawns and set himself down a short distance from Zel. He tugged his Chemistry GCSE revision workbook from his backpack and flipped it and his lunch tin open. He glanced up and grinned, shyly, at the Hufflepuff. "You don't eat lunch inside, either?"Zel jumped when Sasha sat next to him—but he was also not surprised. The two had been running into each other lately, and he had high hopes that they would become friends. Soon, he knew he would feel comfortable approaching Sasha and actually initiating a conversation with him for once. Zel squinted his blue eyes at Sasha’s Chemistry workbook. That was a subject that he had never heard of before, and it was strange. Was it an obscure branch of magic? “I eat there sometimes.” He replied, “I just—there’s so many people. It makes me nervous.” As he spoke, he didn’t take his eyes of f of Sasha’s book. “S-sorry if this is a stupid question—“ Zel hesitated, “Bu-but what is Chemistry?”Sasha nodded sympathetically. The Great Hall did tend to be loud and crowded and usually pretty loud. Which was why Sasha typically found himself elsewhere. But, Sasha didn't remark on that; he was well aware of Zel's attention being fixed on his workbook. "It's not a stupid question. It's a field of muggle studies. It's a science?" Sasha kept a careful eye on the Hufflepuff, watching for indications of what was making sense and what sounded like another language to him. "It studies the very very basic elements of the world. How atoms interact with each other and create other chemicals." Sasha was fairly certain he lost the Hufflepuff at 'atom.'Science.He had heard of these so-called muggle sciences. Rhys had mentioned them to him in the past, but he never studied any of the muggle sciences. Rhys had, but it made sense. He was a squib, and he fit in much better with the muggle community than the wizarding one. “So… It studies the natural world? The world without magic?” Zel tried his very best to understand what Sasha was saying, “But-but who is Adam? Does he study Chemistry too?” Oh yes, Sasha had lost Zel at the word, ‘atom.’ However, an definition of what an atom was would not offend the werewolf. If anything, Zel would appreciate Sasha taking the time to explain. "I'm not sure we ... yes," Sasha finished, shaking his head. Getting into some long winded discussion about the likelihood that the natural world around them was really divided into sections of 'have magic' and 'doesn't have magic' like some strange network of neighborhoods probably wasn't going to help Zel be less confused. It involved far too many theoretics which Sasha, himself, didn't even fully understand at this point. "Not who but what," Sasha corrected. "Atoms," Sasha repeated as he wrote out the word on a spare bit of parchment. That was the easy part. Convincing a wizard of atoms, let alone subatomic particles, was probably a lot like convincing muggles of magic. "Atoms are ... they're structures that have a center filled with protons surrounded by ...bugger. They're really really small things." Which was about the lamest explanation possible.Zel looked at the piece of parchment and studied the word. Atoms. They sounded fascinating. “And muggles know about atoms?” Well, of course they did—it was a muggle science. “Can muggles see atoms?” He wondered if it worked the way magical stuff worked. Muggles couldn’t see certain creatures, like dementors… Perhaps wizards could not see atoms. The thought made sense to Zel, though it wasn’t exactly accurate. He was fascinated by this muggle science, and he would have liked to learn a bit more. Then he remembered: didn’t muggles study astronomy too? If astronomy was difficult for Zel, then he had no hope to understand any bit of chemistry. “Okay…. So…. What are protons? They surround the Adams.” Zel flinched, “The atoms.” He corrected himself. He really thought he was making himself look like a complete idiot in front of Sasha, and he hoped he wasn’t perpetuating the ‘stupid but kind’ Hufflepuff stereotype. "No. We can't directly see atoms. There are microscopes that let us see ... the presence of atoms but they're too small for us to see. We just know they're there." Even as he spoke, Sasha expected most of what he was saying to go largely over Zel's head. He suspected explaining protons would have much the same effect. Trying to start out explaining protons and atoms seemed like large concepts for anyone to grasp. "All of this ... chemistry is essentially the study of what everything is made up of. How different things came to be. For instance, bread. Have you ever, you know, made bread? Or seen someone make bread?" Since, after all, Sasha's cooking prowess were confined to two main skills: microwaving frozen foods and making coffee. "What is bread made of?"“Well. Butter, flour… Yeast, water?” Of course there were probably more ingredients that went into making bread, but Zel had never made bread before. He had seen his mother make it from time to time, but it wasn’t exactly something he focused on. As he listened to Sasha’s explanation, his eyes lit up—it was as if something suddenly clicked. Although the concept of protons and atoms and other muggle science stuff was a bit too foreign to him, the idea of putting multiple ingredients together to make one made sense.Zel sat up straight, and then lean towards Sasha, “Are you saying…. Are you saying that this like muggle potions? Putting things together to make one thing? Like you can’t make treacle fudge or forgetfulness potion without using sprigs of valerian.” The idea made sense to him. “I didn’t know that muggles studied potions too.” Then he hesitated, “Wh-why are you studying muggle potions?”Basically. Superficially. Yes. Chemistry was like muggle potions. Sort of. Except there were differences. Very very important differences. "In a sense. But, potions is about the products. In that sense, baking bread is a better example of potions than chemistry. In potions we learn to mix various ingredients to make potions...chemicals that have different effects. Chemistry does a lot of mixing but it's more interested in the process ... in what happens when things are mixed. It looks at what happens when things mix on a very small scale. For instance ..." Sasha hesitated a moment as he tried to think of an example. "You know how our potions books say never mix erumpent horn fluid with water? A chemist-" or, more appropriately, Sasha himself, "-would look at that reaction and want to know what's happening when the water and fluid mix. How are the hydrogen and oxygen atoms reacting to ... whatever the erumpent horn fluid is made up of."Zel nodded—this was starting to make sense. He found it interesting that muggles seemed to value the ingredients and how they interacted, rather than the end result. Zel knew some of the properties that certain ingredients had—valerian, the one he had mentioned before, was a sedative of sorts and helped with certain conditions such as epilepsy, and it helped calm people’s nerves. Zel also found it curious that the muggle culture also mixed things in order to make other things. “Is that how muggles heal? Do they use their chemistry potions to heal?” He blushed, wondering if he was taking too much interest in this whole muggle potions business. He was just genuinely curious; and he felt like other wizards, those with a pure-blood mindset, would not approve of these kinds of questions. Thankfully, Sasha wasn’t one of those types. If he were, it would be doubtful that he would be studying chemistry anyway. Now, he was wondering why Sasha hadn’t answered his question. “Is this for muggle studies? Do you want to work in muggle studies?” Zel’s forehead crinkled up questioningly. Sasha glanced up and nodded. It was, of course, more complicated than that but he was close to the truth. "Yes. Chemistry is used a lot in muggle hea- medicine. There's a lot of looking at things on a molecular basis which, obviously, involves chemistry. Or, biochemistry and microbiology." Two words which, probably, wouldn't mean a whole lot to Zel. "I ... no. It isn't for muggle studies. Not, the muggle studies class here, at least. It's for muggle exams - the muggle equivalent of O.W.Ls. I'm taking them over break in December. Right now, I'm thinking I want to get into research. But, I've got at least seven or eight more years of school before then." Zel nodded. This was interesting and all, but it was getting in a little over his head. He felt like he should have known more about all this muggle science, considering that both his brother and step-father were squibs, and interacted with the muggle world quite frequently. He grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill out of his bookbag and wrote down two words: “Microbiology. Biochemistry.” He made a mental note to write to Rhys and Garrett to ask about what they were so that he wouldn’t appear so oblivious around Sasha next time. “That sounds tough.” Really, it did—Sasha was not only doing the normal testing, but he was doing muggle testing as well? “You must be really smart.” He stuffed the parchment back into his bag. He leaned his head against the tree and ran through all the possible conversation topics he could touch, and before he could pick one, his mouth decided to choose the most interesting, controversial one that it could—“What do you think about SAWS?”His eyes widened and he quickly looked down at his hands and started twiddling his thumbs. Oh, he felt like he had touched on a sensitive topic, like he had said something wrong and totally inappropriate. “Sorry.” He said quickly, “I—I’m just curious. I mean…” Zel chewed on the inside of his cheek nervously. Sasha knew that his sister was a werewolf, so perhaps he assumed that he was one of those avid supporters of the group. “I don’t exactly.. Fully… Support the group, really…” He knew he was taking a chance, but he hoped that his words were vague enough for Sasha not to feel attacked, regardless of what his beliefs regarding werewolves were. “It’s just… I—I think it’s, well.. You know.” No, Sasha probably did not know, but the albino was at a loss for words.Sasha had always assumed his anti-SAWS affiliations were public knowledge. But, perhaps, few outside of SAWS who knew that. But, apparently, Zel wasn't a firm supporter of the Werewolf Hippie Fan Club. Even if he was and it was a trick, Sasha didn't really care. He had nothing to hide about his position regarding SAWS. He stood by his perspective 100%. "It's naive," Sasha completed Zel's sentence. "Their stance. Perspective. It's foolish. Naively optimistic. And, they're going to get people hurt. It's only a matter of time."Zel very visibly relaxed. “I grew up around a werewolf. There isn’t a single aspect of my life that hasn’t been affected, you know? I mean, my dad got killed.” He wanted to leave out the whole bit where he was a werewolf himself. It was something that he still felt deep shame about. Sasha didn’t seem to be anti-werewolf, but anti SAWS. That was something that Zel could handle and agree with to an extent. “I think they’re… They’re well-intentioned. Just..” He sighed, “I think they draw the wrong kind of attention to werewolves. We need to think about safety first, and I don’t think the ministry should be lenient about safety. People get hurt permanently when people don’t take wolfsbane.” He shook his head. “Just—they need to be regulated. I don’t think it’s taking away freedom.”That was it. That was what terrified Sasha the most about the whole werewolf thing. People got hurt permanently. If they survived the bite, the lycanthropy wouldn't kill them. They wouldn't get better. They'd forever be broke shells; blood thirsty creatures where once there'd been a man. It seemed the ultimate disgrace - to permanently loose their humanity. It was a situation Sasha knew he, himself, could never live with. "Almost everyone has those stories. Family members killed. Friends infected. They ... SAWS act like it's just a matter of understanding. Like new people getting infected is just the acceptable price of 'equality for all'. Like if everyone just understood that the current regulations are ... will keep us all safe. And, that's a lie. It's not enough. If it were, your father would be alive. Your sister would be healthy. Containing infectious pathogens...there's nothing new or obscene about it. They don't take it seriously enough. I almost didn't come back this year when I heard Foley was coming back."Zel nodded. “I-I do think that werewolves shouldn’t have a problem with being regulated, especially when it comes to wolfsbane around the full moon. I mean… It’s a matter of public health and safety. I don’t think some people understand that it’s oppressing their right to be safe if a werewolf is out on the loose because they slipped through the ministry’s cracks.” He shook his head, “And there are cases where wolfsbane has actually been withheld from the werewolf as a sick form of punishment, and that only causes danger to everybody around them.” Zel very firmly believed that the necessary precautions had to be made. “Wh-what’s wrong with Ollie?” Zel knew that she was a werewolf, but as far as he knew, Ollie hadn’t attacked anybody during her time at Hogwarts. Sasha grew quiet and looked down at his textbook without focusing on the words. It seemed a very simple equation to him. Every new werewolf was proof the system didn't work. But - that's what SAWS was about, wasn't it? Making werewolves okay - making being a werewolf okay. Which meant being turned was acceptable and, therefore, insufficient regulations were acceptable. It was the wrong direction to be moving in. "What do you mean?" Sasha glanced towards Zel, clearly confused and uneasy at the same time. "What's wrong with Foley? How would I know? We aren't exactly friends. If there's something wrong with her, I'm not the one she'd tell."“I mean… You almost didn’t return because she’d be in school. I-I’ve never known her to not take her wolfsbane and attack anyone.” Zel explained, “And she’s not even on campus during the full moon. She’s in my house, so… I think I’d notice if she was around, posing a risk to us all. I just don’t think she’s dangerous to us, at least.” Zel chewed on the inside of his cheek nervously. “I-I dunno. Maybe I’m just desensitized to all this werewolf crap by now.” Sasha already knew Zel’s sister was a werewolf, so he felt like it could easily be attributed to that.Sasha shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't - he hadn't yet admitted to anyone Foley had attacked him. Neither he nor Foley had been at school at the time, so the whole event had happened outside of the Hogwarts environment. Some people had found out by necessity. Kronos first, because Sasha had gone to him for help when the scratches didn't respond muggle antibiotics. Fauna, because she'd run into him when he'd been at St. Mungo's. Professor Trishna because ... he had to know. But, he'd told no other students. Foley - and werewolves - terrified Sasha. The knowledge that he might be sitting and sleeping next to werewolves without knowing kept him awake a nights. But, he didn't hate Foley. He didn't want to be near her. That didn't mean he wanted to hurt her. The attack that occurred was as much her story as his - he didn't want to spread rumors that would impact her ability to do what she needed to do. He just wanted to be able to know, believe and trust fully that she'd never be able to do that again. Or, worse. The conversation had moved past Sasha's comfort zone. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Sasha grinned and shrugged. "DADA starts soon. I've got to take Baldur out before afternoon classes. It has been good talking." Until, at least, the subject of Foley came up. “Y-yeah. Sorry if I…” Zel wasn’t exactly sure why he was sorry, but he got the feeling that he was putting too much pressure on the other boy, and he hated that he kept doing that. He made a mental not e to himself to be more careful about pushing boundaries. “I… I’ll see you in class, then. I’d like to talk again sometime.” He probably wouldn’t speak to Sasha much during class, since he usually partnered up with Raine, or whoever else was available if she wasn’t. 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[Sept 29 - ] Where's the Rhyme and Where's the Reason (Closed) on April 27, 2012, 12:28:57 AM September 29; 6AMNote: The following is a montage of snippets and excerpts from various interactions between September 29th and October 19thThere was nothing abnormal about being out and about at this time of the morning. Most mornings saw the Ravenclaw and the Shepherd out on trail along the edge of the lake for an early morning workout before showering and getting to his first morning class. There weren't many who braved the pre-breakfast hours but there were a handful. Zel, apparently, was one of them. Sasha had discovered that the previous morning when he'd spotted the Hufflepuff just ahead of him on the path. This morning, Sasha had reached the lake a few minutes early - early enough that Zel was behind him when he reached the trail. Taking a few shorter strides, the Hufflepuff was able to quickly catch up with him. "Morgan," Sasha offered, with a nod. "Did you start on those equations for Astronomy from last night?" After his daily morning swim with Raine Almasy, Zel had taken to jogging every now and then—only to see that Sasha Schlagenweit must have had very similar morning habits. It made for nice, awkward conversation. He was honestly, a bit surprised that Sasha had slowed down to allow Zel to catch up to him, and it made the werewolf feel special, like someone actually wanted to spend time with him. “Morgan.” Zelig responded, though at the mention of the Astronomy equations, his face fell. Astronomy was not Zel’s strong suit, no matter how much he enjoyed the subject. “I-I tried. I just don’t get it.” He explained. He felt stupid, telling someone who seemed to have no issue with studies about his own personal difficulties. Zel was intelligent, but Astronomy was just something that he had never been able to fully grasp. “Do you understand it at all?” Of course Sasha did. From Zel’s perspective, Sasha understood pretty much everything.Sasha nodded in time to his footfalls. "Ja. I understand it." He kept silent for a couple of strides, aware of other sixth year's embarrassment but not entirely sure what to say. He wasn't exactly the most qualified in the area of suave, smooth, emotionally-rooted conversations. "But, I have an advantage. I studied physics for a year; most of the math is easy review. Did you get the basic concept behind Newton's Law?"Basic concept behind Newton’s law? That sounded so complicated, even though it was so simple. He slowed to a stop and hung his head, “No. I don’t understand it at all. I don’t understand anything.” All Zel was hoping for, was to not completely bomb Astronomy. “How were you able to study physics?” Zel wasn’t even sure he knew exactly was physics was, but he wanted to save face in front of his fellow Bavarian.Sasha pulled to a stop a stride or two beyond Zel and turned back. "It's not really easy. It took me a while to get it when I first came across it. It's pretty muggle ... muggle-y. We can go over it sometime, if you want." Sasha shrugged. "I, you know, had textbooks. Muggle physics textbooks. I just studied it on my own. Fourth year."“My brother knows more about muggle subjects than I do.” Zel admitted. Not that he hadn’t ever wanted to learn, but growing up in a wizarding family did not really provide him with the opportunity to learn about physics or any of the muggle sciences. “Garrett’s a squib.” He added, “He lives in the muggle community now.” He hesitated, “D-do you like muggle.. Stuff?” Zel sounded worried that he might be offending Sasha with his question."My best friend's a squib. She's back in London, but we hang out a lot when I'm not at school." Sasha turned and started walking, again, whistling to call Baldur back to him. "I grew up muggleborn and have always kind of kept a foot in the muggle world. For a number of reasons. I ... I believe there are benefits to both worlds. I'm not sure I could ever leave the muggle world entirely."Zel nodded. He appreciated Sasha’s history with the muggle world. “I-I’ve always been interested. Especially after, well.” He paused, “My brother’s engaged to a muggle. They’re going to have a baby soon, it’s due in a couple weeks.” He loved talking about his family in as positive a light as he possibly could. Although he and Garrett hadn’t actually been in contact since before the attack, Zel still kept track of when his future niece/nephew was going to be born. “My stepfather’s a squib, too. He’s a lawyer for muggles. I don’t really understand how that works for muggles..” His voice trailed off, and he was left without knowing what else to say."So, you're going to be an uncle. That's got to be weird. And, exciting." Sasha couldn't imagine that - being an uncle. But, then, he was only two years older than his younger sister. And, neither of his parents had siblings. He didn't have a lot of experience around little kids. A couple more strides and Sasha grinned, again. "I can explain that, too," Sasha offered in regards to muggle lawyers. "I've had to deal with a lot of them, lately. All summer, in fact. Do you know what kind of law he practices? Not estate or private family practice, by chance?"He chewed the inside of his cheek and tried to think, “I once asked Rhys. He said he works with adoptions and child custody, and divorce too… And something about child support?” Zel sounded confused, even just giving the description. “He told me he works with married couples a lot. I don’t know what category that’d fall into.” Really, Zel was feeling very unintelligent when compared to Sasha. “B-but about being an uncle. It is exciting. I hope I get to see the baby.”Lawyers that helped with family dynamics and made sure children were taken care of. It sounded like this Rhys was one of those rare lawyers that tried to do the right thing. They wouldn't be connected with the lawyers that worked for the Schlagenweit family. Those lawyers concerned themselves with wealth: creating it, growing it and protecting it from others. "Why wouldn't you be able to see the baby? I mean, won't you be able to see it over the holidays?"Zel hesitated—unsure as to whether or not he should talk about this. It was so personal, and he didn’t want to paint his brother in a bad light. “It’s complicated.” The albino replied, trying to think of the proper way to word it. “Garrett left the wizarding world. I don’t think he wants anything to do with the family anymore. I haven’t heard from him for a long time.” He let out a sad sigh. He loved his brother—Garrett was like a father to him, and it was tough not to be able to talk to him about his life. “I think he got tired of not having any power in relationships. He dated a seer for the longest time. They were even engaged. He couldn’t handle being with someone magical, when he couldn’t do anything. I don’t think he liked the idea of raising magical children and not being able to teach them anything.” He furrowed his pale eyebrows together, “Do-does that make sense to you?” Sasha nodded his head in full understanding. If anyone could get the challenge of difficult family dynamics, he could. He hadn't expected Zel to elaborate and was noticeably surprised when the Hufflepuff did. "It does," he confessed. "I ... my sister. She's a muggle. I told her about being a wizard a year ago and she came back to London. She couldn't be in the muggle world, because of our parents. So, she tried to just sneak into the wizarding world, I guess. She dated an Auror for a while. Worked in Diagon Alley at Reducto Records?" He glanced at Zel for an indication of recognition. "But, I think she ran into the same thing and left." “That’s rough.” Zel acknowledged. He was curious as to whether or not Sasha’s sister knew his brother, but at the same time he thought that it was a silly thing to ask. After all, just because he lived in the wizarding world did not mean that he knew every single wizard in the community. “I know where that is.” He said, “But I don’t go in there much.” Just being in Diagon Alley was stressful—there were often too many people, and Zel did not know what to do with himself when in a crowd. “H-how many sisters do you have?”"It's a weird little shop." Sasha tended to prefer Flourish and Blotts to Reducto for his own personal shopping but it was fun to visit Reducto on occasion. Sasha took a few moments before answering Zel's question. Finally, in a slightly detached voice, he answered: "I have ... had two sisters. Jacoba is older than me - she's the one at Reducto. Anna was my younger sister. But, she's ... she's dead." He gave Sasha a sympathetic, yet understanding look. Death was difficult to deal with, and he felt like Sasha may have had more experience with death than most—just because Zel was quiet, did not mean that gossip didn’t travel back to him. He wasn’t one for passing on gossip, and he felt like it had been too hurtful and ridiculous to actually confront Sasha about. “That must have been tough. My dad died when I was seven. Werewolf attack.” Zel shook his head. “Got my older brother and sister, too. Emeline’s the one that got infected, though.” He hesitated, “I’m not sure if it was on purpose or not. See, Papa was very outspoken about his negative opinion about werewolves, so I don’t know if the werewolf attack was intentional, or just bad timing.” Zel doubted that he would ever know the answer to that mystery.Father killed by werewolves? Brother and sister attacked? Sister infected? Sasha scowled darkly. These stories seemed to be becoming more and more frequent. "I'm sorry," Sasha said quietly, shaking his head. "That's harsh. I know that was probably terrifying. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd killed him for speaking his mind." Perhaps, Sasha should take that as a word of caution. But, Sasha had already started taking measures to prepare himself for if he ever found himself confronted by one of those beasts, again. "I should go get ready for class," Sasha said, calling Baldur back towards him. "I need to try to get some of my History essay done before class starts."He nodded, “Y-yeah. I should get ready too.” Zel replied awkwardly. He wasn’t sure if it had been entirely appropriate or necessary to tell Sasha about his father’s unfortunate death. It had happened so long ago, that it wasn’t exactly an uncomfortable topic anymore. It was simply a part of history. “I’ll see you around?” He hoped that he could see Sasha again, he much liked the idea of making friends with someone whose hometown was so close to his own.It was hard for the Ravenclaw to imagine that such stories could become so familiar that they became simply a part of history. But, perhaps, that was an important part of it - time. But, talking about it with anyone wasn't easy for the Ravenclaw. But, studying ... keeping his mind occupied had become his safety net. When conversation hit too close to home, Sasha retreated. As he was doing now. "Ja," Sasha agreed, nodding. "Definitely." Sasha waved to the Hufflepuff and turned towards the Hospital Hut to see to the horses before heading back to the Ravenclaw showers. Skip to next post
Re: [Sept 29 - ] Where's the Rhyme and Where's the Reason (Closed) Reply #1 on May 13, 2012, 01:28:35 PM September 30 12:00 PM Every chance he could, Zel spent his time outdoors. He couldn’t be in the sun for too long with his fair complexion, so he usually stuck to the shade. He had been sitting down underneath a tree,attempting to study astronomy and complete the homework, but had gotten so frustrated that he just had to set it down and focus on something else. He put the homework back in his bookbag, and felt his stomach growl. He knew that he should have grabbed more than just a couple pieces of bread for lunch—but at the same time, he hadn’t been hungry. Right now, he did not want to brave the Great Hall . There were so many students that it was uncomfortable. The autumnal equinox had passed little more than a week ago but, already, it was clear winter was on its way. The days were still comfortably warm but the shadows had shifted and there was that golden hue to the light. Winter would soon be upon them and ventures outside would be brief. Sasha had so little time to be outside as it was - it was usually dark now after his last class of the day. So, if the weather was halfway decent, Sasha usually went outside straight after filling up his backpack tin with whatever was set out at the tables for lunch. Sasha set across the lawns and set himself down a short distance from Zel. He tugged his Chemistry GCSE revision workbook from his backpack and flipped it and his lunch tin open. He glanced up and grinned, shyly, at the Hufflepuff. "You don't eat lunch inside, either?"Zel jumped when Sasha sat next to him—but he was also not surprised. The two had been running into each other lately, and he had high hopes that they would become friends. Soon, he knew he would feel comfortable approaching Sasha and actually initiating a conversation with him for once. Zel squinted his blue eyes at Sasha’s Chemistry workbook. That was a subject that he had never heard of before, and it was strange. Was it an obscure branch of magic? “I eat there sometimes.” He replied, “I just—there’s so many people. It makes me nervous.” As he spoke, he didn’t take his eyes of f of Sasha’s book. “S-sorry if this is a stupid question—“ Zel hesitated, “Bu-but what is Chemistry?”Sasha nodded sympathetically. The Great Hall did tend to be loud and crowded and usually pretty loud. Which was why Sasha typically found himself elsewhere. But, Sasha didn't remark on that; he was well aware of Zel's attention being fixed on his workbook. "It's not a stupid question. It's a field of muggle studies. It's a science?" Sasha kept a careful eye on the Hufflepuff, watching for indications of what was making sense and what sounded like another language to him. "It studies the very very basic elements of the world. How atoms interact with each other and create other chemicals." Sasha was fairly certain he lost the Hufflepuff at 'atom.'Science.He had heard of these so-called muggle sciences. Rhys had mentioned them to him in the past, but he never studied any of the muggle sciences. Rhys had, but it made sense. He was a squib, and he fit in much better with the muggle community than the wizarding one. “So… It studies the natural world? The world without magic?” Zel tried his very best to understand what Sasha was saying, “But-but who is Adam? Does he study Chemistry too?” Oh yes, Sasha had lost Zel at the word, ‘atom.’ However, an definition of what an atom was would not offend the werewolf. If anything, Zel would appreciate Sasha taking the time to explain. "I'm not sure we ... yes," Sasha finished, shaking his head. Getting into some long winded discussion about the likelihood that the natural world around them was really divided into sections of 'have magic' and 'doesn't have magic' like some strange network of neighborhoods probably wasn't going to help Zel be less confused. It involved far too many theoretics which Sasha, himself, didn't even fully understand at this point. "Not who but what," Sasha corrected. "Atoms," Sasha repeated as he wrote out the word on a spare bit of parchment. That was the easy part. Convincing a wizard of atoms, let alone subatomic particles, was probably a lot like convincing muggles of magic. "Atoms are ... they're structures that have a center filled with protons surrounded by ...bugger. They're really really small things." Which was about the lamest explanation possible.Zel looked at the piece of parchment and studied the word. Atoms. They sounded fascinating. “And muggles know about atoms?” Well, of course they did—it was a muggle science. “Can muggles see atoms?” He wondered if it worked the way magical stuff worked. Muggles couldn’t see certain creatures, like dementors… Perhaps wizards could not see atoms. The thought made sense to Zel, though it wasn’t exactly accurate. He was fascinated by this muggle science, and he would have liked to learn a bit more. Then he remembered: didn’t muggles study astronomy too? If astronomy was difficult for Zel, then he had no hope to understand any bit of chemistry. “Okay…. So…. What are protons? They surround the Adams.” Zel flinched, “The atoms.” He corrected himself. He really thought he was making himself look like a complete idiot in front of Sasha, and he hoped he wasn’t perpetuating the ‘stupid but kind’ Hufflepuff stereotype. "No. We can't directly see atoms. There are microscopes that let us see ... the presence of atoms but they're too small for us to see. We just know they're there." Even as he spoke, Sasha expected most of what he was saying to go largely over Zel's head. He suspected explaining protons would have much the same effect. Trying to start out explaining protons and atoms seemed like large concepts for anyone to grasp. "All of this ... chemistry is essentially the study of what everything is made up of. How different things came to be. For instance, bread. Have you ever, you know, made bread? Or seen someone make bread?" Since, after all, Sasha's cooking prowess were confined to two main skills: microwaving frozen foods and making coffee. "What is bread made of?"“Well. Butter, flour… Yeast, water?” Of course there were probably more ingredients that went into making bread, but Zel had never made bread before. He had seen his mother make it from time to time, but it wasn’t exactly something he focused on. As he listened to Sasha’s explanation, his eyes lit up—it was as if something suddenly clicked. Although the concept of protons and atoms and other muggle science stuff was a bit too foreign to him, the idea of putting multiple ingredients together to make one made sense.Zel sat up straight, and then lean towards Sasha, “Are you saying…. Are you saying that this like muggle potions? Putting things together to make one thing? Like you can’t make treacle fudge or forgetfulness potion without using sprigs of valerian.” The idea made sense to him. “I didn’t know that muggles studied potions too.” Then he hesitated, “Wh-why are you studying muggle potions?”Basically. Superficially. Yes. Chemistry was like muggle potions. Sort of. Except there were differences. Very very important differences. "In a sense. But, potions is about the products. In that sense, baking bread is a better example of potions than chemistry. In potions we learn to mix various ingredients to make potions...chemicals that have different effects. Chemistry does a lot of mixing but it's more interested in the process ... in what happens when things are mixed. It looks at what happens when things mix on a very small scale. For instance ..." Sasha hesitated a moment as he tried to think of an example. "You know how our potions books say never mix erumpent horn fluid with water? A chemist-" or, more appropriately, Sasha himself, "-would look at that reaction and want to know what's happening when the water and fluid mix. How are the hydrogen and oxygen atoms reacting to ... whatever the erumpent horn fluid is made up of."Zel nodded—this was starting to make sense. He found it interesting that muggles seemed to value the ingredients and how they interacted, rather than the end result. Zel knew some of the properties that certain ingredients had—valerian, the one he had mentioned before, was a sedative of sorts and helped with certain conditions such as epilepsy, and it helped calm people’s nerves. Zel also found it curious that the muggle culture also mixed things in order to make other things. “Is that how muggles heal? Do they use their chemistry potions to heal?” He blushed, wondering if he was taking too much interest in this whole muggle potions business. He was just genuinely curious; and he felt like other wizards, those with a pure-blood mindset, would not approve of these kinds of questions. Thankfully, Sasha wasn’t one of those types. If he were, it would be doubtful that he would be studying chemistry anyway. Now, he was wondering why Sasha hadn’t answered his question. “Is this for muggle studies? Do you want to work in muggle studies?” Zel’s forehead crinkled up questioningly. Sasha glanced up and nodded. It was, of course, more complicated than that but he was close to the truth. "Yes. Chemistry is used a lot in muggle hea- medicine. There's a lot of looking at things on a molecular basis which, obviously, involves chemistry. Or, biochemistry and microbiology." Two words which, probably, wouldn't mean a whole lot to Zel. "I ... no. It isn't for muggle studies. Not, the muggle studies class here, at least. It's for muggle exams - the muggle equivalent of O.W.Ls. I'm taking them over break in December. Right now, I'm thinking I want to get into research. But, I've got at least seven or eight more years of school before then." Zel nodded. This was interesting and all, but it was getting in a little over his head. He felt like he should have known more about all this muggle science, considering that both his brother and step-father were squibs, and interacted with the muggle world quite frequently. He grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill out of his bookbag and wrote down two words: “Microbiology. Biochemistry.” He made a mental note to write to Rhys and Garrett to ask about what they were so that he wouldn’t appear so oblivious around Sasha next time. “That sounds tough.” Really, it did—Sasha was not only doing the normal testing, but he was doing muggle testing as well? “You must be really smart.” He stuffed the parchment back into his bag. He leaned his head against the tree and ran through all the possible conversation topics he could touch, and before he could pick one, his mouth decided to choose the most interesting, controversial one that it could—“What do you think about SAWS?”His eyes widened and he quickly looked down at his hands and started twiddling his thumbs. Oh, he felt like he had touched on a sensitive topic, like he had said something wrong and totally inappropriate. “Sorry.” He said quickly, “I—I’m just curious. I mean…” Zel chewed on the inside of his cheek nervously. Sasha knew that his sister was a werewolf, so perhaps he assumed that he was one of those avid supporters of the group. “I don’t exactly.. Fully… Support the group, really…” He knew he was taking a chance, but he hoped that his words were vague enough for Sasha not to feel attacked, regardless of what his beliefs regarding werewolves were. “It’s just… I—I think it’s, well.. You know.” No, Sasha probably did not know, but the albino was at a loss for words.Sasha had always assumed his anti-SAWS affiliations were public knowledge. But, perhaps, few outside of SAWS who knew that. But, apparently, Zel wasn't a firm supporter of the Werewolf Hippie Fan Club. Even if he was and it was a trick, Sasha didn't really care. He had nothing to hide about his position regarding SAWS. He stood by his perspective 100%. "It's naive," Sasha completed Zel's sentence. "Their stance. Perspective. It's foolish. Naively optimistic. And, they're going to get people hurt. It's only a matter of time."Zel very visibly relaxed. “I grew up around a werewolf. There isn’t a single aspect of my life that hasn’t been affected, you know? I mean, my dad got killed.” He wanted to leave out the whole bit where he was a werewolf himself. It was something that he still felt deep shame about. Sasha didn’t seem to be anti-werewolf, but anti SAWS. That was something that Zel could handle and agree with to an extent. “I think they’re… They’re well-intentioned. Just..” He sighed, “I think they draw the wrong kind of attention to werewolves. We need to think about safety first, and I don’t think the ministry should be lenient about safety. People get hurt permanently when people don’t take wolfsbane.” He shook his head. “Just—they need to be regulated. I don’t think it’s taking away freedom.”That was it. That was what terrified Sasha the most about the whole werewolf thing. People got hurt permanently. If they survived the bite, the lycanthropy wouldn't kill them. They wouldn't get better. They'd forever be broke shells; blood thirsty creatures where once there'd been a man. It seemed the ultimate disgrace - to permanently loose their humanity. It was a situation Sasha knew he, himself, could never live with. "Almost everyone has those stories. Family members killed. Friends infected. They ... SAWS act like it's just a matter of understanding. Like new people getting infected is just the acceptable price of 'equality for all'. Like if everyone just understood that the current regulations are ... will keep us all safe. And, that's a lie. It's not enough. If it were, your father would be alive. Your sister would be healthy. Containing infectious pathogens...there's nothing new or obscene about it. They don't take it seriously enough. I almost didn't come back this year when I heard Foley was coming back."Zel nodded. “I-I do think that werewolves shouldn’t have a problem with being regulated, especially when it comes to wolfsbane around the full moon. I mean… It’s a matter of public health and safety. I don’t think some people understand that it’s oppressing their right to be safe if a werewolf is out on the loose because they slipped through the ministry’s cracks.” He shook his head, “And there are cases where wolfsbane has actually been withheld from the werewolf as a sick form of punishment, and that only causes danger to everybody around them.” Zel very firmly believed that the necessary precautions had to be made. “Wh-what’s wrong with Ollie?” Zel knew that she was a werewolf, but as far as he knew, Ollie hadn’t attacked anybody during her time at Hogwarts. Sasha grew quiet and looked down at his textbook without focusing on the words. It seemed a very simple equation to him. Every new werewolf was proof the system didn't work. But - that's what SAWS was about, wasn't it? Making werewolves okay - making being a werewolf okay. Which meant being turned was acceptable and, therefore, insufficient regulations were acceptable. It was the wrong direction to be moving in. "What do you mean?" Sasha glanced towards Zel, clearly confused and uneasy at the same time. "What's wrong with Foley? How would I know? We aren't exactly friends. If there's something wrong with her, I'm not the one she'd tell."“I mean… You almost didn’t return because she’d be in school. I-I’ve never known her to not take her wolfsbane and attack anyone.” Zel explained, “And she’s not even on campus during the full moon. She’s in my house, so… I think I’d notice if she was around, posing a risk to us all. I just don’t think she’s dangerous to us, at least.” Zel chewed on the inside of his cheek nervously. “I-I dunno. Maybe I’m just desensitized to all this werewolf crap by now.” Sasha already knew Zel’s sister was a werewolf, so he felt like it could easily be attributed to that.Sasha shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't - he hadn't yet admitted to anyone Foley had attacked him. Neither he nor Foley had been at school at the time, so the whole event had happened outside of the Hogwarts environment. Some people had found out by necessity. Kronos first, because Sasha had gone to him for help when the scratches didn't respond muggle antibiotics. Fauna, because she'd run into him when he'd been at St. Mungo's. Professor Trishna because ... he had to know. But, he'd told no other students. Foley - and werewolves - terrified Sasha. The knowledge that he might be sitting and sleeping next to werewolves without knowing kept him awake a nights. But, he didn't hate Foley. He didn't want to be near her. That didn't mean he wanted to hurt her. The attack that occurred was as much her story as his - he didn't want to spread rumors that would impact her ability to do what she needed to do. He just wanted to be able to know, believe and trust fully that she'd never be able to do that again. Or, worse. The conversation had moved past Sasha's comfort zone. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Sasha grinned and shrugged. "DADA starts soon. I've got to take Baldur out before afternoon classes. It has been good talking." Until, at least, the subject of Foley came up. “Y-yeah. Sorry if I…” Zel wasn’t exactly sure why he was sorry, but he got the feeling that he was putting too much pressure on the other boy, and he hated that he kept doing that. He made a mental not e to himself to be more careful about pushing boundaries. “I… I’ll see you in class, then. I’d like to talk again sometime.” He probably wouldn’t speak to Sasha much during class, since he usually partnered up with Raine, or whoever else was available if she wasn’t. 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[Sept 29 - ] Where's the Rhyme and Where's the Reason (Closed)