A walk in the Park

[Raven Davies]

Raven had escaped her parents and brother and decided to go to the local park. She loved the swings that were there, every time she went to the park she tried to do a full loop on the swing. Raven knew it was impossible, but she still loved to try anyway. The swing also made her feel weightless and closer to space so that was a nice added bonus. Oscar had told her lots about Hogwarts and Raven was excited to go with her sibling. She wouldn't want to share a train carriage, but it was nice to share it with him. Raven liked Oscar and they went along fine. Luckily for Raven the swing was empty today and thus she decided to give her desire of wanting to make a loop on it another go. It was still geometrically impossible, but maybe with magic it was something that could be achieved. If someone would give her a push with enough force it would also be possible, but she really wanted to try it by herself.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah was again wandering around, this time he went straight to the park. Branson had showed him the way last time and the boy memorised it so this time he wouldn't have to bother him again by sending him an owl like his sister used to do when she wanted to communicate with her family outside of Hogwarts. The boy's parents were pretty busy getting everything ready for her arrival so he decided that it was a good time to get out of the house and just take a little walk, maybe even buy some sweets.
He was about to head to the swing in the park when a girl beat him to it, he started eyeing her and she seemed around his age, he wondered if Branson knew her. Her being there only meant one thing, she either attended or would attend Hogwarts and so Noah decided to approach her. In the worst case scenario she was younger than him and wouldn't be going with him to Hogwarts, best case scenario she was going to or was already attending Hogwarts and maybe she even knew Aaliyah.
"Hey" he said to the girl "How are you? I'm Noah and I'm ten years old, and you are?" he said with his usual charming smile and with his usual confidence like he knew the girl for years now.

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven was still testing out her theory of trying to get the swing in a full loop. When she saw someone else coming towards her. Not wanting to be rude she made her swing go a lot slower so she could actually hear the boy. Being at a park that was only accessible if you were magical made it easier to talk about the magical world and all its benefits. The boy seemed around her age and it was soon confirmed when he told his name and age in rapid succession. The boy who announced himself as Noah seemed overly confident, a trait Raven didn't really like. Actions spoke louder than words in Raven her book, although she disliked his confident demeanour she knew she also needed to make friends before going to Hogwarts. ''Eh.. I am fine you?'' Raven paused ''Name is Raven, also ten years old.'' Raven said while giving the boy a quick once over. ''Are you also going to attend Hogwarts this year?'' she asked matter-of-factly, she was curious though.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah kept the smile on his face "I'm good" he said and listened to the girl as she presented herself. Like he thought she had the same age as him and he quickly nodded at her question "Yup, and I guess you are too...?" he said that as both an affirmation and a question.
He suddenly remembered his mom's words and a topic came to his head, the same conversation topic he had with Branson "Are you excited about it?" he asked the girl "You know what house you'll be sorted into?" he added. Noah had just met the girl so he couldn't exactly have a read on her, but he was never really good at reading people either. He felt a bit of hostility coming from the girl but he decided to ignore that as it was probably just in his head.

 

[Raven Davies]

She hadn't forgotten Noah's entrance, but she did need friends. ''Yeah, I definitely am, can't wait for astronomy'' Raven said. ''My brother already went for a year, I am so jealous.'' Raven had asked her brother a thousand questions about astronomy. She had even nicked his astronomy book when he returned from over the break. He wasn't missing it that much, he was more invested into Herbology anyway. ''I don't know my house, don't think you can actually guess the sorting hat has a will of its own.'' Raven grinned, maybe this boy wasn't that bad after all. ''Do you have any preference?'' The only house that would become a bit of a let down would be Slytherin. There weren't much stars in the dungeons.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah made a weird face and forced a shiver so Raven could see the disgust in his face when she mentioned astronomy. Noah wasn't at all thinking about what subject he would or wouldn't like, the only things crossing his mind was how dark the Forbidden Forest was, or how cold the lake was and how many owls the owlery had. His sister had talked about that during the holiday break but he wanted to see for himself, not to mention the parties, Noah couldn't wait to party. He froze a bit when the girl mentioned her brother, which had her sister's age "What house is your brother in? My sister also went for a year already and she is a Ravenclaw" he said to Raven.
The boy looked curiously to her, she seemed clueless about what house she actually wanted to be in but if he thought about himself, he was on the same boat as her "Well, I barely know the houses but I don't think Ravenclaw or Slytherin would be my thing but who knows right?" he said uncertain, those thoughts made him nervous. He was making friends at a good pace but he was afraid he'd would fall in a house where there was no one he would know and that he would be isolated from the rest of the people he knew.

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven noticed the weird face the boy made when she spoke about astronomy. ''Not liking astronomy eh..'' Raven mused ''It is my favourite subject.'' Raven took hold of her swing again and started to swing lightly. ''My brother is in Ravenclaw like your sister, they might know each other.'' Raven had no clue if Oscar made friends at Hogwarts. He wasn't very nice to other people and normally he was more of a hard work no play kind of guy. ''Only the sorting hat knows, luckily we don't have to pick our own houses.'' Raven knew people would make choices based on their friends and hearts, not where they actually belonged and would feel accepted. ''I am glad the hat picks for me, I would always doubt myself for not making the right the choice.'' Raven was insecure, but she would always think about what she would miss in the other houses.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah couldn't help but widen his smile, it soon became a foolish smile "Well let's say it's hard for me to like subjects" he said to the girl hinting that he wasn't really interested in studying. He didn't know exactly what classes Hogwarts had but astronomy definitely sounded like a bore, how could this girl say it was her favourite?! If it was her favourite then all the other subjects were probably even more boring than astronomy.
"They might" he said to the girl lying with all of his teeth, he knew exactly that his sister was a bit of a introverted person so it was bery likely that she made it through a whole year without any interactions. She never mentioned friends in her letters but again, Noah wouldn't mention friends in letters either, that would be giving his parents too much information.
He had to agree with Raven, luckily there was a something that told them where they belonged because if Noah had to choose he probably would choose Ravenclaw so he could be with his sister, clearly Ravenclaw wasn't the best fit for him and he knew that but he wasn't going to choose other house and risk to be alone or out of place, at least in Ravenclaw he'd have a friend "I'm glad too. Mostly because in my case I barely have enough information to make a choice" he said with a dismissive laugh.

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven listened to Noah saying he wasn't coming to Hogwarts for studying. Studying wasn't her main goal either, but she was sure Noah didn't have the same ambitions as she did. When Noah said Oscar might knew his sister Raven looked at the boy's face, pretty sure he was lying. Not that she needed to know the truth, Oscar seemed a bit of a loner at times anyway and she didn't care about his personal life. Humans made mistakes and magic was sentient it was the essence of a being. ''The sorting hat will know where we belong, humans make mistakes and handle too much out of emotion.'' She had no clue how the hat worked, but she knew it was quiet magical. ''I have enough information, my family eats and breaths magic'' Raven grinned.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah gave Raven a smile, it felt like a weird smile to him but he had no clue if he was letting that show or if it was just in his head. This girl sounded like a robot. She was a lot more mature that she appeared to be because Noah definitely didn't found himself thinking that emotions and mistakes could be bad but he nodded his head, he didn't want to make a fool of himself.
Noah looked surprised at her, for a second he didn't knew if she was actually serious and if it was possible to actually eat and breathe magic but it seemed more like an figure of expression than a literal thing. "My mom didn't told us anything bout magic until last year when Aaliyah went to Hogwarts and she still doesn't say much" he said to her "And my dad is a muggle" he finished saying. He wasn't sure if he dad knew about this whole thing but he honestly seemed as surprised as they all were. The positive thing was that his dad always liked that kind of stuff and took it quite well.

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven took another step back so there was some motion in her swing. The light motion gave her a sense of comfort. ''My parents are both half bloods and both work in a magical setting so nothing happens in our home without magic.'' Raven said ''My mom and dad clean the house magically and they cook and fix broken things with magic too.'' She had grown so used to magic that it was weird hearing people living without it. She knew of the existence of muggles, muggleborns, but she had never expected that actual magical parents were held the secret for their own kids. That just seemed illogical and weird. ''I can help you if you want, if you have questions that is.'' Raven said ''Can't say I know everything, but I do know some things.'' She had been alone so long, she needed a person she could talk to and maybe call a friend. If the boy didn't want her help or company that was alright too, she didn't exactly need others to succeed in life.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah gave the girl a surprised face, that explained a lot. Clearly in her house magic was a normal thing and she probably learned spells before she even knew how to walk but for him things were different, he was used to do everything with just a normal human capabilities "You are telling me that I waste minutes of my life cleaning my room when there's a spell for that?!" he said laughing, that spell would indeed come in handy.
He nodded at Raven who kindly offered herself to be his wizard Google. "Do you know why smartphones don't work there at Hogwarts? Why there's no wifi?" he asked her. His siter never told him why there wasn't internet at the school but with internet things would be alot easier. Imagine reading a book everytime you need information, that thought made Noah uneasy but he guessed that it would be his new normal in a few weeks.

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven listened to the boy talk about wanting to clean his room with magic, he was out of luck there. ''Yes and no, the spells exist, but you aren't allowed to use them'' Raven said ''You aren't allowed to do many magic outside of Hogwarts while being underage, exceptions are for dangerous situation but there is a low probability you will be in one.'' Raven said dryly ''The reason you electronics don't work is the fact that high level of magic interferes with technology, others say is the magnetic field. '' Raven was in the middle, magic was a complex matter, it wasn't an actual thing you could study it was just there.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah got a little confused, the rule that Raven had just told him anout didn't make any sense! "What is the point of learning spells if you can't use them then?! That's just dumb" he said rolling his eyes. That meant Aaliyah wouldn't be able to teach him anything even if she wanted to which sucked
Noah widen his eyes as she talked about the magnetic fields and high levels of magic like it was nothing, he could never storage information that complex in his head even if he tried, all he was able to say was "Right...".

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven shrugged, she had tried to find ways to bypass the regulations. She knew now that it was impossible because underage magic was traced. ''Well, when you arrive by train to Hogwarts you get traced, the trace is removed when you become of age.'' Raven spoke ''The Ministry of Magic will get a message if you use any magic outside the school parameters, its impossible to bypass the trace'' Raven was pretty sure the trace removed itself which was weird on itself. ''Its because the ministry doesn't want to erase every muggle's memory when another child decides to float rocks or tries to summon items.'' Raven paused ''Plus Magic is dangerous if it is used wrongly, you do know there are a bunch of spells that aren't used for cleaning or mending items'' Raven didn't care that she couldn't do the spells she learned at home, she was going to spend more time at Hogwarts than at home anyway.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah didn't have the slightest idea of what the hell Raven was talking about but nodded his head yes like obviously she had tons of reason on what she was saying. From time to time he would be shooting a "Yeah totally!", "Of course" and some looks that seemed that he was obviously getting it. Noah's moto was 'fake it till you make it' and it seemed like it was working, either that or the girl couldn't notice emotions in someone's face.

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven was pretty sure this boy didn't understand her one bit. She couldn't care less though, sometimes people just didn't take the time to understand her. It was just something that happened, humans were faulty. Raven decided to talk about something else, she had the company of Noah now anyway, ''So what brought you to the park today?'' Not that Raven was actually curious to the answer. Something had made him come here.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah shrugged "Nothing really, just chilling" he said to her. "My parents are preparing a welcome home thing for my sister so I decided to come for a walk. My two brothers are trouble enough I don't need to be home to cause even more trouble" he said scratching the back of his neck a little embarrassed. He couldn't call himself a trouble maker but he certainly had already done his fair share of mischief and spread a good amount of chaos when he was younger "What about you?" he asked back.

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven listened to Noah. He was somewhat rebellious and sounded like we was somewhat chaotic at times. Raven was the opposite of that, she didn't exactly obey the rules, but she always knew ways to bend them her way. ''Shouldn't you attend the welcome home party then?'' Raven asked the boy. ''I am trying to do a full loop on the swing, although it is geometrically impossible'' Raven said even though she knew it would never happen.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah nodded "Yeah but I don't wanna help them getting things ready, besides..." he said looking at his wrist watch "My sister only arrives in like half an hour" he said showing that he had more than enough time to make it on time even though that he had less than when he arrived at the park.
Noah was confused by this girl's statement "Well, if you know it's impossible then why do you keep trying?" he asked. Raven seemed to be smart so Noah got a little confused that she was insisting on doing something that she know she couldn't do, that seemed the opposite of smart.

 

[Raven Davies]

Raven didn't like setting up parties either, nor did she actual like the party. Parties just seemed illogical, why celebrate something that was going to happen anyway. Raven nodded ''I don't like setting up parties either'' Raven gave a slight smile, the faintest of them. It felt weird, but somehow Noah was the first and only boy that had talked to her for longer than five minutes that wasn't named Oscar. ''Because what if i defy geometry and psychics, in the eyes of muggles magic is impossible too, so maybe it isn't impossible people just think it is.'' Raven said and on top of that she just liked the motion of the swing.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah looked at Raven and gave her a confused look, even a not so smart person like him knew that it wasn't possible to defy any of those things "Well but in both worlds geometry, physics and gravity are never been defied" he said scratching his chin. Then he suddenly thought of a good one to say to the always logical girl "Seems like your human excitement slash expectations slash whatever you are feeling is clouding your judgement to distinguish the possible and the impossible" he said to her laughing even more then when he started the sentence.

 

[Raven Davies]

It was weird that the boy previously stated that he hadn't been brought up with a magical upbringing, but he did know that geometry, physics and gravity hadn't been defied by magicians. ''If you haven't been brought up with magic, how do you know those aren't defied yet?"' Raven asked curiously ''Gravity is defied somewhat, flying without a plane isn't possible to muggles.'' Raven said matter of factly.''You should always go for the impossible, the possible is boring'' Raven muttered. ''Without ambition and a thrive to break the limits, you will always stay the same.'' Although everything in life came with a reason, you should always try as much as possible to achieve more.

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah blushed, he hadn't even thought about what he said, he just wanted to play smart and he couldn't even do that right "I just know, what matters is that they weren't defied yet. In both worlds" he said with confidence but with zero certains, if they had been defied there would be news about it all over the place right?
Noah glanced at the girl confused "Well if you soend a lifetime chasing the impossible...isn't that a waste of life?" he asked the girl, Noah would rather live in the present and fo possible things, things that were proven to work more than once. Noah grinned at the girl "Oh I do break likits but in my case the limits are most commonly known as 'rules'." he said chuckling a bit.