Closed A Whole New World

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella had never been to the muggle world before outside of the field trips she took at Hogwarts. She was going to meet up with a new friend, and admittedly she was very excited about it. She was looking forward to seeing how a muggle household worked, especially when it came to the muggle laptop. Estella had brought her muggle laptop along with her so Harper could help her with it and figure out how to work it. It was a bit more bulky than the average muggle laptop, but she was sure that it all still worked the same, if not better since it had more parts to it. She apparated with her father in an alleyway in the muggle world, and then followed him excitedly along the suburban streets towards Harper's house, her muggle laptop clutched tightly against her chest. She was scared that someone might steal it, and with her father not being able to perform magic in the muggle world, she wasn't sure how she would be able to get it back. She felt like a child as she watched the muggles around her live their normal lives, wishing she could be one of them. When they made it to Harper's house, Estella quickly walked ahead to the front door, knocking softly on it and waiting for someone to answer with a bright smile on her face.

 

[Harper Alston]

When Estella had suggested meeting up over the break, Harper had agreed, not thinking much of it at the time. But now that the day was here, she found herself oddly excited. She'd never had someone from Hogwarts over to her house before. Most of her magical friends lived in other cities (or countries), and a lot of them had phones, making it easy to keep in touch. Her two worlds usually remained separate, not necessarily because she wanted it that way, but simply because that's how things worked out.

Until now. There was a knock at the door, and Harper leapt up from where she'd been sitting in the lounge. "I'll get it!" she called out to her mum. Thankfully, most of her siblings were out of the house, an arrangement that was intentional. She hadn't wanted to overwhelm Estella, and she didn't quite trust her siblings not to pepper the Hufflepuff with questions about Hogwarts and being a witch. She opened the door, beaming when she saw it was Estella. "Hey! Glad you could make it." She pushed the door further back to give the other girl room to enter, and in doing so, she spotted the man standing closer to the street. Harper waved to him. "Is that your dad?" she asked Estella.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

As Harper answered the door, Estella still couldn't help the smile on her face. "Hey!" she exclaimed before nodding at her question. "Yes, this is my dad! He brought me here." Estella's father waved in greeting to her friend. He then excused himself, hugging Estella goodbye and then leaving the girls to themselves. "I brought my laptop." Estella said, holding out her laptop in the laptop bag to show her. "I've never really been able to turn it on. It just keeps giving me some weird symbol. It comes with these cables, but I've never been able to figure out where they go or how to work it." Estella shrugged. "My mother was a muggle. She left it behind. But you can show me how to use it, right?" The Hufflepuff was keen and looking forward to finally being able to properly use her laptop.

OOC: the laptop she has hasn't been used in ages. it just needs power

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper smiled warmly at Mr. Fuentes. Once he had left, she peered down at the laptop, listening carefully to Estella's explanation. "I'm sure we'll figure it out. And if we can't, I can always teach you using my laptop. Most computers pretty much work the same way." Judging by the size of Estella's laptop, there was a chance it was simply too old and no longer worked. But the fact that it showed her something was promising.

She led Estella through the lounge to the breakfast table in the kitchen, where her own laptop was lying. The house was cluttered but clean, shelves overflowing with knickknacks and books, walls filled with family photos and art. She gestured for Estella to sit at the table before moving to the sink. "Go ahead and try turning it on. Let me know if you see the weird symbol," Harper instructed. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?" she asked as she started to pour herself a glass of water.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella followed Harper inside, looking around at Harper's home. She could see from the family photos that Harper really did have a big family, and admittedly Estella was a little jealous. Her family was a bit more complicated, and Estella sometimes wished she had more siblings that she could spend time with and relate to. Instead, she had Evie who was definitely nothing like herself. She took a seat at the table in the kitchen. "You have a really nice home, Harper." Estella said truthfully. She noticed a few muggle appliances within the kitchen, which probably either heated food or cooled them down. Muggles were so very smart and one day Estella wished that she could live in a muggle home similar to Harper's. "I'll just have some water thanks." Estella said in response to Harper's question before opening up her laptop bag and taking out her laptop. When she opened it up and pressed the button to turn it on, the symbol she was talking about appeared. "Here. This is the symbol." Estella said, turning the laptop so Harper could see.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper smiled at Estella's compliment. "Thanks! I'll let my mum know you said that. She got, like, really into interior decorating a couple years ago. It's usually a lot messier than this," she said with a laugh. It occurred to her that this was the first time in a while she'd had someone new over. Most of her muggle friends were already very familiar with her house. She nodded at Estella's request, pouring a second glass of water, before joining her at the table.

She had to hide an amused smile when the "weird symbol" turned out to be a normal low battery indicator. It was strange to think there was a whole world of people who didn't know about very basic technology. "Oh, that just means the battery needs to be charged. It needs electricity to give it power and make the laptop turn on. Here." She reached for one of the cables and found the correct end. "Connect this to that part there," she pointed to the charging port before handing the cable to Estella. "I'll plug the other end into an outlet," Harper explained as she did just that. Once everything was in place, she nodded to Estella. "Ok, try turning it on again."

 

[Estella Fuentes]

As Harper said her mother was into interior decorating, Estella found that rather interesting. "Oooo, so she knows how to make things look pretty, right? Are many muggles interior decorators? Is that a popular profession?" Estella asked, wanting to learn as much as she could about muggles now that she was there and had the opportunity to. She took a sip of the glass of water Harper gave her before thanking her, and listened as Harper explained what was wrong with Estella's laptop. She was very smart, and it made Estella second guess her opinion of Gryffindors. She watched as Harper took the cable, showing her which end went into her laptop and then telling her that she was going to get something called an outlet. Essie did as she was told, her eyes widening at how easily it fit in, and at how easily the other end fit into the outlet. She didn't think the bigger end could ever fit in anywhere. She then turned it on once everything was connected, shocked as her laptop screen changed colour and made a peculiar noise. "W-what... how!?" Estella was excited, watching as the screen loaded up with pixelated images. There was an internet explorer, a documents, and even a recycle bin. "Recycle bin... there's a bin in here?" Estella said, tapping on the screen to see if she could open it. "How do I open it?" she asked when nothing had happened.

OOC: that windows startup sound gives me lots of nostalgia

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper gave a bemused smile. "I guess?" She hadn't really thought about it that way, but she supposed it was true her that her mum had an eye for pretty things. "I don't know if it's a popular profession, but I guess it can be a popular hobby? There are lots of magazines and TV shows about it." She paused before realizing Estella might not know what a TV show is. "Some people like watching other people make over houses for fun," she tried to explain.

Thankfully the laptop was not broken, and it flickered on with a little tune Harper had never heard before. She chuckled a little at Estella's surprise. Introducing the other girl to the internet for the first time would be fun. Harper took in the desktop, which was unlike any she'd ever seen. The "Internet Explorer" icon was also unfamiliar, though it wasn't hard to guess that it might be an internet browser. She smiled at Estella's question. "Kind of. That's where you put documents you don't want anymore, so it might be empty. You have to use this to open it," she pointed at the trackpad. Harper demonstrated how to move the cursor around and how to click and double-click. "Ok, now you try." she said, sitting back so that Estella could open the recycle bin. "How old is this laptop?" she asked curiously. The operating system was completely unfamiliar.

((I love that this computer is running Windows XP in 2055 and still works ))

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella listened as Harper explained that an interior decorator wasn't necessarily a profession, and was more like a hobby. "Oh, so it's like how you can give yourself a makeover, but instead you give it to your house. That's so cool!" she exclaimed, wanting to do that to her own house now. She wasn't sure if her father and her step-mother would let her however. After all, it seemed like a lot of hard work since a house was so big.

As Harper answered her question, Estella nodded. She wondered what the square on the laptop was for, and she felt a little stupid for trying to tap on the screen, because that clearly wasn't working. She attempted to use the square, which was apparently called a 'trackpad'. She gently and cautiously placed her finger on it and moved it. Her eyes widened as a small white pointer on the screen began moving where her finger did. She dragged it along to the recycle bin icon before clicking like Harper had shown her. It took a while to open up, but when it did, it was empty. The fans inside were also making loud noises, but Estella just supposed that was how it worked. "So this is where things go when you delete them? So if I deleted one of these icons they would just go into here, right?" she asked, feeling like she was really understanding it now. Harper was such a good teacher. At her question, she shrugged. "Well, let's see... my mother bought it just before I was born and she left it behind... so I guess it's like 15 years old or something. It looks terrible, I know, but my father won't get me a new one." Essie frowned, hoping that one day she could get a job so she could save up money and buy her own.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper nodded. "I guess it's like makeup or fashion," she said, trying to find a comparison the other girl would understand. "Some people do it professionally, but it's also a hobby for a lot of others." She wondered if wizards didn't care as much about interior design. Maybe when you could wave your wand and transfigure anything to your liking, all the planning that went into muggle interior decorating wasn't as necessary.

Estella seemed to be catching on quickly, which was a relief. Though Harper had grown up around computers, explaining everything in simple terms was proving to be a bit of a challenge. "Yup. And if you decide you want to permanently get rid of something after you delete it, you can empty the bin," she said, pointing to the "Empty Recycle Bin" icon. She listened as Estella explained that the computer was at least 15 years old. Well that would explain why everything was so unfamiliar. "It seems to be working fine at least. It might be a bit slow," she'd noticed the laptop's fan had kicked up, "but it'll work like pretty much any other laptop." she tried to reassure Estella. Harper took a sip of water and glanced back at the screen. In the corner, the Wi-Fi icon indicated that there were networks available to connect to. Perfect. "Hey, want to see something cool? Have you heard of the internet?"

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella appreciated the skill that would be required to be an interior designer, and especially to have it as a hobby. Muggles were just so smart and Estella was definitely jealous of Harper's lifestyle and at how easy it was for her to know about both the muggle and the wizarding world. Estella was just glad she had a friend like her, and also glad that Muggle Studies was taught at Hogwarts so she could learn more about them.

Estella drank some water as Harper explained more about the recycle bin. "Permanently delete it? But then where does it go?" Estella asked, wondering if there was some other sort of recycling bin on the laptop. As Harper asked if Estella had heard about the internet, Estella nodded. "It's like... a place where you can connect with others, right? I know you need internet to send emails." she said, remembering this from her Muggle Studies classes. "Hey, what's your email? Maybe we can email each other."

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper had to think for a second before answering Estella's question. "It doesn't really go anywhere. The computer just erases it. It's like it never existed in the first place," she tried to explain, unsure if she was getting the point across. She was a bit surprised to hear that Estella knew about the internet and emails given that the other girl hadn't been familiar with how batteries worked. It only made Harper more curious about the Muggle Studies curriculum. "Yeah, that's right," she said, nodding when Estella mentioned the internet could connect people. "It's also like a giant library where you can get information about whatever you want." That probably wasn't the most exciting way of describing it, but after having to do four years' worth of schoolwork with just books, Harper had come to appreciate the internet greatly. She smiled when Estella suggested emailing each other. "Sure! Here." She found a scrap of paper and pen laying nearby and scribbled down her email address before passing it to Estella. "Do you have an email address?" she asked curiously.