Open Collection of Shells

[Conan Burke]

It was that time of year again where the Hogwarts students were back at school, and that had included Conan's older siblings. The house was a lot quieter than it used to be. The petty and useless arguments between the older siblings weren't there anymore. Sometimes Conan had enjoyed the quietness at home. Though, most of the time, it had become boring. Sure he had his younger sister, but sometimes it would be nice to hang out with other people his age.

Conan's mother had dragged him and his sister out for the day, which in all honesty, Conan was not excited for. He decided to take one of his shoe boxes. Which had contained a lot of his shells that he collected. He quite enjoyed collecting shells. He loved seeing the different shapes and colours of shells he could find. The boy had decided to sit on the bench, which was in front of the line of shops, while his sister and mum when and did their own shopping. While Conan sat on the bench, he looked at his collection of shells happily, thinking of what sort of shell he was looking for next.

 

[Danton Burrows]

After just finishing up with the final show he'd written and directed for the New Zealand Wizarding Arts Community, Danton had been brimming with glee. The show had received generally good reviews on the part of critics in the community. It had been his first show outside the U.S after the immense success of his last original piece, 'Don't Ask Mum About Her Cauldron', which had been a satire about the wizarding world and its existence alongside the muggle world.

It had been something he'd been able to write from experience. After all, a muggle-born himself, he'd often bring friends to their family home who would observe things a little uncanny with questions aplenty to follow such astute observations.

Legs tracking along, smile beaming from behind his narrow lips, before he knew it he'd found himself in Obsidian Harbour, moving through the surrounding stalls and shops that called it home. And just as he found himself, realizing exactly where he'd arrived, he offered a glance down to a shoelace dancing away below; an accident waiting to happen.

He clocked a bench nearby, a young boy who appeared to have claimed it before he'd needed its services. Approaching with careful and deliberate footsteps - both as not to startle or trip-up in his current predicament - Mr. Burrows cleared his throat some. "Sorry to intrude." he noted the boy observing a fine collection of shells inside a shoebox.

He set himself down next to the young man and set his foot up on the seat, beginning at tying the shoelace into a knot.

"That's a pretty neat collection you've got there." he smiled, eyes focused on his laces still. "I couldn't help but notice on my way over." his eyes flashed up once he'd finishing tying the knot, and set his foot back down on the grand, giving it a slight tap to make sure it was holding.

"Do you have every variety under the sun in there or are there still some you're yet to find to complete your magical collection?" he inquired gently.

 

[Conan Burke]

Conan looked up from his shell collection when he noticed an older man sitting next to him. The small boy smiled politely at the man as he complimented Conan's collection. Conan was quite proud of the collection he made so far. "I dunno. I most likely do. I have a lot of shoeboxes back at home that have so many other shells. But I think there are a lot more shells I need to collect" Conan says with a small smile and shrug, as he looked down at his current collection of shells in front of him. The boy knew he had to collect as many shells as possible. Even if it meant that he may have a few duplicates in his collection. He then looked up back at the man. "Do you collect anything?" Conan asked curiously, as he slowly began to swing his legs back and forth, as his legs were a little short for the bench.

 

[Danton Burrows]

He couldn't help but smile further at the pride the boy took in his collection. There had been clear passion behind the hobby - and for that - Danton had none but praise. "Well, you know, one day those might be worth some money. I know it's not the reason behind your collecting, but if a passion can earn you a few galleons - that's never a bad thing, right?" he chuckled, placing his hands in the pockets of his cardigan and leaning back against the bench. "How many other boxes have you got?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

Truth be told, he hadn't planned to have a conversation with the boy when he had approached. He knew all too well that he was well past his youth and ninety-nine percent of the time, youngsters were just too shy to engage in conversation. Alas, it seemed that this young gentleman had all the confidence he needed to conduct himself exemplarily even amongst new faces.

He furrowed a brow in thought as the boy asked him if he had any hobbies in the collection department of his own. "Hmm, no not really." he began. "At least, not in the traditional sense." he elaborated. "I like to collect ideas. Things that can be made into art. Sometimes I'll write them down if they come to me while I'm out and about." he said, drawing out a small notepad from his pocket and giving it a little wave at the boy.

He set the book down on his lap and extended a hand out. "I'm so sorry... I didn't even introduce myself before barraging you with questions about your collection. I'm Dan."

 

[Conan Burke]

Conan nodded as the older man had explained about collections and whatnot. He really didn't consider selling them until now. But maybe he'll do that when he was older and maybe wasn't into the shell collections anymore. But for now, that seemed like a long time away, because Conan didn't think he'd get rid of his little collection hobby.

The small boy shrugged and smiled sheepishly as the older man had asked him how many boxes he had. "I dunno. I have a lot that I've lost track of how many I have" Conan says with a small laugh. The young boy did love his collection and didn't think he'd stop his collection anytime soon. He listened to the older man as he had explained about what of collection he does. "A notebook is handy to take everywhere, I guess. What type of stuff do you write in your notebook?" Conan asked the man curiously, but he didn't mind if the man didn't want to tell him. Conan smiled shyly and hesitantly shook the older man's hand. "My name is Conan"