Getting Back Into The Swing of Things

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin walked through the lonely streets of New Zealand, a place he knew all too well. He had attended the Hogwarts school in the area a few years ago and had graduated as Head Boy, somehow, sometimes he still didn't know how he had been chosen as Head Boy at all, he was hardly that smart of a person. Sometimes it seemed to him like he was one of the stupidest people that he knew. But looks could always be deceiving, there was always something that surprised people about someone, nobody was ever exactly the way that they seemed to be.

Justin walked in his Animagus form, that of a Golden Labrador, he loved that he was an Animagi, it was so amazing to be able to shift into an animal and back to a human on a whim, it was so relaxing to be able to relax as a dog before he had to worry about the world. He shifted back into a human in an alley out of sight and walked amongst the people in Auckland, he wondered if he would make any friends today.. he was sure he would soon find out, though.

 

[Noel Deveaux]

Auckland, New Zealand was about just as far as Noel could get from Boston and its snowy, cold December. If there was any way to be further, she'd have been there. Over the past few weeks, Noel had been sleeping on the floor of a friend's brother but he had just let her know that she would have to be on her way. Noel was used to this sort of thing, so she hadn't put up much of a fuss. She had packed her bags, being sure to grab a couple of granola bars and some loose coins before heading out to the streets. The money she'd grabbed was pretty useless in this area. Certainly knuts couldn't be transferred in the muggle shops. Finding and going to a Gringotts was out of the question to. She was sure her parents would somehow find her if she did that.

As the hours drifted by, Noel began to be more and more concerned with where she'd sleep. Sure, she could apparate home but that would mean admitting to her parents that she couldn't yet make it on her own. As a particularly boisterous group of teens brushed past her, Noel had an idea. It had been ages since she had used non -verbal magic. No better time than the present, she thought to herself as she tried to cast a non-verbal summoning charm. The teens she was targeting were acting crazy enough that she was sure they'd just think their money fell out when they realized that they were missing money. As some money fell to the ground, Noel smiled. She moved forward quickly, stepping on the bills with her Converse. The teens continued on, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened. Bending down as if she was tying her shoe, Noel pulled the money out from underfoot.

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin sighed inwardly when he was greeted with the sight of a few boisterous, and basically just plain rude, teenagers. It seemed like a lot of younger people nowadays were just plain rude to everyone they saw! Nobody seemed to have respect anymore, something which Justin hated. He was raised to be a respectful person who always said please and thank you, and he didn't understand why that was so hard for everyone else to do the same. He sighed inwardly at the thought, he watched them brush past a girl who looked a little younger then him.

The next thing he saw both confused and disgusted him a little; by the looks of it, she had used a summoning charm to steal money for the boys. How low could you get? It didn't matter how bad the luck you were having was, under absolutely no circumstances should you steal from someone, no matter how bad the people seemed. Justin flicked his wand, summoning the money back to him. "You know, it's wrong to steal." Justin said as he approached her, being careful that he wouldn't be overheard by any other people around them. He really wasn't happy with the newcomer.

 

[Noel Deveaux]

Just as she spread the money to begin counting it, Noel found the bills slipping through her fingers, pulled by an invisible force. Her eyes bolted up, blue eyes wide as they locked onto a man only a bit older than she was. He was moving towards her, the money that she’d just stolen held firmly in his grip. Fear that he was a police officer dissolved as she spotted the wand in his hand. Magic. She should have known that her luck would have put her near the only other person with magic in the area. “Who said I was stealing the money? Maybe it just fell out of their pockets” she shrugged her shoulders, the excuse sounding pretty lame even to her.

The twenty two year old crossed her arms under her chest. “Anyway…it’s worse to break the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy” she retorted, eyeing the wand and ignoring the fact that she had just nearly done that herself. Luckily, the muggle teens had been too oblivious to notice what had happened and the adults around her were speeding off to their very important meetings. It was just this guy who apparently had enough time to watch her as if he was a member of the wizarding police.

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin slightly chuckled at her response.. it was perhaps the lamest 'excuse' he had ever heard in his life, and he had heard quite a few from when he had been Head Boy at Hogwarts. There wasn't a lot that he hadn't heard, he had even heard this one a few times, and it never really got less lame then it sounded right now. Justin wondered what drew someone to be willing to steal from someone.. he understood that sometimes it could just be necessary for some people who struggled in life, but it should never really be an option. "Could you have chosen a less cliché excuse? Maybe one that I haven't heard a thousand times." Justin said, a smile edging at his lips, this was definitely an amusing way to start the day.

Justin looked towards his wand, slipping it up his sleeve so it was hidden but still accessible if he needed to use it. He didn't think that this girl would be an issue, but she could very well be. "At least I was careful to not be seen, anyway could have seen you take the money after it happened to fall out of the boys pants and figure out there had to something at work here. Not all muggles are as stupid as you seem to think." Justin sighed, this was gonna be a long day if he had to teach a girl who was basically his age right and wrong, though she probably didn't care.

 

[Noel Deveaux]

Noel didn’t much like being laughed at, and her expression grew stonier the more amused the guy appeared. With a shrug that was full of sass, Noel crossed her arms on her chest, her hip jutting out as he questioned her ‘lame’ excuse. Her eyebrow arched, the only indication that she gave as he slipped his wand up his sleeve. Inside, Noel was mentally applauding herself for the win. Putting his wand away was obviously ceding the point to her. Obviously.

Tapping her Converse as the guy felt the need to lecture her, Noel remained silent though she was desperate to just grab the money and run. That the guy had already flashed his wand cooled her heels on that thought. He’d probably have his wand out and attack her before she could do anything about it, and then they’d both be in trouble. “They’re not as smart as you think they are either” she retorted. “So…what are you going to do with my money?” she asked. The guy in front of her seemed like the goody-goody type. The teens were well up the block though and Noel certainly had no intentions of giving the money back to them.