Open Learning to Stick Together

[Cameron Roswell]

If he thought about it, Cameron had no one to blame for this but himself. He'd complained about bored he was at home and now his mother had managed to track down the magical group thing that Cameron was certain he was going to hate. He was sure his mother thought it'd teach him all sort of magic things so he wouldn't be a complete mess when he finally started Hogwarts, but Cameron wasn't convinced. So far he couldn't even get his first patch onto the sash.

There must have been a trick to it he was missing. It wouldn't just stick to it, and Cameron didn't know how to sew. He'd been sat on a bench after leaving his first Niffler scout meeting and was contemplating just throwing his new sash in the river when the patch fell off for the 20th time. Maybe it could tell he was crap at magic and it was a sign he should just give up. Groaning, Cameron opted for simply slumping on the bench, throwing the sash over his eyes.

OOC: Questions about scouts? Check here!

 

[Isadora Novak]

Out of all the ideas her parents had come up with to 'deal' with her, Isadora thought scouts was probably the most fun. Her parents thought that being part of the magical scouts might instill some sense of duty and discipline in Isadora. Though she also suspected it was a way to get her out of the house for a few hours. She knew the nanny had complained about her enough that her parents didn't know what to do with her. The final drop hadn't even been her fault, though. She really hadn't meant to spill her dad's expensive bottle of ink all over a family tapestry, it had been an honest mistake.

At least this was more enjoyable than having another fancy lady come to their house to tutor her in manners, and it meant she could get out of the house and meet some new people. Or... not so new people. Isadora had recognized the boy from the swing at the meeting, and she headed over to where he was sitting on a bench. Probably waiting for someone to pick him up like she was. "Why are you looking so down, that was fun right?"

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo thought Gram had finally lost her mind when she suggested Margo join the Niffler scouts. Apparently her grandmother thought it would be a good place for her to socialize with kids her own age. Which was a valid concern since the people Margo talked to most were Gram’s old friends who came by the diner. But so far she hadn’t done much socializing and in fact spent most of the first meeting sitting by herself and worrying the ends of her sleeves between her fingers. When she went outside to wait to be picked up she was surprised to see two familiar kids. Well not that surprised since she had seen them during the meeting but had been too shy to say anything. Quietly she approached them. “You had fun?” she asked the girl curiously. If Margo was being honest she didn’t hate the meeting she had just been too busy feeling overwhelmed by all the kids. But she was intrigued about what she thought was fun about it. The boy did look pretty miserable now that she looked at him closely. “Did something happen?” she asked tentatively.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron groaned again when he heard someone speak, not keen on having an audience. He lifted up the sash from one eye, spotting the two girls he remembered from the park loitering around his bench. "I guess," he said moodily, dragging his sash down from where it was resting across his nose and eying the girls. "I can't figure out how to get the patches to stick." He admitted. It was embarrassing, but maybe they'd know if there was a trick or if he needed to just invest in some tape. The Niffler on his patch did a jaunty little jig at his admission, running a quick circle on the stitched background as if to mock him before settling back down. Cameron glared at it, flipping the patch so the Niffler side was face down against his pantsleg. "I don't wanna bother collecting any if they're annoying. I'm not learning to sew," he said obstinately. And besides, Cameron may not have been very familiar with magic, but he was sure he'd see a few kids who'd already managed to get their first patches onto their sashes already.

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora looked up as another girl joined them and asked her if she'd had fun. "You didn't?" She asked her curiously. Had she been the only one who enjoyed it? She looked back at the boy and shrugged. "Just get your parents to use a sticking charm." She told him. "My nanny will do that for me, I'm sure. That's no reason to be so miserable right?" She asked him, wondering if he always looked so sad. Isadora shrugged when the boy said he wasn't learning to sew. "Just have someone else do it for you. If they need to be sown on I'll ask my nanny to do that." She said simply. "Who cares?

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo just shrugged when the other girl asked if she had fun and made a face. She was fairly certain her grandma would still make her go to these meetings even if she complained. So it was probably best not to be too negative just yet. She gave the boy a sympathetic look as he complained about getting the patch to stick. Margo hadn’t had any luck either and felt the raised surface as she ran her hand over her pocket. She nodded at the other girl's suggestion. “Well not everyone had a nanny.” she pointed out thoughtfully. “My grandma can help you if you’d like.” she offered. Hopeful that she might be able to prove to her that she was able to make a friend her own age. “I’m Margo. What are your names?” she asked curiously. After all they had run into each other enough times she wanted to have names to go with their faces.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron was starting to wonder if maybe he should just throw himself in the harbour after chucking his patch in there first. He scrunched up his nose at the first girl's suggestion, glad the second one agreed that it was dumb to think everyone had a nanny, though her offer to get her grandma to help might have been just as bad. "I'll figure something out," he muttered, tugging his sash down so it was resting across his chest like it was supposed to before deciding he didn't want to wear it anymore and just pulling it off entirely. "Cameron," he said gruffly in response to Margo, bunching his sash up in a ball in his hands. "Isn't Margo like, an old lady's name? Are you named after your grandma?" He said, grinning a little at his own joke, keen to get the subject away to Cameron's inability to sew or his lack of nannies or grandmas to do it for him.

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora shrugged when Margo pointed out not everyone had a nanny. "Not everyone has a grandma either." She muttered, mostly for something to say. She smiled at the girl as she introduced herself. "I'm Isadora." She said, then frowned as Cameron immediately insulted Margo after introducing himself. "What's your middle name, is it rude boy? Margo is a perfectly normal name." She said, frowning slightly. She hoped the boy had likely been joking, but Isadora had no way to know if he was trying to laugh with the girl or laugh at her. She frowned at him and crossed her arms, wondering if he was going to say something similar about her own name.

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo sighed as the boy didn’t seem to want their help. She couldn’t understand why he seemed so grumpy when he was obviously having trouble with the patch. “I guess that’s true.” she admitted with a sigh as the girl pointed out that not everyone had a grandma. Even if having a nanny felt like something people only in books or tv had. She smiled when they introduced themselves but it quickly vanished when Cameron started to poke fun at her name. She felt anger flare inside her, it wasn’t a feeling she was used to and she clenched her hands into fists. “Well isn’t Cameron a girl's name?” she shot back and wrinkled her nose at him. But she turned to Isadora and smiled again. ”Thank you.” she said sincerely. She would have preferred a beautiful or lovely name but she would settle for normal. “Your name is very nice too.” she said, pointedly not looking at Cameron.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron frowned when Isadora immediately turned against him, scrunching up his face at her. He didn't know why she was getting upset, he wasn't making fun of her name. "No," he said snottily, squeezing his balled up sash tighter in his hands. "Shut up," he added as Margo joined in. "It's a boy's name," he insisted, annoyed that the girls seemed to be ganging up on him now, making a gagging noise when they started complimenting each other. "You guys are boring, you'll fit right in with those boring scouts," he said, crossing his arms. "We're not even allowed to do real magic stuff yet, what's the point," he muttered, wishing he could just leave but he needed to wait for his mum to show up.

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora couldn't help a slight giggle when Margo said Cameron was a girl's name. She liked the other girl better instantly, glad she was able to stand up for herself. She also liked the compliment she gave. "It's a name for both at best," Isadora said with an amused smile on her face. "We're not boring, and that's good because scouts aren't boring either." She told Cameron pointedly. "If you hate it so much, why don't you quit?" She laughed when he talked about not being able to do real magic stuff yet. "That's the law, they can't help that." She said. "My parents think it's ridiculous, they think we should be allowed to practice magic before Hogwarts." She added unthinkingly. She then winced. She didn't particularly want to talk about her parents, especially because they mostly believed that because they wanted kids from wizarding families to have an advantage over muggleborns. While Isadora wanted to learn magic as much as the next kid, she didn't think that was a very good reason.

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo glanced at Isadora sheepishly and was glad that the other girl seemed to be on her side. She straightened up her posture and looked back at Cameron. “Fine. You have a lovely boy's name.” she said and tried not to smile. She frowned as he called them boring. She didn't exactly disagree with scouts being boring but it was just the first meeting it was probably going to get better. Or at least she hoped it would. Margo nodded along as Isadora argued with him. “Yeah, we’re not boring.” she added quickly with hands on her hips. She didn't understand Cameron's rush to learn magic. They had their whole lives to learn and use magic. School was right around the corner anyways. “Are both of you going to Hogwarts?” she asked after Isadora mentioned the school. She held her breath as she waited for their answer. She hoped they would be. Her brother had been homeschooled so she knew it wasn't for everyone but it would be such a relief to go to school already knowing some people.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron let out a huff when the girls conceded his name could be a boy's name, poking his tongue out at Margo for good measure when she called it lovely. Girls were so weird. "Mum said I have to give it a chance," he muttered, feeling his ears heat up at the admission, but it seemed easier to say as such rather than admit he didn't actually want to quit after complaining so much. He just hated feeling like he already wasn't fitting in with something magical, even more so when both girls seemed fine with it.

He had to say he agreed with Isadora's parents about magic, though it wasn't really like he could manage to pull off any magic of his own yet. Not for lack of trying, he thought grimly, hoping Margo had forgotten his attempts at the park. Her question about Hogwarts made Cameron's stomach sink and he glanced between the two of them shiftily, pulling his feet up onto the bench so he could rest his chin on his knees. "I mean yeah, probably. I guess. Have... You guys already gotten your letter and stuff?" He asked, dreading the answer but unable to stop himself from asking.