More alike than you think

[Sara Benivieni]

Now that she had made the team, Sara could not be more excited. Sure she was an alternate which kind of sucked but at least she had more chance of playing next year and who knew, maybe she even got to play in one of these matches. She did know that alternates were essential during matches, sometimes not, but then again Sara wanted to learn how to play well and she did so best by watching how it was done. The Slytherin thought maybe she should get started with reading for charms. It was the third week of lessons already too.

On her way to the lounge however she got distracted which happened rarely, often at school here because there were so many things to do. She entered in the room that caused her distraction. Trophies were lined all along the wall and some were even on platforms or counters. There were so many! Who would've thought students and staff achieved so much here. This only made the Italian think about what she would be able to do for the next five years of her education, six including this one. Sara pressed her nose against the glass, squinting her eyes, trying to read the small print on each trophy. The trophy room had a diversity of prizes. It was impressive.​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan liked the trophy room. He liked seeing the school's past and student's achievements stalled out in neat rows. He went there sometimes to just think, though he could never help picturing his own name here some day. That was the only thing he didn't like about this room so far, that he hadn't made his own mark yet. He was a third year now, which meant he was getting close to the halfway point of his school career. The best he could say so far was that he had contributed to Hufflepuff's win last year, but he hadn't even been close to scoring most points for his house. Some stupid fourth year girl had gotten that three times in a row, and he was starting to think he would never make it in here. It wasn't like there were that many other ways to get his name in, unless he wanted to do his best with the halloween contest. That seemed silly, though. The quidditch cup would be nice as well, but he didn't really know if he would ever make the team if he tried out, he didn't really care about the sport itself but he would love the respect quidditch players got.

As he was contemplating everything, he wandered around the trophy room. He was startled when he suddenly saw a girl in front of one of the cases, peering inside. He nearly jumped, why hadn't he seen her? She was younger than him, but he thought he recognized her from Slytherin. He wasn't sure, though, as he didn't pay too much attention to younger students for the most part. He cleared his throat to make his presence known. "Is there anything I can help you with?" He asked her, as it felt more polite to him than demanding to know what she was doing, though he basically meant the same thing.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Normally, Sara would notice if someone spoke to her, but she was so in awe that she missed the question the boy who had in fact walked in the trophy room asked her. It took her another second, before finally turning around and smiling friendly at the boy. "Hi!" she said cheerfully. "Um, no, I was just looking at the trophies, but thanks for asking," she giggled, not exactly sure what other answer to give - after all, this room was designed for looking at other people's achievements. "I've never seen you before," she stated, not meaning to be rude at all, it was a statement and not an accusation. "I'm Sara," she introduced herself. She loved meeting new people! Maybe, hopefully, she'd be able to befriend him. Having older friends was always convenient right? He definitely wasn't in second year, but he also didn't look young enough to be a first year which meant he had to be older.​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan wasn't sure what he had expected from the girl, but her cheerful greeting hadn't been it. The girl giggled and Tristan had to try not to frown. He wondered which year the girl was in, but she looked like a firstie to him."Alright, did you see any interesting ones? " He asked her with a shrug. This girl seemed very excitable but at least she was friendly. "I like to look at them sometimes too." He told her honestly. He shrugged again when she said she had never seen him before. "It's a big school, it's not that weird. My name's Tristan. It's nice to meet you." He ran a hand through his hair. "I take it you're not in Hufflepuff?" He would surely have seen her if she was. "First year, though. Right?" He could be wrong, but she looked young to him. And he associated the excited way she talked with younger children.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara was relieved when the boy seemed to accept what she'd been doing. She shrugged at his question of whether she saw anything interesting. "There are quite a few, like the quidditch ones and school activities. There's even people who get recognised for achieving the most house points. They're creative," she observed, glancing at the nearest one. There was so much to do at Hogwarts that she was sure boredom was not a popular thing amongst people here. "Nice to meet you too, Tristan," she smiled, unsure if she should shake his hand, but then she remembered that although her parents had taught her to do so, with people that were around her age it wasn't that normal, especially in a magical school in New Zealand. This was not Italy and she was not dealing with adults. "No. I'm in Slytherin." She frowned at his question of her being a first year. She shook her head. Did she really look that small? "I'm actually in second year. What about you?" Maybe her small frame made her look as short as the first years. Sara didn't necessarily like to seem younger than she was, though thankfully she still had time to grow.​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan wasn't surprised by the list of trophies the girl summed up, as he knew exactly what sort of things people could get trophies for. That was something he had looked into during his first year. And it was a little frustrating that his name still wasn't in the trophy room somewhere. He'd been at school for two and a half years without a big accomplishment to his name. "They have a bunch for Halloween costumes too." He told her with a small shrug. "Though those seem a bit silly to me. Dressing up as something silly isn't a real accomplishment." He said with a small frown.

He couldn't help a small grimace when she revealed she was in fact a second year. He really shouldn't have made assumptions. The girl seemed very young, though. So it wasn't his fault. "Oh, sorry." he said with a quick smile. "I guess I just assumed I would have seen you around if you were a second year, I don't think I would have forgotten you if I had." He hoped he hadn't laid it on too thick, but Jessica had liked him talking to her that way. Now he wasn't trying to ask Sara to a dance, but he hoped it would still be effective to smooth things over. "I'm in third year myself." He added when she asked.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara simply nodded at Tristan's words. There were those trophies for Halloween too, she'd almost forgotten. There were just so many different ones for different things that it wasn't easy noticing every single one. She smiled when he said that to him it seemed a bit silly getting recognised for dressing up. She agreed with that one, though. "Yeah, same. I think trophies are meant more for something useful that you can use in life. Like a Quidditch trophy or an academic one," she said thoughtfully. She hoped that sometime soon she'd be able to play, as she was just an alternate for now.

"That's okay, don't worry," she reassured him, then shrugged. "It's easy to mistaken me for younger than what I am." His next words almost caught her off guard, about him probably not forgetting her if they'd met, but it was a big school and had they been in the same house Sara would have noticed him as well. "There are a lot of people at this school, so it's not that easy to notice everyone here," she told him. "To be fair I should have seen you around as well since you are older than me, but that isn't the case, so," she smiled, hoping it was friendly enough. "Are you from around here?" She asked him randomly, changing the subject. It had just occurred to her that her own Italian accent hadn't completely faded, and although she'd been here for almost two years she still could not quite identify the difference between a New Zealand and Australian accent. "Sorry, that was random," she pursed her lips and avoided his gaze, to shield herself from further embarrassment.​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan was glad he hadn't accidentally insulted the girl by saying the prizes for Halloween seemed silly to him. He had done so before with another girl, and he chastised himself silently for being so careless. He nodded in agreement. "I think there should be more academic ones. The same people keep winning most points." He said with a shrug. "As far as I've seen, anyway." He didn't mean to sound bitter, but some of it may have crept into his voice anyway.

He was glad she wasn't offended by his remark, but his attempt at flattery didn't seem to really affect her too much either. Jessica had blushed and giggled at comments he made, but that had been the intention. He hadn't wanted this girl to be too flattered, but he had hoped it would smooth over his previous mistake. It was hard to see if it had worked, as she seemed very agreeable in general. Her question about where he was from caught him off guard, but he recovered quickly with another smile. "Hey, that's fine. It's a good question. But yeah, I'm from New Zealand. Where are you from?" He had noticed her accent wasn't from here, but he had no idea what it could be. There were so many people from different backgrounds here, it was impossible for him to even guess what her accent was. Something European, probably? He was kind of curious about the answer now, even though he hadn't truly cared before he wanted the answer just to sate his own curiosity.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara considered what Tristan was saying, and nodded, having been oblivious to his attempt at complimenting her. "Yeah, now that I think about it, it's the same high-achievers every year." Sara didn't comment on the bitterness in his words, maybe there was something behind that but it wasn't in her place to ask. There was an awkward moment between them, a silence, but then Tristan replied to her random question and didn't seem too bothered by it. Thankfully. She nodded once more, returning his smile. "Glad you're not too creeped out by that random outburst," she joked, then answered his question about where she was from. "I'm from Italy, though I'm actually half Italian half Spanish." Sara didn't exactly know why she felt it necessary to add that last bit, but she did. She wondered how many people in this school were from all over the world, because she couldn't be the only one with European roots.​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan didn't mind the conversation with Sara much, though he did dislike the weird moment of silence that happened after his little outburst about the same people getting most points each year. He shouldn't let his feelings be that clear, it wasn't something that looked good or nice. The person that won most points for his house probably worked hard for it, he just wished he would get some recognition for his own hard work once in a while too.

He forced a friendly smile on his face as they continued to talk about where the girl was from. Once she said the answer, he realized he probably could have guessed it from the accent if he had tried a bit harder. But at least he had been right about it being from Europe. "Italy, that must be beautiful. And quite different from here." He mused. Before going to Hogwarts where they had some field trips with portkeys he had never even left the country, it wasn't something his parents could afford, or probably ever would be able to. So he couldn't help but feel some envy for the kids he heard travel all over the world, even if he knew it was a lot easier with magic. He wondered how legal it was to use a portkey with muggles. It would be so much easier to give his parents a well-deserved vacation if he could just use one of those. He tried to focus again on the conversation. " It's interesting how many people here are from all over the world. I don't want to be rude, but can I ask why you came to Hogwarts here? Instead of a school in Europe? Beauxbatons is fairly close, isn't it?" He could only hope he had remembered correctly that Italy and France weren't too far apart, and he made a mental note to brush up on his geography.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Normally, Sara wouldn't find it hard to converse with someone and befriend them, though Tristan seemed like the type of person who did not befriend just anyone like the Slytherin would, assuming the person she met was friendly enough and didn't mind talking to her. He was nice though, which was why she was enjoying this interaction and hoped that in future it wouldn't be this awkward. If there was going to be a next time, that was. The Slytherin instantly grinned when Tristan commented on Italy, it was really beautiful and she missed home. But she also loved it here. "Yeah, it is. I mean, opposite weather and all," she half-joked, knowing that the weather was what was different the least, from where she was from. "The accent as well," she added, a smile still on her features as she glanced at the boy. "And the language..." she trailed off, realising she was rambling and the conversation was loosing its depth if it had any to begin with.

"Yeah, that's also true. I haven't met many people from other places though, excluding those in my year. I'll have to look out for them," she said. It was rather intriguing to the second year how people just decided to move to New Zealand to learn and practice magic instead of moving closer to their home. Sara had a specific reason for moving, one she didn't necessarily feel comfortable in sharing, but she understood why people would be curious. She kept her smile however as Tristan asked her exactly that, hoping she wouldn't come off as too uncomfortable about it. "My older twin siblings got accepted here, then my younger older brother did too and they've told me all about Hogwarts and how great everything is here so I couldn't wait until I could start my first year," she explained. "My parents are still kind of wary about magic, they didn't want to send me anywhere at first. I convinced them though. You can't keep someone with magic in their blood from learning their full potential, right?"

Sara paused, figuring out how to word what she had to say next. "Beauxbatons and Hogwarts Scotland are the closest ones to Italy actually, yes," she nodded. "But eventually my dad got offered a...better job here through one of our family friends and we moved to live in the country. I guess it's easier for my mom and dad to be closer to us, start over," she shrugged. That was quite a lot of information, she did begin to wonder why they didn't just send the four children at a school in Europe but brushed away the thought. She was liking it here and the people were friendly thus far. "Oh, I almost forgot. I have extended family here too, so I think my parents thought it would be nice to reconnect and get to know each other better. Or something," she frowned, not too fond of the idea but then again she had to try.​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan was interested to hear about the girl's home country, more than most of anything else she had to say. Small talk about classes or idle gossip was a waste of time, so he was glad to at least talk about something more interesting than that. He had nearly forgotten about the opposite seasons in most other parts of the world, but he nodded along with her. But she didn't seem to enjoy talking much about it, to is own disappointed. She seemed sort of self conscous,actually.

Tristan smiled at her comment about not knowing many people from other places. "I don't know a lot of specifics, honestly, but I hear a lot of accents that aren't from here." He told her with a shrug. "I can't really distinguish between them too much, I can mostly just tell if its European or American." He admitted. He listened to her talk about his siblings, though he didn't really bother remembering the specifics of who were twins and who weren't. His ears perked up, however, when she told him her parents were wary of magic. "Are you a muggle born?" He asked her, quite bluntly. It was something he always wondered about when he was talking to someone new, their blood status. He often didn't ask it because it could so easily be turned around and asked of him, and he had learned not to share it too easily after a few bad encounters. But meeting others with similar backgrounds than him was always interesting. "I agree, those with magic need to learn magic. Keeping someone away from it would be barbaric." He hated the thought of being torn away from this world. So much that it had been his boggart earlier this year in the Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

Her reasons for going to New Zealand were predictable, though he did think some people actually traveled between New Zealand and their home country just for school. He wondered if that meant Hogwarts here was one of the best magic schools, and he had just been lucky in living near it. He smiled at her. "Do you like it here in New Zealand?" He asked her.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

It was getting easier the more she talked to the boy. She hadn't talked to someone new in weeks. Sara wasn't too comfortable talking about her home, as people would start to ask questions and Sara didn't like it. It made her feel conscious of why she has to move and the girl never knew the right thing to say, without giving too much away. Her discomfort probably showed on her expression as she told Tristan, though. She tried to ignore it and focus on whatever else they were talking about. The second year smiled when the hufflepuff said he heard many accents from all over, but didn't know the specific countries. Sara's guess was that there were many Europeans at the school, their reasons for moving to New Zealand were probably completely different to Sara's.

"Yeah, I can't pin down the exact places either," she told him. When he asked if she was a muggle born Sara grinned, surely if he had asked it was because he was too? "Yes, I'm a proud muggle born. What about you?" If she could find people who were similar to her and believed that the school had many pures who thought they were better than everyone else, it was a good sign. "It is," she said, agreeing easily. "I would hate to be home or at a muggle school when I know magic is what's best for me." She admitted that part without thinking much about it. Home was home but it was also the place where Sara's parents could keep an eye on her every move. It drained her sometimes. She pursed her lips at his question, even though she knew the answer to it already. "I guess so, yeah," she shrugged, not wanting to give too much away and say that it was so much better than being at her house doing boring homework. "I mean, there are some people I'd rather not even see, but it's...diverse." Sara paused, before finally turning the question on the boy. "What about you, do you like being here?"​

 

[Tristan Collins]

The conversation between him and Sara was becoming a little stilted, and it seemed like neither of them wanted to be rude and end it. Still, there were things about the girl that were interesting. And when she said she was a proud muggleborn, a genuine smile spread over Tristan's face. It may be foolish of the girl to be so proud and open about it, but he couldn't help liking her more for this statement. "I'm muggleborn as well." He said, feeling a kinship with her just because of this. "Always happy to meet others. It can't be easy in Slytherin, huh?" He asked her, wondering if she'd run into some of the prejudiced snakes he himself had met. He knew of one other muggleborn girl in Slytherin, but she was in his year so the odds of Sara knowing her were slim. They also seemed fairly different.

He wondered what she meant with people she'd rather not see. He was curious, but didn't think he could ask without seeming nosy. Her question back at him made him shrug. "It's fine. I... honestly don't have much else to compare it with. I've always lived in New Zealand. I like the school, though I have a similar situation as you with some people I would rather not see." He said with a smile. "I should probably head back now, but it's been nice to meet you." He hoped she wouldn't mind ending the conversation here, but he couldn't really linger this long in the trophy room without a good reason.