Open Muggleborn (and Raised) Support Group!

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy paced around the student lounge making sure all of the chairs were set up neatly and facing each other. She took a deep breath and checked the time and stared at the door hoping some one would come in soon. Professor Carter was supposed to be their any second and she was grateful that he had agreed to help her with this. For the past week Poppy had been handing out flyers for her meeting and posting them around the castle. She had the idea for the meeting over the break when she went to visit family and her grandmother who didn't have the best memory anymore and kept asking her how school was going. Poppy wanted nothing more then to tell her the truth about how wonderful Hogwarts was and about magic, but then she'd be breaking a law. It had felt awful and it wasn't like she could just talk to any of her classmates about it. Students who grew up in a wizarding family never had to deal with keeping secrets. Not to mention the shock of entering a world that you grew up telling yourself didn't exist. To suddenly have question everything you believed to be true and assimilate into a completely different society was no walk in the park either. So Poppy decided she wanted to create a space for students to talk about their experience and honestly express how they were doing with it all. Poppy was a third year now and was just starting to feel comfortable and like she belonged here.

There was a sudden sound of students entering and she let out a sigh of relief. She had almost convinced herself that no one was going to come. "Hello! Welcome everyone, please take a seat!" she greeted with a wide smile. Poppy couldn't help but bounce slightly as people got settled. "I'm so glad everyone could make it!" she announced, trying to get everyone's attention. "My name is Poppy Perkins, I am a third year Ravenclaw and I am a muggleborn. I have two muggle parents and grew up in a small town with no idea that magic existed. Starting Hogwarts was kind of hard for me. It was overwhelming to be in a place that I knew nothing about. Nothing about how things worked or the history, and it was hard to be away from my family." she began talking about her own experience. "Things have gotten easier though. But not being able to talk to my extended family is still hard. I feel like I have to lie about who I am and it doesn't feel good." she finished with a sigh. "But I'm sure I'm not alone with those feelings!" Poppy chirped, smiling again. "I would love if everyone would take a moment to introduce themselves and tell us a little about yourself. Why don't you start us off?" she suggested and pointed to the student to her right.

OOC: This meeting is for muggleborn or muggle raised students, so basically anyone who grew up as a muggle and had no idea about magic until they received their Hogwarts letter. I'd like to let a few people introduce themselves before starting a full discussion, and if you join late, no worries! Just introduce yourself and join the conversation!

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar had been counting down the minutes until the Muggleborn Support Group meeting was going to start, she was so excited! She didn't have a problem telling others she was muggleborn, like she'd heard some people had, but that didn't mean the whole concept of the wizarding world wasn't hard to grasp either. She hurriedly came in and sat down, taking a seat on @Poppy Perkins right, and gave her a grin. She watched the other students come in and busied herself watching them, trying to see if she saw anyone she knew, so it was a bit of a surprise when the girl next to her started speaking and introduced herself. She jumped, but only a little. Turning to face the girl, Skylar listened to what she was saying and found she could relate to quite a few things. Growing up with muggle parents, thinking magic didn't exist and finding it overwhelming... she was surprised at just how much she could relate. Then suddenly, the girl pointed to her and was her turn to speak.

"Ok well, I guess hey everyone, I'm Skylar, Skylar Anderson" she began, adding in her last name in case there were other Skylars though she doubted it, "and I'm a first year Gryffindor." she added, gesturing to her Gryffindor scarf which she'd taken a liking to. "I'm a muggleborn, and only found out this whole magical world existed about, what, 6 or so weeks ago? So yeah, I'm pretty new to this whole thing," she added with a grin "I grew up on a farm up north, with my muggle parents, and muggle twin brother, so it's been quite hard leaving them, especially since my brother is basically my other half." she felt a lump forming in her throat and she shook her head, determined not to let her emotions get the best of her. "I'm finding Hogwarts pretty fun so far, though I feel like I'll need to do a lot more work before I reach the same level of magic as some of my peers, like for example, the basic charm Lumos, most kids here have grown up with it so they knew how to do it or knew what it was at least before our first Charms lesson, but it was all new to me so I find that aspect of being Muggleborn quite hard. Just not knowing these kinds of basics in advance I guess."

Thinking that was everything, she decided to end on a high note so she added "though shopping for my school supplies in Obsidian Harbour by myself for the first time was quite the experience I must say!" she finished off with a laugh, remembering how she'd marveled at how everything was magic and how she'd gotten lost at least 3 times. "Well that's everything I guess." she finished with a smile, and gestured for the next person to begin their introduction.

 

[Chloe Chan]

The past three years at Hogwarts had been fairly interesting for Chloe, who had been struggling with trying to fit in to the wizarding world and more importantly to the school and with others her age. She was getting used to it because three whole years had taught her a lot, so she felt more at ease than she would have way back in first or second year. Chloe had come back to school with similar expectations to last year’s, and just get through the year, do even better in her classes than she had up until now, and brush up on her Quidditch skills. So the girl had been surprised to see flyers around the school, about a muggleborn sport group. Chloe wasn’t muggleborn by blood, but she had grown up like one. She has only found out she was magical when she had received her letter, and then had felt like preparing herself for Hogwarts in that short break between her finding out and the term starting hadn’t been enough time. The fourth year decided to show up to the event and see what it was like, and when she entered the student lounge, she noticed two other girls she assumed were part of this group. She went over to them with a smile, realising the girl who had organised this was actually in her house. She settled on an armchair, and listened to the introductions, and both of the girls’ stories, once it appeared that everyone who was supposed to be here was here. When it was her turn, she put a small smile on her face, before she began to speak. "My name is Chloe Chan, I’m a fourth year Ravenclaw and a half blood," she said, "although I never actually knew about magic and the wizarding world until I received my acceptance letter. "I’m from Singapore, an only child so I have no one to share this experience with," she added wryly, "except for my mother, but she’s a muggle. I grew up without my biological father, who’s apparently a famous Quidditch player, and the man my mother remarried, so my stepdad, he’s a muggle too." She paused, hoping this wasn’t too much information she was giving out. Ah, who cares. "It turns out my mom knew about magic my entire life, so when I found out about that...well, it was fun," she said a little sarcastically. "I can definitely relate to Poppy and Skylar, about the sense of belonging. I only really started feeling like I belonged here near the end of last year, and have tried not to feel behind or disadvantaged when it came to the practical side of magic." She took a breath here, figuring she should start wrapping up. "It gets better though, and if you meet the right people, they’re gonna be there for you, especially if you’re struggling. It can only go uphill from here, really, and getting extra help if you need it is definitely worth it." She smiled again. "I don’t know about anyone else but I think this group was a really good idea, it really helps to get these things off my chest, and knowing there are other people who feel similarly is pretty reassuring." With that, Chloe decided she should stop talking before she went on another rant, and she indicated for the next person to go. ​

 

[Abian Hunter]

The muggleborn meeting had seemed like a good idea to Abian, and he had tried to get Aisa to join him. But his sister had refused, claiming it wasn't necessary. So Abian headed over by himself, wondering if anyone from his year would be there. He took a seat, making himself comfortable in one of the armchairs. The younger girl leading the whole thing introduced herself, telling them a bit about herself and her background. He could relate to her struggles a bit, and could understand why she organized something like this. A young girl then spoke up, confirming she was a first year. Abian felt for her, as he could remember being that age and being very overwhelmed. Chloe from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team went next, and Abian had had no idea she was raised by muggles too. She gave a lot of information about her background as well. Abian decided to go next, shooting them all a sheepish smile. "Uh, I'm Abian Hunter and i'm in sixth year in Hufflepuff." He said, almost alarmed that he was already in his sixth year. "My mum is a muggle and so was my dad, so my whole introduction to magic was very strange. Turns out I have a magical cousin and he helped me and my sister a lot, but it was still weird. I remember both wanting to learn everything and feeling completely overwhelmed by it all." He said, thinking back. "And even now I run into new stuff all the time where I go, wait, that's real?" He said with a slight shake of his head. "But since I've been around for a while now, I guess I can offer help if anyone needs it?"

 

[Richard Andrews]

Richard had thought that this Muggleborn support group thing was a great idea. He thought that it was a good idea to meet people that had a similar yet different background to him. This whole magical world was still different to him and he was still learning everything. When Ricky made his way to the student lounge, which he was a little confused on where it was, as the school was so big to still get used to, he had noticed that there were a few people already in the room and all seated. Ricky sat down in one of the chairs and waited until the meeting started. They were starting with introductions, and he had found everyone's backgrounds interesting so far. He then realized it was his turn. "Oh, uh, my name's Richard. But call me Ricky. Absolutely hate the name Richard" Ricky says with a slight cringe shown in his shoulder. "I'm in Hufflepuff and I'm in my first year" Ricky says with a small smile. "Both my parents and half brothers are muggles, so I kinda can't relate to that with my family. I'm still getting used to the magical world, but I think that its cool to be here!" Ricky says with a big smile, signalling for the next person to go.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy felt a sudden relief as the first student started to speak. She had been so scared no one would come, and now that it was finally happening she could relax just a little. She listened politely and nodded along as the first girl, a younger student told her story. “Thank you for sharing Skylar.” she said with a smile as the other girl finished her story. Poppy could feel her cheeks flush a bit when Chloe complimented the idea for the group. “Thanks! I’m just glad all of you could make it.” she said a little sheepishly. “ I know I would have liked this kind of thing when I started. So thank you for making it happen.” she said again and gestured to the group. She had been surprised when Abian arrived. She had no idea he was a muggleborn, which wasn’t that surprising since their only interaction was a brief rose delivery last year but she was very grateful that an older student had come and offered guidance. As a third year she felt like she really didn’t have the knowledge or authority to give any kind of meaningful advice. “Well I’m glad you’re here Ricky.” she said brightly as the other boy finished. She thought it was interesting that a whole family seemed to develop magical abilities. After it seemed like everyone had introduced themselves she clapped her hands and stood up quickly. “I just want to thank you all for coming and I guess now we can move on to a discussion.” she said. ”I can start! What Skylar said about charms really stuck out to me. But for me it was History of Magic that threw me off at first. It was weird to learn a history so different than the one I’ve always known to be true. It kind of turns your whole world upside down.” she explained.

(OOC: Sorry for the delayed response, I was trying to make sure people had a chance to reply. Also anyone should feel free to join at any time!)

 

[Skylar Anderson]

After everyone had introduced themselves, the discussion part of this 'meeting' began. Skylar blushed a bit when it turned out the topic they'd be talking about was one that was linked to what she'd said in her introduction, so seeing as it had (in a way) been linked to her, she started speaking.

"Yeah, I completely agree! While I haven't actually had a History of Magic lesson yet, I can still relate to the fact that it's so weird to be learning about a world where things that you've been told your whole life aren't real, suddenly are! Like everything to do with science, I've grown up being repeatedly told, "magic isn't real, everything can be explained by science" but it turns out, they've been wrong all along!" she said with a shaky laugh at the end, still not quite able to believe such a major thing had been proven wrong.

Suddenly thinking of another example, she added "but it's not just the big side of things, like the whole concept of magic, even little things like broomstick riding are so weird at first! Like, I'd never have guessed that people would actually ride on brooms until now, all I've ever used them for is sweeping the floor!" she chuckled at the thought of how her mum would react when she came back to her farm from the holidays, to find out that things like broomstick riding actually existed!

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian was the oldest here for now, which gave him a strangely protective feeling over everyone here. He listened as Ricky introduced himself too, giving the young Hufflepuff a smile. Then the girl who had organized it all spoke, and Abian turned his attention to her. She started the conversation by continuing on about something one of the young girls had said, he could agree with her about History of Magic. The young girl jumped in, saying she hadn't had that subject yet. Her talk about flying made him chuckle, as he remembered the exact same thing in his own first year. "I was the same about brooms, I was sure it was a joke at first." He said with a small shrug. "And wands, I thought it was so dumb we had to have wands. if we were magic, why couldn't we just wave our hands and make things happen?" He shrugged, remembering how it had been for him. "Classes were difficult for me," he admitted. "I've never been good in school, but here I really felt like I was behind on a lot. I agree on History of Magic, it was incredibly hard to follow for me. I feel like a lot of context was left out, as they assumed we knew it. But we didn't." He paused. "At least, that was how it felt for me. But I could also just not have been paying attention that well." He added with a sheepish shrug and a smile.

 

[Lucas Fletcher]

Lucas had seen flyers for the muggleborn support group, and had immediately known that was something he would want to be a part of. As much as he loved the magical world and all the, well, magic, it was sometimes exhausting to feel like he barely knew anything. People around him said stuff about magical creatures or things so casually, and often Lucas had to hide his astonishment about things being real. He'd nearly choked on his tea the other day when someone just casually mentioned unicorns living in the forest. He found a seat and listened to the girl as she introduced herself. She was in the year above him, and Lucas wondered if she knew Kas or Freya. Students introduce themselves, and Lucas did the same when it was his turn. "Uh, I'm Lucas Fletcher." He said, somewhat nervously. "I'm in Hufflepuff, in my second year. I'm muggleborn and have two older sisters who aren't magical." He said, not sure what else there was to add. He thought of saying something about how he had always dreamed magic was real, ever since he was young. But with the older students here, that seemed like a silly thing to admit to. He listened quietly as the discussion started, not really sure what to say yet. The other student's words did resonate with him, though, and he was glad to be here with people who understood his situation.