Closed No Magic Needed

[Amelia Middlebrooke]

@Aine Thompson

Amelia had been seriously struggling with her classes this semester. After finally realizing this was not one big joke, she had been trying her hardest. But honestly, carrying a wand was enough work nonetheless having to use it. She had barely managed in her Charms lessons. A flashlight or even just throwing an object would have been easier. She still slightly wished this was all one big joke. She just didn't fit in, which was strange for the young brunette. She often found herself involved in so many groups, not afraid to just join in whether she was wanted or not. But this school was just so different.

Not quite knowing what to do with herself, she made her way to the Kitchens. An older Ravenclaw had told her the way. She still found herself lost going the easiest of places. Who had so many corridors anyway? It surprised her. Her feet just leading the way to the area where she felt most at home. The kitchen had always reminded her of her father. The baking, the competitions, the flour everywhere but the mixing bowl. Most importantly the laughter. Happiness without a wand. Something that was so foreign here.

Amelia entered into the kitchen. She did not expect anyone else to be here yet that was of course wrong. She saw a handful of little creatures making food, house elves. She was offered so many items, all tempting. She kindly asked if she could make something. They did seem offended, but that was not at all Amelia's intention. Trying to ease the silence, she took many treats, eating them happily. That seemed to make the house elves feel better. The tiny, adorable creatures even helped Amelia find a few things.

She collected the ingredients, with some help, for the brownies she had been craving, a family recipe. Amelia was waiting for the butter to soften as she hummed rather loudly to herself, a muggle theme song from the Scooby Doo series. It was just such a catchy song for being so old. The young girl zoned out thinking about the times when she was watching reruns with her father.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine was hungry. Staying up late for Astronomy class was hard, and she needed sugar to get through it. Plus, she'd forgotten to eat lunch as it was, having been caught up reading and losing track of time. It wasn't like she had much else to do - the other Hufflepuffs seemed to all do their own thing and when she'd had occasion to try talking with them, she'd constantly made a fool of herself, saying the wrong thing and seemingly offending when she was only trying to be friendly. A little too sharp tongued and inclined to snark, it seemed.

Maybe it wasn't a great idea to sneak to the kitchens, but she wasn't sure she was going to make it through the day without food, and it wasn't as though she was old enough to go stock up on candy on weekends like some of the older students were. So, this would have to do. Hopefully she wouldn't get in trouble for it.

She snuck in and heard humming, much to her surprise. She couldn't quite place the tune, but it was incredibly familiar to her, like something she'd heard on TV in passing. "Hang on, what's that from..." she pondered out loud, only then noticing that it was a girl she recognized from a couple of her classes that was humming. Another first year, probably from one of the other houses. "Bugger, it's gonna drive me nuts trying to place it."

 

[Amelia Middlebrooke]

Amelia continued to hum her little song as she went around the kitchen, making sure that she had all the ingredients that she needed. It was always strange to use a kitchen that was not your own. Everything was not organized the same way. The young Ravenclaw would just have to play it by ear and attempt to find everything she needed. The house elves were rather helpful if she did need anything. It was almost as if her father was here helping her, minus the mess that they normally made. They were more an organized chaos type of people.

Amelia was reaching for a rather high bowl up on the shelf for mixing when she heard a voice. Surprised, she knocked the bowl over onto the floor with a loud clang. Letting out a loud laugh at how jumpy she had been, Amelia picked up the bowl. Now this felt more like baking at home.

She turned around to see who the voice was, apparently someone who knew some muggle television shows. That was new to the young girl who felt completely as if the wizarding world and muggle world were too separated in her opinion. "Oh hey!" She said brightly seeing another student in the kitchens with her. Amelia was horrible at telling ages, but the student looked about the same age as herself. "You've got good taste in television." She began with a bright smile "or should I say Muggle Television" She added making quotation marks around the words muggle television. "It's from that ancient cartoon Scooby Doo. Wouldn't want you going nuts" She added. She knew how annoying it was to forget something that you know you could place eventually. Even worse there was no google here at Hogwarts to even look it up.

 

[Aine Thompson]

"Oh, sorry!" Aine quickly apologized, waving her hands as the other girl knocked a bowl over - which was plainly Aine's fault for disturbing her. It was hard to speak to people without seemingly offending them. At least the other girl didn't seem too upset by it, instead letting her know where the tune came from. "Oh, thank you! I knew it sounded familiar." Now she remembered. When she'd been really bored and channel surfing during school holidays she'd seen it a couple of times, on some channel that played really old cartoons and kids shows. She paused for a second, before smirking. "I bet wizards would have really boring television," she pondered, hoping she wouldn't offend. Judging by the other girl's comment, she was not from a magical background either. Logically, Aine understood that technology didn't really work around magic, but magic lacked so much in the way of entertainment value. Or worldwide convenience - since it's not like they had the internet or anything of the sort. "What are you making?" she asked, a mixture of politeness and curiosity, forgetting once again to actually properly introduce herself.

 

[Amelia Middlebrooke]

Amelia waved the girl off as she apologized. "I probably would have knocked it over anyway. I'm a certified klutz" She said with a smile. It was nothing but the truth. Amelia tripped over her own feet more than any other person she knew. Her mother always said she would grow out of this phase, grown into her height, but the young brunette doubted that. She wasn't sure she wanted to anyway. It was a part of her, something she would never really change.

Amelia began to add the softened butter to the bowl before looking for where she had put that sugar. Finding it with a quiet "Gotcha" She began to measure her ingredient, adding it to the bowl. This was so much easier than potions. There was no time in adding ingredients, just go at your own pace. The young girl was still listening to the other student who had walked in. Glancing over at the comment about wizarding television. She had never even considered that wizards might have tv. Maybe they broadcasted Quidditch Matches like they did Football in America. It was an odd thing to think about. There was still so much in this world that Amelia had to learn.

Amelia was more than happy to discuss her baking as the other girl was curious. Finally, something she could talk about and actually know what she was doing. "Oh, I'm making Caramel double chocolate brownies" Amelia said maybe a little too excitedly. The word caramel probably sounding odd with her American accent. Everyone here said it slightly strange. She had learned that in the last couple years living in New Zealand. "They are delicious. I could eat the whole pan myself, but I don't mind sharing if you've got a sweet tooth" Amelia added, maybe overexaggerating how much she could actually eat without getting a stomachache.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine shrugged. "It happens." She certainly wasn't a picture of grace, or anything like that. Her attempts at dancing or gymnastics as a little kid had been disastrous, and attempting to play netball through primary school hadn't been much better. And the less said about flying, the better. She was fine as long as she wasn't trying to do any great physical activity, at least.

She half wondered if wizards did have television or anything similar. They seemed to have radios, at least, but nobody in the muggle world listened to the radio anymore. Cars hooked up to uploaded playlists on the internet. There wasn't any public transport where Aine lived, but it seemed people either read or listened to their own playlists on public transport in Melbourne when she went to visit. Wizards were so advanced in some ways - their photographs and paintings moved naturally, not through the magic of editing! - but so behind in others. She wondered if there was even a spell to amplify an electric guitar or if all their music was acoustic.

Realizing her brain was jumping on tangents, Aine tried to recenter herself. "Sorry, I was just thinking to myself. What do wizards do for fun? Is it all playing board games, beating each other up with spells, flying, and research?" she paused, knowing she was rambling again. "Oh, that sounds really good. Do you...need a hand with anything?" She only cooked every now and then, and was far from an expert and could never really remember any recipes, but it was the polite thing to do to offer assistance, especially if she hoped to reap some of the benefits.