Y38 Muggleborn (and Raised) Support Group

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah was surprised to hear how others were handling their muggle relatives. Thankfully, she didn't have any grandparents left, and ever since the incident as a kid, they kept mostly to themselves. But now that her older siblings were getting married, the ones that still liked her were hoping to avoid the subject of their magical sisters. Seeing as she and Juniper were adopted, they could at least encourage their spouses that none of their offspring would be "wacky," as her oldest brother had so lovingly put it.

She raised her eyebrows when Freya suggested she was in juvi, thinking it was rather proposterous suggestion. Then again, she didn't know the girl so maybe it was fitting to her personality. "You would think someone would have come up with better lies by now, but I think boarding school is your best bet. You can talk about it being in an old castle, which I think is kind of believable for muggles, but just keep the magic stuff out," she suggested the boy named Rene. She knew that would be difficult for those, like her sister, who chose to play Quidditch. "You could say you play rugby instead of flying on a broom. Potions could be chemistry or science," she said, unsure why she was suddenly providing advice. And why anyone would listen to her when she had probably the worst relationship with her family out of anyone here.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper wouldn't lie; she was relieved when the first years left. They had been unnecessarily rude. She wasn't entirely sure why they had even shown up in the first place. To her, it seemed as if the girl in particular had come to the meeting for sole purpose of insulting a bunch of muggleborns. Now that they were gone, Harper felt as if she could concentrate on the conversation a bit more easily and not have to worry as much about weighing every word before she said it.

"I've been using the boarding school lie too." Sometimes she wondered whether saying she attended some kind of military school or "school for criminal youth" as the one girl had put it would be more believable. After all, what kind of boarding school didn't allow electronics of any kind? Having to convince her friends that the only way she could communicate with them was via letters passed through her parents had definitely been a challenge. "You just have to make sure you keep track of all the lies since they pile up. I've found that the questions kind of die down after a while if you keep your answers vague. Whenever I talk to my friends back home, we usually just end up talking about what's going on in their lives," she said with a shrug, trying not to let on just how much it hurt to be unable to share her life with her friends at home. She winced as she realized just how negative her answer had been, especially for a first year. "Or you could just talk about the non-magical stuff at Hogwarts, like your friends here or what it's like living in a dorm," she added hurriedly, not wanting to be a complete downer.

 

[Freya Song]

Freya leaned back in her chair as others spoke, interested - against her will - in how similar their struggles were to her own. It would be hard having muggles knowing about magic, but not being allowed to perform magic outside of school if friends or siblings were to ask for a demonstration. Freya knew she wouldn't be able to handle her brother calling her a liar for not being able to prove it, so she was impressed by Lucas being brave enough to talk about his abilities to his sisters at all. "Seemed funny at the time," she shrugged in response to René's question. "He has to send me letters back via owl, and he is very confused." she grinned.

"Wildly conflicting stories also work, so no one takes you seriously if you do slip up." Freya preferred saying as little as possible to her brother and letting him draw his own conclusions. She knew her story sounded a little extreme, but Freya was stumped for how else she'd explain to Soren where she was. A scholarship? Freya was nowhere near the academic her brother was, and she knew with absolute certainty that Soren would think she was lying if she told him that she'd been sent to some kind of fancy boarding school. They certainly didn't have the money for that, so it was much more believable that the system had simply written off Freya as a problem. It wasn't a great solution, but she figured she was better off having her remaining family hanging by a thread rather than severing the relationship entirely.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy frowned as another student left, and deepened when she spotted Freya and braced for whatever the other girl would say but to her surprise the other girl seemed genuine in her introduction. That was if she was telling the truth. But she was able to push that thought aside as some of the other students opened up, and she started to relax. She smiled as Adorah offered some options when it came to discussing lessons. It wasn’t a fool proof method but it might help if it came to that. "I think those are all good suggestions." Poppy said brightly. "I think it's been said that the best lies are the ones that are closest to the truth." she added more seriously. She hated lying herself and it never came easily to her. She was grateful she could at least be honest with her parents and that she didn't see her extended family as often. Keeping lies straight for a week at a time was hard enough when she did visit them, and it wasn't like she had any friends back home to deal with. Poppy forced a smile, wanting to lift the mood. "Well I think that's enough of that." she said with a laugh. "If you want to share what your favorite thing about Hogwarts is, please do! I can go first. I love all the different creatures and beings I've met. House ghosts. portraits, all if it!" she said with a smile but felt it waver as she thought of the other first years who had left before they could get to this point. "And if not, feel free to speak amongst yourselves if you would like. I'll be around if you have any questions." she said added cheerfully and stood up to go get a drink. She was so thirsty after talking for so long and wasn't used to it at all.