Y38 Muggleborn (and Raised) Support Group

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy crossed her arms over her chest and took a deep breath before letting them fall to her sides a moment later. Her nervous energy kept her from sitting still as she waited for the first students to arrive. It had been a while since she tried to host one of these meetings for muggleborn students and she figured it was time to try again. As a fifth year and a prefect, Poppy was sure she was now older and wiser, and hopefully more qualified to give advice. She had spent most of her free time since arriving at school planning the meeting, since she was still avoiding most of her friends. She made another lap around the student lounge making sure everything was set up and that the snacks were laid out for everyone to see. She chewed nervously on the cuticle of her thumb when finally she heard people coming. She straightened and smiled as she greeted them. “Welcome! Please take a seat!” she instructed and gestured to the couches and chairs she had set up. “And please grab a snack if you’d like.” she added quickly, almost forgetting about them completely now that people were here. “When you’re settled, why don’t you introduce yourself. Your name, house, and anything you’d like to share to start things off.” she said as she folded her hands neatly in front of her. “I can go first. My name is Poppy Perkins and I am a fifth year and Ravenclaw prefect.” she said, the title still feeling weird and overly formal as she said it out loud. “I’m a muggleborn witch. My parents knew nothing about magic when I got my letter and were quite shocked when they found out. But they have been very supportive the whole time. But it has been much harder not being able to tell my extended family about the school I've been going to and about magic in general.” When she was finished she nodded enthusiastically at the next person hoping they would share.

Out of Character:

Feel free to join if your character is muggleborn or was raised mostly in the muggle world!

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester hadn't really realised how much of a relief it would be to discover there were people like her at Hogwarts until it happened. All of her school friends were so magical, through and through, and she had spent the past two years desperately wishing she had anyone to talk to about normal life.... movies and bus rides, cooking meals that didn't just magically appear on the table... every time she returned home she felt as though she had just hallucinated her time at school, it seemed so ridiculous to think about. So she had made her way to the Muggleborn meeting eagerly, making a mental note to remember all the faces present. Maybe she could make some new friends here, who really understood what it felt like to come to this world entirely new. She listened as the girl running the meeting introduced herself, nodding slightly in sympathy. She hadn't been totally prepared to go next, but Hester had never been afraid of public speaking, giving the group a goofy grin. "Hi! I'm Hester, I'm a Gryffindor third year." Even after years, the words still felt a little silly in her mouth, but she pressed on. "I'd never heard of magic before I got my letter. I've got four big brothers and they're all out in the normal world doing... normal stuff. It kind of sucks being cut off from... I guess, the life I was supposed to have? Like, magic is awesome, but I never get to see my family anymore, and they're all off living normal lives without me. We all play in a pipe band together, and they're off... doing performances and competitions without me, and... I'm supposed to be there..." Hester trailed off, having touched on an area of her feelings about home she tried hard not to think about. "Sorry." She said quickly, giving a slightly shaky smile to try and cover up the slip. "But... um... yeah, that's me." She grinned and looked at the next person, hoping they would take it from here.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah had comes to term with the fact there her parents pretty much wanted nothing to do with her. She had attempted to meet with them over the break and tell them about Nadia, but her mother was the only one to show up and pretty much told her she should go live with her "real mother." The Ravenclaw still couldn't comprehend why her parents were so against magic when it came to her but supported Juniper. Maybe it was because her sister's birth parents were actually dead. Maybe it was because they were normal, and her's, evidently, were not.

She had heard about the Muggleborn support group, but seeing as she wasn't actually muggleborn, Adorah wondered if she's truly be welcomed. However, it couldn't hurt to at least stop by and see what it was all about. Quietly entering the lounge, she took a seat and listened as a few students introduce themselves and their plights. She was jealous of Poppy having supportive parents. However, she seemed to relate to the younger girl named Hester. Her family didn't understand what it was like to be different and just found magic weird. Even her parents, who at least supported Juniper, never wanted her to talk about it because because it didn't make sense to them. When it came to her time to speak, she wasn't quite sure she wanted to say anything, especially with older students around. But Adorah was trying to turn over a new leaf this year and caved. "Hi, I'm Adorah. I'm a 6th year Ravenclaw," she started, trying to figure out how to phrase her next statement. "I'm not muggleborn, as I found out this past year. But I was raised by muggles who had no inkling about magic. I, uh, don't really speak to them anymore." Adorah wasn't sure she wanted to say anything else and suddenly felt embarassed by the fact she'd even come to this meeting. The Ravenclaw, quickly sat down, hoping someone else would quickly speak.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René had no idea how Sully had managed being at school all alone when he first started. René had leant that magic existed pretty young since Sully got his letter, and while he'd been enthralled by the idea, it had been a struggle to keep something so amazing a secret. Now though, René just felt overwhelmed by it all. He'd figured he'd gotten a better headstart than some kids here, having known and asked Sully so many questions, but it felt like every second he was learning or discovering something new or strange of foreign. Like he could never quite shake the feeling he was playing some game where he didn't know all the rules yet.

The muggleborn support group sounded a bit formal, though René at least recognized the words enough to be intrigued, and he'd perched himself awkwardly on one of the lounge sofas to listen for a bit as the girl Poppy got things. He was grateful a few other girls had spoken first so he had a script to use before it was his turn, glancing at the girl next to him to check she was actually finished before speaking. "Um, hi, I'm René. I'm a first year and - Oh I'm in Hufflepuff- and I'm muggleborn I guess. My brother is as well, and he's told me loads and my parents are cool with it, but it's all kind of overwhelming and stuff. And I think my sister's a bit mad about it too, I dunno," he said, scrunching up his face as he made a jumble of his own introduction before just giving up, letting the next person go.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose didn't feel any different than the other students at the school, but a support group for Muggleborns did sound interesting. Her little sister showed signs of magic way before Rose had done and she had gotten a letter from her parents that Thyme had a little accident. A pie that he had been baking exploded and everything was covered in bits of dough and filling. It meant that her parents had hit the jackpot. Three muggleborn children under one roof. Although Lynn was a different story, she didn't share the same dad.

Rose hoped it wasn't too formal, but when she entered the lounge she knew she had made a mistake. Here she hoped she could just talk about missing the internet, television and basic things as her telephone. This was something else and Rose didn't know if she liked it. Since she was already in the lounge she decided it was too late to turn back. ''Hello I am Rose, third year Hufflepuff.'' Rose said to everyone that was seated ''I was raised by two muggles and my sister has recently joined Hogwarts as well'' She didn't want to explain that her sister was from a different father, so she left that part be.

 

[Van Voclain]

Van climbed onto the arm of a sofa and slouched against the wall. It wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, but she wasn't planning on staying for long. Just long enough to confirm this muggle-raised support group was going to be as terrible as she expected. When she had heard about the meeting, her immediate response had included the words 'rather' and 'dead', but the longer she'd thought about it, the more she'd started to see an advantage in attending. Possibly this advantage was only imagined. Van had resigned herself to the fact she wouldn't know know unless she actually attended, which was why she hadn't turned away at the door when she'd seen the pitiful group of students already assembled in the student lounge.

The nature of a support group ought to have warned Van that she would be asked to open up about her home life, but stupidly she hadn't prepared for this at all. She was thinking up a good response when she was distracted by somebody else's. Jeez! You'd have thought being sent to Hogwarts was a punishment. People were so entitled they could even find something to complain about literally being magical. Overwhelming? Well of course it was! So was winning the lottery. Would they complain about that, too?

By the time Van's turn came, she was ready to burst. She sat up with a scoff. "Are you lot serious? Do you know what you sound like? 'Poor me, poor me!' It's pathetic," she said, forgetting there was at least one prefect in the room. "You are literally WIZARDS. This is the best thing that's ever happened to us. You're just ungrateful, stuck-up morons, all of you."

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy was listening to everyone speak, glad to have such a nice turn out. But she stiffened as one of the younger students began to speak. "I don't appreciate you using that kind of language here." she said more forcefully than she expected, as she stood with hands on her hips. She glanced at Adorah and hoped she would help if it got any worse. She had worked so hard to create a safe space for students to come and share their struggles. "People are allowed to feel any way they please. It's a big change for many of us and it can be hard to adjust." she insisted. "If you are going to have this kind of attitude I am going to have to ask you to leave." she said, uncharacteristically stern. "Please continue if you'd like." she said kindly to the next student as she pointedly turned away from the younger girl. @Van Voclain

 

[Lucas Fletcher]

Lucas had joined the muggleborn support group last time it had been organized, back when he had been in his second year. This time it was organized by the same girl, and while Lucas felt a lot more at ease in the magical world now, he still felt like being part of this group was important and could potentially give him some new friends too. He listened as other students introduced himself, including a few Hufflepuffs he vaguely recognized. But right before it was his turn, a girl spoke up who seemed completely unhappy about being here. Lucas looked at the girl in astonishment. Of cousre it was cool to do magic, but surely it was okay to have other feelings about it too? He was glad when Poppy spoke up. He decided to go ahead and take his own turn, hoping it would get the whole meeting back on track. "Uh, anyway." He started, "I'm Lucas Fletcher and I'm a fourth year. I'm a muggleborn with two muggle sisters who are older than me, and it's kind of felt a bit like I'm living in a completely different world than them." He said, wincing at his choice of words. "I mean, we're a lot less close than we used to be." He explained.

 

[Oliver Boone]

Oliver felt strange about being at Hogwarts still and he had heard through the grape vine that there was a group of muggle borns hanging out. He thought it might be useful to learn from the older students so he could catch up with the knowledge he didn't already have. Upon his arrival he saw a familiar face in one of his dorm mates and nodded at him before sitting down. He had thought this would be a group for more tips and tricks than an emotional support group so when the meeting began he felt more and more uncomfortable.

Then a girl started to go off and Oli had to fake a cough to suppress a laugh at her outburst. Sure he didn't think it was very nice the way she had said it but for the most part he had to agree. Sure it was overwhelming to feel so far behind people on his first week at Hogwarts but he thought the magic thing was cool generally speaking. There was a small confrontation between her and Poppy, an older student, and Oli tried to keep himself together. When the meeting got back on track and it seemed his time to speak Oliver said, "Uh hey I'm Oliver, a first year Hufflepuff. Honestly, I kind of agree with the crazy girl." He motioned his head to the outspoken red head. "I thought this would be more like... tips on how to adjust to Hogwarts and what we'd need to know to succeed." He shrugged his shoulders - he knew he would not be returning for any other meetings unless things changed drastically.

@Van Voclain ​

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester couldn't really believe her ears when a young girl piped up to insult the entire meeting. She had half a mind to curse out the young girl, but Poppy handled the situation with far more grace than Hester could have mustered. When another young boy chimed in to agree with her though, Hester had had enough. "Okay, well, you guys are first years. You've known about magic for like five minutes! See how you feel when you've spent years watching all your friends and family grow up without you! It's hard, and you could have listened and learned from people who'd been through it if you didn't wanna act like brats! Coming along to a meeting someone worked hard to prepare and whingeing the whole time, were you two raised in a barn?! If you don't think this is useful you can just go, you don't have to derail the nice conversation the rest of us were having." She glared between the two of them, temper boiling. If those kids had acted up half as much during any of the clubs Hester had been in before Hogwarts they would have been out on their backsides in a second flat.

 

[Nikko Blackwood]

Nikko had been to scared to go to one of these meetings last time but he felt more confident now and wanted some one to talk to about how divided he felt all the time. Especially when he went home. The meeting was a lot more lively then he expected but he decided to stay out of their arguments. He thought magic was cool but it wasn't that easy for him, and he wondered what it was like to have such a simple out look on the thing. "Well, I guess I'll introduce myself. My name is Nikko Blackwood and a fourth year Gryffindor." he began. "I'm technically a half blood because my father is a wizard but he hasn't anything to do with magic since he graduated school. So I grew up around muggles almost exclusively and my mom is a muggle." he explained and cleared his throat. Nikko hadn't talked about this with a lot of people and he was nervous. "Sometimes I feel like I'm betraying him every time I enjoy myself at school, even if he was the one who insisted I come to Hogwarts in the first place. I feel weird playing quidditch and making friends, when it's all a part of something he hates so much." he explained and wiped his now sweaty hands on his jeans. He hadn't meant to be so vulnerable but it kind of just slipped out. His face felt like it was on fire and hoped someone would go and take the attention off of him.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene had heard about the fact Hogwarts had lots of different clubs, a few had interested him, but he was a little surprised when he’d heard about a muggle support club for those born into and raised in mostly muggle conditions. Eugene wsn’t sure about how open he should be about his muggle heritage; it seemed to depend on others with how receptive they were to him. He didn’t mind if people didn’t like him, he knew he wouldn’t be liked by everyone but he had a particular distaste for people who disliked others based on things that were difficult to change, before it had been money or sexuality, now he could add blood to it. In reality since Eugene didn’t know his father he would know if he had any magical blood in him or if he was entirely muggle born and he wasn’t really interested in finding out. He stepped into the room, not spotting anyone he knew yet and then he saw Rene. ”Hey bro!” he greeted the other boy warmly, heading over to him and sitting with him. It would be nice to perhaps have someone to talk to about such things, but he wasn't sure what to make of it, it was a little more structured, and people were just doing introductions which was maybe helpful, but had thought maybe this would be a place to discuss like muggle things that were cool, or like help them learn about magical things. He was rather interested in building his background knowledge about magic.

Perhaps the clue was in the name, it was a support group and perhaps not a informative group. Eugene knew the girl vague and had to agree a little, though perhaps without the words, Oliver too he though made some good points. Eugene looked at the girl who angrily spoke back. He didn't think Oliver or the girl were whinging necessarily. Eugene stood up next and gave a little smile, "With all due respect bro as first years and as muggleborns we had no idea what to expect from any of this, so how were we to know if it was useful or not until it started?" Eugene said with a small smile towards Oliver, "Hi by the way, I'm Eugene, I'm muggle born, it's just me and my cousin, my cousin is a muggle. I'm really excited about magic, and the avenues it could open and the stuff it can do. Like I wasn't feeling great the other day cause the food is so rich here that I went to the hospital and they gave me a potion or something and I INSTANTLY felt better. My cousin doesn't need to worry about money for me because I get an allowance from the school! This is the coolest thing that's happened to me," Eugene spoke excitedly, "I hadn't even left Auckland before this, but look at how beautiful the grounds are!" He stopped, with a wide smile knowing he could keep going. But he drew himself in a little, looking between the club leader and the other girl "I'll leave if this isn't the right attitude for this group, I know I don't share other people's experiences, but my experiences are positive so far and I think it's fair to share the good with the bad,"​

 

[Valencia Addington]

Valencia had kinda like the idea of this group. It kinda felt like that she wasn't the only one who was either confused about it or who was in a family that wasn't magical. The Ravenclaw sat around with the rest of the group. The girl still hadn't really like the idea of magic, and she was still learning. Magic to Valencia was still a little bit for her to grasp on. Valencia's eyes widen a little when an outburst began. There were some arguments and things. The young Ravenclaw had been quiet and listening to what had to be said by the others. Valencia had thought what the younger student had said had kinda offended her. 'Not everyone likes the idea of being a wizard' Valencia thought herself.

She then realised it was her turn to speak, hoping that the argument would be over, because the girl didn't really like to argue. "Oh, I'm Valencia, I'm in second year and in Ravenclaw. I'm a muggleborn. My twin brother is as well. Honestly, I'm still confused with the whole magic concept of things, but I guess It will take a bit of time for me to adjust." Valencia says with a small smile, as she moved her hands in small gestures and looked towards the person that was next.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy was starting to fret. She had tried to be firm but it seemed like some of the younger students didn't understand what the purpose of the meeting was. "I'm sure we will get to helpful advice, but for now we're simply introducing ourselves." she told Oliver with a reassuring smile. "I'm very happy for all of you who have taken to the magical world so warmly. And I'm so glad you can all be an example for how this all can be a very positive thing." she said hoping to salvage the conversation and keep it from devolving into a free for all argument. "But let's try and make this a constructive conversation." she said with a smile and took time to look at all the students. "And no name calling please." she emphasized and looked at Hester. She appreciated the support but quick tempers weren't going to help anyone. "Also, this is a voluntary meeting for people who wish to share their experiences, and if they don't align with yours that is perfectly fine." she reminded everyone. Poppy paused before deciding to have a more structured conversation now. "I know some of you have siblings who are also magical. How do you think that has helped you adjust to Hogwarts?" she asked and gestured to one of the students who mentioned their siblings. As an only child she couldn't speak on the matter but she imagined having someone related to help you through it all would be nice.

 

[Rosalie Quinn]

When Rosalie decided to join the Muggleborn Support Group, Rosa thought it was a place to share her problems but now she’s second guessing. A girl around Rosalie’s age went off about how privileged they all were, and I guess she was right to some extent but it was a big change for her so there were definitely some things Rosalie wasn’t happy with. Example, she was further away from her family than she ever was.

After a few more people introduced themselves, some voiced their agreement or disagreement with the girl but Rosalie decided to stay safe and say minimal, “Uh, hi i’m a first year Gryffindor. I miss my family a bit and I love sports soooo, yeah. Oh and I’m a Muggleborn? I guess.”

Rosalie wasn’t usually this shy and held back, it was mainly because she was just overwhelmed a bit. Overwhelmed from the the girl who somewhat outed Rosalie but indirectly, and she was incredibly homesick. When the nice girl who started the meeting off offered some snacks, Rosalie was thinking of having some after but now she didn’t feel like it.

When the girl started talking about siblings, Rosalie didn’t have much to say. She was an only child, so she intently listened to other people’s stories instead.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René was a little taken aback when some of the other kids in the room reacted more hostile. Or maybe just impatiently. He sunk in his seat, suddenly feeling embarrassed to be worried about having cool magic powers, though it was hard to make himself smaller when he was so tall. His roommates had even shown up and seemed to also agree that being here was for whiners. René fought the urge to agree and run, though the group leader Poppy stepped in to help calm things down and a few other people introduced themselves before the conversation switched to something René really was interested in.

He'd heard the older Hufflepuff, Lucas, mention his sisters being muggles, and few other kids as well, and René was desperate to hear how they were handling things. It was hard to enjoy being a wizard and having special powers when he knew Sia was at home being all sad and angry at him for it. He felt guilty, like it was his fault she'd somehow missed out on whatever magic genes he and Sully had. "I feel really bad for my sister not getting to be a witch," he admitted after a beat, glancing around the group to make sure no one was about to cut him off and call him lame for it. "Like, is it possible the school just messed up giving her a letter or something?"

 

[Van Voclain]

Van felt tears of anger brewing and fought with all her strength to keep them back a little longer. It didn't matter that Oliver had agreed with her when he'd called her a crazy girl in the same breath. These kids would never know how lucky they were - how good they had it! She opened her mouth to tell the angry Gryffindor to grow a pair, but was cut off by several students trying to restore peace. Oh, so it was fine for them to express their feelings, but when Van did it, everybody turned on her. "Like I want to be here!" she said, getting to her feet and storming out. On her way to the door she spotted Eugene and felt a brief pang of regret. Now he would think she was a crazy girl, like the rest of them. Well, she didn't need any of these people. She didn't need anyone!

 

[Harper Alston]

Ever since Harper had heard about the second muggleborn support group, the idea of attending had festered in the back of her mind. She hadn't gone to the first one because she hadn't felt like she needed support then. But Sky had mentioned good things about her experience at the first meeting, and Harper was curious. During her time at Hogwarts, it had felt like she was always playing catch-up. Sure, she had supportive friends who always patiently answered her questions and never thought lesser of her for asking them, but aside from Sky, none of them seemed to get it. It would be nice to find a group of people who innately understood what she was going through. But that would also mean being vulnerable, admitting to the world that she couldn't quite breeze her way through this — and Harper wasn't sure she was ready to do that.

But something inside her seemed to have other plans, and without ever consciously deciding to attend, Harper found herself in the student lounge. She was a bit surprised to see Nikko and Hester, but glad as well, greeting both with a smile and a small wave. The meeting started out normally enough, and Harper listened quietly. When a couple of people mentioned tense relationships with their parents, she felt a bit guilty for ever thinking her problems were bad. At least her parents had been nothing but supportive. She couldn't help, however, the small rush of ugly jealousy when some people mentioned having magical siblings. She'd spent all of break closely watching her youngest brother for signs of magic only to come up with nothing.

Things came to a head when two first years interrupted, and Harper's mouth fell open at their insensitivity. She couldn't imagine listening to someone talk about no longer speaking to their parents and then calling them an ungrateful moron. Harper was grateful when Poppy and Hester intervened, fully agreeing with her roommate. When it was her turn to introduce herself, Harper hesitated, not wanting to admit vulnerabilities while those first years were in the room. But she forced herself to speak. "I'm Harper, third year Gryffindor. I'm muggleborn, the only one in my family, and the Hogwarts letter was the first time I heard about magic. Like a lot of people have said, it's... weird realizing your family is living completely separate lives without you." She'd initially welcomed being magical because she'd thought it would make her stand out from her siblings, but sometimes she wondered if she'd slipped even further from everyone's minds now that she was away at a boarding school. "I'm also tired of lying to all my friends back home," she admitted. "It's like we can't have real conversations anymore because I can never tell them anything about my life here."

She decided that was enough for now, sitting back and listening to the others talk. The next topic of conversation wasn't something Harper had any experience in. If anything, it was a bitter reminder that none of her four siblings were magical. She did feel a bit bad for René, deciding she didn't want to be the one to break the news that the school had likely not messed up. Sometimes it was nice to indulge in a foolish hope.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah was taken back when a first year started to have an outburst and then another one joined in. She didn't recognize most of the younger kids as being from Ravenclaw, maybe one or two, and thankfully, Poppy handled everything like a champ when addressing the chaos. She didn't want to step in, but as a prefect, if students were causing issues, she almost felt like she had to. As the discussion continued, Adorah was surprised to hear how others felt similarly to her or had had vastly different experiences. She had been lucky to have Juniper here, even though they didn't really talk for almost three years unless necessary. Without contributing more to the conversation, Adorah just decided to observe and not really say anything else at the moment. The younger students seemed to need a place to vent, and seeing as she was the oldest one in the room, Adorah felt it was only fair to let them do so in a, hopefully now, safe space.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene wasn't sure how his comment wasn't constructive, he liked magic, thought it was good, but he didn't know or share in the experiences of these other students. He wanted to know how to exist in this world, how to not sound silly. Eugene knew this was the wrong place for him as the leader, Poppy, began talking about siblings, he'd have given a whole lot to be able to share with his sister this world. He glanced to Van as she spoke out. And gave a little smile as she looked at him. She had seemed upset. So, with him not sure he wanted to stick around and talk about feelings when someone's feelings had been hurt. Van had been a little harsh but he knew what the miracle of this world felt like. He gave a little apology smile to Rene and mouthed it too. "Van! Wait up!" he called out as he stood up and went to follow her out of the club, hoping he could catch up.
@Van Voclain ​

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy flinched as the younger girl who had called everyone morons stormed out. She felt horrible and wanted to call after her. She was clearly upset and was probably struggling in her own way. But Poppy had to stay frim and protect the rest of the group who had come to share and be vulnerable. This was supposed to be a safe space for people to share, not get called names for feeling uncertain or sad. Magic was amazing and exciting, and a gift for sure. But it doesn't always feel like that way all the time and it's important to talk about it with people who understand. Her heart sank when Eugene stood up and left but she hoped he could comfort her. Poppy turned to the rest of the group and forced a smile. "I know that can be quite hard. I don't have any siblings of my own, and I can only imagine leaving them behind at home can be quite hard." she said after Rene mentioned his sister being the only one not to be magical. "A few of you mentioned having muggle siblings as well. How did receiving your letter affect your relationship?" she asked calmly. "Have any of you figured out how to talk to them about magic? Or have any ideas about how to make those kinds of conversations easier?" she asked hoping someone would have some insight, and wished there were a few older students around who might actually have the life experience to talk on the subject that she lacked completely.

 

[Oliver Boone]

Oliver was clearly surprised at the mean older girl's reaction as he hadn't been rude or whatever whingeing was. He just felt weird about the whining about problems. This was not how things were done in his experience. Oli's family just kept their problems to themselves and learned to live with them or ignore they existed in the first place. He just wanted tips and tricks he didn't want emotional baggage from people and it seemed so many of them had it. He wanted to tell her she was clearly an awful person and the rest of them were whining but Oliver would never be able say such things. Things were now escalating so quickly and while he thought Poppy was nice and understanding of what his intentions were he really didn't think he could stand the emotional blather anymore. The boy took the moment of chaos to slip away as well - he'd apologize to Rene later. ​

 

[Freya Song]

A muggleborn support meeting sounded like the absolute worst thing for Freya to be attending. She'd told Kas about her status last year and while he'd seemed okay with it, Freya couldn't shake the feeling that he and everybody else were secretly judging her for not knowing how to witch properly. She told herself she was only showing up for the inevitable drama. She'd almost turned away when she learned who was running the meeting, but leaving in a huff would only draw more attention to her. Poppy didn't seem to like her much, which Freya wasn't surprised by as she thought of herself as a generally unlikable person, but it still hurt in a tiny, illogical part of her calcified heart and she wasn't sure why. "I'm Freya, fifth year Hufflepuff. I'm just here for moral support," she said, with a small wave. "But, my brother's a muggle and he still thinks I go to school for criminal youth." Freya snorted. It didn't count as being vulnerable if she was laughing about it. She'd had time to get over it, so everything was fine and her already fractured relationship with her oblivious brother definitely wasn't suffering in any way.

 

[Lucas Fletcher]

Lucas sighed softly as some drama broke out, looking down quietly as a few of the students argued. He didn't understand the point of this, figuring that people could just leave if this wasn't what they wanted. He smiled slightly at Nikko, who seemed to be trying his best to keep the conversation going just like him. He hadn't known the other boy was also from the muggle world, though his situation seemed to be a bit more complicated than what Lucas was dealing with. He listened quietly as a few others introduced himself, wincing a bit when a young boy asked if the school had messed up giving the letter to his sister. He understood that feeling. The first year who had yelled earlier then left, and Lucas felt himself relax a bit. Hopefully the weird tension would leave with her. Lucas was surprised by Freya's words, and he shot her a surprised look. But he decided not to question her here and now. Instead, he answered Poppy's question. "Well, my sisters are older than me so they were already sort of starting to do their own thing." Lucas said with a shrug. "Whatever... teenage girls do." He added with a slight smile, trying to joke. "But we've grown a lot more distant since I went to Hogwarts. They're interested in my stories, but I always feel like they don't really believe everything I say." He admitted, scrunching up his nose a bit as he remembered that. "I always had a huge imagination as a child, and I always believed in magic... so sometimes it feels like they think I'm making it all up, or at least making it more fantastical than it really is. And it's not like I can show them any magic or show them my school." He said with a small shrug.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

A few more left, including two of René's roommates, which made him feel worse, but he wanted to hear what the others had to say, especially when Poppy mentioned talking to non-magical people. It felt like he couldn't talk to Sia at all, but at least his parents were interested to hear about Sully's school stuff.

His eyes bugged when one older girl, Freya, said she'd told her brother she was at a school for criminals, trying not to laugh. "Why'd you tell him that?" He asked incredulously. Lucas spoke up about how it was hard to talk to his older sister about things, which René could relate to, though his issue seemed to be more that she didn't believe him. Talking about magic to his sister just seemed to make her angry, though Sia wouldn't say why when René asked. "Is there maybe.. A better uh. Lie? You could tell your friends and stuff. I've told my primary school friends I'm at a fancy boarding school but I don't know what else to tell them when I go home." René shrugged. It was easier for his friends to believe with Sully having peddled out the same lie, but René was worried what to say when people actually asked him for details. Could he talk about his school house? What if they asked him about classes?