Open Y40 Muggleborn (and Raised) Support Group

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy tapped her fingers together as she went through her checklist of things to do in her head. Snacks were setup, check. Chairs were arraigned, check. She wanted this meeting to be the best one yet. She had learned a lot at the last one and since this was the last one she would host, she wanted to leave a good impression. She knew being a muggleborn or growing up away from magic was a complex thing but she realized there would always be something to learn and to be open minded. The flyers had been put up all around the castle so any student new or old would know and be welcome. She checked the time and fiddled with the cuff of her sweater as she waited for the first students to arrive. When she heard footsteps coming she stood up straight and smiled warmly as people began to arrive. "Hello everyone! Please make yourself at home. Grab a snack and find a seat." she said while waving them into the student lounge. Poppy's nervous energy kept her from staying still and she wandered around the room until it looked like mostly everyone was settled. "I know people are still arriving but I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Poppy Perkins and I am a seventh year and in Ravenclaw." she began. "I am also muggleborn and the only one in my family to have magic. Well as far as I know." she added with a laugh.

"I started holding these meetings so students could meet and talk about the struggles and the joys of finding out you can do magic. It's not always easy being different than those around you and the transition to a whole new world can be scary. But it is also rather exciting." Poppy explained and looked out at the students who had decided to join her. "If everyone wouldn't mind introducing themselves and sharing a bit about what their background is. That would be a great place to start." she finished with a warm smile. "But only if you want to!" she added quickly, not wanting anyone to feel obligated to share things they didn't want to, and gestured to one of the students to speak when they were ready.

Out of Character:

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

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester had been pleased to hear the Muggleborn group was meeting again - she had been struggling more and more over the years with having to leave her family behind every time she came to school, and it would be good to have other people with the same experience to bond with. This holiday had been particularly difficult, only Hester and Eoin at home with Mum and Dad. She was lonely at home, and her brothers had become strangers in the years she was away. But at least there were other people going through the same thing she could commiserate with. So she was in a good mood as she entered the lounge, giving Poppy a cheerful smile and wave as she took a seat. She listened as the older girl began the meeting, nodding slightly in understanding. When it came time to introduce themselves, Hester beamed as she spoke first. "Hi! I'm Hester MacGillivray, I'm a fifth year Gryffindor." She said, the word 'fifth' still feeling wrong in her mouth. How had it been four years since she had been wrenched away from her family and into this world? "I'm from Dunedin, and I'm the youngest of five kids. It's been... really difficult being away from my family. My brothers have all grown up without me, they're pretty much all adults now. I feel like... I've missed their whole lives and they've missed mine, and I don't know where we start with each other now. We're... pretty much strangers, I hate it." Hester hadn't expected to get so deep into her feelings so quickly but it had all just bubbled up, so she quickly sat down again for the next person to speak, quietly settling Big Douglas on her lap and petting him gently.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine had seen posters about clubs around the place but none of them had especially appealed to her. She felt too young for the sisterhood, gardening meant being outside, which she hated, and duelling...well, she didn't even know if she was capable of duelling. A chess club or something would've been nice, but wizarding chess was bound to have rules that Aine wouldn't understand and she'd likely be humiliated practicing against someone who'd grown up with wizardry.

The muggleborn support group, however, seemed like something Aine could get behind. She wasn't much of a people person - she'd avoided team activities like the plague back home - but when she knew absolutely nobody, she thought it might be nice to talk to some other people who came from similar backgrounds and get something of an idea of how best to blend in. Her parents knew nothing about magic and, frankly, her mentor was somewhat scathing of the wizarding world. She could understand why, kind of...but she wanted to form her own opinions.

Aine listened to the others speak, feeling her stomach tie in to knots listening to some of the stories. Her turn came around, and her eyes darted around the room, looking at everyone without meeting anyone's gaze. Her eyes flicked down to her hands as she spoke, not feeling especially confident but at least a little relieved to know she wasn't the only one going through it.

"Um. I'm, uh, Aine. Thompson." She winced a little - her surname back in her hometown meant everyone knew whose child she was, and how much her parents schmoozed their way in to people's good graces. "I'm a first year Hufflepuff." She hoped she wasn't too young to be there, or would get laughed out of the room or something. "I'm the youngest of four. Nobody in my family has any magic, and, ah...well, I didn't really fit in at home anyway. But, ah, Vicky - um, my mentor - she took a bunch of muggleborns like me in and most of them feel like they don't fit in either space now." She grimaced, looking around the room again. "I hope it doesn't end up that bad."

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

Demetrius entered the room, glad he wasn't the first to arrive. He hadn't been sure about coming; he didn't like opening up to strangers but after his first classes he couldn't help but feel lost. He decided to give it a go, and hey, free snacks, so it couldn't be all that bad. Grabbing a biscuit, Demetrius sat himself down. He listened to Poppy - she seemed really nice (and kind of pretty, but he told himself to stop thinking that). He felt like he could trust her. Demetrius recognised Aine - they were in the same dorm and had seen her in class. He gave her a short wave. He didn't remember if he knew she was muggleborn.

Hester's words resonated with Demetrius is a way that was almost painful. He had one brother - an elder one - who hadn't shown any magical ability. They'd been so close growing up. Demetrius looked up to him, and it tugged at his heart strings to think that this was really going to separate them. It already had, but Demetrius hadn't thought hard about it. He didn't think too hard about how he was going to miss out on so much time with his brother. His parents he cared a bit less about.

He listened to Aine attentively, then realised it was his turn to speak. He cleared his throat. "Uh, my name's Demetrius Wagner, I'm a first year hufflepuff, just like Aine here." Demetrius gestured towards her. "Didn't find out about any of this magic stuff until pretty recently. It's a lot to take in. Uh, I have an older brother but he isn't magical, so that's kinda weird. Grew up in Marlborough - that's like, at the top of the south island." He paused for a moment, unsure of himself. "Parents had a pretty set out plan for me and what I'd do in life and this has really messed with that."

Demetrius decided not to elaborate further. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. He eyed the table with the snacks. He wished he'd grabbed two biscuits.

 

[Nathan Clarke]

Nate hadn't been interested in these "muggle-born support" groups when he'd seen them posted up in previous years, despite being a muggle-born himself. He didn't need support. He was handling this crazy world on his own just fine. It was everyone else who needed the support. Half the wizarding world could have done with some therapy since they seemed to think that teaching eleven-year-olds how to grow killer plants was totes okay. Nate shouldn't have had to be concerned about some dumb child attacking him with a murder-baby they'd grown in their garden. Hearing their occasional shill shrieks from the greenhouse still made his skin crawl.

Eventually, after seeing enough of the flyers around for this supposed group, Nate's curiosity got the better of him. Again, he didn't need anyone's help, but he was curious to see how the others in the same position as him were coping. Maybe they even sat around sh*t-talking the wizards all day. He could get behind that. So he ducked into the room, keeping to himself and finding a spot to sit after grabbing some snacks. At least they didn't have to bring their own. He listened to the group leader introduce herself and go around the room to give everyone else an opportunity to do so. Ugh. Nate wasn't here to hear about where everyone was from. Boring. Where was the juicy stuff? His eyes had glazed over until the person next to him sat down, and suddenly it was his turn. "Hard pass." He said, waving his hand in front of him for the next person to go ahead.​

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

Demetrius eyed Nathan with distrust. Hard pass? What did that even mean? What, he was just going to show up here and say nothing? Demetrius suddenly felt tense, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. Maybe it bothered him because the newcomer was older, or maybe it was because he was the first of them who wasn't a girl, but it put him on guard. Demetrius had revealed too much. Now he was thinking back on what his father would say if he knew Demetrius was going to something like a 'support group'. Wagners didn't need support. Especially not Wagner men.

Demetrius wanted to leave now, but even that would be giving up and running away. Instead tried to feign indifference, crossing his arms and staying silent.

 

[Harper Alston]

Two years ago, Harper had entered the student lounge more afraid than she'd ever admit. She had been afraid that she would lose all her muggle friends. She had been afraid that she would forever be playing catch-up to all her magical peers. She had been afraid to admit that she was afraid and reveal to the world that there were some problems she couldn't solve on her own.

Harper had worked hard in those two years to make sure none of those fears would come to pass. Through frequent letters and carefully constructed lies, she had maintained most of her old friendships, and she had studied diligently, determined to show she was just as capable as her pureblood classmates. Sometimes the efforts wore on her, and she felt as if she was just one mistake away from losing her place in both worlds. But every time the universe asked magical or muggle?, Harper was resolute in her answer. Both.

She had been at this for four years, and despite some problems that continued to lurk in the background, she had mostly made the whole muggleborn situation work. As Harper took a seat in the common room, she wondered if she was finally at the point where she could start giving others advice. That confidence faltered when Hester mentioned feeling disconnected from her family. Harper still felt close to her own siblings, but even she couldn't deny that her magical abilities had introduced some tension into those relationships.

When it was Harper's turn, she smiled at the group. "Hi everyone, I'm Harper Alston, and I'm a fifth year in Gryffindor. I'm from Auckland, and I'm the only magical person in my family so far." So far because she wasn't ready to let go of the hope that her younger brother might also be magical. "I've felt really lucky that I get to be magical and come here, even if it does occasionally get hard not being able to share everything with my family and friends back home." Her comment had been a little cheesy, but after hearing Aine worry that being muggleborn only led to feelings of displacement, she wanted to say something mostly positive.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy was pleased to see some familiar faces and was especially excited for the new ones who showed up. As she heard them talk she was once again grateful that she was an only child. It was hard enough to leave her parents behind every year but she knew the bond of a sibling was very different. She smiled politely as the first few students introduced themselves but it faltered when it was the slightly older boy's turn and he declined to share. She was disappointed and could never figure out why people would come if they didn't want to participate, but she wasn't going to push it. Poppy clapped her hands together once everyone had a chance to introduce themselves. "Thank you all for sharing!" she said sincerely. "It can be scary to talk about serious stuff like this and I want to make sure you know that I am very proud of all of you for coming." she added and made sure to look at the first years who had come. "Now that we all know each other let's get a little deeper. Let's go around and share what we think the best and worst thing about being magical is. Some of us might have similar answers and that's ok." she explained. "And if you have any questions, feel free to ask them." Poppy took a deep breath and thought about her answer. "For me the best part of being magical is...all the new things I got to learn." she said with a laugh. She knew her Ravenclaw was showing but it was true. It was like a whole new world had opened up and she had never been so excited. "And the worst, is well probably the exams." she teased. She would have hated those even if she was at a muggle school but she liked her joke and nodded for someone else to go.

Out of Character:

If new people wish to join, go for it!

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester listened as the other members of the circle shared their experiences, of the magical world, unable to help feeling bad for the younger people just discovering magic for the first time. She remembered how difficult the adjustment had been, and she didn't envy anyone going through that themself. She raised an eyebrow at the boy who refused to introduce himself but didn't comment, smiling when Harper spoke. It was a relief to know her roommate was enjoying her Hogwarts experience in a way Hester had never been able to. She did love magic, but the cost felt higher and higher every year. She listened to Poppy's next questions, thinking about it before her turn came. "Well, um... I guess the best thing about magic is getting... to be part of a whole new world. I mean, I was never really interested in fairytales when I was a kid, but it still feels like living in one sometimes." She paused, smile fading. "The worst thing, like I said, is all my brothers growing up without me, and feeling so... far away from my family, all the time."