Shoshanna Fischer (nervouslion) wrote in caged, @ 2013-09-09 21:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 97-09, [ log ], [ seventh years ], anthony goldstein, shoshanna fischer |
WHO: Shoshanna Fischer and Anthony Goldstein
WHEN: Evening, 9 September 1997
WHERE: Hogwarts library
SUMMARY: Anthony helps Shoshanna with Muggle Studies
RATING: G
STATUS: Completed log
Shoshanna had not been having the best of days. She’d felt so good over the weekend, thanks to the revelation that they could now write privately over the journals, but it had proved to be a fleeting boost. She’d woken up Monday morning dreading classes (even though she had her three favorites - Charms, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures), and had waited until the last possible minute to get out of bed. She’d half-heartedly run a brush through her hair, but still managed to look slightly unkempt and exhausted. She would have preferred to spend the evening after dinner curled up in her bed, but Anthony had been nice enough to offer to help her, and it didn’t feel right to cancel at the last moment. Anthony just might have been her only hope of getting through Muggle Studies and Dark Arts without going crazy - she couldn’t risk ruining that. She’d gone to the library straight after dinner, not trusting herself to go back to the Gryffindor Tower. She set up all her things and opened her Muggle Studies book in front of her, but couldn’t seem to actually read it - and not just because it was a horrible book. Her powers of concentration were not at their best. Instead she flipped through her journal, reading but not commenting, until Anthony arrived. This was already out of hand and the term had barely begun, he couldn’t believe they were being asked to do ridiculous things like tell which piece of bread tasted best after it had been toasted. It was too much and it was giving him a headache. Then there was the news of the Muggleborns being sent to Azkaban, which he’d already known and had completely forgotten wasn’t public knowledge. He’d owled his dad but hadn’t gotten a response yet, he figured it would still be another few days and who knows what the elder Goldstein would feel comfortable sharing in the post. But if there was one good thing, it was that Shoshanna wanted help with Muggle Studies homework and even if they came up with a load of crap, he could at least teach her real things about Muggles and not whatever the Carrows wanted. “Hi,” Anthony said, his voice quiet enough for the library when he found her at a table. He put his bag down and took the seat next to her. “Hi,” Shoshanna said back, doing her best to give him a friendly smile. It was, at the very least, something resembling a smile, although claiming it was anything beyond that was a stretch. “Thank you again for agreeing to help me,” she said. She had probably thanked him three or four times at this point, but just as she was an over-apologizer, Shoshanna was also an over-thanker. “Did you have a nice day?” she asked, flipping her journal closed and pulling out some pieces of parchment from her bag to take notes on “It’s not a problem,” Anthony said, pulling out his books. “I’m happy to do it, really.” The more people knew the more that they would know the Carrows were ridiculous. “I mean it was okay, not too busy. What about you?” he asked. “Surviving NEWT classes so far?” He didn’t know Shoshanna really well, but well enough since they had been in classes together for seven years. She seemed nice though and he was glad at least if he was with people during the worst two lessons at least it was someone who seemed reasonable. Shoshanna shrugged. How were NEWT classes? She wasn’t sure if she really knew herself. The stress of Dark Arts and Muggle Studies seemed to overshadow everything else, even though they were the classes she cared the least about. “They’re fine,” she replied, although her tone indicated that they really weren’t. “I had to drop Transfiguration this year. That was pretty disappointing.” It had been the obvious choice, since she had struggled to get into the NEWT-level class anyways, but it still stung. “But I guess you knew that,” she added, remembering that Anthony had been in that class with her last year. “That’s still too bad,” Anthony told her frowning a little. He was lucky, he hadn’t had to drop anything, Flitwick had given him the okay to take sixes classes, knowing he could handle the load. Too bad one of them was completely crap. “Well if you want to see my notes, I don’t mind loaning them to you, even if you can’t be in the class you can learn whatever we’re doing - although my writing leaves something to be desired.” He smiled at her. “Thanks,” Shoshanna said. She probably wouldn’t take him up on the offer, if she was being honest. She found it difficult enough to gather the motivation to go to her actual classes - she didn’t know how she’d be able to do any independent studying. “So, Muggles,” she said, pulling her Muggle Studies book in front of her. She thought about starting off with a question about them, but she didn’t even know where to start. “Right,” Anthony said. “The task at hand.” He looked at Shoshanna. “Okay have you ever met a Muggle or been in Muggle London?” he asked her curious. The idea of not knowing any Muggles was foreign to him, while he was definitely Magical, his mother was a Muggle and he had gone to Hebrew school. They weren’t strange to him at all, they made perfect sense without their magic. They did things their way which was perfectly acceptable. “Or Muggle anywhere?” Shoshanna had - she’d met Olive’s parents, but Olive wasn’t supposed to be a Muggleborn right now, so she couldn’t admit that. She thought hard, trying to remember if there had been any other Muggles. “I don’t think so,” she admitted, lying, but only partly lying. “I mean, I’ve met Muggleborns. Hermione was one.” There, that part wasn’t a lie at all. It just wasn’t the entire truth. “Right,” Anthony said. Everyone at Hogwarts had met Muggleborns, there had been a handful in their year, Kevin, Justin, Hermione. He nodded his head. “So what do you know about Muggles?” “Let’s see…” Shoshanna said, taking a minute to think. “Well, they don’t have magic, obviously.” She felt stupid saying that, but it was true. “They think it isn’t real, because they’ve never seen it.” Which made sense. She’d never seen God, and didn’t really think he was real, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t. “Oh, and they have different money than us,” she said, the thought coming to her like a lightning bolt. There, that was something substantial! “What kind do they use?” “They use pounds,” Anthony said, smiling at her. “It’s not really easy to convert to Galleons and the like and it’s paper. Much easier to carry.” He pulled out a piece of parchment to show her how big pound notes were and when he was done drawing the rectangle he showed it to her. “They normally carry it in a wallet or clip, there’s change too for smaller coins, but mostly it’s paper.” “Pounds,” Shoshanna repeated, writing it down on her parchment. Easy to carry was written under that, and she drew a rectangle roughly the size of the one Anthony had drawn. “What kind of things do Muggles like to buy with pounds?” she asked, her quill poised so she could write down his responses to that as well. “Uh you know the same thing that wizards do, they use them to buy groceries, things they want, ice cream, you know not that different from us really,” Anthony said, smiling at her a little bit. “They’re really not that different from us - just no magic.” Shoshanna nodded. “I understand that,” she said, feeling just an inkling of a headache starting to build behind her eyes. “But I guess I was wondering if there are things they have to buy that we don’t, because we have magic. Like...I guess they don’t have to buy potion ingredients. Or cauldrons.” “No, but they have to buy cleaners and petrol,” Anthony said. “And they don’t have to worry about owls, they use post and they have to pay for that, but it’s not very much really.” He smiled at her encouragingly. “Do you like being around Muggles?” Shoshanna asked. “I mean, I’m sure there are some you don’t like, but in general? As a society, I guess.” “They’re people just as you and I are,” Anthony said. “Some are good and some are bad but I definitely don’t mind being around them. I mean there are always going to be bad seeds in any group, but I feel completely safe around them. I mean, sure bad stuff happens but…” He trailed, biting his tongue. After all they were being taught by two Death Eaters, he’d almost rather be in a bad Muggle neighborhood than at Hogwarts. “But bad stuff happens here, too,” Shoshanna said, her voice as low as she could make it so that Anthony could still hear it. She felt her head starting to pound (ha - pound, that might have been a funny pun in different circumstances). “Do you mind if we stop here for tonight?” she asked, glancing over at Anthony. “My head’s starting to hurt, and I’m sure you’ve got lots of revising to do that’s not related to Muggle Studies.” “No that’s fine,” Anthony said with a smile. “Let me know if you want to get together again.” He started collecting his things and putting them in a bag and felt better that at least he’d taught Shoshanna something that was truer and more accurate than whatever the Carrows were preaching. |