InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Fish are friends, not food"

erniedtmac (erniedtmac) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-10-18 22:29:00

Entry tags:

character: ernie macmillan, character: harry potter

Who: Ernie and Harry
What: ~~Trying not to get bored at~~ Enjoying a visit to the magical museum - their date from the raffle.
Where: Tutshill - Museum of Magical History
When: Sunday, October 19 - daytime
Status: Closed / Ongoing

Since he wasn't a stranger to their destination, Ernie sidelong-Apparated Harry to Tutshill. The Museum of Magical History was but a block away from the quidditch pitch where the Tutshill Tornadoes played and was easily visible from the stadium. The museum entrance would not look as such to the casual passerby as it resembled a giant, open dragon's maw through which the visitor would pass to get to the door. Ernie remembered as a child jumping up to try and grab the teeth, much to his father's consternation.

As they approached, Ernie hopped ahead a moment and tried to do his most hilarious tour guide impression. "And now we're approaching the Museum of Magical History. Please don't touch the dragons, feed the tour guides, or talk to the skulls on the wall. We've only just managed to keep them quiet."

(Post a new comment)

auror__potter
2014-10-21 12:16 am UTC (link)

Harry hadn't been sure what to expect of a Wizarding museum, but a giant, open dragon's maw hadn't even been on the list. "Well, that's rather cool," he murmured, looking up to take it in as they walked through. Teddy would probably like it, and he wondered if Andromeda had ever brought him here. If she had, it hadn't been mentioned to Harry. Perhaps he'd mention it as an option for their next outing.

Ernie's tour guide impression had him smothering his snickers as they went through, though he tried to maintain a serious expression. "I'll try my best," he said solemnly. "Though now I have no idea what to do with these crackers I've brought with. Who will I feed them to, if not the tour guides?" He whispered this to Ernie, as to avoid offending any actual tour guides in the vicinity.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

erniedtmac
2014-10-21 02:38 am UTC (link)

"Oh, that's easy," Ernie said regarding the crackers. "Those feed the crow that speaks with the voice of Merlin in the second exhibit."

They passed the ticket booth and went straight to the main entryway where a small woman, roughly the height and size of Professor Flitwick, leaned against a podium, snoring soundly. Ernie took out his ticket and wasn't quite certain what to do at first, but then the woman snored so loudly that she seemed to wake herself up. She looked up at them with suspicious eyes, then held her hand out. "Tickets," she grumbled in a low, growly voice.

As Ernie lay his in her palm, she snatched it away before motioning to the door with her head. He didn't waste any time in starting to move past, but was stopped by a tug on his jacket. "Don't ferget yer map." A piece of parchment was shoved into his jacket pocket before he was finally released, and he rushed ahead and through the door to wait for Harry there.

All right, a man didn't have to be brave all the time.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

auror__potter
2014-10-21 11:17 pm UTC (link)

Harry heaved a fake sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Merlin. I was so afraid they'd go to waste." He had to bit his tongue to keep from snickering, especially as the ticket woman glared at him as he walked through.

"The Boy Who Lived exhibit is on Level Two," she said in her gravely, unimpressed look. "But I've seen better costumes." With that she dismissed him, leaving him gaping at her as she shoved a map into his hand.

He was still in shock as he rejoined Ernie. Ernie, who had rushed ahead and likely hadn't heard what the ticket woman had said. "Um. Apparently there's an exhibit about me on Level Two, and people go there in costume?" It came out in one breath, and he could feel his face heating how. How had he not heard about this? Honestly, he was not that interesting, he didn't see why the wider Wizarding world was so fascinated.

"The cauldron exhibit is looking better and better."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

erniedtmac
2014-10-22 12:08 am UTC (link)

Ernie had been looking over a nearby statue of Ghislain the Guarded Gnome-swallower when Harry approached, and once the words were out of Harry's mouth, he lit up and nearly bounced in excitement. "Fucking hell, we have to see that!" He reached into his pocket to pull out the map, and with one quick glance had ascertained where the exhibit was. He reached out to grab Harry's hand and all but dragged him down a few corridors, using his memories of the museum layout to find the exhibit.

As they approached the entryway, Ernie spotted the sign above the door marking the exhibit - The Boy Who Live - Warrior, Hero, Lover, or Rogue - and next to the door was a sign thanking Rita Skeeter for her gracious and generous contributions to the museum. He looked over at Harry and could only just keep himself from sputtering in laughter. "Please tell me you see what I'm seeing?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

auror__potter
2014-10-23 07:59 pm UTC (link)

Harry should have seen this coming, but there were worse people he could be with while bearing witness to whatever this exhibit was going to turn out to be. He let Ernie drag him along, and tried to keep an open mind. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

It was worse.

"That bloody woman won't be satisfied until I sue her," Harry murmured to Ernie, eying the sign with distaste. Of course, that's probably just what Skeeter wanted; a nice juicy lawsuit would be an excellent premise for her next book.

He sighed, and followed Ernie inside. "Unfortunately, I'm seeing it too." But he might as well try to enjoy himself, so he pushed aside the embarrassment and anger, and focused on the humorous aspects. Surely there were some!

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

erniedtmac
2014-10-24 12:51 am UTC (link)

The first thing Ernie saw when he stepped through the door with Harry was a life-sized mock-up of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry was portrayed as rather heroic, Ron looked somewhat dazed, and Hermione seemed to have a sour look on her face that may have been an attempt at appearing strict. The three were poised with their wands out, as if they were about to start duelling Death Eaters right then and there. One by one, they each looked up at Harry and Ernie, who still hadn't let go of his friend's hand, then the figures looked at said hands before snickering. Ernie rolled his eyes and let go, but not before making a quip at the statues. "Hey, he could do a lot worse, you know."

Across from the trio was a small display devoted to Dumbledore's Army. There was a huge chunk of text talking about them and their supposed activities during fifth year at school - supposed because half of what it described were lies. Only a few members of the DA were named, and Ernie pouted when he realized his wasn't among them. "I save your arse from Dementors on the field of battle and I don't even get a mention," he said, overexaggerating his disappointment before grinning at his friend.

And then his eyes widened as he spotted another exhibit that was going to send Harry spare. The Many Loves of Harry Potter. He didn't think he could speak without bursting into laughter so he simply pointed in that direction. Even from this distance, he could already see that it was going to be interesting.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

auror__potter
2014-10-29 06:01 pm UTC (link)

Harry stared at the statues in horror. His shoulders weren't nearly as wide, and they had him taller than Ron! "Oi, shut up you," he nearly growled at the statues as they started giggling; if anyone should be laughing at the absurdity it was him. And he was really losing it if he was getting upset at animated statues. He gave Ernie an apologetic look, though he knew he wasn't at fault. "I don't think it's you they're snickering at." He squeezed Ernie's hand before he let go, just as an added apology.

He was almost glad to see that there was mention of the DA, though as he read the placard his half grin turned to a frown. "They make it sound as if the whole thing was my idea, and not Hermione's!" He was affronted on his best friend's behalf, but he wondered why he was surprised. "I'm sorry your name's not there; Rita only named Gryffindors." It was true, there wasn't one Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff named.

When he saw the next exhibit Ernie was pointing to, he couldn't hold back his groan. Morbid curiosity made him read it, and his face flamed bright red when he got to the speculation about him and Malfoy, and him and Snape, and him and Dumbledore. "She's a horrid, wretched, disgusting woman," he said, this time his voice coming out in an actual growl. Hermione had a whole wall to herself, and there was even speculation on what it meant that Ron had been what he'd miss most. "Oh, and apparently Ginny and Cho nearly killed each other fighting over me."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

erniedtmac
2014-10-31 01:34 am UTC (link)

The humour of the whole thing lessened for Ernie with Harry's growl. He put his hand on Harry's back, lending him his support despite the laughter and joking he'd done so far. He was ready to take drastic measures should Harry be overly affected by the display - measures for Ernie being a hug and dragging him out of the room.

"Hey, I'm sorry mate. I know it's Skeeter and I don't expect anything less from her, but it's still not fair. Why don't we move on to the cauldron bottoms or something like that, all right?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

auror__potter
2014-11-05 01:28 am UTC (link)

Ernie's touch calmed him, and he realized he was probably overreacting. At least a little. He sighed, and tried to release the tension that had come over him. Maybe he should start going to those Yoga classes; Savage had suggested it once but he'd ignored her. Now, as the pain in his shoulders eased slightly, he could see the merit of it.

"Not your fault. She's done worse things, though I hate that she's profiting off this." Maybe he'd have Andromeda's lawyer look into it; make sure that at least the proceeds that didn't go to the museum went to the Fawley foundation or something. At least then this would have some redeeming qualities to it. "Though if you don't mind, I think I'd rather suffer through cauldron bottoms than the rest of this exhibit." Right now, cauldron bottoms seemed like the epitome of a good time.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

erniedtmac
2014-11-05 03:37 am UTC (link)

"From what I see, the only thing she's getting out of all this is publicity," he said with a note of disgust. He looked to the right for an exit, but only saw what looked to be a doorway that led to- holy bloody fucking hell, it looked like some sort of recreation of the death of Harry's parents and infant Harry's first 'defeat' of Voldemort! He grabbed onto Harry's arm and quickly pulled him away from there before his friend could even catch a glimpse of it.

"This way, mate, and on to cauldrons! I believe there are some from around the world, right? I wonder what Russian cauldrons look like? Quite interesting stuff there..."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

auror__potter
2014-11-05 04:15 am UTC (link)

Harry let himself be led out of the room, and did his best to shake off any lingering anger at the exhibit. He'd do something about it, but for the rest of the afternoon eh wanted to enjoy himself. Ernie deserved better than a date who was sulking the whole time. He was a better friend than that, or should be.

"I'm pretty sure Russian cauldrons look the same as our cauldrons," Harry said, but appreciated the attempt to distract him. "Come on, the quicker we go through cauldrons, the sooner we'll get to the wand lore exhibit. That should be somewhat interesting." Harry had done a lot of research on wands during his search for the Elder wand, but there were still things he didn't understand.

As expected, the cauldron exhibit was quite dry, except for one display that showed alternate uses for cauldrons. "Do people really use oversized cauldrons as hot tubs?" he wondered, looking at an animated display of four witches and wizards lounging about in a cauldron the size of a small pool. His eyes widened as one of the wizards winked at him, then disappeared under the water. "Is there an age restriction on this exhibit?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

erniedtmac
2014-11-08 01:40 am UTC (link)

Ernie was thankful his distraction had worked, and hopefully the rest of their visit could be a little more fun. "You never know, maybe they paint theirs up to look like those little nesting dolls."

Ernie loved the idea of soaking in a humongous cauldron full of hot water. He remembered the term hot tub because it had come up at some point - maybe Justin had one in his family's home? "I don't know if many do so, but I think it's a brilliant idea. Maybe if I enlarge mine and put it on the patio, invite a few friends over, would be a nice way to survive the winter blahs, don't you think?"

At Harry's question, Ernie tilted his head and looked around, having missed whatever it was that had prompted the question. "Well, usually the figures are charmed to behave according to the ages of the people in the room - so if there are children around, they're better behaved, but if it's adults only, then they can be a little playful. What did you see?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

auror__potter
2014-11-17 03:44 pm UTC (link)

"That would at least be more decorative than what we use," Harry said, and pointed out that Ernie was correct when they passed a series of intricately painted cauldrons. "You're psychic!"

Harry wrinkled his nose. "What about all that potions residue? Or just the idea of soaking in the same space that brewed frog guts doesn't do it for me. I'd rather just get a hot tub." He tilted his head. "Unless you bought a cauldron for the express purpose of making it a hot tub I guess."

At Ernie's question, he just pointed. The figures were still going at it, and it was impossible to miss what they were doing. Orgies were pretty self-explanatory.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

erniedtmac
2014-11-23 02:50 am UTC (link)

Ernie grinned at the psychic remark. "I wish. I think I just spent a little more time with those Durmstrang blokes than you did in Fourth Year," he explained with a wink.

He nodded. "I can see that, having a cauldron just for that. But then we can also transfigure just about anything into a huge cauldron, or at least something that looks like one. Actual cauldrons need to meet certain specifications to be able to handle potionmaking, but for a hot tub, just the look will do, I suppose."

Ernie followed Harry's pointing and his eyes landed on the figures in the cauldron. One of the witches giggle and gave him and Harry a suggestive wave. "Sorry, lass," he said, shaking his head. "I don't think I swing your way. Though maybe my friend here might like to watch a bit," he teased with a pointed look at Harry.

(Reply to this) (Parent)