arts magical

[occluminous]

Bella has been living in the dorms for two days when the term properly starts. The buses begin arriving and discharging the students who didn't need to arrive early just in time for them to join the early attendees for lunch. Bella is sitting at a half-full table, reading her Charms textbook and prodding at one of her notebooks with the hazel wand. The vine one is still in her hair; she uses it for most things (to the extent that there is a 'most things', but she's getting a jump on her assignments) but she's giving the hazel a try for this particular charm. It's supposed to make the notebook refuse to open for anyone but her. Poke. Poke. "Claudo!"

Her notebook snaps itself shut abruptly. She opens the cover, closes it, passes it to the girl on her right and gets her to try, observes that it does not open. She puts the hazel wand back in her sleeve.

Comments

[sparksflying]

"No-o," says Tony. "Wizards do name their kids all kinds of weird shit, though."

[occluminous]

"Like what?"

[sparksflying]

"Lots of Latin and Greek and constellations and stuff like that," she says. "I dunno, I can't think of any examples, you'll see what I mean."

[occluminous]

"I did notice some weird names on the hall doors but I thought it might be a coincidence," says Bella. "Clytemnestra and Libra and Prima and stuff."

[sparksflying]

"Yeah, see?" says Tony.

[occluminous]

"I wonder why. Your name's relatively normal."

[sparksflying]

"Yeah, my mom's family is pretty modern that way, her name's Maria."

[occluminous]

"The funny names are an old-fashioned thing, not just a magical person thing?"

[sparksflying]

"They're a 'magical people are old-fashioned' thing. Kind of."

[occluminous]

"Whereabouts besides names?" asks Bella curiously.

[sparksflying]

"...You've noticed the clothes, right?" she says. "And, like, the architecture? And the cars? Oh, man, the cars."

[occluminous]

"I don't pay a lot of attention to people's clothes, but now that you mention it... I didn't know if the architecture was old-fashioned or just elaborate and not compromising for things like air conditioning. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to car models on the Automagicka."

[sparksflying]

"Magic people's cars tend to be old," says Tony. "And not even, like, vintage. The crappy kind of old. I mean, once in a while you get a classy old 'Vette or something, but most of the time it's sixty-year-old crapmobiles."

[occluminous]

"I know almost nothing about cars," shrugs Bella. "My mom has a station wagon and what I know about it is it's white. My dad just drives his police car."

[sparksflying]

"I know lots about cars," Tony says proudly.

[occluminous]

"Are cars interesting? Compared to magic?" asks Bella skeptically.

[sparksflying]

"...Uh..."

[occluminous]

"Well, maybe they are, I wouldn't know," says Bella, "but you have a magic mom, if my mom was magic I don't think I'd know a single other thing, I'd just spend all my time reading about it and asking questions about it."

[sparksflying]

Tony is now frowning.

[occluminous]

"What?"

[sparksflying]

"...Nothing," she sighs. "I don't know."

[occluminous]

"I didn't, like, offend you, did I? I don't want to go around offending people just because I was raised by Muggles and don't know what's okay to say."

[sparksflying]

"That's the weird thing," says Tony, "you were raised by Muggles but you're talking like a clueless pureblood. I shouldn't have to tell you that Muggles are capable of inventing some cool stuff that magic can't handle as well, that should be something you already know. You've seen a computer before, right?"

[occluminous]

"Computers are cool, sure," says Bella. "But magic - magic is just cheating at cool."

[sparksflying]

"Sure," says Tony. "To you. To me they're both ordinary levels of cool."