Hogwarts School - Elsewhere

He didn’t smoke.  However he needed an excuse to step outside so he conjured himself a cigarette and the illusion of smoke.  Breathing was a skill he had much like realizing that he was in over his head following an invitation to hang out at Séance from one fancy French Ministry guy a couple years his senior in the name of Aloïs Mallory.  He was a Razi so he understood the pureblood social scene from childhood events he’d attended, but until now he’d just been an observer not someone pulled in by a teasing smile and a promise of slipping off to the side for some fun. 

He understood he was being tested to see if he could hang with the group of friends Aloïs had formed that were interested in the women on the dance floor which as the evening went on he realized held zero interest to Aloïs.  Though he realized that Aloïs would play at otherwise stringing along  a girl that was over the top flirting with him responding to even the slightest of smirks he made.  He knew there would be no slipping off with Aloïs for some fun after the group left.  Still he stayed a couple hours more as he wanted to prove to himself he could fit in with this group, as he spent his whole childhood with the entirety of the extended Razi family saying he wasn’t good enough.  Yet, even wanting to prove to himself he could manage to fit in wasn't enough to hold his interest in anything other than finding a good excuse to leave.

He faked breathing in his cigarette as he twiddled with wand in his hand adding to the conjuring the illusion of smoke coming out of his mouth as breathed out.  He let himself lean on the wall with a slight slouch outside Séance with a large yawn escaping his mouth.  A yawn that was a little louder than he’d of wanted and worse he noticed someone looking at him.  Out of routine he said “ Need a light? “

A statement he realized the stupidity of in the wizarding world considering they all had wands - or so he assumed.  Then he raised his fake conjured cigarette towards his mouth as he waited for the response to his statement.  The fact that smoking was tolerated inside, made him stepping outside to fake smoking even more ridiculous in his mind - but here he was.

If there was something he was good at it was listening.  He was good at mentally taking notes and remembering names while saying comforting things to Cordelia while he listened to tales of suitors.  He acted like all he did was support his friend, and was going to stay completely out of it saying things like how this was expected of pureblood families and other such meaningless platitudes.  Platitudes he even repeated to his best friend Jasper when recounting the conversations to him later.

The catch was once he was out of Cordelia’s sight his actions which were anything but the meaningless platitudes he said to his friend to comfort her.  Names were collected and he quietly looked into.  He looked into them the way his grandfather looked into boys for his cousin Penelope who was his age and his grandfather oddly always used to pair him with for lessons when he was younger.  It oddly had him make an odd truce with some of older Razi cousins as the list of Cordelia’s potential suitors had an overlap with Penelope’s list of crushes in the form of Humphrey Sneaks.  It shocked his cousins as he had a chat with Humphrey on Penelope’s behalf as the boy wasn’t good enough and had been stupid enough to snog Angela Ollie the term prior giving him ammo.  Ammo he turned into leverage on Penelope’s behalf to stop that crush, and that got his cousins to spill information on some of the other boys still at Hogwarts and even a few who had graduated in the past few terms.  Information he continued collecting on various names he heard as the summer began and he made his weekly trips to have lunch with Cordelia at the Ministry.

As he put a spoon in his bowl of rice mixed with meat and vegetables that he’d prepared at home he listened to Cordelia mention one of the previous suitors names in a complaint.  The names were running together as they were all second rate.  They all had personality flaws and indiscretions that made them not good enough for his friend Cordelia.  They all had something that could be picked a part about there families that even the Razi families more criminal elements were far enough removed from him that he could say he was superior.  He even remembered his conversation with Headmistress Ivansko suggesting he pair with Cordelia out of some pureblood duty. 

A smirk crossed his face as he cast silent Imperterbable Charm with a flick of his wand trying to make it harder to overhear them.

Then he leaned forward on the table as he finished chewing his bite of food and said in a whisper “ Let’s stop with this game.  Your real complaint should be he’s second rate.  They are all second rate distractions that would just pull you down if you actually had any interest in any of them and with your internship you need to focus. “

His words unusually forward and he only paused a few seconds to look into her eyes to see if he had her attention.   He said in a continued whisper “ I had sisters.  They were squibs as were my parents.  I saw my grandfather try to arrange a lot of second and third rate and then watched as he meddled in my other more worthy cousins affairs with first rate candidates.  I could walk into your grandfather's room at St. Mungos and give him a heart attack with how bad the lot is. “  All of this was in the past as his sisters died at the end of his third year, and his grandfather the end of his fourth however he still remembered.  It was hard to forget what one was raised to be and his grandfather was trying to raise him to follow him in the proper Razi footsteps as the only wizard in his immediate family.

Then he raised his eyebrow and said “ You don’t have interest in any of them do you? Guys in general? “  A question he was oddly confident he knew the answer to but wanted to confirm as he moved to eat another bite of his lunch with a casualness this conversation didn’t have.

The routine of working at St. Mungos made him less focused on the classes he was taking at Hogwarts.  His only focus was his research interests into magic of the mind, studying for NEWTs, and doing good at this internship.  As the reality was he’d decided he was either going to become a Healer or his grades likely wouldn’t manner as he didn’t see himself in the Ministry or anywhere else that would care.

As he looked around St. Mungos he realized how little grades likely mannered in the wizarding world with things like who you knew and the reputation of ones family being more important.

Thankfully, there were places like St. Mungos in the wizarding world were when it came to a medical issue at least everyone was treated equally - or so he thought.  He saw a pair of guys just a bit older than him being rushed to a room with shocked questions coming out of the other healers mouths questioning how this could have happened with a gobstone.

“ It exploded and hit me “ said one of the patients whose eyes were scrunched shut with bubbling spots on his skin.  Then the other man said “ Like I just told those healers that ran out and told you to clean him up.  I got a new set of gobstones and it was our first game. “

Tigran looked at the guy with the spots of bubbling skin and said “ I’m guessing the lines on the arms are where you tried to Wipe it and it spread?  We are going to need to get a sample of it. “  Then he grabbed a metal tool realizing he might have to scrape off a sample off one of the small splotches of skin that the man had bubbling.

All he could do was look at Dylan and hope the more experienced healer had a better idea.

He’d finished his internship at St. Mungos earlier in the day and had a whole day free before term.  A freedom that was less than an hour away with his last shift at the Snake Pit ending just after close of the shift he was working tonight.  Yes, he’d had days off over the summer but they’d always been followed with the responsibility of showing up to St. Mungos afterwards.  A responsibility that even if he’d shown up more tired than he should have a couple of times he limited how late he stayed out to ensure he’d be presentable.

Tonight he had zero intention of limiting how late he stayed out.  He had every intention of going dancing with his friends in muggle London after his shift and likely staying out till he had to fetch his things from his flat tomorrow.  A fetching that only required him to be awake enough to hand over the keys to his room, and carry his things to the Hogwarts Express where he could sleep.

Though first he had to get through the last bit of his shift as he made his way down the bar wiping it clean as he went.  An action that was more to slow his movements so he could talk to customers than actual cleaning.  One of the more practical skills he learned this summer about talking to people and gave him time to read them a bit.

Though his reading now was done with his wand quietly in his hand as he attempted to read the Aura of the patron that was alone at the end of the bar.  Then he walked over and said “ Kitchen’s going to close soon.  I find the chicken tenders good for a pick me up before heading to the next party. “

Words he regretted saying as soon as they came out of his mouth as with his excitement for where he was going after he let it slip his mind was on the next party, not the job he was doing at the bar.  Or even worse it could be mistaken as him trying to hit on the person - he wasn't.  Even worse there was no saving of his words as he didn't know a single place in the wizarding world that would fit the bill.

OOC: If you want Tigran to read your aura make an OOC note of what colors he’d see, if not I’ll assume no note means he failed.

He refused to go near the Entrance Hall within the walls of the castle as much like the Great Hall it was overdecorated.  Yet, here he stood outside the castle where the doors of the Entrance Hall opened to the outside world.  He’d borrowed one of his housemates brooms and chooses to fly off one of the towers in order to avoid the entrance hall entirely.  A broom he sent off to hide on a ledge he was confident no one would notice it on, so it would be there when he summoned it to go back inside.

He’d said he’d meet Eira outside.  Hopefully, she actually came outside and didn’t assume he’d walk through the inside part.

He said “ I think there might be a meteor shower tonight. “ Normally he’d of asked pleasantries such as how her day was.  The catch was today had been Christmas and the last thing he wanted as to hear about it.  A fate he’d avoided minus a few house elves who found him and gave him treats that he noticed were duller than what he remember from when he was younger.

He stood off to the side of the shop helping customers as he blinked occasionally in the shock of it all.  He’d visited more museums on school field trips than he’d ever been to toy stores as a child - making this unlike anything he was used to.  It seemed almost alive and even grander now than when he’d wandered in and helped Jasper on various things over the summer from prank product development to setting up things.

Being supportive aside, he’d thought Jasper’s idea was some rich spoiled kid idea which he’d supported purely as he had enough rich cousins he knew it could work in this world.  Seeing the store and the products all he could do was walk around during the opening in surprise that it was working.  As in actually working in a way unsupported by illusions of influence that he suspected made some of his cousins endeavors actually work.  A surprise that would go forever unmentioned.

With a smile he said “ Don’t overlook the chameleon chalk in your prank planning. “  Then he picked up one of the containers of chameleon chalk holding it up for a second purely for deliberate pause.  Tilting the container towards the other person so the label still showed clearly he said “ It makes hiding things in the execution phase easy such as hiding vial with a smoke potion in the hands of a statue with chameleon chalk so people don’t see it.  Then use one’s wand to break the bottle from across the room letting off the smoke. “

While he didn't work here, he certainly wanted to help his friend sell stuff on opening day as he relaxed wearing a dark collared shirt and a simple pair of jeans so that he'd not stand out in the crowd.

Leaning against the back of the bar looking over the club during a moment of calm a yawn surprised him as it escaped his mouth.  The mix of his summer spent between working an internship at St. Mungos, a bartender at the Snake Pit, and general hanging out with friends in London was starting to catch up with him.  Though as he blinked looking through the smoke and neon lights of the bar he shook off the tiredness as he noticed a hand signal from a burly man at one of the tables that indicated he should send another round of drinks.

Moving back towards the bar area he floated the containers of freshly cut mint and other garnishes he’d just prepared to the other bartender’s station then went to his own station.  He started pouring simple cups of beer as was indicated by the hand signal he’d saw.  The burly man at the table liked to talk loudly, yet didn’t want to be heard and had a rubbish silencing charm.  With him easily learning in his first week an extra tip could be earned by him enhancing it with an actual imperterbable charm - which he’d done earlier more as a public service than for the extra tip.  Once the drinks were prepared he casted kamiflage on them, then discretely floated over to the table removing the kamiflage as the drinks arrived to the customers.

Then he looked along the bar noticing an empty glass and smiled as he approached the patron.   A smile that without any conscious thought of his own was slightly flirty, but meaningless, as he said “ Please tell me you aren't going to make me guess what you want next.  Last time I tried psychometry on one of the glasses here I ended up adding a cleansing potion to the dish soap. "

It was a lie as he'd never actually tried psychometry, but looking as young as he was at seventeen he wanted to project he was older than he was - bonus points if people thought him more skilled.  Though considering all the dealings he worked to ignore at the bar perhaps the cleansing potion idea was a good one.  He wondered if there was already one there to help cover things up.

OOC: Permission granted to say he’s a part-time bartender…

He was never sure if he was supposed to greet the spirits that seemed to surround him in this shop.  At most he gave them a nod of acknowledgement he could see them as he was more interested in reading the books than being noticed.  He certainly didn’t have the funds to be a customer, and his situation so precarious he wouldn’t even trust himself to check anything out.

This was probably his fourth time wandering in and he was smart enough to stay to the side with a slouch smartly limiting himself to short bits of time that he could pretend to be browsing.  Though, this time he lost track of time carefully reading an untitled book that was describing how divination interacted with the magical mind.

Then his eyes saw as he carefully flipped a page and returned to the top of it that someone was in front of him.  With a gulp he looked up and saw the shopkeeper.  With a smile he said " I must commend you on your collection. "

Hoping a compliment would give him time to think of a good escape plan beyond slipping in and out - his original plan.

He’d been working at his internship in the morning at St. Mungos, but instead of enjoying his late scheduled lunch some Ministry dunderhead showed up.  At least the dunderhead hadn't shown up to the summer camp where he was a counselor and it would have been more embarrassing.  To say he was unexcited would be an understatement, but he was smart enough to know that now was a time for cooperation.  After all, he got this St. Mungos internship for a couple days a week on what he thought was his own merit applying like everyone else - he wasn’t going to let this Ministry dunderhead let people think he was some sort of charity case.  He wasn’t. However, he saw enough kids at the Hogsmeade Children’s Home especially the squibs given jobs as charity cases.

It wasn’t till he got to the destination that all thoughts of cooperation were tossed out the window.  It was simply now just himself, a Ministry dunderhead, and Mr. Fantasy Land who even had an office to match.  An office that he doubted was an illusion as he’d of bet it wouldn’t have so many comforting stuffed animals and toys about to drop the defenses of the kids.  No, if the surroundings were planned around his presumably scheduled and planned entrance he suspected it wouldn’t have looked like this.

This was real. 

If he didn’t say something now he’d be setting Tim up for the same disappointment every adult who’d ever tried to give a crap about him did.  He’d disappointed enough people in his failures to deal with the problems of the situations he’d found himself in over the years - situations that minus having a less badly timed insensitive emotionally fueled reactions he didn’t have a clue what he’d do differently.  He was beginning to finally start silently accepting the reality that his situations were his fault.

He didn’t want to add disappointing Tim to the list of situations he found himself in - or worse proving the world wasn’t the good place that Tim seemed to act like it was.

He looked towards the Ministry dunderhead unable to look at Tim and see the disappointment his logic would cause. Then he said “ This is stupid.  We all know how this works.  I age out in eight and a half months with some useless official paperwork. “  He’d gotten the paperwork before as Mrs. Cunningham, his former muggle social worker, had saved it for him and gave it to him over Christmas break when he ran into her.  She even said it was useless.

He took a quick breath in before speaking even faster “ Everyone knows Tim is honorable and if you lot could say this about everyone you employ I’d be dragged to see Gwynn today.  I trust at least Gwynn been fired for his incompetency as a social worker and ministry employee.  There are actually kids Tim could help and make a real difference with.  I’ve been at the Hogsmeade Children’s Home, and I know how to man up.  Hell, I even pretended I was going to go stay with a friends a few days before camp and got myself some work then went to the thrift, and picked up some new threads and toys for the kids there. “

Naturally, he’d also picked himself up a couple of new summer outfits like the one he was wearing now which were a simple pair of black pants, and a light yellow collared shirt.  As he lost his ability to just accept wearing transfigured uniforms that were so worn that they should be trashed.  Yet, what he remembered most from him picking stuff up for the kids at the children’s home was how happy little Alyse was twirling in her new-to-her pink summer dress with a new stuffed bunny.

Barely pausing for air he continued “ Tim can’t really do much in what two-hundred and sixty-ish days for me.  However, he could probably do something for so many others even the squib girl whose a few months younger than me he could logic her a path to a real job with some chance of sticking around instead of a shop job in Hogsmeade where I bet she’s replaced the minute she ages out.  No way a squib with fresh age-out papers is managing to stay in Hogsmeade and the delusional comfort she’s taking from that job as a path forward is just sad to watch.“

He had to breathe as he simply couldn’t continue talking so quickly to try to convince the dunderhead to abandon this bad idea - as he was certain Tim stupidly would walk into this disappointment if given the choice.

The dunderhead just smiled with an almost chuckle as he said “ Good Luck “  shutting the door leaving himself and Tim alone in the office.

It was good he was out of breath as he looked towards Tim as he had no idea what to say to the next adult that was about to potentially give a crap about him and end up disappointed like the rest.