Chapter 4 - Goooood morning Hogwarts!
[] [] [] - Lucas
"WHHHOOOOOOO!"
Lucas sipped his drink as he heard the sixth year Hufflepuff rear up on the central common room table, very drunk, before he fell back onto the sofa behind him.
This was Hufflepuffs blanket party, held once every month, where all houses were invited. Interestingly, dyed in the wool Gryffindors and Slytherins rarely attended, and most Ravenclaws didn't care for big parties, preferring a quiet night in with a few close friends discussing ideas, but Tyler had... politely asked, admittedly at wandpoint, him to attend. Get him out of doors as it were. On the topic of Tyler, his house had been quite welcoming, especially given he ate, spoke, or for the most part did very little. Of course, this was Tyler's vengeance for his inactivity, bringing him to the lions den. He groaned as he sipped his water, while Anna and Tyler danced the night away, at least as far as he could hear. They had been writing to each other all summer long, and he had a sneaking suspicion they were going out, but he had been tight lipped on the issue. He sat back, intending to wait it out.
Unfortunately, Ty had other ideas, as he crashed down onto the couch beside him, asking "How are you doing?", as Anna stood above them.
"Fine..." he said grumpily, not a fan of the party atmosphere.
Not really listening, Tyler said "Listen, we're good mates, and I've got a proposal that might help us both out. Mind seeing my afterwards, say in the observatory, after the party?"
He silently nodded, having silent doubts as to whether Tyler would even remember. Tyler promptly slapped him on the back and resumed presumably making a fool of himself. And yet, he was very good at it, most people cheering him on. At the end of the day, Lucas had to admit, his friend was very popular. He finally stood, leaving for the long balcony by the back row for some air. The fifteen year old Ravenclaw left out the gate, and leaned out on the railings over the castle, breathing in the November night air rush down his throat, chilling him. He finished the water in his plastic cup, before chucking it over the edge and taking deep breaths, wondering what Tyler wanted as he cooled off.
"Lucas?"
He turned to the side, recognising the voice as Laila's soft, measured voice with a sense of surprise. As he knew, most Slytherins and Gryffindors didn't turn up, but then again Laila wasn't very partisan. He brought this up, remarking "Didn't expect to see you here."
"Same goes for you."
"Tyler didn't give me much choice."
She gave a soft chuckle. "Par for the course then. What do you expect when you spend the summer with the guy?."
"Swings and roundabouts" he replied. "It's this or the streets. He's probably told everyone how my summer was, so how was yours?"
"I don't pay as much attention to him, he's wrong a lot more than he's right. Not that I don't like him of course, I just wouldn't take my news from him."
He nodded "I understand, but you'd be surprised. He can be pretty insightful, and sounds pretty damn professional while presenting it." He shook a little uncomfortably. Like Laila, he was brutal in analysis and discussion, unlike the other two. That having been said, if they heard this, he feared the consequences of losing two of his only friends.
Laila seemed not to mind, continuing "True, but a pretty face doesn't make you right."
He was fairly sure that was a slight against her family, which he picked up on instantly, responding "That's not important for people like you and me, but..." petering off as he didn't have the heart to come up with an example. After a pause, the inevitable question.
"Does this mean I win?"
He reluctantly nodded, before a long pause permeated the open air. She wasn't being hostile or an asshole, she was obviously teasing.
"So..."
He turned his head. "Yea?"
"What do I get for winning?"
This had him laughing. One of their previous discussions had been whether Laila, excepting familial ties, was a good fit in Slytherin. He'd been claiming she was, winning on the argument of her attitude to rewards, and weighing up options for personal benefit before taking a stance. As his laughter quieted down, he got relatively serious. Laila was probably the second smartest person he knew, and he couldn't deny she was... interesting. Certainly, there was a certain opposites interest at play, given her polar opposite background and perspective, but like he always tried to she put it aside at every convenience, but knew when to engage it to get what she wanted. If he was asked with a wand to his head who he would like to spend his time with, and the "no one" option was crossed out, he would most likely pick Laila. Before he gave himself the chance to do something unwise, he sighed, and moved his hands towards his face, moving his finger into the ridge between his mask and his face, before pulling the blindfold up to his forehead, with shallow bated breaths of anxiety. He didn't know what his face looked like, but her gasp as his hands came to rest confirmed it.
"Well what does it look like? You're the first person since the man who found me on the street after I was stabbed to see this. How has it ripened?" He jokingly asked with a jaunty grin, which was definitely not reciprocated.
"It..." she could barely speak, and he heard her step closer, before feeling her cold breath against his face. She moved no closer, examining his eyes. He moved his hand back up, feeling the scars, bubbly yet crackled hard, like overcooked bacon. He sighed as she backed off. "Will that do?"
Her pause confirmed it, so as he raised his blindfold onto the wound, he gave a cruel smile, gentle chuckles rising up into the soft night. As his voice died down, he joined the silence.
"Are you alright?" he eventually asked, and she eventually replied "Yeah... that must have hurt."
He shook it off, responding "It's alright, it was only sore for the first few months... WAIT NO I DIDN'T MEAN THAT!" his voice rising to a cry as he realising he was not being comforting. Fortunately Laila saw the funny side to his social ineptitude, giggling.
"You're hilarious." she mocked, as he realised he was blushing and looked away. She laughed at him, saying "Relax, you're fine. Actually..."
Lucas could barely contain himself, and began to ask "Do..." but the boy choked the delivery, causing Laila to laugh again, which brought Lucas to laughter. Laila eventually said slyly "Were you about to ask me out, Mr Beck?"
"JACOBSON Beck." he shouted, before realising she was intentionally playing with him, causing him to grump. "Yes, as a matter of fact I was..."
He sighed as he silently thanked Tyler for inviting him up to the party, as she whispered. "How does the lake Sunday afternoon sound?"
[] [] [] - Tyler
Tyler stood alone in the open observatory, and breathed out the open air. It was almost 3 o'clock, and he had been sitting for twenty minutes.
"Come on Lucas, what's the hold up?"
The guy never forgot anything, in fact he had to write this onto his own arm to remind himself. The observatory was a circle, with six pillars around the edges raising a translucent roof, allowing one to see all directions with an enchanted spyglass. The wizarding world had largely left the documentation of the stars to the muggles, who had made a pretty good job of it, making it to other planets, a feat which puzzled the wizarding establishment for years on end until a few muggleborns spelled out the science.
His mind returned to his planning, and he was convinced Lucas would buy in. Not only was it right up his alley, but he had confided he was often bored in class, and the idea of not attending these boring classes would appeal to him. He chuckled. This was the sort of scheme Laila would probably come up with.
"Laila..."
"What did you say?"
As he pieced together why Lucas was late, the man in question appeared... grinning?
"Whats with you?"
He shrugged nonchalantly "Just uncharacteristically cheerful. It may surprise you, but I do encounter a trace of an emotion from time to time."
Tyler shook his head, replying "Dude, I spent a summer with you. The number of things that get you SMILING, not counting your little sadistic chuckles, can be counted on my hand. Given where you left the party, I can hazard a guess as to what, or who, may have given you that smile."
Said smile instantly dissipated, as he hissed "Leave the deductions to me, being smart doesn't suit you."
"Oh, to be so cruel." Tyler shot back amusedly, with Lucas' squirming confirming his suspicions.
"MOVING ON." Lucas finished. "What do you want?" His face was now calm after a visible effort to release his pressure and basically admitting defeat. Tyler smirked to himself, before beginning.
"Over the last few years, a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw ran the Hogwarts Radio, for three different generations of classes. Each one does their own spin on it, and the last bunch just left. The headmistress asked me to do it, but also noted I should probably have... a quote unquote grounding influence."
Lucas' face was narrow and thoughtful, as he contemplated what this may entail.
"So what exactly will I be doing?"
Tyler leaned back, and answered. "Scripting and information gathering, as well as co presenting. You are the smartest person I know Lucas, and have no problem putting me in my place."
If Lucas had one personality flaw, he was quite prideful, and despite years of bullying he had a considerable ego. And Lucas knew it on a subconscious level at least, as he replied "You're a gifted advertiser." Still, he wasn't saying no, as Tyler stroked his intelligence, and delivered the final blow.
"Y'know, since it's a school project you can get out of class to research and write."
No answer.
"The first meeting with teachers is tomorrow at 4 in the multimedia room."
Tyler smirked, and left Lucas' thoughtful face behind as he began the walk back to his dorm.
'Too easy...'
[] [] [] - Laila
After extensive conversations with her three friends, Laila Faust had learned a lot about other houses, and what stood out most was their rules. The house with the least rules that pertained only to their members was Ravenclaw, with only two; Don't argue after 10, or no one will sleep, and Don't argue during dinner, or we will starve. Laila was convinced Lucas had been making that up, until she used her outreach to discover that those rules were completely unironic.
Gryffindor had surprisingly nonsensical rules, such as being the only house that explicitly forbade non Gryffindors entering the common room, among other head scratching Gryffindor-pride rules which even Slytherins found Draconic. Hufflepuffs rules had two common characteristics; don't fight, and be nice to other houses. Tyler saw these as largely nonsense, as they were practically self enforced, as other Hufflepuffs always intervened before an argument got out of hand, whether it was among house members or not. Slytherin actually had a several page book, with etiquette regulation, such as one particularly funny one; all financial exchanges must take place between 4pm and 5pm, on Mondays through Saturday only. That particular one dumbfounded all her friends, though she couldn't imagine a peaceful life without that rule.
This didn't exactly calm their nerves.
Still, it made for a peaceful evening, as she plugged a set of old headsets and tuned into the old radio and settled down to relax. Lucas had proved himself a decent date, managing to make two hours fly by with little more than skipping rocks and talking. It had been two days since then, and four since the party. After flicking through a few channels, she settled on BBCM for the Eight O'clock news.
"In other news, the first preliminary caucasus for the position of the Head of the International Confederation of Wizards have just come in, with Shimo Hosoda, Rodriguez Posoda, Thomas Faust and Adebowale Undigra made the 21% quota vote under PR. Over the course of the next two years, the primaries over sectors will take place to select the candidate. We will be covering..."
After pausing to digest this, she got the sense she missed something.
THOMAS?
She sat back as she thought about the fact that the family Ravenclaw was the one who'd climbed the ranks better than any of them. Lucas was going to swoon when he heard. Still, the election process in and of itself made for controversy. Each nation, or subnation in the case of large countries, cast a vote proportional to population within their precinct, and each precinct had one block vote for a candidate. The one with the most block votes wins. The problem was the size of the precincts. There was one for America, one for South America, one for Africa, extending to the Suez canal, two for Asia, mainland and the Pacific Islands, one for Britain, and two for Europe, the Danube being the dividing line. This system had only been implemented twelve years ago, prior to which the Confederation picked a Head, practically a president of the International Wizarding World. These elections took place every ten years. Still, none of this fixed the issue that the voting was ludicrously biased in favour of Europe, as a result of an attempt to compromise with the Big Three to get their support.
Laila could almost feel the irony radiating from the broadcast.
Sighing, she flicked through the channels.
"-ALWAYS BURNING SINCE-"
-for the Conservative P-"
"-Lucas dug up-"
Just as she was about to move on, she heard not only the name Luas, which pricked her ears, but it came from a familiar voice. She continued to listen.
"-a study from the Board of Electorate and published with an editorial in the Prophet has been getting a lot of coverage, and it is an average of all the polls coming out of South America and Africa, the two precincts voting first, is really fucking interesting, so Lucas, mind going into specifics?"
"Of course." replied a soft, quiet voice, in contrast to the booming assertive first voice "When you break the demographics down by age, Posoda and to a lesser extent Hosoda have large leads, with 42% and 31% respectively in the 18 to 29 demographic in South America, and Undigra and Posoda have leads of 62% and 26% in Africa. With middle aged, it averages out with Posoda and Undigra holding a small lead in their respective areas, however Faust holds a decisive lead in both areas with older people, at 78% and 62%. I'd just like to point out before we continue that Posoda is an Argentine national, and Undigra is from the Ivory Coast, so there is a national aspect, in the same way that Faust will do well in Europe and Hosoda will do well in South Asia, but that doesn't explain the age disparity, which could be a large turning point in this entire election."
The first voice took the gap to ask "What are the numbers on rich versus poor?"
There was a brief pause, before a sound of the ruffling of papers and the second voice saying "A moment, just let me grab it..."
After a few seconds, and a few more seconds, and a brief quiet exchange the audience couldn't hear. Laila suspected the paper was written in words that Lucas couldn't read, and had to hand it over, confirmed when the first voice which was almost certainly Tyler. As they resumed, she acutely realized some other people were tuning into their radios.
"Yes, so in both Africa and South America the bottom 20% are more likely to support Hosoda at about the same as their local nominee, and towards the top 10% Faust receives marginally more support-"
"BUT wealth can be correlated with age given the shorter average lifespans." Lucas deadpanned, with the subtlety of a brick, throwing off Tyler briefly, before he resumed.
"Yes... well anyway, this certainly is telling, as if the vote is split early on and a single candidate cleans up in one precinct while all the others go 25% or so each, that'll be enough, so if the southern areas want to prevent Faust from getting in, they need to consolidate around one candidate, or else they will be split, with Faust getting three precincts guaranteed and all the others getting one or two."
She dialled out, removing her headphones as Maria chuckled behind her.
"Guess your eedyot boyfriend finally amounted to something." she goaded.
Laila could not care less.