(closed RP) at the Hog's Head

[superfraternal.livejournal.com]

The Hog's Head seemed like the right kind of place for conversations of a politically risky sort. Simon knew about the place thanks to some acquaintances who'd been longer at the school than his present, post-repopcorning incarnation. It actually featured in some wizarding history: a goblin rebellion had been plotted here, centuries ago. Whether the Hog's Head sheltered those who were for or who were against the goblins, the book didn't say.

Simon had seen worse places, first in his dealings with the underground movement who helped get River out of the Alliance's clutches, and later with the crew of Serenity. The Hog's Head was about as welcoming and as hygienic as the bar full of mudders on Higgins' Moon. Mudders, people who ... harvested mud, for a living. Wizards didn't have an excuse, Simon thought, frowning into his drink. Wizards knew cleaning charms and scouring spells. What disincentive toward cleaning could they possibly have?

He had ample time to rue his choice of meeting place, as it seemed the enigmatic 'EnigmaWriter' was wise enough to rethink the rendezvous. Time dragged past the hour they'd agreed upon, and Simon saw no one with red hair who wasn't wearing wizarding garb. Actually, he didn't see anyone with red hair at all, since most of the people who went to the Hog's Head were very into headcoverings. Orthodox religion? he wondered idly. He had a book to read, but no one here seemed literate, so he pretended to be very interested in his drink, like the other people here.

He couldn't have stood out any more if he'd tried, short of donning a clown suit and dancing on the table.

Comments

[superfraternal.livejournal.com]

"I don't remember anything between Serenity and this time at Hogwarts, I'm afraid. I've been told by people who knew me in between popcornings. My friends from Serenity, most of them are popcorn again, except for my sister. I guess the person who remembers me best is, well, not so much a friend. She's sort of ... my former girlfriend?" Embarrassing to explain it. He felt like a heel whenever he dealt with Chance, even though he couldn't possibly have helped being popcorned or not remembering her. "And it's too strange for her to be friends, since I don't remember her. But she's a good person. She's been here for years now."

[noseymaddie.livejournal.com]

In Maddie's head: Note to self: Find former girlfriend.

Also in Maddie's head: girlfriend...ah, former...still...hmmmm...friends, though? At least he's now single...likely...

There's still a chance, she thinks.

Wait until she finds out.

"That's another thing I'm curious about, the whole 'popcorn' situation. It is a rather strange system and I haven't found any mention of it in the histories I found in the library. What is it like? What do you remember of it?"

[superfraternal.livejournal.com]

"If you're working on a new history of the school, popcorn ought to be a chapter all on its own. You're right, it doesn't turn up in any histories or wizarding media that I've seen. I don't even know if the wizarding tabloid press has covered it." Simon thought for a moment. "I don't have any actual memories of the popcorning process. I only remember waking up covered in butter (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1650403.html). That's a commonality among people who've been popcorn and come back. You wake up in the popcorn room and you're buttered. It's certainly disorienting."

He gave a short and unmirthful laugh, realizing just what an understatement he'd made.

"Sometimes you find out that you've left things behind, from the time before you were popcorn, and the house elves have brought me a few things like that. Some books, mainly. Other than that, you're lucky to have the clothes on your back. I woke up in my pajamas, without shoes or even a shirt." Let alone any vests!

[noseymaddie.livejournal.com]

Ooooo...shirtless...

Damn, too bad she missed it.

Which, of course, means she'll have to try and see it at a later date, because, he's got a nice body in his clothes, so it's gotta be nice out of his clothes.

"That sounds almost worse than the sorting process," Maddie said sympathetically because sympathy will get you everywhere, even in someone else's shirt.... "And, I haven't managed to get through many volumes of the Quibbler. It is a rather oddly published thing, much worse than the Daily Mail. And, their Daily Prophet is obviously state controlled."

[superfraternal.livejournal.com]

Simon had the laziest mun.

"State-controlled to what extent, do you think? Just censored, or is the whole thing propaganda?" Maddie's theory was interesting. "I wonder if Hogwarts has any kind of state oversight or involvement, for that matter. People have tried to start student newspapers here, but it never seems to work out. Possibly they're suppressed, though I've never seen any evidence one way or the other."

[noseymaddie.livejournal.com]

I dunno...this mun is pretty lazy. She went and took a nap and slept before tagging back.

"From what I've been able to gather from the fragmented journals and records from just before this place became utterly barmey, propaganda. There are reports of this Dark Magic fellow coming back in journals and such while the Daily Prophet declares it a hoax and then a sudden turn about after an attack at the Ministry of Magic that resulted in several deaths. And, during that time, the Ministry did attempt to take over the school, if the journal records I found are correct."

Journals were, after all, the spin of the writer with no editorial comment or correction.