Books, Broomsticks and Butterbeer Oh My! ((Jim))

[mudblood_andproud]

Hermione was excited for the day ahead of her. It was finally time that she could bring Jim to Diagon Alley with her, so he could see a part of the Wizarding world. It had taken some time, since she had needed to talk to Minerva McGonagall and Arthur Weasley, and sign off a few scrolls to bring a Muggle to Diagon Alley. But Hermione had followed the letter of the Wizarding laws in these regards, so there was no worries on her end.

She had decided to open the PINpoint portal in her own home, a small cottage located in Wiltshire. After all, it was best that a portal wasn't open in Diagon Alley, where any wizard or witch could discover it, and try to gain access to the Nexus themselves.

Hermione send out a quick message to Jim, hoping that he was available.

Good morning! Feel up to exploring some of the magical world with me? Hermione

Comments

[mudblood_andproud]

"What does he do?" Hermione digs into her part of the club sandwich.

[boldygoing]

"He's the navigator, but he's got cross-training in engineering too. He's saved our butts with the power of math a couple times already."

[mudblood_andproud]

"The power of math. That sounds pretty close to my own interests. Maybe, if he knows about the Nexus, I could meet him? It would be nice to have someone to talk math with."

[boldygoing]

Jim's eyebrows go up, and he stifles a grin. "Sure, but be prepared to hear claims that everything of significance was actually invented in Russia," he says with a laugh. "Pavel's a good kid but I've never met anyone with hometown pride that strong."

[mudblood_andproud]

"He is from Russia?" Hermione laughs.

"I should throw him off and start speaking to him in Bulgarian."

[boldygoing]

Jim gives her a slightly puzzled look. "Honestly, that'd probably just make him more excited to talk to you. Universal translators have made language barriers pretty easy to overcome these days, so hearing a language from near to home would just be more reason to get to know each other."

[mudblood_andproud]

"That would be no problem, honestly. I can hold an entire conversation in Bulgarian. Without needing a translation spell."

[boldygoing]

"Do you speak any Russian?" he asks, finishing off his sandwich and investigating the fruit on offer. The two languages are at least somewhat similar, but Jim knows that doesn't necessarily mean they're even mutually intelligible.

[mudblood_andproud]

"Bits and pieces."

"I dated a wizard from the Durmstrang Institute, the wizarding school based in Scandinavian. And there were a few students who spoke Russian, who I met."

[boldygoing]

"Ah," Jim says in understanding, with a smile, "so pretty much 'zdravstvuyte' and 'do svidaniya.' The basics. Good enough if you've got some other way to communicate."

[mudblood_andproud]

"And fortunately, spells are already spoken in their runic language, so those are universal, no matter where you are in the world."

[boldygoing]

Jim wants to ask more about that, whether spells are discovered or somehow created, but he's got a book to read on that now, so he figures he can ask about that if he's still got questions once he's read the whole thing. So instead he asks, "so from what I've seen so far, am I wrong to assume that wizard everyday life is kinda medieval? Quills instead of pens, candles over electric lights, that kinda thing."

[mudblood_andproud]

"In a fashion." Hermione pauses to collect her thoughts. "There are some spells, charms and potions that just don't work on technology. Too much electronic magnetism can cause disruption of magic, and too much magic can make technology break down."

[boldygoing]

"Okay, I can understand how that'd affect electrical power," Jim concedes. "And you've obviously got steam trains and probably internal plumbing, I'd hope. But pens haven't caught on?"

[mudblood_andproud]

"Yes. We have internal plumbing. We had a ghost haunt the girls' loo at Hogwarts."

"And you would be surprised how often you need a feather for a spell or potion, so a quill is preferred."

[boldygoing]

Jim tilts his head, mulling that over. "I wouldn't think that'd outweigh the benefits of not having to use an ink bottle, but I've never had to use either."

[mudblood_andproud]

Hermione laughs. "Oh Jim! You can purchase self-inking quills. No need for an ink bottle."

[boldygoing]

Jim smiles, but frowns while he's at it. "Not that I'm surprised, but you know that breaks at least a couple laws of physics, right?" he says, though not in any way meant to offend. He's still trying to figure out what is and isn't possible with magic, and the answer seems to change a lot. "No wonder you have to go to school for all this. It's amazing you get it all in seven years."

[mudblood_andproud]

"I should give you my research paper of the amazing physics of magic." She is serious.

"How long did you spend at the Academy? How many years did it take you to learn what you needed?"

[boldygoing]

"I'd love to read it," he answers, just as seriously. "It's hard enough to understand how it all works when it doesn't follow the fundamental forces of the universe as I know them." He's not that surprised that she's done research into this, though; that seems very in character for what he knows of her so far. "Is it something you could publish? I wonder if it'd help other, uh, Muggle-born students who're coming to wizard school for the first time."

Jim's expression becomes a little more serious when she asks that particular question, and he serves himself some fruit while he decides how much he wants to say about it. "Standard officer training takes four years, but I'd already decided to do an accelerated three-year program when I enlisted. I did a lot of independent study up until then. Picked up skills here and there, managed to test out of a few courses."

[mudblood_andproud]

"I would be more than happy to share with you some information on the fundamental forces of the magical universe. It might open more concepts to you."

"I am sure I could publish it. I would just have to find the right person who would support the printing costs."

"That sounds like how I did independent study before I headed to Hogwarts." Hermione smiles. "But see, you went to school for three years, and learned what you needed. Why is it a surprise that I learned what I needed in seven?"

[boldygoing]

He shakes his head a little. "It's not quite the same. We start learning the basics of warp theory and xenohistory in grade school, among other things, and even though I quit and went off on my own when I was fourteen, I spent the next eight years learning how to put that to practical use, and looking into advanced fields of study on my own. I was twenty-two when I enlisted, so I had a lot of learning behind me before those three years."

[mudblood_andproud]

"Hogwarts is not the same as grade school, if that is where your mind is. Many of the students, who have a wizard in the family, learn the basics of spells and potions when they are a child."

"Plus, all wizarding schools are boarding schools. So you are learning from morning to night. You get a Christmas break, and a summer break, but it is not like going to a eight-hour grade school. We are spending 12 hours at school. Every day."

"And our classes are practical courses, where we are using those skills day after day." Hermione noted. "For us, wizarding schools prepare us for our careers."

[boldygoing]

"I'm not arguing that it doesn't," Jim points out diplomatically. "But you were raised as a Muggle, right? Didn't you have to unlearn anything that Muggle school told you was impossible?" Like the laws of physics, for instance.

[mudblood_andproud]

"I didn't unlearn anything." Hermione notes.

"There are tons of things that humans are told are impossible."

"They said it was impossible to circle the Earth. They said that humans would never harness the power of flight. They said that humans would never set foot on the moon."

"And consider you own history... how long ago was it, when humans used to claim that there was no such thing as alien life. But now?"

"I evolved and learned something new. And changed my world."