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

"It is a disillusioned portal. But you have to run. And you feel the sensation of brick around you. And magic." Hermione warns him.

"What happens if you stop? Is it dangerous?" Jim wants to make sure he understands any risks before he goes ahead. Though he doubts that Hermione would have him do anything potentially harmful, he has to be sure.

"Yes. You could get caught in the in-between."

Hermione squeezes his hand gently. "Muggles normally can't pass through. I have a magical exemption for you. Just hold onto my hand and run with me."

"And if you decide to close your eyes, stop when you feel me stopping."

He supposes it makes sense that there are exemptions; otherwise Muggle parents couldn't go with their magical children, if needed. But he shakes his head at her last comment. "I do this sorta thing with both eyes open."

In thinking about it, this doesn't seem quite as stupid as a few months ago, when he leaped off a cliff into an ocean without any idea of how high up it was going to be. He hadn't hesitated then, either. And that part of the mission worked out all right.

Edited 2017-08-01 01:08 (UTC)

Hermione squeezes his hand once again. Then with one more quick glance around, to make sure there is no one watching (at least no one who would be a concern). Then she runs forward, towards the brick wall.

As she mentioned, the transition will feel like they are running through the brick itself. A sensation of magic all around them.

Then when that sensation is gone, and there is no more brick around them, Hermione and Jim are now in a different station that they just were seconds ago. Hermione stops briefly. Instead of the sleek electronic trains that were waiting for passengers in London, there is a huge steam-engine train waiting for them in the magical station.

When she starts running, Jim does too. It's difficult not to flinch right before reaching the wall, and he jumps a little involuntarily as the wall envelops them both.

What lies on the other side isn't quite what he expected, with such an old style train. But then, she had said that the magical and nonmagical parts of society have been separate for centuries. He'd assumed the magical folk would at least look at what the Muggles have made in the meantime, but maybe not.

"We didn't just travel back in time, right?" Doesn't hurt to double-check.

"No. That has a completely different sensation. Time around you starts to slow down, and then slowly turn back, until you see everything moving back in time, until you have arrived at the time you had intended." Of course Hermione knows the difference.

A wizard guard approaches them, and Hermione shows them the two tickets. And a letter from the Ministry allowing Jim a Muggle-access to Hogsmeade. With a nod, he lets them board the train.

Most of the other witches and wizards around the area are wearing robes. Some of them have colored scarves, or a House crest on their robe.

He'll have to take her word on that. While he's met time-travelers, he's never done it himself, and he has only the unintentional impressions left behind by a highly-emotional mind meld to hint at what it must have been like for old Spock from the future.

Once they board the train, Jim finds a spot to sit where he can see out the window, trying not to look too much like a tourist. "I feel kinda conspicuous," he says with Hermione with a grin.

If anyone is catching the most attention it is Hermione herself. Witches and wizards slow as they pass. Some point and whisper. Some smile and nod at her. No one tries to get her autograph (anymore).

A tall and elegant witch enters the train, coming to sit by Hermione with a smile.

"Miss Granger."

"Minerva! I was expecting to meet you at Hogsmeade."

"I had to make a quick stop at Diagon Alley for school supplies. One must get Hogwarts ready for another school year." She glances at Jim, with a smile. "But I am being rude. Hello young man. I am Headmistress McGonagall."

Edited 2017-08-01 01:55 (UTC)

In the past, Jim has had a hell of a lot of problems with authority figures in his life, but for some reason, the headmistress doesn't seem to set off any of his old 'rebel at all costs' habits. Maybe because she isn't actually in a position of authority over him. Instead he smiles charmingly, and offers his hand for her to shake. "Jim Kirk. Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Please, call me Minerva. Ma'am is for my students." She smiles.

Minerva sweeps her eyes around the train with a gentle smile. "And there are enough of those students here today, to have me hearing Ma'am all day."

The train blows its whistle, alerting any last minute passengers that they have a few more minutes to get on board. Then shortly after, the train starts to chug forward on the track. Despite the steam-engine design, the train moves quickly and fluidly on the track.

"Jim, if you watch out the window, you will see Hogwarts as we pass."

Jim has never traveled by steam train, so this is an interesting experience, magic or not. Though while he appreciates the scenery, he also makes sure not to ignore Hermione and McGonagall along the way.

"This is pretty cool."

"I would say it is safe to say that you are the first Muggle to ride one of our Express's in hundreds of years." Minerva notes. She removes her hat, and pulls out three cups of tea for each of them from it.

"That reminds me, I have decided to apply to become the new head of the Muggle Liaison Office in the Ministry of Magic." Hermione notes softly. "My conversations with Jim has given me reason to carefully consider some of the laws and regulations that are in place. And the Ministry would be the best place to change that."

"Plus, I had the most interesting conversation with Faris, who called himself a Warrior Poet, and he helped me to see that the Ministry is the best place for me to change things. To truly change our world."

Minerva smiles. "I always thought you were destined to change our world, Hermione. You just had to figure out the best path for yourself."

Edited 2017-08-01 02:28 (UTC)

Well, Jim's heard of pulling a rabbit out of a hat before, but tea is a new one on him. While he's more of a coffee guy, tea is just fine, and he accepts a cup with a nod of thanks.

He hadn't known that Hermione had run into Faris, but it sounds like the talk has helped, both from himself and the K'da. "Congrats. I'd vote for you but I don't think that's how it works," he says, an amused, self-aware smile on his face.

"Applications to any Ministry job are reviewed based on the applicants NEWTS, and Hermione had scored Outstanding marks in all of her courses. Any office in the Ministry would be happen to have her working there." Minerva smiles.

She waves her hand lightly, putting up a silencing charm around them, so they can converse without others overhearing them.

"And she tells me that you captain a spaceship." Minerva smiles.

He's not familiar with most spells here, but he can't miss the way the ambient noise suddenly becomes muffled, and it's not a far leap to understand what she's done. "A starship, yeah. USS Enterprise."

"I do hope you will tell me about your starship, in great length." Minerva grins slightly. "As strange as it might sound, while I am surrounded by the great mysteries of the world all the time, I would love to hear about space travel."

"We can bend time and alter reality, but wizards have yet to achieve space travel." Hermione adds, with a laugh.

"Just because you haven't yet doesn't mean you won't someday," Jim says, smiling. "Actually, you might get there faster if you join forces with the Muggles. I bet magic would help with some of the developmental problems with this era's kind of space flight."

"Can you imagine it Minerva? If we were able to make a connection with an alien species? Can you imagine the new things we would get to learn?" Hermione got a far-away look in her eyes.

"Let's work together making a connection with the Muggles first, my dear." But Minerva smiled at the same, at the enthusiasm in her former student's eyes.

Jim smiles a little and looks over at Hermione. "How much did you tell her about what I said before? About dropping the masquerade, I mean." He does remember her saying that McGonagall would be interested, and apparently there's at least been a little discussion between them since then, seeing as the headmistress knows about his career.

"A few bits of information. I didn't want to speak for you, either." Hermione replies.

"What were some of your suggestions?" Minerva asked.

Jim balances his tea cup atop his thigh, and decides the best way to start is to make sure they're all on the same page first. "Hermione told me about why magic folks hide from everyone else, with the persecutions from centuries ago. She also told me you all just got out of a pretty nasty war that put Muggles and anyone associated in the crosshairs. The way I see it, you've all been isolated for so long that stereotypes and assumptions about Muggles have fed on themselves and made a 'retaliation' like that inevitable. And the best defense against violence through ignorance is education, right?"

He doesn't imagine that the headmistress of a school would disagree, but he isn't here to lecture, so that means giving her an opportunity to agree, object, or correct any mistaken assumptions of his own.

"Don't get me started on the stereotypes." Hermione rolls her eyes, crossing her arms across their chest. "I have heard one too many insulting barbs about Muggles in my lifetime. And what is worse... is that there are so many wizards who still look down on the Muggle population."

"And of course, that has an impact on Muggleborn students and those who are half-blood."

"Then there are all the laws that favor a Pureblood when it comes to land, title, or even a contract disagreement."

Hermione sighs. "And the lack of Muggle education at Hogwarts. History of Muggles was really not informative... at all..."

Minerva listens patiently, then notes softly. "It is such a delicate situation right now."

Jim nods along with Hermione's comments. "I don't know about your history, but where I come from, Earth's gone through a hell of a lot of wars and conflicts based on that kind of thing. The Native population of North America were seen as savages by white settlers, and the few colonists that bothered to learn more about the local tribes were mocked for being 'Indian lovers.' In the Second World War, Jews were blamed for all sorts of shit and that led to the Shoah. The Eugenics Wars were perpetuated by genetically-enhanced soldiers who thought that 'normal' people were worthless drains on society. That sort of thing."

"The point is, these things happened for two main reasons: lack of empathy, and ignorance about the people that were being persecuted. It's real easy to treat somebody as subhuman if you don't understand them and don't care about trying. That's what happened to wizards way back when, but all those Muggles are dead and have been for centuries. Attitudes have changed and people are more globally aware than they used to be, back when most people would never have a reason to learn about anybody more than a hundred miles away because they'd never meet. But now your magical society is doing that same thing, and the only way to stop it is to deliberately break the cycle."

"During the last few years of the Second Wizarding War, things were so bad, that Muggleborn and Half-Blood witches and wizards were arrested and placed on trial, for 'stealing' their magical abilities from Pureblood witches and wizards." Minerva spoke softly. "Everyone who was not a Pureblood who had a position of power, were thrown out of that position, so that a Pureblood could have their rights back."

"And since the Dark Lord took hold of the Ministry of Magic, he changed the laws to reflect his desires." Minerva added with a slight nod. "People may be more globally aware, but we have to fix all the laws that were re-written first. We are still trying to rebuild."

Hermione points out the window, where Hogwarts is now visible in the landscape. "Even our school has to be majorly repaired. That was where the last battle was fought."

"It will take time." Minerva sipped at her tea. "But small steps can make all the difference. After hearing of your ideas from Hermione, I have been debating the pros and cons of hiring a Muggle professor, to teach at the school."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject