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

Huh. Weird, but not terribly surprising. He drinks the tea anyway, since it's there.

"Okay, so here's a hypothetical situation. Let's say one of your students is somewhere completely unfamiliar, so they don't know where to go to get in touch with the local magical folks, and they don't have access to their magic. Maybe they lost their wand or it got taken or something; the details aren't important. Now they've got to navigate the Muggle world well enough to blend in and find their way home. Do you think a majority of them could do it?"

It doesn't take long for Minerva to answer. "No. The majority of them would be completely lost."

"Survival lessons, both in a magical situation or a Muggle community, would be a great class to add to Hogwarts Minerva," Hermione noted softly. "Many of us who had to be on the run from the Dark Lord, barely survived. Our camps was lucky, because of my research and preparedness."

"And while we do teach dueling at Hogwarts, we should look at other defense classes. Like the martial arts," Minerva added. "So that a wizard or witch doesn't try to immediately deal with a Muggle conflict by casting magic."

That's about what he expected, and he's pleased that they're taking this seriously enough to get to his next points before he has a chance to. "When all you've got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. A Muggle in close-quarters combat against a wizard probably has the advantage if all the wizard knows how to do is cast spells. If nothing else, it shows a severe lack of creativity."

"And survival's important too," he agrees. It's one of his most fiercely-held beliefs for a damn good reason. "Whether it's getting along in Muggle society without being noticed or wilderness survival, every single person should know how to keep themselves alive and safe, no matter whether they're a student or not. No one ever plans to be in an emergency situation, and waiting until you are is a really shitty time to try to learn."

"Starfleet Academy teaches basic survival techniques to the point where every officer can theoretically survive for at least a week without support or rescue, but even then, a lot of it revolves around reliance on having access to emergency supplies," he adds, to give the both of them some perspective on where he's coming from on this. "I've studied a lot of archaic survival strategies on my own, the sort of stuff everyone thinks it outdated, like how to make a bow and arrow from stuff you can find in the woods, because you never know when something like that might be necessary. Most people will never have to use skills like that, but if you ever do, you'll be damn glad you know how to use 'em."

"I remember how off-guard Draco Malfoy had been when I had just punched him once," Hermione chuckles softly. "He just didn't know how to respond to such a Muggle attack."

Minerva listens carefully to the points that Jim adds. "It is our poor fortunate that you have other responsibilities, otherwise I would seriously consider you to be a very suitable candidate."

The train rolls into Hogsmeade, and Minerva dispels the silencing charm as people prepare to get off the train. "I am already responsible for implementing several major changes to Hogwarts. And I am going to ensure that survival training and a proper Muggle education course are included in those changes."

"I hope you enjoy your time at Hogsmeade, young man." With that, Minerva shifts into her cat form, a small tabby cat, and then makes her way to the train exit.

The fact that Hermione has personal experience with this helps prove his point, and Jim feels pretty good about what might come of this meeting. "I'm interested to see how this all plays out," he says, as the train comes into the station. "I've got a pretty full schedule, but I'd be happy to do the sounding board thing again sometime."

Her farewell is answered with a, "Thanks, you too," and he raises his eyebrows in surprise when she turns into a cat and disappears into the crowd. Wow. Unexpected. "I like her."

"She liked you, too." Hermione notes. She waits for the majority of people to get off the train, before leading Jim off the train to Hogsmeade. The snow-covered village looks like it is busy today. Flourishing again, now that the war is over.

"Which of the shops would you like to check out first? There is a wand shop, a cauldron shop, a quill shop. There is also a bookshop and a joke shop. There are a few pubs too."

"And if you want to see an infamous landmark, we could go down to the Shrieking Shack." Hermione smiles.

Jim hadn't expected snow, but he's warm enough in his jacket, and he looks around curiously as they enter the strange-looking village. "I'm a fan of bookshops," he says, giving her a smile. "What's the story with the Shrieking Shack?"

"The Shrieking Shack is 'haunted house', according to the villagers, because they often heard screams coming from inside." Hermione makes air quotations with her fingers.

She starts walking towards the book store.

"It has no doors or windows. No apparent way to enter the house... at all."

Of course, Jim has no idea if haunted things are actually haunted in this universe, so he can only ask. "Then where'd it come from?"

Hermione waits until they get to a quieter place on the street. "The Shrieking Shack was a safe-haven for a werewolf student of Hogwarts, who stayed there during his change. And then again, when he was an adult."

Well, that makes sense. "So he was the one screaming." That's... kind of sad, actually.

"It was. He hurt himself, so he couldn't hurt others."

Hermione leads Jim inside of Tomes and Scrolls. An elderly Goblin at the counter straightens slightly when they enter. And smiles with pointed teeth.

"Miss Granger. My favorite client."

"Good afternoon Richards. This is my friend Jim Kirk."

"Hello Mister Kirk. Welcome to my bookstore."

Jim's spent so much of his life around aliens that he doesn't give the goblin any funny looks. Why wouldn't there be people other than humans around, after all? Honestly, the weirdest part is hearing someone call him 'mister' again instead of 'captain.' "Thank you. I'm a big fan of bookstores."

"Good good. I am a big fan of bookstore fans." The Goblin hopped off his seat, and headed over to where Hermione and Jim were standing.

"Anything in particular you would like to purchase today?"

"Do you have the newest Arthimancy collection in stock?" Hermione asks.

"Certainly, Miss Granger. I set you aside one set. And you, sir?" He blinks at Jim.

"Is it okay if I browse a bit?" Jim asks, giving the goblin a bit of the Kirk charming smile. "I'm not looking for anything in particular, but something might jump out at me." Maybe literally, from what he's seen so far.

"No problems. The restricted section is clearly marked. Please do not pass by the barriers without my guidance." He goes back to his seat.

Hermione heads to a quiet corner of the bookstore, where she can check out the other titles. "And be careful that no books literally jump out at you."

"Yeah, I wondered if that could happen," Jim admits, as he walks along the shelves slowly, reading the spines of various books. "Got any recommendations?"

"Well... you mentioned how you were interested in studying more than just the basic of survival techniques. So how about this section of herbology?" Hermione directs him to the books in question.

"This one..." She pulls down the One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi book. "Is one studied at Hogwarts by most second and third years."

"And you might not be able to use their magical traits, it would still be a good idea to study the different traits of the plants themselves. In case you ever get stranded here... you know what is safe, and what plants might be dangerous."

Jim takes the book and flips through it, not really reading, just getting an idea of its contents. "That's a good idea." On the one hand, it might look weird if people assume he's one of them (a reasonable assumption, given where they are) and hasn't owned a copy of such a basic book before, but on the other hand, it's pretty obvious from his accent that he's not from around here. And he can truthfully say that his curriculum was different and didn't include this.

"Oh! And here is a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages," Hermione points up on a higher shelf. And with a Accio spell, the books flies down and into her hand. Then she holds it out to Jim.

"In case you would like to learn more about the history of the sport."

He considers it for a moment, then shakes his head. "Nah, I think I'm good. Maybe if I end up getting to see a game sometime. What about fiction? Any magical adventure novels or anything like that?"

"There is the The Tales of Beedle the Bard, but I should loan you my copy, since I was able to translate the original copy from the ancient runes into English."

"And they have a copy of Sonnets of a Sorcerer, poetry."

Hermione then led Jim to the section of books written by Gilderoy Lockhart. "And here are the novels written by a man, who at one time was my favorite author. The adventures written in those books are adventures, that other wizards and witches had, and then the author took credit for."

Jim's up for poetry, and tucks that under his arm with the herbology book. He raises his eyebrows when Hermione tells him about the Lockhart books. "Isn't that basically just plagiarism?"

"Worse. He used memory charms to steal their memories, and claim them as his own." Hermione frowned. She used to have such a crush on him, before she learned the truth.

"The adventures are really captivating. But you have to consider the fact that Gilderoy accomplishing them is the fiction of the books."

"Yeah, I'll pass on that too. Not a fan of supporting that kind of liar."

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