Little Dark Age (OPEN)

[isabel alejandra moreno-hughes]

February 13, 2029

The closer Isabel got to sitting her NEWTs, the more the pressure was mounting on her to do well. It felt as though a countdown clock was ticking, even with—or because of—her birthday a few days prior. She knew that nearly everyone else in her year was trying to get the best marks possible, too, which would have provided her with some comfort if it didn't feel like a competition. Though she could have stayed in the library for a while longer, she opted to go to the Flobberworm and Lettuce to get something to eat. (If she could have brought food into the library, she would have done that.)

Being that it was in the same building as the LIFE library, the student-run pub was convenient place to go. In theory. On that particular evening, however, Isabel could hear conversations echoing down the length of the corridor with more intensity than she would have expected for a Tuesday. To her frustration as she walked closer, she could see that the Flobberworm and Lettuce was packed.

From what Isabel could gather based on what she was able to overhear, there was some sort of trivia night going on. She had known nothing about it, though, and she really didn't want to get roped into participating. With so many people standing around, it was going to be a process just to order. On top of that, she knew that she wasn't going to be able to hear herself think. All the NEWT revision she had just done was probably going to get washed down the drain.

OOC: OPEN! Have fun. 😂

[harlow dawn hagrid]

Harlow should be studying, preparing for her NEWTs but she already preformed poorly when people watched or with all the pressure usually that came along with tests. Wasn't being a quarter Giant hard enough?! No. No. Truthfully Harlow had options and none of it involved furthering her a career in say the Ministry or Law Enforcement and absolutely hope in teaching either, but she could carry on like the old man and get involved with Caretaking duties on campus! Could be a way to get him active again for a little while at least, just to show her the ropes.

Or she could go do things with Magical Creatures, her dad had connections both legal and nefarious...protect dragons? Protect them all and study them and cuddle with them if they'd let her !! Oooh the options.

Still..

IT WAS TRIVIA NIGHT!! And the winner got endless nachos! Harlow was the tallest student in the packed student run pub, she was slamming yet another American based snack called tacos! Deep fried! She loved the interconnections of culture and their foods, pluuus she needed something to absorb the firewhiskey she'd been sneaking. She had the additional chip of being a two time winner of trivia night, she had the best strategy: shamelessly beg one of the smarter students and friends!

"isabel alejandra moreno-hughes !" Harlow belted across the packed pub rising from her current seat, "Oi Is! Heeeeyo-," the larger than life teenager waved for her friend, hoping Isabel would see her...but seriously a 6'4" messy wild brown haired girl barely buzzing rarely got overlooked, "move ya scruffy degents ya got pardners an' mines comin'," the other students departed leaving Harlow behind with a table full of food, "-GOT SPACE FER YA RIGH' 'ERE isabel alejandra moreno-hughes !"

isabel alejandra moreno-hughes (tagged 3 times lol!)

[isabel alejandra moreno-hughes]

February 13, 2029

Just when she had thought that maybe she could get in and out of the Flobberworm and Lettuce and escape notice, she heard Harlow Hagrid, one of the other Gryffindor girls in her year, calling her over. Harlow was part giant, something that Isabel hadn't realized was actually possible until she had started Hogwarts years before. Of course, she had heard people referred to as "giant"—some professional athletes and the occasional holder of a world record who was a statistical outlier—but in the magical world, there were really giants and goblins and werewolves and vampires and various other human-adjacent beings that Isabel had once assumed existed only in people's imaginations.

Isabel hadn't known what to expect from a part-giant adolescent at first. They came from totally different backgrounds, and Harlow was always significantly taller than she was (and a good foot taller than she was by that point). Besides that, though, Harlow was relatively… normal? They had also attended Beauxbatons together for a year, where apparently Harlow's mother had been the headmistress years before.

Another difference between them was that Harlow was far more sociable, and Isabel got the sinking feeling that there was no way that she was getting out of trivia night, especially not when she heard Harlow claiming her as her trivia partner. Having been singled out—with the space for her at Harlow's table announced—Isabel resigned herself to going over there to avoid public embarrassment.

"Hi," she greeted Harlow quietly as she sat down beside her. If this was solely magical trivia, then she definitely couldn't promise Harlow anything.

harlow dawn hagrid

[harlow dawn hagrid]

Harlow was exited when Isabel joined her she sat her food down, "'hello Isabel! Thanks fer joinin' me, yuns ain't gonna regret," she barked with laughter before reaching into her pocket and producing a flask, "great atmosphere innit! Foods great and it's a damn fine break from school if yuns ask me," checking if the coast was clear Harlow took a little sip and returning it to her pocket, "but if ya' got plans ya don't havta stay I jus' wanted catch up," Harlow said sweetly and innocently, but she hoped Isabel would stay, "tha' trivia ain't so hard a first year could do it."

isabel alejandra moreno-hughes

[isabel alejandra moreno-hughes]

February 13, 2029

Harlow was enthusiastic about her being there, at least, which Isabel guessed made the experience better than if she was being partnered with someone else against both of their wills. There were a lot of things that could have made it worse, and what Harlow was lacking in decorum, she was friendly. And she was right; it was a break from schoolwork, and maybe she needed it.

Surprisingly, Harlow was the first to mention that she didn't have to stay if she had plans. She had just wanted to catch up with her. That made Isabel wonder if she was being too hard on herself—and on Harlow. Not everyone at Hogwarts had been so welcoming to her as a Muggle-born. The trivia wasn't so hard, Harlow added in encouragement. A first-year could do it.

"Alright," Isabel agreed, trying to loosen up a little. She wasn't stupid when it came to Hogwarts subjects; it was the material that must have been "general knowledge" to everyone else that tended to trip her up. "I'll try," she told Harlow, "but I don't know that I'll be any good."

harlow dawn hagrid