The Buddy System (Maxine)

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

September 1, 2024

Since she was already a prefect, Max had signed up to the buddy system that Hogwarts had created to assist the new transfer students from Ilvermorny without a second thought. She knew her school well enough to be trusted to help other students, anyway, so what was an added responsibility for the first few weeks of the term? It had been just after she had helped to lead the new Slytherin students—first-years and Americans alike—to their common room that she noticed a note on her pillow.

Max, opening it, again had to question her sanity. It said that she had been partnered with “Max”; that was unusual, but she quickly read on. Her buddy was a girl, too: Maxine Sullivan… a fellow sixth-year Slytherin. She hadn’t had the time to ask the new arrivals for their names, but it was easy enough to tell who hadn’t been at Hogwarts the previous year. “Hi,” she asked awkwardly, knowing that the girls who already knew her would likely raise some eyebrows. “So, um, are… any of you… called Max?” she wondered aloud, trying to figure out which one of the new girls shared her nickname. Whichever one she was, she definitely didn’t yet realize how badly their being in the same House and year was about to complicate things.

@maxine

[Deleted]

Hogwarts was indeed a strange school, not that it was a bad thing though - it was interesting at least, although Maxine was wondering how she was going to remember her way around. At least if all else failed she'd know how to get to her common room, which was in the dungeons.. that was something that was going to be a bit of an adjustment. She wondered how her brother was dealing or even where his Common Room was. He hadn't been sorted into Slytherin like Maxine had, which after hearing a bit about each house - she wasn't all that surprised about them being in different houses. 

The common room was nice though, it was almost easy to forget that she was technically in part of the castles dungeon, her eyes dart around as she glances at the small group of students - a mixture of tiny little first years and her fellow transfers of all ages. All of them were looking around and chatting about the school - Maxine mostly tuned it out. She still missed her home, while she missed Ilvermorny for sure - she mostly missed her home - she missed her horses. Mason had taken Leo, their cat - at least for the first few weeks at the school - the little cat they shared had always shifted between the twins, spending a few days with each of them before ending up with the other - she did wonder how it'd work now that they didn't share a house at school. Each of them had an owl as well though, Opie and Mikey. For now they were with their father. Which left Maxine without the company of even one of her pets.

Her head jolted up as she heard her name, what was more interesting - other than the fact that it was a girl who seemed to be her own age asking for her, was the fact that she noticed a few non-transfers looking confused by this girl asking. "That'd be me." she raised her hand as she gave a glance towards the few who seemed confused - it wasn't even the usual confusion about her being called Max, the fact that yes a girl could use Max as their name. "Why are they looking so confused?" she decided to just speak up, giving a slight frown before shaking her head and offering her hand to the girl, "I'm Maxine, but please don't call me that."

The idea of anyone other than her parents calling her Maxine, still made her cringe a little - god she hoped none of her Professors used it. Everyone at Ilvermorny seemed to have learnt by now that it was either her last name or one of her nicknames, usually it was just 'Max' though. But these Hogwarts professors and students, they didn't know Maxine's story.

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

“That’d be me,” answered one of the new girls, raising her hand. She had dark brown hair and was maybe a head shorter than Max—Maxima, that was. “Why are they looking so confused?” the other Max added, and Maxima wasn’t sure if she wanted to break the news right then and there.

“I’m Maxine,” the American girl elaborated, “but please don’t call me that.”

“I’m called Max, too…” Max hesitated, hoping that would alleviate some of the confusion temporarily. “Maxima,” she said, giving her name in its full form. “And,” she added, lifting up the note to prove that she wasn’t up to anything malicious, “it looks like I’ve been assigned to help you?”

She didn’t want to seem as though she was imposing herself, especially when the Americans were just unpacking their belongings in the dormitory for their first night at Hogwarts. “I’m a prefect, so, um, if you have any questions or need anything…” It wasn’t as though Maxine wouldn’t be able to find her; her bed was right there.

@maxine

[Deleted]

When her name had been called out, the first thought that had come to her mind was that she had possibly done something wrong. Had she already bothered someone since she arrived? The idea was one that puzzled her enough to want to stop and think about everything she had done since she arrived and got off the train. But as far as she knew she had done nothing but what everyone else had done, she certainly couldn't have already rubbed someone the wrong way and made someone annoyed with her... could she? 

But of everything that she had been expecting from the girl who asked for her - she certainly hadn't expected for her to also introduce herself as 'Max' - Maxima apparently. "Thats a little strange.." Maxine spoke lightly, shaking her head before offering a small smile, "Whoever asigned us must have a sense of humor I think." Her eyes lit up slightly as she shook her head, it was a little odd - but hey, how bad could the other girl be if they technically shared a name? 

She could almost sense the nervousness in the other brunette - or maybe the girl was just weirded out. Maxine didn't much like the idea of that, "Hey - its okay, I think its cool - usually people find it weird that I'm called Max - if you want you can call me Maxie or MJ if you want, not a lot of people call me that but - as a fellow Max you have the honor - if you want of course." she offered as she gave another small smile, "So my fellow Max, what can you tell me about Hogwarts that isn't in books or gossip?"

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

”That’s a little strange,” commented the other Max. It was more than “a little” strange, thought Maxima; it was very strange. At least the other girl didn’t seem to be too bothered by it, suggesting that whoever had been responsible for pairing up the two of them had done it because they had a sense of humor about their shared nicknames.

Hopefully, Max thought to herself, that was it. The other Max—Maxine—didn’t seem too bad, honestly. It was just too much. They were both girls who were called Max, both brunette with brown eyes, both in their sixth year, and both in Slytherin.

The American Max—since their nationalities were one of the few obvious differences between them—seemed friendly, actually. She reassured her, in fact, that it was okay and that she thought it was “cool”.

“If you want,” suggested the other Max, “you can call me Maxie or MJ if you want.” She added that “not a lot of people” called her that, but—being that she was a “fellow Max”—she had that honor if she wanted to exercise the option.

“‘Maxie’ is a bit…” Max hesitated. It seemed a little bit juvenile to her, but that was her projecting her own thoughts about the name, she guessed.

“So, my fellow Max,” the other one wondered, “what can you tell me about Hogwarts that isn't in books or gossip?”

Hogwarts had been around for millennia. Most of what there was to know about it that wasn’t gossip had been published in books already, barring, perhaps, its most recent history.

“Um…” Talking about the Triwizard Tournament seemed as though it would get too personal too quickly, though the Americans must have known some of it from their newspapers, too. “Like what?”

@maxine

[Deleted]

It was strange, and it was also a little funny - although Maxine was keeping that part to herself, she wasn't yet sure if this other Max would find it as amusing as she was. But whichever professor or whoever it was that paired that up, they were already in Maxine's good books for the amusement factor - they had to have a sense of humor when seeing the two of them with similar names and ending up in the same house to boot. It was amusing okay. 

Still there was an awkwardness and try as she might, Maxine wasn't sure if she was helping to lessen the weird factor or not - she raised her eyes, offering a small grin and a shrug, she knew what the other girl was likely thinking when it came to the nickname Maxie, "I know its.. kid like and stuff, mostly its my Dad and brother who call me it, but it's something I'm stuck with." She wasn't all that bothered by it despite the juvenile nickname.

Talking about Hogwarts was a safe thing, and she was eager to know more about the school that would also be her home for at least the next year. "I have no idea -  I mean of course I know the drama and .. sad stuff that has happened but, is there anything more fun and not gloomy that you can share?" she honestly didn't want to go into details about the Tournament and other things, particularly in the common room. She might have been sorted as a Slytherin, but Maxine was feeling a little out of sorts among the others in the house. Some were - intense to say the least.

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

The other Max filled in the blank that Maxima had been left to draw for herself for fear of seeming offensive. “Maxie”, agreed Maxine, was juvenile, though she added that it was mostly her dad and her brother who used that nickname for her.

As long as nobody thought that she was talking about herself in the third person, Maxima guessed, she could probably get away with calling Maxine “Max”.

Maxine went on to mention that she knew about the “drama and sad stuff” that had happened at Hogwarts over the past few years. On one hand, it was a bit bothersome that the Ilvermorny students already had some idea of how messed-up a place Hogwarts was. On the other hand, Max thought, she wouldn’t have to break the ice with an explanation about the fact that her half-brother had been killed in an explosion.

Looking for anything “fun and not gloomy” to share about Hogwarts would be… interesting. Hogwarts wasn’t all that fun, if Max was going to be honest with herself. It had its bright spots, and it certainly had its history of issues, but at least it hadn’t been damaged enough by anything that had happened in recent memory to require all of its students to be sent to a completely different school, so that was positive. Then again, Maxine probably didn’t want to be reminded of that whole aspect of why she and most all of Ilvermorny were now at Hogwarts.

They had a ghost who had been killed by a basilisk and who still flooded one of the girls’ lavatories with her sobbing fits every so often. They had another ghost who hadn’t been fully decapitated. That wasn’t to mention the Bloody Baron or the Grey Lady. (Did Ilvermorny have a terrible record like theirs?) Classes were generally alright, as long as you paid attention and didn’t do anything to injure yourself or anyone else.

“We’ve got loads of clubs and societies here, if you’re wanting to meet people,” Max suggested. There was something for just about anyone’s interests. “I’m the co-captain of the Knitting Club,” she added, “and I’m involved in some of the others.”

@maxine