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last online May 3, 2024 20:11:39 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Oct 8, 2018 11:49:10 GMT -7
Post by maxima ruqayyah greyback on Oct 8, 2018 11:49:10 GMT -7
Thanksgiving wasn't new to Max, who had celebrated it with Georgie and Lance the year before and had heard about it for years before that. Now, with all of the Americans at Hogwarts, Max could really see why the holiday was a popular one. The spread rivaled anything strictly British that Hogwarts had ever served, most of it some variation of the oranges and reds and browns of autumn leaves. There was turkey and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, the way her best friend and her brother had always spoken of it and their memories of life in South Carolina. There wasn't enough time—if Max was going to be honest with herself—to sample everything, but she wanted so badly to be able to do just that.
Every feast at Hogwarts was good, but there was arguably something special about this one. Getting to see all of the Americans so thrilled to see what they had grown up with was part of it, she realized. Even the thought of being thankful for everything that they had was an important one—and maybe it was the part of her that was coming into her own as a Prefect—but they all needed that pause.
Last Thanksgiving, Max recalled that she was thankful that she hadn't died despite her trying. This year? She glanced around the Great Hall. It felt surreal, suddenly. She still didn't know most of the Ilvermorny students very well at all—and, Merlin knows, she had had to intervene in some conflicts here and there—but seeing everyone there and reflecting upon everything for which she was grateful was something she couldn't recall having felt before. The work that she had put into the relief fund in Elias's name had filled her with pride, but to feel so content in simply being?
"Could you pass me the rolls?"
Max turned her head once she was spoken to, realizing that she had been in her thoughts for longer than she had intended to be, and scanned the table for the plate she was being asked to pass.
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last online May 4, 2024 1:20:19 GMT -7
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Oct 18, 2018 22:03:38 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2018 22:03:38 GMT -7
Lusie had never experienced Thanksgiving before. She had been to America and she knew that the Holiday existed and what it stood for and meant to the American’s, but, as a member of the English royalty, she never really bothered with any American holidays. Nor really the holidays which were specific to any other country. She stuck pretty well to English holidays. However, she liked what she saw when she walked into the Great hall for the feast. There were no house tables, it was an intermingled feast, she loved those opportunities. Instead of going to sit with her roommates, she sat down somewhere randomly. She was far from the first one there so she took a seat where she could find one and waited for the feast to begin.
Once it had, Lusie loaded up her plate. The young princess loved to eat. She wasn’t very shy about it either. Everyone around her was doing the same and it suddenly dawned on her that she should probably have sat with Edmund. Where was her brother anyway? She was interrupted from that thought by the person next to her asking her to pass the rolls. “Yes, sure.” Lusie said, picking up the bowl and holding it for the girl to take some out of. The girl was younger than her, she thought. She had seen her around but didn't know her. Which wasn’t surprising. Lusie didn’t talk to too many people. “I think I quite enjoy Thanksgiving.” Lusie said off the cuff as she set the bowl back down.
maxima ruqayyah greyback
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last online May 3, 2024 20:11:39 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Oct 22, 2018 5:40:41 GMT -7
Post by maxima ruqayyah greyback on Oct 22, 2018 5:40:41 GMT -7
"Yes, sure," a voice answered before she could, and Max saw that it was Lusie Windsor who was seated at the table beside her. While she was friends with more Hufflepuff students than with her fellow Slytherins, she hadn't interacted much with the other girl. (Of course, she had walked in on Lusie's older brother in the Prefects' Bathroom, but that was another story.)
Max was grateful, though, that Lusie had gone to the trouble of passing the rolls to whomever had asked, since she'd been too wrapped up in her thoughts to do it so efficiently. As everyone else began to put food on their plates, so did she, trying to ensure that she would get to taste a little bit of everything.
"I think I quite like Thanksgiving," she heard Lusie say.
Although she wasn't sure if the comment had been directed towards her, Max agreed. "I like it, too," she spoke with a small smile upon her face. The way things were with the Ilvermorny students felt so different to how they had been with the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang the previous year. This year, there wasn't any competition—not unless people had some reason to hold a grudge against one another. They could all just… be.
"Is this your first time celebrating it?" Max asked Lusie curiously. Since the other girl was Muggle royalty, she (or at least her family) had probably entertained foreign diplomats and people like that, hadn't they?
@lusie
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last online May 4, 2024 1:20:19 GMT -7
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Oct 24, 2018 16:03:46 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2018 16:03:46 GMT -7
While Lusie’s comment hadn’t been directed at anyone in particular, she was glad that someone had answered. They agreed and then asked her if it was her first time celebrating it. “It is in fact.” Lusie answered with a small nod between nibbles of turkey. She figured it wasn’t exactly well known that her mother had kept the children as far away from their royal life as possible before the death of their father. They had gone to events at the castle and spent time with their family, but day by day, they lived in a cottage in the country. Once their dad died, they spent much more time in the castle and were more in the public eye. So while her father might have done something like this, as it was custom to spend various holidays with visiting diplomats, Lusie had never. Though with an interest in muggle politics, it interested her. “Through any holiday centered around family and food is a good one in my books.” she added with a smile. “I’m Lusie, by the way.” she introduced, not just to the girl sitting next to her, but also to the rest of those around her whom she didn’t know well. While Lusie wasn’t exactly social. She definitely wasn’t shy.
maxima ruqayyah greyback
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last online May 3, 2024 20:11:39 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Nov 2, 2018 12:10:11 GMT -7
Post by maxima ruqayyah greyback on Nov 2, 2018 12:10:11 GMT -7
Lusie answered that it was, in fact, her first time celebrating Thanksgiving. She added, though, that any holiday that involved food and family was a good one to her. As different as her family was in so many ways to Lusie Windsor's family, Max nodded in agreement.
"I'm Lusie, by the way," Lusie said, introducing herself to the table. Given who her family was, she wasn't sure if the Hufflepuff had ever actually introduced herself to her before. Granted, Max realized that the same was likely true about herself, too. Both of their names alone came with a weird sort of baggage. For Max, she knew that she had tried to deal with that in various ways over her years of being at Hogwarts. It was uncomfortable to think about how long ago her first year felt to her anymore, and so she tried not to.
Like Lusie, she also introduced herself to the table for those who didn't know her already. "I'm Maxima, usually called Max," she said, "and, um, I'm a Slytherin prefect."
Turning back to Lusie, she spoke more under her breath than not. "Merlin, I'm still not used to saying that."
@lusie
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last online May 4, 2024 1:20:19 GMT -7
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Nov 3, 2018 22:42:42 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2018 22:42:42 GMT -7
“Right, Max, we’re in class together.” Lusie remembered once she had a name to put with the face. She knew that the girl was familiar, but it took her a second to realize that they were in the same year. “Sorry sometimes I don’t know where my head is.” the Hufflepuff girl admitted with a shrug and a laugh. Maybe she paid too much attention to class, or to her personal studies, and didn’t pay much attention to those around her who she didn’t interact with regularly. Lusie had a small group of people she considered friends, and while she was happy to talk to almost anyone, she often felt weird talking to people she didn’t know. She never knew if they wanted to talk to her, or if they wanted to talk to a princess, a member of the royal family.
“Congratulations on being a prefect, what a lovely honor.” Lusie smiled to Max when she whispered to her off to the side. Lusie loved celebrating others accomplishments. “I don’t think I could do it, it takes a certain type of person. Someone a lot more put together than I am.” she insisted. Lusie was organized and put together on the surface, but she felt like she’d never be able to take house points away or discipline anyone, she’d get far too emotional. “Is it stressful?” she asked regarding being a prefect.
maxima ruqayyah greyback
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last online May 3, 2024 20:11:39 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Nov 6, 2018 6:57:38 GMT -7
Post by maxima ruqayyah greyback on Nov 6, 2018 6:57:38 GMT -7
Lusie seemed to have forgotten her name, though Max didn't take the slightest offense to that. She was someone who had always tried to fade into the background of things in the past and who had been content with the status of outsider. That had changed at some point, sometime after almost dying, but it wasn't as though Max wanted the world's attention on her, either. Having it on Elias had been plenty for her.
"It's not a problem, really," Max assured the Hufflepuff when she apologized with a laugh for not knowing where her head was sometimes. It happened to her on occasion, too, Max thought to herself.
After mentioning to the table that she was a prefect and confiding in Lusie about how strange it was for her to say that, still, Lusie congratulated her. "I don’t think I could do it," she explained in return. "It takes a certain type of person. Someone a lot more put together than I am."
Max found it slightly surprising that Lusie didn't think that she could have handled such a role. Her sister had been a prefect, too, hadn't she? And Edmund was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team…
"Is it stressful?" Lusie asked.
Max shook her head. "I didn't believe it when I got the badge," she admitted, "but, um… It's not—not really." It could have been much worse than it was, and, fortunately, she hadn't seen a decline in her academic performance because of the role. "There are so many people here," she went on. "That's the most stressful part, I think, making sure that everyone is alright here and knows the rules and all of that." She hadn't really made friends with any of the new American arrivals, if she was honest; most of her time was spent focused on this prefect thing or that prefect thing.
@lusie
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last online May 4, 2024 1:20:19 GMT -7
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Nov 6, 2018 13:57:51 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2018 13:57:51 GMT -7
One of the things Lusie really despised, besides being treated differently because of her muggle titles, was being compared to her siblings. Not that she didn’t like her siblings, she loved them, all 3 of them, dearly. Each one differently than the others, but she did love them all and got on with all of them very well. However, she wasn’t them and they weren’t her. They were all different, and just because her older siblings had shined more in terms of the prefect status of Susan, or the captainship that Edmund now found himself in. And Will had shone too in his time and was now shining in the world of muggle affairs. They all had their own things and Lusie hated being compared to whatever they were doing. Lusie had never wanted to be a prefect, and even if she had been offered the position, she believed that she would have turned it down. She didn’t want to do that sort of thing.
“Oh sure, I can understand that. Especially if the rules are different here than they were at Ilvermorny. I wonder if Ilvermorny had perfects and such too. That’d be interesting to find out. Maybe I’ll ask one of my new friends about that.” Lusie mused as she spread butter onto a dinner roll.
maxima ruqayyah greyback
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last online May 3, 2024 20:11:39 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Nov 6, 2018 21:50:33 GMT -7
Post by maxima ruqayyah greyback on Nov 6, 2018 21:50:33 GMT -7
"Oh, sure," Lusie responded to her explanation of the difficulties that came with having so many new students to the school at one time, "I can understand that. Especially if the rules are different here than they were at Ilvermorny." From what Max had gathered, the rules at Ilvermorny hadn't been vastly different from what they were at Hogwarts, but they were different enough that people needed reminding on occasion.
"I wonder if Ilvermorny had perfects and such too," Lusie continued. "That’d be interesting to find out."
"I don't think they do—did," Max considered. "They've kept their student council here," and she recognized the students who were on it, "but I don't think that they had prefects, exactly." Or, at least, they didn't at Hogwarts now.
"Maybe I’ll ask one of my new friends about that," Lusie added.
"I could ask my half-brother Adrian about it, too," Max realized. "He left last year to go to Ilvermorny because of his mum," she explained to her. "But he's back this year because of what happened there."
@lusie
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last online May 4, 2024 1:20:19 GMT -7
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Nov 7, 2018 13:56:58 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 13:56:58 GMT -7
Max explained that she didn’t think that Ilvermorny had prefects and Lusie nodded, she had really never thought about it. She knew that the guest school had brought their student government, but she hadn’t ever compared the student government to the prefect system here. She just hadn’t thought to. But perhaps since America prided itself on it’s democracy, there school did the same. “That makes sense I suppose.” Max then explained that she could ask her half brother, who had transferred to Ilvermorny but now was back given the obvious circumstances. “I’m sure I could figured it out, I just think it’s interesting. Politics interest me, even school politics and social politics.” she admitted. The more she thought about it, the more she did think she wanted to get into muggle politics. “The differences between the schools, and the obvious cultural differences are so fascinating, don’t you think?” she asked. Lusie had been to America many times, and she loved it each time. She loved to travel and learn things about new places and cultures.
maxima ruqayyah greyback
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last online May 3, 2024 20:11:39 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Nov 19, 2018 9:23:09 GMT -7
Post by maxima ruqayyah greyback on Nov 19, 2018 9:23:09 GMT -7
Lusie said that she supposed it made sense that the American school likely didn't have prefects. She added that she was sure she could figure it out, because politics, she explained, interested her—"Even school politics and social politics."
As for herself, Max didn't think that politics had ever been something in which she was interested. She wasn't a fan of public speaking, and even a conversation like the one she was having with Lusie was a little uncomfortable (though nowhere near as frightening as speaking on the WWN). She just ended up wrapped up in politics; she didn't think that she would make a good politician.
"The differences between the schools, and the obvious cultural differences are so fascinating, don’t you think?" Lusie asked.
"They are," Max nodded. She wished that she had been able to learn more about Durmstrang and Bulgaria from Elias, though Aaron had also gone there. Adrian had gone to both Ilvermorny and Hogwarts but was German, and her own mother was of Lebanese Christian origins… "My half-siblings and I, we're all really different. I'm, um, Lebanese on my mum's side, actually," not that Max knew what her father's side was besides, well, werewolf. "Maxima Ruqayyah." No one other than her mother called her that, though it was her name.
@lusie
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last online May 4, 2024 1:20:19 GMT -7
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Nov 27, 2018 20:39:00 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2018 20:39:00 GMT -7
Lusie knew about Max’s family, just vaguely, but she knew enough, like most of the school did (it was hard to keep information to yourself when everyone was in such a small place). When Max explained that all of her half-siblings were different, Lusie knew what she meant. Max then explained that her mother was Lebanese. Lusie thought that was so cool, “That’s so cool. Where are you from, if you don’t mind my asking, like where were you born? Where did you grow up?” she asked. It wouldn’t be out of the box to assume that she was from the United Kingdom, most of the students in Hogwarts were. But Lusie was curious, and it didn’t seem like a rude question to ask, it was a basic ‘get to know you’ type of question, like asking what they wanted to do when they graduated Hogwarts. That was one that Lusie got a lot but hardly ever asked because she thought it was too much for their age group.
maxima ruqayyah greyback
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last online May 3, 2024 20:11:39 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Dec 15, 2018 4:49:08 GMT -7
Post by maxima ruqayyah greyback on Dec 15, 2018 4:49:08 GMT -7
Lusie expressed how cool it was that she was Lebanese. "Where are you from, if you don’t mind my asking, like where were you born? Where did you grow up?"
Unfortunately for Lusie, Max couldn't say that her life growing up had been too interesting. She wasn't one of those people who had lived all over the world as a child or anything like that. No, she wasn't really exciting, in that respect. She'd grown up in England. She went to school in Scotland—shocker—and that was all, really.
"I'm just from Devon," Max laughed; her life really wasn't as interesting as it must have sounded. "Ottery St. Catchpole, actually. Close to where the Weasleys are from."
Totally normal. Her dad was Fenrir Greyback and she had once wanted people to believe that she, too, was a werewolf. But, no, she was normal… ish. (Well, that was barring whatever she was capable of doing with healing people with her bare hands and her extended web of half-siblings through Fenrir.)
"So, uh, my mum's a witch, and she works at the Ministry's Apparition Test Centre. And then my stepdad's a Muggle, actually. He's a veterinary surgeon, and I've got two younger half-siblings—twins—and they're in year four now, so they won't be at Hogwarts for a few more years."
@lusie
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last online May 4, 2024 1:20:19 GMT -7
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Dec 20, 2018 12:56:04 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 12:56:04 GMT -7
The girl she was sitting with explained that she was from England, close to where the Weasley’s lived. Lusie had no idea where the Weasley family lived, but oh well, she supposed that most of the population knew vaguely where they lived, the family was big enough that kids would likely have invited friends over. Lusie had never been there. She didn’t know any of the Weasley’s. Well, she knew of them and there were some in her classes. But she wouldn’t consider any of them friends. “That’s cool.” Lusie insisted, she really meant it. She wasn’t fishing for her to have grown up some other place or anything, she was just trying to get to know her dinner partner better. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to that area, actually. I’m from London, mostly. We lived in the country for a while when we were young but…” but once her father died they basically moved to the castle full time. Their mum still spent some time in the country home, she thought, when they were gone to school. “Are you close with them, then? Your siblings?” she wasn’t sure what she would do without her siblings. Lusie relied on them all so much, personally. But she was the youngest, the baby.
maxima ruqayyah greyback (do we want to work on wrapping this up since the term is ending?)
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last online May 3, 2024 20:11:39 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Dec 20, 2018 15:19:54 GMT -7
Post by maxima ruqayyah greyback on Dec 20, 2018 15:19:54 GMT -7
Lusie said that she didn't think that she had ever been to that part of the country, considering that she was from "London, mostly," as she put it. "We lived in the country for a while when we were young, but…" It wasn't as though Max kept up with the Windsors much, but she was fairly certain that it was their father who had died when they were younger. It must have been really strange for them, Max thought, though their lives—even in the countryside—must have been posh.
"Are you close with them, then? Your siblings?"
"The ones from my mum's side, or…?" Max assumed that Lusie had meant Simon and Sarah, but she wasn't entirely sure. "With them, it's very… you know, they're my little brother and little sister," Max answered. "They can be annoying," she laughed; they were still little kids, compared to her, "but I love them.
"For the ones through Fenrir, um, I mean, we weren't always so close," Max admitted to Lusie; it had been really awkward for them at first, and none of them had known what to make of one another or the circumstances by which they were related. "But, er, after everything that happened last year and then Elias's death," she added, trying not to go too into depth about her trying to poison herself around that time the previous year as she took a bite of her food. "I, um, I think we all became closer because of that, but the really strange thing is that we, um, don't really know how many of us are out there…" Max, at least, was certain that there must have been more half-siblings than the ones of whom she knew. If Elias had shown up from Durmstrang, who was to say that they didn't have other relatives scattered across the world? Mina and her family were the closest thing that they had to paternal cousins, on top of that. "Honestly, it wouldn't shock me if we had siblings from Ilvermorny, too." She hadn't heard of any yet, but she guessed that they must have existed.
@lusie OOC: Sounds good!
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