Alone Again [OPEN]

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This quarantine wasn't fun. Lucas had planed to go back home for the summer. It had been a while since he had visited his families reserve back in Australia. But shortly before he was able to leave for, after the end of the semester, some virus seemed to break out. He had sent word back from his family that they missed him, and he offered to stay on the Hogwarts grounds to help tend to the magical beasts inside the forest. He had to do something to keep himself busy. Lucas also took some time to volunteer at the Magical Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. With his vast knowledge of magical creatures, he was a welcomed help.

Feeling a bit lonely, Lucas had gone to the Three Broomsticks for some dinner, after spending some time at the Rehabilitation Center. It was nice to be able to interact with beasts that he didn't have much of a chance to work with growing up.

He walked into the Three Broomsticks and and took a seat at the bar. There was no reason for him to take up a table when he was just by himself. He ordered his food and sat, waiting. He almost wished that Odin could be here, but the bird enjoyed the outdoors more. Lucas wouldn't take too long here, he would be back up at Hogwarts soon.

[OPEN]

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Jack wasn’t fond of the quarantine either. He had planned on going home to America immediately after graduation. He needed to be back on the farm. His parents were already short handed and they needed his help. It had been his idea to branch out from just trees and into cattle, and the herd had arrived while he was stuck here in England, tending sheep on some ranch up north. It was still the kind of work he enjoyed, but his family ranch needed him more than this one did.

Jack liked to visit the village as often as he could on his days and evenings off. The muggles he worked for were kind, hardworking folks, but he liked being around his own people. Though there was always the risk of catching the ailment when he visited the village. An unknown passerby could be contagious and not know it and then he could catch it and risk exposing to the muggles he worked for. He was always cautious about it. But at the same time, he knew better than to work himself up. He’d know if he got sick, surely.

He walked into the three broomsticks and over the bar. He had the option of eating with the family who employed him and let him live in the upper level of their barn, but he usually told him he went to the little village nearby, when really he’d apparate to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley most nights. He always tried his best to clean up before he left the house, but the smell of barn was kind of hard to scrub off when he literally lived in one. “let me get a whiskey, neat. And a burger with a side of potatoes.” He missed American burgers. But these weren’t bad. His southern accent made him quite distinguished from the rest of the pub. Though the mixture of American accents was fairly common now since they were all stuck here.

@lucas

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Lucas looked over to the young man who had walked up to order. He recognized the accent as one form America, though, not the typical one. If a typical American accent even existed. He had heard similar accents to this boy in a few of his students the past year while working at Hogwarts. He smiled when the young man ordered a burger. Lucas had had burgers during his stay in America, and the ones here just didn't seem to hit the spot. "Damn this Quarantine." He stated, mostly to himself "If I could, I'd aperate to this burger place in Arizona that I went to all the time when I was there" He stated, turning to the young man. His accent could sometimes be taken as British, but he knew his Australian roots.

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

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Jack looked over at the man to his side and gave him a smile. He looked familiar, Jack recognized him as a professor at Hogwarts, though he hadn’t taken his class. Having just graduated, he wasn’t so far separated that he was forgetting the faces of those who graced the halls of the castle. “Burger place in Arizona huh? Can’t say I’ve thought about going west to get a good burger.” he admitted. He figured the best burgers were always gonna be in the south - in the barbeque states. He couldn’t say he knew much about Arizona, or the west in general. The furthest west he had been was Wyoming to pick up a horse once.

@lucas

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Lucas recognized the girl as a young man, probably a former student of Hogwarts, and by the accent, one of the Ilvermorney transfer students. He didn't recognize the kid himself, meaning that he wasn't a Care of Magical Creatures students. Lucas didn't really get to know many of the other students, unless them made their way to the hut that he was living in. He wasn't one to stay inside the castle longer than he had to.

"There's a better burger else where? I'd love to try it, if I ever get back to America" He would love to go back, there were many interesting places there, and it was such a big country. "Arizona was the only place that I've been in the states, helping at a Magical Creature reserve"

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

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The professor explained that he had only ever been to Arizona to help at a magical creatures reserve and that made sense to Jack given that he knew there was a large one in that area. He had never been. He didn’t have a strong desire to go. He wasn’t into creatures so much as just the line of work he did. Farming involved creatures. They always had Bowtruckle in their wand trees. And now they had a herd of cows to tend to in order to make a little extra money on the side. But it was mostly caring for the trees that would get him up in the mornings. His farm in Kentucky had once been a muggle farm, his great grandfather owned it and was a muggle, but then his grandfather was born and ended up with magical powers. And his father after him. Jack’s father had been the one to transform the farm into a wand tree lot. They grew well there.

“Check you the south next time you’re in the states. Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma. You’ll find some dirty no-maj bars with the best burgers you could ever imagine.” he explained. It made his mouth water just thinking about it. Jack had a lot of memories around going to Nashville on hot summer nights just for a burger. He missed it terribly.

@lucas

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Lucas chuckled. He could tell that this young man was from the south, and loved it "I'll have to keep that in mind for when we can finally get out of here." It was around then that a platter of fish and chips was placed in front of the professor, and he looked at the bartender "Can I get a fire whisky"

He'd probably end up staying a bit longer than anticipated, if a conversation kicked up from their start. Odin, would just have to be on his own just a little longer. He was a old bird and could take care of himself, thought Lucas knew that he would have to start keeping an eye on the bird soon, he didn't want him to get sick and flame up and change into a hatchling while out in the wild.

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

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He insisted that if they ever got out of the country again that he would have to keep it in mind. Jack sighed as a response. The quarantine was hard on everyone, but specifically it was keeping him from doing his work and fulfilling his obligations. It was hard on his family not having him there and having to pick up the work he had planned to do. He had waited until he graduated to get the herd specifically so he would be there to care for them. The professor ordered a fire whisky right around the time that Jack’s was delivered. “A classy choice.” Jack chuckled, taking the first swig of his own. “so what do you usually do in the summer if you don’t mind my asking.” he asked. He was always curious what professors chose to spend their time doing. “Is that when you’re in America usually?”

@lucas

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Lucas understood that this quarantine was rough for everyone. He himself couldn't go home, and he was certain that he wasn't the only one. “A classy choice.” the boy had said, when both their drinks showed up. He raised the glass as an agreement and took a small drink. He chuckled softly. "Well, this was my first year teaching, I was in America before that, helping out. My plans were to head home to Australia fur the summer." He had spent quite some time wondering around, it was fun to have a job, but he was hopping to be able to still at least travel during the breaks "They run a Magical Creature reserve down there." Taking another swig of his drink he looked at the young man. "Did your plans get changed this summer?"

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

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He explained that he was usually in America and that this was his first year teaching. Jack had no idea, since this was also his first year at Hogwarts. He said he was helping on the reserve there and this summer he was going to be in Australia helping out over there before the quarantine and the travel ban hit. “Yeah man that sucks.” Jack sighed. He knew how it was to have your life interrupted. He took a sip. “Yeah, my family runs a wand tree farm in America, so they’re a little shorthanded without me. Especially because I had talked them into getting a herd of cattle to increase our profits and now they’ve got that on top of the regular tree maintenance...” he wasn’t going to get into his whole life story with the stranger, but he was enjoying the conversation so far. “Hey, remind me of your name?” he asked.

@lucas

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Lucas nodded at the fact that things did suck. "Seems like we are both in wanting to be else where, helping our families out." He observed, and felt like he and his conversational friend here, were in similar predicaments. Then the young man asked for his name. Turning towards the young man he first wiped his hand on his pants, riffraff that something from the reserve would still be on it, then he stuck out his hand to the young man "Lucas King. And you?" He did remember seeing the boy around school, but if the student didn't go to Care of Magical Creatures class, he had no hope of knowing the students name.

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

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It was such a coincidence that Jack and Luke had both found themselves here on this night, both in similar situations. But it was to have someone to talk to about it and commiserate with. Though just about any Ilvermorny student would share their disdain for being stuck in the UK when they wanted to go home. The professor introduced himself as Lucus King, and he extended his hand to jack. Jack shook it and introduced himself in turn. “Jack Hatfield.” he reported. “Good to meet you - you seem like a cool guy. Makes me regret not taking your class a bit.” he said, mostly as a joke. Jack liked to be funny when the situation called for it.

@lucas

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It was nice to share his feelings of being trapped here and away from his family and plans with someone who understood. While this wasn't hard, since most everyone was trapped, and he was certain that he wasn't the only one not able to go home. There were a number of Ilvermorney students, to say the least. Lucas stretched out his hand as he introduced himself and the young man took it, saying that his name was Jack. “Good to meet you - you seem like a cool guy. Makes me regret not taking your class a bit.” Lucas smiled "Thank you, though not many people take the higher level classes if they don't have to." Lucas chuckled a little bit as he took a sip of his drink. "But most seem to take it to see the beasts, not me." He was sure that wasn't the case, but he did know that some students hung around to see if they could get a closer look at Odin.

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

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Lucas said that not many people liked to take the upper level classes if they didn’t have to, but he seemed to get a kick out of Jack’s comment anyway. Jack shrugged. “People underestimate the power of a good professor to make or break a subject.” he admitted. There had been lots of classes throughout his years that seemed really interesting, but a dull, or jerky professor had turned him off of wanting to study them. Of course, he didn’t really know the guy, but the conversation was going well so far and Jack was comfortable talking with him, so it was already going a lot better than some. He took a large bite from his burger and washed it down with another swig of his whiskey.

@lucas

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Lucas took a bite of his meal as the boy talked. Nodding he smiled "That is defiantly true. You can always tell when someone isn't passionate about what they teach. And give room for students to learn" He smiled at the boy. He had the passion for the subject since he was born, being first taught by his family, then moving to a professor at school. Lucas had learned that if the teacher didn't believe in their students, they could tell.

"So, you talked about what you would be doing, but since there is a quarantine, what do you find yourself doing to occupy your time?" He was mostly curious, the kid didn't seem to just be sitting around. Lucas had his thing, but he also wouldn't mind seeing if they could share some ideas.

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK