6th Spell

[whatthewrackspurt]

[Private to Jax]

I was hoping it would be you.



[Public]

Hello, everyone.

[Luna seems to have taken down some of the mistletoe around her door and fashioned herself a pair of mistletoe earrings, which she is now wearing.]

Curious, the level of festivity around here. The Admiral must be a very big fan of Christmas.

Happy Hanukkah!

Comments

[punched_hitler]

Yeah, we were. When I was eleven, the stock market crashed. Nearly everybody was poor, after that. A lot of people had a hard time getting by. We were lucky, we managed to keep a roof over our heads.

[whatthewrackspurt]

That's a funny thing for a market to do. Was it floating up in the air? Why wasn't anyone using spells to protect it?

[punched_hitler]

[He laughs a little.] No, it -

Not literally, I guess. But the value of our money essentially disappeared overnight. Banks closed, folks lost their savings in an instant, and then a lot of them lost their homes, too.

I guess no one was protecting it quite like they should've.

[whatthewrackspurt]

[She nods, eyes wide, imagining it]

Was it fixed?

[punched_hitler]

Eventually, yeah - it took more than ten years and a world war, though.

[whatthewrackspurt]

That seems drastic. Were wizards involved?

[punched_hitler]

It was - but things were pretty bad. I guess it needed a drastic fix.

[His eyebrows rise a little - but he's got to admit,] Not that I know of. But then, there aren't any wizards at all in my world - that I know of.

[Because he remembers Morgana, at least, saying that some of them tended to hide. Maybe that's the case where he's from, too - who knows?]

[whatthewrackspurt]

That you know of.

But we're not permitted to reveal our existence, so that might be it.

[punched_hitler]

You're not?

I guess that might explain things, then. We could be from the same place, and not even know it. [Well, he'd never know it.]

You guys must make bang-up spies.

[whatthewrackspurt]

We honestly could. I wouldn't ever be allowed to tell you I was a witch otherwise.

No, unfortunately not. Wizard have a terrible time fitting in with Muggles.

[punched_hitler]

That sounds... hard, actually. [Then again, Steve's a bad liar, and he's living with something he can't tell people, either. He's finding it difficult, but it is what it is, he guesses.]

Well, spy work's definitely not for everyone. Is it because you can't go without magic, or because you don't know how? Or something else?

[whatthewrackspurt]

You get used to it, after a while.

We can. Most of us choose not to, and I suppose we could learn if we liked. But not many people make the effort, because magic becomes such an enormous part of you.

[punched_hitler]

I guess you must. [Just like he guesses you get used to lying all the time, so much so that that becomes a part of you, like with Natasha.]

I guess I could understand that, too. But maybe it'd be nice, every once in a while, to see how the other half lives, huh?

[whatthewrackspurt]

Otherwise we could be arrested by the Ministry.

Maybe. I don't know much about Muggles, to be honest. We don't live close to them.

[punched_hitler]

Oh - wow.

[Although, after a few seconds of thought,] I guess it makes sense. If you don't want to be found, it's going to take a pretty big effort and everyone's got to be on board. [Hence, it's law.

In which case,] I guess living here is at least a little enlightening, then? Even though there's plenty of things that I wouldn't call normal for, uh, Muggles, either.

[whatthewrackspurt]

Exactly. The Statute of Secrecy is to be maintained. Or at least that's what people say.

Generally, yes. It's strange to go your whole life without having any magic.

[punched_hitler]

Although no one can keep anything a secret forever. [Eventually, someone's going to slip up, aren't they?]

Strange for you, maybe. [He grins a little.] Some of us have to get by the old-fashioned way. I think we do all right.

But if it's a part of you, like you said, then I also don't blame you for thinking that.

[whatthewrackspurt]

No. Fortunately, that's what memory charms are for. There's a whole team in the Ministry assigned to do just that.

It is, but it also isn't. Sometimes there are days when I forget what's really magic, what's Barge magic, and what's Muggle invention.

[punched_hitler]

Oh - oh. I guess that would do it. [You people sure do think of everything. But necessity is the mother of invention.]

I guess things might be a little more complicated, around here. What's the strangest, uh, Muggle invention you've come across so far?

[whatthewrackspurt]

The electric apple-corer is something of a mystery.

[punched_hitler]

[He laughs a little.] I think that's a mystery to some of us, too.

I'm better at doing it with a knife.

[whatthewrackspurt]

Some things like to be done the old way.

Could you tell me what a vac-cu-um is used for? We don't have those.

[punched_hitler]

Sometimes the old way just makes more sense.

Oh - [He laughs a little.] Yeah. It's for cleaning. It sucks up dust. That one is easier than sweeping, 'cause I've done both.

[whatthewrackspurt]

Cleaning. That's funny, I never would have guessed.

[punched_hitler]

[Okay, now he's gotta ask:] What did you think it was for?