Meet and greet (Professor Wright) on Library

Selina Skies

November 13, 2021 5:47 AM

Meet and greet (Professor Wright) by Selina Skies

Grayson, it turned out, had not only been supportive of her plans but an excellent co-conspirator. He had been practical with just a touch of anxious suspicion, which was probably what this plan needed. Portkeys had been out of the question due to the need to register them with MACUSA. Selina's experience of them was the left hand rarely talked to the right and it was such a sprawling bureaucratic mess that it would most likely be entirely possible to register a portkey with the department of transportation without whichever department was responsible for messing up Xavier's life getting wind of that, but it wasn't a theory she was willing to put to the test. Many of her conversations with Mrs Lundstrom were via a borrowed telephone in town, which was nice and untraceable. The Lundstroms had been perfectly happy to get an airplane down to Phoenix (Muggles deemed this close to where Sonora was, at least in airplane terms) and from there, they had contacts, and ways in and out of the school. The same hotel that was helping her to use the telephone was a convenient point from which to collect them, and Floo them into the school.

It was more complicated with the Cobbs around, but she had figured that telling Billy the library was closed for portions of the holidays would sound like a blessing to him. It meant they were more limited and had to be more careful in terms of what they did, and how they moved around, and she still wasn’t sure how they were going to handle Christmas itself, but that was several days away. She suspected that the main thing the Lundstroms wanted was to see each other, and everything else would play second fiddle to that.

Her suspicions on that front had proven to be correct when they had come out in the library where Xavier was waiting. Selina had done her best to hang back as they threw themselves at each other, crying and hugging. She had made it clear that the visit would have to be supervised, though she was going to her best to be unobtrusive. She had agreed with Grayson that she would stay for the first thirty minutes, in order to determine that nothing immediately terrible was about to happen, and then swap out, as she suspected that keeping Billy out of trouble was the more onerous task. She also thought that the Lundstroms might like to meet Grayson. She had read Xavier’s letters to them, and knew that he had mentioned him.

Selina smiled and nodded to Grayson as he came in. She was seated a little distance back from where the Lundstroms were playing some kind of colourful card game. They were not quite in matching holiday outfits (not that Selina would have judged them had they been, as that was definitely something she had enjoyed doing with her own children) but there was a definite colour palette. It wasn’t hard to achieve, of course, with Christmas having such obvious tones, but it seemed intentional. They were all in dark green within a close enough range of shades to seem deliberate. Both parents were in knitted sweaters with fleece linings, just with differing white patterns (lines of trees for Xavier’s dad, and reindeer and snowflakes for his mom). Joel’s had gingerbread men on it, whilst Robyn’s was more of a sweatshirt with the bird she almost shared a name with appliqued on the centre. Xavier’s looked like his brother’s, only with candy canes instead.
There had been a good twenty minutes or so of drinking spiced cider and cookies, and them just talking, mostly with Xavier snuggled into his mother’s side. He had given hugs to his dad, his brother, and his sister (in decreasing order of hug length) but it was clear his mom was the one he didn’t want to let go of. It had seemed like they could have easily talked for hours, but Robyn was young enough that, having established that her brother was alive and not going to start doing magic tricks, she had been looking like she might start pulling books from the shelves to investigate it herself if no one gave her something to do. Mrs. Lundstrom seemed to have come prepared, and was carrying a bag which looked exactly large enough to be carrying all the things that Selina, as a parent, could guess were in. Which seemed awfully cumbersome to the transfiguration professor’s way of thinking.

“Pick up two,” Joel said, placing a card on the pile.

“Nuh uh, Robyn pick up four,” Xavier said, adding a matching one.

“No faaaaair!” Robyn whined.

“Uh, entirely fair. That’s the game,” Xavier pointed out.

“I think I like it better when I don’t have to play with you,” Robyn pouted.

“Robyn, that’s not very nice,” their mother warned.

“Do mom and dad let her win?” Xavier asked Joel.

“They do not! I’m just a good player when you two aren’t ganging up on me!”

Selina smiled to herself. Apart from the fact that the cards just seemed to be cards, which lay inert and did nothing by themselves, the scene was very familiar.

“Pick up four, Robyn. Unless you can get dad.”

Robyn huffed, and - in avoidance of her fate - looked up.

“Who’s he?” she asked.

“Robyn, it’s rude to point,” Mr. Lundstrom said.

“That’s Professor Wright,” Xavier said.

“He’s a wizard? He doesn’t look much like one,” Robyn said.

“Robyn! We don’t stereotype people. Or wizards. Not that wizards aren’t people. I just meant—” Mrs. Lundstrom cut herself off, looking nervously between the two staff members.

“You’re the one who gives Xavier extra tutoring, right?” Mr. Lundstrom stepped in. “We’re very grateful for that,” he added, though it sounded a little forced. He stood up, offering a handshake with only the vaguest hint that he thought he might get bitten. Mrs. Lundstrom did the same.

“Yes. Very.” Mrs. Lundstrom nodded, settling back behind Xavier, her hands on his shoulders.

13 Selina Skies Meet and greet (Professor Wright) 26 1 7

Grayson Wright

November 16, 2021 8:32 PM

Hello, hello. Nice to greet and meet. by Grayson Wright

Conspiracy, it seemed, worked a little differently in real life than it did in books. On the whole, this was not a surprise. What was a surprise was the idea that conspiracy could involve seasonally-themed sweaters.

His role was to be unobtrusive, which was something he thought would be easier if he didn't stick out to the Lundstroms as someone from a culture quite alien to theirs. Therefore, he was dressed like - well, at least he was pretty sure he was dressed like a Muggle. The miniature Christmas candles portrayed among Christmas baubles on the sweater actually glowed and flickered, but he was reasonably sure that wouldn't seem too strange to Muggles - their world was full of things with a lot of different-colored lights, wasn't it? Plus he'd never been one for particularly loud holiday attire anyway, so he thought he ought to be able to serve as ornamental furniture pretty well. It was, therefore, a bit of a compliment and a bit of a letdown when his efforts to more or less disguise what he was ended up being pointed out by the youngest Lundstrom.

Gray tried to make a 'think nothing of it' sort of gesture at the mother's high-strung reaction to the girl's point. From what he could see, both the parents were apparently mild scolds, but that was a common enough trait among parents as a class, he thought. Mr. Lundstrom cut his wife off before the message could be translated into reassuring comments; he also seemed a bit frightened, but not as much as his wife. Gray tried to look as unimposing as possible while shaking hands, wishing idly for a moment that he was shorter.

"Happy to do it," he assured them as they stiffly expressed gratitude. "Xavier's a good student. I'm Grayson Wright - and yes," he added to the girl, "I am a wizard. Just like your big brother." They knew Xavier. Xavier was not strange to them. If they could just marry those two ideas - that Xavier was one of them, and that Xavier was nevertheless a wizard.... "Wizards can look lots of different ways, just like I think your people do," he expalined. "Though if you prefer - "

Conjuration wasn't easy for him, much less nonverbal conjuration with his wand hand behind his back and his wand not even halfway out of his sleeve. Fortunately, though, a classic traditional wizard's hat was a simple object structurally and one so ingrained in the cultural consciousness that even Muggles knew what it looked like; those things made it easier to conjure, and quickly enough, he was able to pull one from behind his back and drop it on his own head.

"Better?" he asked with a smile before glancing back to the parents, remembering the whole 'unobtrusively hover' bit. "Anyway - my apologies for interrupting your game," he said to the adults and the two boys. "Didn't intend to intrude. I'm happy to answer any questions, if I can, or you may all feel free to completely ignore me being here, if you like," he assured them.

16 Grayson Wright Hello, hello. Nice to greet and meet. 113 0 5

The Lundstroms

November 17, 2021 4:07 AM

We seem to be opposites by The Lundstroms

"He's wearing a silly sweater," Robyn pointed out emphatically, as if the adults might not have noticed this detail.

"Yes. It's a cheerful one," Mr. Lundstrom nodded. He paused for a moment, trying to decide whether to correct Robyn calling it 'silly,' but it felt like it was bordering on an objective truth rather than an insult. The idea was to be a bit silly, and Professor Wright seemed to be doing it well. However, any attempts to explain that thought process seemed likely to drag him into further trouble.

"Like Xavier," Robyn corrected when the wizard said her big brother was a wizard. "Joel's just... ordinary."

"Robyn..." her mother said, in a slightly weary tone, not really sure whether she was insulting wizards or Joel more with that word. Though she had her suspicions about which way they'd take it. If there was any follow up to that remark, it was drowned out by Robyn's squeal of delight at the hat.

"He made a hat appear! Just like a magicician! Can you do that?" she asked Xavier.

"No," was all the response he gave this, though he managed to sound irritated even in that single syllable. He returned to the conversation he and Joel were having behind their cards. Robyn's eyes lingered on them for a moment as the wizard told her that her choices were going back to her game or asking questions. There was a fate of picking up four awaiting her on the floor, and she got to play Uno all the time at home anyway.

"Will you do more magic tricks for me?" she asked. "Please? Can I have a hat too?"

13 The Lundstroms We seem to be opposites 0 The Lundstroms 0 7

Grayson Wright

November 17, 2021 9:01 PM

...oh dear. Is that bad? by Grayson Wright

"And silly," Gray said cheerfully when the father Lundstrom offered commentary on his attire, seemingly an attempt to revise his daughter's more honest verdict. "It's purely, purely a holiday aberration."

In private life, he'd have probably dressed more like this than he did in classes, but his sense of being utterly out of his depth when he'd taken this job had resulted in the creation of Professor Wright, who was a much more sensible, straitlaced type than the person who'd made him up, at least in most ways. At this late date, it simply would not work to drop the persona during the school year. At the moment, he wasn't sure if he would have done better to have stayed in character for the holidays as well or not - that was to say, whether doing that would have made the Lundstroms' attempts to remain in character less likely to break down. The impression he got was that it wouldn't take much more than someone breathing wrong to make them both crack up like so much spun glass on a stone floor.

At least, he thought, there was one member of the family who did not seem to regard magic with any sort of fear or suspicion. It wasn't entirely surprising that it would be the youngest one, though it was a pity she was unlikely to be able to influence her family any...If only the adults would relax. Their tendency toward over-correction wasn't ideal, but quite aside from how unlikely that was to create the sort of fracturing of the ego needed to produce an Obscurial, it was also possible they were only behaving this way out of fear he'd turn them into frogs or the like. He could have assured them that he was quite certain he did not have the ability to turn them into frogs, but somehow, he thought that might rather miss the point and end up less reassuring than it was supposed to be.

"Not yet," he said in a mild correction to Xavier's denial of ability. "That's harder magic than it looks like. Only students in their last two years here study how to do that, so it'll be a few more years before Xavier can learn about conjuring, if he wants to." If Xavier could learn to control his powers properly, he'd certainly, it seemed, have access to the magical power needed to master conjuring and other such topics from Advanced Transfiguration, but it also took a certain kind of mind, not to mention an interest in doing it. Xavier could well find it more useful to direct his energies elsewhere. They still had a long way to go, though, before it would be time to discuss which classes Xavier might like to drop in his last two years.

He had meant the remark about questions for the parents, and was therefore taken a little aback when Robyn seemingly applied it to herself and asked for more magic tricks. Well...it was a start.

"Hm. Well. How about something from the class I teach." He took the risk of actually allowing himself to openly use his wand this time, to point at the girl's abandoned playing cards and saying, "balissaro!," whereupon they folded themselves into shapes not unlike gingerbread men and began to tap dance for her.

"That's, er, not, er, permanent at all," he added to the parents in an undertone, with a hint of anxiety, unconsciously mirroring theirs. "Your property will look exactly as it did in a few, few minutes. Just the sort of thing we use to entertain children, you know."

16 Grayson Wright ...oh dear. Is that bad? 113 0 5

The Lundstroms

November 18, 2021 6:24 PM

That depends by The Lundstroms

As the cards stood up and danced, all of the Lundstroms' mouths fell open. Robyn's was accompanied by a 'wow!' and she dropped to her knees to better examine the scene. Xavier and Joel had flinched slightly as the spell landed beside them, and both their parents' mouths hung slightly open until Professor Wright addressed them.

"Good to know. Bent up cards would probably spoil the game a bit," Mr. Lundstrom nodded.

"It's a nice spell though," Mrs. Lundstrom added. "It's always interesting to see that sort of thing."

Robyn had been amused by the dancing for a little while, but now her fingers were edging closer, tentatively nudging to see if she could alter their courses without pushing them over or un-magicking them. When they seemed unperturbed, she plucked up one of the cards, letting it skip over her hands like one might with a hamster for a while before placing it back amongst its fellows, rearranging the troupe to her satisfaction.

Mrs. Lundstrom watched her daughter play, waiting for the cards to settle down so that she could resume the game with her boys. The two of them seemed to be content to whisper and giggle behind their cards for now, and given that private conversations seemed like they would be hard to come by, she was inclined to leave them to it, even if they were most likely just making wand jokes. She considered filling the time talking to the wizard in front of her, but was reluctant to engage more than she had to. She sat down next to Robyn, watching the cards with her, and politely applauding when they gave a little bow to indicate they were finished.

"Let's redeal," she suggested, when they lay back down. "You all saw the backs of Robyn's cards whilst they were-dancing," she managed with only a barely noticeable pause as those words came out of her mouth. "So, that's hardly fair."

13 The Lundstroms That depends 0 The Lundstroms 0 7

Grayson Wright

November 18, 2021 11:30 PM

...Should I ask what it depends on, or just back away slowly without making sudden movements? by Grayson Wright

"Charms is a versatile subject that way," Gray said with somewhat - if only somewhat - restrained enthusiasm when Mrs. Lundstrom seemed to have a non-hostile reaction to the dancing charm. "It's a very - practical - class - a lot of, of what your average wizard needs to get by day to day, but it's also pretty good for entertainment. I suppose you have subjects like that, too?"

It was close to a clear question, but still possible fore them to reasonably ignore it and pretend it had been a statement if they preferred to ignore the offer to converse about cultural norms. Gray wasn't exactly sure if he was relieved or disappointed by the response. On one hand, it would have been an interesting thing to learn about, plus ideally, at some point, Xavier would be able to integrate customs and ideas from both cultures in ways that made sense for him and his family. On the other hand, though, he was fairly sure that everyone involved, including him, would be far happier if they all - again including him - agreed to pretend he didn't exist.

"Again, very sorry," he added quietly to Mr. Lundstrom as Mrs. Lundstrom attempted to get the card game going again. "Just - taking over for Professor Skies, didn't intend to draw attention to myself. My apologies." And this explained, he attempted to slip into the background as unobtrusively as possible, wishing that casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself was an option that wouldn't backfire as much as he was quite confident it would if he made use of it. He did, however, make a mental note to suggest it to Selina any other time they were being conspirators in this particular fashion.

16 Grayson Wright ...Should I ask what it depends on, or just back away slowly without making sudden movements? 113 0 5

The Lundstroms

November 23, 2021 6:24 PM

Yes, that one please by The Lundstroms

Mrs. Lundstrom could not actually think of any subjects that sounded similar to charms. Design class, maybe? There weren't that many hands-on, practical classes in non-magical school, and definitely very little focus on life skills. For entertainment... well, drama, maybe? On the whole, it seemed that they worked very differently though. Not that she was about to say as much.

"I-I'm not sure- it seems very good, anyway," she stated, before resuming her seat next to the children. Xavier leant in, his head on her shoulder, their dark hair blending together. Other than the unified look of their Christmas sweaters, he and Robyn took more strongly after their mother in terms of colouring, whilst Joel was blond like their dad. There was enough mixing and matching of noses and face shapes that there was still a resemblance, but the hair colour was the most noticeable thing.

"Not at all. It's nice to meet you," Mr. Lundstrom assured Professor Wright. "We like knowing more about Xavier's education. Not that we're questioning how you do things," he added, hastily. "Just, well, it's nice..." he trailed off, rejoining his family.

"Magic school is more fun than regular school," Robyn said to Xavier as the cards were dealt. Xavier shrugged, with all the moody preteen disinclination to agree with his kid sister.

"Yes. It's very nice," his mother supplied for him, in a tone that conveniently carried.

"I can't wait to come here!" Robyn bounced.

"Well, we don't know that you will. Look at Joel, it doesn't always-" her dad began.

"But I will. I know it. I make things happen like Xavier did."

Mrs. Lundstrom had paused her shuffling to stare, but she hastily resumed it. A little too hastily.

"Well, that's wonderful," she said, her voice tight, as the cards slipped from her hands and splayed across the table.

"Are you upset, mom?" Robyn asked.

"No," Mrs. Lundstrom said, everything about her voice and her fixed smile a little too bright.

"You wish I was normal and boring like Joel?"

"Hey!" Joel interjected.

"Normal is not the opposite of magical, and Joel isn't boring," Mrs. Lundstrom corrected, sounding much more certain about that than she had anything else. "You know we'd love you no matter who or what you are."

Mr. Lundstrom leaned in, evidently trying to keep his voice soft too. However, it carried more, the way low voices often did.

"We just worry about you being away from us."

13 The Lundstroms Yes, that one please 0 The Lundstroms 0 5