| Details for Mud Club Mixer |
| Summary: | Briar hosts a party at her house for mud club members and friends, and ends up recruiting two new members. |
| Date: | July 24th, 1938 |
| Location: | Briar's House |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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It has been requested for safety and to remove temptation in a muggle home in a muggle area that wands be left in jackets that are left in the coat room. Miss Blackwell, Muggle Liaison and Briar's Social Worker is here as chaperone and she has a wand, again for safety. The living room has been cleared of knick knacks and fragile things. The dining room table has been moved to block and fill the archway into the dining room and is covered in a buffet of appetizers, candy, and other confections. A large bowl of punch is available as is a variety of soda bottles in a tub of ice. The party style is casual and Briar is in a blouse reminiscent of a medieval peasant and a simple skirt. She is at the door to greet and take jackets and hats and what not.
Oscar arrives fifteen minutes or so before the specified time, offering to be helpful as he enters. He is dressed in plain, Muggle clothes, as he usually is, outside of school. He removes his hat and smiles brightly at the fellow Hufflepuff as he enters, looking excited to be around fellow students again.
Josie found out about the party likely from word of mouth, and she arrives dressed in a green dress, for once not dressed or looking like a boy. With the summer weather, she's not wearing a jacket, but she obediently leaves her wand in the coat room before heading inside, waving to those present, "Hi."
Muggle clothes, oh, boy! Elise jumped at the chance to play dress-up for a party. Despite her obvious excitement at her smart little pink dress with ruffles and bows, she wouldn't stand out at all from any ordinary girl on the London streets. Her white patent leather shoes gleam, her socks have lacey eyelets on the cuffs, and her shiny brown hair has been curled and tied back with ribbons that match her dress. Little white gloves cover her little white hands, and she has a small clutch purse tucked in her elbow, just long enough to hide her wand. "Hello!" she beams when she shows up at the door, her mother in tow, dressed like a well-to-do Muggle mother out for a day of shopping. "Hello," Mrs. Harper echoes her daughter.
Briar is a very huggy friendly sort of person when she's not dealing with Purists! So Oscar is given a hug when she takes his hat and then Josie is given a hug too. "Thanks for coming! come on in and get cozy. Help yourself to the food and stuff. Elise you look adorable!" Briar gives the little Mud Club member a hug as well and then reaches out to shake Mrs. Harper's hand. "Welcome Mrs. Harper. Thank you for coming and letting Elise come. Make yourself comfortable."
Oscar looks surprised, yet pleasantly so, at the sudden hug, giving her an arm back. "Thanks! How's your summer been?" He may not know Briar well, but she's a prefect and thus recognizable. He keeps an ear open as he approaches the table and grabs something to drink and eyes the foodstuffs with a stern gaze. Clearly choosing what to eat first is serious business for this Hufflepuff. He finally decides on something crackery and eats it, looking pleased. As Elise enters, he perks up, looking around for the younger girl with a broad smile that is genial, if not slightly dopey.
Josie blinks at the hugging as well, but returns it with a smile. "Thanks." She steps further in towards the food too, but she pauses to look back as Elise arrives, waving to her fellow pirate with a cheerful smile, saying again, "Hi."
"Oh, thank you!" Elise gushes, giving Briar's hug back warmly. "You look smashing!" Mrs. Harper murmurs something pleasant and gives Briar a friendly handshake, and then goes in search of other adults to mingle with. Elise spies Oscar and bounces over to him. "Hello!" she chimes in. "I didn't know you would be here! That's fantastic! Josie, hello!" Hurrah for parties! "You look so pretty. Come look at this table!" She gestures at all the delicious snacks laid out, all a-twitter.
Briar peeks out the door to the street and not seeing anyone near or recognizable she closes the door and put the things she's gathered in the coat room. Mrs. Harper is shown into the side parlor, tea room where her parents and older sister are all having tea. It's very well known that they are un-vetted muggles. Which is why it's a must that people not get too wizardy in there with them. When Briar returns from the coat room she goes to turn on the radio. She smiles and waits for everyone to get their goodies.
"I didn't know I would be here, either," Oscar says with a chuckle, once his mouth is clear of food (or at least clear enough so as not to be rude), "But it sounded too lovely a thing to pass up on." He looks over at Briar and smiles charmingly, adding, "This is a lovely home you have. I didn't realize you lived so close to myself. I didn't even need to take the Underground." A quick glance is given towards the adults, Oscar looking mildly curious before he turns back to Elise, "Quidditch! Will you be available soon for more practice?"
Being called 'pretty' isn't something Josie is used to, but after an initial blinking she smiles and says, "Thanks. You too." She follows Elise to the table and grabs some snacks quickly. She may be lacking a bit in manners, perhaps snatching up food a bit too fast, but she picks what she wants and then moves to sit down.
"Oh, yes, indeed," Elise says to Oscar. "I was going to ask your around for this Thursday. My brothers will be home and they wanted to join us. It will be ever so much better with four players!" She grabs some snacks just after Josie does and nibbles on something salty. "You play?" she asks the other girl curiously.
(And Mrs. Harper will find common ground with the other women if the conversation turns to gardening, sewing, and child-rearing, and she will keep things decidedly Muggle-ish, so no worries there.)
Briar perks at the talk of Quidditch. "There's a Quidditch game getting put together? Sign me up? If that's alright, don't want to invite myself." She smiles and the puts a few things on her plate.
At the mention of so many more people to play with, Oscar chokes on his drink, just barely stopping it from coming out of his mouth. Once he's got it down, he nods fervently, "Yeah, that'll be great! More people for me to practice against." He looks over at Briar and says, "Elise and I both want to try out for the teams this year, so we've been practicing. I don't think having more people could possibly be a bad idea, right?" He looks sidelong at Elise, obviously wanting her approval to bring anyone else into their time together. "What position do you play, Briar?"
Josie nods quickly to Elise and says, smiling, "Yep! Demetrius has been teaching me to play. He was on the Appleby Arrows. I'm really hoping to get on the Gryffindor team this year too. But I've never got to play with a bunch of people before."
"The more the merrier!" Elise chips in, excited by the prospect. "You… might have to bring your own brooms, though, unless Dad and Mum would let you borrow theirs…" she ponders this for a moment. "We've only got a total of three in the house, and my brothers will bring theirs over on Thursday, which makes five. But Mum is so, er, protective of her broom, I don't know that she'd lend it out. And Dad's is positively ancient. He's had to re-do the charm twice, this year. It keeps sputtering out for some reason." Elise grins at Josie. "I hope you get on, too. You can come over and practice with us if you want!" Everyone has already heard about 1,000 times that Elise wants to try out for Ravenclaw for Seeker or Chaser.
Briar plops down on the couch and starts to nibble on her goodies. "I'm on the reserves. I wanted to let someone younger and more about quidditch to be on the first string. I'm sure you'll get on the team Oscar. I'd try to put in a good word for you with Kaiden, but he's being such a jerk about anything I say lately, it would probably do more harm than good. Demetrius was teaching you Josie!? That's fucking awesome." She does give a little grimace about her language, but she's not at school as a prefect right now so there!
Oscar rolls his eyes at Briar's language as if to say 'Americans, am I right?' but laughs loudly, finding it hilarious. "What position do you go for, Briar?" Puffing up his chest a bit, and smiling slyly as he makes the double entendre he's wanted to make for some time now, "I'm a Keeper." Oscar tucks his thumbs into his suspenders, smiling blithely as if trying to look impressive. After a moment and another laugh, he shrugs and says, "If I'm lucky, Luke will let me play a few games this year. My cousin Conall used to play as the Seeker, so maybe he can give me some tips."
Josie giggles at Briar's language, though it's likely more the fact that it's coming from Briar rather than the language itself making her laugh. She nods quickly and says, "He helped Camilla buy my broom too. A Comet 140." Not the newest of brooms, but she sounds happy with it. She looks to Elise and says, "I didn't bring my broom today, but I can for sure next time."
Elise claps a hand over her mouth and stares wide-eyed at Briar's use of the F-word. She looks absolutely SCANDALIZED, and a blush rises up in her cheeks. She throws a few furtive glances toward the sitting-room door, apparently terrified that her mother might have heard that.
Luckily Miss Blackwell and Briar did enchant the place enough earlier that those in the sitting room can here what's going on in the living room similarly to how the Adults in the Peanuts cartoon sound. No actually words can be made out, just sound and volume.
Oscar sighs and looks at Briar, "So, the Club isn't an official one, right? But you seem to have a degree of approval from faculty, helping to combat all this purist nonsense that's on the rise?" He finds a seat and sips his drink as he folds one leg over the other.
Briar washes down the bite of chocolate puff with some soda and nods to Oscar. "It's just a support group. Where those that are persecuted because of their purity can feel safe. Were they can share their feelings and experiences and anything really. We can talk about Quidditch all party long too if that's what everyone wants to do. I know how it feels to be alone and different, the wizarding community might not see my bronze skin, but it judges me because I don't know what sort of blood runs through my veins. I could be pure-blood, but because my parents that adopted me are muggles, I am considered Muggle-Born by purists. I grew tired of feeling alone and seeing others feel the same way. So the Mud Club is born."
Josie eats a mouthful of snack as she's listening to Briar, and then after swallowing says, "I think it's stupid people think like that anyway. My dad's muggleborn, but but he's a powerful Auror. So powerful that a dark wizard, a pureblood dark wizard I think, kidnapped me just to make him weaker. Didn't work, just made him mad," she adds, before taking another bite.
By degrees, Elise gets over her shock at the curse. "Well, I'm a pureblood," she says. "But it's all stuff and nonsense anyway. Mum says we shouldn't judge people, but Dad says that everyone does it anyway, so it's best to pick something /real/ to judge them about, like how they treat others, and if they're an honest person and whatnot." She nods at what Josie says. "Yes, exactly. Purebloods can be perfectly awful people, and powerful wizards can come from Muggle backgrounds, and don't forget Squibs. Being pureblood doesn't guarantee your children will get a lick of talent. But being good people is what's important."
Nodding in agreement, Oscar shares his heritage as well, "My mum's a pureblood, from the Quinn family, and my dad's a Muggle. He actually runs that little floristry shop a few streets down the way. Mum's family wasn't so much upset as confused that she married a Muggle. But, he's a great man, so they really appreciate him." He seems relaxed as he stares placidly at Josie, "That sounds bad. I remember the report in the papers. You're fine now, though?"
Briar reaches over to give Josie's arm a little supportive sympathetic squeeze. "That's exactly the point. Here in this club there'll be no talk of this person is better than that person. Like Elise says, we focus on good and evil than anything else. We are so glad that things turned out and you're safe." Then for Oscar she swoons, "I love that shop. I had no idea that was your Dad's though. Wow! When I graduate I'm opening up my own shop, two rooms, one for Muggle purchases one for Wizards. I would love to pick your Dad's brain some time."
Josie nods quickly to Oscar and says, "Yep. Dad and Lucian rescued me pretty fast." Lucian's involvement isn't likely well known, however. "And really, the dark wizard was an idiot. He wasn't even all that scary… well, he had dark magic, but really, I've met muggles with knives who were scarier than him with a wand." Josie's just not the kind to admit she was scared. She looks back to Briar then and nods quickly to what she says, "Maybe I'll join next year."
"I should visit," Elise says, referring to Oscar's father's shop. She smiles at Briar, too. "You can talk to my Dad if you want - he's got a stationary shop in Diagon Alley. Quills and Other Thrills," she says. She gives Josie and admiring look. "You're so brave," she says. "I would have been scared to death."
Oscar nods appreciatively at Briar's comment, "Yeah, Foxhall's Florists, right down there. Dad runs the flower shop while mum keeps her own special garden upstairs and writes articles for Witch Weekly. Sometimes her pieces get into Practical Potioneer, too. Plants are something of a thing in our family." He chuckles and nods to Elise's comment, "Her father's shop is lovely, as well." As Josie comments on the ineptitude of her assailant he sighs, "Well, a Muggle with a knife can be just as dangerous as a wizard with a wand. It's their intent that matters."
Josie nods quickly in agreement with Oscar, and says seriously, "Yeah. It's in the eyes. Like Pringle." She looks back to Elise then and shrugs a bit, "I guess." She quiets, though, as she looks between the others at the talk of shops.
Briar looks stunned about Lucien's involvement. There's a moment where she's just staring wide eyed. But she quickly makes herself recover and clears her throat. For fear of sounding like she's proud of Lucian she opts to just not touch the subject. "You can join any time you like, Josie. Right now even. It's not an official Hogwarts club. Least not yet."
Oscar nods with an empty expression for a moment, as if not quite paying attention, "Angry man, that Pickle. If anyone could use some Hufflepuffing, it's him." He sighs and looks over at Briar, "Unofficial clubs are great, you don't have to feel guilty about skipping a meeting to study."
Josie blinks, and says, "Oh, yeah. Brilliant. Alright, then, I'm in." She looks to Oscar and blinks, "You'd skip a club meeting to study? I only do that when I'm waaay behind on homework."
Briar chuckles. "Hufflepuffing? Seriously Oscar?" The chuckle has turned into a laugh. "Yeah, Pringle's just got a Hitler-esque idea of who's good for the school. The man has a hard-on for discipline. All about the honor and integrity of the school. I get that he wants everyone to feel a sense of respect and honor for Hogwarts. But the man's got to realize is he's dealing with kids not soldiers." While she talks she's grabbing a small journal out of her pocket ad writing Josie's name down as a member. With a proud smile she turns the book so Josie can see her name among the others. "Welcome to the Mud Club then."
"I enjoy all my classes, and plan to keep my grades up. I wouldn't skip a meeting just for idle studying, but if I really needed it, I would. Like for O.W.L.s or something." Oscar shrugs and sips his soda some more, gesturing abstractly to Briar's notebook, making a "Mmm!" sound and pointing at himself. Once he's swallowed and cleared his throat he says, "Yeah, me too. I'd like to be a member, too. And yes, I'm serious. That man needs the Hufflepuff philosophy more than anyone I've ever met. He's hard-working, sure; but patient or kind?" He leaves the question dangling, as if it proves his point.
Briar puts the book on her knee again and clearly writes Oscars name as well. "There you go, welcome to the Mud Club Oscar! You can study during the meeting too, like I said, this club is about support. If that means we all stand in a line between a bully and his victim, or we help someone get a better grade because they are floundering. The Mud club is about support and acceptance."
Josie looks to the book and smiles, "Thanks." She then nods quickly and says, "I'll definitely help stand against bullies." Then she adds, "Pringle likes hurting people, too. Can see it in him. The way he looks. I know that look, know people like that from before. Honouring the school's just his excuse."
"That's why it's great to have friends!" Oscar chimes in, a smile full of naivete. "And if anyone needs Herbology help, I've always gotten top marks," he says to Briar before responding to Josie, "Maybe he'll retire soon, so everything can be solved non-confrontationally."