Blankest year // OPEN

[brandonnott]

~outfit~

It was a fairly busy day at Diagon Alley, probably because it was not long before Hogwarts would start and students were still getting their textbooks last minute. Brandon had begun to wonder why he didn't just stop by a wizarding book store in Hogsmeade. Then again, nothing could quite beat Flourish and Blotts.

Today, Brandon was looking for a good book on philosophy. He had read quite a few things by muggles such as Nietzsche and Sartre, but not very much from wizards. His fingers skimmed the shelves, stopping at a particularly large book with faded gold lettering and plucked it off the shelf. It was titled The Philosophy of the Mundane: Why muggles prefer not to know. It had been published in 1963, so it was a pretty old book... but then again, so were most philosophy texts. Brandon started flipping through it, trying to decide whether or not to buy it.

[samantha ellen lichtscheidl]

It was that time of year again; Back to school. Time to purchase new books and fresh materials. It wasn't really something Samantha looked forward to every year, but it wasn't necessarily a hassle, either. The only problem she would have would be getting so caught up at a store that she would end up buying things she really didn't need. It's not like it mattered, though, since she felt as if she had an unlimited supply of money. That's how it seemed when you came from such a wealthy pureblooded family.

Sam had finally found herself in Flourish and Blotts, since it was time again to get those books. Today was the last day she had scheduled to go shopping, and the days before she had managed to purchase everything else. So, she came in empty handed, except for her white hand purse. She enjoyed reading quite a bit, so she found herself wandering the aisles, scanning the titles of random books. It wasn't like she was in any sort of hurry to get anywhere, right? She glanced over at the person she found herself next to as he took a book from the shelf and opened it, skimming through the pages. She managed to get a look at the title.

"If that book has anything to do with muggles, it's going to be a lousy read," she stated dryly, feeling as if she was being helpful to the older boy. It wasn't like she hid that fact that she had a huge disliking for muggles. She even avoided taking Muggle Studies, at all costs. She also preferred to not speak with muggle-borns, and frankly thought muggles were a bunch of idiots, "They're just extremely unintelligent creatures," she continued, as if not caring if she happened to offend the boy, "That's really the only reason the whole lot of them haven't discovered magic, even though it's right under their noses."

ATTIRE

[/color] herez! CREDIT SAM !? NOTES sam was in need of postage xP. [/center][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[brandonnott]

~outfit~

Brandon looked up... er, down... to see a young Hogwarts-bound girl, likely Slytherin or Ravenclaw based on her attitude. He raised an eyebrow. Cute. She would have been more his type had she not been so young. And, well, had he not been engaged in an arranged marriage to Bethany Dalton.

"They are quite primitive, yes," he started, closing his book one-handed with a snap "but that doesn't make them less interesting. I mean, early cavemen were stupid, but that doesn't keep people from writing books about them, does it?" he chuckled.

His fingers ran up and down the spine of the book. "It was published in the sixties. That's in my grandparents' time." he said with a slight tone of disgust. "Probably extremely out of date. In fact, all this was probably ground-breaking information at the time." he shook his head and shelved the book, placing it back where he had found it.

He then turned to the girl who for some reason still stood before him. "So let me guess. Seventh year at Hogwarts, Slytherin... or Ravenclaw... or you just graduated." His fiance was a recent graduate from Slytherin, so Brandon figured that if she was as well, he had no excuse. If she was younger, though, he could write her off as too young.

[samantha ellen lichtscheidl]

Surprisingly enough, this boy actually had a point. Damn, she wasn't a big fan of that. She liked being right most of the time. At least, from the sound of it, he wasn't a complete muggle-lover. Those people bothered her. What did they find so fascinating about muggles in the first place? There was really nothing interesting about them in the slightest. Then again, she wasn't too educated on muggles, being as she strayed away from that sort of education. She just found them different, abnormal, and she didn't like that sort of thing, "I supposed that makes sense," she began, "In a way, they are fascinating. I mean, it's hard to understand how anyone can really survive without magic," she added. That didn't make them worth learning about, though, did it? She didn't like the thought of wasting her time with that.

Sam hadn't quite realized the book was that old. More like ancient, in her mind. There were probably several books in this store around that age. Why keep a book around that long, if it really wasn't that valuable? Someone could have easily come up with more recent information on the topic, and published another book, so no point in keeping that one around, right? "It's strange, what some people have the interest in researching, so much to even write a book about it," she thought aloud. She shrugged slightly, feeling there was no point in dwelling on that topic. She could never possibly waste her time researching something such as muggles.

Well, he was pretty close, she had to give him props for that. Did she really look old enough to have just graduated? Hm, that was a compliment, in her eyes. She was also glad that he seemed to think she'd be a Slytherin. He probably got that from her attitude. She had always wondered why she hadn't been placed in Slytherin, "Ravenclaw, yes. I'm going to be a sixth year, but close enough," she replied, "The name's Samantha, by the way," she added, deciding it was best if she introduced herself. He was quite handsome, but seemed slightly older than a seventh year. Or maybe not, "What about you? Just graduated?" she asked curiously. Perhaps he was 'cool' enough to have been in Slytherin, or was in Slytherin, whichever it might be. She had more respect for those in Slytherin and Ravenclaw, but truly loathed Gryffindors. Hufflepuffs, she usually didn't have a problem with. More like indifference.

ATTIRE

[/color] herez! CREDIT SAM !? NOTES nanana. [/center][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[brandonnott]

~outfit~

Brandon nodded. "Yeah. They have all these complex little contraptions that are supposed to make up for the fact that they don't have magic. Like cars instead of portkeys and apparition." he said. Some muggle technology was different from anything wizards had, like little boxes that played music and other boxes that made instruments like guitars play louder and differently sounding... you just attach the box to your guitar and the music comes out of the box.

"Yeah..." he said when she mentioned that some people were interested in strange things. "I've seen huge books written about small, unusual, seemingly boring things. Like a bug or something." he shrugged. "Some people like going into great detail, I guess."

"Sixth year?" He raised his eyebrows. "You're mature for your age, then." Actually, the fact that she was a sixth year didn't surprise her. He just knew that girls her age always wanted to seem older and more mature than they really were... although he had to admit, if she were to have introduced herself as a seventh year, he would have believed her.

He chuckled when she asked if he had just graduated. "I'm a few years out of Hogwarts, actually. I was a Slytherin. Now I'm training to be an auror." he shrugged. "Seems like the learning never ends sometimes. Not that I particularly mind." It was funny, now that he realized it, Brandon was a Slytherin with Ravenclaw traits, and Samantha was a Ravenclaw with Slytherin traits.

"Oh, and my name's Brandon. Brandon Nott." he introduced himself finally.

[samantha ellen lichtscheidl]

Samantha had heard of some of the odd things muggles used, sure, but she had never felt the need to investigate them further. She didn't know what many of their devices looked like, or what they did. All she knew was that they had to go through so much more trouble, making and using silly little tools, just because they didn't have magic. Obviously they were a lesser breed, and the wizards and witches of this world should work together to get rid of them. They didn't belong. They deserved to have a pure world to live in. Then again, she didn't voice these thoughts aloud often, because not very many people agreed with her at all, "They're just so confusing. No point in wasting my time studying that subject, anyway," she shrugged, referring to muggles in general.

"I wonder how on earth they make any sort of money off of that. Who would read their books, anyway?" she shook her head with a small laugh of pity at the strange folk who wasted their time writing books that were on topics that no one really cared about, and sometimes made no sense. What a pointless hobby to have, "I hope they know they're wasting their time," she added with another small shake of her head as she scanned the shelves once more. She wasn't really looking for anything in particular anymore, just anything that managed to catch her eye.

She couldn't help but smirk when he commented on her being more mature than her age. She would occasionally get that comment from adults, "Well.. thank you," she replied slowly. She was never really any good when it came to thanking people for anything. It was just awkward to her. She also felt strange when she was complimented, since it wasn't often she was complimented by someone other than an adult, and she considered what he had said a compliment, "Ah, a former Slytherin. Well, that's good to hear," she responded. She would have been disappointed if he had been a Gryffindor. She really did despise Gryffindors, "Oh, an auror? Well that's.. fancy," she commented. She knew it was very difficult to become an auror, so she had to give him props for that, "Good luck with that," she added. She really wasn't sure what she had planned for her future, but she knew it probably wouldn't be in that department. She respected the dark arts, so maybe there was something down that path.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Brandon," she replied honestly. She actually did think he was an intelligent being, and she was actually enjoying his company, which was quite rare for her. She normally disliked people in general, "Did you come here for anything specific? Or were you just browsing?" she asked him with a raised brow.

ATTIRE

[/color] herez! CREDIT SAM !? NOTES noooone. [/center][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[brandonnott]

~outfit~

Brandon shrugged when Samantha mentioned that Muggle Studies was pointless. "Fair enough. I never really bothered to take the class. Didn't interest me as much as, say Arithmancy." he told her. His knowledge of muggles came from the books he read and conversations with his father, who at times seemed to know everything about everything.

He shrugged when Samantha wondered aloud who read those books anyway. "Probably only people who are experts enough on the subject anyway." he said. "I mean, sure there are a lot of interesting things to study, but conversely, there are a lot more uninteresting things to study, you know? And I'd rather study something useful like spells than trivia on the three-toed sloth or something. I mean, sloths don't have any magical properties, and my chances of ever seeing one are slim." He shook his head. Some animals that muggles were aware of, like frogs, had magical properties. A sloth was not one of them. Brandon wasn't a fan of sloths. They never did anything.

He nodded his 'your welcome' when she thanked him awkwardly for the compliment, then smiled when she appeared impressed that he was an ex-Slytherin auror-in-training. "Thanks." he said simply when she said good luck. "It's tough, but you learn a lot doing it." He paused. "Have you thought about what you want to do after Hogwarts?" She was a sixth year, so she had to have at least considered potential careers. After all, Brandon had known he wanted to be an auror since before his fourth year.

"Oh I'm just browsing." he said when she asked. "Flourish and Blotts is one of the more well-stocked wizarding book stores I've seen, so I prefer coming here to the book stores in Hogsmeade and elsewhere in London." he told her. "I've finished reading all the books I own, so I've been looking for something else to read. It's odd not being in the middle of a book, because usually I'm in the middle of one or two at a time."