alchemical blurb

[mswoods]

The following day, Sadde has Transfiguration in the morning.

She is all over it at lunch.

"Okay, so, Transfig is just about the coolest thing," she says first thing to the Ravenclaws as soon as she sits at the table.

Comments

[mrwoods]

He grins. "Yay, charts!"

[msmaxwell]

"That's the nerdiest conversation I've ever heard and I'm from a family of prodigies, I've heard some pretty nerdy conversations."

[pleating]

"What are they prodigies at?" Karen asks.

[msmaxwell]

"My 17-year-old sister is an international fencing champion, my 15-year-old brother got into Yale on a maths scholarship last year, the twins are 13 and they're musicians, my grandpa was a UN ambassador, and dad works at CERN," she recites as if she's said that hundreds of times, completely oblivious to the magical nature of the audience and its relationship with the muggle institutions mentioned.

[mrwoods]

Sadde whistles slowly.

[pleating]

"What's a UN ambassador? ...And CERN? And Yale."

[chanuphis]

"Muggle International Confederation, Yale's a university... I don't know CERN either."

[msmaxwell]

"Oh! Yeah, those things, and CERN is this particle physics research facility, and erm, particle physics is..." She stops, apparently at a loss on how to explain particle physics to a witch.

[mrwoods]

"They study the rules that govern how the world works, at a very very very very very very very very small scale, like so small humans can't even wrap our heads around it."

[pleating]

"Thennnn how does anybody study them?"

[mrwoods]

"Erm, I dunno. I think there's something about throwing stuff at other stuff really fast and then measuring the results and figuring out if this makes sense when you suppose this or that particle was involved...?"

[msmaxwell]

She nods. "Yes, that!"

[pleating]

"...I'll just take your word for it."

[mrwoods]

They both grin.

"Anyway, it's kind of a really big deal to work there, I think, 'cause only the very best physicists do, and to be a physicist in the first place you need to be really really smart and good at maths."

[pleating]

"Huh. Okay."

[mrwoods]

Food!

[msmaxwell]

Yes, food!

[mrwoods]

No good operational ideas are suggested for the rest of the day. Classes, then food, then classes, then more food happen, and it's bed time.

Sadde decides mingling in the Common Room might not be the very best of ideas. He goes to his room instead, alone.

[alicornucopia]

Presently:

Elf. A different elf, watery-eyed and red-nosed.

"Mr. Sadde is wishing to speak to Winky?"

[mrwoods]

He's less surprised by her. "Hello, Winky! It's nice to meet you," he says, a bit more cheerfully than he's feeling. Suddenly the 'talks about feelings all the time' has a whole new context.

[alicornucopia]

"Turvy is saying that Mr. Sadde will," sniff, "want to hear about how Winky was dismissed by Mr. Crouch. More than the other elves is wanting to hear it, she says."

[mrwoods]

"Erm. Something like that," he says, wondering what can of worms he has just opened.

[alicornucopia]

Winky promptly starts bawling. There are intelligible words in it. "Mr. Crouch was needing Winky! He was trusting Winky to look after Master Barty and W-Winky was a bad elf and now they is both dead and Winky cannot ever ever go home! Should have been trying harder and not been afraid of heights, should have been keeping Master Barty safe all along from those bad wizards, Winky failed Mistress and Mr. Crouch and Master Barty all three!"

[mrwoods]

Sadde looks over his shoulder to make sure no one's gonna walk into his room to see the whole... thing.

"It's okay, Winky! Erm. Can you tell me about what you're feeling, though? Like, less what you did, more what's actually going on inside?"

[alicornucopia]

Sob! "W-winky was not good enough! Winky loved her family and was not good enough for them!"