January 3rd, 1891 — Ravenclaw Dorms

Elon was glad to be back. Home was boring. His father was busy with his research, his mother with her social events and Judith with climbing up the ranks at the Ministry. At some point he went to the country estate they spent all of their Christmas dinners at and stayed there on his own (and the staff, that is). At least he could see his friends, that had made the days pass faster.

In a week's time, he'd be complaining about how boring some class or another was but until then, he was happy to be back.

"Chatham!" Elon greeted. The fellow fifth year was the first housemate he'd come across when he entered the dorms. "How were the holidays?"

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Addison Chatham

  

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Addison was attempting to savour his last semester at school. It seemed as though the autumn months had gone so quickly, and it was already January. His mother hadn't been able to fix the hole in the sleeve of his robe, so it remained, albeit tinier.

Admittedly, when they first met, Addison wasn't sure what to think of Wildsmith. Scratch that, he was still not sure what to think of Wildsmith. It seemed like he was always bored by something, for whatever reason, and besides that there was the great class difference to consider.

Still, he'd been attending etiquette class long enough to know that it was considered rude to ignore people and he didn't really feel like ignoring him, anyways. Sometimes it was rather enjoyable to talk to others, and Addison was always a fan of becoming better friends.

"Wildsmith! They were fine. My sister came 'round for Christmas," Addison said, smiling. It wasn't often she stopped by, and it had been a nice surprise.

"What about you?"

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"It was nice! Family dinners and such," Elon replied. He was aware that Mr. Chatham wasn't of the same class as him, so he omited the details of luxurious meals and country estates. Chatham's family had probably feasted on a skinny chicken, or whatever it was that poorer families had for Christmas.

"Did you get a lot of studying done for our OWLs?" he continued with the next most appropriate topic for small talk.

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Addison nodded. Rich people did seem to have a lot of fancy dinners and feasts. His sister had worked as a domestic servant and apparently even their scraps were rather enjoyable.

"When I could. Sometimes I had to help out my parents," Addison shrugged. He often made it home when it was beginning to get dark, and so it was difficult to read his textbooks, the only school-related books in the house, by candlelight.

"Astronomy's been giving me some trouble. Who needs to look at stars, anyways?"

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Elon liked Astronomy -- sometimes. He had enjoyed it in his first year in particular because they got to be up all night. He still enjoyed looking at the sky with his telescope but found reading pages upon pages of theory mundane.

"Truth," Elon agreed with a nod. He assumed that Chatham needed a good grade in Astronomy if he was to return to Hogwarts, though. "Which classes are you picking on a NEWT level?"

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Addison expected this. NEWT classes did seem decidedly interesting, and he felt it was a shame that he would have to miss out on them. He knew a majority of his classmates were sticking around, which made it all the more unfortunate that he was not.

"I won't be staying for NEWTs," he said. Best to get that out of the way. He was sure most of his classmates might've suspected or already heard it from himself, "I heard that Alchemy promises to be rather interesting, though, provided you're fair enough at Potions."

It was a subject that, given the chance, Addison would gladly take. Potions was a fascinating subject, after all, so Alchemy must also be rather interesting

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Elon got a sunking feeling to his chest.

"That's a shame," Elon replied. At times like this, he felt really guilty for his privilege. That being said, having OWLs was better than having nothing at all. There were plenty of career paths one could pursue with just OWLs. Perhaps Chatham could find a nice position at the Ministry, move up the ranks, and in time make something of himself?

"Yes, Alchemy does sound very fascinating," Elon agreed. "And nothing's stopping you from learning about it on your own... I mean, the first alchemists of the ancient times didn't have Hogwarts to teach them the art."

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"Yeah," Addison said, not sure what else to add. He hated that he wouldn't get to stay as many of his classmates would, no matter what his parents said about richer students dropping out after OWLs, too. He was lucky to get this far, and if it had been in the years before they introduced the scholarships he would've been out of luck.

"You're right about that, I suppose, though I don't feel I'm, well, that interested in the whole thing." Addison shrugged. Not interested enough, anyways, to go seek out a master alchemist and beg for apprenticeship, though in a different field it did seem appealing to him, though he would do anything for a bit more time to learn just a little bit more

"You get to stay, yeah? Anything you're interested in taking?" Addison said.

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Elon felt bad for Chatham. Perhaps he'd be one of those star students and score all Os on his OWLs and get to stay on a scholarship? That possibility made Elon feel less guilty of his privilege.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, most certainly," Elon replied. It was his favourite subject and the one he was consistently good at. With the others... It would depend on how he did on that day, he supposed. "Then, I suppose whatever sticks out to me when it is time to pick my courses."

"And what about you? What are your career plans?"

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Addison nodded. He was okay at Defense Against the Dark Arts, though he didn't get the appeal at launching spells at each other like they apparently did in Duelling Club. He wasn't very good at that part of DADA, anyways.

"Ministry, provided I can get the proper OWLs," Addison said, "Not sure which department, yet. Any suggestions?" He threw out the last question as a bit of a joke. He doubted that Wildsmith knew much more about the Ministry than he did. Addison was still trying to figure out who he could owl about what he could actually do with his OWLs.

There was really no point in saying what he really wanted to do, which was become a Healer. He doubted his parents would let him continue to attend school, and by now he had mostly given up on that hope. School supplies weren't cheap, regardless of scholarships. And OWLs, as his father said, were perfectly respectable.

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"Um, the transportation one?" Elon offered. He didn't know exactly how his government worked. He knew the transportation department well because it was the one his father's company got to deal with the most. There was an office dedicated to the Floo Network alone.

"If you're interested I could ask my father if he could pull any strings to get you in the Floo Network Authority?" Elon suddenly offered. It wouldn't be anything for a Wildsmith to accomplish that, though there was a high chance his father wouldn't bother going through that effort for some random housemate of his son's.

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Transportation. That sounded like something Addison could handle, though a bit boring. He wasn't sure exactly how many departments were in the Ministry, so it was something he would have to look into. He just didn't want to be an Auror, which didn't look like an option anyways.

He was a little shocked to hear Wildsmith's offer. He didn't ordinarily think of wealthier kids his age as the helpful type, and besides that generally expected things to go wrong. He was hesitant to accept, though, as he had always been taught to be mostly self-sufficient.

"You think you could?" There really was some benefit to staying around longer, as well as OWLs, Addison had more opportunity to get on the good side of people with connections, though he had never really thought about it like that until now, "That would be...very helpful."

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"Sure," Elon replied. He didn't usually go out of his way to get his classmates hired in the Ministry, but since he had offered, he could write his father. He didn't have anything to lose. If anything, if Chatham did get a job at the Floo Network Authority, he'd owe him. The Wildsmiths had been buying out that department for years.

He extended his hand in a handshake, smiling at the other boy.

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Addison hesitantly accepted the other boy's handshake, though he was concerned about what exactly it could mean for him to have someone else help him into a position, rather than earning it himself. Security would always be nice, though, and it wasn't something he had experienced a lot of. He nodded his head anyways.

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