Tao, Mimi, Callum. What a weird group of names, but it matched the weird group of kids he found himself surrounded by (they all had a little bit different accents too, which in a way, made Max feel better). The boy still looked a little wary as he tried to figure out how he fit into these new dynamics. Mostly because he’d never seen anyone quite like them before, each quite different in their own way.
But Tao was laughing a little at what he said, and it seemed to get a loudand adorable reaction from the girl, and both these things in turn made Max feel a little more chipper. Finally some of the tension started to ebb out from his tight shoulders. He even straightened up in his seat some, blinking his eyes alert. Tao asked him if he was hungry again, and Mimi whined something about not being related to Cal and about quidditch team names he didn’t recognize at all (his grandpa just liked Kesterals, so that’s all he knew).
Though he should know better than to let his guard down so soon, because the girl now pelted him with a thinly veiled threat while his brain was still busy trying to catch up with how fast she said stuff. But his ears perked at lighting something on fire, and his heart started to pound. Was the test of their magic skill in the form of a little girl?
“I don’t want to fight,” he replied hastily, brusquely. It was true. Besides how nervous he felt, he was sick of fighting, and a little worried about the chokey at Hogwarts being way worse than the one at the orphanage. His stomach grumbled, too, as if an on-cue reminder that he was too nervous to eat much this morning and he really needed to make sure he didn’t get in trouble and miss supper today.
“I’m Max,” he turned to say this to Tao, because the girl was already face-first against the glass clamoring for some snack cart, and Cal he decided he would rather just ignore. That boy looked more annoyed at his comment than Mimi did, and the cat he held onto gave him a mean look too.
“Um, sure I’m hungry. But I didn’t bring money so. I can wait until school.” He did have some money, actually - Tom and Becks picked through their own pockets and between them gave him a few bronze bits covered in lint. But he knew he probably wasn’t likely to get anymore soon. So he wanted to hang on to it. Eventually he’d have a voyage to pay for going to Italy, after all.
But Tao was laughing a little at what he said, and it seemed to get a loud
Though he should know better than to let his guard down so soon, because the girl now pelted him with a thinly veiled threat while his brain was still busy trying to catch up with how fast she said stuff. But his ears perked at lighting something on fire, and his heart started to pound. Was the test of their magic skill in the form of a little girl?
“I don’t want to fight,” he replied hastily, brusquely. It was true. Besides how nervous he felt, he was sick of fighting, and a little worried about the chokey at Hogwarts being way worse than the one at the orphanage. His stomach grumbled, too, as if an on-cue reminder that he was too nervous to eat much this morning and he really needed to make sure he didn’t get in trouble and miss supper today.
“I’m Max,” he turned to say this to Tao, because the girl was already face-first against the glass clamoring for some snack cart, and Cal he decided he would rather just ignore. That boy looked more annoyed at his comment than Mimi did, and the cat he held onto gave him a mean look too.
“Um, sure I’m hungry. But I didn’t bring money so. I can wait until school.” He did have some money, actually - Tom and Becks picked through their own pockets and between them gave him a few bronze bits covered in lint. But he knew he probably wasn’t likely to get anymore soon. So he wanted to hang on to it. Eventually he’d have a voyage to pay for going to Italy, after all.
![[Image: Kc9h1cI.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Kc9h1cI.png)
magical set by mj <3
~ Max was raised in Italy and talks with a bit of an Italian accent / misses some English vocab/slang.