|
 I'd like to address the rumors: It's true, it's true, I'm from America. My family's run a tobacco farm in Adamsburg--that's near Lexington, Commonwealth of Kentucky--for over 300 years now. I'm glad to spend the year as an exchange student at Hogwarts, but this boy's always gonna long for his old Kentucky home. But yes, I am also a vampire. The Sutton clan has been spreading the darkness through the Bluegrass Region since my grandpappy first set up shop in a Native American burial ground so many centuries ago, or so the family legend goes. I sustain myself on pigs' blood, cows' blood, and the like; I've actually never drank human blood, the family realizing a while back that murdering people attracts more attention than it's worth. (Not that it doesn't still happen, mind, just that I've never been involved.) The family's also developed various protection charms, so as long as I'm wearing this amulet I can walk in the sun and handle holy symbols without issue, though looking around here I don't think the latter half's going to be much of an issue. Vampires always have some degree of magic, of course, but I found I was rather gifted for spellcraft and took to it like a hog in mud, so when I was 12 I was sent off to the prestigious Lions Academy near Atlanta to get a proper wizardy education. I'd say I've been good but not great, but the Sutton name still goes a long way, so I'm proud to be accepted for this exchange program. I hope I represent the US--and vampires--quite favorably. It's true what they say, though: England is another country, and there's been a bit of trouble adjusting. The talking hat put me in Slytherin, but I think maybe just cause I'm a creature of the night; I don't really get along with my bunkmates. They seem to always be sneaking and scheming, and I can get enough of that from my kin in Adamsburg if I wanted it. (And when they realized that as a vampire I actually had zero wizard blood in me, hoo boy. I don't think I really cut the tension when I added, "Well, none yet." Meant as a joke, but, uh...) I seem to do better with the Ravenclaws; we all just want to be the best wizards we can be. I can't complain about all of the attention I've been getting, though. I don't know if it's the accent, my vampire allure, or just the fact that I'm the first new person these folk have met in six years, but I do seem to be catching some eyes. Vampire-human romance is a bit of a taboo, least back home, so I've tried to keep things light, but it don't mean I can't have some fun. quote:Beauregard Sutton, the Neighbor Tell me about one of your classes. I signed up for Flying. Don't look at me like that; I know the class is supposed to be first-years only, and yes it is me and a bunch of 11-year-olds, but I've never had a chance to use a broomstick before. My people ain't supposed to need 'em, and they stopped teaching it at Lions a few years back cause of all the injuries. I'm not good at flying, not at all, but man is it fun. Tell me about a secret you've discovered at Hogwarts. I don't want to get anyone in trouble, so please don't spread this around, but not the only vampire on campus. The Potions professor, Sangforth, also bares the Mark of Cain. We recognize our own. She took me aside in private to assure me that the Headmaster was aware and that they had an arrangement, but that the campus might throw a fit if it became public knowledge. I never did get a chance to confirm this with the Headmaster, though. Tell me about another student that's significant to you -- for good or ill. Most of the students here got used to having a vampire among them pretty quick, but they don't always like it. The worst is this girl from Gryffindor (did I say that right?), Lenora Ravishwood. She fancies herself a monster hunter and thinks I'm hatching some kind of evil plot to, I don't know, convert the school or get the Headmaster in my thrall, or something like that. I've tried to assure her that no, I really am just as I appear, but she won't listen. She started sleeping with garlic under her pillow, which can't be fun for the other people in her room.
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2015 06:30
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 11:14 |
|
|
Rauri posted:First Questions First, there's all the little differences you'd expect going cross the ocean. There's different words for things, like "jumper" instead of "sweater" or "muggle" instead of "mundane", and it's disappointing not knowing anyone else who follows baseball or quodpot. I'm still not sure I understand the currency, but I think when the Veela I met at Hogsmeade station offered sixty Galleons for my hundred Eagles, I was taken for a ride. One thing that wasn't an issue, thankfully, is jet lag; being nocturnal in Kentucky is close enough to being awake during the day in Hogwarts that I didn't have any problem adjusting. Really, the biggest adjustment is the bedroom situation. Hogwarts was kind enough to provide a coffin and even allow me to fill it with some real Kentucky soil, but in truth I've never had a roommate before, let alone a dozen. (Even at Lions Academy, a very charitable donation from my parents was enough to ensure I got one of the coveted single rooms.) I don't know how the other wizards can stand it. There's no privacy, so people are always snooping by when I'm, say, trying to write a letter to my folks back home, and I hate to imagine how I look before I've performed my morning ablutions. People in my room also have a nasty habit of slipping off their shoes with the laces still tied, and I just can't focus on anything until I get a chance to undo those knots. Huh, looking back over what I wrote, I guess the real big difference is that the Sutton clan isn't here to help me out or give me a leg up. I think that's a positive, though; maybe I'll finally show my kin that I can do perfectly well on my own, without them always watching my back. Not that I'm not grateful for the assistance, but as one of my cousins explained it to me once, the Suttons like doing you favors while your young so you feel like you owe them when you're old, and of course our folk spend a lot longer in the second category than the first. The general reaction from the other students here seems to be a calculated indifference. The Headmaster must've told everyone before I got here that wizards and vampires are not enemies and that I should be treated like anyone else. Most students don't want to confront me, at least not anytime an authority figure's around, but I do get a number of stares when they think I'm not looking, or whispered conversations they think I can't here. (Preternatural hearing's one of the boons of my heritage. The better to hunt with, but people get cagey when you mention that part.) I am getting tired of answering questions about how I became a vampire though. I always say the same thing: "My mother was a vampire, and my father was also a vampire, and if you don't know what happened next it's not my place to tell you." The rituals of converting a mortal to a revenant are very well known, but they also tend to attract attention when, say, the hardware store owner is suddenly pale and gaunt and only goes out at night. These days, we find it easier to blend in if we stick to swelling our ranks the old-fashioned way. (In the States, at least. I've heard tell that in the old country, vampires are a bit...less concerned with avoiding attention, shall we say.) My first thought was to say that Lenora Ravishwood, who I've discussed previously, clearly hates me, but that doesn't seem quite right. She's afraid of me, though she'll loudly tell you she isn't, on some level I think she's glad I'm here. Now she gets to play Van Helsing to a real vampire, when from what I've heard before the only "monster" she ever slew was a housecat that had not, it seems, ever transformed into a terrifying beast in the light of a full moon. I think that one of the seventh-year Slytherin prefects, Ophidia Unger, really does hate me, but she'll never quite say it outright. She always takes a harsh line with me, and has docked me house points a few times for minor transgressions, such as having my shirt untucked or leaving my coffin open during the day. I know she's been cultivating a reputation for her prowess with the Dark Arts and I guess she assumes that I'm going to swoop in and automatically be the "darkest" wizard around. I didn't help matters early on when I came to the conclusion that her animosity was really just sublimated romantic attraction and when we were alone in the hall one night I tried to give her the whole "creatures of the night, what music they make" routine before planting a kiss on what turned out to be very unwilling lips. I think the only reason I didn't lose even more points is that she didn't want to tell anyone else about it. On the other end of the spectrum is a Hufflepuff boy two or three years my junior by the name of Gregory Patch, though he likes to be called "Nighthawk". He paints his fingernails black and likes to sulk around talking about the pain and darkness in the world. His careful attempts at being disaffected can't stand up to the eagerness he has to be my friend, and his "subtle" hints that he dreams of spending eternity as a walking undead are anything but. I try to be nice, but to be honest, that enthusiasm for my way of life kind of gives me the creeps.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 6, 2015 10:20
|
|