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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 11, 2008 14:11:53 GMT -5
"Well, we have a few hunters around that go after them, but other than that there's not really a tight regulation on them. We haven't had a huge problem with them however." Jacob gave a shrug but his look darkened just slightly at the mention of Lord Voldemort. "Yes, he is. The Daily Prophet is making a joke out of the Ministry however. They don't understand that he is going to cause a huge problem. We're trying to stop him, but the thing of it is, we don't know when or where he's going to strike. Several muggles have already been attacked, and there has been a killing of a student at the school. No one has really figured out if it has involved deatheaters or not."
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 11, 2008 14:29:05 GMT -5
"Death eaters?" Cynthia repeated. Of course, she had been briefed about the term before she left on her trip, but she was still curious about its meaning. "So that's what his followers call themselves? Why do they go by that name? Do you have any idea who these people are? Please, forgive me for all the questions, but since I'm new to town, I want to make sure I know what to protect myself against. We don't have things like this happening in Australia."
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 11, 2008 14:52:33 GMT -5
Jacob leaned forward a little bit on the table and rested his elbows on the table. "Yes, Death eaters. I don't really know why exactly they go by the name death eaters. I also don't know who they are individually. In the most recent attacks, they have worn masks and hoods. No one knows just yet. We've been working as hard as we can, however the Daily Prophet has made it slightly harder to work on that." He shook his head. Things have gotten harder, and Jacob only expected them to get worse.
"Don't apologize about the questions. I don't have a problem in answering them the best I can."
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 12, 2008 10:34:46 GMT -5
“Masks and hoods?” Cynthia said, frowning. “It sounds like they’re pretty cowardly, to do those kinds of things and hide their faces. And is it true that they’re mostly going after muggleborn wizards and witches?”
Being muggleborn herself, Cynthia was particularly sensitive about such things. She had grown up in Germany, where blood purity was just as important to some people as it was in England. There were not many muggleborns admitted into Durmstrang; she had been one of the only ones. Many others had been forced out of the school out of prejudice. The only reason she had stayed as long as she had was because she was so popular, especially with the boys. It was the only good thing about the attention she received from them.
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 12, 2008 10:59:07 GMT -5
"I know," he replied. "Now they also have a mark in the sky of some kind. I haven't seen it for myself yet. I don't really want to see it, and yes they are after muggleborn witches and wizards." Jacob sighed. "I don't understand how people can strongly hate muggleborns. They're basically the same as pure-bloods. Hell, muggleborns can be even better!" His voice got a little louder. He shook his head. "Sorry," he said realizing that.
"No one knows where they are going to strike, or what person they are going to strike. They're smart and know what they're doing. If the stupid paper would stop hounding the Ministry, maybe we could do our jobs better than what we're doing now. I know that the head auror is swamped with all kinds of work. It's ridiculous. Maybe we can start getting things on the right track and end this chaos before it gets pushed too far."
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 12, 2008 11:09:02 GMT -5
Cynthia couldn't hide the smile at his impassioned defense of muggleborns. In that moment, her opinion of him was set... he was one of the good guys. If she had doubted it before, she didn't anymore. "I'm glad to hear you say that," she said. "I'm muggleborn. Are you, or are you just a strong supporter?"
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 12, 2008 11:27:06 GMT -5
Jacob ran his hands through his hair before he noticed that Cynthia was smiling. Her smile made a gentle one appear on his face. "I'm a very strong supporter," he said. "I guess I'm an odd ball in my family. My brother is not really a supporter, my sister I think is in the middle, and my parents, well I don't really know what they think." He gave a shrug.
"I'm not just saying this just because you're sitting here or anything, but I honestly think that muggleborns are better than pure-bloods. It seems that most pureblood families are so stuck on themselves it's not even funny. If they would just open their eyes and see instead of wanting to keep making clones of themselves and their families go insane because of it, then maybe things would be alright."
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 12, 2008 11:50:34 GMT -5
Cynthia's smile didn't fade. "Well, thank you. It's nice to find someone who's a supporter. In Australia, most wizards are pretty open-minded about muggleborns, but in my travels I've found that's usually not the case. In my experience, anyway, I've noticed that a lot of muggleborns work harder in their studies and in their jobs, while a lot of purebloods tend to be lazy and take their powers for granted. Present company excluded, I'm sure," she added
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 12, 2008 12:54:58 GMT -5
"I've always worked just a hard as the next person because of my current job. I couldn't slack off in school and I had to excel in all my classes. My brother, tended to slack off in school. He was one of those people and would always pick on me because I was always in the library. My brother was in the Slytherin house, and I was in Gryffindor. The houses have always tended to be rivals really." Jacob frowned slightly at the thought of his brother. He didn't understand why his brother was the way he was.
"But," he started, wiping away his frown and turned it back into his gentle smile, "You are correct. I am sorry to tell you that here there are so many closed minded people."
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 12, 2008 16:34:44 GMT -5
Cynthia looked at him a moment, her smile fading to a look of sympathy. “You don’t get along with your brother, do you?” she asked. “Your expression changes when you speak of him. I never had a brother or a sister, but I can’t imagine what it must be like to have one that sees the world so different from the way you do. Your sister… whose side is she on? Are you close to her?”
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 12, 2008 16:48:11 GMT -5
Jacob let the gentle smile he made appear just a second ago, disappear once again. "No, my brother and I don't really get along. Every time we are around each other, we get into some kind of argument over something or another. I guess you can say that Sam and I are complete opposites really." He stratched his head for a moment before continuing. "But my sister is in the middle. I feel really bad for having her in the middle, and I am close to her. I don't want to force her to chose what side she wants to be on. She should be able to make her own decisions."
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 12, 2008 23:32:12 GMT -5
Cynthia smiled. "That's fair," she said. "If you try to force her, she'll only end up resenting you and choosing him just to spite you. The important thing is that she knows you're there for her, no matter what. I bet you're a good brother to her."
"Let's change the subject," she suggested, recognizing that he wasn't exactly comfortable talking about his family. She could sympathize. "You said the paper was making things hard for the ministry. How are they doing that? What are they writing?"
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 12, 2008 23:41:17 GMT -5
Jacob gave Cynthia a grateful look as she changed the subject. "The paper has thrown out there that the Ministry is just making it up that Voldemort is real. They think that we're kidding, but there really is one. People are just going on about their normal lives, which they should because we don't need too much chaos. The head auror has been buried with letters from people. It makes it difficult for us to do our jobs when there are people who just don't believe us and believe everything that the paper says."
He sighed. "I honestly think that people are lacking common sense. After all, there have been random attacks. I don't know who the people think are supposedly attacking people, other than Voldemort."
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 16, 2008 2:45:01 GMT -5
"Sometimes people don't want to believe in that kind of organized evil," Cynthia replied. "It's the reason the Nazis were able to do what they did--they convinced people that the evil was out there and not in their own front yard. This thing with this Lord Voldemort... people would rather believe in a hoax or a lie than believe that someone is out there, killing people for no reason. Well... that's just how I see it, anyway."
She smiled lightly. "Wow... this is a pretty heavy conversation to be having in the middle of a nightclub," she commented. "Do you want to dance for a bit?"
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 16, 2008 9:14:42 GMT -5
He nodded. Cynthia did have a point and he didn't really think of the situation that way. At her smile, Jacob chuckled a little. "Yeah. We're not at work so let's have fun." He ran his hand through his hair before standing up. "I would love to," Jacob said standing by her side, offering her his hand. He had a playful smile playing on his face.
"I promise not to step on your toes."
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 19, 2008 16:42:06 GMT -5
Cynthia smiled. “I’m sure you won’t,” she said in a playful voice. “I wouldn’t say I’m a great dancer, but I have my moments, I suppose. It’s nice to just break loose every once in a while. I don’t get to have a lot of fun.”
She slipped her hand in his and let him lead her out onto the dance floor. Here, she figured, she could get a closer look at some of the regulars, to see if she spotted any suspicious-looking characters. And if she enjoyed dancing with Jacob, well, that would certainly be a bonus.
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 19, 2008 17:07:20 GMT -5
"I'll let you in on a little secret," he said before lowering his voice. "I'm not a world class dancer either." Jacob gave her a grin before he led her to the dance floor. He didn't really dance with many people. It had been awhile since he had danced since he was usually tied up in his work.
He stayed a little close to her, but not too close. Jacob didn't want to give her the idea that he was trying to come on to her like some guys would.
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Nov 22, 2008 13:58:21 GMT -5
"That's OK," she replied. "I'm sure you're not that bad. As long as neither of us falls or anything like that, I'm sure it will be fine." And as long as he kept his hands to himself, she added silently.
They were out on the dance floor and she began to sway her hips to the music. For her, dancing usually mean just sort of swaying her hips. If she got into the music, she would move her arms a little. But she had never been particularly good at moving her feet or following dance steps. The trouble was, when she swayed her hips, it had a tendency to attract men's attention. She couldn't help it... she didn't mean to dance sexy. But men couldn't seem to resist it, and that was why she so often found herself being hit on and groped by strange men.
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Post by Jacob Tanner on Nov 22, 2008 18:36:44 GMT -5
He did keep his hands to himself as they danced. Jacob wasn't going to grope her or anything to make her uncomfortable. He had to admit that Cynthia was dancing attractively, but he was able to hold his self control.
Jacob smiled at her as they danced. He was respectable to everyone, and this was no exception. He moved just slightly closer, but still maintained a distance where he wasn't extremely close to her. He was going to let her chose to do whatever made her comfortable.
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Dec 19, 2008 16:59:13 GMT -5
The more she saw of Jacob, the more she liked him. Cynthia wasn't used to trusting others, especially men, but there was just something about Jacob that drew her in. She wanted to trust him, and it had been a very long time since she'd been able to say that about anyone.
He treated her with respect, like a person, and not like a piece of meat. She would almost venture to say that he was a gentleman. And she'd thought those didn't exist anymore.
They danced for a little while, and she slowly moved closer to him., so they were standing very close to each other, but still not touching. He had her so distracted that she had forgotten her real reason for coming into the club in the first place.
As another song ended, Cynthia pulled back and waved a hand in front of her face. "I'm getting a bit warm, how about you?"
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