Magnus had just started adding a tiny village for mice to be living in when Paddy came up. He hadn't noticed her. His piece of chocolate had melted in his hand--having held it in his palm so he could draw. He swore at the chocolaty mess and started licking his hand clean. Once it was clean he wiped it on his trousers. "Yeah," he replied with a grim voice, "fine. Goin' well ain't it? I didn't even pick anyfing scary. I mean I guess giant spiders are gonna scare some people ain't they? You watch, I pick flobberworms and they'll rampage, I know it."

Paddy thought for a moment before replying, stifling a laugh at the thought of rampaging flobberworms. "You can't help other people's reactions, and you did well keeping control of the session, not letting Mimsy get too frustrated or upset."

He looked up, eyes shinning hopeful--wanting to believe. "I guess. Ope Dad's 'elpin' Mimsy if she need it. I don't wanna 'urt 'er neither. She's family." He put a lot of attention to his drawing, to not let himself break down. Little mouse villagers were now in the scene. Somehow they all looked slightly different--yet terrified at the vampire cats attack. One mouse was holding a little teeny stake in its paw.

Paddy glanced at Magnus' drawing, amazed at the detail he was fitting into those tiny mice, "how can you make each mouse look so different?" she asked, before adding, "is there a were-mouse there too?"

He shrugged. "Lots o' practice I guess. You know there's a person what paints on pinheads? Its amazing to see. Saw one at the museum once." The boy had just finished a little artist mouse, with an easel, teeny tiny pencil and a beret when Paddy asked about a weremouse. He grunted and quickly added in a larger, furrier mouse, with long pointy teeth and a bow on her ear. "There is now." He said with the barest of smiles.

Eirik listened to Merlin talk. He made a lot of sense in what he said, that just because some house elves were happy, doesn't mean they all were. He knew that even though they would never talk bad about their families, doesn't mean they wouldn't appreciate better treatment.

Eirik smiled. "That's nice of you to say, Merlin, about me wanting to protect people. I just never thought it would be met with such...utter resistance. Still, there has to be something that can be done..."

Eirik listened to what Kyros had to say, and nodded. "You are right," he said with a sigh, "that good can be subjective. But still, all beings deserve respect and good treatment. We have higher regulations for our pets than they have, with required medical care, food and shelter requirements, and even horses aren't worked to death anymore in the heat or cold."

He paused and lit another cigarette. "You beat an animal, or cause it pain, you are going to jail. Pets are considered property, just like house elves, but yet they have more stringent regulations for humane treatment than the elves."

He looked thoughtful. "Maybe that's where the changes have to be made, not in paying them, or retirement, or any of the things they don't want, but regulations, enforceable regulations that punish abuse in all it's forms, and even prevent wizard folk from owning them ever again if the abuse is bad enough." He nodded. "That would satisfy me, give them basic rights, and not interfere with how they live except it would be...a more pleasant environment for them to be in."

Eirik looked at both of the boys. "I think we don't have to be house elves to understand right and wrong though, in how they are being treated. I couldn't..." he paused " I wouldn't want to not have my own will and be content to be a slave."

He put out his smoke and did a clean charm on himself.

"Actually," he said, lowering his voice so it didn't carry, " that happens to some of my kind. My maker told me that in essence, their progeny are fully bonded to them, and must do as they are bid to do, unless released.

Not all makers behave this way, and only employ their commands when necessary, but others.." he shrugged, " don't. I am one of the lucky ones, but others of my kind are in the same situation as the house elves -slaves-. Perhaps now you understand a little more of why I am so passionate about non humans rights."

"Painting on pinheads? You mean without using magic either?" Paddy was shocked that anyone could paint with that much detail on something so tiny. "That's a surprisingly cute weremouse" she added, noticing the tiny bow on the mouse's ear.

Keet listened attentively to Magnus' new schedule alterations, then watched as he left the pavilion. She frowned sadly, poor Magnus... this must be stressful for him. She watched as a couple of other students left too, including Paddy. Keet picked up her bag and made sure that Disco was sitting securely on her shoulder before also exiting the pavilion.
Squinting in the sunlight, she spotted Magnus and Paddy chatting under a tree not too far away. Wanting to reassure Magnus, she walked over quietly, overhearing a bit of their conversation. When there was a bit of a break in the conversation, she approached carefully, "Hi Magnus, Paddy" she smiled. "I couldn't help but overhear, I am familiar with the artist who paints on pins. There is also one who makes tiny sculptures inside the eyes of needles! It's quite amazing." She took a peek at Magnus' drawing, taking in all the details. "Wow, that's wonderful, Magnus! You are a very talented artist." Keet started digging in her bag, and it took a few awkward minutes to find what she was looking for, there were so many things in there. Eventually, she emerged with a very heavily used sketch book. "I enjoy drawing myself," she grinned, flipping open the book. It was full of drawings of magical creatures, mostly magical birds. There were fwoopers, phoenixes, gryphons, hippogriffs, and all sorts of owls, which she had charmed to blink and flap their wings. "Some people say I am a little bit obsessed with birds... but anyway.." she said awkwardly "I wanted to let you know that I am really enjoying your workshop, it's very informative! I am also so happy to have met both of you" she said, smiling sheepishly. "I don't have too many friends... some people think I'm a bit odd. I think they are a bit wary of me because of Disco," she gestured toward her shoulder where he sat. "They think maybe he muddled my brain a bit while learning how to silence him," she smirked. Disco looked about contentedly, very pleased to be outside in the unseasonable warmth.

Keet arrived to hear Paddy and Magnus talking. Magnus nodded, "Yeah microscopic art. 'Onestly, its incredible what people can do. 'Onestly, magic is more common than we fink its just not necessarily the magic wizards fink of. I fink its a shame that some wizards don't really consider muggles at all." His accent was thicker than normal because even though he wasn't showing it, he was still upset. He looked at the other Ravenclaw. "Nah, I don't fink you're odd. But then again, I used ta live in London--seen a lot of weird fings. Heck, done a lot of weird fings 'for I knew I were magic." The boy didn't know how to comment on liking the workshop. He figured she was trying to be nice. "ooh those are good," he said looking at Keet's drawings.

[img align=left]https://s26.postimg.org/og7cdvxxl/Fade_Brown_Hair.png[/img] Late again, no doubt he already missed something. The cramp in his stomach was only made worse by the fact that the workshop leader was his very best friend. Being this late to your friends gig was an incredibly rude thing to do. Even if it wasn’t entirely your fault for forgetting what day it was. Chase clung the teens shoulder to keep from falling off as the boy sprinted across the grounds. Fade hardly noticed the sting. Panting he pushed the pavilion curtain aside and realized that the group must have been taking a break. Letting out a small groan he read the bulletin board realizing he had missed Mimsy. He really would have liked to see her again.

Looking around the pavilion he couldn’t find Magnus anywhere. He was probably working hard to set up the next event, and Fade should have been there earlier to offer to help. Letting out an exasperated sigh he reached up and scratched Chase under the chin. Immediately the cat began to purr deeply and the vibrations on the back of Fade’s neck started to calm his nerves ever so slightly.

Magnus didn't see Fade enter, however, Kippers who was still in the pavilion made a beeline for him and mewed pathetically. She kept nudging Fade in his leg, trying to spur the teen on in that direction--towards Magnus.

“Kippers! Hey there.” Fade bent to pet the frantic feline but Kippers dodged his hand and darted away before turning back to give him a look. “Alright alright, I get it.” Fade straightened and followed after the little cat. Chase remained contentedly perched on his shoulder. Why walk when someone else could do it for you.

Nodding quiet hellos to the other students still gathered inside as he passed. Fade stepped out the pavilion and following after Kippers soon spotted a few students beneath a tree not too far off. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he approached cautiously suddenly feeling very self conscious. “Er, hey guys.” His cheeks turned pink and the ends of his hair tinted a rosy red. He didn't recognize the one girl, but felt less nervous with Paddy and Magnus being there. ( )

Magnus heard Fade, before he saw him. He was drawing a vampire cat swooping in on the mouse village. "Ey, mate," the boy replied without his usual happiness. Kippers was now purring and rubbing herself around Fade's legs, content that he was now corralled where he needed to be.

Keet nodded in agreement," Definitely. My father is a muggle, and I think I got my appreciation for art from him. He works with wood, making beautiful bowls and cabinets and things. I often joke with him and say that if he were a wizard, he'd probably make a talented wand maker. Music is something else I consider magical, whether made by magical or non-magical folks" she smiled. "Oh my, I can imagine in a big city like London one would see some odd things. I'm originally from the States, transferred from Ilvermorny. It's why I don't know many people here yet, and I try to hide my accent... My mom is originally from England though, we moved here because she's taking care of my my sick grandfather," she said sadly. "Oh, thank you" she replied, brightening. "I'd like to paint magical portraits of people's pets, professionally, after I finish school. I'm not that great at drawing people, but animals I have a knack for. Really though, I think you are doing a great job with the workshop. I am terrified of public speaking. I admire anyone who is able to get up and speak in front of others" she smiled encouragingly.
Disco was looking around, and noticing Chase perched on Fade's shoulders, the bird hopped up on Keet's head to observe more cautiously. This caught Keet's attention before Fade spoke. She turned and smiled at the new arrival "Hello, I don't believe we've met, I'm Keet. Don't mind my fwooper, he's just a little cautious around new cats..." she whispered as if to avoid upsetting her bird.

Listening to Keet’s () exposition, Fade brightened. “My dad’s also a muggle.” He was grinning. “We got a lot in common. Oh, I’m Fade. Nice to meet’cha. This is Chase.” He shrugged his shoulder to indicate the cat on top of it. Chase had meanwhile noticed Disco and his eyes had gone big. Fade realized his cat had tensed up and reached to pet his face, breaking the line of sight. “Don’t mind him, he knows better than to eat people’s pets.” Realizing maybe that wasn’t the best way to have said it he stammered. “Er, I mean, he just likes to chase really…” Great now he was being awkward. Bending down he gave Kippers a good petting. Fade trusted his cat more than he was letting on, but sometimes words were hard. Especially in front of new people.

Thankfully Chase was distracted by Kippers getting more petting than he was. Slipping from Fade’s shoulder he slunk over to Magnus () in a sort of ‘cheating on you scenario’ that he liked to pull when Fade was petting other people's pets too much. Bumping Magnus’s hand a few times before sitting and blatantly swatting at his pencil, Chase meowed at the other boy impatiently.

“Chase quit it, he’s drawin… Something cool!” Fade leaned over to get a better look at the vampire cat creature attacking the mouse village. He could tell by the way the paper had been dented that Magnus was not in the best of moods. “Freakin epic dude. Your values are really great, like art goals.” Fade immediately regretted not bringing his own sketchbook.

Merlin listens and agrees. "I think that could be a very good way of helping without changing their ways much." He kept listening to Erik speak and once again agreed with him. "Yes, I see your point about right and wrong and we can see it, but I'm not sure they can see it as wrong if they are hurt by their masters, not entirely sure. They have a very strange way of thinking."

Merlin sits down on a rock and sighs. "Must be horrible to be bound that way, when you can't decide for yourself what you want to do. That's slavery and a cruel way of treating other beings. I treasure freedom above many things and being able to chose your way seems to be a luxury for some but it shouldn't be. I'm glad you are lucky enough but can understand why you are strong about this topic, still it is very generous of you. Many people don't care about others no matter if they relate or not to their suffering; the way I see it there are less people in the world who actually truly care for others than those who don't." Merlin had a sad smile on his lips. "Most people are very selfish...I'm glad I met some who aren't."

Keet smiled "Cool! It's good to meet you, Fade." She laughed, "Hi Chase, it's nice to meet you too. This goof on my head is Disco. I'm sure it's ok buddy," she said to her bird, but Disco did not look convinced. He jumped off of Keet's head and fluttered up into the tree that they were standing under. He puffed up his feathers and peered down at everyone, feeling a bit safer there. "Sorry about that, he's had some... not so wonderful experiences with cats before," she chucked, "please don't feel offended."

He listened to Eirik's viewpoint, nodding slightly while still keeping his eyes on the lake ahead. He didn't want his friend to think he wasn't paying attention, but he had to keep himself under control. The subject of freedom of House Elves was giving Kyros some unfortunate flashbacks that he wasn't expecting. "I never meant to say that we shouldn't do anything to help House Elves just because they're content with their lot in life. It doesn't change the fact that they're slaves. I only meant that the change needs to start with wizards and how wizards see them, not with the elves themselves, because most of them won't accept that. And to me, it is always bad to force your viewpoint upon someone else, even if you think you're doing it for their well-being." Kyros barely noticed that the hand with which he held another small rock was shaking. The words For your own good, For your own good... filled his mind like a mantra. "Actually, especially if you think you're doing it for their well-being."

Taking a deep breath, he continued the conversation, trying to make amends between their views. "I think you're right about making regulations. It's the best way to avoid abuse, and people should be held responsible for what they do to another living being at all times... It's unfair, how much the balance of power is tilted towards wizards. It's also why I think we should focus on that, while working to change the viewpoint of the elves. Harry Potter's friend Dobby came to be a free elf, didn't he? We could change the way the others think, with time... And still respecting their boundaries..."

"I'm sorry for this situation among your kind... I hope you can find a way to free those vampires." His voice was gentler when hearing Eirik's testimony about vampires, much softer than before. "I actually agree with you. I'm just pointing out that we have a long road ahead. Like Merlin said, there's a lot of people out there who won't help us, and we need to find ways to bring change taking them into account."

"Music, writing, inventing--heck imagination is magical. I dunno if me parents were magic or not, but I grew up muggle till I was attacked and went to St. Mungo. Still learning about magic didn't take the magic outta what I saw before, just made it more--remarkable." He shook his head. "Keet, don't do that. You should be proud o' where your from. I know sometimes I sound like I got marbles in me mouth, but you know its who I am. Maybe me accent may lessen when I'm older but it'll be natural. I am who I am and I'm proud o' it. Fade 'ere draws too," Magnus said, starting to calm just from normal talk. "Maybe we can all draw together." He sighed. "Thanks, though I wish just once it would go smoothly when I do one of these things." Magnus petted Chase with his right hand as he continued his vampire cat scene. One mouse was now trying to ride one of the cats. "Fanks," Magnus said, "didn't even know what I were drawin' at first. You wanna sketch? I got an extra book in me bag."

Aria waved goodbye to Mimsy, "I'll see you soon," she said with a wink of her eye. Aria was quite fond of Mimsy and loved spending time with her while at home.

Aria watched as her brother walked over to a tree and saw his shoulders slumped in, presumably, worried defeat. She wondered if she should go comfort him but decided to wait a bit and give him a mental rest.

( -- sorry My post seems to be late again, I thought that I just received this group ping. lol)