science rules. [jürgen]

August 2003

Jaspar wasn't super interested in the more athletic things that Stowe had to offer but he'd tried a couple. He'd played some pickup Quidditch (fell off the broom), tried some Quodpot (it exploded in his face), even tried his hand at some American football (he was pretty sure he'd broken his collarbone on the bottom of the dogpile, but the mediwitch had told him to "buck up", he still wasn't sure what she meant by that or if he should in fact "rub some dirt on it".) So when the time came to sign up for some good old fashion science experiments you best bet that Jaspar was at the front of the line.

Okay like the middle of the line and totally let some young girls who were talking really loudly cut in front, he wasn't bothered, he'd get there eventually (and also they looked kind of mean). The Belle added his name to a few lists and the next day he found himself a slab table in the middle of a little lab. It was fun, it was more his environment, and today they were making things explode so of course, he was interested. He'd used some cardboard shaped like a cone to create a little volcano shape and was now applying the Plastic of Paris to it. He tried to be an artist, making little blobs and rocky shapes, but it just looked silly.

Halfway through he realized the professor hadn't told them the charm to dry the plaster and he was starting to worry he'd put too much on. It was sliding down the side, like a slurry of paste and water, and it was way too goopy. Turning to the wizard closest to him Jaspar spoke, trying to remind himself he wasn't at Beauxbatons, and there were more students here that didn't know him than otherwise. It made him feel a little better but the fact that this class was by sign up only was what made him most comfortable. After his internship this summer at the Magical Academy for Scientific and Magical Advancement, (MASMA), Jaspar felt like being around like-minded people was going to change everything.

Whispering he leaned toward the other boy, "Hey, do you know the spell to dry it? Mine is kind of... looks a bit like pudding." He chuckled lightly and waited with a little smile.

Jürgen had not been enchanted by the idea of going to camp in the beginning, he enjoyed going home and spending time with his family, especially if it meant he’d have a chance to see Maja and talk to her in more detail about the on goings at school. She had always been good at putting things in perspective for him, especially when he struggled with balancing academics and friendships. But as time had passed by, he was really starting to enjoy his time at Stowe even if he struggled a little with English. He was very jealous of how fluent many of the other students were (the international ones, obviously) and secretly promised himself to work harder just in case he opted to return next year or went somewhere else.

But it was good enough to understand what was going on, even if he still needed to work on his context skills regarding some of the words the American students used. He had enjoyed playing Quidditch but wanted to expand his horizons and had been taken a little bit of everything. He was competitive by nature but was also trying to make friends here, even if that meant he needed to loosen up a bit. It was a tough thing for Jürgen to do; it wasn’t so easy for him to transition from one personality to another, but he had made some connections, so some progress was good progress and all that.

And finally, he found a class he really enjoyed which was science. Science at home had been all about learning but not necessarily about applying the information—labs and experiments, all this fun stuff, was not something he ventured into and for good reason. Jürgen didn’t want anyone to get the idea that he was playing around, especially not the boy next to him who was making an absolute mess of his project. His own was more or less perfect, but quite plain, he had only followed the rules and done nothing else.

“We’re not allowed to use magic,” he said plainly, nodding in direction of the board where the teacher had written as much in the corner, though it was small and a little hard to see. It was impossible to know it was there among all the other scribble scrabble that was there alongside it. It was kind of funny though, so he smiled, “Maybe try getting some of that cardboard there and drying it? Might take forever though,” he suggested, shrugging a bit. “Didn’t you read the directions?” he asked pointing at the paper on his desk.