[Feb MP] Animal can't speak for themselves (Benny / open)

Benny wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by a sponsor, but he started to understand as soon as she mentioned the toy store. The Gryffindor had never been a part of anything like this before, so everything was brand new to him. He was happy to be learning and participating, though. It was a worthy cause.

“No, I’ve never been there before,” he admitted a bit sheepishly. “The only time I’ve ever been to Hogsmeade was the train station at the start of term, but I’m excited for next year when we are allowed to go on our own on the weekends.” While some part of him understood why first and second years weren’t allowed to go alone, he was still jealous of those that could. 

“I like this idea, though, of getting a sponsor, would certainly make things easier….” Benny nodded again as he sat back down and made himself comfortable. Pulling his feet up on the chair, he sat with his arms wrapped around his knees for a minute.

“What about a professor? Do you think there might be a teacher that agrees with us enough to join? That could be very helpful,” he wondered if there were any teachers who might be willing to join such a cause, and a few came to mind quickly. Not all adults were awful, but Benny wasn’t sure how Trudy might feel about including an adult in the first place. She seemed brave and strong and willing to do hard work without the help of a parent, which Benny thought was really cool.

“Oh!” Trudy exclaimed in surprise as Benny told her that he had never been to the toy shop in Hogsmeade. She assumed that most younger students hadn’t had the pleasure yet. It was a shame, really. The shop was likely best for younger kids. However, it wouldn’t be long now until they, too, would have the privilege to go to Hogsmeade on some weekends. It was truly something to look forward to.

“We should go there together next school year,” the Ravenclaw said, beaming at her friend. “They have so many interesting things… Not only plushies, you know.” She blushed a little, wondering if Benny felt that he was already too old to go to a toy shop. However, they had fun board and card games there, too. Surely, they weren’t too old for that yet.

Benny approved of her idea of finding a sponsor. While that was a good first step, Trudy had no idea how to actually get anyone to donate money or parchment or whatever else they needed. Should they just write a letter to the shop, include one of their pamphlets and ask for their help? It seemed like the only possible way to handle it as they weren’t allowed to go into Hogsmeade yet. They could, of course, also ask an older student but Trudy didn’t really know if she could trust anyone to help her here. Her mentor Rowen surely wouldn’t be of help.

“A professor?” Trudy echoed Benny’s question and then took a moment to think about his idea. “Yes, maybe that would be helpful,” she mused. “Which of our professors do you think would be willing to help, though? We must be careful. I mean, maybe some professors do not approve of this cause…”

“Sounds great!” Benny replied, smiling cheerfully as they made plans to visit the toy shop in Hogsmeade. Benny was looking forward to the third year for many reasons; going to Hogsmeade and another chance to try out for the Gryffindor quidditch team was paramount among those reasons.

“Yeah, a teacher,” He repeated and nodded a few times. To Benny, it made a lot of sense; if they could get sponsors from Hogsmeade and a professor to join their cause, it would surely add more legitimacy, right? Benny didn’t love the idea of involving adults, but he was clever enough to know that people rarely took children seriously. Yet another reason why he was looking forward to getting older. “Well, I imagine the nicer ones would probably not hate the idea…. Maybe the care of magical creatures, professor?” Benny began pulling at the bits of rubber falling off the soles of his shoes as they spoke.

“Or the herbology teacher? She seems like the sort,” Professor Ajay was not only the Head of Gryffindor but also a bit of a sap, and Benny imagined she’d be on board for something like this. And at the very least, he doubted she’d try to steer them away from the cause or outright forbid it, so that was a start. “Who do you think?”

Beaming at her friend, Trudy was really looking forward to visiting Hogsmeade next year. It was like getting one step closer to being an adult. They’d be allowed to go into the village, then they would take their O.W.L.s, then they would learn how to apparate and be allowed to use magic outside of school. And once they’d graduate they could make the world a better place or that, at least, was Trudy’s ambition now.

“Yes,” Trudy replied thoughtfully, “the care of magical creatures professor should have an interest in that.” She paused and then nodded, smiling at Benny.

“I like professor Ajay,” she admitted, “she’s really nice.” Trudy thought about their other options and then shrugged. “I think it would make sense to talk to them first to find out how they feel about the subject before asking for help. I’m not sure professors who would be affected by a change of policy regarding the protection of magical creatures would like the idea.”

While Trudy's idea to get a sense of the professor's opinion first made total sense to the Gryffindor, he couldn't help but jump to the end of her suggestion and fight back. Benny knew Trudy wasn't the one he needed to argue with. In reality, he wasn't arguing with her but with the imaginary professor who refused to change their ways because it was too difficult. The small wizard had no patience for people who couldn't do the hard thing. Some people had it so easy, and he couldn't stop himself from feeling animosity toward them sometimes. They had the choice, and the chance, to do better, but they decided not to. Creatures didn't have that luxury. That was why Trudy and Benny were going to fight.

"Yeah, well, they will just have to change, right," He began, sitting forward in his seat and dropping his trainers on the stone floor loudly. "There are so many spells we could learn in transfiguration, so why do we bother wasting time with the cruel ones? I mean, whoever is in charge has decided other spells should not be allowed, so why not these?" He felt himself getting riled up, but it was about more than just this one cause. It was all of the disparities he suffered through daily, the divide between rich and poor, white and brown, and even good at quidditch or not (Benny was not). Benny was in a hurry to grow up but not go to Hogsmeade on the weekends, but finally be old enough to have a voice. They had to fight.

"Its' just not fair, Trudy,"

"Yes..." Trudy nodded thoughtfully. "I hope they will have to. I just think we need to find those professors first who have no personal interest in keeping spells or potions that are not... animal friendly." She thought that care of magical creatures and herbology were clearly classes that would work but also, probably, ancient runes, divination, arithmancy, history of magic and some others. They needed to have a stronger voice when they confronted those who had an interest in keeping everything the way it had always been.

"Absolutely!" the Ravenclaw exclaimed, nodding eagerly. "There are spells and potions we can learn that do not harm any animals or magical creatures. We should stick to those. I don't want to have a magical education that is founded on the deaths of magical creatures."

Benny said that it wasn't fair and, again, Trudy nodded. It really wasn't fair at all. The animals couldn't speak for themselves and generations of students had just closed their eyes and ignored how many animals and magical creatures had suffered, had died for their magical education.

"Not fair at all," she whispered. "We really need to fight."

"Not only that, like that is a big part of it, but also like why do we need to learn how to use our frogs as cups? Like how is that even a useful thing to know?" Benny didn't want to hurt the animals, and of course, that need was paramount, but he still couldn't figure out why someone had thought up that spell in the first place. When was that ever a practical spell to know? And couldn't they use something else? Even if they were really thirsty, why did they need to turn their toad into the goblet to have a drink? Why not a piece of clothing, or a rock from the ground, or hell, why couldn't they cup their hands together and forgo the magic entirely? It seemed impractical to the twelve-year-old. And a little bit gross.

"And we will fight!" With another burst of energy, Benny's fist rocketed toward the air triumphantly, and then he turned back to his posters. They had a good stack already, but he had the urge to make more and more now. They had to spread the message to the whole school, one enchanted flyer at a time.

"How many have you made?" He asked, turning his face up from his stack of posters momentarily and waited for Trudy's answer.

“Ugh I don’t know!” Trudy exclaimed. Benny was mentioning a spell that had triggered her before. “We are supposed to learn to turn something that lives into a thing, but where’s the sense in that? It doesn’t matter if it’s a frog, a bird, a snail or whatever - where’s the sense in turning a being into something lifeless? I mean, if I’m out in the wilderness and need a cup, why not transfigure a stone into a goblet? Wouldn’t that be a much better idea? I doubt our professors would like it very much if they were turned into a goblet either.” Trudy was on a mission and she felt that she would dedicate her whole life to this if she needed to.

She beamed at her friend when he made it quite clear that he was in on the fight. It meant a lot to Trudy as the girl knew that she couldn’t win this fight alone and teaming up was also more fun.

Trudy shoved her pile of posters over to Benny to look at. “I’ve made these,” she said and looked around. “We’re almost out of material. I wonder if we can duplicate them…” She looked at the pile thoughtfully. A more skilled witch or wizard could surely reproduce the posters multiple times. Trudy wasn’t sure if they’d manage it at all and even if they managed it if the magic was strong enough or if the duplicates would soon fade.

Benny nodded along as Trudy explained her opinion on their plight, and by the time she had finished, the eager wizard was sitting at the edge of his seat. His firsts had curled into energetic little balls, and he felt like he could shout at someone until they understood, too. His heart was racing; his cheeks felt warm and more than anything, the Gryffindor felt motivated. “Yes! Exactly!” He agreed loudly, one fist shooting into the air as they rallied.

Trudy pushed her stack of posters toward him, and Benny drove his own to meet them in the middle. They were off to a great start, but he knew it wasn’t going to be enough. It seemed that Trudy was on the same wavelength as she suggested replicating them, and Benny smiled brightly. “Brilliant idea!” He gathered his wand from his pocket, cleared his throat, and then sat down and pressed his back against the chair. “Maybe you should try first, though,” Not that he didn’t feel it was worth the effort, but Benny was slightly apprehensive. It could be catastrophic if he failed at the spell, as he had during a lesson earlier in the term.

And Benny would have been greatly discouraged if he managed to set all their hard work up in flames.

Trudy felt that her cheeks were quite red now but she didn’t mind it now. Usually she felt awkward when she was blushing but now the colour came from her agitation and the fact that with Benny she had someone who was in on the fight as well. She wasn’t fighting alone and she was fighting for so many animals and magical creatures that were defenseless.

The little Ravenclaw wondered how far they could go. How much they could actually achieve and hoped that it would be a lot. However, she wasn’t delusional and knew quite well that a few students could hardly change the world. Yet, if nobody ever tried anything nothing would ever change at all.

Working with Benny was amazing. They were on the same wavelength and both were enthusiastic and wanted to succeed with their mission. Benny agreed that duplicating the posters would be a good plan and Trudy pulled out her wand and chewed on her lip nervously.

“I must warn you, I’ve never tried this before.” She said and then focused on one of the posters in front of her. “Geminio,” she said, flicking her wand slightly. The poster seemed to shiver but nothing happened. She repeated the spell a little louder and with a more pronounced flick of her wand and one slightly blurry copy of the poster appeared out of thin air.

“Hmm,” Trudy muttered, tilting her head to the side. “That’s not ideal. Maybe you should try it, too.” Having said that, she pointed her wand at the original poster again herself and focused harder. Her brows furrowed as the girl stared at the poster and repeated the spell.

Watching as Wiltrud began the spell, Benny mouthed the word over and over again silently. He saw the copy she'd made as it landed on the table and clapped loudly. "Good job!" He exclaimed, feeling another enthusiastic wave of motivation. Seeing her do the magic made Benny feel like he might be able to do it too. And so, with a clear of his throat and a twist of his wrist, Benny decided it was time to see what he was made of.

"Geminio," he spoke the words aloud and moved his wand the way that he had seen Trudy, but nothing happened. Benny wasn't discouraged, though, because it had taken her a second try, too. "Geminio," he said, this time with more feeling, and yet, still nothing. Benny tried three more times, taking a step back and then a step forward and trying to move his hand differently before he turned to look at her again. "Could you show me how you've done it one more time?"

Trudy blushed a little as Benny clapped his hands in approval of her spell. She wasn't entirely pleased with how the copy had turned out but still excited that she had managed the spell. She'd have to work on it some more to get better copies done. "Thanks," she muttered anyway, offering her friend a sheepish smile. "I doubt we can use this one, though."

Benny tried his luck now, too, and Trudy watched him curiously. She half hoped he'd manage perfect copies and half wished that he didn't as that would make her feel worse about her own accomplishment. However, this wasn't about personal success. They were on a mission. Nothing mattered but to help animals and magical creatures.

Trudy nodded when Benny asked her to show him the spell again after two failed attempts. She took a deep breath, focused on the poster in front of her, flicked her wand and said "Geminio!" A copy of the poster appeared out of thin air and sailed down onto the table. Trudy looked at it critically and then gave a little shrug. "This one already looks a little better than the first copy," she thought aloud. There were still parts that looked blurred but she was getting closer to a good result anyway. "Now you try again," she told Benny. "I'm sure you'll manage it, too."

Benny could hear his Lola telling him that practice made perfect, and he nodded when Trudy told him to try again. Her first copy hadn't been perfect, but at least she had managed to make one. And her second was far better, but still not perfect, which hadn't made him feel too terribly embarrassed. Benny took a steadying breath, cleared his throat like he'd witnessed some older wizards do in the library, and performed the spell again.

And much to his surprise, a copy floated down from the air and landed on the table. It was a bit clearer than either of Trudy's, but the corners were all crumpled, like it had been folded inside the pocket of his uniform robes all afternoon. "I'll try again," he said, feeling galvanized by his slight success.

"Geminio," Benny half-shouted, and as three sheets of parchment rained down from above them, he gave Trudy a sheepish (but still excited) grin.

They were making progress and Trudy loved it. She beamed at Benny as he tried to duplicate the posters again and succeeded relatively well. While she might have wanted to be the first one to master the spell perfectly in class, she now felt this was teamwork more than anything. It didn’t matter who performed the spell best. All that was important was that they got a sufficient amount of presentable posters in the end.

“Well done,” she praised Benny’s accomplishment and waved her wand again to make some more copies herself. The more often they tried, the better they got. The girl chewed on her lower lip as she went through the pile of copies, picking a few she didn’t deem good enough.

“Those aren’t good enough, don’t you agree?” she asked Benny. “I guess if we go this way, that is duplicating posters we painted, we should prepare a few more different ones to get more variety. What do you think?”