closed - the trouble with muggles

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

Pavlo stared absentmindedly at the front page of the Daily Prophet while chewing the inside of his cheek. The recent letter from the Ministry had set him on edge a bit, but from the feel of things in Diagon Alley, he might be the only one worried. The witches and wizards in this tiny corner of London didn't seem to have a care in the world, let alone caring what some muggles were up to. The most attention the issue was getting were some passing jokes or annoyed comments over not being able to let their kids play with toy brooms and such.

It must be nice to be ignorant as to what muggles can really be like, crossed his mind as he tossed the paper down on the table. He took a sip of his beer before deciding his nerves called for something a bit stronger and ordering a fire whiskey from a passing waiter. A glance at his watch told him the other professors he had agreed to meet for lunch should be arriving soon. It will be interesting to see how they feel about this, he thought to himself as he accepted the fire whiskey.

[Prof. Adrian Zacharias]

Adrian tried his hardest to hide his emotions as he entered inside of the busy Leaky Cauldron. He was asked to meet up with a few of his colleagues to discuss the recent newsletter of the Daily Prophet. Usually he would just toss the newspaper in the rubbish bin, but he couldn't get the headline out of his brain. Scanning the room, he located Professor Pavlo who appeared to be staring off into his own little world with a worried expression on his face. Maneuvering around a crowd of students and other patrons he finally took a seat across from Pavlo.

"Hello Pavlo" he said rather grave like in manner as if there meeting may just bring more bad news onto his already full plate. Signaling a waitress he ordered glass of fire whiskey to help numb his sour mood. If what the Ministry has predicted is true, than they would all have to be on their toes about dealing with the muggles.

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

As he finished his drink another professor walked through the door. The potions master arrived looking a bit sullen. Of course, he couldn't really tell if that was anything out of the ordinary. He wasn't very well acquainted with the young professor, who while always polite, was a quiet type that frequently kept to himself.

"Afternoon," he greeted Adrian as he sat down. "I see I'm not the only one with demons in my head today. Mine do not seem to bothering me as much as yours though." He paused for a moment while glancing back at the door. "The other two shouldn't be much longer. Unless Accleston found his way into a muggle toy store...that would really help our situation I'm sure."

[Prof. Adrian Zacharias]

A slow grinned displayed across Adrian's face at the mention of his buddy Accleston, who loved almost anything about muggles. "He should be here sooner or later if a pretty face doesn't distract him from our meeting. Women seem to draw to him like a bear would to honey." he said with loud chuckle that caused quite a few heads to turn to their attention. He was only briefly familiar with Pavlo from the great hall when the teachers had to all come together to meet the students for the new term. Never judge a book by its cover his deceased mother use to say, but he would be on his toes with this meeting today.

He took a sip of fire whiskey and felt the burn slowly drift down his throat to his now empty gut. "Hmmm...I really should have grabbed someone to eat before coming here, but I guess I will settle for whatever they have to offer here." Hailing down a bar wench he ordered sandwich to go with his drink while he waited for the other professors to arrive.

[Prof. Phoenix Valentine]

Phoenix slid his copy of the Daily Prophet into his robes, shaking his head at the recent news of a group of muggles attempting to find their way into the wizarding world. Slipping his fingers through his hair a faint chuckle escaped his lips as he scratched his cheek with the other. Pushing open the door to the Leaky Cauldron he glanced around at the surprisingly full pub. He would normally not be here, but a few of his fellow professors had asked to meet up to talk about the recent news that the Ministry released. Spotting the rather large Care of Magical Creatures professor out from the crowd he slipped between a few groups of people, making his way toward the table that was also occupied with the Potions professor.

Waving to the waiter who had just placed a sandwich in front of Adrian, Phoenix ordered himself a simple butter beer as he placed his hand down onto the table slightly harder than normal while grabbing himself a seat between them both. "Pony, Adrian sorry for being a few minutes late. Had to meet with a few people in the Ministry beforehand and I lost track of time," Phoenix stopped and glanced over giving Adrian a quick nod of his head, "Not feeling so well are we Adrian?" He looked the Potions professor over and motioned to the sandwich that was before him.

Leaning against the back of the chair for a moment Phoenix looked them both over before breaking the silence, "So. . . what do you both think about all of this so called muggle activity recently?"

[Prof. Adrian Zacharias]

Adrian thanked the waiter for his sandwich when Phoenix finally showed up to their table. Taking a quick bite out of his sandwich he finally acknowledge Phoenix comment, "If I said I felt perfectly fine would you even believe me. The spirits I drink may ease my mind, but nothing cures a hangover more than food." he said with a grin, continuing to eat his sandwich. Tapping his fingers on the table he wondered where Accleston bloody was since he would much rather be somewhere else than to deal with this mess they were in right now.

After pondering his answer Adrian finally spoke to answer Phoenix question, "Usually, I wouldn't be worry about what the Daily Prophet has to write about, but I do find it rather serious that muggles seem to be curious about our magical world. It would be for the best that we remain a secret from them because there are still people out there who will not accept what we can do."

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

"The food isn't that bad here anymore," he told Adrian after he had ordered his sandwich. "The first time I came here many years ago it was...questionable at times. But it's much better now."

Pavlo nodded at Phoenix as he got near the table and greeted them. "Good day to you too Birdy," a smirk played on his lips as he went back to the beer in front of him.

He leaned back in his chair while listening to Adrian answering the question, nodding in agreement as he finished. "There's another rather large problem with muggles finding out we exist," he began after a moment. "They, like all humans, like having friends in power. If our world were discovered there would be many groups who would try to make friends with wizards just for that. Their wars can be just as bad as ours but...I can't imagine a war with both bullets & spells flying. That is what has me most worried. And of course, how this will affect our daily lives in general. Hogwarts has many protective spells but they're not necessarily unbreakable & their are ways around them. If the muggles realized it's more than what they see..."

[Prof. Dr. Alazander Accleston]

Alazander had a grin on that seemed to split his face from ear to ear as he stepped out of the slight drizzle that had resumed. It was definitely a British summer. The rain was nearly constant and the warmth was all but non-existant, even with all of the problems the ministry and Daily Prophet were claiming that the wizarding world was facing, his spirits were as high as ever. Even the musty atomosphere and dour witches and wizards didnt make a dent in his near perptual demeanor of youthful happiness despite all.

The thre other teachers he was meeting had already sat down and were discussing what he figured woud be the topic of todays discussion, 'magic and muggle awareness', Alazander thought it was a catchy turn of phrase at any point. He was making his way to the chair as Pony was making a comment about bullets and spells, that gave him pause. As the other professor of Magical Creature was trailing of in his conjecture The Doctor felt it was time he made himself known to the table.

"Oi, gents," Alazander said as he grabbed the back off the empty chair and spun it around, sitting in a fluid motion and propping his elbows on the back of the now inverted chair. "Not so glum,says I! Ack..." He was trying for a cockeney accent as he said it but the look on his face as he finished then convulsed as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth. "Ahem. I shall not be doing that again unless absolutely needed. Now why is it when something new arises we as people, muggles and wizards alike instinctively think war? I mean this has just been released to the public but one would think that battle lines had already been drawn." He let his staatement hang eyeing each of the other professors in turn.

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

Pavlo arched an eyebrow at the recently arrived Alazander's greeting, flavored with some accent that sounded almost made up. At least he had never quite heard one like that before.

"I would be interested to know what situation that would be absolutely needed in," he said with an amused smile. "In regards to your question, that's simple; because war is the worst that can come of it. If it got out and became well known fact that we exist, that would also be the most likely result. Perhaps not for a few years. Eventually though, somebody would want to use it for the wrong reasons. And even if it didn't cause a war, can you imagine everything muggles would want, even expect from wizard kind? Healing is one thing that comes to mind. Our entire population could be healers and it wouldn't be enough to handle the demand. Hell, I can only imagine what would happen to creatures like unicorns if muggles realized they were real."

He shook his head and took a long drink of his beer. "Nobody is saying it will happen for certain. I hope it won't. If the precautions are followed we might be okay, but with this lot..." he motioned to the crowd around them. "I don't know. From what I am hearing, they aren't taking it seriously. Maybe the seminars will knock some sense into them."

[Prof. Phoenix Valentine]

Phoenix had appeared to be day dreaming for no apparent reason, but even though that was the case he had been able to catch a few of the main points from everyone stating their opinions. Thankfully the waitress finally brought him the butter-beer that he had ordered ages ago. Leaning toward the table he grabbed the mug and took a long swing, before placing it back down with a faint 'thump'. "I have no problem with this so called group of muggles trying to find out what caused the things that they saw or heard. Yes it could be a slight problem in the long run if not handled correctly, but its just human nature really."

Looking from each of his fellow professors he let a low sigh escape his lips, as he pulled his wand from his robes and laid it on the table. "If people don't want to acknowledge what is going on now im pretty sure they never will until something big happens, either good or bad," pausing he took another drawn out swing from his mug, "to be honest im not worried about the muggles, or the wizards who don't want to believe whats being said. What worries me the most is what the ministry will do if things keep escalating, we all know the Ministry is trying to prevent the worst, but with them there are always holes in their plans. And those holes can be quiet dangerous for us all." He finished and ran his hand against his cheek with a small shake of his head.

[Prof. Adrian Zacharias]

Adrian took the last couple of bites of his sandwich washing it all down with the last bit of fire whiskey in his glass. Looking up he finally noticed that Alazander had made it to the meeting, "Look who decided to show up after what seems to be a decade of time. What kept you this time..a pretty face in the crowd, or maybe a new muggle item?" he said, hoping that his old pal would take the bait. He loved to start small debates with his friend to rile things up a bit.

He leaned back in his chair contemplating how to respond to Zander's answer when Pavlo and Valentine beat him to the punch. He had to agree with their reasoning's of why muggles learning of the wizardry world could be a terrible idea. "It is just my opinion that there are some things in our world that should remain secret from the muggles. If they learned some of the dangerous potions we used it could lead to a big chemical disaster if they managed to wield it. War may not be a imminent thing in the making right now, but if we do not at least try and censor some of the things we do around muggles, than they will catch on how to market these things for evil instead of for good.

Humans will get curious of the things they do not understand and will seek the answers in the most dangerous of situations." he said, closing his eyes to let the other professors digest his answer.

[Prof. Dr. Alazander Accleston]

Alazander nodded at each of the professors in turn to acknowledge their statements as he pondered each ones meaning, both in subtlety and in the grand scheme. It was an old arguement, one that had been rehashed hundred of times by countless generations of wizards. The issue was safety in secrecy, but that was becoming increasingly difficult. the populaces, both wizard and muggle were exploding at exponential rates.

"I daresay this conversation is the same as has been had ever since the declaration of secrecy, we aven't said anything that has not been pondered, proven, or proliferated since. And thats what troubles me, see that means we've stagnated, we havent grown or matured, we've plateaued and for hundreds of years just stayed the same." Alazander took a breath before continuing. "I'm sorry but without change, without learning and growing, we are worse then the muggles. And They spent centuries believing the earth was flat, and the center of the universe, though," he winked at Phoenix as he concluded "some wizards still believe they are."

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

Pavlo rolled his eyes slightly and rubbed his forehead. He liked Alazander well enough but he had never had the kind of optimism he had, if you could call it optimism. "So, what would you suggest happen then? We go to the muggles and say, 'Hi everybody! Did you know the Believers are correct and there actually is a hidden society of witches and wizards? Want to be friends?'" he said, in a bit of a sing-song voice.

"Like I said...I wouldn't see that going down very well in the long run. The magical community that remains ignorant of muggles needs to learn about them and take the warnings seriously. It's not the muggles that would be most dangerous...its our own bloody kind."

[Prof. Adrian Zacharias]

Adrian sat further back in chair absorbing all the information the professors were feeding each other about the recent new in the daily prophet. Drumming his fingers on the table he finally decided now would be a good time to speak his mind some more, "Well, as interesting as this conversation seems to be does anyone have a good solution to any of this, or do we all have theories in our head of what could happen. I would have to somewhat agree with you Alazander, but even if it is human nature for muggles to be curious of things they do not understand it still doesn't bloody well solve a thing as to how we could slowly feed them information about our world without freaking out a entire nation of people." he said, staring out everyone at the table.

Pulling out his wand he pointed it towards his empty glass, "Tarantallegra" watching the glass start to wobble around on the table. "Also, what are we going to do about the students coming back and asking us tons of questions of what is going on? A young mind is a even more bigger thing to worry about because their curiosity could cause problems."

[Prof. Dr. Alazander Accleston]

"In that regard, dear friend," Alazander said to the potions professor, who was making his glass dance on the table. "I would have to disagree, it is the young mind that is quite malleable and eager to learn and grow. the trouble comes from the older generations set in their belies and way of life. the older generations pass their fear and prejudices on, but if one can be taught young, a better way then a whole generation can be."

Alazander grabbed the cup from the table and held it up in front of his face looking at the distorted images of the other professors. "this cup is the young mind, empty an willing to receive, but it will only pour out what has been put in. I cannot fill it with butterbeer and expect firewhiskey to come out. so it is the same with our youths." He paused for dramatic flair. "It is I who perhaps has the greatest understanding of muggles in the wizarding world, and as ashamed as I am to admit it, he who must not be named, by the way that is an odd habit I must break myself of but proves my earlier point, was right in a lot of ways about muggles. En mass they are little more then cattle just making it through blindly until the end. But, and here is where it differs the individuals, the singularities, the oddballs of muggles are the brilliants, the most unlikely to be swayed by social normalities,the most likely to notice."

Alazander was beginning to flush from his rapid speech, but after a breath he pressed on. "If we were to slowly integrate magic into the lives of children for a few generations in almost no time we could have acceptance by muggles as a whole, granted most of us wouldn't be alive by that time but we could rest well in the knowledge that we brought peace. And as for the individuals who are now noticing, bring them in, show them real magic and the problems we still face even with it, teach them as we would our own squibs, no offense." he left off anything else he was going to say realizing he was not allow anyone else a word in edge wise,