A meeting of the experienced and the new(Jeremiah)

[Zeak Nitesh G2]

Zeak couldn’t help but let a sigh escape him as he listened to him mother fuss. She still insisted on accompanying him on these trips. They had to make another trip into Diagon Alley for a few last-minute supplies before school started. This was the first time his mother would be travel via Floo Powder. Unknown to her Zeak had already made this trip many times. His first trip to Diagon alley had been a wonderful and scary experience. Due to his blindness he had to rely on his sense of memory and hearing more than most people. Diagon alley was a busy place with a lot of noise, It ruined his senses and left him confused and lost. It was a day when his disability came clear to him. He had been defeated that day and had to rely on others for help. That day he decided that he would defeat Diagon alley on his own terms. Sneaking out many times he had traveled Diagon alleys streets in an effort to memorize it and proof to himself that he would be able to travel without an escort through the busy streets.

“Mom, if we sit here and dilly dally any longer we wont even have to go to Diagon alley anymore because I’ll have already left for school.” Zeak said simply. It was true, school was fast approaching. He was both excited and scared over this. He had never been in a school environment. His mother had preferred home schooling him because of his blindness. It was a shock when she agreed to let Zeak go to Hogwarts. “Oh alright.” She said and pulled Zeak close to her as she tossed the powder into the fireplace and shouted. “Diagon alley.,” and stepped into the fire. Zeak felt the familiar tug and pull as the Floo Powder took effect and transported them into the alley. The familiar smell of ash and soot filled his nostrils, signaling to him that they had made it to their destination, and soon after the busy sounds of Diagon alley filled his ears. He breathed in the fresh air in one giant breath and smiled before being tugged along by his mother’s hand.

They walked around a bit, his mother get lost many times trying to find the shop they were looking for. Zeak merely followed behind her, tapping his walking stick here and there in exploration. He needed to get away from his mother. He may be young but he knew how to take care of himself. He shut his eyes, this didn’t do much for his sight but it always helped him concentrate. He focused on his ears and the volume around him. He sensed a slight peak in the volume and knew they were in an especially busy zone. With practiced ease he slipped his hand out of his mothers and began to backtrack into the crowd. “Zeak!” He heard his mother yell but he decided to ignore it. He felt his body slip among many other moving bodies until finally he found a wall outside of the traffic flow of Diagon.

He breathed a sigh of relief, step one complete, onward to step two. Closing his eyes once more he mentally recounted his footsteps, drawing a map of Diagon alley, counting his steps and the changes of directions. According to his calculations there should be a small diner directly to his left. Sure enough he soon touched the sign and identified the writing as the diner. He stepped inside and the smell of food and drink reached his nose. A sure sign that he had hit his mark. Now to find an empty seat. Concentrating on his ears once more he found the quietest section of the diner and moved toward it. He tapped his stick around in an attempt to find a table that was unoccupied.

[Jeremiah Baer]

School started soon, which meant Jeremiah would normally be making his yearly trip to Diagon Alley to pick up his supplies. However, not this year. He was already at Diagon Alley, rooming at the Leaky Cauldron. With his father now gone, Jeremiah was taking temporary shelter at the Leaky Cauldron until the school term started. It was only a temporary arrangement, for he couldn't stand staying at his home alone. Not that he was afraid, but it was just too hard. The constant reminders of his father were too much for him to deal with. Luckily he had been saving small amounts of money in a Gringotts account since his first year at Hogwarts, and this was what he was using to stay in Diagon Alley.

As Jeremiah sat in his room just thinking about the last few days' events, he felt his stomach churn in hunger. He had avoided eating as much as he could, simply because he had to save as much money as possible. He had however found a cheap diner in Diagon Alley that he went to a few times. The food wasn't bad, and the company was nice. There were a few regulars that he got to know pretty well, and then those who just stopped in.

Walking into the diner, Jeremiah smiled at the waitress as she walked by with a pot of coffee. He headed toward the booth in the back that gave a good view of the whole room. He liked sitting there and seeing everyone. When the waitress came, he ordered a hot meal of roast chicken, fried potatoes, and a side of rice. All of it would be washed down with a cold glass of chocolate milk, Jeremiah's favorite.

As he waited for his meal, Jeremiah just sat. His mind started its usual routine as of late, and it began thinking about the whole deal with his father. No matter how much he just wanted to stop thinking about it, he was unsuccessful in clearing it from his mind. He thought it might be easier that way, but it was impossible to erase it from his memory. The door creaked open, and caught his attention. A smaller boy walked through, and Jeremiah gave a small wave and nod of his head. The boy, however, didn't seem to notice, even though he was walking right toward Jeremiah. Then, he realized that the boy must have been blind, for he was using a walking stick, and seemed to be listening close to the surrounding noise.

"Hey bud," Jeremiah said in a friendly voice. "Looking for a place to sit?" The boy looked to be around twelve, and he was all alone. He wasn't sure if maybe his parents were close behind or what.

[Zeak Nitesh G2]

(Sorry about the short post. I was drawing a blank. THe next one will be better )

It took Zeak a few minutes, but he finally found what he thought to be an empty seat. Zeak jumped in surprise as a male voice spoke to him. He hadn’t expected someone to be alone and silent in a place like this. “Oh, I..I’m sorry, I thought this seat was empty. I didn’t mean to intrude.” Zeak was about to move on but something in the boy’s voice told Zeak that it was alright to stay. He took a seat across from the boy. “Do you mind if I sit here?” Zeak leaned his stick against the seat next to him and faced the boy. By the sound of his voice he was much older than Zeak. Almost adult sounding. “May I ask? Are you from Hogwarts?” Since his first trip to Diagon Alley Zeak hadn’t met anyone else from Hogwarts. “I’m going to be a first year this year.” He told the boy.

Just than a waitress came by and asked if Zeak wanted anything. “Just some water please.” Zeak said to her before she left. He turned back to face the boy, already excited to hear his answer. Than suddenly a new thought came to him. On his first trip he had met Amelia. Zeak had really like her, but shortly after they had run into someone a lot nastier. Someone who for some reason hated him because he was a muggle. Could this boy be like that?

[Jeremiah Baer]

"No, you're fine," said Jeremiah kindly, as he motioned for the boy to take a seat across from him. Again, he realized the pointlessness of his gesture, however, the boy must have recognized by the tone of voice that Jeremiah didn't mind his company. As he took a seat, Jeremiah listened closely to what he was saying.

After the boy explained that he would be a first year, Jeremiah answered his question. "Yeah, it will be my last year at Hogwarts though." His voice held some regret, but at the same time some anxiousness. Jeremiah still wasn't quite sure how he felt about it being his last year there. In some ways he was so ready to get out of there and into the real world, but in so many others, he knew he wasn't quite ready and that he needed the little time he had left at Hogwarts. "It's a great school," he said immediately. "Do you know much about it?" Jeremiah wasn't sure how much experience the boy had with the school. Perhaps he had an older sibling that attended Hogwarts, but on the other hand, he might not have even been raised in a wizarding home. For a second, Jeremiah thought how nervous the boy must be if he was from a muggle home. Entering a new world would be scary enough, and to do it all alone, especially with his handicap.

The waitress returned with Jeremiah's food and the boy's water. "By the way, I'm Jeremiah Baer," he said, remembering his manners. "I'm a seventh year Gryffindor."

[Zeak Nitesh G2]

Zeak sat down and his heart raced with excitement as he heard the boy in front of him was also from Hogwarts. Also this boy was on his last year, so he probably knew everything there was to know about the school. Zeak shook his head, “No, I actually don’t know much about the school. I am what you people call a…..a..” Zeak searched around for the word the girl at the owl shop had used. “A buggle?” that didn’t sound quite right to him. He merely shrugged. “I am the first of my family to have any magic in me. Mom nearly had a heart attack when we got my letter. She’s going to be devastated the day I leave though.” He fell kind of quiet. He seemed to be alright with leaving but he was actually extremely afraid. As far as he knew the wizard world didn’t have many bind people. So the school probably wasn’t equipped for someone with his handicap. He had no idea how he was going to survive.

“To tell you the truth I am actually kind of nervous about going. I really don’t know how well I will fare with my disability, and I really don’t want to be sent home because I can’t cut it.” He lowered his head for a minute and than brought it back up and shook his head. “But I can’t let thoughts like that get to me! If I do than I’ll never make it. Just have to believe in myself.” He smiled. Just than the waitress came by with their orders and Zeak took his glass in both hands and placed it in front of him. “But seriously I am curious as to how I will fare. All attempts I have made to use my wand at home either throw me back or nearly set the house on fire. The fire really upsets mom.” This really wasn’t anything to laugh about, considering a fire did rob him of his younger brother and it robbed him of his site.

Zeak picked up his glass and took a drink of it and than set it down. He cocked his head to the side in confusion. “So you’re a 7th year? And this is your last year? So it takes 7 years to complete school? That sure does take a while.”

[Jeremiah Baer]

Jeremiah could almost sense the boy's excitement. He seemed intrigued to find that Jeremiah was a Hogwarts student. As he listened to the boy explain how he wasn't from the magical world, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the boy calling himself a 'buggle.' "I think muggle is the term you are looking for," he corrected kindly. "And don't worry about that," he added quickly, "You're not the only muggle to enter Hogwarts. Many others come in without a single ounce of knowledge about the magical world, and some of them are even the brightest and most successful witches and wizards. "You'll find that your bloodline isn't all as important as some make it out to be, even if there are those who feel that it is the most important aspect of ones character. Really, the only importance it has is a social one. But most people even tend to overlook that." Jeremiah watched as the boy seemed very interested in learning.

"As far as being nervous," Jeremiah continued after hearing the boy express his concern about the school, "that's only natural. I remember my first year at Hogwarts," he thought back seven years ago. "I was a small boy, probably smaller than you, and I felt nervous myself. Even though my mom was a witch, I grew up in a home much like all other muggle children. So, you can imagine it was new to me as well. Most of the students at Hogwarts are nice though. Sure, you will run into a few that are, well, not so nice. But if you stay out of their way, they will mostly stay out of yours."

"The years though, they go by fast. And, yeah, this is my seventh and final year at Hogwarts. In the magical world, when you turn seventeen you are considered an adult. I just had my seventeenth birthday a few weeks ago- which means I am technically responsible for myself, but best of all I can now apparate. That means I can basically disappear and reappear almost anywhere," Jeremiah quickly explained, assuming the boy hadn't ever been told about apparation yet.

"But anyways," he said, "I think you will do fine. Mostly everyone seems to find a place to fit in at Hogwarts- it might take a little time, but you will find your place too when you get there. Plus, I don't even think that you are the first blind student that Hogwarts will have had. As long as you put your mind to it, you are capable of anything." Jeremiah was quiet for a bit, allowing his long-winded reply to sink in a little bit. "By the way," he added then, "What's your name?" He wasn't sure if the boy had said it or not, but he wanted to be sure he didn't simply miss it.

[Zeak Nitesh G2]

Zeak stopped and thought for a second, than smacked himself on the forehead slightly. “Muggle! That’s the word.” He hadn’t learned much of the lingo of the magical word. Just the few nasty words that the older girl had said a few weeks back, and the confused ramblings of his mother as she tried to keep everything sane inside her head. Zeak did feel better knowing that most wizards and witches looked over the fact that he wasn’t a pureblood. “Well, I ran into someone a few weeks back at the owl sheep here. She was one of the ones that looked down at what I am. To me, I really don’t see the difference. I can use magic, she can use magic. We are one in the same.”

He shrugged his tiny shoulders. He quickly tuned back in as the boy began to speak of Hogwarts once more. Zeak felt his eyes going wide and his mouth hang slightly open as he tried to picture the place. He felt sad though, knowing that he would never be able to see the place for himself, but that wasn’t going to ruin his experience there. “What….What happened during your first year?” Zeak was curious to know. He hadn’t met anyone that could tell him what to expect on his first day. Something really disadvantages for him since he woudn’t be able to see what to do either.

He cocked his head slightly. “Not the first one?” Zeak couldn’t help but beam happily at this news, if he wasn’t the first, than they probably had some precautions set up for him. He was so happy that the boy’s question barely registered in his mind. “Oh!” He said, remembering that he hadn’t given the boy his name yet. “My name is Zeak. Zeak Nitesh.” Zeak held out his hand over the table.

[Jeremiah Baer]

Jeremiah grinned a bit as Zeak corrected himself after hearing the correct word he was searching for. The young boy was somewhat amusing, and Jeremiah thought of how much must be going through his mind- being introduced to a whole new world and all. Zeak must have had a lot of courage and he was likely a good candidate for Gryffindor.

"My first year?" Jeremiah questioned. It seemed so long ago. Well, it was in a way. Six years ago almost. He tried remembering the exact feelings he had on his first day. Mostly nervousness, he thought; unsure of what to expect and all. "It's not too bad," he said, trying to sound assuring. "You start off with a ride across a lake- just all the first years. You'll meet Hagrid. He's pretty cool, a giant, but cool. Then he kind of hands you off to Professor McGonagall. She'll seem stern, but she has a kind core underneath her exterior. She basically takes you from there and leads you to the Great Hall. Here is where we, the rest of the students, will be waiting. Each of you will take a turn putting on the sorting hat. The sorting hat will determine which house you are in." Jeremiah knew he was going kind of fast, and he thought he should be careful to assume that Zeak knew much. It's just that it was all routine to Jeremiah by now. "There are four houses in Hogwarts. Your house is those who you spend most of your time with. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say you'd make a good Gryff, er, Gryffindor. That's actually what house I am in. But anyways, I'm really not even giving it justice. You'll see when you get there. It's so much more amazing when you get to experience it in person."

"Jeremiah took a drink and looked back at Zeak. "Any more questions? I know I kind of rushed through that." He was sure Zeak's mind was racing by now, even more that it probably was before. "I wouldn't worry too much about it though. If anyone gives you a hard time, you can always send them to me." Jeremiah chuckled a bit. In a way, he hoped that he could ease Zeak's worries a bit.