The Accidental Meeting ((Jaquin Prokenstien))

[rosewood]

Being a sixth year at Hogwarts was not easy. You had to face the fact that next year you would be taking your NEWTs. It was good to feel like king of the hill, and that you were almost done with school and ready to move on to a new stage of your life, but Julie knew she would miss Hogwarts a lot when the time came for her to leave. Right now she was sitting in the library, a place Julie had spent a lot of her time in at Hogwarts, looking for a Herbology book to read. Herbology was Julie's favourite and strongest subject. She hoped one day to work in that field, the same field her father and late mother had chosen.

Julie was going through a shelf of books not paying much attention to what was going on around her. She had just picked a thick book to look at when she bumped into someone equally engrossed in another book. The book in Julie's hands fell on the ground and Julie looked quickly in Madam Pince's direction to see if she had noticed. To her relief she had not and Julie looked at the blonde boy before her, blushing embaressedly and said "Sorry,", then realized who it was she had just bumped into. It was Jaquin Prokenstien, a fellow Ravenclaw and sixth year. Julie had talked to him before when they had been working at the same table in Herbology, and knew Jaquin shared her love of Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Pushing her hair out of her eyes she said quietly so Madam Pince wouldn't hear "Hi! I was trying to find a book about those seeds Sprout was telling us about. What are you reading?"

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin was completely devoted to the subject of Care of Magical creatures and was best at the subject in his year (120% on end of year exam). He had taken interest in the subject since early childhood and excelled at it, magibiology, some Herbology, and muggle genetics and biology. Jaquin found that he had a natural affinity for genetics and biology the summer after elementary or primary school, the summer before entering Hogwarts. His interest in those subjects brought his link with the muggle world to new heights. He even planned to enter the best college for science and technology after Hogwarts, and in the year before 6th year, Jaquin had taken an exam for entering that university, scoring a 98% in genetics, mathematics, and biology (he taught himself all three of these subjects). But, in Hogwarts, his focus was mainly on the magical properties of these subjects such as magibiology. Jaquin would spend days on end, studying in the library and occasionally lent Hagrid a hand; he hoped to become a researcher/dragon tamer/magibiologist in the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures.

As he was looking through a bookshelf in the library on herbology, Jaquin felt someone bump into him. He turned around and apologized, "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there." Then he realized that it was a fellow Ravenclaw: Julie Rosewood, an excellent student in herbology class. He heard her ask him a question about what book he was reading, so, Jaquin replied quietly, "Oh, I'm reading up on quaking aspenal trees. They have a surprisingly sophisticated molecular and cellular build up, and possess strange magical powers and seems to have feelings. What are you reading about?"

[rosewood]

"Oh Jaquin they sound really interesting!" replied Julie, interested as always in anything to do with plants. "It is amazing how much plants which wizards thought to be uninterestiing and mundane have turned out to have magical properties. They seem to have feelings? " exclaimed the surprised girl. Indicating a spot far away from Madam Pince's desk Julie put her book down and looked at Jaquin smiling her rare smile and said "Tell me about it. I'm really interested in Herbology as you know and I hope to work later on in that field." Julie was being rather forward but her interest in the subject and also her open personality did not make her see that she was being a bit forward. She did not know Jaquin all that well after all, but that was Julie, open with everyone. Even though she was an only child her father told her that her mother had always been very sociable, and Julie had inherited that from her.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin was a bit taken aback; he was sort of a loner and most people never asked him to explain anything unless it was in Care of Magical Creatures or Charms. He knew that Julie was probably being open because of her interest in herbology, so, he replied, "The cell for photosynthesis is called a chloroplast and in this tree, it numbers in the quadrillions, many times its normal amount, making it efacacious in creating the sugar through the light reaction, which involves beta carotene. The overall reaction is 6CO2 + 6H2O (+ light energy) = C6H12O6 + 6O2. Now about its magical properties, it is able to become invisible for as long as it wishes. Then the feelings is that when some ministry or magic researchers began cutting down fellow, but non-magical trees, the trees seemed to cringe back in fear than ferociously attack the wood cutters with its branches."

[rosewood]

Julie listened attentively, her eyes widening as Jaquin made his last statement. She did not notice that Jaquin was a bit taken aback at first. "Wow!" she said. "I never knew about that. As I was telling you I was reading about those seeds Sprout brought up in class last Sunday. I just found this book right now about them. Apparently they only take two days to grow into trees, and grow more quickly in the dark, which is why they got the name, Night Nevidas. I was looking up their magical uses. What subjects have you chosen for NEWTs Jaquin?" she asked. She knew Jaquin to be one of the top sixth years, and exceptionally good in thier Care of Magical Creatures class.

Julie knew the library was not the best place to start a conversation, and that Jaquin probably had better things to do than sit around and talk, but she felt like having a conversation with someone. Jaquin struck Julie as being a bit of a lonely person; most of the time he had his nose in a book, whether she saw him in the common room or in the library. It had been a bit of a surprise to her to find out he played Quidditch, and that he was an excellent Beater. Julie loved Quidditch herself, but though she could fly well she could not concentrate on doing anything else like catching or hitting a ball while she was flying. She contented herself with the role of the spectator, shouting herself hoarse during matches. She had spent many happy times with her father watching Quidditch games; her father had been an excellent Beater himself when he was younger.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin listened to Julie intently; he knew that Julie liked to do research on Herbology. He said quietly, "I never knew that either! So, does the plant utilize water as its main source and it the sunlight much too intense for it to use in chemical reactions? I mean, you said, it grows better in the dark." When Julie asked what NEWT's classes he was taking, Jaquin replied, "Uh, I qualified for Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Transfiguration, DADA, Arithmancy, Herbology, and Potions. I got an Outstanding in COMC, Charms, DADA, Arithmancy, and somehow in Potions, and an Exceeds Expectations in Herbology and Transfiguration."

[rosewood]

Julie said "Actually I'm as surprised as you are. I'm still looking for the reason behind that," she said, pointing at the book she had just set down. Julie had her hair down today. She did not have except two classes that morning, so she knew it would not be in the way of her work. Julie was not one of those girls who constantly pondered on her appearance, but she did take care of hair. As a rule she usually tied it up but today she decided not to do that. Her father had always loved it when she left her hair down as that had been her mother's hairstyle. Her mother's hair however had never been as long as Julie's.

"Oh, I'll be seeing you in most of our classes then. I've pretty much chosen the subjects you have. Wonder what that Nikoloeva woman's like. Do you have a lot of stuff to do today?" she asked Jaquin, her soft hazel eyes looking into his intelligent bluish gray ones.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin nodded in comprehension as Julie pointed to her book. He looked at Julie in the eye and said with a smile, "So, just wondering, uh.... are you pureblooded or not?" The question sounded a bit ackward, but, Jaquin always asked about the backgroud of someone he met before befriending them (basically because he did not like discrimination; Jaquin is a half-blood). But, Julie, as Jaquin knew was a highly sociable person, and looked very amiable.

When Julie said that they would be in the same classes, Jaquin replied, "Yeah, it'll be great working with you in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures! No, I don't really have a lot of classes today. I mean, I've already had Charms and Transfiguration." When Julie brought up something about a woman, Jaquin inquired, "Sorry, what did you say?"

[rosewood]

"I meant the new DADA teacher. I haven't decided whether I am taking that as an advanced subject or not. I think that's her name." said Julie when Jaquin did not understand who she was talking about.

Wondering why Jaquin wanted to know whether she was a pureblood Julie replied "Well my father is a wizard, and so was my mother. My grandparents weren't all wizards though; my paternal grandfather is a muggle. Don't know about all the family though. Never been a topic that interested me that much like other wizards and witches. I love my grandpa and like the way he managed to adapt to living in the midst of magical people even though he's a muggle. He's a very old man though now. They've always been a happy couple." said Julie, her eyes shining as she talked about her grandparents. "What about you Jaquin? You never told me about your family before."

The conversation between the two was a nice change from their usual talk about their studies. Julie leaned her head against the shelf beside her as Jaquin answered her question.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

"Oh, her, I've got her for classes also, but, I think she will be a pretty good teacher. Maybe even as good as Lupin!" replied Jaquin.

Jaquin listened intently as Julie told him about her family and about having a muggle paternal grandfather. At least they had some things in common When she finished and asked him in return about his family, Jaquin replied, "Well, I'm half-blood, my mom is a Russian witch and my father is a german muggle. My dad's vocation is as a Ph.D professor of linguistics, archeology, and culture while my mom works in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I also don't have any siblings."

[rosewood]

"Do you think so? Lupin was one of my favourite Professors at Hogwarts. DADA has never been really my thing, but that year I learnt a lot. I've never been able to learn that much from any of our other DADA teachers." That was not the only reason Julie had liked Lupin. The other reason was that he reminded her of her father in many ways.

There was something foreign in Jaquin's looks, but then it was the same with Julie who had inherited a lot of her looks from her late Lebanese mother. "What's archaeology?" asked Julie curiously. Before Jaquin answered the quesstion she told him a bit about herself and her family. "My father is a herbologist. My mother was a Healer. That's how they met each other and got married; both of them met in Paris when they were working on some new potion with herbs. My father is British. My mother was Lebanese. She passed away when I was three."

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

((Sorry, been away))

"Well, I'm all right at DADA, I mean, my mom has a bunch of magical creatures and dark creatures that I can practice stuff on. I also mastered the patronus charm in my 4th year. The shape it takes is something like a pheonix. It wasn't really that hard and I guess you could say that I'm an exceptional at dueling, also," replied Jaquin with a smile. "But, be glad that that Umbridge toad is gone!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Jaquin, really meaning what he said. He knew another person, who had to live without a mother. It was his close friend Perseus Feynman, a Slytherin, but with a very Ravenclaw like, intellectual mind, having an affinity for science like Jaquin. But, Perseus excelled in other areas; he was talented in calculus, physics, and chemistry, while Jaquin had the natural talent in zoology, biology, and archaeology. When Julie asked him what archaeology was, Jaquin smiled at her and said, "It's a muggle science that is related to biology and anthropology. It is the study of past human life as revealed by relics left by ancient people. Like the people who study Egyptian culture."

[rosewood]

((That's okay )

"I have a great father," said Julie, "but sometimes I wish I could remember more about my mother. Father never remarried after she died. He had a much worse time than I did. Father has always been there for me, and though there are times I really long for a mother, he's really done his best to take care of me." Julie had no idea why she was telling Jaquin all this but for some reason she was feeling very relaxed aroud him.

On a lighter note she said "What does your mother do? Mine was a Healer like I said. Julie exclaimed in surprise "You can produce a patronus! That's so cool! Hey, I think I saw it in our DA sessions with Harry last year."

The conversation moved onto Umbridge. "I hated that woman. She caused trouble everywhere she went; the time she became Headmistress was one of the worst times we spent at Hogwarts. So that's archaeology. It sounds interesting."

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin listened as Julie, spoke. He found that she was quite loqacious and really open. But, something about her made Jaquin feel more comfortable and homely than normal. Jaquin stated, "Yeah, I think that Harry's a great teacher, and excells at DADA. He'll become a prodigious, famous Auror. Did you beleive in what the Daily Prophet had said, because, I certainly did not!"

Deciding to change the subject a little, Jaquin asked, "I'm probably going to play for beater in our game in Salem coming up. What do you think of our chances?"

[rosewood]

"I did not believe all that they said of course. I know Dumbledore would never lie, and Harry never struck me as a person who liked being the in limelight. It was facing the fact that You-Know-Who was back that was hardest for me. I believed it, but hated to think of the consequences. I know now that we all have to face the situation and work together, look at the two Hufflepuffs he killed already." Julie's eyes filled with sadness as she said her last words.

Jaquin moved the conversation onto a lighter topic, a topic which everybody was discussing these days. It was the upcoming match and their chances of winning. Julie said excitedly "We have a great team and it shouldn't be difficult for us to beat Salem! The problem is we need too many points to win the cup. I don't know if we'll able to score that much goals before one of the Seekers gets the Snitch. Will you be one of the beaters?"

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

"Yeah, I'll be playing beater, like I did against Durmstrang last time. If we lose I don't think that it would be a matter of not enough skill. I mean, most of us are really adept. But, I think it would be a problem with cordination and team work; sometimes the Slytherins like to do it their own way. But, not Perseus of course.... He's different," replied Jaquin as he put his elbow on the table and absent-mindedly flipped through the volumous, intriguing book. He narrowed his eyes as sunlight flashed through the windows, and created penumbrae from the bookshelves around him. There was a moment of silence, as Jaquin contemplated. He then asked, as he wondered, "Have you ever explored Hogwarts? You know, looked around for secret passageways and stuff?"

[rosewood]

"That's putting it rather mildly," said Julie, when Jaquin said that Slytherins liked doing things their own way, smiling a little. "Perseus? That really clever student in the fifth whose a friend of the boy of Egyptian descent and that Hufflepuff prefect? I don't know him too well.... but you're right, he doesn't act like most Slytherins." Julie tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear and told Jaquin "My father was a Beater when he was in Hogwarts. That's why I like watching Quidditch so much... I've watched so many games with him. I don't play it myself... I mean I can fly well and everything, but I have to keep my concentration on flying and I can't do much else at the same time."

The conversation moved on to secret passages. "I have of course. Who hasn't at Hogwarts?" replied Julie. "I haven't found any though except the ones everyone knows. What about you?" Julie sat down in the chair beside Jaquin, trying to convince herself to get some work done, but she was enjoying this little conversation too much to do so.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

((Sorry, busy with the Quidditch match ;D Did you know that I play Perseus? You probably do. Right? ))

"Yeah, your right," agreed Jaquin, smiling. "But, I know Perseus well enough. He's probably my only real friend, as we loners are always loosely connected. You know, the hat considered putting him in Ravenclaw, but, because of his heritage, he was put in Slythering. Did you know that his mother was almost direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself? Of course, I've always liked better to associate with Gryffindors.... and my fellow house members." Jaquin listened, enjoying the day as Julie talked about her father playing beater, and when she was little. He replied, "I'm sure your a great flyer."

After Julie told him what she knew about Hogwarts, he chuckled. It seemed that most people, but, the Gryffindors were very adventurous. Jaquin whispered, "Well, just the other day, I found another secret passage. Through the school, not out. There are only seven in total out of the school and only 3 work. But, a new one opened in the Dungeons to Hogsmeade, into the Three Broomsticks. Also, there is a passage linking the library to the Ravenclaw tower common room. You know the portrait of Rowena? Well, if you tap it and say the password, part of the wall will slide open. Then, if you go down the stairs, you will reach another wall. After that you say the same password for the wall to open into the ver back of the library. But, not in the restricted section."

[rosewood]

Julie listened to Jaquin as he told her about the passage he had just discovered. It turned out he knew quite a lot about secret the secret passageways in and out of the school. "Really!" she said surprised. "I never imagined ther would be a pssage from the Dungeons to anywhere, let alone Hogsmeade! An excellent way to have a few Butterbeers when you need them," she said, smiling mischeviously.

"Oh Jaquin you really have to show me those passages sometime. Trust us Ravenclaws to have a passageway from our common room to the library." Julie looked at Jaquin and smiled and then said "You know Jaquin... sometimes people get false first impressions." Julie looked him in the eyes and said "What I am trying to say is that you seem so quiet and studious that some people don't realize there's another side to your personality." she said, choosing her words carefully. "That might be why you're a bit on your own. I'm sorry if I'm being too personal. My father tells me I get that from my mother." she said, blushing a little.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

((This post has gone for a pretty long time. Do you want to end it, or would you like to continue. Its up to you. ;D ))

Jaquin listened to Julie as she talked in silence. He contemplated for a little while on her last comment. Her comment seemed very true. Then only other person that probably to really understood him was probably Perseus, who was just as much of a loner. Jaquin leaned back on his chair, resting his head against a bookshelf full of multifarious books. " It's all right, all right. You know, I think your right, Julie. But, of course, I enjoy being a loner," concurred Jaquin with a smile. "You aren't as noticed around in school..... Well, other than being noticed by the teachers!"

"Just wondering, are any of your family affiliated with the order?" inquired Jaquin in a whisper, casually saying 'the order'. "My uncle is an auror, and I think that we could agree that most aurors have joined the order. How about you?"