Heading Back to School -- The Hogwarts Express

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"My father is a potioneer." Dimitri replied simply -- in reality, his father was much more than that, but Dimitri didn't wish to bring the wrong impression to the witch before him. The family business was not very... law abiding, that much was for sure. "But, he also sits on the board at the school, due to the money he gives each year." The boy added as an after thought.

That, though, probably gave off the wrong idea, but Dimitri was not exactly the kind of person who realised when he spoke of money in a manner that others didn't. Money was, after all, a construct built for the lesser people of the world, people who followed after it as if it would matter in the long run.

"So, no, he doesn't really work at the school, I guess." The Ravenclaw summarised his answer, giving the younger witch a smile that showed he hadn't minded answering her question in the slightest. "And you, what do your parents do?" Dimitri asked, more than a little bit curious now he thought about it. Some of his friends at Hogwarts, their parents had some really cool jobs, some Aurors, many in St Mungos, a few freelancers. It never ceased to amaze Dimitri when he found some people's mums worked.

"I love Charms too!" Dimitri gushed a little too enthusiastically as Cora said she liked it. "A tutor? Wow, nice!" He added, looking thoroughly impressed with that much. "I'm hoping to do something with Charms when I leave Hogwarts. I'll definitely head off to U.E.W.W. for that, then decide on a career. There are a lot of options, though, so I'm still not one hundred percent sure on what I want to do... What's your favourite charm that you've tried so far?"

Okay, that was nerdy, but he was a Ravenclaw, and they'd gotten on to the subject of his favourite lesson, so it was more than reasonable that Dimitri was going to get a little bit excited in that moment, right?

"Alchemy... is kind of like Potions, I guess. Just, more Muggle. It's related to some form of science... I'm not going to pretend I understand it." Dimitri explained softly, making a small face that showed he wasn't overly sure. "I don't take it, to be honest, I never saw it as much use to me." He confided, though he had nothing against the professor, the professor was very good at what she did.

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Hearing that Dimitri's father was a potioneer, Cora's heart sank a little - she'd obviously just made herself look a fool by saying how bad at potions she was and he had obviously just been humouring her with the comment that potions was hard - her suspicions were that it was probably a family tradition and Dimitri must be a potions ace too and no way would he want to converse with someone stupid enough to burn off her eyebrows longer than necessary. Her heart sank - even moreso as she considered that his father might be the new potions master. As he commented that he was on the board however due to the money he invested in the school that made her a little more comfortable, board members weren't usually permitted to also be employed as it would be considered a conflict of interest. The idea that he came from a family of money didn't really phase her too much - her own father was pretty wealthy in the muggle world and that had translated over nicely to wizarding gold also when he had married their mother. She was usually pretty oblivious to the idea of people not having money.

As he asked what her own parents did, Cora thought quietly for a moment. "My mother works for the Ministry of Magic, She's something to do with the registration of muggle borns... I'm not entirely sure." she commented quietly, giving a little shrug. "She travels a lot so we don't really get to see her much... and when she does... she's not so... uhm..." Cora thought carefully about the best way to word it, she didn't want the guy to feel sorry for her so didn't want to mention how cold and distant her mother was. "She doesn't really talk about work." she finally commented with a light smile, before continuing. "My Father's a member of parliament. I guess that's kind of like the Ministry but on the muggle side of things? He works directly for the prime minister." she commented. She didn't really know how much Dimitri would know about the muggle parliament - she wasn't entirely sure on his heritage.

As Dimitri got excited about Charms Cora couldn't help but find herself beaming brightly, nodding about the tutor. "My father wanted to make sure we channelled our magical aptitude into something so we didn't get distructive or lose control, so we each had tutor from when we first started showing magical abilities. The tutors were mainly to keep us in check but I absolutely loved being able to do charms and such. He doesn't think that I need it anymore now I'm attending school but... I kinda wish I still had him through the holidays. It gets a bit boring at home now." she sighed lightly, before pursing her lips and trying to think of her favourite charm. After a few moments she looked enlightened and stood up, reaching for one of the bags she'd stowed away and routing through it for her wand. "I'll show you! I started practicing this last year at school but haven't quite got the full force yet..." finding the wand she brushed off some hair before putting the bag away, turning round to stand infront of Dimitri, legs together. Looking down at herself she pointed her wand at her feet, giving it a small twirl while speaking "Ascendio!". Gradually, Cora began to lift from the ground, floating up a few inches before the spell wore off and she dropped back down to the floor.

"I researched it after wingardium leviosa didn't work on me... Apparently some people can use it to leap really high up in the air! I haven't got that far yet..." she giggled lightly, moving to sit back down and tucking her dress back under her legs. "What's your favourite spell?" she asked, watching and hoping he'd be able to show her something too.

Cora sighed as he mentioned he didn't take Alchemy, giving a little shrug. "I didn't want to take it but my father wanted me to take as many subjects as I could... keep my options open as it were. But I think I'd like to do something with charms... or animals, when I'm older. Maybe there's a combination of both I could do..."

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Hearing what Cora's mother did brought an impressed look to the boy's features. Whilst women in his world were not to work, he did have an appreciation for women who -- outside of his social circles -- worked. It was the done thing, he'd learned, and therefore a good job in the Ministry was not something to be frowned upon. "Sounds like both an interesting, and very difficult job..." Dimitri replied, not really picking up on the awkwardness of Cora's tone. He took it to be her thinking about her phrasing of the explanation and nothing more. "Dealing with those people, I mean, I've heard from the a number of people that Muggle parents don't take the change very well..."

Finding out that Cora's father was a politician was equally as interesting. Though Dimitri had no interest in politics, he knew enough of both what was going on in the Muggle world, and the Magical world to not look ignorant if such a conversation should come up. After all, he was a Pureblood male, and he had a reputation to uphold. "With the PM?" Dimitri echoed, once again looking very impressed. The witch before him was, therefore, rather important in the Muggle world, through her father, of course. "That means he's rather busy, then?" Dimitri asked carefully, because he didn't wish to upset the witch with thoughts of her home life if it were not the nicest of things to endure.

Cora went on to explain how the Charms tutor had come in to being, and Dimitri couldn't help but smile at the younger witch who was beaming at him from across the compartment. She was cute, in a younger sister kind of way, and the smile was simply infectious. "That makes sense, I mean, what with the trace being on us until we're seventeen, it makes the holidays pretty boring. That said, in my house it would be pretty difficult to get told off for it, because the whole household is magical, and, as I'm sure you know, the trace isn't that accurate in telling the Ministry who is doing the magic. Around Muggles, though, I guess they're a little bit stricter on such things." He mused, before nodding his agreement to the boring. "I find the school holidays to be the most tedious time of year, as nerdy as that might sound..."

Dimitri watched patiently as the younger witch showed him her favourite spell. She was good at it, too, he denoted as she levitated herself up off of the ground temporarily as she showed him what she'd managed. "Very good!" Dimitri praised as she came back down to the floor of the train. "You need to keep your concentration, though, if you don't mind me saying. You'll be able to hold it for longer. Also, try to keep the picture of what you're trying to do at the forefront of your mind. I understand it is super exciting, though, when you start to lift off from the ground, and concentrating is easier said than done..." The Ravenclaw had said, before realising he'd gone in to something of a teacher mode. Smiling sheepishly at the witch for that outburst, Dimitri caught on to the words she'd said just before.

"A favourite..." He echoed, thinking for a moment before he slid his wand from his belt. "Well, one that I find to be quite fun is this one..." Dimitri continued, holding out his left hand just underneath his wand. With concentration on his face for a few moments, snowflakes began to fall from the tip of Dimitri's wand down in to his hand. They melted as they landed, of course, but the effect was quite clear as the different shaped flakes fell for a few moments.

Looking up from his hand to Cora, Dimitri waited for her to be able to take it in before stopping himself. "The Snowflake Creating Spell, named by an impossibly original man, I am sure." He joked softly, wiping his now slightly damp hand on his trousers. "Not really a practical spell, in truth, but I find it's quite fun to do, especially in summer."

"Charms and Caring for Magical Creatures go together quite well, actually. You'd need to be fairly proficient with a wand to be able to look after animals, and charms gives you a natural flair for many spells. The flame freezing spells would most certainly be useful if you decided to deal with dragons, or salamanders, or... something along those lines." He tried to help the witch with ideas, but his understanding in the creature field was not as good as it could have been. "But, you have plenty of time before you must make a decision." Dimitri concluded.

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