Muggle Studies: Task Two: Write about a Pureblood who tries to pretend to be a Muggle.
Extra Prompts:
(character) Daphne Greengrass
(word) undercover
Word count: 888
The Greengrass Ritual
Every Greengrass has to go undercover in the Muggle world to be accepted as a Greengrass. Are you asking why? Well, you see, the Greengrass family has always believed in equality between all bloods, and should be able to mingle in the Muggle world without looking like an absolute fool. So, as I've already told you, a Greengrass has to go into the Muggle world during the summer before their seventeenth birthday, and survive it without anyone discovering who they really are.
Daphne Greengrass is not an exception to this case; in fact, Daphne is excited to go into the Muggle world the next summer. But the talk of war is brewing and her parents think they should postpone her visit until the threat is gone. Daphne is disappointed but understanding, so she goes to face another year of Pureblood supremacists and blood politics within the chambers of the dungeons whilst not having a little treat to please her.
The trip finally happens three years later, after Harry Potter conquers… well, you all know how that ends. The first summer is the hardest, when the Ministry becomes corrupted and starts attacking the Muggles, but the second summer was the worst, having to help fix her broken school before September. Now, it's a few days before the summer break, and the remaining Slytherin's that she is acquainted with cannot understand why she is so excited.
(They do not know of the Greengrass ritual, nor do they know about Daphne's obsession of Muggles.)
Daphne's little sister, Astoria, will be turning seventeen in October, so the sisters would be doing their rituals together. Daphne is both excited and terrified of that prospect. Excited because she won't be alone in the strange Muggle world, but terrified because if she messes up she messes up for both of them. She's not so afraid that she cannot revise, however, so she spends the next few days out of the watchful eyes of the Slytherin Common Room and in a quiet corner of the library, reading a few of the Muggle books inside there. She knows all about the famous musicians of '99, and has even revised some film titles, although she has never watched a film in her life.
All in all, it is going to be a good trip, and nothing can ruin it for her.
The Greengrass's had an alliance with a Muggle family. They know that the Greengrass's are a "foreign" family, and treat the children like they're just a foreign exchange student. They don't ask why the children have an English accent, and they aren't told that the reason why either (you know that would be a bad idea).
Daphne Greengrass meets a girl her age at that Muggle house, a girl named Ashley, with dark hair and a strong personality. Ashley is the one who shows her around the Muggle world, the one who takes her to cinemas, to theme parks. Ashley is the one who holds her hair back after that damned rollercoaster (Daphne calls it a death trap, and is pleased when Ashley laughs). She's the one who holds Daphne's hand whilst they traipse through forests, singing along to pop songs that Daphne only just knows. Ashley definitely makes the trip better.
Daphne thinks of many things, but always throws them out of her head. The family has always stayed pure. Homosexuality isn't as large in the Muggle world as it is in the Magical world. Ashley will leave her when she finds out she's a witch.
Daphne thinks of many things, but never acts on them.
The summer passes quickly, much to Daphne's dismay. How can she spend more time with her new friend when she is in the Magical world? Astoria, bless her little heart, feels the same about the mother, from whom she has learned a lot about the Muggle ways of cooking and sewing.
Their final dinner together is spent in silence. The father came home from work early to join them, a smile on his face as he looked around the group. "You're going back home, tomorrow, right?" he asks them.
"I think that's obvious, Dad," Ashley sharply replied, her voice sounding thick with emotion.
He doesn't reply, and the rest of the meal is in silence.
Astoria helps with the washing-up whilst Daphne and Ashley go up to the guest room. Ashley plays with the hem of her dress, looking at a point past Daphne's head. She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it and takes one of Daphne's hands instead. "You will keep in contact with me, right?" Ashley asks, her voice wild and her eyes dancing.
"Of course."
Daphne passes the Greengrass ritual and somehow feels stronger, as if her magic has changed. She doesn't question it, instead opening the letter that came through their mailbox at the post office this morning.
Daphne,
Don't be a stranger, yeah? Know that you can see me whenever you want.
Ashley.
It turns out Daphne will be going undercover in the Muggle world again.
This is the tale of Daphne Greengrass, a Pureblood who fell in love with her Muggle peer. They got together the next summer, after a year of suppressing feelings. All parents were pleased, and so is Daphne when Ashley doesn't leave her because she's a witch.
Was not expecting that.
~Buttercat