Summary: Year 7, Hogwarts. Hermione, after taking the class a few years
ago, has started a Muggle Studies Club for any students who wanted to go
more in depth into how muggles really lived. The club includes herself as
President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Activities Coordinator; Ron and Harry
as reluctant friends; Luna Lovegood as confused; Parvati and Lavender as co-
Vice Presidents; and Ginny.
Disclaimer: I own only one character, and that is Bolduun Graniteshield. The others belong to J.K. Rowling, the creators of D&D, and my friends who are currently acting out this game.
. . .
"Really Harry, why are we here?" Ron moaned as he looked around at his friends. "We could be practicing Quidditch, but no. We had to be pulled into another one of Hermione's ideas of 'fun'."
"I doubt this is going to be anything like SPEW. We'll stay for 15 minutes or so and then duck out, all right?" Harry replied, also looking around. The group was mostly girls. In fact, he and Ron were the only guys. The rest of the girls were deep in gossip about the latest headline in the Daily Prophet: Lockhart Cured!
Everyone was sitting around a table in the Great Hall, including Professor Sinistra who supervised the club, when Hermione walked in with a stack of books, papers, and a large sack. As usual, she could hardly see over her armful of material until she dropped it onto the table with a loud THUD. All conversations came to a halt at this.
"If she assigns homework, I'll strangle her right here," Ron whispered.
"Who here likes games?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron. Everyone broke out into grins, including the professor. "Well, this is a game that muggles made up so they could pretend to be wizards like us. It's called Dungeons and Dragons."
"What kinds of dragons?" Ron piped in, his interest actually sincere.
"Oh never mind that. Everyone plays a character, and they go through a journey to explore, defeat enemies, find treasure, and so on," she explained.
"Ooohh treasure?" Parvati asked. "Like gold and jewelry?"
"Exactly!" Hermione was happy this was going so well. She was usually greeted with sighs of boredom and disinterest. "I've went ahead and made characters for all of you." She began to pass out the character sheets and their corresponding backgrounds, each of which were neatly written onto two- foot long scrolls. Then she opened her sack and pulled out smaller leather pouches, each with different-colored sets of dice and small, detailed figurines.
Lavender was the first to break the confused silence. "Hermione? What are we supposed to do with all this. . . stuff?" Ron unrolled his parchment with a look of astonishment, as did Harry, Ginny, and Parvati. Luna's eyes glazed over as she stared at her moving figurine.
"This," replied Hermione, "is what you play the game with. Your character sheet is your strengths and weaknesses, and your items. The dice are for making decisions and actions, and the figurine is the representation of you in the game. I hope you don't mind that I made all of your characters. I thought it might help get the game started a bit quicker."
Harry looked over his character sheet. A dwarvish fighter, and a mercenary! He knew he would have fun with this game until – "Hang on Hermione, you forgot my magic skills." He checked his parchment again. His spells list was empty, and his items did not include a wand of any kind.
"That's because you're not a wizard, Harry," Hermione said.
"He is so!" Ron retorted. "Why else do you think he'd be here?"
"I mean his character isn't a wizard," she said, rolling her eyes. "Bolduun Graniteshield is a fighter, not a wizard. That's what the war axe is for." He was shocked. No magic? How could he survive with no magic?
"Don't worry Harry. Anyways, I've got the real problem." Ron pointed to his sheet. "She gave me the wrong character. Look, this says I'm a girl."
"That's the right one," she said. "I thought you would do well as a half elf."
"I don't want to be a house elf!"
"HALF elf Ron! Not house elf!" she said, getting more annoyed with him. "You're a ranger. It's a good character all around, and you'll get some magic spells around level 4." Lavender, you'll be Fayre, the elven druid princess. Ginny, you're also a druid but you're a halfling named Wisdomatic Swiss. Luna's the other halfling. You are Selvora Littlenight the bard. Parvati, you are a human thief with the name Daronna Songsteel." As she listed the names and races of everyone's character, Ron continued to stare at his sheet, his mouth gaping.
"I'm a girl!?"
"Your character is a girl. You have to separate yourself from the character."
"Alright then," he said, sarcasm flooding his voice. "And just what type of character are you? An ogre with a beard down to your knees?"
"Actually," she said defiantly, "I am the dungeon master. I create the world that your characters live in, as well as all the treasures you find, and the monsters that challenge you."
"Right, that's really fair!" Ron's face was now close to the color of his hair. "You get to play God and I'm stuck as a sissy house elf with no wand. I don't even know how to spell my name! Cai'ine?! Where do you come up with all this anyway?"
"I think you say it 'Ky-inney.' Look, the apostrophe probably means there's a guttural stop there," Parvati explained, trying to be helpful. Ron's face lightened a few shades at this and nodded in appreciation at her.
"Okay," Hermione continued, also calming down a bit. "I've read through all the books for the game, and I'm pretty sure I know how everything works." She continued on to explain how the game worked, what the differences in the characters were, attack rolls, and so on until everyone looked as if they understood. "So! Shall we start the game today or next week when we meet again?"
As she said this Harry realized that an hour had already passed and he hadn't even noticed. He was actually enjoying himself, despite the fact that his character had no magic. He looked around again. All the girls seemed excited to start, Ron looked more interested in what Hermione had to say than usual, and Professor Sinistra was absorbed in the Lockhart Cured! article. "Let's start today," he suggested, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Excellent!" Hermione beamed at him, happy that he was supporting her. "You all find yourselves in a waiting room outside the office of a Priestess. . ."
Disclaimer: I own only one character, and that is Bolduun Graniteshield. The others belong to J.K. Rowling, the creators of D&D, and my friends who are currently acting out this game.
. . .
"Really Harry, why are we here?" Ron moaned as he looked around at his friends. "We could be practicing Quidditch, but no. We had to be pulled into another one of Hermione's ideas of 'fun'."
"I doubt this is going to be anything like SPEW. We'll stay for 15 minutes or so and then duck out, all right?" Harry replied, also looking around. The group was mostly girls. In fact, he and Ron were the only guys. The rest of the girls were deep in gossip about the latest headline in the Daily Prophet: Lockhart Cured!
Everyone was sitting around a table in the Great Hall, including Professor Sinistra who supervised the club, when Hermione walked in with a stack of books, papers, and a large sack. As usual, she could hardly see over her armful of material until she dropped it onto the table with a loud THUD. All conversations came to a halt at this.
"If she assigns homework, I'll strangle her right here," Ron whispered.
"Who here likes games?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron. Everyone broke out into grins, including the professor. "Well, this is a game that muggles made up so they could pretend to be wizards like us. It's called Dungeons and Dragons."
"What kinds of dragons?" Ron piped in, his interest actually sincere.
"Oh never mind that. Everyone plays a character, and they go through a journey to explore, defeat enemies, find treasure, and so on," she explained.
"Ooohh treasure?" Parvati asked. "Like gold and jewelry?"
"Exactly!" Hermione was happy this was going so well. She was usually greeted with sighs of boredom and disinterest. "I've went ahead and made characters for all of you." She began to pass out the character sheets and their corresponding backgrounds, each of which were neatly written onto two- foot long scrolls. Then she opened her sack and pulled out smaller leather pouches, each with different-colored sets of dice and small, detailed figurines.
Lavender was the first to break the confused silence. "Hermione? What are we supposed to do with all this. . . stuff?" Ron unrolled his parchment with a look of astonishment, as did Harry, Ginny, and Parvati. Luna's eyes glazed over as she stared at her moving figurine.
"This," replied Hermione, "is what you play the game with. Your character sheet is your strengths and weaknesses, and your items. The dice are for making decisions and actions, and the figurine is the representation of you in the game. I hope you don't mind that I made all of your characters. I thought it might help get the game started a bit quicker."
Harry looked over his character sheet. A dwarvish fighter, and a mercenary! He knew he would have fun with this game until – "Hang on Hermione, you forgot my magic skills." He checked his parchment again. His spells list was empty, and his items did not include a wand of any kind.
"That's because you're not a wizard, Harry," Hermione said.
"He is so!" Ron retorted. "Why else do you think he'd be here?"
"I mean his character isn't a wizard," she said, rolling her eyes. "Bolduun Graniteshield is a fighter, not a wizard. That's what the war axe is for." He was shocked. No magic? How could he survive with no magic?
"Don't worry Harry. Anyways, I've got the real problem." Ron pointed to his sheet. "She gave me the wrong character. Look, this says I'm a girl."
"That's the right one," she said. "I thought you would do well as a half elf."
"I don't want to be a house elf!"
"HALF elf Ron! Not house elf!" she said, getting more annoyed with him. "You're a ranger. It's a good character all around, and you'll get some magic spells around level 4." Lavender, you'll be Fayre, the elven druid princess. Ginny, you're also a druid but you're a halfling named Wisdomatic Swiss. Luna's the other halfling. You are Selvora Littlenight the bard. Parvati, you are a human thief with the name Daronna Songsteel." As she listed the names and races of everyone's character, Ron continued to stare at his sheet, his mouth gaping.
"I'm a girl!?"
"Your character is a girl. You have to separate yourself from the character."
"Alright then," he said, sarcasm flooding his voice. "And just what type of character are you? An ogre with a beard down to your knees?"
"Actually," she said defiantly, "I am the dungeon master. I create the world that your characters live in, as well as all the treasures you find, and the monsters that challenge you."
"Right, that's really fair!" Ron's face was now close to the color of his hair. "You get to play God and I'm stuck as a sissy house elf with no wand. I don't even know how to spell my name! Cai'ine?! Where do you come up with all this anyway?"
"I think you say it 'Ky-inney.' Look, the apostrophe probably means there's a guttural stop there," Parvati explained, trying to be helpful. Ron's face lightened a few shades at this and nodded in appreciation at her.
"Okay," Hermione continued, also calming down a bit. "I've read through all the books for the game, and I'm pretty sure I know how everything works." She continued on to explain how the game worked, what the differences in the characters were, attack rolls, and so on until everyone looked as if they understood. "So! Shall we start the game today or next week when we meet again?"
As she said this Harry realized that an hour had already passed and he hadn't even noticed. He was actually enjoying himself, despite the fact that his character had no magic. He looked around again. All the girls seemed excited to start, Ron looked more interested in what Hermione had to say than usual, and Professor Sinistra was absorbed in the Lockhart Cured! article. "Let's start today," he suggested, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Excellent!" Hermione beamed at him, happy that he was supporting her. "You all find yourselves in a waiting room outside the office of a Priestess. . ."