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[wunderkind]

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[bitty_justice]

[Miles wrinkles his nose a little bit, because he doesn't really see the difference between psychic powers and magical mind-reading like they mentioned in the introduction to the Book of Spells. But if Sirius says no, then Miles believes him, especially when he has that thoughtful expression on his face.]

Well, could it know when someone wants to be in the same House as their friends? I mean - it seems like you should be able to go into a different House if you wanted to. Especially since it's not good if only people who are alike are collected into any given House.

[Miles nods firmly, because he has another little bit of Truth to impart:]

My dad says you should always seek out those who aren't like you and who think differently from you, because those are the people who will open your eyes to the truth and help you grow.

[parumcanis]

Your dad says all that?

[He scoffs--but his smile is more impressed than anything else. That is a great deal of wisdom bestowed upon Edgeworth; even if he's not sure of what it means, precisely, he can tell that much.]

I dunno. Maybe the Sorting Hat thinks the same as your dad. That sounds wise, anyways. But if everyone was different, they wouldn't get on. There'd be fighting in the houses.

[bitty_justice]

[Miles shakes his head, really very pleased by the turn this conversation has taken. Sirius calling his dad wise, and looking pretty impressed with him. If Sirius thinks Dad is cool, then Sirius is smart; that's just basic logic.]

Except that you can get along perfectly well with people who are different from you. I mean, we're pretty different, I think.

[parumcanis]

We're not that different.

[He says it dismissively, and only after he's said it does he realise how great a claim he's actually made, comparing himself to a muggle-born. His mother wouldn't be pleased by that. But his mother isn't here, either--and it's true, he thinks, stubbornly.]

Except I'll bet you don't know anything about quidditch, or anything good. But you'll learn. That doesn't make you different.

[bitty_justice]

[And Miles knows he ought to take offense at being told he doesn't know about anything good, but, well - he just is too enthused at having made a friend so quickly. And a friend like Sirius, at that - someone really fun, someone energetic and cool.]

And you'll have to come visit me and I'll show you cool stuff in the normal - Muggle world. Like there's a museum, this museum close to me, and they just opened up an exhibit on tornadoes, and they have tornado tubes. Really cool.

[parumcanis]

I--

[Wouldn't be allowed, that's the only way that sentence can be finished. Sirius will never be allowed in the muggle world, never allowed to fratranise with muggle-born students, let alone stay over at the houses. But he's too excited by the prospect, too pleased at having made a new friend--and so he shoves that thought away, as if tehre will be some miracle that will allow him to go round to Edgeworth's to see these things that he's talking about--

No, Miles, he corrects himself. If they're friends they can use given names.]

What's a tornado tube?

[bitty_justice]

It's - okay.

[Miles leans forward eagerly. It doesn't take much to make him warm to this subject - which is silly; he oughtn't be going on about science if he's about to be a wizard - but it's just too cool.]

So - all right, you know tornadoes, right? They have these tubes with mist and wind, and you can simulate a tornado - determine how fast you want the mind speed to go, determine the temperature, all that - to experiment with how to make a tornado.

[parumcanis]

[He squints, suspiciously. Miles might very well be having him on and he'd never know--because he's not been to the muggle world and seen such things.

Though now he wishes he had, if it is indeed true.]

Get out. Why would you want to do that?

[bitty_justice]

Well, out of scientific interest, of course...

[Which is the answer he knows he ought to give; here's the real answer, and he breaks and delivers it with a big grin - ]

And also because it's so cool. You get to see the colored smoke forming into a cyclone, and they do the sounds and everything -

[parumcanis]

[All right, yeah, that's cool. Science isn't cool, but coloured smoke and cyclones and sounds--]

D'you get to stand in it?

[bitty_justice]

[Miles grins and nods.]

Not in the ones that you make, but there's a big central one where you get to run through it, yeah.

[parumcanis]

Wow.

[He's openly impressed with that, and there's a moment as he just-- tries to imagine the full experience of running through a tornado. Brilliant.]

Is it in London?

[bitty_justice]

Mm-hm. That's where we live now - me and Dad. We're from America originally but moved here five years ago. Anyway, our flat is petty small, but you can definitely stay in my room. If you don't have a place to stay in London, that is. You're not from London, right?

[He chatters cheerfully at Sirius, quite pleased with this prospect for the holiday break.]

I have a pretty good ear for accents, and you don't sound like it. Plus if you haven't been around non-magical stuff much.

[parumcanis]

[He tries, gamely, to keep up his assurance, to not let reality encroach on this idea. It would be brilliant, going over to Miles' flat--for the novelty, if nothing else. Americans and muggles, a totally separate world--

But everything his parents have said creeps in, poisoning the little thrill of excitement, drawing him down. He smiles, patiently, kicking his heels against the bench again.]

No, we live in London. Just-- separate.

[Abruptly, he pulls his legs up, pulls his knees to his chest.]

Where did you live in America?

[bitty_justice]

Oh - um, California.

[Miles can tell that Sirius seems suddenly less enthusiastic; he's afraid that maybe he doesn't like Americans. That would be...really rotten - he's got his permanent residency in Great Britain, though, and he'll get his citizenship eventually, he thinks.]

I've tried to get rid of my accent, though. I think I've done a pretty good job.

[parumcanis]

California.

[There is little of the muggle world that Sirius knows--he's been too isolated to know very much--but California is still something of a mystical land, thanks to the little that he's managed to absorb. Not as good as New York, maybe, but still. Pretty good!]

I wouldn't have guessed that. Are you really from California? So do you know muggle film stars, then? I've only seen one film. I snuck in, once. My mother was furious.

[bitty_justice]

[Miles gives a little laugh and shakes his head.]

No, I don't know any. I think I saw one once, though - there was a limo and everything.

[Still, it's good to know Sirius' mom isn't so different from his dad - ]

My dad would be really mad if I snuck into a movie, too. You do always have to pay.

[parumcanis]

She wasn't angry about that.

[Don't you know? He wants to ask Miles, but he seems so-- happy. He doesn't know. Not about the Blacks, not about Sirius' parents, or where he comes from--or even what he is going to face.

He should tell him. He knows he should. But he can't, yet, and perhaps that makes him a coward. Sirius looks down at the floor.]

What's a limo?

[bitty_justice]

[Miles starts to ask what she was mad about, then - but he's distracted by that second question. It's weird that Sirius knows so little about his world - the "Muggle" world, and that's a strange word, too - but it's really kind of fun telling him about the cooler parts of it. After all, he's excited about where he's going, but he's proud of where he came from, too.]

Oh, it's a...really expensive car. It's not fuel-efficient at all, so that's bad - [He's obliged to throw in a little bit of sanctimony, of course - ] But it's really long, and the inside is done up with really plush seats and they put hot tubs and that sort of thing in there. I don't know. I've never been in one. But maybe someday.

[parumcanis]

[Fuel efficient means absolutely nothing to him, but the rest of that, Merlin's pants--]

They put a hot tub in a car! How do they do that? I didn't know muggles could do things like that--without magic, I mean, without stretching charms and things--

How do you know about them if you've not been in one?

[bitty_justice]

TV.

[He admits that with a guilty grin.]

I don't really watch it myself, but my friends back home - sometimes I'd go over to their house and we'd watch it. Anyway, I think the hot tub...It probably didn't work at all. Probably splashed everywhere.

[parumcanis]

But it would be brilliant, wouldn't it! You could drive in a car with a bath in it. It's mental.

[The more he considers this, the more excited he gets. It's exactly the sort of ridiculous and superfluous nonsense he likes, when all is said and done. Somehow he's managed to escape some of the stuffy superiority of a pureblood childhood.]

We should find one.

[bitty_justice]

[Miles, meanwhile, is stuffy - is marvelously stuffy - but Sirius, as it turns out, has a naturally infectious enthusiasm. Besides, this is a new situation, and he's still figuring out who he's going to be; he is going to, as it turns out, in this situation, be someone who doesn't get sanctimonious about stupid things, but instead get a little excited as well.]

I bet we could. My dad has a car - I bet he'd be willing to drive us out to the really stupid custom car dealerships -

[parumcanis]

You should write him, as soon as we get to Hogwarts, and ask.

[He leans forward, eagerly--and if they go from Hogwarts, his parents won't ever find out. He can go and see the muggle world, and the limousine, and no one will ever know.]

You don't think he'd mind?

[bitty_justice]

[Miles shakes his head, though his voice is dubious.]

No, he wouldn't. He...wouldn't get it, I think, because he sort of thinks all things like that are a bit stupid, but he wouldn't mind at all. He likes when people expand their horizons.

[And he's quite certain of this last fact, so this he says with confidence.]

And he'd like you a lot.