It's Not a Product, It's a Time Machine

Padril nodded solemnly when Hallie told him about her father, sensing she didn't tell many people about him. When she moved to change the subject, Padril followed, looking thoughtful as he tried to answer her question. "That's...a really good question," he began. "I watch a lot of old and foreign films that were culturally significant. Seven Samurai, The Last of the Mohicans, Man With a Movie Camera, The Boys in the Band. It feels so strange watching films that were made by, and sold to, people long dead."

He crossed his legs, and looked down at the ground, thinking. "It's not a product, you see, it's a time machine," he explained, slowly raising his eyes to Hallie. "If you know these old films, you can get an idea of how these felt, lived, loved. Little snippets into their lives and what they talked about. I think it's magnificent. What about you? What movies do you watch?" He was expecting popular movies from around the turn of the millenium. Easy watching, but also good quality film making. Nothing wrong with that.

Hallie noticed the thoughtfulness etched on Padril's face. For some reason it comforted her, as though she didn't have to be alone in her traumatic past. Then again she wasn't completely alone, her Mum was always there for her - not that she mentioned anything to her Mum. Over the summer they simply acted as though nothing had happened. They used to always visit her fathers grave before her brother Toby disappeared.

Hallie nodded her head to show she was listening. The Gryffindor had absolutely no idea what those films were and felt an idiot to ask, especially seeing as they had been culturally significant. 'Well I like watching action packed movies,' she began, her eyes lighting up. 'Films that get me all fired up and ready for an adventure. You know like The Avengers, Transformers? But then I am a fan of the rom-coms my Mum loves - but don't tell her I told you that! She'll have me watching them all the time.' Hallie added, a grin spreading across her face to show her polished teeth.

"Ah!" Padril smiled in delight, recognising the films. His Dad was a huge Marvel fan, and his younger brother liked the comics almost as much as he loved all the movies. Romantic-Comedies were more Padril's thing though, whenever he wanted to take a break from serious films. "The Avengers, the first project to create consistent cinematic canon across multiple series. Brilliant writing. I was always a Bruce Banner fan, myself," he explained, resting his arm on his leg. "Which rom-coms do you like? Every Christmas I watch Love Actually. I try to make it look like my Mum has forced me to watch it, but it's actually vice-versa. She plays along with it though."

He tactfully avoided mentioning Transformers. He loathed those films with the very core of his being. Mindless action and violence, boring writing, sexist and racist characters, and outrageously successful. Meanwhile An Education slips through the public conciousness after a few years. There was really no justice in the world, Padril concluded, and Transformers was evidence of that.

Hallie's blue eyes widened and her eyebrows elevated as Padril displayed a wider knowledge about muggle films. Was there anything he didn't know? Hallie thought to herself as he trundled on in detail about The Avengers. After that he mentioned Love Actually. Hallie too watched that every Christmas, although this was one of the rom-coms her Mum enjoyed more than Hallie.

'I never really understand it. All the different plots just drives me crazy, I can never get into it.' Hallie explained, her face forming a confused expression before continuing, 'Although I do watch The Wizard of Oz when that's on over Christmas. Although more the laughs, it amuses me the way muggles think that us witches are.' Hallie hoped she hadn't offended Padril, if she had she would be deeply regretful, after all he seemed such a pleasant boy.

Padril smiled inwardly to himself when Hallie raised her eyebrows, very pleased. Muggle films and music were his speciality and he loved to impress people whenever he got the chance to, which wasn't very often in school obsessed with wizarding popular culture. This was a rare treat, and he didn't even have to force Hallie into the conversation. He was a little disappointed by her reading of Love Actually. He thought the plot lines blended together very well.

She regained his respect as soon as she mentioned the Wizard of Oz. He laugh out loud, "I'll admit, when I got told I was going to a school of witches, the Witch of the West was the first thing that popped into my mind," he confessed. "Now that's a good movie. Judy Garland was a precious gem. 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' gets me everytime." The boy stood up and began taking the film reel out of the projector, placing it delicately in a secure chest under the desk where the projector had been resting. He gently tapped the box with his wand, and the lock slid close. It wouldn't do at all for some purebloods to find his film stash.

"Did you have a favourite movie, growing up?" Padril asked Hallie, as he stood up and began delicately disassembling the projector. It would be easier to simply leave it as it was, but if he wanted his makeshift machine to last for a long while, he needed to clean it after every viewing. It'd also be much easier to hide it.

Hallie grinned as she watched the sixth year laugh when she mentioned the Wizard of Oz. She too had a confession to make: 'Trust me when I first watched it I was terrified that I'd turn all green and warty when I grew up - I was only six at the time.' She added before catching the giggles too laughing at her own childhood thoughts. So she wasn't alone on the whole Wizard of Oz situation after all.

'Hmm. i'd have to saw The Parent Trap, 1998 with Lindsay Lohan.' Now she felt rather smart date-dropping, then again she had been obsessed with the film growing up, even wishing she had a twin so that they could get up to mischief.

Hallie watched as Padril began to disassemble the projector. 'Do you need any help?' She asked, although she was only being polite because she didn't have a clue how it all would be tidied away, and knowing her luck she'd end up dropping something.

Padril laughed along with Hallie, running a cloth around one of the cogs. "Parent Trap? I don't think I've heard of that one," he admitted, regretfully. Influential pop culture films of the 1990s were a bit of a blank spot to him at the moment, neither interest nor experience had introduced him to any of those pictures. It was really only the Academy Award winners he had seen from that particular decade. "What's it about?"

Padril shook his head when Hallie asked to help. "It's fine. I only just got the thing working, so I need to take it apart myself so I can memorize how it works," he explained, placing the cleaned gear in a second container and moving to the next piece. "My favourite was Up. That talking dog was everything." He smiled fondly at the memory.

Hallie opened her mouth and launched straight into the plot: 'It's about a pair of identical twins that were separated when they were young. One was to live with the Father in America - she's called Hallie.' The Gryffindor added, rather chuffed that she shared the same name as one of her favorite characters. 'The Annie, she's the other twin. Lives in the UK with the Mother. Then when they both attend summer camp in America, meet find out they're twins swap places and go to the other parent as a way to try and get their parents back together... It's funny.' Hallie finished smiling.

Hallie nodded, thankful that Padril had rejected her offer to help. 'Up?' Hallie asked. She'd never heard of such a film, maybe it was another one of those really old ones?

"Mistaken identity, long lost siblings, old lovers? Some classic themes of great comedies there," Padril replied, packing away the gear and moving to the lens. "I'd love to see it." Also on his list was Mean Girls, which he had been told was the most important film aimed at young adults from the entire decade- comparable to the Breakfast Club in cultural influence. Maybe he should get all the Muggleborns together and share movies, that could be cute. Heck, he could write a Muggle Studies thesis on the subject if he wanted.

"You never watched Up?" he asked, slightly aghast. "It's an animated feature by Pixar. It was released, oh, I think sometime early 2010s? It's about this old guy who puts all these balloons on his house so it flies away to a place he had always promised to go to with his wife. A little boy scout sneaks aboard and there's a talking dog and a bird and it's brilliant. The first five minutes will have you crying, I promise." The last of the projector was now in the box, which he then magically locked. He moved both boxes gingerly to a cupboard in the corner, slid them under some loose storage, then locked the storage cupboard. With any luck, nobody would accidentally ruin his work.

"Do you think I could actually get a Muggle Film Club going down here? Would there be enough interest?" He asked, leaning on the desk. He bit his lip as thought through the logistics. If it was an official club, he could get a budget from the school, which combined with a small membership fee, could go towards hiring film reels from libraries. He'd need a mildly interested professor who'd be willing to stash the club's supplies, posters, chairs, probably put the extra effort in making a sonophone to play audio. All were relatively small tasks compared to getting the projector working in the first place. And founding a club would look great on his CV if ended up going for a job in the Wizarding World. It was just...being the head of a club would involve an awful lot of talking, people asking him advice, being the centre of attention. He wasn't sure if he could handle that.

'Oh.. I have heard of mean girls. A group of girls from my village used to always talk about it one summer. I think it's American?' Hallie asked, unsure if she was thinking of the same film about a group of 'plastic' girls. She would have been invited to watch the movie but Hallie never really socialized with the muggle girls in the village, she'd much rather go exploring than discuss hair and nails, despite having a certain affection towards Sleakezy's Hair Straightening Solution.

Hallie smiled as Padril began to tell her about up. She'd only watched a few animated films and unfortunately Up hadn't been one of them. 'I'm sure there would be enough interest. You always get wizards from all-magic families curious about the muggle contraptions work, and it'd be great f or the muggle-borns, it'd create a sort of society for them.' Hallie explained positively. 'If you do create the club make sure to show Up and invite me.' The Gryffindor winked as she raised from her conjured stool.

Aiming her wand at the stool Hallie concentrated hard on vanishing the stool, sending it into non-being. Evanesco, she thought and the stool evaporated before their eyes. Transfiguration was Hallie's favorite subject - and also her best too. 'I rock transfiguration .' Hallie smiled confidently at Padril. 'Divinations not so much. I'm glad I dropped that at the start of the sixth year.' It was true, Hallie never quiet had the knack of predicting the future, she had as much seer blood in her as the Malfoy family had muggle blood.