Commemorative Coin Design Booth
 

Deezerz and Serena <3
 

Evan liked to collect coins from numerous places he'd traveled to, so the design your own coin booth was an instant attraction for him. Drifting towards the attraction, he pulled the payment from his pocket and waited for his turn for payment and to gather his supplies so he could start on his creation. He was in no particular rush at all, and instead was rather enjoying getting the time to just rubber neck around at all the other sites to see around. He'd not been to many carnivals or fairs or anything like that before. It was... a lot going on.

But even he could feel a bud of excitement growing. The magic bumper cars looked fun. And he was definitely planning to attend every creature meet and greet that he could get to!

The coin design booth was interesting. It wasn't one she'd go to directly--some of the other stations seemed a lot more fun--but this one would help her with little Xavier's birthday gift. She had already collected a few items for his gift box, and Serena wanted to add something made.

So this was it. She wanted something meaningful, and carved coins were meaningful, no?

Gathering the supplies offered, Serena stopped beside someone else waiting for their turn. Usually, she would ignore the people in line, but this one she recognized from Hogwarts and because of Lisa.

"You're from Hogwarts," she said. "I recognize you because I've seen you around Lisa."

It was Evan's turn up next and as he stepped up to gather, he stopped when he heard someone else speak and turned towards them. Normally he would not expect it to have been him being spoken too, but the name of his sister had definitely caught his attention. And her red hair was familiar as well. "You're the girl who took down Poppy for Liss." Fully appreciated, fully impressed. Also, he certainly hoped the girl had not gotten into any trouble for it, though he also wasn't one to pry and ask.

Stepping up in order to not hold up the line and grabbing his supplies, he turned back to the girl. "My name's Evan. Lisa is my youngest sister." The most energetic of Nam's, though Noah could certainly hold his own at times. "You're one of Lisa's friends, then?" Or perhaps just someone who could not stand watching wrong doing?

Either one was a testament of good character in his book, which he was assuming now of this girl.

Serena felt an odd sensation rise to her cheeks when he mentioned what happened last term. She was still processing what had happened. Not that she had been scared...well, real scared...scared without whatever Poppy had let out in the auditorium. It was the after.

She rubbed her right cheek, thinking that'd be enough to make the blush disappear.

"Yeah," she nodded curtly. "Lisa is my best friend...it's what we do." She was sure Lisa would do the same for her. Besides, Lisa was far braver and pure at heart.

And this guy turned out to be one of her siblings. "Nice to meet you, Evan. Lisa talks often often of her siblings." And now she had face to put to one of them. "I'm Serena."

She moved along side him as the other people did and grabbed a toothpick for the coin design. She still didn't have a definite idea for it.

He noticed the blush, but wasn't sure the reason for it. She had done the coolest thing last term, and taking out Poppy so quickly had probably saved the play so everyone could go out and do what they had all done best. Even after all of the fake panic, the actors had pulled it together beautifully and given a spectacular performance. Evan had been right proud of Lisa, and he appreciated this girl's actions to have made it all possible, as most had.

Evan considered asking if she would have done the same had it been someone else and not Lisa, but there was no point in asking that hypothetical so he just nodded in response to her words. "Well I know she really appreciated it, whether it's what you were supposed to do or not doesn't change how cool it was you did."

Hearing her introduction, he did manage to remember his manners and offer a hand to shake hers in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Serena. Lisa has mentioned you too." He just hadn't put two and two together. "How did you enjoy your first term at Hogwarts?" It was fairly docile compared to others.

He moved along a little bit more with her and found a suitable spot to set up shop. He hadn't really considered yet either what his design would be, but he had some time to figure it out. Maybe he'd do something Peter Pan? Or a cat in memory of the summer he finally was going to get one? Or Pascal or.... something. "Any ideas what you'll do on yours?"

Her cheeks felt hot and they wouldn't cool down on their own. What Evan said next didn't help. Although, it made Serena think. Like, really think about the person she was becoming. Before Hogwarts she thought of herself as the EVIL SPAWN because she was so different from her family. She's an introvert and very serious at times. Whereas her family was full of bright extroverts. She was honest, which some people took as blunt or arrogant just because she didn't add a smile to everything she said. People said she was cold. It didn't bother her. Not much. Her daddy was just like that--maybe more stoic than she was--and that didn't stop him from being him. But maybe...just maybe...Serena hoped people would see her like they see her mum. And this, the thing with Poppy, caused people to look at her in a way she's never been looked at before.

It felt...alright.

"Thanks," Serena said, grabbing another toothpick. Hmm. Whether it was what she was supposed to do or not? The small redhead shook her head. "I did it because it was Lisa." She had actually been on her way out of the auditorium, but then Ashley had yelled Lisa's name and all that ran through Serena's mind was to help her best friend.

Serena gave his hand a firm shake, and despite being serious, her mouth formed a small smile. She almost wondered why Lisa hadn't mentioned her before. But there it was. "It was alright. I passed the survival test and I get to go back," she said matter-of-factly. "I also made friends." And no enemies...that she knew of. There was Botros, but he wasn't an enemy. He was just...positive all the time.

Eyeing her clay mold, Serena inspected it when Evan asked if she had any ideas. "I have several ideas. Maybe a flying horse or Sniffy the Niffler." Serena looked over at him. Did he know who Sniffy the Niffler was? "It's a character in play my little brother adores." Just FYI.

"What about you?" she added after a pause. That's how conversations work, no? Back and forth questions?

While most of the gathered goblins were tending to the forge, a smaller and younger goblin was hanging around the back of the booth.

"I'm here if you have any questions." he said to the table in general. He could offer help with the coins. He was also pretty well versed in the wizarding stock market as well if any of those questions came up.

Only did it then because it was Lisa? Evan was using a tooth pick to poke at the coin supplies a little bit while he still mulled over what it was exactly he wanted to put on it as a design. And while he mulled over how popular his younger sister had become in such a short time. In truth, Evan couldn't be happier about all of the friends Lisa had made, how successful she'd been for her very first term and how in love with the wizarding world she clearly was. She had a best friend who had put some risk into making sure she was alright. And he knew there had been more people, even than just himself and this girl, who had been motivated to movement for the sake of his sister. It warmed his heart.

And yet... there was a glimmer of jealousy. Not for what were probably the most obvious reasons, but it was hard to not have at least a little of that feeling over the fact that he and Maya had been robbed so early of excitement and innocence. He hoped Lisa never was.

Bringing himself out of his mind and present to the current conversation, he gave Serena another small smile, "Regardless, I'm grateful." Did he think Poppy would have actually physically harmed his sister? Not in the slightest. But that didn't mean he had wanted her anywhere near her, just as everyone else clearly hadn't. He was supremely glad she was not going to be a returning feature at Hogwarts.

He shook back, before releasing her hand and going back to his prodding and listening. "Was your first term at Hogwarts kind of a probationary thing?" Considering she said she passed a test and now got to go back. Not that he'd blame parents if they did try a probationary before considering homeschooling. "Friends are always a good thing to have too." He'd been surprisingly successful in that department over the last term as well.

Sniffy... the Niffler? The rising fourth year blinked at the red head at that, was that a pet that they had? Were nifflers allowed as pets? They didn't seem like they'd be very good ones. But a niffler on a coin would make sense too though, especially if it was shiny. But then she elaborated and he blinked again. "Oh. Are there other wizard specific plays and shows and stuff?" He'd never even considered that was a possibility. Maybe there were children's books and a set of fairy tales much like Disney for muggles as well?

"Oh. Um. I'm not entirely sure still... maybe I'll just do something abstract." Or hopefully something else would come to him and stick as a good idea. Hearing the Goblins near by, Evan turned his head and decided to ask where they usually found their inspiration, though he was also wishing he'd had a list of things he was curious about already prepared so he could ask a million questions like he was prone to when allowed to speak with an expert. "How do you normally decide how to design the coins?"

sarah <3 (also goblin mentioned!)
 

Hearing a question, the goblin went over to the little human wand waver. "Usually they are someone or somewhere of importance." he explained. "For this, do something you like or something you'd remember. Favorite animal or date?"

The young ones were an inquisitive bunch. He now understood the raised eyebrow expression that the humans at the bank had on occasion. "The metal isn't free." the goblin explained. "Normally commemorative coins are minted at a higher rate than this." In other words, this could be a lot more if it was for a private occasion.

However small that moment was, Serena noticed Evan being pensive. She wondered what he was thinking, like she often wondered about people. You see, Serena has learned that people are unpredictable at times. And she would place bets with herself to see which route a person would take. She didn't know Evan to make a guess. She could assume, but that somehow felt disrespectful to her friendship with Lisa.

Serena gave him a little smile and nodded. She didn't feel there was a need to thank her. She was no Gryffindor, and even then she had moments of bravery.

At his question, she nodded. "My mum was worried someone would hurt me and I would retaliate and seriously maim or accidentally kill them," she said as easily as saying she likes homework. That was the honest truth. "I didn't, and I also didn't die." There was that, too. If she died she couldn't go back to Hogwarts...for obvious reasons.

She squinted at the clay and then started etching the outline of a niffler. "I guess so," she said, regarding to friends. "My mum was also worried I wouldn't make any friends." Her mum worries a lot just because Serena isn't the happy-go-lucky type like her.

Come to think of it, now that Evan asked about wizard plays, Serena realized she hadn't really had conversations about blood-status with Lisa. One, it didn't matter. Two, blood doesn't matter. "A lot of children's books are coming to life in plays. My brother is into that Niffly one and one about bowtruckles going on adventures." She eyed Evan. "You're not familiar with them?" They were quite popular in her circle of people.

She watched curiously as Evan interacted with the goblin. That was a good question. She had one to ask. "Are you taking in new designs?" Because she might have a cute niffler one coming up.

At the Goblin's response, Evan considered important dates and his favorite animal. Well, he DID really like cats, but that seemed so... generic he wasn't sure if he wanted to put it on the coin. A date though... he supposed he could do his eleventh birthday. And maybe he'd put a pile of books on it. Not just as a tribute to his Ravenclaw nature, but it had been pages of mistakes disappearing mysteriously from his notebooks that had clued him in to being... different.

That seemed like a good momento. He turned his attention back to the Goblin and gave a small smile, "Thank you!" He wasn't one to forget his manners.

He finally was able to start on his design now that he had an image, so he molded his materials to make sure it resembled a near perfect coin before he could use his tools to try to start actually creating. He was using his toothpick to start the date when he heard Serena spoke again, and he was so surprised her probation had been because her parents were concerned what she would do, that he slipped. Shoot. But probably an easy enough fix. "Your mum was worried about you maiming someone?' He decided to not repeat the second part. What had they been teaching her prior to Hogwarts?? Evan still hardly knew anything to retaliate with. "Not dying, or maiming someone, is a good start to your intro to Hogwarts."

If not still shocking.

The next thing though... well that he could understand. He wouldn't have been surprised if his parent's had had the same fear about him. "Well, she must have been really pleased when you got home and told her you had." And there had been a lot of first years that seemed to cross paths, so he was betting Serena had befriended a lot of them.

So... stories about a Niffler and some adventuring bowtruckles? He was probably far too old for these stories already, and yet he still filed away the information to look them up later for curiosity sake. When she asked if he was familiar, he kept his response brief, a shake of the head and a simple "No." He would have been pleased to know blood status didn't matter to her. But since his second term... he just preferred to stay mute on it whenever it came up.

He went back to his design as she asked her own question of the Goblin, using his finger to smooth out his previous mistake so that he could start over.

"For actual money? No." Although, maybe it was time to update some of those. "If you decide later you want more coins for fun, or..." waves hand "memories" Mementos seemed important to humans. "You are able to design and order those."

The goblin nodded in acknowledgment. "Of course." Carry on then young sculptor.

Kinsay was especially. Questions and knowing were her specialty. She listened as the goblin answered her accusation question and gave him all the skeptical looks she had in her inventory. "So you're actually losing money?" Because that's what it sounded like to Kinsay. And if it were to be the case, then he was a really bad banker. No offense, of course!

But Kinsay could probably do his job better than he could. She was smart about these things.