Got Money? [Ben+ anyone else]

"So, there ARE duels. I think I might want to jump in one myself."
James ordered a drink, silently drawing on the bottom of the table with a piece of chalk. It was a transmutation circle he'd memorized when he first entered school- the circle of gold. When James brought his hand out from beneath the table, three, shiny galleons resided in his fist.

"The gangs are... insane. They hold no real stature, they only become gangs in school, and they simply vanish during the day. Mind you, the atmosphere was always tense," he began. "They act like any other gang- a bunch of friends hanging around, doing the usual guy's stuff. Not many girls go to Durmstrang, so only guys with high standards bother with girlfriends. The rest of us, we're forced into corners by our teachers, have to jump through flaming hoops, dodge a multitude of hurdles- everything just builds up in Durmstrang. The best release?" James whipped out his wand to make his point. Its burnt tip pointed to the sky, as the Orange Juice he ordered was placed before him.

Ben nodded. There were duels. He wasn't much good at them, though he kept that comment to himself. "Yeah, there are duels. Some official competitions, sometimes just people duelling." he elaborated. He didn't notice what James was doing under the table, all he saw was three galleons. He didn't think anything of it, James could have taken them from his pocket, after all.

Ben listened to James' explanation of the gangs. One thing was for sure, Ben was glad he didn't go to Durmstrang. He didn't think he would be very good at that sort of stuff. He was a bit low on self-esteem when it came to anything school related. "Were you in a gang?" he asked, curiously.

[[OOC: Am off to bed now, will reply here tomorrow evening.]]

"Tried going alone during my first year. That was NOT fun. With gangs, you not only made friends, but you also elevated in the eyes of your peers. Of course, it also depended on which gang you got into. I got into a decent group- a little bit like the jocks, but more on the nerd side. I suppose that'd be the Ravenclaw-type of person- everybody was interesting, and they were all REALLY smart."
"Do you partake in any such duels?"

Ben nodded. He knew what kind of gang he would be in. The people that are nice, maybe even popular, but that aren't outstanding at anything. Just the average people. He always thought of himself as average and hated it. He wanted to be different. He tried being nice to everyone so people would like it. He wondered how he could set himself apart...

"I do some duels, though I didn't do many last year as I was one of the younger ones, it would have been pointless duelling against people way older than me." Ben told James. It was mostly true. He did a couple of duels. "There was a duelling tournament, I missed the sign-ups though." he added, truthfully. He did forget about that. He wished he hadn't, the tournament had looked like fun.