[x] Crafting Wondrous Items
To distract his fellows from any more inconvenient questions, the boy turned to the time-honored tactic of bringing up something he thought the group would find more interesting than teasing. Namely his studies during the summer - especially those which involved Selina, as for some reason, mentioning the Slytherin girl always made Ernie and Phelan quiet down and pay attention.
"I imagine you'd probably like to know more about what I did this summer, instead of the meaning behind some dessert's name," Shinji said good-naturedly. "I mean, I know what you did, Luna, and I know you were in Mahoutokoro, Nats, where you..." He glanced down, noticing the sparrow sitting on her head. "...got that sparrow," he added with a smile, "but what about you, Phelan? Ernie?"
"Like you said," Phelan replied, seemingly eager to talk about his adventures. "Training. Exploring the land. Slaying great ev--"
"--nearly getting killed by an Erkling because we decided to explore a closed off mine like a couple of idiots," Ernie cut in, with Phelan's expression souring.
"Making sure good old Macmillan here learned how to hold a sword--"
"--not that I even wanted to, since a wand should be enough for every normal situation--"
"--since we can't use magic as underage wizards--"
"--I only did so under duress, since he insisted on going into the mine and I wasn't go to go unarmed--"
"--whatever that means."
Phelan shook his head and sighed.
"We took precautions. We had potions. We had Mopsus. We had swords. I even lent you a coat of mail--"
"--and I never asked for that. It just made moving around more difficult--" Ernie tried to interject
"--and anyway, you survived, so what are you complaining about?" the earl's son talked over him. "Going on a proper adventure, kind of like Selina always talks about. You can't tell me you didn't have fun at all, eh, Macmillan?"
"...well, maybe a little," Ernie grumbled, turning away with a huff. "Well, you got us talking about what we did, Matou. What did you do?" the blond Hufflepuff inquired. "I...uh, I hear you were with Selina at Beauxbatons?"
"I was indeed," Shinji agreed sagely, noting how both Ernie and Phelan had turned towards him as he began to speak. "You know how she always calls herself an artificer? Well, I had the chance to work on crafting what Selina calls wondrous items."
"Wondrous items?" Luna inquired, seeming curious, with Shinji smiling, as she'd given him the perfect opportunity to show off a few of his creations - or at least some of the things he had helped with. A bit.
Reaching into the pocket of his robes, he pulled out six wooden boxes, with five of them being small and squarish, with the last bring rather longer.
"These," he said, as he opened up the boxes one by one, revealing five silver rings, two of which were rather plain, with a feather-like pattern around the edges, and three of which were set with a small aquamarine, as well as a moonflower wrought entirely of glass, which seemed to sparkle in the light.
"They're pretty," Ginny spoke up.
"So what do they do?" Ernie asked as a followup. "I don't imagine you and Selina just made jewelry together because of how they looked." Frankly, he seemed less than pleased at the notion of them making jewelry together for any reason, but it wasn't as if Shinji understood why.
"They're enchanted, of course," Shinji explained. "The ones with the blue stones with the Bubble-Head Charm, giving the wearer the ability to breathe underwater, the ones with the feather pattern with Arresto Momentum, so that if you fall from a high place, you'll slow down enough that you won't be hurt when you land."
"Huh. Rings worthy of a true adventurer," Phelan noted. "I wouldn't have minded one of those Bubble-Head Charm rings when I was exploring the mine, certainly." He paused, his expression shrewd. "I don't suppose you'd have made so many if you were just making a set for yourself."
Shinji chuckled.
"Of course not," he said with a smile, mentally patting himself on the back with how the others had been so thoroughly distracted. He slid two of the rings - one of the feather patterned ones and one of the ones set with a blue stone over to Phelan. "These are for you and your sister - feel free to swap or share."
"Huh," Phelan uttered, blinking in surprise. "Well, uh, thanks!" From the boy's expression, it was almost like Christmas had come early. "You know, Matou, you're alright."
"Well, I could have told you that," the boy drawled. Then he turned to Ernie and Natsumi. "Choose one each, whichever you'd like."
Natsumi chose the sole-remaining feather-patterned ring, while Ernie took one of the Bubble-Head enchanted rings, with both mumbling their thanks.
"And who is the last one for?" Luna questioned, with Shinji frowning as he realized that perhaps it was a bit rude to bring out presents for people when there were those in the compartment who wouldn't get anything - Ginny, Luna, and Ron, to be specific.
"Well, um, it's for me, actually," the boy said, "but I do have something I can share with the rest of you," he added quickly, rising to retrieve his chest. With some difficulty he brought it down to his lap and pulled out a jug that sloshed as he set it down on the table in the center of the room, as well as a cup and a box. With a muttered gemino, one cup became two, and so on, until there were enough for everyone in the room. "Drinks and dessert."
Ron looked rather cheered by this declaration.
"What drink?" he asked with interest, glancing at the jug. "Butterbeer?"
"If you'd like," Shinji replied. "Apple juice, water, or gillywater are also options."
"Not pumpkin juice?" Ernie questioned.
"No," Shinji said flatly.
"Then, butterbeer!" Ron exclaimed, with the others nodding. Shinji, to their surprise, just tapped the container at a certain place, before uncorking the jug and filled up each of the cups with what was apparently chilled butterbeer.
"This is something else I made," he explained with a smile. "A jug that can give me nearly endless amounts of whatever liquid I want."
"...that's wicked. All the butterbeer you can drink," Ron said reverently.
"And to go with it, a French dessert," he added, gesturing at a box which held a clafouti, a baked French dessert of black cherries, arranged in a buttered dish, covered with a thick flan-like batter, and dusted with powdered sugar. "After all, conversation is best over a snack, yes?"
As they dig in, Phelan suggests that now that Shinji, he and Ernie all have Rings of Water-Breathing, they should go on another adventure - somewhere without as much risk, perhaps.
"I've always thought it would be nice to see what was at the bottom of the lake," Phelan said excitedly. "What say you, Matou?"
[ ] An excellent idea - let's do it
[ ] Let's have Selina come along, since she's a veteran adventurer
[ ] Decline, but wish him well if he wants to go
[ ] (write-in)