Joe and the pinball machine
Joe was a pureblood, that was a fact. But that also meant that he could not interact with the muggle world, who were deemed as filth by his parents. You see, the Hills were blood supremacists and closely related to the Blacks (I mean which pureblood family was not related in some way).
So coming into Hogwarts he was introduced to the world outside of the purebloods. It started with him staring at the stick which apparently contained an unlimited amount of ink and it got him curious, what other wonders did the muggle world contain?
From that moment on, whenever it was some kind of vacation, he would sneak outside of the Hills mansion and into the muggle world. He learned to dress and act like one and he learned many customs. But on top of that all; he made friends there.
His friends were the one to introduce him to the most magical Muggle thing in the whole wide world. His friends had taken him to an arcade, a hall full of Muggle games powered by a powersource they called electricity. There were colours everywhere and Joe quickly became enamoured, so much so that he kept going back. Not to play no, because he had no Muggle money, but to watch the Muggles play. And boy they were good at it!
One machine, however, peaked his interest; the pinball machine. A closet type of thing, that laid at a diagonal, which held a few silver balls which you had to flip upwards to score. He loved it.
And so he began making notes about the thing, noting everything down from its dimensions to the average scores. He had only one goal in mind; this thing was coming to Hogwarts. He spent all summer sketching as many designs as possible and trying to hide everything from his parents.
His parents both had high positions in the Ministry and were not home often. It was why he had a nanny growing up, he almost never saw his parents. But the older he got, the more they started to interfere with his life.
In his first year they sent him only one letter about how they were disappointed he was not in Slytherin but that Ravenclaw would suffice.
In his second year the number was not much higher.
But in his third year he received a total of five letters over the year. All about the subjects he was meant to do his OWL’s and NEWT’s in of course.
In his fourth year, his first year building the pinball machine, he received six. But all that was asked about were his grades, which were superb by the way, and the company he kept, which he lied about. His parents did not need to know he was friends with lots of muggleborns.
It was not a lot. But it meant it was easier to hide his true colours.
There were lots of people interested in the process of his pinball machine such as Tango, Mumbo, Beef and Xisuma. But the one most involved had to be Cleo.
He and Cleo met a long time ago, the Zombies being another highly respected pureblood family. Their parents were close friends and so they grew up together. They could not be separated when near each other.
Of course being a pureblood meant that their parents only let them near each other because they would be destined for marriage. He and Cleo both knew that. But they were like brother and sister. The only reason they would agree, was to not get stuck with some pureblood supremacist. Besides, Cleo’s choice in partners were not even men, no way that would ever work.
Long story short; they would only marry for the sake of it. Afterwards they would go their own way.
Anyway, to get back on track, he and Cleo had spent countless hours together working on the pinball machine and had now finally finished it one and a half year later. And just in time, because they were in their fifth and sixth year, which meant that they could only enjoy it for one more year. They were going to make the most of it.
This resulted in a game night every Friday night, where lots of people from different houses and years would come together in order to play magical games with each other and play with Joe’s pinball machine. They kept track of scores and prizes were awarded to the person with the highest score at the end of the month. It was a success.
But it was not only a success. Friendships were made and rivalries ended. This would be the birth of something much greater than Joe could realise at that moment; it would be the start of a family.