Front Desk
 

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h2.../FrontDesk.jpg

A polished oak desk contraption sits in the center of the library. A few low shelves contain books that have been returned or books that are on hold. You can also loan books from the library’s vast collection of books here or objects like crystal balls, telescopes, and a few odd items. Behind the desk, sitting upon a dark cushioned stool, is the librarian, his head bent over some old rolls of parchment or a book.

As you approach, Mister Kitridge looks up and greets you with a friendly and warm smile. "Good day. How may I help you?" He is eager to assistant anyone who visit the library; whether it would be in retrieving a particular book, giving recommendations, sharing a story or two with a student or colleague or in some other way.

Presley knew that technically the Astronomy lesson had been about Newton, but she'd been troubled. More than once she'd heard an unfamiliar name, and she needed to read up on this person and find out who they were and why they might be important enough for several people to know about them. She wasn't even sure where to start, so she walked straight up to the front desk and asked a question. Good afternoon Mr. Kitridge. I was wondering if you could help me?" It was always good to start off with a polite greeting. "Do you have any books about a Captain Kirk?" At least, that was what she thought they'd said. Thinking about it they might have said Captain Burke. But she was almost certain it was Kirk.

It had been a quiet day so far in the library with most student's being off in class Leobald had managed to get a whole lot of work done without being interrupted. After lunch he had began the tiresome job of updating the library record off all the books in the library. It was a monotone task which soon created a mild headache.

Hearing footsteps come his way Leobald gladly stopped with his task to focus on the brown haired girl who approached his desk. "Good day, miss? How can I help you?" he greeted cheerily with a big smile on his face.

Captain WHO?

Eyes widening slightly Mr Kitridge asked curiously "Who is Captain Kirk? The man who first rode a flying carpet?"

Presley's eyebrows wrinkled together. He didn't know who it was either? He was the librarian! He was supposed to know everything! "That's just the problem, sir. I don't know who Captain Kirk is." Presley explained, finding it hard to admit that she'd never heard of a famous person before. "A couple of people were talking about him or her in Astronomy, and I didn't recognize the name. So I wanted to read up and make sure I didn't make the same mistake next time." Whoever he was, Presley certainly hoped he wasn't alive. Because if he was, and Presley had never met him, then something was seriously wrong.

A frown started to edge itself across the librarian’s forehead as he pondered the conundrum at hand. Scratching his head with his left hand absent-mindedly he wondered out loud. "Are you sure that Captain Kirk is a wizard with a connection to Astronomy?"

"Have you asked Professor Burbage about Captain Kirk?" If the man had a connection to astronomy and was a wizard then surely the Astronomy Professor would know who he was if this Captain Kirk was famous for something. "To want to read up on the man to know who he is and what he might be known for is an admirable trait which you should be proud of." Mr Kitridge praised.

Hmm. Captain Kirk?? There were no bells rining in his head.

Presley shrugged. "I haven't asked professor Burbage anything." She replied bluntly. Nor did she have any desire to. Presley would rather throw herself into the lake for the giant squid to have than voluntarily spend more time with the new astronomy professor. "But, no. I'm not sure he's a wizard at all. He might be?" She offered.

Presley grinned at the praise. Finally somebody recognized all that she did for the sake of knowledge. "Maybe I could just check out every book you have on Astronomy and read through them all for a mention of Captain Kirk?" She suggested. Obviously Kitridge didn't know any more about the man than Presley did. And she had to start somewhere. If her research yielded nothing, then she would be resigned to asking the duffer that suggested that Newton was this Captain.

Separate timelines...easier for me.
 

OH!

Maybe he had praised her too early? The girl didn’t seem to like darling Professor Burbage at all. Focus. "Is it possible that Mr Kirk could be a muggle?" Mr Kitridge suggested since well if he was a wizard then surely he would have known who he was or at least an idea where the claw could look for him amongst the books on the many shelves.

"Good idea, the astronomy section is located in the reference section to your right. You can also check in the muggle section on the left near the stained glass windows." Mr Kitridge pointed in the different direction of the two shelves.

"If you want I can make some inquiries and see if I can find out who he is for you?" he offered. It was the least he could do when she had come and asked for his help.

Having fetched himself a big encyclopedia about all people in the wizarding world who were known for something or other Mr Kitridge was flipping through it as another claw came up to the front desk. Finishing the last article about a broom maker Leobald raised his gaze to meet that of a young claw. "Good afternoon dear, what can I help you with?" Listening to the request he muttered under his breath.

"I could think of several books actually, any special book genre you are interested in reading like detective or similar?" he queried.

Maybe he should put up a small trolley with book suggestions; recommended books for the student’s to read? He mused to himself.

Presley nodded. "I suppose it's possible. I mean, I really and truly know nothing about him. He might even be a squib, or a centaur or something." She realized as soon as that came out of her mouth that she had just categorized squibs and centaurs together. "Not that Squibs and Centaurs are anything alike. I was trying to say that he might not be a wizard or a muggle." she corrected herself, feelling awkward for making the mistake.

Presley nodded again following Mr. Kitridges point with her eyes so that she would know exaclty where to search. "Thank you, sir." She smiled. Unlike the other staff member she'd had the fortune to meet today, she could see herself liking Mr. Kitridge, and maybe having some interesting logic debates. He certainly was kind and helpful.

"Oh that would be wonderful!" Presley said in response to his generous offer. "I'll go check out the astronomy and muggle sections. Let me know if you find anything?" Of course he would. He was only checking on this because she'd asked, but it had seemed like the best parting line to Presley as she skipped down the shelves until she came to the one filled with Astronomy tomes.

Sarah loved libraries. If she had to live in a room her whole life, she would choose a library - the Hogwarts librar especially.
"Hello sir, I would like to know if you need help around the library" Sarah asked the librarian, flashing a smile. "I love everything to do with books"

Dropping by the front desk, Isaac wanted to give a hand in the library again this term. Last term had been fun with helping out. He loved working in the library, he was there enough on his own, with studying and stuff. AND not to mention he loved books! Approaching the desk he waited for Professor Kitridge to notice him "I was hoping to help in the library again this term. If you're looking for helpers again, that is."

Mr Kirk could possibly be a centaur, a wizard, a muggle or a squib. Um right or even a goblin or a ghost. "Let’s not jump to conclusions about the man's heritage before we actually find something written about Mr Kirk." Leobald said calmly. If all inquiries in the library failed there was always the possibility of owling Professors Burbage, Scabior and Cerulean for assistance or really their expertise.

He had a feeling that the Ravenclaw girl wasn’t going to seek out all those professors to find out who Captain Kirk was. "What’s your name dear?" Leobald wanted to have a name to call her by since it was more respectful and polite then girl or vice versa.

"Of course I will. I’m actually getting as interested in finding out who Mr Kirk is as you are." Mr Kirtridge grinned. A little mystery to solve always sparkled up the day. Leobald watched the claw as she disappeared off in the direction he had pointed out earlier before starting his own investigation.



Mr Kitridge was taking a short break from the task he was working when two students strolled up to the front desk. The girl he recognized from last year, Sarah a lioness. The boy on the other hand he couldn’t place. He looked familiar though.

Beaming broadly at them both in turn he greeted. "Good day, you two are actually in luck! I do have something you could do for me if you are willing? I was thinking of putting up a trolley or maybe even a bookshelf for recommended books, new books and well generally books which are worth reading? Think you two can help with that?"

Leobald didn’t say it out loud but awarding the two with house points if they took upon themselves to do this task for him and complete it seemed like a good bargain. Waiting for their answers he let his gaze drift and take note of what was going around the library.

Taylor thought about what he asked, "Hm... perhaps maybe a biography?" She wasnt really sure but biographies were usually really interesting and maybe the librarian would know a very interesting one to read. Tay shifted a little.

Glancing over at the girl who'd gotten there before him, he smiled and looked back to Professor Kitridge and nodded "I'm sure we could help ye with thet." He hadn't met the girl before, but was sure they could work together just fine on it! "What do ye need us te do?"

He'd gotten to know the library fairly well last term with doing the research as well as sorting books on the shelves and the book club meetings. So he was sure whatever the task for setting up the bookshelf or trolley wouldn't be a problem at all!

As she skipped away she remembered not answering Mr. Kitridges question about her name, and not introducing onesself was incredibly rude. Presley threw a grin over her shoulder and added "Presley. My name is Presley."

The twelve year old had finally decided. She was going to the library trying to find a solution for her problem in a book or something. What problem? The problem that Cassia's owl hates her. She had tried playing with the creature, feeding it, petting and she even tried leaving him alone. None of that worked! Snaty, her owl always bit her and hooted whenever she got closer to him. Not to mention the entire hour when she kept pleading with him the previous day at the owlery trying to get him to get closer so she could send a letter to her parents. She was about to burrow one of the school's owls! How awkward would that be, having to burrow an owl when you already have one.

Her constant bright mood was affected by this. However that didn’t mean that she was frowning or something. It takes so much to make the excited second year's spirit down. Though to those who knew Cassia well, they'd notice that instead of her wide grin that usually expanded from ear to ear, only an average-sized grin played on her lips.

Like that she entered the library bouncing towards the front desk. Before getting there she guessed that bouncing isn't something that second year students do. It was probably acceptable when she was a firstie but no more. And it will just ruin her plan on looking wiser and bigger .Ignoring the fact that this plan wasn't achieving any progress.

Cassia approached the front desk with steady steps and straightened before she started speaking. "Good day Mister Kitridge," She nodded at the librarian ,"I need your help," The words got out of her mouth a biiit desperately for the second year girl was kinda exaggerating her owl's matter.

A biography? Racking his brain for titles Leobald offered. "The biography about Gilderoy Lockhart is a worthy read or did you prefer to read about a witch?" That biography about Lockhart or any biography usually had some life lesson to be taught if the reader was perceptive enough to pick up on it.

Splendid, the boy was up to the challenge. Whilst waiting for Sarah’s answer Mr Kitridge focused on the snake boy. "Your name is Isaac right?" he asked. A name was a wonderful thing. Stopping himself from falling into contemplations Mr Kitridge shook his head slightly as he began explaining. "I’ve got two big boxes in the back room that contains an assortment of books both new and old. I need you to read the back pages of each book and see if they seem interesting to read or even worthy to read at all. I want the trolley/bookshelf to hold a variety of books from different genres."

"And while you’re at it you’ll need to make sure that all the books are labeled that you choose to be on the trolley/bookshelf and the last task will be to come up with a system for the books either alphabetically or by genre. Does that seem simple enough?" Leobald surely hoped so because it would put at least one of his projects into motion.

Turning halfway in the direction of the girl Mr Kitridge laughed warmly. "Thank you Presley I’ll be sure to remember your name." It would be embarrassing if he forget her name but most probably he wouldn’t.

Mr Kitrdige was busy trying to remember where he had placed the papers which were for Headmistress Truebridge so he didn’t at first acknowledge the young blond girl who had come up to the front desk. It was the tone in her voice which jerked him into attention. Dropping what he had by hand he turned his full attention to the girl who looked like she was about 12 or 13 years old. "Good day dear, what can I help you with?”

"Is something wrong, love? Has something happened?" Mr Kitridge asked concerned given that the girl in front of him seemed agitated by the tone in her voice. At Hogwarts anything could happen so the librarian braced himself for the worst.

With the list of suggested books she had received from a letter from Professor Williamson, Kurumi had searched through the bookshelves for all the titles only to find that a few of them were not on the shelves. This was, naturally, a little disappointing, but the field of study Kurumi was focusing on was very specific and not something that was ever really covered in Care of Magical Creatures class. Especially since the subject matter is rather...dangerous.

She had found one of the books, Not Over Easy: the Diary of a Dragon Breeder, and had that tucked under her arm as she approached the front desk and waited in line. When it was her turn in the front, she set it on the counter and pushed it towards the librarian. "Good day, Mr. Kitridge. I'd like to check this book out please."

And maybe ask a question or two while she was here as well.

Cassia sighed and looked down at her hands. She hated admitting that she couldn't deal with her own owl. But she had come here to ask for the librarian's help because he was a man of knowledge and he surely read all the books in the library, well not all probably most of them. Besides he seemed concerned and willing to help and that encouraged Cassia to tell him. "it's Snaty," She started then realized that she should be clearer. "He's my owl. And he hates me." Cassia said with a little pout of her lips.

Stepping closer to the desk, she placed her hand on its edge because she didn't know what to do with it while the other hand stayed loose at her side. The desk reached Cassia's waist and a couple of centimeters up. Which made Cassia look even shorter than she was. But she hadn't notice that now. "I know a lot of people who have owls and their owls don't hate them,"And it made her sad that she andher owl didn't get along like others. Did that even make sense? "Do you have an owl, sir?" She asked. Maybe if he had an owl he would have some experience to give her. Cassia wondered if she should tell him what Snaty does to her and how they two fight! But she will listen to what he has to say first.

Taylor smiled and nodded, "Thanks for the suggestion. Okay, I shall look for it then." She shrugged, "Eh, I prefer either one." Tay laughed, "Do you need any help though? I have a bit of time before I have something to do so I can always help if you need it before getting the book." Taylor smiled bigger.

The lioness made her way to the front desk with a list of books she would like to borrow them from the library. They would be absolutely useful for her study on every single subjects as a special reference after all. Maybe she could give the handsome librarian a little help at the same time.

Tiffany glanced over the desk and tried to find the librarian. She remembered her experience of helping out here during her last term. It was fun and she actually hoped that she could have a chance helping out the next few years after that. She leaned forward on her tip toe as she spotted him, still busy of fixing and doing all the work. "Haiii, Mr. Kitridge,"she greeted him cheerfully. Could he still remember her? "I'm just wondering if there is anything that I could help you with...I would love to help you with your work." She nodded, adding a smile. Anything will do and probably she could ask him some questions about the new schemes of that book prizes, maybe.

Sarah did not even have to think twice, "sure I'll gladly do it!" she said eagerly. She turned to the other boy and politely introduced herself, "I am Sarah" She really wanted to help."So what do you want done and how should I go about doing it" She loved recommending books as well as organizing them

Fixing up the last paperwork for Headmistress Truebridge for the moment Leobald was tempted to take a small break by reading a novel he had gotten in the morning mail from his mother since it seemed like a slow hour in the library. However any reading plans were squashed when Kurumi Hollingberry came up to the Front desk carrying a book.

"Good day Kurumi!" he greeted cheerily. Eyeing the cover of the book she was carrying he nodded. "Nothing could be simpler. Could you give me the library card which is sitting in a little pocket on the last page of the book?"

Her owl HATED her? Leobald let out a small sigh of relief he had thought something else was afoot in the library which needed to be taken care immediatley. "What makes you think that Snaty hates you?" Mr Kitridge wondered curiously. "When did you get Snaty? Have you had him long?" If the blond and the owl were just forming a relationship it was possible that they'd just needed more to get to know each other.

"I don't have an owl at the moment no. But i've had a few owls in my youth dear." His owls had all met the same unfortunate fate as his other's pets but he didn't mention that to the girl. The last thing Leobald wanted was to scare her. "I've got a few books about owl care and how to live with an owl that you can borrow if you want?" Mr Kitridge offered kindly.

If that didn't work the only alternative left was to get help from the new COMC professor.

"Start with finding the biographpy on Lockhart. If my memory serves on the same bookshelf there is a whole collection of biographies which you are welcome to browse and pick from." Mr Kitrdige offered.

Help? Hmm. "Actually, you can alphabetize all the biographies and also note if any of them look worn out or damaged. I need to know that since i'm putting together a new book order." There were a multitude of tasks to do and this was just one of them.

Ooooooo Tiffany!

Mr Kitridge was rummaging about after a lost quill on the floor so he didn't see or hear anyone come up to the front desk until they adressed him. Banging his head in the counter as he straightened up he muttered. "Ouchhhh." Massging his head he spotted a lioness. "Hello Tiffany, eager for another term, what year are you in now, fourth?" Leobald greeted merrily.

Trying to ignore the pain in his head he beamed at the lioness. "Hm. I don't. Er. Yes, remember the bat droppings from last year which caused a mess on the stained glass windowsills? Well they are back. Think you could be up to the task of removing all the droppings and make sure all the windows are clean?" Mr kitridge suggested as a task.

Turning his attention to Sarah, Mr Kitridge beamed. "Good, good. As I just told Isaac your task is to put up a collection of books which you think everyone could be interested in reading. The genres can of course vary. In the back room there are two large boxes of new and old books you need to go through them and pile books in either 'readable' or 'boring' piles. Depending on the number of books you'll put them on a trolley or an empty bookcase."

"After you've done that you are supposed make sure that all books are probably labeled and has a library card attached in the back and lastly to categorize the books in a system you choose. Any questions?"

Taylor nodded, "Okay, thank you." She smiled at him then when he gave her a task, her smile brighten, "Okay, Mr. Kitridge. I will get right on that." Tay turned and started toward the biographies.

Cassia paused at the question, how did she know that the owl hated her? It was obvious she thought, ever since she had gotten him, Snaty made it clear that he hated Cassia .Though she needs to explain it to Mister Kitridge because he needed to know how the situation is. "He hates me because whenever I touch him or pet him he just bites me ," She told the man, "Not only this! Yesterday I went to the owlery to send a letter home. And I kept demanding the owl to come closer for like an hour," Eh..not really an hour a bit less. "But Snaty kept hooting and flying away. He just likes to tease me." Cassia said annoyed. She had so many stories about her owl being mean and stubborn but that would take so much time and the librarian is a busy man. It was kind enough that he was listening to her problems.

As for when did she make the regrettable choice of buying Snaty, "I bought him before my first year started," She answered. "Now I'm a second year so it's been a bit more than a year." Considering it was the beginning of the term.
Well, Cassia wanted to tell the man he was lucky for not having an annoying creature. Very thoughtful decision not to have one, librarians just tend to be smart when it came to making decisions, Cassia thought.

Great! That's why she had came to the man. "Thank you! that's what I've been looking for," She thanked him with hopeful, glimmering eyes. Her mood already started to get better.

Cassia wanted to ask if the books were thick and whether they contained pictures because pictures would be helpful ,entertaining and nice but she didn't know how to ask the question without sounding childish. So she wouldn't ask it directly ,"Erm….those books…are they…you know.…readable for second years?" Hmmm. Did he take the hint.