Footsteps were heard and he was soon joined by two familiar faces; Sarah from Gryffindor house and Laura from Hufflepuff. "Hi Sarah...Laura," he greeted in return. Both seemed to be just as clueless as he was though if he wasn't mistaken there was a touch of accusation from the older girl. Though Sarah must have heard it too for she jumped to his defense. "Aye I have no clue what happened. I just spotted the books as I was walking through the stacks." He rested the book in his hand on the table ledge beside him and reached to pick another one up off the floor.

"Perhaps we should carefully gather these all up at least off the floor so we can get them to Mr. Kitridge. Wouldn't want any pages to go missing."

Laura looked at Sarah and Giddeon, how did Laura not know that Sarah was the diversion for Giddeon and she was walking into a trap and they were both going to blame her even though she hadn't done anything, it was them.

Laura stared at prefect Giddeon for a couple of minutes before deciding that she would trust him this once, she was about to start and clean up the mess when she suddenly realised something. "Giddeon if someone has done this, shouldn't we leave it like it is, maybe the Librarian can get some clues as to who did it?"

Sarah was not so eager to part with the pages as she was reading yet she eagerly agreed. Finishing the page she leapt up to help... She knelt down and began collecting the scattered objects. "Something is odd at hogwarts... like the other day i was on the moving staircase when the most awesome thing happened" her eyes shined and she related what had happened "the staircase it went beserk like a rollercoaster the muggles have, i held onto the railing for dear life... yet it was SOOO MUCH FUN" fun for that is, other students were not as delighted as she was. "And then at breakfast this morning there were no tables! So I ate on the floor like they do in the East. It was a funny experience" although she spilled cocoa all over her robes. Sarah assumed Gideon was clever, as he was a prefect also rumour had it that he was related to a former Gryffindor head of house, Hogwarts headmistress and transfiguration professor Professor McGonnegal. Sarah had been meaning to ask him if it was true but never got the chance. "What do YOU think is going on? I think it is all Dark Magic, because frankly all the things that go wrong at Hogwarts is dark magic" maybe not Elijah going topless. It was not a magical experience to Sarah at all

quick post for now ;) Gideon, Laura and Sarah
 

The Ravenerd was busily returning research materials to the shelves when he rounded the corner-- and made a sound that was somewhere between gasping, shrieking and choking.

:whaa:

He rushed over to the books and torn pages strewn about on the floor, his hands hovering hesitantly over them then retreating back to covering his lips to keep that strange sound from escaping again.

The books! Somebody ravaged the books! What heinous, heartless criminal would do this???....

It was then that he noticed the other students that have converged around the scene of the crime "Gideon...." he finally managed to speak out. His eyes fell on the other two students but he didnt know them by name. The Gryffindor Prefect though, he's known for a while "D-Did you see who?...." he started then decided to pay attention to the most important matter at hand "We should, we should save them..." he squeaked out in the end as he oh so delicately picked up the books and the pages from the floor.

Sarah rather relucant to part with the pieces of papers she was reading yet after a moment of thought she was eager to reply. she handed him the pages she had collected so far and"No problem!" with that she strode purposefully over to the front desk. She was gad that at least he was there supervising and making sure nothing bad happened...

"Thanks," He said with a nod of his head as he accepted the pages from her. Gideon looked at them to try and find the title they belonged to. "42 Mysterious Maladies...and Where to Find Them..." he mused finding the note at the top of one of them and glancing at the pile already picked up. Yep, it was already there so he placed the pages with the appropriate book so they weren't further separated.

Laura, Gideon, Sarah, Vickers
 

Following Sarah to the book shelves Mr Kitridge did his best not to create pictures in his head of the torn pages since they would undoubtedly become more imaginairy the more he thought of it. It was silly to do that before he had all the facts.

Coming onto the scene with the books and its torn out pages lying on the floor like lost puppies Mr Kitridge stopped dead in his tracks. Eyes widening almost to the point of coming out of their eye sockets he pointed to the torn books with a visibly shaking hand. "Who did THIS? Who is responsible for this horrific act against the libraries precious books?" Letting his eyes travel over the students, Mr Kitridge's eyes stopped on the Gryffindor prefect. "Mr Gert, what has happened here? Do you know who did this?" he asked in a voice trembling with emotion.

Going over to the damaged books Leobald kneeled down on the floor and carefully picked up the precious book pages in his hands with warmth showing in his eyes and even a few tears. "Don't worry, little ones. I shall fix this. You will be back where you belong in no time. I just need to patch you up and you'll be good as new, good as new." He mumbled reassuringly to the pages. Rising to his feet Leo looked over at Sarah, Vickers and Laura. "Do you know if these are the only damaged books? Have you checked the rest of the library?"

Sheltering the torn out pages against his chest, Mr Kitridge just stood inpassive.

Mr Kitridge's worst nightmare was now fact.:whaa::whaa:

So he was still trying to fix that darned train from History of Magic and finally decided to come and see if there were any train books in the library. But upon approaching the bookshelves, Edmund found an extremely upset Librarian, Laura, the prefect who'd outed him and another girl he didn't know and torn pages of books all over the floor. Concerned for the seemingly emotional Librarian, Ed moved closer to the guy. "Can I help...?" He knew they'd got off to a bad start, but he could still help, right?

Sarah kept her eyes on the librarian expression as he saw the books. She did not like breaking sad news to people. Well Sarah liked being the source of information... she knew lots about people. Sarah was quick on her feet. "No sir... If you want I can check.. I hope not... It is a disgrace. I hope it was none of the students I shall check the rest of library if you want, sir. Yet I have not seen anymore... thankfully" Sarah felt sorry for the guy... her mom always said that the only thing that lasts is knowedge and good deeds. et this guy was very attached to his books its seemed. So was Sarah in fact.

Laura looked at the Librarian. "I've been busy making sure these books weren't too damage and hoping I'd fine clues as to who had done it." Laura sighed. "But so far I've been out of luck." Laura picked up a book and then looked at the Librarian again. "If you want Sir, I can go and see if there are anymore?" Laura smiled.

*rearranges* and Vickers too.
 

Mr Kitridge stood in a daze and just stared in front of him at the torn books on the floor. Who could do such malice? Who could not like books? This was all hard to grasp. Could the culprit still be in the library? Hearing but not really hearing the footsteps Mr Kitridge at first just stood and looked blankly at the boy as he spoke. Shaking his head some of the dazeness left him and Leobald fixed his gaze on the Hufflepuff standing next to him.

"Edmund….." Pause. "Can you pick up the books from off the floor carefully and bring them to that table?! he gestured towards a round table close by.



Still sheltering the torn pages against his chest Mr Kitridge licked his lips. “All right, you did right by guarding the books until I got here." Gideon was a prefect you could count on to keep his head leveled in a crisis. This was the second time Leo saw proof of that. He should tell Seren that he vividly tried to make a mental note off in his shocked brain.

Holding out the torn out pages to look at them he showed them to the prefect as much as the other students. "Why have the one(s) responsible torn out pages about maladies?" As a thought struck him he couldn’t help but start shaking so hard that the pages fell out of his hands. Opening and closing his mouth he tried to stop shaking. Don’t jump to conclusions. Cece could be fine. There is no need to worry her just yet and if he did and it was false alarm she wouldn’t be very pleased with him.

Trying to focus he looked over at Gideon and said quietly. "Please gather up all the pages and bring them along to the round table where Edmund is going." Leobald asked the prefect still shaking slightly and with widened eyes.



Turning his attention to the two girls and Vickers he said "I know I’m asking a lot of you three but can you please go and see if there are any other damaged books? I’d go myself but I need to repair the books." Studying their young faces he added "Keep your wands at the ready and if you see anything suspicious at all promise you won’t act on your own accord but come straight back and fetch me?" He’d probably collapse if a student got injured in this terrible mess to.

He counted on Vickers to watch over Sarah and Laura and to keep them out of danger. Hopefully whoever had torn up his books was long gone and if he wasn’t Leobald was definitely going to let him/them hear and taste his wrath.

If he hadn't been so worried about Kitridge's sanity, Ed might have eyed the prefect with a 'What? It was only once' expression plastered all over his face. He did double take when he heard Laura call Kitridge 'Sir', though. He'd never heard her speak to an adult that way and he'd known her long enough to realise this was a sign of respect. Respect. From Laura Hyde.

He somehow managed to tear his gaze from his now respectful friend and look straight back at Kitridge. At least he hadn't told him to go away. "Of course." He nodded to the seemingly devastated man before kneeling down next to the books and deciding that stacking them wasn't a good idea. Not if they had pages ripped out. He was going to do this one by one, just to show Kitridge he respected books as much as the Librarian himself did.

Glancing up at the mention of the torn out pages being about maladies, he frowned. That was extremely strange, and it seemed to completely unnerve the man since he'd started shaking. "Mr. Kitridge?" He spoke quietly, his concern showing clearly now. When the guy asked the remaining students to go and search the library, Ed almost dropped the book he'd picked up. Almost. He must have been out of his mind to send Laura searching for the unknown. He, himself, was concerned for her, what with them being friends and all. His brown eyes fixed on the young Puff. "Be careful." If they came running to Kitridge, Ed was definitely going to follow the guy, because that meant there was danger.

He finally stood and started to move the books over to the table Kitridge had indicated, one at a time, with extreme care. The poor books. It almost brought tears to his own eyes. While he loved playing pranks and having some fun around people who'd probably freak out when he did something stupid, he hated seeing books mistreated. Knowledge was power and these books held the key to knowledge. Maybe they could get some knowledge from the torn out pages. Hm.

A lot? That was not a lot. "SURE Sir" said Sarah as she held out her wand. She made a mental note not to do anything if more books were found in such a state rather call the librarian..A lady with a mission headed off walking next to all the bookshelfs one at a time. Also scanning the space on top of the books for any books hanging around.

Mr. Kitridge, Sarah & Laura plus e'rbody
 

To Vickers, seeing books in such state of ruin is pretty much like a charity worker encountering war-torn refugees-- worrying first about their current physical and mental state and caring much later on who made them refugees in the first place.

But the Librarian gave his instructions and glancing at the young Hufflepuff and Gryffindor it would be best that an upperclassman accompany them to looking for other damaged books "Yes Mr Kitridge" he murmured. The young Lioness have started to move towards the shelves and he paused for a moment to regard the young Badger. This was the Hufflepuff who was sent out of Potions for not having a wand "Listen... Laura?.... if you still dont have a replacement wand and you found anything unusual come look for me or Mr Kitridge-- DONT TOUCH anything." Specially if there was something malicious going about the Puff was rather defenseless.

Laura looked at the Librarian. "Right you are sir." Laura smiled. "I won't let you down." Yeah Laura was going to show the Librarian she wasn't as bad she he thought she was, she was 90% sure it was him telling the other staff that she wasn't a good listener and all.

"Okay then Sir, if I see anything bad then I will come and get you." Laura took out her broken wand, that Professor Hadley had soo kindly fixed up for her, there was no need to tell anyone it was broken right, she still didn't like Alexa for breaking it and the sooner Christmas Holiday came, the sooner she got her new wand.

Laura looked at the Ravenclaw, she was spoiling the fun. "My wand is okay." Laura smiled even if it was a bit broken, she didn't have to give them the story as too what has happened right, there was no need to do that was there, because it was a long one and she didn't really want to repeat it again.

"I promise if I find anything, I'll come and get you or Mr Kitridge." Laura smiled at the girl, she was trying to behave now and this would prove to everyone that she has changed.

Kitridge and others
 

So many books to choose from. She only wanted to find one book that would help her understand the unforgettable curses. Ever since her friend was attacked by one she had wanted to know what they do.

Sorry for the lateness everyone....
 

Mr Kitridge stood in what could only be described as a daze of non-feeling. Beside him Gideon and Edmund was rounding up the books and ripped out book pages on the table he had indicated. It was easy to see they two seniors had a kinship to books and were as devastated and nonplussed as he was about why somebody had done what they had done. Shaking his head Leo said to boys.

"I’ll be fine in a minute. Let’s just repair the book’s and then see if we can make some guesses as to who or what ripped the book pages out in the first place." It was just so unexplainable. Pulling out his wand he motioned for Gideon and Edmund to do the same. "A simple reparo spell should do the trick." Focusing on one of the book’s with it pages next to it Leo mumbled "Libra reparo." The book repaired itself slowly in front of his watchful eyes.



Mr Kitridge watched as his 'search squad' left to go check out the rest of the library for damaged books, the culprits or merlin forbid more trouble. Somehow he wasn’t worried for Sarah or Vicker’s since both of them seemed responsible and level-headed. It was Laura who was a cause for worry since she wasn’t the most reliable badger in the castle with her track record of detentions and backfiring plans.

And her reassurances didn’t exactly reassure him that he did the right thing but given the lousy day he was already having Leo staked his galleons on that whatever Laura did or found in the next couple of minutes couldn’t exactly make things much worse.

Leo was about to turn his attention back to Edmund and Gideon when he heard footsteps approaching. Wand still in hand he almost expected it to be the culprit(s) coming back to the scene of the crime when it turned out to be a student. Plastering on smile even if he wasn’t feeling cherry Mr Kitridge called out. "Hello, can I help you with something?"

Laura, Gideon and Leo <3
 

Replacement wand? What? Concern grew in Ed's eyes. Laura didn't have a wand?! He stared at the stick she pulled out, because if it was broken, that's all it was. Just a stick.

If he didn't need his wand to repair the poor broken books, he'd have handed it over in a second. He gave the Librarian a nod and put the last of the books on the table carefully, his fear for Laura overpowering his devastation about the books being mistreated in this way. Pulling out his own wand, Ed mimicked Kitridge's movement and spell and watched another book repair itself. The jumpiness of Kitridge was concerning. Thankfully though, Ed had more sense than to turn his wand on this new girl.

dadum,dadum, dadum dadum dadum.... Detective Sarah was on a mission. Her body was on high alert... and then she heard something.... something like pages moving... was it the monster at work. Sarah ran back to he librarian only to see and realize that nosises were actually from the books he was repairing. Feeling silly Sarah went back on patrol. There was nothing out of place by the Dragon section - unless you count a book that someone had left lying on top... Must have been some lazy student who was reading the book (From Egg to Inferno: a Dragon-Keeper's Guide). Sarah was about to put it back when the librarians words echoed in her head ..if you see anything suspicious at all promise you won’t act on your own accord but come straight back and fetch me.. Sarah pondered whether it was suspicious or not... such things happened in the library. Yet perhaps it was better to be safe then sorry so Sarah went back to the librarian "Sir, I see a book that is not in its usual place, is it okay for me to put it where it is meant to be?" Sarah thought it would be

Turning around slowly he gave the still damaged books a long look before focusing his attention on Sarah. "Yes, sure go ahead and put the back in its rightful place. What book was it?" Mr Kitridge asked curiously. It probably had nothing do with the ripped books since many students left books everywhere in the library without bothering to put them back on their proper shelves.

To many books
 

Jane walked down the rows of books. She started to get dizzy. There was to many books. She wanted to read them all. She wanted to take one after the other sit in the window seat and read them. She wanted to take the knowledge of the books and know things that she never knew before. The only place she wasn't allowed was the restricted section.
She ran her fingers of the books. She loved the feel of books. As she touched them she felt as if she was one with the books. She picked one book up of the shelve. She read the cover " Transfiguration Of The Century Over The Years". She took the book and headed to the window with the seat. As she headed that way she opened the book and started to read and walk. She tripped over something that was on the floor. She dropped the book. She looked down and saw that she tripped of a boy. They looked at each other and stared for three minutes. Jane then picked up the book and continued on her way. She got to the window and sat down and opened the book again. Five minutes later the boy she tripped over came over and said to her " I am sorry fir tripping you" Jane looked at him and told him it wasn't his fault. She looked back down at her book and continued reading. The boy got the hint and left her alone.

Sarah nodded and said "sure, The book was 'From Egg to Inferno: a Dragon-Keeper's Guide'." She then went back and put it in the right place. People were so irresponsible.
Sarah then went on combing through more bookshelves. There was still nothing out of place though