Derry nodded slowly, considering the thought yet again in her head. "Yeah... hopefully... I'm gonna see how I do this term though... I've never played competitively before..." She might crumble under pressure - she had quite a big fear of being watched by a lot of people - but she'd done well in tryouts and practices and stuff, so she should be okay, right? ...hopefully.

"I like the Cheshire Cat too, I nearly called by cat Cheshire." she said, smiling. "But I called him Lando instead, 'cause I suspect he's a double agent - he seems to like my dad more than he likes me..." And obviously her dad had always been Darth Vader in their games. Since she was awesome and had to defeat the bad guys. She was a nerd okay? "You like Alice in Wonderland then..?" Derry traced the imprints of the words on the cover of her book. "It's one of my favourite books..."

Nigel could tell that she was not to enthused about quidditch and would rather read a book than play. Maybe she crumbled under pressure or just did not really like it and her parent are forcing her. Nigel did not know or care enough to ask.

Derry did love Alice in Wonderland though. "Both are awesome names. Though i think your dad is bribing Lando away from you with food." It happen with Nigel's uncle and his dog Ace at home. His dog went over to the dark side. "Yeah i read it and the sequel. I loved both and the jabberwocky poem is awesome."

Nigel wished he had a Vorpal sword . It was awesome.

Did this mean he was a Star Wars fan too? That was awesome, she'd have to make friends with him... because a lot of people in Slytherin knew nothing about muggle stuff, which sucked. "I doubt it, he's usually out feeding the other animals, not sure he has time to bribe Lando away." she said, an amused smile on her face. That's what came from living on a farm - between (and during) her tutoring lessons they'd be outside feeding and cleaning out the animals and stuff.

"Through the looking glass is... I don't know, I like it but not as much." She didn't know why, exactly, but Derry just loved Alice in Wonderland too much. As for Jabberwocky. "T'was brillig and the slithy toves did gire and gimble in the wabe..." she quoted proudly. She knew the poem by heart for some reason... her mam used to read it to her when she was really little, and act it out and everything.

It was still possible. Though amusing to say the least. It sounded like she lived on a farm from the way she described her dad. Nigel was fascinate by this because he had no idea how farm life was. He had read about it. But he lived in a extremely large house. It was a mansion. But he did not like saying that because it made it seem like he is filthy rich. Which he is. But does not like telling people. "How was living on a farm. I only lived in really big houses with servants"

She was absolutely right about through the looking glass. Wonderland was so much better if you had to compare." Wonderland is a much better book" Nigel nodded agreeing with her. Now she was quoting the poem. If this did not prove she loved Alice in Wonderland. Nothing would. "All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe..."

Nigel knew the poem too. It was completely insane. So of course he would like it.

"I like it, I have my own horse..." Which was her favourite thing about it. "I have to get up early to feed the chickens before school... or... I used to before I came here." She missed it, it was nice to have that little bit of alone time before she went to deal with people. She used to talk to them... but that was kind of insane. Servants? Like House elves? "My grandparents have house elves apparently..." But she'd never actually met them, so she wasn't entirely sure. She'd be seeing them in the summer though. Scary...

Seeee? He agreed. Wonderland was better than Through the Looking Glass. Though she loved both of them. Her smile widened when he quoted the next line of the poem. "You know it all too?" In that case she definitely wanted to keep him, someone to talk to about books was always a good thing. "That's super cool." she told him with a nod, book fans were awesome, no question about it.

Maybe farm life was not for Nigel after all. He was not a fan of horses or getting up early. "House-elves are efficient if you are nice to them." Nigel nodded. Nigel could not understand how some people are mean to them. All they did was clean and cook for you. And you did not even have to pay them.

He in fact did know the whole poem. He was a ravenclaw and liked Alice in Wonderland. "Yeah it is completely insane. So i love it. And Book Fans are Awesome!!"

You can not deny that.

Derry nodded, she'd only ever seen one house elf and the poor thing was overtired and shaking and trying to do far too much at once. "I met Toddles... the house elf here..." Well, the one that hadn't run off somewhere. "People were being mean to him in the common room... poor thing was terrified." Derry did not have patience for bullies. Like that mean Richard Turner, with his stupid pet names and his loud voice.

"You like crazy things?" Derry giggled a tiny bit. "Me too..." Except, she preferred just to spectate usually, unless she really trusted people around her, then she didn't mind being insane. "Book fans are the best." Derry wanted a house built of books, but at the same time she didn't think she could be that mean - building houses out of poor, defenceless books.

Nigel has never met Toddles yet so would have no idea what happened to him. Though from the the way she was saying it. We did have a house elf in the castle. Though from what Nigel has seen. Toddles might be the only one." So there still is an house elf in the castle. I thought they all left."

The castle has seen better days. Did Nigel like crazy things. Well Alice in Wonderland was a crazy thing. Awesome. But crazy. "Yeah, I like crazy things. They are a lot more fun when you don't over think doing them."
and speaking of crazy ideas. "Imagine making a fort out of books. Not out of our favorite books.Made entirely of Dictionaries and useless textbooks"

Derry nodded, "Yeah, but he's just a baby..." And people were picking on him, and that just wasn't fair. It wasn't like he could do everything on his own, but he was trying, and he clearly wasn't very well... probably too much work... Derry just felt terribly sorry for the poor creature. "I imagine this place is more impressive when they have money..." she said, glancing up and around the room. The library was impressive anyway, all libraries impressed her, but the rest of the castle... well... even for a farm girl... it just wasn't what she had expected.

Derry agreed with this too, overthinking ruined a lot of things... but it was something she was pretty much entirely unable to avoid - she thought in depth about everything, because she was so scared of making the wrong impression and being called out on it. She was learning to care less though, her housemates - especially her teammates - were helping her with that. As for a fort of books... "That's a really good idea." she said, her eyes lighting up a little. "We have a reading nook back home, lined with books, and there's a cushion-y window seat where you can sit and read... but a fort would be cooler." It wouldn't have the view though - the window in the nook (which was in the corner of the living room, her dad had built it for her mam apparently) faced out onto the land at the back, where the sheep from the next farm over could be seen just over the wall of the chicken pen... it was just a nice view... though living in Scottish countryside usually promised nice views - as Hogwarts showed.

There was a house elf here. Just not one who can do most of the work required. "Would you ever want a house elf?" Nigel liked not doing house work and having more time to read. Reading is important "Yeah it was a lot better in the years before. At least they had some money and elves"

Now onto the book fort. It was a crazy idea and her idea was more awesome. "That is cool too. I wish i had a book fort or a hole you can live in that is filled with books. Though i only have a secret library behind a bookshelf at home" He still wished he had the fort or like a hobbit hole.

Derry thought about this, thought about poor little Toddles... "I don't think so..." she said after a moment. "I mean... I can do magic so I don't see why I'd need one..." She didn't have a big house, it was easy enough to keep clean, and she didn't think she'd ever have a house big enough for that. "I just think it should be a little more... magical, you know?" Apart from the actual magic, of course.

"You have a secret library?" Derry's eyes widened a little at the thought. "That's so... awesome." she said. "I just pile all my books in my room." Her shelves were full, and she wasn't going to get rid of any of her books, so she'd built a kind of pathway from her door to her bed, window and wardrobe, the rest was just piled with books and little ornaments.

True. But a house elf does help when you are under-age and can't technically do magic at home. But Nigel guessed parents could do that too. If they were nice and around."Yeah. Basically it is a matter of preference and if you already have one.It would be awesome once we are allowed to make the clean clean on their own."Magic was awesome. He cold understands the like of cleaning something himself. Now that the whole room was clean because of you. But he had better things to do than that.

Nigel nodded when asked about his secret library."Yeah you just click a button on the side and then its slides allowing you access to the library behind it." It was probably his favorite part about his house. "Pretty soon we will able to use magic to make the books stay on the walls. Like a magic bookcase."Now that would be pretty awesome. "Though i would not no where to put the magical books that move and such"

Preference... "Don't they usually just come with big houses and stuff?" She didn't really know, their house had a total of five rooms, wasn't exactly difficult to clean. "And I guess since my mam's a muggle... we couldn't really have one." She'd probably try and examine it or something... but she was kind of excited to see working house elves and a clean house when she visited her dad's parents........ uggghhh nervous.

Derry just stared, sparkly eyed, at Nigel as he described this. "Wow..." she breathed, her head all full of wonderful images of books and little places to hide and read. "That's fantastic... do you hide out there? And stuff..?" Because she would - it sounded perfect. Like a place to escape from... everyone.

"You're right and they are nice to have. But not needed" He kind of did want to see a house where there were actually people cleaning the house. That were not servants or elves. It was be interesting to say the least. Though not something he would want to try himself.

"That is exactly why it is a secret library. There is even a way outside from inside the library." Nigel brought out the curse breaking book and showed her a page on a way into a pyramid guarded by a curse. "Kind of like this, a medium sized hole. But mine leads from behind one of the shelves to the grounds." Nigel has not used the hole since he was a little kid. He would have to check once he got home. If it as still there.

Derry nodded, she knew they weren't needed - they'd survived without one. "Yeah I know... we do it all the muggle way." she said with a shrug. "Our house only has five rooms though so I guess that make it easier." But then there was the chicken coop, and the stables, and the animals who needed looking after... so maybe it was the same amount of work... hmm.

She was absolutely intrigued. A place full of books that nobody else knew about and you could hide in from the rest of the world? That sounded like heaven. AND it was connected to the outside so you could go flying or something. She wanted one! She examined the picture in Nigel's book carefully - they'd studied the Egyptians in school, but this seemed to be in more detail. "That is so cool!" She wished she had the ability to make one, or something... God it was fantastic!

Without paying much attention to where he was going, Asher made his way over to the study area in a rather trollish manner. After finding the nearest empty table, he slammed his books down and plopped himself into a chair. He had had enough of worrying and stressing over homework and he was determined to make some sort of dent in the enormous pile he had acquired. "Like I'm ever going to need Potions or History of Magic," he hissed at his books.

Laura walked into the Library bag in hand, she wasn't sure if Bliss was busy or not but she had asked her cousin to meet her here if she could if she couldn't it was no big deal, though she had missed her cousin like crazy, she hoped that her cousin could come but she would have to wait and see, it had been ages since they had studied together, actually come to think of it she couldn't remember if they had ever studied together before.

Laura found a spare table and sat down at it and took out her History of Magic books, she wasn't very good at the subject so that probably would be the best place to start, she just hoped that she could take everything in that she was reading because at the minute she didn't even know when Hogwarts was build though it was ages ago right, seriously she should have listened in class more.

Studying was BORING.

Thing was, though, she'd promised to help her cousin study and she was going to keep that promise. 'sides, it was good to get ahead on studying, it meant that she'd be smarter when it came to her own OWLs next year. Next year. Wow. Time DID fly after all. Hopefully the next year and a bit would draaaaag and that would make up for her speeding life.

Bliss sighed and entered the library, shifted the weight of her bag on her shoulder so that it was more comfortable. She's crammed so many books in the bag this morning, it was a surprise it hadn't split. Shame Laura hadn't told her exactly what they'd be studying. Speaking of, Bliss scanned the room and soon spotted her cousin and walked over, slipping into the seat beside her. "Hey, Lo'. What are we studying?" she asked, her voice low, as they were - duh - in a library.

Laura looked up and smiled when Bliss came into the room. "Hey Cuz." Laura whispered though in truth she wanted to hug her cuz like crazy but she stopped herself from doing that since it was a library after all and you had to be quiet in a library or you could get kicked out and Laura didn't want to get kicked out.

Laura smiled. "Well I'm currently reading Hogwarts-a-History at the minute, trying to figure out when this castle was built, it was ages ago I know that much." Laura sighed. "I know that because do you know that Castle Drogo was the last castle to be in England and probably the UK and that was built in 1930, so it was built over a hundred years ago." Laura had no idea where that information came from but she had remembered it from somewhere. "I would expect this castle though the be thousands of year old." Laura was sure of that and she was having a fun time telling her cousin all this.

Good. No hugs and stuff. Bliss may have forgiven Laura, but she wasn't completely comfortable just yet. She'd get there with time, she was sure. Laura would just have to wait. K?

Bliss peered over the older girls shoulder and rolled her eyes. Laura was reading a section about the lake. That was definitely going to help her figure out when Hogwarts was built. Ages ago? Way to go, Laura, Outstanding in all your OWLs, here you come. Bliss removed a sheet of parchment from her bag, along with ink and a quill. In neat hand writing, she wrote down what Laura wanted to know. "Hogwarts was founded around 990 A.D. So, I'd guess it's sometime around then." So, almost 2000 years ago, not 1000.

That was basic knowledge, at least she thought so.

Laura looked at her cousin and smiled, she didn't want to get into trouble with her cousin, so she would just change it later and hope Bliss doesn't tell her off, she looked at her book and smiled. "Did you know you know acceptance or declination of a place at Hogwarts must be posted by 31 July, so basically a quill writes down when everyone is born that has magic power and then well it's simple a teacher looks at the book and sends out letters to those who are turning 11, I wonder what would happen if they had like 2000 students on the books, how would they decide who was to be given a place." Laura sighed, it must be hard to decide.

Bliss noticed that Laura didn't comment on her calculations or thank her, or anything of the sort. She looked over it again; nope, not wrong. Definitely right. So, WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM? Huh? Hogwarts HAD been built/founded then. It was right. HUFF, this was why she hadn't really wanted to help her cousin. She was almost seething, but she shook it off.

Nothing to see here. Nope.

"Well, I'd guess they look at whether their parents went to Hogwarts, too. They'd look at how close they are to the school, as well. Blood status wouldn't matter, I assume, Hogwarts isn't like that." She shrugged. "'Sides, thousands of kids already come here, they be able to cope with more." Someone should really check her facts .. Laura.

Laura looked at her cuz. "Thanks for the help cuz." Laura smiled, hoping her cousin wasn't cross with her, she didn't want her cousin to be bad with her again, she hadn't it when her cuz was mad with her it just didn't seem right, that they should argue, cousin weren't meant to do that.

Laura smiled at her cousin. "Your right again cuz." Laura pouted, "See this is why I hate studying, I'm just useless at it." Laura didn't know what to say, she looked at her books. "I'm going to fail all my owls and it's going to be my fault, then everyone will be mad at me and my mother won't want to talk to me and your family will think I've brought shame onto the whole family, and everyone will hate me." Laura was going to hold back the tears.

Well, that little bit of gratitude was randomly timed, but still appreciated. BEAM. "Anytime, Lo'." It was almost as if Laura had read her miiiiiiiiind. How ironic. That wasn't possible, though.

Of course I am, she thought - kinda. In reality, her thoughts her more like 'eh, I guess ....... IN YOUR FACE ,' but 'of course I am,' summed it up a little better. "You're not useless at it, you just don't do it strategically." If that made sense at all. "I didn't read what I just said, it was more just .. common sense. Think it through. You'd be surprised what begins to make sense when you stop and think about it carefully." That was her NICE piece of advise out. Now then ..

"Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Bliss EYED Laura before face-planting the desk and hitting her head on it repeatedly.

"Women UP." Um, perhaps Bliss should be going the nice way about this, but she wasn't really in the mood. "Look at the facts; you MIGHT fail, sure, it's a possibility, but you're not DEFINITELY going to fail. You will if you have this silly attitude about it, though." That was just the truth, deal with it. "Next - you're Mum isn't going to stop talking to you. She loves you ... if she did stop talking to you, WHICH SHE WON'T, then you'd just have to cope and find people that do love you. Family's aren't perfect." The badger took a deep breath. Surprisingly, this little rant had all been in a hushed voice, so there would be no trouble from any librarian. "Lastly - family shame? We may be a pure blood family, but there is no such thing as bringing shame on the family. Not by failing OWLs, anyway. Maybe if you went to Azkaban," she mused, tilting her head as she thought about it. "Anyway," she finished, shaking her head, "you'll be FINE. Just try your best, that's all anyone could ask for."

... "and don't cry."

"Please."

The end.

Laura looked at Bliss and gave a small smile, wiping away the few tears she had felt coming she wasn't going to cry no way, she didn't want Bliss angry with her for crying. "I'm going to try my hardest and if I fail, then at least I know I've tried my very best, though I'm aiming to get a few owls out of all this, I'm good at Muggle Studies and I'm good at a few other subjects." Laura couldn't wait to at least try and give it ago. "Thanks cuz, I needed that." Laura looked at her cuz. "You sure our family won't mind if I fail?" Laura didn't want to but she might fail some owls even if she was aiming to pass them all, though she doubted it.