Kalen smiled warmly down at the younger girl and nodded. "Very well, let's head up to the front desk and I'll check your books, yeah? " He asked as he started to walk down the long bookshelf, hoping Miss Holden was following him.. He still has his hands in his pockets as he walked.. a comfortable position for him,,

Though as Oilivia spoke again, he chuckled softly. Ahh the restricted section, if he was honest, he would have gotten rid of that section, placed the less harmful books into the library and then placed the most dangerous ones somewhere else under lock and key.. It didn't seem fair to him that the students couldn't partake in all of the libraries books.. But rules were rules.. so..

"Well, there are rare books of course, books that don't have many copies left in exsistence. Valuable books as well.. So those are mainly being protected in there. " The green eyed man explained. "However there are some books on some very powerful dark magic, which is why we don't want the youngin's in there.. " He supposed anyways..

Olivia watched as Mr. Kennedy headed towards the front desk for a moment before realizing that she needed to follow him. Oh. She rushed a little to catch up (she didn't have too much ground to cover thankfully) and listened as to him as he answered her question about the restricted section.

Rare and valuable books being protected? That made sense why they were in the restricted section. She wondered what the oldest book they had was.... Did they have ancient texts? That would be awesome. She nodded at his explanation. "That makes sense. You wouldn't want a first year finding a book that released an enteral winter or trapped them into another dimension, I suppose... Are there books that can do that?" she asked and wondered. Maybe they did? Or maybe she just had an overactive imagination? Or both?

Kalen chuckled a bit as Miss Holden spoke and he shook his head a little bit. "Set off an eternal Winter hmm? That would be fun and very Narnia like. " He said as he kept walking.. "But as far as I know.. no, there aren't books in there like that. More like, ones that contain very powerful curses.. " He had glanced in there, but he still needed to fully catalog the Restricted Section..

Hmmm maybe he could have the kids help him with that later?

"I haven't fully gone through all the books in there, do you think people would want to help me when I do it? Just to see whats in there?" Kalen asked her thoughtfully.

She smiled at his comment about Narnia. The series had been a favourite of hers when she had been little and she had always fancied herself being Lucy. She didn't feel much in common with the other Penseive sister, Susan, when she was younger. However, she liked the Susan from the Disney adaptation of the series. Olivia grinned. "I'm glad to hear that there aren't any books that could do that." Powerful curses? That didn't sound good but Olivia wanted to know more about what kind of curses even if they were terrifying. It was intriguing to see what magic could do.

To Mr. Kennedy's question, Olivia paused. She wasn't certain how people would take it. Most people would probably be intrigued by it because they woudl have never been allowed into that section of the library before. Though more cautious people may not venture in at all. "I'm sure some people would be interested in doing it. I know that I definitely would be," she beamed. "Though others could be scared by the Restricted section's reputation."

Kalen smiled down at the younger girl, "To my knowledge there aren't at least.. " He said with a soft chuckle as they made it out of the aisle of bookshelves and started to head towards the front desk.

He was thoughtful as she spoke,, "Mmmm, I can see your point. I would like to get us to a place where the restricted section isn't needed, but who knows if that will ever happen. Books should be enjoyed by everyone! " He said with a nod. "Well I'll try it out and see how it goes.. if there is a good reaction it might help me convince some people. " He said with a nod as the reached the desk..

"Okay! I can check your books out now. "

She'd keep her fingers and toes crossed for a good reaction from her peers and Professors. She liked his idea that books should be shared by everyone. Olivia nodded. "I agree with that. I like the idea that books should be shared by everyone." The more knowledge, the better they would be off if anything actually bad came after them, right? Olivia hoped so. Seeing the books in the restricted section would be a dream come true and something she could tease Simon about. She got to see those books before him. :p Well maybe if it all actually happened and was approved.

"Awesome! Thank you, Mr. Kennedy."

Kalen was pleased that at least one student thought his idea was a good one. "I'm glad to hear that you agree. I'm going to try to bring that mentality to Hogwarts. " He said with a warm smile as they headed to the desk and he held his hand out for the books..

"You are quite welcome Miss Holden, please let me know if you need anything else. " He said as he waved his wand over the books and then handed them back to her. "They are due back in three weeks. " He said with a grin.

She smiled at Mr. Kennedy. She was happy to hear that he was going to change the mentality towards the restricted section. It was time for a change for sure. Hopefully they change would be a good one. Olivia passed him the books and waited to be checked out.

Once the books had been returned to her, she nodded at his response about when they were due back. "Thank you! I will bring them back a day early. I promise. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Kennedy," And with that, she headed out the door and back up to her common room to start reading the books. She wore the happiest of grins.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

Mason turned around to grab another book from the shelf and as he had his back to the kid he rolled his eyes. Were every younger students annoying like he was? Had HE been that nosy? Yes, yes he had and he still was. He had read somewhere once that 'the thing you dislike is something that you , yourself do' Guess that the author was right about that one because he wanted nothing more than for Derf to leave him alone.

But he had the feeling that he wasn't going to leave that quickly and he refused to walk away himself. As he turned around to face him again, a new book in his hand, Mason shrugged his shoulders. "If you want the full story, here it is; Dora scared me, i threw a beverage in her face when i got startled, she got upset because her hair got wet, she told me to dry her hair for her, i refused, she got mad, i got mad, she punched me in the face, i hexed her back" He veeeeeeeeeeeeeery subtly let out the part in which he had NOT been able to hex her as she had dodged all his attacks and he had landed in the hospital himself. Ha. He had also left out the bit where she had tried to use him to get someone else, he felt like that, even if it had been a horrible thing to do in his opinion, he didn't want to make her look that bad. Especially since he knew that the younger students liked her. "But we both thought that fighting over something this trivial wasn't worth our time so we decided to become friends instead" there, happy kid?

And....he was still going on on hugging Dora? UGH , you know, he would do it just to shut him up but he didn't like it when someone came in to his personal space. He was fine with a handshake or a clap on the back or something, but a hug? No, he did not like that. "Don't you have classes to attent to?" or anything that required him NOT being in the library?

Curiosity killed the kneazle, but Derf wasn't one of those so he wasn't really all THAT concerned about indulging his curiosity and stuff. SO any animosity being felt by the older Ravenclaw went riiiiiiiight over his head. Which was also pretty easy because he was rather short.

Blinking as Mason spoke, a little light bulb went on in Derf's head. "OH! That was YOU?!" Because Dora had mention this story once, just WITHOUT names, to him before when he had been telling her about his dueling club experiences and such. Like...Dora had been trained by AURORS and STUFF! Which was pretty neat, you know?

Classes? "Nope!" he chirped. "But I do need to go ret----er...go check on Picketta. She is my baby bowtruckle."

Gaston decided that a good book might be just the thing to take his mind off of everything that was going on in his life. Unfortunately, he'd read all the books he kept in his office probably a hundred times before, so a trip to the library was in order. Time to find some new reading material!

He perused the bookshelves, eventually stopping at the section for muggle literature. He'd have to thank Kalen for expanding the selection the next time he saw him! He piked up a book from the nearest shelf and skimmed through it. This story looked pretty interesting! He picked up another book, then another, and pretty soon he had a stack of new books to check out. This should keep him busy for a while!

So she wasn't actually in the mood for muggle literature, but she had to pass those shelves to get where she needed to be. Ugh. Not that she didn't appreciate muggle lit, just now wasn't the time.

And then right smack in those oh a the middle of those oh at hehe aisle was.. her head of house. Sighs. They had not had the greatest track record of getting along and her lack of support had only compounded her feelings toward him AND others in her house right now.

Clearing her throat she made to step around him. She didn't want to bother him. And she didn't look well rested or very friendly at the moment, she was sure. She hadn't slept well following the competition.. and other things. Ugh.

"Excuse me, professor, " she muttered as she tried to squeeze past.

Gaston was so engrossed in the book he was looking at that he didn't notice anybody else nearby until an unexpected voice made him jump slightly. "Oh, of course. Excuse me," he said, quickly stepping aside. It was only when he closed the book and looked up that he actually saw who it was; his heart sank. Oh no, not her!

It was taking every bit of resolve he had not to turn the opposite direction and run away when he saw Miss Umbridge, but that would be unprofessional and not to mention, cowardly. Though the girl already thought he was a horrible head of house, if their last conversation was any indication, so he didn't see how leaving could possibly make her any worse of him than she already did. He heaved a silent sigh. It seemed no matter what he did, this girl would only see the worst in him and it hurt. But he knew there was noting to be done about it.

For some reason he didn't understand, Gaston decided to try one more time to be kind to the girl. "Hello, Miss Umbridge," he said with a polite nod, though he wasn't quite able to manage a smile. Surely, surely he wouldn't get another tongue lashing for just greeting her, right? He couldn't be sure; it seemed like he found a way to set her off.

"Please call me Dora. The formality of it all is exhausting, Professor Marchand," she said softly. Like she had already chewed him up and spit him out, metaphorically, he could certainly call her Dora now, yes?

And the girl didn't think he was HORRIBLE, per se. Just that he had a lot of room to improve and he didn't seem to want anyone's help with the matter... even people that had more experience at being Gryffindors than he. But that was his choice and she had other, more pressing matters to lose sleep over currently.

A huge yawn left the girl now. The kind that caused the eyes to water and a hand to cover the mouth. For what felt like forever. "Yawns are caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain," she said sleepily before she started to blink the yawn tears away and scan the titles nearby.

Vivian kept walking and began moving up the moving staircases, occasionally looking back at Evan to make sure he was still following her and not getting lost. "Think you'll be able to find your way back down later?" The Slytherin beamed at the boy. It was sort of a challenge, but was partly a joke, too. He probably wouldn't have remembered how to get back down, anyway. After all, the library was in the fourth floor. They had to cross four sets of moving staircases. It took her long to master them, anyway, so she was most likely going to guide him back down again later on.

"Wait, it's colder here than in the US?" Vivian asked. She had never been there, though she wanted to visit soon, but it was kinda cool to learn more about other cultures and places. She's done so about Romania and Durmstrang with Andrei through letters, so perhaps it would be just as interesting. "Cool kids?" She blinked at this statement. What did that mean, anyway? "A definition would be appreciated."

The blonde moved over to the second floor corridor, waited for Evan, and kept her eyes on the moving staircases. Once the set of stairs that was going to lead them to the third floor and up positioned itself in front of them, Vivian signalled him to follow. "C'mon," she said and made her way up. Well, yes, waiting for the right staircase to position itself required a little bit of patience. For sure, Evan knew that by now.

Once they had reached the fourth floor corridor, Vivian made her way to the library. "We're almost there." Just so close! Evan was still very much alive, right? And... "Tadaaaaaa!" The Slytherin said, in low volume so she didn't disturb the people inside and anger the librarian.

Smiling at Evan, she went over to the bookshelves. He needed a reference book for a subject, right? "I'll help you find the book you need. What subject is your homework about?"

Thankfully he bumped into Vivian today and she wanted to accompany him to the library. Evan had no idea where would he end if he's still wandering around the first floor of this castle. He let out a small chuckle as the girl asked if he could find a way back after this. "I hope so. After all, it's easier finding a way back rather than to here." As an occasional hiker, he spoke based on his own experience following his uncles hiking around the mountain and forests.

"It is quite colder for me." The Ilvermorny boy answered. And about the cool kids, it's not that he put them into a stereotype but it's just... Well, those group of students that seemed cooler than him. "Hmmm... Like those who has better looking, always up for social events, popular..." He slightly nodded. Heh, it's totally not him. Most of them were either Wampus or Thunderbird guys who belonged to that definition.

Following the blonde girl, finally they made it to the library! "Thanks uh... It's okay, I think I could find it by myself." Evan refused politely. Honestly he had no idea how long he's going to be here and probably Vivian had other agendas. Plus, van just loved working his homework by himself.

Blink, blink. Now that was the last thing Gaston had expected Miss Umbridge - no, Dora - to say! He dropped his gaze for a moment to hide the shock in his eyes, but he was able to manage a small smile as he replied, "Alright then, Dora." Did he dare to hope that he wouldn't accidentally set her off this time?

He couldn't help but notice how tired she looked. The thought crossed his mind to ask if anything was wrong, but he decided against it. He didn't want to make her angry again. He looked at her with concern as she yawned, nodding slightly as she explained the cause of yawning. If he didn't know better, he'd think she was trying to justify her yawn to him, but that didn't seem possible. He knew by now that Dora Umbridge didn't justify herself to anyone.

The long silent pause that followed was making Gaston nervous. He ran a hand through his dark hair, causing it to stick up at odd angles, and looked back at the Gryffindor girl and started to say something he should've told her a long time ago, "Dora, I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye in the past, and I don't know if this'll mean much to you but..." His voice trailed off, but he forced himself on. "I just wanted to say congratulations on your performance in the first challenge; you did a wonderful job." Both of the Gryffindor champions did, and he'd be sure to tell Mr. Kenning as well.

He tried to gauge the girl's reaction, hoping against hope that he hadn't accidentally offended her with the intended compliment. What would be the consequences of what he just said?

Vivian didn't mind making new friends. In fact, she loved doing so! When Evan replied to her question regarding finding his way back, the blonde couldn't help but grin. Technically yes, what he said was true in all honesty. Vivian herself found it better just finding her way to a certain location. It already gave her a heads up on what significant trademarks to remember in case she lost her way. "Well, the only advice I'll give is that you should be patient with the staircases, for the right one to position itself," she said with a nod. "But let me know if you forget, while you still can." If they were to part ways, then now was probably the best time to ask about directions.

If it was colder for him here, then perhaps Vivian might find the US to be warmer. She had never left the continent, anyway, so she was pretty much accustomed to the climate here in the UK. She nodded at this reply, but then looked at him with squinted eyes when he began describing what a 'cool kid' was in Ilvermorny. Better looking? Always up for social events? Popular? "I wasn't aware that you guys had some sort of classification." It surprised her, rather. She didn't think that was a thing here at Hogwarts, or maybe she just wasn't paying too much attention.

Oh? Did he not want her to keep his company? Vivian understood that, yes, but she didn't really want to leave yet. "Are you... sure?" She asked. Maybe he was trying to push her away? Err, she didn't know.

"Have you seen Aslan Evans? Dark eyes, kind of weird but not in a bad way, sometimes has feathers in her hair. Or as her hair, really." Asked Levi for what felt like the tenth time that day, though it was really just the second. He'd received a strange look once and a shrug the second and he'd been left feeling quite dissatisfied with the way Hogwarts students these days failed to pick up on the urgency in his tone.

There was no particular reason for him to have gone looking for the older girl other than because he wanted to see her. IMPS kept him busy; the fact that he had a girlfriend now kept him even more busy. Time with friends had thus been severed down some fractions in what was a rather unconscious fashion and he was determined to fix it. Levi continued to walk down the shelves of the library, asking other students if they'd seen Aslan Evans, and disregarding whatever looks he was given.

"Are you positive you haven't seen her?"

Aslan Evans had no idea she was being asked for. She'd been boarded up in the library since her return from break, only leaving when she needed to for the occasional lesson or food.... Showers, the like. She was keeping up the illusion of her humanity all while her mind took precedence over her body.

The cause, naturally, were impending NEWTs and a deep desire to put aside some uncomfortable feelings that had deigned to show their faces- Emotional faces, that was an idea, a spell that would show you the pain of another through their complexion like a mood ring. Perhaps a potion would have been better suited, similar to Weasley's Glow in the Dark Tonic. The book the Gryffindor held in hand was going unread, her eyes glazed, it was obvious that although the body of Aslan Evans was leaning against a wall in the library of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry-

her mind was elsewhere.

Okay. This was already proving to be exhausting. Like moreso than usual really. The tone with which he had said Dora indicated that he had not taken anything she had said to heart... or if he had, he wasn't using any of it to move forward in life. Like really what else did she have to do to show the man that she was trying to help him.

"Thank you, sir. And you should have maybe congratulated us sooner than this... I mean. I went into the challenge thinking no one in my house supported me. Not even the Head of House. it's a miracle I didn't let any of that affect me while I was in there." And she wasn't being dramatic or mean. Just honest. Not that he seemed to appreciate that particular trait about her to be honest. "But really... thanks," she said for good measure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicole black

Aslan Evans had no idea she was being asked for. She'd been boarded up in the library since her return from break, only leaving when she needed to for the occasional lesson or food.... Showers, the like. She was keeping up the illusion of her humanity all while her mind took precedence over her body.

The cause, naturally, were impending NEWTs and a deep desire to put aside some uncomfortable feelings that had deigned to show their faces- Emotional faces, that was an idea, a spell that would show you the pain of another through their complexion like a mood ring. Perhaps a potion would have been better suited, similar to Weasley's Glow in the Dark Tonic. The book the Gryffindor held in hand was going unread, her eyes glazed, it was obvious that although the body of Aslan Evans was leaning against a wall in the library of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry-

her mind was elsewhere.

His trudging down the library continued and the boy asked both friendly and unfriendly faces if they'd seen Aslan Evans. He'd said her name so many times in such a short amount of time it wouldn't have even surprised him this much if the seventh year enigma didn't apparated right in front of him. That some of the unfriendly faces merely shot him a glare didn't deter him; his good mood from the Christmas break continued to carry him forward, a fact Levi was keen on exploiting for as long as his mood permitted him.

Finding Aslan, in the end, was less about asking people and more about opening his eyes. He wondered if she'd been there the whole time, or if he'd merely passed by her twice before even noticing her presence. Levi bounded over to the older girl. "The whole school must be looking for you by now." An exaggeration, perhaps. "Anyway, good thing I didn't try to find any feathers that could lead me to you." Her hair appeared to be in its normal Aslan state, after all. "I'd have been really disappointed." He grinned. "Hi, Aslan."

Of course, Aslan had no idea if Levi had passed her once or a hundred times. Her book still lay limp in hand, yes, but her mind had drifted her from skin-changing tonics to the complexities of potion-invention to the deep symbolism of ingredients like Wolfsbane, gillyweed and dittany and somehow, this had all led to her current line of thinking that flowers, weeds and plants of the sea were under-researched and underestimated for their possible contributions in potion making and general healing properties.

Healing magic was not something she had ever had a keen interest for but in regards to flora and fauna the practice could have been updat-

Oh. Someone was speaking to her. Aslan blinked at Levi, her expression similar to someone slipping out of a deep sleep. She quickly tried to catch up to his words-

Whole school looking-

Feathers-

Disappointment-

"Why were you looking for me?" Aslan asked, eyes still glassy. She tilted her head to the right and took him in. Levi Kenning looked brighter than he had after the competition and brighter still than after their summer break and Aslan wondered what had come along to lighten his spirits. Happiness, in her opinion was very often dropped onto people without warning. "You look different." She mused aloud, it was not quite a question.

Gaston's heart was pounding so loudly, he could barely hear Dora's reply. He braced for a potential barrage of hurtful words to follow, but to his surprise and relief, none came. Granted, she had called him out for not congratulating her sooner, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. And she'd accepted the compliment; that was a good sign! He began to relax a little.

He was silent for a moment as he debated the best way to reply. The thought had crossed his mind to explain why he hadn't said anything sooner, but he decided against it. The last time he'd tried to justify his actions, he wound up making her angry. It was probably a better idea to just accept what she said and move on. "That's a fair point," he said, nodding slightly. Her next words came as a huge shock to him, and his expression turned sympathetic. He knew all too well what it was like to feel like no one believed in you!

"I... I'm sorry for anything I did - or didn't do - that made you feel that way, Dora," he said once he'd found his voice again. And he meant it from the bottom of his heart! "You're right, I should've said something sooner, but I want you to know that I do support you." It was his job to support both of his Gryffindor champions, and no animosity they'd had in the past was going to stop him! "You're a very talented witch, and you're strong; I think you'll go far in the competition."

Dora wrinkled up her nose as she watched his emotions play across his face. He seriously had no poker face whatsoever. It was almost endearing if not a bit annoying.

More annoying than anything. But whatever. Could be worse.

And now the blonde shrugged and tossed her curls anything bit. "Well lucky for you I'm used to people underestimating me and trying to tear me down. Doesn't mean I don't still give it my all. " Meaning he or her housemates none would ever deter her from reaching a goal even if it did hurt sometimes. And she did let it get to her too often.

But... here lately she let it fuel her hate fire. Metaphorically speaking.

"Thanks, sir. But I don't share your view. I doubt I'll go much further. But I'm also not obsessed with winning so it doesn't bother me. I'm also not one to sit idly by and let a bunch of games dictate what I do with myself when I am morally opposed to something. " Perhaps her words seemed convoluted and vague, but really she meant them to be that way. Never one to show her true intentions off the bat and all.

"But maybe you should tell Levi you are rooting for him. I appreciate it and did need the reassurance, but he'll likely be your prize pony so to speak. " Her voice didn't convey any emotion one way or another, and the smile she gave thE man didn't give much away either. And really it wasn't some self deprecating nonsense... as most would assume it to be. Maybe she WANTED everyone to doubt her and root for others so she could slide in like the underdog... OR she had other things in mind.

"I truly hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, Professor and I do so appreciate the kind words. " And with one last smile the girl turned in a wave of blonde curls and jetted off to the exit, all thoughts of books leaving her as she went.

No need to keep reading up on things when something MAJOR just cropped up in her mind. Time to seek out her uncle on this one!

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicole black

Of course, Aslan had no idea if Levi had passed her once or a hundred times. Her book still lay limp in hand, yes, but her mind had drifted her from skin-changing tonics to the complexities of potion-invention to the deep symbolism of ingredients like Wolfsbane, gillyweed and dittany and somehow, this had all led to her current line of thinking that flowers, weeds and plants of the sea were under-researched and underestimated for their possible contributions in potion making and general healing properties.

Healing magic was not something she had ever had a keen interest for but in regards to flora and fauna the practice could have been updat-

Oh. Someone was speaking to her. Aslan blinked at Levi, her expression similar to someone slipping out of a deep sleep. She quickly tried to catch up to his words-

Whole school looking-

Feathers-

Disappointment-

"Why were you looking for me?" Aslan asked, eyes still glassy. She tilted her head to the right and took him in. Levi Kenning looked brighter than he had after the competition and brighter still than after their summer break and Aslan wondered what had come along to lighten his spirits. Happiness, in her opinion was very often dropped onto people without warning. "You look different." She mused aloud, it was not quite a question.

Aslan was seemingly coming out of a book induced daze, the sort Levi himself knew quite well. It was rather like being forcefully dragged out of bed early on a rainy Sunday morning, or like being abruptly woken up from a particularly good dream. Her eyes had that glazed over look, the adjustment of the reality taking some time to settle in.

He almost felt bad.

"I don't have a reason." Did he need one? His voice was too loud for the library, and he took care to clear his throat and try a second time. "Other than I haven't seen you in a while. Not really." Honesty was his way to go. And in the absence of it, silence and words left unsaid to avoid lying were his shelter; though that was, in truth, not the case with Aslan.

Levi hadn't considered how his good mood may have affected his outer appearance, though he supposed that should not have come as a shock. "I--if you say so." Somewhat self consciously, he patted his hair. "You look tired. Have you been sleeping well?"