A studious beginning (or: Why Books

Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III

May 28, 2013 10:05 PM

A studious beginning (or: Why Books > People) by Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III

After the feast, Thaddeus had dutifully followed his Head of House through Sonora's hallways, making a point to glance politely at each new landmark as his bespectacled tour guide identified it. He managed to keep up a facade of attention until the flock of Aladrens passed through the school library on their way to the common room. The boy trailed behind his peers, already imagining the great and terrible knowledge he could find in the tall shelves which filled the room. So intent was he on the musty book-smell and the heaviness of air laden with hundreds upon thousands of words that Thaddeus failed to listen to the Head's explanation of how to enter the common room he would occupy for the next seven years. Giving the library one last longing glance, he followed his fellow first-years through the hidden door and into an orderly room decorated in blue and black.

As soon as the Head of House concluded his speech, Thaddeus ducked back through common room's entryway and into the library. Taking care to keep out of sight, in case his intrusion was a violation of some kind, the small boy paced slowly through the stacks, running the tips of his fingers along the worn spines of the books as he went. For now, he didn't much care what the individual books were about, but he loved the rasp his hand made as it dragged along on their leathery bindings. Having said a proper hello to his local Home Of Books And Other Things Which Have Words And Are Wonderful, Thaddeus amassed a pile of a few with especially exciting titles and found himself a secluded armchair in which to peruse his haul.

He only managed to absorb a few pages of The Ogre Wars [1423-1457] before realizing he couldn't keep his eyes open much longer. His carriage ride had been long and bumpy, and the warmth of vanilla pudding in his stomach had an extraordinary lulling effect. Leaving his stack of books on the table beside his plush armchair, Thaddeus walked with heavy feet over to where the entrance to the dormitories had been -- only to find it had vanished while he wasn't looking. He vaguely remembered something about a particular book to be pulled on or tickled or perhaps given a password, but the details had sort of mushed together in his excitement to explore the library.

A suddenly panicky Thaddeus peered at the shelf, scanning rows of unfamiliar titles. Just like him to be locked out of the common room on his very first night! Obviously, the Sorting potion had made a mistake, putting him in the House of logical thinkers. He probably belonged in a House all by himself, one made especially for kids too dumb to be in any other. Thaddeus felt tears well up in his eyes as he sat down with his back to the bookcase. He cried quietly for a long moment, muffling sniffles in the folds of his robes. The dim lamps in the library, combined with the small boy's exhaustion, in time replaced his sobs with snores. Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III slumbered, a small green lump in the library stacks, until a voice startled him awake.

0 Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III A studious beginning (or: Why Books > People) 0 Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III 1 5

Ava Fletcher

May 30, 2013 4:00 AM

Oh! A..person? by Ava Fletcher

Ava Fletcher was very thankful to have met Alicia at the feast. She had provided good compant to talt to while eating and had reassured Ava about the start of a new school. When Professor Fawcett walked them through the library to the common room, all Ava could think about was how right Alicia had been about the beauty of the library. Ava made a note to herself to come check it out later when they had some free time.

Once the first years had all scrambeled up to their dorms, Ava went back down to the common room to find the book that Alicia had mentioned was about career planning. As Ava had learned at her previous school, getting what you wanted in class had to do with getting ahead. So what if sometimes she planned things years in advance and then othertimes couldn't even remember if she'd brushed her teeth that morning? The point was that Sonora was a new begining, a place where Ava could make real friends and concentrate on becoming a Healer. Perhaps even a place where she could expand her artistic abilities and most definitely a place where she would learn to refine her writing skills if anything Alicia had said at the Feast about essays were to hold true.

Once Ava had finished reading the section about Healers, she decided to go out to the library that was just on the other side of the common room. She was in desperate need to a good fairy tale and wasn't sure how the books here were organised. She felt much safer looking for something in a library where she knew things would have a certain order to them.

As she was perusing the shelves, she heard a funny noise that sounded like her grandfather after he got home from a night out at the pub with his friends and passed out in the living room chair. She carefully selected the largest book she could find on the chelf near her and crept around the side of it. "Hello? Is anybody there? I'm armed and I'm not afraid I promise you!" Then she stopped in her tracks and she nearly tripped over a green lump on the floor. "Oops, I'm so sorry," she exclaimed, trying to right the cushion she'd obviously knocked over. "I'm really clumsy sometimes." Then she hit her head. "Silly Ava, it's a cushion, it doesn't care." Then, to her surprise, as she tried to push the rather heavy cushion to it's rightful position...in the middle of the row? she turned and saw that it had a face. She dropped it immediately and scrambeled backwards hands blindly groping for her book that had been discared somewhere behind her. "What are you?!"

10 Ava Fletcher Oh! A..person? 258 Ava Fletcher 0 5

Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III

May 30, 2013 3:31 PM

Why yes, a rather sleepy one. by Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III

The scene Thaddeus awoke to might as well have been a dream, for all the sense it made. At first, he was drowsy enough to wonder if he might have been imagining the girl who tried to bodily shove him sideways as he slept. He tried to tell her to leave him alone, but found his mouth unpleasantly fuzzy with drool and sleep-taste. He needn't have made the effort, though, as the girl released her grip and scrambled away with all possible speed as he shifted and revealed his face to her.

"What are you?!" Her sudden shriek cut through the air, establishing that she was in fact not a figment of his imagination. Thaddeus' figments were quiet, usually, and friendly, in a noncommittal sort of way. This girl just looked panicked.

"Hi there," Thaddeus managed sleepily, "I'm T.L."

As he watched the intruder search the ground behind her, it occurred to Thaddeus that he hadn't yet responded to her question. Even though she frightened him a little, what with the yelling and the pushing and now the speedy backing away, it seemed only polite to provide an answer in return. His brain was still muddled enough from his long nap that he didn't pause to worry about making a good impression.

"I'm a bibliophile, I suppose. Erm, a lover of books, hence the library and all." As he said this, Thaddeus waved his hand vaguely at the shelves which surrounded himself and his new acquaintance. Remembering his predicament, the First Year added: "Say, uh, you wouldn't happen to be a fellow Aladren?"

0 Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III Why yes, a rather sleepy one. 0 Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III 0 5

Ava Fletcher

May 30, 2013 4:07 PM

I do hope I can be of assistance. by Ava Fletcher

The cushion spoke. The cushion was not a cushion, but in fact a person. A rather small person- smaller than her at least, and a boy. She tucked a strand of hair that had fallen loose from her braid behind her ear as her forehead puckered a little, her eyes trying to take in the scene before her. "I'm Ava," Ava tried to smile in response, overcoming her shock that this was in fact a person and not a talking cushion. She refrained from mentioning her last name as T.L. did not mention his and she figured that in this instance at least last names didn't matter.

Then, T.L. said he was a bibliophile, something that made her breathe easy again. She'd heard her grandfather use the word before when describing himself to a friend and if it described her grandfather then it couldn't have been too bad. Besides, the boy explained it right away by saying that it was a lover of books and to Ava one lover of books was always welcome to another. She couldn't count the number of times she'd stayed up late going through the stacks of books on her grandfather's shelves on the strands of hair on her head!

"Oh, thank goodness," she breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were a cushion, what with you being all green and slumped over, I am so sorry! I'm a biblio-phile too," she stumbled over the unfamiliar word. It wasn't that she wasn't smart, she just didn't speak so formally at home and therefore wasn't accustomed to using as large words. "I came out to find a book to read, one of the fairy-tale variety preferably. What about you?"

"Say, uh, you wouldn't happen to be a fellow Aladren," T.L. questioned her. That's when Ava noticed how sleepy the other student looked and smiled, for real this time, fright all but forgotten. He was adorable and she really hoped they could become friends. She wasn't naive enough to think that just because a 5th year had spoken to her at the Feast meant that they were friends and she'd seen other students who looked young enough to be first-years speaking to each other which meant that she was in desperate need of a first year friend. This boy looked no where close to as old as Alicia, so she figured that he was most likely closer to her age than Alicia was.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" She tilted her head a little bit. "I'm a first year, what about you?"

10 Ava Fletcher I do hope I can be of assistance. 258 Ava Fletcher 0 5

T.L. Leebridge

May 30, 2013 6:02 PM

Sure. I'm in a bit of a bind. by T.L. Leebridge

T.L. was exhausted in the way only a young child can be, bone-weary and in need of a hug and a warm glass of milk. He was frightened to be so far from home, and the chaos of this new meeting had rather overwhelmed him. There was only so much he could process at once, and his excitement quota had been filled hours before. His meeting with Ava was a welcome break from the stress of the day, after the initial shock of being mistaken for a cushion had subsided. It was an honest mistake, Thaddeus realized, considering that his small frame had been almost entirely covered by his voluminous school robes. This reflection, combined with Ava's brilliant smile, vastly improved his mood. He smiled shyly back at her as she explained her very own love of books.

As much as he would have liked to discuss fairy-tales with the girl beside him, Thaddeus knew he couldn't keep his eyes open much longer. And, of course, the question of how to enter the Aladren dormitories remained. Luck, fortunately, was on his side. When he asked if she was in his House, her reply was "Yeah, how'd you know? I'm a first year, what about you?"

Thaddeus let out a sigh of relief. "Well, erm, I can't say that I knew, per se, it's just that--" he flushed before continuing, "I seem to have forgotten the special way into the common room, and I was just hoping..." he trailed off, embarrassed, and ducked his head, resting his forehead on his bent knees, and wrapped his arms around his calves. His voice emerged quietly a moment later from where his cheek lay on the material of his trousers. "God, I must sound idiotic, but I swear I'm not usually this empty-headed. I'm just ready to go to bed, I guess." Perhaps just because it was late at night, or perhaps because they were alone in the comforting silence of the library, it was nice just sitting there next to a fellow First Year. He'd been intimidated by the crowds in the dining hall, and by the loud chatter of the other students on their tour, but there was nothing scary about Ava.

Angling his face upward to peek at his companion again, Thaddeus asked softly if she'd mind showing him the way back into Aladren House.

0 T.L. Leebridge Sure. I'm in a bit of a bind. 0 T.L. Leebridge 0 5

Ava Fletcher

May 30, 2013 6:34 PM

It seems I do know how to help. by Ava Fletcher

Starting at this school had been hard, she'd never wanted to leave her grandfather alone at home, but had been excited to start life and grow up to be a Healer just like her mother. However, the stress of it all wasn't getting to her like it seemed to be getting to T.L. It was odd, she thought, she'd never had good experiences at her previous school so why did she feel so at home here? She supposed it was because she was a witch and the last school was a Muggle school but then again it could have been because the girls at her old school had been incredibly rude and self-centered and not open to her at all while at this school everyone seemed to be a bit more friendly.

"You don't sound idiotic at all, I promise." Ava flicked the braid that had fallen over one of her shoulders until it fell against her back. She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the way her braid was coming undone and pieces of hair were falling in her face. She braided it back for a reason. She disliked it when hair got in her face. Ava sighed and pulled the braid back over her should to undo it and rebraid it. Rebraiding was something she'd have to do before bed anyway so that it didn't get in her face while she was trying to get to sleep so Ava just saw this as an opportunity to get started on her bedtime rituals.

T.L. interupted her thoughts by asking how to get back into the common room and Ava waited a moment to tie the elastic before responding. "Oh, is that all? I think I can remember. It's that bookshelf, there, on the back wall. You pull one of the books out, the one about birds of prey, and the bookshelf will move, letting you get in," Ava reached both her hands out in a move to help T.L. to his feet. "Come on, we'll go back together."

10 Ava Fletcher It seems I do know how to help. 258 Ava Fletcher 0 5