A literal Bookworm PV

Was there one thing River was sure of, then it would be the fact that flobberworms were not her favourite of magical creatures. She adored all there was about animal care, and who could deny that magical creatures are quite the more interesting than the usual muggle-known animals of the world. The thing with flobberworms is that they were particularly slimy, and to be frank, quite boring.
That being said, they are still living creatures, and that was enough for River to step up when the need for creature-help was necessary. Why in the world someone had found it necessary to suddenly buy such an excessive amount of flobberworms this time of year was hard to understand. Either way, she wanted to help give them an alright time at Hogwarts.

There was no way she’d carry the floppy flobberworm around in her hands. Nope, the first thing she made sure of was to find a container to keep them in. She has always been a bit of a clean-freak.
The worm fit neatly into the container, and she glanced down at it. “I think you need a name”, she said quietly to it, searching through her mind for a fitting one. “I think… Conrad perhaps? Yes that’s it”, she smiled at it as she continued her walk to the library. Why the library? Because she liked it there, and had no specific place she needed to be, and the library was always very welcoming.
Then as she approached the doors, she remembered that perhaps the library wouldn’t be so welcoming considering the creature held in her small pale hands. Glancing around the corner she made sure the coast was clear before quietly slipping by and turning a nearby corner to stay out of sight of the librarian.

Turning to find a seat, her eyes landed on a familiar boy, just setting a flobberworm down, followed by wiping his hands. River cringed at the sight, but assumed it was good someone weren’t as squeamish around this such as herself. “Man, looks like the two of you are really having a bonding moment”, she said, a joking tone to her voice. She sat down on the floor next to them and placed the container with Conrad in her lap. “Oh please just let me know if I’m intruding at all”, she said quickly looking up at Alan.
“You named yours yet?”, she asked, assuming no one would bother to do so. In the end they were to be handed back after a while, so getting too attached wasn’t such a good idea. Looking at the weird creature though, River wasn’t too concerned she’d end up with attachment issues after all. “I find giving it a name helps with getting to know their personality more”, she added jokingly. The flobs in their containers weren’t particularly… large personalities. They’d mostly just sit there, perhaps turn and squish a little every now and then, but there wasn’t much to “get to know”.

River wondered what could be done to make this task a bot more entertaining, for both her and the worm. Perhaps they’d like to get a tour of the castle, or have a meal in the great hall. Her appetite wasn’t huge at the moment.
She reached out to a nearby bookshelf and grabbed a random grey-covered book before blowing off some dust and reading the title on the cover “Perhaps you’d like to hear a little about ‘The various species of fungi and algae?’, she asked the worm, raising an eyebrow at Conrad. She quickly flipped to a page and skimmed a couple pages “Hmm, this doesn’t look too interesting after all”, she concluded, closing the book and placing it back where she’d found it. “I assume they probably just enjoy sitting around”, she said and glanced up at Alan, wondering if he thought she was stupid, or just in fact bored.

WC: 651 / 800

@Alan Vanes

The agenda of Maria’s day wasn’t supposed to include taking care of a Flobberworm, but by the goodness of her heart here she was carrying one around. She and several other students were doing this as a favor for the caretaker. The creature in question(upon whom she’d earlier bestowed with the name El) was currently getting slime all over her arm as she adjusted it in its wrappings. The sticky substance occasionally dripped onto the floor, and she tried to make sure it wouldn’t get on her clothes too much. Said small friend came in a blanket to keep it warm, after all, despite them being worms they deserved utmost comfort.

Much like the Mandrakes the Flobberworm wasn’t the most attractive of creatures, and it didn’t do much either, just eat and track slime. Not entirely unlike human babies, but Maria was sure her dealing with her brother as a newborn wasn’t as messy as this. Or perhaps it was but she was just spared of the messy details since she was only home for a short while.

Her thoughts shifted to home and her brother. She hadn’t written in a while, but then again neither had her parents. She suspected they were busy “reintegrating into society” as her father put it in his last letter a little over a month ago. As Aiden got older her parents worked towards going back to business as usual, or some sort of semblance of it. Laura wanted to go back to being more hands-on at the diner again, and her father, well she suspected her father just wanted to focus on writing his new book again. It was likely that he was more home-parent than writer at the moment, much like he’d been when Maria was younger.

In her arms, the Flobberworm shifted again, almost making her drop the bundled heap. A strangled shout came out of her as she tried to adjust the creature in her arms.
“Oh you’re definitely worse than Aiden. He’s much cuter and much more behaved company as well.” She lightly scolded. Her slimy friend only made more slime in response. She sighed. It was going to be quite the day.

Her walking had taken her to the library. There was book she’d needed for charms homework, and she wasn’t going to let babysitting the pseudo baby get in the way of the day’s plans. Making her way in, her eyes scanned among the shelves. “This is the library, those are books. They’re made of paper which are made from trees.” El squirmed once again in her arms. “Not a fan I take it?” Perhaps taking a Flobberworm into the library wasn’t the best of ideas. A thought came to Maria. Maybe it was just hungry?

Brown eyes scanned among the shelves to see where her book was. She also took the opportunity to scan the room. A few students were around, also doing homework and making as much idle chatter as being in the library would allow. Then her eyes happened on a familiar Gryffindor boy who looked to be with his own wormy friend. It was Alan. They’d met before when he organized a game of Tug-o-War that sort of went south. She remembered he was a bit older than her, probably a fourth year. He made quite the impression on the Hufflepuff, especially because for a time he’d thought her name was Mulan. She only had a certain boy from Alan’s house to thank for that. Poor boy had heard him call her that the whole game and just assumed that it was her name. Nevertheless, he seemed like a good enough person.
“Let’s go say hi shall we?” Not that El had much of a choice. Alan seemed to be preoccupied with his thoughts when she approached so she cleared her throat and made her presence known. “Hi there!” She greeted.

WC:648/800

The worm in River’s container wasn’t particularly entertaining to watch over. It didn’t do a whole lot. Which she thought was fine. She’d rather deal with a calm, docile little slimy creature, rather than try to keep track of an energetic one. He didn’t seem too interested in the book she picked out, though neither was she, so she didn’t complain. River wondered if this entire task would be this boring. At least they could have been spending this time studying, and finishing her constantly expanding pile of unfinished homework. Usually you’d find she was very much up to date on the schoolwork they were handed, but recently she had other things swirling in her mind, and very little energy left to spend on charms and potions.
After sitting on the floor of the library for a little while, the girl stood up and started skimming the backs of a few books. She hadn’t been in this section of the library too much. Perhaps she’d find something new and interesting.
A girl walked up to the two students. River didn’t know her much, but had seen her around. The girl walked up and greeted Alan, she too had taken upon her the task of watching the flobberworms. River smiled and sent her a small wave of acknowledgement before turning back to the bookshelves. It still baffled River how many of these things had been brought to Hogwarts, though she assumed it was a good experience for many students to have, and a good way to earn some house points. Still she couldn't help but look forward to when they were to be delivered back.

WC: 651 + 274 = 925 / 800 COMPLETED

|| WORD COUNT ||
689 + 417 = 1106

A girl approached, one that Alan knew more or less well; they were in the same club and have therefore met each other during those club activities. Alan was happy that she would approach him because he could not remember speaking or meeting her outside of s.w.a.g games ever; nor was he sure how to approach her. He appreciated that he was not the only one with the idea to come to the library and would give the girl a sheepish grin. "Hey River, that was your name, right? Feel free to stay, you're not intruding at all!" he invited her to sit with him. There were enough bean bag chairs for more than one person and he was sure that he would enjoy the company. He lightly shook his head when she asked whether he had named his worm yet, before tilting his head slightly. "I couldn't figure out a name for it yet; there is no way to even tell if it is a he or a she," he would answer her, sounding a little helpless by the end of it, but still light-hearted. He would chuckle at her next remark and nod. "They don't seem quite entertaining, they just exist and produce their mucus... Imagine how cool it would have been to watch over a Niffler!" he said with a sigh, propping his chin onto his palms as he leaned forward to watch his Flobberworm lazily. "You think we could make this a little more entertaining? We could build a parkour with food at the end and see if they are smart at all!" He would propose after a bit of time that he spend just watching, his impatience finally winning over.

They would not stay on their own for a long while, as Maria joined them. Tiny freckles with a tint of rosé would gather around his nose, just barely visible, as he thought of the time when he had mistaken her name to be Mulan and had made her uncomfortable. He shook his head as he forced his brain to calm down. "Hey, I see you have one worm for yourself. I was just suggesting to River to make a parcour or riddle to test if they are smart enough to solve it! You in? Maybe this could also entertain them a bit, and they would get food!" he would ask, a amused grin forming on his lips, mischief written all over his face.

@Alan Vanes|@River Dewlight

Maria hadn’t initially noticed the other girl that was with them, but she seemed familiar. She couldn’t quite place if River was there when she’d met Alan but she offered a kind smile in greeting all the same. Said girl was carrying her own Flobberworm companion. Huh, guess it wasn’t entirely unheard of to bring them into the library. Though she suspected the librarian might not be too enthusiastic about it if they got caught.

When Alan noticed her presence she noticed he turned a light shade of pink for whatever reason. Odd, but then again she’d known him to be an odd boy. His proposition for a “worm play date” of sorts was not the sort of greeting she expected, as a hello would have sufficed, by the older boy seemed excited. It caught Maria off guard however, and Maria hesitated for a moment trying to process what he’d said. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyebrows knit together trying to find her words. “Uh, that’s certainly an interesting thing for them to do.” She smiled and laughed lightly, El wriggling in her arms as it had been doing the entire time in her care. “I think El might be up for it .” The Hufflepuff squinted and gave it a moment’s thought. She didn’t really have much to do except homework and continue to look after the worm, and there was no harm in trying to make them do anything. The age old question arises: what could possibly go wrong? Besides, it was a curious notion, to have their little companions race around and probably more entertaining than homework. Looking to her companions again, she spoke “You know what? Sure!”

This would certainly be interesting.

WC: 648+286 = 934 [COMPLETED!]

@Alan Vanes | @Maria Dee

In general Alan seemed to have the same percepcion of the flobberworms behaviour as River did. “I guess you’re right about that, though there’s always neutral names”, she said as he mentioned not having named the creature under his care.
Personally she hadn’t thought too much about the worms gender when she named it. “I mean I think mine looks like a Conrad, so that shall be its name”, she added, and held the little container up at eye level. Little streaks of mucus had stuck to the walls and made it a little harder to see through. She imagined the differences between watching over a niffler in contrast to the weird little blobs they were currently caring for. What a mess that would have been. Chaos everywhere from students losing the little buggers to them stealing from the silverware in the kitchens. River could only imagine the faces of the furious professors and head of houses if such an incident was to go down. Would definitely be a lot more entertaining than their current state.
Speaking of more entertaining. Alan came with the idea of an experiment. A parkour course if you will.
River looked to the other girl who'd just walked in previously, with a smirk on her face she agreed to the idea, “Absolutely I’d be up for that. Sounds a lot more fun than just sitting around”. How on earth would they put up such a task for creatures like these? If they were doing it here in the library it would only make sense to do it out of books. “Are we thinking of doing that here? I mean we have plenty of books we could utilise”, she walked over to another bookshelf and ran a finger across one of its shelves. Rubbing them together the dust sprinkled softly down toward the ground, “Doesn't seem like these books are used for many other things around here, would only be fair to make some use of them, though imagine the mess it would create…”.

@Alan Vanes | @River Dewlight

Also quite interested to see how their experiment slash worm playdate activity would go, thought of ways they could set up. The idea of doing it in the library wasn’t something she was too keen on, but then again, it was all just in good fun. “I mean we could do it here, there would definitely be enough space.” Her eyes assessed the area they were in.

“Maybe we could put them on the floor? I don’t think Ms. Finley would appreciate slime getting all over the tables.” There was a pause before Maria continued.

“Though I’m not sure slime on the carpet would be a pleasant thing either.” In the back of her mind she hoped the librarian in question wouldn’t pop up somewhere with a look of contempt, ready to give them detention. “At least we won’t have to worry about them falling down though.” She offered. Surely they would be fine even if they did, being as squishy as they were, but Maria thought that if they were going to pass the time by putting their little friends through this, they might as well try to make them comfortable. After all, the assignment was to first and foremost take care of them.

She looked at El again and saw no reaction except more squirming and more slime. Perhaps that meant agreement, or perhaps it meant nothing and she was a long way from becoming any sort of worm whisperer.

River suggested that they use the books, since they weren’t exactly being used anyway. The Hufflepuff on the other hand was rather skeptical of the idea. Flobberworms and books made from paper and cardboard and trees didn’t seem like a good mix, but then again, would those even be appetizing to them? Maria’s curiosity was captured. Now she really wanted to do this. “I think we could use them, there’s definitely more than enough. Hopefully the worms don’t find them more of a meal than the seeds.” A laugh that was a little nervous and a little joyous came from the Asian girl at the thought.

Alan had to agree with Bridget there before glancing at the flobberworm in his hands before giving a shrug. "Their name should be Goo then, that certainly fits," he said with a slight grin and instantly got excited by both of them agreeing with his idea of making some kind of parcour for the flobberworms. "Yeah those books sound like a great idea to make some kind of maze! We could build a maze with those books and then use the seeds as a trail for them to find their way out of it!" he pitched in, already starting to grab numerous books from the shelves, secretly keeping an eye out in case someone was approaching, but he would not be paying attention to the house elves or the librarian beyond that. Some of the books seemed dusty as if they had not been read in a while, but others must have been read recently as there had been no dust that had gathered on them yet.

"Okay, how are we gonna make the maze look? We shouldn't make it too complicated because we won't know if it will work if we do," he mentioned thoughtfully as he began to line up some of the books on the ground as if to build a small starting area in which they could place the flobberworms. This would be taking a lot of the books! Would the worms do parkour? They could try to make them climb over or below a book at one point, that could be fun, no? He would glance at the girls to make sure they were still with him on the idea.

@Alan Vanes | @Maria Dee

This little quest of theirs was becoming more and more exciting by the second. Seeing they were all so eager to bring this wormy-obstacle-course to reality. She could imagine the flobberworms would be more than happy to get some variation from their little cages.
Walking over to a nearby table River placed Conrads’ box down and headed over to grab a stack of books. “You’re right Alan I don’t think making a super complicated one would be best” She placed some of the books down on the floor and grabbed a couple more. “I mean we could try with multiple levels, and start really easy and work their way up to see how complicated they’ll be able to complete?”, she suggested and began propping the books up to make little walls of a maze.
River sent Maria a look of concern as she mentioned the consumption of books rather than seeds. “Oh yeah I hope they won’t eat them, then we’d definitely get in trouble…”, she assumed it would be a lot more easy to fix soggy books and clean up rather than repairing half-eaten ones. River glanced around keeping an eye out for anyone, hoping to avoid any encounters with Finley through this little experiment.
“Should we make some obstacles in the maze too?”, she asked as she continued placing a couple books. As an example she put a book down, placing another one on top making a seesaw-looking apparatus before taking a step back and admiring the work.