Smells Just Like Home FINISHED

@Breana Oliveire

Hufflepuff. The house Mildred had been sorted into, an accident she was sure of it. She knew she was destined to be in Ravenclaw, perhaps even Slytherin if she was really pushing it but never in her wildest imagination she would think she would be placed in Hufflepuff. She had no ill intent towards the house, it was just that everyone was so nice it was almost sickening- she thought back on the fateful day she was sorted and the face of disgust she wore throughout the sorting and during the feast afterward.

Immediately many welcomed her, they all cheered and clapped for her- although she couldn't feel the happiness they were all feeling. She knew all about the houses, as her parents made she knew all about Hogwarts- she knew what each house stood for and she didn't fit with the Hufflepuff characteristics she knew it, She sulked and was moody for the first week there, upset and alone- it didn't help how many soon found their own groups of friends and she was stuck by herself in a house she didn't want to be in. curse the school, curse the old dusty hat they used to determine our future and curse everyone else!

A few weeks had passed since then and with September coming to an end- it was clear she was still bitter about it. The only silver lining of the situation was the school's library, in her despair she would walk around the school, hoping and searching for a way to switch houses. Eventually, she stumbled upon the school's library and immediately felt at home from the moment she entered it. The smell of books calmed her, it reminded her of home- the fact that it seemed like the library contained endless books amazed her and the mere thought of reading everything was impossible.

Soon, the library became a home- a safe place for the young girl, she'd often rush straight to the library once classes were done. studying day in and out or reading about houses, if there was any way to change it.

Walking through the entrance of the Library, Mildred could feel the stress and worries she harbored during the day leave, she scanned the room- noticing a few usuals here and there, some cramming for a test, although Something or rather someone caught her eye although. She noticed someone she'd never seen before here, and they appeared to be on their tippy-toes reaching towards a book.

Some may call her cruel for this, perhaps she was still bitter with everything- who knows? her parents would be ashamed, she would be ashamed but she couldn't help but find herself approaching the girl, she made sure to walk quietly so she couldn't be noticed, once she was near she jumped at her and yelled "BOO"

@Mildred Wilson

Breana still hasn't given up. She squinted hard, and concentrated with all her might so much that she practically ignored her surroundings and didn't even notice the girl behind her. Finally, with a brief and tiny jump, her finger touched the top of the spine. "AHA! Finally!" She exclaimed in delight, ready to tip the book down and get it. That is, until a large and loud "BOO!" popped up from behind her. Breana yelped in surprise, her hand grabbing more than one book. She realized her error a bit too late, making her lose her balance and made the pile of books fall on top of her head as she tripped and fell on her bum.

Thankfully, there were no serious injuries (aside from her slightly bruised butt) but Breana was still annoyed at what happened. "So much for some quiet reading..." She thought. She stood up, a book still on her head (and some still on the floor), pouting angrily at the girl that shocked her. "WH--" Breana quickly covered her mouth with both hands, remembering the fact that they're still in the library. "Aw, sugar... Hope no one heard the fall..." She sighed externally. "Right. Back to this."

She lowered her hands, now speaking in a whispering, but still shouting tone. "What did you do that for?! We're in the library, too! You coulda had us both in trouble!" She said, now picking up all of the fallen books that she can grab in her reach, making sure none weren't permanently damage or had any of its pages creased harshly. She picked off the book that she had on her head, putting it on the fallen pile. She then blinked, making sure her eyes are seeing right and didn't have a sudden color change in her vision. She lightly gestured at what the girl was wearing. "Hufflepuff...? I thought you guys are more... well, pacifistic. Did a lot change since my mom's time here?" Breana raised an eyebrow, a bit confused. "The Gryffindors were the prank-y bunch, right?" She wondered to herself.

Interacting with @Sean Hearth @Breana Oliveire @Mildred Wilson

A second-year Gryffindor, who just recently became the new Prefect of Gryffindor entered the library with a prideful smile on her face. It was a great feeling because Griseldis felt like she was one step closer to achieving her goal but she wasn't sure if Harry Potter was once a Prefect himself before, she never heard of it at least. It really didn't matter much, from now on she had the authority to keep things in order in Hogwarts and help students who are in need.

Griseldis first greeted the Assistant Librarian with a polite nod and before she could ask them to help her find a certain book for her Charm homework, then suddenly, there was a sound of books falling to the ground and a short but loud yelp not so far away from them. It did immediately alerted a few people around, including the Assistant Librarian. It wasn't the first time this kind of incident happened in the library but based on the Assistant Librarian's irritated expression, it was still an annoyance. Quite understandable, a library is supposed to be a place for researches and studies, not a place to play around but it could be just an innocent accident. Before the Assistant Librarian was ready to go take a look, Griseldis quickly stopped them, "I'll handle it.", she then used her right index finger and pointed at the Prefect badge she wore to show it to the them. They knew Prefects were quite responsible students so the Assistant Librarian let the Gryffindor Prefect do her job.

Griseldis walked towards the direction where the sound came from, there she saw a young Hufflepuff boy with dark hair was just standing there looking at a Ravenclaw girl with short curly brown hair who seemed to be the one who accidentally made a pile of books falling on to her, and there was another Hufflepuff girl standing behind her looking a bit mischievous. "Hey there, is everything alright?", Griseldis asked them, placing a hand gently on the boy's shoulder, giving him a genuine smile and then to the girls. She wanted to let them know that they weren't in trouble and just wanted to make sure that nobody was really injured.

"Perhaps let us help you a bit.", Griseldis turned to look at the Hufflepuff boy and used a hand gesture meaning he should come over to help out as well. She then turned around and kneeled down in front of the Ravenclaw girl and began to help her gather the other pile of fallen books without any hesitation. "I believe this is just an accident, I will later inform the Assistant Librarian to put these books back on the bookshelf in the correct order, they know how the system works here.", Griseldis explained to the Ravenclaw girl but she got a bit curious and wanted to know something, "So, were you trying to get a book that was too high for you to grab? Which one if I may ask?", she asked and waited for her to answer.

Interacting with @Sean Hearth @Griseldis Edelhardt and @Mildred Wilson

"Hey there, is everything alright?"

Breana was about to ask more questions towards the odd Hufflepuff girl when she saw a couple of new people walking up to the current situation. A Hufflepuff boy with dark hair, who looked like he could be around Breana's year or older. Then there's a Gryffindor girl, with a cute bun hairstyle and, judging from the way she's presenting herself right now, is definitely Breana's senior. To top it all off, the Gryffindor girl has a sort of pin on her robe, probably signifying a high status about her. "Greaaaaaat... Mom's gonna kill me." She thought to herself, rubbing her arm in a bit of an embarrassed manner.

"Erm... y-yeah I just... I just fell." She side-eyed the Hufflepuff girl, still a bit miffed about her little prank causing up this whole commotion. Breana was a bit surprised with what came next.

"Perhaps let us help you a bit." Breana blinked for a moment. "O-oh... Uh, yeah sure, coolcoolcool--I-i mean... Thank you." She blurted out randomly, a bit stunned that she wasn't given a lecture or anything. "Maybe this girl just has a fancy pin?" She thought as she crouched down to neatly place the books on the floor, the book that she was looking her carefully tucked away under her arm. Breana looked up at the Hufflepuff boy, smiling as if saying a small hello and that he's welcome to help her with the books. "I believe this is just an accident, I will later inform the Assistant Librarian to put these books back on the bookshelf in the correct order, they know how the system works here." The Gryffindor girl said.

Breana internally let out a sigh of relief, thankful that the girl's nice enough to not rat her out so suddenly. "So, were you trying to get a book that was too high for you to grab? Which one if I may ask?" asked the girl. She couldn't help but light up as she showed the Gryffindor girl the book. "It's this one! Mythicality to Reality... I-i never personally read it, but I thought it'd be helpful for me... I mean, I'm not technically muggle-born, but I'm kinda close." She chirped up happily, opening the book and jumping at the sight of the moving pictures. Breana was still getting used to seeing those on simple paper than just on a digital screen. "H-heh... Sorry." She said, closing the book. "Still getting used to that on books." Breana then bowed her head a little to the Gryffindor girl and Hufflepuff boy. "I'm Breana. Breana Oliveire. First year, if it ain't obvious to you already." She chuckled lightly.

@Griseldis Edelhardt @Sean Hearth @Breana Oliveire

Mildred watched as the domino effect happened, the young Ravenclaw girl she frightened ended up grabbing more than one book, resulting in a multitude of books to fall on her. She flinched away- this wasn't what she wanted, she thought that maybe just maybe the girl would have yelped and that would have been the end of it. throughout her entire childhood, she has never raised her hand at anyone or done anything slightly rude- even when her classmates were rude to her she took it, even thanking them.

oh god no- just what would mother and father think of me now... ended up getting in the wrong house and potentially injured a student, Mildred looked up at the girl and she definitely looked upset, crap. Mildred in the shock of everything, she couldn't comprehend what was happening- she didn't mean for this. She yelled back at her "I DON-" from afar Mildred heard a loud "SHHHH", lowering her tone "I don't know what happened! I didn't mean for this to happen..." Mildred watched in shame as the young girl started picking up the books that had fallen. She bent down to help, however, it seemed like the girl didn't want any help the young Ravenclaw girl quickly picked all the books up.

Mildred was on the verge of tears- she wanted to run, run far far away from here- she would even go back home and give away her freedom once again. She scanned the room eagerly taking everything in, an exit she needed an exit- someplace to run. She noticed another boy watching what had happened from afar- just great, a witness. Another factor that irked her as he appeared to be in Hufflepuff- just great.

just great- it was just great.

Another thing that just irked her was the way he just stood there watching- just like what she assumed every other Hufflepuff would, she knows how everyone else feels about Hufflepuff and their just... lack of determination? Drive? she knew that huffles haven't won the house cup in a while, it's been two years. She didn't want that. She couldn't help but snap at him, "Well? are you going to run and tell everyone what a mess of huffle I am huh?"

Mildred looked at him, soon another girl came wearing a badge- crap. she was in trouble big time now, She watched as the Griffindor Prefect ask if everything was alright. she gulped when she heard her mention that this was an accident, she knew she was going to be ratted out- although what shocked her was when the Ravenclaw girl said she just fell. This doesn't feel right- before anyone else could speak she said "No- she's wrong, I spooked the girl on purpose causing her to fell, it was my fault" She turned to look at the Griffindor Prefect, " I take full responsibility of what happened here." Mildred waited for what would happen to her- apparently, the Ravenclaw girl was a muggle-born- it explained quite a lot.

Interacting with @Mildred Wilson and @Sean Hearth

"Well? are you going to run and tell everyone what a mess of huffle I am huh?"

Breana was surprised that the Hufflepuff girl practically shouted at the poor boy, who looked like a deer in headlights with the exchange. Breana was about to open her mouth to protest to her but thankfully the Gryffindor girl stepped in before anything got worse and any of the staff would take notice and give them punishments. The surprise never ended for this Ravenclaw, for the Hufflepuff girl suddenly stepped in and rightfully took the blame for the situation. "No- she's wrong, I spooked the girl on purpose causing her to fell, it was my fault" I take full responsibility of what happened here."

Breana wasn't exactly happy nor sad about it. She was just... surprised. The reason why she didn't rat out the girl was because she didn't want the problem to get any worse, and Breana was still technically truthful about it. Still, she can't stop the Hufflepuff if she's openly admitting fault, so she kept quiet. Breana looked at the girl, and gave her a curt nod, as if saying thank you for telling the truth. She continued picking up the fallen books and looking at the spines of it, still curious on the system the library uses and how they organize the books in their own way.

"Are you alright?" Breana blinked back to reality as the Hufflepuff boy spoke. She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll probably get a bruise but it's nothing permanent." She chuckled, frowning at the books that pulled out of the shelves. "I'm more concerned about the books, though... I just hope I didn't accidentally ruin or crease a page on any of them!" She said, leafing through a random book, hoping that all of its pages are still neatly pressed as it always was before putting it neatly on the arranged stack. "Oh, I'm Breana, by the way, if you didn't catch it when I told her." She tilted her head towards the Gryffindor girl before holding out her hand to the boy for a handshake.

Interacting with @Mildred Wilson @Breana Oliveire @Sean Hearth

The Gryffindor Prefect was glad that the young Hufflepuff boy was willing to help out picking up the fallen books, perhaps he was a bit timid and wasn't sure what to do until someone took action first. And also nice when he asked the fallen girl if she was alright. While gathering the books from the floor, she gave a quick "Thanks" to the dark-haired boy for his assistance. But then the other Hufflepuff girl suddenly admitting to her that she was the true cause of this whole accident. Honestly, Griseldis already could guess that she was the "culprit" but since the Hufflepuff girl was brave enough to take responsibility for her own little mischievousness, there was no need for further drama. "I see, well, thanks for being honest. And if you're still feeling guilty about it then why not help us pick up the books?" Griseldis trusted the girl would try to make it up so she went back picking up books and placing one book on top of one another.

After they finished, there were no longer messy piles on the ground but neatly stack of books. Griseldis turned around to tell them that she will inform the Librarian Assistant to take care of the books, then asked if she was trying to pick up a book that was too high to reach. The Ravenclaw girl immediately beamed at the mention of a book, she showed her a book where the title "Mythicality to Reality" was printed on the cover and explained to her with such much excitement in her tone. But then she revealed herself not being entirely a Muggle-born which piqued her interest, "Oh, then you're a Half-blood? My father is an English Pure-blood wizard and my mother is a Chinese Muggle, so that makes me a Half-blood too.", she told her, not shy about her own blood-status at all and proud of who she was. "Mythicality to Reality...sounds like a very interesting book to me, when you finish this book I might borrow it and read it myself.", Grisleids said. While looking at the young girl looked amazed when she saw the pictures being animated on the pages, she could help but giggled a bit. The scene really brought back a memory of her reading an enchanted book for the first time when she was a first-year herself.

The Ravenclaw girl gave them a polite bow and introduced herself as Breana Oliveire, a first-year. "Nice to meet you, Breana. I'm Griseldis Edelhardt but you may just call me Gris if you like, 2nd year and just recently became the new Prefect of Gryffindor." Right after her introduction, the Assistant Librarian suddenly appeared and walked towards them. They first looked at them then looked at the arranged stack of books and then back at them with a grumpy expression. With a snap of their fingers, the books began to levitate slowing up in the air, and each book seemed to return themselves back into the selves in their original spots. Once all the books were back in order, the Assistant Librarian nodded satisfyingly but when looking at them again, they let out a huff and left. Griseldis felt a bit awkward about it and coughed softly to clear her throat. "You might not know, that House elf is one of the Assistant Librarians and they're not like the other House-elves you have seen in Hogwarts. That one you saw was Jo and the other Assistant Librarian at the front desk is Tolly. They only work for the Library and if there are certain books you need you can ask them, they will happily show you in which section to find the books or transport those books to your dorm rooms." She explained to them, just to make sure they wouldn't mistake these House-elves like the other ones that cook meals or clean dormitories.