Meeting in the Library
"All The World's A Stage And All The Men And Women
Merely Players They Have Their
Exits And Their Entrances
And One Man In His Time Plays
Many Parts His Acts
Being Seven Ages"
Anna was somewhat glad that she had brought a few muggle books along with her to Hogwarts. This was wonderful, an experience that she simply could not pass up, but still, unfamiliar. A fish out of water, an oddball, a weirdo, a freak, she had been called all those. She still felt disconnected to all these witches and wizards in training she had seen so far, they all, well most of them, except the muggle borns, had their destinies wrapped up when they were young. They were expecting to get into Hogwarts, their parents had trained them for this, and even though she had magical parents, They hid away the existence of the Wizarding World from her. Anna loved her parents, but she was still slightly mad at them, couldn't they have told her sooner? and being a metamorphmagus only made it harder. Now, she sat with her beloved Shakespeare, and was reading it in the library. Her chief fear right now was that she might be teased for carrying a muggle book. But really, what do they know about Shakespeare? He's a wonderful writer, even if he is just muggle. The words, they were beautiful, equal to Chinese philosophy, she thought. It's truly a pity that I'm no scholar in Chinese, otherwise I might have been able to read the literature of my home country. Anna certainly didn't want anyone to come in now, oh no. She'd had enough nerd teasing to last her a lifetime, thank you very much, and she certainly didn't expect that to abate the moment she set foot in Hogwarts. Magical books were well and good, but they were incomparable to such fine literature. Changing hair colour for fun was nice too. The disturbance of anybody at this early hour in the library was not something to be expected as she continued to read....
@Evelynn Decipio
Meeting in the Library
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| x | 𝙹𝙰𝙽𝚄𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝟹𝟶, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟼 | 𝙼𝙴𝙴𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙱𝚁𝙰𝚁𝚈 |
𝙴𝙽𝙶𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙷 | 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙷 | 𝙱𝚂𝙻 |
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| xx | ℑt wasn't often these days that Evelynn would find herself deep within the bowels of Hogwarts' library. Aside from the fact that it simply wasn't necessary, it tended to be a harbor for the young minds of the school still keen on absorbing all that Hogwarts and a new Wizarding World had to offer. In a paradoxical way, it made it such that the library often wasn't actually quite as quietly serene as Evelynn necessitated for her own studies. Still, despite the depths of her enchanted satchel, she could only take so many books with her to her usual haunt by the lake. Moreover, with NEWTs nearly upon them, papers and projects required all the more references and research than ever. And so, there really was no escaping the occasional trip to the library, if only to draft her outlines and secure the resources she would need to write the depth. Such was the case on this particular occasion. Between the recent trip to Tenusa and the upcoming excursion to Koldovstoretz, and with the winter holidays recently behind them only for Valentine's Day to appear on the horizon, Gryffindor dorm could hardly be considered suitable for study. The grounds also remained blanketed in a handsome layer of snow, and the many of the classrooms threatened to land even the most firebrand among them with an inescapable chill. Thus, with a sigh, Evelynn had resigned herself to her fate, the heels of her polished leather boots clipping assertively along the stonework of the corridor until they transitioned to carpeting upon her entrance. There was no lingering near the library's foyer, nor did she cast a glance towards any of those seated in the group tables cloistered on the first floor near the front. Hers would be a destination for a more secluded area, where the tomes grew heavy and the light of the sun rarely penetrated. Satchel hanging from a shoulder clothed with the puffed gathered sleeve of a white silken blouse, manicured nails ran themselves over a series of spines, occasionally pulling a book here or there and adding it to the growing pile that floated along at her hip. Once she was satisfied--a dozen or so books teetering precariously as she poked them along with a black polished wand--she made her way to a nearby alcove. A wary glance cast itself towards a nearby pupil who read nearby, a studious inspection revealing them to be one of the first years that had been introduced at September's sorting ceremony. Her stormy gaze lingered on the girl for a time as she settled herself into her seat before directing her attention instead to lowering her satchel to the ground, plucking her skirt primly into position to drape down from her knees, and ushering her study material onto the table in an arc around her. She was halfway through flattening out a scroll of parchment and arranging a pen and pencil when, seemingly out of nowhere, she absently quoted, "Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven." |
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Meeting in the Library
Oh no no no no! Not a seventh year! Ok, leaving the fact that seventh years were intimidating, and this one seeming even more so, She had sat down near her! Why? Why now? Never mind. The girl plainly did not catch her staring at her over the top of her book, and thank god, she hadn’t seen her changing her hair colour from white back to brown. This girl was a senior she had seen at the Gryffindor table. Anna even considered moving away, but that would draw way too much attention to her, not worth it.
The girl, meanwhile, was setting up, and while flattening a scroll of parchment, said "Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.".
This was a nice surprise, at least one thing common between the new, tiny badger and this fiery lioness. Both of them liked nice quotes. Okay, now Anna was not very much pleased with her shy nature, which meant that she couldn’t give more than a smile to the girl, which she probably didn’t notice anyway. She absentmindedly changed her hair colour again, from dark brown to light brown, like she somehow always did when she was nervous. Trying to get her concentration back onto her book, she turned to a new page and tried to focus on that, but somehow couldn’t ignore the girl sitting near her
@Evelynn Decipio
Meeting in the Library
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| x | 𝙹𝙰𝙽𝚄𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝟹𝟶, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟼 | 𝙼𝙴𝙴𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙱𝚁𝙰𝚁𝚈 |
𝙴𝙽𝙶𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙷 | 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙷 | 𝙱𝚂𝙻 |
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| xx | 𝔄s keen-eyed as she was, very little transpired within Evelynn's direct vicinity without the senior taking note of it. Whether or not she reacted to such observations, however, was another matter entirely. Not everything required reaction, after all. There were times, in fact, where withholding acknowledgement of something that had transpired could be advantageous--it could provide a false sense of security, or allow another to relax into a situation to act more themselves. And then there were times where those little things, such as an innocuous shift in hue of a young pupil's hair from white to brown and back to light-brown, had grown so commonplace and mundane over the years that they weren't even worth the lioness' specific notice at all. What she did notice, however, was that the quotation she had selected had elicited little to no reaction. Upon its utterance, stormy grey irises had lifted from her flattening parchment, flicking in the direction of the junior student to study her reaction. There, Evelynn had sat for several breaths following, half inviting, half expectant of some sort of riposte. It wasn't everyday that she caught another individual with their nose buried to the bridge in Shakespeare, more infrequent still for such an individual to be quite so young. She could only assume, then, that this young Hufflepuff had been quite a keen study of the historical poet. That she would surely recognize the quote pulled from another of his productions, King Henry VI. But the silence spanned, seconds ticking past. A small smile, then a shift in hue of her hair, and then the girl's eyes were cast back down to the depths of her book, a page turned with renewed focus. Disinterest. Well, Evelynn could certainly respect that. The library was hardly the place for idle conversation, and had their positions been reversed, the lioness might have been similarly dismissive. And so, with a shrug of her brow and the shadow of an amused smile, she mirrored the other girl's reaction and turned her attention back to the work that would likely occupy her until breakfast. Nails trailed the spines of the books piled in front of her, head tilting thoughtfully, until she settled upon a large verdantly coloured leather tome. Of Perception and Precognition: Practical Applications, by Daltrum Digthirr was promptly pulled towards her before being opened to its rear index. Ancient pages rustled quietly after that, the only sound from her apart from the occasional scratch of pencil on parchment to punctuate the shared space as she dove into its depths. |
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Meeting in the Library
Well, scary as the seventh year lioness was, at least she had good taste in books. And quotes. That quote, it was from Henry VI, but no reactions, oh no. No more attention drawn towards her. She had had enough bad experiences from reacting when she was younger to last her a lifetime. Her parents always felt she always had to ‘keep her cool’ and never react, but it still took a lot of effort not to smile broadly.
Anna was now highly restless, who wouldn’t be? She now had three choices, one: continue like this, pretending to read, stealing glances at the girl, and feel increasingly uncomfortable by the minute. Two: walk away without a word. Three: break this silence and speak.
This was hard to decide. Finally, Anna decided to speak, and so, taking a deep breath, “Hi! I’m Anna. What’s your name? And how are you doing?”
She said this very very shyly and waited in nervously, as the girl’s reaction would be unpredictable. Few would snub this, but considering this lioness being a senior, maybe a much higher probability of snubbing or rudeness, or arrogance. But, dare she hope, that the girl might reply kindly and nicely? Well, she’d wait and see
@Evelynn Decipio
Meeting in the Library
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| x | 𝙹𝙰𝙽𝚄𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝟹𝟶, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟼 | 𝙼𝙴𝙴𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙱𝚁𝙰𝚁𝚈 |
𝙴𝙽𝙶𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙷 | 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙷 | 𝙱𝚂𝙻 |
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| xx | 𝔖o soft was the eventual introduction, coy and reticent as it was, that Evelynn couldn't even be certain her ears weren't playing tricks on her at first. Stormy-grey eyes glanced subconsciously towards the sound and had drifted back to her study before mental faculties caught up and realization dawned. When it did, the tome was lowered gently to the table, her pencil set aside. One leg lifted to cross daintily over the other while hands folded primly over her parchment. Once again, the younger pupil would find herself under Evelynn's scrutinizing gaze. "Good morning, Anna," she greeted smoothly back, the shadow of the barest smile just barely tugging at the corner of her lips. "Anna Wang, if memory serves," her reply continued, highlighting that the girl had somehow crossed the senior's radar at one point or another. The simple reality, however, was just that while she had grown more lax in recent years with her borderline-obsessive study of new pupils during the sorting ceremony at the start of the year, she had been trying to avoid thinking about a certain conversation with one Pericles Dralt the night prior during this year's entrance. With the sorting ceremony as the only form of distraction in the moment, she had committed more effort than usual to observing the incoming class. And, well, some people just had unfortunate--and therefore memorable--names. "My name is Evelynn Decipio. Gryffindor." Had she been a bit nearer to the girl and also a bit closer in age, she might have extended a hand to shake; but then again, this girl was a literal child and Evelynn, no longer. "I am well, thank you. Yourself? I suppose you have been a pupil here at Hogwarts for--" She paused just long enough to calculate how much time had spanned. "--five months now. How are you finding your studies?" |
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Meeting in the Library
Why did she have to speak? Now the seventh year’s eyes were on her. Scary, but at least she spoke in reply, and when the girl wished her good morning, a bit too formal for Anna, and said her full name, Anna was surprised. She didn’t think people paid attention during sorting.
Well, now Anna watched as the girl introduced herself as Evelynn Decipio, a senior, a seventh year gryffindor. For a minute, Anna was stunned. She didn't think that any seventh year would be interested in a first year, and that too of a different house. Oh damn, she thought as she looked at the time. She would soon be late for class, and trying to be as polite as possible, "Nice meeting you Evelynn, I have class right now, so I unfortunately have to go, but I hope we can meet again later sometime". Actually, that was what she was hoping, that she would see this girl again, scary she might be, but there was something that Anna liked about her and wanted to see more of her. Now, with these thoughts in mind, she picked up her books carefully, and with a final wave to Evelynn, she exited the library.
@Evelynn Decipio
Meeting in the Library
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| x | 𝙹𝙰𝙽𝚄𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝟹𝟶, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟼 | 𝙼𝙴𝙴𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙱𝚁𝙰𝚁𝚈 |
𝙴𝙽𝙶𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙷 | 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙷 | 𝙱𝚂𝙻 |
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| xx | 𝔄s though she had uttered some great insult, the introduction was met only with silence. Questions hung in the air, unanswered. Despite the seconds that ticked by, her expression remained steadfastly warm, though there certainly came a point where the lioness began to wonder if perhaps she'd somehow pressed too far even if it had been the younger girl that had initiated the conversation. Eventually, whatever spell of speechlessness had befallen the little badger broke, eyes dropping to check the time like one seeking some excuse to extract themselves from an unwanted situation. Like clockwork, the excuse of an appointment swiftly followed, accompanied by a polite apology. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Wang." The crescent of her smile hinted at her amusement. "If you like," came her response, fingertips touching along her jaw as she watched the girl hastily pack and prep to take her leave. "Should you ever have need of something that you cannot seem to address with the prefects of your House, you are more than welcome to send me an owl." She wasn't entirely sure why she was offering such an open-ended level of communication. It wasn't typically in her nature to go out of her way to make herself available for those just stepping into their tenure within these castle walls. But neither did she regret the offer once it was made. "Best of luck with your studies." fin |
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