TLC - Tender Library Care Errand Finished

Interacting| @Robin Finley | Artemis the Owl
Mentioning| Slytherin Duellists
Open to interactions
Word Count| 445/1000

Santario would arrive a little later than intended, and it was no surprise as to where she had been. It was the seventeenth of April, which meant that there were only two days, including today before stage three of duelling started, and Coincidentally her birthday. Whether the team had done it on purpose or not, she thought the last round of duelling being on her birthday was a marvelous gift, but that did not mean she could be lazy. Her duelling teammates would no doubt recognize the way her braid was slightly out of sorts and how she had to catch her breath as she entered.

As she was greeted by the Librarian, she would smile and give a slight bow of her head. “Greetings, Madam Finley, thank you for hosting.” She would find a seat a little further down at the end of the table and take a seat. Before getting started, she would listen to the Librarian as she undid her brain, allowing her hair to cascade down her back in soft waves. An owl hopped its way up and down the table, seemingly looking for some attention, and Santario would reach out to give it some soft head scritches before letting it be on its way to the others.

If anyone of the people she knew here caught her eye, she would give her typical small smile and a nod in greeting before pulling a book over towards herself. This was one of the things that her grandfather did for a living while he worked as an archivist at a few universities around France and England. She suspected that Madam Finley was much like her grandfather in enjoying feeling the book underneath your hands and knowing that you could do this without the help of magic. Sure, magic was great, but what beat knowing that you possessed the actual skill and knowledge to do this yourself, on your own, and with no aid. She knew her uncle had succeeded her grandfather in his line of work and that her cousin studied it as well. Santario never really had the opportunity to learn about it, and that was precisely why she came here today.

The book she had pulled towards her was a simple and plain-looking book bound in brown leather that seemed to have almost nothing wrong with it. That was until she opened the cover and saw that the stitched in bindings were so loose the pages threatened to fly away at a moments notice. This should be an easy enough repair, tedious and time-consuming, but easy enough. With that, Santario would try to find a curved needle and binding thread.

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Evasive Maneuvers
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6

17 April, 2021
@Henry Knight @Aspen Summers @Scarlett Aden @Everly Charlton

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Gia stepped into the Hogwarts Library and looked around, searching for the place where the errand was supposed to be happening. Yup - another errand. Ever since she did that first one a couple months ago, Gia had been signing up for almost every errand she learned about. And why not? Most of them weren't all that hard, and you got rewards for participating. . . This particular errand the first year was not so sure about, however. They were supposed to be binding books or something like that - and fixing up books was not something Gia did in her spare time. Still, getting 6 chocolate frogs for it sounded absolutely fantastic to her, so she'd signed up, and she was there. With a shrug to herself, the twelve year old headed towards the noise.

Before Gia could make it all the way there, however, she noticed that a house elf was pointing her towards a large workspace made up of a bunch of tables that had been moved next to one another. Giving the house elf a grateful smile to show that she had seen her gesture, Gia hurried over and surveyed the group that had already gathered there. Spotting multiple people that she knew, the brunette grinned. After giving the librarian a quick wave in greeting, Gia called out to a black haired girl that she'd taken a little bit longer to recognize: "Aspen!"

The two first years had met way back at the start of the year, only a month or two after school began. Moving closer, Gia realized that the Hufflepuff was in the middle of talking to someone. "Oh - sorry!" apologized Gia quickly. Not wanting to interrupt them too much further, the girl turned away after another smile in Aspen's direction, looking instead towards the other two people she recognized. "Hi Henry, Scarlett," she said, sitting down in the seat closest to the two of them. Seeing that another girl - presumably a first year like her - had just sat down as well, Gia gave her a smile. "Hey! I'm Gia." she said, introducing herself. Then, noticing the girl's cat, she leaned in a little closer. "Aww, it's so cute! What's your cat's name?"

Speaking of cats. . . the Gryffindor turned to the second years once more and looked for the Slytherin's cat. "Ooh, you brought Loki!" she grinned and reached out to pet the orange feline. "Hey, do any of you know how to do this? Like, we're supposed to do it all by hand, right? Not by magic?" Guessing that her assumption was correct based on all the muggle - was she ever going to get used to that word? - tools laid out before them, Gia didn't wait for a response before picking up one of the plastic sticks. Examining it with a raised eyebrow, she let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I'm clueless about fixing books. . ."

Pulling a book with a gorgeous lilac color towards her, she checked it for damage and found that part of the cover had been pulled off from the rest of the book.

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478/1000 words
xD Scarlett do you recognize the book description?

[quote]Pericles' parents had witnessed more than their fair share of marvels and terrors in their time. They did what they may to protect their son from the latter, exposing him to enough of the world to fill him with wonder, while sheltering him enough to keep him safe. Like many children raised in such a situation, the boy turned to books for feeding the ever voracious appetite of his growing curiosity. To Pericles, literature was a window through which he could peek into peril, peruse the past, travel the globe, and broaden his horizons. It was a shame that there was so little he could give back to the books. With an immense library at his disposal, he relished turning through old tomes, finding the pages which his forefathers had dog-eared, seeing what piqued their interest. He would do his very best to cure the creases, replacing the crude method of saving a spot with scraps of paper instead. After finally learning the paper repairing spell, it was with great gusto that he would tend to old pages in secret, many a whispered Papyrus Reparo uttered between the bookshelves. Yet what began as a mending mission was soon a series of impassionate prods of wand to paper. It was a deft thing, fixing a book with magic, something he started to do with little thought or effort. This errand called for time, patience, and manual application. That of course drew his interest immediately.

Pericles had a fondness for those types of tasks. He had the patience for puzzles, a steady hand for arranging delicate models, and the keen eye for creating complex chain reactions. During the librarian's last errand, an "Operation Secret Santa", he had discovered an enjoyment for craft when he stitched fabric together to create a humble gobstone bag. He enjoyed a hands-on errand, particularly if it meant he was certain to learn something new. His name was added to the roster, and his day was cleared, dedicated only to learning how to repair books with his own hands. They were meant to arrive one minute to noon. There was only one thing left to do after an early lunch, and it involved a trek from the Great Hall up to the tippy top of Ravenclaw Tower, back into the dormitory, with a mission on his mind. Peri knelt by his bed, folded both forearms on top of its comforter, and was met by a pair of icy blue eyes. "Hello dove." Pericles Dralt was not one for pet names, but who was more fit for one than his very own pet? Athena, the Siamese cat, was in the middle of enjoying her midday nap. She regarded her keeper with a drowsy squint, answered by a warm smile and an inviting, exceedingly gentle mutter. "I'm going to the library today," he explained near a whisper. "Miss Finley has invited us to an errand, and we're going to do some very important work, fixing books. Won't you come with me? We'll find you a nice section of sunlight to nap in, and all you will have t'do is keep me company. I promise I'll take care of the actual repairing." Those lazily lidded eyes blinked back, expressing just enough intelligence to comprehend that the boy was trying to get something out of her. It was not often that Pericles pestered her for company. He was a proper cat owner, passively waiting for whenever Athena would seek attention of her own volition. Today, he was making an effort to rouse her, though the feline appeared to be in an agreeable mood. She yawned, he patted the edge of the bed, and- after a long stretch of staring, perhaps weighing the amount of effort it would take to stand- she rose to her paws and arched her back for a sinuous stretch.

Assuming he would work with glues and potentially dyes, Pericles elected for an outfit which would not show stains all too easily, or, whose loss would not be missed should he need to discard it. No white fabric, fine vests, nor favorite accessories. Instead he opted for dust-brown slacks and a dark, vaguely blue shirt (one of many, but it was among his least favorites, as the vest pocket was sewn shut and only visible for aesthetic purposes, a design which the lad found aggravatingly impractical). Its plainness and insignificance would suit just fine for an errand. Athena's accessory was a deep brown collar, crafted from soft leather, with a shiny silver badge declaring her name and the identity of her keeper. Together the duo traversed the long length of Hogwarts, all the way from the tower to the ground floor, cat on his heels. They maybe have arrived a few minutes later, but evidently not so late that they missed out on any instruction. Both boy and feline slipped silently through the doors and gravitated towards the gathered crowd. It was their intended tools which would lure his attention prior to those present. Threads of countless colors, a variety of tapes and adhesives, it made for a promising layout. With any luck, he would find a book or two that would grant him enough excuses to exercise multiple aspects of repair. Peri couldn't help but wonder if this collection had lived in the library all along, gradually built upon over time, or if the many tools belonged to Finley herself.

Taking her time in acclimating to the gathering, Athena kept close to him, examining the crowd while her boy was busy seeking out an optimal victim patient from the pile of aged or mistreated books. It was there that he found it: the familiar vibrant emerald binding of Mopsy Fleabert's Animal Ghosts of Britain. Peri plucked it from the pile, wearing the smile of someone who came across an old friend. After reading the book as a child, he had been completely convinced that the ghost of a raccoon was haunting the estate's compost bins, arguing adamantly about the theory despite being told that they were nonnative. It ultimately proved to be an actual, very real, very alive racoon which was previously a pet, lost long prior to the restrictions on their ownership implemented in 2016. Its spine was cracked, the binding glue partially disintegrated, cover dangling like a damaged wing. He would repay the odd old novel for the "racoon ghost" story still told by the family's groundskeeper.
[quote]

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speech #bf0040

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@Kage Suzuki @Everly Charlton @Gia Adelard

[font=times new roman]T[/font]hankfully, the girl didn't seem like one of those sulky, snappish people. For all Scarlett knew, she might have been one, but right now, she appeared to be happy to help. "Thanks a bunch," said Scarlett, nodding in response to her tips. She quickly processed the information. Tape, glue, threads...she glanced at her copy of Charm Your Cheese, its pages ripped either from the reader's excitement or the reader's frustration. The latter seemed to be the case currently, what with the neat binding and almost brand new spine. Only the pages were torn, and the book didn't really give off a 'well-read' vibe.

Scarlett snatched some tape and started to fix the page rips, in a rather amateur manner. It did the job though, so the next time a curious student picked up Charm Your Cheese from the school library, it would be in decent shape. The next book Scarlett picked up was a more challenging one, but Scarlett lived for challenges. Quidditch Through the Ages was probably the only book she had ever read properly, staying up late into the night to learn just which match all seven hundred Quidditch fouls were committed during (it was the 1473 Quidditch World Cup final, by the way). Its cover was nearly falling off, ripped pages hastily taped up in an attempt not to get fined. Scarlett quickly got to work.

She was in the process of carefully peeling off the tape when another girl entered the scene. She was that brunette first-year from the train - Everly? Anyway, Scarlett didn't know she had a cat, which was purring contentedly in Everly's arms. "Yeah sure, I don't mind," said Scarlett, grinning at Everly. "Everly right? Cute cat - what's their name?"

Scarlett had taken out the tape of quite a few chapters and was working on re-taping them neatly. "Well," said Scarlett, in response to Everly's questions. "I had no idea how to do this until, like, a few seconds ago. She taught me-" Scarlett gestured to the other girl who she still didn't know the name of. "-to use tape to fix ripped pages, and glue to stick on covers and spines and stuff and thread to rebind the spines."

With a flourish, Scarlett finished her taping and untaping. "And voila! Pages taped." Now for the cover. Before she could claim the glue though, another brunette first-year popped up. Gia, from Henry's birthday and Howler incident. Scarlett gave a small wave to the girl. "Oh hey Gia. Gia, this is Everly and-" She glanced at the other girl, who she still didn't know the name of. "Excuse me, what's your name?" she asked. "But anyway, Everly, this is Gia."

Scarlett then turned back to the task at hand, picking up some glue and gently - gently! - gluing on the cover of Quidditch Through the Ages. Then she used a bit of thread to rebind the book, which wasn't that hard though she was a complete newbie, since Scarlett was rather good with her hands (what with the whole intricate pranks thing and all). Quidditch Through the Ages was then placed down on the table she was working on with a proud look.

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word count | 524+528 = 1052
errand complete!

HEX Code: #075e64

OUTFIT ❖ moodboard ❖

---WC: 1275/1000---

Interacting with @Opeila Winters & @Aspen Summers
Open to interactions

Turning back towards Opeila, Anja said, “I went to the Dance of the Bushpeople. I think the groundskeeper is a little crazy, but I had fun.” She also remembered Loras — it seemed as if he had distanced himself a little from Opeila, but that was only to be expected.

Anja held her breath as Aspen scratched Rusalka’s chin. She hoped she wouldn’t bite her. That would be terrible for both her reputation and the workshop — she could have been kicked out. When Rusalka didn’t harm Aspen, she let out a breath. When Aspen mentioned her cat, Anja smiled and asked, “What kind of cat is he? Rusalka is a Chartreux.”

"Have you ever done this book binding stuff before? I have not but it is kind of relaxing."

Anja smiled at Aspen. “I used to do some when I was younger. I went through a phase when I was nine or ten and started producing hand-bound books.” She laughed at the memory — most of her books had been slightly lop-sided failures, to be honest, but they were fun to make. However, now that she was learning how to mend books, she might be able to modify the method to be able to make them. Her mother hadn’t taken much interest in them, and by then her father was in Nurmengard. She distracted herself by looking over to the Librarian, and saying to Aspen, “When do you think she’s going to give us more instructions about repairing these books?”

She looked at the middle of the table, where there were tools set out, and she studied the book a little closer. It needed quite a lot of work — the spine’s binding had peeled away from the rest of the cover, and the edges of the book were fraying slightly. She’d seen her parents repair books fairly quickly with a short spell, but Anja thought of that as cheating. Books deserved proper respect, so repairing them by had was important. Some nice strong glue and a needle would be needed to repair the damage. Reaching over to where the tools were, Anja picked the ones she needed and set to work.

HEX Code: #075e64

OUTFIT ❖ moodboard ❖

---WC: 1275/1000---

TLC Moderation
Apologies for the delay in posting.

◈Participants◈

Reducio

@Aspen Summers @Paige Grant @Kage Suzuki @Santario Martin @Anja Murtaja @Opeila Winters @Violet Carrington @Elisabeth Erner @Xailah Alptraum @Everly Charlton @Scarlett Aden @Henry Knight @Gia Adelard @Kazuo Shimada @Lillian Davis @Damion White @Tory Williamson @Lucia Fox @Pericles Dralt @Bailey Glade

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Date: April 17th, 2021
Hex Color: #433280
─ Alluring | Calming Presence | Nonverbal Magic ─

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Coded by Rafael D'Spacito

Students were quickly and quietly filing into the library, some drifting off to do some actual studying and the rest coming to do their duty in the errand. While some students hadn't arrived yet, Robyn was quite pleased with the on time presence. As students greeted her she nodded and smiled. The students gave her thanks were met with a "My pleasure." Robyn's lips couldn't help but draw tighter and tighter at the large presence of animals. While hers was here, Artemis would soon be dismissed so the students could get to work. But were the rest of them well trained enough for that? With all of the dangerous objects, and glue on the table she was a bit worried about the state of the pets. And the state of the students for thinking this errand was a good time for them. But, it truly was her own fault for not making a disclaimer that pets should be left in dorms.

"If you could all kindly move your focus from the various animals that now inhabit the library to the books you have chosen in front of you." A not so pointed statement, her irritation eking out just a tad. "I'd like to remind you all that this is still a library, so noise and conversation should still be kept to a reasonable level. These books are for learning purposes. While they may be returned to the shelves if they are repaired decently enough, please do not worry too much if they become more ruined than they started. These ones have been carefully picked out. Although, do not destroy them for the fun of it. We'll be starting with the cover."

Robyn picked up a book and guided the students for about ten minutes on how to really dissect the status of a book just based on its cover. Were the edges discolored, was the cover separating from itself, were there scratches or other surface marks, as well as how to fix the issues. "Everything you should need will be on the table, if you can't find something let me know. As in classes if you need assistance please signal it by raising your hand, I'll get to everyone as soon as I can." She began walking around the table, pausing for a moment to signal Artemis to return to her perch for the time being. The small owl happily obliged for some well deserved preening.

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◈Errand Information◈

• Errand thread HERE.
• I'll be posting every Saturday of Robyn giving more directions / additional help. Feel free to lightly godmod her showing a student how to fix something, but do not give her any dialogue.
• If you have any questions about book repair / the errand in general feel free to owl me!

◈Outfit Reference◈

Reducio

Open To Interactions

Kazuo grinned at Opeila when she greeted him with the casual Japanese ohayo. He liked that she had remembered and chosen to use it. “Ready for a fun-filled afternoon of book repair?" He joked as he examined the book he had taken from the top of the pile, checking it to see where it had been damaged. It appeared the glue at the spine was beginning to let go, cracked open too many times by ungentle students.

More students joined the table and he looked up at each one with interest as they did. A Gryffindor he didn't know who took a seat beside Kage. Then Paige Grant, a Housemate who gave him a wave. He politely gave her a smile and a return wave. More strangers entered, though the girls seemed to know each other. Either that or they were simply more comfortable chatting with each other. He did recognize Pericles, another student he had seen at the Beckett Ball, though they hadn’t talked. And Pericles had a cat, a pretty Siamese.

Were cat people also book people? Or maybe book people were also cat people. Either way, it seemed many of today’s volunteers had feline friends and that made him smile. Was a library truly a library without a cat in residence? In Kazuo's opinion, no. Libraries and cats went together in his mind. His clan’s library had a fat, old calico who prowled its halls and occasionally caught a stray rodent or two. The library near his house in Tokyo had a friendly tabby who would stalk you until you gave it pets. He wondered if Finley-senpai had ever considered a cat instead of an owl. Not that Artemis wasn’t beautiful, but Kazuo wouldn’t trade his tiny spotted fluffball for an owl.

He turned his attention to the Librarian as she began to explain the ins and outs of book care and repairs, amused at her mild irritation at the presence of so many furry friends. Perhaps she wasn’t a cat person after all. Once she had given them a good idea of what they would need to do, he focused on identifying the needed repairs for his book and choosing the appropriate tools. He started with thread and tape for the binding since that seemed to be the most troublesome part. Once the task was begun, Kazuo’s focus narrowed down to the book and the thread, seeming to block out all other distractions.

Outfit

Reducio

Interacting with: @Opeila Winters @Paige Grant
Wordcount:660 + 409 = 1069/1000

INTERACTIONS=========================== @Henry Knight - closed to interactions apart from Henry MENTIONS @Scarlett Aden

Scarlett walked past Lucia and gave her a wave, which the Hufflepuff returned before snapping her attention back to the cat. "Merlin," she muttered to herself, "I've never been good with animals." Now fairly sure that the cat was trying to reach River (who was still squeaking at it), Lucia put a hand on her purple pygmy puff to make sure that she didn't fall off. The cat sat down quite calmly and looked at her as though waiting for something. "Uh-"

Then (thank Merlin!) a boy rushed over and picked up the ginger cat, quickly apologising on the cat's - Loki's - behalf. "No, it's fine," Lucia told him, trying to keep the relief out of her voice. "I'm probably just overreacting. Sorry. I'm not great with animals. Apart from River. Sorry." Then she realised that he had no idea who River was. "Um, River's my pygmy puff. River, be quiet! She's not usually this loud, I swear." River was still squeaking at Loki, but calmed when Lucia stroked her purple fur. She rolled over, nestling herself right next to her owner's neck, making Lucia giggle as the boy carried on speaking. "That'd make sense..." Lucia sighed after he'd finished his explanation. "No, I think I overreacted. My fault. Sorry," she said, still stroking River as she spoke. Then the boy said his name and Lucia properly looked at him. Oh, now she recognised him! He was the one who'd gotten the Howler in the Great Hall a few days ago! Wait, wasn't that boy called William though? No... now Lucia thought about it, she was pretty sure that was his middle name. Ah well. It was probably best not to mention the Howler - at the time, he'd definitely looked like he'd rather forget it. "Oh, Lucia. Lucia Fo-"

She broke off as the librarian, Miss Finley, spoke. Lucia flushed red at her rather pointed statement about animals - maybe she shouldn't have let River come after all - then hurried over to the closest chair and sat down, still blushing when Miss Finley reminded them about the noise level. There goes making a good impression, she thought to herself, and fixed her attention firmly on the book in front of her as the students were taught how to tell the state of a book from its cover. She knew some of it already, of course, from growing up above a bookshop, but most of it was new to her, and she listened intently, determined to do a good job and make up for bringing River.

When the librarian had finished, Lucia turned to the seat next to her to see if Henry had followed her to the table. If he had, she would give him a tiny smile. "Lucia Fox," she said, picking up from where they had left up and holding out her hand. "I didn't mean to bring River, but she has attachment issues." She stole a glance over to where Miss Finley was helping one of the other students. "Um, do you think I should go and offer to take her back to the dorms? But then if she says yes, I'll miss out... No, she'll stay where she is; it's fine," Lucia decided.

After flicking her hair, which was, for once, tied up in a ponytail, over her shoulder (it did have an annoying habit of getting everywhere), Lucia turned the book over to read the blurb, seeing as the book's name wasn't on the cover. Ugh, it always annoyed her when they did that. "Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy," she read. "Oh, I thought I recognised the cover from somewhere."

This edition was particularly battered. The emblem of a golden tree on the front of the book was faded, the covers both had rips in which pulled them apart from the spine, and there was a small ink stain on the spine itself. Lucia scowled. "How could anyone treat a book like this?!" she half-asked. "I hope they were banned from the library for at least a year," she added savagely, and began to mend the cover with sellotape.

WORD COUNT - COMPLETE
682 + 412 = 1094/1000

Interacting: @Scarlett Aden

Words. They say you never run out of words, but that’s simply untrue. Humans. They waste words. Letters. Words and letters are spent all the time, and half are wasted.
Long ago, Suzuki had decided she wouldn’t waste a single letter, much less a word. So when the girl asked for her name, she decided to answer simply.

”Suzuki.”

With one last dab of glue, she placed the newly restored potions book aside, to the small but steadily growing pile of repaired books. It was like sand, of a sort. The more you piled, the more it slid back down, the more you needed to fix them. Cycles, among other things, made the most sense to Suzuki.

It was then that the librarian made her announcement, and it was then that Suzuki detected the irritation and tightness of her voice. It was also then that Suzuki realized just how many people had pets. Most of them were second and third years, maybe even older, but a good amount of first years had pets too.

Reaching over, her hand splashed at the cold waves of mangled book covers. A single torn up book was removed from the pile like a shovelful of sand removed from a castle, and Suzuki reached over for more rebinding thread.

Carefully rebinding the dilapidated book, she glued the insides of the cover back together. A bit of surplus glue seeped out from the edges of the cover, as if trying to get a peek at the outside world. It didn’t have a chance, as an edge of a tissue was lifted and used to wipe the glue away.

Flipping through the book, Suzuki came upon a page that had nearly been torn completely(!) away from the core of the book. She taped it back together, and smoothed out a few wrinkles in the tape.
The wrinkles. They always annoyed her for some reason, even though she wasn’t what people called a perfectionist, or even anything of the sort. Suzuki’s eyes followed the librarian’s owl back to it’s perch, where it started preening. The girl then returned to the book in the process of being fixed, and redoubled her efforts, taping pages and glueing parts of the book back together.
One book, two books, three. Even though she fixed them rather quickly, she always conducted a thorough scan at the end, just to make sure everything that needed mending had been mended.

WC: 1248+408= 1656

Closed To Interactions Besides From Lucia Fox
Interacting: @Lucia Fox
Mentioning: @Scarlett Aden|@Gia Adelard | @Paige Grant
Languages: English | French | Italian | Arabic | Russian
Outfit