Under Wandering Stars PV Rachel Davis Closed

@Eliphas Dune

Rachel never intended to visit the library so soon after she visited just 2 days ago but here she is. Walking down the aisles of books that never fails to impress and amaze her. Everything in there was like an endless knowledge that she needed to learn. From the history of the greatest wizards to the theories about space and names of all the constellations and galaxies.

Speaking of which, today, Rachel wasn't just here to read books on a random shelf. The purpose of her visit was to gather information about a certain topic or subject that piqued her interest. You see, recently she has had an urge to rummage the books in the Astronomy classroom and to read every single book about the planets, stars, and many more in there.

Lost in thought, Rachel spent a good amount of time looking at some shelves that were nowhere near what she was looking for. She only realized it when she picked up a book about cooking. She sighed, annoyed with herself. It's not uncommon for her to space out randomly but it was starting to annoy her. Putting the book back in its rightful place, Rachel noticed a boy seemingly lost or confused. In all honesty, she can relate. She's still hasn't memorized every corner of the library so she sometimes gets lost.

Deciding to approach the boy to help him find a book he was looking for because she's losing hope in finding hers, she speed-walked through until she reached him which was quite a long walk. And who knows, maybe the student is also searching for books that is something similar to her book goal. While walking towards him, Rachel was looking out for books that were somehow related to her Astronomy lessons with her last hope but to no avail. Sighing in defeat, Rachel gently tapped the boy's shoulder as to not spook him, and said,

"Hey there, you look like you could use some help."

Eliphas sensed her arrival long before he heard her footsteps, felt her hand on his shoulder, or listened to her voice. Those tiny hairs on the back of his neck once again had decided to stand to attention, indicating that he was not alone in his perusal of this particular aisle of books. That always helped to keep him from jumping in surprise, as the sensation of something around him changing and demanding his attention was slow to surface. It never slapped him in the fact, it simply urged him to pay attention.

So he did.

She who approached him bore the red trim of a Gryffindor, and though he hadn't always gotten his ages correct at first glance he thought she seemed on the younger end of Hogwarts' spectrum. That she offered to assist him made him lean more toward her being a Second Year, the older students had been fairly helpful so far! He would never have expected a First Year to try and help him, though perhaps that was foolish. After all, Josepheen had done precisely that when it came to his poor attempts at the Reparo charm.

Either way, in his mind she was immediately sorted as a Second Year.

"Hello," he responded, snapping out of his mental haze and turning to offer her a smile, "There's so many books... How does anyone even know where to begin?" Eliphas shook his head, let out a slightly nervous laugh, and rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand. Then he let out a sigh.

"I don't know which of the books would work best... I'm trying to get a head start on Astronomy, but look at how many choices there are!" He gestured helplessly at the rows upon rows of books that all seemed to have something to do with the subject at hand. "Do you know of any good astronomy books?" Eliphas remained under the assumption that this was an older student, one who likely knew more about the subject of stars than he!

@Rachel Davis

@Eliphas Dune

Rachel smiled at the boy and chuckled. Almost everyone must have had the same reaction of surprise and shock upon entering the library because she knows damn well that she was surprised. It is called the library for a reason but Rachel somehow managed to think that there would only be the less amount of books than what there actually is. "I know right? Its kind of crazy on how many books are surrounding us. You could probably build a maze using all of this book shelves." She joked, a little bit exaggerated but you can get her point. Guessing that the boys a Ravenclaw, she heard him say about getting a head start in Astronomy and she got excited and listened intently.

She didn't know what she was thinking, hoping that the clueless boy could say something about the whereabouts of the Astronomy books when he's just as confused as she is. When he asked her, she sheepishly smiled and scratched her head. "W-well you see, about that... I've got no clue as well. But! I am also looking for it, so how about we try finding them together? Two heads are better than one they say."

Rachel smiled and approached a random shelf. While looking at the books, she couldn't help but ask a question. "Hey... So I'm guessing you like Astronomy as well?" She was only starting to develop an interest on the said subject so if the boy also likes it and already has many knowledge on it, then she could get more information from him and maybe expand her knowledge more. Star gazing at night and reading a few books about it wouldn't be enough for her.

Speaking of the boy, she realized that he doesn't know who she is and might have labeled her as a random stranger so she cleared her throat. "I'm Rachel by the way. First year Gryffindor!"

All at once it hit him; she was not, in fact, a Second Year. She was as new to this as he was! He could tell by the wonder in her own eyes, she was as overwhelmed with it as he, just as lost between the shelves. Well he certainly wasn't going to be getting an easy pass to astronomy book heaven, but he discovered that he didn't rightly care. It was always more exciting to explore, heck they could turn this into an adventure in its own right.

And adventures were objectively more fun with another person! Everyone knew that.

"I thought it was a labyrinth!" he exclaimed, with a light chuckle to accompany it. Definitely felt like one, didn't it, with the towering shelves that seemed endless, broken only by the occasional arched passageway through to the next row.

Just when he the thought that the promise of adventure couldn't be any more obvious, the girl explained that she too was seeking books on astronomy. His eyes lit up, and he eagerly nodded his head as she suggested they search together. "Oh, yes, that would be great!" Two heads indeed!

While she approached one shelf, he approached another. Her question gave him pause though, before he could pull an old tome from the shelf, and he pondered on it for a second. Then he nodded.

"I like the idea of Astronomy," he explained, thoughtfulness drawing out his words, "I've only had a couple of classes so far, and they've mostly covered classroom rules..." There were a lot of rules at Hogwarts, he had quickly learned, more than the standard 'listen when spoken to' and 'keep your hands to yourself' he'd known throughout primary school. But it made sense, there were so many added dangers here at Hogwarts... So many.

"But, I mean, have you seen the Astronomy Tower? And the ceiling in the Great Hall when it's dark out? My dormitory has the same sort of ceiling! I like watching the stars before I sleep... I just wish I knew which was which, you know? I think I'm going to really like Astronomy, so here I am! And here you are! Does that mean you like it too?"

Then came the introductions, and as had become standard at this point Eliphas stopped his searching and turned to approach her. He extended one hand out, in an offer to shake, and smiled. "Rachel... I'm Eliphas. Eliphas Dune! First Year Ravenclaw!"

One shaken, or rejected he didn't mind either way to be honest, he was simply mimicking what his father had always done, he turned back to the shelves and narrowed his eyes curiously. He knew they were in roughly the correct area, he had spotted one or two star books but they had been much too specific. Who knew you could write an entire book about the Red Supergiant, Betelgeuse?

Certainly not he.

@Rachel Davis

@Eliphas Dune

Rachel chuckled at the word labyrinth. You can almost name any large places that you can make out of the library. Her smile widened even more, if possible, when the boy agreed to joining her and how passionate he was when talking about Astronomy. Its not everyday you meet someone who's interest in the stars, planets, galaxies and many more is the same as you! But then Rachels face reddened for a moment, seemingly embarrassed for no reason at all when she was asked and replied."Well, I suppose so! And yes, I have seen the glorious, magnificent Astronomy tower and the great hall."

"Speaking of watching the stars, we should star gaze together sometimes! My dorm has some tiny floating glowing orbs around but its just not the same with seeing the dark cloudless sky with the moon and the stars forming constellations." She turned her head to look at the boy after rambling on to see him extending his hand to her while introducing himself as Eliphas. Rachel took his hand and shook it. "Well nice to meet ya Eliphas! But you don't need to be so formal with me!" She grinned, even though she becomes formal at some point of her introductions with many others that she met.

After about looking a moment of her looking for those books that she somehow haven't spotted yet, she stopped and thought for a moment. Isn't it much more great to get the book from its source? Or well, rather getting the book from where it would usually be piled up. Rachel was silent and her silence and a look of pure concentration is frequently not a good sign. It either results in a great adventure or getting in trouble. Turning to Eliphas with a mischievous glint in her eyes, she smirked at him. "Fancy a visit to the Astronomy tower?"

Stargaze together?

Eliphas' eyes lit up at that notion. That would be such a cool adventure! Shame they had to be in their dorms so early... Maybe they could wait until the nights became longer, when it was dark out at just 5pm? But that meant waiting until late autumn, and that felt so very long away...

"Maybe we could speak with the Astronomy professor, see if we're able to make use of the tower before curfew one night?" Surely a teacher dedicated to the stars wouldn't dismiss their desires to learn more, right? "Only... I'm a little nervous about approaching him..."

He didn't even seem that unapproachable. Eli just felt a little unnerved around members of staff, at least outside of the classroom.

"Yeah? Well you can call me Eli then," he said as the need for formalities was dismissed. "I wish you could see my dormitory. But, I suppose the Great Hall's ceiling is even vaster than the dormitory is so you've seen it all before!"

For his part in the hunt, Eliphas finally found something akin to what he was searching for! "Look, Rachel!" He pulled it off the shelf, and turned to show her a book on Constellations. However, she had just come up with an idea of her own, one which brought a cunning smile to his lips.

"The Astronomy Tower, you say?" Smile became grin, and he nodded his head eagerly. "Should we check this book out of the library, maybe? We can read up there, if we're allowed inside..."

What if they weren't allowed inside? Well, certainly they wouldn't be told off for peaking through the door..? And the tower itself was just as beautiful as the Astronomy Room. Well, maybe not as beautiful, but it was likely quiet at this time of day if nothing else. All the better to read a big old book about stars in the corridor of!

@Rachel Davis

@Eliphas Dune

Rachel sweat dropped, she completely forgot about the curfew. Before Hogwarts, she would find herself laying on the grass in their backyard and watching the stars late at night but after she arrived at Hogwarts, she forgot about stargazing because she was too busy exploring the giant castle and trying out spells with her wand until recently that is. "Well, you're not going to ask alone since I'm joining! And if we're going to ask for the professors permission, we should look for him at the classroom because... Y'know, to see if he's there and to sneak a look at those books." As she said that, her voice gradually lowering at the last part.

She's not committing theft if thats what your thinking. In her mind, there was a 50% chance the professor wouldn't let them borrow some books and not give them permission to stay at the classroom so if that happened, then she at least got a good glimpse. Hearing her name being called, she saw that Eli was holding a book about Constellations which made her eyes lit up and approached and looked at the book. "Oooh! I bet there's a lot more in the Astronomy Tower."

Rachel thought for a moment when Eli asked if they were gonna read it in the library or in the tower. The experience would be enhanced if they were up there since they could have a view of the stars they were reading about. "Let's try to ask permission and hope for the best then! Now let's go, the stairs there are unbelievably long. It would take us about a day to climb." She exaggeratedly said before slowly walking to exit the library and looking at Eli if he was going to follow. She smiled and said,

"I mean, its also alright if you want us to read the book here. But where's the fun in not seeing the constellations itself?"

Eliphas grinned at the craftiness of Rachel's plan. What a simple way to peek inside, without getting into any real trouble. To access the teacher's office, whether he was there or not, they would have to walk through the observatory itself! If Professor Read happened to be elsewhere in the school, then they could simply leave. If he was there, then they could ask.

Either way the pair could catch a glimpse of the classroom in the daylight. Nowhere near as cool as when the stars were out, of course, but he felt certain it would be just as beautiful to look upon under the light of the sun!

"Yeah!" He grinned at her, nodding eagerly. "Let's check this one out then, I'll head to the librarian's desk... Give me a few minutes, and then I'll meet you at the library door?" No sense in both of them bothering the librarian, right? He would be sure to inform her that he only needed it for the afternoon, with any luck that would help him get permission to remove it from the library.

"I'm so excited. I hope he's there... If not, though, we could maybe ask him during our next class?" Or after it, or before. Whichever wouldn't disturb the classroom too much, he supposed. He waved at Rachel and headed toward the librarian's desk with the book on constellations...

@Rachel Davis
I'll do a quick post in the Librarian's Desk area, to see if he can check it out!

@Eliphas Dune

Rachel nodded vigorously, grinning from ear to ear. "Sure, sure, sure. Just don't keep me waiting for too long!" She jokingly demanded, watching as Eli walked away with the book in his hands before she exited the library but waited by the entrance. It gave her quite some time to practice what she would say to the professor and also an excuse to say if their plan backfires and would be suspected of doing some trouble there and could possibly even get detention. She might be over thinking a little too much but its better safe then sorry. Besides, she doesn't even know if its alright for students to be hanging around any classrooms outside of school hours for that matter.

Pacing back and fourth, Rachel looked very deep in thought that it was actually starting to look quite scary. Who knew it would matter to her if she gets detention. Or worse, maybe even get expelled. "What if... We act dumb and pretend we were lost? Or maybe play the innocent card?" She muttered to herself, before rolling her eyes and deciding that screw it. Its not like they'd give harsh punishments to two first years right...? Internally cringing, she waited patiently for Eli to exit the library, either with the book in hand or telling her that they should just read the book inside the library.