The hunt begins PV Irina Shevel <3 Closed

Irina jogged quickly at Mahlioz’s side, chuckling at the excitement and anticipation written across her new friend’s face. She herself was feeling the same, excited at their new friendship and anxious to begin their adventure together! She could tell that Mahlioz was ecstatic to be starting their adventure at the library - clearly she loved books and researching.
Irina loved books too but she had limited focus and found it difficult to spend long periods of time concentrating on one thing. She had her fingers crossed that this time would be different - what if Mahlioz took her fidgets to be boredom? Or her inattentiveness to be disinterest? She would try and long as she could to remain on topic and focused.
Irina shook her head to clear the doubts from her mind, when Mahlioz spoke.

"Where do you want to start? We could go to the Hogwarts section, because I know where that is, but it might not have secret stuff in it since it's so obvious. We could also go to the History section, maybe it will talk about the creation of Hogwarts and all the rooms inside? Or we could go to the Invisibility section, because the Room is probably invisible. But those books are very hard to read."

Irina's brain seemed to freeze in a 'Errrrrr quick, think of a response . . . . . Nope, sorry - still processing the words we just heard' sort of way. She realised she'd been silent for longer than the question required and realised her face was the picture of comical confusion. "Well, um, I reckon . . . I reckoooon . . ." She internally cringed at how stupid she must look right now. It was a weird sensation - a mixture of awe and intimidation. Clearly Mahlioz knew her stuff . . . and was super into it! She was going to be really helpful. Irina quickly reflected that without Mahlioz, she herself would probably never have known where to begin looking! Her gratitude washed away her embarressment as she grinned and composed herself.
"Sorry bout that! My brain turned to mush there. Well, I think we should start in the Hogwarts Section. If it exists then it'll be in there. I mean, they aren't allowed to redact actual historical facts from a historical book so if it's real, they will have had to write it down . . . right?"
She stopped as they reached the door leading to the library and turned to see what Mahlioz had to see. As big as her pride and desire to be leader was, she grugingly accepted that they'd do far better if her new friend took the lead.

They were one step closer along the hunt to adventure.

Mahlioz laughed as Irina tried to find her words. It was obvious she was not used to this sort of thing. That was okay, of course, it was just funny to her. "Don't worry about it," she said with a grin. "It can get pretty confusing." A book suddenly whizzed into her face, flapping its pages and trying to get her to read it. She pushed it away as she kept talking, like this had happened a thousand times before. "Especially when the books aren't very helpful at showing you around, since they all want to be read," the young Slytherin added, trying to spit out the taste of paper.
"Alright, the Hogwarts section it is, then." Mahlioz had a weird smile when Irina started talking about redacting Historical facts. "You'd think, wouldn't you?" she said, before turning and leading her friend to the Hogwarts section. The books there were also flying around, but they seemed a little less enthusiastic, like they were resigned to their fate of being read only by nerds.

Mahlioz glanced through the bookshelves, taking a book off once in a while, until she had a decent-sized pile in her arms and put it down on a nearby table. "Okay, this is what I have for now," she told her friend, gesturing at the books layed before them. We might find nothing and we might find something. There are loads of other books though, so don't depair if the former happens." Her face lit up as she thought of all the books they were going to be looking through. She was sure she would end up getting distracted and reading parts they really didn't need. But that was the fun of research, wasn't it?
As Mahlioz looked up, she realized that may not have been the truth for everyone. She knew Irina was more of an outdoorsy person, and her earlier look of bewilderment spoke for itself. Her friend was not in her element. And Mahlioz had no idea what to do to help her... she didn't want to make her feel bad and do all the work for herself, but she also didn't want to bore poor Irina. She picked up one of the books, feeling a little self-concious. "Here, there's a chapter about secrets in this one," she said with a small grin, handing the book to Irina. "Even if the Requiry place isn't in there, it will probably still be interesting." At least, she hoped so. She had no clue what was interesting to an extravert.

Irina giggled as a flying book almost decapitated Mahlioz. She loved the flying books, even if (as Mahlioz said) they weren't all that helpful. They actually helped her concentrate! Having a book that fidgeted and squirmed like she did was oddly familiar and helpful.
She vaguely followed Mahlioz towards the Hogwarts section, glad she wasn't offended by Irina's momentary confusion. Irina enjoyed chasing the books and trying to catch them as the pair walked through the library aisles. The smell of wood and old books was just . . . beautiful. It was one of the few things that had the capacity to calm her down, ever so slightly! Althugh she had the attention span of a goldfish, she loved the feeling of being taken to a new world or learning secrets that made your heart beat fast.
She continued to try and catch the fluttering novels and documents, chasing them and batting them off, before turning to see Mahlioz with her own teetering stack of books! Her mouth dropped open as she stared at it . . . where she promptly got smacked around the face by one of the flying nightmares.
"Merlin's pants," she muttered, rubbing her cheek and shooing the book away. She then turned to Mahlioz and chuckled, "These books must contain every fact about Hogwarts there is too know!"

Irina continued to look at Mahlioz as the young Slytherin gazed in delight at the numerous books - her entire face seemed to glow with excitement and warmth. It was contagious. Soon, Irina felt the same trickle of excitement, coupled with affection towards her new friend. Suddenly, she appeared self-conscious as she removed one of the books and handed it to Irina, saying, "Here, there's a chapter about secrets in this one. Even if the Requiry place isn't in there, it will probably still be interesting."

Irina could see that Mahlioz was nervous, though about what she was more unclear on. Nervous Irina would find this boring? Nervous Irina would think badly of her? She didn't know. But she loved reading and loved spending time with Mahlioz, so she gave a soft smile, wrapped Mahlioz in a tight hug and muttered, "That sounds perfect. I can't wait to go on a reading adventure with you.”
She grabbed the book Mahlioz had chosen and brandished it like a sword. “We read to the death! For glory and honour!” She spoke in a mock-deep, booming voice, earning herself many glares from nearby readers. She grinned guiltily at Mahlioz and then sat down to read.

The book was gorgeous; worn leather front and aging yellow paper. Irina held the book to her nose and rifled through the pages, inhaling deeply. Nothing was better than 'old book' smell. She studied the book and saw the title, 'Unwavering Magic: Hogwarts through Time.' Once she had found the chapter on secrets, she opened the book on her lap and began to read. Her knee bobbed up and down as she read intently, unfazed by the passing time and the lack of any mention of their quarry!
Finally, as she was beginning to get restless, she found something.

" . . . for one of the most powerful pieces of magic ever performed in Hogwarts, was the creation of the Room of Requirement. A Room that, when asked, conjures whatever the asker's desire is."

"AAAaAggGhH!" She squealed, before slapping a hand to her mouth. "Sorry," she whispered, "but I've found something!"
She lent forward and shared the book with Mahlioz, reading the rest of the page on the Room of Requirement. She looked up, eyes shining. "Well, we know what it's called and what it does. But we still don't know where it is or how to get in! But what does it means by 'conjures'? Or 'when asked'? Surely it's a room?"
She sighed and flopped dramatically off of her chair. "What about you? Found anything yet?"

It was honestly entertaining to watch Irina in a library. She chased books around, stopped just to take in the smell of the library, looked in awe at the books around her, gaped at the amount of them, and then started chasing books again. Mahlioz couldn't help but grin. She'd never really had an extraverted friend before. It was... weird, in a good way. She couldn't really find a good word for it. "Probably. I wouldn't know, I haven't read them all yet," she answered her friend. "I wonder if anyone has." There were, as Irina had pointed out, a lot of them. But if no one had, she wanted to be the first.

Mahlioz felt a lot better about the library by now. Sure, it may not have been Irina's favorite place in the whole world, but she did not seem disappointed, quite the opposite. In fact, once Mahlioz gave her the book she thought might interest her friend, she smiled and hugged her. This took the Slytherin completely by surprise. "Oh- um-" she blinked, not exactly sure what to do. Once Irina had let her go though, she gave a meek smile. It wasn't so much that she hadn't liked it, she was just not used to it at all. The only people she usually hugged were her family.
"Thanks," she said, not sure what else to say. She didn't know how to tell her friend she was the first person who'd hugged her that wasn't blood related. She didn't how how to tell her how happy it made her. And it only made her happier when Irina pretended the book was a sword, brandishing it and saying, “We read to the death! For glory and honour!” like she was a knight. Normally, Mahlioz didn't condone doing anything but reading books - no breaking spines, no throwing them, and no brandishing them like swords. But swords were awesome, knights were awesome, and Irina was awesome, so the young Slytherin burst out laughing. She no longer cared how extraverted her friend was, or what she did with books (after all, it wasn't harming the book, so it was fine). This was someone she needed in her life.

They spent the next twenty minutes reading. Mahlioz felt bad for being surprised that Irina was able to stay concentrated for so long. Stop judging before you know, you only met her half an hour ago, you don't know what her reading habits are, she told herself. Nevertheless, she was thankful for the silence. As much as she loved listening to her friend, the sound of pages turning was like music to her ears.
She was reading One Thousand Years of Hogwarts' Greatness, which kept trying to turn its pages to show her a picture of the library. I'm already in it, stupid book, you don't need to show off more! She finally managed to find the words "Room of Requirement" but unfortunately, it was only mentioning it in a sentence about magic doors and secret passages. She already knew it was secret, so that didn't help.

She was snapped out of her reading with a jump when Irina squealed. Apparently she'd found something. It wasn't exactly Mahlioz's way of anouncing things, but she grinned anyways. "You've had more luck than me, then." Leaning over, she read the passage Irina had found. But as she read, a frown appeared on her face. "This raises more questions than it answers..." A statement her friend was quick to agree with, by asking a few of them. "I mean, it's called the Room of Requirement, soooo... I guess it has to be a room? It could also be someone's idea of a joke, but..." She sighed. "Okay, let me make a mental list of what we know. One, it is magic. Two, it's secret. Three, it apparently can listen to people. Four, it grants wishes." She paused, thinking. "Five... er... it may or may not be a room?" They should probably keep researching. If only they had internet... it could have helped a lot, having the control f function on these books. But for now, they'd do this the hard way. "Back to reading to the death,
I suppose."

@Mahlioz Evethisawe

Irina had never spent so long remaining calm and still without feeling the need to run around yelling and jumping into the air. But with Mahlioz, in the Library, she had managed to stay focused and reading for more than an hour! Looking up at a large, ornate clock on floating through the air, she saw the time was 1:12. Feeling very smug, she leant back into her chair and gazed into the distance, allowing her mind so float off into some unknown world; a reward for being so well-behaved.

It wandered off to when Mahlioz had attempted to open her book and been thouroughly wafted as the book had flipped it'spages impatiently. Irina giggled at the thought. Then it floated back to a little before this when Irina had given Mahlioz a hug. Clearly, the young Slytherin had been unused to such enthusiastic and physical signs of affection. Irina thought about this for some time - Mahlioz had always spoken very fondly of her siblings, so it seemed only natural that they must have hugged each other at some point. Maybe she wasn't used to people she had only just met hugging her? Whatever the reason, Irina hoped she hadn't misread Mahlioz's look of shocked delight and decided that from now on, she would be giving more hugs to her new friend . . . unless it made her uncomfortable, then Irina would have to control her urges.

Her mind emerged from its wanderings and she glanced quickly at the clock again, now a few metres away from where it had last been. She almost yelped with surprise when she looked at the time. It was only 1:13! How had she been zoned out for only a minute?! Her brow furrowed into a slight frown of annoyance and she slid down her chair with a small huff of frustration.

'No! Hold on, nope, no, nopedy-nope! You're doing this for friendship and adventure! Stay focused,' she told herself fiercely. Her head snapped up as she suddenly realised Mahlioz might have seen her slight lapse in focus. She sat up quickly and fumbled with the book in her hand, desperately hoping her new friend hadn't seen.
She tried to focus on the book in her hand again, eyes squinting in concentration as her eyes whizzed over the words . . . and whizzed over them once more as she realised she hadn't taken in the meaning . . . and then one more time when it happened again.
A cloud of emotions was suddenly filling her. The usual ones of frustration and irritation at her inability to focus for long periods of time, but she noted some new ones as well. Dissapointment and . . . fear? Bewilderment was added to this list as she desperately tried to analyse these new feelings. She guessed it was cause she now had a drive to stay on point and the fact that she hadn't been able to, led her to feel ashamed of herself. The fear was harder to identify. She guessed it was cause she was scared Mahlioz wouldn't want to be friends once she realised how flitty her mind was. Irina shook her head angrily - 'Mahlioz is a nice person! She wouldn't think like that!' But even after telling herself this, she still felt the tension of nerves in her stomach.
Finally, it all got too much for her and she stood up abruptly, catching the book before it hit the floor and placing it on the table. She looked awkwardly at Mahlioz's feet and muttered, "Just need to have a quick wander."

As she sped off down the aisles, she berrated herself. You doof," she grumbled under her breath, "You just made a whole big scare out of nothing! Now she's gonna think you're some melodramatic, short-attention-spanned idiot!"

She stopped in the History Section and leant against one of the bookshelves, taking in deep breaths and beginning to soothe her agitated thoughts.

An hour had passed, and it had only felt like five minutes to Mahlioz. She was having fun, to say the very least. Sure, researching wasn't her favorite thing to do, even with books (she would have rathered sit in a nice comfy armchair and read a fantasy novel), but she didn't mind it. Especially when it was about something really interesting, in the beautiful library that she was in, with her friend Irina. There was pretty much nothing she wanted to do more.

She had found a few more facts about the Room Of Requirement, but less than she'd been hoping, unfortunately.

Hogwarts, as most know, is a place of not only magic and learning, but also secrets. The famous Room of Requirement is only one example.

That wasn't helpful at all - they barely said a thing about the room. And Mahlioz was a little annoyed the author had said it was famous. After all, there was a reason she was here, looking for information about it. Grumbling inwardly, she put that book away and tried another one.

When one thinks of Hogwart's secrets, the first thought is usually of the Room of Requirement. In fact, it is ironic how well-known this supposedly secret room is.

Mahlioz was rolling her eyes again. It wasn't very well-known to her. But the paragraph went on, and there was a chance she would find something interesting, so she kept reading.

As famous as it may be, it is a lot harder to find than to speak of. Many students have searched during all seven years of their stay and never managed to find it. And those who do tend to find keeping its location to themselves very amusing. But the reason for the students' difficulty is very simple: not only is the Room well-hidden in plain sight, but it also will only show to those who are in need of it.

Unfortunately, that was all the information the book would provide her with about the Room of Requirement. But it was definitely getting her somewhere. Mahlioz couldn't stop grinning. It still made no sense to her, but it was new, interesting info and she was excited. Hidden in plain sight... only to those in need of it... thoughts raced through her mind as she turned to show Irina what she had found.

But before she could say a word, Irina had stood up abruptly, looking nervous and restless. Not looking at Mahlioz, she muttered something about having a quick wander, and then she was gone without another word, leaving Mahlioz to stare at the space where her friend had just stood, and now was not. The Slytherin knew there was more to it than just needing a quick wander. Irina was extraverted, liked to be outside, and was rather fidgety. Mahlioz was surprised she had made it this far without going for a walk. But now... she felt like more was wrong than just needing to calm her nerves.
The problem was, the first year did not know what to do. Maybe she had misread the situation, and Irina was doing fine... she doubted it, but it was possible. She wanted to run after her friend and try to comfort her, but maybe the Gryffindor needed some time alone. And how embarrassing would it be if Mahlioz started worrying about her, only for Irina to frown and say nothing was wrong? Maybe it was better if she stayed here and kept researching.
But... Mahlioz didn't want to lose her new friend. It wasn't often she made one, and Irina was one she definitely wanted to keep. She was amazing, funny, kind... being extraverted or having a short attention span meant nothing. And Mahlioz couldn't bear doing nothing while feeling that Irina wasn't doing well. So she went after her.

"...Irina?" she said, putting the book down on the table and going to look for the girl. If I was Irina, where would I be...? She honestly had no idea. They had only met an hour and a bit ago. She knew a little bit about the other first year, but... not very much. It struck Mahlioz then that she really, really wanted to get get know Irina more. To be able to stand by her when she needed her. To be able to spend hours together barely doing anything and yet still enjoying it. She wanted to know her - like a real friend. Like a best friend.
Turning another shelf's corner into the History Section, she finally found Irina, leaning against one of the bookshelves. And perhaps it was just from the stress of feeling like her friend was hurting. Perhaps it was because of the revelation Mahlioz had just had. Perhaps it was because actions spoke louder than words. But Mahlioz, without speaking, without thinking, without worrying that what she was doing wasn't okay, rushed forwards and hugged Irina.

Irina stood for a moment, surprised and still as a gargoyle. Mahlioz was giving her a hug. Although she had only known Mahlioz for a matter of hours, she had already guessed that hugs weren't Mahlioz's first port of call. Despite the fact Irina loved hugs, she was to taken a back that she didn't move for a few moments before wrapping her arms around Mahlioz and squeezing her tightly, burying her head in her friend's shoulder.
The feeling of connection filled Irina with a small sense of comfort, despite the writhing turmoil of emotions and thoughts inside her. She was happy to remain quiet and enjoy the moment for a few seconds more before pulling away to look at Mahlioz. She gave a small smile and looked quickly down at her hands, uncomfortably aware of the unusual feeling of timidness.
"Mahlioz, I'm so sorry," she mumbled awkwardly. "You must think I'm being pretty dramatic. It just . . . I just - my brain just suddenly got too much and there was so much going though my head and then I couldn't control it. And then everything inside got too loud and I didn't know what to do. I'm really sorry."
She looked up once more, this ime maintaining her gaze into Mahlioz's eyes. ('Wow, they're really pretty - nope! That sort of wander is how you got here. Shush!') "I swear on my wand I'm enjoying myself. I love reading and I love spending time with you! It just suddenly got out of control in my brain and I'm still not great at re-controlling it."
She gave a slightly larger smile before sighing and leaning against the bookshelf behind her, picking at one of the books with the pad of her finger. "You know, sometimes I think there's something wrong with me - my family are used to it so they can see the signs before it happens, but I've never seen this sort of thing happen to anyone else before! I don't understand why I can't order everything in my head and just turn down the volume of all my thoughts." She gave a wry laugh, thinking, 'This might be the first time I've opened up about all of this to anyone outside my family!'
She looked towards the ancient History book she was thumbing and chuckled, "You'll find I'm a pretty chaotic friend. What with freaking about the Sorting Hat's choice and completeing dissaparating from your side, it's been an emotional broomride! But I'm making this about me! So let's get back to the bookhunt. I cant tell we're close!"
She giggled and reached down to help Mahlioz up from the floor.

It seemed Irina was just as surprised as Mahlioz at the fact that she had given her a hug. Her friend froze for a few seconds, long enough for Mahlioz to realize what she had done. She was about to suddenly back out and apologize - she hadn't known what she was doing, this wasn't like her at all - but Irina hugged her back all of a sudden, and the Slytherin no longer knew what to do. Not that she wanted it to stop. She was not a hugger in the least, but there was something magical about this, that she had never felt before.

When Irina finally pulled away, Mahlioz could not speak. She didn't know what to say, but even if she had, she wasn't sure she'd be able to. Thankfully, Irina filled the silence for her, apologizing and trying to explain how everything had gotten too loud in her brain. Trying to find her voice again, she nodded. Her friend kept going, swearing she was enjoying herself and it was just that things kept getting out of control in her head.
"It's okay," Mahlioz said, finally able to speak again. "I don't blame you. We've been here for a long time anyway, and... well, sometimes it's too much." She smiled, hoping Irina didn't feel too bad. She'd known a few people from her old school who were like this - sometimes hyper, sometimes super invested in what they did. She couldn't exactly relate, but that was the world: people were diverse and different and learned and lived in different ways. It didn't make them any less smart.

"You know, sometimes I think there's something wrong with me - my family are used to it so they can see the signs before it happens, but I've never seen this sort of thing happen to anyone else before! I don't understand why I can't order everything in my head and just turn down the volume of all my thoughts," Irina continued, before laughing wryly. Again, Mahlioz nodded. "I doubt it's your fault," she said quietly. "You're not the first person I've met who's like that. And it's completely fine! I'm sure you'll learn to control it as you get older, but even if you don't, that's okay! People are different sometimes. Our brains work differently. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing."

With a chuckle, the Gryffindor added that she was pretty chaotic, with the insecurities about the Sorting and then this. Mahlioz couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, I was just as freaked out about the Hat as you. And honestly... being chaotic can be awesome!" It wasn't exactly her favorite thing, but Irina was awesome, and if chaos came with her, than so be it. She would take on any amount of extraverts and chaos if it meant having a friend like this one.
The conversation was moved back to the hunt, and Mahlioz nodded, standing up with Irina. "Speaking of that, I found something... follow me." She led the Gryffindor excitedly back to the table they had been reading at earlier, picking up a book in which she had found something interesting earlier. "Look," she said, leafing through the pages, "here." Mahlioz finally pointed at a new passage she had found. "What do you think?"

Despite how messy and loud her brain was, Irina was aware that during her apology, Mahlioz appeared pleasantly shaken and overwhelmed. Although she was too intent to focus on this fact, her busy, noisy brain did in fact pick up on it, though the train of thought itself was lost in the general chaos.
When Mahlioz smiled at her, accepting her apology and reassuring her it was okay, the noise quietened slightly. Her heart seemed to swell and thoughts became more organised as she focused on Mahlioz. She truly felt that Mahlioz understood her and loved her for it. 'Really,' she thought 'This feeling of being accepted is all I need.'

Her feelings were proven when Mahlioz said in a voice barely louder than a whisper, "People are different sometimes. Our brains work differently. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing." "Yeah, I guess," Irina muttered, looking down at her feet and picking at the floor with her toe. She knew that everything her friend was saying was true, but she still felt embarressed at her sudden outburst.
But her unnatural phase of shyness seemed fizzle out as her old self pinged back, kinda like a rubber ball. She laughed (a little too loudly for a library, if truth be told) as Mahlioz giggled, "Hey, I was just as freaked out about the Hat as you. And honestly... being chaotic can be awesome!"
"Hehe, yeah. That Hat was a freaky beginning to Hogwarts. And you're not wrong - chaos is completely awesome . . . as long as there's some calm to give it a hug sometimes." She nudged Mahlioz and smiled warmly, slightly taken aback to realise that a friend whom she had known for a matter of hours had been able to calm her down. Only her parents had ever been able to do that before!

She was glad to be pulled from her Noisy Thoughts and back to the hunt as Mahlioz led her back to the table, pointing excitedly at an open book. "What do you think?"

Irina leant over the book, brow furrowed as her eyes quickly scanned the words.

. . . for nothing is more spectacular in the realm of magical discoveries than that of the Room of Requirement. A sentient Room, known for transforming into whatever the wizard or witch requires, it resides on the Fifth Floor of Hogwarts School, masking its existence and only becoming present if given a specific request. It can be difficult to find and virtually impossible to open if another is in the Room with an unknown request. You should be warned . . .

'Who cares about warnings,' Irina thought, looking excitedly up at Mahlioz.

"This is perfect! We know exactly where it is! Well, almost exactly. It's somehwere on the Fifth Floor. But this is so cool!"
She leapt up from the chair, trying hard not to start jumping with excitement. "What do we do now?"