Books and chats under the trees PV Alexander Harland Finished

It was an absurdly beautiful March day. As he had spent all of his pre-Hogwarts life in Manchester, Alex, gazing from the window, could not believe his eyes when he finally realised that there was perfectly smooth weather outside. Just within an instant, he started to dream of a cup of tea without milk, a well-written book, and the long shadow of one of the old and pretty trees on the grounds. He oftentimes thought that nature has always been a sort of language, and Alex had never been surer that it was completely understandable at the very moment. He even fancied that nature was opening itself upon humankind. It was, obviously, a slightly over-exaggerated impression, yet it was a wholeheartedly genuine one. Alexander, therefore, decided to make his dream real as quickly as possible. He rushed to pick up one of his favourite books, the one called The Hobbit with a quickly discernable excitement in his eyes. He had already read the book at least three and to be perfectly precise five times. Nevertheless, "good literature never wears out", the young boy thought, "nor the pleasure it can give me".

With the book in one hand and the bannister in the other, Alex began to descend the stairs, and when the person walked excitedly, both the time and the distance were shortened. He was now on the Hogwarts grounds, and the approaching spring was preparing to manifest its beauty. Alex's hazy, dark green, and undoubtedly warm-blooded eyes scanned the possible points of a silent, almost reclusive reading session. It was challenging to decide as each and every spot was full of differing promises and prospects. What had to be done had to be done, though. Alex slightly began to walk to the right side, simply out of his inexplicable instincts - and it suddenly revealed that this was the right move! Just before his very eyes, a girl, most probably one of his peers, was reading a perfect copy of the third volume of the Chronicles of Narnia. For a moment, Alexander could not help but think whether he drank a drop of Felix Felicis by some sort of lucky mistake. The authors of the books they read were friends with each other, so maybe their readers could be friends too, he wondered.

Under normal circumstances, Alexander would not have reached out to the girl - meeting someone new had always been a tiresome process for him since he had to deal with his inherently irreplaceable sense of coyness. Yet, that was a splendid occasion. He excitedly but hesitantly approached the girl, nodded to her gently, and "Hi," he said, "It's nice to see someone reading C.S. Lewis." A warm smile placed on his face. "Do you mind if I sit for a while?"

Alexander was suddenly relieved upon hearing the girl's soft voice. Without a single doubt, she was a kind one. Alex had already had enough experience with the unquestionable nastiness of stumbling upon a rude person, he, therefore, used to dearly wish not to be a subject of such occasions again. It was, for some obscure reasons Alexander never exactly was able to decipher, quite common to witness the manifestation of ruthlessness from one child to another. As almost a global phenomenon, the children were pretty determined to display more than simple hints of cruelty towards each other. So truly glad he was at the very moment as this scenario did not repeat itself, that there was none other than gratitude could be discernable in his eyes.

He slowly occupied the part of the blanket which was belonged to the girl's basket just a few seconds ago. He breezily turned his head to the Ravenclaw girl, amazed by the fact that she had only read one Muggle book until the current one. "Must be a pureblood," he thought, "I have to get used to the fact everyone in this castle did not grow up surrounded by non-magic people." He sympathetically smiled, "Oh, no," he said, "This is called The Hobbit. A wonderful book, I assure you. It's all about, well... Hobbits! And dwarves, and dragons, and... and adventures!" Gosh, it was really hard to explain the plot of a book to someone who hasn't read it yet. "Written half a century ago by a Muggle named Tolkien. But I am not that sure he was not a wizard. I have got a strong feeling that he was aware of the existence of our world.", he continued. Alex felt a deep and satisfactory happiness while mentioning all these as it was always lovely to have someone to share your interest. "And he was a very close friend of the author of the book you are holding now!", his eyes shining.

Alex gently shook his new acquaintance's outstretched hand. "Shame on me! I'm the one who interrupted you, so I was the one who had to introduce himself first." He chuckled slightly. "I am Alexander Harland. Just call me Alex, though - or Harland, if you are up to a dramatic effect." He took a quick glance at the landscape before them. “Do you come here often?” Alex asked as he laid the Hobbit on the blanket.

@Anna Blackrose

He could not help but smile at the girl's incessant questions. If there was one thing to be sure of, Anna was definitely a curious girl. Moreover, as if being so enthusiastic about books was not sweet enough, her general unfamiliarity with the Muggle world made her questions sound even more endearing. "A true Ravenclaw", Alex thought, "it's proven that the Sorting Hat is indeed made of wise fabric." There was something about her, a certain type of energy, and Alex suddenly felt the spark of excitement in the girl's eyes pass into his own.

There was a lot to explain, and Alex was not even sure how on earth he possibly could handle it. Her questions, however, had not created any distress or suppression upon him, quite the contrary, that was only the sweet burden of representation. The main concern for Alex was his possible ineptness in explaining the world of the Hobbit, or the general knowledge about the Muggle literature. Was he the right person to do that? "What if Anna finds my explanation rather dull and decides to ignore it all?", he grew worried. Nevertheless, he had to perform his best for the sake of Tolkien and Muggle literature. This was his current responsibility above all. "No need to apologise, please..." he said kindly, "It would be my pleasure to answer them."

He thought for a second. Then, "Hobbits are an adorable race! They are very small and live in their little huts. Although very friendly, they are usually afraid of men.", he said, "Well, I am afraid, however, they are fictional. Just like Aslan in your book. They were created by Tolkien.", his voice steady. Thus, the first question was -sort of- answered. He scanned Anna's questions in his mind, and suddenly "Nah," he declared, "There are terribly boring Muggle books too. Sometimes they can be boring even than Arithmancy." A gentle smile appeared on his shiny face. He decided not to reply to Anna's last question, she was, after all, bright enough to find the answer on her own. Instead, he posed a question to her: "For sure, you spent all of your life in the Wizarding World, right?" It was, however, just a rhetorical question, therefore Alexander continued to speak without a gap. "May I ask you a question? Please don't get me wrong, but why do you interested in reading fantasy? If you ask Muggles, you already live in a fantasy world!" Alex was raised in a Muggle neighbourhood, so he was really curious about the girl's answer. He was very well aware that Muggles would find the Wizarding World marvellous. In his personal example, even though his mother and grandmother were witches, he was still fascinated when he finally arrived at Hogwarts - but Anna, she was someone who spent her all life in this world, that was his normal. What could someone like her find in the land of Narnia that she lacked in her current life? Alex was pricked by the needle of curiosity.

@Anna Blackrose

Considering his mother's general attitude towards fictional characters, Alex quickly realised that Anna was an example of a very different kind of Ravenclaw student. In fact, Alex too, when he first read the book, was pretty convinced that Hobbits were real, and moreover, he devoutly believed in their existence. He even had secretly hoped to find one of them - possibly in a small, godforsakenly remote village and most probably in the Scottish Highlands. The one who tried her best to convince him otherwise, however, was none other than his mother. "These are novels, Alex," she had said in her slightly mechanic yet somehow sympathetic tone, "and I'm afraid you cannot find a Hobbit." His mom, a true bureaucrat who valued and prioritised the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth above all else, had always and relentlessly tried to instil a pragmatic and realistic attitude in her son. Alex's grandmother, on the other hand, shared many similarities with Anna, and he quickly noticed the resemblance between the two. He recalled how, during passionate debates about the existence of Hobbits with his mother, his grandmother had playfully offered childlike counter-arguments that contrasted with his mother's purely rational and knowledge-driven approach. These memories remained vivid in Alex's mind, showcasing the stark difference between the two women. This made Alexander feel an affinity with Anna, as she also had a more imaginative and playful outlook on fiction.

"Good point! Yes, maybe you're right. We can't be sure about their existence." he said. He was slightly embarrassed as he had spoken like his mom and there was a dutiful smile on his face as now he decided to side with his granny thanks to Anna. Alex paid close attention to Anna's extensive yet pretty insightful explanation, which left him feeling quite satisfied upon receiving such a detailed answer to his question. Also, he was much more relieved now as he thought Anna was also happy to chat with him, and as he concluded that he did not compel her to act kindly just because of the situation itself. "Ah, I see," he murmured with a smile, "Muggles, in a way, in the absence of real spice of magic, had to create their own spells - and I believe they did so with language." His grin stretched from ear to ear.

"I never really thought about it," he confessed candidly. "Even though I come from a family of wizards, the world of Muggles always felt like a natural environment for me, so I never really questioned it." He looked up at the sky, lost in thought. "At the end of the day, we're all human beings with our own strengths and weaknesses. But fundamentally, our deepest desires and fears are strikingly similar, to the point of being almost identical."

As Alex made his way down to the grounds, he had set his pet ferret free to roam and nibble on any herbs it desired. When he looked up from his wandering thoughts, he suddenly spotted his furry companion ambling towards him. A sense of warmth filled him, and a smile spread across his face as he watched the brown and black furball make its way over to where he and the girl stood. "Look, here comes Helga," Alexander exclaimed happily, gesturing with his long fingers towards his beloved pet.

@Anna Blackrose

Upon hearing Anna's kind compliment, Alexander could not help but let out a small chuckle. Although he was not and actually had not ever been too much fond of flattery, as a shared inclination of all humankind, Alexander too, was prone to prefer hearing good things about himself over neutral ones usually, and over negative comments for sure. He was, of course, not that arrogant to quickly accept such a similarity between him and Aslan. He always had an almost instinctive sense that he was somehow shrewder than a considerable amount of his peers, and he oftentimes had felt guilty about that particular subtle pride. Therefore, he was not a boy who regarded himself as wise - quite to contrary, his self-deprecative upbringing had always acted as a shield for him against acting in a spoiled way, but also caused him to have possibly an exaggerated feeling of humility. He, therefore, preferred to stay silent to be humble enough. He believed that if he were to reject the comparison between himself and Aslan, it would come across as a pretentious display of false humility. And by the time he realised he had been overthinking his response, it was too late to answer as Helga had already arrived at their side.

Anna's mention of Abraxans caused Alexander's pupils to widen with excitement. "You have... I mean, two Abraxans?" he asked in disbelief. As an eleven-year-old who had never seen an Abraxan before, this was incredible information for him. He turned to his ferret, playfully and sarcastically said, "And I'm glad I have this one..." before letting out a slightly loud laugh. He then pet Helga in a kind way and jokingly added, "No offence, love. Just joking." He had unintentionally pronounced "love" as "lof."

"Helga is a superb companion," he continued. "She usually sleeps, so whenever I see her awake, it makes my day. I believe she wants me to teach the importance of feeling happy about small things. She's quite playful and always happy to be around me and my friends." Alexander smiled kindly and added, "And of course, you're considered one of the latter group if that's okay with you as well." He blinked at his ferret before remembering the unbelievably magnificent fact about Anna. "But tell me more about Noir and Lune! I've heard that Abraxans are as big as elephants! Is it true? Are they gentle creatures? Do you know how to ride them?" Their roles had switched, and now Alexander was the one who is asking all the questions.

@Anna Blackrose