Book After Book
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«Nicolai Rowan! Don't touch it, it's not yours! Come back here!»
Her mother's voice was lost amid the lively sounds of Diagon Alley. The streets were filled with wizards ready to shop.
Liv grabbed Kaia's hand, skipping along with the energy typical of a 5-year-old, while her father stopped to talk to a colleague about semi-branches, already completely absorbed in a discussion about their magical properties.
The young witch clutched the list of all the first-year books that needed to be purchased in her other hand.
When she finally reached the Flourish and Blotts shop, her mother leaned towards her:
«Take all the time you need. We'll stay out here with the twins. Come on, Liv!»
Once she pushed open the door, a soft tinkling sound from the bell welcomed her.
A familiar and reassuring smell of ink-stained parchment and bound leather immediately enveloped her.
The interior was full of students of all ages moving between the shelves, clutching bags and books, while the floor creaked under their feet.
She opened the list she was holding and quickly scanned the titles that interested her.
The first was the Book of Spells.
She approached the dedicated shelf, took a copy, and opened it at random.
«Interesting... a small gesture can completely change a spell.»
She carefully leafed through every little detail.
The next title immediately caught her attention: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Finally! she thought as she headed for the right shelf. She found it, picked it up carefully, feeling the cover and leafing through the first few pages.
«Niffler... Dad told me about it. There's so much information...»
She looked at it and then leafed through a few pages further:
«A hippogriff... so elegant and proud... How I would love to see one up close.»
As she browsed through the pages, she heard an argument between some students about
which house was the best. Another student passed by her with a tome on Defence Against the Dark Arts, and somewhere she heard the dull thud of a volume falling to the floor.
Each title she crossed off the list made her feel closer to this new beginning.
She looked around, observing the other students: some were impatient, others curious.
«How I wish I could ask someone for advice on other books to see...» she said softly, opening a window of desire to socialise.
She continued to move between the shelves, lost in the stories of magical creatures and reflecting on future lessons.
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Interacting: @ || WC: 415 || Parent:#606c38 Kaia: #b3541e Thought
Book After Book
| ────── | 1 August 2025───────────────────────@Kaia Luna Lombardi-Flanning ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── “Connie! Flourish and Blotts, I can get my school books here!” “Books? Yes, that’s lovely dear…” But it’s no use. Clutching her small son by the hand, Connie Haslam is already looking lovingly back at Madam Malkins. She and Sophie spent the last hour there; it took only fifteen minutes to find Sophie her school robes, the other forty-five minutes involved lengthy conversations between Connie and Madam Malkin herself on the latest fashions of the day. Unsurprisingly, Connie felt she must try on all of Madam Malkin’s newest clothes, and left holding a sizable bag of beautiful fabrics. Sophia had winced at the exchange of coins– after years of luxury Connie was still finding it hard to adjust to bankruptcy. “Come on, Connie, you’ve already bought clothes,” Sophie impatiently reminded her guardian. “I need to go to Flourish and Blotts.” “Mummy, I’m hungry,” little Llywelyn moaned beside his mother. The combined complaints of Sophie and Llywelyn seem to shake Connie from her daze. She smiled affectionately down at her young son. “Yes, I suppose you’re both right. Here, Sophie, take these coins; that should be enough for your school books. I’ll take Llyw for some food, and I’ll come collect you after.” “Thanks, Connie,” Sophie said as she carefully pocketed the coins deep in the pockets of her denim skirt. Connie and Llywelyn made their way up Diagon Alley (thankfully, in the opposite direction of Madam Malkins). Sophie then turned to push open the door to Flourish and Blotts. A gentle bell chimed as she entered. The shop crawled with patrons, but retained an almost-silence, the only sounds being creaking floors, shuffled books, and soft conversations. Sophie made her way through the store slowly, gazing upon the seemingly endless shelves of books. One thick, leather-bound book caught her eye, pitch-black in colour and the size of a toddler. In curiosity, she slid it off the shelf and, with some difficulty, opened it up to the first page. In these pages lie the most murksome and dreadsome secrets of the deep magics… Sophie flipped through the pages, spellbound. The book, printed in red ink, also detailed terrible but beautiful pictures of decaying bodies, unsuccessful transfiguration attempts, and terrifying pictures of creatures Sophie hoped never to see again. One picture made Sophie gasp aloud in horror, and she closed the book with a quick thump, quickly slotting it back into the shelves. She turned around at the sound of a soft murmur. There stood a girl beside her, of a similar age. She was fair and delicate, her face the image of a gentle calm. The girl turned to continue moving between the shelves—but in a moment of impulse, perhaps of curiosity, Sophie spoke to her in a hushed call. “Wait! Did you say something?” ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── Outfit . #2E8B57 |
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Book After Book
My apologies, my lady, for the delayed reply; for some mysterious reason, I seem to have missed the notification.
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Kaia was so absorbed in that magical moment, that she turned around surprised when someone heard her talking to herself. Her heart shkipped a beat, as she didn't expected it at all. Even taught she had a very own spark of sociability, she could never have imagined that a stranger would be speaking to her.
She was still clutching the two books in her hands.
« Oh... Yeah», she quickly said, her face blushing slightly.
« Ah... Well... I was just talking to myself. I was thinking about how wonderful it would be to get advice on which book to look for or to learn more. I got carried away by the excitement.»
The girl standing before her seemed about her own age. She had dark brown hair that fell in fine strands over her shoulders and a light fringe. Her green eyes were the first thing that struck her.
As the seconds ticked by, Kaia's interest grew: who was this girl? Why did she capture her attention so powerfully? She tried to calm herself, still holding the parchment on which the list was written in her hand.
«Are you a first year too?» she asked calmly but with some urgency.
«I'm Kaia. First year. And as you might suspect. I'm shopping», she said, shaking the parchment lightly to signal her list.
Around them, the hum of customers and the rustling of pages seemed to fade away, as though this brief exchange had created a more intimate space. Kaia lowered her gaze toward the books she held.
«This is just so overwhelming, isn't it?» she continued, her voice softer.
«Whenever I pick up a book, I feel as though there are ten others to discover. I never know where I'm supposed to begin.»
The words spilled out of her, completely unthought, like a thought to be voiced.
She paused for a moment, sorting the books in her arms, and then spoke quietly:
«I suppose, ultimately, I'll just sort by instinct. I hope I don't get it wrong.»
A pause for a moment-and finally the question that threw the door wide open:
«Have you found everything you need?»
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Interacting: @Sophia Brown || WC:390|| Parent:#606c38 Kaia: #b3541e
Book After Book
| ────── | No problem at all! I fear it may be my elementary coding skills at fault  @Kaia Luna Lombardi-Flanning 1 August 2025 ───────────────────────────────────── #2E8B57 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── The girl’s cheeks flushed a gentle pink, and in return Sophie’s stomach twisted in discomfort. Her mad seizure of impulse and curiosity faded as suddenly as a drop in a river, as if it had never been there at all. Sophie instead felt terribly embarrassed at herself, and inwardly prayed that not many people around her had heard.Thankfully, the girl seemed to be not too disturbed by Sophie’s outburst. She— or, Kaia, as she introduced herself as, kept such a sense of poise about her Sophie couldn’t help but admire. It made her seem knowledgeable beyond her years. Her thoughts automatically turned to Houses, (as they had, for the last couple of days. She’d categorised every Muggle neighbour and pet animal in town) Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, surely, she gambled, but then dismissed the ponderings as quick as they’d come. You barely know the girl Sophie, she scolded herself. For all you know she could be a psychopath. Though she found it hard to picture the girl as cruel in any way. “I’m First Year too!” Sophie said, excited by the coincidence. “Sophie Brown, pleasure to meet you. I’m shopping too. My biggest challenge at the moment is my, uh—” Sophie fumbled for a slight second, unsure how to label Connie and bypass any delving questions. “My aunt. She’s a real shopaholic, bought more than I have!” Second cousin Connie, Sophie corrected herself, but didn’t ponder on such thoughts. Unimportant. Instead, she opened her shiny brown satchel for Kaia and herself to see. In it lay her uniform, neatly wrapped in tissue paper, a couple of books she had already collected, and her wand. She had begged Connie to go to Ollivanders first. The choosing of her wand excited her more than her upcoming Sorting. "Have you found everything you need?" “I’m lucky, I can get most of my supplies from my uncle and aunt’s old stuff. Everything else I've got,” she told Kaia. “Chuffed for my wand, though — applewood and phoenix feather — apparently I’m meant to have ‘great personal charm,’ and I can tell you I most definitely have no such thing.” Sophie gave another loving glance at her new wand before drawing her satchel close, and turning to smile at Kaia. “I’m sure you won’t get anything wrong, you seem very capable. Have you got your wand yet?” ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── |
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