A Quiet Place to Read Closed

John was super excited about exploring his potential. Ever since he was handed a wand, the boy wanted to try his hand at actual magic. Yes, there was a certain amount of reading that should have been done beforehand. John wasn’t much of a reader though. He preferred to learn things the hard way through experience. He wanted to start practicing spells, especially after seeing other students implement their magic successfully. He was pretty confident he heard the spells correctly. All he needed was a place to practice.

As he was passing into the study hall, he caught sight of a girl carrying way too many books. John wasn’t sure he read that many books in his entire life! She was moving at a glacier’s pace, intent on not collapsing the mountain of books in her hands. The expression on Maisy’s face, she was Atlas carrying the wizarding world on her shoulders. Given the varied subjects, it sure seemed like the entire wizarding world to John. Being the nice boy that he was, John of course ran over to help.

With magic.

After all, this wasn’t the school of ripped abs and musclery. This was the school of witchcraft and wizardry! He feared he would be looked down upon if he didn’t use a spell. So he ran up right in front of Maisy, his wand in hand. He knew just the spell to help out, one that would lift the books right out of her hands with little effort.

“WING GARDEN LEVY OPA!!!”

Nothing magical happened, other than John’s exuberance echoing through the hall.

Elizabeth wasn't sure how long she'd been in the library for, but what she did know was that her head hurt from all the information she was desperately processing, and she was absolutely starving. 

Ever since her arrival at Hogwarts, Liz had been obsessed with discovering more and more about the world her mother had been a part of, which resulted in spending all of her free time in the library, doing research among other things. She always made sure to place books everywhere among the table, so as to ensure that no one would sit with her. It's not that she didn't want to make friends, she just wanted to be alone while she read. 

She looked up from Hogwarts, A History and blinked blearily as she noticed that most students had left already. She yawned and stretched, her arms reaching back and almost hitting a bookcase, before standing up slowly, placing some books in her bag. She smiled slightly at the librarian as she walked out of the dusty room, and made her way down the hallway. 

She was about to admire the architecture of the walls when her thoughts were interrupted by absurd shouting. 

"WING GARDY LEVY OPA"


She turned the corner and saw a boy waving around his wand recklessly, obviously attempting to help a small girl with her large pile of books. She couldn't help but roll her eyes before stepping over to the two with quiet steps. 

"It's Wingardium Leviosa, not whatever hogwash you just said." She said with a raised eyebrow as she stood next to the boy. "Like this." She said, taking her wand out of her pocket and waving it like she was taught. 

"Wingardium Leviosa." 

Three things happened in the span of those few seconds, when she was first shouted at, and then the shouting boy was corrected. Maisy's books were scooped up out of her hand, as simultaneously, the klutz of a Slytherin took a step back and managed to tread the hem of her slightly long robes, her feet scooped out from underneath her as she went down with a thud on her backside.

Groaning, she stared up into the slightly domed ceiling before pushing onto her elbows, slate gaze flickering between the boy and girl with a small, cockeyed smile, "... Erhm. Thanks, I think." They had, after all, been trying to help.

"Don't feel bad..." She said to the boy, as she rose to her feet, rubbing the back of her head with a small grimace, "I wouldn't have known what it was, either. I'm too scared to try any of it on my own. You, though..." She added, turning to the girl, "You're quite good." Her eyes shifted to the towering stack of books, hovering several feet off the floor, precariously swaying to and fro, "Hadn't realized it was quite so many. I'm not anywhere near the basement, am I? I keep getting turned 'round and I... well, I'm not much a fan of the main stairs. Blasted things hate me. OH! I'm Maisy, by the way..."

Khris blinked. Once. Twice. Silver blue eyes wide as they took in the sight before him.

He had watched the whole scene play out, his frame frozen in the doorway as the wavering stack of books nearly tumbled, the attempt of a spell was shouted, the correction was given, and finally the kind natured reply and name of the girl scooping herself off the floor was offered.

Maisy

She was Slytherin, like him.

He shuffled nervously as long fingers plucked at the threads of his school robe, a bag of art supplies slung over his shoulder and eyes never leaving the books drifting lazily through the air.

Wingardium Leviosa...

The spell was mouthed silently, a look of brief concentration crossing Khris' face before a short nod was given. Clearly a handy spell to remember.

Oh...

The faces of the three students came back into focus and Khris' face burned red. Standing silent and mouthing spells to oneself isn't generally considered a "normal" thing to do, no matter how magical or unusual the world now was.

He had come in search of quiet place to sketch for a bit but now...

His fingers trembled and his face flushed even brighter as he shoved the offending appendages deep into his pockets to hide the nervousness racing through his veins.

Maybe... maybe he should just go.

A small step backwards was taken.

John could have sworn he saw the books lift slightly after he performed his version of the spell. Another girl came upon the scene and actually did a much better version of the spell. “I wonder what kind of wand she got,” John thought to himself. Maybe it had a core of brain or something that made it learn spells faster. Once he saved enough money, maybe he could look into installing a brain for his wand. Or it could be pronunciation. That was more likely, though wand brains were a way more exciting explanation.

“Hm, must be an accent thing,” John replied to Elizabeth. “I think I saw a little movement, so I’m on the right path. Just a little more practice and I’ll make things fly all over the place!” Elizabeth’s gruff response was no match for John’s sunny naïve optimism.

While John was talking to Elizabeth, he probably should have helped Maisy off the ground. She was a small blond girl, one so skinny she could split into a million pieces if she fell one too many times. How she managed to get those books into her arms in the first place, John would have to look up that spell too.

“Hi, I’m John. John Johns of House Hufflepuff,” he said proudly, loving the medieval sounding introduction. “And bloody hell, that is a lot of books. You know we still have seven more years, right? I don’t even know if we can take most of these classes yet.”

Because John could not resist, he started spinning the floating tower of books around. He started with just a push at the corners of the tower. Then, he just kept doing it. A goofy smile stretched across his face as the books were spun faster and faster.

"It's nothing really, I've just practised a lot." Elizabeth said with a slight blush when the girl complimented her spellwork.

She watched with slight amusement aims the smaller girl fell to the ground after tripping over her own robes. She couldn't help bit think this girl had to be the clumsiest and strangest Slytherin she had ever met- not that she had met many. Hiding down in the library or her dormitory had some downfalls, but at least she wasn't bothered by anybody. 

She glanced at the boy who had previously cast an extremely butchered version of the floating spell, and once again raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. An accent thing." She stated dryly, quickly glancing at him before turning to look at the blond girl. 

The two seemed quite happy with introducing themselves, but Elizabeth was slightly worried. She was worried that any muggleborn or half-blood student would know her for her fathers famous novels, and then she'd never hear the end of it. Instead, she decided to simply introduce her first name. 

"Elizabeth. Gryffindor." She said shortly, before realizing she probably sounded rude. "You can call me Liz, though, or anything really. Anything except Ellie." She rushed out, wanting to be at least a little friendly. She attempted to smile, and felt a little nervous, considering this was her first real interaction with anybody outside of class. Liz watched as the boy, who had previously introduced himself as John Johns, spin the books that she was carefully levitating, and she couldnt help but scowl slightly. "Stop it, before you make a mess." She said quickly, moving her wand so none of the books fell. She went to say something else, but paused, thinking she heard a footstep. She turned around, her eyebrows furrowed, before seeing another student, who seemed to be watching the exchange. 

"Oof... I'm sorry. Was that... Three Johns or just two? Sorry. It's just, I've never met anyone with quite so many of the same..." She was smiling now, more easily than before, and the expression only brightened as John Times Three began spinning the books, the Gryffindor girl scolding him properly.

Elizabeth, or Liz, as she introduced herself, was quite right though, and a tower that size would undoubtedly make a disastrous mess if it fell. Odd she thought about it only then, and not when it had the capability of crushing her beneath it, "Maybe it's best we just.. Hm. Would you mind helping me carry them? I rather think I overdid it. Might need to take a few back to the-- oh..."

Pausing, her gaze shifted beyond the pair as Elizabeth turned, and Maisy peered at the Slytherin boy, before smiling faintly. It was always a little unnerving, running into a housemate. Thrice now, she had introduced herself, only to recieve a scowl and have the entire history of her family taken into question. More than once, she had been ignored entirely. And the one time, a particularly sullen looking boy called her a nasty name and wandered off.

Still... He was there, and it seemed rude not to acknowledge his presence, "Hullo there! You're welcome to help, if you'd like to. I'm Maisy! And this is Liz, and John..."

Khris froze as the two girls turned in his direction, one pair of eyes -the Gryffindor's who must be Elizabeth- narrowing slightly in what could or could not be silent judgement and the other's -Maisy's- widening in simple surprise.

The gentle smile offered along with the names didn't fade from the blonde Slytherin's face and Khris took a shakey breath.

People were... tricky for him. Despite his best efforts Khris had never been that good at reading them nor making friends and more times than not in his old school the young lad ended up getting roughed about for being "different". Though these fellow students seemed decent enough at first glance the wariness he had learned to wear like a cloak was not so easily shed.

His still trembling fingers were proof of that.

Try though, hm? This is your time, son. I made several friends over the course of my studies at Hogwarts, some closer than others and some that lasted many years. You've a good personality. Smart, kind, fun once people get to know you, yeah? Just try a little. For me, for your mum.

The gentle words his father had spoken to him before leaving echoed in Khris' mind and he gave a minute nod.

Right then. He could do this. Try.

"Um..."

The boy who was John Johns stayed watching the books twirling with a joyous grin on his face, apparently not aware of Khris' presence (or perhaps not caring) and for a brief moment Khris eyed the spinning books nervously before finally gleaning enough courage to meet the gentle gaze of his fellow house mate. Of the three she seemed the most liable to be patient and was the one to extend a few words of greeting.

"Khris. Bailey that is. Khris Bailey. I'm- my name is... yeah."

He winced and mentally chastised himself for the awkward introduction.

Blow it off. Keep going. Try.

"Um..." He murmured. A few steps had him setting down his art pack on an open chair before he turned to face the small group more directly. "I would if that's okay. Like to help that is. How- where did you want these?"

He gestured to the wavering stack.

His voice was quiet and he really hadn't made much eye contact but he had done it. He had introduced himself to three new people.

Pale blue eyes darted to John's back.

Well, maybe three new people.

“One John will do just fine!” John said to Maisy, smiling enthusiastically from behind the spinning tower of books. “The rest are there as needed. I’m all the John you’ll ever need!”

John was so glad that he and Liz were in agreement about the whole accent thing! She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, so if she agreed with him, he must be well on his way to wizardom. He showed her a wide smile to her dry response. Sarcasm wasn’t the only thing lost on the boy. John turned around to see that a third student had joined in: Khris. Just before he went to say hello though…

*CRASH*

John had unfortunately got Liz’s warning too late. Though he had stopped forcefully spinning it out of control, the spinning tower of books became too unstable. The entire wizard world came crashing down on John’s head. It was quite an untraditional way of cramming, and it certainly hurt a lot more. John’s body disappeared into the breadth of knowledge that was now piled onto the floor. Shortly after, a hand popped out from between the Quidditch and Magical Creatures textbooks and removed the wizard recipe book from his face. Once his eyes stopped being cross-eyed, John finally saw that there was another student among them: Khris.

“Woah, déjà vu…”

“Hi I’m John. Did I mention I was John?”