A Quest for Knowledge PV Ashton Cole Closed

The library!... Ash thought to himself in a long drawn out phrase. He looked up at the shelves. The books! Ash felt a little embarrassed he had asked if anyone had read them all. He felt a sudden urge to read them all himself!

"I think this is the right place." Ash heard Hen whisper...

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..." Ash whispered back. I hope Hen gets the reference... I wonder if this is how Dorothy felt when she stepped out of her house and into Munchkinland? Ash still hadn't pulled out of his amazed-shocked state.

The Library smells just like a library should smell... Who thinks that? Ash's internal monologue was running circles at the moment.

The boys made their way to the "M" section. Ash knew instantly what Hen was looking for!

Hen was pulling books off the shelf like Ash grabs candy at Honeydukes!!!

Thankfully Hen had left a book or two on the shelf about the Ministry... Ash chose one that looked the biggest and most credible; when it comes to books, Ash judges by the cover. He flipped to page 1.

A Wizard's History of the Ministry of Magic

Ulick Gamp and the International Statute of Secrecy

"Upon the signature of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1689, wizards went into hiding for good. It was natural, perhaps, that they formed their own small communities within a community. Many small villages and hamlets attracted several magical families, who banded together for mutual support and protection." ~Bathilda Bagshot, A History of Magic

Wizard Ulick Gamp (1707-1718) was the first Minister of Magic, a role created for the purpose of imposing the International Statute of Secrecy (ISS). The ISS was created to hide the Wizard world from the Muggle world.

Hen had moved on to Mythology, an appropriate choice given his interests.

Ash heard Hen mutter something; Ash's attention, though, was steadfast on his reading.

"Can you pick out a table for us, Ash?" Hen asked.

Ash looked up at the sound of his name. Henry was pointing towards a row of tables by the windows. A good book and a good view out the window. Could this get any better?! "I've never felt like this before." "It doesn't go away." Ash had heard that dialogue before; it felt appropriate to the moment. OOC: Quote from The West Wing

"Yes. Yes. For sure." Ash muttered, embarrassed he had not been paying attention to Hen.

"How about the one on the end?" Ash was hoping that by moving as far away from the Librarian's Desk they wouldn't get in trouble if they were a bit noisy.

"It says here that the Ministry of Magic oversees and regulates all magic in the Wizard and Muggle worlds." Ash blurted his new knowledge to Hen with a confidence that suggested he was an authority on the subject.

"Don't ask me anything else yet... I've barely made it through page 1..." Ash had realized his mistake and put his confidence back into perspective.

"What did you find in the Mythology section?"

Henry happily trotted over to the tables at the window, carrying a truly disproportionate stack of books. He chuckled to himself as he finally remembered where Ash's comment had come from. It had been a while since he saw the Wizard of Oz! He only wished he could place this other quote that stuck in his mind.

"Victory is mine, victory is mine! Great day in the morning, people, victory is mine!"

He couldn't help but laugh as he put the victoriously acquired books down and remembered the rest of the quote.

"Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land."

"How much do you want to bet the librarian can still hear us from over here? I'll bet half as much that other students tell us to shush first," Henry laughed quietly. He was excited to have someone who shared his passions with him. This would be fun!

Henry scooted over in his seat to peer at the page himself.

"From what I know of totaltairan... totalta... to-tal-i-tarian governments, the Ministry of Magic sure sounds like one. Are you sure we don't live under a disguised dictatorship?"

Henry was almost desperate to hide how much he struggled with the word 'totalitarian'. He was supposed to be one of the smart ones, for land's sakes! Maybe he should stop talking so fast...?

"What did you find in the Mythology section?" Ash had asked.

Henry looked over at his stack of books.

"Well, I found the Babylonian text of Gilgamesh. There's the story of Beowulf in its original old English. The Truth Behind the Myth by magic historian Meredith Clearwater. The Story of Arthur as Told by Merlin. Even some ancient Sumerian texts that, from the looks of the abridging, detail how the third gender came to be and how they were cursed by the goddess Ereshkigal and blessed by the goddess Inanna or Ishtar. So yeah, pretty eventful stuff. Would you be interested in any of it?"

Hen handed Ash the stack of books he had pulled off the shelf.

"These books haven't been touched in years." Ash could see Hen's fingerprints in the dust on the books from years of nonuse. What a shame? Ash thought. If these books are half as interesting as Hen makes them out to be, they should be read, not left to collect dust.

Ash opened the top book. For an instant, Ash could barely see Hen through the plume of dust that had burst into the air from the book.

"Aaaaaaaa-choo!" A group of students turned quickly towards the thunderous sound. Ash had drawn the attention of everyone in the library, while simultaneously dissipating the dust cloud before him.

Ash stood up to looked around. "Sorry. I'm really sorry.... Sorry..." he muttered and mouthed to the nearby students in apology for his boisterous sneeze.

Ash returned to his chair, "the dust brings on my allergies. Oh my, you're covered in dust. I'm sorry!!!" Ash had unintentionally shrouded Hen in dust with his sneeze.

In the time between opening the book, 'the sneeze heard 'round the library,' and his apology, neither boy had noticed a note that had slipped from the pages of the book in Ash's hands.

The parchment was crisp, unusually pristine given the state of the book it had fallen out of.  Whomever had written the note had been meticulous in making sure that the edges were lined up perfectly when folding it in half.

Ash and Hen looked down at the note, back up at each other, back down at the book.

"Umm... did you see where that came from?"

Henry had noticed the collection of dust as well and had started drawing out little shapes idly.

"It's a shame, really. Books deserve to be treated with at least respect, if not care. At the very least, they should be dusted regularly and checked for bookworms and silverfish. And reading is top of the list of how to care for books."

Henry watched as Ash turned over the cover, blinking and coughing away any dust that fell in his direction. All of a sudden, though, a terribly loud noise shattered the previously well-kept silence of the library, paired with a startled, sharp yelp from the other boy.

Silence, once again, dropped over the two, strained with a feeling of shame and embarrassment. As Ash started to apologize, though, Henry tried to hold back fits of laughter. He was just so scared! By a sneeze! He couldn't help but laugh at the sheer hilarity of the situation as well as trying to recover from the fear!

"the dust brings on my allergies. Oh my, you're covered in dust. I'm sorry!!!"

At that, the only barrier on the boy broke. Upon looking at his dusty clothes, Henry let out a shrill laugh and a snort, quickly covering it with both hands and placing his head on the table. His shoulders shook with the remaining laughter bubbling up in him and his face was a bright, strawberry red.

Henry hadn't had this much fun with somebody in ages!

With his head on the table, Henry did manage to catch the last bit of fluttering of a note. This sight sobered him almost immediately. It seemed Ash had noticed it, too, as they were staring down at the clean, crisp, meticulously folded slip of paper.

"Umm... did you see where that came from?"

Henry shook his head as he picked up the note, holding it gingerly between two fingers.

"No, not at all. Maybe somebody dropped it? Or maybe..."

Henry turned his head to eye the cover of the open book. The Story of Arthur as Told by Merlin. He quickly scanned the other books and found another folded bit of paper in The Truth Behind the Myth by Meredith Clearwater. Opening them both up unceremoniously, he examined both and concluded that they both said the same thing and were written by the same person. Unfortunately, what they said was lost on him...

He would never admit it, but Henry couldn't read cursive.

“No, not at all. Maybe somebody dropped it? Or maybe…” Hen mumbled as he open the notes.

There are two notes??? Ash could feel his face go pale. His intrigued had turned to fear at the sight of the second note.

Ash remained fixed on the notes as Henry picked them up.

What do they say? Be patient, Ash! But, what do they SAY? Patience!!!

Ash couldn’t wait any longer. “Give one to me.”

Henry hadn’t moved his eyes off the notes. Was Hen confused? Mystified? Scared? Ash was sure Hen had forgot that he was even there.

His patience got the best of him. Ash stood up, leaned across the table, and grab one of the notes.

You’d think that his actions would have startled his friend. Yet, Henry remained focused on the remaining note.

The penmanship was sloppy and in cursive:



What you are to be, you are now becoming. What you are to be, you are now becoming? You are now becoming??? Ash repeated the phrase multiple times. He was confused. What you are to be…

“Here.” Ash handed back the first note and grabbed the other. “What does it say?” Henry traded notes with Ash.

“The same thing. They say the same thing!" Ash had expected something different.

"‘What you are to be, you are now becoming.’” Ash read the message aloud.

“Hen,” Ash paused. “Hen, I think someone is trying to tell us something.”

Henry nodded, thankful for Ash saying what the note read aloud.

"I agree. Someone is trying to communicate a message to us. But why that and why us are completely unknown, let alone what the message even means."

Henry looked over the two notes with a sigh and wrote down, in his own handwriting, what he remembered Ash had said. Looking over the three, he couldn't find any patterns or clues.

" 'What you are to be, you are now becoming'... A curious message to be sure."

Henry moved to wipe off and grab another book, when...

"Wait, Ash. These other books are clean! Completely free of dust!" he stage whispered.

And it was true. The other books were old and looked like they had been read through many times. Despite that, they were clean and damages had been repaired. The books were dusted and well-kept. Upon glancing around the library, it seemed the others were, too. So why were these two different?

"Do you think the notes have anything to do with the books, themselves? They don't even look like they belong in this library... What do you think this all means? Were these notes even meant for us?"

Henry glanced around the room, hoping to find some answers in the near silent halls.

A high-pitched voice suddenly cried out in very quiet horror, not far from the young Ravenclaws. "Oh! Oh! The poor dears, look at the state of them, Tolly!" This was answered by a second voice, calmer, though not much lower in pitch. "Right you are, Jo. They look like they've been through some right trouble, they have..." The voices could have been children, students, but they sounded slightly off, as if they were tiny adults.

Approaching the two dust-covered boys were a pair of rather put out House Elves, one young and dressed in a little outfit very obviously stitched together from yellowed, ink-stained book pages, the other old, dressed in leather book bindings, several of which had the titles still clearly visible. He even had a little tricorn hat made from the same material. The two came right up to the table, as if to reprimand or demand answers from the boys... but instead the students were completely ignored, as if there were nothing in the world but the piles of books. The young one, Jo, snatched up the copy of The Story of Arthur as Told by Merlin and gave it a long, careful sniff. She sounded like she was almost weeping as she said "Left in a cellar, Tolly. A dusty, filthy, awful cellar, with no company and no one to read it. It's almost too much to bear!"

House elves are curious little creatures. Ash had seen one once. The elf was frantically trying to keep up with a traveler in Hogsmeade. He remembered that elf persistently rambling, “Master. I’m sorry Master,” as if trying to make continual amends with the person whom they followed.

The elves before Ash and Hen were dressed in raggedy, makeshift clothes, just as Ash had remembered the elf in Hogsmeade. On closer look, Ash noticed the yellow book pages and leather bindings adorned the elves. An odd, but appropriate outfit for an elf in a library, Ash thought to himself.

“…no company and no one to read it. It’s almost too much to bear!” Ash had only made out the last of the elf’s moan. He sensed that the elves cared deeply for the books. Did they work here?

“We… uhh… we… uhh… my friend Hen pulled that one from the shelf about five minutes ago.” Ash quickly explained, thinking somehow he could deflect responsibility for the book’s condition onto his friend. Maybe the elves wouldn’t care? Maybe the books were more important to the elves then who had the book last?

“We just came down from the Ravenclaw Common Room to see what we could learn about mythology and the Ministry. We meant to harm.”

Ash’s words had not yet peaked the attention of the elves. He leaned in and whispered to Hen, “maybe they could tell us more about the Ministry?”

The over-the-top bereavement over the dusty books had stolen the boys’ attention. They had forgot about the notes they each were following.

“Maybe they could tell us about these…” Ash started to say  notes as he went to hold up the note in his hand. The NOTES! In a panic, Ash stuffed his note into his front pocket of his pants. He looked to Henry to see if he’d do the same.

Henry watched the house elves in curiosity. Growing up in the muggle world, with no awareness of the wizarding world, he had never met house elves, only hearing the odd discussion on their behaviors or the more pompous and rude conversations about how wizards and their families treat them. It sounded to Henry like a case of unwillful servitude, which left such a horrid taste in the boy's mouth. That being said, these house elves looked like they took great pride in their work. He offered a small wave and smile, trying to be polite to them.

“We… uhh… we… uhh… my friend Hen pulled that one from the shelf about five minutes ago,”  Ash had said.

Henry was suddenly hit by a wave of betrayal. Ash just threw him under the bus for the books' treatment! He shot Ash a frank look, one that spoke both 'Traitor!' and 'It's alright, I understand, but c'mon...'

"Um... I'm very sorry about those books. We found them on the shelves like that."

Henry's apology hadn't quite grabbed the house elves' attention by the time Ash leaned in to whisper to him.

"The Ministry? I'm sure they could tell us about lots of things, like where the books came from, their significance, and what they're doing here. The Ministry is just a small fraction of the questions we could ask."

Henry watched Ash put the note in his pocket, but didn't seem to understand to follow suit. Why try to hide the notes? What if the house elves could help? Why was Ash in such a panic? In the midst of his mental questioning, Henry ended up forgoing hiding the note.