Being a seventh year student meant that they're gonna face NEWTS, like it or not. Failing isn't an option or she couldn't get a good university. So started studying now wasn't a bad idea, right? Bianca decided to visit the library to get a full concentration. Plus, she could get a complete reference there.

"Valorous morning, Sir." The brunette greeted the hot librarian. "I needeth some valorous books about history of magic. doth thee eke has't books about wizarding relations and diplomacy?" Okay, she wasn't hitting on him by speaking Shakespearean. She just thought practicing it in front of him wouldn't be bad since he's a librarian and he should've known Shakespeare, right?

Leo hadn't been sitting on his chair at the front desk, in the middle of the library for many minutes before the first student of the day arrived. Looking up at the odd choice of words he beamed warmly just the same. "Good morning young madam." He straightened up as the girl stated why she was there in what he deduced to be the language of Shakespeare. An unorthodox way to ask for books, but Leo found it amusing. His morning had so far been far from amusing.

Pulling out his wand from his holster to fetch a couple books in each subject which he stacked in a neat pile in front of the senior brunette Leo asked "Are you preparing for NEWT revision already?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Leo hadn't been sitting on his chair at the front desk, in the middle of the library for many minutes before the first student of the day arrived. Looking up at the odd choice of words he beamed warmly just the same. "Good morning young madam." He straightened up as the girl stated why she was there in what he deduced to be the language of Shakespeare. An unorthodox way to ask for books, but Leo found it amusing. His morning had so far been far from amusing.

Pulling out his wand from his holster to fetch a couple books in each subject which he stacked in a neat pile in front of the senior brunette Leo asked "Are you preparing for NEWT revision already?"

Bianca just smiled as Mr. Kitridge appeared and greeted her as young madam, maybe because she decided to speak with this weird Shakespearean English. But well, being called young madam somehow made her flattered. "Aye, sir." She replied. "I hath decided to start studying from now. Early preparation is important, right?" Because she didn't want to fail. Failing her NEWTs wasn't an option, once again.

Okay, the books that she had requested were already in front of her. Good! "I grant you mercy, sir."She said and... "By the way, you're not thinking me weird since I previously talk to you with Shakespearean, right?" Bianca started talking with normal English again with her Canadian accent. Her tongue was a little bit stiff because of Shakespearean!

Repositioning his wand back into his holster Leo nodded in agreement. "Yes, early preparation is important when you are studying for any exams but especially for OWL's or NEWT's." He paused for a moment before adding "But don't forget to have some fun with your friends too. Knowledge has to set in your mind for it to be remembered later." Because studying too much could prove just as bad as too little studying. The key was to find a balance.

He was relieved when the senior girl dropped the Shakespearean accent. It was getting to him just a little. Smiling he shook his head "Not at all. I figured you just wanted try out something you had read about. But I’m thankful that you have stopped now. Do you want some copies of old newt exams too?"

Zhenya wanted to say hello to the Librarian, Mister Kitridge. Yes, Mister, not Professor. She walked up to the Front Desk with a big smile.

"Hello Mister Kitridge! I just wanted to, um, to say hello." That wasn't weird, was it? She hoped he didn't think she was weird. She wasn't… really, she just liked Mister Kitridge and wanted to say hello. And she loved the library, she loved being in it. "How was your summer? Did you read many good books?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Repositioning his wand back into his holster Leo nodded in agreement. "Yes, early preparation is important when you are studying for any exams but especially for OWL's or NEWT's." He paused for a moment before adding "But don't forget to have some fun with your friends too. Knowledge has to set in your mind for it to be remembered later." Because studying too much could prove just as bad as too little studying. The key was to find a balance.

He was relieved when the senior girl dropped the Shakespearean accent. It was getting to him just a little. Smiling he shook his head "Not at all. I figured you just wanted try out something you had read about. But I’m thankful that you have stopped now. Do you want some copies of old newt exams too?"

Of course Bianca would also have some fun. If she just dedicated her last year to study, it would be a bummer. Balancing her time between study for NEWTs and having fun in her way is very necessary. Nice advice, Mr. Kitridge. Seriously. "I do agree. Too much study can slowly fried my brain. " She could take a jog,baking or yoga for spending her fun time.

Oh, good that he didn't think she was weird by using the Shakespearean language. Somehow the brunette felt relieved. "Do you have them? Yes please, I really want them..." She answered excitedly when she knew the librarian had some copies of exams in previous years and offered them to her. "Thank you very much, Mr. Kitrigde. You're a savior," If it wasn't illegal, she could kiss him on the cheek now.

"By the way, do you also have some brochures or bulletins about Wizarding University?" Again she asked. Hopefully she didn't bother this handsome librarian.

Leo had just stopped back at the Front Desk to fetch clipboard to make notes on when Zhenya arrived. Beaming at her over the clipboard he said "Hi Zhenya, it's lovely to see you. Did you have a good summer break?" Dropping the clipboard back down on the counter, Leo pushed a trolley riddled with books back behind the counter too. He didn’t want Zhenya to accidentally trip over it. Satisfied he answered with a warm smile. "My summer was lovely. I visited the music festival in Diagon Alley among other things. Did you do that too?"

Nodding Leo responded. "Yes, I did read some good ones. Are you looking for something new to read?"



Nodding in agreement Leo said "I really hope your brain doesn’t get fried. If you fear that might be happening later on in the year then go talk to Professor Culloden. He might know if there is a potion you can take against it." Or Cecelia might.

Blushing he explained. "I have them, I make new copies of old exams every year. Owl's and Newt's exams have existed as long as Hogwarts has." Turning his back on the girl he found the right box, picked it up and moved it to the counter in front of the senior. Leo opened the box as he asked. "Do you want old exams for all subjects, electives included or just a few?"

"I've gathered all the brochures, pamphlets and bulletins about Wizarding Universities and different wizarding jobs and such in the Corner Room. Feel free to go there and look. If you can't find what you are looking for then I'll of course help you. All information in there should be up to date."

She smiled brightly at Mr. Kitridge. "It's lovely to see you too. And the Library. Do you miss it here when you leave for the summer?" Zhenya would, she thought. Well, she did, but she wasn't a librarian, and she thought that perhaps he would miss it a great deal if he was away from it for so long.

"Yes I had a great summer. I met my brother's wife and my nephew!" She was happy she had at least maintained contact with her brother. "Then I went to Seattle to visit a friend who only attended here for two years." Raven. But she was healthy now. She watched as he moved the book trolley behind the counter, and allowed herself just a quick moment to eye in all the books, before turning back to Mr. Kitridge as he spoke.

Music festival? "No I didn't go to that. Was it fun?" That was a silly question, really. Of course it would be fun. Music Festival. Just the words individually sounded fun!

But was she looking for something new to read? She thought about it for two seconds then felt a smile spread across her face, "Oh yes please! Something.. adventurous! Do you have any suggestions?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Nodding in agreement Leo said "I really hope your brain doesn’t get fried. If you fear that might be happening later on in the year then go talk to Professor Culloden. He might know if there is a potion you can take against it." Or Cecelia might.

Blushing he explained. "I have them, I make new copies of old exams every year. Owl's and Newt's exams have existed as long as Hogwarts has." Turning his back on the girl he found the right box, picked it up and moved it to the counter in front of the senior. Leo opened the box as he asked. "Do you want old exams for all subjects, electives included or just a few?"

"I've gathered all the brochures, pamphlets and bulletins about Wizarding Universities and different wizarding jobs and such in the Corner Room. Feel free to go there and look. If you can't find what you are looking for then I'll of course help you. All information in there should be up to date."

Asking Culloden for a potion for what?

At first, Bianca didn't have any idea about what did Kitridge say that she might need a potion from Culloden. Then finally she realized something. "I'm.. I'm so sorry Mr. Kitridge. I didn't mean that my brain literally get 'fried'." She chuckled and air-quoted the fried word. Seriously, this library man was funny and cute. Imagine that her brain was literally fried, horrible. "It's just... a term of expressing how tired and hot my brain would be if I too much study without having any fun." The brunnete forgot what muggles called it.. metaphor maybe?

She eyed the box that Kitridge took and...... HOLLY MOLLY STRAWBERRIES! He really had a good collection of exams inside there. "I uh... I'll take some. I don't need herbology, care of magical creatures, and arithmancy since I didn't take them." Yeah, why did you need the exams for subjects that you didn't take, Bianca?

Corner room? The brunette had no idea that there was a place called corner room in this library. "Well, I'll look for it by myself then." She answered and smiled.

Contemplating as he glanced around the room noticing that his white kneazle had taken to sleeping on one of the shelves in the nearest bookcase with a paw lazily hanging out over the edge he said to Zhenya. "I miss it sometimes but I know I'm coming back to it."

"It seems you had a good summer vacation. Was your friend a Slytherin too?" Leo wondered. "The music festival was indeed fun. Some old student’s of Hogwarts played with their bands there. I even bought a band t-shirt." He neglected with purpose to say that he had gone there with Cassie. The rumours were probably circling anyways but he wasn’t going to feed them.

Raising a hand to scratch his nose that was itching he asked thoughtfully. "Can the adventure book involve some thrill, romance and whatnot too?" If Zhenya didn’t mind then there were several books Leo could suggest at the top of his head.



As the brown haired girl explained what she had meant Leo burst out laughing. Through the laughing he said a smile pursing his lips. "Apology is accepted. It was partly my fault too for taking your words too literally." He understood a lot better now. Kids picked up and used terms and expressions he wasn’t used to. It happened. That was why he tried to keep up through reading a lot. In this case Leo had failed though. But that was bound to happen.

As the girl ticked off which subjects she wouldn’t be needing exams for, Leo raised a brow. "Herbology is a core subject, are you sure you aren't going to take a shot at its newt? You might regret it later." He of course didn’t know what the girl’s plans for the future were but a good grade in herbology probably a plus when applying for any university courses.

Stacking up copies for all the other subjects in a neat pile he added since he had forgotten earlier. "You'll find the Corner Room next to the Stained Glass Window’s section, further inside the library. I’ve put up some signs so hopefully you’ll find it easily."

Zhenya smiled at his response. I know I'm coming back to it. She thought about that for a moment and decided to file that comment in her brain, under WISDOM. Nodding to herself, she let herself concentrate on the conversation she was having.

"Yes she was, back in… um…" she had to try and count backwards to remember when she started at Hogwarts "year 2075. But she left because she had a brain tumour. She's fine now though." Very good, and studying to become a doctor! She was very smart, and healthy. "Oh did they? What kind of music did they play?"

Zhenya nodded enthusiastically. "Yes thrill, romance, anything. As long as it's mostly adventure." She didn't want the adventure to be two people looking for each other so they could confess their love. Yawn. But romance as a parallel story would be good. Or thrill.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

As the brown haired girl explained what she had meant Leo burst out laughing. Through the laughing he said a smile pursing his lips. "Apology is accepted. It was partly my fault too for taking your words too literally." He understood a lot better now. Kids picked up and used terms and expressions he wasn’t used to. It happened. That was why he tried to keep up through reading a lot. In this case Leo had failed though. But that was bound to happen.

As the girl ticked off which subjects she wouldn’t be needing exams for, Leo raised a brow. "Herbology is a core subject, are you sure you aren't going to take a shot at its newt? You might regret it later." He of course didn’t know what the girl’s plans for the future were but a good grade in herbology probably a plus when applying for any university courses.

Stacking up copies for all the other subjects in a neat pile he added since he had forgotten earlier. "You'll find the Corner Room next to the Stained Glass Window’s section, further inside the library. I’ve put up some signs so hopefully you’ll find it easily."

Oh, finally Mr. Kitridge understood what did she mean and laughed at himself. Admit that, he looked way hotter when he laughed. The brunette couldn't help but smile. If only Kitridge wasn't way too much older than her.... she'd like to ask him out... EH? What the hell did she think about, huh?

"I uh... I dunno. I always have a bad luck in Herbology, no matter how hard my effort to study I never get a good result." She explained. Yeah, it was true. it seemed like she was cursed not to be very good in Herbology. "I've been thinking to drop it since my go-to major in University doesn't require a good grade in this lesson. Do you have a suggestion? I mean.. should I drop it or take it?" She asked. Since the librarian had experienced it before, maybe he could help her.

"Thank you, sir. I really want to find the bulletin about Wizarding law... or diplomacy and relations."Bianca already had interest in both of those major, she just needed to think more which one should she take.

"I wasn't working at Hogwarts in 2075. I started working here a few years later. I'm glad though that your friend is healthy now." Leo said softly. All severe diseases gave him the big shivers. He had never liked getting sick or hearing about others getting sick.

Latching on to Zhenya's much more pleasant question Leo said enthusiastically "They played pop music among other sorts. I'm sure you would have liked it. It was quite catchy music and easy to dance to. Hopefully the festival will come back in the future. It was a hit!”

"There are lot's of muggle book's I can suggest like 'the Journey to the Center of the Earth' or the classic 'Around the world in 80 days.' If you want some fantasy there are the series by Eddings and Tolkien you could try. Or there are some historical ones like the story of how Noah built his ark." Leo finished off. There was a vast amount of books in the library.



Leo listened as the brunette girl explained to him the reasoning behind her plan not to take the herbology newt. He listened to her full explanation before Leo gave his advice. "Before you decide whether to drop herbology or not I suggest you go talk to Professor Millard, the new herbology professor. He might be able to help you put together a study plan or even advice you on how you should best practice your plant skills."

"I don't think you should give up on the subject even if it's not required for the major your planning to take at University. Knowing how to care for and use plants can be beneficial in your day to day life if you think about it. We use plants for more than just making a room or a house more homely." Like in cooking, potions, health care etc. Leo could go on.

Nodding Leo said "You're welcome. And I'm sure you'll find something in the corner room about those three branches of professions." The girl was dreaming big that was for sure.

For a Gryffindor, he spent more time in the Library than he ought to be. There were perfectly good trees to climb outside, a perfectly good forbidden forest to explore, thestrals to find and ride and well... frankly anything was better than being in HERE.

BUT... here he was.

Shuffling into the Library with his bag strap over one shoulder, Zeke made his way over to the front desk, and crossed his arms on top of it, casually leaning there until Mr. Kitridge noticed him. Would he notice him?? Hhhhmmm?

HELLO.

Leo was in the middle of the tedious process of marking and putting protective spells on new books when he heard rather than saw someone approach. He didn’t raise his gaze right away. He finished with the book he was working with before he raised his gaze to beam at the boy standing with his arms crossed on top of the front desk. "Hello Zeke! Lovely surprise, how are things? Are you enjoying your second year of magical education?"

Stacking the books he'd been working on in a neat pile to the side Leo asked "Did you need help finding a book?" Or had Zeke just dropped by for some small talk?

....................... he was totally fine just hanging here. Yep. Hanging and staring.

Zeke watched a little as Mr. Kitridge did some stuff to some books. Fancy that, huh? .... Odd.

When the Librarian left his private world and noticed him, Zeke beamed. Enthusiastic man was enthusiastic, but nice. He was nice. "Eeeehhh, things are okay," he replied, shrugging, "things are getting harder though, did you know that I might fail astronomy?" He was CONVINCED he would, in fact, he might need to see Professor Airey about that. Failure was not an option, he'd rather drop the subject if he had to.

BUUUTTT... did he need help finding a book? "Yes? I mean, I don't know? Do you only have school books? Or do you have books to learn languages as well?" Cause that's what he needed. Languages. It was going to be the bane of his existence. As if English hadn't been hard enough for him - and he STILL had terrible spelling and grammar - but now on top of learning French (which he never would) he had to learn Czech! What even was that?!

At Zeke's news Leo furrowed his brows in surprise."No I didn't know that. What makes you think you'll fail astronomy? I'm positive that you won't fail if you work hard to learn the things that you find difficult. Have you talked to Professor Flamsteed about your grade in the subject?" Hopefully this was just something that Zeke had imagined and if it wasn’t then Airey was best equipped to help him out. Leo had been an average astronomer at best in his school days.

Stroking his chin thoughtfully Leo responded "I do think I have some language books, yes. At least the most common ones that many people across the planet speak like French, Spanish and German. Which language are you looking for?" And he was very curious to know the reason why Zeke wanted to learn a new language now on top of his school work load.

Was Mr. Kitridge surprised? ... Really? ...

Zeke found that to be an odd thing, since he wasn't really the studying type. But he DID study a lot for Astronomy, and it was far too much in his opinion. Yep. He shrugged, "I just don't seem to get it as well as I got it last year," like, he could guess half the stuff in Astronomy last year, this year, he was CLUELESS. "I might go talk to him, I will go talk to him," Zeke decided. Yep. In fact, he might check the man's office on his way back up the the common room. But yeah, that wasn't why he was here.

A smile formed on his lips when Kitridge said they DID have language books, cause, yeah, PROGRESS. His smile did falter at the mention of French though. That was one language he was ready to give up on. He was never going to get the hang of it, he'd just have to settle for getting Avery to translate for him. "I need czech," he said with a firm and proud nod. Or wait... was it czech republican? ... ??? He wasn't entirely sure about that, but since Emily had written CZECH very clearly, he figured he'd go with that. "All I know is how to say hello, I think they must have been pirates in the old days," he added conversationally before adding a LOUD, "AHOY," with a wave. See! He could speak it already! His Czech was miles ahead of his French.

Leo listened attentively as Zeke explained his astronomy situation. The astronomy they were taught his year had increased in difficulty it seemed and Zeke wasn’t getting it or keeping or rather understanding it as well as he had done the year previously. "Talking to Professor Flamsteed is a good first step. Another step could be finding a study buddy. Do you have a friend or someone in your house that you know is apt in astronomy that can help you study?" Leo had learned that friends sometimes could explain things in an easier way than professors could.

When Zeke mentioned Czech of all known languages in the world Leo leaned down under the counter and brought up the enormous book listing all books that could be found in the library. Opening it up to the index portion he skimmed until he found the language books."You're in luck Zeke. We actually do have a book about the Czech language in the storage room." Which was a surprise to Leo, laughing he shook his head. "I doubt they were pirates in the old days but I’m not very knowledgeable about the Czech Republic at all. Is there any particular reason why you need to learn the Czech language on top of your magical studies?"

That first step was going to be a necessary one, he already knew. BUT... a study buddy wasn't a bad idea. "I know Paige is all sorts of awesome with school stuff, and Hady said she'd help..." they were good peeps. Other than that, nobody else came to mind. Mmmmm... that was something to think about.

Was it something he'd said?

Zeke watched as Leo pulled a HUUGGGEEE book out and started rifling through it. Weird. He leaned forward on the counter to get a better look at what he was doing, noticing then that it was like an index of sorts. He'd seen those in the back of books before... not that he ever used them. He enjoyed the thrill of the hunt too much to spoil it with indexes.

AND SUCCESS!

"Awesome, that'd be super handy. Could I check it out till the end of the year please?" HEHEHE... geddit? CHECK it out? Czech it out? HAHAHAHA. He was so funny sometimes. It was a shame though that Kitridge didn't think they were pirates. Pirates were cool. He wanted THIS to be cool. Sigh. "Mmm, yeah, well Mum's been wanting me to learn it for a while now, but I never bothered, cause y'know... why would I when we live in London?" That had been his excuse about French as well, but there were reasons why he needed to know that too.
"But now she's saying we'll be there for summer breaks and stuff." Not that he wouldn't be able to get by on his English, he was sure that he could, but there was no arguing with Emily on this one. He'd concede and try. He would try under the delusion that he was learning a sacred pirate language. Yep.

"There you go. You can already think of two people. Ask them. Maybe you three could start a study group?" Leo encouraged enthusiastically. "Studying I've found sometimes is easier if you do it together with somebody else instead of battling with stuff on your own. They can usually give you another perspective," mostly because everyone interpreted things differently.

"Of course, that shouldn't be a problem." Leo smiled. And besides he highly doubted that anyone except Zeke had a reason for wanting to learn Czech during the school year. Extracting his wand from its holster Leo accioed the book to the counter, instead of leaving Zeke and the front counter to fetch it, sometimes it was handy to be able to use magic.

Pushing the book towards the lion boy he said with beam. "Here you are. I hope it's not too thick or hard to understand. I haven't taken a peek into it like I do with most other books since it's been stocked in the storage room." Nodding Leo commented. "I see well there is no time like the present and I’ve heard that it's easier to learn new languages when you are young opposed to when you are an adult."

"Any idea what cities in the Czech Republic you'll visit on your summer breaks? I might have a guide book to the country too somewhere that you could borrow and read if you’re interested?"

Woah woah woah. Study group? Nuh uh. He was NOT interested in joining a Nerd Cult. Nope. He was trying to be too cool for that. Nevertheless, he nodded along pleasantly. "I'll consider it," he decided. Mmmhhmm. He DID consider it, for all of a second and might actually give it a go if the world was about to end. ... .... no, who was he trying to kid? He'd do a million other things first if the world was ending. Sheesh.

But WEEEE! He could have it for the whole year?! LEGIT! This was success, and he was still going to call it a pirate language. Yep. Ahoy was totally pirate speak, he was 113338362684% sure of it. "Thanks!" he beamed, as he watched Mr. Kitridge summon the book from wherever it was.

Accepting the book, he observed it's cover first before turning to a random page. Random page had random letters... neat... this would be fun. Right? RIGHT? "I'm sure it'll be fine, and if not... then I'll get by without it. I've been to France plenty of times without understanding things, this should be no different, right?" He didn't think so, but he knew it meant a lot to Emily that he learn, so he'd try. TRY. "That's what my mum says too," he said, nodding about the whole being young thing making it easier, "not sure I believe her yet, but she should know, she learnt heaps of languages." But she was one of them Ravenclaw's, that would've helped too. He wasn't a thinker though.

Zeke shrugged. "Mum used to live in Prague, so I think we'll be there a lot. Not really sure what the plan is, just that I won't spend much of any time in London anymore." This in itself was interesting, considering how long the summer break actually was, and Emily worked too much, how she was going to survive on a holiday that long he didn't know.

Leo had suggested some ways that Zeke could put into practice as a start to get his grade up in astronomy and hopefully understand it better. If Zeke chose to use the suggestions was up to him. Leo figured though that he’d at least talk to Airey to get a better understanding of what it was that he needed to work on to become better in the subject.

"You're welcome!" Leo said quietly as Zeke accepted the book on languages. Pulling a hand through his messy hair he shrugged. "You're probably right. But if you think it does you can always fall back on your English and ask the person you're talking to, to repeat what they just said in English." Given that Leo wasn't very fluent in any language aside from English. Luckily for him English was spoken literally everywhere.

"Oh, your mother is multilingual? Does she need it in her profession or is it an interest?" Leo wondered curiously. He resolved as much at least unless Zeke’s mother just had a big interest languages. It was possible. For most people it was either or. "I'm sure you’ll have fun in Prague it is if I recall my geography correctly the capital city of the Czech Republic so there must be famous places and sights to visit while you are there. You might even make some new friends that can help you learn the language better." Leo based that on the face that Zeke seemed to be likeable young man.

He continued looking at the pages a little longer, flipping here... flipping there...

There were lots of weird triangley-V shaped things above letters, and random apostrophe things, wait... was it apostrophes? Either way, those accent things might be the end of him. If it was anything like French then his tongue wouldn't be able to wrap itself around the sound. Eeeehhhh, he could make it up.

"Dobreee den," he tried out, was that right? It sounded right to him.

Of course, Mr. Kitridge had a point, there WAS English. "Fingers crossed I'll be allowed to use it. My family avoided speaking to me in English because they hoped then that I'd pick up French as we went along, it failed, but my youngest sister was good at filling me in..." it would be a shame if they weren't in Prague with him. Would they be? Maybe he needed to ask Emily, or better yet, Gavin... or even better than that, Ashley. She'd know.

Zeke nodded, "She knows HEAPS, like, I don't even know how many, but there's English, French, Czech, Russian, Swedish and... ... I dunno what else, but she knows LOTS." As for WHY she needed to know them, he shrugged. No idea. Not really. "She moved around a lot when she was my age, so it was kinda from that, but she's a nerd as well, was a Ravenclaw here years ago." Years and years and YEARS ago. How many exactly? He didn't know, but it did cross his mind to check out the trophy room to find her name.

He was lost though, when it came to all this geography stuff and capital cities and what? just what? ... One thing he was sure of, was there were awesome things to do, at least, he was sold the moment a certain clock was mentioned. "They have this awesome clock tower thing, and it's an astronomical clock, so I wonder if seeing it will help with Astronomy as well, it's worth a shot." Truth be told he didn't know what was ON an astronomical clock, just that is was astronomical... duuuuuh. Meeting new friends? That didn't even occur to him, "I guess, maybe." But he rather liked the friends he had.

Closing his book and holding it to his chest, Zeke's eyes fell on his wrist watch. Whoops, lost track of time. "Sorry, Sir... I've got to go, thanks for the book and the chat," he beamed.