Kalen was moving through the book maze, stopping every now and then to peer around him. The librarian was looking for a certain book and at the moment he couldn't remember for the life of him where the heck he put it..

Was it the second fork to the left? Or down the fifth dead end?

Merlin! He didn't want to Accio it, lest the whole thing come flying at him. It had taken ages of planning and book picking and magic to get this all right!

Kalen turned to the left and then sighed as he scanned some of the spines of the tomes that made up the walls.. It wasn't here either.

Fizzing Whizzbees! He might be in here all day!

The new addition to the library had been a blessing for Rooney, given then at least once a week for the past however many years, he had tucked himself into an area of the library and built himself an igloo out of books and spent a blissful few hours with his own thoughts and a book being read for just leisure. He supposed that the maze would do just that for him...for at least a month or two, anyway. After that, he probably would have gone through it so much that he knew the way through like the back of his hand. Unless it changed layout often...then he would be doomed.

He'd been walking through peacefully for about twenty minutes when he stumbled over his shoelace that had worked its way undone. With a huff, the Head Boy leaned over to tie it back into a double bow (security and precaution to no more tripping) in the middle of the walkway. He hadn't heard anyone else walking here yet.

Kalen slowly backed up as he eyed the way he had just come, the book wasn't in the third nook like he had thought it had been, nor was it in the middle of the maze, to the left of the chairs, which would have been a sensible place to put it.

The librarian slowly turned around and started to walk back toward the entrance of the maze, perhaps he had gotten turned around when he had walked in?

Deciding that he had, Kalen started to move a bit quicker when he rounded a corner and noticed someone uhh.. kneeling there?

Oh! It was the Head Boy! A smile came over Kalen's face as he walked towards the boy, he was careful to make some noise, in order to not startle the boy, as he approached.

"Hello Head Boy Bronwyn! " Kalen said with a smile. "Shoe trouble?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow. Leon had been over the moon when he had heard who the Head Boy was, and Kalen had to endure listen to his nephew talk about him for a fair few moments.

As soon as he had thought about not hearing anyone, Rooney did hear someone. Ayyyyyy. He shot up to stand at the voice, spinning around to look at who it was. "Misterrrrrr Kennedy, hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" For some reason, the Ravenclaw had jumped to cover-up mode as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have been. Which he hadn't, for the record. And his worse fears were eased instantly when the librarian asked about his shoes. "OH!" He laughed, brushing his hand against the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Tripped over my laces, Sir. Didn't break anything, though." All of the books were still in their walls and correct places.

"How are you finding Hogwarts, Sir?"

Kalen held back a chuckle as the Head Boy shot up and spun around like a kid about to be in trouble. He raised an eyebrow at the greeting but just nodded at him. Rooney's reactions were funny and Kalen was having issues with not bursting into laughter.

Probably wouldn't do to laugh at a student, yeah? He squashed down his Slytherin instincts and eased his stance a little, in order to make the boy feel a bit more comfortable, it's not like shoe tying was against the rules or anything.

"Ahh it happens to the best of us Mr. Bronwyn, hence why I usually wear these." He gestured down to his leather slip on loafers, because really, who had time for laces.

A chuckle finally escaped Kalen's lips though at his next words. "You would be hard pressed to break this, it's held together by magic. You can trip, or fall or take several books out of it, and it'll hold. " The librarian explained. He had had so much fun putting this together..

Now if he could only find that blasted book?

"It's lovely as usual, it's amazing to be back and to work in this library.. well it's sort of like a dream. " He said with a nod. "And what of you? How does it feel being a seventh year?"

As the conversation was drawn to the librarian's shoes, Rooney looked at them and pulled a face. "Sir, you really need to get yourself some grown up shoes. Slip ons are for children. I can put you in touch with my mother. She makes clothes. And shoes." And also the most wonderful takeaway orders, but his school staff didn't need to know about the lack of talent Tamzin Bronwyn had in the kitchen. Definitely not about the time she put crayons in the microwave and ended up exploding the thing.

"Really? Would magic cause it to fall? How did you do it? What spell? Could you teach me?" When Rooney built his igloos, he just had to stay still so that no book fell or moved or anything. It gave him many a cramp and was worse when his sister showed up for whispered talks about her homework or something that made very little sense.

The boy shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. [b]"It's strange to be back and knowing it's the last time I'll be 'back', you know? I still have nightmares about last year and I have no idea what I'm going to do at university yet... It's a strange old feeling.

Kalen chuckled softly as Rooney spoke and he nodded his head, "I do have several pairs of wingtips, but for walking around in the library for hours on end, I prefer comfort over fashion. But I could always use some new clothes and shoes.. " He said with a smile as he looked over at the Maze for a moment and then back at the Head Boy as he fired his questions at him.

"Mmm, Really. And Yes magic would make it fall, I'm sure one well placed Bombarda or Incendio of course would make the whole thing fall down. " He said with a sigh, "I do hope no one will be trying to explode my library, but I might need to add a shield charm along with all the other enchantments that I have in here. " He said with a smile. "As for how I did it, I traced it out on paper first, then magically enlarged the paper with the drawing and started to put the books down on the template.. I stuck the bottom layer of the books to the template and worked up from there. " He said with a smile. "As for spells, there are about three of them in here.. " And all highly tricky..

Kalen nodded as the boy spoke.. he knew that feeling well, his last year here had been a bittersweet one.. Ahh well.. no sense in looking back on it now..

"What happened last year? Oh.. the.. portal.. Leon told me about that. " His nephew apparently still had nightmares as well.

Rooney concentrated a little on the surrounding walls, picking out the titles of books he had read previously and those that slightly intrigued him. Once a week he selected a book based on just the title or the cover image. Every other time, he selected from the content alone. It was fun to be judgemental just once a week. "I'm well versed with Bombarda, Sir." That wasn't to say that he would use it on the maze. He actually really enjoyed the idea of it and the seclusion it gave for anyone wanting a little while on their own or the reason to actually get lost.

"It's beautiful, Sir. I can only hope one day I'll have space enough to have my own one of those." And he was going to make sure to write to the librarian after graduation to get those spell names. It would be his mission to have them down properly in time for whenever he moved out into his own space. He was sure that his children would love a book maze as much as he did. Maybe even his Olivia, too. That was if she wasn't as perpetually sad as she was right now. Engagements were difficult, really.

Roo shrugged. "Yeah........that........."

Kalen smiled a bit as the 7th year spoke, "I have no doubt about that, you break it though, you need to help me put it back together. " He said with a grin as he looked around. "You know I hand selected all of these books by hand.. hoping people would come in and take a random book out of the maze and read them.. " He said as he leaned back a little, relaxing his stance for a moment as he looked at Rooney.

"Thank you Mr. Bronwyn. I appreciate your words. I always wanted to do something like this while I worked at Cambridge, but of course being a muggle Library I couldn't.. Hogwarts has been a dream come true for me in several ways. " He had wondered how he would fare with the memories, but so far, they seemed to comfort him.. It was a good feeling to know that he was healing.

He nodded as the boy shrugged.. "Everyone has their little things that gives them nightmares at night, fears that stay with them. But.. it's what we do with those things that make us who we are. " He let his eyes wander around.. "I'm actually looking for a book in this maze, Care to help me find it? "

With a smile, the Ravenclaw nodded and gave another look to the titles of books that he was near. "Are they all books that you've read, Sir? It's an almighty lot of books, I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't read all of them." But then again, he worked with books, so...it would be surprising if he didn't have a long list of those already read. His fingers traced across the title of a book he had been reading in a harder time and he fought off the unsettling thoughts and feelings from his few day stay in the hospital wing last term. You know, the few days after he had snapped his wand and had needed to stay longer than the others. Emotional exhaustion was as it seemed...exhausting.

"You should add to it every year, Sir. The favourite books of the graduates, or a book donated by them. That would be nice for legacy sake." And honestly, he was already thinking about all of the books he would have to consider himself. Literacy was such a large part of his life and no doubt he would appreciate others getting to read a book that had meant so much to him.

Rooney set his jaw and then sighed. "Yes, well, we all deal with things in different ways." There was avoidance, attention and acceptance. He himself went through all three each hour - it depended on the situation he was in and the people he was around. "Oh yeah? Which book? Sure I'll help."

Kalen shook his head at the question that was asked of him. "No, I haven't read all of them, I've read the front half, the back half are books I want to read. I felt that if I walked past them on a regular basis, I might actually get around to reading them. " The Librarian said with a soft chuckle as he looked around at the tomes that surrounded them. He was proud of his work and he was glad at least some of the students appreciated it.

Kalen nodded as the Head Boy spoke, "I'll take that into consideration actually, that would be a great legacy if I could actually get people to do it.. I'll announce it at the next book club, see what the response will be. Thank you Mr.Bronwyn. " Kalen said with a smile at the Ravenclaw..

Memories passed through the his head as Rooney spoke about how everyone has dealt with their things.. "Yes we do don't we?" He tended to bury himself in work, and before he knew it eight years had passed. Hogwarts was a great change of pace for him, a dream come true really..

Even if everything has started here.. It was nice to come back. Nice that the memories were happy ones, nice to find that the pain had gone.

Ehhem...

Anyways! Book? Yes?

"I seem to have lost my copy of an old muggle book called The Silver Chair by. C.S. Lewis.. it's actually bound in silver and I can't seem to remember where I put it. " Kalen said as he did a slow spin..

This. Was. Ridiculous.

For once, he hadn't taken his broom up to the castle. He had actually walked. Using his feet. He'd regretted it instantly. But he wanted a book, a book he'd somehow misplaced and since Mr. Kalen always talked about how nice the library was, he figured he would give it a go to see if the book he was looking for was anywhere to be found.

That was two hours ago.

Since then he'd been wandering around, trying his best to memorize the titles he passed by. Without success.

"There's that stupid book again." He muttered and gave one of the books he recognized a flick with his finger. Take that. He was obviously walking in circles.

If he had brought his broom he would have just flown out of the maze an hour and a half ago. If he wasn't so proud he would have called out for young Mr Kalen. He was certain he could do this, he was a ranger after all! A groundskeeper! He knew his way around the Forbidden Forest, he would find a way out of this stupid book maze.

... Sometime.

It was a maze.......made from books? Was this...safe?

Deeply fascinated, Lachlan stood at the mouth of this maze, arms crossed as he tried to discern exactly what was holding all these tomes together. Carefully placed sticking charms? No-Maj means...Cement? No, that probably wasn't the case here. Cement would've ruin the actual books.

Huh.

Finding his interest piqued, the American boy proceeded inside. The things people thought up sometimes. Along with the added touch of the blue bell flames, Lachlan surmised that this would've been an ideal place to enjoy a bit of light reading.

He'd keep that in mind.

Olivia had heard of the Book Maze from a couple of her friends so she decided to go pay it a visit. Entering the library, she saw it and was completely confused. How were the books staying afloat? Obviously some kind of charm but what exactly? She decided to venture in further to determine the cause of it and to complete the maze.

A little ways up she found one of the Illvermorny champions ([COLOR="Dark Red"]Lachlan Wheeler[/COLOR]). She was a little uncertain about approaching him because he seemed to be in deep thought but she decided to take the chance. Professor Stewart had said that they were not very different from them and it was a great opportunity to meet another person.

"This place would be perfect for a quiet afternoon spent reading with a cup of tea," she said as she walked over with hands in her jacket as she was cold. The castle was already starting to become cold today. "Congratulations on being a champion. I'm Olivia. Olivia Holden." She held her hand out towards him in a guesture of a handshake.

Ok Maddox was in the library which was not his favorite place to be. Since we'll look at everyone reading and studying. Boring stuff. Real boring. He probably had some assignments to do while here. But he has forgotten them. Oh well. He is sure someone will remind him. But he was here to look into the book maze thing.

Since he was bored. But this place seemed the most interesting and like he said he was bored. Did he really need another reason?

Plus Maddox was an idiot so of course, he was going in and walking randomly around until he saw an old man????

Uh was this a trick or what

"You need help Mr.. Dude....Professor"

Yeah someone that old must be a Professor

"Sir, do you have a set time to read those books? Like..do you want to get through them all before the end of the school year? Or is it just an ongoing thing?" Rooney thought it would be nice to have a whole new batch of things every year in the book maze because Mr. Kennedy was discovering new book shelves to add to his list. "I think I'll start planning my book contribution ready for your announcement, Sir." Because it really was going to be a big old thing for him to figure out. Books were important to the Ravenclaw and he wanted it to be the most excellent of choices.

Quietly, the Head Boy walked ahead of the Librarian, eyes scanning the stacks of books around for the book.

"Can you not accio it, Sir?"

Lachlan had been silently inspecting a section of the book wall, reading the many titles found there. He wasn't too surprised to see that most of its composition was formed from throwaways. No-Maj literature, as well. No, wait...They were called muggles here.

Muggle was such an odd word. It reminded him of one of the videos games he'd done cosplay for. Moogles. He'd been a fluffy moogle, once or twice.

Hmm?

Angling his head to the side, Lach caught sight of the brunette who was slowly making her approach. A Hogwarts native, as he'd have remembered her had she been from back home. He was good with faces. "I was just thinking the same thing." Mississippi accent as thick as ever, he dropped his crossed arms. It had been an abrasive stance, and he certainly didn't want her to get the wrong idea via body language. She was more than welcome to join him. "Lachlan Wheeler...but you know that, I think." Olivia? was congratulating him, after all. Still, he blushed at her kind words. And after a moment, he returned the handshake, sheepish that she'd beaten him to it.

He was used to being the one who made that sort of gesture first. His American friends were rude.

"It's still a little surreal, but thank you." And because he was curious, he asked, "Have you explored this maze before?"

She'd never heard an accent like his before. It was really something else. Kind of already friendly in a way. It definitely through her off. She didn't know what accent the kids from Illvermorny would have. Olivia grinned at Lachlan. Ah yes, she had heard his name at the feast. She didn't want to make assumptions and actually call him by a different name, that would be super awkward if she did that. She noticed him return her handshake and she smiled softly at his words. "So which part of the US are you from if you don't mind me asking?" curious, she was. She just hoped the question wasn't too intrusive. Her curiosity usually got the better of her these days.

"I'm sure. One of my close friends is competing in the competition and I'm a little nervous for her. I can't help but be a little worried," she said with her slight Australian accent coming out more. There was probably nothing to worry about but still this was Hogwarts. Anything could happen. Then she paused, listening to his question. Olivia shook her head. Unfortunately she had not explored this maze yet. "No, I haven't but I'd like too. I was planning on exploring it now? Want to come explore it with me?" she offered. "It's alright if you don't want to either." She'd give him the option either way.

For some reason, the question about his geography made Lachlan laugh. A deep, rich sound buried in the back of his throat. Back home, his voice was disclaimer enough for everyone to know exactly where he hailed from: a place where R's didn't exist and every sentence sounded like it belonged in a love song. Mississippi musicality for you. But given that Olivia was...something other than British or Scottish? Her tone didn't quite match up with everyone else's moving through this school. "Swap?" Lach's grin was an easy one. "I'm from one of the southern states. Mississippi." Given the inflection in his voice Mississippi would always come out sounding like Miss'sippy. Short and sweet.

Ruffling his hair, he recalled the faces of the other IMPS champions, challenging himself to guess which would be a close acquaintance. However, in the spirit of not wanting to seem stereotypical or rude, Lachlan thought it best to just ask. "May I ask who she is?" Olivia had clearly said her, so that narrowed the field. He thought he knew which one, but..."I think it's normal to feel that way. It's supposed to be an intense competition." No doubt, whatever tasks were delved up would be dangerous. Actually, it was best he didn't think about that too much.

She'd earned another smile. "I was asking, ma'am, because I thought you might accompany me." Teasing. He was teasing her, but again, she'd beaten him to the punch. So much for his gentlemanly ways today. "Ladies first."

Lachlan was chuckling. Did he get that question a lot? Olivia was slightly confused but instead smiled at him. "Do you get that question a lot?" she asked curiously. At his comment about swapping accents or swapping where they were from (she wasn't entirely sure what he meant) but went along with it. "Mississipi. I've never been there before. You're far from home," she said before pausing. "It's a long story for me. I was born in Australia and then moved to France when I was a child and now I'm here. I transferred to Hogwarts last year from Beauxbatons." Too much information? Perhaps. But that was probably okay.

To Lachlan's question, Olivia nodded slowly. Of course, he could know! She doesn't mind. "[b]Her name is Etta Kramer. Her full name is Henrietta but she dossn't like ever being called by her full name,[b]" she mentioned with a small smile. Hah. Olivia remembered the day she met Etta. They had been sitting by the grounds, talking about their lives and getting to know each other when a boy named Jacob had walked over. Jacob had been super nervous and awkward but he slowly opened up to the two girls. That had been a great conversation between the three of them. Hm.. She wondered where Jacob was now. At Lachlan's words, Olivia nodded once more. It was supposed to be an intense competition. "Yes, I hope it isn't too dangerous. Hogwarts has had a history of things becoming very dangerous quickly." She laughed, remembering what she and Ace had spoken about a few days ago. "Some of us joke around here that when you graduate Hogwarts you get your degree but you also get a degree in survival."

Accompany him? How formal and gentlemanly of him. She liked how he spoke. His parents had raised him well. He was a true and utter gentleman. "Accompany you? I'd like that," she said, returning his teasing with a grin. And then he offered her to go first. "Why thank you," she blushed a little as she felt a bit awkward. She wasn't good with this sort of thing when boys were being super polite. She just wasn't' used to it. Thus she led Lachlan and him into the book maze. Olivia remembered a question that she had had earlier. "So what is Mississippi like?" she asked, turning to glance at Lachlan.

Mr. Dude-Professor.

Haraldur slowly turned around, eyeing a kid who apparently adressed him as a 'dude'. Since this wasn't Brent Westwood, it was an Ilvermorny student.

"Thank you, young sir. But I'm perfectly fine." A loud, growling sound from his stomach suggested otherwise but he chose to ignore it. The pride. The priiiide.

"You're in a maze." Just in case that wasn't obvious. And not just any maze. A windling "You're never getting out before dinner"-maze. Haraldur would have a talk with Kalen about this.

"I'm Mr. Baldvinsson. Groundskeeper and flying instructor here at Hogwarts." He had a lot of names and titles. It confused him... And so did the maze. "You, eh... You know the way out?" Need a professor to help you out? More like, want to help a professor out?

It was just the opposite, actually. "No, but I think that's due to the fact that most Americans know what the South sounds like." He'd long since accepted that his manner of speech was different and stood out in the Ilvermorny crowd. In truth, it amused him, but Lachlan wasn't surprised that she'd asked. "Mm, 4,230 miles." Not that he'd gone out of his way to calculate the distance, but it'd been useful information for his parents. They'd originally been against he and Coralie making the trip. And he didn't mind the overshare. Lach had a weakness for detail. "Out of the two, which has been your favorite?" International magic piqued his interest in a big way. The fact that she'd been lucky enough to attend not one, but two, different magical schools impressed him.

Quietly surveying a cluster of small blue bell flame jars, he grinned at the way Olivia spoke about her friend, and the concern she had for the other girl. Of course, due to Lachlan's perfect recall, he remembered every face and every name. "Etta" was the cute brunette with the pretty chocolate brown eyes and fair skin. That's who he expected she'd say. They aesthetically complimented each other. Adorable. "Ilvermorny seems boring in comparison to this school. I've been reading Hogwarts, a History." Lachlan wondered what that must be like, though. Preparing yourself for something bad to occur each year because it was the norm. Hopefully, Hogwarts would take a break this term? He only wanted to make the trip home. "Go easy on us Americans, please. We've only come out to have a good time." Good-natured.

And that was mostly due to the fact that Lachlan's parents were traditional. Magic didn't factor into how he'd been expected to behave since birth, given that his father was a No-Maj. Hm, noting her blush, he clasped his hands behind his back, pretending to not notice. In case that embarrassed her. "You'll have to be more specific." His smile was tugged up at the side, giving the appearance of a smirk.

She nodded at his comment. That made sense. Lachlan's accent probably had always made him stick out from the crowd and made him a little different. That was understandable. She just hoped that he hadn't been teased too too much about. She had been teased relentlessly at Beauxbatons for her Australian accent (which had been much more pronounced over there) that she had worked to curb the accent to avoid further teasing. Kids could just be rude without realizing it or perhaps they did. Olivia would never know. He was 4,230 miles away. What was that in kilometres? Oh what was the conversion again. "Roughly 6,807 kilometres." Wow.

As they continued walking along, Olivia contemplated his question. Which school did she prefer? "Beauxbatons was nice. I enjoyed the school greatly but it wasn't 'home' for me. It wasn't exciting. I don't think I was challenged there as much as I am here." She liked a challenge and loved the feeling of overcoming obstacles. It always made her feel more confident. "I prefer Hogwarts even though you have to combat unknown and unseen perils. It's kind of the charm of the place." She gave a nonchalant shrug paired with a small smile. Learning how to survive was important. It could be seen as a good application of what they had learned during school. Olivia chuckled at his comment to go easy on 'us Americans'. She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a wink. "Only because you guys asked so nicely." She grinned, enjoying the conversation more and more by the minute. It was refreshing to meet someone from Illvermony who wasn't too loud. Olivia had been scared off by some of the students at the Gryffindor table when they had all started dancing on the table. Yikes. Quiet shiver. "Though I can't make any promises for the Whomping Willow. That tree has a mind of its own."

Olivia stopped in her tracks when they reached a fork in the maze and it was just when Lachlan had smirked, asking her the question. She smiled softly. "More specific, hey? Hmm..." she paused. "I guess my question is... Is what are the people like from Mississippi? I've heard rumors that people from the South are friendlier than from the North of the States."

Maddox should have probably left the dude part back in america where it belonged but well too late to change things now and well Mr. Bald with two jobs at this school. How can he deal with that. Did someone's stomach just growl was it his. Maddox looked down at his stomach. Nope not him though he could do with some food. Maybe a burger or some pizza. Either sounded delicious.

Well Maddox might be an idiot. But well yeah they were in a maze. Maddox remembered walking in. Looked cool and out of place so of course he would walk in by himself. Great place to make out this maze by the looks of it.

"Eh nope, thought you did. But it cant be that hard finding the way out right Mr. Bald"

Right?