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**Wilber Winterbottom** · 12-26-2022, 01:40 PM

A maze of thousands upon thousands of books, the library is heaven to any book-lover. Upon entering the high-ceilinged room, the smell of books, both ancient and new, hits you. There are many tall, narrow shelves neatly lined up, each divided into different sections -- charms, potions, Muggles, fiction, and so on. If you find a book you're interested in, simply make use of the sliding ladder or summon the book with Accio to retrieve it.

The library just isn't a labyrinth of books and limited to study and research. In the heart of the library resides a seating area or two designated for quiet reading and perhaps the occasional polite book discussion. Professor Gert has made it a point to refresh the nooks to encourage more use within the comfy space and provide a welcoming home for the Bookworms now under her care. All are welcome, of course, not just those who chose to get involved within the extracurriculars.

Scattered among and on the outskirts of it are tables and chairs designated for quiet research some with accompanying fireplaces or large stained glass windows. Tucked away in the very back of the library is the Restricted Section, which requires a key that the librarian keeps on his person at all times and permission to enter because of the more mature titles and content that are tightly locked and chained within. At the entrance stands the front desk where the school librarian can usually be found, who will happily recommend a book, check out a book for you, and help you with any of your library needs.

OOC: Please do not play for the Librarian: Holmesian Feline.

**The Narrator** · 11-19-2023, 04:18 AM

The sneeze, slight as it was, was aimed in the perfect direction to disturb a book most precariously resting on top of a lopsided pile of books that have yet to make their way to their homes upon the shelf. After few moments of teetering on the edge as students and Professors alike exchanged greetings, the green tome finally made it’s descent.

THUD.

A sound rivaling that of the Professor’s resounded as the book hit the floor. The Mysteries of Mirrors by Oyna Anyo can be read in gold lettering against the emerald.

And is that a piece of weathered parchment sticking out from the bottom?

FearlessLeader19 · 11-19-2023, 11:11 PM

Dhruv kept an eagle eye out on the children. If any of them were not paying keen attention to Gert’s instructions, they would not hesitate to call them out. But so far - lucky for the children - they were well behaved. Good. Dhruv removed their shades from their front shirt pocket to slip the thing on. Using the excuse of dust getting into their eyes was perfect.

“You heard Professor Gert, children. It will be easier and appreciated if you would split into pairs. I hope your partner will stop you from any foolish decision making such as climbing too many rungs on a ladder.” The words were scarcely out of the DADA professor’s mouth when a great, old book fell from a shelf above; it narrowly avoided hitting their shoulder. They stared at it for a bit but did not bother picking it up. “Ms. Marchand, or one of you other children, if you would get that.’’

Like Dhruv had intended, they were not here to volunteer any labour to this cleanup campaign.

MadMadamMalfoy · 11-19-2023, 11:45 PM

Desiree listened carefully to Professor Gert's directions. No water, and be careful on the ladders, got it! When Professor Khanna mentioned pairing up, she turned to Emma. “Shall we work together then?” She asked her younger housemate.

She considered heading for the history section, which she thought would be her best bet to solve the Ewart mystery. Suddenly a thud caused her to stop in her tracks. Her head whipped around in the direction of the sound, and she saw a book at Professor Khanna's feet. She nodded at the professor's words, picking up the book as requested.

The title caught her eye: The Mystery of Mirrors. How interesting! Maybe this book would contain information about mirrors that flashed light. And what was that bit of parchment sticking out? She beckoned to Emma and whoever else wanted to join her cleaning group. “Here, we'll start with this pile,” she said.

She pretended to dust the spine of the book in her hand. Once her back was toward the professors, she opened the book.

**The Narrator** · 11-20-2023, 10:55 PM

What’s this?

As the child (Desiree) opened the book, the piece of parchment fell further out, giving the holder and whoever else may be peering over her should better visibility to a marked passage underneath. It was clear someone had not respected the sanctity of the library here, as the book was underlined and the words ‘meeting place’ and ‘Amacita’ scrawled along the sides of the passage.

Quote:

Chapter 3
The Conspiracy of Mirrors and their uses

Two-way mirrors in the magical world are one of the most common ways for quick, long distance communication between witches and wizards. But what if they could be used for more? We have mirrors for many different uses, so why couldn’t they be portals to hidden realms, allowing users to explore fantastical landscapes or encounter mythical creatures (or at least the reflection of them). Why couldn't mirrors also serve as gateways to ancient libraries, filled with arcane knowledge or connect to alternate dimensions with unique challenges? Additionally, mirrors could be used to reveal glimpses of the past or future, unraveling mysteries and propelling individuals into thrilling time-travel adventures. The possibilities are as limitless as the imagination of those who dare to peer into the enchanted glass!

The parchment too could now be better read, as it landed upward for the students and Professors to see words scrawled on a page. A letter, perhaps? And doesn’t that handwriting seem similar to the book?

Quote:

Dearest Ewart,

After much contemplation, I have resolved not to proceed with the proposed union my family has made on my behalf. The idea of marrying into the Black family, continuing the line of hatred of a kind of people in whom the person I hold in the highest regard, pains me a great deal. I must run away and I hope you will join me, my friend.

After much further research, I believe a world is within our grasp. A world known only to us, where our friendship can physically exist, and not just be contained within our conversations. I will be going in tonight. Meet me there, as soon as you can, and remember friendship is the key.

Yours faithfully,
Macarius Burke

A shame it seems the letter never made it to it's recipient.

*PhoenixRising* · 11-21-2023, 01:08 AM

Emma of course followed Professor Khanna (although she wasn't keen on it since the DADA professor seemed rather indifferent towards the whole cleaning exercises) but she wasn't really here to clean either. Sorry, Professor Adara and house elves. She'd make it up to them later. For now she was here on a mission to find mission about this Ewart name.

She looked over to Desiree and nodded when she asked about working together, but before she could say much more, a book fell and her older housemate was picking it up.

"There's that name again ... Ewart ... and uh Macarius Burke? Wasn't that portrait lady ... Burke. You don't think ..." she looked to Khanna, but not sure what sort of help he'd be, decided maybe asking the librarian would be better? She had, of course, been oblivious to the doodlings in the book as she'd been distracted by the letter.

*Holmesian Feline* · 11-21-2023, 04:35 AM

Professor Gert’s attention snapped from the gathered students to the sound of the thud as the book crashed to the floor. She might have moved for it herself, but her collegue’s attitude brought her up short. Not willing to help themselves? Didn’t sound like the normal Dhruv at all which added to the weird behaviors around the castle. Oh boy. She sighed and shook her head, pulling her focus back to the fallen tome as Ms. Marchand picked it up and Ms. Montmorency spoke, her words making the astronomy professor curious.

“Thank ye, Ms. Marchand,” she remarked as she moved closer, grateful for someone willing the rescue the apparent victim of gravity from the shelves. “What did ye find there?” she asked with slight eyebrow raise. Had a page fallen from the book? Was it damaged?

FearlessLeader19 · 11-22-2023, 01:36 AM

With the book left in the hands of the little group, Dhruv took the opportunity to slip away to another part of the library. Again, they had no intention of taking part in the cleanup. They would just use this time to prowl among the DADA books. It was not to early to commence the activity planning for their lessons next term; flicking through books always inspired them.

It was for this reason that Dhruv did not hear a single word of the discussion, nor the name 'Ewart'... not a single thing. Their head was already stuck in the first DADA tome they had come across.

MadMadamMalfoy · 11-23-2023, 06:41 PM

Desiree skimmed the page in front of her. Two-way mirrors as portals to hidden realms? Alternate dimensions? Time travel? Meeting place? Amacita? That sounded like a spell, but she’d never heard of it before! Her mind was buzzing so much from the information in the book alone that she completely forgot about the parchment until Emma pointed it out.

Her bright blue eyes darted from the book to the parchment and back again. “The handwriting on the parchment matches the writing in this book,” she said. So that meant… Did Macarius Burke create a mirror portal? Did it malfunction somehow? That would explain the flash of light and possibly why so many people were acting odd this term! She nodded as Emma voiced exactly what she was thinking. “Yes, we should tell someone!”

Fortunately, Professor Gert was right there! “We found a book about two-way mirrors that function as portals, along with this,” she said, gesturing toward the parchment. “We think the mirror on the fourth floor could be one of those portals. One of the portraits, Elizabeth Burke, told us about it. She said the mirror had been flashing light, and it’s not meant to do that. It was in her family for years before it was donated to the school. Then there’s the letter and writing we found in this book. Have you ever heard of ‘Amacita’, Professor? It sounds like a spell, but I don’t know what it does…”

Her voice trailed off; she knew how crazy that probably sounded! She glanced at Emma, hoping the younger girl would have something to add.

*Holmesian Feline* · 11-26-2023, 02:09 AM

The astronomy professor listened intently as the girl explained their discovery, just what the item that fell off the library shelf was. A book about portals made of mirrors? It sounded like a combination two-way mirror used for communication and a vanishing cabinet to get from place to place. Now that was an interesting piece of magic were it to exi--- Wait?! Cue eyebrow raise. Ms. Marchand thought one such magical mirror already existed?! “An just how do ye—” Celeste started to question when the Hufflepuff mentioned the portrait speaking on matters.

To think she thought she had been developing a repour with those around her library. Well Ms. Burke wasn’t exactly the nicest portrait, at least in her great great great aunt Minerva’s opinion if you asked the fellow headmistresses’ portrait.

And there was a letter from within said book. The librarian held out her hand with a polite “Please” to accept the letter at least to see if there was anything she could think on it. “Hmmmm Amacita…” she mused thinking on the depths of her memory. “Charms aren’t no’ exactly my forte,” she admitted. Transfiguration was her family’s area of expertise. Though most spells had Latin roots which any witch or wizard had to have some knowledge of. “Ama might have a connection tae love from t’root Amara.”

But what did that have to do with portals?

Chelliephone · 11-26-2023, 05:21 PM

As if summoned by the word 'Charms', Professor Liu made her way to join the small gathering of students around Professor Gert - though the inclusion of Professor Khanna was missed as she did not see them in the immediate vicinity. She had found herself with a spot of free time, and while she knew Amelia had been setting up a cleaning up the castle brigade, her knee was giving her a bit of trouble so she knew romping all over the castle was not in her best interest. However, an afternoon with a book and a quick trek to the library to ask Celeste for a recommendation had not been far fetched.

Hearing the tail end of her colleagues words, Rue stepped up behind Ms. Marchand who seemed to have the book and peered over her shoulder. Amacita? "Good day all." She greeted, while running the word against the list of spells she'd committed to memory. The latin root Amara did make sense, but another tickled her memory. "I don't believe I know that spell myself either. But it is very close to the latin word Amicitia which means friendship. Perhaps we have a case of someone making up their own spell?" And the word did not give any alarm bells on what it could do, so there shouldn't be any harm in trying it.

Perhaps they should go to the aforementioned mirror to do so.

*Lottiepot* · 11-26-2023, 10:34 PM

It was quite lucky really that Apollonia wasn’t the most observant person in the world. Despite her obliviousness, she had noticed the rather odd behaviour from some of her fellow colleagues but with it still being her first year on staff she had just put it down to the Hogwarts effect.

That wasn’t to say that she hadn’t heard the whispers from the portraits nor noticed some of her usually perky students sulking in the corner instead of paying attention. Without wanting to step on anyone’s toes, Apollonia had joined the group in the library almost entirely by accident. In fact she was merely entering the library to search for a book in preparation for the next terms lessons when talk of the infamous Burke family came from the small group of students gathered around and she couldn’t help but eavesdrop.

“That mirror has been in the school for over a century. It was long forgotten about until recently..” she mused lingering near her colleagues who had also gathered.

MadMadamMalfoy · 11-26-2023, 11:14 PM

Desiree's face fell at the eyebrow raise from Professor Gert. She should've guessed that the librarian would be skeptical. It was a far-fetched guess, she knew. She probably wouldn't have believed it herself if she hadn't seen evidence with her own eyes!

She handed over the parchment, peering around Professor Gert's shoulder to get a better look at it. The letter mentioned a meeting place. What if the mirror was that meeting place? That didn't explain the spell, though. She listened to Professor Gert and Professor Liu's theories about the spell, lost in thought. “So maybe this spell has something to do with love or friendship?” She mused out loud.

But what did that have to do with the mirror? Now she was even more confused than ever! She looked at the parchment again, then back at the book. “The writing in the book matches the parchment,” she pointed out, “so Macarius Burke was likely the spell's inventor.” A thought struck her, and she added, “I wonder if the spell is something like a gateway to the meeting place mentioned in the letter…”

And what if the mirror was-? No sooner had Desiree's thoughts turned in that direction that Professor Fergersnout mentioned the very mirror in question. “Hello, Professor,” Desiree greeted with a slight smile. “You said the mirror was forgotten until recently. Did you see it do anything out of the ordinary?”

Chelliephone · 11-28-2023, 04:25 AM

Roulan turned her head to smile and give a nod of hello when she noticed Apollonia join the group as well, glad she had also stumbled upon the gathering to offer her historical expertise. With the History of Magic Professor's words corroborating the story the students had heard told by the portrait of dear old Burke, it certainly seemed worth some exploration on their ends to perhaps inspect the mirror itself. Luckily for all of them, they were already on the fourth floor and it was a quick skip and a hop in order to do so.

Which was probably why Roulan was more willing to just leave the discussion mid it happening in order to look at the object in question itself. At Desiree's question, though it was not directed to her, she gave a nod towards the door as her feet began to carry her that direction. "Perhaps we should take a look at it as well and see if there is anything out of the ordinary? Perhaps the portraits really did see something." Perhaps it was also tied to how abnormally some of the students and faculty had been acting.

Plus... a potential mirror realm as a meeting place? How was that not an exciting prospect!

*Holmesian Feline* · 11-29-2023, 05:04 AM

Speak of the de—charms professor.

Celeste looked over at her colleague when the woman made her appearance and greeted them all. “Guid day,” she returned with a nod. The astronomy professor might have seemed just a touch disappointed when Roulan denied knowing the spell in question either, but it was turned upside down when she added the other potential root of the incantation. Of course! “Aye indeed it does seem ‘at way,” she remarked in agreement. Which gave a valid reason why there was limited knowledge of it from people who were reasonable for knowing and teaching them.

And now one expert in history was added to the mix of things, Apollonia making her presence known as she approached. “Which means it cuid definitely be old enough to be connected tae Burkes….either of them.” Certainly made Celeste curious as to the connection. However Ms. Marchand’s words caught her attention in that direction once more. “Aye…summat tells me does,” she agreed, “Th’moment ye first mentioned portals and mirrors, vanishing cabinets came to mind as something potentially similar. Places where ye could hide between points.”

Now for a field trip to investigate…because she for one wanted to know what was what for sure.

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