Lorena Abernathy
January 09, 2021 2:16 PM
Short stacks by Lorena Abernathy
Lorena’s parents had taken her to their local library more than a few times. It was always a fun adventure, and it was one of the few places she was allowed to roam around quite freely. It wasn’t an especially large building, so maybe it wasn’t that much of an accomplishment, but it did connect sort of a symbolic tie to her blossoming independence and freedom.When it was time to go, her parents would often stop first in the children’s section to look for her, only to be surprised that she was not there. Lorena had aged out of that reading level some time ago, and she could more often be found in the teen area. Sometimes she would even go to the adult section, if she wanted a historical book or, somewhat more likely, the teenagers there were giving her a hard time, since she was too small to really belong there.
That wasn’t as much of a concern at the Sonora library, although she did find her eleven-year-old smallness coming into play in a different manner today. She could see the spine of a book she thought looked intriguing - Magic and Minds: A Beginner’s Exploration of Muggleborn Psychology - but it was grouped on a shelf too high for her to reach. Lorena wasn’t exactly clear on how much she was allowed to music outside of class, so she didn’t really want to try floating it down. Not to mention, she had only been practicing magic for half a school year, so she was nervous about doing it wrong. But she also wasn’t really supposed to climb up and get it. So for the moment, she was a bit out of luck.
Fortunately, somebody bigger than her came by soon enough. “Excuse me!” she called out to them. “Hi, sorry. Would you mind getting that book down for me?” Lorena pointed as precisely as she could. “I can’t reach it.”
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Lorena Abernathy
Short stacks
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Felipe De Matteo
January 09, 2021 9:42 PM
Are you a little pancake? by Felipe De Matteo
There were a fair number of students at Sonora that would probably say the library was the best place to find answers but so far, Felipe hadn't had any luck. It was a popular enough choice for sourcing information, however, that he and Leonor had both spent their fair share of time here since the term had begun, even if they rarely found a quiet enough corner to actually talk. If they had wanted to talk anyway. What was there to say?Still, Felipe couldn't help finding himself there periodically, most often when he felt especially out of control. The world was full of answers if he only knew where to look and it was his fault that he hadn't looked in the right place; his options were to keep looking, or to accept that he was the author of an answer he hadn't made up his mind about yet. So naturally, he kept looking.
As he turned into one aisle that seemed like a good place to look, he found another student doing the same thing. Well, he supposed she might not have actually been doing the same thing. Or maybe they were all doing the same thing? Was that why people went to libraries: to get answers? She pointed at a book and Felipe's stomach about dropped out the bottom. He shook his head to clear it and reached for the book, hoping his suddenly clammy fingers didn't leave marks on the cover somehow. His eyes rummaged the shelf, glancing at other titles and making notes of ones he wanted to look more into, although he wasn't about to start collecting his own stack of books when he'd been asked to assist.
"Happy to help," he said, forcing a polite smile. It was the sort of smile that had been drilled into him for so many years that he doubted anyone but Leonor, Zara, and maybe Jessica could see through it. He let his tone tip a little towards a hesitant curiosity as he passed the text to her. "That looks interesting. What are you studying? I'm Felipe," he added with a bow of his head.
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Felipe De Matteo
Are you a little pancake?
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Lorena Abernathy
January 10, 2021 10:40 AM
With chocolate chips! by Lorena Abernathy
“Thank you!” Lorena beamed, expressing her genuine gratitude. It would have been very easy for the older boy to say no and continue on his path, but it seemed like everybody at Sonora was just really nice! Maybe magic made you kinder; that was a theory Lorena would have to do more research on to provide any sort of real answers.He was definitely a good few years older than her, too. He was at least an Intermediate, since she didn’t see him in her classes. And he wasn’t in her House, either, so she wasn’t sure offhand what his name was. The fact that he was being so helpful was already a brand new experience, compared to the mean teens at her local library.
She accepted the book from him. “It isn’t for anything specific. I just thought it looked neat.” It wasn’t a full truth - part of her sort of wondered if maybe this book could provide her some sort of insight into why her mother was so adverse to magic, or if not, at least provide her the groundwork knowledge to seek other resources - but she didn’t think she really needed to get into that right now. “My name’s Lorena.”
Realizing she should maybe try to be helpful in return, she asked, “Are you looking for a specific book? I’ve been in this row for a while - maybe I can help you find it.”
12
Lorena Abernathy
With chocolate chips!
1510
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Felipe De Matteo
January 11, 2021 11:48 PM
I'm just battered. by Felipe De Matteo
"Pleasure to meet you, Lorena," Felipe said with another perfect smile.His eyes darted back towards the shelves around them when she asked if he was looking for anything specific, although he wasn't. Not really. Still, it gave him a moment to consider where they were and what else was nearby at least. "I'm not sure," he admitted. He glanced back at Lorena and her shining Aladren badge. She was probably smart enough to see through a story if he made it up, but he also had a whole education in lying without lying and he might be able to make it work. Plus, she was younger than he was and certainly didn't know enough about him directly to question whatever he told her.
It felt gross to think like that. To think of strategy in terms of weak points in someone else's personhood. He didn't want to be like that and his family had always said they didn't want him to be like that. What was he supposed to do with the face in the mirror if he stooped as low as generations of past De Matteos? The feeling of standing on a misty precipice returned with almost dizzying speed and he blinked to clear the thought. That was a dangerous thought. He didn't want that thought anymore. Besides, that precipice was only there because he hadn't had any option but to fall in; now, there were people who needed him. He knew that.
He looked back at Lorena and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess 'no', since you asked if I was looking for something specific, huh?" he said with a lightly amused expression. "I was interested in memory spells," he decided. "In seeing whether they're detectable or not, what the long-term effects are, their use in muggle and magical populations," he said, listing things off nonchalantly, like it was part of Charms essay or something. He nodded at the book in Lorena's hand. "I wasn't sure what I was looking for but Magic and Minds made me think I was in the right place."
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Felipe De Matteo
I'm just battered.
1434
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Lorena Abernathy
January 16, 2021 5:32 PM
Maybe you just need flipped over. I'll get a turner. by Lorena Abernathy
It didn’t happen to her often, but Lorena always loved when older kids were nice to her. Felipe didn’t talk down to her or seem to think less of her because she was only a first year. It reminded her to an extent of her older brother, but he was a good bit older still than Felipe, and he didn’t care much to interact with her anymore. And Felipe was much cuter than her brother, with a very nice smile. She had never paid much thought to someone else’s teeth before, but his were really good. Lorena liked the way they moved when he said her name.“That sounds really interesting,” she replied with sincerity. She didn’t think she had ever heard of memory magic before, but it seemed like magic really could do anything. Still, it was a little funky to imagine playing around in somebody’s brain like that. Lorena had no reason to doubt Felipe, though, and he spoke about it so casually that she just assumed it was something everybody knew. Maybe she would learn about it in her classes when she was closer to his age. “I think this one is more about psychology as opposed to actual magic, though,” she added. “So you’re probably close, but maybe a row over? I can help you look, if you want.” She realized it was the second time in a row she was offering to help him, and that seemed like a lot, but she had decided that she liked Felipe, and she also liked to be helpful, so hopefully he didn’t think she was too weird.
12
Lorena Abernathy
Maybe you just need flipped over. I'll get a turner.
1510
0
5