April 14, 1894 — Library

This really wasn't how Charles expected to spend his weekend. He'd meant to do what he spent most weekends doing--studying, especially this close to exam time--but with the current chaos going on it would have been impossible to concentrate, even if he didn't feel obligated to step up as a prefect.

That said, he'd come into the library to take a break. A real break, not just an excuse to get some work done, for once. He'd taken a seat at one of the tables, which just so happened to have a direct line of sight on the entrance to the Restricted Section. So he had a perfect view when someone decided to actually be brazen enough to sneak in, while the librarian was... incapacitated. In a manner of speaking. "Hey!" he called out. "You're not supposed to be in there!"

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Alright so it was probably obvious from the stubbled jaw, weathered muscles and distinct lack of uniform — but Natty wasn't a student. In fact, he was the Groundskeeper. But as fate and fortune would have it, he was also a covert writer, with a great appreciation of books — and he had by now made enough friends among the faculty to be granted permission to access the library recreationally.

It was rare to find time to get up here, but here he was, in a moment's peace, dried mud on his boots, a quiet lust for knowledge in his eyes.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be in there!" Natty blinked. He had been browsing the library without much direction — and had failed to pay attention to any signage. "In where?" he asked the young fellow.

  

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Oh. That wasn't a student. Charles shifted uncomfortably. "Er, the restricted section's just past there," he said, pointing past Mr. Copper. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

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Natty hesitated, wavering between following his curiosity and leaving it be. Ultimately he decided on the former. He had to ask — "Restricted section...?"


He'd never heard of it. He'd been schooled at Hogwarts only one year (and that had been almost thirty years ago), and nobody had thought to introduce the Groundskeeper to the concept of a closed-off section in the library.

  

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"Yes?" Charles couldn't help the confused look he was giving the groundskeeper. It didn't really occur to him that anyone at the school didn't know there was a restricted section of the library. "Where all the books students need permission to access?" he prompted, thinking maybe Mr. Copper maybe thought he was talking about something else.

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"Ah", he expressed his understanding. The young man's obvious tone was making Natty feel a bit stupid, but he reminded himself that there was no particular reason why a Groundskeeper would be familiar with the rules of the library. "I only spent one year at Hogwarts, and now I'm mostly", he gestured vaguely out the window, "out in the Grounds. Do you have access to the Restricted Section then?"

If he didn't, that might explain why he wanted others to follow the rules too.

  

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"Oh." Charles supposed that made sense. Possibly, if he didn't spend so much time in the library himself, he wouldn't give the restricted section much thought, to be fair.

"No. I mean, not currently." Charles shifted uncomfortably. He wondered, suddenly, if Mr. Copper was aware of what was going on in the castle at the moment. Charles himself wasn't entirely sure. "I'm just keeping an eye on it, since the staff seem... indisposed?" The last word came out as a question, because, well, he didn't know what else to say.

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Having never been a long-term student at Hogwarts, Natty wasn't very familiar with this "type" — a mini-professor of sorts. A Prefect maybe? Natty didn't mind. He was too humble to care about being called out or dressed down, and in any case the boy wasn't doing any harm.

The Groundskeeper came a bit closer, no longer browsing books, eyebrows raised at the lad's words. "Indisposed?" How so? Natty was staff...

... Though he'd spent the entire morning until now working hard in the Grounds and had yet to run into any other adults today...

  

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"Honestly, I'm not totally sure?" Charles said, a bit embarrassed. "But some of the professors seem to not be around. Or--" And this part just sounded like he was making things up, so Charles was hesitant to say it. But, well. Mr. Copper was staff, and staff were generally the people responsible for taking care of this kind of thing, right? Or at least would have an idea of who should be in charge of fixing it. "Someone said they saw some weird kids around. I don't know if that's related. But probably?"

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OOC: It makes sense for Natty to run off at this point so feel free to call it there — or Charles is very welcome to tag along with him! :3

Natty's brow furrowed, for once looking his age as a troubled feeling started to scratch at his chest. He hadn't heard — or heard of — any chaos today. But if it involved the professors... well, Natty was concerned for one young teacher in particular. He needed to find Winston.

"Thank you for the information", he managed to say, in motion, as he turned to leave.

  

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"Right. 'Course."[/b] Well, hopefully someone would take care of whatever was going on now.

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