Open Seeking Secrets

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie was puzzled by the existence of the Restricted Section of the library, and her annoyance grew when she realised she couldn't access it. Why not? Morrie would find the knowledge she sought within the Restricted Section, sooner or later, restricted or not.

Morrie's curiosity was especially piqued by curses. Unfortunately, most textbooks only provided vague definitions and information about defending against them. She longed to discover real, indepth information and had a strong suspicion that it might be locked away in the Restricted Section. She decided to approach the door and try the handle, even though she expected it to be locked.

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios had come to the library in search of more books to build his case against the school. He was at the back near the restricted section and not super enjoying being so close to it. Helios was trying to just rush, get the few books he needed and then leave. He was just needing to find this last book. But noticed as he looked a girl try to open the restricted section. "You can only get in if you have explicit permission," he told her. "It dangerous in there, you shouldn't be trying to go in,"

 

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie had only just grazed her fingers across the door handle when a student she didn't know warned her about the danger beyond. She could have laughed in his face, after all what was so dangerous about books? But she didn't laugh in his face and chose to remain deadpan. Her eyes locked onto the student as she retorted, "And who says I don't already have permission?" Her hand remained confidently on the handle leading to the restricted section.

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios frowned at her retort. "If you had permission, then you would've gotten inside," he replied. "And I can just go check with the librarian if I need to," he added, knowing that he had no loyalty to this girl but if he needed to he would tell on her. After all it would be in essence to protect her. The restricted section was restricted for a reason. The first smart thing he'd noted about the school. Why the forbidden forest didn't have a gate, fence, and password was beyond him.

 

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie pivoted to squarely face the boy, her undivided attention fixed on him. Her green eyes bore into him, assessing the gravity of his threat. "Oh, really?" her voice laced with a mix of curiosity and challenge. "So, you're a tattletale? Some folk in my house who don't particularly appreciate tattletales," she stated, displaying the Slytherin emblem on her robes. With an air of feigned bravado, she spoke as if she were part of a fierce Hogwarts gang, though reality painted a different picture. Yet, she wasn't about to reveal her true standing to the boy. "Run along then, go ask your prescious librarian and see how the next seven years works out for you."

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios looked at the badge on her robes, and then shook his head. "Your house doesn't define if you'll not appreciate tattletales," he replied to her. "Aren't slytherins ambitious?" he replied, but he shook his head. "It's dangerous and you shouldn't be trying to get in it," though he made no attempt to get the librarian as he had threatened to. He got the impression if he did, the girl would just try again.

 

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie was relieved that the boy hadn't run off to the librarian. However, it also meant that he was still talking to her. She sighed, "Ambitious, yes," she remarked with a hint of humour, "and not particularly fond of tattletales either." A dry chuckle escaped her when the boy expressed his concerns about the restricted section's danger. "And how would you know? Have you ever been in there?" If he had been into the Restricted section, then it would be really helpful to Morrie if he told her how.

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios shook his head. "If you are enough amibitious you will tell on someone to get ahead," he replied, but that wasn't really the point. He figured she just didn't want to get caught and was trying to distract him. "Of course not, it's forbidden. I just know that forbidden means that there's something back, and its to protect us," he replied.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Gah!

 

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie vehemently disagreed with the boys view on ambition and expressed it with a resolute shake of her head. "No, no, that's what you'd call being a sell-out. And trust me, tattletales are the absolute worst," she responded matter of factly.

She also reacted in disagreement to the boy's comment about the library being forbidden. Once again, her head moved back and forth in disapproval. "No, It's not forbidden. It's restricted. There's a significant difference," she clarified. Morrie was not one to mince words when it came to setting boundaries. "Are you not curious why it's restricted?" She asked him, wondering if some people just went through life accepting rules without questioning them.

 

[Professor Gabrielle Moncrieffe]

((sorry I couldn't resist!))

Gabrielle spent a lot of time haunting the restricted section. Why knowledge had to be restricted at all, she had to question, though she couldn't exactly deny that there were some things in there that young students weren't necessarily ready to know. And knowledge of dark magic and curses that, if attempted by the unprepared, could cause a lot of damage. Still, the school taught about the Unforgivable Curses when the students were young, Gabrielle thought they were more resilient and capable than the school gave them credit for, sometimes. Then again, a few years ago a seventh year had thought he could tame a basilisk on the school grounds, so maybe having an abundance of caution was necessary.

Of course, there were things that were just a bit inappropriate for the younger years, like some of the texts for and against magic from the 1500s - texts which Gabrielle was taking her time to peruse for her own information. Just a little too risque, really. And difficult to parse. But she was distracted hearing some voices outside the restricted section, and popped her head out with a smirk. "Well, you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat..." she started, but didn't forget the second half. "And satisfaction brought it back." She looked over the students - first years, ones she had in her class this semester. Though she hadn't quite committed their names to memory yet, she'd get there soon enough. "Though, I do need a compelling reason to let you in here, something that can fly with the higher ups." Gabrielle herself was more than happy to help students get in to the restricted section, but she also liked having a job. She looked at the boy, somewhat solemnly. "Ah yes, knowledge in the wrong hands can be quite dangerous, indeed. Ideally, though, we teach you to be the right hands instead."

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios rolled his eyes at her, sure that not all slytherins were going to hate people who told on people. "Restricted and forbidden are essentially the same for us in first year," he said, with a shrug, but before he could say anything else, they were interrupted by a professor who he was very relieved to see. He shook his head. "We don't have one," he answered for them both. "There's nothing we could possibly need from the restricted section," he added.

 

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie was about to tell the boy why he was wrong again when their HOM professor emerged from the restricted section. Morrie listened to her musings about the restricted section and and while the first year boy wrote off the opportunity, Morrie had a different perspective. "Speak for yourself." Morrie quietly remarked to the boy. Realising that she didn't need to resort to breaking into the restricted section if a teacher could grant her permission to enter in the first place, Morrie's plan began to take shape.

Fully aware that, as a first year just in her second week, her reasoning was never going to be compelling enough. She opted to bank the opportunity. "I don't exactly know what I'm looking for yet, professor. I need to do more research in the main library." Morrie admitted. "But once I do, may I come to you and ask again?" She was hopeful that, given time, she would find a convincing enough reason to sway the 'higher ups.'