Lost In Literature (HeatherrrBrooke)

Clafin slowly lifted her head from the book that lay before her and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. Looking around, dazed and confused, she realized that she must have fallen asleep while studying for her Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. The days were counting down, and even though she felt her knowledge would easily gain her at least an "E", she couldn't stop studying to achieve an outstanding mark on all of her O.W.L.'s. She looked down at her copy of A History of Magic with hatred in her eyes. One couldn't possibly need to know this much about the Goblin Riots of the eighteenth century.

Clafin pushed her overgrown bangs out of her face and tucked them behind her ear. She glanced out the window to see a crescent moon illuminating the Great Lake below it. "Great, it must be the middle of the night," she groaned to herself as she looked around the library for signs of any other people. She was suddenly thankful for her Prefect status, as she would have certainly gained herself a detention for being out and about this far after curfew.

I couldn't sleep. My blankets lay on top of me; warmth, comfort, with a hint of curiosity. Mother use to tell me to count sheep when I was awake. Then again why would I ever take advice from that witch. Literally.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.... 7.

I remembered the 7th of November, when I had first found out about my Grandfather; who he was, what he had meant, the things he had accomplished. The 7th of November, when I moved out and transferred to Hogwarts, that following week. How could my mother not tell me about him? How could she not tell him about us? It's a little late for that though. He's been killed years ago.. 16 years old and just finding out what I am, the blood line I come from, the History of my last name. Dumbledore. More people know about my family than I do.

Restless, I knew the only way I would ever get even a minute of sleep was to sneak out and make a small trip to the Library to ease down my curiosity. I slid into my blue rain boots, the ones Mom had gotten for me for the camping trip we took the week before I found out I was a wizard and a grandchild of the great, Albus Dumbledore. I threw my dress robe over my polka dot pajamas, and made my way out the door.

The Library doors are of much age and I knew opening them would be some what of a challenge. I drew my wand hidden in my left boot and unlocked the door, slowly opening hoping it would let me enter in silence. A girl can only hope! A breeze drifted into the room as I entered, the wind causing the door to come to a small slam.



So much for silence, but I wasn't the only one in the Library past curfew, a girl maybe 17 or so, was peeking out the window. I noticed her before she noticed me, however the slam of the door was a bit harder to miss than a 5'2 16 year old who usually wasn't noticed to begin with. I hid behind the first row of books. "Muggle Studies."

I frantically covered my mouth to hide my deep breathing, accidentally knocking down a book with my elbow in the process of trying to be quiet. Too late.

Clafin continued to stare out the window, enjoying the beautiful moonlight shadowing over the Forbidden Forest. It had been a long time since she had been in the forest, and she found herself yearning to get lost in it's depth once again. The sound of the library doors slamming open pulled the small brunette out of her daydreams.

"Lumos," Clafin whispered quietly, and a bright lemon colored light begin to shine from the tip of her wand. "Hello? Is anybody there?" she called out loudly. "Peeves, if that is you I swear I will bring you back to life and kill you again." Her voice filled with annoyance and anger. Peeves had been following her around for the past week pulling all sorts of pranks and causing trouble. She waited a bit longer for a response, but heard nothing until there was a sound of a book falling. Pointing her wand in front of her, she practically race to the aisle. "Muggle Studies" the sign on the bookcases read. She looked in front of her and saw a girl about her height. "Geeze. You scared the heck out of me!" Clafin managed to sigh in relief.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" Called out the girl.



I turned around brushing my strawberry blonde hair out of my face. Uncovered my mouth and turned around. A girl just as short as I approached me, seeming a bit annoyed and relieved all at the same. I studied her face, tried to get some sort of a vibe.



I stepped towards the girl, grasping my wand in hand sliding it up my sleeve for safety purposes. Not like I could do much, for a 7th year I really didn't know too many spells.



I worry I sounded too suspicious trying to leave in such a hurry, however if I lingered any longer she had to know I was up to know good. But am I? I mean yes I'm out past curfew and broke into the locked Library, but my intentions were in the right place.

I hesitated to leave, picked up the book I knocked down to procrastinate my department. I wasn't the only one here past curfew, what's her excuse? Is she going to follow? Who is she? Is her curiosity making her lurk here after hours?

Clafin stared at the girl questioningly. "Did she just say Dumbledore? I thought I knew the whole lot of them..." she thought to herself, confusion taking over her brain. Snapping back to reality Clafin studied the girl, who had introduced herself as Heather, trying to figure out if she was up to something she shouldn't be. "I'm sorry, but it's much past curfew. All students are supposed to be in their respective dorms." The reprimanding words felt weird coming out of her mouth, because she was certain that this girl was older than she was. Heather seemed flustered and scared, as she reached down to try to clean up after herself. "Why are you out past curfew?" Clafin asked, going through a mental list of the normal Prefect questions. She waited for the girl to turn back around, so that she could see her face closer. She honestly just couldn't believe that there was a Dumbledore that she hadn't known about. Her family and theirs had been intertwined for years.

I attempted to leave quickly and make my get a way back to the dorms, but the girl had kept trying to make conversation playing 50 questions.



I slid my wand out from my boot; lumos. I wanted to get a better look at the girl, maybe I knew her? She didn't seem to know me. She actually seemed quite surprised when I had introduced myself.


I just came for some late night reading. You're here, so I assume that's why too? Correct me if I'm wrong! But I couldn't sleep and thought maybe a good bed time story could help! It's apparent I shouldn't be here. I'll leave.

I noticed the moon through the window where the girl was standing before approaching me. It was so beautiful. Whenever I felt nervous I'd look at the moon, it would just put me at ease.

Clafin pointed to the Prefect badge the was pinned snugly to her robes. "I'm a Prefect. Madam Pince must have left me to sleep. I've been in here almost every chance I get." she said as she pointed over her shoulder to the stack of books she'd left. Her exhaustion made her voice crack slightly towards that end of her sentence. She let out a long, exasperated sigh and huffed out, "O.W.L.'s. What are you going to do?" she shrugged, a faint smile forming on her lips. Heather seemed as the she was irritated with Clafin, as she turned to leave. "Hey, I'm Clafin by the way! See you around sometime. Be safe." she called out after her. She turned to walk back to her stack of books and sat down in front of them. A Dumbledore? How odd. I wonder where she's been hiding all this time.