Books Are Friends, Too (Lyra)

Hogwarts was easily one of Humphrey's favorite places in the world, even if not for the same reasons as most people. He loved the classes, the amazing magical creatures he got to learn about, the unique peculiarities of the castle, and most of all...the library. To him the library felt like his home more than the dorm in Ravenclaw tower, and the quiet turning of pages and hushed voices was one thing he could always count on to help him feel at ease if he was having a bad day. The other parts of life at Hogwarts that seemed to come so easily to most people, like making friends, were what he struggled with. As he walked into the library once again he couldn't help smiling a little to himself, because in their own way books were like friends too.

Humphrey took a look around to see what tables were available and spotted one near a window that provided plenty of light. With a quiet step he walked over and set his bag down carefully to hold the table for him so he could go and get a few books for his class assignments. He needed a couple books on transfiguration to charms to wrap up the assignments he'd already started on, and he had yet to begin his potions assignment that he'd been dreading. While he did alright in the class he hated all the smells put off by boiling cauldrons and the lack of natural light with it being in the dungeons. More often than not he left the class with a headache, but it was one of the core classes and he wanted to put forth a good effort at least. Soon he had a small stack of books that should cover what he needed and he began to head back towards the table by the window, preparing himself to tackle today's work.

As Humphrey rounded one of the bookshelves he was caught off guard when a girl called out to him from the place by the window he'd found. The surprise caused him to lose his footing slightly, but he caught himself and managed to hold onto the books with a bit of luck. Looking over at her, he shook his head slightly. He was almost certain that she was in his year, but he didn't even know her name. "N-not a problem at all." he replied after the awkward moment.

Humphrey closed the rest of the distance and set his books down, noticing the mint dress now that he was closer. It was then that he found himself not really sure what to do now, did he try and talk to her or just go about his homework? He thought it would be rather rude to simply ignore the girl sitting across from him so decided he should probably say something, the question was...what. Biting his lip in thought, he looked up from the books to the girl. "That's a lovely dress, miss. Umm, I'm Humphrey." he said, finally remembering his manners and holding out his hand.

Talking to somebody like this in the library felt rather strange to him because he was so used to coming here by himself. While he didn't have an issue with her sitting with him it was...rather different than what he was used to and was making him nervous. What do I do if she makes fun of me for tripping or for holing myself up in the library on a nice day like this? The thought did nothing to help him relax, but it was unfair to just assume somebody would be mean for no reason so he tried to squash it.

The polite thank you after he told her she could stay was a rather nice gesture, after all if this was her favorite spot Humphrey felt like he was the one intruding. "Don't mention it. Libraries are here to share knowledge and for people to learn. Although, I have found it also makes a good place to hide sometimes." he added with a soft chuckle. In his opinion there was no better place to hide than between rows of books.

As she pulled out a book and began to work on something he couldn't help his curiosity and noticed the title of Unfogging the Future. Divination was one class he'd never thought too much about taking as others had seemed more useful, but he imagined it was probably interesting. Before his thoughts drifted off too much she replied to his comment about her dress, which snapped him out of it.

"That was nice of them. What part of the states did they get to see if you don't mind my asking?" Humphrey queried. He'd never really talked to anybody about trips across the pond, and his family had never traveled that far from home on family vacations. Usually if they were going somewhere it was to the mainland or a different part of the UK.

Upon hearing that she knew who he was Humphrey felt a slight blush rise to his cheeks. It was one thing not to be as sociable as some of his classmates but he felt slightly embarrassed that he hadn't even known who she was. I really should try and be better about this sort of thing in the future. "Yeah, I do sit with Christopher." he acknowledged. Thankfully she was kind enough to tell him her name, and when she did some of his anxiety slipped away. He even felt himself smile a little. "Well, it's a pleasure to properly meet you after so long Lyra." he told her honestly.

Taking out the text on transfiguration, he got out his assignment and flipped to where he'd stopped the other day. Their current assignment was on the theory of conjuring and vanishing objects, and it was rather tricky stuff, like why certain objects were more of a challenge to vanish or conjure as opposed to some being easier among other things.