The Head Librarian
When Ms Pince opens the door of the restricted section, it’s like the night before. The room is bathed in cold blue light from a lamp sat on an ornate desk and in the center is a dark silhouette in black robes, the face hidden by a long black veil.
The figure turns to face them and lightly tilts its head and seems to look to Ms Pince as they all enter the room.
“Sir, I have brought the students who came here yesterday.” As she says this, the figure set the books in his hands on the desk and approaches. He observes them and they can feel his eyes even through the veil. Once close they can see that even though he wears mostly black, he’s still wearing a bit of colour. An embroidered belt at his waist in red and gold and red slippers. Sleeves of the same red peek from under the billowing sleeves of his black robes. The cold light of the lamp shines bright on the round pieces of metal sewn all around the hem of the veil and where his forehead would be. When he finally speaks, it’s with a soft but strict voice, neither young nor old.
“And do they have to say for their defence ?”
It’s Ms Pince who answers for them, glaring at the trio all the while. “Not much, really. Ms Granger here took a book without permission, the one we were looking for. She and her accomplices came here to find more information about it.”
“Reckless behaviour, there are dangerous things here. Where is the book ?”
“I…I have it, sir.” says Hermione as she takes it out of her bag for the second time in ten minutes.
The Head Librarian takes it from her, checks the cover and the spine then slowly opens it to look at the pages. After a satisfied “hum” he simply says “Good. Come back here in two weeks. Go, now.”
And he turns back, grabs the blue lamp and exits the room by a small door in dark wood with a star etched on it. After that, Ms Pince quickly shoos them out the restricted section and the library all together.
Still reeling from the movemented morning, they decide to go back outside and find a quiet spot to untangle all the information they learnt.
***
“So…what did we learn ?” asks Ron once he’s found a comfortable spot under a nice tree near the Black Lake. “Many things, but I'm not sure where to start, honestly.” answers Harry, scratching his head. “It’s as if all of them know something, and they know that we know that they know ?” “Huh. Yeah I see what you mean.” “I think the weirdest thing,” intervened Hermione, “is that Hagrid knew who we were talking about. Just by the description.” “Well, he’s a teacher, so it’s normal ?” proposed Harry. “No, because all the teachers eat at the staff table. We’ve never seen him there but we see Pince.” “Maybe he can’t eat ? There must be a reason for him to wear that veil.” wondered Ron. “I mean, it must not be very practical.”
The three all fall quiet for a moment, trying to imagine the situation. Harry winces sympathetically. Hermione shakes her head. “The other important point, in my opinion, is this “Thargeliones”. Ms Pince seems to know what it is.” “And of course she doesn't want to tell us…” grumbles Ron. A loud “ARF !” behind him suddenly makes him jump. “What the hell, mate !!!” he yells while trying to calm his poor heart as Goldie emerges from a bush, stray leaves and blades of grass caught in his fur.
“Oh, what are you doing here, boy ?” asked Harry, plunging a hand in the fur of his neck. “Aren’t you a bit far from Hagrid's ?” Of course, the only answer he gets is Goldie rolling on his back to try and get more petting.
“You, sir, are spoiled.” mock-berates Hermione. In retaliation, Goldie quickly grabs the notes in his mouth and starts to run but alone against three he doesn't go very far and the parchment is retrieved. A bit chewed on but still readable.
***
The rest of the weekend passes in a blur for there is still homework to be done and their secret DADA classes are taking more and more time.
Classes come and go and Umbridge gets the dubious honour of being the most detested teacher after having spent less than two months in the school. The whole student body sighs in relief when the Halloween break finally arrives.
Speaking of Umbridge, the trio overhears an argument between her and the new music teacher on their way to the library two weeks after their first meeting with the Head Librarian. The two seemed to fiercely disagree on what was important to teach the students, one arguing for an approach purely based on knowledge while the other insisted on the necessity of a practical way of doing things, saying that merely following directions without thinking was the death of creativity. Even if none of the fifth year had him since they were supposed to focus on their O.W.L.s this year, this new teacher had managed to make himself quite a good reputation by encouraging his classes to find the instrument that really fitted them while also making music theory sound interesting. From what they understood he was Luna’s new favourite because of the stories of his music. Well, that was Luna, so no one was sure what it meant…