#hpcollectivelore

[*{*THE LIBRARY NETWORK*}*]

doors & mirrors & underground faces

Lib-Con Libraries are buried deep, deep beneath the earth; expansive underground cities within echoing subterranean caverns, linked by enchanted canals like if Atlantis and Venice had a lovechild.

Access points are hidden in plain sight within Muggle libraries across the world. A wall within a library that looks like an ordinary wall to a Muggle will appear as an intricately hand-painted door to someone who has accessed the Library Network before, or a gifted individual that Lib-Con has decided to test by showing a door. The painted doors become portals when an individual carrying a Library Card reaches for the knob, and it takes physical form within their hand. Dark, spiraling stairways or, in some cases, old-fashioned elevators with stationed attendants lead patrons down from the access point into the Network itself.

All Libraries within the Network are connected to each other via an expansive portal grid facilitated by a Hall of Mirrors. To use, one must draw a specific rune on one of the mirrors using Light Dust, a substance similar in nature to Floo Powder made from light particles, then step into the mirror to be transported to another Library's Hall of Mirrors somewhere else in the world.

Noteworthy Librarians:

Aaliyah Khouri (FC: Nathalie Emmanuel) ; “The Painter”

A hedge wix and nonbinary trans woman with a unique discipline in Painted Illusions, Aaliyah is the designated painter of doors. They are quite shy and tend to get completely engrossed in their work while painting a door, and as such they can usually be spotted Above Ground in the late hours of night or early hours of morning.

Danai Ndoro (FC: Letitia Wright) ; “The Engineer”

Singlehandedly designed and maintains the Lib-Con system for record-keeping, filing, book-borrowing, and organization; Danai basically engineered the equivalent of the Dewey Decimal System for the entire Library Network. A magical tech whiz who was top of her class at Uagadou, she continued her studies at The Oasis (which she tracked through the Sahara in record time using a magical GPS system of her own design), and then got specialized at the Networked Institute of Technological Magic in Hong Kong before being snatched up by Lib-Con.

Isadora “Izzie” Ivanova (FC: Elizabeth Olsen) ; “The Architect” 

Certified at the Academy for Planar Applications in Architectural Magic in Dubai, Isadora is the connectivity expert. The architect behind the mirror portal grid within the Network and general Underground Physics, she has a gift for seeing and working with matter in multiple spatial dimensions simultaneously. Long-time partner of Esther.

Esther Abraham (FC: Aubrey Plaza) ; “The Watchdog”

Head of administration, Esther is a hardass lesbian who has exactly zero time to hear any of your excuses. She’s in charge of judging the applications deemed worthy of receiving Library Cards, and one of her purest forms of joy is getting to track down and shred the cards of anyone who’s caught breaking the rules. She has semi-sentient glass marbles that levitate around the Network charmed with holographic spells designed to show her what they “see”—the running joke being that she has eyes everywhere. Affectionately called “Prince Es” by Izzie. Gets off on collecting late fees.

Commonly Spotted Librarians Beneath the British Library Branch:

Benjamin “Benjie” Arnold (FC: Daniel Day-Lewis) ; General Information & Book-Finding

If you’re looking for something and you don’t know where to begin, Benjie is the person to talk to. Kind and patient, with a memory to rival an elephant.

Godfrey Glanville (FC: Christopher Lloyd) ; Procurement

Zany and enthusiastic about books in general, Godfrey is the one who’s always scouting out new materials. Will wax prolific for hours if given the slightest chance, so be cautious in getting him talking.

Aleksey Stamboliski (FC: Zachary Quinto) ; Peacekeeping

If there’s someone shushing you, nine times out of ten it will be Aleksey. A stickler for rules, order, and quiet, it’s been said he’s never been told a joke he thought was funny.

Rahul Reddy (FC: Aziz Ansari) ; Filing & Cataloguing

[[MORE]]

And now, exams. A barrier between her and the real world. The last step between her and having to tell Magnus there was no way she was going to marry his creepy old arse. Between breaking her parents heart, and rocking the foundation of her Pack. Possibly putting them at risk? She might even be risking the relationship between the Australian and Norwegian sects of her Pack? And where did the UK come into all of this?

She stopped for just a moment in the hall, still in a sea of students, quite sure she was about to spew.

When the urge passed and she had taken a couple of soothing breaths, she started towards the Great Hall and off towards her destiny. She rounded the last corner and could see everyone seated. And then, with a great booming sound, the doors were shut.

"No!" She ran for the door but was blocked by a physical wall. But not the physical wall. She stood up, confused, and pressed her hands out in front of her. She saw the scene in front of her ripple like water - A simple charm. She was probably meant to be writing about it in her exam. She heard three sets of footsteps behind her and rounded towards them. "I was only a few seconds late! I'm so sorry! I lost track of my breathing and felt sick and I had only stopped for a second when..." She watched as a student ran past the Headmistress and the two others she didn't recognise. The girl, a Ravenclaw, ran right past the Charm. It didn't even ripple. Then she silently opened the door and slipped in without anyone saying a thing.

She rounded her head and looked, shocked, between the three sets of eyes that settled upon her, taking in her reaction.

"I'm so sorry, Rhett," Headmistress McGonagall never used her chosen name. Oh, this was bad. She'd never seen the woman looking like she did. She was nervous, but she was genuinely apologetic. "I had no clue, no idea, not until this moment. And for the record," The Scot added loudly, to the Ministry worker to the left, "I completely disagree with this."

"What is this?" She asked, her words scathing and addressed towards the ministry worker McGonagall had spoken at.

"This," The worker seemed unphased by Rhett's tone, which made her angry already, which was definitely not a good thing. "Is a new law, passed yesterday evening by our Minister of Magic, which states that Wix with a clear magical advantage, including that of Being status, such as yourself, should not be allowed to compete against anyone of Normal Status."

"My being a fucking Werewolf doesn't give me the magical ability to manifest fucking exam questions! What the fuck?! Compete?? Since when are exams a competition - oh." Realisation dawned over her face, and as it did, both ministry workers grabbed their wands. "So Beings can't play Quidditch now either, isn't it? What the fuck is wrong with you people?"

"Rhett, please, try to calm yourself," McGonagall stepped forward, and the ministry workers seemed the tiniest bit relieved. Rhett took a step so she could keep an eye on them both. "If you turn, which adolescent Werewolves are known to do, under duress," she addressed the second part behind her. "You'll only further damage your case..."

"My case? I have a case now?!" She was shouting but sure that no one could hear her, given the charm. It was probably why it wasn't flat against the door. Fuck, she had such great things she could have written about in her exam. Angry tears formed and she blinked them away while her vision went into dog mode. She hugged her chest and looked tearfully at McGonagall. "Sorry Miss," she managed, before her face elongated. One of the Ministry workers audibly gasped, clearly never having seen a transformation. The other sent stinging hexes, but it was nothing she hadn't felt before. It only made her transformation go faster. McGonagall shouted something at them and tried to force their wands away, but ended up getting hit by one herself. Being an older woman of Normal Status, she fell hard. Rhett stood over her and snarled at her attackers, and then let out the loudest howl since... Well, since her last attack.

Madame Longbottom was there not too soon after, and one of the attackers aimed his wand at her. Rhett took her shot, lunging forward and snapping the wand easily between her powerful jaws.

"Rhett?" The young Matron tilted her head almost comically. Then her eyes went to the floor and she saw the older professor gasping. It probably looked like a Werewolf attack. Again. Longbottom looked at her with a gasp and Rhett rolled her eyes, which wasn't so effective as a wolf.

Apparently no one was ever going to give her the benefit of the doubt. She was always going to be the Big Bad Wolf. She might as well get used to it. McGonagall reached out a hand and grazed Rhett's front paw, but it wasn't enough. Rhett turned and ran. And ran and ran. And when she couldn't find a door outside, she smashed a window. Then she decided to do something her and Cass and hypothesised on; what would happen if a Hogwarts student with Being status went far enough into the Forbidden Forrest? Would they come out the other side?