Maximus Raine was a tired soul, having ridden from his father's lands to that of a place that supposedly held the promise of a brighter future. Or so his younger brother would have him believe from his letters home. The way Merrick spoke of Hogwarts (which was a silly name in his opinion), it was as though he had found the holy grail or fountain of youth. It wasn't the first time his brother had been so enthusiastic in his studies and travels, but it was the first time that he had extended the idea of Maximus and their baby sister, Moira, joining him in Scotland.
After some discussion with their parents, it was decided that Maximus would ride north for this school and see it with his own eyes to determine in his mind whether it was worth sending for their sister to be educated in a far more formal setting. For days and days he had ridden, and now here he was.
Quietly and with measured patience he made his way to the larger-than-life castle that sat on the edge of a great Loch. Merrick had told him that they were expecting the late arrivals of many students thus the grounds were open to anyone with magical blood at present, so essentially anyone who could actually see the school in all its glory and not as strange ruins that shouldn't exist yet. He found the stables in the logical place on the grounds and situated his horse without any fanfare. He was a knight, after all, he knew how to care for his own animal.
Maximus took some time to take in the expansive grounds, his mind logically picking apart the treeline and the shore for weaknesses and the like. He had met Godric Gryffindor a handful of times, but the knight had been a fairly unremarkable second son like his brother. He personally had never served with the man but his brother spoke highly enough about his capabilities both magically and marshally that he was somewhat eager to revisit the man and pick his brain about this venture.
Eventually, he found his way to a beautiful garden full of various herbs both magical and non. A lot were used in the brewing of potions or medicine, while others were utilized heavily in cooking. This was knowledge born from both study and practice growing up. He knew more than he should about medicine but not quite enough to make him more than a field medic at best. As for cooking, he had watched his mother as a child until he had been sent away to train and become a man. He knelt down as he saw a strange weed growing among the plants. It was not something that should be there and was likely thriving at the detriment of the herbs around it. Crouching down, Maximus reached forward and picked it without saying a word. Just who looked after all of this anyway?
Helga was softly humming as she walked along the corridor, a several large baskets hanging from her forearms. Since she wasn't teaching this morning she had decided to check in on the garden, perhaps see if any of the herbs were nearly ready for harvesting. While a few of the kitchen house elves had offered to do the task or at least accompany her, Helga had politely declined and instead let them take over fully for the coming mid day meal. She both needed and wanted some fresh air and mindless work with her hands. It gave her the chance to sort through her mind which had several piles of backed up thoughts needing processing and while most of the time she dove into cooking, she didn't want to burn through the supplies to help focus her mind. With work in the gardens while she was very likely to smell of the assortment of floral and herbal scents at least it would be productive both with helping her mind. Not to mention Salazar would have some more stock of herbs for potion's class and healer Gudrun would have supplies for her healing. It was a victory all around and that was always a good thing.
She couldn't help but smile as she stepped outside through the side door, right away the clear sky and sunshine brushing aside the remaining fog in her mind. Yes this was indeed just what she needed after such a confusing night and a large gap in her memory after a certain point. Helga would figure it out later if it was still weighing on her mind, if anyone she could ask Rowena about what happened. Her best friend had the brightest mind after all and a good memory along side it.
Helga began to walk towards one of the large green houses when she couldn't help but notice something down at the end of one of the plant beds. Someone perhaps more like it as it looked like the top of a head. She couldn't recall a house elf being present out here just yet and it was still to early for any of them to try and sneak out to lend her a hand after she had said it wasn't necessary. She moved closer, finding at one point that the figure wasn't a house elf at all but a person and they were crouched down beside the plant bed.
"Hello there" she said with a warm and calm tone, offering a friendly smile to the stranger. Helga wasn't particularly worried this was someone to cause trouble, he didn't come across it so far and with Godric's barrier in place it meant this person had to be magical because a muggle wouldn't have been able to get through. "Was there something I could assist you with or perhaps direct you to someone? The school grounds shouldn't be wandered lightly and while I don't sense any ill intent from you someone else may be likely to jump to conclusions and attack you thinking you are here to harm the students under our protection." She could remember something about two new employees coming soon to the school and perhaps the man before her was simply one. No doubt he had come from the stables and had simply gotten sidetracked in the garden, an honest mistake in her mind but she knew Godric and Salazar may not be as understanding given the students at the school relying on them for safety.
With the weed in hand, Maximus stood up to his full height just as a woman's voice reached out to him. He turned slowly, not wanting to startle her as he meant no harm. He bowed politely in her direction before straightening and taking her in. The way the Scottish sun highlighted her red hair so that it burned almost copper was a bit distracting as were her kind words. It had been quite a while since he had been addressed so nicely.
"Me deepes' apologies m'lady," he said, his voice deeper than his brother's and his accent not quite as thick despite the length of time he had spent in Eire. "I simply too' notice o' some weeds in ye garden tha' needed pluckin'."
As if to show her the fruits of his hunt, he lifted his hand full of the green, leafy leeches. "I was actually loo'in' fer the Foun'ers o' this school. I've 'eard tales tha' this be worth a loo' an' deep consideration on me part."
In Maximus's opinion, she was certainly a comely lass and if he wasn't mistaken by her voice, she likely hailed from Wales. Now that was an interesting place he had found on his travels. He hadn't spent a lot of time there, definitely not enough to learn the language. It was a pity really as some of the sounds were fascinating.
Helga's eyes followed the stranger as he stood up, perhaps a head taller than her now that he was no longer crouched down at the ground. When he turned and finally faced her she took in his face and hidden hints to the man standing before her. His tired eyes looked a shade dark and a touch sad while his face had a few subtle lines and scars. This was a man who had been not just through the hardship of battle as men often did but a deep loss of some kind. A wound of the heart was what she had given the feeling, naturally she could recognize it having seen it as well as experiencing it herself. Her heart went out to him and unavoidably she wanted to see if at least she could offer him something to help ease that painful feeling that had no doubt no faded depending on how old it was.
She offered him a smile as he explained about the weeds. "Thank you very kindly for doing that. I was just on my way out here to tend to the gardens myself in fact, needing a bit of a fresh air while giving the house elves a break from working in the sun" Helga replied, then shifted the baskets in her arms around enough to hold one out towards him to dispose of the weeds inside. They would make a decent addition to the compost pile and hopefully would show any remaining weeds enjoying their time in the garden that they would soon be next to go.
Helga couldn't help but find the man's accent quite interesting. It for sure was familiar sounding but at the moment she couldn't quite place it. Same for his eyes, the unique color and shade while memorizing and lovely to look at sure did poke at her mind that she had seen something similar like them.
She was just considering finding something to offer this man to eat for his help with the weeds when he explained his reason for being there in the first place. It dawned on her that perhaps this was the new employee Rowena had hired for the library. She smiled a touch brighter at him. "Well your in luck because you happened to have found at least one of them" Helga said. "My name is Helga Hufflepuff and let me just be the one to offer you a warm welcome to Hogwarts." With her smile still on she quickly but calmly set down the baskets near the plant box and took one of his hands, pulling him towards the door she had just exited from.
"We've been expecting your arrival, Rowena mentioned you would be arriving soon but I hadn't thought you would be here so quickly. Come, let me show you to the library Sir O'Connell. I'm sure once I let Rowena know of your arrival she will want to give you her run down of how she would like the library to be taken care of. She can be a bit aggressive and direct but its because she cares a great deal about the library and wants to make sure its well looked after and be of use to both the students and the staff for years to come" Helga continued as she pulled him along behind her at a somewhat quick pace down the side corridor to the larger main hallway connected to it then to the grand staircase. She made a note to try and send Rowena a signal their new librarian was here once they reached the grand room full of books, chances were her best friend would be in the library anyway but just in case she wasn't when they got there she would need to let her know so she could no doubt give him the run down of what she wanted and how to do it.
At another time, Maximus would have likely smiled to have such a warm welcome from a pretty woman such as this but unfortunately, he was no longer a young and carefree youth with a sword. He was a grizzled and battle-weary knight who had seen far too much in his relatively short life. "Well met, Lady 'ufflepuff," he said with another gracious bow to her which hid his surprise to have not only come across one of the Founders of the school but the fact it was a woman. He had incorrectly assumed that the Founders were all male, something Merrick had left out of his letters home. While their mother would be impressed by this, their father likely wouldn't.
Maximus had been about to say something else when the woman suddenly took his hand and began dragging him into the castle with some explanation about showing him the library. While his brother had assured him that they would expect his arrival, this had not been what he, himself, had expected. He had never been received like this anywhere in his travels. And had she said 'O'Connell'? That wasn't his name.
The knight was certainly in a hard place here. It would be rude to extract himself suddenly from her grasp, especially since he wanted to make a good impression if only for his brother's sake. He didn't want to negatively impact his brother's future here. As he was the second son, his options were limited even as a knight in his own right. He would be considered as little more than a sellsword in most parts of the isles. That was no life for him to live. No, Maximus had to be careful to not offend the woman. Hells, how was he going to get out of this situation?
As she pulled him down yet another hallway, his usually witty mind was terribly unhelpful in coming up with a solution. It was simply too exhausted from the journey here and as the woman finally released him and pushed open the doors to the room, he almost audibly gasped at what he saw. It was a large, expansive room filled floor to ceiling with books of every size and color he could imagine. Ringed with large window cutouts all around the room letting the light in, it was the most incredible thing he had ever seen in all his years.
Maximus practically stumbled into the room dumbfounded as he craned his neck to take a good look around. His tired blue eyes were a little wider than normal as he took in the sight and his chest expanded with the deep breath full of the smell of parchment, ink, and freshly tanned leather. To be in this room, to have the chance to study from these assorted tomes, was surely the chance of a lifetime. It was this alone that convinced him that it was worth Moira coming here if only to have access to so many diverse topics in her free time. Surely her voracious appetite for reading and learning would thrive in this sort of environment.
As he drew his gaze level at the grand bookcase in front of him, Maximus suddenly frowned. He stepped forward and reached up to touch the spines of the leatherbound texts on the shelf. The titles suggested their topics easily and yet he was dissatisfied. There was no order here, no logical reasoning for their placement. How was someone supposed to find what they were seeking when there was no sense of organization?
"Pardon me forwar'ness, Lady 'ufflepuff," he said carefully, not wanting to insult the kind and beautiful woman. "This jus' will nay do. Tis a disaster in 'ere."
Helga was truly unaware of the mistake she had made, a big one at that in not making sure the person she was currently pulling along various corridors and stairwells was who she had just addressed. Assuming the id of the gentleman given the small interactions of words between them instead of what she should have done and properly exchanged introductions. Maybe it was the remnants of the events last night she was having trouble fully remembering or was it simply the free feeling of the school she didn't feel so constricted to follow educate and proper manners so strictly as she did around her siblings. It couldn't possibly be the mixture of the man's intriguing looks, his polite but honest aura, and hint of familiarity from his accent playing tricks on her mind. Well for whatever the reason she couldn't take it back now and for sure she would come to feel terrible for her behavior once it all settled in.
She paused once they were in the library, letting go of the mans hand to let him fully take in the state of the library. It had been a few days since Helga had been in the library and it was easy to see the work had gotten a bit too much for Rowena to handle alone. It had been smart of her best friend to look into hiring someone to look after it as hard as that must of been for her to admit. Speaking of Rowena, Helga realized she hadn't let her best friend know yet of the arrival of their librarian. She moved over to the side of the wall where a curtain cord hung beside the wooden doors and gave it a tug. A moment later a house elf popped into place in front of her. After asking the elf if they could tell Lady Ravenclaw the new librarian was here with her in the library, Helga moved back across the room towards O'Connell intent on keeping him company until Rowena arrived.
Helga smiled as he seemed to see just how much work the library needed, offering a smile that reflected she wasn't at all offended or upset at his words. "Indeed, its a bit of work no need to apologize for your observation. Normally Rowena, ah Lady Ravenclaw another of the school founders has a habit of keeping things organized and in a particular order especially when it comes to books. You don't come between her and how she likes things to be set a certain way, no doubt she already has how she would like the library organized in her mind. Her personal library for example is kept in tip top shape and she is strict on keeping it that way. Unfortunately with the sudden increase in work she hasn't been able to fully devote the time to the library it needs hence why its in such a condition. She needs the help and a second pair of hands to set it to right before the students need to come make use of the knowledge here" She explained.
She took a moment to look around the grand room again. It was interesting and beautiful in its own way but Helga couldn't understand why her best friend could spend hours upon hours lost in the sea of ink and paper. She could stand maybe a little bit of time here but not long before she would feel the call to either the kitchen or gardens, much more preferring the company of those spaces than the library herself. She wondered if he was the same, he looked like someone battle worn with a heavy weight on his mind similar to what Godric carried. While Helga wasn't sure what Godric did to counter such a sad heavy feeling she was sure it wasn't anywhere near the library. Perhaps everyone had their own recovery method, while she liked to think the best recovery method was good soul healing food sometimes it was found elsewhere and perhaps like Rowena this man enjoyed the company of books.
"Rowena should be here soon Sir O'Connell to give you the tour of the library as well as her idea of what she would like done. No doubt she will also give you a hand at setting what I suppose is a mess to right the correct way. She can sometime be a bit intimidating but don't let that worry you, she just is very passionate about education and proper organization at that" Helga added as she turned back to him with a friendly smile. "In the mean time I'll be here to keep you company until she arrives and perhaps we can get to know each other a little better. We will be working together for a while so we can't remain strangers much longer. For starters, you must tell me something you absolutely love to eat and something you can't stand to eat! I manage the kitchens as well as the meals so I insist to know so I can be sure to make some adjustments"
Maximus wasn't paying as much attention to the dear Lady as he probably should have been, his gaze having been pulled yet again to the tomes. The variety of topics was purely astounding and he knew that Moira would love it in here surrounded by such vast knowledge. He knew because she was a lot like him when it came to reading information. She was the most likely Raine of the bunch to absorb things like a soft cloth.
It wasn't until he heard the name O'Connell again that Maximus suddenly looked guilty. He needed to come clean and inform the sweet woman that he wasn't who she was thinking he was and state his true business. Though he had to admit a pang of jealousy ringing through him at the thought that whoever Sir O'Connell was, he was a lucky man to work among such volumes.
Finally tearing himself away from the leather-bound books, Maximus reached up and rubbed the back of his neck which was a touch sweaty from the journey. He didn't like disappointing the woman but he'd have to set her straight gently. "Well, yesee..." he began to speak, only to be interrupted by the arrival of another woman. This one with a shock of raven hair and blue eyes almost as piercing as his own. And she did not look pleased. Oh, dear.
11-03-2022, 11:15 PM (This post was last modified: 11-03-2022, 11:16 PM by Rowena Ravenclaw.)
Rowena had been on her way to find Helga to vent her frustrations over a letter that had arrived rudely that morning when the house elf found her. Upon hearing that their librarian arrived, she picked up her skirts and high-tailed it to the room in question. As she neared the open doors she drew her wand. There wasn't time enough to call upon Godric or Salazar, she would simply have to handle this mysterious stranger herself. She was more than capable after all considering she was primely responsible for the building they all stayed in.
Head held high, Lady Ravenclaw swept into the room and zeroed in on Helga, her keen eyes focusing on the rather haggard-looking man. There was something about him that was both familiar yet foreign to her as she studied him. "Helga dear," she called with an odd tone of voice, trying not to alarm her best friend while at the same time trying to get her closer to her person and away from the man. "Can I have a word?"
Once Helga came close she reached out and tugged her even closer.
"That isn't the new librarian darling lass. Mister O'Connell isn't coming. He sent me a letter that arrived this morning saying he had found another subject to study and thus couldn't take the position offered to him," she hissed under her breath all while keeping her eye on the interloper. "I don't know who that man is as I've never seen him before in my life. Perhaps you should go fetch Godric or Salazar while I handle this strange man."
11-04-2022, 07:06 AM (This post was last modified: 11-04-2022, 07:07 AM by Helga Hufflepuff.)
Helga's head tilted just a touch, her curiosity and excitement to get to know a new person making her a bit blind to the guilty expression on his face. She wasn't the greatest at social interactions despite her history of putting on events to raise awareness for equal rights and causes, often times she had to have some help with her speeches otherwise she often said things that were too forward or just weren't very clear. She had thought asking about one of her strong subjects wouldn't be too terrible of a question to ask. After all how was she supposed to know what to prepare for his welcome feast if she didn't know what he liked and hated?
When she took note of his changed mood, Helga opened her mouth to about the same time he began to speak. In the end they were both interrupted but not by each other. It was Rowena in fact making her arrival to the library at last. She turned to greet her friend cheerfully when she was instead cut off and the pair shifted a few steps away to speak quietly.
The news was something of a surprise to Helga when she was informed the person she had dragged through the school had not been who she had assumed. A reminder she really needed to not jump over her manners in the heat of her excitement. He had said he was looking for the school founders so she could only assume he had to be their newly hired librarian. Of course now she realized he could be the head of a magical family coming to inspect the school himself before sending his children here. Something she hadn't thought of at first in her hurried excitement as usual. Hopefully her foolish actions wouldn't cost them any future students
Rather than do as Rowena mentioned, Helga turned back to the man, taking a few steps closer to him and gave a small bow of her head. "I'm terribly sorry to have mistake you for another! I must give you my sincerest apologies, I shouldn't have assumed you were someone else and done the respectable thing of exchanging introductions properly!" she said then slowly straightened up. She met with the man's eyes and something seemed to click in her mind, she studied them further now that she was a bit closer to him. They were awfully beautiful and reflected something held deep inside the man in front of her but also a touch familiar. Where had she seen eyes like this before..
"Ah! Sir Raine!" Helga said suddenly, a friendly smile returning to her lips for a moment as she looked at him then she glanced back at Rowena. "Its Sir Raine! Sir Merrick and Godric mentioned he would be coming by for a visit sometime soon to investigate the school in their father's steed in the hopes their sister could have the chance to attend herself as well as coming to lend a hand out on the grounds" Hopefully this time her assumption was right as she turned back to the man. "Was I correct in guessing who you are this time?" she asked with a touch more cheerfulness to her smile. If Rowena was worried about the stranger her friend could summon the boys with the cord by the door. He didn't seem the type to be too dangerous at the moment and maybe she was a touch hopeful her second guess was correct and he wouldn't hold her ill manners against her in his judgment for his overall opinion and view of the school.
And there it was, the woman's wand was already out as if she expected him to attack them. While some dubious souls might have, Maximus wasn't the type and thus remained relaxed and very tired, to show he meant no harm to them. He even kept his hands empty and clearly in view to both of the Ladies. In fact, his sword was still strapped to his horse for the time being and his wand was hidden in his sleeve.
Maximus was a bit surprised when Lady Hufflepuff turned back toward him instead of shrinking away in fear of him. Her proud announcement relieved him when she guessed his identity correctly this time because at least it showed his brother hadn't been lying when he said they'd be expecting him. However true that might have been though, he felt like he should apologize for starting off on the wrong foot.
"Aye, Sir Maximus Raine at yer service Lady 'ufflepuff," he said with a polite bow to her. "I feel I mus' apologize fer nay speakin' up sooner. I 'ave te admit tha' this library 'as surpassed even me wildest dreams an' shocked me. Te be surrounded by this much knowledge, te 'ave it se easily accessed, me sister would be lucky te attend. I'll be writin' te me Da' te give 'im me opinion, but I would li'e te see more o' this school o' yers if ye be agreeable? I d'nay want te cause any further trouble."
Standing there with slightly sagging shoulders and weariness on his face, Maximus looked like he might fall over sooner than take a grand tour of the castle and its grounds. He would brave through it because that's what you did when you were a knight and a soldier, you pressed on until you literally could not.
