Winifred had just left the great hall when she decided to stop by the library. Arithmancy met at this time of the day, and she didn't take the class. Besides, she had been meaning to stop by the library all week and kept getting side tracked. But since it was Friday, which meant she had to meet with her tutor later in the afternoon, Winifred figured it was best she go ahead and drop in to see whether or not the Hogwarts librarian would be able to help her in her quest for mediocre intelligence.

The library was not a place Winifred visited frequently. You always had to be quiet in the library, and she didn't like to read or study when she wasn't allowed to talk, and she didn't really read the kind of books in the Hogwarts library for fun. She had a feeling you wouldn't find romance novels about a centaurs hopeless infatuation with a squib on the shelves. Which was why she had her Aunt Leola owl those kinds of things to her.

It occurred to Winifred, however, as she stopped at the librarian's desk that she was not entirely certain how to address the man. He wasn't really a professor, so she couldn't call him Professor Morgan. Head of Slytherin Morgan was an awfully long title to give him. It seemed that Librarian Morgan wasn't right either. Even so, just plain old Mr. Morgan felt like it had to be awfully disrespectful. She stood there, thinking about it for a moment, with a rather confused expression on her fact before offering the librarian a smile. "Good morning, sir." Ha! That would work, well enough for now anyway.

"I was wondering whether or not you could help me," she whispered. Low voices in the library at all times, of course. Not that Winifred's whisper was very quiet. It was actually quite loud and annoying. "I need help finding books that will make me smarter." That was a reasonable request, wasn't it? "Oh, and better at magic and stuff." Surely he had to know exactly what sort of books she was looking for! "Does the library have books like that?"

It was early in the morning, just after breakfast, and Landis was taking advantage of the lack of students to perform some of her... noisier duties. With a face of cut marble she stood at the check-in counter and replaced cards in Restricted section books, ignoring the pleasant music that spilled out of tome on melody magic or the alarmingly warm cover of the one bound in suspiciously stained leather.

She reached for another, a purple-black tome. Something in her expression steeled as she stared down at it; quick as a striking snake she whipped the cover open and stuffed the card in. Immediately the book began to wail, a high banshee keen that set chains to creaking and pages rustling from the shelves of startled books. "Oh, shut up," Landis snapped, and the howl cut off with a pathetic whimper.

A flicker of movement caught her eye, her hands pausing in their work. A student had entered and was making a beeline towards the desk, her ungodly morning cheer and yellow tie proclaiming her a Hufflepuff. Landis laid the book aside, and by the time Winifred reached her was watching the new arrival with zero interest but at least the appearance of patience.

"I was wondering whether or not you could help me."

Landis made a sort of gesture designed to convey that she was in fact legally under contract to help, with a nod and a little go on flutter of her fingers, but a large part of her mind was occupied trying to place this girl's identity. This student didn't come in the library often, nor check books out - and Landis didn't bother herself with the names of most of the Hufflepuffs - yet something about her was so familiar....and irritating. Just the look on her little round face annoyed Landis, and she wasn't quite sure why.

"I need help finding books that will make me smarter. Oh, and better at magic and stuff. Does the library have books like that?"

As depressing as it was, that was not an uncommon question. Landis heaved a mental sigh and prepared to direct the girl in the direction of the Magic for Dummies section when suddenly her chipmunk cheeks and brown hair and terrible sense of accessorizing all lined neatly up and clicked. This was the screaming girl from Ignan's Apparition class. Landis' eyes narrowed, and the air in the library suddenly seemed much colder.   

Sometimes she thought back on that day and was very grateful for Trishna's presence. For whatever it said about Landis, he'd forgotten there were spells so benign but effective as the professor's quick  "Silencio!"

"You could try memorizing the encyclopedia," she said, deadpan. "But I'm afraid I carry nothing that can combat a lack of common sense."

Winifred was not familiar enough with sarcasm to understand that Landis was making an attempt at a cruel joke. And considering his position in Hogwarts, she assumed he was being entirely serious, so her only reaction was a faltered smile, and half a step back from his desk. Memorizing the encyclopedia did not seem a very worth while pursuit, and there was no way she'd be able to manage doing that on top of all of her other studies.

"I'm getting tutored this year," she continued in her loud whisper. "So that I can get better at magic. I even got a proper Ollivander's wand before the year started!" So far it was proving to be much better than the one she'd bought before. It was amazing what a change in a wand did. (Or, in more actuality, a change in her confidence level.)

"I have my first session this afternoon with a Ravenclaw. And I wanted to find some books that would help me!" Her enthusiasm had to be admired. Winifred was considered by most to be a hopeless case when it came to magic, but she was really was determined to try really hard this year. Finally that hard working part of being a Hufflepuff was beginning to come out of her personality. Her Uncle Archer would be very proud of her. "That way I can work on some stuff on my own when I'm not getting tutored. Do you know if there are any books that can help me with that stuff?"

"I'm afraid you're not the only person who told me you can't learn common sense. So I'm going to work on the magic stuff first and hope that maybe the common sense comes when I grow up some more!"

Landis watched her comment sail right over the Hufflepuff's head, the only result a puzzled smile and a half-step back. Sarcasm was lost on this one. Sigh. She laid her wand down on the counter and prepared for the long-haul, folding one long arm over the other. The little twit looked prepared to be earnest at her, and who knew how long that was going to take.

"I'm getting tutored this year."

Since snark was now out of the question, Landis attempted to arrange her features in something that was suitably encouraging but, given her natural disinclination to enthusiasm, the best she could manage was a sort of grimace. Possibly the girl's grating voice wasn't helping that. But she was rocked out of it by Winifred's next admission; Landis raised her head, blinking, as she replayed the girl's words again. "You mean you did not have a proper wand before?" she asked, startled, her cool tone slivered with surprise. Of course she regretted the question almost immediately - now she must have given the other the (false) assumption that she actually cared - but, seriously? How long had the girl been attending Hogwarts? "What is your name and year, girl?"

Oh, a study session with a Ravenclaw, wasn't she going someplace fast. Her eagerness was almost painful to behold. Landis stared at her for a minute, and remembered why she didn't like children.

Well, this was what she was being paid for. "All right, yes, come on," Landis said, and led the way into the stacks. She bent to pluck a book from the General Ed section, then another and another. Books like 101 Spells Every Student Should Know, Remedial Studies for the Second-hand Scholar, Madame Bonny's Giggling Grimoire, and of course, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spell-Casting and Magic for Dummies passed from her hands to the crook of her elbow, open shelf space, or Winifred's open arms.

Several of them had friendly, brightly-colored illustrations on the cover, of little witches and wizards whose wands shot sparks and who all looked very excited to learn. Landis handled them as one who had lost all hope for the future. After she'd accumulated a tidy amount, she straightened and turned back to Winifred.

"There we are," she said, with no real venom. "For the little Hufflepuff that could. Pick the ones with the smallest words and the prettiest pictures and I'll check them out for you."

"Well, I had a wand, but it wasn't an Ollivander's wand," Winifred explained. Her loud whisper had now turned into a voice of normal volume. "When it was time for me to get a wand, none of his wands picked me! The only we could get was from a travelling wizard and it had a diricawl father core and wasn't made of traditional stuff. It took until just this past summer before one of Olivander's wands would choose me. Of course, I can't really blame them. But I'm hoping have a proper wand will help with casting spells!"

"And I'm Winifred Oliver, and I've just started my fourth year," she answered Lady-Landis.

Finally the Librarian started to lead her through the library. Winifred followed, an extra bounce in her step. She took the books that the librarian handed her. There were a lot! She wondered if they would be helpful. Winifred had not known there were magic books for dummies or idiots. Though she didn't think of herself as an idiot- Winifred certainly did consider herself quite dumb or stupid at times.

"Small words and pretty pictures won't help me get better at magic," she said to the librarian. "I do know how to read," Winifred's tone was suddenly haughty and a tad offended. Outside of school work, Winifred read a lot of books. She actually enjoyed reading. It was just the educational reading that came difficult for her. "I want whichever books will help me the very most," she explained. "I really do want to stop being such a very bad witch, and that's only going to happen if I work very hard!" Winifred's enthusiasm was clearly back in full force.

"I don't want people to flinch in class when I cast a spell, or to not have a partner because everyone is afraid if I turn my wand on them I will blow them up!" To be fair, Winifred had never blown anyone up. Though she had accidentally set a classmate on fire in her second year. "I know I'll probably never be great at wandwork, but I wouldn't mind at least hitting average before I graduate."

Landis stared at the girl in something very like fascinated horror as Winnie babbled on. She had never heard of anyone that Ollivander had been unable to match with a wand. And Oliver couldn't blame them...?

Dear Merlin! If Landis was a student in classes with Winnie, she'd flinch too. A fourth year with a mismatched wand was dangerous.

"Small words and pretty pictures won't help me get better at magic. I do know how to read."

"Oh, excuse me," Landis said, smiling. Winnie's obliviousness was turning amusing, because it was either be amused or roll her eyes so hard they fell out of her skull and Landis certainly did not want to do that. She indicated with a sharp quick gesture the books in Winnie's arms. "These books contain remedial spells and other magic any student with a proper wand should know. Your education, however, would be lacking given that you've been working with an unattuned wand. I would expect many of these never have worked well for you before. You should make certain you've mastered the basics with your new wand before you attempt additional tutoring, though there are also - " Another hand gesture, this one vaguer, more all-encompassing - "other spells in these which may be common for upper years but currently unavailable to you."