Hogwarts Library was huge; bookcases lined along the marble floor and were filled with thousands of magical topics and properties. The different assortment was really what made the library unique. Floating books hovered across the room, sorting themselves and finding their way through the immense archives. Ormen walked in cautiously, looking around and examining everyone who was in the grand room. He had been in here before to get information on something Herbology related... like he could even care less about that subject. As he strode into the library, he set his sights upon the first bookcase that lay ahead. He approached the assortment of books and slowly walked to his right, examining the titles as he walked past. Dragons for Hire, Trolls and their Habitats, Giants through Time, Training your Knarl, Getting to know your Hippogriff. Ormen looked up and saw a sign reading 'Magical Animals and Humanoids'. Ormen shook his head, that wasn't the section he was looking for.

He wandered down the many rows of books that surrounded him, reading a different multitude of signs and genres that did not interest him. Finally, he turned a left corner and came upon a section with a sign reading 'Popular Jinxes & Hexes'. Ormen smirked, that's what he came in here for. He quickly darted towards a bookshelf by the window and, just then, realized he was alone. How could no one be interested in magic like this? He ignored the absence of students and began to look through the books that lined the shelves before him. Tricky Tricks To Try, Imperative Jinxes, Hexes for Natural Defense, Standard Book of Jinxes. It caught Ormen's eye almost immediately; he pulled the Standard Book of Jinxes down from the shelf and placed it carefully on the table. It looked as if it hadn't been touched in a while, but was definitely used in it's prime. He pulled the cover back and opened to the table of contents. He scanned the different chapters and flipped to the third, examining the contents on the page.

'Although Petrificus Totalus is a fine spell to use in case of binding your opponent, it is a basic spell that has many counter-curses and backfire options. Knowing this, another jinx that will come in any wizard or witch's defensive use is the Impediment Jinx. Known for it's many uses, the Impediment Jinx can stun, push back or even cause your opponent to stay immobilized in air, in preference to the level of power used.

Ormen's mouth was slightly open in wonder. He swallowed and looked at the bottom of the page which read 'The Impediment Jinx is intended for a year 5 wizard and older. The Standard Book of Jinxes takes no responsibility in the harm of underage uses of magic or use of the Impediment Jinx.' Ormen gave an unsatisfied look; were there any spells that he could do that would be useful? He left the book lying open and returned to the bookshelf to browse through the remaining titles.

Sighing, Peter breathed in the smell of old parchment. The page crinkled as he turned the page. The Hufflepuff was sitting in the library, flipping through a Charms book. With exams coming up, he was trying to brush up on some extra information he might be able to slip into some of his tests. Things that they hadn't gone over in class. This Charms book was frankly kind of boring, though. It didn't have much that was useful. It rambled on about the history too much. That was fine, sometimes, but right now he was itching for something more than that. Back to the shelf for this one.

He slid it back into place, and walked along the shelves, tracing along the old covers with a finger. Nothing in the Charms section was jumping out at him, so he wandered towards Defense. Maybe that would have something a little more up his alley.

'Popular Jinxes & Hexes'. That sounded promising. Something with a little more bite to it. He rounded a corner to see some more of the books in the section and ran into another first year, much to his surprise.

"Oh, hey." His voice seemed to echo much more loudly in the quiet room than he'd expected. He lowered his voice. "Swotting up for Storm?"

The spines of the books were worn and dusty. This section obviously hadn't been touched in awhile. Ormen swished away the excess dirt that lay covering the titles and peered for more beginner looking magic. As a title caught his eyes he began to pull the battered book from the shelf. As he did, the voice of Peter bounced off the walls and made Ormen gasp; he thought he had been alone and was going to stay alone. The book he was pulling out toppled and fell on his face, which bounced to the ground below, laying flat open. Ormen's face drew a careful shade of red as he went to go retrieve the book.

As he came back up, he looked at the student; blonde hair, fairly the same height as Ormen, and in Hufflepuff. Normally, Ormen saw Slytherins picking on Hufflepuffs, but Ormen wasn't the type to make enemies straight off the bat. Instead, Ormen gave a stern look and finally registered the question he had been asked; "Swotting up for Storm?". Ormen gave a grin and placed the book that had fallen on his face upon the table.
"Of course. Defense Against the Dark Arts is one of my favorite subjects... I thought I'd refresh my memory with the spells we've learned." he explained. He went to go sit down, then looked back up at Peter. "I'm Ormen, by the way. And you are?" he asked putting out his hand to shake.

The other boy, surprised by his sudden appearance, accidentally pulled one of the books down onto his face. Peter winced, then jerked as the book fell to the floor. The boy, a Slytherin, didn't seem too bothered though. He blushed but then brushed it all right off.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts is one of my favorite subjects... I thought I'd refresh my memory with the spells we've learned."

"Oh?" He cocked his head to the side. It hadn't taken him the entire year to learn that Slytherin had a certain reputation regarding the Dark Arts. But Defense was a perfectly legitimate interest. "I'm Ormen, by the way. And you are?" He and Ormen hadn't ever really spoken, and he seemed all right so far. Peter followed the boy, but didn't sit with him. He did shake the offered hand, though. "I'm Peter. Any spells in particular you're interested in? Have you read about that Eyeball Hex?" He gave a little shudder, but was grinning. "It sounds wicked. It's a shame it'll probably be another few years before we can do something like that."

"I'm Peter. Any spells in particular you're interested in? Have you read about that Eyeball Hex?" he said, giving a slight shudder, yet still grinning. "It sounds wicked. It's a shame it'll probably be another few years before we can do something like that."

Ormen was skimming over the book in front of him while Peter talked. When he brought up the eyeball hex, Ormen immediately switched his gaze to the Hufflepuff student.
"Yeah, yeah.. I do remember hearing something about that. Sounds pretty cool, if you ask me." he said, the nodded when Peter finished. "Yeah, it'd be really cool to learn that." he said, looking back to his book, then back at Peter. "I was actually looking up jinxs that we could use in our first year... but there aren't many that are too easy. I did come across something called Fiendfyre... it's kind of scary." Ormen gave a soft laugh, but he was really thinking about the chaos that spell would create.

Ormen returned his attention to Peter once more. "Do you know any cool spells? I've been coming to the library for a few days now, and I haven't been able to really find anything at our skill level." he said.

"Fiendfyre, huh?" He hadn't heard of that one, maybe he'd check into it later. Sliding into the seat across from Ormen, he reached over and slid the book over to himself. His glasses started to slide down his nose as he flipped through the book. The illustrations in these books were always so interesting. He paused to watch one wizard hex another, then abruptly turned the page when the hexed wizard's knees inverted.

"Do you know any cool spells? I've been coming to the library for a few days now, and I haven't been able to really find anything at our skill level."

"We are almost second years now, so we could probably try something a little harder. There's this one you can use to keep someone from talking. It doesn't sound all that interesting, except if you were dueling someone, you could use it to keep them from fighting back." He frowned. "I think that one was pretty advanced, too, though."

The subject of dueling suddenly brought to mind the club. He'd been too nervous at the start of the year to join it; dueling sounded dangerous then. But this year he'd seen a professor get his arm cut off and he was fine now, so he felt a little more confident about spells going wrong. And anyway he was much better now than the beginning of the year.

"Are you in that Dueling Club? I think I'm going to join next year. I bet you learn tons of great jinxes in that."

"We are almost second years now, so we could probably try something a little harder. There's this one you can use to keep someone from talking. It doesn't sound all that interesting, except if you were dueling someone, you could use it to keep them from fighting back."

Ormen looked up, intrigued by the idea of this spell. It sounded as if it could really be useful in dueling. Dueling... it seemed to stand out in his head. He was an avid fan of dueling, he had even wanted to join the dueling club, but perhaps he'd do that next year. He was really interested in learning new spells and jinxes. "I think that one was pretty advanced, too, though." As Peter said this, Ormen sported a frown along with him.
"That's too bad." Ormen said, looking through the spell book on his right. He flipped through the pages until he saw a wizard shoot a snake from the tip of his wand.

Still with his mind on the dueling club, Ormen pondered the types of things they would learn. 'Just imagine, the types of spells I could use to curse someone...' whimpered the dark thoughts in his head.

"Are you in that Dueling Club? I think I'm going to join next year. I bet you learn tons of great jinxes in that."

Ormen's eyes widened slightly. It was as if Peter had read his mind. He immediately looked back at Peter and said,
"I was actually just thinking about that." he said, surprised. "I was going to sign up this year.. but I simply forgot all about it until now. I'm joining next year for sure." he explained. Peter was right; you probably learned tons of spectacular jinxes and spells. It dawned on Ormen that Peter was turning out to be better then he had first expected. Ormen had always viewed Peter in class as the more 'defenseless, student-type'. Apparently, Ormen had misjudged him. "You don't seem to be like most of the Hufflepuffs I know... I can't say I know anyone from your house that's as interested in jinxes and hexes like you." Ormen said smoothly. "I myself like offensive magic, like jinxes... they seem more interesting then charms. I'd love to learn a whole bunch one day."

He had to laugh; it was true, he had to admit he liked Ormen. Even though he'd almost ended up in Slytherin himself, he'd spent most of the year ignoring them. Most of them seemed to be snobs, and he'd heard how they didn't like Muggleborns. "You don't seem like most of the Slytherins. They tend to be a bit stuck up." Realizing Ormen might take that personally, he was quick to add, "Not you though." As for Hufflepuffs not being interested in hexes and jinxes, that was the impression he got from his fellow first years. Maybe they'd be like Ormen and surprise him, though.

"I myself like offensive magic, like jinxes... they seem more interesting then charms. I'd love to learn a whole bunch one day." He nodded vigorously, leaning forward. "Oh definitely. They say a good offense is the best defense, right?" Remembering how a month from now he'd be back home, no spell books or classes, he sat back in his chair with a frown. "I hope I don't fall too far behind over the summer..."

"Oh definitely. They say a good offense is the best defense, right?"

Ormen simply grinned and nodded; that was exactly how he thought of it. All the time. Even when he was told otherwise. Ormen watched as Peter sat back in his chair and frowned. Without asking why he seemed sad all of the sudden, Ormen was greeted with an answer. "I hope I don't fall too far behind over the summer..." Ormen had to agree. He grew to love Hogwarts as a home. The kind of things they learned here far outdid anything he had done back in London. He let a frown slide too as he sat back in his chair, similar to Peter, and glanced outside the window.
"I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm muggleborn, you see... Slytherin students didn't really appreciate that. I didn't even know it mattered... I feel like I'm behind in magic or something... maybe that's just me." he said solemnly. "I'm not excited to go back home. I want to learn more..." he said, looking down at the spell book.

As he saw the two wizards performing the Impediment Jinx, he thought of all the kinds of things he would be learning next year. Peter seemed to be the one person Ormen connected with. Perhaps he would write to him over the summer and see what he's up to... it'll at least keep him in some touch with the magical world.

"I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm muggleborn, you see..." Peter was surprised his jaw didn't drop in surprise. Somehow he'd gotten it in his head that Slytherins were all from wizard families. Off the top of his head he couldn't really name any whose parents were both Muggles. And even more surprising was how much Ormen was starting to seem like him. They had so much in common!

"No, really?"

Ormen continued on, "I feel like I'm behind in magic or something... maybe that's just me. I'm not excited to go back home. I want to learn more..."

"It's not just you. I thought I would be really behind too. And... well, I do want to go home but I want to stay here too. There's just too much to do." He laughed, suddenly thinking back to the beginning of the school year. "Going back to Diagon will be a treat, though. I'm going to try to talk my mum into getting me a rat for next year," he paused, considering, "or maybe an owl. I don't think my parents would really get owl mail, though." The thought of either of them trying to send mail by owl was laughable.

"It's not just you. I thought I would be really behind too. And... well, I do want to go home but I want to stay here too. There's just too much to do."

Ormen had to agree with Peter. There was so much to do, so much to learn, so many spells to master. "Going back to Diagon will be a treat, though. I'm going to try to talk my mum into getting me a rat for next year,". As Peter said this, Ormen looked up; he had completely forgotten that they were to return to Diagon Alley. To be honest, he loved that place, it was a huge source of magic and magical items. Ormen simpered in his seat, repositioning himself to listen to Peter. "or maybe an owl. I don't think my parents would really get owl mail, though."

Ormen laughed, then nodded.
"Yeah, my mum would not understand. She'd probably be too scared to approach the owl." Ormen joked, closing the book in front of him. "You'd be really lucky to get an owl, they're awesome. I hope I can get one, then I can actually send letters over the summer, maybe even write to my mum." he said, fiddling with the spine of the book. "Is there a way to send mail without an owl?" Ormen asked, looking at Peter. If he could, he'd write to Peter over the summer, keep in touch. Peter was turned out to be really cool to talk to.