Addiction (D.M)

Chapter 11

Ophelia

I've always found a sense of peace in a library. Reading brings me a comfort that almost nothing else can. Books don't judge you for reading them, rather they open their pages freely and invite you into a new world. I guess that's why most of my time is spent here in the Hogwarts library.

If i'm not studying, im perusing the shelves for a new read. my insatiable thirst for new information, new ways of thinking, only satisfied by opening a new book, is constantly bringing me here — to the most magnificent library i've ever been to.

any possible book you could think of is here.

you know the feeling you get when you're playing hide and seek and you're the one hiding and the excitement is just too much that you can't stop your body from trembling, and trying not to pee your pants from anticipation? that's me when i'm browsing the bookshelves trying to find a book to read. there almost isn't another feeling that compares — almost.

this morning — a Monday in which my first class of study hall — i have found myself in the section of the library labeled "Magical Creatures" for an assignment, looking specifically for a book on herbs and remedies and how to treat illnesses in different magical creatures.

i happened across a particular spine that read Natural Magic in Magical Nature, and i suppose this is a good a place to start as any.

pulling the book from the shelf and lugging it back to my little corner tucked in between the potions section and the divination section, i find my things sitting exactly where i left them — at the desk connected to the shelf, with a small green, velveted papasan chair right next to it.

the obvious choice being the papasan chair, i take my seat, bringing the book with me.

i do take a moment to admire the art on the cover. this tome is a deep brown color, but there are etchings of leaves and branches blooming from the bottom in gold, with the title in the very middle. it's quite pleasing to look at — another reason i love books, they're pretty. 

taking a deep breath to relax myself into my seat, i crack open the book to the first page.

im one of those people who will read the entire textbook to gather every last morsel of information, even if i am only looking for one thing.

the book starts to, of course, list different types of creatures you will find in magical forests, then begins to list the different types of plants and vegetation you will find as well. after i've read that section — which gave me the information i was looking for initially — i began to read about types of magic that can be found in both of the aforementioned topics.

apparently, Thestrals have the ability to simply know where their riding needs to go without being told, similar to how an owl knows where to deliver mail. And the Wiggentree's bark is commonly used in potions, is guarded by bowtruckles — a magical creature that is typical known to be a tree guardian — and can protect a person from dark creatures as long as they are touching its trunk.

the next section touches on mating in magical nature. some animals mate like rabbits, like the Jackalope, and are constantly finding different partners to mate with, even their own offspring apparently — yuck — and some mate for life, like Veela.

Not only do Veela, magical beings who appeared as young and beautiful women with white-gold hair and moon-bright skin, mate for life, but they also have a soulmate.

my eyes skimmed over the word soulmate at first, then my heart jumped and started beating a little quicker, bringing my eyes back to the word. i couldn't stop staring at it. maybe i was just fascinated with the idea of soulmates, because i suddenly had the urge to find absolutely everything i could on them. Soulmates, not Veela.