HaRrY pOtTeR

Submitted into Contest #91 in response to: Set your story in a library, after hours.... view prompt

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Bedtime

The Restricted Section used to have books about Horcruxes, including Secrets of the Darkest Art. However, by Tom Riddle's time at the school in the 1940s, it was a banned subject and Albus Dumbledore was very strict about it.[5] He eventually had every book about Horcruxes taken out of the section at an unknown date, before June 1997. It was later suspected that Riddle found the method to make a Horcrux in the book before Dumbledore removed it from the library.[6]

The 1980s

During the 1986–1987 school year, Jacob's sibling, along with Tulip Karasu, Barnaby Lee, and a third friend, made a plan to get to the Restricted Section to locate the Vault of Fear. The third friend, either Rowan Khanna, Bill Weasley, or Nymphadora Tonks made sure to distract Madam Pince. Once Pince was out of the way, the four went to enter the Restricted Section. Before they could, however, they were spotted by Merula Snyder and Imelda Murk, the former of whom was also attempting to locate the Vault. Jacob's sibling beat Merula in a duel, and they and their friends entered the Restricted Section. The four looked for an entrance to the Vault. Jacob's sibling noticed one book was missing and inserted the book they had found from the previous Vault there, causing some of the bookshelves to rise and open the entrance to the Vault of Fear.[1]

In the 1987–1988 school year, Rita Skeeter and Jacob's sibling entered the Restricted Section. During the meeting, Rita shared her view towards the Restricted Section, believing it was nothing less than a repository for Dark Magic, going as far as saying that it might as well just have been called an armory, given the number of times that would have potentially catastrophic consequences should they fall into the wrong hands.[7]

The 1990s

"The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, he held up his lamp to read the titles."

— Harry wanders into the Restricted Section[src]

Harry searching the Restricted Section at night

During the 1991–1992 school year, Harry Potter used his newly acquired Invisibility cloak to sneak into the Restricted Section during the Christmas holidays. He went at night to look for information on Nicolas Flamel, to discover Flamel's connection to the Philosopher's Stone. Unfortunately, he picked up a large black book near the bottom of the shelf that began screaming when he opened it. Worried that he would attract unwanted attention, Harry closed the book and ran out of the library.[2]

During the 1992–1993 school year, Hermione Granger entered the Restricted Section using an autograph from Gilderoy Lockhart, who was the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor that year, though the librarian Madam Pince made extra sure of the note, as though suspecting forgery. Inside, she found Moste Potente Potions,[3] which contained instructions on brewing Polyjuice Potion.[4] Hermione subsequently made the advanced Potion, facilitating Harry and Ron Weasley disguising themselves as Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe and entering the Slytherin Dungeon to question Draco Malfoy about the Heir of Slytherin.

During the 1994–1995 school year, Harry Potter received Minerva McGonagall's permission to enter the Restricted Section so he could research away about being able to breathe underwater for an hour to compete in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament but was unable to find anything useful from any of the books.[8]

By the 1996–1997 school year, according to Hermione Granger, she had "been right through the restricted section" in the hopes of looking for information on Horcruxes, but not finding much on the subject matter.[9]

The Harry Potter Generation is growing up, but our love for HP is still going strong. We’ve got tattoos of our favorite lines from the series. Our homes are filled with art that reminds us that happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light. We’ve created an organization that helps people help others because we believe in joyful activism (we’re members of the D.A., after all). And two very talented brothers created the first wizard rock band, and we’ve been rocking out for over 15 years.

Joe and Paul DeGeorge formed Harry and the Potters in 2002 and have been playing shows to crowds of Harry Potter fans in venues ranging from basements to rock clubs since the beginning. Unsurprisingly, the guys are huge literary advocates, so for their new album’s tour this year, they’re performing at libraries all over the U.S.

And yes, Dallas Public Library is one of the stops.

Could this possibly get better? Yes, yes it could.

The show is free.

That’s right. You can see Harry and the Potters FOR FREE at the Renner Frankford Branch Library on August 11th. The show is from 7pm – 8pm, but we expect a crowd, so doors open at 6pm.

It’s going to be a night of fun, music, and most of all, nerding out completely about Harry Potter!

The Restricted Section is an area in the Hogwarts Library, closed off by a rope. Books in this section may be rare, valuable, and/or considered inappropriate for younger students, thus why it is restricted. ... Students may only check out a book from this section if they have a note of permission from a teacher. The Restricted Section is an area in the Hogwarts Library, closed off by a rope. Books in this section may be rare, valuable, and/or considered inappropriate for younger students, thus why it is restricted. ... The librarian would then retrieve the book for the student.

"Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section... you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew he'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts."

— Description[src]

April 26, 2021 18:24

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