[https://img.wattpad.com/story_parts/1256499412/images/17335a75d53aa017739679121859.png]
"Oh n-no, n-n-not again," said a stuttering voice.
Next to one of the many shelves, she saw a pile of books scattered all over the floor. Also scattered between them were a bunch of bones, and wandering around the large pile of books was the lower half of a skeleton. The skeleton legs – and some of the scattered bones – were wearing clothes that looked pretty medieval.
"I'll n-n-never make it n-now," said a boy's voice.
The voice was coming from the pile of books. Sophie carefully stepped closer and moved a couple of the books out of the way. The source of the voice was a skeleton head in the center of the pile. The rest of its torso was spread across the floor.
"Do you need help?" she asked.
The skeleton head looked up at her in surprise with a couple of white pupils that were floating inside its hollow eyes.
The skeleton head looked up at her in surprise with a couple of white pupils that were floating inside its hollow eyes [https://img.wattpad.com/347da8619d2e1fb067b07d3db88c1af13c66d18e/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f73376a477570666d52445a4365673d3d2d313235363439393431322e313730633234666235323731636337623636313338373435323739392e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
"W-will you r-really help me?" the skeleton head asked nervously.
"Of course!" Sophie said with a smile and immediately started gathering up the bones.
It took some time to gather up all the parts of the skeleton and figure out how to put them back together. It didn't help that the skeletons legs had walked into one of the bookcases which caused it to fall backwards and hit the hard stone floor and shatter. Because of this she even mixed up the right and left foot, which meant the skeleton couldn't walk straight. Finally, though, they managed to put him correctly back together.
"T-thank you so m-much for helping. M-my name is Vix," the skeleton said and bowed deeply.
"I'm Sophie, and you're welcome! But how come you fell apart?"
"M-my classmates and I needed some new books, and I said th-that I could get them for us. The t-trouble is, the books are p-pretty old, so they always stay the same s-s-size. So they're pretty hard to c-carry."
Always the same size? What an odd thing to say, Sophie thought.
"B-but I guess I'll just have to m-make a lot of trips, s-since I can't carry them all at once."
"Or maybe you could make your arms longer. That way you could carry all of them!" Sophie suggested.
That thought had occurred to her when they were trying to put Vix back together. She'd noticed that even when they put things together wrong, Vix could still move all of his bones. So why not just take some of the bones from his legs and use them to extend his arms? Without even asking, Sophie started to move the bones around.
"H-hey, what are you d-doing?" Vix stuttered.
"Just wait and see."
The skeleton boy looked pretty funny with his arms much longer than his legs, but now he could carry all the books. He looked down himself in disbelief.
"I had n-n-no idea I could do that. Th-thanks a lot. I'd never have th-thought of that myself, I think."
With his arms full of books, Vix happily waddled out of the library on his little stubby legs.
Sophie still had to find the librarian, so she walked in the direction that all the rows of bookshelves were facing until she reached the center of the library and a railing that blocked her path. The railing formed a massive circle the size of a Ferris wheel in the center of the library, with no floor in the middle. When Sophie stuck her head out over the railing, she could see at least twenty floors below, and looking up she saw at least twenty floors above her as well. Each floor had the same massive hole in the middle, so it looked like an invisible pillar reached all the way to the top of the library. On every floor Sophie saw the same railing and lots and lots of bookshelves
In the middle of the nothingness stood a gigantic owl wearing a dark red suit. The owl was almost 50 feet tall, and he was looking right at her.
"Ah, so you're the one who couldn't stop staring at my door handle. I suppose that makes sense after all, now that I see that you're human," he said.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
"I'm not your door handle! I belong to no one but me!" yelled Handle 888 from outside the library door.
The owl shook his head and sighed, then returned his attention to Sophie.
The owl shook his head and sighed, then returned his attention to Sophie [https://img.wattpad.com/0e9ed0a21664a8782dd1d71b61d9df71bd6861ec/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f425343677670724e5932675561513d3d2d313235363439393431322e313730396262323064343735663933613335363032343436363535332e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
"You must be Sophie Somera." The owl drew closer and gave her an examining look while pulling out a small notebook. "Height: 4'11''. Weight: 93.9 pounds. Eye color: Blue and green. Number of arms..."
"What are you doing?" Sophie interrupted.
"I'm taking notes about your physical composition. It's a necessity at a school where there are students with so many different body types. Everything needs to be noted down, and I am the designated notary. Do you see?"
Sophie nodded.
"Splendid. Do you have any other questions?" the owl asked, still busily writing in his notebook.
"I have lots! Can you tell me about the school and the..."
"I'm afraid not," the owl cut her off, looking up from his notebook for a moment. "I can answer any questions about myself and the library, but that's all. The rest you'll have to work out in other ways. But your books are always a good place to start."
The owl resumed his writing.
"My books?"
"Yes, I'll add a few extra books in with your school reading. They'll tell you more about Unum, the school, and the magical world."
Sophie nodded, trying not to show her disappointment. She'd never been great at staying focused when she was supposed to read a big schoolbook, but if it could answer some of her questions, maybe she'd be able to stick it out. At least she could try. The owl finished his notes and turned his eye towards the upper floors.
"Let's see, if we go with floor fifteen, shelf seven hundred and ten, book number forty-five as well as floor fifty-five, shelf thirteen, book number one hundred and thirty-five, that should give you plenty to read for the next few days. Don't you agree?"
Sophie nodded again. Having to read two books was more than enough for her.
"Lovely. In that case, please grab your backpack and open it."
"Tell her to extend her arms!" yelled Handle 888.
"If you would just let me finish, you'd find that I was just about to tell her!"
The owl cleared his throat. "... Then, hold out your backpack in front of you, and make sure to EXTEND your arms away from your body!" The owl looked in the direction of the door, but the handle didn't make any more comments.
"Now, if you'll just stand as still as you can manage, the books will make their way to you."
The owl once again turned his head towards the many floors of bookshelves above.
"Schoolbook pickup for a new student, Sophie Somera, human, Class 3-7-9!"
The yell echoed up through the many floors. Then there was silence.
I wonder if the library is staffed by tiny owls or what? Sophie thought to herself. But again, the school surprised her. Flying down from the floors above were several books. No one was transporting them, and they weren't just being thrown. They were flying all on their own. Headed directly towards her. She swallowed something. They sure were going fast.
Why aren't they slowing down? If the books slammed into her at that speed, she could get seriously hurt. She gave a worried look to the owl, who simply smiled reassuringly. And luckily, the books did seem to slow down now.
They also started shrinking down, to the size of matchstick boxes, and then they flew into her backpack, sorting themselves in a neat and manageable fashion.
They also started shrinking down, to the size of matchstick boxes, and then they flew into her backpack, sorting themselves in a neat and manageable fashion [https://img.wattpad.com/da4f4303bb267f227d49a0aa76e753e73741236e/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f32656e594355393454586d6358773d3d2d313235363439393431322e313730396262343866373136393136383337303038323432373838342e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
"I believe that should be all the books you need," the owl said. "But now you'd better hurry off to find your class. It won't be long till recess begins, and if you don't reunite with your classmates by then, you'll have a hard time locating them."
Sophie wasn't quite following. Reunite? What did the owl mean by that?
"Um... I haven't actually met any of my classmates yet... And I don't even know what classes I'm supposed to be taking..."
"Why, the same as everyone else, of course! Like I said, you'll be in Class 3-7-9, so if you'll just..."
Class 3-7-9? Sophie didn't have much of an idea of what kind of class that was. Maybe it had something to do with math? That had never been one of Sophie's best subjects.
The owl stopped talking, obviously noticing the confusion on Sophie's face.
"Oh, I see," he continued. "Maybe they do things differently where you're from. Well, here you'll find that every student has a single class and one group of classmates that they share all their lessons with. That's because you need to learn to work together, and so that you and your classmates will all get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses as you learn together. Your class will be Class 3-7-9 – some very lucky numbers, if I may say so!"
The owl stopped after his explanation and almost looked a bit embarrassed. "Oh, dear me, it seems I ended up telling you about the school after all. Oh well."
Sophie nodded slowly, taking it all in. "Okay, I think I've got it... But I still don't know where I'm supposed to go now."
"Let all thy fears at once be gone, young maiden!" yelled out Sir James from outside the door. "Just follow me and we'll be on our way!"
"Splendid. She'll need to get to Class 3-7-9!" the owl yelled to Sir James, then turned back to her. "And now you know where you're going. Don't you agree?"
Sophie was lying in her bed with the duvet pulled up over her head [https://img.wattpad.com/8c8906bfb2eff326a3f9cd52b86ce8ec6d8acc52/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f767862706948304a73664a7570673d3d2d313235333934313835302e313733663230616534623765333861363936343636313337343032322e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
- Next chapter Friday the 30th of December