Winter coats had been shed, and lightweight spring and autumn robes had become the norm at Hogwarts. It was late May.
Pages turned faster and faster in the library, and the students' footsteps kept pace. Twenty-four hours a day were beginning to feel insufficient.
Brian, on the other hand, had been unusually relaxed lately-he had already finished most of the reports that needed to be submitted for the Muggle Studies finals.
All he had left to worry about was his work as librarian, and the library near the end of term did not actually require much effort from him.
Anyone who made an ill-timed noise in this shared study space at such a critical moment would meet with spontaneous opposition from everyone present.
This included, but was not limited to, "forceful, pointed snorts" and "coughs that sounded as though someone had punched them in the throat."
There were even "plain, straightforward, loudly voiced reminders."
But there were always situations the students could not handle themselves. For instance, the "student having an emotional breakdown and crying loudly in the library" whom Brian had been waiting so long for, but who had yet to appear-while he was busy tinkering with a little magical device to help students release their emotions.
On the afternoon of May 29, a fifth-year Hufflepuff girl sitting in a corner of the library discovered that, for the seventh time, she had got a question wrong that she should not have. After that, she could no longer control the switches governing her eyes and throat.
"Waaah-ah-waaah-waaah-"
"You're so annoying. Could you please shut your mouth right now? Oh, apparently that's difficult for you-fine. If you know you're about to be expelled for failing your exams, you'd better give yourself a dignified exit instead of sitting here crying like a