Disclaimer: Not the Rowling, not the Pratchett.
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NOTES:
This one... I really want to read it, but I'm pretty sure I don't have the skills to write it properly. If anyone wants to adopt it and make something of it, please let me know!
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LOOSE ENDS
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Throughout the Panverse there are many stories that remain untold, offshoots from more resonant narratives that quickly lose traction, unless investigated by those who delight in tying up such loose ends. Stories such as "where did Doctor Ono Tofu go after he left Nerima", and "when did Khan Noonien Singh and Commander Pavel Chekhov meet before the incident on the ruined Ceti Alpha V". This is one such story, and gives a possible resolution to two such loose ends:
Whatever happened to Sally-Anne Perks?
and
Where in the world was Eskarina Smith?
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Hastening through the ancient stone halls, the Librarian stopped at an unassuming door, knocked, then slipped inside. There was much to be done that night: the books were in danger, and would have to be saved; but first, there was something «gasp» far more important to do.
-=o=-
Hastening through the ancient stone halls, the Librarian came to a large, ornate double door, unlocked it, and slipped inside. There was much to be done that night: another Librarian needed assistance, and a call for help had been received; rendering aid was an important part of the fellowship.
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The first Librarian looked at the two occupants of the room. Both young: one tall, gangly, with terrible acne, watery eyes, and a permanent sniffle; the other short, with long brown hair and a definite air of attitude.
Simon, the wizard who could see the numbers beneath the world. Eskarina Smith, the witch with a wizard's staff.
"Ook," said the Librarian, and gestured to the door.
-=o=-
The second Librarian moved swiftly over to a caged-in section at the back of the library, unlocked the gate, and stepped inside. The books here... some of them were sentient, and could sense the approach of the one who cared for them. Pages rustled in the dark.
"Right," murmured Madam Pince, and raised her hands.
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The Librarian knuckled back through the University's halls, Simon and Esk in tow, threw open the library doors, and swung inside. The books here... all were more or less sentient, and they longed to flee the approach of the one who would destroy them. But the Librarian needed them in their current configuration, so he ran a soothing hand over rustling pages as he led the others deeper inside.
-=o=-
In a contorted cranny of the stacks, lit only by the faint arcane glow of the books, Madam Pince subtly guided the flows of reality to open a path. As the strains on the fabric of the real shifted, a gap into L-space opened up. Concentrating on maintaining the link, Madam Pince stepped through, unaware that she was being followed.
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The Librarian grunted under the strain of maintaining the pathway. "Ook," he said firmly, gesturing into the warped section of reality.
"I suppose we're going to be met by someone?" asked Esk. The Librarian nodded. "Right then Simon, let's go." Taking the gangly youth by the hand, Esk departed the Diskworld.
The Librarian sighed, allowing the pathway to collapse. Finally he could focus on saving the books from the Sourcerer...
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"Right", said Madam Pince, as Esk and Simon came into the oddly non-Euclidian reading room she had linked to. "I've been asked to find somewhere safe to keep you for a while. Come with me, please." She turned back to the pathway and started back to Hogwarts.
"Aah!" A young voice squeaked, followed by a loud «thump».
"Who's there?" snapped Madam Pince.
A slight figure in Hufflepuff robes levered herself up from the floor where she had fallen. "It's me, Madam Pince. Sally-Anne Perks, second year 'Puff?"
"What are you doing here?"
"It's the petrifications Ma'am. I'm muggleborn, so it could be me next, and I wanted— I wanted to help Justin. I thought there might be something in the Restricted Section that could help, so I got a sixth-year to Disillusion me and I followed you in here and... I was trying to get a book up there—" she gestured to the shelves above her "—but I fell off."
Madam Pince sighed. "Never mind. Come with me." She started towards the pathway, then stopped in consternation. The way back had closed; she was faced by a tall, fully-occupied wooden bookcase. She turned on Sally-Anne. "You stupid girl! Your distraction caused me to lose focus on the link! Now we're stuck here, and we may never get home!"
Sally-Anne burst into tears. Simon's hands fluttered as if he was about to try reassuring her, then he stepped back and did his best to look inconspicuous. Esk eyed Sally-Anne with a blend of sympathy and exasperation, then turned her fledgling Witch's Stare on Madam Pince.
Feeling somewhat chided by the force of the young girl's gaze, Madam Pince turned back to Sally-Anne. "I'm sorry child. I should not have shouted at you. Now come on, buck up! It may take me a while to figure out how, but by Merlin I'll see you safely home."
She looked round at the others, then went on, "But you must listen very carefully to everything I say, and do whatever I ask. Without question, do you understand? In this little nook we are safe, but out in The Stacks... there are things there that can make you wish you'd been eaten alive."
She locked eyes with them, one at a time.
"Yes Ma'am," said Sally-Anne.
Esk decided that following the lead of the one with the local knowledge made sense, and gave a single brisk nod.
Simon watched Esk until she gave her agreement, then nodded too, his head bobbing like a dashboard ornament with a weak spring.
"Then let's go," said Madam Pince, willing the end wall away and opening a path to The Stacks.
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I'm envisaging this as a sort of episodic serial in the vein of Hartnell-era Doctor Who (with or without the occasional attempts to abandon/murder his assistants, you choose), with a crotchety Madam Pince leading the kids through a long series of library situations from books, film and TV. The only preconditions are:
- Esk has to survive to return to the Discworld in time for her appearance in I Shall Wear Midnight, having mastered time travel — but not much earlier. If you need a reason why she didn't return earlier, remember that the Discworld universe has undergone at least three major disjuncts/resets since she left.
- Simon and Sally-Anne have to be lost or dropped off somewhere that they can't get back from. (Together or separately, as you like.)
- Madame Pince has to get back to Hogwarts with no time lost in that universe. This would be the end-point of the story, if it has one.
For some bonus points: have a couple of members of the Mahora Academy Library Explorers Club (post-Pactio) from one of the Negima variants join the party for a few episodes, or act as replacements for Simon and Sally-Anne.