Ethan grinned as Minerva turned around and smiled at him. "Well, I don't want to shirk my duties," he responded with a wink of his own and slid into the seat next to her. "In that case, I might just stay a while." He could take a break from his welcoming all the new Ravenclaws - he was pretty sure sorting was over now anyway - and his table seemed calm enough for now.

Ethan had thought over the summer that there might be some changes.. but he wasn't expecting this. He glanced up at the staff table as she did. Magnus wasn't there..? He hadn't noticed that before, but now that she mentioned it, he didn't see her. That was a shame, he sort of liked the Transfiguration professor.. or former professor now, he supposed. "Oh.. I didn't expect to see Bellaire there," he mused aloud quite suddenly as he noticed her presence at the Staff table. "Didn't you say there was a new Charms professor?" he asked Minerva as he turned back to her. And no Scabior.. huh. Though he did notice two of the BoG peeps.. would they be acting professors now?? "You know better..? What do you mean?"

Someone to meet..? Ethan looked at Minerva curiously for a moment before he was pulled along the table with her. A newly sorted Hufflepuff from the look and sound of it. He smiled at the boy as Min started to introduce him, then turned a bit surprised. "Oh.. you're Belle's brother. She told me her little brother would be starting this year. She's a good friend of mine." He shook the boy's offered hand, mildly impressed with his manners. "Good to meet you Kace.. Welcome to Hogwarts."

A familiar face close at the table close to Kace then caught his eye. Oh, look who was a new Hufflepuff.. He sorta wondered if she had been sorted as she hadn't come to the Ravenclaw table, he wondered which table she belonged to. "Hey, Bay.." he greeted the girl with a smile. "Enjoying yourself?" Though she really didn't look to sure of herself.. lost a bit of the wonder she had on the train. Not that he blamed her, really.. things were weird today. "Congrats on your placement.. there are a lot of good people in Hufflepuff." His girlfriend being one.. and she had already met her.

Ethan's smile grew as Alec waved enthusiastically at him and he lifted a few fingers back in his own casual wave. The younger boy was always so friendly, you couldn't help but like the bloke. And he was pretty cool as far as Ethan was concerned. Grinning a bit, he gave Alec a nod of gratitude. "Hey, thanks, mate.." he said absentmindedly brushing his fingers over his badge at the mention.

"Great summer, actually," he answered, smiling still as he thought about it. "Min and I spent most of it together. I hung out with her in the US for a couple weeks, then she came to Germany with me for a while.." He kind of trailed off, wondering if Minerva already told him this, not wanting to bore the boy with repeated information. "How about you? Good summer..?"