Gaston stood up front with his hands resting atop his cane, his right hand over the left to cover his wedding ring. He had given up a lot of things he loved for Scrimgeour's stupid rules, but this was too much. He shouldn't have to hide just because the old man was too hard-hearted to win the love of a woman (or man, if Scrimgeour swung that way)!

He glanced toward the door, watching for both arriving students and unwanted intruders. It was no surprise that Daisy was first to arrive, but what did surprise him was the lack of a greeting. Not that he could blame her, of course. He'd heard all about Scrimgeour's nasty habit of punishing students for politeness. Well, that was not happening in his classroom! "Good morning, Miss Swann," he greeted.

Not long after, Tad arrived, and Gaston couldn't resist returning the boy's smile with a small one of his own. Even in his darkened emotional state, seeing a child smile never failed to melt his heart! "Hello, Mr. Potter," he replied, being careful not to use his ring hand to return his wave. For a moment, he thought Tad was going to touch the dummies, despite the instructions on the board, but he was glad that didn't happen.

Gaston's blue eyes followed Theo as he entered the room, taking note of the lose tie and unironed, untucked shirt. He inwardly cursed. So much for getting through this class without docking points from anyone! "Hello, Mr. Montmorency," he greeted; then his expression darkened slightly as he crossed the room to where the boy stood. "That uniform looks a mess!" he said, trying to keep his voice low so as not to attract unnecessary attention. "I'm afraid that's five points from Gyrffindor." There was an almost apologetic look in his eye. He hated having to be the bad guy and take points, but he had to abide by the rules as much as possible. "Please tuck in your shirt, and make sure tt's ironed in the future."

Gaston had only just resumed his place at the front of the room when Nettie appeared. His eyes followed her as she silently took her place behind a desk. DId the silence surprise him? Not at all. Did it sadden him? Absolutely. He gave her a small, halfhearted smile as he greeted her, "Good morning, Miss Gladin."

And another silent student. This was getting ridiculous... Scrimgeour's punitive rules, that is, not the students' fear of speaking. Biting back a fresh wave of anger at the self-proclaimed headmaster, he gave Skyler a polite nod of acknowledgement. "Good morning, Miss Queen," he said.

Gaston was pleased to see the Gryffindor girl prefect on time for the lesson... not that he doubted she would be, of course. Her smile brightened his mood, if only for a moment. He managed to smile back, though his smile was much less bright than Staysa's had been. "Good morning, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova," he greeted.

Patrick was the next to arrive, and as Gaston expected, took his place without speaking. Well, at least he got a nod of acknowledgement; that was better than nothing, but still this rule was so stupid! He nodded in return, his eyes following the SLytherin captain as he went. "Good morning, Mr. Dooley," he greeted.

Gaston's bright blue eyes widened with concern as he saw Lucas just standing near the door. Was something wrong? Was he araid of the dummies? "Hello, Mr. Dakest," he said, giving the boy a small encouraging smile. "Is everything okay?" The thought crossed his mind to tell him to move - lest Scrimgeour or one of his cronies pass by and punish him for moving too slowly or blocking in the way or some such nonsense - but luckily he started moving on his own.

Chase also got a lok of concern as Gaston noticed his frown. If Scrimgeour's unreasonable expectations were crushing the boy's soul even half as much as they were his own, he could understand why! Or maybe he was just disappointed by the lack of refreshments... The dark-haired Frenchman shot the boy a quick apologetic look. Sorry, Chase! It went against everything he stood for to do away with the refreshments, but he couldn't risk it, not after what happened to Kalen! Luckily, the frown was soon replaced with a smile, which was returned, along with the nod. "Good morning, Mr. Splenley," he said.

Here was another student standing frozen in the doorway! Gaston was starting to get a little worried. Were the dummies really that shocking? He was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of Chloe's voice, and he looked at her with a slight smile, a smile that grew as she spoke. The thought crossed his mind to award house points for striking up a conversation, but he knew Scrimgeour would likely interpret it as an act of defiance. He was already walking around with a target on his back; better not chance it! "Good day, Miss Kettleburn," he replied, smiling as his thoughts turned to the holidays. "I am; thank your for your concern. i'm going back home to France for the holidays. Do you have any special plans?"

Gaston beamed at Juniper as she greeted him. It was nice to see that at least some students hadn't yet been scared into silence. "Hello, Miss Primeaux," he greeted, returning her smile for a brief moment

Blue eyes blinked in surprise as Slate appeared and offered a greeting. Wow, three verbal greetings in a row! That was unexpected... not that Gaston was complaining, of course. He enjoyed talking with his students. He sighed, trying to distract himself from his rising anger. These kids shouldn't have to be afraid to say hello... but there was nothing he could do about that now. "Hello, Mr. Ryker," he replied, his eyes following the boy to his desk.

Then he saw... oh, good Godric Gryffindor! That wasn't what he thought it was, was it? He was at the boy's side in an instant. "That's not a two-way mirror, is it?" he asked, scrutinizing the item in question. It didn't appear to be... good! Still, he couldn't take chances! His voice dropped as he added, "Please put that back in your bag. Some people might get the wrong idea..." And by that, he meant he half-expected Scrimgeour to barge in at any moment and jump to the worst possible conclusion.

Ah, here was the other Hufflepuff prefect! Gaston half-expected Derf to offer him a chocolate frog, like he normally did when he was sad, but he breathed a silent sigh of relief when that didn't happen. He would hate to dock points from someone trying to be kind just because of this idiotic food rule! "Good morning, Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne," he greeted. He returned Derf's smile with a fleeting one of his own, giving him a polite nod of acknowledgement.

Oh, if only you knew... he thought. He wanted to be positive for his students. He really did, but it was taking every scrap of energy he had to hide his true self enough to comply with the headmaster's rules. There wasn't enough left in him to put on a happy act...

Gaston glanced at his watch. It was almost time to start, but he would wait a bit longer for stragglers. As soon as he glanced back toward the door, Natalie appeared and greeted him. He nodded politely. "Good morning, Miss McKinley," he replied, watching as she stood behind one of the vacant desks.

Hannah arrived soon after. The lip biting was immediately picked up on, and it earned a concerned eyebrow raise from the professor. Gaston may have to hide his empathy to keep his job, but he couldn't turn it off completely. He gave the girl a small, though still hopefully encouraging smile as he returned her nod. "Good morning, Miss Newton," he said. He wanted to ask if she and her family were planning to visit him and Rose over the holidays, but now was not the time or place. He supposed he'd find out soon enough.