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On a raised dais situated at the farthest point of the Great Hall stands a long table where the members of the Hogwarts staff sit and enjoy their meal while casting a watchful eye out on the four House tables. Each staff member has an assigned, cushioned chair to sit on throughout the duration of the feast, though the more notable out of them all is the throne-like golden chair in the centre reserved for the headmaster.

Keep in mind that you should not be wandering up to the staff table if you are not a staff member before Headmaster Winterbottom has delivered his speech. Doing so may result in the loss of house points or other appropriate consequence before you even make it back to the dorms. If you wish to speak with someone who is seated up here, you will have to wait until after the speech has been said and there is food and drink on all of the tables. Make sure to keep your visit brief though -- the staff were also waiting on the food to appear and are just as hungry as you.

Who knew seeing the green decorations would be a happy occasion? The monochrome days were finally over as the green and silver Slytherin decorations held up. Ean may have wished it were the Gryffindor's up instead but the Lions ended their fourth-place house streak, ending up in second place for the House Cup. They also won first place in the Quidditch Cup. So he was feeling proud entering the halls.

"Sure looks nice in here again." Ean commented after taking his seat. Then he unfolded The Quibbler to read the lastest articles.

Dhruv was lowkey pleased that their old House had once again secured the House Cup. Those Slytherins were clearly dedicated. Of course they were also pleased that Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup, and that overall, the four Houses had done their best no matter the order of the positions on the various leaderboards.

“It does,’’ Dhruv concurred with Ean, following his lead and taking a seat. Not a drab appearance in sight be it human or inanimate object. They fell silent afterwards, not wanting to disturb Ean from his reading. Instead, they conducted the usual mental check of all that was yet to be done before they returned home for the summer.

So, he had survived his first year of teaching at Hogwarts. That alone was a reason to celebrate. Add to that the return to relative normalcy with the current color vibrancy that filled the castle and Marcus was quite content as the term wound down. Approaching the staff dais dressed in a more vibrant blue robe rather than his usual preferences for navy or black to enjoy the return of color, the former Ravenclaw looked out over the Great Hall as the students started gathering for the feast. Even with just a few the energy was quite high and contagious.

“Good evening,” he greeted as he stepped up to the table and caught sight of Ean and Dhruv already there. “Congrats to your lions for the quidditch cup,” he remarked towards the former witch a smile.

What an interesting year this proved to be. While disappointed in her former house, as a professor she was definitely pleased with any house that took home the cup. (And she just knew her school nemesis would be thrilled with the outcome). Taking her usual customary walk by the one side of the table to give Dhruv and Ean (and others) her usual shoulder squeeze in greeting, "Good evening," before taking her seat beside Marcus.

"You've survived your first year teaching, huh? How you feeling?" she inquired politely. Of course he might have taught elsewhere before. She was not up-to-date on her colleagues resumes. Nor was it really her job to be.

My, oh my! All those Slytherin banners sure did look splendid. And no, she wasn't only thinking this because it was her snakes that had secured the house cup. Everything appeared brighter, more magnificent since everything had been recolorized. It truly was a wonderful sight not seeing all the things around them, including herself, everyone and all the creatures monotoned for so long.

"Hello all, good evening. How are we all feeling on this delightful evening?" Hady greeted her fellow colleagues with a warm smile as she joined them at the staff table. "The year seemed to fly by, didn't it?" Despite the previous lack of color to everything, the term had come and gone so very quickly. Pulling out her seat, Hady settled herself down into it, hazel eyes surveying the rest of the Great Hall as she normally did. Nothing out of the ordinary so far.

Another illustrious Hogwarts year has come and gone, Wilber feeling the radiance in the Great Hall that evening as his cohorts and students all chatted about the upcoming summer. Naturally he had plans to rejuvenate somewhere far isolated from society. Preferably with as many colours of the spectrum as he could find.

His paled skin was in need of sunlight as he ascended the dais feeling every bit as drained as he appeared. "Good evening ladies and gents," he expressed loudly to those already seated. "Oh fiddlesticks. What have I done with it?" he patted his breast pocket, frowning. "I'll have to get one the elves to fetch it from my office." Parting gifts for another well done year in the books. Nothing exorbitant and he could definitely give that later unless some of the staff departed early in their morning to begin their summer vacations. "No matter, but surely someone can tell me why the newspaper was feeling down?" An appropriate joke for this term.

Dhruv may have been caught up in their own thoughts but they weren’t that lost to not notice the arrivals of the other staffers. “Good evening,” they replied brightly to Marcus and Amelia. With the two eventually off into conversation, Dhruv turned their attention to Hady. They gave her a big smile. “You must be even more proud of your Slytherins, Hady.” Naturally, being a former Slytherin, they were proud as well. “The term sure did. That’s what happens when we had our hands full with the colours fading and what not.”

What was it that Wilbur had lost now? Either he hadn’t stated or Dhruv had missed it while chatting with the others. Whatever it was, hopefully it was found. The DADA professor was busy bracing themself for the corny joke; it was no surprise that it came a short time later. But wait… hadn’t they heard this one before? Or some version of it? “Because it couldn’t headline to a new location for a fresh perspective?” At least that’s what they thought was the answer. Not that they were placing emphasis on being correct, not when a certain Lion - aka Idris Grunt - had placed himself in another shenanigan as he made his way over to the Hufflepuff table. Smirking slightly, Dhruv glanced over at Ean. Surely he had noticed Idris too?

Though Ean's eyes were on the article at hand, one couldn't ask him what he was reading. His own thoughts were on the summer ahead. The kiddos would be getting a nice surprise, which had Ean smiling at the thought. Looking up when he was greeted by his colleagues. "Evening, Marcus. Thank you." Ean responded, also sharing a greetings to Adara, "Evening Amelia, you must be proud of your former house taking the Gobstones Cup." Though Ean would've loved his lions to win that Cup. A win is a win. "Evening Hady, the snakes continue to serve in the House race, congratulations." Smiling. Though it was a shame there wasn't a fourth event for the Ravenclaws to win in for an equal standing potentially.

"Hm?" Ean found the question of Wilber's quite peculiar. He hadn't a clue, but might as well give the first thought that came to mind, "Because it wasn't up to date?" Shrugging as he looked to Dhruv who had also offered a guess. His eyes followed to where they were looking at. Ah, yes. The little lion-in-training was trying to be the lion in a badger's coat. "Well... the term's ending anyway. No use chasing after them now... You all ready for the summer?"

Dhruv mentionig of her snakes had her smiling all the more widely. "I truly am very proud." As a former Slytherin also it filled her heart with joy that they had won the house cup. "All the students worked so hard this year. The Quiz Bowl, Quidditch.. they're all so smart and talented." The dedicated the kids had to not only their lessons but the extracurricular activities was nice to see. "You're quite right in that matter. It's wonderful to see things back to how it should be."

Hady's gaze slowly shifted from Dhruv to Ean and she couldn't help nodding her head. "I am, thank you. Congratulations is in order to your lions as well. They did fantastic playing in their Quidditch matches." Credit should be given wherever it was due! Hufflepuff deserved a congratulations as well, didn't they? She would make sure to extend that congrats when she had a free moment to do so.

Hmm? Wilber had lost something? Once again her gaze swept across the table to see if maybe something out of place was laying around. Only there wasn't anything to see. Hopefully whatever he had lost would be found soon enough. As for the joke, well let's see.. the brunette tapped her finger to her lips in thought. "I can say that I don't have a clue about this one.." she answered with a soft laugh. Maybe one of her colleagues guesses would be correct.

Norman was glad to see the color return to the castle. While he wasn't a fan of bright colors in general, the gray was much too drab for the lively environment of Hogwarts! The transfiguration professor made his way to his place at the far end of the table, greeting his colleagues with a polite nod. ”Good evening, everyone.”

He sat lost in thought until Wilber's voice jerked him out of his thoughts. He smiled to himself. Of course, it wouldn't be a Hogwarts feast without one of the headmaster’s jokes. After thinking it over for a few moments, he turned toward the headmaster and replied, ”I believe Ean is correct.”

Admittedly between the Under 17 tryouts on the weekend this Spring and quidditch and potion lessons, she hadn't particularly noticed the gobstones scores. What a failure on her part, but when Ean mentioned something, she did her part in looking less surprised than she was. "Ah yes, yes, those Hufflepuffs proved well in gobstones and didn't fair too badly in quidditch." As far as their academics, well there had been better days but it wasn't all that surprising.

What was their sweet Headmaster on about now? She glanced sideways at him with first him seemingly lost something, but then there was that typical 'Dad joke'. While Ean and Dhruv had good suggestions, there was something that told her they weren't quite right. Although she didn't have a clue what it was, but just a feeling. Whatever the feeling was, could he just deliver that speech already because her other feeling was that of hunger. "Evening Norman," she said as he joined her end of the table. "Any plans for the summer break?"

Up to date was clever but would be more his alley if it was a joke about calendars. The fresh perspective that Dhruv offered was surprisingly close, "Close my lad, close indeed. Alas the newspaper was exhausted from delivering black and white news in a colourful world." This year called for a joke on colour. He chuckled to himself as he rose in his seat motioning with his hands for everyone to settle down.

"Pleasant evening everyone, so lovely to see you all in good spirits. It is wonderful to see the friendships and bonds that have formed over the last ten months." He paused so they could all appreciate their new and old continued friendships. "An extra special thank you goes out to Professors Cole and Feirgrund on their work to bring the castle back to it's former grandeur in all it's colourful glory." He looked over at the Herbology and Charms Professors, giving them each an appreciative gaze. "My former dear sweet wife would always say that colour was a power that directly influences the soul. My soul is full now as I look around this room."

"A few more congratulations before we tuck into the delicious end of year feast, congratulations to Hufflepuff on their Gobstones win," he glanced toward the house of yellow and black, his former house. "Congratulations to Gryffindor on the Quidditch Cup." He gave a momentary look at the house of scarlet and gold. "And final congrats to our house cup winner, reigning champions for the fourth consecutive year, Slytherin!" He turned to the silver and green table, leading the school in applause.

Once the clamour died down, Wilber continued, "To our graduating class of 2115, stand up and be recognized, my dears. Although your time at Hogwarts has drawn to a close, your path forward is only just beginning. I hope you'll take the knowledge from these past years and bring positive light into the world. A round of applause for our seventh years."

"To those of you returning in the fall," both students and professors, "I look forward to seeing your bright faces for another year of merriment and learning. I wish you all a summer of rejuvenation! Now let us eat, drink and be merry!" With a wave upward of Wilber's hands, the golden plates filled with foods.