Drago Carracio, formorly Armand Erikson, entered into the Great Hall. His long hair was tied into the low ponytail of his early years here, and his clothes had the same flourish as ever. Almost on instinct he scanned the entire Hall for familiar faces before turning his eyes to the dias. Cassandra Trelawney.

Though his hardened appearance didn't change any, and his stride did not falter, he encountered a moment of panic. What was that girl doing here? He recalled something about an new intern, but... No... He swore inwardly. He appreciated the girl and all, but he had plans this term. Well, how long could she possibly be here? A year? Two? What was the length for internships these days?

He approached the staff table and flashed a warm smile to Cassandra that didn't quite reach his eyes. Would the dear girl notice? Well, it was Cassandra, so not likely. Two Cassandras, at the staff table. How unfortunate. "Cassandra Trelawney, it's a surprise to see you here. You are the new intern, I presume."

Cassandra heared the velvet voice reach her ears and she turned seeing a smiling man who used to be her Herbology professor. "Professor Erikson, I mean, Caraccio, I should say. I noticed you've changed your name on the Staff list. I first thought it may have not been you." And she was devastated until she remembered the conversation they had about his birth name. "Have I surprized you as well?" she said taking a glass and filling it with water. It was something to her eyes weren't looking at him constantly.

"It would appear so." He took a seat and poured himself coffee. He would need it. "But it is a-" less than "-pleasant surprise." Though his demeanor was still pleasant, the tone of his voice changed to something a little more cautious. He took a quick glance to the Slytherin table before looking back at his former student. "Does the young Mr. Lorenssith know about your appointment here?"

She blinked. Right... Alex...

"Of Course he knows..." she said taking a breath, "He was the first to know... after me that is."

"I see." A little advance warning for me would have been appreciated. He looked over just in time to see Alex sit down at the table. Did you remember to check the roster? "He's just come in and is waving at you. If you do not wave, I think he just might attempt to harm me." Shut up. You're not helping any. It would have helped if you'd reminded me before this moment. Must I remember everything for you? If he hadn't been using Occlumency he was sure his disdain at the conversation would have shown plain on his face. However, he managed a fairly pleasant demeanor all the same.

She looked over to the Slytherin table and waved back. "He wouldn't harm you, how can a student harm a professor?"

"I said attempt, did I not?" Drago took a sip of his coffee. "And then I might be forced into something unfortunate, which I do not believe you would appreciate," he said, offering her his Mona Lisa smile, which was interestingly enough quite the same as Slade's.

Antonio was content to sit and listen to the others. He really had nothing to add to the conversation at this thought, and this was providing a bit of entertainment and diversion for him at the moment.

Constantine sighed again as he finally reached the staff table, his hands still deep in his pockets as his mind was elsewhere. He had only been here for a few hours or so and he already felt lonely. These 10 months better so by fast...truly quickly..

Please, he pleaded in his mind.

Without a glance around the table, his manners being lost along with himself, he took a seat beside Caleum and absentmindedly stared at the plate. He removed his hands from his pockets and folded them together, placing them on the table in front of him.

She smirked and drank some water not answering.

She looked over at the new arrival... Oh dear... Maybe he wouldn't recognize her... she shrunk back and smiled at professor Dumont. He seemed nice.

From all Evangeline could remember, this was the first time she got this close to the staff table. Usually, when she got to the Great Hall, she immediately went to sit by the Slytherin table and never really got the chance to go there. And good thing too, the Great Hall looked even bigger and more intimidating from this side.

The warm, nice feeling she always get when she stepped a foot into Hogwarts was already rushing all over her and she turned to smile warmly at the the professor she had found outside. Professor Bontecou, he had said. He had seemed rather lost and it turned out he was. Surely, he was a new Professor - otherwise he'd know his way into the Great Hall.

"The ceiling is enchanted to look like the sky above." She muttered, unsure of what to say, but always ready to show off some of her favourite things about Hogwarts. And the enchanted ceiling certainly was one of them. "It's pretty awesome." She said, her walking coming to an halt when she reached the staff table. Aaaah, so many Professors! "And we're here!"

Was this the moment she could ask what he was teaching?!

He looked about the staff table and realized that he barely knew the others who were there. There was Forrester, his apparent arch-nemesis and childhood rival to his wife, but he had been here long before. Now, on the other hand, the other professors were fairly new. Not new enough that he should have felt so alone. The last term or two apparently had him more preoccupied than he'd originally thought.

Then again, when was the last time he was seen outside of his office, that wasn't the opening or closing feasts? When was the last time he'd taken the time to socialize with his co-workers? He had remembered things being consuming before, but nothing like this. Or had it been, but he hadn't noticed? He found himself turning back to his coffee. When had he even last talked with the headmistress?

Was it ever like this for you when I was away, Little Kin?

Caleum rolled his eyes to the newly added intern, shaking his head. "I'm not implying that at all, ma'am," he said as politely as he could. "I am here to assist the Headmistress in making sure that the students are properly trained in knowing how not to hurt themselves or anything other with defense." Oh this one was a live firecracker waiting to go off at any moment.

He then turned his attention away from the little intern as he felt a breeze sit next to him...Constantine.

"Ah! Thank you," he said with a breath of fresh air. The man looked as though he were not paying attention to anything at the moment but if Caleum had to talk to himself pretending to talk to Neo, then he would do just that. "You must come and see my office soon," he snickered lowly, pouring himself a glass of water to wet his mouth.

"Oh yes, I know. I'm a Ravenclaw... or, I was... when I went... here," Professor Bontecou laughed at himself and cleared his throat before wringing his tie and pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Thanks for the help. I never could find my way around here without a map and I seem to have lost the one I made when I was a kid... not that it was all that long ago but, I never imagined I'd be coming back here, you know?" the personable professor continued to ramble as he looked around the table and tried to decide where best to sit.

At the sound of Caleum's voice, Constantine turned his head to gaze at his best mate sitting beside him. His vacant expression turned into a frown as Caleum laughed as he spoke of Neo going to see his office. What was so funny about that? "You laugh, my friend. Why?"

MJ looked at the Professor who had answered. She was glad that she hadn't asked around first for the Professor that would probably had taken more time. She bowed her head to the rest of the teachers and went back to her table, hoping that Jason would be alright.

"Well, I am sure it won't be any fault of yours when you bring your first, or second student to us to examine..." She gave him that false hateful smile and then watched him turn away...

... great... he knew Acorn-man.

Cassandra looked up and heard the man approaching. She nodded to him as well. "Hello" She said trying to ignore Myers.

Bontecou smiled as one of the staff greeted him and he held out a slender but, rough, hand to her. "Hello, Reynard Bontecou," he introduced himself. Pretty.

He knew about the ceiling? Ah, great. Evangeline's blushed ever so slightly when she realised she had basically just acted like a smarty pants with a Professor .. and worse, about something he already knew. But really, the man couldn't find his way to the Great Hall! She just thought that he had studied in Beauxbatons or something and that this was his first time at Hogwarts.

Apparently, she was wrong. Eh.

"You're welcome, Professor." She grinned, a bit surprised that he was rambling. He certainly was different from the usual Hogwars professor's, that was for sure. She was still trying to decide whether that was a good or a bad thing. "Well, the castle is pretty big. And the stairs are just tricky. Too many halls and corridors and rooms." Yeah, it was pretty easy to get lost in the castle, but that didn't mean she found it weird that he still did.

Even if he hadn't been there for years.

"Do you need my help for anything else, Professor?" Evangeline asked, entwining her hands behind her back. Hmmm. The smell of the yummy food was making her hungry.

Rae took her usual seat in the center of the table, ignoring the empty chairs on either side of her. Really, why should she sit here when it would make her so unhappy? Because her chair was the biggest and in the middle? Ridiculous. She glanced up and down the table, looking for someone she could boss around and make sit next to her. Her hands were nervous, moving around like pale birds as they fluttered from table to her water glass to rest in her lap.

She stood as she shook his hand. It was only polite. She then smiled to the new Slytherin Prefect, not her replacement, merely a successor and smiled at the girl approvingly. "Miss Green."

The headmistress had just arrived, and as she was already standing she made her way over to her. "Professor Rae, I wanted to thank you for this opportunity in person." She said giving her a polite nod.

"It's nice to have a familiar face, but you know as well as I do that your mentors at the hospital were the ones who thought you ready to be in a setting such as this," Rae smiled at the girl. "But we're glad to have an extra pair of hands. I see you've met my assistant, Mr. Myers."

Now that was something Evangeline had not been expected to. She was patiently waiting for any further instructions from Professor Bontecou, when her eyes fell upon the person he was greeting. Hadn't Trel graduated already? "Miss Trelawney." She said with a small smile back, feeling a bit nervous. She hadn't admitted to anyone, but she truly admired Cassandra. She intimidated her - and knowing that the badge pinned on her robes had once been on Cassandra's was ... strangely overwhelming. "I wasn't expecting to find you here. Had a nice summer?" Yeah, go for small talk. Always safe.

Caleum chuckled once more and in a low voice said, "It's a closet. I've been so amused." He couldn't help himself from the low rumbling noise of laughter at the thought of how he was going to have to jump over his desk just to have a seat.

But the girl spoke once more and he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Sure sure. I will make note that Ari sees them first," he waved his hand then noticed the Headmistress make her way to the table. But the look on her face and the nervous hands were dreadfully wrong.

He turned his attention back to Constantine, but then heard his name from Rae, herself, as his head turned back to her wanting to see if there was anything he could do. At least he could help to make things a bit easier for her in any way he could,.

While Constantine's gazed at his friend as he waited for an answer, he peered around him to glance at whom ever was speaking to him. Frankly, he hadn't payed attention to the voice, he just knew that the sound wasn't wind. He was late though, the person's head was turned away so his attention focused back to his dish.

A little more focused now so that he could pay attention to Caleum, that was when he heard her voice. A voice that made his blood boil and run cold at the same time. He turned his head again, looking past Caleum to see where the voice came from.

And then he stood up out of his chair, gazing in disbelief. It was that girl from last term! The one who made a complete fool out of him with that stupid cookie. And now she was staff!? His disbelief turned to fury at the thought.

"What in the heaven's name is she doing here?" he exclaimed, a little louder than he liked; it would draw attention. He slowly strolled away from his seat, over to where she stood.