Dem walked into the meeting, worried about what was going on. 'What's going on Professor? Is everything ok?" she asked him.

Dagobert wandered into the room. He had heard about the announcement and was curious to find out what the fuss was all about. He hoped it had something to do with the house point situation since he, too was concerned about it. He noticed that one of the Professors was already there waiting with a stern look on to his face.
'Hello professor,' he said as politely as he could before making his way to a corner of the room. He saw Dem and flashed a sheepish grin at her.
'Sorry about earlier,' he whispered, 'I can be a jerk sometimes.'

Jane stumbled into the meeting area. She spotted Dag, Demetria and Professor Dumont. She held on to the cross around her neck and took a seat away from Dag.

"Hi Professor Dumont,"Jane smiled and greeted politely and that was it. She could sense the seriousness all around her.

Jack was certainly shocked that they were having a meeting. After all, they hardly EVER had meetings, unless you count that silly sleepover thing last year with Professor Pierce--Jack had simply refused to participate in such childish past times. If they were having a meeting, it was because of something SERIOUS.

And he had a very, very good feeling he knew exactly what it was about. The house points. Duh, what else could it be about? Jack himself was completely annoyed with the house points still being in the negatives...at this rate, they would NEVER get out of the negatives and then they'd have no shot at the house cup. Slytherin was 65 points ahead of them, and he was not thrilled at all.

"Hello, Professor Dumont," Anna greeted, walking into the Common Room and taking a seat on a nearby couch. The Head of House had called a special meeting to order, and Anna wanted to be sure to attend. She was one of the two prefects for the house, and she knew what the meeting was about. Over the past few days, she'd had far too many housemates coming to her with concerns about Gryffindor's rapid decrease in house points. Her housemates were beginning to get discouraged, and Anna believed that as their house leader, she should help everyone meet in the middle and make some sort of compromise. Hopefully this meeting would help everyone reach a point they happily agreed on.

Dagobert noticed Jane walk in and sit nearby.
'Hey there,' he said with a smirk and looked behind her, 'No crazy boyfriend?'
He still found her and the other Gryffindor boy intriguing and was hoping that since she was by herself, he would be able to find out why they were so mysterious.

Antonio greeted each student as they appeared, nodding to them as they entered the room. He smiled as Anna came in, he knew she understood the situation and could provide backup and reinforcement to what he was going to be saying if need be.

He looked around, wondering whether he should wait to begin speaking or hld off a while. He decided he should say something, so the students knew why they were here. "We're going to be talking about house points today, and working together as a team as well as what house pride really means," he said.

ooc: I'm going to go ahead and get the topic of this meeting started, and everyone can just come in and RP being present at the meeting as you show up. But this is definitely something you all need to know and be aware of.

Brant was hoping that they weren't going to get into Trouble.

Lilly walked in slowly to the mandatory meeting. This was something she had never heard of. there were never house meetings as far as she new. she sat down in a large comfy chair by the fire and waited for them to start. she saw Dem but decided under the circumstances it was best to not talk. so she said patiently.

Chris listened to Professor Dumont say about the house points. Really it wasn't such a big suprise that he was talking about this. I mean they were still in the negitive thirties. And that wasn't good, not at all.

Gabriella walked slowly into the common room having heard that there was an important interhouse meeting scheduled. She gave Professor Dumont a bright smile upon entrance and then quickly took a seat. The meeting was undoubtedly going to be about the negative house points standings. Gabriella wondered though what a meeting could do to stop people from loosing house poins by doing punishable things.

Standing from her chair, Anna said, "Professor, I have a few things I'd like to say about house pride and working together as a team," Anna began. "As prefect and Head Girl, a few of my fellow Gryffindors have approached me lately concerned about our rapid decrease in house points. Some of you have become very disheartened and discouraged, and I'd like to do what I can to help everyone have a really rewarding school year."

"I don't like to see any of my housemates upset and discouraged, as I am sure neither of you do, as well," she said. "So I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage you all to work together as a team and show some house pride for Gryffindor. This isn't a matter of attempting to win the house cup, as the school year has just started and anything can happen at this point. We may win, we may lose, but in the end it's how well we worked together that counts."

"Losing house points is no fun, but it's understandable that it does unfortunately happen. Merlin, even I've lost house points in the past," she said, with a light laugh. "I'd just like to see us at least work together to get out of the negatives. Perhaps that would help those of you who are becoming discouraged to feel a little better. Also, if there's anything I can do to help any of you or answer any questions, please do feel free to come to me. I'm always ready and willing to help out any Gryffindor...or, really, any student, for that matter."

Aschere raised her hand.
"I was wondering if you could brief us on what the most common reason for losing house-points has been in the past, and in this term. Not to point fingers at anyone, of course," she added, because she knew how embarrassing it would be for anybody to be paraded as responsible for the loss of points.
"Rather," she continued, "as a guide to common mistakes we can all watch out for, to keep from losing points unnecessarily?"

Lilly dicided to pip up at that moment "i agree with her,sorry i don't know your name, that would be a help to us all. no names are required obviously." she said

"Thank you, Anna, that was very well said," Antonio told the group. "And I would like to reiterate what Anna has just told you all. I am always here for any Gryffindor student to answer any questions and help in any way I can. Like Anna, I do that for all students, as well. Never be afraid to come to me with any issue, even if it seems small to you. If it's bothering you, it needs to be addressed."

"Now, on this issue of the house points. For some reason, it seems that this term has started out rather badly, or perhaps it's just a matter of some sort of misunderstanding, and if it is I would certainly like to help clear it up. I know that most of you are very dedicated and very concerned about doing a good job and I appreciate it. However, there have been a few problems that have caused Gryffindor to fall far behind in the house point tallies and while the standings are not important, I believe these were all incidents which could and should have been avoided. If there are examples of any students who are deliberately causing Gryffindor to lose house points, I will not tolerate it. I really believe we can all work together as a team and show what a great house we are, the best in Hogwarts, and that's what team work is all about. But anyone who breaks the rules deliberately, that is going to be punished, and severely, by me." He looked around the room. "I'm not accusing anyone, and I really don't believe that anyone here has done any of these things. I just wanted to make you all aware of my standings on this. And don't hesitate to bring any matters to my attention if they do need to be dealt with. I want to help all you students, and I know Gryffindor is capable of far more than this. It wasn't that long ago when you were all champions, and you can be again. I know that in my heart, and I know that Anna and Professor Morgan do, too."

Antonio paused a moment. "No details are really necessary, and I really don't want to give names or single anyone out. However, the things I am most concerned about are such incidents as announcing you are late to class, defying professors, causing disturbances or acting inappropriately. These are some of the major things which have caused Gryffindor to suffer loss of points."

Lilly listened attentively as the professor spoke. she then rose her hand sheepishly and said "Professor, sir, what kind of things may we do so that we can bring up our house points, sir?" she blushed. she was always afraid of saying the wrong thing in front of teachers. or forgetting her sirs or maims. they were important to show respect.

Jack litened to Anna and Dumont talk and nodded as they spoke. He couldn't have said it any better himself! He really could care less if they won the cup this year. After all, it was just a CUP, and they had already won it in his 3rd year so it wasn't like it was something he just HAD to experience. He was just angry that people were almost deliberately keeping them in the negatives. To think, if none of this had happened--they could be giving Slytherin a run for their money. Right now, the score just reflected on all of them, making them look like a bunch of trouble makers.

"Well said, Professor, and Anna," Jack said with a grin at the two of them. "I'm sure a number of us here would agree that winning the cup this year isn't the main priority. But, I believe many of us are feeling discouraged because the point total reflects on the house as a WHOLE, and right now it makes it look like all of Gryffindor just...doesn't care." he explained. He was sure the professors and Anna knew how he was feeling, but he wanted to put it in perspective of a normal student as well.

Antonio smiled at the question of what kinds of things could be done to increase house points. "That's a very good question," he said. "Do a good job in class, make sure and turn in your homework assignments, try out for quidditch and play your hardest, be helpful to others and always do your best. Also, sometimes opportunities might come up where you can earn more points, so be alert for those, too. There is also a Gobstones Club as well as quidditch, and that helps Gryffindor look good, too. Anyone can participate in that. And if you're not on the quidditch team, then support always helps." He smiled again. "And thank you, Jack," he said.

Antonio really didn't believe that there was anyone in the room who really needed to hear this at this point, but it was his job to make everyone aware of what was going on and to get it corrected and to do that, he had to bring the issue to all the students.

Irial slipped in quietly, finally out of detention, his brother Aries right behind him. He'd only just gotten word of this meeting, and caught the tail end of what the Head of House was saying. He lingered in the back of the common room, quiet, his arms folded across his chest.

Only a step behind his brother Ari slipped into the meet. Having groaned when he and Irial heard about the meeting. Not sure he wanted to attend, but went anyways. Leaning back against the wall his arms folded as well, eyes rolled to the ceiling as he partly listened to what was said.

Christian who had been silent sitting next to Jane raised his hand "Professor Dumont. I'm new and just getting my bearings around here but I want to help. Can you please tell us what some things we could do to correct this might be?"

"Of course," Antonio said. "The most important thing that people need to do is just to think before they act. Don't call attention to yourselves in class by announcing you are late, don't fight, don't talk back to professors. It's basically just a matter of knowing what to do and doing it." Antonio was pretty sure most of all the students could do this without any problems. "If anyone bothers you, be sure and let one of us know immediately, or if you see something that you know someone shouldn't be doing going on. We can't be everywhere at once. Remember that Anna is here to help you, too."

Zeke listened to what everyone was saying. He'd been wondering about the house points in the negatives. Thank Merlin he hadn't been one of the ones to lose any so far... although he hadn't earned any yet, either. He was trying to remedy that by going to class and doing homework, though. He hoped Gryffindor would get out of the red soon.

Naomi sat and listened to Professor Dumont. She was really worried about the house points situation. She had been trying really hard to get points but people kept on losing them. "I have an idea of how people could earn more points with homework if you would like to know it." Naomi said.