Antonio wandered up towards the staff table, still in a bit of a daze after all the craziness that had ensued this term. It wasn't enough that four entire floors of the school, including his floor, had been completely flooded out by crazy merpeople and then magically restored (for which he was grateful, of course, as he loved his office and his little treasures), but now the headmaster had been attacked by a werewolf. To top it all off, that werewolf was none other than Professor Lupa, his colleague who he had always had the utmost respect for. She was such a nice woman, it was hard to imagine that this could have happened, but he had been there himself to witness it. He had been the one who had produced a group of bunnies to distract the wolf using the oppugno charm, and it had worked to a degree as they were later able to capture her.

But what was going to become of Professor Lupa and Headmaster Bontecou? As Antonio took a seat, he truly had no idea. Antonio had a feeling more bad things were to come, that things weren't going to get any better.

It had been a very bad year, Antonio shook his head sadly. His wife Bethany had left him for the last time. She just couldn't deal with him being away so much, having to teach at the school, and it was shocking that he had left their little daughter Antonia with him. It just showed irresponsibility, as far as Antonio was concerned. Perhaps it was his fault, though, maybe they married too young.

Antonio's mind was drifting. He focused on the moment once again, wondering who was going to deliver the end of term speech in the Headmaster's absence, if there was to even be one. He had an idea of who it would be, and wanted to see if he was correct.

For once..she didn't feel like being here. Her thoughts were in a jumble; her mind a haze as she wondered what would become of her two colleagues. There was something to be thankful for..the flooding had stopped and everything in that aspect was back to normal. But this bit of good news did little to stop her constant worrying about the state of the Headmaster and of Alessia.

She never would have guessed that Alessia had been holding onto her secret for so long. What had made her decide to do it in the first place? Why risk possibly losing control? Of course, she knew that precautions had been taken, but anything could go wrong...and it had.

But she couldn't blame anyone, not now. For now she was more concerned about what would happen next.

Finally settling down into a seat, she offered a weak smile towards Antonio in greeting.

Ian moseyed on up to the Staff Table and intended to take his own seat at the far left end of the table, but instead decided to move over to the right one and steal Kapoor's seat. Sometimes, being left-handed had its benefits....

Little did Ian know that he looked ridiculous, for his head was encased by the bubble-head charm.

"Good evening, Professor Dumont, Madame Kohan," he said calmly. "Where are your preparations? I heard there was a flood! Would you like me to cast the bubble-head charm for you also?"

What a doof.

And despite the morbid thoughts that she was currently entertaining, Madame Kohan couldn't help but crack a genuine smile at the sight of Ian with a large bubble around his head. The smile was quickly followed by a soft laugh. "Ian.." She shook her head. "Sorry to burst your bubble.." (pun intended ) "But the flooding has been placed under control. There will be no need for bubble-head charms."

WHUT...?

The flood was over? When had all this happened? Darn that cute...furry...silly little red panda of his!

He was just about to kill the charm when he stopped, notiching the somber looks on the faces of his colleagues. "Is there something wrong? I seem to have found myself rather...er...occupied --" enthralled by a panda! he thought, "-- this term and unaware of any of the goings on."

Angela frowned as Ian posed the question that she had been hoping to avoid. Had he not been there? She hadn't noticed; for the mass chaos that occurred blew away everything else that may have been happening around her.

"Well...I'm not sure if you knew of this ahead of time, but..there was a number a flyers distributed around the school, announcing an assembly with a werewolf..for all staff and students."

Her hands unconsciously clasped together as she went on. "Well, it happened not long ago..we discovered..at this assembly that Professor Lupa..is a werewolf. She wanted to show off her transformation in front of everyone, but the cage that she was being kept in...it wasn't strong enough."

Her gaze flickered towards Antonio and then back to Ian, as the memories unwillingly came forward. Her voice dropped down to a near-whisper. "The Headmaster jumped in front of Alessia to save the students and in the process was bitten. They were both taken to St. Mungo's..."

With a shaky sigh, she reached for a small goblet and sipped at the liquid contained within. "I don't know what's happened since."

As Constantine stepped up onto the dias, he looked by the slowly gathering group of professors. His emotions were in a bit of a mix. He wasn't sure whether to be happy about the fact that his wife had had their child and he was now the proud father of a beautiful baby girl...or sulk about the events between the two missing professors. Geez, life sucked.

Ish.

Throwing a smile (a rare thing for him to do) to the rest of the staff, he took a seat in his chair and looked towards the sky. He just couldn't get his mind off his baby...

So the rumors were true. Ian was hoping that Less had just taught a particularly rough Runes class and had been blamed for Bontecou finding himself lost and falling down the moving staircase or something. Unfortunately, Ian's imagination was hardly ever correct.

"Oh my," was all he could muster.





As Neo walked by, something seemed...off. "Evening, Neo," the charms professor said. "There seems to be something different about you. I can't quite put my finger on it."


BUT KELVIN CAN! He's smiling! He's smiling! *jumps* ([/metafiction moment])

"I think you need glasses, Uncle," Constantine responded back. And new ears apparently. "Why would you say that?" Okay, so he was still smiling, but his wife having a child was a pretty happy thing!

Okay....so he was old...and certainly couldn't see the quaffles quite as well as he used to....and often got the walking farts, so maybe he did need glasses?

But there was still something up with his pseudo-nephew. "Oh! I've got it!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "What's with the smirk? You go get yourself stuck in a tree again?"

Constantine couldn't help but give Ian an amused frown. "Now, why would I be happy to get stuck in a tree? Crazy man," he chuckled. "I'm smirking, because I'm happy, duh," he said, starting to play with his fork. "My wife just had our child a few days ago...a beautiful girl," he sighed. Oop, there he went. Back in la la land.

Angela idly watched Ian and Constantine's conversation, not paying much attention until she caught the word's 'wife' and 'beautiful girl'. With a quiet gasp, she turned towards the groundskeeper. "Why Constantine! That is wonderful news! What did you name her?" A new baby was always happy news and it seemed as though Constantine was very pleased with the new addition to the family.

Neo looked like a kid in a candy store when Angela asked what the name of his child was. "We named her Jadyn Leigh," he smiled, rocking back and forth in his seat a little as he said it. "She's six pounds, 8 ounces...and she looks a lot like Madison. She has her dark eyes...and cute little fingers...and..." He stopped and realized that he was carrying on. "She's really pretty," he said finally, staring at his plate as he turned a little red.

Antonio had a difficult time suppressing a laugh at the sight of Professor Ashby with his head covered by the bubble head charm. "Good evening, Professor," he smiled. "And yes, I think that crisis is over now." It was interesting how someone could be so oblivious of their surroundings, but in a way it was good.

Antonio heard the groundskeeper describing his new daughter. "Daughters are a delight," he agreed. "I have a daughter as well, she'll be 5 this year. Antonia Michelle." He smiled, he loved talking about his daughter more than most anything, even though he no longer had a wife. He was delighted that he had his daughter to raise and spend time with, especiallly in the break between terms. He was definitely looking forward to that. "Make sure and spend as much time with her as you can while you can, because they grow up so fast."

"Merlin willing! One is lucky to ever see them grow up at all; enjoy them while you have them, gentlemen." Kazimeriz said gruffly, patting Masterson's shoulder with one decrepit hand as he passed behind him.

"Congratulations and welcome to the 'old man' club, Masterson... For nothing will age you faster than a little girl." he smirked a little as he limped past him. "Professor Dumont." he said in pleasant acknowledgment as he walked past the man, nodding once in greeting. He shuffled past his usual seat at the table, moving instead to the Headmaster's chair. He drew his wand, pulling the heavy, ornate chair out and seating himself in Reynard's usual place.

He surveyed the roomful of noisy student and professor diners in silence, watching and waiting.

Ethan was ridiculously glad for the end of the term. He headed to the staff table quietly and took a seat, being sure to leave empty ones on either side of himself and sit as far away from Kazimeriz as possible. He offered acknowledgment to the other staff members though. He made a mental note to visit and say goodbye to those students that were leaving this term and wish those that were not a pleasant summer.

The Great Hall seemed to look different each time Anastasia visited; some days it was rather empty around breakfast time; some days it was underwater; some days it was crowded with excited faces for the feast.

Today it was crowded, of course, Bunbury noted as she strolled past the Hufflepuff table toward the dias. She was looking for a certain Pink Lady to wish farewell but, alas, perhaps she would be able to find her from the raised staff table.

One thing that was different than usual was the two fewer staff chairs and Kazimeriz seated in the center. AHA! Why was she not surprised? Her theory was still sound about that man.... just look at the old coot, taking over Bontecou's spot like it was meant to be.

Annnie shook her head and sat down next to Ethan, crossing one foot over the other under her chair. With her chin in her hands, the redhead proceeded to stare out at the student tables pensively. She was not looking forward to next term just now.

Okay! Lyra couldn't take it anymore. She had to see her favorite Professor just one last time. Merlin only knew what was going to happen afterwards. Maybe she would see Bunny Bunbunz out shopping because...well...she was just cool like that!

And just like that, she appeared at the staff table, taking her chances with Professor Krazikazi. What was he going to do, give her detention? HA! Awww...and Professor Truebridge was here too. What greatness!

"Hello professors," Lyra called out to both Professor Bunbury and Professor Truebridge with a smile on her face. Yes her smiles looked as though she were up to something and...well, maybe she was...eventually but right now, she just wanted to see Bunbunz one last time. Oh how sad was this.

A few moments later, Anna appeared at the staff table right alongside Lyra. Of course Lyra had come to say goodbye to Professor Bunbury. She supposed her friend wanted to say goodbye to the entire staff, too, though. Having seen this as a good opportunity to do the same, Anna had left her spot at her house's table and followed Lyra up to the dias.

"Hello...and goodbye, too, I suppose," Anna said, greeting the staff members who sat before her. Hopefully at some point, they'd all cross paths again. It'd be a shame to never see any of them again. She'd have enjoyed seeing the headmaster once again, too, but some things just couldn't be helped. She really did hope he'd be okay. "I'd like to thank all of you for a wonderful seven years. It's been an honor to have been your student."

There they were! Her precious Pink Ladies, come to say goodbye. Oh sadness.

Anastasia Bunbury was not an expressive, overly emotional, caring, kind, or considerate human being. Ever. She did not allow herself to be. But in the two short years she had taught at Hogwarts, she had actually come to like the two girls standing in front of her. Sure, Anna liked to babble sometimes and probably still hated Bunz for that one Cale... uh... incident, but overall she (and Lyra, duh) had been wonderful.

"Miss Greingoth, Miss Noir...." she greeted each lady with a nod. "It's been my pleasure having both of you for students and as Pink Ladies....and, I have something for you two."

Anastasia had to let out a little disappointed sigh as she reached down to the bag by her chair and pulled out two soft, light blue pouches and handed them across the table; one for Lyra and one for Anna. "I have one for Miss Corbette and Miss Toussaint as well, if you happen to see them..." she added quietly. Although Cela had a few terms before graduating, Anastasia liked to buy things in even numbers.

Marcus entered the Great Hall reluctantly, he wasn't even going to even come to the feast. Just being in the hall brought back the memories of what had happened with Alessia and the Headmaster were still fresh in his mind. But what sort of person would he be if he didn't wish the students the best for their summer vacation and say goodbye to those that were graduating.

He made his way over to the staff table slowly and took a seat at the very end away from the other Professor's. There was a vacant seat beside him and he looked up the table and nodded to those that were already there and then turned to look out at the sea of faces in front of him. Thank Merlin it was the end of term.

Awww. What Banana said was...sad! Lyra was already sad enough from wearing gawd awful YELLOW robes, not that she disliked the Huffies but the colour just drained her skin tone...like horribly. She listened as Banana finished then turned towards Bunny Bunbunz and smiled.

Lyra curtsied as Professor Bunbury greeted them in such a professional manner. Of course, she knew better. She knew that the professor couldn't show favoritism in any way, but..."Oh," she was surprised as the professor reached in her pocket and handed light blue pouches.

Carefully she opened up the pouch to reveal the COOLEST AND BEST THING she'd received since her teddy bear she slept with every night from Christian. "Professor this is just wonderful," she spoke with a bright smile. "I love it. Thank you so much!" On the inside she was jumping for joy but on the outside, she had to act like a lady.

Oh, Merlin! A gift of some kind from Professor Bunbury?!? That sounded exciting, as surely anything coming from the Herbology professor was sure to be completely awesome. Anna craned her neck a little in an attempt to get a sneak peek of whatever it was she was about to receive. Excited, much? Yup! You bet! A few seconds later, two, light blue pouches came into view, and Anna eyed them, completely fascinated by whatever it was inside of them.

She happily accepted the pouch that was handed to her and promptly pulled the little strings so as to open it. She pulled out a gorgeous, engraved and flashing pendant and held it up close to her eyes as she admired its beauty. "Oh, Professor! It's gorgeous! It's amazing! Thank you!" she exclaimed. Had she not thought she'd be hexed, she'd have come across the table and given the professor a little hug for all the thoughtfulness. As it was, though, Professor Bunbury didn't seem to be the hugging kind. It was always better to be safe than sorry. So instead, she settled for another thank you and a big smile. What a cool graduation present!

Entering the Great Hall, Iliana took a deep breath. She had to be brave. Had to keep her bearing for the kids. Looking at the empty chairs at the staff table, she promised herself she wouldn't cry.

She walked forward with a sad smile on her face and sat down next to Marcus. "Thanks for saving me a seat," she said, acknowledging the other professors with a nod.