TWEEEEEEEEEET!

Vindictus had done it without thinking and quickly pulled his officiating whistle away from his lips. "Erm, sorry 'bout that but some of you need to play nicely," he apologized and looked around at the new staff members. Not everyone was introducing themselves to the newcomers. Quite rude indeed! "Welcome to Hogwarts, folks. I'm Maximus Vindictus, the Quidditch Official and Ravenclaw Head of House. The quiet one brooding in a chair is Constantine Masterson, our Groundskeeper." He sat there with a boyish grin on his face and his blue eyes were sparkling. "So, here we are at our first Staff meeting of the year . . . and um, well, here we are!"

Antonio realized with a start that he hadn't officially introduced himself to the new staff members. Following Max's example, he stood up and turned to the newcomers. "Welcome to Hogwarts," he said. "I'm Antonio Dumont, Muggle Studies Professor and Gryffindor Head of Household. Newly appointed, at that, so I'm pretty much starting out as a beginner in some ways, too. In any case, welcome." He quickly sat down.

"I am not brooding," he began to protest, not taking his eyes off of his fingers. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but then closed it again figuring that this battle (not to mention, that man) was a lost cause. If Neo really wanted a tiff, he could go home and get a t-bone out of the freezer and then enjoy an amusing game of "tug-oh-war" with Madison's new puppy, Oscar.

"Nice to meet you Professor Lawson. Miss Avalon." She said. Her smile quickly turned to a look of puzzlement as Ethan entered the room. He wouldn't so much as look at her. What was with the cold shoulder? Growing up with four siblings, it was a tactic she knew well. Expressed your feelings ever so well without you having to say a word. She refused to wonder what feelings Ethan was trying to express here. Thank goodness she hadn't left those rawhide bones outside his office door. How stupid they would look there now with that little, red bow on top. Without bothering to remove the hurt look from her face, Iliana looked Ethan dead in the eyes. She didn't care who saw it. Let them all!

Pushing him from her thoughts, Iliana turned her head and focused all of her energy on the headmaster. This was a staff meeting after all and she was determined not to allow anyone to cause her to lose her professionalism.

"Pssst! Ili..." Alessia said in a whisper... Her friend didn't have her usual smile, and Less thought maybe Ili was hurt she hadn't said hello to her yet. "Pssst... Hello..." She said and reached out to get her hand, pulling her towards her. "Sorry... I forget when I'm wearing this hood no one sees when I smile at them." She squeezed her hand in reassurance.

Pepe opened his mouth a few times into spaces of calm, or at least spaces he hoped would be calm but it didn't work. As he was about to give the nod to Vindictus, the old man had done it. He laughed a moment and then sent him a salute. "Good show, old man," he said with a grin and then cleared his throat. "So, that's the introductions, then. Next up, I wanted to let you all know that the Heads of Houses and myself have selected this year's head boy and girl: Clifford Carden and Anna Greingarth."

He was going to allow them a moment to say something, but knew that in the state they were in if he didn't carry on directly the delay would be longer than the brief amount he had allotted in the agenda. In fact, they were already quite short on time. "AND," he said in a louder voice to talk over any of those who had begun to speak. "The dungeons are a bit more damp than usual and I've been informed that the house elves are using a bit too much starch and bleach in the laundry. Has anyone noticed anything else that I should bring to the attention of the elves?"

A loud sip was comming from the divination professor as he bottomed up the last of the sweet minty drink he'd chosen.
'Greingarth?!?' Inwardly, the addlepated professor cursed himself for getting her name wrong all these years. But, either way, Clifford and Anna were fine choices for Headboy and Headgirl. "The owlery could go for a good cleaning." Was all he added.

Forrester had momentarily spaced out, the arguing started and he didn't really get to introduce himself, but oh well. The last time he met someone new, they had a very short-lived romance (one day? two days maybe?), and it was realized afterward to have been a spell. All the same, best to not get too close to anyone, as the other new staffer he had introduced himself to had also seen the effects of his child-like status.. and OH! MERLIN!

Damn that whistle. He rubbed his ear and looked out of his daze. Things were apparently happening now, as Pepe had begun to speak, and then Kapoor spoke up about the owlery, which of course was dirty, OWLS lived there. Ah, well, why not clean it up a bit? He looked around the room to see if anyone else was going to speak up.

Pepe made a note and pushed his glasses up, leaving a smear of ink on the tip of his nose since he'd used his writing hand, still holding the quill, to do so. "Okay, owlry. Check. Any other concerns?" he asked, looking around with that smudge on his nose.

Ethan cleared his throat and attempted again, extending his offer to the librarian as well as the Headmaster. "Books. I have... they might be suitable... I'm willing to donate them to the library."

Other than that, he kept absolutely still, managing one quick look at Kazimeriz, as if to reassure himself that the man was relatively unharmed...

Professor Kazimeriz cleared his throat. "Headmaster, I have two issues I'd like us to discuss."

He stared for a moment at Truebridge, his expression blank, before returning his ancient eyes to Bontecou.

"There are certain incidents that occured during the last term that I believe bear discussion. There are two specific incidents which I am particularly concerned about. The first is the death of the Avis child in the library. I have counseled several students in the past term who were quite unnerved by this event, and I am certain that you have received a fair few owls from parents concerned about student safety as a result of the child's untimely demise. " He glanced at the other professors, paying particular attention to the newcomers, wondering if they'd been briefed on the events of the tumultuous previous term.

"I would like to know what, if any, measures have been taken to increase student safety and prevent another such incident. It is my hope that we will present a unified front in this in order to help ease any student fears in the coming term, especially as the cause of death is still, to my knowledge, under investigation." He paused to allow Bontecou to address this issue before bringing up the other, larger issue.

"Great! Why don't you and Kohan work that out between the two of you," he grinned and remembered that he still needed to have that chat with Truebridge. "And would you mind coming up to my office for a drink at some point before the start of term?"

Before he could get a verbal answer from Truebridge, Kazimeriz brought up another good point. "Ah yes, I am actually going to the Ministry with some of these security concerns to see what they might recommend in addition to some other precautions I've taken. I'd rather not discuss the specifics, for security reasons, but I did some work just after the incident to ensure I wouldn't be caught off guard again."

Kazimeriz nodded; it made sense that some things be kept quiet in case the death was caused by one of the staff, after all. "Very good, Headmaster. Actually, your answer has served to address my other concern as well." He nodded at Reynard respectfully.

Ethan nodded and turned his head to offer a polite nod to Angela Kohan and made a mental note to take the books to her office so she might see if they would be suitable to add to the library.

It was, at this point, easier to just completely ignore Krazimeriz, particularly as Ethan knew exactly what this 'second concern' happened to relate to. He didn't mind speaking to Bontecou about the matter however, and if nothing else it would set his mind at ease.

"I would not mind."

He idly listened to talk about security matters and wondered if his own would be sufficient. As long as he could stay in his office when he wasn't teaching a class, Ethan was fairly sure that he was quite protected from Krazimeriz and any possible grudge attacks (and that was something he wouldn't put past the old man, even if he did it in a sneaky manner).

"What about career counseling?" Vindictus finally piped in. There was a reason why he went to that week-long conference over the summer. "I'm trained and renewed my certification to give valuable career advice to our Fifth year students so that they can make wise choices in selecting the courses that will affect their future."

Angela glanced towards Professor Truebridge as he piped up about donating some books to the library. What a wonderful idea! Before she could agree enthusiastically, the Headmaster spoke up, designating that the specifics be discussed between herself and Ethan. "That sounds wonderful." She murmured. "Stop by my office at anytime and we can decide where their best use would be."

Perhaps some of the books could be sorted into an area of the Restricted Section. A few of the books had been ruined beyond repair thanks to Peeves' antics last term, and it would be very nice if the shelves could be filled once more.

She glanced between the Headmaster and Professor Kazimeriz as the subject of more stringent security measures was suggested. What a sad time that had been for all of Hogwarts; an innocent student's life ending in such an abrupt manner; and yet they had found nothing to pinpoint how it all had happened. Perhaps Kazimeriz had found out more. She would make it a point to speak to him later.

Settling more comfortably in her chair, she kept one ear tuned to the suggestions while she thought of anything else that she could bring out in the open.

Constantine finally decided to speak up during this meeting, but his eyes didn't move off his ring. He didn't actually NEED to look at people while talking...did he?

"Miss Morgan has been kind enough to help me replace the pandas along with their babies back into their home, the Bamboo Forest. I wonder if there is a way to ask the children to exercise more caution and a touch more common sense? I don't want any of the children to agitate any of them the wrong way. We've worked to make them used to humans, but still, you never know."

Marcus merely sat back in his chair casually listening to the others talk among themselves. He actually felt like putting his feet up onto the vacant chair beside him but decided that probably wouldn't be a good look.

He however didn't miss the look Ms Morgan was giving Zan and he allowed a small smile to touch his lips. Typical, looks as though nothing ever changed with that man.

As the headmaster spoke, Marcus merely nodded. He had no idea who any of the students were, so he could not make a comment on the choice of Head Boy and Girl. Oh but he really hoped that they would fix the problem with the sheets though, nothing worse than trying to sleep on stiff sheets. Funny how this should concern him more that the dungeons being damper than normal.

Axe chuckled as Zan spoke of donating some books to the library, well he was always good like that. Even if the guy wouldn't do Marcus' homework for him when they were at school, he was always willing to lend his books to him though.

Of course he could not help but notice the looks the old man was giving him, Caroline and Ethan. Marcus, raised a brow but said nothing, if the guy had a problem no doubt he would come and speak to him about it. At his next words however, Marcus sat up straighter in his chair. A student had died last term and on the school grounds? Now that was very interesting indeed, he looked over to Kazi for a moment and shot him a curious look. Was the old man losing his touch? Even he didn't seem to know what had happened to the kid.

Ah now they were talking about pandas in a bamboo forest. Seemed like a good time to zone back out. But he must remember to give Zan a hard time about getting into trouble with the headmaster.

Anastasia had been more or less stewing on the sofa, determined not to give Marcus the satisfaction of making eye contact and trying her best to not think of any connections between him and Ethan and that tart little intern. UGH. Hogwarts was supposed to be her escape.

At least Annie didn't react like George, by throwing things at people just because they popped up from her past out of NOWHERE. The redhead folded her arms and huffed to herself, trying to think happy thoughts.

Peace lilies. Daffodils. The Venomous Tentacula. Yes... at least she still had the greenhouses and her gardens. Too bad that reminded her of the groundskeeper, who spoke up suddenly.

"I too, have a request," Annie added, raising one finger slightly. "The greenhouses are looking a bit dull and the glass really needs to be crystal, sparkling clear so that as much sunlight can reach the plants as possible...perhaps the House Elves have been lacking in that area as well?"

She was allowed to complain about something, right? Too bad if she wasn't; cleanliness was a very important topic for all. Hemhem.

Cari let her eyes roll, just a bit, at Marcus. She found him just a little unsettling but she certainly wasn't going to admit it. Besides, he might have thought he was better looking than Ethan, but it didn't seem to be the general consensus; the scary redhead obviously prefered Ethan. Oh she really did hope that woman wasn't her boss!

Oh look it seemed Kazimeriz had renewed his quest to see if he could remove her soul with a concertrated glare; Caroline figured this was because she had shown her allegiance with Ethan. Well let him glare. Maybe if he glared hard enough he'd extrude an eyeball. Actually that would be kinda cool.

He blustered on and on, about the attack in the library last term, Tobi had actually told her about that, for once. About presenting a unified front, as if that weren't a code for something else entirely. Cari struggled to keep her face serene. REALLY struggled.

The groundskeeper said something she couldn't really ignore though, about pandas and caution and common sense. Yeah. Right.

"If there was such a thing as common sense, I would only be around to treat paper cuts and the sniffles." Or not here at all, since the Head Nurse surely wouldn't need my help. Where is she anyway?

Constantine couldn't help but smirk, his eyes still not moving from their fixation point. "I like this new healer," he commented, "she speaks the truth. If there was common sense, I would have married years ago...merlin, there's a lot of things I would NOT have done. And I most certainly would not be spending my fishing days, fishing kids out of the lake." His smirk turned into a smile. "But, what can we do?

"Fine, I'll correct my statement. All I ask is for a way to ask the students to exercise a little more caution and care in the bamboo forest, as well as the Forbidden Forest. Forget the common sense bit," he finished, his eyes flickering over to where the new healer was before returning to the ring.

"Don't forget the Quidditch injuries and you'll be needed on the sidelines of the Pitch during the games," Vindictus added and grinned. "Concussions, blisters, broken noses, splinters embedded in the flesh, removing large bugs from nasal cavaties. Stuff like that."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tailzinator

Constantine couldn't help but smirk, his eyes still not moving from their fixation point. "I like this new healer," he commented, "she speaks the truth. If there was common sense, I would have married years ago...merlin, there's a lot of things I would NOT have done. And I most certainly would not be spending my fishing days, fishing kids out of the lake." His smirk turned into a smile. "But, what can we do?

"Fine, I'll correct my statement. All I ask is for a way to ask the students to exercise a little more caution and care in the bamboo forest, as well as the Forbidden Forest. Forget the common sense bit," he finished, his eyes flickering over to where the new healer was before returning to the ring.

Caroline blushed. She had always thought her inability to hold her tongue was a character flaw.

Reeeeaally? Someone liked her? She was making friends? Oooh Em Geee. This was such a far cry from the last time she had been in this castle. She pointedly ignored the Groundskeeper's comment about fishing children out of the lake. Best not to think too hard on that.

Her hand fluttered to the beryl pendant at her throat and continued to listen to the Groundskeeper. Hmm, ask the children to excercise caution? Well they can ask, but short of the Imperius curse... yeah probably not. Or modify their memories to give them a fear of pandas? "What happened to the warning 'Off limits to anyone who does not wish to die a most painful death?' or did that go out of style?" she asked.

Okay so the new nurse clearly lacked a few basic people skills.

Quote:

Originally Posted by demented_death_eater

"Don't forget the Quidditch injuries and you'll be needed on the sidelines of the Pitch during the games," Vindictus added and grinned. "Concussions, blisters, broken noses, splinters embedded in the flesh, removing large bugs from nasal cavaties. Stuff like that."

Caroline had learned NOT to speak her mind on this subject. Quidditch was all well and good, and she was a fan, but... Well she wasn't about to tell the Quidditch Official of the school that she considered injuries sustained in the name of Quidditch to be foolish too.

So she merely shrugged and smiled, "How lucky for me then." And it was, she may not condone stupidity, but she would watch its commision without complaint. With interest even. Besides, Quidditch was an entertaining sport.

Lars leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. Hopefully the seasoned staff made good judgment as to the head girl and head boy. It was not as if he would know any students, so all Lars could do was commit the two seventh years' names to his memory. Clifford and Anna. That was easy enough.

But Lars could not help but allow his eyes to widen slightly as the headmaster spoke. Security concerns? That did not bode well, and he scratched his nose as the talk moved on to career counseling and dilemmas regarding the grounds. Lars could not be happier that he was adept at transfiguration and did not have any need to venture out to the grounds. He was slightly allergic to freshly cut grass, after all. When he was younger, he had never wanted to go outside for fear that the grass would have been recently trimmed. Even as an adult he preferred the indoors. Lars returned his arms to their previous crossed position, slightly oblivious to the owners of the voices he was listening to.

"Aren't you an optimistic one," he smiled, his eyes flickering over to her again. "Tell the kids that they're a matter of feet from their own possible death. That should settle well with the first years." He replaced his ring back onto his finger and finally looked up to look at everyone, his light brown eyes lingering on each face for a second.