Alessia may have been distracted, but you would have had to have been dead not to notice Bunzilla defending her shoes. Dead, or Kapoor... blissfully oblivious. She smiled as he mentioned the Heather. She picked up her tea cup and sipped it. "I think so, David." She said putting it back on the saucer.

"Maidee, is it?" She said looking over Bunzilla, "Believe me, it is not her shoe's that smell like dung." And she left it at that... she didn't mention that in her opinion it was the woman's b.o. and not the poor shoes... But why antagonize the monster?

She watched as the new male professor made his way to the Slytherin Table... why was he going there?

Oh well.She didn't get any reaction from any of the male Professor's, not that it worried her.The nicest person had spoken to her so she was reasonably satisfied.And now, of course, it was time for the speech.

Nodding politely to all of them, adding a "it was nice to meet you," for good measure, Sarah turned on her heels and started to make her way to the Hufflepuff table.Then she heard something that made her giggle.Shut their pie holes? HA, that was something her mother was always saying to her.Strange to hear it from someone else.

Shaking her head, with a laugh, she continued in her quest to find Wesley.

Gabriella turned towards a few of the children who were still in the process of making their way back to their house tables. The young Hufflepuff girl, who'd been amongst some of the first to greet her, was apparently going to take Gabriella up on her offer for the girl to come and visit. "I look forward to it, of course. I'd be happy to help you learn more, as it was a former Hogwart's healer who helped me get where I am today," she remarked.

"You're quite welcome," she added, speaking this time to the Slytherin boy who'd been the one to carry his injured sister to the table. Gabriella really needed to try and learn a few more names. Referring to people as Professor Slytherin Child, and The colleague sitting to the right of her just wasn't going to work. "Nice meeting you, as well," she said, turning her head to the Hufflepuff prefect, who was saying her goodbyes before drifting off to her own table.

With the children gone, Gabriella was free to try and finish her meal. She was in the process of buttering a roll when a man just down the table mentioned the smell of Heather. Making the connection to this comment and the earlier discussion about Annie's shoes, Gabriella made a show of pausing for a moment and sniffing the air. "Heather, you say? It could be...could be," she commented.

Well now this woman was one Gabriella definitely imagined herself getting along with. She found it hilarious how her colleagues knew just what to say to get right underneath Anastasia's skin. As much as she was enjoying the conversation, Gabriella stayed out of adding much to it. As the one of the new additions to the staff, stepping on any toes---Annie's included---wasn't something she intended to do on day one of her new job. Instead, she glanced down towards the woman and decided to make a quick introduction. "...and I'm Gabriella Ashford, the new Healer. What is it that you work with?" For all Gabriella knew, she could be anything from the Potions professor to the Librarian.

Maidee turned away from Hot-Crossed Bunz (yes, another pun intended for those who get it) and back to Gabriella. "Misplaced your fork?" Maidee looked for a moment then handed her the extra one next to her goblet. "Here, I do not know if it is yours, but it looks clean".

While Gabriella decided to entice HippyHop into dignified and mature conversation that didn't result in screeching in front of the students, Maidee took the moment to look around at the staff. Quite pleased when Mr. Creepy left the table, a tention that had been in her shoulders she hadn't known about, until it wasn't there (of course), left.


As the scent was identified Maidee looked around until she found the gentleman looking in her direction. She smiled, "Yes, it is. I usually find that Heather stamps out even the most ferocious of odors. I bow my head to your quick recognition." At this she did, indeed, nod her head to the gentleman.




"Yes, it is, and I'm afraid I haven't caught your name?" She asked with a subtle, though quickly recovered look of mischief. The tone of the other woman indicated she had yet another theory for the source of the smell, but was unwilling to share, at least at this time.

Lysander passed through the tables of Hogwarts with a beautifully radiant smile,but when he passed the Slytherin table which was in the presence of the new Defense Against The Dark Arts which made his warm blood run miraculously quick throughout his body. Faster....
Faster...
Faster...
his blood made his body burn like fire until it felt like it was burning his flesh..
there was a neverending stop to this madness...
Neverending agony...
Neverending..
Neverending...
Then,everything stopped...
His body felt ice cold when he saw him.....
Lysander walked slowly away,and turned his head to see him...
That curious face....
His Face...
Made him want to shreak in pain..
Made his flesh want to burn....
Unknowingly,Lysander was at the Staff table as he smiled radiantly
with his broad shoulders straight up as he glanced at the rather large table.
There were some new faces,and some old ones.
Lysander smild greatly at the New Headmaster with great pleasure of meeting him.
Lysander walked over to him,and said openly,
"Hello,I am Lysander Kyle Valendar.
I hope you had a great summer Headmaster as I myself did.
I am hoping to share my thoughts and views with you to open new doors to this extrodinary school because I myself want to be Headmaster when I graduate."
Lysander looked at him. He looked rarely young as towards adults he knew,and he seemed nice.
"If you will excuse me."Lysander said as he nodded to wish the other professors a welcome.
There she stood looking rather lonely.
Professor Lupa.
"Hello Professor,I would expect you to know me since I usually inclose myself,but I am Lysander."
Lysander smiled as he looked in her eyes.
They were an innocent rich color...
He could see that she was troubled.
"You have beautiful eyes Professor."
He leaned in and whispered to her,"Everything will be alright."
He stood straight back up and smiled slightly.
"I hope we can get to know eachother."
He nodded as he departed for the next professor.
She looked rather beautiful.
Lysander had heared her name before...
What was it....
"Hello,Im Lysander you must be Professor McFarlane,the Astronomy Teacher."
Lysander had a sparkle in his eyes.
"I take Astronomy as my favorite subject Professor for I could go for nights just looking at the stars wondering what their purpose is,and how they got there in the first place,and discover new things."
Lysander reached his hand into his pocket,and pulled out a rather small weaved sack.
He untied the strings,and reached his hand to the sack to pull out a beautiful lit star.
"Its a fallen star Professor."
Lysander smiled,and looked down at the star and then to the Professor.
"I would like you to have it Professor."
Lysander put the star back into the sack,and then put it on the table right in front of the Professor.
"As a welcome gift. I hope we can get to know eachother very very soon."
And then he went to the Herbology Professor and he grinned.
"Welcome back Professor,I am Lysander."
He looked at her shoes.
"Those are beautiful for such an amazing Professor such as yourself,and may I say
you look rather lovely today."
Lysander smiled.
"I hope you had a wonderful break,and I also hope we will become great friends."
Then he made his way to the New Healer.
Something in Lysander made him shined as he saw her.
"You must be the new healer,Ms.Gabriella Ashford."
Lysander grinned as he took out his wand,and said toward the table,"Chalance."
Out of thin air a piece of cheesecake landed in front of her.
Lysander put up his wand,and winked at her.
"I was hoping if you need any help at all-...."
Lysander took a pause then said..
"In the Hospital Wing-...Maybe I could be like an intern.
Im really good at Charms."
Lysander said in a shy voice.

Now, what to have to eat? Milly hadn't seen such fine looking food in over thirty years! Her own house-elf, Felda was almost as old as she was and had trouble boiling an egg these days.

"Hello, dears!" Mildred sung happily to the two young'uns that had addressed her, their names forgotten already. More interested in the mashed potatoes, she barely noticed the tension at the table.. but DID notice when one man upped and left the table.

"What an ol misery guts," the elderly woman commented, mistaking the pumpkin juice for gravy and pouring it all over her potatoes.

Gabriella laughed lightheartedly the nodded in reply to Maidee's question. A fork was such an odd (and much needed) item to lose, but yes, Gabriella had indeed lost her fork. She happily accepted the fork Maidee offered and used it to pierce one of the potatoes she'd been eying. "Thanks, Maidee," she simply said.

Gabriella nearly had the potato in her mouth when she heard someone greet her and address her as the new healer. She glanced upon to see a Hufflepuff boy---a different one than the one she'd talked with earlier---standing at the table. She smiled and nodded. "That would be me, Healer Gabriella Ashford," she confirmed. She assumed that he'd either heard another student mention her name and position, or he'd overheard her introducing herself to someone.

She smiled as she accepted the piece of cheesecake he handed her. "I do love cheesecake. It's my favorite dessert," she remarked. "Thank you." She paid careful attention as he inquired about interning in the Hospital Wing. Gabriella appreciated his enthusiasm, but with her being so new to the staff, she didn't think it wise to go about hiring student interns to help in the Hospital Wing. "I believe I have all the help I currently need in the Hospital Wing, but I'll be glad to meet with you in my office to give you some advice on healing."

Gabriella lightly laughed at this particular woman's comment. This one was sure to be an amusing addition to the staff. "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name earlier," she commented, sparing a glance the woman's way. Did the woman even mention her name? This Gabriella didn't know. She'd just met so many people today that all the meetings and greetings were starting to get lost in her memory. Her face fell into a blank expression when the woman poured pumpkin juice all over her potatoes. "That's...an interesting addition to potatoes. Does pumpkin juice taste good with potatoes?"

"Mildred Pilliwickle," the new Transfiguration Professor said, showing the young blonde her false teeth as she offered her a smile. What a pleasant girl. Minus the misery guts that had left, she hoped all her colleagues were nice. If they weren't she'd have to knock some niceness into them.

Hugs were good for that. And oh, did Milly love hugs. Hehe.

Her expression grew slightly crest-fallen however, when she looked down at her plate. Her plate was completely drowned in orange pumpkin juice? "How did THAT happen?" She asked, forehead wrinkling more than it already was.

She was thoroughly confused now. More than usual.

Gabriella grinned widely when the woman announced her name. Mildred Pilliwickle was certainly an interesting name. An interesting name for an interesting woman, Gabriella noted. "Nice to meet you, Miss Pilliwickle," she said. Calling Miss Pilliwickle by Mildred just didn't seem quite right. Miss Pilliwickle reminded Gabriella of her grandmother, who'd always been that outgoing, bubbly type you just couldn't help but love being around.

She frowned a little when Miss Pilliwickle questioned the pumpkin juice in her potatoes. Gabriella didn't have the heart to tell the woman that she was the cause. "Erm..., someone must have spilled it. How unfortunate, Miss Pilliwickle. I'm sure someone can get you an extra, though," she said. Then it occurred to Gabriella to ask, "Which subject do you teach, Miss Pilliwickle?" Maybe she was the Librarian, though...

"You too, dear," Milly commented absently, more concerned about her ruined dinner now. What the young lady must've been true.. someone had CLEARLY spilled their juice all over her dinner! And they hadn't even told her OR apologised.

How inconsiderate!

With a sigh and a flourish of her wand, the food vanished and her attempts began again. "I'll be taking the Transfiguration post," she answered in response to the young lady whose name was already long forgotten. Was it Mary?

... something like that she was sure.

Lucille frowned and made to say something as Warren walked away from her, "I- i-" but the words turned to ash in her mouth and she was left with nothing to say, watching Warren's retreating back. A strange lump rose in her throat. She gulped to keep it at bay, let Warren get far enogugh ahead of her and the set off after him - not back to the hufflepuff table, but to the grouds.

"Runes..." She said forcing a smile to her lips. "It is nice to meet you, Gabriella, may I call you Gabriella?" she asked politely.

"Oh how rude of me..." she said including the Nurse in the conversation, "Alessia Lupa..." She wanted to change her name... the professor who wolfed out on students a two terms ago, it had been all over the newspapers. But she kept a smile on her face, hoping the women weren't going to make the connection.

"Oh... uhmm," He expected her to know him? Oh no... did she forget? "Uhmm Of course Master..." Oh no, what was his last name... "Master Lysander..." That works. "Thank you..." she said confused when he commented on her eyes, "I'm sure it will..." What did this child know?! "I will see you in class..." I guess...

"Well, what did you really expect for 'inspirational' from me? I can't use my salty language on them, because they're children. I can't yell at them... same reason. Can't order them back to their barracks on quarter rations until their morale improves, can I?"

Although that one generally got a chuckle out of his men.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

She turned her attention back to sighing at her empty plate, only half-listening to whoever the Headmaster Tate was.

Headmaster Tate though, hmm? Really? Gaellen Tate. THE GAELLEN TATE from whom she'd received an URGENT OWL and THE GAELLEN TATE whom she was SUPPOSED TO SPEAK TO about a VERY IMPORTANT MATTER RIGHT AWAY and the SAME GAELLEN TATE that WAS NOT PRESENT when she'd SHOWED UP TO SPEAK TO HIM?

Oh. Now Bunz was paying attention. As a matter of fact, she was most definitely trying to make eye contact with THAT GAELLEN TATE right now so she could go SHOUT AT HIM IN THE CORRIDOR shortly.

Yes. And when the food appeared, Bunz did nothing except proceed to cut everything into very small, angry pieces.

"Uh oh, mate. Tell me quick... is the scary one staring at me? I can feel all the bones in my body slowly turning into porridge under the intense stare of an angry redhead," Tate said in a false whisper.

He whipped his head around and quite distinctly winked at one Anastasia Bunbury. These women... they were too much.

Way too much.

He leaned forward, clearly taking part now in the conversation being held by the three women. Or argument. Whatever. "Ladies, didn't your mothers tell you... that if you couldn't say something nice, you should shut your yaps? I'm sure my mother said something similar to that. If you insist on antagonizing each other like first years, please do so in your own offices."

Alessia chuckled silently. First time in quite a while that she had a giggle. She wasn't going to tell him that it was because his mother had to deal with him and his 20 brothers... ok maybe not twenty... but from what she remembered he had a lot of brothers. Bunzilla shut her yap... that was plain funny.

Fia was all excited. She was going to meet up with the Healer soon, someone who could offer more advise. WOW! It was like a dream coming true, but at this moment, her dream was surrounded by nothing but a hot plate of food. "Thank you, Healer Ashford," she nodded her head as there was something more important than just her smacking gums.

And the new Headmaster was...weird...strange and nothing like she was used too. This one just really seemed...different. She wanted to know more, not only about him but the other new peeps as well. She would definitely make her rounds to everyone this term, but now, she turned to move back towards her table to eat, be jolly and chat with all the new Huffies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"Well, what did you really expect for 'inspirational' from me? I can't use my salty language on them, because they're children. I can't yell at them... same reason. Can't order them back to their barracks on quarter rations until their morale improves, can I?"

Although that one generally got a chuckle out of his men.



"Uh oh, mate. Tell me quick... is the scary one staring at me? I can feel all the bones in my body slowly turning into porridge under the intense stare of an angry redhead," Tate said in a false whisper.

He whipped his head around and quite distinctly winked at one Anastasia Bunbury. These women... they were too much.

Way too much.

He leaned forward, clearly taking part now in the conversation being held by the three women. Or argument. Whatever. "Ladies, didn't your mothers tell you... that if you couldn't say something nice, you should shut your yaps? I'm sure my mother said something similar to that. If you insist on antagonizing each other like first years, please do so in your own offices."

"I'll write your closing speech for you, mkay?" JD suggested, shoving a big forkful of pie in his mouth.

Snoooort.

"Don't fire up the crazy redhead man, she might put a hex on you or something. Have you SEEN the way she's been glaring at all the women in here? Doesn't like competition, that one." JDs voice was equally audible, "When she realizes that we're at least as pretty as she is, oh yes, she'll be coming after us."

Not to mention, she probably was none too thrilled that rumour had it Captain Tate over here arrested her man.

Ah Casey was a brave Gryffindor. None too bright, provoking the wimmen like that, but brave, and Merlin-willing, maybe they'd shut their maws and save their sniping for a hen party or something.

Maidee gasped as she carefully picked up the sack. "This is an amazing gift, Lysander. I thank you very much for it." She held it to her chest and very carefully put it in her own bag. There, it would be safe!

"What a lovely name!" Maidee gushed, happy that Aaaaaaaaaaaaaalessssssssssssssssssssssssiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaa was now breaking out of her quiet shell. She had seemed almost depressed for most of the feast.


Maidee glanced down at the Head Hottie. Boy, he was slow. No one was screeching right now. Jeez. Men were so hung up on the drama.

Thomas walked back up to the staff table and did that thing where he stood behind Tate and bent to whisper in his ear. "Who is the head of Slytherin house?" he asked.

Julian turned to ask Casey to pass the potatoes.

But Casey was not there. Duskirk's head was though.

"NEEYYEEEEAH!" he squealed.

Duskirk just didn't GET not creepy. The sneaking up thing HAD TO STOP!

"Dude," he elbowed Casey in the side. "You need to put a bell around his neck!"

Allison looked across from the Ravenclaw table to the Slytherin one where the new DADA professor stood. Observing him Allison's eye-sight followed him to the staff table.



So with the all the curiosity a child could build, Allison continued to stare at him. Whether the Scotts really knew something about this man or not, Allison wanted nothing to do with it--after all it would involve her much hated family. Perhaps this year she would learn valuable things like Cela had said. Or perhaps she was in for a rude awakening. Time would tell.

"Mmhmm," Gabriella replied, nodding her head. She could see that Miss Pilliwickle was much more concerned with saving her meal than conversing with her. She didn't want to distract her with even more chatter. She took the moment to finally take a bite of the potato she'd been trying to eat for at least the last half hour. The food was just as she remembered it---tasty and such a joy to eat.

When Miss Pilliwickle's plate was all cleared of pumpkin juice, Gabriella turned back to her to finish their conversation. Miss Pilliwickle, she gathered, was a new addition to the staff, as well. It seemed to Gabriella that most everyone, herself included was new. What in Merlin's name had happened to run them all off? "Transfiguration, that's a fun subject," she commented.

Ancient Runes---Gabriella had always been terrible in the subject, but maybe she could eventually learn a thing or two from this woman. Terrible was perhaps too strong of a word, as Gabriella had actually managed to struggle her way out of the subject while in school. Terrible had just been the first word to come to mind when she thought back to her success (or lack thereof) in the subject. "Gabriella is just fine, and may I call you... Alessia?" she asked, extending the same courtesy to the woman. She thought she'd heard the woman address herself as Alessia sometime earlier.

Gabriella simply smiled and nodded in reply to the Hufflepuff girl who was thanking her. The girl seemed to be in a hurry to get back to her own house table, and quite frankly, Gabriella didn't blame her. The food was sure looking tastier by the minute.

"You're ridiculous, mate. Truly. I forgot about you and your deep-seated fear of the fairer sex. Shake it off or you'll never get along in this place."

He considered throwing a breadstick at the man's head, but that was probably considered petty behavior.

Sitting up on this dias sucked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas_Duskurk

Thomas walked back up to the staff table and did that thing where he stood behind Tate and bent to whisper in his ear. "Who is the head of Slytherin house?" he asked.

Hmm? Whoa. Tommy Boy was just jumping out of shadows and being all creepy. He needed to knock that off immediately.

"I read it in the file. It's..."

He glanced down the table and pointed. "Professor Lupa. Hey! Less!"

"Of Course... but you can call me-"

"... Less, excuse me a moment Gabriella." She said, leaning forward to look at Casey. "Hey Case," She said with a smile. "Nice to have you on board."

Thomas' hand twitched and he closed his eyes. He counted to ten while Tate attempted to withdraw information from the abyss of his small mind. That may seem like a contradiction, but Tate seemed to pulled it off just fine.
He was just opening his eyes when Tate called out as if they were mates at a Quidditch match. Thomas closed his eyes again and stood up straight. He only counted to five this time, but it seemed to work. Anger management classes pay off. He spotted the witch smiling at Tate and moved over toward her. "Professor Lupa, I presume?"

Alessia looked up at the gentleman. "I am." She said to him as her eyes looked over to the headmaster... was this a friend of his? "I am afraid I'm at a disadvantage... I know not you're name, or what you teach." She said waiting for him to answer her.