"Well, I suppose that is something." Not that Truebridge was particularly willing to simply settle. The thing was, he had been reluctant to accept the position to begin with. He shot a glance at Miranda before looking at the headmaster again. That was partly why actually. While he was Slytherin himself, and was proud to be, he had not particularly liked the idea of him being head of house effecting his relationship with other houses.

"No I have not. Especially not from any Slytherin students." Ethan rummaged in his desk draw and pulled out a rather thick file. "They have, as a house and as individuals, increased their grades across the board this term and are showing a remarkable amount of unity and house pride." He offered the file to Casey, meeting his eyes.

"And I'm proud of them." He added simply.

"I am too, and I'm proud of you," Tate stood and offered a hand across the desk for Ethan to shake. Part of him wondered if the man would take it, but he HOPED he would. "I think Lafay is a proud woman, proud of her accomplishments and her big old brain, but she isn't a bad woman. I always thought she had it in her to be a really good professor someday, although I resent the governors telling me my business."

He glanced at Miranda as well. "I know the inclination may be to make this about us and what we're losing, but I hope you will continue as you always have. No... I'm sure you will. Continue to support the students above all other things."

"She was a good prefect." Ethan answered quietly. "I'm not sure if you recall." Not a particularly hands on prefect, or a particularly kind one, but she did her job.

Slowly Truebridge stood up. "There is more to this." There had to be. "Hecate was always ambitious even beyond the stereotype."

Another pause and Ethan sat down again. "Would you mind if I spoke to my... the Slytherin Prefects and Quidditch Captain, informing them of this development personally?"

"I wish you would, actually. I'd like us all to be on the same page, present as united a front as possible," Tate's handshake had been rebuffed, and he put both hands flat on Ethan's desk.

"She'll be back almost immediately. In fact, she may be back now. I wish we had more time to plan."

"Perhaps it would be best for me to owl them to meet us both in your office, Casey." Ethan suggested thoughtfully. There may be reactions after all, particularly courtesy of Raiden who had developed an obvious loyalty to him. That seemed to happen now and then for reasons Truebridge wasn't entirely sure of, though he supposed he did not at all mind being a role model of sorts, even one who had spent some time in Azkaban, to his students.

Oh. This...this sounded serious.
Miranda tried to sink lower in her seat, but it was proving difficult. If she tried any more she would be sliding down and flop on the floor. Heh.

They were talking about Lafay...and she was coming back?? Why would anyone let her? Miranda hadn't been present at that scary burning lesson, but the way people told it, it was beyond horrifying.
Aaaand some old bearded people in weird clothes wanted her as Slytherin Head of House. Squint. Really? Frowning, Miranda simply sat and listened, most dissaproving, but the 'anatomical impossibilities' part made her snort loud. She quickly put a hand to her mouth and looked down at her lap. Eeek. Hehe. Tate was funny though.

Gah, sometimes, this calm Truebridge dude made her frustrated. Why wasn't he ready to go all kick butt on people? And then Tate glanced at her...Heh. And noooow they were getting all mushy with the proudness and hand shaking. It took some will not to roll her eyes at that.


But...hold on. Truebridge was actually going to give up being HoH??
That wasn't right. Not right at all. Sure, the Captain didn't know Truebridge that well and stuff, and he kind of scared her sometimes - but he was a great Professor and you tended to get protective of the teachers in this school after so many years.


This was...weird.
If Masterson pulled anything like this...

"Set it up and we'll all meet as soon as possible," Tate agreed, removing his hands from the desk in order to cross his arms across his desk. He glanced at Miranda again.

"Should we invite Lafay?"

"Good. This isn't the end of it." Ethan almost warned. It wasn't . He intended to find out precisely how Hecate had swung this, be sure her reasons were best for the students and of course it wouldn't be as if he'd simply wash his hands of them.

"No." No Hecate. Things might be thrown. "Perhaps we can request her presence once they have been informed, however."

"I'll see you in my office shortly," Tate nodded his head, once to Truebridge and once to Miranda before heading for the door.

"I appreciate your understanding, Zan. It isn't an easy situation, nor a happy one, but keeping a level head certainly assists in getting through it and getting the students through it unscathed."

Miranda watched Tate through her lashes...and then caugh his glance. Heh.
Invite Lafay!? No, no no. Miranda shook her head, looking terrified at the prospect of someone meeting her...all....angry like.

Yes, request presence later. Sounded better. Miranda nodded, toterly agreeing with the Professor's thoughts. Erm, or what she thought were his thoughts anyways.

Oh, he was leaving. Miranda smiled akwardly as he nodded. He was going and then Truebridge was going and then they were meeting up with Lafay and everyone was going to get BURRRRNED! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.

'...getting the students through it unscathed.'

Oh, yes please.

Ethan nodded. It was always about the students for him. Likely it would always be.

"I'll be along soon." He agreed and sent off a few quick messages, little flying paper planes to his... the Slytherin Prefects and Quidditch Captain.

He turned his attention to Miranda and offered a small nod.

"I suppose I had better be brief, and you have been waiting so patiently too."

She watched the little planes fly off an could imagine to whom they were flying towards. Cool thing to do, that.

As Truebridge adressed her again, Miranda sat up in her chair, no longer feeling the need to hide. Hehe. "Oh, um, yes sir." Uh-huh. "Well...I was wondering if it would be possible to get some extra help with Defence against the Dark Arts?" Liiiiike, "More specifically duelling."

"I was actually intending to offer precisely that, Miranda. For starters you should sign up to the Duelling club, but I did notice last term that you seemed particularly..." impatient? Eager? Frustrated? "...interested in the subject."

Truebridge nodded at her.

"And of course, if you like, you might wish to begin by helping myself and a few others out with collecting the Kappa for the next lesson. If you are interested, I will owl you when it is time to meet at the lake to do so."

Oh, he was? Well...that was great. Heh! And here she thought she was going to have to ask and hope he would be able to help.
She listened to the Professor, definitely remembering to´sign up for the Duelling club.

Ack...last term. Not her greatest moments. "Oh...yes sir. I'm sorry about that sir. It was just that...after what happened with..." Ugh. She took a breath and continued. "After the whole incident I felt like I was wasting time not learning everything about how to protect myself. But I know it will take time and hard work before I can go hunt down people like Remí." And that was the first time this term she had said his name out loud. And boy did it not make her wince like it used to. Hah! Take that you worm.

Helping out with the Kappa? For sure!
"Oh, yes sir. I'd really like to help out. It would be really interesting!" She nodded, looking excited about getting to do more this term.

"Yes. I understand that." Ethan flexed his arm idly. He could feel the scar tissue from the old arrow wound pulling, not to mention the scar tissue on his hand from the duel with Kazimeriz too. Yes, he'd been in his fair share of duels.

"Foundation skills are important. Knowledge is important. As is history." Well. No surprises that he found history important, surely. "Do sign up. There is a noticeboard outside the duelling arena. We've had our first meeting already... perhaps you might ask one of the older students who attended to share their notes. I taught a self-armouring charm during the meeting."

As for the Kappa, "Excellent, I'll let you know when I need you. I'll be pleased to have your help and then perhaps you can share what you learn with the class when it begins too." As for now... Ethan stood up. "And I have a meeting I must attend to, unfortunately as you are aware."

He understood...she had imagined he would. Truebridge had afterall been there, protecting the students when the Barman had invaded the school. Thankfully, the curse had somehow been removed before they had all met him in the stairs or something. No good thinking what could have happened.

She smiled weakly and nodded a little, listening to the man. Yep, all of that stuff was important, she knew...learning it eventually. It just agitated her that it took last term's events for her to get that. And she'd probably sign up the first thing she did after walking out of the Professor's office. "I will, thanks for letting me know, sir." Self armouring? Oh, maaaaaaaaaan! "Sorry I missed that. It sounds like it was a very interesting meeting." Crapitty. Who could she hunt down to get the notes? Hehe.

Kappa hunting. Whoa. And sharing...right. "I'll do my best sir." Oh, but now Truebridge stood up and Miranda did the same. The meeting, no doubt it wouldn't be fun. "I'm sorry to hear you won't be Head of House anymore, but it's just a title, right? A good title doesn't define a person if you don't have what it takes to live up to it." With a flat smile, she walked towards the door, "Thankyou for your time." A nod and she was out of there.

Zane stood at the door to Professor Truebridge's office, waiting on him to finish with the other student. "I'm sorry to hear you won't be Head of House anymore, but it's just a title, right?" Was that what the girl had just said?!?!? "Professor, what does she mean you're not Head of House anymore?!?!?' he stated bluntly.

"Anytime Miranda." Ethan didn't smile back. This whole thing was ridiculous.

"Normally I would take points for eavesdropping." Truebridge answered. "As for right now, I have a meeting regarding that very subject. Your prefects will inform you of the particulars Zane. If there was anything Defense related you wished to talk about you are more than welcome to wait outside for me, I don't intend to be gone long."

And Truebridge left his office, locking it behind him.


ooc: Nobody is left in there, just FYI to anyone who stopped posting at any point.

Anni knocked once on the door and then stood back, waiting for the Proffessor to answer. She hoped he'd get there soon, before the stupid hammer battered Eli to death or something.

Eli followed Anni down to the office, the bammer tap tap tapping behind him all the way. He waited beside her, standing rather like a restless flamingo, first on one foot and then the other, trying to keep his toes out of the relentless bammer's attack zone. He toes were starting to feel crowded and swollen in his shoes from being smacked so often.

The billywig-feeling in his stomach was worse; he felt he might throw up from nervousness. "Anni? Is the Dark professor nice? Because... well... I've been skiving his classes. Ow!" The bammer hit his toes especially hard, as though it did not approve.

"My mother says he was in Azkaban. She was real real mad that he was even a teacher here; she wrote letters and everything. I almost didn't let me go to the school, but my father- stepfather- said I had to come. But my mother said I shouldn't go to his classes because he was probably a killer or something." He gulped hard. His stepfather probably just hoped that the Dark Arts professor would murder him and then they wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. His real dad would never have wanted him to go to schools with murderers! Of course, he had never met his real dad. But that was beside the point. He would undoubtedly have been the best dad in the world, if only he had stuck around.

Anni shook her head
'I don't know, Eli' she said slowly, racking her brains trying to find a possible spell to stop the hammer. 'I'm new here, I arrived last night. So I haven't been to any classes before' She ignored the comment about Azkaban. Talking about that place made her feel sick. She did, however, reach down and give Eli a little hug. He looked so scared, she couldn't help it.

Eli gaped at her. New? No wonder he'd never seen the gothy Ravenclaw before!

He smiled and turned red as she gave him a small hug. Nobody had hugged him since he couldn't even remember when, except maybe his mother when they saw him off to Hogwarts, that is. Nobody else. Certainly not a girl-person. He hoped he didn't catch cooties, but then Anni seemed too cool for cooties.

BAM! The bammer didn't approve of the hug, and went quickly smacked Eli harder on the toe than ever before. "Owwwww!" he wailed, kicking at the thing to no avail.

"He was in Azkaban, so he probably is a killer. But maybe he only does it in his spare time? Either way we should probably be extra super nice to him." he told her softly. Then a thought occurred to Eli.

"Anni? When we first came to Hogwarts they said the Dark Professor was Slytherin Head of House. What if... What if he's worse than those girls? What'll we do?" They needed a plan, in case the Murderous Dark Slytherin Professor turned out to want to bammer them to death or something.

Anni shuddered. Azakaban... any mention of the place freaked her out. She giggled a little as he gaped at her, and a little more when he went red. Then she frowned again as the hammer hit him; seemingly harder than before as well. A thought occuring to her, she dived for the stupid thing, trying to pull it away from Eli. that didn't work, it simply skirted around her as she darted back and forth trying to grab it. Damn.
'Oh, he's not Head of House anymore' she said, thinking about it 'The potions woman is... Proffessor Lafay, isn't that her name?

Eli thought about that. "Professor LaFlame is super mega evil - I mean, she set kids on fire in class! But I reckon being a murderer is way way more evil than that. So maybe the Dark Arts professor was too evil for Slytherin, even, and that's why they gave it to the second most evil professor!"

He chewed his thumbnail. "Maybe we shouldn't ask him. I mean... He's real real evil, to be a murderer. And he only got out of Azkaban because if he got his soul sucked out the Minister of Magic was going to die. He had a Dark spell on her so if he died she would just die, just like that. And... the Headmaster is imperiused to let him work here, and so he could just murder us. My mother said so." He wasn't quite sure what all he had overheard his mother gossiping about, but that sounded close. "He could bammer us to death or Avada Kedavra us even, and no one would ever know. The headmaster would tell our parents it was a 'tragic accident' or that we blew ourselves up because we were bad at magic or something."

He nodded wisely. "Maybe we should just - ow! - get out of here, and try and figure out a spell ourselves. Like in the library or something, I bet they have a 'stop bammering' charm or something." He was suddenly very frightened of the Dark Arts professor, having built him up in his mind as Voldemort's more evil little brother.

Anni was shocked
'Hang on, what? She set kids on fire?! And she's still teaching here?' really? What ind of teacher set kids on fire? 'Eli, don't worry. I'm sure that's ust gossip about him being in Az... that place' she said, reassuring until she tried to say Azkaban. Even talking about it still scared her. Jeesh. 'No. We should stay here and wait. I'm pretty certain he's not evil'