Thanks for the goodd luck" Rex told her. " You have a good summer as well" Rex said to her.

"It was my plasure, mam" Rex told her." The knowledge will be with me forever" Rex said to the professor." I know you would expect a lot from me" Rex explained to the professor. " Summer will be good for me" Rex smiled.

Kurumi smiled at Professor Zookara before closing the lid on the box. She had come a long way from being that nervous girl in class who had doodled a diagram of a baseball field on her parchment and then have it swooped up by the professor and enlarged for the entire class to see.

At that time, she had almost felt like he was picking on her – if that made any sense. Now, she knew that that thought couldn’t be any further from the truth.

Her smile brightened even more when she heard him confirm that he would be around next term.

“I suppose I should head back to the Gryffindor table,” she said glancing nervously at the Headmaster and wondering if he was going to be making his speech soon or not. “If you need any non-magical items for class, let me know!”


Before leaving, Kurumi bowed again to Professor Hadley. She was glad to hear that she would be back next term as well. Maybe she could figure out more of those karmic numbers and what it all meant. She was still a bit fuzzy about it all despite helping Treyen out during class.

BUT! Then she heard some of the professors speaking with Professor Saylen.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

It couldn't be true? Could it?

"Excuse me, Professor?" Kurumi asked practically jumping backwards to be in front of the Care of Magical Creatures' professor. "I-I couldn't help but over hearing that you...you....you...."

She couldn't finish her sentence and her lower lip began shake so much that she bit down on it.

"I plan on sleeping every day. All day. Ignoring owls and things. Just generally learning how to be some sort of vegetable," Tate decided a bit glumly. It wasn't true, actually, although the idea was charming in its simplicity. He couldn't sit still that long and had already committed to a number of things.

"Speech, you think?"

The little redheaded picked up her trailing robes behind her as she ran to the Staff table. In her small hand was a little box. As she crossed the front of the tables she nodded to each Professor and smiled to them. They had really made her year quite remarkable. However, she was on a mission to find one Professor in particular. Her first year would have been a lot harder without the support of this one person.

When she found out about her... condition Bishop was right there to help her along. She took time with her and made her realize that perhaps one day her curse would be controllable. Selina was grateful for the support. Hogwarts was great and all, but sometimes the support was daunting because it had to be sought in the form of Professors.

Once she reached Bishop Selina shyly spoke up, "Um, excuse me ma'am? I uh, have something for you. A thank you for everything you've done this year. I don't know what I would have done without your guidance and support, but mostly just the support." Taking in a deep breath Selina said, "Good teachers- teach. Great teachers- inspire. You inspired me this year, ma'am. I hope that you will accept this."

Then Selina outstretched her hand and put the gift on the table.

"If you need an escape, I can get you some World Cup tickets," Vindictus replied and his stomach growled. "And yeah, the speech would be great so that we can eat."

"Yeah," Tate nodded. "If you mean it, I could use a couple. Three, I think." He could take Cari and his son and try to do the whole bonding thing. It was telling how the thought of it made his stomach just curdle.

But a speech. He could do that. Tate rose to his feet, determined to keep it short and sweet.

"Students!" He waited until the chatter diminished slightly before continuing. "Our term is drawing to a close once again. As sad as we are to see our seventh years depart, we are proud to see them entering the adult world, eager to know who and what they will become... and so ready for summer that it is like a physical pain."

Or maybe that was just for him.

"I would like to congratulate the Ravenclaw Quidditch team this term for their excellent season, and I would like to extend my approval to the Gryffindor House for regaining the House Cup after many many terms in Slytherin hands. It was a hard fought battle, and you all did well."

And should he even mention... Sigh. "I would also like to acknowledge that it was a strange term for us. We lost many familiar staff faces due to... unforeseeable circumstances, and I fear there will be more changes before next term begins again. You all were very patient with these changes, and for that, I'm grateful. We can only hope that things in the Wizarding World will have settled by next September." Although he sincerely doubted it.

"At this time, I want to encourage you to dig into your dinner and enjoy your last meal at Hogwarts for a few short months. Have a good summer, do not die, and make sure you all get on that train when it departs. Stragglers will be fed to the squid."

Noting a politely smile and nod from the lovely new Transfiguration Professor as she approached the opposite end of the table she normally sat on to speak with Maya, Fina smiled back. Issy really was quite endearing; it came as no surprise as to why Tate selected her.

"Evening, Issy. Lovely seeing you over on this half of the table." The awesome half. MMHM. Cause they had the 'A' subjects and 'A' was for awesome.

Aww, wasn't she sweet? "Thank you, Miss Scott. I look forward to teaching you next year, hopefully. It's been a pleasure," she said smiling at the fifth year Slytherin.

Hearing a familiar male voice nearby, Josephina looked over to see Jeremy had made her way over to her end of the table. And was mocking it seemed by claiming his end (and Issy's) was the 'cool' end?! :O "I totally beg to differ on that!" Fina said, mocking offense. "This end is sooo the 'awesomer' end." And yes, she totally made up that word.

Was it just her or did Maya's plans sound oddly like a baby's enticing? Seriously ... what could be better than just doing NOTHING and then eating? "Sounds ... relaxing." Hmm? What? Maya is leaving them? Why did she not hear about this? That's what she got for spending too long cooped up grading papers. "About the same ... much needed sleep with the occasional bite to eat just to keep me alive." Hehe.

Trip to Italy this year? Uh, she hadn't really considered that? But she supposed she should as it's been almost three years since she saw her parents and they probably wanted to know the details of how she was enjoying her new teaching job. "Considering it. Do you think you'd be willing to visit me there?" Cause Maya would surely LOVE those Italian food dishes. "I'm gonna miss you." Fina said rather quietly, barely audible.

Smiling again at Kurumi as the girl bowed politely, Fina took another casual sip of juice, wondering when the Headmaster was going to make his speech. That was when she heard wibbling and sniffles it seemed coming from the second year.

Uh oh. But it'd be better for Maya to tell the girl herself. Yup.

Ooh. Speech! Listening to the Headmaster, Josephina did make a slight face at one thing. He seemed to neglect to mention Gobstones; though it was just a club, they still had a championship and all. Actually, no, two things. There was also the losing of staff faces, which caused Fina to swallow hard at those words.

Though she was sure that the Headmaster would be able to find some new faces, but it was still heartbreaking not seeing the old ones.

Enough of that though, it was FOOD time! Scooping two huge piles of mashed potatoes onto plate, Fina took his words to heart and literally dug into her dinner.

Kyle walked up to the Staff table, her own lovely table, smiling she placed a little box filled with enough little goody-bags for every person in the house. She had planned it all year long as she had seen everyone loved feeling special. And she loved helping people feel special. Slipping on a bit of slightly - damp stone and catching her balance she felt her cheeks flush.

Photos!: goodies

Inside the bag was a little card that read: Thanks for a fun term, I hope you all enjoyed it as well. There was also a little bit of more personal messages on them, that well everyone could read themselves yeah?

There was also a nice little assortment of candies, muggle & magical lemon drops, chocolate frogs, cauldron cakes, the works anything you could imagine and everything you could imagine was magically in the bag. Well after all it had an undetectable extension charm on it.

The Ravenclaw girl smiled, "There's a Staff member's name on each of the bags...hope you enjoy" she smiled, her big blue eyes glistening happily as she stood there in front of the staff table with a load of different things in each bag. Yes, even some (well most) of the bouncy ball collection she'd started over the year. Who couldn't use a little bit of fun eh?

She reached into the box and put Headmaster Tate and Deputy Headmaster (and Professor) Vindictus's bags infront of them. In Vindictus there was a little special thing - the mock up of the first broom she ever planned to design. Yes Mrs. Quite-Blond was planning to live out her dream of a broom designer - and this broom was only well...two inches long right now but you could collapse it out to full size. What she called a pocket-broom only problem was the possible expansion - luckily it was in a bag with an undetectable extension charm on it. There were little personalized things for each Professor depending on the class they taught - a little cauldron for a certain Potions Professor, miniature hedge clippers things she'd found around and thought would bring a smile to anyones faces.

Nika gave her professor a worried look. No more searching in poo for her. "Can we learn about unicorns instead? Or bunnies?" And not poo.*

"Yeah you will see me for sure! I wouldn't miss class for anything," Nika then looked around the table before whispering "Even potions class" She looked around once more to make sure Lafay want listening to her.

*

Nika jumped up with a smile on her face when she finally found her divination teacher. She skipped over and waved enthusiastically. "Hello professor!"*

Lily clapped encouragingly after Casey gave his SPEECH, and then she pushed back her seat and stood, walking to the middle of the table, and leaned down just a bit, to be at the man's height. Though, that wasn't hard because even when he was sitting, and she was standing, she didn't have to try very hard.

"How is your shoulder?" HMMM? He could give her all the disapproving, 'Merlin, Moretti' looks that he wanted to, she was only doing her JOB.

HEH!

Renée's answer caused Jared's lips to tug up, into a smile. "Meaning is not in words, meaning is within words," he pointed out.

He might have tweaked that quote a little, to suit his own needs.

He inclined his head a notch, to acknowledge her following remark. "True. But I've yet to see two entirely different concepts that cannot overlap." Coincidences had, after all, a far higher chance than a certain mademoiselle's remarks did, of being innocent. Selina had arrived at the staff table before he could say so, however, and as she addressed Renée, he turned to Josephina, a faint smile playing around his lips as his colleague responded to his greeting.

"Good evening." Survived. She could not have chosen a more appropriate term, and Jared found that mildly amusing. "Surprisingly, yes," he grinned. Irrespective of his decision, at least he could look forward to two months of no oggling, eyelash-batting, scary female students. That'd be a relief.


There had been a few students hovering around the staff table before he had arrived, but the influx of students had increased, now. "Have a good summer, Caroline," Jared said, giving the Slytherin a faint smile. "I expect to see you in my class, next term."

And young Rex from Gryffindor. Jared gave the boy a polite nod. "Good luck in your future endeavours, Master Trigwell." The boy had all but graduated, and the usage of the last name seemed appropriate. Plans for the summer? The question reminded him, once again, of his little trip earlier today. "Several." The offer to Renée remained open for acceptance, too. "Nothing set in stone, howeve -"

FLASH.

Of light. Right in his eyes. Jared looked up.

"Aren't you supposed to ask people for permission, before photographing them?" he asked.

Just saying and all.


The cheering and applause that broke out after one or the other of the houses had been congratulated had the expected, deafening quality. Jared stopped attempting to look neutral, and not unconcerned, as the applause died down and Tate picked up his speech, again. The loss of staff faces, at least, he happened to find a cause of concern.

He joined politely in the clapping that the end of Tate's speech met, before glancing down at the mounds of food that had appeared. His appetite seemed to be returning.

The return of the gift-givers. It reminded him of the start-of-term banquet and, though he had come to know most of the students since then, old habits die hard; and Jared had a feeling he'd not be touching the contents of his goody bag, until he had had them tested.

"Thank you, Kyle." He gave the Ravenclaw a faint but definite smile. "This is some excellent charm-work."

Renée hadn't necessarily expected Josephina to speak to her, even though the likelihood of the Arithmancy professor not saying anything when she had replied to Jared's greeting was slim. She knew the slightly older woman to not be rude, at least, which made sense given her school years and the house she'd been in. But she still returned the friendly smile. "Josephina," she said simply, before the smile turned a bit brighter at the subsequent comment. "It certainly seems that way. But I have to say, Hogwarts students really didn't seem that much more difficult than others." Of course, that was to be expected, given the stereotypes about New York and its people. Even with the few issues she'd had over the term, things had gone much better this time around.



With that thought, Renée turned as she heard two voices, and smiled at Selina and Nika. Both young Gryffindors had seemed to connect to her somehow, even if she couldn't really explain how. Well, Selina was easier to understand than her housemate, as she'd actually provided the redhead with a lot of support when she'd needed it. At least she thought she had. "Hello, Selina, Nika," she replied to them, before an inquisitive look crossed her face as Selina continued. Glancing down the table, she'd seen that a few others of the professors had gotten gifts as well, which made her feel a bit more comfortable about the situation. But it was still unexpected, and the miniature speech had only made her more, well, honored that the girl had thought of her that way. "Well, thank you," she said, giving the redhead another smile as she slid the gift towards her. "I hope you can continue moving ahead with things. Understanding is always better than the alternative," she added, hoping the girl would understand that she was talking about her skills without revealing them. And then she opened the gift. "It's beautiful," she said, looking up again. "I wish I had something to give you in return, now." That could go on her list of things to look for over the summer, however. Provided Selina came back next term.

It seemed the student gifts only kept coming, which made Renée think about back when she'd been a student. She couldn't remember a lot of end-of-term gift-giving to the professors back then. It seemed things had changed, but then it also seemed Kyle's gift had been spread around the room, as it seemed all the student tables had little bags as well. "Why thank you, Kyle," she said, making sure Selina's gift was safe before leaning over to find hers at the same time as noticing the cookies that also seemed to have been placed on the table. How she'd missed that earlier, she didn't know. Selecting a cookie at the same time as her gift bag, she settled back into her seat. "I'm sure I'll enjoy this as much as I can," she continued, to the Ravenclaw. "Oh, and if you speak with Kurumi, tell her thank you for the lovely cookie as well." And the fortune that apparently was inside, as she'd broken open the cookie to find the slip of paper shortly before Headmaster Tate made his speech.

Applauding along with everyone as the speech finished, she found herself biting back a sigh at the mention of the staff who weren't around anymore. She'd been thinking about them earlier, and the mention had only brought those thoughts back. At least there had been the usual congratulatory notices as well, to temper the concern. Not to mention the food, which was certainly welcome. She couldn't survive on Kurumi's cookie and whatever was in Kyle's goody bag for long.



Selecting a couple pieces of roast chicken, as well as some of the mashed potatoes that weren't already on Josefina's plate, Renée slipped Selina's gift into her robe pocket for the time being before turning to Jared again. She hoped he didn't mind waiting for a response. "Touché, Monsieur Descoteaux," she said with a grin, in response to his words about meaning. That seemed to be more accurate when it came to the two of them than she hoped could be attributed to everyone else. She did still believe there was innocence in the world, even if it was rare.

The other comment was much more interesting. "I never said they couldn't overlap," she pointed out, before he was distracted by others. Among which appeared to be a certain redheaded Ravenclaw wielding a camera, and that elicited another grin from her. She wasn't necessarily to the point of trying to start any conversations with the girl, as things were still tenuous between her and the Ravenclaw, even if slightly less fraught with animosity. She have her suspicions about Ellie when it came to Jared's fear of being ogled, though, and the photograph only seemed to further those suspicions. It remained to see how the girl would reply to Jared's comment, now.

Emily approached the staff table, a huge grin on her face. It had taken some time, but she was coming to terms with graduating. She would still miss the castle, the grounds, quidditch! the classes and of course the Professors... it had been such an.... interesting term.

She wanted to thank each of the Professors in turn, though having reached the table she realised they were all quite... busy and preoccupied. But she still had to say something, so she started with Lafay.

"Hello Professor Lafay", she greeted. "I just wanted to come and say thank you... for everything you've done for me over the past year. I really appreciate it."
Emily paused, then continued.
"I have some good news.... I was accepted into the Youth Auror Training Initiative."
She was excited about this. All the hard work, effort and late nights studying had paid off.

-------------

Emily then turned to her Head of House... though things did get awkward for a while she hoped they could both look past that.
"Professor Vindictus, I just wanted to say thank you for being not only an inspiring Head of House but also for your brilliant Herbology lessons. I really enjoyed them. Thanks for everything."
------------
Next Emily greeted the rest of staff.
"I just wanted to thank you all for everything you've done over this last term in perticular. I've enjoyed all of your lessons, they've been really insightful and inspriring... I'll miss you all".

Oh no... not again... Emily bit her tongue, she could feel the tears welling in her eyes again. NO! No tears!!! die!!!.............. she was NOT going to cry in front of staff.

Simon smiled when he had finished listening to the Headmaster speech, he hoped that the headmaster didn't mind him coming to say goodbye to him and see you next term. "Headmaster, I just thought I'd come and say I hope that you have a great summer and that I'll see you next term." Simon smiled, he hadn't seen the headmaster much this term, saying that the headmaster must be busy.

It was the last feast of the year, and Patroclus' only offical opening/closing feast due to the fact he had missed the opening one....so naturally being a prefect he thought he should go talk to the Professor, even if it was only to say have a nice summer.....

However some words passed through the mouth of the ever smexy senorita that Patroclus may or may not have had a slight teacher crush onthat affect the Prefect as if he had been punched in the stomach and physcially pushed back
-WHIPLASH-

It hit Patroclus like an arrow, he left sick, his gasped for breath, it couldn't be happening....

Again, he pulled at his shirt, the pain it was crippling him, she had to be lying, Haha really funny Maya! Please be joking....


"You can't.......leave us....."

Isabelle laughed and patted Jeremy on the back. That was probably the first time she'd been called 'cool' in her life, and it certainly made her giggle. "Absolutely she should. All the wonderful people are down that end." She grinned broadly, secretly hoping her work colleagues down this end would take the joke.

Oh, so he'd heard as well. Of course Issy knew it was true, she'd seen Maya packing away her things - more than you'd just do if you were storing them to come back. Then she'd heard the news and, truthfully, become quite sad about it. Seeing Jeremy pout was fairly amusing, but the reason for it certainly wasn't. Crinkling her brow, Issy looked between the two waiting for the Mexicana to respond to the questions.

It would probably look awfully unprofessional if Isabelle leant forward and hugged Maya, wouldn't it? That was the urge she had, but such a public place was most likely a bad idea, so instead she stuck to giving the woman a squeeze on the arm. "I'm good, thank you. I hope you are?" You know, apart from the TERRIBLE SADNESS at leaving them.

"It's been great working with you, too. Thanks for being so nice to me when I started - both of you, really," she smiled, turning her head to grin at Jeremy as well. "However long you've been doing something, doing it somewhere new is always nerve-wraking. But having friendly faces really helped. You'll certainly be missed."

It was a good job the subject changed, because Issy was practically on the verge of some tears. And that would NOT have looked good. At all. "Oh, Alastair has promised a trip to South Africa for a safari. Whether that will happen remains to be seen," she chuckled. Not that he was prone to lying, more that the Ministry would get busy with all the changes taking place. "Yourself?"

Was that a note of teasing in the Arithmancy Professor's voice? Had she heard what Issy and Jeremy had been saying about the table? Heh. Turning her attention to another of her new found friends, Isabelle's eyes crinkled in a warm smile. "Fina. Ah well, it makes a change, eh? Although it's not much different from the other end, I've noticed." In other words - it was equally awesome. "How are you this evening?"


Tapping Jeremy on the shoulder, Isabelle pointed in the direction of their boss. He seemed to about to make his speech, and she thought it a good idea they were seated first. "Talk to you later, Maya, yes? Have a proper goodbye. We'd best get to our seats, Jeremy, Tate looks ready to speak." Giving Fina and Maya a broad grin and squeeze of the shoulder as she passed, she mouthed her goodbyes and strode back down her own end of the table.

-------------------

Staff changes, yes. Most of the people who had gone missing were ones that Isabelle hadn't really got to know, not that it made it any better. Plus it was incredibly confusing. It was just a shame that the one staff member leaving, that she did know, was such a friend.

Upon mention of the winning houses, Issy clapped enthusiastically. T'was a shame that Hufflepuff, her former house, had come last in the cup race. There was a consolation of second in the Quidditch, though. Not that her disappointment stopped her feeling happy for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, they had after all, worked hard for their achievements.

'Do not die'....He had a habit of saying that, but Issy couldn't work out if there was a reason for it, or if Tate was just an extremely cautious person. Either way, the speech was now over, and after some more clapping, she looked down at her empty plate. The food had sprung up in front of her and the roasted chicken was calling her name.

It didn't take long after the speech for some students to come back to the staff table. And this one seemed to be bearing gifts! Swallowing the food in her mouth, Issy placed her cutlery down and reached forward for the bag with her name tag on it. Taking a quick peek inside, she grinned and looked back up. "This is lovely, Kyle. Thank you very much!"

Kyle smiled as Professor Descoteaux said she had used excellent charms work on the bags. "Thank you Professor," and then turning to Professor Tamerlane she smiled.

"Thank you, and I will tell her your thanks." She smiled, "well enjoy, I'm off to eat finally." She smiled and walked back off to her table. Where she was planning to immediately eat whatever she possibly could find - anything non garlic that is. Even though she loved garlic.

Ellie still beamed. She couldn't help it. She'd caught him. He'd just have to admit defeat.

"How am I supposed to get an authentic candid shot if you know about it?" Seriously.

Besides, there was nothing he could do about it now.

"One more?" And now she asked because she wanted a smiling one...well, a Little Professor smile, she supposed. He hardly ever TRULY smiled. She just couldn't imagine him doing so for a picture, especially.

For a second, Maya thought that a rabbit had escaped the closed in creature area, that hop definitely had her attention now, but she relaxed when she saw it was young Kurumi. "Yes?" Aw, came to say 'happy summer' or something?

But no. Instead the Mexicana was left wondering what the second year tried to say. She glanced around worriedly. "Miss Hollingberry...what is wrong?" Did she need the nurse? Was this because of the almost poop she tasted? Oh dear.

Relaxing? Oh, it was more than just relaxing. Hehe.
And it seem Josephina had the same plans. See, great minds think alike.

So she was thinking about going to Italy. "You totally should, unless you have some other fantastic plans." Was Maya willing to visit? It was as if asking her if she liked her tortillas to be made of corn. "Oh, I would love to visit you there." Invitation? Again? Accepted. "Having you as a tour guide will surely be interesting." Maya smiled, already feeling the warm 'Italian' sun on her face.

Oh, what? "I'm sorry?" Had she said something else? Bah, could everyone in here be quiet, exept for Fina, Maya wanted to know what she said. Shhhhhhhhh. Hehe. "The trip to Italy would be nice, or else I would miss you too much." Wink.

Maya had to chuckle. "Unicorns...now why didn't I think about teaching you about them..." She shook her head, jokingly, giving the girl a smile. "I'm sure you will learn alot about them one day. Who knows, maybe next term." Yes. If their new CoMC Professor wanted to.

Awww. Why was this girl so...emotional? She wanted to make her go away. No one made Maya cry. "You are most welcome, Miss Browne. Good Luck on your future endeavors. I am sure you will do great." Good student. Yes.

Ohmygosh, what was that??
The smile she'd been giving the young girl dropped when Patroclus appeared by the table. She was speechless. Not in a million years did she think students would actually care.

Errr, what to say... "Mister Hudson..." WHAT. Something witty, something to joke it away, something to make him annoyed at her and forget what he had said.

Buuut nothing came. "Oh, I shall miss you, Mister Hudson. But I will expect you to look after the creatures when I'm away." Not that the new CoMC wouldn't be great...but she'd seen the boy taking care of his Abraxan, and it was clear he had a passion. Not to mention the big heart he had.

Cool side of table...pffft. Hehehe. Well if these people were there, then yes, Maya wanted to join the cool side.

Was Maya good? Yes, she was good. Exept for that moment she had something in her eye...and all these goodbyes from students was making the corn piece come back to irritate her eye and cause flooding of tears. But, you know, all good. "Mhm," nod nod, "I'm good." Blah.

The next thing that Issy said made her bite down on her lower lip. She hadn't actually thought of being ''welcoming''...which can sound rather rude - but Issy just seemed like a really nice person. And nice persons should be treated nicely. Hehe. Speechless again. "Thankyou." She did say that though, and most sincerely.

Oh Africa! "That is lovely! There are sooo many beautiful creatures there... I've been thinking of moving to Africa, but I'd miss the mexican food terribly." Hehe. "I do hope it works out, if not, why not take the trip yourseld?" Hmmm? OH, can Maya come with?! "I will go back to the family farm, see my parents...maybe take a trip to Europe," hehe, "Eat and sleep. Basically." Wonderfully exhausting term.

Ah, but now, Tate's speech. As much as Maya wanted to eat, she wouldn't have mind waited a while longer. "Yes, ofcourse." Talk more later indeed!


'Do not die'.

Approved. Nice speech. Yes.

" I really appreciate your send away" Rex told the professor."Well, I hope you have a great summer' Rex said to the professor." I am sure you will find a lot of things todo" Rex smiled. "Godbye professor" Rex smiled again.

Trixie made her way up to the staff table shortly after Headmaster Tates speech, her LAST ever speech. The Slytherin sighed, a clear look of sorrow on all her features as she slumped over to speak to the Professors, who she wouldn't ever see again.

Yes this was more depressing then she thought.

"I just wanted to thank you all, for being such amazing teachers whilst I've been here, every single one of you. Without you I don't think I'd ever have done as well as I have done" she wibbled. Don't. Cry.

"And Headmaster, I wanted to thank you for choosing me to be Head Girl this year. I honestly didn't think I'd get the opportunity and I've loved every second of it" she stated truthfully.

Why was...Professor Saylen looking at her like that? Had she done something wrong? Was there something in her teeth? The perplexed look on the professor's face only made Kurumi more so.

Taking a deep breath, Kurumi spoke again. "Professor Saylen, is it true that you are really leaving?" Kurumi asked THIS time finishing her sentence. She had lost two of her favorite professors last term, she didn't want to lose more. After all, these two terms had just flown by.

Max was the first to begin the applause and ceased once Tate sat back down. "Three tickets is no problem and they'll be the best seats in the stadium so you'll arrive within two hours of the game starting," he said and acted as if their conversation wasn't interrupted by the speech. "Hope you don't mind the Kalahari Desert. It's the sand that's the real pain about playing down there . . . it gets into places where sand doesn't belong."

Grin.

Then something that Tate said in his speech finally clicked in his mind.

"That's it - don't die! I was trying to remember your number one golden rule when planning the Herbology lessons. Well, at least no one died or lost a limb."



Vindictus saw Kyle place the blue bag in front of him. "Why, thank you, Kyle! You didn't have to do this," he smiled and immediately opened her gift. A miniature broom - very fitting, indeed! He looked it over and the smile remained on his face as he placed it carefully back in the bag so that it wouldn't get food on it. "Good design. Innovative. You might want to apply for a few broom design patents."

It was sound advice.

"Thank you, Emily," he nodded in appreciation and wondered why she didn't mention Quidditch or his famous flying lessons. Hmmm. "Good luck with the next step in your education."

Vindictus was about to say something else but suddenly a plate of food appeared in front of him - roast beef, potatoes, carrots, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding. Fork in one hand and a knife in the other, he began to dig in.

Kyle couldn't help but smile as Vindictus liked the little broom. "Aw thank you Professor, I plan on doing so. I also have one that light-up...its odd though" she added with a smile. "Oh actually Professor Vindictus - the broom does expand so you can actually fly it...little concept I came up with for easy storage."

"And thanks for a great term," she added still smiling.

"Thank you so much for making this term wonderful! I really loved your class!" Nika glanced over at Selina as she gave a present to Professor Bishop. She gave herself a mental slap on the forehead. Presents. Why didn't she think of that. Eh, maybe next term. "I know I wasn't very good at divination, but it was my favorite class!" And one of the more interesting classes at that. Who wants to learn about pointless things like History of Magic anyways.

Nika nodded approvingly. She didn't quite understand the sarcasm that her professor was using. "Professor I heard someone saying that you were leaving... Is it true?" Nika wasn't particularly happy or sad about the rumor. She isn't very fond of Saylen, but she didn't really hate her either.