...it seemed it was both a very good and very bad thing that Jaemin had turned up late to the end of term feast. The small Slytherin skirted around the edge of the hall, avoiding the tables carefully; apparently the start and finish ones weren't actually meant for eating, just... awful things.

His being late was good in that... well. He'd walked in just after the glue and feather thing had started. Which meant that he'd just turned around and walked right back out again to wait for it to stop happening. The diminutive boy had lingered outside of the doors for a few minutes before finally sneaking in and heading up to where he was now; this had led to the bad part of being late.

His favourite professor had just hightailed it out of the hall. Jaemin watched with wide eyes, standing at the edge of the dais and watching Professor Myers as he went... he had QUESTIONS for him!!!! Why was he running away?!

MEH. MEHHHHHHH AT YOU, PROFESSOR.

He'd just have to bother Hirsch, then. Jaemin made his way along the dais to where the professor was sitting, stopping in front of him and frowning a little. He was having a moment, because not only did Hirsch not have his regular glasses on... he had pinkish heart-shaped ones hanging off his shirt. He couldn't help but wonder if the strange clothing choices were a regular thing for Hogwarts professors, or if it was just... these professors in particular.

"Professor Hirsch?" he whispered, stepping a little closer to the table, but not getting too close. He didn't want to be a bother if the professor was gonna get busy eating, you know? But he had to ask him, and it wasn't like they had a whole ton of time left in the term. "Are you gonna do dueling club again next term...?"

But whatever she was about to say to Elsa was interrupted when Miffy, Peeves girlfriend and partner in crime, splattered her raven black hair with glue. "GAAAAA!!!!" And then Peeves sprinkled feathers all over them. "Protego!" she squeaked, pulling her wand out and trying to cast a shield over her and Elsa.

Now she was enraged. Normally Kitty was sweet and agreeable, but messing with her makeup and appearance was one of the few things that could drive her crazy. Every time. That was the THIRD time this year that Peeves had pranked her: The first time by throwing food at them in the library, the second time during Charms, and now this. And Miffy had poisoned her during potions by ruining the antidote.

Taking her wand out, Kitty charged after the two as they headed off to the Staff Table.

"Hey Miffy! I challenge you to a duel!" She shrieked, her wand pointing straight at Miffy.

Thornton - glue covered and quite feathered - had been making his way to the staff table when Kitty charged ahead, wand drawn. "Kitty, don't! Let the professors handle it." Because Merlin knew what Miffy and Peeves would do in response to a student duel.

He wasn't about to restrain her, though, and so he kept on course for Mr. Kitridge. Standing in front of the man, Thornton kept his eyes lowered. "The Grey Lady sent me to retrieve you," he said by way of explanation. "Our table has... well, it is a bit of a mess and we require your assistance."

He stood there, awaiting a response, all the while his feet itching to turn and retreat.

So if James Draper's antics weren't enough, then certainly the antics of the poltergeists would. She didn't know whether to duck under the table, run away, or use some sort of magic to protect herself. Fortunately Miffy and Peeves never came her direction and she didn't need to decide. But of course, the damage was done in other places.

Tiara stood to her full height and put on her commanding referee's voice. "Absolutely not, Miss Valentine!" Never mind that Miffy didn't have a wand to duel with.

Finally, some sense from her house. It seemed that Leobald would be heading down to the table, so she decided to stay put and intervene with Kitty. She wasn't officially involved this year, but you could bet she was still taking responsibility for them.

"Miss Valentine, come here right now." Seriously, right now. "Fighting does absolutely no good, and I will not have anyone besmirching my house with it."

"Good evening Professor Flamsteed, and Pebbles," Art said. Who was he to judge what the Astronomy Professor, and Gryffindor Head of House classified as a pet? Not he.

And they were soon greeted by the Headmistress' wonderful company. "Good evening Headmistress," he said by way of greeting. "I'm going home to see my children," he replied, happily. He missed them. Letters and photographs were wonderful, but seeing them was better. "And h-how about you?" he asked.

"Uhhhhhhmmmm," Art replied to Julien rather nervously. "Mostly a positive term, I think. A few pranks but... only once." Great Scott he had triple checked EVERYTHING after that incident. And no other mishaps, fortunately. "And how about you?" he asked. Art let out a very knowing chortle. "Oh indeed, they always go through that phase don't they." He paused, gazing into thin air, thinking back to when his triplets had decided that they no longer needed parenting. "How old are they?" he asked. His own children were coming through that phase. Though it was a bit different, for them, he supposed, having lost Minnie.

"Oh quite the same," Art replied to James, giving his rather flat belly a pat.

Oh dear. Art was truly out of his depth. "ERR..." he said, "There.... th-there there," he gave Paul another awkward pat. And Julien had a good point. "Yes, m-more students to-to... to educate into... err... into Green Thumbs! Eh?"

"Ahh good evening Professor Ichihara," Art said, with the poised Transfiguration Professor joining her place at the Staff table.

"Greetings Roderik," Art said to the DaDa Professor. He somewhat reminded him of young Ansley. "Very ready, I'm looking forward to putting the chaos of this term behind me." Next term there would be NO mishaps. "And how about you?" he asked.

Art was very pleased at Leo's happiness. "Well, indeed they have! And that shiny house cup will be yours for the year. I-I might have to come and see it! Will... err... will it be in the library? Or.. or the common room?" he asked. It had been so long since he had been at Hogwarts that he seemed to have forgotten what the winning house did with the cup...
Art scratched the back of his head. "Er.. well it was-was the err th-the whole class, unfortunately." he cleared his throat. "I found out it was that new Poltergeist. Miffy? Yes... I thought it was Peeves actually."

"Good evening Ansley," Art greeted the Professor of History of Magic, who he had also had the pleasure to meet before the start of term. "Was it a good term?" he asked.

+++++++

Art listened attentively to Headmistress Moxley's speech. Art smiled, chuckled and clapped in the right places, and was delighted when the food appeared. He helped himself to a big plateful of food, and put some bits of carrot into his pocket for Madame Curie.

BUT then, from right down the other side of the table, Art heard something going on. He tried to look, but of course there were all of the heads in the way, so he went back to his eating. But not long after, he noticed it was still going on. GREAT SCOTT! It was James! His feet were tapping!

... and it wasn't just the tapping! It was Miffy and Peeves. Hadn't they caused enough chaos this term? Art saw them charging towards the Staff table. He peered his eyes deeper into the Great Hall and saw... Great Scott... the Ravenclaws covered in FEATHERS! His mouth dropped open in shock. Those poor children! Art was all for a fun prank every now and then, but THIS? And not only that, there were students running up to the Dais, Miss Valentine was even wanting to DUEL the Poltergeist! Thankfully Tiara had stepped forward to prevent this from happening.

Going beat red in reaction to Paul's snort, he apologized ashamed. "I'm sorry for my lapse in memory." Leo couldn't understand why he couldn't remember that about his pal Paul but everything else. "Do you and Milton want to become two of Jackson's uncles?" His child already had god parents but uncles that could provide good influence for his child Leo wouldn't say no to.

Scratching his chin, Leo said in response to Art's inquiry. "You're of course welcome to come and admire the cup when you have a free. I assume it'll have its own special place in the Ravenclaw Common Room, but I'll ask Mereditch for closer instructions." There was always Airey to consult but Leo didn't want to rub salt in any disappointed feelings the astronomer might be feeling over his houses drop from first to third this year.

Focusing on what Art was saying about his class disaster Leo couldn't help but be stunned as he repeated. "Dear Merlin, the whole class got poisoned, and it was all Miffy's doing? I'm glad you managed to cure everyone." Since he had heard no reports from Cece about any eagles visiting the infirmiry.

Leo was enjoying the last of his meal whilst observing the action down by the student tables. Things were peaceful until Peeves and his new lady-friend Miffy decided to fly in and drop what appeared to be glue and feathers all over the place. Luckily enough the poltergeists didn't come up to the dais and if they did Leo had almost finished the majority of his supper. He could eat dessert in his office. Which seemed to be what he would be doing when Thornton came up on the dais to ask for his assistance on the Grey Lady's behalf. There was a mess involving his eagles that he needed to attend to.

Standing up Leo looked around at his colleagues and at Meredith as he said. "Excuse me everyone! My immediate presence is needed at the Eagle table. If anyone needs me that is where I'll be." Rounding the table in a few long, quick strides to reach Thornton he said "Lead the way Prefect Baines!" Pulling out his wand of its pocket Leo asked concerned "How bad is the mess?"

Leo heard and saw Kitty Valentine who had gotten the crazy idea to challenge Miffy to a duel because of the feather mess. He was about to turn to intervene and put a stop to Kitty's antics but was saved by from needing to by Tiara. Assured that Tiara would handle Kitty as was appropriate and to stop the second year from doing something stupid Leo walked off the dais, but only after sending a grateful smile in Tiara's direction mouthing "Thank you" before he left the dais fully and walked with Thornton to the Ravenclaw table.

Elsa, that had followed Kitty as fast as she could - and some how not fast enough - was out of breath when she arrived at the Staff table. Breathing heavily with her index finger up trying to reason with Kitty and the teachers, Elsa ended up swallowing a few of the feathers that decorated her head and had a coughing fit. Turning slightly purple from the effort of expelling such darn feathery devils from her throat, Elsa managed to say something "Listen - coughcoughcough - to them. How do you -coughcoughcough- intend to fight a polter-cough-poltergeist!?". She touched he newest friend's elbow trying to bring her back to the table.

Seventeen years? SEVENTEEN?! Merlin! Roderik half wondered how they haven't given up yet. See, seventeen years was a long time. "Better late than never, eh?" he said, casting a half sheepish smile at the librarian. "They've been working hard, from what I've seen." And then he went on to mention the Dueling Club, which only made the Defence Professor brighten up considerably. Leo's words were feeding into his ego considerably but let's pretend, for the sake of it, that he was professional and humble about this, eh? "Thank you! I'm delighted to hear that. Maybe next term, you can try your hand and dueling your fellow staff members?" Please? Staff duels were oh so much fun!

They did deserve it after this term, didn't they? What with the Hag and the pranks and all. Which, speaking of, the man was all too glad for the empty seat in between him and the Headmistress. No leering, no dirtiness and no general stink in his direction. So thanks for that boot, Meredith, and hire someone better next time? "Thank you. I hope you get the chance to have a bit of time off as well." Needless to say, they needed it.

And then came the speech, which he sat back and listened to, though he was only really half paying attention. Most of his attention was on the plate in front of him. Why? Because the speech meant one thing: it was nearly food time! And he, for one, was super excited about having some chick-

Oh?

The sound of a young voice made the man look up and he smiled at the sight of the young Ravenclaw. "Miss Watson! Good evening to you too." Ah, those compliments. If he was smiling before, it was nothing compared to the smile he had on his face now. Dimples on full display, and all. "It's what I do. And you're going to go far, you just need to push yourself for it." Because it didn't come on a silver platter, after all. "Yes, of course! Drop by my office next term and we'll have a chat about wandless magic. We can go over some theory and practice runs as well." This........... was something he was going to have to remember over the summer.

Good luck, Hirsch.

Much too likable? The man couldn't help but let out a small chortle at those words from James, remembering their trifecta lesson all too well. "Maybe too likable. Merlin knows, you're even attracting sentient objects now." Hehe!

.................. And then the man was dancing. Dancing and twirling.

Oh. Oh Merlin.

Roderik had to clamp his hands over his mouth to stop himself from laughing too much but, see, the sight was just too funny. James, smart, professional James, was dancing and twirling around as if he had a secret desire for tap dancing that he was simply bursting to let out. And all the man could do was laugh.

Sorry, James, but seeing as you're not in any real danger..........

........ Oh Merlin, Paul you did not.

Roderik looked at the man, and then down at the glasses hanging off of his shirt and then back up again. He had a similar pair at home? You know what this meant? Doom, that's what it meant. Doom and disaster because he, Roderik Nikolas Hirsch, had the same fashion sense as Paul Myers. "Uh........ you like them?" What was he meant to say? Just smile? Yeah, let's go with that. "They were a little fun gift from a friend of mine." And if the Herbology professor can read looks, then maybe he'd realise that this look meant that he was talking about the glitter girl.

Letting the man skip off to Merlin knows where, the Defence professor turned his attention back towards his food and started to-

Nope. Eating wasn't happening, apparently. Peeves and his lady friend were happening instead.

The man stared at the sight of glue and feathers being distributed, well, everywhere! All over the tables and the food. Dear Merlin, were they ever going to be able to eat in peace in this place?! Was food really that sacred? And most importantly, was KFC still open? Because he wanted some chicken, he did.

Making all the plans to go and order some good food full of carbs and protein, the man pushed his plate away just as a young snake came up to him. The man looked up and smiled at the sight of Jaemin, immediately forgetting about the food and the prank. "Jaemin! It's good to see you." Really. And he didn't have to stand so far away, did he know? ........ Wait, Dueling Club? "Well, yes. Most people seemed to enjoy it and it's built up people's abilities. Why?" Should he be worried, Mr Song? Hmm?

Uh, since when did Ravenclaws randomly start demanding duels against Poltergeists? Wasn't that a job for the Gryffindors?

Maybe he should just sit and sip his pumpkin jui- ...... Oh wait, he can't. Thanks for that.

At least Art was doing a good job of diverting his attention. "Evening, Art." Or did he prefer Arthur, hm? Another chuckle was let out from the man but he couldn't help but agree with what the Potions professor was saying. "It's going to be nice to have a chaos free summer. Merlin knows, we need it." As for him? "Pretty much the same. I'm going to visit my sisters and their kids in Germany so that'll be nice." Really. He just needed to practice his German for the time being.

Next thing she knew she was being rebuked by an older Ravenclaw student, and Professor Tiara was ordering her to stand down and to approach her. Why were they angry at her? She wasn't the one who had started throwing things, and Kitty felt that she had a legitimate reason to be angry. And if she wasn't allowed to fight back, then why were they taught in Charms how to fight Peeves? For one wild moment Kitty felt like ignoring them, but then her friend Elsa had followed her, Kitty came to her senses. No matter how angry she was there was no way she was going to lose Ravenclaw any points, not after their first win in 17 years.

"Are you okay?" Kitty looked at Elsa in concern as she coughed feathers. Her concern for her friend distracted her from her anger. If she could she would go back with Elsa right now, but Tiara had just summoned her. Patting Elsa's shoulder to reassure her that she wasn't going to disobey the teachers, Kitty approached Professor Tiara rather gloomily. "If we aren't allowed to defend ourselves, then why did Professor Primeaux teach us how to fight Peeves? When he attacked us in class we were encouraged to fight back." But she had already lowered her wand to show that she wasn't going to disobey, and was trying to keep the anger out of her voice.

Honestly, this was the bravest Kitty had ever been in front of adults.

Seeing Ansley down at the other end of the table he gave a nod, he was thinking about a trip that he wanted to speak to the professor about, but he'd do that later. Some artifacts could be nice if he could track them down for Ansley collection so he wanted to make sure he didn't already have these.


Clearly there was a reason this one was the Puffer leader. He really was a Hufflepuff at heart. "Yes they are all... nice" Could he have found a better word for the children then nice? Yes, probably, but meh it was good enough and these kids this term some were well rude and he was okay with just saying nice at the moment.

Yes, he assumed correct that the Eagle leader was happy. [b] "I'm glad that they won. It's nice to have my old house the first year back win again. Bring us back to the glory days. "I was a Ravenclaw, most of my family has been. Though my nephews this term all went to different houses." Still very proud uncle of the three of them. It was nice to have family here this term with him. Family was very important. "Just spending time with my wife and kids. Hopefully taking a Holiday. What about you?"

Seeing another staff member he gave the Arthimancy professor a smile, "Good Evening, are you ready for summer?" Who wouldn't be ready for summer though.

Yes he didn't want to jinx anything, but it hadn't been that bad of a start of a feast. She had to admit that, but soon the speech was there and Julien was ready to sink his teeth into some food his eyes lifted hearing something. What was peeves doing and that new peeves. Ugh, of course it was going to ruin his meal. Yes Mox he spoke too soon.

Student were now there, hmm okay. He gave a wave to Rachel as she came up to the table to talk. He knew they would be up to say their goodbyes, but he hadn't gotten to even take a bite yet and now there were feathers everywhere it seemed.

Yes the pranks, the pranks were on his nerves. He was quite done with these Peeve and Mrs. Peeves pranking the school and to look out at the students they were not done. He was a little, no very disappointed that no one was using what they learned, but to each their own maybe they liked the pranks more then he did. "My oldest is 26, middle is 19, and youngest is 9. Great kids, but yes they have went through their share of phases." Juni was just starting too. He couldn't wait to have her at school with him.

Then there was his name and he looked around until he realized what she was saying. "I did not say anything about fighting, this charm is not to fight. It is only to annoy the annoyance right back. The Skurge charm gives Peeves a little zap that throws him off and makes him leave. It is nothing to hurt him or her in this case." He pointed to the annoyances flying around. "Honestly if the children want to have a little fun and annoy them right back I don't see a problem in it." It might be a good show to be honest. Get them out of the hall so eating could actually happen.

Stalwartly ignoring everything happening around him, Jaemin inched closer to the table. It didn't look like anyone would be eating tonight, which... he assumed was par for the course, considering how everyone was reacting. It was a good job there was junk food back in his dorm waiting to be consumed before the train turned up to whisk them all away, or he'd be going to bed hungry, and that was just awful.

Oh oh. His face visibly dropped a shade and the small boy squirmed uncomfortably when Hirsch confirmed what he'd been worried about; he'd been hoping that they'd find some reason to decide against doing it again, but... apparently that wasn't going to happen. Which meant that he'd... well.

"Do... do I have to do it again?" he murmured, fingers of his right hand gripping at his elbow and rubbing it absently as he forced himself to look from the table's edge to Hirsch's face. "Since I signed up for it this term? Or can I just... not do it...?"

Because really. He might as well have placed last in the standings for his year, he'd done that poorly. He had a long history of avoiding things that he wasn't good at, and apparently dueling was to be added to the list, along with flying and interpreting Arithmancy stuff. He couldn't avoid classes, so he'd have to push through that, but... if sport-ish stuff was optional, then he could at least avoid being bad at that.

PAUL MYERS. YOU DID NOT JUST.

If twirling around without a tutu wasn't already embarrassing enough, the only thing that could make it worse WAS A PINK TUTU. Poncho Paul had just messed with the wrong man and once his stupid feet were finally at a break, James would take the hippy down.

Hippies believed in karma, right?

But Merlin, could they talk about how utterly terrible this was? First off, no one would EVER let him live this one down. Second off, WHO was responsible? THIRD HIS PRIDE WAS TAKING A HUGE HIT RIGHT NOW.

And he was not amused. Not. At. All.

He’d put an end to the madness himself, but his wand was on the table and his feet weren’t willing to get close to it. So when the Librarian came to his rescue, for once James was grateful for the man. Huh. ”Thank you, Leo,” he managed through gritted teeth as he straightened his back and slid back into his chair as if nothing had happened.

NOT. A. WORD. FROM YOU LOT.

James' face said it all. If anyone DARED to say ANYTHING... So help them Merlin. Including you, Nana.

Oh and, Myers would be receiving a proper thank you when he least expected it.

Rachel nearly fell over when Professor Myers dashed past her. She flailed a little to regain her balance but she was giggling. Who could be mad at that man? She watched as a spell was cast at Professor Draper who was still suffering the effects of Haddie's spell. A PINK TUTU! The Eagle nearly squealed in delight at the sight. First of all, the tut was pink and second, Draper look funny though his feel had stopped dancing. She covered her mouth, trying to hide her giggles then turned back to Professor Hirsch.

"I'm sorry, Professor but Professor Draper looks extremely funny.'' The girl giggled a little more and with great difficulty became serious again. Yes, she had noticed those dimples. Goodness! It was difficult to determine who was more handsome- Professor Hirsch or Professor Finch.

Her cheeks flushed with pleasure at the praise and encouragement. This is why she adored the man. He always made her believe in herself. "I will certainly always try my utmost best.'' This comment of determination was followed by and excited clap of her hands. "Thank you very much, Professor! I look forward to it.'' She could hardly believe it. He was actually going to help her practice too. Her admiration for him rose even more.

"I hope you have a great summer. I will see you next term.'' Rachel smiled and turned to speak to another staffer. She didn't want to distract Hirsch from his meal longer than necessary.

So after that debacle with Peeves and Miffy and the glue and feathers (most of which were attached to his back and his precious HAIR, but HE MANAGED TO SHIELD HIS BABY PLANT SON SO HE DEFINITELY DESERVED AN AWARD), Brian decided that it was not a very safe place for a young child and he was going to have to introduce his newly-transformed Baby!Norandula to Professor Myers before anything dangerous happened because the baby's mama would absolutely NOT be happy if anything happened to their son on his watch. She might even HIDE ALL HIS CHOCOLATE, which was probably the harshest punishment a person could dole out. Seriously. He doubted she would actually do that, but who knew how crazy Hufflepuffs could get when you mess with their babies. Badgers were pretty rabid after all.

So there he was, at the staff dais, holding a young toddler Norandula that looked more like an albino sunflower with shiny pods than anything else. And it was wearing this REALLY CUTE small knitted poncho thing that Paige made for the very special occasion of his VERY FIRST Hogwarts feast. Could you tell that they really really loved this baby? Because they did. AND THIS VERY LOVED LITTLE BABY WAS ON HIS WAY TO VISIT GRANDPA MYERS YUP.

"Professor My-" oh. Would you look at that. His Head of House was hightailing it out of the place and Professor Draper was dancing and in a TUTU of all things and now was done and looked murderous and Professor Ichihara was wearing CAT EARS? BRIAN WOODS WAS A VERY CONFUSED CHILD RIGHT NOW AND HE WAS JUST STANDING THERE HOLDING HIS BABY PLANT IN A SORT OF STUPOR. Until it occured to him to maybe look at Professor Hirsch because he HAD to be the sane, chill, cool one here, right?

Except, no. He wasn't. Unless heart-shaped rose glasses were a new in-thing. Which they very well could be. The Defense professor seemed to be excellent at keeping up with trends and, well, he supposed this was the latest thing? So he'd just try not to cause a spectacle or say anything stupi- "Nice spectacles, Professor Hirsch." Oh dear. There it was. He did the stupid thing.

Oh boy.

Should he hightail it like Professor Myers and chalk it up to bad examples set by authority figures? Before he got murdered brutally in front of the whole Hogwarts population?

Prior to the speech, Justin returned each of his colleague's greetings with his usual enthusiasm. Artie, Julien, Paul, Leo, Roderik (with a compliment towards those glasses) just to name a few before acknowledging the rest. He was after all most looking forward to seeing his family and spending quality time with his little princess kid as he made sure to alliterate with them. Paul's attire did get quite a chuckle and little head shake from Justin. "You never cease to surprise us. Did it take you long to decide on the whole package?" He asked Paul. It looked like too much time with the badgers did have an effect on him, whether you consider it positive or not.

Justin clapped along with the others regarding the victory for Ravenclaw. "Good one, Leo!" He recanted out to him. Seventeen years of effort for the cup's return. Talk about dedication. The Groundskeeper supposed he could forgive the circumstances with his former house landing in second. Next year though, haha. They'll be in for a surprise as he smirked. He'll have to converse with Cece later regarding this.

Later since he got a surprise guest which earned her a little chuckle. "Good to see you Miss Rachel and thank you. Glad to hear you won't be making anymore trips there." Hopefully this translates to everyone as well. "Any summer-" Only to be interrupted by some distinct kicking noises, making Justin's head turn. How unfortunate. Someone's idea of a joke on one of his colleagues. This called for some serious action...

Right after Justin could stop the laughing from behind his hand at the sight. It wasn't just the leg moving that caused this. It was the bloody tutu on top of it. Poor James. He would have to exchange the secrets from Paul for this after.

Once his muffled laughter died out, he cleared his throat before returning to his naturally content self. "Well then.. summer plans?" To anyone nearby.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ameh

Stalwartly ignoring everything happening around him, Jaemin inched closer to the table. It didn't look like anyone would be eating tonight, which... he assumed was par for the course, considering how everyone was reacting. It was a good job there was junk food back in his dorm waiting to be consumed before the train turned up to whisk them all away, or he'd be going to bed hungry, and that was just awful.

Oh oh. His face visibly dropped a shade and the small boy squirmed uncomfortably when Hirsch confirmed what he'd been worried about; he'd been hoping that they'd find some reason to decide against doing it again, but... apparently that wasn't going to happen. Which meant that he'd... well.

"Do... do I have to do it again?" he murmured, fingers of his right hand gripping at his elbow and rubbing it absently as he forced himself to look from the table's edge to Hirsch's face. "Since I signed up for it this term? Or can I just... not do it...?"

Because really. He might as well have placed last in the standings for his year, he'd done that poorly. He had a long history of avoiding things that he wasn't good at, and apparently dueling was to be added to the list, along with flying and interpreting Arithmancy stuff. He couldn't avoid classes, so he'd have to push through that, but... if sport-ish stuff was optional, then he could at least avoid being bad at that.

Frankly, Hirsch was confused. He noticed the uncomfortable shuffling and the way in which the boy had reacted to his words and he was..... confused. That was, until he went on to mention what it was he came up here for.

Ah. Right.

It was safe to say that the man's heart had dropped a little at those words. Did he have to do it again? "Well," he started, reaching up to push his glasses up his no- Oh that's right, they weren't there. Instead, he just rubbed his nose as if there was an itch there. Yeah, you know, casual.

What was he saying again? "Well, it's not compulsory for you to take part and dropping out is something that's up to you." Merlin, Jaemin. "What makes you not want to take part? Did you not enjoy it?" Had he missed something in his excitement to start up a spell-based class?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Rachel nearly fell over when Professor Myers dashed past her. She flailed a little to regain her balance but she was giggling. Who could be mad at that man? She watched as a spell was cast at Professor Draper who was still suffering the effects of Haddie's spell. A PINK TUTU! The Eagle nearly squealed in delight at the sight. First of all, the tut was pink and second, Draper look funny though his feel had stopped dancing. She covered her mouth, trying to hide her giggles then turned back to Professor Hirsch.

"I'm sorry, Professor but Professor Draper looks extremely funny.'' The girl giggled a little more and with great difficulty became serious again. Yes, she had noticed those dimples. Goodness! It was difficult to determine who was more handsome- Professor Hirsch or Professor Finch.

Her cheeks flushed with pleasure at the praise and encouragement. This is why she adored the man. He always made her believe in herself. "I will certainly always try my utmost best.'' This comment of determination was followed by and excited clap of her hands. "Thank you very much, Professor! I look forward to it.'' She could hardly believe it. He was actually going to help her practice too. Her admiration for him rose even more.

"I hope you have a great summer. I will see you next term.'' Rachel smiled and turned to speak to another staffer. She didn't want to distract Hirsch from his meal longer than necessary.

Why in the name of Merlin was Rachel apologising?! Didn't she see the amusement on his face? Because, yes, you couldn't not laugh at the pink tutu that James had been sporting. Needless to say, no one was going to let him live that down anytime soon. Sorry, man, but it was something you're going to have to live with.

"He does, doesn't he? I'd go as far as to say that pink is his colour." Because he, Roderik Hirsch, obviously knew everything there was to know about fashion.

/mildsarcasm

Poor James, he really needed a pick-me-up after this.

Always try her utmost best? See, this was one of the reasons why he liked kids but Merlin forbid if he ever decided to have any of his own. Just no. "I know you will. You worked hard to be a Black Belt Dueler." Just saying, Watson. "You're very welcome." Maybe all warnings about the complexity of this branch of magic could wait until after the summer? Merlin knows, she didn't need to worry about that now.

Oh, she was leaving? "And you, Rachel. Have a great summer!" Smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurange

So after that debacle with Peeves and Miffy and the glue and feathers (most of which were attached to his back and his precious HAIR, but HE MANAGED TO SHIELD HIS BABY PLANT SON SO HE DEFINITELY DESERVED AN AWARD), Brian decided that it was not a very safe place for a young child and he was going to have to introduce his newly-transformed Baby!Norandula to Professor Myers before anything dangerous happened because the baby's mama would absolutely NOT be happy if anything happened to their son on his watch. She might even HIDE ALL HIS CHOCOLATE, which was probably the harshest punishment a person could dole out. Seriously. He doubted she would actually do that, but who knew how crazy Hufflepuffs could get when you mess with their babies. Badgers were pretty rabid after all.

So there he was, at the staff dais, holding a young toddler Norandula that looked more like an albino sunflower with shiny pods than anything else. And it was wearing this REALLY CUTE small knitted poncho thing that Paige made for the very special occasion of his VERY FIRST Hogwarts feast. Could you tell that they really really loved this baby? Because they did. AND THIS VERY LOVED LITTLE BABY WAS ON HIS WAY TO VISIT GRANDPA MYERS YUP.

"Professor My-" oh. Would you look at that. His Head of House was hightailing it out of the place and Professor Draper was dancing and in a TUTU of all things and now was done and looked murderous and Professor Ichihara was wearing CAT EARS? BRIAN WOODS WAS A VERY CONFUSED CHILD RIGHT NOW AND HE WAS JUST STANDING THERE HOLDING HIS BABY PLANT IN A SORT OF STUPOR. Until it occured to him to maybe look at Professor Hirsch because he HAD to be the sane, chill, cool one here, right?

Except, no. He wasn't. Unless heart-shaped rose glasses were a new in-thing. Which they very well could be. The Defense professor seemed to be excellent at keeping up with trends and, well, he supposed this was the latest thing? So he'd just try not to cause a spectacle or say anything stupi- "Nice spectacles, Professor Hirsch." Oh dear. There it was. He did the stupid thing.

Oh boy.

Should he hightail it like Professor Myers and chalk it up to bad examples set by authority figures? Before he got murdered brutally in front of the whole Hogwarts population?

....................... Oh Merlin, there it was.

Nice spectacles. Nice spec-

You know what? No. Did the boy think he had a place to comment on his spectacles when he was carrying around a plant that had a........... was that a knitted poncho?! Oh Merlin, was this one of Paul's kids? It had to be, hadn't it? Where was the man when you needed him, eh?

Okay, back to the kid. "I'm glad you like them, Mr Woods. A friend of mine thought they'd be a nice little gift." In the place of his actual glasses that he needed to see out of. Thank Merlin for contacts, which now felt weird on his eyes. Maybe he needed to report this back to David Truebridge if the boy was still thinking about wearing contacts.

And now, onto the main business. Because if the Hufflepuff could spew out a random question without being embarrassed, then so could Hirsch. "So what's with the plant? What's with the poncho?" As in, please explain because the Defence Professor had no idea what was going on.


And thanks for the comment on the glasses, Justin, a name that was still weird to call him by because the man was too used to calling him Professor McLeod.

He was fairly sure Professor Hirsch wasn't going to be happy about that question, and even at the young age of 11 (12, came a reminder from the small voice that would, in coming years, likely be delivering copious amounts of inner monologues) it was easy to see that the man's demeanour had shifted. He didn't want to make him upset... old people died when they got very upset. Movies had taught him that. But running neck and neck with his need for Hirsch to continue to be okay was his need to duck out on things that... well...

"I'm not good at it." Though it was clearly known by both of them, as Hirsch had been there to witness him failing fantastically at dueling, saying it aloud felt to Jaemin like he was telling the world's biggest secret. He immediately went to staring at the floor instead of at the professor. "I've never been good at any kind of sport stuff, and dueling club's just like that... everyone else knows spells I can't do, or is faster than I am, or both."

He hadn't even hit Cornelius in the second duel, and the spell he'd managed to land in the third was probably just dumb luck. He rubbed at his arm some more, a little harder, and frowned at the floor as he thought about it. He didn't like being bad at things... not one bit.

"When I said fighting, I was just referring to that spell you taught us," replied Kitty, annoyed at having her words nitpicked. "I wasn't going to HURT Miffy or anything," she continued earnestly. She took a step sideways to get closer to Elsa and looked between Primeaux and Tiara with wide eyes, her wand still being twirled in her hands.

OH BOY.

Brian Woods was so dead. So dead. He should have kept his mouth shut and not said anything and bit his tongue even though those were rather fascinating glasses. Seriously. One did not question their professors' questionable fashion choices. Especially not when there were others at the same table with more questionable ones but he was USED to Professor Myers' weird and well, Professor Ichihara was pretty darned terrifying. Not that Hirsch wasn't but.. he seemed more approachable with the heart-shaped glasses.

And it was far too late to hightail it because now he was being asked questions. QUESTIONS. ACCUSATORY QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS SON AND HIS FASHION CHOICES. Oh boy. Oh boy, oh boy, oh BOY. The plant first. Yeah. "Paige and I were raising - if that's the right word to use - a Norandula seedling we got from Professor Myers earlier in the term, and now that it's transformed we figured he'd want to see it, since they're all unique and reflect the care given." Which was why Norandulas shouldn't be handled by a lot of people or they'd have a sort of identity crisis. Serious problem. They could DIE.

AND HE HAD A PERFECTLY GOOD REASON FOR THE PONCHO, OKAY. Uh. Hang on he could think of a perfectly good and ENTIRELY FAKE reason for why the plant was wearing a poncho. Nurture over nature? No, that couldn't work. Uh. Uh uh uh. "The Norandula is somewhat tropical and even though it's definitely getting warm enough these days, it's rarely ever humid enough so the fabric kinda keeps the moisture in the soil so it doesn't dry out and the plant doesn't accidentally die." Nodnodnod. "And it's porous so it's breathable and oxygen can still diffuse in and stuff." That was a pretty good reason, right? "Also, Paige made it."

Somewhat believable, at least?

Thornton started his walk back, swallowing down a rather dry reply. Didn't the man see his prefect covered in glue and feathers? Obviously it was bad. "I don't think many were able to shield in time, sir. Plus, the food," he eventually replied. What a way to end what was, in his estimation, a terrible year. His shoulders were droopy and his feet dragged as he walked away from the dias.

Maybe once he got Kitridge to the table, he could just keep walking right back up to his room.

Not like his presence made much of a difference, anyway.

Elsa was baffled with all the commotion that Peeves and his trickster lover had caused. She recovered from her coughing fit, but he throat was sore from the effort. She walked shortly behind Kitty, listening in on her talk with the teacher.

Yes she remembered that lesson where they were taught how to "fight back" with Peeve's. She too thought it would good to give him and Miffy a taste of their own medicine. But Elsa barely talked to teachers outside the classroom. In fact, she didn't even remember ever doing so, so she kept quiet behind Kitty, gazing down at her shoes, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Silently'ish, she giggled when Kitty said she wasn't going to HURT Miffy. Was it even possible? For a poltergeist to feel pain? Elsa didn't know. She grinned sheepishly to Kitty when she stepped near her, and touched her elbow trying to give her some support. She wasn't sure when they would dismiss Kitty, but she didn't mind staying there with her if it was necessary. This was the most exciting thing to happen to her in the last weeks. No doubt.