Kalen slowly entered the empty great hall and he looked around, basking in the silence for a moment as he walked up to the Dias and settled down in his chair. He loved times like this, where he was all alone in a big, quiet room, nothing but him and the vacant tables and chairs.

His green eyes glanced up towards the enchanted ceiling and he smiled, the sky was clear and so many stars could be seen. The Astronomy Professor leaned back and started to pick out a few that he liked, it was soothing for him to do this, almost as calming as..

Tea!

Merlin’s left bunion, he had forgotten his teacup and his tea sitting in his office! Not even bothering to pull out his wand, Kalen silently accio’d the cup, hoping it would come zooming down to him and not hit anyone on the way.. He looked around and then grinned as he heard a soft sound and lifted up his hand and caught his tea cup.. Perfect!

Merlin that could have been a disaster, he didn’t know if he could make it through a feast without tea, and he didn’t want to try.

What was...?

There was a clink and a teacup zoomed by, narrowly missing Kay. Blue eyes warily followed it so that she could seek out the person who had obviously summoned it. Ah, Kalen. The man was obsessed with tea.

Shaking her head slightly with both amusement and exasperation, she continued her way to the staff dais. "Good evening, Kalen,'' Kay said. "Your tea nearly crashed into me.'' The usual twinkle that had been missing for months now had returned somewhat. "What a shame it would have been if it had soiled my new dress.''

In a slow pace Laurel entered the great hall seeing how a shiny object that she identified as a teacup narrowly missed hitting Kay in the head before it reached its destination; Kalen. She was slightly obsessed with tea herself and had an extensive collection of teacups but to need to bring one to the feast she didn't get at all. They were eating dinner not breakfast.

Somewhat confused Laurel made her way up onto the dais dressed for the festive night in a canary yellow dress, with her snake HoH pin fastened to the front and an emerald green shawl with an embroidered snake on it for warmth around her shoulders and her usual purse. In high spirits she turned to flash a beam first to Kalen. "Good evening Kalen, when did you start drinking tea with dinner?" It was a valid question. The teacup was hard to miss. Turning to Kay her eyes widened a bit at the shocking pink colour of her dress but the beam was warm. "Hi Kay! I just love that colour of your dress. The pink Really stands out. Did Cami select it?"

Ohh, whoops, it was a good thing the tea cup missed Kaysha, but thankfully it didn’t look like she was taking it too badly. “Good evening Kaysha, it’s a good thing the cup was empty, I’m not so sure I have enough skill to summon a full tea cup and not have it spill.” He said with a soft chuckle. “I am sorry it got close to you though, no one was around when I summoned it.” He explained, and since he didn’t have any animals or other cups to tranfigure into a tea cup, he had to summon it.

Tea was essential to the great feast.

“Did you enjoy your summer?” He asked her before turning to see Laurel coming up and asking a question. “Evening Laurel, and I’ve been drinking tea morning, noon and night for awhile.”

Tea was like a hug in a cup, who wouldn’t drink it a lot?

This year he was early. This year... He was unfortunately walking up to the Great Hall. If he wasn't able to use his favorite broom, he wouldn't use any broom.

Which was why Haraldur started his walk up to the castle with good time to spare. He was so early in fact, he was one of the first arriving staff members.

He gave his colleagues a wave as he approached them. "Evening everyone, good evening." He said, as he walked the few last heavy steps up to the staff dais. "Hello Kaysha, how are you, dear?" He patted Kalen twice, hard on his shoulder. "Kalen, my boy." Because he always liked the kid.

"Laurel, góða kvöldið." He gave her a warm smile, as his Icelandic naturally came to him.

He was in a good mood. He usually didn't join the others for chit-chat (because he was never early and always waiting for the food to arrive). But he made an exception today. Opening feasts were his favorite and he had a good feeling this year would be a great one. He had four strong captains and a year of Quidditch ahead of him.

Yes, he was in a good mood.

Having made his usual rounds round the Defence rooms and the Ravenclaw Tower, Hirsch found himself descending the stairs and entering the familiar Great Hall. A blue Ravenclaw pin was pinned to his chest and there was a more relaxed outlook on his face compared to this time last year. Maybe that had to do with the lack of bad news he'd received prior to the start of the year or the fact that this school year was starting off fairly mellow.

As he approached the Dias, his green eyes first took in the empty Healer seat and then the seats that were already occupied. It was weird to think that once upon a time, he'd grown uncomfortable at the idea of someone on staff knowing every single detail about his health and now, he couldn't imagine being here without them. It was weird, wasn't it? And it felt slightly emptier at the same time.

Oh well. The others, particularly the men, would just have to deal with being dragged to the pub every now and then. He still hadn't forgotten his mission to get Haraldur intoxicated.

Speaking of, the Groundskeeper was the first one to get a smile from the Defence Professor. "Hey, Haraldur. Didn't expect to see you here so early." Or was he just running late? Eyes found his watch and then the rest of the Great Hall in his attempt to find out an answer. As long as he was here before the students, that was all that mattered, wasn't it? And he was here before most of the members of staff as well, which was.... an achievement.

"Hey, Kaysha! Had a good summer?" He shot her a fleeting smile before moving to sit in his allocated seat between Gaston and Laurel. On his way, Hirsch moved past a certain Astronomer and his beloved teacup, that had almost bumped into his colleagues while they were sitting. "Hey, Kalen! Enjoyed your break?" And what was this fuss over tea?

Reaching his seat, Hirsch sat down carefully, making sure that his suit wasn't about to get ruined in the process. It was only then that he turned his attention towards one of his seating neighbours who always managed to get here before he did. "Evening, Laurel! Enjoy your summer?" And where was everyone else? As it were, the Hall looked slightly.... empty.

The headmistress was ... obviously not the first person to make it to the Great Hall. Nearly half of her colleagues had already beaten her to the table, which wasn't a normal occurrence as she was typically there before most of them. But the start of this term was different. She had found something in her office that brought a number of questions to the surface. These questions were still cycling through her mind as she walked between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables.

A Hershey's kiss with a note that was more than forward. How long had that been there? Surely it must've been from last term. And was that the doing of a student? It didn't seem like something he would do ... or was it? Was there more to their...

No. It couldn't have been him. It just couldn't. He wasn't like that at all. It had to have been just a silly student prank that had gone unnoticed.

Stepping onto the dais, she shook the thoughts away and composed herself. She would ... figure that out later. The students would be arriving any moment now, and there was a feast to be had for what, hopefully, would be a quiet term.

"Good evening, everyone," Regina said, her eyes falling on Kalen, Kaysha, Laurel, Haraldur, and ... Roderik.

The questions from before were returning to her mind once more. Without another word, she sat down in her throne-like chair and pushed those questions away by mentally reciting her speech.

Limping...it wasn't quite how he'd seen his entry to his first feast as Potions Master. And yet here he was, muttering under his breath and with a grimace on his face as he hobbled across the hall to the staff table.

Too proud to go see the Healer so soon in the term? Perhaps. Embarrassed by the circumstances which led to him sliding his way across the slug pit and ending up on the other side decidedly not on his feet? Definitely.

On the plus side, there were no broken bones, and despite the little accident, he had still arrived early enough that the students weren't here to see his weakness. He wasn't a complete pessimist; not usually, anyway.

Reaching the top table at last, Ignatius greeted his colleagues with a gruff tone in his voice. "Good ev'ning all...Regina." The latter got a small dip of his head, and truth be told, Ignatius wasn't at all disappointed to see his end of the table was currently the emptier of the two. He wasn't a great fan of small talk these days. He turned and limped down towards his seat, using the edge of the table to take some of the weight off his sore leg.

Don't mind us, nothing unusual to see here. Nope.

Sitting down in her seat to the left of Regina's throne Laurel took a moment to bask in the glittering ceiling as always before turning her attention and gaze to Kalen. Curiously she asked "Really? Do you drink the same tea every time or does the flavour vary with time of day? Won't you tire of it if you drink tea so often?" Laurel loved tea too, but in major amounts was it healthy?



Laurel had prior to the feast been down to the snake den to see to that all the dorms and common rooms were in order. There was surprise waiting for her snakes that she was going to reveal to them after the feast's end. She hoped the snakes would love it.

Haraldur soon came into her line of sight as he made his way up to the dais by foot. Where was his broom? It was peculiar to see him without it. When he passed by her seat and spoke in his warm Icelandic tone she beamed back warmly. "Good evening Haraldur, where is your broom? It's not lost I hope?"



Roderik had a knack Laurel had resolved after working and sitting next to him countless times in the hall for always looking elegant without trying. A quality which her big brothers wished they. They were hopeless when it came to clothes. When the Defence Professor and fellow Head of house sat down next to her she flashed him a cheery smile. "Good Evening Roderik! I had a lovely summer, thank you. I went on a two week long cruise in the Mediterranean. It was fun, relaxing and interesting. How was your summer?"



Regina entered the Great Hall while Laurel was busy pouring up some pumpkin juice into her goblet to quench her parched throat. When she had taken a wonderful cold sip of juice and had sat down her goblet Regina had already made it up onto the dais and sat down next to her in a long shimmering black dress. Turning to her boss Laurel greeted with a smile. "Good evening Regina, did you have a good summer?"



If Ignatius had wanted to make his entrance inconspicuos then he failed miserably because it was hard not to see the hobbling and grimacing potions master as he limped across the hall to the staff table. Laurel had seen what had happened in a vision but she wasn't going to say anything. It wasn't her story to share or tell for that matter. When Ignatius came up she flashed him a smile "Good evening Ignatius, are you all right?"

Gaston's outfit perfectly matched his mood tonight: black (well, with the exception of the red and gold tie and lion pin he wore at every feast). Merlin, this was going to be a long night! He missed River and Cami, but most of all, he missed his beloved Rosalyn. They both agreed he should return to Hogwarts this term, but still, it felt wrong to be here without her!

He peered into the Great Hall and immediately wanted to retreat back to his office... in fact, he probably would've if he hadn't seen Hawthorne already at her seat. Now there was no getting out of this... He signed, holding his hands behind his back to hide just how violently they were trembling. He hadn't felt this alone and out of place since his first start-of-term feast!

"Good evening, everyone," he greeted his colleagues, nodding politely to each person in turn as he took his seat. He kept his eyes ahead, not even daring to look toward the other end of the table, lest it be a bad reminder of his wife's absence. Not that he had anything against the new staff, of course... it was just hard.

Professor Charles O. Curtains hoped he wasn't late. Tis would be a horrible thing to be late for the start of term feast! Yet amazingly he had misplaced his battle maps that morning and had spent most of the day trying to find them. In his haste to find them he had nearly lost track of time.

Thankfully he found them with not a moment to waste, and he ended up arriving at Hogwarts later than half of his associates but earlier than some others. So not so bad after all.

Wearing a splendid dark robe, the History of Magic teacher made his way to the staff table with an overly huge smile on his face. They all looked MAGNIFICENT. "Good evening everyone!"

"Headmistress!" he exclaimed, tipping his bowler hat off to her and placing it under the table. "How are you? You look simply sparkling." Which was, believe it or not, one of his favorite compliments.

He sat down in his arranged seating next to the Muggle Studies professor and an empty chair that belonged to the Herbology one. What was her name again? Darn it he forgot. "Charles O. Curtains," he said, extending a hand towards her and smiling his over large typical smile.

Tristan walked quickly through the doors of the Great Hall. How was it that he was always one of the last to get here? He shook his head at the thought, and was determined to be at the next feast before everyone. Though he knew that would probably never happen.

With a grin on his face, he waved, and called out to his colleagues, "Good evening, everyone!" He then quickly made his way to his seat between Kale Chip and Gaston.
Before sitting he stripped off his jacket, and placed it on the back of his chair. Once all the students were in here it would be ridiculously warm and no point in him having a jacket on. He quickly rolled his long sleeves to just above his elbows, adjusted his vest,
and took a seat. "Gaston! How are you this evening? How's your other half doing?" He was sure Rose was doing marvelous as usual, but it never hurt to check in on his best friend.

He then turned to Kalen, "So, Kale Chip....did you make your move?" Tristan was sure he would understand this question, but he didn't want to seem overbearing either, so he gave a quick grin and wink to his bestie. He just wanted to see Kale happy.

Celestia Grimsbane had, once again, lost track of time. She had been working on some spell models in her practice room, attempting to find a decent way of explaining them to the students once lessons started up for the term. She wanted her first lessons to go absolutely perfectly, and that wasn't likely to happen without putting as much time into her plans as possible. Of course, the lesson she had been working on wasn't on the agenda until mid-November, but that was rather beside the point. By the time Celestia had looked up from reading one of her various reference books, she had realized that she'd actually meant to leave the Transfiguration department fifteen minutes earlier.

She had rushed back to her office and into a set of navy blue dress robes before practically running speed-walking down the stairs to the Great Hall. Once she'd reached the entrance hall, Celestia had paused to smooth the front of her robes down and catch her breath; there was no need to alert everyone that she'd meant to arrive much earlier. Her plan was to saunter up to the dais quite confidently and not looking rushed in the least.

Unfortunately, that last bit didn't work out so much. Celestia was so startled to see that she was among the last staff members to arrive that she couldn't help quickening her pace as she crossed the Great Hall quite a bit more hurriedly than she'd planned to do. The worst part was that the Headmistress was already here; Celestia had certainly not been planning on making a bad impression at her first start-of-term feast working here...

As she climbed the steps to the dais, fervently hoping that the feeling that absolutely everyone was staring at her was only in her imagination, Celestia flashed a bright smile at her assembled colleagues and chirped, "Good evening, everyone!" There, that had been fairly cheerful. She slid gratefully into her assigned seat at the very end of the table, fervently thankful to Merlin that she was seated closest to the exits -- and hopefully far enough away to avoid any censure from the headmistress for her timing. As her eyes strayed to the four empty tables in front of her, Celestia had to admit that she was mostly thankful that she had still managed to arrive before the students did.

Kalen was subtly putting some hot water in his tea cup as more people started to come in and pay less attention to him and his precious tea. He pulled a tea bag out of his coat pocket, a nice soothing camomile for tonight, to help with the nerves that came from the cacophony that was the Great Hall on Feast night.

He had just dropped the teabag into the water when his shoulder was clapped hard, twice.. and he looked up with a smile to see Haraldur “Hello there Haraldur, how are you tonight?” He asked as the man made his way past him. Kalen inconspicuously rolled his shoulder where the older groundskeeper had patted him. Merlin, that was going to be sore in the morning.

His attention was taken by Hirsch and he smiled warmly at the Defense against the arts teacher. “I certainly did enjoy my break, how about you?” He wondered how he was feeling now that his boyfriend River was gone, and he wondered if he had heard from him at all?

Kalen nodded to the Headmistress as she came in and settled down onto her throne chair, he noticed she seemed rather distracted and refrained from asking about her summer, when his attention was caught by a limping Newbie #1 (Ignatius) and the green eyed man raised an eyebrow, was he all right? He was about to ask, but he was suddenly barraged with twenty questions from Laurel about his tea drinking habits.

Merlin’s left ashy elbow, why? So he liked tea! Was this a crime? He lived in England for Fwoopers sake, it was practically the national symbol of the country.

“Different teas for different occasions, and so far I haven’t tired of it.” He said as he looked down at his cup and sighed softly, next time he would have to make sure he had some before he came and not make it during!

Ahh and here came Gaston looking as gloomy cheerful as ever. Merlin maybe the Charms Professor needed some tea, might help those nerves he seemed to have.

Ahh and here came Newbie #2 (Charles) He certainly looked like he was going to be.. interesting at least. Kalen smiled back at him, before his grin got wider as his best mate settled down next to him. Though it faded a bit as he spoke, “Sadly no, There were some.. extenuating circumstances that kept me from making said move.” He couldn’t exactly ask someone out when they were crying about the impending death of a relative now could he? “And how was the rest of your summer Triscuit? Any new discoveries about yourself?” He joked softly as he turned to see..

Newbie#3 (Celestia) make their way into the great hall. “Good evening.” He replied back with a smile, before glancing down at his tea cup! Ahh it was ready! Perfect!

It wasn't long before the hall started to fill up, this time with the arrival of the Headmistress herself. "Good evening, Regina. I take it you had a good summer?" Which seemed to be the question of the evening. Though, on second thought, the man also had another question he'd been meaning to ask and the Headmistress was just the person to ask this from. So, he took a moment to clear his throat before asking in the most innocent way possible, "Would you like to have a Hershey's kiss, by the way? You know, while we wait for the feast to begin..."

What? It was an innocent enough question.

Before he could listen out for an answer from her, the arrival of someone else to the Dias grabbed his attention and he.... paused. And blinked. "Good evening, Ignatius, and welcome to the team. Are you.... okay?" Because, whether he was trying not to draw attention to it or not, that limping hadn't exactly gone unnoticed. Just saying.

Something he could always count on was Laurel and her positivity. Even if, something told him that her gift for seeing things others couldn't see probably came with some knock to her emotions. At least, it would for him if he was in her shoes. But there was hardly any time to mention this, not when the woman was talking about her summer, which sparked his interest. "The Mediterranean! That sounds like an amazing way to spend your summer." Sun, sand and no school to speak of. It sounded like a nice combination to him. "Mine wasn't as eventful as last summer but still pretty great. I spent some time in Germany, visiting my mum and sisters, and some in the States. I think the time off was needed."

It wasn't long before another Head of House entered the now-filling Hall and approached the Dias. Green eyes flew over towards Gaston and...... he smiled. Sympathetically. While a part of him thought it must be less distracting to not have your wife here, he also figured it was pretty saddening to have to walk in and not see that familiar face. But then again, what did he know about marriage? "Hey, Gaston. How's it going?" A question that was posed innocently enough.

Sparkling?

Sparkling?!

Hirsch..... paused. And blinked at the arrival of the new History of Magic professor. Eccentric didn't seem to be enough to cover the man's personality but he wasn't exactly about to mention that. Instead, he smiled in the direction of Charles, the faint outline of a dimple showing. "Evening, Charles, and welcome to the team. Are you looking forward to the new year?" It was an exciting prospect, even if it came with a ton of marking and misbehaviour that he probably didn't want to think about just yet.

Was it just him or did Tristan seem happier than usual today? Not that it was a bad thing, mind you, but the man couldn't help but think of a series of possibilities as to why that was, none of which were suitable for the feast. Anyways. "Good evening, Tristan. I take it you had a good summer?" Pause. "Nice leather jacket, by the way." Very rebellious, if he could say so himself.

The Hall was steadily starting to fill up more and more and, with that, came the arrival of the last new member of staff. Hirsch adjusted his glasses slightly as he smiled in Celestia's direction before responding with a simple, "Good evening, Celestia, and welcome to the team. Are you excited about the upcoming year?" He.... didn't need to introduce himself, did he? No? Good.

Kalen deciding not to elaborate on his summer didn't earn any questions from the Defence Professor but it did cause him to raise his eyebrows slightly. "Good to hear," Really. "I enjoyed my break as well but, now that the new year has started, I can't help but feel as though it wasn't long enough." Though, there was a point during the summer where he was more than ready to start teaching again.

And how many people thought River was his boyfriend? When had this rumour become public knowledge?

So much for making it to his seat without drawing too much attention to himself. If only he'd had the foresight to bring with him some bruise paste from home, he'd be walking totally normally right now. Alas, it was still in Oxford and he hadn't had enough time to brew a new batch before the feast. A good potion just couldn't be rushed.

Just his luck, really. Trying to do something nice ready for the first lesson tomorrow, and it came back to bite him. Next time he was going to send the kiddos to fetch the slugs themselves.

"Fine, thank you," he responded to Laurel curtly, his voice still gruff. And he'd barely made two steps further along the table when the Defence Professor had asked him the same question. He withheld a groan in the Headmistress' presence, and instead attempted a smile. It wasn't entirely successful; he didn't give them often. Not since...well, not for a long time. "Thank you, Roderik. And I'll be better once I've sat down."

So...if he could just make it down to his end of the table without further interruptions, that'd be great.

Of course, by the time he'd got along the table to his chair, his end of the table had filled in rather. Having said that, from Ignatius' point of view, it was perhaps the more good looking end, if one chose to look past Charles's eccentricity. And he did. Maybe small talk wouldn't be so bad. "Ev'ning, Celestia, Kaysha" he greeted to the ladies either side of him as he pulled out his seat. "All set for the new year?"

And where was Myers? He needed to check with the Herbologist about some ingredients he needed later in the term.

She didn't make it very far in her mental recitation before her attention was needed elsewhere. Regina wasn't at all surprised for Laurel to start small talk, considering it was a norm being seated right next to each other. Normally Regina didn't care for it, but she was going to welcome it today. Anything to get her mind off of ... things concerning the man sitting next to the Divination professor.

"My summer was quite enjoyable. I spent some time in Bali and then with family back in the States. Quite relaxing."

Her gaze shifted to take note of the new Potions professor. Her head dipped to the side slightly, her eyes unblinking as he limped his way up to the dais. Did she need to call down Healer Macmillan for him? The feast hadn't started yet and there was already an injury. "Good evening, Ignatius," Regina responded to him. She was about to ask if he was already, but the man was already hobbling his way down the table.

Then there was Gaston who received a simple nod of her head as the new History of Magic professor was ... very excited to be there. And she apparently looked sparkling. Dear Merlin... "Thank you, Charles. I'm doing quite well. Yourself?" Again, she was welcoming the small talk today.

At the sight of Tristan and Celestia, the headmistress gave them each a smile and a wave. They had arrived just in the nick of time.

Regina was actually looking at the doors as the students began coming in and sitting down. Her mind wasn't really registering any faces. Her hawk eyes were looking for the one person who wasn't there: her Deputy Head. He was already on her list.

Soon Roderik's voice captured her attention, causing her to look at him and notice that he was wearing her favourite suit of his. "Yes," she answered, still in small-talk mode to answer him without that note popping back into her mind, "I had quite a relaxing summer. And how was --"

...

............

.....................

Wait. Did he just offer her a Hershey's kiss? Right there? In front of EVERYONE?

The woman's eyes widened slightly for a split second, unsure of how to respond. So he DID send her that note. More questions were starting to take form in her mind. What did all of this mean for them?

"I, umm, not right now," she declined, speaking a little quieter than normal. "I would hate to spoil my supper. ... Perhaps after the feast?" You know, when they could properly discuss what all of this was about.

Regina didn't wait for a response because one wasn't needed. She sharply turned her head and her eyes glanced around the hall, searching. Where was that Paul Myers? She needed him to distract her with one of his ghastly ponchos or something. Pronto.

"Oh, that's not quite the problem, Kalen. Even if the cup were filled, a little magic would have in no time cleared it up.'' Goodness, Kalen and his tea obsession. Was he going to marry a cup of it? A tea bag? Tea leaves? She almost teased him about her thoughts. Almost.

Kay beamed at Laurel. Indeed the last few months were being put behind her as she had new things to focus on. Her life was being pulled together again and this particular task of hers was giving her the motivation. "Doesn't it?'' she asked and striking a pose for the bestie. "No, I did. Of course you look wonderful as usual. Basically anything suits you.''

"Haraldur.'' The woman smiled warmly at the old fellow. She always liked him and his manners were simply delightful. "I'm doing much better. But how are you? Are you ready to tackle Quidditch?'' It was exciting that the sport was finally returning to Hogwarts.

"Hello, Roderick. I certainly did. What about you? Went on any exciting trips this year?'' There was Regina looking stunning as usual. "Good evening, Regina, Gaston, Tristan, Celestia.''

Now seated at her appointed seat, Kaysha watched with concern as one of the new Professors limped towards them. She waited until he too was seated before asking, "What happened, Ignatius? Do you need to see the Healer?''

This year, Kay was seated next to two entirely new Professors. She was in such a good mood tonight that she didn't even resent Charles for taking one of her bestie's place. Instead she laughed softly. "Hello again, Charles. Did you forget that we met earlier?'' Because it was usual for the Professors to meet each other while they settled in a few days before the term officially commenced.

He turned to BEAM broadly AT one of the professors who had just asked welcomed him to the team. Who was this one again? They all met before term, of course, but at this moment his colleagues names were eluding him. Charles was certain that his name started with an H. "Why thank you my illustrious Professor-Sir-?" OH! "Hirsch! Professor Hirsch." The name snapped back into his head. Professor Hirsch was Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He felt quite relieved at having remembered it. "I am very much looking forward to a year of adventure and teaching. How about yourself?"

Was sparkling a strange way to compliment someone? Perhaps, but Charles was rather fond of it. He beamed at the headmistress. "How wonderful to hear. I am doing quite splendid myself, thank you. This is a lovely feast."

Back to Kay. Professor Hirsch was not the only colleague whose name he had forgotten, and this time he was being called out. Riiiight. They had met before. No, the history of magic professor did NOT have a short term memory, thank you very much. That would be counterintuitive, no? "You're quite right, we have," he said, continuing to smile broadly and forcing the embarrassment at having forgotten his colleagues name (momentarily) way, WAY back in his mind. "I guess I must have forgotten some details due to...um...listening to a Fwooper shortly after our meeting. But I remember now. Are you looking forward to the new year?"

Phew. Regina had smiled and waved at her; that was enough for Celestia to believe that she was in the clear for her almost-late arrival, and to return the headmistress' smile. Her shoulders visibly relaxed somewhat, though she doubted anyone but Ignatius was really close enough to see that. From her colleagues' words, however, it seemed that Ignatius had quite a bit to deal with on his own. She frowned slightly and tilted her head to one side to survey the Potions Master more carefully, but she couldn't see any signs of injury. Perhaps something had happened before she arrived; Celestia hoped it wasn't serious. Several people, including Kaysha on his other side, had already asked him about the situation -- it seemed pointless to add her own inquiry to the others'.

The thirty-year-old witch beamed at each of her coworkers as they returned her greetings, then refocused her attention on the two men who'd asked her about the upcoming term and replied: "Thank you, Roderik. I can't wait to get started! And yes, Ignatius, I'm all set. How about you?" If Ignatius was injured, perhaps she could help him with something.

Celestia tried to focus on the conversations going on around her, but it was somewhat difficult with the length of the table and how spread out they all were. She did manage to notice Roderik offering Regina some sort of Muggle candy, and was just about to ask one of them about it, when she heard Charles' remarks about listening to Fwoopers. She tried not to stare at the man in open disbelief. The former Gryffindor was certainly not an expert in creatures -- well, perhaps crups -- but even she knew better than to listen to Fwoopers. She fervently hoped that Charles was making some sort of joke that she didn't understand...

She turned away from her colleagues briefly to survey the four House tables. A Slytherin girl (Skylar) had chosen to make quite an entrance by flying in to the Hall. Celestia felt the corners of her lips tugging upwards again, though she knew that perhaps she should say something to Laurel about it? The thought of doing so rankled enough that Celestia decided against saying or doing anything; everyone else on staff was facing the House tables, too. Surely someone else would handle this matter. The rest of the tables were soon filling up with a sea of students; Celestia felt another smile spreading across her face as her former House table lost absolutely no time in becoming the noisiest group of the lot. This feast was already bringing back lots of fond memories; Celestia could only hope that it would soon represent the beginning of an equally exciting adventure in her life.

Gaston came up on the dais in a black outfit from head to toe, the only colour came from his tie and lion hoh pin. As he took his seat and greeted everyone politely Laurel flashed him a warm smile. "Good evening Gaston, did you have a good summer?" It didn't feel like the right time to bring up his wife Rose. Laurel was going to miss her girlfriend too. Two of her closest girlfriends weren't going to be at Hogwarts this year, it was sad.



Overly enthusiastic was one of the traits that Laurel thought fit her new colleague Charles to the tee. The overly huge smile and exclamation and hat tipping just seemed a bit much but she greeted him politely with a small smile nonetheless. "Good evening Charles, how are you settling into your new office?"



Tristan followed in Charles's backwater and soon slipped into his seat in between Kalen and Gaston. Casting her gaze over to him Laurel greeted "Good evening Tristan, did you have a good summer?" She'd ask him about that snake care instructions booklet later.



Flashing another new colleague a bright beam Laurel called across the table "Good evening Celestia! Nice dress! I looked in old Hogwarts yearbooks and found something interesting that I didn't know, we were at Hogwarts at the same time for at least two years." It deserved a mention.



Turning her gaze to Kalen she couldn't help but overhear what he and Tristan was talking about and thus innocently offered. "I can teach you how to read your tea leaves if you'd like? It's an easy way to predict the outcome of a date or encounter and it seems it'd come easy to you when you are already a fan of tea." Laurel was just offering out of kindness she had no hidden agenda.



The gift of seeing things didn't always come with good things in return. Having to tell her best friend for example about the death of her father had taken a toll on her emotionally and on their friendship which made her glance to Kay before shifting her gaze to Roderik. "It was an amazing trip. And the rest of the summer wasn't so bad either." She took a sip of her juice before adding "I agree the time off was needed especially after last year's events. I'm glad you had a good time off too in Germany and the States. Got any special plans for the year?"



Sweet tea leaves! Regina was actually responding to her attempt at some small talk before the speech. She usually didn't which made Laurel very, very curious as to what brought that on. "Bali, I don't think I've ever been there. Is it a beautiful island with lots of sights to see?"

Then things got very interesting as Roderik spoke to Regina and sitting in between them it was hard to not see or hear how frazzled her boss looked just by the mention of Hershey's Kisses. Was that a special dessert or something? Laurel's was definitely intrigued to learn more.



Beaming warmly over at her bestie as she struck her pose she grinned "Looking good there Kay, almost like a model for Witch Weekly." Which at least Laurel subscribed on. It was so nice to see that Kay looked in higher spirits. Happier. She gave her canary dress a look before asking eyes on her bestie again. "You don't think this canary yellow is too much? I don't want to come off as looking like as an oversized canary bird."

Haraldur gave the Defence Professor a quick look. "I-have-no-idea-what-you-intend-to-imply-with-that-statement,-Roderik." He retorted, quickly. No need to be honest and actually agree with the boy. Haraldur was almost never early. But had he ever been late to a staff meeting?

Yes. Yes he had.

But with good reason. Like his aching left knee. Or the lack of salty peanuts at the meeting. See Regina? GOOD reasons.

Instead of admitting defeat to the Dark Arts-boy, his attention was turned to a limping Potions professor. Aching left knee, perhaps? Since the others required for his well-being, the Groundskeeper stayed silent and only gave him a curious look.

He greeted the rest of staff who arrived, including the new additions. Among them, one History of Magic professor who told the Headmistress she lookedn 'sparkling'. The old man found the compliment amusing, but not as much as the look the new professor received from Roderik. The groundskeeper had never given the Headmistress any direct compliment. The only thing he'd given her were some accidental feathers in her food. And possibly a few headaches.

Haraldur instead turned to Kalen. "I'm quite well, QUITE well!" He boomed. Boomed. Because he was in GOOD spirits.

A small damper was placed on his mood however as Laurel mentioned his broom that disappeared the previous year. Not because of his old age and not because he had displaced it. It broke his heart irritated him to dwell on it too much. "It will return to me, I'm sure." He nodded, determined. It always found its way back to him in the end.

His mood lifted again at the mention of Quidditch. He straightened his back and beamed with pride at Kay. "I am very ready, indeed." His eyes scanned the crowd of gathering students to locate his Captains. "I know that I have four Captains who are ready to tackle the year as well." Just then he noticed his Slytherin Captain hovering in on a broom of her own. He couldn't really blame Skylar though, since he usually did the same entrance. Still, he was glad she soon placed her feet on the floor again. "I have a feeling this will be a good year." He said, turning back to Kay. "A very good year." He then proceeded to take his seat next to Regina.

"Oops. Excuse me." He mumbled to the Headmistress, as usual, after bumping into her (a few times) as he took his seat. Again, chairs = too small for a man of exactly the right size. At least the seat on his other side was still empty, awaiting the arrival of the Herbology professor. Haraldur knew the speech and more importantly: the food, wouldn't be happening until Paul arrived.

It wasn't long until Haraldur would have to break into his emergency bag of peanuts. Sorry, Reggie. Please blame it on his old age. But for now, he kept himself distracted, following quite a showdown with some fourth years...

Paul was feeling the most refreshed after a summer of laziness and...well, vineyard shenanigans. And his MANY dogs. For the first term in many, he had come to Hogwarts dogless. No Zelda. She had enjoyed her summer so much at the estate that Paul didn't really want to bring her. And he felt he needed a quiet, relaxing term after the last one...one less responsibility would be nice. He had MANY IDEAS ABOUT WHICH PLAY HE WANTED TO PUT ON....it would be a MUSICAL. He was pumped about the, NEW BADGERS, and some interesting Herbology activities he had planned. Plus, some new faces on the staff? IT WOULD BE A BRILLIANT TERM!

Who all was here already...Kalen, Kaysha, Laurel, Harald....Hirsch, Regina of course, and Ignatius (a new guy), Gaston...which, his wife wasn't returning, and Paul hoped all was fairing well for them! And Charles, Tristan, Celestia...was anyone missing? Ah, Bethany was here too! He couldn't tell thus far...Merlin? But as he got near the front of the table he opened his arms wide, smiling broadly at everyone.

"HELLLO, colleagues! You all are looking smashing tonight! Welcome back, old friends AND new ones!" He took a deep bow and made his way to his seat in between Charles and Harald. "Good evening to you both," he said cheerfully.

Any new badgers? HE WOULD SOON SEE, WOULDN'T HE?

And....speaking of badgers, there was one incident happening at the table that he caught the TALE END of...and......he quickly whipped out a piece of paper from his pocket, scribbled a message on it, charmed it, and the paper, in the form of an elegant ballerina dancer, began to leap its way towards Derfael...

There was a bit of wincing as he lowered himself down into the chair, but oh it was nice to be sat down. Ignatius rubbed his leg a little to loosen the soreness in the muscle, before pulling his chair closer to the table. Hopefully, after all the enquiries, it could now be a case of out of sight, out of mind. For all involved...himself included.

A nuisance, that's what his leg was tonight. Nothing more, nothing less.

"It's fine," the Potions professor replied to Kaysha on his right. "Just a little fall. Nothing some bruise paste won't fix by morning." When he'd had chance to brew some, since that'd be a whole lot easier, and likely quicker, than hobbling up to whichever floor the hospital wing was on. And past Kay, he saw that look the Flying Instructor was giving him. Ignatius shook his head lightly, mouthing a "Later" to Haruldur. He liked the man, and if he wanted a chuckle, Ignatius might oblige after a drink or two.

But now to the lovely lady on his other side, Celestia. "Just need to check with our in-house herbologist about some ingredients, but then I'll be good to go." And talk of the man himself...here came Paul. "Speak for yourself, old man," Ignatius replied, his left cheek tugging upward slightly. To the untrained eye around Ignatius, it was probably unclear whether it was an attempt at a smile or a smirk, but his comment was meant in warmth and jest. He toured the greenhouses shortly after his arrival at Hogwarts, and was very much looking forward to having access to such a plentiful and well-stocked source of fresh ingredients.

...he didn't get to say much else to the fellow though, since he then saw the antics happening at his old house table. Kids these days...no discipline!