There was movement in the Great Hall and not just that of the excited, arriving students. Two men strolled in through the doors one after another and clearly they had a purpose in their strides. Septimus’s curiosity was grabbed and so he watched as they made their way up to the staff table with whatever purpose that was. Right up to Headmistress Hawthorne’s spot on the dias meaning it had to be important.

And bad.

Had to be.

Even from her the third year was getting bad vibes. Something that was only made worse by the headmistress getting up from her seat. And moving away from the staff table. And walking right out of the Great Hall. “Uh…that doesn’t look good…” Septimus pronounced to Hanna and anyone else nearby his seat at the Ravenclaw table. "No clue..." he added to the firstie (Thad) nearby who asked who the two men were. However as the one approached the headmistress' podium it was clear they were going to find out. The Ravenclaw reluctantly standing as they were directed to.

Say WHAT?!

That was unfair! They were removing Headmistress Hawthorne right now, last minute, for something that she couldn't exactly control? No one had gotten hurt...right? And now safety regulations were going to be added to the school. Okay, so maybe he might agree to that. Well his mother might after the stories she had personally dealt with. But still. This was horrible. Septimus wasn't sure what all this meant for the new school term and onward, but he also wasn't sure he was going to be okay with it. And as he sat back down to the feast now before him one thing was apparent.

Yeah...he had been right. That note had been BAAAAD.

....why was one of the new professors ordering them to stand? Wasn't that a bit too much? Especially with the Headmistress right there?

A bit confused, Dorian looked around at his Housemates and the other tables but eventually he got up a bit reluctantly. He was still a superior and maybe the Headmistress had told him to speak for her.

But then the truth came out and he frowned. He was replacing as Headmaster? WHAT?! "He's joking right?" he said with a half laugh at the other ravenclaws but he knew it wasn't.

The man had a whole different aura around him and it honestly scared Dorian a bit. He knew, right now, that this man was not to be crossed.

He looked over at the other staff members, especially the old ones. What did they think about this sudden change?

And then his blue eyes landed on the new Divination professor as he got introduced and he frowned again with what the new Headmaster said next about the previous Divination professor.

"I bet he's a joy at parties..." he mumbled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grey Lady

“It was so quiet, Hanna. Now that you lot are back that’s all gone.’’ Helena smiled. “That’s not something I mind. I like having you all around. Did you have an enjoyable summer?’’

Hanna's smile disappeared for the slightest of moments. For a quick second there, Hanna was sure Lady Helena was disappointed that they were there. But no, thankfully, she was smiling and expressing that she liked them around. "It... was okay," Hanna said with a sigh. "My mum is having another baby. I don't think there will be any room for me at home for much longer." There would soon be five of them! Hopefully it was going to be a boy, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pucki

Shera had expected that maybe Hanna would have the same issue and have trouble remembering what her name was. But somehow the other Ravenclaw didn't. In fact, the other Ravenclaw hadn't even said anything about Shera not being there for an entire year. Somehow, Shera was happy about that. She grinned at the other girl. "It was great! Didn't get up to all that much though. How was your summer?"

"That's good, I guess. Nice and relaxing?" Hanna took out a hairtie and pulled her hair up. "Not bad, it was... a bit weird, really. My parents were being all secretive and then just before I came back they told me they were having another baby." Which Hanna was NOT pleased about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

"Hi Hanna. I'm Tad or Taddy, which ever you like." Tad thought she seemed nice. "What year are you in?" She didn't seem old to him.

Hanna smiled, "I like them both. I'll go with Tad though!" She didn't have a lot of other names, but Hanna was already pretty short anyway. Han, Hanski, sometimes HANNA SYBIL NEWTON if she'd been naughty. "I'm a third year. Do you have other siblings here?" It was always a bit scary being the first of the family to come. Not that she'd know what it was like to be the second, or third, because she was the oldest of her siblings, and her cousins were already Graduated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

...
Even from her the third year was getting bad vibes. Something that was only made worse by the headmistress getting up from her seat. And moving away from the staff table. And walking right out of the Great Hall. “Uh…that doesn’t look good…” Septimus pronounced to Hanna and anyone else nearby his seat at the Ravenclaw table.
......

Hanna's eyes were WIDE as she watched the same thing everyone was witnessing. These two strangers, a letter... their Headmistress' surprise... "I... I... Merlin's BEARD!" Hanna exclaimed, looking shocked towards Septimus. She watched as the Headmistress turned and left The Great Hall, and the man took her seat. And then... wait WHAT?

Hanna was thinking a LOT of things, but her need to follow all the rules had her standing on her feet before her mind could even TRY to rebel.

So the good news was... FOOD. The bad news was that the Headmistress was just fired, apparently, and some cranky guy from the Ministry was taking her place. It wasn't terribly kind of Chloe to label him as cranky, and she'd probably revisit that thought once she had carbs in her belly. It was easier to be kind when she wasn't hungry.

On that note, was it rude to eat? Was it one of those things where eating meant she was fine with all of this? And on that note... who even said she got a vote?

"JESSA." Chloe waved a buttered roll at the Head Girl, and when it went flying out of her hand and hit someone down the table, she grabbed up another and took a huge bite. "Congrats on the badge!"

Juniper had made a detour to the bathroom after arriving off of the train. She had spend most of her time fixing her hair and adjusting her badge. She wasn’t used to wearing it. Even though she had it pinned to her a full week after she had gotten it. Then for the past week she had started wearing it again.

As she headed into the great hall just out of habit she turned and looked around at the Slytherin table. Scanning around for Slate which she found him almost instantly. She usually spotted him quickly, she waved at him. She would go over at some point in the night but right now she headed to Ravenclaw table to join her housemates.

Another habit she had was peeking up at the staff table. After last term, she wondered how many would have left after last year. Hopefully it wasn’t any of the professors that she liked. Her brown eyes moved across the table at the front. She did notice new faces, but she didn’t get a chance to get a good before she heard the Grey lady. With a smile the quidditch captain waved, ”Good Evening, Helena.” She was okay with students calling her that right?

Now she had completely forgotten to check over the staff over again. She was already ready for bed, the train ride seemed to get longer and longer every year. Not like that was a bit possible. But really all she wanted to do was to eat, go see Slate at the Slytherin table and then go to bed. But first she was going to make her best effort to mingle with the other Ravenclaws. She passed Ewan who was on the team last year and Drewett. She hoped that he was planning on trying out again this term. She had worked on somethings and was ready for tryouts this year. ”Hello Ewan, Drew.” As she moved passed the boys find a seat.

As she made her way around the table greeting new Ravenclaws and waving at the others. She waved at Jackson who she has seen in the prefects compartment already. The same with Jessa who she also waved at as she looked for her dormmates. She hadn’t seen them yet.

It was the question of the newly sorted Ravenclaw Thad that made her finally look back up at the staff table ”Maybe they are someone from the Ministry.” She turned and nodded at the first year. Also to all of the new Ravenclaws (and Dizzy). ”Welcome to Ravenclaw. I’m Juni.” Since she was the quidditch captain and that actually made her a student leader that was exactly was she was going to do.

Juni finally spotted her Chloe. She slipped down in the seat to across from her. She tilted her head curiously at her friend. ”Knut for your thoughts?’ Chloe was not acting very Chloe-ish at all right now. She also spotted Magnolia ”You too, Mags.” Nudging her friend with her elbow. Why was her dormmates being super quiet? Not like Juni had much room to talk. She normally wasn’t this talkative at the feast, more so with her friends of course.

She couldn’t help but to laugh at Nettie’s comment about no food yet. ”Ugh. I know I’m stravvving.” She said as dramatically as possible. Could Hawthorne get going with the speech yet? She turned and looked at the staff table again this time she got a good look. NO HIRSCH! What?

Before she could even open her mouth the sixth year noticed Hawthorne getting up. Was she about to give the speech FINALLY. But no she was leaving? Why? Did those guys have something to do with it? After that everything just seem to happen so fast. Hirsch was gone. Hawthorne had just been fired and safety was going to be restored to Hogwarts. OH boy. At least NOW they had food. BUT still no HIRSCH or HAWTHORNE.

As Jessa sat down at the table, the second year noticed a shiny new badge on her robes and she grinned at the older girl. "Hey, Head Girl! Congrats!" she told her. She seemed quiet. Hmm. Maybe she was still upset about last term. She was finding out that MANY students had really taken the events of last term hard. Was something wrong with her that she wasn't more upset? It made her wonder, honestly...

She finally looked at the staff table, hoping Hawthrone was getting ready to get her boring speech over with so this party could get started. Wait, someone was missing...a few people were missing, actually. Lots of turn around last term, huh? She wondered if it also had something to do with the Inferi. WAIT. Her Head of House was gone!! No Hirsch! FROWN. Who was she supposed to fawn over in Defense class now?! Surely his professor wasn't nearly as easy on the eyes as he had been...

BOOOOO. What a BUMMER.

Her eyes then found the...guy who had randomly shown up to give the Headmistress a letter. What an odd time to be delivering a letter. She watched her read the letter, which obviously didn't have great news...and then, suddenly, she just started walking away. Nettie blinked and watched the Headmistress walk out. Just...left. Without a single word.

Her mouth opened slightly and she looked at her classmates in shock. "Did...did she just get fired?" she asked quietly. She couldn't think of any other reason the Headmistress would just LEAVE unless maybe someone she knew had died or something. Hawthrone had never been easy to read - but she had been completely emotionless.

A few moments later, her suspicions had been confirmed. The man who had delivered the letter introduced himself as...their new Headmaster apparently. Honestly, it wasn't all that shocking to Nettie - but the WAY it had all gone down was suspect. Once he was done talking, she looked around again to her housemates, voicing her opinion on the matter right away.

"Really? They couldn't have done that EARLIER? Before the students got here? They had to make a whole show of it?" she grumbled. Poor Hawthrone. Getting sacked in front of literally THE ENTIRE SCHOOL. Was the firing warranted? Probably. But did they have to add salt to the wound and do it like that? Unnecessary.

Tad smiled at Hanna, she was nice. "Third year, wow. I heard you get to go to Hogsmeade this year." As for siblings with him. "No, not yet. I'm the oldest, with one brother and two sisters. But I do have an Aunt in her fourth year, Elisa." It was a funny family dynamic they have.

Tad stared at the older girl who introduced herself to them. She had a badge too but.. it was slightly different from the Prefect. Did girl Prefects get a different badge? "Hi Juni. What's that badge for? Are you a Prefect too?" So many questions, maybe this was why he ended up at this table.

Wait? Where was the lady going? Wasn't she the Headmistress? Tad stared as she went out the door. Maybe she had to go potty? He looked back to see one of the men take her spot... Stand? Tad looked around to see if everyone was standing before he did too. He blinked with (Septimus). "Fired?" Clearly he wasn't alone in being confused with this. He couldn't help agreeing with one of the girls (Trinetta). "Yeah, couldn't they have let her say goodbye first?" Sure he didn't know the former Headmistress but that was rude of the man.. well.. the Headmaster now to do that. He couldn't wait to owl his parents about this or better yet find Elisa and Chloe to hear what they think.

When the food appeared before him, Tad had nearly forgotten his appetite. So for now all he could do was tuck in.

Oh woooooooooooooooooooooooow.....

Magnolia blinked up at the staff table. Her school had always been full of drama (understatement of a lifetime) but this was absolutely ridiculous. Didn't they have the whole summer to do this kind of house keeping?

Why were they witnessing all of this?

The sixth year shook her head and looked away as the now former headmistress stormed out of the hall.

Was it summer yet?

She was ready for another break away from this mad house....err...mad castle.

It wasn't until Juni sat next to her and she was nudged that she was brought back from her inner thoughts.

"Huh? What?" Did she miss something?

"Oh hey Juni." She offered her friend a smile.

When the Grey Lady congratulated him, he bowed his head. “Thank you, I appreciate your words,” he told her. As more students approached the table, Jackson smiled (quite genuinely actually) and tried to start remembering the Firsties’ names. Not that he would have any luck this early in the year, but he apparently had more confidence in himself. In farce, he remembered Alastair’s name long enough to greet him as he sat down. “Welcome to Ravenclaw!” Looking down the table a little, he heard someone say… Rubik’s cube? He looked around, always interested in talking with others that knew about Muggle life. Seeing the cube in Drew’s hand, Jack made a note to talk to him later, maybe try his hand at it again. For now, he appreciated seeing a First Year striking up conversation. It reminded him very much of himself. Oh look more familiar faces! When Tad spoke up to him, he turned. “Yep, I don’t mind it,” he answered with a wink. He waved when he saw Juni again, saying hi to Hanna, Septimus, Shera, Nettie, and Chloe... and was that Jessa sneaking in in the back? Jackson didn't expect much else from the Head Girl to be honest. She was probably patrolling already.

Looking up at the staff table, Jackson almost felt like a new student again. Merlin there had been quite a few changes... And with the Sorting almost done, more adults came through the Hall. Who were they? Perhaps one was a new professor as there was still an empty chair, but… this seemed like a different situation. Jackson was watching more intensely than he realized, but felt almost instantly justified when the Headmistress Hawthorne stood and… was leaving the Hall…? Had something happened out there? Should he follow and help? Watching as the Headmistress departed, a rough voice cleared itself. Jackson turned back to see the messenger addressing them all. Eyebrows still furrowed in confusion, Jackson took a moment to register what the man said but stood as asked. He listened to the man’s words. The messenger was talking about coming out of retirement as an Auror? Not that the school couldn’t use an Auror or two, but… wait predecessor?? Wait. WAIT.

As he put two and two together, Jackson’s eyes widened a bit and darted back to the doors as though Headmistress Hawthorne would be standing there to confirm. As the supposed new Headmaster spoke, Jackson was reminded very strongly of a History of Magic lesson where they had gotten into a pretty deep conversation about Professor Umbridge, from the Trio era. The eeriest part of the situation unfolding in front of him was that the professors looked just as confused as he felt. He could hear the students around him muttering this and that to each other, and he since he had nothing to add he remained silent for the time being. Was it out of left field? No. But why now? Couldn’t they have had the decency to just start the year fresh? They had to fire the Headmistress DURING the Sorting?? It was juvenile in Jack’s opinion. In previous years, he would have yelled out in protest. If not for what was happening, then for how they were treating his professors. He knew he would have to come to terms with this changing of the guard, but for now he was feeling a headache coming on.

Zara sat in silence reading the book she had open before herself. It wasn't that she wasn't excited to back at Hogwarts. No, she was BEYOND excited; her mind was just elsewhere at the moment. The train ride from London had allotted her time to think over the news that was kind of sprung upon her brother and herself. There was a bit to take in just before boarding the train, but given the new; she kind of understood.

Glancing up just briefly at the Gryffindor table, she wondered how her brother was handling it. Upon hearing the news, he was bolted to join his friends on the train and they hadn't talked yet. She would just have to touch base with him later.

About to return her attention to her own table, she did need to at least be more present for her classmates; she was once again distracted by what was happening at the staff table. The departure of the Headmistress had caught her attention and now there was a new headmaster addressing them?

Obviously never a dull moment at Hogwarts

Once the food had appeared and everyone seated themselves again, Zara looked about the room curiously taking in what she had just heard. Change was always happening, but at the moment she was a bit lost. She didn't have a true opinion on the state of things, she was just a student and what say does a sixth year really have. The professors were the adults after all and they probably had everything happened.

Seriously, for the time being she was just going to keep doing as she was and make the most of it all.

No, no she could not. She got a look though; Alastair definitely gave her a look. It wasn't so much that she was beaming and chipper as it was that she was beaming and chipper while he was still in an almighty sulk over the sorting hat sending him off without him able to get a single thought-word in edgewise.

"Is it? I doubt that." Nice to meet him, that was. At least he got points for knowing himself? "The train ride was long and the boat ride was wet and the sorting hat is rude and I'm hungry."

"No. No it did not." And he was palpably irritated about it, too. "It barely touched my head before it was off again."

And never matter that the ruddy thing had placed him exactly where he wanted to be. He'd known full well that he was headed to Ravenclaw, but it almost felt as though he'd been brushed aside and ended up here.

There may have been grumbles coming from both his mouth and his stomach at this point in time...

The next dozen or so minutes was a whirlwind of introductions and conversation all while trying to keep an eye on the sorting for Runa's placement. "Shera," Dizzy repeated, committing the name and face to memory. "It's nice to meet you too. I'm Dizzy."

She did the same with Ewan, repeating his name while committing it and his face to memory. "Ewan. Nice to meet you." At the same time she spotted Drew down the table and returned his wave with a wide, cheerful grin. "I got sorted into Ravenclaw!"

Did...Did Dizzy count as a baby claw? On the one hand, she was a newly sorted member of Ravenclaw house, but she was also a second year. "Thank you," she replied, eyes lingering on the prefect's badge curiously. "I'm Dizzy."

Turning back to Hanna, Dizzy smiled and shrugged. "It's fine. It was kinda cool after I got over the surprise." She glanced back up at the sorting ceremony and her sister Runa.

"House ghost?" That was sooo cool! "So each of the houses have their own ghost? How did you get picked to be the Ravenclaw House ghost?" She smiled sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. Well, it's my nickname actually. Kinda short for Alfdis."

Someone saying her name drew her attention back to the table. Nettie! Dizzy grinned widely. "I did!" She squealed, equally excited. "We're housemates!" She was thrilled. Many of the people she met over the summer seemed to be in Ravenclaw and it was great to be in the same house as so many of her new friends. Dizzy glanced down at the empty plates when Nettie mentioned it, her own stomach growling slightly. Was making the kids wait to eat common here? If so she was going to need to sneak snack and keep them on her at all times.

"Septimus? That's a cool name! Thank you! It's rather different from Beauxbatons, that's for sure." She'd need more than waiting for food at the first meal to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but so far, she was enjoying the friendliness of the people in Ravenclaw.

Dizzy caught sight of an older girl with a badge that looked different from Jackson's (Jessa), as she approached the table and sat down. Dizzy gave her a smile and a wave, but honestly the older girl seemed more in a quiet mood, so she didn't press it past that.

She turned back to the sorting ceremony just in time to see Runa sit down and her face half vanish behind the hat's brim. All other conversation disappeared as Dizzy crossed her fingers and waited. Then the verdict came, being shouted from the rip in the hat's brim. Ravenclaw! Dizzy leapt to her feet, standing up on the bench as she cheered. House twins for the win!

In her excitement over Runa, her fraternal twin sister, being sorted into Ravenclaw as well, Dizzy failed to notice the entrance of the two new men, or their dismissal of the old Headmistress. After all, this could be very normal for Hogwarts. She didn't know. It wasn't until the new Headmaster gave his speech that Dizzy realized something was a miss. "Wait," she said to Hanna, "what happened last year? Why are they getting rid of the old headmistress?" She was quite lost, and even the appearance of food didn't draw her attention.