The owls had been sent about a fortnight earlier to each of them. It was easier to write to them now that Autumn term was on the wane as they felt less like students, and more like the adults he hoped they had become. With so many of his present students set on being an auror or similar, it had seemed only logical to negotiate a visit from the Magical Law Enforcement's latest pool from Hogwarts.

Sunday night in the Leaky Cauldron seemed a time when they would not be out on a patrol or propping up the bar of their own accord, besides, it was a little quieter generally as the preparations for the week ahead began.

Ignan had arrived in anticipation, saving a table on the Muggle side of the Cauldron, his cloak draped over the back of the chair, finishing the last few paragraphs of a letter from Georg when the first arrived.

When Dion arrived, it was exactly as one might expect; he appeared in a waistcoat and tie, every bit as stiff and formal as he'd been in his Prefect days. Dax, who followed through the door after him, was all contrast - while he had apparently been wrestled into a nice shirt and slacks, his should slouched and his thoughts seemed geared more towards the bar than their old professor.

"Professor Storm," Dion greeted as he approached, shooting a seconds-long glare at Dax when his twin seemed ready to wander off. "Thank you for inviting us here. The others should be along shortly." They'd all left from the same house, after all. He couldn't help but wonder why they'd met on the muggle side, but for now he didn't question it. He stood by one of the chairs, hand resting on the top of the backrest.

"Professor," Dax greeted, sitting down without ceremony. Dion managed to not roll his eyes - barely.

Then they arrived - still as tall as ever, though looking more muscular and wise without their school uniforms and in their own style. Dion smarter than his brother in appearance. Ah, he had hoped Dax wouldn't feel like he had to be dragged along...

"Dax, Dion." Ignan greeted in pleasant tones, folding the letter into his jacket pocket hurriedly and getting up to shake hands with them both. Which seemed a little odd to them perhaps after the previous academic year, but the polite thing to do. He'd have shaken their hands after seeing their pleasing NEWT results - all four of them had achieved Outstandings, and when he had seen the breakdown of their marks from the exam board later, he had felt rather proud.

"Thank you for coming. You both look well!" He gave them both a genuine smile, it was pleasing to see they had both gone on to do as they had intended, both with success.

"What are you drinking? Take a seat." He gave a nod at their answers and went to the bar while they picked a seat and waited for the girls.

Grace arrived outside of the Leaky Cauldron after a short detour to the office to drop off some important paper work for Auror Whitman. With that completed, she was able to focus on the evening ahead and maybe even enjoy herself. Only one thing could really keep her from doing so.

Admittedly, Grace did not know what to expect from meeting a former professor for drinks. And the fact that it was Professor Storm made tripled her uncertainty of what could happen. She and Fauna had a history with him that could not be erased by the formalities of graduation.

Whoah no.

Grace was fully planning to keep a hawkish eye on any drink she and Fauna drank. And she certainly wasn't going to let Storm order them. Esteemed professor he may be, but she was an Auror Trainee now and wasn't about to let her guard down.

But that didn't mean she was any less nervous. She fidgeted as she waited for Fauna to arrive so that they could go in together. There was strength to be had in numbers and if she couldn't be a twin like the Fayettes then by golly she was going to make good use of her partner-in-crime.

"C'mon, Fauna," she murmured with quiet encouragement. "Its superhero time..."

As Fauna walked through Diagon Alley, she warded off the chill with an orange pumpkin hat and a bright yellow coat. Storm's letter had piqued her curiosity and her suspicions. The Defense professor was still an enigma to her, which she supposed was exactly how he wanted it, keeping students (and graduates) on their toes. Would he poison your drink or offer help with a controversial SAWS assembly? One could never tell.

Luckily, The Leaky Cauldron did not serve severed arms, so at least she wouldn't puke in front of him again.

When she spotted Grace waiting outside, Fauna waved, her spirits lifting. Waiting in the cold to face an old professor together was a gesture that spoke to their solid friendship.

"Ok, Jean," she laughed, referring to the Dark Phoenix costume Grace worn at their Halloween grill party. She hooked her arm with hers and walked in, immediately spotting the twins who looked too big for their stools, along with the formidable Professor Storm. A wave of nostalgia hit her, and a sudden jittery feeling that she was just 'visiting' for a Hogsmeade weekend despite the fact that she'd graduated almost half a year ago.

"Thanks for waiting for us," she teased the twins, holding back a smirk at Dion's fancy attire and Dax's wandering eye toward the drinks.

"Hi... professor," Fauna faltered for a moment, then braved a smile, always at a loss for what to call her former teachers.

She glanced at the bartender, "I'll just have a butterbeer for now." Though Fauna vowed to keep her guard up at least a little, there was a part of her that wanted to impress him. And she couldn't impress while tipsy!

Dion shot the two girls a smile, though they seemed nervous. He was nervous. They were all nervous, frankly, except for Dax. Dax...well, if he was nervous, he hid it well. Lucky bastard.

"Thank you, sir. It's good to see you again," Dion said, sitting and frowning slightly at Fauna's teasing comment. He'd only gone ahead because they were taking too long! It was better to arrive separately than make the Professor wait. Poisoning or not!

His train of thought was otherwise similar to Faunas', and thus he ordered the same thing. He didn't even like butterbeer that much, really, but Dax would probably have kicked him if he'd ordered ice water. Dax, being Dax, ordered an ale.

"What did you want to talk to us about, sir?" He asked, watching Ignan curiously.

They all seemed a little nervous, and rightly so, he'd never been that wonderful to them as a Professor, had he? But keeping them on their toes had meant those grades, and their easier progression into the auror training, and he had to admit it had been fun for him.

Once all settled, he addressed them properly to clear up why he had suggested they meet.

"Please, you are adults now, so you do not have to address me as formally as Professor. Ignan will suffice, but I understand if the habit is kept." The old man smirked, and took a sip of his drink. 

"Thank you all for coming. I never got to congratulate you all for your NEWT results, what with them being announced after the end of term. You deserved those high marks. From myself, and your old Professors, we extend our congratulations." The four of them were far too clever to dismiss this meeting upon that however, and although seemed to appreciate the words, were intrigued further.

"I wanted to call on a favour from you all." Ignan continued, his gaze moving from one to the next. "You left in your wake a number of very interested students in following your route to success - the sixth and seventh year classes are full to bursting, and the fifth years look to continue the trend." He gestured the size vaguely with both hands, unconsciously.

"I admit my knowledge of the process you are currently undergoing is inexact, and based on what I hear and assumption. Although that doesn't seem to have done you four any harm, I wanted to hear your thoughts on speaking to your former classmates about your experiences to date?"

Ignan? That was going to be ten times more difficult to get used to than 'Knox' had been. Fauna sipped her butterbeer, glancing over the top of the glass at him with slightly narrowed eyes as she considered his congratulations. She offered a quiet thank you, secretly pleased to hear the praise but still suspicious.

Then he mentioned a favor. It took her a few moments before she distractedly wiped the foam off her nose.

Students were interested in becoming Auror trainees, and he wanted to know if they'd speak to them about their experiences so far. Was that all? Fauna's eyes lit up. Despite her reservations about the professor, she only hesitated for a second before piping up with a question.

"Do you mean like... speaking to a group? Or more of a one-on-one thing?"

Though she had plenty of experience with SAWS' mixers and assemblies, she had purposefully stuck to short introductions and then let others have the limelight. If it functioned more like a SAWS meeting, or if she only talked to a few of the students, Fauna felt like she could handle that. Of course, if that was all their mysterious Defense professor was asking!

"Do you mean like... speaking to a group? Or more of a one-on-one thing?" Fauna asked curiously, and the Professor rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Ideally I want to recruit a couple of you at least to speak to the older students, though if you wanted to speak or correspond with some of those students on a personal basis for their professional development, that would be acceptable if there were enough interested." He replied reasonably, "You're all perfectly capable of talking for five minutes on what you've been up to, I'm sure. But, if you prefer to hide behind a quill, I won't dismiss your assistance and support to your former housemates." The Deputy Headmaster smirked.

"Eddy, you would have a good perspective, diverting from earlier thoughts of healing, and I'm sure," he gestured to the twins, "you have differing reasons and viewpoints on what has occurred." He raised an eyebrow.

With Fauna at her side and knowing that the twins would be joining them, Grace felt a but more secure about anything happening. But one never knew with a sneaky fellow like Storm.

Grace warily sat down and nodded respectfully to their former DADA professor and followed suit with Fauna in ordering a butterbear. It wasn't until it was set before her that she actually relaxed a bit in her seat. She closed her hands around the mug and listened to everyone else speak. Her brows shot up when he asked them to call him Ignan and she actually smirked at the thought.

Even now as she worked with Bombay, she could never think to call him Grr---. Yeah, no. Same thing for some of the older Aurors she worked with. She doubted she would be able to call anyone but her uncle by their first name.

Grace sipped her drink, still quietly sitting there regarding her former professor with interest. His mention of their NEWT scores made her bristle with a sense of pride. For years she had struggled in DADA and was convinced that she was not going to come close to an O in the class. Maybe all along all she had needed was a professor like Storm who would push her. Even if it meant motivating her with poison.

Storm's favor seemed easy enough. Grace reached out and gave Fauna's arm a sympathetic pat, knowing her friend did not enjoy moments in the spotlight. Grace didn't either to an extent, but with years of being a prefect and other activities had helped.

Grace looked back to Storm expectantly. When he addressed her directly and made note of her career choice, she ducked her head momentarily. Part of her still felt guilty about switching in the way that she did. And she often wondered if she made the right choice. But she could only move forward.

She took another sip from her drink before looking up again and nodding. "I don't mind doing that, Professor." She paused and leaned forward a bit. "And actually, in a way, I have already been doing something like that. One of my former housemates, Raine....we have been corresponding since the beginning of the term. I think she's interested in becoming an Auror." Grace remembered what Storm said about hiding behind a quill and her expression momentarily darkened. "But I would have no problem coming to speak in person."

Dion considered the idea carefully. To go back to Hogwarts and speak? He was surprised Storm had even asked, since Dion's answer seemed so obvious. He, naturally, would be glad to do so - but he couldn't help the sidelong glance at Fauna. That was also an opportunity to find out what SAWs was up to, he reasoned. A very good time.

The machinations of their little protest group aside, he smiled and nodded. "It would be an honor, sir. And -" he looked at Dax, who wasn't looking so sure, "I'm sure some of us can provide differing views on proper discipline."

He still wasn't over Dax getting caught making out with Abraham. Dax was still having to go in early to scrub armor. It wouldn't have been so bad if the Aurors had figured out which twin was which by now; Dion had been shooed into the Armory more times than he liked.

Dax was, indeed, not so sure. It wasn't that he hated public speaking; on the contrary, he actually liked it. The difference was that he was terrible at it. He couldn't command the respect of the room, he couldn't stay on topic, and the moment he got uncomfortable he started joking around and at that point the lecture was gone.

He didn't miss his twin's glance, but to that he just grit his teeth. Dion still had his knickers in a twist over him and Brett getting caught, and Dax frankly would prefer his twin didn't know the fact that Dax and Brett had hardly found the punishment deterring.

"Yeah, I can come speak," he said finally, giving in and shrugging. "I'm not sure what they'd get out of me they wouldn't get out of these three though, Mister Storm."

Pleasingly, all of them agreed that it would be a good challenge to accept the invitation to address the students.

"She is, yes, picked up some extra lessons with me this year. It is pleasing to hear you are able to support her too." He gave an approving nod to the former Gryffindor.

Dion was always the easy sell, and suggested he and his brother might provide complimentary viewpoints, though Dax was not as forthcoming.

"I'm not sure what they'd get out of me they wouldn't get out of these three though, Mister Storm."

The Professor's mouth turned up at the corners at the comment. Dax had never seemed as confident as his brother, but it didn't stop Ignan respect him any less these days. Actually, he found his slightly less academic approach quite refreshing.

"Contrast, Dax. Your opinion is equally valid to the others, and I would enjoy hearing your take particularly in comparison to Dion. I have a feeling you'll paint a different picture." An interesting one at that, he predicted.

"Good, that is settled then." He raised his drink to them all and for a moment, that appeared to be the whole matter settled.
"Talking is so tedious though, I mean, useful, but are those lessons the ones you remember? I wondered if there is anything from your training you might want to share, of the practical kind?"

When Ignan said it was settled, she blinked and flushed slightly, wondering if he'd overlooked that she hadn't really agreed yet, just asked a question. He'd probably done it on purpose, though a part of her did want to help. Grace was already corresponding with Raine, Dion was naturally gifted at speaking and acting authoritatively, and Dax was well-liked even though he seemed more resistant. She glanced at Dax in surprise, able to relate to his sentiment.

Then the professor suggested what sounded suspiciously like a demonstration, and Fauna's bout of insecurity really intensified. It would be just her luck for some volunteer sixth-year to hex her across the room.

"How not to throw up at the sight of corpses?" Fauna muttered under her breath. "Still learning that one," she smiled wryly.

"Mm, that took me a while too." Ignan replied to Fauna without hesitation and then cleared his throat, remembering a lesson with the amputated arm where Fauna had had trouble keeping her stomach to herself. He'd always tried to eat lightly once he realised it was harder to keep down a full stomach when the possibility of a corpse was high. Eventually one became hardened, though the odd one could still take you by surprise - normally the smell.

"I'm not sure St Mungo's will want to lend us some corpses. Knowing our luck the Daily Prophet would write we were creating inferi." He smiled genuinely as he thought about it. "That would be fun to do though. You ever seen one?" Realising he deviated from the subject he waved a hand.

"Apologies, I interrupted." Folding his arms back on the table top, he looked from Fauna to the others curiously.