8:00 pm
August 31, 2010

Cool condensation gathered upon the surface of a chilled glass of pumpkin juice, the sound of parchment shuffling filled the quiet, and a sense of calm permeated the air. A new year would be starting soon; another batch of raw clay would be walking through the ancient halls of Hogwarts in only a few short hours. The headmistress needed to make sure that her staff was prepared for the clay, and that they had the proper ability to mold that clay into something spectacular.

A long table filled the space, with chairs flanking both sides. At the head of the table sat Minerva McGonagall, hands folded lightly atop the table’s surface. There had been quite a few staffing changes over the break, and Minerva had felt it best to call a meeting before term started and made scheduling an all staff meeting a nightmare.

She was excited about the start of a new year, and truly felt like she had assembled the best staff possible. Each member of her team brought a unique talent and aspect to the school. Historically, each new headmaster or mistress has brought something new, or tweaked something old. Minerva herself had brought numerous things to the castle (like rebuilding half of it), but what most people don’t realize is that it’s not just the head of the school that brings change – but each and every member of staff.

This year would be a year of change, a year of progress, a year of prosperity.

Returning for September for his third academic year teaching at Hogwarts felt like returning home, even if he had spent a summer claiming his own patch of Godric's Hollow as his own. He had defended it from members of the family, and welcomed Mira into it. It had felt a little strange to pack some belongings back up to return to the castle and unpack them in his chambers.

There was the smell of another lick of paint about the castle, and the suits of armous had glinted in late summer sunlight as he'd made his way through the corridors. The following evening he would be trailing new first years from the lake side to the Sorting Hat to begin their seven years, and familiar faces would once again be missing at the feast - whether completed their NEWTs, left mid term or decided not to return after their OWLs. Despite himself, he was looking forward to seeing them. He would not be caught admitting that!

Whereas his senior had chosen a cooling pumpkin juice, at the opposite side of the table, Ignan sat with a hot cup of tea. He had more to do before he retired to bed this evening besides the staff meeting, and the caffeine was welcomed. He was glad Minerva was back. She had been a steady hand at the rudder during the tournament, and they worked well together. He had observed and learned a few lessons in teaching from her and maintained a high respect for the witch.

The familiar minute-taking quill was poised to take notes on the meeting, twitching every which way as staff conversed quietly ahead of the meeting being called to order.

In turn, Ignan fixed his sharp gaze on one colleague and then the other, reviewing notes on the tabletop before him, verifying information and numbers on the parchment were correct. For those who had worked alongside him before this provided nothing more than the usual discomfort of working with Ignan.

"Just calculating the odds that each of you will be here at Christmas." He explained in a low voice to a quizzical expression from a colleague, in reality rather mundanely calculating annual leave allowances.

On a comfortable pillow to the Headmistress's left, Felinus sat with his back straight and purred. Any surprised expressions from new staff were resolutely ignored. He was in too good a mood.

The castle was clean. For one brief, beautiful day, Hogwarts Castle was utterly clean.

It wouldn't last, of course. In mere hours the halls would be filled with students, and he'd be back to the old cycle of cleaning all that which had already been cleaned over and over as the students lived their lives and crowded their halls. For once though, that thought just made him purr louder. Only he and the House Elves had remained over the summer holidays. It may be his job to care for the castle, but that didn't make the empty halls any less lonely. The man in him was looking forward to conversation and companionship; the lion, to having his pride back together again.

He pushed the nagging whispers of Silas's name to the back of his mind and lapped at the dish of catnip tea he had balanced on the table. At Ignan's word his ear twitched in something like a smirk. It would be interesting indeed to see who remained after the next round of holidays. He wouldn't be entirely surprised to learn of the students taking bets.

She stood at the door to the staff room, pondering how to get in. She could have knocked by kicking the door or pounding her head against the wood. Alas, that was too easy-- too simple-- and not fun.  A few loud, colourful phrases later, Maiko entered the staff room after so skillfully opening it with her high-heeled foot. In one hand, was a cup of tea-- in the other was a massive platter of danishes and eclairs. She bumped the door closed with her posterior and set the delicious treats at the center of the table.

"I didn't even spill my tea!" She beamed with immense pride.

Maiko took a few of the pastries and set them in front of Felinus so that he wouldn't have to leap onto the table to get some. She took a seat next to Ignan, eager to meet the new staff as well as seeing old, familiar faces. Over the summer, she had developed quite a tan, revealing all the time she had spent in the sun during the Southeast Asia trip. Her skin held on to color quite well, and it would be mid-January before it faded back to it's natural olive complexion.

"Hello everybody!" Mai exclaimed,  waving enthusiastically. "It's been too long."

Camille had been sat quietly since arriving, observing all that was going on around her. She had brought with her a quill and a diary, not sure what the exact protocol was.

At the moment she treated it like a meeting at the bank, and had taken a place about halfway, on the opposite side of the long table to Felinus, trying not to stare. She'd worked with goblins and served many strange customers in her life, but she'd never been so close to a lion.

She and Ignan had briefly exchanged a glance, but otherwise were remaining Professional and detached. At Maiko's appearance, her eyes widened. The witch was laden with baker goods, but Camille's eyes took in her filthy tan. Had this witch been on the summer trip that had gone to Asia? Either way she was a little jealous!

"Hello everybody! It's been too long." The witch took a seat beside Ignan addressed them all. Camille glanced back and forth a moment, deciding to take the opportunity to introduce herself. She had met the Headmistress when she had interviewed for the post, but it was best to make good impressions with her colleagues. She was bound to get lost in this castle more than a few times.

"Hello there, we've not met." She drew her chair back, got to her feet, smoothing her navy blue suit with both hands as she did before extending her hand to Maiko to shake.
"Camille Duerr, Arithmancy." There was the slightest hesitation before her surname. Decades of introducing herself by her married name were habit, and to use her maiden name as was her conscious decision, was still strange.

Realising she'd not introduced herself to the lion either, she turned, and tentatively offered her hand, unsure if that was appropriate.
"Sorry, do you, how do you do." Her Belgian accent only thickened with her nerves.

Cal had asked Mai where the meeting was being held, but he had forgotten that one needed a translator to decipher Maiko's chicken scratch causing him to get rather lost in the sprawling castle. That was not even mentioning the stairs, and Cal was quite certain they were plotting against him before he had even officially started. There was no other way to explain all of them moving at the same time. Regardless, he eventually squinted enough at the sloppily scrawled note to pick out words that he recognized as being a human language.

He barreled down the hallway, chanting "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late" like the foppish rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. He skidded to a halt outside the staff room, pausing to collect himself and hopefully not look like he just sprinted from the other side of the castle, and opened the door a dimpled grin on his face. Act like you're on time. Play cool, play cool.

"Hola muchachos!" Cal greeted his new colleagues brightly before his eyes came to rest on the lion in the room. He remembered how McGonagall had began class in her Animagus form to give stragglers a false sense of security before, but she was here. Surely someone wasn't trying to steal her strategy while she's in the room. That would just be poor form. Cautiously, he took a seat next to Mai before whispering, "Lion?"

Sachairi was in an excellent mood, one of the best he'd been in since his parents had died two years ago. It had been privilege enough to teach at Euro-Glyph, but to return to Hogwarts as a professor felt like the pinnacle of his career. Sachairi couldn't think of anything to top this. He hadn't run to the staff meeting, even knowing he was a little behind, instead walking as quickly as he could manage, to give himself a little time to savor the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of the old castle. Although, not everything was exactly as he remembered it. The place had seen some renovation since Sachairi had graduated. Still, it was basically the same place - good old Hogwarts. Beneath his excited happiness was a nervous murmur of worry that he wouldn't last in the job, but Sachairi refused to think about that. If there was anything wrong with him, he wouldn't have been given the job, yes? Yes.

So instead of fretting as he burst into the staff meeting, Sachairi was beaming, looking more like a student arriving at a Quidditch match than a new professor attending his first staff meeting. A minute or so after Camille Duerr chose to cautiously offer her hand to the lounging lion, the door came open again and a smallish man dressed in Muggle clothing under a loose black cloak, in the fashion of many students, all but leaped through the aperture.

"Sorry, I think I'm a wee bit late," the newcomer exclaimed cheerfully in an odd, London-influenced Scots accent, making for the nearest empty seat with the sort of unconscious haste common to naturally energetic people. He plonked down in the chair, ran one hand over his dark curly hair, and grinned amicably at those seated nearest him. "Sachairi Euan Coinneach Emburne," he said, introducing himself to no one in particular. "Grateful to be here." A pair of round-lensed, gold-framed glasses was hanging casually from the collar of his shirt; he removed them and polished the lenses on his cloak, looking around at all the new faces, the sharp gaze seeming somehow at odds with the cheerful expression even though it was clearly sincere. His gaze did linger on the lion, with an ever so slight eyebrow quirk, but only for a moment longer than the others; he took for granted it must be an Animagus or a sentient magical being.

Maiko eagerly shook Camille's hand,  "It's a pleasure to meet you." She replied. Professor Duerr had some sort of accent-- she could detect that it was not one of the many accents one usually heard at Hogwarts-- she was definitely a foreigner, like much of the staff these days. However, Mai's ear was not skilled enough to detect exactly what kind of accent it was. She supposed it was a mystery for another time.  Her own accent was difficult for others to fully detect-- it was some sort of cruel mixture of French, Irish, and wherever she had been spending the most time recently.

"My name is Maiko Biladeau-Yukawa. You may call me Mai, or Maiko if you'd prefer." Most things besides the dreaded Koko were acceptable. "I am the school counselor here at Hogwarts." She noted Camille's hesitation before her surname. Was she recently divorced? Recently married? Or was she merely nervous? "Your eyebrows are perfect. And your cheekbones! I'm jealous! You will have to stop by my office for some tea sometime, we can get to know each other." Getting together for tea with Maiko usually meant being fed copious amounts of food until she figured out what your culinary preferences were.

When Camille went to introduce herself to Felinus, Mai sat back down and watched as two more people came in. Callum, of course, had to greet people in Spanish. It wasn't even the best out of the, what, seven languages he spoke? He was such a polyglot; Maiko was jealous. She only spoke three languages, and in the third she wasn't anywhere close to fluent. Ten years of neglect had caused her to lose it. 

"Lion?" Cal whispered to her, and Maiko turned and looked at him incredulously.

"That's Felinus, Callum! I've told you all about him!" She exclaimed, a little louder than necessary. Apparently, she had forgotten to mention he was a lion. Did Cal seriously go through life, thinking that Felinus ate off of the ground and drank from bowls because he enjoyed it?

And then came one of the new professors, Sachairi Euan Coinneach Emburne.

"I thought my name was a mouthful!" She blurted, knowing full well there were students who avoided referring to her by name simply due to how difficult it was to remember. When in a pinch, dropping off the 'Biladeau' in favor for 'Yukawa' was preferable.  "I'm Maiko Adine Biladeau-Yukawa, welcome to the complicated names club." How many times was she going to introduce herself today? Her name was starting to feel foreign and she had only said it twice so far.

For a brief, amusing moment, Felinus considered responding to Professor Duerr's greeting by handing her his paw. It was a passing fancy -- going through with such thoughts tended to come across as parlor tricks or threats rather than a proper greeting. Instead, he too rose to all four paws, then ducked his head under her hand and bent his forelegs in a makeshift bow. The newcomers should be flattered, though they didn't know it. Aside from first impression, he only ever bowed to the Headmistress.

"I am doing well, Professor," he rumbled in response to her rhetorical question. "As, I hope, are you." He nudged her hand with head -- a common enough greeting for anyone familiar with house cats -- then took a step back to give the understandably nervous woman space should she wish to slip away. "I am Felinus Woodward. Castle Caretaker, at your service."

He kept the woman's eye for a moment longer, then turned away. His instincts wouldn't let him lie back down without investigating the room first, so he did a slow lap around the table, somewhat gently herding the late arrivals into their seats. He nudged Maiko affectionately on his way past -- a quiet thanks for treating his condition as normal -- and likewise fixed Professor Callum with an unblinking, challenging stare before inclining his head. Better to get all this nonsense out of the way now before the students arrived.

The last one in introduced himself as Professor Emburne -- Ancient Runes, if Felinus recalled correctly. The Caretaker rumbled a greeting and a, "Do watch the time from now on," before returning to his seat. He snagged one of Maiko's pastries, tossed it up, and caught it on his waiting tongue before settling back on the cushion with a satisfied purr. While it was barely a trifle, Ms. Biladeau-Yukawa did make some excellent food.

While Shona had dearly missed the students – and certainly colleagues whom she’d grown fond of! – she had other reasons for being excited at the start of a new school year. Namely, her brother Rick; this year he would start teaching at Hogwarts, and though she had been there when he had finished the paperwork (–had been a part of the discussion on switching careers, the sort-of-workshop for his résumé, and a distinctly more emotional talk about reasons), it hadn’t really felt real until the big day was almost literally at their doorstep. Her brother – her grumpy, wayward, headstrong brother and beta – was a teacher.

Even more importantly, he was turning a new leaf. Goddess knew it wouldn’t be easy – teaching rarely ever was, and Rick’s relationship with teenagers had always been more hilarious than most – but despite the challenges he’d face, he would face them anyway. He was going to try. Shona still wasn’t over it.

“Shona,” he muttered through gritted teeth, and when she looked over at him with a hurt expression, he sighed. Immediately she brightened.

Damn right she’d make a big deal of it.

Smug, Shona looked away. Eyes landed on the Defense professor, whose head was bent as he pored over the papers before him, and brightened with inquiry.

“Just calculating the odds that each of you will be here at Christmas,” he said, catching her look.

Rick’s brows rose. Shona, however, only laughed, because, well. Fair enough. “So sure, Professor Storm?” she grinned, plopping an elbow on the table and cupping her chin.

But then Maiko arrived bearing pastries, introductions were made, and more people filed in. Shona perked up with a brilliant, delighted grin. Maiko’s pastries were the best—and the ones gracing the platter, stacked wondrously high with utmost perfection, were Shona’s favorite. As soon as it was set on the table the werewolf immediately plucked one out of the pile; a second later, half of it disappeared.

Ugh, marry me, Shona thought around a mouthful of eclair, eyes shutting in bliss. Whether she meant Maiko or the pastry remained to be seen; cream welled up at a corner of her mouth with every chew. Absentmindedly she wiped it off with a thumb, only to scrape it off with her teeth.

Beside her, Rick stoically passed her a napkin. She smirked; he didn’t even look resigned anymore, the brat.

Once Maiko set Callum to rights in a tone that had her snickering, Shona let her attention drift towards Felinus and the new Arithmancy professor (who seemed pleasant enough), and then the latest Runes professor to grace Hogwarts’ halls. He was a small man, she couldn’t help but notice—small, with big keen eyes and a face that probably lied about his age.

Pensively she tore up the last half of her eclair. It wasn’t until Rick casually knocked his knee against hers that she realized she was staring. Whoops.

“So sure, Professor Storm?”
"One day I'll get it wrong." He replied quietly, his eyes suggesting a smile, though his lips barely twitched.

Ignan paused to watch the interchange of staff, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the gesture to shake hands with a lion. Then, Camille didn't want to leave people out, even those stuck in lion bodies.

Emburne's forename had taken a couple of attempts to learn when he had received news of the appointment, which was only one less than it had taken for Maiko's the previous year.

Then there was the joyous muddle of which Donovan on paperwork for the rest of the year. He was internally grateful of Camille choosing to use her maiden name, even though he appreciated it for more sensitive reasons of her own.

He stayed out of the pleasantries, the long table was full of introductions, and Woodward took a trip around them, making a sly comment to Emburne about the time. Ignan hid his smirk behind clasped hands as he placed his elbows on the table and waited for the initial commotion to finish, and all of his colleagues to settle.[1]

"Shall we begin?" He asked, just loud enough to be heard, his gaze was on Minerva at the other end, but the comment was also directed at his colleagues to bring them to order.

1.	I'm going to assume they're all here, or that it's time.

Between the various snippets of pre-meeting chatter, Tulojow had caught the Scotsman's introduction and shifted, slightly, in her over-stuffed chair to regard him with a grin.  Age, it seemed, still had its privileges.  Still being the senior staff member (in more ways than one), Tulojow had made her way up to the castle early enough to get herself settled in the most comfortable seat.  When in doubt, blame the bum knee. 

A fresh crop of professors to proceed the fresh crop of students.  She extended an hand to the younger man.  "Pleased to meet you, Sachairi.  I'm Tulojow, Head Healer."  Thus far, the more accident prone classes hadn't appeared to have seen a change in leadership so it was possible this Professor Emburne wouldn't be a frequent flier.  At least, she could hope.  "Don't hesitate to stop by if you need something or to give me a head's up if you plan a particularly troublesome class."

The Healer got up to freshen her cup of coffee as Ignan gathered there attention.  What kind of argumentative rabbit hole were they going to venture down during this meeting?  With no foreign students and, thus far, no deaths, one could only hope this was going to be a boring year. 

Corduroy was, admittedly, just as nervous as he was excited about being at Hogwarts to take over the position of flying instructor and quidditch coach. He had a small room at the castle, which was covered in quidditch memorabilia now. It was odd, to think of himself attending a staff meeting. Although he was on staff, he didn't consider himself a real staff member. Not in the way that a real professor was, or the headmistress, so on. He was just there to teach kids how to use a broom. He wasn't sure that constituted a real education...

Either way he was proud of his new position. And he was fairly certain he was running late to the meeting. He burst into the room with more force than expected- the door flying open and banging against the stone wall. "Sorry about that," he muttered, gripping the door more tightly and gingerly closing it behind him. Cord inspected the stone, glad to see it was unmarred. "Sorry I'm late. Been a long time since I was at Hogwarts. Got hung up on a staircase. Took me out of the way..."

Cord then focused his attention on those gathered in the staff room- and that was when he noticed Felinus Woodward. Despite the fact that Corduroy was already late, and everyone was already gathered, and obviously ready to start, he couldn't prevent his reaction. "Blasted skrewt's blasted end! There's a bloody lion sitting at the table! Fancy trick that is! Have we got a badger too?" he asked. "Don't see a snake or an eagle anywhere. They win the house cup last year?" he asked. "Never seen a lion so tamed before. Must have had a good trainer. Is it real?" he asked.

Rick resisted the urge to pinch the bit between his eyes, but only just. Sometimes Shona was so embarrassing.

With a barely suppressed sigh, Rick dragged his attention away, casting the room another glance in search of something, anything to focus on other than his sister or his—newness. What it meant. It was the last thing he wanted to dwell on, honestly, and if he did—he’d just. He’d rather not. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, Shona was just being ridiculous.

Luckily he didn’t have to try very hard to distract himself. The faculty room was lit and spacious – comfortable in ways only daylight and an ancient castle could achieve (something he could appreciate) – and the windows offered a view anyone might appreciate. But more interesting, maybe, was present company; here was his new colleagues, people he’d be working alongside for the foreseeable future. And after years of mostly working alone, he was going to have to remember how to play nice with others. Just because he’d have Shona didn’t mean he’d get to leave the brunt of socializing with her…

Though from what he understood, a few of them had no such compunctions. But he’d heard of them (–or worse; met them), so that wasn’t really appealing, either.

A danish appeared before him, held out by an expectant-looking Shona, who was in the middle of chewing the first half of her second eclair. Rolling his eyes, Rick accepted it. It made him feel a little better–

And then another staff member appeared—a new one, by the looks of it, with a build that… had Shona’s chewing slow to stop, straightening in her seat as she lowered her pastry. Eyes bright with interest.

Rick sunk a little lower in his seat, covering his face.

Branwen wasn't shy about picking favorites and had already decided she liked Camille Duerr and that she'd find as many opportunities as she could to pester the rugged and brazen Mr. Canterbury.  He looked game.  She was also happy to be seeing Felinus Woodward again and told him so on her way to a seat nearby Shona Donovan, who she'd become fond of last year.

There were many new faces at the table, and everyone seemed in a cheery mood.  There was just something in the air it seemed.

When Professor Storm called for the meeting to begin, Branwen didn't waste time.

"I'll start. Good, Professor McGonagal?" she glanced at the Headmistress for what turned out to be only a gesture of supplication.  She seemed intent to proceed either way.

The portly old Herbologist stood from her chair to address the whole table.  With both hands on the table and pitched forward slightly she could see most everyone (save Felinus who was purring on his pillow).  She addressed them all.

"I'll get right to it: which of you walnuts filched my singing cactus? Hm?"

She didn't seem so cheerful now!