Owen carefully unpacked several terracotta planters from the trunk that seemed to never empty.  He set the planters of lavender, sage, and rosemary on the windowsill.  He really probably hadn't needed to bring his own.  He could have moved some from one of the greenhouses, but he wanted his office to start to smell like home.  So he brought his plants.  Well some of them anyways.  The rest the house elves would tend to in his absence.

He was looking forward to seeing the kids though.  Assuming he ever got unpacked.  He really should have left some of this at the Manor. It wasn't like the castle didn't have a library so he wasn't really sure why he brought most of his own.   He pulled his wand from his robes and waved it at the books in the trunk.  They took flight, settling on the shelves behind the desk in what he could immediately see was reverse order.  He would have to fix that later when the books weren't in such a playful mood.  Sometimes he really did prefer the muggle books his nephew collected.  They always did what they were told.

With another swish robes and clothing flew from the trunk into the other room where a wardrobe crashed open and he hoped the clothes were neatly putting themselves away.  It didn't sound like it though.  He walked to the doorway to see his pants hanging in the wardrobe and robes sticking out of drawers. 

If he didn't have a mountain of work to get started on to be ready for Monday, he would have apparated back to Westbury and hexed his brother into another county.  Pennar was just lucky his trunk hexing hadn't hurt his plants, or work be damned.

He crossed the room back to the trunk and got down on his knees and slowly started unpacking by hand.  He had no desire to find out what Pennar's hex would do to the rest of his belongings.

"Merlin help me. This is not funny Pennar."

Work was, well... Busy as of late. Between the students being kidnapped, the explosion of the Leaky Cauldron, Trumble's kidnapping, and the St. Mungo's poisonings (as well as the lake turning into blood, there was usually a student in her office, grieving as much as she was. When there weren't responsibilities tying her to her office, there were Head of House duties to tend to. Mai loved the students, and she did love her job. However, Hogwarts wasn't exactly an easy place to work, judging by the revolving door of professors coming in and out.

She'd heard that the new Herbology professor was moving in today-- Owen Prewett. Prewett. The name hurt her heart. Siana Prewett had been one of the abducted students who didn't make it. Her friends and family alike had come in to talk to her. Some, Mai now knew better than others.

"Merlin help me. This is not funny Pennar." The door was open, and she could hear him talking to himself.

The witch put on her friendliest smile and knocked on the doorway to alert him of her presence. In one hand was a welcome-basket of sorts, with homemade pastries and a box of tea. She had a habit of bringing treats to her coworkers, especially those who were new to the job.

"You alright?" She asked, quirking a dark brow. Mai crossed the room to meet him, holding out the basket-- "I'm Maiko Biladeau-Yukawa, I'm the counselor here."  She paused, "And Head of Hufflepuff. I heard you were coming today. Welcome." She took a quick glance around the room. Books. He was a reader. Good.

"And I have to know-- what did Pennar do?"

Owen looked up at the knock and smiled at the visitor.  "I'm fine,"  He answered as he stood and took the proffered basket.  "Owen Prewett, new herbology professor."  He paused and smiled, "though I guess you probably knew that already.  Not that many adults moving into the castle every day."  Well from what he'd heard lately there'd been quite a revolving door of professors.

He set the basket down on the desk noting the contents he could see.  Baked goods and tea.  All in all as a nice a welcome basket as he'd seen in a while.  His previous co-workers weren't in the habit of welcoming newcomers other than to point out the most dangerous plants in the greenhouse.  And some didn't even do that.

"And I have to know-- what did Pennar do?"

Owen laughed softly, "Well would you like the full list?"  He paused a moment before continuing.  "Joking of course, we don't have time for that.  No, he decided to hex my trunk.  Unpacking charms are going...off...haywire. Guess he thought I should unpack by hand.  Well I assume it was him, it could have been one of the kids but they were all here, and don't know I'm going to be their professor yet." He shrugged.  Such was life with a big family.  Or just a family that included Pennar.  At this point most things were blamed on him if the children were at school.

"He's your brother then, isn't he?" She grinned. These kinds of shenanigans usually happened between those who were close, and Pennar's name was familiar. Had one of the Prewett students mentioned him? Probably. There were so many Prewetts mentioned she couldn't keep track of them all. And let's not get started on the Spectres... Listening to Isla tell stories sometimes made Mai's head hurt. Those two families just couldn't stop procreating, could they? Perhaps they needed to attend the sex ed seminar at the end of the month. She stifled a smile at the thought. Imagine their reactions!

"Do you need help unpacking?" She offered, "But first..." Mai offered him the gift basket, "It's not much but, I just wanted you to feel welcomed here." She was quiet for a moment.

"Wait, do your kids know you're here?"

"Since I haven't been able to prove otherwise, yes he is," Owen replied with a laugh.  He was pretty sure most of his siblings would give the same answer if asked.  Except Pedran, but then it would be hard for him to say his twin wasn't his twin.

He reached into the trunk and moved a few things around before finding the well-worn wood box and setting it on the desk.  "The rest can wait."  He opened the box, showing a complete porcelain tea  set decorated with a pack of lions that did not sit still nor stay on one piece of the tea set.  He set on the desk what they'd need for the two of them to have tea.  "And it's great.  First time I've ever gotten a basket of anything from a new co-worker.  So, how about some of that tea?"

He opened the box of tea and added some to the teapot before tapping his wand on the rim and adding boiling water.  "Bowen knows," Owen smiled, "but then, he saw me off this morning.  So no, the rest don't.  Neither do any of the nieces or nephews unless their parent's already owl'ed."

He pulled a chair around so that they'd both have one to sit,  "Plesae, sit.  Tell me how the kids are doing.  I hope they've all come and seen you." Hopefully several times. 

Patrick knocked on the door before entering. The sound of laughter on the other side of the door was encouraging and suggested he was not the first.

 "Professor Prewett, welcome and well met though I see Mai has beaten me to it. Patrick Butler, it is good to make your acquaintance."

 He gave the new professor a bottle of firewhiskey,

 "Just a little something  to warm the cold nights. I hope you are settling in ok."

She gave Owen a toothy smile, "This will be an interesting surprise for the kids." Could you imagine? Being fifteen and finding out that your father was suddenly going to be your professor? With zero warning? Mai would've thrown a tempter tantrum if she had been in their shoes. But she wasn't. Instead, she was a spectator.

"I can't tell you anything about the kids." She gave him a sympathetic look, "Can't speak to anything from within my office. Outside my office though? They're lovely." The tea finished steeping and she poured them both a cup. Professor Butler peeked his head in and Maiko's face lit up. The fact that he called her 'Mai' really endeared him to her. She waved him in. "Firewhiskey!" She looked from Patrick to Owen, "That's a better gift than tea. Must be a staff favorite, then." According to the house elves, Ignan Storm was also a fan of Ogden's finest. 

"I  imagine it will be.  I will freely admit that I'm looking forward to seeing them every day."  And being able to watch over them, though Owen left that unspoken.  No sense antagonizing the counselor.  He'd leave that to his mother if he felt it was needed.  She was in a better position to on the board of governors anyways.

"They'd better be."  Owen replied before the professor stuck his head in.

He stood and took the proffered bottle.  "Pleasure to meet you as well.  I hope teaching hasn't completely stopped you writing, my brother would be disappointed.  He enjoys your histories."  He looked back at Maiko, "Ig, not Pennar," he said, explaining that it wasn't the previous brother he'd mentioned this time.  "Well since it isn't a cold night, yet, I'll set this aside and we can enjoy the tea for now."

He walked around behind the desk and stashed the firewhiskey in a drawer.  "Would you like to join us?  I can get another cup."  He gestured to the tea that Maiko had poured for the two of them.

"Owen Prewett! How are you?" Ravindar smiled. He had heard the news. He was happy Owen had come to teach too. Ravindar was a older than Owen by 1 year. They were Gryffindors. He remembered Owen's love of herbology. He would make a good teacher. Maiko and Patrick were there too. It was a small welcome party. Or he hoped he was not interrupting. "How does it feel to be back?"