(See plotting thread here for details)



Fauna hesitated in front of the staff room on the ground floor, and sent an anxious glance at Matty. It hadn't taken long for the two of them to walk from the common room and up one flight of stairs, but now that they were here, it felt as forbidden as the boy's dormitory. She half-expected the doorknob to stun her. What if Professor Ó Móráin and Professor Storm had forgotten? When she'd talked to them last week, they'd told her to come to the staff room during the study break on Monday. It was almost 4:00 now. At sunset, the full moon would rise.

For a second, Fauna wished that nothing bad would happen tonight to discredit her idea, and that any attacks would be postponed for March.

As if she could control that! Fauna shook her head, and slowly opened the door. The room had a few tables, a coffee pot and a tea pot sitting out, and a platter of scones. It looked so much less mysterious than she'd expected! There were no student torture devices, no 'how to kill off your first-years' posters, and no wine cellar.

There were also no professors. Or at least, the two that Fauna had made an appointment with.

"Where are they?" She asked Matty in a hushed voice, as if he would know, and checked her watch.

Matty was distracted as he walked with Fauna up to the staff room. He had been spending all the free time he could muster up sneaking off to the room of requirement to practice on his guitar and work out a few simple cords that sounded good together. He had taken Dennis Creevey's advise and decided to write his own song for Addie for Valentine's and with only five days left until the holiday he was pretty sure he was ready. Needless to say asking the Professors permission to have a werewolf come speak to the student body was the last thing on his mind.

He drummed his fingers on his pants as he waited in the doorway with his long time friend. He was humming under his breath barely audible. He looked around the staff room and shrugged his shoulders. Had they gotten the time wrong? This was when they were supposed to meet them, right? He turned to Fauna just as she turned to him with a hushed question but Matty could only shrug his shoulders.

He looked over to the others that had decided to join in on their crusade, "Any idea where they might be? We got the time right, didn't we?"

Of course Kit was going to come back Ms. Blake about bringing in a speaker on behalf of the SAWS group. The professors could be...intimidating (especially Professor Storm). And some of her fellow SAWS members, while well meaning, lacked a certain...professional tact when speaking to people in positions of authority.

She kept pace behind the two older Hufflepuffs, the heels of the shoes (and the highest heels she owned) clicking on the stone floor.

She couldn't deny feeling a bit anxious about the upcoming meeting. It had taken her well over an hour to just decide what she was going to wear to present a professional a respectful front for the meeting.

So when they entered the room and there was no one present, Kit got...nervous. She withdrew her pocket watch to confirm the time.

"I'm almost certain we did," Kit said to the older Amherst. She glanced around the room again as if the Professors would simply appear. "I don't know...perhaps they all got stuck in their offices?"

It had been a long month so far, but with the rumbles of a dance he could at least hope the school'd be cheering up. Though it was making it harder to get students to focus.  Admittedly, he was distracted himself; planning with Myrni had taken much of his free time. Not that he minded; she was a nice woman, and it was nice to be around someone who understood and respected numbers. And he enjoyed teachings, of course - the students were always interesting.

But he had the 5th years tonight. Merlin, why couldn't one of them have died? That Nilson girl would have been a good choice!

Chastising himself for even thinking that, he trekked to the staff room, having checked out of one of the windows that Graham was hobbitted-up in the greenhouses. Didn't need a repeat of last time - though he might brave it with the need for sugar-tea he was having. The house elves never got it quite right; they always put in more tea than sugar. He shifted the books he was carrying; it had felt weird to check books out as a professor, especially with the looks that Landis fellow gave him, but he needed to research this Numerology stuff.

He popped his neck absently as he opened the door to the staff room. He was surprised, however, to find the staff room not empty as he'd hoped it would be. He blinked and then smiled uncertainly, closing the door behind him and looking at the assemblage. "Can I, uh, help you all...?" He was suddenly quite conscious that his choice of clothes was not very professional. He barely controlled the flush.

Eveline hurried into the staff room, rubbing a skinned knee. As she was crossing the courtyard she had slipped and fallen on a patch of ice, tearing a hole in her leggings.  There had no chance to change her clothes and now she wished she'd worn jeans under her robes, rather than boots and a short pleated skirt. But she forced all of that from her mind, realizing she was distracting herself with fashion statements instead of thinking about how scared she was of Professor Storm. But she was here now, and determined to back up her fellow Hufflepuffs...

"Hi guys," she said, with a little wave of greeting. She was pleased, though not all that surprised to see that Kit was there. The Gryffie had a way of sticking up for people that Eveline admired, wishing not only that she dared to do the same, but could pull it off  like  Kit did, with style.

Then she noticed Professor Trishna was there too. She gave him a nervous, slightly guilty smile because she wasn't in his class. No doubt learning about the stars might have been interesting, but wasn't there a lot of Math involved? Eveline had never been good at Math...

Besides...her father had insisted that this year she should focus on what would be of use in her future. She couldn't imagine why she would need astronomy once she graduated. True, she didn't know really what she wanted to do post-graduation. Her Mum had made it plain she expected her only daughter to make a brilliant marriage (translating as wealthy and Pureblood); but Eveline had her doubts that was ever going to happen. So far she hadn't even managed to snag herself a boyfriend...

Eveline sighed. And then she did a doubletake as she looked more closely at what Professor Trishna was wearing. Though it might have looked as if she was shocked...and actually she was...it wasn't because she disapproved.

She had just never imagined Professors as being...well...cool enough to wear raggedy blue jeans!

The door opened once more from behind and the tall, white haired figure of Ignan Storm filled the frame, his face a little ruddy from having just come from outside the castle. His black gloved hand held the edge of the door and he paused, noticing the gathering of students inside already. He had hoped he could have got here before them, but no matter, at least Professor Trishna was present.

Ignan's eyes unconsciously swept up and down Trishna's appearance with unmasked disdain, before he blinked, looked back to the students and greeted all.
"Good afternoon." He swept past them all, nodding to Tappy, and strode into the cluster of mismatched chairs further into the room, and unhooked his heavy outdoor cloak, swinging it from his shoulders and folding it neatly over the arm of an armchair before straightening out a black pinstripe waistcoat and white shirt sleeves beneath with a distinct sense of pride about his appearance.

Tugging down one shirtsleeve, he turned to the students.
"We best wait for Professor Ó Móráin," He cast a glance at the clock on the staff room mantle to his right.  "I doubt he'll be long, given you have come mob-handed." Ignan's arms dropped to his sides, and he tucked his wand away within a fraction of a second's reach.

"Not that I think you will change any minds." He warned the students, being purposely ambiguous about his own thoughts, and falsely assuming Ó Móráin's. After all, if Declan came in and just proclaimed yes there was little Ignan could do to complain, given his assumption of Snark's role in her absence.

Settling himself in the armchair his cloak was neatly folded over the arm of, still poised to raise himself at any moment, he pointed to a longer, more sofa like piece across from him. A low table scattered in tatty books, photographs, and a map of the local area (a line drawing of a dragon flying around it, occasionally stopping on one of the towers of the castle on the map).
"Sit down." He instructed the four of them, drawing them into the room and away from the doorway.

Pax focused on taking deep breaths as he walked down the hallway, arms wrapped around a particularly thick library textbook entitled, The Measure of a Being, by Iona Sedgewick. It wasn't because it wouldn't fit in his satchel that he was carrying it; he was fairly certain he wouldn't even need it. But having something to hold onto calmed his nerves somewhat. He remembered being nervous when he and Fauna went to see the old DADA teacher, Professor Mainwaring, about Ollie's expulsion and the subsequent fallout. It had just been the two of them conferring with a teacher that time; now, though he couldn't remember exactly who else was coming, Pax did know that there would be a small group of them, not just a pair. It was a comforting thought.

It didn't help to assuage his anxiety all that much though. Professor Mainwaring had a strong presence that had put Pax on edge a little; but Professor Storm was pretty much just terrifying. Pax couldn't decide whether he liked him as a teacher or not. He was fairly sure he did... He was certainly an effective teacher, at any rate... But he was still scared of him. And then there was Professor O Morain, who apparently advocated the murder of werewolves in their transformed state. Pax gulped at the thought.

Edging through the door, Pax noticed with simultaneous relief and apprehension that Fauna, Matty, Kit and Eveline were all here... and so was Professor Storm. 'A-am I late? S-sorry?' he stuttered, remembering Professor Storm's intolerance for tardiness in his classroom. The young Hufflepuff had to remind himself that this wasn't class. He offered a small wave to Professor Trishna, smiling a little at his choice of t-shirt. 'O hai, Professor Trishna,' he said with quiet amiability, confident that Professor Storm wouldn't detect the lolspeak even if Professor Trishna did.

Distracted sufficiently enough to feel slightly less nervous, Pax went over to the seats Professor Storm had indicated, glancing to the others with a smile as he went. This was a good group, he dared to hope. They wouldn't break out into an argument like at the last SAWS meeting and make them look bad in front of the teachers. Fauna knew what she was talking about and was always willing to listen; Kit was sensible to a fault and spoke eloquently; Eveline seemed an understanding sort based on the way she'd reassured him at the SAWS meeting; and Matty, who had thought to record the minutes at the last meeting, worked well on his own initiative. And since none of the brasher members of the society were present, they wouldn't be in for a repeat of his walk-out.

Sitting down, Pax, his hands partially obscured being the library book, surruptitiously crossed his fingers. Please don't let anything go wrong.

When Professor Storm swooped in, Fauna straightened, immediately feeling bashful about being in the staff room and yet half-expecting him to add 'class' to his greeting of good afternoon. She responded with a quiet hello, catching the look he gave Professor Trishna. Fauna glanced at Trishna's shirt and her lips twitched in amusement before she did as she was told and sat on the couch.

Fauna grinned at Pax when he entered the staff room, though whether it was more for his benefit or her own remained to be seen! She didn't want to explain their idea twice, so she remained silent, complying with Professor Storm's instruction to wait for the Deputy Headmaster. In a mob cluster, as it was.

Fauna wouldn't have it any other way. Eveline, Kit, Matty, and Pax were all intelligent students who would support her when she started to mumble and fumble her way through an explanation. At best, they'd help each other fill in any gaps and persuade the professors to their way of thinking. At worst, so many points of view would come across as disjointed and disorganized.

Pushing that last thought away, Fauna nudged Pax with a smile and nodded at his book, "What are you reading?" She asked in a hushed voice, as if this were the library and Landis Morgan himself was frowning down on them. No, they had Storm. And Trishna, in his lol-cat shirt.

Dion was late, which was unusual for him; he usually prided himself on punctuality. He rubbed his hands together nervously as he half-ran to the staff room, straightening his uniform as he went; he'd gotten absorbed working his Herbology plot and had sidetracked to shower. He'd rather be late and clean than on time and covered in mud.

His uniform clean and crisp, hair dry and his appearance generally neat and organized, he opened the staff room door and nodded in greeting to those gathered within, his gaze stopping on Trishna for longer than it should have before he quickly looked away, trying his best not to roll his eyes.

"Good evening, Professor," he said to Ignan, looking to the others again. "My apologies for being late."

He couldn't restrain his amused smile as Pax responded in lol-speak, retreating to the corner of the staff room as the students followed Ignan to the chairs. Placing the books on the counter next to the tea making supplies, he frowned when he realized there wasn't any hot water.

Trying hard to not make much sound - he didn't need to feel any more on the spot and out of place than he already did - he started the kettle on the small stove and leaned on the counter, taking his glasses off to absently clean them as he watched the students made themselves comfortable.

Somehow getting glared at by Ignan made him flinch and want to crawl back into the tower and sulk more than the looks he got from students. He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling at his own reaction - it wasn't like Ignan could give him detention or something.

Though given the mood Ignan seemed to be in the students were certainly at risk of it.

Declan was late- quite unusual for him. He was supposed to meet Fauna Blake and other SAWS members. They had requested a meeting, and he had obliged- knowing it was his duty in the headmistress' absence. Besides, he was becoming more and more impressed with her performance in his class. As he approached the staff room, he noticed that others were already gathered.

He arched an eyebrow at the astronomy professor, curling his lip. "I wasn't aware you were invited to our meeting, Tapendra," he commented. "A bit early for such... casual wear, is it not? I do believe the students are required to be in uniform until after dinner. One would think that such regulations would also extend to Hogwarts employees. We are supposed to be role models, after all." His eyes focused longest on the holes in the jeans. "Perhaps in the future you could show more respect for your position and your students by following Hogwarts dress code, hm?"

Declan then turned his attentions to Ignan, giving him a friendly nod. "Mr. Storm," he greeted- the level of respect he held for the elder wizard was evident, and a strong contrast to how he had greeted the Astronomy professor.

He also settled comfortably into a chair, focusing his attention back on the other professor. "Tapendra, we have business to take care of. I trust you would not be too offended if I asked you to excuse yourself from our meeting? I do believe that Miss Blake requested to speak specifically to Professor Storm and I. The nature of the meeting could be quite sensitive, and as it does not directly impact yourself or your class, I see no reason for you to linger... Although, if you do have take offense, you can discuss it with the Headmistress upon her return to Hogwarts." Although Declan was quite certain that if Trishna did talk to Ana about it, that she would take his side.

Next he turned to Fauna, offering her an encouraging smile. "Miss Blake, I see that you have gathered the troops for this little meaning. I do hope you don't intend to use muscle to get your way... Are you the spokesperson Miss Blake, or will all of you have your own thoughts to add? Please be sure to behave in an orderly manner. If you talk all over each other, and all over myself and Professor Storm, I will be less inclined to hear you out."

The first professor that entered the room was not one of the ones the group was seeking. Thank goodness. Kit had  hard time dealing with professors that were supposed to be, well, professors, but delved into childish habits and modes of dress. Even so, it was hard for Kit to keep herself from twitching, so she turned her attention to the other people entering the room. There was Ms. Chancelier, who Kit didn't know much outside of SAWS, but she seemed sensible. And then in came Professor Storm, who had them sit down around the table.

Kit didn't need to be told twice. She took a seat near her favorite professor, carefully smoothing her skirt as she sat as to not crease her skirt.

"With all due respect, Professor Storm, we still must try," Kit told the man. She did not understand why some of her fellow students seemed afraid of him. Oh yes he could be intimidating, but that was only because he was obviously very experienced and knowledgeable. A man like Storm deserved the utmost respect, in Kit's mind.

The door opened again, but with more students, not the other professor. Kit smiled at the two other Hufflepuffs that joined them. Bless Mr. Wintergreen, he was a delightful young man with a good head on his shoulders. An excellent representative of the current first year class. And of course Dion's presence was welcome as well as a fellow duelist and friend, the more sensible half by far of the Fayette twins.

Finally Professor Ó Móráin made his appearance, and immediately asked Professor Trishna to leave while scolding him on his attire. While Kit couldn't help but agree that the astronomy professor was not dressed for one befitting his position, she shifted uncomfortably at the mention of uniforms. She wasn't wearing hers. Not out of disrespect or rebellions (heavens no!) but because she had decided that for a serious meeting like this, she would need to approach the professors not as a student. She wanted to present herself as an intelligent, thoughtful young woman ready for a respectful discussion, maybe not as equals, but certainly closer levels than a professor and students. Merlin, she wished she was still a prefect.

Kit tried to hide her unease by looking to Ms. Blake to lead them off. SAWS was more hers than any one else's here, it was only right she lead the discussion. She offered the Hufflepuff an encouraging smile.

She smiled in welcome at Dion when he entered the room, then glanced at Professor Trishna, who was quietly making tea. Though Fauna certainly didn't mind him being there, she hoped that no other professors would join them. O Morain and Storm were intimidating enough!

As evidenced by O Morain's reaction to Trishna. Fauna stared at him in surprise and shifted in her seat. The professor had been treating her nicely since the beginning of the new year, but Fauna never forgot how quickly he turned into The Nitpicker whenever someone disappointed or annoyed him. Fauna felt sorry for Trishna and avoided looking in his direction.

She plastered on a smile when O Morain greeted her and told her they would need to be careful about taking turns to speak. Fauna only felt a little more at ease when she caught Kit's smile.

"Right. Uh, I'll start off, and then if anyone has anything to add," she glanced at the students around her. "Just pipe up, okay?"

Pipe up respectfully! Pipe up without incurring their wrath!

Fauna couldn't exactly tell them that. Though she regretted not mapping out a plan with the students beforehand, it was best to move forward.

"So, at our last SAWS meeting, we... actually talked about the Care of Magical Creatures class. The lesson where we went over human-like creatures. And I was thinking... we only had a little time to mention werewolves. Even if we do a whole class about them, either in CoMC, or Defense, well, not everyone takes those classes."

She paused, glancing at Professor O Morain. "Since we talked about it a little in your class, I was thinking it might be helpful to bring in someone from the Ministry, so they can speak to Hogwarts students on a whole about what to do if you're ever attacked. Not a werewolf, but... someone who has experience with werewolves and werewolf attacks."

Not that the professors didn't have experience! Fauna bit back that remark and just waited to see how the professors felt about their plan so far. She conveniently failed to mention that O Morain's philosophy of killing as the best defense had inspired her to bring in an authority figure who would present more options. She also decided to wait to mention that she had a specific ministry official in mind - Vlad Dragulia. And if all went well with this first speaker, she hoped to bring in more that would talk about other werewolf issues.

"Deputy Headmaster." Ignan greeted Declan, managing to keep it entirely respectful, even though he had mixed feelings about the appointment.

His colleague dressed down Tappy quickly, giving the man no real time to respond. Ignan's estimation of Declan reduced further at that. He might use language similar to put a student in their place, but would only do so to a colleague when needs were absolute, and even then, it was bad form to do so before students.

He might have spoken out, only he knew how keen the students were to put across their point, and he didn't want to make the situation more difficult by provoking an even more stubborn state of mind in the deputy headmaster. No, that could wait. Youth definitely wasn't the wiser in this situation.

Miss Blake, I see that you have gathered the troops for this little meaning. I do hope you don't intend to use muscle to get your way... Are you the spokesperson Miss Blake, or will all of you have your own thoughts to add? Please be sure to behave in an orderly manner. If you talk all over each other, and all over myself and Professor Storm, I will be less inclined to hear you out."

"Right. Uh, I'll start off, and then if anyone has anything to add, just pipe up, okay?" Blake spoke, glancing to her classmates. Ignan let his eyes rest on her nervous body language. She seemed to steady herself before explaining.

"So, at our last SAWS meeting, we... actually talked about the Care of Magical Creatures class. The lesson where we went over human-like creatures. And I was thinking... we only had a little time to mention werewolves. Even if we do a whole class about them, either in CoMC, or Defense, well, not everyone takes those classes." Ignan crossed one leg over the other, resisting the temptation to comment that everyone should take his class.

Speaking to Declan, Fauna went on.
"Since we talked about it a little in your class, I was thinking it might be helpful to bring in someone from the Ministry, so they can speak to Hogwarts students on a whole about what to do if you're ever attacked. Not a werewolf, but... someone who has experience with werewolves and werewolf attacks."

Ignan turned his head slightly to regard his colleague's reaction to this.
"Given your former Defence teacher's position within the Ministry these days, I am surprised this hasn't already occurred." Ignan replied carefully, still very much regarding Declan, and then blinking to regard the students again. "Though, its not my place to comment on former Professors and their teaching." He added.

If he was perfectly honest, he found Mainwaring's notes and records well kept and detailed. If that was any indication of the man, it could only be positive.
"You propose this talk would be compulsory for all students?" He asked, "Or an open meeting of your little … club, with an invited speaker?" He used the term with hesitation, fairly suspicious of SAWS, along with most student gatherings.

Tapendra privately gave himself a medal for how straight he kept his face when Declan turned on him, his expression neutral - but not one of respect, really.

He was quietly glad Ignan didn't rip into him too - the look earlier had him worried he'd be getting yelled at by both of them. "No, Professor, I don't mind leaving," he said politely. "I hope you don't mind if I quickly finish what I came in here for, however?" He smiled and couldn't help the slight curl of his lip; he had other things on his mind than Declan having a big head, anyway. "I promise not to gossip."

With that he turned sharply on his heel and strode over to the far corner of the counters, pouring himself his tea. He couldn't help listening in, of course - not that he had any clue what was going on, which was normal.