Staff Table

[Wilber Winterbottom]

(Click image for larger version.)

On a raised dais situated at the farthest point of the Great Hall stands a long table where the members of the Hogwarts staff sit and enjoy their meal while casting a watchful eye out on the four House tables. Each staff member has an assigned, cushioned chair to sit on throughout the duration of the feast, though the more notable out of them all is the throne-like golden chair in the centre reserved for the headmaster.

Keep in mind that you should not be wandering up to the staff table if you are not a staff member before Headmaster Winterbottom has delivered his speech. Doing so may result in the loss of house points or other appropriate consequence before you even make it back to the dorms. If you wish to speak with someone who is seated up here, you will have to wait until after the speech has been said and there is food and drink on all of the tables. Make sure to keep your visit brief though -- the staff were also waiting on the food to appear and are just as hungry as you.

[FearlessLeader19]

Summer of 2113 had come and gone. It certainly had been one of the best that Dhruv had had in a very long time. Because of it, they felt more ready than usual for the new term, even with added responsibilities. Said responsibilities would see them outdoors more than normal but that was hardly cause for concern for someone who had always been the outdoorsy type.

It was going to be a great term; Dhruv could feel it.

On the way to the Feast, they had made the brief stop at Ean’s office. Since both of their offices were on the third floor, it made sense that the pair head down together. “Don’t you miss your motorbike while you’re here?” Dhruv asked as they settled in at their allocated seat. It had been a question they had neglected to ask Ean before.

[Charely Potter]

Ean felt refreshed and invigorated after an eventful summer. He wasn't sure where certain things would lead into, but he had a better outlook of the year than ever. Eventually, he made his way towards the Great Hall still in a pleasant mood. Him and Dhruv looked to be the first to arrive as he took his seating where he was asked a random but not out-of-the-ordinary question.

His bike, "Sometimes, but I've grown used to the time apart now." Before smirking, "What about you? Have you been convinced to own one as well?" It wouldn't surprise Ean if their trip had them reconsidering a number of things. More fun trips to embark on, yes? For now, he awaited the rest of arrivals.

[Lottiepot]

Another summer over and September had come quickly rolling in. Only this year would be slightly different with the added role that Apollonia had been awarded by the dear Headmaster which had been reflected by the attire that the Professor had chosen for her arrival into the Great Hall. Long robes in black and yellow swept along the floor behind the dias as she slid into her seat next to the new Herbology Professor. Her signature pointed hat sat atop her head only this one was a plain black and featuring an enchanted golden badger for a hat pin dancing its way across the brim. A little over-the-top perhaps but extravagant looks had become synonymous with the History of Magic Professor.

“Good evening Dhruv, Ean” she nodded said headwear at the two already present at the staff table before instantly becoming distracted by a strange glow coming from the Hufflepuff table. “Are my eyes deceiving me or is Miss Kingstondottir-Dolph looking a little.. yellow?” She was hoping that the seventh year had simply enchanted herself rather than suffering from rare magical ailment but the opinion of Ean being a healer would certainly be appreciated.

[PhoenixRising]

The summer had come and gone. It seemed the older one got, the faster the days seem to go which was quite the tragedy. Amelia could recall from her Hogwartian school days how she wished the days would go faster. How she couldn't wait to be an adult. Yet decades later, with three grown children, a grown grandchild, she could wisely look back and appreciate her well-lived decades but also just wish the days would just slow down.

With a newly added reprised role of flying, with Andrew Burke's departure from Hogwarts again, it seemed her new seat would be closer to the center. Dressed in maroon robes, with a "wings lapel" pinned just above her left breast, as homage to her new role. Although her habits from the last two years had her walk from the Runes Professor side to greet her colleagues on that side of the table, "Good evening, Dhruv, Ean." walking past her new seat for a brief moment to greet Apollonia. She couldn't be more pleased to see the woman heading their former house, as she peered toward the Hufflepuff table to see what she was talking about, but her eyes also caught sight of another seventh year making a welcoming impression. "Oh my. And it seems Miss Thanatos has decided to curse us with glitter." Glitter was officially the worst invention and she was quite grateful that phase didn't last long for Chloe, nor that her boys were keen on the evil invention.

[MadMadamMalfoy]

Norman was ready for another term at Hogwarts- his tenth, to be exact. That fact had completely slipped his mind until he walked into the Great Hall. Had it really been ten years already? Sometimes it felt like he just got here! His bluish-green eyes scanned the tables, monitoring for any sign of shenanigans. The mostly calm scene before him was a welcome contrast to the chaos of that night ten years ago.

He approached the dais, mildly surprised to see that he wasn’t one of the last to arrive. “Good evening, Dhruv, Ean, Apollonia,” he greeted his colleagues already present, nodding politely to each in turn. Noticing the latter’s (Apollonia)festive black and yellow attire, he added, “I see you’ve fully embraced your new role as Head of House. Congratulations on the new position.” Congratulations for the new groundskeeper were in order as well. “Congratulations to you too, Dhruv.”

Before Norman had to go through the awkward business of making small talk, he turned his attention to the Hufflepuff table and Kingsdottir-Dolph in particular. Her color did look a little off. “Perhaps a transfiguration gone wrong?” he mused out loud, looking to his colleagues. He would gladly offer his services in magic reversal if necessary, but as he was neither the girl’s Head of House nor the school healer, he would defer to the others for now.

“Oh, hello, Amelia,” he greeted the newest arrival, immediately noticing Thanatos’s red hair and gold glitter as he turned his attention to the Gryffindor table. Merlin, what were these kids doing?

[Charely Potter]

Ean didn't have to wait too long for the Hall to fill out. "Evening Apollonia, congratulations again on the new position," Being Head of House was a grand deal, "Evening Amelia, looking forward to teaching flight for the new students?" She did have a strong experience doing so, "Evening Norman, pleasant summer I imagine?" He greeted each in return before he watched the students arrive.

A couple students in fact stood out among the others... especially with one of the senior Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students. The drastic change was... shocking to say the least. "It looks like Miss Dolph's color charm went excessive. Though Miss Thanatos's could also prove a challenge to reverse," Changing her complexion overall, goodness, "They don't seem to have a visible allergic reaction, but I would recommend her and Miss Thanatos a visit to the Hospital Wing to properly reverse the effects after the feast," The charm could turn permanent after another set of hours, so the sooner it was addressed the better. Feirgrund would certainly be making a trip to the Lion's table as soon as the speech was delivered.

[Wilber Winterbottom]

The evidence of his aging years ever present as his old bones creaked upon the walk to the staff dias, Headmaster Winterbottom was one of the last to arrive but far before the sorting ceremony began. He would never miss the opportunity to see all those wonderful children learn where they would be calling home for the next seven years.

“A fine evening for an ancient tradition” he greeted his fellow Professors as he settled into the tallest seat at the center of the table. His beady eyes peered through the glasses perched on his nose to scan over the gathered students, a jovial chuckle escaping his lips at the sight of some rather bold fashion choices from his seventh years. “I do sincerely hope that this is self-inflicted and not a rare magical disease we need to be concerned about” he directed towards Ean and Apollonia who seemed to have the situation under hand.

As for the rest of his faculty, how about one of his infamous dad jokes to start the proceedings? “Tell me, why were so many potions discarded at the beginning of the year?” Which would’ve sounded like an accusation if it wasn’t for the laughing tone accompanying his words.

[Kolyander]

With summer break officially over, Hadleigh was ready to slip right back into her position as a professor and head of house for Slytherin. It was easy enough to do when she loved her job as much as she did. Tending to all the creatures and teaching the students about her passion was what she enjoyed most.

"Good evening, good evening. How are you all? How was everyone's summer?" Hopefully not to eventful and they were all well relaxed and ready to her back into the swing of things? "Congratulations on the positions, you're all going to do amazing I'm sure." Hady smiled warmly as she settled into her seat at the staff table, hazle eyes finding several well known faces as the students began to entire the hall.

"It looks like the young ladies have a very strong case of school spirit,"
Judging by the colors of their hair, glitter and skin color! And if she had to guess she would say, it was all done on purpose. Students trying to have a bit of fun.

[FearlessLeader19]

It really could be like that sometimes, with them rattling off a random thought or question. At least they weren’t corny jokes. Not that there was anything wrong with those; anyone who knew Dhruv knew that they tried to keep a distance from that sort of humour since they went right over their head. “Makes sense. At least there’s the holidays for you two to have some together time.” Especially during the summer. “Nope. Forgotten that I’m rubbish with handling Muggle transportation, E? Remember your go-kart lesson? I was even terrible at that.” Still, the memory amused Dhruv everytime, which was evidenced now by the grin in place.

Apollonia certainly had taken her new position into stride. Dhruv approved, naturally. “Good evening, Apollonia. Might I say that you look extra splendid?” They turned their gaze towards the Hufflepuff Table and was honestly not surprised to see such a display of House pride, or so they thought. “Seems like you have some competition, Apollonia.’’ Dhruv had just noticed Vera also sporting some amount of House pride when Amelia appeared. “Good evening, Amelia,’’ they greeted. “I have the suspicion that Ms. Thanatos may have roped Ms. Dolph into this idea.” There was humour in their voice just thinking about Vera attempting to convince Maria to carry out such an outrageously brilliant idea. The DADA professor was not worried about the girls who didn’t seem to be in any sort of discomfort from the glitter; besides, Ean was more than capable of fixing the situation if they were.

“Hi, Norman,’’ Dhruv greeted the Transfiguration professor. “Thank you! It’s one that I’m already rather enjoying.” From their training courses at the Ministry in the plant aspect of their new duties over the summer to prepping the Grounds for the new term, Dhruv was having the time of their life. Speaking of an additional responsibility... the man who had made that possible arrived. “Hello, Wilber. Any particular new piece of music the members of the orchestra will be learning this term?” As for that joke, Dhruv paid no attention to it, though their brain did jump to the idea of Amelia wasting potions {sorry, Amelia!}.

Had Hadleigh been busy with her precious creatures hence her taking so long to arrive at the Feast? Dhruv lifted a hand in greeting to the colleague they were closest to {aside from Ean}. “Thanks, Hady.” Her confidence in them meant a lot. “The creatures doing all right?”

[Holmesian Feline]

It might not be her first start-of-term feast, first as a student and then as a professor, but the gathered excitement surrounding the Great Hall and throughout the castle as a whole still amazed her. And if she admitted it, gave her a warm feeling inside that helped prepare her for the upcoming term even more than the pleasant, relaxing summer with the family. Oh to be back, understanding what had kept her ancestor teaching here for so many years even in the darkest of times.

Making her way onto the dais in deep burgundy robes that suited her former house, Celeste smiled at her fellow staff already gathered there. “Good evening everyone,” the astronomy professor greeted them all, briefly noting the slight shift of at least one member. Ah yes, the potions master was adding flying to her schedule. “Do reach oot if ye need an extra pair of eyes in th’air.,Amelia. "Broomflying might have been more Damien’s thing in school but as an owl she could have a presence if needed.

Even the headmaster had arrived yet she was still in time before everything began. Time before bemusement in the form of the man’s humor.“I dae believe tis because they ur past their hexparation date, hmmm” she mused as she took her seat.

[Lottiepot]

The camaraderie between the Hogwarts faculty was truly a blessing. For every congratulations she received from her fellow staff, a warm smile was equally offered back especially upon the compliment from Norman as he joined the occasion. “I’m lucky to have most colours in my wardrobe” she chuckled. It did rather resemble a Wizarding version of a jumble sale.

“I pity the poor elf having to clean that trail up” she commented on Amelia’s observation of the glitter infestation. With that being said Apollonia herself wasn’t shy of a little added pizzazz, she was a t h e s p i a n after all but the cheeky little things did have a habit of nestling themselves in every crook and cranny of the floor and furniture to the extent that it kept turning up even months later.

“Perhaps we should wait and see if they choose to visit us themselves?” she chortled to Ean. There were after all consequences to actions and this was a place of education. It all seemed harmless for now.

Satisfied with her assumption that the girls had indeed chosen to inflict the looks upon themselves and that she and Ean would not have to deal with any comeuppance quite yet, the Professor trained her ear back to the other conversations between her colleagues. Hady and Celeste both received a cheery greeting from the other end of the table (it was a true shame the table was long rather than round but she understood the necessity - just made for poor socialisation and conversation).

Dhruv was always so complimentary of her attire and today seemed to be no different. “Oh you do flatter me. As for having competition, well I welcome it with open arms.” She wouldn’t argue against injecting some colour into an otherwise rather drab and traditional castle. Ironic really since her work was ALL about the past.

The Headmaster’s arrival was met with a nod for a greeting. “Always splendid to be back” she responded waiting for that all important piece of wisdom or more likely, a dad joke of which she was not disappointed by. Not that she knew the answer quite yet.

[Wilber Winterbottom]

Truthfully Wilber had not given much thought towards the content of orchestra this year with other events running fresh through his mind. “I am open for inspiration” he replied to Dhruv. He was fond of the traditional but there was nothing to say that a little modernism couldn’t be injected into the repertoire as requested.

Oh Merlin’s hairy beard, Wilber was going to have to come up with an extremely clever pun next occasion as his staff had too much of a knack for guessing the punchline. “That’s the one!” he chortled at Celeste, cheeks pinking and stomach wobbling as he laughed at his own joke. “Their hexpiration date” he continued chortling to himself whilst slapping his thigh. He thought that was one of his better ones too.

The sorting appeared to be going along swimmingly which was always a relief to the aging man. He’d often found himself impressed by the accuracy in which their dear old friend the Sorting Hat could comb through the students and assign them to the appropriate house but there was no more time to dwell on these thoughts as a collective rumble of bellies seemed to echo through the Great Hall and the Headmaster stood in preparation for his speech.

“Salutations to another year in our fine establishment and to those who have just joined us today, a gargantuan welcome to Hogwarts. Before we unleash the feast upon your hungry tummies, I must explain a few changes you may see before you.

With the departure of Professor DeVries last term, we should put our hands together to welcome Professor Phlour to our Herbology position and congratulate both Professor Khanna for their new role as Groundskeeper and Professor Fergersnout for her promotion to Hufflepuff Head of House. Professor Adara has also agreed to step into the Flying Instructor role for our first years and remedial students. We expect you to treat them kindly and respectfully as they establish themselves in their new positions.

From new beginnings to old traditions, it is an exciting year for our beloved Hogsmeade village as they celebrate their 1200th anniversary. As is customary, students with permission will be granted access to our neighbouring Wizarding village only with such an important occasion it may be busier than it has been previously.

Now with all those formalities out of the way, it is time to enjoy the wonderful feast our hard-working elves have prepared for us. Enjoy your evening whilst it lasts but don’t stay up too late greeting your acquaintances, a full school day awaits us tomorrow.”

The Headmaster clapped his hands twice as a wonderful array of culinary dishes magically appeared along the center of each table. And perhaps the most excited for them all to engorge on the food was Winterbottom himself as he settled back into his seat.

[PhoenixRising]

When Norman had suggested a transfiguration gone-wrong, Amelia shook her head. She doubted that mostly because there were two students well-decorated. Had there been only one she might have agreed with Norman on botched magic. "Evening Norman. You have a good summer?"

Ean was the first to mention her new role, to which she turned to answer him. "Always a good day to teach flight. Let's just hope this lot doesn't engage in any foolish shenanigans." She would hate to see them off to the Hospital Wing over such behaviors, but also knowing they were teenagers, it wasn't off the table.

As far as Wilber and his infamous dad jokes, she did a double-take thinking it was a serious question and accusatory for her discarding and wasting potions. Well almost until she heard the humor in his tone and realized it was a joke. Was it something along the lines of something new is brewing. Like, new term, new beginnings, new brewings? Or ... what Celeste said about expiration dates probably made sense for this joke. Did Celeste fly? "of course. We'll try to make sure we avoid flying into the astronomy tower too." Unless it was a rogue bludger, but hopefully they wouldn't get those nasty buggers. "Although it could be an interesting way to alert you that I need extra eyes." She humored.

And there was Hady back again with a universal congratulations. If she recalled correctly, Hady had been a flyer during her Hogwarts days. Perhaps they should have a staff vs students scrimmage. "Thank you, Hady. It's good to be back. How's the creatures?" And Dhruv was thinking that it was Thanato's idea, which actually humored Amelia because noone ever seemed to suspect the Hufflepuff - which also made it all the more likely that it was Ms Dolph's idea. But that was just coming from herself being a former Hufflepuff. "Noone ever suspects the Hufflepuff," she mused giving an almost knowing look to Apollonia and Wilber and Septima.

Oh the poor elves, yes that observation, thank you for mentioning that Apollonia. She turned toward Callie Phlour who was taking over for advising SPEW. "Perhaps assembling a spew meeting to help the poor elves..." She agreed with Apollonia on the account that that yes, they should wait to see if they need help. "Yes, why bring more attention to the matter. I would think as seventh years if they find themselves unable to rectify their predicament themselves, they're old enough to seek guidance."

Oh Hippogriffs, it seemed Celeste had guessed the punchline and it was indeed their expiration date. A date that Amelia had a knack to forget about, since most dated items she had found in decades of experience were mere suggestions and not truly 'bad'. Now there were some items that she wouldn't even consider using if it was past the date, but not everything.

Time for the Headmaster's salutations before they feast, to which Amelia turned to look at as he stood up to address the students. She gave subtle applause at each of the names mentioned with their new roles, before the speech shifted to mentioning Hogsmeade's 1200th anniversary. Holy hippogriffs, that was quite occasion. She should definitely owl the husband and kids make it a point to stop by one weekend for the festivities.

[MadMadamMalfoy]

Norman nodded in reply to Ean and Amelia’s inquiries about his summer. “Quite pleasant,” he replied. “Nice quality time with family. How was yours?” Glancing toward the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables in turn, he listened to his colleagues’ assessment of Dolph and Thanatos’s condition. It seemed as if Ean and Appolonia had the situation in hand, though he would be happy to help if they asked.

“Glad to hear,” he replied to Dhruv with a slight smile. “I have no doubt you’ll do the position justice.”

It wasn’t long until the rest of the staff arrived. “Good evening, Wilber, Celeste, Hadleigh,” he greeted the three newest arrivals, nodding politely. To the latter’s (Hadleigh) question, he replied, “My summer was wonderful, thanks for asking. I went on a nice camping trip with my daughter. How was yours?”

Norman chuckled to himself at the riddle. It wouldn’t be a feast without one of Wilber’s dad jokes, would it? He pondered it silently but made no effort to answer, as he presumed Celeste’s answer was correct… a presumption that was shortly confirmed. He listened to the headmaster’s speech with respectful attention, but before he could enjoy the meal, a scream caught his attention. His eyes darted toward the Ravenclaw table, and he saw - was that a snake? Dinner would have to wait! “Excuse me for a minute…” he said, rising form his chair.