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**Wilber Winterbottom** · #1 (**permalink**) 12-27-2022, 12:45 AM

(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 · 09-01-2026, 09:57 PM

Taking on the additional responsibility in the form of Arithmancy meant that Professor Curious’ assigned seat had switched to one all across on the other half of the table. Not that she minded. Marion was always a delight to chat with while Cox was… well, Cox; his steady presence was appreciated. Who she did heavily miss was Dhruv. She’d miss their regular meditation sessions together. Naturally, she missed Ean as well but she knew he was already off to an excellent start of another career. Then there was Ravi, whose position she now occupied. There was a lot to adjust to, and she was still doing just that.

Arriving at the Table, Sarika artfully adjusted her heavily embroidered pink sari - a recent gift from Krittika - and her black robes before sitting. “Hello, everyone!’’ It took a moment for her to find some comfort - her back hurt a bit - but other than that, she was completely okay. Her face seemed to glow as she took in the Great Hall that soon would be filled with chatter.

This was going to be a wonderful term! She could just feel it.

It had been about fourteen years since Shimron Goth's very last feast at Hogwarts, though back then, he had been a seventh year and graduate. During that moment, and during his extensive career in the Dark Arts field that followed, he hadn’t thought that he’d be returning to the School as a professor. Yet here he was. It seemed that life loved springing surprises in him - first in 2115 and now in 2120. But they were all good surprises - save for one - so he really wasn’t complaining.

He just wished said ‘bad’ surprise would have been seated a lot further from him. Annoyingly they were separated only by Edmund. It took Shimron a moment to realise he was scowling so he hurriedly arranged his face into a more pleasant appearance with a quick thought of Thor. “Good evening,’’ he greeted those who had gathered already. Sarika got an extra big smile as he passed her on his way to his seat. Next to the Headmaster’s, no less. That may be intimidating to some but Shim had an air of chill and laidback confidence about him.

There wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

Or so he thought.

sweetpinkpixie · Yesterday, 09:46 AM

He wasn't innately against the Start-of-Term feast, but this evening did have him thinking of it as a particularly unnecessarily elaborate exercise in patience before he had even crossed the threshold of the Great Hall and took his seat at the dias.

It had been a long day. An even longer evening, if he were being honest, and there had been a brief, deeply inconvenient window of opportunity earlier in which he might have preferred considerably less conversation and considerably more privacy. Unfortunately, various responsibilities that accompanied being a Head of House left little wiggle room for more appealing recreational pursuits.

Bloody hell, he was feeling positively parched for tea.

And before anyone got smart about it, no, he could not simply ask the house elves to bring him this brand of tea from the kitchens. That would rather defeat the point.

His expression tightened as he had settled into his seat, feeling uncomfortably prickly towards the crimson and gold this evening. There were too many ghosts attached to those colours, several of which were bound beneath layers of permanent runework in his skin.

Cox adjusted the fall of his midnight blue robes and looked across the Great Hall toward the Ravenclaw table. His gaze moved methodically over the students gathered there, taking stock almost without conscious thought. Familiar faces. New ones. Seventh years who would require career guidance before the winter holidays whether they admitted it or not ― which meant arranging official summons by morning. Younger students who would inevitably discover new and inventive ways to test the limits of his patience, his classrooms, and whatever enchantments he had foolishly overlooked.

"Good evening," he offered when Sarika took the seat beside him, giving her a brief that contained perhaps half the enthusiasm she had brought with her ― perhaps more like a fourth of it. He noted the apparent shift in her alignment with the same quiet attentiveness he afforded most things, though he made no immediate comment upon it. He did not really want to know.

Which was, perhaps, one of the perks at being seated all the way at the end of the table ― he could avoid personal, intimate conversations... for the most part.

His attention drifted once more toward Ravenclaw as he willed himself to avoid unpleasant small talk and whatever attempt at humour Winterbottom was inevitably going to make this evening. But beneath the table, his hand shifted almost idly against the fabric of his robes and shadows rippled at his command. There were no tendrils of darkness, no obvious display of magic — only a subtle deepening where the floor was already dim, as though some imperceptible cloud had passed over a patch of moonlight. A darker shape slid quietly across an already shadowed stretch of stone, so gradual it might have been mistaken for a trick of the torchlight.

It was an ability he realized he could perform in the recent months, and he took great pleasure in honing the skill when he could.

He other hand traced the rim of this goblet idly, his expression remaining perfectly composed while the darkness continued its quiet, almost lazy progress beneath the table.

Apparently, he wasn't entirely alone in developing a taste for expensive tea.

His attention briefly glanced down the table towards the new Defense Against the Arts professor and briefly regretted not already giving them ample warning with regards to his niece and her... ambitious pursuits. The man would find out soon enough, surely, and Cox imagned both his niece and nephew were quite tired of him 'warning' his colleagues about their pastimes.

Perhaps his nephew much more than his niece, but that had been a nonnegotiable and Vashti had answered the call brilliantly.

*Samia* · Yesterday, 06:26 PM

Elara had arrived early enough that the Great Hall was still in that strange state between preparation and celebration. She had settled into her place with a quiet smile, smoothing the front of her robes before glancing down the length of the table. A few familiar faces were already seated, all of whom received a polite nod in greeting, including the not so polite Professor Cox. She allowed herself no more than the briefest glance in his direction before turning her attention toward the Gryffindor table.

Her table now.

The thought still felt slightly peculiar.

Being appointed Head of House had not been something she'd expected when she'd first arrived at Hogwarts, and yet there was something rather lovely about seeing the scarlet and gold gathered together across the hall. She wondered how long it would take before one of them managed to test her patience.

Probably before dessert.

A faint, almost imperceptible pressure brushed against the edge of her shoe beneath the table.

Elara paused.

Her eyes remained on the Gryffindor table, but one eyebrow lifted. There was nothing beneath the table when she glanced down -- but of course. She reached for her goblet instead, hiding the smallest trace of amusement behind the motion.

Fact of the matter remained, it was too early for tea.

Her gaze wandered once more toward the students, softening as she watched the youngest Gryffindors exchange awed whispers with one another. Whatever the new term brought, she suspected there would be plenty of noise, questionable decisions, and magical disasters along the way.

She was rather looking forward to it. After all, she had never been particularly good at resisting a little chaos.

Julian had almost forgotten what it felt like to be at Hogwarts for the start of a school year.

Not that he had forgotten the castle itself. Some places stayed with you, whether you wanted them to or not. But after all these years, walking back into the Great Hall with as staff rather than a student felt distinctly strange.

He made his way toward the staff table, greeting the professors already seated there with an easy smile and the occasional, “Evening,” pausing when someone looked familiar enough to warrant an actual conversation. But ... he was starting to realize, there were hardly any faces he knew -- sure enough, there were several names he was going to have to learn before he embarrassed himself.

His gaze drifted briefly over the Great Hall, taking in the familiar tables and the gathering students, and he couldn't help but smile.

He had already been craving a change before the Hogwarts offer ever appeared. While St Mungo's had been his life for years, he'd simply reached that point where every day was beginning to feel a little too much like the one before it. Same wards. Same emergencies. Same hours that seemed to stretch longer than they had any business doing.

So when the offer arrived, Julian hadn't exactly thought very hard about it.

He suspected that was the Gryffindor in him. Something interesting had appeared in front of him, there was an opportunity to do something completely different, and apparently his brain had gone, Why not?

And the rest was history .... or well, will be. However it goes.

Charely Potter · Yesterday, 07:56 PM

Huh. The change in scenery was quite the difference, from his usual time in the summers with his family. The twins were now little kids and all. With them in good hands per usual during his time here. He had snacks, but they were in his pocket, little bigs of flaming hot cheetos, a delicious treat. He just had forgotten to bring his self-cleaning hankerchief, so he could clean up after any little cheeto dust leftover.

"Evening." Kraetos said, catching himself before he placed his hands on the newer gentleman, Edmund sitting next to him. Ean and Dhruv were no longer there, which was a little sad, but he wasn't adverse from making new colleague friends. Especially with the grumpy looking one next to the Headmaster. He had enough snacks to share, but perhaps it would be best waiting, so the kiddos out there didn't see staff eating before them. But it sure was tempting. Instead offering a simple "Everything good?"

AlwaysSnapesGirl · Today, 09:14 PM

A warm "Good evening," was offered to each colleague as Vashti passed them on the way to her seat. She settled into her seat between Lillian and, now, Elara. There were a few new faces around the table this term, and though it was sad to see many of the previous staff members leave, new additions were always welcome. She looked forward to getting to know all of them.

Her attention was immediately drawn to the Hufflepuff table, scanning the familiar faces as they gathered at the table. No trouble so far, not that she expected any. They were a well-behaved lot, for the most part, and she was looking forward to another term with them.

And with the new additions to the student body too. Not just the Hufflepuffs - though she was quite pleased whenever the Sorting Hat proclaimed a new Hufflepuff - but all of the new students, whether they were first years or an older transfer student. This was one of the many things she enjoyed about beginning a new term, meeting the new students.

Fascinating to see the Great Hall from this angle.

Edmund remembered the many meals he had shared with his peers in this hall during his time as a student, and the final End of Term Feast was particularly vivid in his memory. He never would have guessed then that he would one day sit here as a professor of Hogwarts. But there was a lot that his eighteen-year-old self would not have predicted about his life afterward.

"Evening," he said in greeting to the colleagues to his left and right, Shimron and Kraetos. But there seemed to be some sort of...tension here? Perhaps it was nerves. It was natural to be nervous about a new job, after all. Or perhaps he was simply imagining it.

So he didn't intend to comment on it... but Kraetos inquired for him. A casual inquiry, or perhaps just a polite one.

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