Heading back up from the kitchens with a glass of juice in hand, as she'd come down a bit earlier for a bit of a snack, Renée glanced around as it seemed the entrance hall was more crowded than usual. Curious. It wasn't necessarily unusual, but usually the students weren't standing around waiting for something and there weren't professors looking distressed over near the hourglasses. The faint sense of unease she'd had almost constantly since the opening feast came back, and she stepped further into the area only to hear what was being discussed between Jeremy and Kimber. Singling people out, passing people over?, she thought, taking a sip from her glass.

Definitely something weird going on, and as her dark eyes scanned the hall again, momentarily stopping on the students, she saw the notice on the board and changed direction to head over there first. At which point her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows knitted together in an uncharacteristic but unmistakably suspicious look. "I never trusted him," she said vaguely, not making it clear who exactly she didn't trust. But obviously it was someone connected to the notice. Taking another sip of her juice to calm herself down a bit, she turned to head over to her colleagues again only to hear Jeremy trying to calm the librarian down. "Not trying to make things worse, but I have to agree. They're definitely singling people out, which means the rest of us are pushed aside," she said, suspicion momentarily subsiding into resignation. "And I think a lot of the students here are more aware than you think. Maybe not of exactly what's going on, but don't count them out." Part of her was oddly pleased that Ellie and Treyen weren't on the list, as maybe that would give her a bit more leverage in the case of being wanted here or not. She wasn't about to say anything to that effect though.

"It seems you're not the only head of house excluded, either." Granted, there had been a point to the comment that the bulk of the students invited were Gryffindors, but she knew a bit about most of them from her classes and could hope they wouldn't be swayed by whatever was going on. And the reaction of Max to being excluded was yet to be seen.

"Jeremy, I don't even understand what all of this means," she said, shaking her head in disgust. "Something feels sooo wrong here." This was just like the feeling she got when he looked at her from across the Staff table. Those piercing, dark eyes. Of course HIS name was at the top of that list.
Kimber nodded her head at Renee and kept right on, barely missing a beat. "Exactly right!" she said. "Who is supposed to watch over my kids while they're away? Certainly not Tate. He's far too busy. They'll be left to fend for themselves." She shivered at the thought of Lexi surrounded by strange people.

Emily wandered in, she shook off the chill from outside as she left the grounds, she was contemplating going to the kitchen for a nice spiced hot chocolate... but then something caught her attention. Emily noticed a group of Professor's huddled around the noticeboard... she didn't need to guess at what they were looking at. That stupid list. A selection of students and teachers had been invited to a celebration at Diagon Alley for Lord Borr. And Emily was not on the list, she sort of took this personally. After all she was a very diligent student, always completed her homework, attended all her classes and was the highest points earner for Ravenclaw, as well as being on the quidditch team. Still she couldn't help but sense that there was something not quite right about the event. Especially with Mr Gevrik there.

Emily paused to check the hourglasses. There were too many rubies and emeralds and not nearloy enough sapphires thought Emily. Perhaps she would just head back to the commonroom and finish off her transfiguration homework.
So Emily made her way across the entrance hall and ascended the staircases.

Jeremy continued to rub his neck with one hand while his other reached out to give Kimber's a what he hoped to be reassuring squeeze. "I know, me either. It's hard to look at this objectively when all we ever get is only the one side." He muttered, more to himself than to her, his eyes still on her face however. There HAD to be something they could do.

Out of the corner of his eye he had already spotted Renée, the new Divination professor, and had subconsciously watched her moves until she had apparently decided to join their little get-together. "Yay for being outcasts." Jeremy commented grimly at her words, directing a small genuine smile at her. Still, this wasn't about them, this was about the students.

"Oh, no, that's not what I was trying to say. I meant, they don't think about the consequences that all this might have. And why would they? This all sounds awesome, helping the Muggles. But they don't think about the consequences. And how could they? How would they know?" He tried to explain to Renée, frustration clearly obvious in his voice.

Kimber was genuinely worried for her Gryffindors' well-being. And who could blame them. "I'm sure they'll be fine." He tried to comfort her while pulling her into a hug. Well, fine apart from all that mind control crap. "They won't let anything happen to them. Tate won't. They'll be fine." Hopefully.

The obvious tension when she'd gotten over to the other two staff members didn't make Renée's misgivings about this so-called party for Lord Borr any less. If she hadn't been using her juice to keep herself calm, it probably would have made her a bit nauseous. Especially when it came to thinking about the poor Ministry having to deal with that man. She'd heard stories galore when it came to that name, while checking in on what had happened here after she'd left. Even so, the feeling of being left out, when she was oh so curious as to what exactly was going on, was making her a bit angry as well. It was hard to really control, but luckily she was used to controlling things about herself.

Jeremy's first comment upon her arrival had been met with an amused arch of an eyebrow, however. "I have a feeling we'd both have an advantage and be in a bit of trouble as outcasts," she observed, before turning her attention back to Kimber. Who seemed to need a lot more encouragement than the Muggle Studies professor did. It seemed things weren't quite turned over altogether though, and she glanced back as it seemed an apology was needed. "Oh, I don't want you to think I misunderstood you," she said, nodding a little at his worried explanation. "And I can't say I'm entirely sure they even think of this as having anything to do with helping Muggles. They're probably feeling honored at being included in what seems to be an exclusive event, and confused at why they're included at all." Gaze flickering over to the little group elsewhere, she acknowledged she probably actually could find out what they were thinking, but it wasn't her place. Gevrik probably would have, however, and turning back to the duo, she sighed.

"I'm sure between Tate, Healer Moretti and Professor Hadley, they'll be looked after," she tried reassuring Kimber. She would have added Hecate to the list, but she was unsure about the woman. Nowhere near as unsure as she was about other people who had actually been rather scarce as of late, but still unsure. Somehow she knew the librarian liked her though. Observation, since she'd been holding back on everything else except for occasionally with Jared. She was truly starting to worry about what else they could get exposed to while they were off amongst who knew who else, but she had faith the professors who were going to be there wouldn't let them be harmed.

Feeling Jeremy's hand squeeze hers again, Kimber looked up at him and tried to smile. "Am I being ridiculous?" she asked. She was suddenly very aware of all the people standing around her.

She listened as Renée and Jeremy exchanged their thoughts and found herself scoffing at the idea of Wizards helping Muggles. 'Yeah right. Like my parents helped Thomas,' she thought, grimacing at the memory, her anger being replaced with disgust and fear.

When Jeremy pulled her to him, she tucked her face against his shoulder and let him comfort her. "I really hope so," she whispered, hugging him back.

She looked on as Renée addressed her and offered the lady a small shrug. "Tate maybe... " she said softly. Truth was, she didn't have much faith in the others at the moment.

With a sigh, Kimber looked up at Jeremy with a pleading expression. "Can we get out of here?" she asked. The kids didn't need to see her like this.

Kurumi wasn't sure she would say that things had worked out, but she had found peace in the matter concerning Adam if nothing else. It was going to be hard, there was no denying that seeing as he had been her only constant thing for so long, but so much had happened this term and she had grown so much that now she didn't feel dependent on Adam like she thought she had been. She still cared for him very deeply, but, at least now, she knew she would be able to move forward with no regrets. "Me too," she blushed feeling the confidence ooze out of her.

Just as she was about to continue her conversation with Alex, Kurumi heard the raised voices of some of her Professors and turned her head around to see Professors Zookara, Bishop, and her Head of House looking more concerned than she had ever seen them - and that was saying something considering the mess Walnut had made in Professor Zookara's office.

Curious as to what was going on, Kurumi took a few small steps forward and saw the Student Bulletin Board and squeaked very loudly. Why was her name on the list?!

Alex's thoughts were disturbed by someone talking. Who daaared to disturb him when- Oh, it was the Chan-Chan Man. Then he guessed it was okay. He quickly got back on his feet and flashed him a huge grin.

"Hey twin!" he exclaimed happily. He had to resist the urge to totally tackle the dude to the ground so he just stood there sheepisly. Why did Chandler ask him that? Didn't he look okay? Alex got paranoid and looked down at himself and then up at Chandler again. "Yes, I'm okay. Are you okay?" he asked back.

Alex smiled widely, Kurumi agreed! Which meant things had worked out for the best. That was good, he didn't want any of his friends sad. When she walked up to the bulletin board and he saw her reaction he just had to read what was on it.

'The British Ministry of Magic... He stared at it for a while before his chin dropped to the floor. "What's this..? You're on the list!" he squeaked pointing at the board because well, sometimes he needed to state the obvious.

There was a party and he wasn't invited? Major internal pout.

Chandler was just about to crouch down and poke Alex to see if he was okay or not. From his view, he looked kinda deadish, not that Chandler had ever seen a dead person before. And now he got up. He smiled at the younger boy when he did, relieved that he actually wasn't dead. Thank goodness for that.

"'Ey twin...." Chandler trailed off, his eyes going back to the ground what Alex had just laid on minutes ago. "Why were you on ze ground?" He asked raising an eyebrow at him. Because no one normally laid on the ground, it was more of people standing up. "Good because you just zeemed a bit...off." He shrugged. At least Alex was okay, right? "I am, why wouldn't I be?" Of course Chandler was okay, he wasn't the one on the ground.

Jeremy's expression went from simply worried to frustrated to rather grim as he considered Renée's words for a moment. She was so right. This was the problem and there was hardly any way to prevent this. They couldn't get rid of the kids' urge to find a feeling of belonging. And he certainly didn't want to. But this was just the wrong group to want to belong to.

Shaking his head sadly at Kimber's question, he forced a smile on his lips for her. Unfortunately, she wasn't being ridiculous. He wished she was. He followed Renée's gaze with a sigh before turning his gaze back on the two women. "I know, I know. But how do we tell them that...this is just not a good group to belong to?" He muttered, rather to himself than to anybody else. He doubted either of them had a brilliant answer to this after all.

He ran his fingers through Kimber's hair for a moment before with another soft squeeze he let go of her again. Hecate was missing in Renée's list and even though he wanted to correct her...he didn't know anymore when it came to this. So he simply corrected Kimber. "And Fina too." He wasn't sure about Lily really, he didn't know her too well after all.

His hazel eyes flickered back and forth between Kimber and Renée for a moment before he fixed them on the latter. "Excuse us?" It was more out of manners than asking for permission obviously. With a nod and a smile, Jeremy nodded at Kimber, waiting for her to lead the way to whereever 'out of here' was.