The walk up to the catle had been a pleasant one, the fresh air had a nice soothing effect. Or maybe it was simply because it was the end of the school year. Either way, the weight of the world had lifted from her shoulders, so Seren was in a fairly chipper mood.

It wasn't surprising that she was the first to reach the dais, she had a habit of being early..

Taking her usual seat along the row, Seren watched the sea of students celebrate the end of another year. The sound of laughter could be heard clearly, though she had a feeling that among the laughter there were some tears. Seeing the seventh years graduate was always an emotional experience. Seren flicked her long, blonde hair over shoulder, but took care not to disturb the small roses arranged throughout her plait.

Edvard walked into the Great hall on light feet. The school year was coming to an end and he was looking forward to some well-earned vacation. He had come to enjoy teaching more that he would've ever expected. Edvard walked along the house tables observing the student's as they started to say goodbye's to each other or reminisced about good times during the year.

He even saw tears here and there amongst them but mostly laughs. Looking up at the staff dias he was surprised to see Seren already seated. As he stepped up there Edvard said with a warm smile "Good evening, Seren!" taking out his wand he mumbled a spell and produced a boquet of flowers which he presented to Seren with a big beam "These are for you. I heard about the shed. I'm sorry it couldn't be saved." The bouquet was full of alstromeria, freesia and roses. His bent telescopes and missing star chart was nothing in comparison to a fire which could've done a lot more damage than it had ended up doing.

Considering she was fashionably early, Seren had poured herself a pumpkin juice and was about to take up her goblet when she was distracted by that all too familiar voice. Eddie. Looking up, she smiled brightly at his greeting. "Ahh good evening Edvard," she greeted in return. Her eyes lit up as he produced a stunning boquet. And for her?! Oh my.

"Eddie... they're lovely, thank you so much." The sentiment was very much appreciated, and with such a lovely assortment of flowers how could she not be happy? Flowers always had a way of brightening up her day. Which was one of the reasons why she had decided to include them in her ensamble tonight. Best to keep things light and happy, no need to be a grumpypants in front of her colleagues and students.

Taking the boquet, she inhaled the sweet fragrence. Ahhh roses, a true classic, and freesias! One of her favourites!

"It was certainly unexpected, but I suppose everything happens for a reason..." Was this the universes way of telling her that she should repeat her research? Perhaps she'd missed something that otherwise would have gone unnoticed? Who knew.
"I heard about your observatory, I'm so sorry... though I have to wonder why so many of us were targetted." It really trully was a mystery.

With the mystery of her messed up room and missing things still not solved, it was a thoughtful Isabelle that made her way to the staff table for the end of term feast. Only two others were already there - two that also had problems with mysterious things happening to their stuff. Extremely so in Seren's case.

"Good evening, Seren. Edvard," Issy greeted them both with a smile as she rose the steps and sat down in her place at the end of the table. Not the best place to hold a conversation with anyone down the other end, but she spoke loud enough for Edvard to hear her. "I'm sorry to hear you had some problems in your observatory, Edvard. It's very strange why something would want to destroy, and steal, our things in such a way!"

Not to mention the fact the house elves hadn't come to help them clear it up.

She Liked Them!

O_________O

Eddie blushed slightly and mumbled "You're welcome!" It had been the least he could do for the lovely plant lady that he had taught a class with. Moving down the table to his seat, he sat down. After pouring himself some pumpkin juice he commented to Seren "I can believe in faith on most accounts but i hardly think there was any real meaning behind the destroying of your shed."

"Aren't you going to ask Headmaster Tate for it to be rebuilt?" Eddie inquired as he quietly sipped on his cold juice. His eyes darkened for a moment when Seren brought up the state of his observatroy. He waved it away. "It's fine really, nothing which can't be repaired or replaced were destroyed or stolen. But I agree its a mystery why so many of us were targetted and not just one person."



Eddie brightened up as Isabelle joined them on the dias. "Good evening Isabelle!" he greeted the Transfiguration professor back with a smile. As Isabelle stricked up a conversation with him he wondered why in merlin's good name they had to sit so far apart. It would make dinner talk so much more complicated.

Half of the teaching staff had retired couldn't they now sit closer together? Shrugging Eddie turned to look at Isabelle "Likewise, I heard they did a number in your part of the school too?" Picturing the mess in his observatory which he had sealed off to deal with later he said thoughfullly "Its indeed strange. I wish we knew who was behind it and why they did it. I had to close the observatory in order to fix the mess. I don't wan't the student's getting hurt."

Finally people were arriving, time to enjoy one last night with her colleagues before heading off on vaccation.
"Isabelle, good to see you," she greeted with one of her bright smiles.

Why they had to sit all spread out was beyond her. But nevertheless, at least Issy was at her end of the table, even if they weren't seated all that close to each other.

Seren gazed at the empty seats beside her. Hopefully Dash was in a mood to entertain tonight, she wasn't liking the idea of having an empty seat beside her.



Eddie... such a gentleman. Though she hadn't expected him to be the one blushing, wasn't that what she was supposed to do? No matter, it just showed that he was a sweet person.
Shrugging her shoulders lightly she considered Eddie's response. "Perhaps... though I like to think there is a purpose for everything, it helps me deal with it." Any excuse to soldier on. Accidental, purposeless mishaps were not her cup of tea.

After taking a sip of her pumpkin juice, Seren pursed her lips, wondering whether or not she should have asked to have it rebuilt. No.. she could do without. It would be one less building to be torched or flooded.
"I don't think I'll bother. The research I was working on could easily be done in my office... so the extra structure isn't necessary.... I think I'll manage without."

"I'm beginning to wonder whether or not the culprit will be caught. I'm at a complete loss as to who or what could have done such a thing."

End of term. Yes, Dash was actually excited. It didn't seem like the students were though. Many seventh years were crying and their friends crying along with them. He had half the mind to tell them to stay in school over the summer, and see if that would do them any good.

Because really, what benefit did crying have?

With his hands tucked into his pocket his made his way up toward the staff table.

"Evening, Isabelle, Seren, Eddie." He nodded at each of them as he said their name. The slight smile on his face was indication enough that he was in a good mood.

Kimber wasn't really hearing any of the conversations going on around her. Her mind was on other things as she sat quietly at the table, running down her little checklist of things that had to be taken care of before she left.

She glanced at the seat to her left and smiled inwardly, reminiscing about other feasts, not so long ago. Soon, she'd be where she belonged. With Hogwarts just a fond if not ODD and exciting memory.

Lexi had been watching the Staff Table like a hawk... she was waiting for Kimber to arrive so she could RUSH up and give her her gift...

Only Lex found herself moving slowly up onto the dais. "Madame Donovan... I wondered if I could have a moment of your time. I have something for you," she said, her voice slightly raised so as to be heard over the den.

She gripped the box nervously and attempted to keep the tears at bay for the moment.

Professors Bentley, Roslund, and Magnus:


Minerva was on her way back to her table when she thought of something. She turned and headed of the staff table. "Umm Professors I'm sorry to interrupt, but Professor Magnus the day I was in the practice room. I remembered something, something that think took. It went to a box and took a, well I think it took a teddy bear." Minerva was hoping the professor would understand, because she didn't understand why it would have taken it. "I don't know why I forgot that day, but it hit me and I just wanted to let you know. Did you ever find out what it was?" thinking she might be out of line being at the staff table Minerva gave a timid smile "I'm sorry I won't keep you, you are probably wanting a break from students."

Hecate sat at the table looking about the room. Students were saying their goodbyes and laughing... and one of them... was hugging onto the table. Merlin, that girl was... mad.

Alas, Dashhound had arrived, and to make things better, he seemed to be in a good mood. Grumpy Dash could be fun, but right now she was in a mood to socialise. This was she would at least be entertained.
"Evening Dash," she replied brightly. "How did you find your first year of teaching?"
At least he didn't have his office trashed or his belongings stolen, so really, if he complained, she would ... start pouring him tea and doing things for him. Because she knew how much he disliked it, and she was just such a lovely person for wanting to help out of course.

"It was...interesting. I was half expecting a murder to be out on the lose and ghosts to come back to life." But no, no. That only happened when he attended Hogwarts as a student. Finally deciding to take his seat, Dash plopped down on his seat beside Bentley. Because...it was technically his seat, wasn't it?

"But really, teaching is teaching." How did she really expect it to go? "How was your...." Dash didn't even KNOW how many years Seren had been teaching, it was sad when you thought about it. "....year. I mean despite all the attacks on your plants?" He smirked. The attacks sounded funny!

"True.. though I think we had enough excitement for one year. I'm already dreading what might happen next year."
Hogwarts always had a werid way of enticing the strange and unexpected. At least nobody could ever say Hogwarts was boring, though perhaps it was a little bit of an occupational hazzard. Hopefully she wouldn't go mad any time soon, she rather enjoyed teaching.

Taking another sip of her pumpkin juice, Seren considered Dahs's question. Despite the destruction to her babiesplants.
"Well, last year was better, I only hope next year won't be worse." Just so long as things didn't get worse then surely she would survive. "But all in all it was good."

Actually now that she thought about it. Dash hadn't really been a victim of the events this year. Well... except for Borr, but that was different. They were all victims of Borr's rude words.
"You're quite lucky you know... you seem to have avoided all the destruction." Yeah, his office hadn't been trashed and was anything stolen? Probably not.

Jayden walked slowly up to the staff table. "Erm... Professor Bentley? Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to thank you for an excellent fist year in Herbology." She piped up nervously. "I look forward to class next term!"

Turning away from Dash briefly, Seren offered the young Ravenclaw a smile.
"Ahhh Miss Troutwater, I'm so pleased you enjoyed it, I promise I'll do my best to make it just as exciting if not more so," she said with a wink. Oh yes, she already had ideas, fun ideas.

"How did you find your first year? Not too overwhelming I hope."
It was especially interesting to hear how the first years got on... being new to the environment, and often new to magic as well.

Having calmed her tears a bit, Kurumi made her way to the staff table once again carrying a rather large white box. She had thought about making different house cookies like she had the previous terms, but something inside her had decided that this term just wasn't about the individual house, but the school as a whole. She attributed this to the feeling associated with all the seventh years leaving and just how empty the corridors were going to feel without them. So many strong personalities under one roof suddenly being gone...it was almost too much to think about.

Clutching the box, Kurumi walked up to the table and offered each professor a small bow and a smile. "Good evening, professors," she said with a slight hint of a whimper to her voice. While she was composed for now, she had just been in tears moments earlier saying her farewells to some very important people. "Thank you once again for another term." She then set the box down on the table and opened it for each to take one should they desire. There was no telling if the food was going to be back up to par, so at least she could be sure that they ate something that tasted good. "And, a special thank you to you, Professor Magnus, for allowing me to use the practice room this term to bake."

Kurumi looked down the rows of professors and her breath sort of caught on Professor Scabior. Yeah, she hadn't forgotten what had happened in class. Ridiculous, merely reciting from the textbook when several other students had done the exact same thing. Thankfully, the man was sandwiched between Professor Bentley and her own Head of House, so she knew at least there was a sort of protective bubble there.

"Professor Scabior," Kurumi said with another quick and stiff bow. "Why do you dislike me so much?" She would have said hate, but she always had felt that that was too strong a word.

"No, not too overwhelming... the only time it truly got hard was when I had to cram for a few of my finals." Jayden responded cheerfully. Sure, those two weeks of cramming had been terrible, but she passed in the end and all was well.

Jayden then took the oppurtunity to pull out the medium sized gift box from her bag and handed it to the woman. Inside it contained a new pair of dragon hide gloves, and 'The Herbologists Guide To Cooking With Magical Herbs' that she had bought on one of her weekends out to Hogsmeade.

"I hope you like it!"

Alyssa slowly walked up to the Staff Table and approached Professor Bentley. She had something she wanted to give her. She also had something for Professor Hadley, her House Mistress, but would give it to her when Professor Hadley came and joined the rest of the staff at the table. "Uh Professor Bentley, I'm sorry to interrupt you during the feast but I wanted to give this to you to thank you for having me in your classes. I know this can't replace all the plants that were destroyed in the Greenhouse flood or your research that was burnt in the research shed but I hope that you'll still like it. When I saw this, it instantly reminded me of you. Anyway, I look forward to coming back and attending more of your lessons next term.." Alyssa handed over a small box and inside it was a Metallic Egg. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Here's something else. I want to replace the ones I took during Herbology Finals." Alyssa grinned handing over a brown paper bag and inside it was a bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans

Althea entered the Great Hall and limped to the staff dais. She greeted the others with quiet nods and then took her seat.

Seren had hardly registered the Gryffindor Prefects arrival until she heard the distinct sound of a box. Any why would there be a box at the staff table? Well because the cookie girl always delivered.

Turning she flashed Kurumi a bright smile and a wink.
"You never cease to amaze me Miss Hollingberry," she said cheerfully, leaning over to take one of the delicious cookies. Hopefully though it wouldn't be the only thing she'd eat tonight. If the elves hadn't gotten their act together she would not be a very happy herbologist.

Curiously, Seren shifted her gaze between the Prefect and Dash. He didn't like the cookie girl? Was he insane?... well yes, quite possibly.



"Oh that's wonderful, and don't worry too much, you'll get used to them. The key is organisation and patience." Those were the two rules she lived by, and it was what got her through school and Uni in the first place. Without it she'd still be stuck in the wilderness playing in dirt with plants. Though, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

It was strange seeing Jayden offer her a beautifully wrapped box. Why did students insist on getting her gifts? She eyed the flowers that where sitting on the tabel beside her that Eddie had so thoughtfully conjured, and then the cookie she had taken from Kurumi.. and now, a box?
"Oh thank you Jayden, though you really didn't have to," she said taking the gift gingerly, wondering if she should unwrap it there or do it later.

Giving in to the temptation, Seren lifted the lid of the beautiful box to reveal a lovely pair of dragonhide gloves and ... ohhh a cookbook!
"It's lovely, thank you very much Jayden."
Yes! gloves! it was exactly what she needed. Perfect.




Seeing as she had somehow managed to accumalate a stash of goodies, she did nto expect to be inundated with more. But when she saw Alyssa Potter approach her, she had a feeling that she didn't have a choice.
"Alyssa, it's my job to teach, so there is no need to thank me. I'm just glad you enjoyed the lessons."

Huh? What was this? Seren eyed the metallic egg thing that Alyssa had presented her. Granted it was pretty, but what was she supposed to do with an egg thing? Not to mention whatever it was it looked expensive, and students should not be spending thier littlepocket moneys on gifts for her.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm afraid I can't accept it... the Bertie Botts on the other hand, will be brilliant. Thank you."
So yes, she could accept sweets, but not fancy crafty gold egg things that looked like they were worth more than her salary. How was a child even supposed to get their hands on such an item? ... Hhmm.

Alyssa was disappointed that the Professor didn't accept the egg. It wasn't like she had spent that much money, it being a fake and all. She had only paid 8 sickles to some travelling guy who was selling it at Hogsmeade. But she suspected that the Professor had thought it was the real thing, so she didn't force it on her. At least she had accepted the beans and that was good enough. "No worries, Professor. I just thought that it would make a nice decoration in your study room but that's okay, I'll just chuck it when I get home."Alyssa smiled and took the egg back.

Ryan Walked up to the table and spotted the two people he wanted to talk to.He walked up to Proffessor Roslund and said''Hello Proffessor,I would like to thank you on a wonderful time with Astronomy.''He smiled''Can't wait till next year and I will be do doing extra work on Astronomy.''

Next was Proffessor Bentley.He walkedover to her and said''Hello Proffessor,I Would like to thank you on a wonderful time with Herbology.''He smiled''And I will be waorking extra hard over the Holidays.''

Kurumi blushed and bowed her head again in gratitude for the professor's kind words. "Thank you, Professor Bentley," she smiled. "I just hope that the kitchens are reopened next term so that I can go back to baking properly and...spend time with my house elf friends." Ever since that rumor had spread about her being part house elf, Kurumi had embraced it rather than tried to hide from it. Really, there was no shame in being like a house elf, was there? If it hadn't been for a certain house elf history would have been very different after all.

"Oh, that sapling is doing quite well," Kurumi smiled, remembering the vibrant green plant sitting on her bedside table. "Xavier really likes to keep cool, so I tend to keep him away from the windows for long periods of time." Plants do need sunlight after all. "He doesn't really have any leaves yet, but he has grown quite a bit and isn't nearly as droopy as he was before. I'm taking him home over the summer to keep a more careful watch on him. I'll bring him back when the new term starts."