Well, second place wasn't bad...not that bad. Well, it wasn't good, but it wasn't fourth place. It wasn't third place either...

As Maddie strolled to the Badger table, she tried to convince herself that second place was just about as good as first place. Oh, how she wanted that house cup, though. THOSE SNAKES. Weren't they the ones supposed to be misbehaving? Or were they just that ambitious that they had to win? *sigh*

Literally nobody else was at the house table yet, so the soon-to-be third year had her pick of ALLLLLL the seats. She sat down on the nearest one, decided it was too far back, and got up again. She strolled to the middle seats, sat down, and then changed her mind a second time. She went ALLLLL the way to the front, sat down, and grinned up at the head honcho. "HIIII, HEADMISTRESS!" she said, waving at the lady.

The End-of-Term Feast. How was it possible that an entire year had gone by so quickly. She stepped into the Great Hall and slowly made her way to the Hufflepuff table. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she had been able to calm herself enough to stop the tears before sitting near the middle of the long table. She wanted to make sure she would be able to see as many of her fellow Hufflepuffs as possible.

She glanced up towards the staff table, taking note of the different expressions on the various professors faces. Their last weekend trip was one that she wouldn’t soon forget. She was still having dreams, vivid dreams, about what had happened. Her hands rubbed her legs, pushing away the memory of the numb feeling that remained in her body after whatever it was had taken control. It was far too much to expect a first year to deal with.

Not wanting to cry again, she shook her head and focused on the various students around her. The familiar chatter was soothing. Sounds of goodbyes, laughter, and memories being shared warmed her heart. Then she noticed Maddie at the front of the table. “Hi Maddie!” she smiled and waved, a little more energetically than necessary. “I’ll miss you this summer.”

Maddie had been somewhat lost in thought about the house cup and saying hello to the Headmistress, when she heard someone speak up. Turning around, she saw Emmalyn, who looked...well, as to be expected.

Suddenly, Maddie felt terrible for being worried about trivial things like house cups and friendly greetings. She gave the Headmistress an apologetic look then turned back to Emmalyn. "Hey," she quietly said, not sure how to approach the girl. "End of your first year, huh?" Okay, that sounded lame. "Sorry. I'm not really sure what to talk about right now. Everyone looks like a mix between happy and...completely drained out."

Not to mention it seemed like everybody was avoiding the feast at all costs. Or, at least, they hadn't shown up yet. "Any summer plans?" she asked, deciding to try and divert the conversation to something exciting. Maddie had no idea what was going on with her summer. Her mom had owled and said there was a trip in the works, but it was apparently some surprise.

Her smile only grew when the second, almost third, year spoke to her. "It sure has been a strange year." She turned to better face her housemate and felt a bit silly yelling down the length of the table. Though, not silly enough to actually get up and move. "I'm going to spend the summer at a quidditch camp." Something she was quite excited about. Hufflepuff had placed last in the quidditch standing and she wasn't going to let that happen again.

"How about you? Any summer plans? Trips?" She frowned a bit, wishing she had gotten to know Maddie a bit better over the year. They had classes together and all, but they had never really hung out. "Maybe we can meet up in Diagon Alley before the fall term starts. Do you like ice cream?" That would be fun to see her before school started up again. Maybe she could even invite several of the Hufflepuff girls to meet up.

End of term. Already.

Oh wow. This year had gone fast. But she was excited to just get home. Things had been scary lately, and she just wanted to get away and just enjoy the summer. She had a lot planned this year, and knew that it was going to be a great summer. She just had this end of term feast to get done with. Then she would be out of here.

The blonde smiled to herself as she headed into the great hall, and towards the hufflepuff table. it wasn't too busy, but she was sure it was going to get busier. Or at least she hoped she would. She didn't mind though. She'd get some nice food if there wasn't too many people.

"Hi girls" The sixth year smiled as she sat down next to them. "Are you both looking forward to summer?" Because she sure was!

As the conversation unfolded, Maddie began skipping down the length of the house table until she was seated near Emmalyn. Yes, skipping, because no matter how bad things seemed, the second year could always find at least something to be happy about. For example, they were still in second pla---...errr, what happened!? "We were just in second place!" she randomly said, pausing in conversation to observe a last minute change in house points. She frowned, realizing they were even further from that house cup than she'd thought. She sighed again.

"Quidditch camp sounds fun," she said, choosing not to comment on how strange the year had been. Maybe she could boost her friend's spirits by focusing on something positive instead. "My parents owled and said we're going on a trip some place, but apparently it's a big secret." Personally, Maddie was hoping for Disney World in America!

Before she could say anything else, Hattie arrived and made a party of three at their table. "Sure am!" she cheerfully said, still opting for the positive route. "Hattie, do you think it's possible somebody stole some of our house points? I mean...we were just in second place!" she exclaimed. Hattie was an older kid. Surely she knew what was up!

She smiled as she watched Maddie skip towards her and take a seat. It was probably better that they were sitting closer and not hollering across the length of the table. However, the Great Hall was still fairly empty, so it wasn't like they were bothering anyone. Either way, she was happy to be chatting with her friend. "Hmm, I'm not sure what happened with the points. Maybe someone got in trouble, or did some extra credit?"

"Oh, wow, a secret trip sounds exciting." So many destinations zoomed through her mind. Beach, theme park, camping in the mountains, the possibilities were endless. "I'm looking forward to camp, but I would like to see my mum. I hope she comes to visit on parents weekend." Emmalyn heard footsteps close behind her and tuned. "Hi Hattie!"

She listened as Maddie asked about the house points. Maybe Hattie knew what was up. It was sad enough being last place in the quidditch standings, being second to last in the house cup standings was almost unbearable. "I don't know what happened either. Worst of all, Slytherin has the most points." Her tone as she said the house name made it clear how she felt about them winning. She hated to be a poor sport about it, but there was one Slytherin that would not be receiving a congratulations from her.

"I'm going to quidditch camp this summer, how about you?" She directed her question in response to Hattie's question.

Congratulations, Diandra Salim. You survived your first year at Hogwarts.

She was... relieved, to be honest. Being a new student from a foreign country wasn't that easy. Over a first few months, the Hufflepuff felt terribly homesick and had difficulty to adapt with the culture and Scotland's chilly weather but well, she survived thankfully. Even though it wasn't really a big deal now because there's another huge thing that makes Diandra was relieved she survived this school. Yup, the hawk vandalism and possessed students around the school and the Dufftown incident. Merlin, hopefully her muggle parents didn't hear about that because they would surely force her to leave Hogwarts and send her to all-girls boarding school.

After packing her belongings, Diandra headed to the great hall and noticed the all green-silver serpents emblem. Ah, right... They also were going to celebrate Slytherin's victory since they both won the house cup and quidditch. But she thought Hufflepuff had worked hard and maybe it wasn't just their time now. Walking to the Hufflepuff table, the Asian girl gave a smile to the younger students and also Hattie. Farah probably would be here soon and so would the others. They wouldn't skip the feast just because Hufflepuff didn't win the house cup, right?

Did Abra feel bad that he was bypassing the table he usually sat at during the feast (Slytherin) in favour of another? Well... yes, a little. It was sort of like a tradition by now that he'd spend the feasts over at the Slytherin table with his cousin, but... hopefully she'd understand. They had the entire summer to hang out, but Abra wasn't sure when he'd next be seeing Derf (summers were a little uncertain in that way). He was especially eager to be with him after, you know, what had happened. A difficult mental image to be rid of, you know, and an excellent excuse to see his Hufflepuff awake and well and in Derf-mode as much as possible actually, thank you.

Also, he'd caught a glimpse of Noble over at the Slytherin table and, being nothing short of a hazard in Potions classes, Abra preferred to give that particular professor a wide berth when he could help it. Ahem.

The Hall was starting to fill up, and Abra in turn started to feel that awful building tension in his chest that told him to get out of there, but he ignored it. Derf wasn't there yet, so he just lingered near the door, one eye on the table, waiting for his villain to appear while he fidgeted and wrung his hands. Was it overbearing and annoying? To want to be right there with him again? Hopefully not; the return of Scamander had gone excellently, just by the way, and Abra selfishly hoped that that meant it would be a little longer before Derf realised how bothersome his Gryffindor's presence could actually be.

Merlin, he was ready as he ever was to go home. This year had been another trying one, and Abra wasn't entirely sure how many more his nerves could take. They still weren't out of here yet, either, still plenty of time for some sort of extra disaster to happen.

Casting a glance down the table, Maddie noticed two older students appear and gave them both a small wave before turning back to Emmalyn and Hattie. "Probably some extra credit," Maddie said with a shrug. She probably should have done more of that. "I gotta step up my game next year, I guess." She'd be a third year--turning into a TEENAGER. Whoooaaaa. That seemed equally exciting and strange to think about. There'd be more responsibilities, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Maddie perked up when Emmalyn mentioned the trip to who-knew-where. "I'm crossing my fingers for DISNEY WORLD!" she said, exclaiming that last part a little louder than she meant to. She'd never been before, but she heard the rides were amazing! Also, there was some sort of magical mouse! A MOUSE---WITH MAGIC! Did America have muggle mice and magical mice, too?! Hmm... Maddie's expression softened to a somewhat sad one. "You mean...you've spent all school year away from your mom, and now you're spending the summer away from her, too?" she asked. Maddie would miss her family way too much!

Maddie fidgeted a bit in her seat. When were things going to pick up around here? Wasn't there supposed to be a big speech or something?

Scarlett was late to the feast but honestly, she didn't care. She deserved to be late - because she had survived her NEWTs, and they were DONE and behind her and she had not a care in the world anymore. Now it was just off to university!

What was she going to study when she got there? Heck if she knew. That was a problem for a different day.

For now, though, she scanned the crowd, looking for her boyfriend, before plopping down at the table and grabbing a pumpkin juice. She was going to eat until she felt like she was going to explode, too - it WAS her last feast, after all!

It had been...a year, to say the least, and his feet felt heavy as he finally made his way down to the Great Hall. While the events in Dufftown were over in one sense, emotional scars and nightmares from the accumulation of several terms of warnings on walls and eagles, watching his friends and Head of House cursed, obsessively fretting about the missing Dark Arts book and just everything that had lead up to THAT weekend, well, it was going to have long term lingering effects on the Hufflepuff. He was still reeling in what he had witnessed in first year with the portal and the Monster, so all this was piling up.

Not to mention all the stresses that came with being a teenager (which had been another series of confusions events, one after the other) being a prefect, all his other extra curriculars, Home Tree to Picketta....

Holy flaming salamanders just HOW was he going to survive next term with all this on top of OWL's?!

At least the play this term had gone off without a hitch. No curses, no destroyed sets, no nothing...just anxiety ridden rehearsals that only found brief distraction when he got wrapped up in his performance as Glindo, the Good Warlock of the South. He had even managed to hit all the notes in his musical numbers and even showed off his dance moves with the additional choreography Professor Myers had let him add to show off his self proclaimed triple threat status...and as he ruffled his hair while making his way through the large doors leading into the Great Hall, he actually found himself missing the glitter - though there was still the lingering fleck or two that would come loose and he reckoned it was going to take the rest of the summer until it was ALL gone - and he was kinda hoping he could have an excuse to don his bubblegum pink suit again sometime. Or the baby blue one, which apparently brought out the color of his eyes. Both were comfortable, as they ought to be since they were made FOR him.

But he tried to push all these distracting thoughts aside as he maneuvered his way over to the Hufflepuff table, only to stutter step at the threshold because standing RIGHT there was none other than Abey with that silky mop of brown hair atop his head, which brought a grin to the soon-to-be-officially-a-fifth-year's face. He felt the need to hug him right then and there because there was still SO much GRATITUDE for saving Scamander, but he found himself instead just smiling at his best mate - though for a hot second he was a bit surprised that he was not over at the Slytherin table with Junia as he tended to do at these feast. Not that he was complaining. "Come on," he grinned with a small nod of the head towards the Hufflepuff house table while also tugging on his Gryffindor's sleeve lightly.

And now...he needed to take care of house table greetings. Which was going to be a freakishly awkward adventure from start to finish. Starting with Maddie and Emmalyn deep in conversation with one another. Ugh. He still had not lived down the posters - Faith made sure of that - and Maddie's adoration was now in direct juxtaposition to Emmalyn's crush and the horrid wiggle worm feeling still nestled in the pit of the blonde's stomach that he couldn't quite seem to shake entirely since their conversation on the fourth floor corridor. "Hey, Emmalyn...Maddie," he greeted as he came to a stop behind them and happened to overhear a few bits of their conversation. "I'll be seeing you at quidditch camp, Emmalyn," he said with a small smile before turning his attention briefly to Maddie. "Try not to get so worked up over points, Maddie. They aren't the most important aspect of life here at Hogwarts, you know?" Perspective was a thing when it came to those.

Of course his eyes were also quick to find Diandra among his housemates present, and he still had not yet properly thanked her for what she had done for him in Dufftown. The details were still fuzzy there, honestly, so he wasn't even sure he COULD say thank you properly because of that alone. But, ya know, it made the whole leather jacket incident seem like it had happened ten billion and five years ago. "Diandra, hey," he waved to her. Apparently 'hey' was a thing right now. "I...need to properly thank you, somehow, for Dufftown. You know...pulling me to safety and stuff..." Even if he, in the next instance, had crawled away in search for his newt who, as it turned out, Abey had been holding on for him all along. "And...er...I didn't really have time to get anything for you now but, um, I could take you to a stationary store over the summer? You could like, you know, pick out a few things and I could get them for you? Or something?" Did he sound as lame to everyone else as he felt?

Probably.

Which was why he was ruffling his hair, maybe to shake some of the awkward free like those few flecks of glitter, when his eyes found Hattie next. "You gonna be at quidditch camp this summer too?" he asked her. "Be neat if the whole team were there together, you know? We could work on our dymanics and stuff so we are even more of a unit next term." As so, you know, they didn't come in dead last. Yeah, he could say that it was all about the experience and yada yada...but his gentle competitive nature wouldn't entirely allow that. Yes, there was always next season and yeah it had all been a learning experience...but Derf couldn't shake the feeling they all hadn't REALLY been able to show their true potential. More team bonding ought to help with that. He shoulda done more of that over the term and showed Isa some of his thoughts there while ACTUALLY executing some of them.

And he sorta felt bad dragging Abey around with him, but he had just one more stop to go before they could sit down. Coming to a stop beside the seventh year, Derf fished around in his pocket for a poorly wrapped box and offered it to Scarlett. "Congratulations, Scarlett, on graduating and stuff."

Honestly, Hattie would be glad to get home. Although she loved Hogwarts, and considered it her second home, she'd been on edge since coming back from Dufftown. She had this sinking feeling that it wasn't the end of whatever was going on, and it made her nervous. So, being able to have a good summer, and spend some time relaxing would be good. Next year, her last year, was going to be really important, and she really didn't want anything ruining her chance at the exams, but for now she was just going to enjoy the last feast.

She smiled at the two younger students. That's what she loved about feasts, that she got to see and talk to a range of ages. It was lovely. "Uh.... I don't think anyone stole them" She mused, answering Maddie's question. "I think Emmalyn is right.... someone probably got some more points. But Slytherins aren't that bad, and we should be happy for them. Sore losers are not what we want to be here in Hufflepuff" And most of her friends were Snakes, so she would always try and defend them.

And then she waved at Diandra and Scarlett. It really was lovely to see so many of her house mates here. They seemed low on numbers, and tht was sad, but she was sure they'd have a lovely time.

Oh. And Derf was here too, with a gryffindor. She waved at the Gryffindor, kind of recognising him, but not being too sure who he was. But Derf was talking to her. So she probably should reply. Oh. Quidditch camp? "Hmm. Maybe. I hadn't considered, but you are right. It'd be good to all be there" She hadn't been sure if she was going to try out next year, wanting to concentrate on her exams. But she was sure it would be good to have a break and play. "Shall have to see if I can squeeze it into my busy summer schedule" Sure she was sure she could, but she would have to see.

As she finished that last line directed toward Emmalyn, Maddie turned to glance down the house table. Why was there only eight or so kids here? Didn't they want to EAT?! Scarlett had arrived, and Maddie tossed her a wave as the girl took a seat and dove right on in to the juice. "Congratulations on your graduation, Scarlett!" she said. "What'cha doing next?" Maybe Maddie should stop talking long enough to eat something, too. The candy she'd stashed in her pocket wouldn't last her the entire train ride, and she was starving!

Then there was Derf, a guy Maddie really needed to talk to before they parted their ways for the summer. "Hey, Derf," she said, nodding as he instructed her not to worry so much about house points. "It's not really the points. It's that cup. I want to say we won it just one good time before I graduate!" Which was many terms away, mind you. "But I understand what you're saying. I'll remember that for next year." *squirm* *fidget* "Uhh, Derf?" ... "About those posters." ... "I just wanted to formally apologize. I was trying to boost some house spirit for Hufflepuff, and I guess I went about it in the wrong way. Forgive me?"

She turned toward Hattie, who was also encouraging her not to worry so much about house points and standings. Merlin, Hufflepuffs were really nice people, weren't they?! "It's not that I'm not happy for the Slytherins. It's just, I want a turn winning the house cup, too." Didn't the Snakes win last year, too? She shrugged, deciding to drop the matter. It was no use worrying about it right now anyway. It was the end of the year, and the house cup wouldn't be given out for another year anyway.

Peeves was BOOOOOOOOOOOOORED!

What was up with all the long faces? Didn't the studentsies know this was supposed to be a party?!?! And what's a party without food - or entertainment?

Lucky for them, Old Peevesie had both covered!

He hovered midair over the Hufflepuff table."Hiya, Fluffypuffs!" he yelled, chucking some eggs he stole from the kitchen at everybody in sight. SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

"Who's EGGcited for an EGGsellent summer?!"

OH. OKAY. Thank Merlin and his all-knowing beard. There was a Derf.

The longer Abra had been waited, the more his eyes had drifted back towards the Slytherin table. He wasn't going to go over there of course - not only was there all of the same reasons as before, but also the issue of the Quidditch results that he was still refusing to confront himself with - but his eyes had just automatically tried to seek out Junia, as a means of grounding himself. Neither of the twins had arrived at the Hufflepuff table yet either, so Junia was the only directly-related family member in the room.

But yes. Derf. The Derf had arrived. Abra smiled in relief, and also because he was happy to see him. He nodded his greeting and followed after him at the sleeve tug, correctly predicting that his sociable villain-prefect would have places to go and people to see before settling down at the table.

... Which turned out to be MEGA awkward (though that wouldn't have been surprising even on his best day) given where some of the conversations seemed to head, but also even with the perfectly non-awkward conversations. Just being around people he didn't know so well seemed to be enough to set off his awkward vibes. Abra just sort of tried to hang back and not look like he was being nosy (even though he also sort of was) or really be noticed at all (for once glad he wasn't as tall as Tayo already was) and to be as unobtrusive as possible. Apparently diverting his attention, but actually not at all, Abra seemed to become very interested in the enchanted ceiling as they did the rounds.

........... Which meant getting an egg directly to the face. Thanks, Peeves.

"I hate Poltergeists. So much. So. Much."

He had more reason to than most did, and the egg was reALLY just adding insult to injury. Abra turned bright red, mortified over his predicament. His eyes were squeezed shut because of the EGG that was in them, meaning he couldn't see if anyone else had fallen victim, and he blindly tried to get to his wand for cleaning reasons without getting more egg onto his robes, or on anyone else.

Things were finally starting to pick up at the house table, which was a welcome change for the busy 12-year-old. Downtime just wasn't Maddie's cup of tea, so to speak. She'd pretty much either talked to or waved at everybody at the table. That is, everybody except the poltergeist who just insisted he go out the school year with a bang.

...or a splat, that is.

Maddie gasped as a few eggs cracked and splattered on the house table. Had this been water balloons, she'd be all up in this game. As it was, though, raw eggs just wasn't her thing. "Ruuuun!" she shouted, warning all her house mates of the sudden attack. "Or take cover!" Like a ninja!witch, she dashed out her seat and under the house table.

It wasn't foolproof, but she wasn't wide out in the open either.

Maddie was under the table just in time to hear the headmistress start her speech. She must have shoo'ed Peeves away, too, because the second year didn't see any flying eggs. From underneath the table, Maddie heard that applause for Slytherin was due. She clapped. Slooooowly. Not because she was a sore loser, but because Slytherin had won everything. Again. She cleared her throat then without another word, took her seat at the house table.

As Scarlett's eyes scanned the crowd for Benton, she noticed that someone had stopped beside her. It was...Derf? She blinked up at the prefect, a huge smile breaking on her face as he handed her a small little present. WHAAAA??! Awww, that was so sweet! "Thank you, Derf!" she said with a grin, beaming as she began to open it. Her own brother hadn't even been that thoughtful. TSK TSK.

She then turned to the young girl, Maddie she was pretty sure her name was, and shrugged her shoulders. "Going to university in London," she told her simply. To study...something. That was TBD. So she just took another sip of her pumpkin juice, her attention floating up to the Headmistress for a moment as she began her speech. That was...all she had to say about the red hawk matter? And the possessions? 'Oh yeah, we had some possessions this year, no big deal...' WHAT?

Maybe it was better that she was headed out of here...

Oh, and now Peeves was here. She would NOT miss him. She rolled her eyes, pulled her wand out, and lazily deflected an egg as it came towards her.

Gaston set his jaw and hastily ran a hand across his eyes. That visit to the Ravenclaw table nearly shattered his heart into a million pieces, and he still had two more house tables to visit and the hardest goodbyes of the night ahead. He approached the Hufflepuff table, trying not to look like he was about to cry, but he knew he probably failed miserably on that front. "Hello, everybody," he greeted the students. He tried to smile, but his lip wobbled and fell. Looked like that wasn't going to happen, so he gave everyone (Maddie, Emmalyn, Hattie, Diandra, Abra, Scarlett, and Derf) either a wave or a nod of acknowledgment as he passed.

Before he could deliver his parting gifts and words yo the seventh years, something more urgent caught his attention... namely Abra trying to get his wand with egg all over his face and his eyes closed. Oh, dear! He sidled over to the boy; one hand instinctively moved toward his wand, but then he remembered what happened the last time he tried to help this kid with Derf around. Instead, he held his hands behind his back (just in case somebody got any ideas about swatting him again) and said, "Abra... hey, it's me." He was sure his accent would be a dead giveaway, even if the poor kid couldn't see him. "Will you let me help you get that egg off your face?"

After that minor crisis was dealt with, he proceeded to seek out Scarlett."Hello there," he said, managing a smile for her for a few seconds before his sadness set back in."I just thought I'd stop by to give you this and say..." He pulled another black box containing a quill of the same color and a graduation card from his jacket pocket and gave them to the girl, but what could he say that he hadn't already said to several other students tonight? "Congratulations, Scarlett. Having you in my classes has been a delight, and I have no doubt you'll succeed in your future endeavors." Granted, he wasn't a Seer - that was Laurel's job - but he had faith.

Three houses down, just one more to go... and it just happened to be the one Gaston was dreading most: his own.

Funny how difficult it become to navigate the world with egg in your eyes. Also strange how it sort of stung, even though eggs had always seemed to Abra to be on the milder end of the spectrum of foodstuffs.

Getting to his wand was harder than he had anticipated, given how he was down one of his five major senses, and also trying not to draw more attention to himself or worsen the egg situation. Merlin. Why? Why him? Literally, actually, why was it always him?

Naturally, he was quite grateful for the help when it was offered.

"Professor Marchand?" Was that 'me'? Really, there was nobody else it could have been; not only did he have a distinctive accent, but Abra knew his voice pretty well by that point. "Yes. Please. Yes please." He might have gone on to point out that it smelled weird, but then some of the - yolk? white? whatever it was, it was gross - somehow managed to drip into his mouth, and he gagged instead. It was probably a good thing, because he was also all set to go on about how this was perhaps the WORST thing that could have happened IN FRONT OF EVERYONE and that he was PRACTICALLY DYING and at the very least going to go BLIND from EGGSHELL to the EYEBALL... which was perhaps just a touch too dramatic.

Poltergeists. Hated them. Hated them all. As if Abra didn't look like an idiot every other day of the week/month/year/century/millennium/whatever-came-next, it apparently had to be even worse on special occasions. BECAUSE OF THE POLTERGEIST.

Where was the Hogwarts Express? Could it just pick him up now, from right here? Abra wasn't above begging.

While she talked with Hattie and Maddie, several more students made their way to the table and took a seat. "Yeah, I will miss my mom, but my dad won't let me come home." She just left it at that. It was supposed to be a celebration and, with the Dufftown events so close and all, she didn't want to add any of her own personal mess to the feast.

Then she looked up and saw Derf. Her heart paused for a moment before thumping like a crazed rabbit. When he didn't mention the corridor, she breathed a large sigh of relief. "Hi Derf. Happy end of term." Whatever that was supposed to mean. Either way she was beyond thankful he was acting like nothing had happened. Especially since he would be at the same camp as she would be all summer.

Just as she was about to say hi to more of her housemates, Peeves decided to grace them with his presence. She ducked and dodged the eggs, hoping to not be hit. A second shower of the day was not on her to do list.

"Hi Professor Marchand. I hope you have a happy summer." She gave him a big smile and wave before turning her attention to the piles of food before her. The food. That was one of the things she would be missing over the summer. Camp food was always a wild card.

Text Cut: Abra

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Funny how difficult it become to navigate the world with egg in your eyes. Also strange how it sort of stung, even though eggs had always seemed to Abra to be on the milder end of the spectrum of foodstuffs.

Getting to his wand was harder than he had anticipated, given how he was down one of his five major senses, and also trying not to draw more attention to himself or worsen the egg situation. Merlin. Why? Why him? Literally, actually, why was it always him?

Naturally, he was quite grateful for the help when it was offered.

"Professor Marchand?" Was that 'me'? Really, there was nobody else it could have been; not only did he have a distinctive accent, but Abra knew his voice pretty well by that point. "Yes. Please. Yes please." He might have gone on to point out that it smelled weird, but then some of the - yolk? white? whatever it was, it was gross - somehow managed to drip into his mouth, and he gagged instead. It was probably a good thing, because he was also all set to go on about how this was perhaps the WORST thing that could have happened IN FRONT OF EVERYONE and that he was PRACTICALLY DYING and at the very least going to go BLIND from EGGSHELL to the EYEBALL... which was perhaps just a touch too dramatic.

Poltergeists. Hated them. Hated them all. As if Abra didn't look like an idiot every other day of the week/month/year/century/millennium/whatever-came-next, it apparently had to be even worse on special occasions. BECAUSE OF THE POLTERGEIST.

Where was the Hogwarts Express? Could it just pick him up now, from right here? Abra wasn't above begging.

Gaston nodded when Abra said his name, then immediately remembered the poor kid wouldn't see that. Nice job, professor, he inwardly berated himself. "Yes, I'm here," he replied, already reaching for his wand. He was very glad the boy accepted his help; they really needed to get that egg out of his eyes! Hopefully Abra's permission would be good enough for Derf and history wouldn't repeat itself, but just in case, Gaston held his wand hand as high as possible.

"Okay, I'm going to vanish the shell pieces, then I'll siphon the rest off you," he explained. He felt it was important to go over what was about to happen since the poor boy couldn't see him perform the spells. "It won't hurt; just hold still..." He aimed his wand, intending to perform a nonverbal spell but decided against it. He wanted Abra to know when the spell was performed and not worry that he would perform some other spell that the ones he said. "Evanesco." Then he performed a quick, "Tergeo."

"There, all done," he said, lowering his wand. "Is that better?" He hoped so; it would be awful if the poor kid had to spend the feast in the hospital wing!

Text Cut: Emmalyn

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birchwoodmom

While she talked with Hattie and Maddie, several more students made their way to the table and took a seat. "Yeah, I will miss my mom, but my dad won't let me come home." She just left it at that. It was supposed to be a celebration and, with the Dufftown events so close and all, she didn't want to add any of her own personal mess to the feast.

Then she looked up and saw Derf. Her heart paused for a moment before thumping like a crazed rabbit. When he didn't mention the corridor, she breathed a large sigh of relief. "Hi Derf. Happy end of term." Whatever that was supposed to mean. Either way she was beyond thankful he was acting like nothing had happened. Especially since he would be at the same camp as she would be all summer.

Just as she was about to say hi to more of her housemates, Peeves decided to grace them with his presence. She ducked and dodged the eggs, hoping to not be hit. A second shower of the day was not on her to do list.

"Hi Professor Marchand. I hope you have a happy summer." She gave him a big smile and wave before turning her attention to the piles of food before her. The food. That was one of the things she would be missing over the summer. Camp food was always a wild card.

Gaston's head whipped around as he heard someone else call his name, spilling his dark hair into his eyes. Despite his overwhelming sadness, it was impossible not to return Emmalyn's big smile with one of his own. "Thank you, Emmalyn," he said. "I'm sure I will; I'm looking forward to spending the summer with my wife and daughter. What about you? Do you have any summer plans?"