Open Getting Acquainted

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel was sitting in a manner he could only really describe as sprawled, spread out loosely on one of the over-stuffed couches of the common room. The furniture might be mismatched and a bit on the shabby side, but it was plenty comfortable. It all felt very appropriately quaint and charming, which suited his slowly forming opinion of kiwi sensibilities. He'd been unpacking in his office, but hadn't lasted halfway through his luggage before he'd become terribly bored, and a tad sore for company. Hoping to avoid having to interact with anyone under the age of 20 for as long as possible, he'd made a beeline for professor's common room from the greenhouse.

He hadn't really had a chance to interact with his new colleagues yet, curious about what type of folk they'd be. The Headmaster had seemed very elegant as the feast, if a tad formal, as he supposed she should be. He hoped the staff here knew how to let their hair down a little from time to time. Lighting the fireplace with a lazy flick of his wand in an attempt to chase away the lingering August chill, Angel scanned the room, craning his neck over the back of the couch. A drink by the fire sounded perfect right now, surely they would stash something to drink in here somewhere.

 

[Lillian Sword]

Lillian was settled and happy at Hogwarts by now, accustomed to the patterns and challenges of teaching, although she hadn't yet had any disciplinary problems in her classes, beyond a couple of students not paying the attention her subject deserved, but she remembered keenly how difficult she had found it to get used to the place when she'd first started. With the new teachers this year, she'd decided to try to be as welcoming as some of the more established professors had been to her when she was new, despite the fact that starting conversations with people wasn't her natural inclination.

So when she entered the professors' common room, intending to take a short break from her early-semester lesson planning, and found one of the new professors there, she decided to take the leap. She had been curious about Angel Castillo when she'd seen him at the professors' meeting; he seemed to cultivate a particular impression that she found intriguing. She approached him where he sprawled by the fire, and took up a far more neat and awkward position in an armchair nearby. "Hello, I'm Lillian, History of Magic professor for the younger years. Thought I'd offer my welcome to the school."

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Elvera has had her first class for the day, the first class of the year and she had the rest of the day off. she probably should go back ot her shop to keep an eye on it. but she was wanting to get back into the castle life. she made her way to the professor's common room a plate of muffins in her hands left over from the lesson, the fourth years has not been as hungry as she had thought and she had decided to leave the rest in the staff common room. when she finally made it all the way to the ground floor she opened the door with her back and walked in backwards. she had been a little surprised that she had not dropped the muffins though all the stairs. when she turned around she saw that there was already a couple of people there. one of them she hd met before a while ago. the other one she was pretty sure had been referred to a new professor though she could not remember his name or what he taught. "Hello, It is Lillian right, from the park, and sorry, i didn't catch your name, but welcome" she said hoping that the man would introduce himself, she too was a new teacher. but she felt like she wasnt really one due to the fact that she had taught at the school for many years before leaving to raise her girls. "I am Elvera, would you like some muffins? my fourth years weren't hungry" she added. she had made them that morning and it seemed a shame letting them go to waste.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel was still scanning the room, a bit less hopeful on spotting any teacher's secret stash when the door opened. He rolled his head along the couch, shooting the new arrival a friendly smile as she took a seat, somewhat stiffly, in the chair near him. "Consider me welcomed, Lillian," He said, sitting up a bit straighter to face her. Lillian's posture didn't exactly scream at ease, and Angel did his best to come across as relaxed as possible. Before he could introduce himself, the door opened a second time, another woman entering, carefully balancing a plate as she backed in.
Angel was pleased again, when the woman made a beeline for the fireplace, peering curiously at the plate. "Well nice to meet you both, Elvera, Lillian," He said with a nod to each. "I'm Angel, new Herbology teacher," He considered shaking hands, but Elvera's hands seemed full and Lillian, while friendly, was about as relaxed as a bow string and Angel was half worried he'd spook her by moving to fast. He settled on a wave, wiggling his fingers cheerily before reaching for one of the muffins. "Oh, I think there's always room for muffins, thank you" he said, trying not to drop crumbs onto his shirt as he leant back making himself comfortable. "So, you two been here long enough to know all the good gossip yet?" He asked. He was kidding, for the most part, but if they happened to want to dish, then he wouldn't complain. A school like this had to have some juicy secrets somewhere.

 

[Lillian Sword]

Lillian smiled and chuckled lightly at Angel's response, pleased to see he had a sense of humour and didn't mind her clumsy attempt at a greeting. She was about to say more when the door opened again, and waved instead as Elvera came in. She'd been interested to see her here too, and had hoped to catch up since their interesting conversation in the park. "Yes, indeed, good to see you Elvera." Making muffins and other baked goods for the students early in the semester was a sweet gesture Lillian had known several of her colleagues to take. She might have considered it herself but for her utter lack of any baking ability . . . but then again, she suspected some students would look upon it as an attempt to buy their favour, and she wouldn't have that. Regardless, she would happily accept one from her new colleague. "I'd love a muffin, thank you," she said, taking one from the tray. "What flavour are they?" Lillian settled back in her seat with her muffin, making a conscious effort to relax as took a bite. She frowned a little at Angel's question; Lillian didn't really approve of gossip, but then, she hadn't talked to her colleagues other than Matt and Kahurangi enough to really know any. "I've only been here a couple of years myself," she told him. "I'm still getting to know the school and its occupants."

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Elvera realised how awkward the situation was. lillian seemed a little tence though she did start to relax a bit and angel seemed very relaxed, maybe that was the reason she always had muffins or some other food with her. it was an easy ice breaker. "welcome Angel. the grounds are lovely. I am sure that you will like the greenhouses." she said as she offered him the plate and he took a muffin. before she offered it to Lillian "They are blueberry" she said. she had started the semester with a very classic flavour some weeks she made some more experimental flavours. but you could not go wrong with blueberry. it was a little weird. her daughters had spoken about their professors. Selene lad liked professor sword. and enjoyed her class, however, heliana has found her boring. Elvera was under the impression that it was more the subject not the professor that helia had found dull. She set the plate on the coffee table and took a seat on one of the other armchairs taking one of the cakes with her. "I am afraid any gossip I might have had is about ten years out of date. I am only just returning back to here after leaving to raise my girls. she said. Her abilities may give her a little bit of an advantage when it came to knowing things, but she had rules, and inkling of anything that she may have picked up since returning would only be shared with the person it was about unless it was going to cause problems that would otherwise be avoided. although to be honest she had kept her walls rather firmly up. that would be something she would ease herself into slowly or risk being hit over the head with a tsunami. "so what were you doing before you decided to teach" she asked, wondering what had led to him becoming their new Herbology professor.

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

Hezekiah Mowry had been sitting in a dark corner in the resting. He had found that he was more tired than he should be recently, and it was probably because of the fact that he spent so much energy avoiding Monty. The two had a falling out over Rama, which he should have expected. Monty loved students with all his heart, and Hezekiah was just doing this for a job. Children were not his strong suit, and he was not interested in building healthy relationships with them. He was much more interested in helping them become potion makers that would help cultivate creativity in the Potions community. While he was resting, his nose woke him up. He smelled muffins, and his stomach rumbled loudly at the scent. The werewolf was more sensitive when it came to scents.

Hezekiah stood up and slowly walked over to the coffee table, where there were several professors around. The things he did for food. As he got closer he realized the muffins were blueberry. Even better. Hezekiah took a seat int the floor in front to the coffee table and took a muffin quickly before anyone else could take another one. As Elvera asked her question to the new Herbology professor, Hezekiah took a bite of his muffin.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel had to wonder how big the school was if Lillian had been around a few years and was still getting to know things. But then again, he thought, considering Lillian, maybe she wasn't the most social person. "Well, maybe we can learn together? I'm sure there's a few tricks you guys can teach me. Though I've unfortunately already learned about that trick stair in the main hall on my own," Angel gave a depreciating laugh, hoping a little harmless humiliation on his part might help Lillian relax a bit. "Oh well, welcome back Elvera, I'm curious how much has changed in the last few years," He said, trying not to frown at the comment about the school's lovely greenhouses. Angel figured it was best not to reveal his distaste for his office situation too early.
Caught off-guard by Elvera's next question, Angel inhaled a bit sharply, choking on an ill-timed bite of muffin. "Research, mostly,"He managed to choke out, clearing his throat a few times and waving a hand dismissively. "My family was involved in potion ingredient production back in the States, but I got a bit of wanderlust. The uh, flora here in New Zealand is fascinating," Angel paused when another person joined them, silently sitting on the floor and taking a muffin. Glad for the subject change, Angel glanced between the two other professors, eyebrows raised, before greeting the new arrival, "Uh, hi there." He tried with a bemused smile.

 

[Lillian Sword]

Lillian was very curious about Elvera having been a professor here before; it was something she hadn't known about the woman and she was vaguely surprised it hadn't come up during their brief conversation in the park. It made sense that she'd left upon having children, though; Lillian could imagine the struggle of trying to teach and then go home to younger kids, and her sister had certainly made some dramatic changes in her life when Arthur was born. "Would that be Selene and Heliana?" she asked, though it was fairly obvious given that they shared a rather unusual surname. She nodded to Angel. "Yes, the staircases can play some surprising tricks, on occasion. I'm fortunate that my classroom's only on the first floor." As it was, Lillian had had some difficulties when venturing upwards to visit Kahurangi in her office or exploring. "Have any tips for managing them, Elvera? Your classroom being about as high as one can get."

Lillian didn't miss Angel's startled and evasive reaction to Elvera's comment, and she wondered about the root of it, but decided not to press it, for the moment, since it clearly made the man uncomfortable . . . for some reason. "Where else have you traveled to?" she asked instead. Lillian enjoyed travel herself, and her researches had taken her to wide-ranging places in the past. She blinked as the older years' potion professor - Hezekiah, wasn't it? - sat on the floor between them without comment or preamble. She suspected he was also somewhat antisocial, having never spoken to him, but this behaviour was simply odd.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Elvera watched as another professor seemingly appeared from where he was hiding in the corner and came over to take a muffin. he was incredibly quiet and didn't say anything just sat against the table and ate. She was going to introduce herself to him when Lillian spoke up commenting on her girls "Yes that is them." she said. not sure what else to say, from what they had described about the classes Selene had enjoyed history of magic. however, heliana had found it boring she had never been one to spend time sitting and reading.
the herbology professor explained about getting stuck in one of the fake stairs. "you get used to where things are over time. until you don't even have to think about them" she said. if you asked her where the fake stairs were she would not be able to tell you. after so many times using the stairs it was so much second nature to skip them it was almost she forgot they existed. the next two questions both came together one from Lilian and one from angel. "I haven't quite seen most ofthe school yet. but the main change is the people. most of the staff have changed so i will have to get to know everyones names" she said in response to the first question. "Some have always been there. professor styx used to teach me herbology in first year, and professor Kingsley has been around for a good while too" she said in response to Angels question. To lillian's she thought for a moment. "Some of the secret staircases knock a couple of flights off. there is one behind the picture of the picnic on the second floor that comes out in the sixth floor even though it is only two flights long" she said. she wasn't sure how that had been possible but she wasn't going to complain. when she had had her office on the second floor she had created a door between them to enable her to pass between which had also made heading to the great hall and outside a lot easier.
Angel seemed to avoid her question about where he had worked before and what had led him to teach. She had not been that curious about it and was hot going to press matters further. bur she did wonder why he had avoided it. if she had been more curious she could have looked into ti. after all she had more resources available than most people did. she wouldnt look for it.

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

Hezekiah did not really care for the conversation that was going on. However, he did find that it was important for him to introduce himself once the time came to it. The new professor seemed to be hiding something, which he found interesting. Hezekiah had his own secrets, so he understood what the feeling was like. Elevera did not seem to press on, which even he admired. When the new professor greeted him, Hezekiah simply nodded at the man and continued to eat his muffin. He had just woken up, so he was not really in the mood to introduce himself. However, he was hardly ever in the mood to introduce himself to anyone if he was being honest with himself.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

When it seemed like the new arrival on the floor wasn't going to join the conversation Angel shrugged it off. Place like Hogwarts was bound to attract an odd bunch. He listened as Elvera gave out some castle navigating secrets, though really on the tip on the secret passage seemed overly useful. Not that he had much need to be up on the sixth floor yet, but it was interesting to be aware of. Maybe he could use it to surprise some students sometime.
He raised his eyebrows at the comment about some of the older professors, remembering some names from the staff meeting. "Styx, he's the terrifying looking guy, face that looks like he'd jinx you for breathing?" Well, if Styx had been teaching long enough for his students to be parents and teachers themselves, maybe he'd earned the sour face already.

He glanced at Lillian's face as she asked more about his past, figuring she was probably just politely interested. It wasn't like he didn't have some good stories share anyway. "Mostly to Mexico and the US so far. 'Fraid I haven't travelled nearly as much I would like to, though I did spend a wonderful Summer in a little port in Cozumel last year. Always wanted to go to Europe or England," He said with an indulgent smile, hoping he might be able to steer the conversation towards Lillian's English accent.

 

[Lillian Sword]

Lillian nodded as Elvera confirmed her guess about the twins. "They're good girls," she said, a little awkwardly, never entirely sure how to talk about other people's children. "Selene in particular is very interested in history." Heliana was less so, but that was to be expected in a subject like Lillian's; she tried her best to make it interesting, but she knew most students were biased against classes that didn't include active magic. She chuckled at Angel's depiction of Professor Styx, though he wasn't far wrong; Lillian hadn't properly talked to the man much herself, but she was well aware that many of the students were terrified of him. "That is a long time," she said, impressed. She nodded again as Elvera described the secret staircases. "Oh, that sounds very useful. I've been meaning to go look for some of the secret passages; the architecture of this place is so interesting, and it tells you something about the priorities of the architect, where they wanted to place their shortcuts." Lillian had always been fascinated by the secret places when she was at Hogwarts, and the interest had not waned with age, though hopefully she'd be better at finding them these days.

Lillian really didn't know how to react to Hezekiah, but the others seemed to be mostly ignoring him, so she followed suit. If he wanted to talk there was nothing stopping him from joining in, so she supposed she'd just assume he didn't. "Ah, I see," she said to Angel, though making a mental note of the fact that he'd now both implied that he'd done a lot of travel and not enough. "I've mostly been around Europe myself, working with different museums and historical sites. I'm from England originally, obviously."