Open It Moves Too Fast

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Twenty years. Somehow, it had managed to pass in the blink of an eye. She had been fresh out of uni desperate to snap up any teaching job that reared its head, and then suddenly she had been two decades older, senior staff and head of house at her own old school. Kahurangi still didn't quite know what to do with any of that. But she was here, living a life she had never planned for, but somehow still the life of her dreams. Twenty years. Occasions like this needed to be marked.

Technically the anniversary had passed in the middle of the previous school year, but Kahurangi hadn't wanted to think about putting on a party when there was so much going on all the time. No, she'd saved it for the proper holidays, and was glad for the decision. She'd had enough time to clean the house properly and put on a nice spread, plenty of nibbles and drinks for anyone who wanted them. No long dinner table or elaborate speeches, just a nice quiet evening with friends, to mark and celebrate her career milestone. With snacks laid out and some quiet music playing softly, Kahurangi kept one eye on the floo and the other on Hinemoa pretending she wasn't inching closer to the snacks as they waited for the guests to arrive.

Out of Character:

Thread is open to anyone who's been school staff alongside Kahurangi for any extended period of time, especially back in the early days!

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Twenty years... Angel couldn't imagine doing anything for twenty years. Until he'd moved to Aotearoa frankly he could barely imagine doing anything for one year. But a lot had changed since then he supposed, though it didn't mean he was any keener to think about how long his own teaching career had been going on, choosing to only count his tenure by the number of Slytherin's trophies and nothing else.

"Hello hello," Angel called out brightly as he and Amanita stepped through the fireplace, straightening out his jacket and checking both him, his daughter, and the wine had all made it in one piece. "We come bearing gifts," he said, hefting the small crate of wine he'd pulled for the occasion, before sheepishly wiping his shoes off with a hushed apology after a quiet chiding from Ama. "I figure 20 years deserves the good stuff," he said, moving over to give Kahurangi a sort of awkward one armed hug one can only manage with coworkers. Friendly coworkers, Angel didn't bring the good wine for just anyone (Josephine wouldn't let him), but none the less.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Ama was thrilled. They were going to a proper grown up party. And she'd been invited. Maybe not expressly, but as good as, she had checked. She still had to hold Dad's hand as they took the floo, but she quickly dropped it when they arrived, aware that Hinemoa could be lurking nearby and see it.

"Dad, wipe your feet," she hissed, as they stepped clear off the grate, pointedly wiping her own shoes before following her dad further into the room, already knowing her way around after enough stayovers with Hine. "Congratulations on your anniversary, Whea Kahu," she said, knowing Dad likely wasn't going to and keen to get it over with quickly so she and Hine could go play.

 

[Hinemoa Josephs]

With her mum working there, Hinemoa had practically grown up at Hogwarts. It was a weird thought that there had ever been a time when her mum didn't work at Hogwarts. Still, twenty years sounded like forever, so she totally understood why her mum wanted to throw a big party. Grown ups never seemed to care much about their birthdays anymore, but this had to be at least a little bit like a birthday. A birthday for your job...

Still, Hinemoa knew it would mostly be boring grownups drinking wine and having boring grownup conversations. There wasn't much for her to do tonight except snack, and hopefully... her thoughts were interrupted by the rush of the floo and Hinemoa bounced up to greet the new arrivals, a small handful of lollies mysteriously finding their way into her pocket in the process. "Amaaaaaaaaa!" She said brightly, bouncing over to her best friend and giving her a tight hug.

 

[Professor Yvonne Dubois]

Yvonne had been more than happy to celebrate Kahurangi's teaching anniversary when she received an invitation. It was alarming when she paused to count how many years she had been at Hogwarts and found it to be alarmingly close to double digits. Most days she still considered herself a newbie since she constantly compared herself to Elvera but she had seen many other professors come and go. Some had even been students when she was teaching. It was bizarre to see the proof of time marching onward when you stayed in one place and had the same routine year after year. But those were heavy thoughts for what should be a celebration. She arrived to the other professor's home in a puff of smoke and Yvonne made sure to brush off her long yellow coat before stepping inside. "Hello!" she called out as she joined the party and smiled when she saw Hinemoa and Amanita. She had always been silently relieved when her offers to babysit had gone unfollowed up on. She liked the older kids she she taught but she could remember when those two where still babies. Now they were well past walking and talking and she found it easier to engage with them. "I brought a deck of tarot cards if you want to play with them later." she ofered with a wink before waving to Angel and turning to Kahurangi. "Congratulations!"

 

[Ignacio Morales]

Ignacio didn't know Kahurangi well, at least not enough for him to consider her as more of a friend than a colleague, especially given his interactions with her were limited to seeing her occasionally around the castle and in staff meetings, but he nevertheless had accepted the invitation to her celebration of twenty years as a professor. It was out of a sense of support and also admiration for the woman, because from what he had gathered the job of an educator was never complete nor easy, and it was thus was no small feat to be teaching for twenty years, let alone in a place such as Hogwarts which Ignacio assumed had far more surprises and variables than any school in the muggle world. Kahurangi made it all seem so easy and like many of the other professors had an air about her that she had her life together, a fact he had wanted to celebrate for and with her.

He had arrived via floo powder shortly before his wife, reaching to take Ruby's hand to help her step through the fireplace more easily. When he was settled he looked over to where the professors were congregating and smiled before approaching Kahurangi. "Hey, congratulations. These are for you." Ignacio greeted, reaching to offer Kahurangi a bouquet of native flowers hand picked from his garden.​

 

[Maria Madison]

As the years had passed, gradually layer by layer Maria had managed to peel back the walls she had built between herself and her colleagues. It had taken time and effort, but she now felt perfectly comfortable visiting Kahurangi for a party, none of her old fears so much as flickering to the surface. Whoever she had been in her past, her colleagues knew her entirely for the woman she was now. With a gift in her hands - a wall hanging she thought would look nice in Kahurangi's office - she stepped through the floo, pleased to see she wasn't the first to arrive. She smiled cheerfully at her colleagues as she made her way in, giving Kahurangi a quick greeting and handing over her gift before stepping back to let others carry on their conversation.

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

The house quickly filled with hustle and bustle as guests began arriving, and Kahurangi greeted them in delight. She was pleased to see Amanita here, glad that Hinemoa wouldn't be too bored surrounded by grownups all night, and greeted her parents with polite hugs. "I'll never say no to the good stuff." She said cheekily, accepting the wine. "Thank you. And thanks for coming." She added brightly, though her attention was quickly caught by Yvonne's arrival, chuckling lightly at the offer to Hinemoa as she set the wine down on the table. "Well now it's just a matter of time before she starts using those to predict I'll give her later bedtimes and dessert for dinner." She said with a chuckle, greeting Yvonne with a hug too. "Thank you! It still feels surreal." She was relieved to have emptied her hands as Ignacio, Ruby, and Maria all arrived in quick succession, accepting the flowers and wrapped parcel with a broad grin. "Thank you!" She hugged each guest in turn before moving to find a vase for the flowers. "There's kai and drinks on the table, help yourselves!" She said, filling a vase with a flick of her wand and setting the flowers in comfortably.

 

[Ruby Morales]

Hogwarts wasn't exactly a place known for its staff functions, and as a result Ruby hadn't spent all that much time with Ignacio's colleagues over the years. She had heard plenty about them of course, but beyond putting faces to names she couldn't tell anyone much about them. That didn't mean she wasn't going to accompany her husband though, looking forward to a night out with Vivian and Tristan looking after the twins. She accepted Ignacio's hand gratefully as she stepped out of the floo and did her best to hide how awkward she felt surrounded by strangers, standing by his side as the people who actually knew one another conversed.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Proper greetings dispensed with and now that she'd confirmed that Dad had actually said congratulations and given Whea Kahu the gift like he was meant, Ama was now free to have fun, returning Hinemoa's greeting with an excited noise of her own, rocking on heels so they didn't lose their balance with the force of Hine's hug.

She perked up at the mention of Tarot cards, glancing at Hine to see what she thought of the offer. "That sounds wonderful, thank you," She offered politely, hoping they came with instructions or something though she knew the cards had really pretty pictures on them at the very least. Maybe they could come up with a game even if Hinemoa didn't know how to use them, which Amanita reasoned she probably didn't considering Ama didn't either, which was fine. "Do you wanna go to your room or outside or something? She asked, weaving her way with her friend between various adult's legs. "Who's that?" She added under her breath as a few more adults arrived, some of home Ama didn't recognize as professors from the school.

 

[Hinemoa Josephs]

Hinemoa couldn't hold in a small giggle at Amanita acting so polite with the grown ups they had both known their whole lives. She couldn't imagine ever acting so proper. She looked around at the question, shrugging. "We should sneak some snacks while they're distracted first." She pointed out, glancing again to make sure her mum was totally occupied greeting guests. Looking over the faces of those guests, she tried to figure if any of them were familiar. "I think I've seen some of them around the school, and some of them might be people's dates or whatever..."

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Kingsley dusted herself off as she stepped out of the floo and into the lovely home of her colleague. She was happy to see that the party was off to a good start, happy that so many had arrived to celebrate Kahurangi's years of service. The professor greeted her colleagues awkwardly as she tried to juggle the bouquet of flowers she had in her hands, looking for the right place to put them to rest. "Here's to another twenty years!" the professor declared as she finally spotted the Ravenclaw Head of House amid the group. She was eyeing some of the delicious looking food as she finally was able to relieve her hands of the floral arrangement.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Ama rolled her eyes fondly when Hine suggested they could sneak a few snacks before going to play. "You don't have sneak anything, it's out there to be eaten," she said, though she couldn't help but lowering her voice, following Hinemoa's glance to also confirm everyone was occupied. "Unless we're not supposed to it eat it," she added, looking over at the food spread suspiciously. She knew there were a few things at home she wasn't allowed to eat or drink and while she'd been tempted to try and climb some of the higher shelves to sate her curiosity, she'd also spent enough time with Auntie Ella to know somethings were best left out of your mouth for your own good.

"Maybe some of them are new professors," Amanita added, not wanting it to be too apparently she was feeling put out that Hine might know more school staff than she did; they'd spent practically the same amount of time around the castle when they were little enough, so she would know too. But the school was hiring all the time. "You think they'll all be around when we go?" She asked thoughtfully surveying the room even as they skirted closer to the snack table, hoping they looked casual enough to not draw attention. @Hinemoa Josephs