Professor's Meeting 2047

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty never felt fully qualified to be holding meetings among the professors and staff. He wondered why anybody would choose to listen to him - to take him seriously when he obviously struggled to stand up and address a room full of adults, in spite of many of them being his juniors. Decades of practice helped him conceal his anxiety to a certain extent, but any professor who had been working at the school longer than two years knew exactly to what depths he had once fallen.

It didn't matter. He tried to convince himself of this as he stood in the professor's common room, waiting for everybody to arrive so that he could begin the meeting. At least - much to his relief - the meeting ought to be brief. There were introductions to be made, and a few other basic points to outline, but nothing that would take a great deal of time to deliver. Plates of sandwiches and snacks had been brought up as usual by the house elves and placed around the room. Monty knew what he had to say. Everything was ready. Yet still he felt flustered and sick. Would this feeling ever go away, he wondered? And if it didn't - if he felt this way no matter how many meetings he held - what should he do?

 

[Jon Phillips]

Jon was giddy as he returned from his winter break, feeling like a new person after the fun he had for his birthday, and wanting to continue this feeling and start the school year with optimism and positivity. He was eager to begin teaching classes again after the time away, and didn't expect this would lead him to be one of the first to arrive for the professor's meeting, but when he did show up to realize he was the first professor there he smiled wide at the happenstance. Being early had not been his intention, but he did not mind it at all and was pleased that he at least had the first choice of places to sit down in the room. He chose one of the comfiest armchairs and sat down, still smiling as he looked over to Monty. "Hey! How's it going?" He greeted his friend, wanting to make small talk before the meeting began, and wanting to see how the man had been since the last time they spoke during the holidays.​

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi had had a pretty good holiday, all things considered. With the rugby season wound down for the year she had taken up swimming as something to do to keep busy, and was finding it a pleasant way to force herself to step away from her books. She had decided that this year was going to be a good one, no matter what. A smile on her face as she made her way into the common room for the professors meeting, Kahurangi was pleased to find that she had made it early. "Kia ora*." She said cheerfully to her colleagues as she took a seat, trying not to let herself retreat and clam up as she usually would. "Good holidays?"

*Kia ora - Hi

 

[Aspen Faye]

This was the happiest Aspen had been in a long time. Losing someone was always painful, and Aspen knew she'd never be as happy as she ever was with Ellie, but she couldn't help but be excited for her new job, and what the new year was going to bring. There was a huge smile on Aspen's face as she entered the Professor's Common Room, marveling at what it looked like. She had never been there as a student, it felt almost taboo to be in there, especially with seeing the faces of the Professors that were once her Professors, but she kept the smile on her face as she found a spot to sit, for once, at a loss of words to say; though she'd found that had been happening more often than not.

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon had quite a relaxed break from teaching and was more than ready to come back for another year, especially now that he had a bigger responsibility on his shoulders with the addition of teaching three more years. The man was excited for it however and walked into the professor's common room with a wide smile on his face. He took a seat in one of the armchairs, beaming at the new faces that had entered the room. He wondered what they would be teaching as the older year's Ancient Runes professor spoke. "Hello!" he exclaimed to her. "Yeah, holidays were good. How was yours?"

 

[Sarah Harrington]

Sarah had been back up in the Astronomy tower since she arrived at the school preparing and preparing some more. This year she thought was going to be a good year as she made her way down to the Professor's Common Room. She hadn't found herself in the space often, but with Monty leading the meeting today she was sure to make it in time despite the numerous stairs she had to climb down to get there. Arriving she smiled at the Professors and found a seat near Jon. Sometimes she felt old seeing all the young faces of the other Professors. She remembered when she went to Hogwarts in Scotland all the Professors had been ancient. But here much younger people seemed to enjoy teaching.

 

[Madlyn Ateara]

Over the years, Madlyn had thought long and hard about working on something else rather than be magizoologist's aid. And for those years that she wished to find another career path, the giant stubbornness in her couldn't bare to make the switch. Not only that, she couldn't bare to leave her only child alone with her significant other. It's not like she didn't trust Chayton, Madlyn had all the faith in the world in him. It was just much more complicated in their situation, thankfully the complication lessen and Chante grew up. That gave her a bit of freedom to split from her old ways and apply for a teaching job at Hogwarts. The very same school who gave her chance in a fair education while her parents had worried other places would treat her differently. Madlyn had a lot to thank this school for, and yet, there were still old wounds that can't be forgotten. She would have to deal with those issues later, but for now the tall witch enter professor's common room. Madlyn, being the tallest out of anybody in the room stood out for more than one reason. Madlyn took a good at all their faces, every one of them brand new to her. "Professor Kinglsey, she still teaches here right?" asked the woman straight up who stood passed seven feet tall.

 

[Jacqueline Styx]

Jacqueline Burke entered the room for the professor's meeting right as a new professor was asking a question about her daughter-in-law, or her former daughter-in-law. "She does." the woman said shortly. She glanced around the room, looking for Kalif and not seeing him yet. Things were going quite well between the two of them. She shrugged and took a seat as she waited for the meeting to begin, not sharing anything about her own break since she had spent it with Kalif. She was well aware of how much he liked his privacy.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Returning to Hogwarts a married man felt a little strange to Matt, especially when a lot of his colleagues had been at his wedding. He had a happy smile on his face as he entered the Professor's common room for the meeting, happy to see his coworkers again. Matt was excited for this new year, eager to teach a new batch of students. It helped that his daughter would be in his class this year, as well as his stepdaughter October. He knew he would have to be careful not to give them any special attention in class, but it was still nice to see them there. He made his way over to Landon and Kahurangi, giving them both a smile. "Hey, ready for the new year?"

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

The past year had been almost entirely about the elections for Grace, so it was nice to return to her job without those other responsibilities on her shoulders. Grace was proud of her aunt for winning, but she was also more convinced than ever that a Ministry career wasn't the thing for her. That was the exact opposite of what her father had hoped for, she knew, but she couldn't really find it in herself to be sorry. Grace enjoyed teaching a lot, and she was happy to be back here and get to teach the new first years. Though she still felt a little like an imposter as she entered the Professor's common room. She was twenty now, but still the youngest in the room. She half-expected to be mistaken for a student, even a year after she began working here. Looking around the room, her eyes fell on another young woman who couldn't be that much older than her. Hesitating for only a moment, Grace headed over to her. "Hello, you're new right?" She asked, hoping she wasn't mistaken.

((to be clear, she's talking to Aspen))

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

Hezekiah Mowry was still very new to the school, so he walked into the Professors Common room a bit later than everyone else. Plus he was tired, so he kind of slept a little longer than usual. But, Monty nor did anyone else need to know that. He took a seat on a comfortable, cushioned chair and crossed on leg over the other while keeping his head down. He wanted people to not stare at him because of his scarred face.

 

[Lillian Sword]

Lillian still felt like an outsider among the professors of Hogwarts - not that she had made much of an effort to make contact with any of them. This year, now that she had settled into the patterns of teaching here, she should try to get to know them. This was far from her natural inclination, but it would be worth doing. Hopefully. Lillian was pleased to find Matt and Kahurangi, the two people she'd talked to most, already present, particularly Matt;she hadn't seen much of him at his wedding, and had hoped to congratulate him. "Hello," she said, joining in the tail end of the conversation, "I certainly hope so. How about you, Professor Alcott-Ward? I'm sure the name change will take a bit to get used to."

 

[Aspen Faye]

Aspen had never really felt awkward before. She usually felt confident and at ease in a room full of people. Maybe it was because it was a work place environment, and dealing with Preston previously was just one person...but this was a lot of co-workers. Aspen felt as if she should say something to someone, but also found herself quite happy to just sit and watch; she was sure Ellie would have been proud of that notion. However, a young face approached her and Aspen grinned at the lady. "Yes! I am. I'm Aspen!" She said, standing up to greet the lady.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Kingsley hoped she had timed things just right to arrive just before the meeting would actually begin. Her colleagues were friendly, which she normally appreciated, but she wasn't looking forward to answering questions about her break. Filing for divorce somehow didn't seem the appropriate conversation, not when there were weddings to be discussed and new professors to be welcomed. It would certainly bring down Amy mood, not that she would actually share that news. Instead, she'd be forced to lie, and with Monty in the room who knew some and Jacqueline, who she didn't even know how to label these days and who would know far more, it just didn't seem right. Slipping in, Cyndi cursed to herself as she realized she was still too early. Professors conversed throughout the space. Plastering a smile on her face, Professor Kingsley found an empty seat well away from her, from Jaqueline. And she waited.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty visibly relaxed as Jon came in, greeting him in a familiar way that reminded him he'd started taking himself too seriously. "Very well, thank you," he said. "And yourself?" As more and more professors began to arrive, Monty engaged in small talk with as many of them as he could, relieved when turned to each other and he could take a moment to breathe before he began. Once everybody was present, he raised a hand to attract their attention. "Hello! Thank you. Thank you for coming. I'm afraid Katherine is otherwise engaged today, which means you're going to have to put up with me. Excellent. Well, first of all, we are welcoming this year four new professors - raise your hands if you'd like, so we know you you are." Monty nodded to them in turn as he introduced them: "Madlyn Ateara and Aspen Faye - both Hogwarts New Zealand alumnae, by the way - will be taking over Care of Magical Creatures. Hezekiah Mowry will be joining me in the Potions department, and Jodie Wedd will be teaching Arithmancy to the lower years. Please do make these lovely people feel at home... or prank them mercilessly - it's all really the same to me." A slight smile began to creep its way onto Monty's lips; he disguised it by pretending to clear his throat into his hand. "The upper years of Herbology, by the way, have been taken on by the indefatigable Landon Carter; congratulations and good luck with that."

Turning the page, he pressed on. "Ah - we're looking for volunteers this Halloween to help with the decorating of the hall. If you think you might be able to lend a hand, come and see me please in a moment. There isn't anything in it for you, but on the plus side, you won't have to wash all of the dishes after the feast without magic, which is your alternative. And finally, if you've any suggestions for decorations, food, music - anything you can think of, really - we would love to hear them; so if you could get brainstorming amongst yourselves now, that would be fabulous. Anybody have any questions or concerns?"

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha couldn’t really believe how late he was going to be for the professor’s meeting. He settled at his desk to do a little prep before the class began and fallen asleep. When he’d startled himself awake from almost falling off his chair he noted the time and immediately jumped out of the chair and rushed to the professor meeting. He stepped into the room and nodded his apologies to the front of the room as he found himself a spot. He’d been working at the school long enough that he was sure that it wasn’t going to be the worst thing if he had been just a little bit late for this meeting, though he had only just managed to get in during the beginning of the deputy headmaster's speech. ​