Closed Staff Secret Santa

Maria stayed quiet as the room slowly filled up with her colleagues. It had never been like her to be timid around her peers, but something about being in the presence of people who had seen her at her worst just made everything harder. She supposed this was a mental hurdle she would need to face eventually, and participating in events like today's exchange would help her take controlled steps out of her comfort zone. She hadn't gotten Professor Kingsley as her giftee, however, and Professor Styx was nowhere to be seen, so Maria felt safe enough to relax a little. Her fears could wait until another day. Focusing on the person she had been assigned to buy a gift for, Maria got up and approached the young flying professor, giving the woman a gentle smile. It shocked Maria a little that someone so young could be a professor, but clearly the woman was doing a good job. "Merry Christmas, Grace." Maria said with a smile, handing the professor a soft parcel. She had spent some time picking out a nice, elegant scarf, in the colours of Grace's favourite Quidditch team, and she hoped the woman would like it.
 
Matt watched as the room filled up, and it was nice to see so many his coworkers together. He was surprised not to spot Monty in the group, but figured he may have had other plans and had no time for Secret Santa this year. He had seemed rather distracted the last time they talked. Matt's head turned to Katherine as she started to speak, smiling as he listened to her. She always seemed to know what to say when speaking to a group of people, which was something Matt admired about her. Once Katherine had finished talking, she made her way over to where Matt and Jon were sitting. For a moment, Matt thought he was the one receiving a gift from her, but it was Jon. Matt was curious, but also didn't want to leave his own recipient waiting. He had spotted the man walking in earlier, so knew exactly where to find him. With his gift bag under his arm, he made his way over to Professor Mowry. One of the newest colleagues, and one Matt hadn't talked to much yet. He felt a little strange as he handed over his gift, as his own husband was very sensitive about his lycanthropy, but Hezekiah's note had read that he liked things that joking about the condition as well as alcoholic beverages, so Matt had picked a wine bottle with a wolf on it. It was pretty clear it was a bottle of wine even inside the gift bag, but he hoped the other man wouldn't mind the lack of surprise. "Hezekiah, here's your gift." He said with a nervous smile, handing it over.

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Grace remained where she was as more professor and staff members entered the room. She spotted the person she had drawn, and took mental note of where he was hanging out so she could find him easily later on. Professor Alicastell spoke to them, and then started off the gift giving by handing a present to Professor Phillips. Grace hoped she had done a good job in buying her own gift, and that Professor Haden would like it. It wasn't very original, but the man hadn't given many different options to choose from. She was about to make her way over, when the counsellor suddenly stopped in front of her with a gift. Grace had almost forgotten she would be receiving a gift as well today. "Oh, thank you Maria." She said, giving the older woman a quick smile. She opened the parcel, and her smile turned into a grin as she looked at the beautiful scarf. She recognized the color as the color of the team she had played for, and she could tell Maria had put a lot of thought into it. "I love it, thank you." She said sincerely. "I'll be wearing this during flying lessons next year." She said with a smile, then glanced at the gift in her own hands. "I should deliver my own present, but thank you so much for the thoughtful gift." She was a little embarrassed by how often she was thanking the other woman, but she really appreciated it. Still holding the scarf, as well as her own present, she headed over to were Misha was. But he was talking to the history professor, and Grace took a step back to wait until he was done with that gift exchange.
 
It took a bit of awkward moments before the Headmistress spoke. Aspen wasn't entirely sure what to do, and though, yes, she did want it to be a party, she also didn't want to step on her bosses toes so early in her employment. As everyone got up to find their secret people, Aspen stood up excitedly as well. It took her a moment to find Landon Carter, but she skipped over to the blonde haired man once she did. "Merry Christmas Landon! Here's your present!" Aspen said as she handed over the gift. "I was going to offer you a dance as well as a present, but there's no music, I feel like there should be music too." Aspen mused, looking around the room.

Fanged Geranium
More Info
 
Josephine was glad when the gift exchanges began, as she wanted to see what she would receive. She was also happy to hand over her own gift, and decided that was the first order of business for now. Professor Ateara was a new professor at Hogwarts, and Josephine hadn't really had the chance to talk to her yet. She spotted her and headed over to the tall woman. Her outfit was simple, but nice. Josephine wouldn't have paired it with jeans herself, but she appreciated the matching hat and sweater. It was always nice when people put that little bit of extra effort into their appearance, especially at social events. "Madlyn, hello." Josephine said as she stopped in front of the Care of Magical Creatures professor. "I hope you like this gift." She said, handing it over. Madlyn had asked for wind chimes, and Josephine had visited a lot of stores to find ones she thought were suitably stylish. She just hoped the other woman agreed with her choice.

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Despite her nervousness, Lillian found herself growing excited as Katherine announced the gift-giving. This should be fun, hopefully. Lillian had spotted her target recipient already present when she'd entered the room, but before she could approach she was intercepted by Misha. She hadn't talked to him much thus far, but he seemed like a friendly person. She smiled at him, and returned his greeting as she accepted his present to her. "Merry Christmas, Misha. Thank you." She felt a little odd unwrapping a present standing up on the spot, but it seemed to be the done thing, so she did it. She took the wrapping off carefully, habitually reluctant to tear pretty paper, and vaguely enjoying the challenge of removing it without doing so, and soon the spine of a book revealed itself. That was far from a surprise, and by the cover it seemed very much the sort of thing she'd like. Lillian's smile grew wider as she flicked briefly through the pages, recognising familiar sites from new angles. "Oh, that's lovely, thank you so much." She noticed the young flying professor approaching them hesitantly, and stepped back. "Looks like I'd better leave you to receive your own present," she said, turning round to look. It took her a moment to spot Kahurangi again; she seemed to be waiting to give someone else a gift, so Lillian hung back rather than approaching immediately.
 
Misha wasn't sure if the other professor was going to open the gift right at that very moment, but it appeared that she was which made him very excited and eager. He did hope that she would like it. It had taken him a bit of time to find something that he thought she might like, but from her expression once she'd open it make him think he'd probably got something that was right. Misha couldn't help the wide smile that erupted on to his face. He nodded, "No worries, I hope you enjoy it," he told her. The man hadn't known what she might like, but the fact she taught history gave a little away. He knew that what people taught didn't define much of their personality but he did really like charms, and it was a safe bet that she enjoyed history so that was why he'd given that. He glanced around when the woman said that he was about to get his own present, "Thanks for the heads up," he smiled at her before looking towards the young flying professor. He hadn't seen her about too often, but he knew her from the other meetings they had as professors. "Are you looking for me?" The professor asked her with a bright expression, this was such an incredibly fun event. Misha had signed up the moment he'd learned about it, and this was definitely solidifying to him why it was a good. He didn't often interact with the other professors which was disappointing but this was the perfect time to start.​
 
Landon wasn't sure why he was nervous for the Christmas celebrations at Hogwarts. He had always enjoyed the Yule Ball and seeing everyone get dressed up, but this year he managed to get himself involved in the Secret Santa among the staff, and Landon was unsure how it was going to turn out. He didn't know anything about the person he was given and he had spent a long time trying to come up with something to give her. He arrived to the professor's common room with a blue box in hand, a gold ribbon tied neatly around it. As the headmistress spoke, he held it tightly, scanning the room to find the professor his present belonged to. Eventually, everyone began to approach the people they needed to and Landon felt lost as he moved around to try to find her.

Landon was stopped in his tracks however as the Care of Magical Creatures professor spoke to him and he was glad that she did. He had definitely seen her around before and he beamed at her. "Hey, Merry Christmas! Thanks!" he exclaimed, taking the Fanged Geranium she was giving him. "Fanged Geraniums are so cool. I don't own any right now, so thanks for this! I'll add it to my plant collection." Landon smiled at it, wondering what he should name it as he listened to the professor speak. "Yeah, makes it a bit of a weird party if you ask me." Landon nodded, agreeing with her. "They should play some festive music to make it a bit more... Christmassy. But I appreciate the offer anyway. We could perhaps dance another time." he told her, a wide smile on his face.
 
Hezekiah was very nervous. He did not know who had him, but instead of worrying about the situation he decided to go head first and walked to Professor Sarah Harrington. "Um...hello. Here is your gift." he said as he handed her the cardboard box. It was easy enough to open. It was a simple tea set with a teapot and two cups. The design was white and blue, with little wolves on each side of the teapot. He was kind of obsessed with being a werewolf, and he wanted to make sure that all his colleagues knew. Just so they would be able to avoid him if they hated people like him. Hezekiah was approached by a man and handed a gift. Hez simply smiled and accepted the gift. Of course he opened it, and it was a wine bottle with a wolf on it. He chuckled. "Thank you so much. I love it. What did you get?" he asked the man curiously.
 
Heath smiled when he saw Ignacio. He patted the man on the back. "I'm good fam, what about you?" he asked his coworker happily. He and Ignacio worked together a lot. He felt like he got along with the man well. Heath was not always a loser to be around. Soon after greeting his friend, the Headmistress began to speak. He listened and continued to look around for his person, but he did not see him yet, which was a bit disappointing after everyone began to exchange gifts. However, his boredom did not last long because he was approached by the Head Librarian, Stefan, he believed. It was shaped like alcohol, which made him excited. "Hey. Merry Christmas to you to, Stefan. Thank you so much!" he said as he stood up a little from his chair to take the gift from the man.
 
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Jon watched as his fellow professors and different members of the hogwarts staff arrived, feeling more excited to get the gift giving underway with every passing moment. He listened to the headmistress as the woman spoke, pleased when she announced the gift giving could commence. He looked around the room for his giftee, though was interrupted before he could stand up and give his own gift when none other than the headmistress herself held a neatly wrapped gift towards him. He smiled as he accepted the gift, taking a moment to appreciate the wrapping before he opened the gift and it was as he saw what was inside the box that he felt his jaw drop. "Oh my god." He said, resting the box on his knees and picking up the sweater that was inside, looking at the smaller details in shock at how perfect it was. Ugly sweaters were one of his favourite things about celebrating christmas, and this sweater specifically would be perfect for when he traveled to Boston to see his mum and her family as the temperature would surely be cold enough. "Thank you!" He exclaimed, looking up from the gift and to the headmistress happily. "It's perfect!" He added, folding the sweater back up and placing the lid back on the box, knowing he couldn't fawn over his gift for too long as he needed to give away the gift he had brought with him before continuing. He stood up, carrying both the box his sweater was in and the gift for his giftee as he walked over to her. "Hey Aspen, this is for you, happy holidays!" He said after being sure Aspen wasn't busy, shuffling everything around to give her the gift he had brought for her. ​
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A small Lion toy, with a hand made christmas hat and santa suit and sewn onto it.
 
Ignacio nodded at Heath's response. "I'm good too, excited to give this gift." He said, holding the gift up in his hands slightly. It had been an idea he found and then made into a reality all with Ruby's help and expertise, and he felt confident the person the gift was meant for would appreciate it. He at least hoped they would, knowing that if he received it he would be more than happy with the effort that was put into it. As the headmistress spoke Ignacio listened, waiting until a few people had already exchanged gifts before he stood up to give away the one he brought with him. He approached Matt with a smile, making sure the man wasn't too distracted talking to people before he spoke. "Merry Christmas, Matt." Ignacio said, handing the gift over happily.​

Gourmet chocolates that are christmas themed, some are shaped like presents and santa hats, and others have 'Merry Christmas' written on them.
 
Professor Kingsley watched as the gift giving began and glanced towards her recipient. It was her former mother-in-law who she'd noted hadn't said anything to her or acknowledged her when she had arrived in the room. Cyndi sighed and figured she might as well get this over with. She knew she should have expected that. It wasn't like she had made an effort to seek out the woman for a chat since her divorce to Cameron had been finalized. She hadn't seen Monty come in and figured he wasn't participating. That was just her luck. The woman knew she needed to make more friends about the staff. It had never been a troubling task before, but the idea of becoming friends with anyone new felt overwhelming at the moment. Standing amid the pleasant din of others exchanging gifts, the Ancient Runes professor moved with her big back towards the Transfiguration professor. "Hi Jacqueline" she began, a bit quietly. "Happy Christmas" she added as she held out the large Christmas bag.

A set of shelf sized vanishing 'closets' in a dark wood that can be used in homes or anywhere really.
 
Madlyn tried to concentrate on what the headmistress was saying, for a minute there the tall woman tune out because she was too focus on the gifts she brought and wonder if the librarian (who Madlyn haven't met yet) would like them. Sure, the blanket was used and quite big, but she sure a shrinking charm can come in handy. As well as the other stuffs she crafted and made herself, Madlyn didn't worry much for the size, rather that woman would like what she made. It's not every day Madlyn decides to be creative and make something for someone who wasn't a part of her family. Lost in those particular thoughts, Madlyn didn't realize the headmistress had already stop talking and the gift exchange was underway. Madlyn was only aware when someone approached the tall woman. "Hello, Josephine right?" Madlyn took the gift and peeled away parts of the wrapping paper to see exactly what's inside. The woman eyes light up, nodding at the smaller witch. "Thank you, I love wind chimes, I'll hang this one up in my room right away," Madlyn said already considering a spot next to the window. "I guess it's my turn then, you can come with me if you like," the taller woman offered as she stepped already heading in Irene's direction. She wasn't far from them, Madlyn stopped right in front of her handed over the blanket. "It's inside, you can keep the blanket if you like and a shrinking charm will do. Merry Christmas," the tall woman dropped the gift in her arms.

Sling
Baby Mobile
Dreamcatcher
 
Matt was still a little nervous about his gift choice for Hezekiah, as he knew Kyle would hate to get something like this. He watched as the man opened it, and was relieved when he laughed. He smiled back at him, clearly relieved. "Oh, I'm glad you like it." He said. "I haven't received my gift yet." But just as he said it, he noticed the groundskeeper approach. He gave him a quick smile, and then realized he was handing over the gift to him. "Oh, well. Here it is." He said to Hezekiah with a chuckle before turning to the other man. "Thank you Ignacio, Merry Christmas." He said as he opened it. He grinned at the sight of the chocolates. "That's wonderful, thank you so much! They look delicious." He said, clearly happy with the present. He already knew he would share them with April and October, and was sure they would appreciate it too.
 
As Professor Sword pointed her out to Professor Haden, Grace smiled a little uncertainly. "I hope I'm not interrupting." She said, glancing between the two professors before focusing on Misha. "I was looking for you." She said, holding out her present. "Here you go, I hope you like it." She hadn't known what else to get the older man. "Oh, and Merry Christmas." She added with a small smile.


A gift pack with small bottles of different types of wizarding booze. Ranging from classics like Ogden's Old Firewhiskey to more uncommon drinks.
 
Josephine was glad the other woman knew her name, and she nodded in response. She wasn't that nervous about the woman's reaction to her gift, as she had asked specifically for wind chimes. Josephine had no doubts about her taste, but was still gratified to see the taller woman's reaction. "I'm glad you liked it." She said with a smile. So far, no one had approached her, so she didn't mind joining the woman as she gave Irene her gifts. Josephine couldn't imagine the librarian would enjoy the presents much, as they were for her babies and not for herself. Though perhaps she had asked for that? Josephine had never really had the urge to have a child herself, so she supposed she couldn't really understand it. "Those are lovely." She commented, as she knew that was the right thing to say in the situation.
 
Aspen beamed when Landon thanked her for his present. She thought that Fanged Geraniums were cool as well - she loved the fact that they were living creatures with their own personalities. Aspen nodded her head enthusiastically when Landon agreed with her lack of music statement, grinning when he said they'd have to dance another time. "You're on!"
Another Professor, Jon Phillips approached her, and handed her over her gift. Aspen excitedly opened it, her eyes widening when she saw it. A small toy lion, with santa suit and hat on it. With a huge grin, Aspen threw her arms around Jon in a hug. "Thank you thank you! Oh it's so wonderful! You're so wonderful!" She said, bringing herself back and looking at the toy again. "I'm going to name it Phillip! After you!"
 
"You're welcome," The librarian replied with a smile. Stefan was quite pleased when his gift seemed to be well received by the man and he nodded not wanting to engage too much further with him. He wasn’t sure what else to say and it was clear the man had a present to go give to someone else. The librarian just gave a last smile and stepped away, he liked the fact they were able to spend time doing this and that for once the staff like him had been included in it. He thought he could spot one of the professors looking towards him but he wasn’t certain of it and he didn’t want to just randomly assume someone was looking to talk to him or go talk to them. He didn’t really know an awful lot of these people super well, even if he’d been working at Hogwarts for a long time, longer than some of the professors. Stefan knew that someone in this room had a present for him but he didn’t want to move randomly over to someone and start asking them if they did. That would be rather rude, he’d just wait and marvel at how cool the sights in front of him were, how nice it was to be included and interacting with all of the other people he worked with. ​
 
Jacqueline raised an eyebrow as her former daughter-in-law approached her with a large gift bag. The transfiguration professor had not made any effort to seek out Cyndi since the divorce, and she had no plans to do so in the future, whatever might be in the gift bag. Cyndi had been the one to ask for the divorce, and in the process had hurt her eldest son deeply. She pursed her lips as she opened the gift, immediately recognizing them as vanishing shelves. The woman smiled slightly as she did enjoy the gift. It would be perfect for her office. She looked up at Cyndi, some of the coldness disappearing from her eyes and her voice. "Thank you, Cyndi. They are lovely." she complimented the other woman. "Happy Christmas. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a gift to deliver." she said, moving away from Cyndi.

Jacqueline circled the room until she found Bryce Chamberlin. The transfiguration professor didn't know him well, but she recognized his face. She smiled slightly as she handed him an envelope. "Happy Christmas." she said.

Inside the envelope are two box seats to a Macaws game of his choosing.
 
Kahurangi felt awkward, hovering gift in hand as she waited for an opportunity to deliver it. She didn't want to interrupt anyone else, but there was very little to do as she waited. To her relief she didn't have to wait long though, and once Stefan was no longer occupied she made her way over to him, smiling warmly. "Hi, Stefan, merry Christmas." She said happily, handing him the parcel. Book shopping for a librarian was difficult, but Kahurangi hoped she had settled on something that would both interest Stefan, and was unlikely to already be in his collection. She had returned to her favourite muggle book shops from when she attended university, and happened upon a book about the Library of Alexandria, diving into the history of how it operated and surviving texts that were thought to have been part of its collection. Kahurangi had gone looking for muggle books as she thought he was likely to have fewer of those, and one about a library seemed especially perfect.
 
Professor Jodie Wedd entered the room where they had all decided to meet for the staff secret santa. She had been looking forward to this and had spent quite a bit of time learning things about the person that she had been given. She thought that she had come to the best decision after all the work she had done and she had spent a lot of work on it at the end of the day. As she walked through the crowd of staff she smiled to all of the other professors as she walked past them, and eventually found her way to Aeon. "Hey!" She said, apparoaching him. "Merry Christmas!" She said, handing him a plush version of his Animagus form which was magically enhanced to do some random dog things every now and then. "I hope you like it!" She said with a smile.
 
Professor Harrington decided now was the best time to find her Secret Santa but first Hezekiah Mowry another Professor came up to her and presented her with her gift. "Oh thank you!" She said before opening up the packaging and seeing the wolves on the tea cups and and teapot. It was nicely done and she was really impressed. It was a good time to replace the set she had in her office so this was perfect present. "This is wonderful, you should come up sometime and have some tea!" She said to her fellow Professor. "I have to find my Secret Santa, but thank you so much!" She said holding up the wrapped present in her hand and a smile on her face. "Maria Madison?" She asked coming up to a woman. She had a present wrapped up in her hand, it was a small pink book called The Little Dictionary of Fashion by Christian Dior. It was an older book but she hoped the woman would really it.
 
Madlyn worked kind hard on her gifts, so she hoped the woman did like it. She face Josephine again, looking down because of the obvious height differences. "Oh yeah, I do. It's been a while since I've had one, I could make them but I was always busy in my last post," Madlyn admitted at the same time she pulling out the wind chime. "But I'm not a big fan of the craft, aiding creatures is more my tune. How long you've been here?" Madlyn asked Josephine.
 
Oh, awkward. What Aeon had thought would be a cool, original gift turned out to be not so original when the man saw a co-worker handing over a similar item to their giftee. Changing things last minute was typically something the Transfiguration professor was good at - he transformed items every day, after all, but this was a little too last minute to come up with anything else now. He supposed that it wasn't totally necessary to have to make his gift more unique. It was still something he thought his recipient would have liked, regardless of whether someone else was also getting something of the same sort of thing. Unfortunately, the woman he was waiting to see was presently engaged in giving over her own gift, and so Summers waited. Not for too long, it seemed, as the whole interaction he sat watching from afar ended rather abruptly. Before he could make a move, however, one of the fresher-faced professors popped out of the crowd. It didn't take a genius to realise her gift was for him. "Hey! Wow, is this me? I love it, thank you!" Aeon grinned, taking hold of the plush husky. Okay, so it looked like practically any other husky in the world, but he liked to think it was supposed to be his animagus self. And, woah, it was even animated. Even better! This was definitely taking up a spot on his desk.

After a brief idle chat with Jodie, Aeon figured it was about time to hand over his own present. Excusing himself, the man walked over to the Gryffindor Head of House. Despite being a former Gryffindor himself, he didn't have as much interaction with the woman as he would have liked. Her son had dropped by his office the previous year, the thought of which prompted a reminder that perhaps he should check back in on where Jacob was with his feelings on animagi, but that was something for another time. "Merry Christmas, Kingsley!" Aeon greeted with a broad smile, gift box held out for her to take. Now that he'd received his own gift, he wasn't sure if Cyndi would like hers. Nothing he'd seen so far was as cool as a charmed husky plushie.

A teapot resembling a lion. Roars when the tea is boiled!
 
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