The Start Of A New Term [Open]

[Belle~Ambroise]

Her rush to get to her book forgotten as she smiles and replies to Fai, "Well, do you know how people feel different in situations? For example: a prince could be rich but still miserable, or a stable hand is poor but happy with his life? I didn't feel like I fit in such an extravagant place and it didn't feel right. My father understood my concerns and agreed to let me transfer and I chose here." She ends with a small flourish of her arms and a smile, already in love with the school and it's grounds.

[Fai Flowright]

Listening to Belles explanation, Fai had to admit that it was not something he had personal experiance with. But, he had read the Prince and The Pauper during one of the holidays, so it wasn't an unfamiliar concept. Instead of letting himself dwell too deeply on things he could personally compare the situation to, Fai simply nodded and gave her a little grin "Your father sounds like a nice man - well, I do hope you enjoy it here! The castle certainly does have an air of mystery about it....there are lots of little quirks to discover that make up for it's less than extravagant appearance."

Fai glanced around to see if there was anyone nearby who could confirm this little fact and grinned a little wider as he spotted a prickly young man who he enjoyed teasing...the reactions were not so funny as Watanuki (but then no one flailed like that particular student!). "Isn't that right Arthur? Why don't you tell Belle about the shortcut you stumbled upon!" he tried to draw the younger Ravenclaw into the conversation - everyone, unless they were really really strict about sticking to the rules, was bound to have discovered a shortcut or passageway at some point, so he figured Arthur would have too.

[Belle~Ambroise]

Belle looked curiously at the person Fai had addressed. He looked normal; slightly messy hair, a little on the short side of by the way he was sitting, and he looked a little grumpy. The only non normal looking thing about him were his large fuzzy eyebrows. They didn't bother her, but she deffinately noticed them.

She spoke excitedly, looking between Fai and the other boy with interest, her eyes had a sparkle in them, "you have found a passage in the castle?"

[lia]

Arthur jumped when his named was called and slowly turned to scowl at Fai. It was just his luck that he would be spotted just before he finished eating.

On instinct, he opened his mouth to deny Fai's claim, but stopped once the other student began to talk. The way her eyes sparkled with excitement at the thought of a secret passage... Arthur didn't have the heart to lie to her.

He looked away, blushing, and muttered, "I... suppose I have, yes. It leads to a lovely place that no one else tends to visit. I like to go there and read when the common room is too noisy."

[Fai Flowright]

Fai looked pleased to hear he'd assumed right; he himself had discovered a few shortcuts in his previous 4 years (...although, some of them were so convoluted, that they were hardly shortcuts and would make one later to class than simply taking the usual staircases), and he was hoping to uncover more this year. He found it interesting, and he was a very curious person so after the first accidental discovery he made, by leaning against a bookcase to catch his breath and finding himself flipped onto a room the other side, he made a point to keep a look out for more.

"See, that sounds nice! It's rumoured that there are lots of little shortcuts and passageways to discover - some will even get you to class in half the time, if you know where to look." he continued cheerilly.

[Shinra Kishitani]

Shinra laughed, nodding as he poked at his food with a fork. "Well, I guess it's too much of a tradition by this point. But it does seem needlessly cruel, how the new students agonize over it." Gesturing at the Hufflepuff table, he added, half-kidding, "I was worried about that last girl; it seemed like any second she would keel over and faint."

[Belle~Ambroise]

Belle smiles softly, her imagination already dreaming up the boy's hide away for reading, she snaps out of her daydream to ask Arthur, "is it inside the castle or outside, your special place I mean....." Her cheeks flushed due to her excitement at the thought of such a magical place. After hearing what Fai said, it increased her excitement and her urge to explore her new school.

[Yellow Bosque-Verde]

Yellow looked up at the tall boy who had spoken to her and nods, putting on a carefree smile.

"I'm fine. Just a little surprised..." She quickly begins to put some food on her plate, trying not to look too out of place in the wizard world. "I've never seen food just appear on the table before."

[Remy Fournier]

Remy glanced around from his seat at the High Table, his eyes bright with curiosity. All of the students seemed to be enjoying each others' company. In a way, it reminded him of his school days, but at the same time it was completely and utterly different. And he wasn't just considering the new perspective he had from this table. He was still getting used to this Hogwarts place; it was almost nothing like Beauxbatons Acadamy back in France. It seemed ancient, really, and a bit rougher around the edges than the palace where he'd received his schooling. And my, was it cold! Remy was used to southern France and the heat of the kitchen, so walking into the stone halls of Hogwarts had given him a shock that he wasn't quite over yet. Still, he had to admit that the Great Hall was pretty impressive in a rustic, homey sort of way... Now, if only he could do something about the food here.

He wasn't sure if it was Hogwarts tradition, the typical local menu, inexperienced or uncaring chefs, or some terrifying combination of all of the above, but something was certainly off here. He usually enjoyed trying local flavors, but he was sort of reluctant to even touch this stuff... Maybe it was homesickness messing with his outlook, or something. With a forced grin, he pecked at his steak, cutting off tiny bites and chewing each as slowly as he could. Nothing he'd tried yet was really inedible; just sub-par for his rather high standards. Not to seem rude, of course, but he sort of wanted to go back to his office and fix himself some soup... Or perhaps a light salad. Eating too much of what they were serving here would surely give him the feeling of a rock sitting in his belly later on.

To take his mind off of the food, he pretended to straighten his spectacles as he glanced around at his new coworkers. He recognized their faces, of course, but couldn't quite place the names of anyone but the headmaster... Notably, the nurse fellow and the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor (or at least, Remy was fairly sure that was his occupation) seemed to be having a conversation. The Divination professor was also present, and Remy was pretty sure he'd seen her waving to a student not too long ago. It must have been nice knowing students well enough to do that. Sort of like greeting a regular at your restaurant, he guessed. He gave a slight chuckle as he caught himself thinking of food again. His mind always drifted back there if you gave it the chance!

'Sure beats thinking about money all the time,' he thought to himself, toying with his glass and considering a sip as he let his eyes drift back out to the students.

[Johannes Cabal]

Cabal nodded at Shinra again. "Indeed. They're usually happy with where they're placed. People resist classification up until the moment that they realize there are other people in the same category." He took a sip from his goblet and passed the bread down to a another professor. "You're the healer on the grounds?"

[Alfred F Jones]

((OCC: OTL sorry this took so long. Had to vanquish the homework dragon...))

Alfred tried to listen with rapt attention, but the Japanese made his poor brain trip and do a cartwheel. Wasn't this supposed to be England? Why was this boy speaking Japanese? And in that case why the heck was he blonde? Wait...what was that about the girls' bathroom? Confused Alfred is confused so he did the only American thing he could think of: smile and pretend to know what's going on.

"Cool..." he said, masking his ignorance with a heroic grin. Fortunately it looked like his new upperclassman was as oblivious as he was when it came to noticing whether or not someone was paying attention. Oh well, this just meant he could continue to cram an ungodly amount of food into him, which he proceeded to do. What a shame though this place didn't have hamburgers...

[layla]

The grin never faltered as she sank back into her seat. Any year when Watanuki hadn't dropped out already promised to be a good one. But of course, there were other perks to being a professor apart from having a student assistant to... help... around the tower. She knew there would be plenty of time to ask about his health when classes began. The first day, after all, was for mingling with their like.

With a sigh, she crossed her legs and turned her attention back to the rest of the table. Class. Her first was tomorrow. To blow it off or not to blow it off? It was the first day after all... but then again, the first years were always the most interesting to meet with. And there were the new students in her house she was just dying to meet. There would be details to be gleamed from her Prefect later. Surely, there was something juicy about them.

But her eyes were quick to return to the rest of the table. It was good to see the usual had returned. No one had been sacked or died. Always a plus at the start of the year. She studied the other professor's faces, seeing the rapt conversation Shinra was already in, watching others prodding their meals but her eyes studied Clow a moment before she forced herself to pull her gaze away before she drew attention to herself. That had to stop but it was almost as if her brain was hard wired to just... watch him. A glass was raised to her lips and it was in the middle of a swig of wine to get her back to her senses that she took note of the new Muggle Studies Professor.

New meat.

With the same smile that seemed near predatory, the glass was set down. Yuuko leaned forward slightly in the other professor's direction with a hand resting under her chin. "Well, you're new." she said, her free hand still on her glass.

[fluttershy]

Far in the back of the great hall, a door opened as quietly as was possible and a figure clad in yellow scurried in. She was late, late, late! And it looked like she had already missed the sorting, how disappointing! But really, that jarvey's leg had needed setting, or else it would have healed all crooked, so surly the head master would forgive her.
She tried to be as unobtrusive as possible when she took her place at the professors table, hunching down in her seat and doing her best to blend in with the chair. When she finally got over her embarrassment enough to observe her surroundings, she found quite a few things of interest. There seemed to be several new members to Hufflepuff, her home house, as well as a new professor who she didn't think she had met before.
Having taken stock of all she had missed, she finally allowed herself to relax a little, reaching for her cup and taking a sip of the cider inside before settling back in her chair to observe.

[Shinra Kishitani]

"Yes, that's right." Shinra twirled his finger in a circle, laughing as he added, "I'm the one who puts students back together when they get into fights." And in a school full of teenagers who's powers were triggered by swings of emotion? Well, his work was never done.

He took another gulp of his coffee and waved cheekily to Fluttershy as she settled into her seat. He was more than a little amused by how terrified she looked. Did she think the Headmaster was going to scold her just for being late? There were professors who had to be dragged to the feast every year, they hated it that much, and they were never reprimanded.

But he thought back to how timid she had seemed each time they'd met, and figured it was just how she was. Some people always felt as though the world was out to get them.

[Remy Fournier]

Somehow, Remy managed to pick out the Divinations Professor's voice amid the rumbling discussion that clouded the rest of the Great Hall. He looked over out of curiosity, not really sure she'd be speaking to him - that pink-haired lady who had just walked in could have been new too, for all he knew. But as it turned out, she was leaning and looking in his direction with a sort of smirk on her face. In an attempt to make a decent first impression, he stopped swirling his wineglass and sat it on the table in front of him, instead knitting his fingers politely and setting them in his lap.

"Yeah," he said in his slightest of French accents, offering a modest nod. "I'm the new guy. I've never really taught before... or been here." Sweeping a finger before himself, he indicated the Great Hall, as well as Hogwarts itself. "I've heard some great things, though, so I'm looking forward to starting work tomorrow." It would be more than just the first years' first day, after all.

"Sorry, I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Remy Fournier, and I'll be teaching Muggle Studies." He hooked a thumb to himself, sincerely hoping that it wasn't some obscene gesture to these Scottish folks.... Not that this woman looked Scottish at all. In fact, it seemed like he'd overestimated the likelihood of fairly uniform ethnicity here... Not that he, the Frenchman, was really one to talk about moving a great distance for a job.