[Great Hall] A feast for the workers

[mayella]

Mayella sat quietly and shyly at the table, her fingers tracing shapes along the goblet of wine. As much as she'd love to drain the cup, she refrained from doing so after remembering hearing a rumor the she was an alcoholic. Frowning a little, she looked up to see the Charms professor making his way curiously around the table to various people until he finally settled back down in a seat talking to Hikaru.

Sighing softly, she turned to spy another young professor stroll in and smiled to herself. Fresh meat. May decided it was her chance to be a bit more social and she picked up her glass before plopping down in the seat next to the other woman, who couldn't have been much older than May. "Hello, new teacher, I'm guessing?" She said in her usual loud, perky voice and smiled at the girl. "I'm Mayella Reed, but you can call me May if you want. I teach Transfiguration here."

[michael123]

"Evening Dia" He said politely as he could but still refraining the usual frown on his face. He had had a very long day and he just wanted to relax but someone had suggested coming here, they made the joke about it losening him up. "Well, I always do the unexpected, you can always expect that from me" He gave a small smile towards the Astronomy professor as he looked around the room, many conversing some looking extreamly dismal.

"Has your day suited you?" He asked her after his brief look around.

[Carrieanne Darke]

Paying no mind to what was going on around her, Carrieanne swallowed what little bit of food she had finished chewing before hearing a voice talking to her. She turned her head and smiled to the Professor "Oh.." she chuckled softly "I'm not a Professor, I'm a healer here." she said to the woman. Setting her fork down, she held out her hand "Nice to meet you May, I'm Carrieanne." using her other hand to brush her hair back behind her ear. "So Transfiguration huh? Very interesting subject I may say." Carrieanne said with a tone of interest. "How do you like it?"

Hearing another voice enter the room, Carrieanne turned her head to see another professor talking to another. She sat quietly as she studied the man for only a few moments, then she returned her gaze back to May who sat there next to her "So, anything interesting going on?" she asked sort of feeling like it was really none of her business to ask seeing that she was still new to the school and had been isolating herself in the office of the Hospital Wing.

[Archibald Nish]

Archibald watched in amazement the events that followed his brief conversation with the tall, skinny Professor. Such hostility, and for what? He didn't know the story to it and he was certain he didn't want to know. It wasn't in him to be nosy so rather didn't pry. In stead he watched as Carrie joined the table. It was lovely to see her again. Their days were never overly busy but busy enough that they had not seen much of each other since their first meeting. A different Professor began to speak to Carrie who called herself May. Noticing he was staring, Archi turned to the woman Hubbles had abandoned.

"So, tell me, M'arm," Archi said after putting his goblet down, "how do you know Mr Hubbles?" Peoples meetings were always a fascinating thing and an interesting dinner topic, he had found. He smiled at the witch over the empty chair.

[Carrieanne Darke]

Carrieanne happened to turn back towards the professor that spoke, however her attention quickly skipped from the man to a familiar face. A warm smile creased her lips when she noticed Archi sitting there looking at her, it was really nice to see him again. She missed talking with him like she did for a little while there, but their days had become filled with patients who needed tending to. She couldn't quite call it busy, just overwhelmed. When May began to speak to her, she quickly turned her head toward her and began a bit of a conversation with her. Glancing back at Archi, she noticed that he had indulged himself into another conversation, so she turned back to Professor May and awaited for her answer.

[mayella]

Mayella nodded in understanding, it was a feast for the whole staff and it was rather unfair of her just to assume she was a professor even if that was the majority. “Ah, a healer? Fascinating, I could never do those, though I tried.” She smiled, remembering times when she had made wounds worse rather than better. It was those times that made her decide not to pursue a career like that. “And Transfiguration is alright. It’s rather difficult to teach, since it seems students are either excellent at it or horrible. But I can say I have a lot of fun with it.” She chuckled, finding the way she taught her students quite amusing, though the students would probably call it eccentric like herself. It’s not like May’s lessons were the worst, by her brother’s stories they were actually quite moderate.

Then May dropped her gaze to her wine glass and took a small sip before she continued. “I myself am a reasonably new teacher, and I usually keep to myself so I do not quite know the teachers well. But I do hear rumors still, and the one about the breakup of Dan Hubbles and Dia Owen is quite famous.” She kept her voice quiet so that only Carry could hear her, and she directed her gaze momentarily to each teacher as she uttered their name. “I hear it, like many relationships, did not end well.”

[Carrieanne Darke]

"It's not so bad being a Healer, you have your good days and then you have your bad days just like everyone else." Carrieanne explained, she could say that from experience back at Beauxbatons. She hadn't had any problems since she's been here. As May began to explain her thoughts on Transfiguration, she listened with interest. Carrieanne found the subject intriguing to be honest. Chuckling along with May, "Well, maybe I could sit in on a class and refresh my skills in the class." she asked curiously.

Noticing how May had looked down at her wine glass again, she continued to listen to her a she spoke about being a new Professor herself. "Oh well I don't feel quite so alone anymore." Carrieanne smiled. When May mentioned Dan's name, she glanced over at him and then back at May. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she said "I didn't hear about that." she looked at her with a bit of curiosity to her tone.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan chuckled as Hikaru mentioned that it would only make his head grow bigger, but this was one of those rare occasions when Professor Dan Hubbles needed a confidence boost. He had just been told to walk away and leave Dia alone in front of all the other staff members and now he had to put up with their small glances at him and he could have sworn he heard his name mentioned more then once in a few of the conversations that were dotted around the table. However when the seriousness his fellow Professors voice Dan forgot about the whisperings around the room and listened to him closely, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Thank you Hikaru but I assure you they are seem to be over looking a few fatal flaws. But I guess it is good to leave with everyone having such a kind opinion of me, lets just hope the man to follow me is up for the job.”

Dan reached out and took his goblet giving it a quick sniff to make sure it was the non-alcoholic wine before sipping it. Now was one of those many moments he wished he could down as many glasses of wine and let the drunken state of mind kick in a numb the pain, but as Girty always joked with him ‘You will wake up in the morning in even more pain as you will have the king of all hangovers.’

[Offley Marsh]

Offley watched with heated interest as Dan moved from one person to the other and particularly when he walked in the direction of Dia Owen. The librarian’s heart stopped beating and she waiting with baited breath almost wishing that Dia would slap Dan because he might get over his little infatuation with her. However he was stopped by Bree and with a dejected look Dan walked away without causing a scene, but then like typical Dan he seemed to shrug off these feelings faster then should be allowed and he stared talking to yet another Professor.

Offley suddenly felt aware that she had been looking at Dan for a relatively long period of time and so quickly turned her attention to Nish who was sitting beside her. He too seemed have the same idea and asked her how she and Dan first met. A small smile filled her face and she tuck a lose strand of her read hair behind her ear.

“Oh Daniel and myself went to school together. We were in the same years but different houses but we spent all out time together, underneath the tough man routine and his bigheadedness there is a kind and extremely caring man.”

Offley found herself looking over at Dan once more seeing him laugh with the other Professor sent a smile across her face before she looked back at Nish still wearing the smile. Before reaching out and taking hold of her goblet draining it dry hoping the alcohol would steady her nerves when around Dan. Placing the goblet back on the table her mind quickly ran over how Nish had addressed her and thought he best know it was perfectly alright to call her by her name, after all they were work colleagues.

“And please duck call me Offley.”

[Professor Dia Hubbles]

Dia smiled weakly at Mike. Though he could be grumpy, Dia had seen a vaguely decent man beneath his tough guy facade. Or at least she hoped she had. She hoped for all find their better selves even if they had hurt her beyond all measure. She sipped her wine contemplatively, frowning a little. Her hair, hung loose on her shoulders, fell into her eyes and, like a reflex, she brushed it away.

She had Bree to thank about her present state and looked to her for a moment. She seemed to be having a conversation with someone across the table. Dia looked away from Bree, not wanting to disturb her, and turned back to Mike. He inquired about her day but she didn't want to tell him about the extent of self deprecating so merely gave a weak smile. "My day has been like any other," she said slowly, sipping her wine again, "though I was bombarded by a group of third years asking about something strange they had seen in the sky-"

Bree suddenly pushed out her chair and stood up. Dia jumped, squeaked and turned around. The Charms professor and she were staring at each other. Dia quickly looked forward as though she had seen nothing. Sipping on her wine, she looked back at Mike. "But that's why we're here," she said softly, "for them." She blinked her wet blue eyes and turned again to her goblet of wine.