Start of Term, Feast

[Juniper Primrose]

Juniper had recived word that she was able to speak at the start of term feast, and even mrore so she was excited just to be a part of it. While each year she greats the new Ravencalw students into the house she was happy that she would be welcoming all the students of Hogwarts this year. It was a grand step as she had already started on ideas of moving up in the school. It was a dream that was coming true each and every moment. She gathered many things prior to the feast, and the main thing was the sorting hat. She loved every year the strange and often new things the hat told people. Some simply where sorted while others spoke to the hat.

All these things where in her mind as she went into the paper work that was to be discussed this year. Once again the forest was off limits, as well as the forth floor corridor, though she was not really sure as to why this year, since there was not really that much there anymore. Perhaps it is to be a decoy for more important levels… she thought for a moment as she flied away the last bits of paper.

She smiled as she looked at her reflection, she had recently changed her hair color using potions, far better then any muggle method, this way it grew in that color. It was blond, but she had a few strains of other colors in there, blue, green and pink to be exact. Not too noticeable from afar, but there still the same. SHe put on some rich forest green robes, that had navy accenting, and of course her favorite wizard hat, included on which was a large rim, and a wrinkled rim. It was a gift given to her after performing the witches ride on Halloween night. A spectacular honor to fly across the moon in Salem for muggles to enjoy, while they thought it was an extravagant ploy, it was a fun and pleasant ride.

Enough of the past had come into her head that morning, and afternoon as she prepared her speech. She changed few things over the course of the day, a word here and a word there. However Juniper was known for her strange ways, many where not sure if she was all quite there sometimes. However she was, and working hard to improve the way of the students and wizards alike.

It was a spectacular night for the start of term. The sky cleared to reveal a wonderful sight and night sky. It was great to have that at dinner. The tables where set, and students made there way in. First years still on their way via the traditional rout on the boat and Juniper stood at the front ready to make her first speech, rather the first speech of the year. To most it would be a nervous and gut reaching moment, however for this young professor it was a great honor that she would surly never forget.

A silence came to the room as she stood there, and waited for the conversations to die down. Then with a crystal clear voice she began…

”Welcome returning students, Staff and new comers to Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardy. I am Juniper Primrose, Ravenclaw head of house, and astronomy professor. I hope you have all enjoyed your summer holidays, kept up on your studies and are ready for another fun filled year here at Hogwarts.

Before we start this evening’s sorting ceremony I would like to take this time to make a few announcements, and introduce the staff here at Hogwarts.”

Juniper said with a sweet inviting smile on her face the entire time, her eyes moving from the room to see the faces of students in front of her. She turned to the staff.

” Ms. Joan Wilcox will be returning to teach Potions this year, she is looking forward to the new students. All should be prepared for lessons beginning this month, her office hours are located in the classroom for any student wishing to speak with her.

Dr. Katrina Noble is our new Care of Magical Creatures professor. She has worked with The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth as an animal trainer when the show came to Europe. As well she has acted as a nurse to American solders during war and official became a doctor soon after. She has traveled the world learning about the magical creatures, and is a great addition to our staff here at Hogwarts.

Ms. Piper Andrews is our Defense against dark arts professor, returning for another year. A past Gryffindor student herself, she teaches our students the importance of defense, and how dangerous the dark arts are. Taking up our Advanced Defense against the Dark arts classes, for upperclassmen is Head of Huffelpuff, Ms. Taebryn Malick.

Next we have our muggle Studies professor Ms. Rosalie Haynes, and our Charms professor Ms. Tilthe Rosewood.”

Juniper delayed with each name so that the professor could stand up. It was her choice to add in more information about the professors, but decided to not go too far into detail, after all the sorting took a while, and students tended to get hungry.

”Currently, this year’s Prefects are, Dakota Scheving, Hufflepuff, Avian Gray, Ravenclaw and Layla Silverwood Gryffindor. Quidditch positions will be posted in your common rooms. Captains will be holding practices later this month. “

Juniper announced the names, allowing for houses to cheer their classmates achievements. One last announcement and the sorting would begin.

”Last, I would like to draw attention that the Dark Forest is off limits to all students. As well as the forth floor corridor. It is imperative that these places remain clear for all students, for your safety. Any student caught in either place will be dealt with. Detention would be a mild punishment for such a rule break, that is if you are to survive. “

Juniper did not care to sound threatening and thus her word may have been, but her attitude was rather relaxed. The message still sent that one should not venture to the forest, nor the corridor because death could prevail was there, however she hoped it was not too subtle.
However, it was time to move to the sorting, as all the business was completed. She was smooth and flowing as she moved from the podium to a chair with a hat on it, that many if not all knew all too well.

”And Now, we will begin the sorting process. However as tradition stands, the sorting hat will have a few words before the first student will sit.”

The moment most had been waiting for, the untimely words or great prhases that the hat spoke of. Some thought it somehow predicted the future, while others thought it was an old rag with no humor. What ever the case may be it started with a crack and a cough and entered into its sing song way to speak it’s mind.

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Juniper smiled, it was familer and different, strange and confident, and even more so it was the only thing like it in the world. The sorting hat had been made long ago but the founders of this very school, and that was some old magic at work. She could only hope to step up to such a position.

She held a parchment. And called out names from A to Z. Each student sat and sorted with their own ways. Houses cheered for new students and even more gathered to discuss their need members. Untill the final student sat down, all eyes where waiting for that final word, where the food would be served. And so Juniper closed the parchment, a moment of waiting would be too long.

“And that concludes this evenings sorting ceremony, dinner is served.” She said raising her hands and the tables filled with food, the smells where delicate and divine as she headed to the staff table, hoping to get good reception from the staff on her first opening ceremony. Perhaps, with some luck it would be the first of many.

[fallon grimwood]

It had been a long day. The issues at the Ministry were only getting worse and Fallon really felt she didn't have the time to attend the Start of Term Feast at Hogwarts, but it was imperative she went. She was the Ministry liaison at the school after all and one of the professors. Thus she sat at the end of the staff table, trying to sit properly, but relaxed, and failing miserably. Her foot kept tapping, as if asking for the feast to end already so she could get back work.

There was so much paperwork, so much investigating. On top of that she was lucky to be alive. At that thought her hand instinctively went to her chest, but upon noticing this she quickly made it look like she was fixing and brushing off her robes. Not that anyone would care if she was checking to make sure she was still breathing, or reminding herself that the attack had really happened. She had been instructed to take some time off and recuperate, it hadn't happened all that long ago, but she refused. More than ever she was determined to find the ones who attacked Hogwarts at the ball. As if the constant pressure from parents and the general wizarding community wasn't enough already...

Find the culprits, they'd say. The angry letters hadn't stopped and as the year passed they only got angrier. What was the Ministry doing? Twiddling their thumbs? No, the Ministry was doing their best. They were still understaffed twelve years after Voldemort's death. The incidents back then had destroyed the Ministry, literally and figuratively. The staff had been torn apart, many Voldemort supports found and fired, in some cases arrested. No one wanted to work for the Ministry and no one trusted them, even with several Minister changes since then, each one better than the last. Still, Fallon could not deny that not much was happening within the Ministry, not just because of the lack of staff.

The new evil lurking in the shadows was good; they were powerful, intelligent, and secretive. Other than a line of bodies, they left no trail, and the bodies didn't do the Ministry much good. The deaths seemed random and Fallon didn't doubt that Embry Collins was doing it on purpose. She wouldn't put it past him to be killing randomly to throw the Ministry off. And yes, they did have a name. So why might you ask could they not find him? Because he didn't exist until last year. Embry Collins was a fake name, a fake identity. They had no other name for this man, so they called him by it, but there was no record of an Embry Collins before last March when his band started infecting the Wizard Wireless airwaves.

Fallon sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had a migraine from all the stress. She hadn't been able to spend much time with her daughter in weeks - she was with Aeson for safety. She wanted to sleep, but she wanted to catch this man too...

Turning her attention back to the feast at hand she realized she'd been lost in thought so long that the food had appeared and the sorting was over. As Professor Primrose approached the table, Fallon smiled, "Great work, Professor. I dare say that was better than any of the Start of Term feasts I've been to in the past." She felt obligated to applaud her, despite not having heard a word. It was quick at least, from what she could tell, and quick usually meant concise.

[Alejandro Ochoa]

<“Daddy, I’m hungry!”> the little girl seated on her father’s lap whined in Spanish, mindlessly playing with the fancy golden silverware.

<“Mayra: be quiet and stop fussing! We’ll be eating soon.”> Alejandro whispered back to his daughter in his native language, gently removing the silverware from her hands and placing them back on the table. <“Once the speech is over, we’ll eat.”>

He didn’t dare look to see how his new colleagues seated next to him interpreted their foreign peer and his seemingly ill-mannered daughter. While normally he did not care what others thought, being an unknown outsider in a new land sitting in front of a crowd of natives made him a tad uneasy. At the very least he was seated near the far end of the Head Table, a thought that brought him a small condolence.

The woman giving the speech -a professor whose name he had forgotten already- began to introduce the staff, which made Alejandro curse mentally though his expression relayed a cool calmness. He wasn’t one for being at the center of attention in places he was familiar with, much less in places he was not. The only reason he came at all was because it was an obligation as a member of the staff; he would have rather been sorting out the research he managed to smuggle out of his former workplace so that he could get back to working as quickly as possible. But the annoying, truth-saying voice at the back of his head only served to reminded him that now, his research would have to take backseat to teaching...

Leaning his head down to the level of his fidgeting daughter’s ear he muttered <“Be still”>, just as the professor announced his name. He didn’t stand up, for that would require him to remove his daughter from his lap and draw even more attention to himself; instead, he raised a hand and bowed his head politely in acknowledgement of her address. It was then he noticed the buzz of talking in the crowd of youths that he hadn’t noticed before, and couldn’t help but wonder if the talk was about him. Annoyed at himself for his foolish paranoia, Alejandro brushed his thoughts aside and settled in to listen to the rest of the speech.

Soon enough, it was time for the sorting, and Alejandro perked up with mild interest. He had remembered reading in a text long ago that some schools had specific, themed “houses” to place students with the appropriate qualities, with special means to sort students into those houses. At Bermuda Academy, there was not such thing, for there were no separate houses-- promoted strife, the early founders had said.

Tapping Mayra lightly on the shoulder, he whispered in her ear <“Watch the hat.”>, his own eyes staring at the ancient accessory. Mayra gave him a questioning look before following his gaze to the hat, which had just begun to recite its poetry.

Mayra gasped, staring at the hat in wonder as it let out line after line of prose, a smile of delight gracing her face.

<“How does it do that?”> she murmured in awe, and Alejandro couldn’t help but chuckle. Even after living most of her life in a world of magic, she still did not conclude that the answer was as simple as that, which both amused and amazed her father. <“Why does it do that?”> she added, looking up to her father once the hat had finished and everyone applauded. He politely applauded as well, impressed with the insight and magical skill that went into the enchantment of the hat despite how ridiculous he thought the verse was.

<“Because that was what it was made to do.”> he replied, watching as the professor grabbed a parchment to begin the sorting process.

<“Why?”> she pressed, a serious “won’t-stop-until-I-get-my-answer” look on her face and in her tone that made Alejandro look back at his daughter, a feeling of pride welling up inside him at his daughter’s inquisitiveness. This wasn’t the “Why” game, where children asked why no matter what answer they received—his daughter genuinely wanted to know.

<“Long ago, the founders of this place had an argument over who they should let into this school.”> Alejandro began, pulling forth what he had researched about the school when he was told he would be sent there. <“So they each decided to choose their own group of students that had the traits they were looking for.>

<“What are traits?”> Mayra interrupted, confused.

<“A trait is something about another person that can describe them, like how some people are brave while others are mean or clumsy.
“You, for example, are smart, pretty and loved, but kind of a troublemaker.”> Ale mused, pinching her nose lightly and wiggling it side to side.

“Daddddyyyyyy…” Mayra giggled in English, swatting his hand away.

<“Anyway, as the founders got older, they needed a way to continue this selection process, so they enchanted a hat to do it for them.”>

Mayra was silent for a moment as she processed this information; then she asked <“What kind of people were they trying to keep out?”>

Ale hesitated for a moment, which was enough time for the duo to notice the professor call out a name, and a young student stumble forward.

<“What is he doing?”> Mayra asked, previous thoughts forgotten as she stared at the rather terrified-looking boy, who stood briefly frozen in front of the stool where the hat sat before picking the hat up, putting it on his head, and sitting down on the stool.

<“Just watch.”> was Ale’s response, and Mayra did so, albeit with puzzled look on her face.

Soon enough, the hat shouted “GRYFFINDOR!” and one of the four tables cheered, welcoming the young boy with congratulatory high-fives, handshakes, and pats on the back.

<“Based on the boy’s traits, hat just sorted the boy into the Gryffindor House, named after the man who founded the house.”> Ale explained, and his daughter smiled brightly in understanding, bouncing up and down on his lap in excitement.

<Can I get sorted too?> she asked fervently, already positioning herself to get off of her father’s lap and run to the stool where the students sat to get sorted.

Holding her firmly in place, Alejandro replied <“No. You are too young now. You’ll have to wait until you start school.”>

<“Oh.”> was Mayra’s response, her enthusiasm deflated. <“Well, can I go to school here?”>

Alejandro paused. <“We’ll see, but no promises.”> he said simply, and they both watched the rest of the sorting in silence.

Finally the last name was called, and the professor announced the end of the sorting ceremony and the beginning of the feast; with a wave of her hand, food appeared on the tables.

Mayra cheered and Alejandro almost did too--the long ceremony had left him hungry as well. But before he ate, he had a dreaded yet necessary task to accomplish: get to know his fellow scholars.

Serving Mayra some food, Alejandro told her to stay put and walked over to where some staff had converged. He felt out of place but nonetheless stood his ground, grimly waiting for an opportunity to speak and putting on a pleasant smile whenever anyone looked over to him.

Everyone seemed to be speaking with others that they were already acquainted with, further increasing Alejandro’s feeling of alienation. ‘It appears I’ll have to take the initiative.’ he thought regrettably as he looked around. Seeing his chance, he squeezed through the crowd, spotting the professor who had conducted the ceremony speaking with another woman.

Smiling politely, he walked up to them and said in a thick but understandable Spanish accent “Forgive me for interrupting, but I would like to congratulate you on your presentation, Professor.
“Before I leave you both to your conversation I must further apologize, for your name has escaped me. Might I ask what it is?”

[Juniper Primrose]

Juniper was happy with her speech, however sure that something was missing from it, perhaps a professors name, or she should have spoken a b it more about each professor. Then again she knew that a shorter speech always was something better and something more respected too, both by staff and students in the majority. She only could hope to compare to those of the past, it was a great honor fo her, and even more a dream that had come true.

Being an American Professor was not that out of place at the school anymore, for many professors, and students where from around the world these days, and she was very happy to see such a wide variety of nationalities working together at the same place. She knew that the quality of education grew with each new face that was presented here.

A few moments after she said Fallen Grimwood, the deputy ministress of magic gave her a complement, and she smiled sweetly. “Well thank you very much. It was quite a task to take on, and am glad to have been chosen.” She said to her with a full soft and friendly expression. She was one of those professors that even if you did not know her she would treat you as a life long friend. “If is very kind of you to say such words.” She smiled, and was grateful that at least one had enjoyed her speech, while she was sure few would remember the words spoken that day, she was happy to have said them.

It was a few moments later that Professor Ochoa, having not met him yet she was sure to pay attention when saying names to get a face with each name. She did admit to forget some of them however, but he stood out with his adorable daughter on his lap. His Spanish accent was more then lovely, for Juniper loved all accents and the complexities of language where very fascinating. She was taking up learning Japanese on her spare time, however there was not much of that left after her own personal work on converting Dark arts into something positive. She felt that that was more important then learning a new language, however Spanish was such a lovely one, she was tempted to learn that next.

“Not to worry, thank you very much. It is such an honor.” She said repeating her thoughts more often then not. While others may not see it as an honor but more of a requirement, or obligation Juniper was still a young professor, and to her it was a very high honor. “Alejandro Ochoa, correct?” she asked, hoping she had pronounced it correctly. “That is not a worry at all, I am Juniper Primrose. You have a lovely daughter over there, do you mind my asking her name?” she said with a smile. Children where a love of hers, however had not any ideas of starting a family. However she had never had that connection with a man before either. That came first in her book.

She did not want to keep him long from his daughter or food so she was not about to ask many questions. Perhaps her age was a suitable question as well? She also did not ignore Ms. Grimwood either, “And have you met Fallon Grimwood?” She said directing attention to the professor, and ministry official to her side. It was always best to be polite, sometimes she did offer too much however.

[Andrew Evans]

Andrew was early, and wished he wasn't. He had stayed at the castle over the summer, spending most of his timing catching up on work that he had missed while he was away, the timing of his absence coinciding with the attack, which he had almost cursed himself for. He had been helping his sisters during that time, but when he heard about the attack he had wished he had been at the school to protect his friends. His sisters hadn't really needed his help, they just wanted him around in case things turned ugly. He knew his friends didn't need his help either, they were all perfectly capable of looking after themselves, and even though he had no way of knowing in advance that the attack was going to happen, he still chided himself for not being there.

His summer, after he had eventually caught up on the work, had been filled with boredom since few people had still been around. After another day of the dull monotony, he had remembered that it was the last day of the summer, and changed into his robes ready for the feast. So there he was, sat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall awaiting the arrival of all the other students. He was so early that the staff were only just beginning to filter in through the door behind their table. A few of them gave him odd looks when they arrived, but no one approached him, and as the last of the staff were arriving a few other students had entered as well, others that had stayed for the summer, no doubt.

The hall soon became filled with noise, as swarms of students of all ages entered talking about the summer, what they had been up to, and anything else they could think of. As the Sorting Hat was brought into the room, everyone quietened down in preparation for the ceremony, and then the first years entered the room, silenced by excitement and awe. Everyones attention was drawn to the podium before the Staff table, where one of the professors stood ready to make a speech.

Andrew couldn't help but notice that one of the members of staff looked exhausted, and guessed that she must have been Fallon Grimwood, the only person not to react at all when their name was called. Many of the other Professors he didn't recognize, and tried to take not of everyones names, though he knew he wouldn't be able to remember them all. As the speech came to a close, he joined the hall in applause, kept brief so as not to delay the Sorting Hat's song. He listened intently to it's words, wondering if there was any meaning, some wise words of warning, hidden behind the lyric. He was disappointed when the song finished, it had been as good as any he had heard, but he always hoped that there would be a meaning to uncover behind them. His sisters had mentioned the possibility to him before his first Sorting, but he had never been lucky enough to hear one.

The song had the hardest applause of the ceremony, as was tradition, and the the first years were sorted in alphabetical order, each one being cheered to their new house. When Professor Primrose announced that dinner was served, he heard a final cheer, this time coming from the Staff table, and couldn't help but chuckle a little. Sat on one of the newer professor's laps was a small child, whom Andrew could only just see the top of their head poking above the table. Not wanting to let the youngster feel left out, he started a slow applause, which a few of the Hufflepuffs nearby picked up on and continued. The applause spread across the tables, though he couldn't tell if everyone was joining in, and then stopped abruptly as the food appeared on the table, and everyone dived in, almost literally in some cases.

Andrew ensured that his plate was filled with food as quickly as possible, fully aware of how the start of term feast went. It was all fair game for the first few minutes, but once the ghosts arrive most people were put off of food, or at least the plates that had been flown through. The ghosts would never appear in any students plate, so anything you grabbed at the start was safe, but after that it was hard to tell what would happen. That night the headless hunt charged through the window at the foot of the Great Hall, making a full circuit of the room, then came to a stop and blew their horns, at which point the rest of the ghosts flew straight up through the center of the tables, scaring most of the first years. He couldn't help but laugh at that as he started to tuck in to his food, very much glad that it hadn't been flown through.

[Annabelle Merlin Grace]

Anna had been really excited to get the feast this year, being a late arrival the previous year she missed the momentous occasion. Then again not all the students thought it was all that great. She had mixed reviews, and it was often those who had not been to one that where looking forward to it. She had stood in the full length mirror in her dorm for nearly an hour now, trying her best to manage this uniform to the best of her ability, adding a scarf, flicking the collar. She put her hair up, down, and changed her makeup nearly a dozen times. All these things where so out of the ordinary for her, but they seemed necessary today.

Finally it was now or never as she wondered down the steps to find her seat, she noticed a few around, staff had mingled in, and some students. However Huff table was looking rather dull, so she headed over to the boy sitting there. She smiled and waved at him, and decided to still across from him. “Hi, I am Annabelle.” She said a vibrant smile on her face. The room was getting noisy and it was soon after it was full. “Amazing how quick it fills up in here.” She said not wanting to be shouting but it was, non the less a yell across the table.

Then a professor stood up front, first years entered and all was quiet, Anna felt strange, and very out of her element. She had a secret desire to scream in the silence, however the professor begin to talk. And talk. And talk some more about things and professors. In fact it was rather, well boring to sit and wait. However g it seemed, (hours!) she had moved to the old hat, Anna had seen once before at her sorting in the headmasters office. It had no story to tell nor silly statements just a simple Hufflepuff was announced and that was that, so as it went on, she smiled and was surprised.

She did not quite understand the rhyme, nor the point of it all. However after all the students where sorted, she was tired of it all and just wanted to eat. It was pure hell to be quiet for that long as well. She cheered with the others, but even more so when a variety of foods papered. “Sweet. My goodness it is like everything you can think of.” She said looking at it all, taking a pile of potatoes, and gravy corn, and many other items from the table to her plate. The pumpkin pasties intrigued her, so she took one of those too. This was what the night was all was all about she decided, because the beginning was a real bore.

[Alejandro Ochoa]

When the woman, Juniper Primrose, responded, Alejandro was surprised to discover that her accent was not of a native, but of an American. This would be the second American he encountered at this school… While he had done some research about the school he would be relocating to, he had not looked up the demographics of the people who taught and studied there, for he was too busy being distracted by the school’s curious history and penchant for trouble.
At the Bermuda Academy for Alternative Studies, the student body typically hailed from the Caribbean and occasionally from Florida, Central America, and the northeastern part of South America. The staff came from all over the Americas, even going so far as Canada. But never from across the ocean! BAAS sister institution, the Bermuda Academy of Extended Studies, is the exception to this, for its concentration on research draws people from all over. For basic schooling, however… Alejandro found it curious.

As for Hogwarts’ history: He had heard about the rise and fall and rise and fall again of Lord Voldemort, but had never paid it much attention since it had occurred a world away. That sentiment of “it hasn’t affected us yet, so why trouble oneself with it?” was held by many people his side of the world that weren’t personally affected by the war. He had known a few of those people, though—for those people, the war was very real, and they were always worried about family and friends back home. The only thing that changed in the Americas during the Dark Lord’s second coming was an minor enhancement of security into magical institutions including the whole of New Altantis, which wasn’t too difficult since there was only three ways into the island. Now, he was in a place that experienced first-hand the terror and triumphant defeat of the one known as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”.

Alejandro was also surprised that the green-eyed woman knew his name, which reminded him that he had forgotten to introduce himself.

“Yes, that is indeed my name. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Primrose.” he said, offering his hand.

When she mentioned his daughter, Ale gave Miss Primrose a genuine smile as he turned to look at his beloved child—that smile quickly disappearing at the sight of her. Her puffy, pink striped dress that she had chosen just for the occasion was already covered in spilt pumpkin juice, and she was in the process of climbing onto the table to grab some more food though she still had some left on her plate (veggies, to be precise).

Dead silent for a brief moment, Alejandro rubbed his temples, feeling another migraine coming on, before replying with a weak smile to Miss Primrose’s question “Not at all.”

Raising his hand as subtly as he could and casting the “Mobilicorpus” spell mentally, he continued “Her name-” all the while lifting Mayra gently into the air as he spoke. He was met with resistance, however, for the girl had gotten a hold of her target: a freakishly large steak that she was attempting to pull from the bottom of the pile.
“-is-” Alejandro began to tug, which alerted Mayra to the fact that she was airborne; however this did not deter the girl, who stubbornly clung on, refusing to give up her prize.
“-is-” he repeated louder with a tinge of annoyance, tugging harder as the girl held on for dear life. He was trying to be inconspicuous in his attempt to remove his daughter from the table, but clearly that was not going to happen.
Finally, with a great pull he yelled “-Mayra!”, which yanked the girl and her steak off of the table, sending her flipping several times in the air before stopping upside-down; her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-themed panties visible for all the school to see. Quickly flipping his daughter upright and setting her down on the floor, Alejandro groaned, rubbing his temples once more and looking even more tired and stressed than he usually was.

Mayra meanwhile, didn’t notice her father’s distress as she shouted to him happily “¡Gracias, Papi!”, hugging the mutant steak as she skipped back to their seat.

“Fix your bow.” was all he had the energy to say, referring the oversized, dress-matching bow on her head that was now off-kilter; the talk to reaffirm what is and isn’t appropriate behavior at the dining table would come later. Once his daughter plopped the steak onto her plate, she wiped her hands on a dinner napkin and did so.

Turning his attention back to the two women and taking a deep breath to calm himself, Alejandro gave them a strained smile, stating dryly “That’s my girl. As you can see, she’s quite the lady.

“And I have yet to have the pleasure of meeting Miss Grimwood. As Professor Primrose mentioned earlier, my name is Alejandro Ochoa.” he announced, offering a hand to the worn-looking woman to shake. “Are you a Professor here?” he asked, mentally repeating her name in his head so that he could remember it. If he didn’t start memorizing now, he’d never remember any names in between juggling teaching and researching.

Turning to Miss Primrose, he added “Might I ask where you are from?”

[fallon grimwood]

Fallon felt a pang in her chest as she watched Alejandro interact with his daughter Mayra. She was adorable and reminded her greatly of Vivianne. Almost instantly the thought of her daughter brought unexpected tears to her eyes and she blinked them back hastily, clearly her throat without much sound and tried to focus on Mayra and Professor Ochoa rather than her own daughter.

A soft smile turned up the corners of her lips as she looked at the mess the girl had made of herself. 'Very much like...' She stopped her train of thought and shook her head, feeling the lump growing in her throat again. Despite what Aeson might like to think, she was a mother through and through and foremost a mother before a Deputy Ministress of Magic. Her daughter was her life, her pride and joy. Nothing could make her prouder than Vivianne, not even taking over as Ministress of Magic some day. No accomplishment of her own could compare to the pride she felt whenever her daughter accomplished something. The day Vivi learned to walk filled her with such admiration and pride is surpassed the day she graduated. When she learned to talk, the day Fallon had become an auror. When she used magic the first time... the day Fallon became the Deputy Ministress failed to bring her more pride and happiness.

Professor Ochoa addressed her and she turned to him with a somewhat watery smile. He inquired as to whether she was a professor at the school and she half-nodded, "In a manner of speaking. I am the Dueling coach and assist in helping students turn their magical theory into magical reality. More so though I serve as the liaison for the Ministry of Magic I fear. It makes me quite unliked around these parts, but I'm the Deputy Ministress of Magic and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Professor Ochoa. Yours and your daughter Mayra's, she's quite adorable and spritely."

The young woman paused briefly and glanced at the professor's daughter with the stained dress and couldn't help but chuckle. "Might I offer my assistance in cleaning her up? I've become quite adept at it. I myself have a five year old back home who gets herself into the most unusual and messy of situations."

[Juniper Primrose]

Juniper had paid attention, seeing his eyes on his daughter and the slight stuttering of his voice she had to notice his daughter in the air, pulling on the food, her dress a mess. Oh how she could only imagine what she was like at such an age. It was nice to see the girl had a good appetite indeed, most children hated to eat many foods; in fact she had hated steak as a child.

Juniper was good a names, and dates. It was her calling one could say, but it also was what allowed her to move on so quickly in her studies. At 23, nearly 24 she was ready to take on the world, or well as much as she could. She was well on a good path of working at the school for a long time, and had no plans of leaving except for holiday back home, and that was what Alejandro had just asked her, prior to speaking with Fallon.

“She is quite lovely young lady, and confident in herself.” She said commenting prior to her answering his question of her homeland. Fallon had offered to clean her up, mentioning her own child, Juniper had little future other then the school planned out, children had not been in the picture.

“I am from Salem Massachusetts, in America. First in the family to leave the states, and I must say it is quite worth the journey.” She said with a smile, a strange and nearly odd looking state, slightly dreaming and yet completely aware. “An yourself?” she asked not sure what area he was from, being a new professor, and speaking Spanish did section his world, but not that much, as Spanish descendents where quite a many places. Travel so much easier for muggle and wizards alike, relocation was much easier then it had been in past generations.

Fallon’s own position had proven to Juniper that one could have time to do much that was good for the world, the school the ministry and a daughter at home. It was all a goal that she may strive for herself, however these things came in strides, she was happy with waiting for the right thing to happen and when, she was one to believe in destiny, and thus she worked off the assumption things happened for a reason, just like her finding this school, working here and then promotion, and now the speaker at the feast. A resume that she was sure proud of, though doubted she would be bringing it anywhere except Hogwarts School.

[Aeson Frey]

"Daddy, can we bake cookies for mommy, too?"
Aeson smiled weakly. It had been awhile since his daughter had seen her mother and she wasn't taking it well. "But of course, honey. I'm sure mommy would appreciate cookies if you baked them."
"Can I give them to her?"
Aeson looked at her blankly for a moment. She didn't understand why she wasn't allowed to see her mom. She was only a child, she couldn't possibly understand the situation at hand. Aeson took a deep breath and smiled, "Of course, Vivi. If you can stay up late enough you can come with me to visit her, ok?"
"OK!"

****

Just as he expected, Vivienne had fallen asleep too soon to go to the start of term feast. He felt somewhat guilty for tricking her, but being evasive seemed nicer than telling her, "Who knows, you might never see your mommy again if the bad guys get her." Aeson tucked Vivienne in and preceeded to get ready to go. He casually threw on his school robes and ran a comb through his hair once. He was getting mentally exhausted from thinking and couldn't care less if he looked disheveled or not. Too many nights he woke up to nightmares of his family being roughed up or killed. He was starting to avoid sleep out of fear that one day he'd have a prophetic dream of his daughter or Fallon dying in some untimely, cruel way. The only benefit of his insomnia seemed to be that he had actually taken time to make a lesson plan for the upcoming school year during the time he'd normally be unconscious.

Aeson was sure to remember the plate of cookies with a note from Vivi on his way out. He apparated to Hogsmeade and walked from there to the great hall. It appeared that while he had been waiting for his daughter to fall asleep he missed the opening speech done by Professor Primrose. Oh well... It's about the same every year anyway... He saw Fallon and mixed emotions arose. The guilt of not bringing Vivienne came back, but he also felt anger, pity, a flurry of other things. He walked over to her and handed her the plate of cookies as a peace offering. The note on top said "For Mommy, I love you!" In Vivienne's childish script.

Although he wanted to sit down, he wasn't sure Fallon wanted him near her. Considering their relationship was extremely unpredictable, he just stood awkwardly next to her. He noticed that one of the professors Fallon was talking to had brought a little girl with him. Would it have been safe for him to bring Vivienne? He mentally kicked himself for not bringing her, but remembered that Hogwarts had been penetrated by villains before and could well be again in the future. "I hope I'm not interrupting your conversation too much," Aeson didn't want to seem ruder than he already was for coming late and all. "Fall, Vivi misses you. She's probably going to beat me up tomorrow because I promised she could come tonight if she could stay up, but she fell asleep. She wanted to give you those herself, she made them just for you." He figured he didn't have to specify that Vivenne mostly just helped with cleanup (licking all the bowls and what not). "How've you been?"