The September of My Years (Hogwarts Staff)

[parvati patil macmillan]

It was all said and done. If being officially divorced from Ernie was supposed to feel like some momentous change, it hadn't felt like one to Parvati at all. It was hard not to feel slightly numb. The world was still spinning, and—with Neville's introductory speech—the new term had officially begun. No sooner had Neville finished speaking than a stunned silence fell over the Great Hall. The doors opened once again, and the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang made their entrance.

From where she was sitting at the High Table, Parvati was able to see her sons, niece, and nephew, and she tried to watch their reactions, remembering how amazing the Triwizard Tournament of 1994 had been for her. Unable to keep from smiling, she clapped politely as the last of the foreign students took their seats, practically ignoring the piles of food that had appeared on the serving dishes before her.

It was only when she was asked if she could pass the Yorkshire pudding that Parvati realized that she hadn't put any food on her plate at all. “Oh, sorry,” she apologized, handing over the plate to the colleague who had asked for it.

@ Hogwarts Staff

[Deleted]

Ever since finding out what he was really made of back when he was fifteen years old, Neville had been something of a protector to nearly everyone around him. It was instinct, or habit, or natural chivalry—he couldn’t be sure. But he’d only taken on the role of Headmaster because the prior two had been assassinated and Hermione had pointed out that he was not so easily killed, and he had children to protect. He was a pseudo-uncle to many of the children in the castle, when he could find time to be (not easy, these days, but he managed to get to those most in need), and he was generally speaking an older brother to most of the former DA and the present Order. His stature, calm demeanor, and sheer experience gave him an unspoken authority.

But the biggest thing that helped him with other people was his empathy.

Parvati was special to him, even among former members of the DA. They had been very close once, and though passion dimmed and no romantic feelings had developed, what they had been mattered still, and he did love her as a friend. So it had not been easy for him to watch her these past few months. He would still call on Ernie in a fight, but he doubted he’d ever be friends with the man again. Even the idea of doing something like that to Hannah made him feel sick. And while he was relieved everything had finally been resolved—he doubted Parvati really felt the same. And through it all she had persisted at her job, an invaluable one over the last year. Neville helped where he could, but he simply didn’t have the time or the training to help people cope like his old friend.

He reached out a hand to squeeze her shoulder, a small smile playing on his face. “Are you sure you don’t want me to break his jaw? Just a little? I’ll fix it when I’m done, I promise.”

parvati patil macmillan
@hogwarts staff

[parvati patil macmillan]

Being able to work alongside so many wonderful people on a daily basis was truly a blessing. In particular, working under a headmaster who also happened to be a personal friend of hers made life much easier for Parvati, especially with so much else going on in her life. That understanding was something that she wouldn't have been able to find in many other places, and it was one of the factors that made working at Hogwarts so worth the stress.

Suddenly feeling the squeeze of a hand on her shoulder, Parvati tensed up slightly and looked over. She relaxed when she saw that it was only Neville, who must have been able to sense how out of it she really was. The smile on his face was almost mischievous, though it was soon clear why: “Are you sure you don’t want me to break his jaw? Just a little? I’ll fix it when I’m done, I promise.”

At Neville's offer, Parvati thought that her own jaw might hit the floor, though she maintained her poise. If he was really suggesting what she thought he was suggesting—She never thought that she would have come to Ernie's defense, but she knew that she needed to put Neville's idea to rest. “Please don't,” Parvati begged of him with a laugh, “unless you'd like to explain to my sons why you decided to break my ex-husband's jaw.” He would have Hannah to answer to, too; she was sure of that.

@superluigi64
@ Hogwarts Staff

[Deleted]

Calliope was excited for the start of the school term; she had loved her time in London performing in one of her favorite musicals ever, but nothing was like getting back to Hogwarts.  Teaching was really her passion and true calling in life, and being able to bring other things she loved like music into her lessons and of course, choir practice, was the best of both worlds.  Callie had received the exciting news just a few weeks prior that she had also been made Head of Hufflepuff house - she had immediately owled Caro crying with joy over the news.  It meant more duties, like meeting with her sixth years the next day on which courses they were cleared to continue, but that was fine by her.  The idea of being able to help her sixth years decide on the course of their academic future was reward enough in itself; she was happy to hear their hopes and aspirations for the future.

Callie had asked her colleague Parvati MacMillan for the pudding, but she had seemed to be in a daze.  She finally snapped out of it and handed the pudding with an apology.  "Oh don't be silly, you don't have to be sorry!" she exclaimed with a smile.  She did not know the School Counselor all that well; mostly that she and Neville had been in school together, and that she was going through a divorce.  Callie had wanted to offer a listening ear, but felt it was not her place to offer that sort of help to a stranger. "How were your childrens' summer, Parvati?" she asked when the older woman mentioned her children.  That was a safe enough subject at least; Rafe was in Callie's house, so she knew him a little better.

@superluigi64

parvati patil macmillan

[Deleted]

@superluigi64 & parvati patil macmillan & calliope ivory fleming

the summer had gone pretty quickly if he was being honest with himself. he and blaise had gone away from a few weekends to different places to just get away from everything that had happened the last term and he had been busy in the last few planning lessons and helping work out the logistics of hosting such a big event at the school. calex thought it was just what the school and the students needed. something fun they could focus on and get involed in and hopefully not think too hard on what had happened last year. though he knew there were going to be a few students upset about having to be seventeen or older to put their name into the cup but they were the rules. as he'd told his own son. who now in his second year had thought that the event sounded like fun. he'd always known his son was going to cause him worry, he just hadn't been expecting it so soon. he looked out across the great hall and spotted his son talking and laughing with his friends, he would swear he could almost hear his voice above the crowd. he turned his attention to the professors sitting next to him when talk of neville breaking someones jaw came into question and he couldn't help but chuckle. he waited till parvati had answered neville then he leaned across to elbow the headmasters arm lightly. "plus .. don't we tell the students to use their words and not their fists?" he joked a little as he heard calliope pipe up from next to parvati and ask how her sons holiday had been. he smiled over at his old friend. they worked together now but had been only years apart in school, it was nice to think back on his own school days. glad that they had been relativity drama free for the most part. 

[Deleted]

❊ the September of my years ❊

Alexandria was feeling a bit weary. She was a new one at the school, not that the school was new to her. But it had been many years, nearly 35 years has passed since she last step foot in the school. She looked like the eldest among the group of other Professors. She however did not let that dampen her spirits as she watched the announcement of the Triwizard tournament with the same curious eyes as she did the previous time it was conducted. She was in her seventh year and she was among the few people from Ravenclaw who have entered their name into the goblet. Watching it this time, as a Professor was a whole new level of feeling for her. She could remember seeing the headmaster as a student who was three years below her and the Patil twin was all too familiar to her. She remembered Padma Patil who was sorted in her house. She could not help but over hear the conversation which took place at the table while eating. So she leaned forward and looking at Parvati she asked "I remember your twin sister Padma, she was three years junior to me. How is she doing now a days?"

WORDS: 205 TAGS: parvati patil macmillan , @superluigi64 , calliope ivory fleming , @jaeger NOTES: Hope you don't mind

SHIN OF GS + ADOX

[parvati patil macmillan]

“Plus… Don't we tell the students to use their words and not their fists?” Parvati could hear Calex Jakebson say to Neville. It was undoubtedly in response to the headmaster's offer to her.

“See?” Parvati shot Neville a quick look, laughing.

Meanwhile, Calliope Stephanidis told her not to be silly; she didn't have to be sorry for not having handed her the pudding straight away. “How was your children's summer, Parvati?”

“Well enough,” Parvati nodded. She was sure that the boys would have liked their time away from school much better if they had been able to go somewhere exciting, but that simply hadn't been in the cards for them this year. Parvati was about to add that she had gotten herself a small flat—and Rafe had even gone to the trouble of coming there to surprise her—but one of the new professors, Alexandria Darren, chimed in, asking after Padma.

“Padma's well,” she answered her. “She's working at the Ministry these days.” It wasn't something that Parvati would have chosen for herself, but she knew that her sister enjoyed what she did. Sometimes it was surprising to others how different the two women were, as though their being identical twins meant that they had to remain alike in every regard. That Padma had been in Ravenclaw should have told them that they weren't the same person. “Her married name is Thomas,” she added, unsure if Alexandria knew that Padma had married Dean. “Her kids are both in Gryffindor, actually, like their father.”

Parvati took advantage of the slight break in conversation to put some roast chicken on her plate.

@superluigi64
calliope ivory fleming
@jaeger
@kyra

[Deleted]

Caroline was glad to see all of the bright and happy faces of all of the students, old and new. And especially the looks of wonderment on the faces of the students from the other schools, who all seemed to be fairly captivated by the enchanted ceiling over the Great Hall. Caroline smile fondly as she remembered, for a moment, her own first time seeing the ceiling. It was a moment these students would remember. Caro was beyond excited for the tournament! Although, she was less excited at the idea of students potentially getting injured. But she was glad that she would be having extra help from some employees of St. Mungo's during the actual tournaments.

Caro was at the staff table with the rest of the staff, enjoying a nice plate of potatos, green beans, and roast chicken and she was of course, seated just next to Calliope - whom she was so proud of for getting Head of Hufflepuff! She looked up from her plate when it seemed the rest of the staff began mingling amongst one another. Caro stifled a laugh when Neville jokingly made a comment about breaking Parvati's ex-husband's jaw and she nodded along witht the conversation. "I hope you are doing well also, Parvati?" She offered up a smile, knowing well that her coworker had had quite the year herself.

Caro took a light drink of her pumpkin juice and leaned over to address the Headmaster. "How about your own, Neville? I heard your children were up to quite a bit this summer?"

parvati patil macmillan
@superluigi64
@jaeger
@kyra
calliope ivory fleming

[Deleted]

Zytka's summer hadn't been nearly as eventful as she had hoped. She hadn't managed to go back home to Uganda, which was a shame, and there hadn't been much else to do. The beginning of the school term opened the door to a lot more social interaction, and for that, Zytka was grateful - she was getting a little sick of sitting alone with her own thoughts. Sitting at the High Table was a welcome change to sitting alone in her office eating cold leftovers, and listening to the banter of her colleagues filled her with something warm. She was sitting next to Caroline, which of course had nothing to do with the warm feeling in her stomach, and followed the conversation without really saying anything herself. Still, she felt the need to chime in that she had done absolutely nothing notable, in case anyone had been wondering. It would save them the trouble of asking. "All of you have had such interesting summers, and all I did was sit and read." The professor said with a melodious laugh.

parvati patil macmillan
@superluigi64
calliope ivory fleming
@jaeger
@kyra
@caroline

[Deleted]

Imogen was trying her best to seem interested in the conversation that was going on at the staff table, but she couldn't focus with all of the nerves swirling in her stomach. She felt like everyone was looking at her, which she knew couldn't be true - her hair wasn't even a fun color. She had turned it back to its normal chocolate brown in an effort to fit in, and it felt...wrong. Like she was hiding herself. She had kept up all of the transformations that made her look female, though - she wasn't willing to let go of those. She hadn't for nearly ten years.

Im listened politely as the questions about summers swirled. Parvati's sister's children were in Gryffindor, apparently, and Imogen had to hide a wince at that. Gryffindor seemed to be the most overpopulated house at the school, and that was worrying for someone who had a dislike of the lions. The teachers seemed to be more proportional when it came to previous houses, though the headmaster was a Gryffindor, so Imogen wasn't going to hold out hope when it came to polite criticisms of the house being met with kind ears. Imogen rested her chin on her hand as she picked at the food on her plate, wishing that she could go about her normal dinnertime activity of choosing the next day's hair color.

parvati patil macmillan
@superluigi64
calliope ivory fleming
@jaeger
@kyra
@caroline
@zytka

[Deleted]

Neville smiled when he got a good reaction out of Parvati. He wasn’t serious—well, not entirely, he would dearly love an excuse to take a few shots at Ernie—but it wasn’t his fight. If Parvati wanted Ernie hurt, well, Harry and Neville had made sure she could hurt him very effectively on her own.

He glanced over at Calex’s remark and pretended to be indignant. “I teach students to stay far away from the Venomous Tentacula also. Do as I say, not as I do.” He clapped the deputy headmaster on the back. Calex was young, but good at his job, and that reliability was very important to Neville when he might be called away from the castle by Harry at any given moment.

Carline asked about his kids, and Neville couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he turned to her. “Oh yes. Alice went to America with Luna Scamander over the summer, and since I’ve never known Luna to particularly care about schedules or plans, they might have gone anywhere while they were over there. And Phil spent all summer preparing for the exchange student program. He’s spending the next three months in Brazil. Now that Andy knows about the tournament, I’ll probably get a Howler sometime this week.”

At Zytka’s comment about interesting summers, Neville thought back to Jay’s near-fatal incident at Longbottom Hill, plus a few things with the Order. “Personally, I could have done with a little more books and a little less excitement.”

parvati patil macmillan
calliope ivory fleming
@jaeger
@kyra
@caroline
@zytka
@imogen