Beginning of Term Staff Meeting

Salazar walked into the staff room, finding he was the first one there. Damnation! He had abandoned his studies in the Chamber, left a very important potion brewing so that he could be on time and no one was even there! Well, at least he had brought this treatise written by Herpo the Foul that he could read while he waited on the others. His mother had said the Greek wizard had made great accomplishments with exploring dark creatures. While their students would likely never encounter anything that Herpo the Foul had in this part of the world, that did not mean he could not be prepared for the possibility.

Settling into a chair by the fire, he pulled the scroll out to read. With wand in hand, his eyes dashing over the words, he had a goblet of wine poured and levitated over to himself so that he could truly enjoy what he was doing.

Though really...as he sat there, he realized that it was foolish of him to believe he would be last. Helga would be tending to the house elfs in the kitchen and getting meals set up for tomorrow. Rowena was doing what he was probably doing actually: getting tied up in some book and losing track of time. And Godric...Salazar snorted to himself. A galleon said that Godric came in at least ten minutes late and bleeding. Possibly a little drunk.

Thus, goblet in hand, Salazar set in for the possibly long wait for his friends.

Rowena was nervous enough that she had broken down and pulled out her diadem, which sat firmly on her head. She hardly ever wore it now that she was an adult as being that smart often took its toll mentally. She had been dividing her attention between worthy enchantments to teach her students and what scopes of divination she wanted to cover that wasn't being touched on by Sir Merrick, the attractive thing that he was. Unfortunately, he had a one-track mind it seemed to her, thus she lost interest rather quickly in him.

There were plenty of others that had associated with Godric over the years that had proven to be idle distractions that nothing came of. No, distractions were not what she needed right now. She smoothed her hands down her sapphire blue dress and calmly tugged on her braided hair to make sure not a strand was out of place. 

Feeling more confident, she made her way to the designated room for their meetings only to find that Salazar was the only one in attendance thus far. She fully expected Helga to be there and she pursed her lips slightly, drawing them into a thin line of disapproval. Hopefully, the woman who was her best friend wasn't toiling away in the kitchens again. Godric was likely a lost cause, hunting on the grounds probably with a handful of his fellows that had followed him to the school to instruct or tend the farm.

"Evening, Salazar," she said with a slight clip to her tone as was in her nature. She carefully took a seat across from him, curious as to what he was so engrossed in reading. With a flick of her wand, she prepared herself a goblet of wine and sipped it carefully as she awaited both his response and the arrival of the other founders.

The day had felt like any other day. Ok maybe that was a bit of an understatement because this wasn't like some ordinary day. This was the beginning of something truly exciting and it seemed like the list of things to do before it all began never ended. Since early morning Helga had been hard at work without a moments rest. A usual habit she had when the work involved doing what she loved and more importantly for others.

 She had been hard at work in the kitchens for the most part, helping to set up and organize the kitchens with the staff house elves. Setting up a menu and instructing with a few helpful food preparation tips, the list went on. It even went to include a small bit of time to help out a new addition to the school staff as well to make sure the dorm room assigned to her students was in good order and well prepared. It had to have just the right amount of warmth and welcome for every one of them after all.

Helga had some spare time before it was time, so she had taken advantage of it to prepare her friends a small but filling snack to enjoy as they talked. The idea at the time seemed good and as she carried the tray along the corridor, she didn't think to pay attention to her direction as she entered. It was only after a few minutes of no one coming did she realize she was in the wrong room and quickly left to make her way to the correct room. Luckily her snack would remain hot and fresh safely under the stone cloche covering them. 

Finding the right room, she entered with a small increase to her breath and a bit unraveled from her hurried pace but as ever present on her face was a warm smile as she looked to her best friend Rowena to a comfortable looking Salazar.  "Good evening you two. Forgive my tardiness, I managed to go to the wrong room in my haste to get here on time. Silly me but I suppose it happens when there is too much too do. Thankfully, our new school healer offered to look over the work being done in the gardens so I could see to the important matter of our meeting." Helga explained as she stepped further into the room and set the tray down on the small table. It gave her a moment to take a breath or two and return her breathing to a normal pace.  

"Ah, before I forget like a silly fool I brought us all something to snack on. Rabbit stew in pie pastry, it should do to fill the stomach and fuel the body and mind for a little while." Raising her wand, Helga tapped the cloche and it vanished reveling a small pile of palm sized tan colored pastries. Each lightly steamed and gave off a fragrance of the resulting combination of ingredients nestled inside the pastry shell.  "Where is Godric? I would have thought he would have been here or come running following the scent of these?" Helga added after a moment, taking note of the missing member of their small but close circle.

Salazar greeted Rowena cordially, rolling up his scroll and returning it to his pocket. While he would much prefer to learn what it had to offer, and it was likely that out of all of them, Rowena would understand his desire to keep reading, it was simply poor manners. He would not allow it from anyone else, thus he must hold himself to that standard.

Upon Helga's entrance, Salazar actually smiled. Mostly because, as usual, she came bearing food. While Godric would devour anything set in front of him and they all liked to tease him of his constant need to be fed, Salazar, too, enjoyed a good meal and if there was one thing Helga could do, it was cook. It was a blessing that she'd taken to instructing the house elfs how to do the best of her greatest works with food.

Levitating a pie over, he set his goblet down beside him - then remembered that there was a good possibility that no matter how many times they told him to leave the dog outside of the staff room, Rhiannon would still come in with Godric - the both of them forgetting the rules. Thus, he picked up the goblet and set it on the mantle beside him, well out of reach for any large dog racing through the room to get at the food. He had certainly learned that lesson!

"This smells fabulous, Helga. Well worth the wait, as usual." Salazar reassured her. "The students shall never want to leave once they have tasted your cooking. Well, the house elfs cooking but I doubt even they could compare to your impressive talents." His smile widened just slightly.

"So, anyone up for wager on his arrival today?" He posed before taking a careful bite of the pie, letting the heat warm him all the way through. The savory delight went perfectly with the wine he'd been drinking and it really hit the spot after a long day of brewing and preparing lessons to compare notes with the others at this meeting.

Had it been earlier in their friendship, Rowena might have arched a brow at Salazar's praises but now she was used to his awkward charms. And besides that, they were well placed in Helga's direction, as her talent with food was the envy of all. She was tempted to decline to take a pastry but she was afraid that might clue the others into her own nervous discomfort.

Instead, she politely took one of the pastries and a small saucer-sized plate and a spoon. Unlike the menfolk who would easily eat with their hands, Rowena was more refined in her manners and thus broke open the pastry with the side of her spoon. She scooped up the contents and quietly ate the warm rabbit meat and flaky pastry.

When Salazar brought up Godric's absence she sighed, cradling the small plate in her lap. "Well, that all depends on what he was last seen doing. If he was hunting, then I doubt we'll see him at all until the end of our little meeting," she commented. "If he was puttering around the castle, boredom or his stomach might lead him here sooner."

She took a sip from her goblet before setting it on a side table so that she could focus on the food. She cut into the pastry again and dished up another small spoonful, careful not to spill its contents as she delicately ate.

Before taking a seat, Helga swished her wand towards the wine bottle and charmed it to float around the room to refill Salazar and Rowena's goblets. She directed it to an empty goblet where she filled it half way before returning the bottle to the side table. Waving the goblet in her direction to took it from the air once it hovered close enough and at last took a seat in the empty chair between Rowena and Salazar.

"I'm glad your enjoying it. I did have the bottle of wine dropped off either to accompany these but without having the chance to taste the two together I had to put my faith in that they would be just fine." She said with a smile. Taking a moment, she took a small sip from her goblet as she enjoyed the chance to seat down for a minute. The unofficial break was a welcome relief to her feet no matter how short or long it was going to last.

Helga's smile had brightened a bit more after Salazar's compliments, though she wasn't too fooled by his words. Charms was her specialty and that included when they were used to creatively decorate words be they used to sweet talk or alternative means which she knew he was only buttering her up for providing the meeting snack. Cleaver but then she wasn't about to cause a fuss over words. He was enjoying the provided snack and seemed to be in a good mood, that was more than enough for her to look over the extra bit of charm on his words. 

"Part of me hopes they won't, as much as I do enjoy feeding as many hungry spirits as I can but then if they stay here they can't go seek out their own futures and potential. Birds leaving the nest and so forth. The house elves are doing me proud though, they absorb everything I've been teaching them rather quickly I've nearly run out of things to teach them. I would say they are just about as good as I am and if not just yet I would say give them a little time and you may not be able to tell the difference." she explained then after a small tint of a grin added to her smile took a drink from her goblet.

She took a moment to simply observe her two friends, taking note how they had each differently approached to eating the offered snack. When Salazar asked if they were up for wagering on their missing friends arrival she gave a silent chuckle into her goblet. Helga listened to her best friend reply first, hearing her break down what they would need to consider as far as Godric's whereabouts. Lowering her goblet down to her lap, she gave a small shrug of her shoulder. "5 galleons says he will be here under half an hour." She said no doubt surprising them both as she calmly followed her words with a short sip from her goblet. It wasn't often she participated in such things as wagers or bets but when she did she took it as seriously as she did her charm work. "Neither or their noses can resist this tasty smell for long." Helga nodded her head towards the tray of pastries then calmly reached into one of the pockets of her half apron and removed several gold coins onto the table in front of her.

"The wine is excellent. Not too sweet but not remotely dry. Complements the rabbit quite well. A good choice, as though you should ever worry. You have a real talent, as you well know, when it comes to food, my dear friend," Salazar assured her with a half smile. He continued to devour the pie, grateful for the wonderful (if expected treat). It wouldn't be Helga if she did not try to feed them all up. It was one of the things he enjoyed about her company. She was a tender heart, truly belonging here amongst the younger, scared children they would be expecting tomorrow.

Maybe it wouldn't be so good for the elder ones who needed a bit of hardship to survive this world but there was plenty of time for the rest of them to teach them the skills and the difficulties the world really set in their paths.

In response to Rowena's logic, Salazar nodded. "The last I heard, he said he was heading out to check out the fortifications around the school though, as he did that last week, I'm betting it was code for hunting. It looked like he had a two-legged companion as well as Rhiannon so it would lean stronger on the hunting premise. Though them all heading down to the trading post to get a drink from the tavern isn't out of the realm of possibility."

When Helga set out her bargain, the half smile shifted into a smirk. "I agree with the half hour, though I'll put 5 galleons up that he'll be bleeding when he comes in."

Rowena wasn't the type who normally carried money on her person, let alone gambled thus she focused on the food in front of her while the other two bantered. When Salazar brought up Godric bleeding, she looked up and sighed, setting her spoon down on her plate. "Heavens I hope not," she said, thinking about the mess that would create. "Though if he's gone hunting, I suspect evidence of the woods to be on him. Leafs and sticks in his hair and the like."

She gave a soft little snort at the mental picture. Though Godric was older he was quite handsome in the most dashing of ways, though for some reason she never paid that much mind. He was talented to be sure, which caught her attention more than his good looks. And yet something always held her back from pushing the issue. Perhaps it was their friendship that had gotten in the way.

Something to dwell on down the road she supposed, though if she was honest with herself she wasn't sure she wanted to. Godric had become something of a protector to her and her dearest Helena ever since Luan disappeared. Even gifting her a dog to keep the girl company. There was nothing Helena loved more than that dog. Another sigh escaped from Rowena as she absently took up her spoon once more, the rabbit pastry all but half-finished.

Helga chuckled as she set her goblet down onto the table and returned her hands to her lap. Her best friend was ever one not to fond of the daily presence of mess and filth, all of which seemed attracted not just to daily life but in particular to their missing friend. It wasn't a normal day where he didn't have a smug of dirt on his face or mud caked to the back of his trousers after all.

"Now now, as much as we do poke fun at our dear friend it's not fully his fault nature insists to leave evidence of his adventures on him for us to find when he returns." she said, then gave a few flicks of her wand to move a pastry from the tray to a small plate nearby and bring the two closer to her. She was a combination of her two friends, using her fingers to eat the filled pastry but making use of the plate as to not make a mess on the table. While true it would make her hands a little dirty she had a handkerchief handy to aid in clean up later.

 "Besides, I took the liberty of setting up some enchanted brooms by each of the doors leading to the outside and should a speck of dirt enter they will swiftly clean it up." Helga glanced at Rowena, giving her friend a smile then turned to her waiting pastry. Taking a bite she savored the flavor and glad it did indeed pair well with the wine she had picked out. Now if only she could get the house elves to sample some when they were building menus, knowing what wine went best with certain flavors was important but they had so far refused claiming it wasn't their place to try what they called a drink of the masters. Still there was time to change their minds but if not she did know if she ever needed a test subject outside herself, Godric was usually willing if she asked.

Suddenly realizing something she forget, Helga set down her plate. "Oh dear, I do hope they don't go too overboard should he come back a mess though. I forgot sometimes he does tend to come back looking rather like a walking clump of dirt and those brooms may just try to beat him should he be in such a dirty state. They won't know the common state Godric can get into when he's been outdoors, I hope they don't beat him too terribly they are just doing what they were charmed to do."

Salazar looked at Helga for a moment, shocked that she would use such a spell to accommodate their very organized and cleanliness obsessed friend. But at the declaration that she hoped the brooms wouldn't be too hard on Godric who would, most likely, come back clomping dirt or mud in every direction, Salazar let out a wheezing laugh. He nearly dropped his pastry at the idea, wishing now that he could be there to watch - to see brooms attacking the fierce Gryffindor knight and how he might react to such a thing.

After a few moments, he lifted a hand to his eye, wiping away a single mirthful tear. "Goodness Helga, who would have thought you would have it in you! I must say, good one on him and I would give anything to watch him try to sneak in a door somewhere in his usual state!" He snorted again, trying not to laugh at the very idea of Godric trying to fight off a bunch of brooms with his sword instead of using his head and ending the enchantment like a normal wizard would think to do. Luckily, the brooms could be mended easily enough but still.

"Not even our first day and we might have our defenses tested! And to think it will be Helga who foils intruders with a mere broom instead of all the spells and curses that we all set up." This was not said dismissively, though. There was a note of admiration in his voice - that she had thought of something the rest of them had not.

Taking another bite from his pastry, nearly half gone now, he turned his attention to Rowena. It seemed as good a time as any to begin. Godric could catch up when he decided to arrive. No reason for them to put themselves out just because the man would likely be late for his own funeral. "Now then, shall we begin with you Rowena?" She had likely had her lesson plans finished for weeks from now and somehow they were going to have to make them all work around each other to make certain the students were well rounded in all subjects.