Relaxing in the staff room [Open to all staff members, come say hi!]

Zelia sighed heavily and shook her head. "I guess the Headmaster said something about wanting classrooms open to students in case they wished to 'learn more'" She laughed and took a sip of her drink. "As though they use that access to learn more... It is nice being able to have my older students help tend the plants, but honestly, I have more trouble with them than it's worth." she leaned back in her chair and listened to the other two speak for a moment.

She nodded at Cassie speaking about having only just started now. "Ah, yes... I went off and did many other things before finally applying here." She smiled softly and set her cup down on the table before she reached up and gently unpinned her giant hat from her hair and set it aside on the table. The little leaves that dotted the brim seemed to move on their own slightly as she set it down. After doing so, she ran a hand through her hair, messing up the wavy curls and making a few of them stand on end for a moment.

"Honestly, I am glad I got out and did other things, but it is nice to have something more.. stable. I've been job-hopping for a few years now at this point." She picked up her tea from the table again and took a nice long drink from it.

"I'm always happy for them to learn more. Hm. I think I may need to have a word with the Headmaster about this if it continues. I am sure there must be a middle ground - giving certain students permission, restricting those purposely misbehaving, or various other means." Jemma thought aloud, in her usual way. She would come up with something and approach him about it. She had many years of experience teaching, plus as one of the Heads of Houses, she had a good reputation at the school and would hopefully be able to come to a suitable agreement with the Headmaster. Yet another thing to add to her to-do list!

"I can relate to that. I was, well still am, a single mother myself. Though my daughter is all grown now of course. It was definitely harder when she was younger though, I was lucky to have support from my mother at least." Jemma told the new Professor, giving her a smile. She didn't talk about her family much these days, so many memories, but it was getting easier every year. She hoped Cassie had as much support as she needed, she knew all too well the struggles of raising a child alone.

"I've worked many jobs over the years, though my times at Hogwarts have always been my longest and most fulfilling roles." she added, thinking back to the old days. She'd been back at Hogwarts for five years now, though had worked here in the past many years before that too. She was so glad to be back, she had missed teaching when she was away. Despite the students being a bit of a pain, she wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

As a fresh face Elodin knew that it would take him some time to feel totally comfortable back at his own stomping grounds. It was drastically different being on the other side of life at Hogwarts as a teacher. He remembered being particularly angry with several of his professors throughout his time and was struggling to deal with the prospect that students would inevitably feel that way about himself. Truly it was astounding that the only qualifications professors needed at Hogwarts was a working brain and some semblance of proficiency in the subject area. Nevertheless, he took pride in his new position and was going to make the best of it.

Except he had misplaced his lesson plans for the fifth time that day already.

He was retracing his steps down hallways and in his own office. He had even gone all the way down to the grounds searching for them but they were nowhere to be find. Eventually, however, the only place he hadn't looked was the staff room. He had been working when it was quiet but had subtly made his exit when it had started to crowd. But it had been several hours since then and he was no longer working, merely looking.

He made his way to the staff room and entered casually to find a few other staff engaged in conversation. "Good afternoon, ladies. Has anyone seen a pile of lesson plans laying around in here?" he asked in general.

"Wow, it's a party!"

Teddy Lupin had been working at Hogwarts for years. Fresh out of school, he'd jumped into the fray in the hospital wing, and had bounced around where was needed as he got his qualifications to teach. He was certainly one of those professors who had a passion for the teaching rather than any particular subject. The fact that he'd been around so long and was always willing to help out a new teacher had ingratiated him to many of his colleagues.

And he was happy to see they seemed to be getting to know each other too.

"And so many new faces!" he said, glancing between the new Astronomy and Transfiguration teachers. He reached out and smiled at Jemma, giving her a comfortable greeting before telling Elodin, "Sometimes the Caretaker shuffles them into one of the cubbies," he said, indicating the small shelving unit on the wall. "They're supposed to be labelled by subject, but don't often get put away in the right order."

He cleared his throat. "Teddy Lupin, by the way!" He glanced towards Cass, saying, "And it's Cass, right? Chesire?"

Cassiopeia nodded her head. Well she got where headmaster did come but it still wasn't safe for sure. They can learn as long as they don't mess things up but there still should be some supervion on it as things can go very badly. "Yeah there is some days when everything seems to fine but some kids just cause the trouble," she said simply put. It was truth.

"Yeah I ahve been trying to figure out my lfie. Anyways as I'm here now, I will try to do my best," she said with a smile on her face. To be honest she had no clue what is going to happen really in her life. She has learned to take it day by day more likely. "Yeah seems like we all have soemthing in common," she said with a smile on her face.

When the males joined she just simply waved at them. "Oh I haven't sorry," she said to the one of them.

"Oh yes, Cass works even if most people end up using Cassie for some reason. And no you can use just Cassie among us. Cheshire is only for students. Even if many of them end up calling me Cassie too. I know my first name is very fitting for Astonomy subject, Cassiopeia" she said with a smile. "Oh, nice to meet you Teddy Lupin," she added with a smile.

Zelia looked up from her tea as two other people entered the staff room. First, Elodin seemed to be frantically searching for something... again. She smiled and shook her head, nodding to what Teddy had said. "I do hope a student didn't get ahold of your notes... if they have, you'll need to change all your answers on the next quiz, or you'll find every single student will pass with flying colors." She gave a small laugh and glanced towards the cubbies that often had strange things tucked inside them that the caretaker had found.

She watched the greeting of the Professor with interest before clearing her throat. "It seems quite odd to me that we haven't really had a chance to meet like this before." She nodded around the room. "Perhaps we should get together more often to speak. I, for one, could do with some time not speaking to students." She smirked and sipped her tea, leaning back against the couch she was sitting on. "Perhaps an informal get-together? We could invite the other Professors as well."

Jemma was glad to see more Professor's in the staff room. She didn't spend a lot of time here these days, but she was reconsidering that. Especially with quite a few newer members of staff, it was good to have a bit of a chat and get to know everyone.

"Hi, glad you could join the party then!" she smiled back at Teddy. "It is nice to have so many of us in here today for once. Though I know I'm not here often, I probably should spend more time here and less up alone in my office."

Jemma looked towards the cubby, hoping that the lesson plans would be there. It could take ages to plan out lessons, though most of hers she didn't fully re-plan these days, she knew how much work it was, especially when you were new to teaching.

"An informal get-together sounds great. Anything in mind? It would be good to take a break from work and students, sometimes I find I just need more adult company after dealing with them all day." she agreed, she'd definitely enjoy something like that, getting to know the newer teachers and spending time with the ones she was already friends with, it seemed like a great idea.

((I'm skipping Matt, I think he's swamped with teaching and likely will not mind!))

Teddy was seasoned enough as a professor to have been through some staffs who desired to make the staff a family, and others who wanted to keep friendship far from the workplace. Teddy trended toward the former, though he’d also seen that get messy and complicated. Still, always worth the try.

“Cass it is,” Teddy laughed at the new Astronomy professor’s explanation of her name, before glancing back around. “I think an informal outing is a splendid idea. Perhaps on a Hogsmeade weekend? We’ll already be out and about, and will have a much better excuse to indulge in a Firewhiskey.”