Cluing Myself In

[william]

Ken had loaned out a good stack of old paper and was reading them one by one in the staff antechamber. He was no where close to this continent when the murder happened. But after a good while of reading, he figured out it was the ex-Ancient Runes Professor who got murdered. Well, that explained the hush-hush and murmurs in his class.

He put the paper down and rubbed his eyes, getting slightly red and dry from all the reading. He believed he got most of the facts, but the rumors...

[lainee]

Lainee walked into the staff room and stopped at the door. She truly wasn't expecting anyone to be here. She didn't even know why she was here, actually. Lainee remembered the guy from the Sorting feast. She stared at him with her head tilted for a moment finding this opportunity to watch him. He seemed like an okay fellow. "Do you mind if I come in and sit or would you rather be alone?"

[william]

"Oh, do come in," Ken stood up with a polite smile. He was glad that someone, Lainee was her name, joined her. He had some questions, and answers would be very nice.

"You are Miss Jamboreema right?" he inquired. "How long have you been teaching here?"

[lainee]

Lainee smiled as he remembered her name. It was so long she didn't think he would. "Yes, that's correct or you can call me Lainee or any variation of my last name. You were Mr. Mason, yes?" Lainee grabbed a seat not too far from the guy. "About one year now. I'm sorry I forgot what you taught again."

[william]

"Ancient Runes, and please call me Kenneth, or Ken," he replied and allowed her time to sit down, or get comfotable. "I have never taught students this young before. Then again, my youngest student here has to be at least third years and up, so I suppose it's not too different."

[Rebecca Davenport]

Becca entered the staff lounge, as she usually did: with bits of hay and feathers sticking out of the oddest places and totally oblivious of anyone else in the room. She headed straight for the tea pot and poured herself a rather large cup stiring it calmly before turning around and realizing she wasn't alone.

"Oh, my stars! You scared me!" she exclaimed with a jump as if the other two professors had snuck up behind her. Her hand flew to her heart and the cup she had been holding fell to the floor, shattering on the flagstones. When her nerves had calmed, she looked at the mess she had made and gave a long sigh. "Well, there goes that."

[william]

Ken stared at her for a second, before chuckling. "My apologizes," he said to her and got up. Walking towards where Miss Davenport stood, he got his wand out and Reparo-ed the shattered mug.

Picking the now whole mug up, he poured her another cup of tea. "Milk and sugar?" he asked.

[Rebecca Davenport]

"Yes. Thank you, Professor Mason," Becca answered, taking another deep sigh and finally deciding her heart had resumed it's normal tempo. She smiled calmly as if the incident had already been forgotten before turning to the woman and greeting her. "Professor Jamboreema. I hope the day is finding you both well?"

[lainee]

Lainee had cupped her hand over her mouth and was trying not to laugh. Just as she had recovered she was being addressed. Lainee cleared her throat and nodded. "Please call me Lainee, Prof. Davenport and this day is ... " Lainee sighed. "I love those children I do, but do they never get tired? They are always so energetic. Except for the older years they are always so depressing. Do you get that as well?" Lainee looked at the other two professors.

[william]

He tapped Rebecca's shoulder and passed the steaming mug to her. "Please call me Ken," he said with a smile. Calling each other by their last names was a bit too formal, which he didn't like.

"And I haven't got a lot of opportunities to talk to the younger students," he continued. "But children are supposed to be energetic. As to the older ones, I don't really find them depressing, yet."

[Rebecca Davenport]

"It's Becca," she told them as she murmured her thanks to the man. " And I find the energy refreshing compared to the apathy," she said. "I'd take a Starbreeze over some of the sullen or sleepy ones we get any day."

[william]

Ken smiled at the mention of the Starbreeze. He hoped he would get to meet one some day, whether it's in the classroom or not. It almost felt like he couldn't tell others he taught at Hogwarts if he hadn't met one.

"But speaking of depressing students," he cleared his throat and changed the topic. "I have heard quite some murmurs and rumors about the murder of the previous Ancient Runes professor, as well as from the Prophet."

He wanted to ask them about it, but he wanted to see their reactions regarding the matter first. He didn't want to upset anyone.

[lainee]

Lainee put her head down. She hadn't been much help then. She still felt so awful about how she kept drifting and even when she was so weak she almost quit. This wasn't what a princess was supposed to go through. Lainee brought her head back up and looked Ken in the eyes.

"It was horrible. No one knows who did it and the children were frightened we were frightened." Lainee's mouth dropped open. "You don't think there's a curse or you're next do you?"

[william]

"I am feeling pretty lucky to last until the end of the year," Ken joked, hoping to ease the tension. He didn't feel all that scared after he found out about the previous professor. Not that he didn't believe in curses, but he felt this had nothing to do with them.

"But rumors said it's likely that the murderer is one of the staff, which is why ministry workers are among us?" he asked boldly.

[Rebecca Davenport]

Becca fell silent, sipping on her tea and avoiding eye contact. She had been the first adult on the scene and had been responsible for getting the student witnesses taken care of as well as informing the staff. This was not a topic she was particularly fond of.

But at the suspicions over the staff, she had to say something. "Granted, I don't know everyone, but I find it hard to believe that one of the staff could have done something so terrible," she murmured into her teacup.