Mealtime Yapping Open

^{@Ellie Randensmith}
@Makaio Kāne
Lillian was always shy, and that helps her to notice things. She noticed Professor Kāne sitting at the Hufflepuff table. He looked a little lonely, best she could tell past his mountain of food.
To her, Professor Kāne, didn't seem like he fitted anywhere. He seemed a bit uncomfortable at the staff table, probably because he was new. He seemed more at home with the students, but it was quite easy to see that he wasn't one.
Lillian vaguely remembered when he visited the Gryffindor table. The reason was because she was trying to study and eat at the same time. She faintly smiled to herself at the memory. It didn't turn out so well. She could barely study over food and noise, and she could barely eat over studying. It was not something to try again.
Lillian hesitated, and made her way to Professor Kāne, at the Hufflepuff table, hoping that she wasn't about to get into trouble. She hoped no one saw her, because she wasn't sure if what she was fixing to do was okay or not. Of course Professor Kāne could do it, but that was because he was a professor. Lillian didn't know if students were allowed to do it or not. Hopefully, everyone would let it slide, because she would do it only once.
Finally after what seemed like forever to Lillian, she made it to the Hufflepuff table, and no one had stopped her yet. Then, she shyly addressed her professor, while guiltily glancing at the Hufflepuffs hoping they didn't mind either, "Umm...Do you mind if I sit with you, sir? I'd like to talk with you." Lillian hadn't yet decided what to say to him, but she felt that she needed to say something else.

Tori had come home for lunch a little earlier than usual, but this time she was covered in mud. She had slipped and fallen into a mud puddle while trying to climb a tree to get a flower. She knew she would miss lunch if she took a shower, so she had come early. Her rat Vick, who was sitting on her shoulder, made a restless noise.

"Hey, I'm the one covered in mud here. I'll go to the great hall and get something to eat."

The Great Hall was empty as she had expected. She was initially startled when she saw the professor sitting at the Hufflepuff table. Then she felt relieved when she saw another girl walking towards the professor.

"Hello professor, can I sit here too?"

She asked a little shyly. She thought her other daughter was asking the same thing. The mud on her had dried by now and it felt a little strange to be sitting with a professor. When Vick made a noise, she noticed the food in front of the professor.

"Wow, you must be very hungry. That's a lot of food. It must be hard to teach. Lots of kids, I mean it's tiring. I wouldn't want that."

@Lillian McMason
@Makaio Kane

Makaio had just taken a bite out of a turkey leg when the first of two students approached him. It was one of the Gryffindor first years. He had sat at their table previously. He watched her for a time as it seemed as if she was having second thoughts. She stood there kind of just staring generally at the Hufflepuff table. The moment the professor thought that maybe the girl thought twice was when she finally crossed the last several feet toward him.

The Gryffindor asked if she might sit with him and, swallowing whatever food was in his mouth he said, “Certainly, Ms. McMason. Please, have a seat! No one is going to turn you into a walrus just because you sit down at a different house table…” His voice was kind in a gravelly sort of way, light but still cared with it a hint that maybe someone would do what he said they wouldn’t.

His attention next turned to a rather muddled sight, or should he say muddied, as the girl seemed to have taken a bath in a mud pit! The rat seemed clean as a whistle though. Shouldn’t that be the other way around? Either way the mud caked lass came over much more confidently than the Gryffindor, though he supposed that made sense, given this was her table after all. Another request to sit down. It was almost as if he was a table troll and they had to ask for permission or he’d like turn them into an elephant or something, that would be absolutely crazy…right? Yeah, totally!

“Yes, Ms. Jones,” Makaio nodded as he gestured for the filthy girl to sit down, opposite of where he was sitting, along with Lillian. “School is almost over,” he said, now addressing both of his students, smiling warmly, “Are you ready for classes to be over? What are your summer plans?” He stopped short of asking about what they thought of Transfiguration, he was sure that at some point they would get to that sooner or later.

@Lillian McMason and @Victoria Lena Jones

Please note: to properly mention me so that it appears in my remembrall please remember to add the ā. If you have trouble with that, just copy and paste my name from this post.

F I N N E G A NxC O N N O R
omnes magni homines primum fuerunt pueri

gryffindor, third-year
─────────✫

Few Professors had made a more firm and immediate impression upon Finnegan than @Winifred Bonnet, but Professor Kāne had joined the ranks almost immediately by virtue of his immense presence and kind-hearted nature. Yet rumours that Kāne had transfigured the previous professor into a newt and put him in a jar that he kept in his private quarters refused to die down. Transfiguration had been a bastion of stability compared to some other subjects where teachers lasted no more than a few months, which only fuelled the stories surrounding Preceval-Phelan's departure. Perhaps more remarkable however was the fact that the Professor chose to mingle with the students and even sit with them. The very first time Finnegan had seen him, he'd thought the man was either a student who'd downed a bottle of Aging potion, or a part-giant like Hugh Lowe. But that theory had been put to bed the next day when the man had been at the front of class delivering instructions on how to transfigure a guinea fowl into a guinea pig. Finnegan looked up from his plate. He'd been sitting with some third-year Hufflepuffs for a group assignment and wondering idly if Alma Stoll and George Henry were still kicking about somewhere when he'd felt the shift off weight on the bench from Professor Kāne sitting down. The sheer volume of food that the burly man loaded onto his plate made him stiffle a snigger, not wanting to seem rude. The effect was only worsened when a rather shy and decidely skinny looking first-year Gryffindor approached the Professor. The turkey legs and beef stew that the Professor had loaded onto his plate probably weighed more than the girl @Lillian McMason. Soon after, another girl joined the Transfiguration Professor. A Ravenclaw who'd gone outside and touched grass? Well, rolled about in the grass and muck anyway by the looks of it. Now both of Finnegan's eyebrows were raised as he observed the odd grouping with growing amusement. With no George Henry anywhere in sight to carry on the Hogwarts tradition of telling tall tales to young and impressionable students, Finnegan excused himself from his peers and sauntered over, plate in hand, to join at the Professor's side. Feigning interested in his eggs on toast, Finnegan kept quiet, letting the conversation between the Professor and the girls play out before he jumped in. “You want to be careful,” he said to the girls, doing his best to strike the most serious tone he could muster without breaking into laughter. “If he's finished all that and he's still hungry, you're next. Unless you put a spell on him that'll make him unable to eat anything except lettuce. That's how they deal with rogue vampires, you know,” he said sagely, entirely unbothered that he was talking about Professor Kāne while sitting right next to him. A swig of orange juice from his goblet hid the grin that was beginning to betray his jest, and when he set the cup back down he focused on the Ravenclaw and frowned slightly. “What happened to you? You know you could Scourgify that, right?” Quite rich, coming from a five foot three of creased Gryffindor uniform and an half undone tie, but there it was.

June 2025 Great Hall

@Lillian McMason @Victoria Lena Jones @Makaio Kāne - Hope you all don't mind me barging in!

^{@Ellie Randensmith}
@Makaio Kāne
@Victoria Lena Jones
and
@Finnegan Connor
Lillian found a seat near Professor Kāne, and started to fill her plate, when another girl with the same idea, asked to sit too. He let her. Lillian was pretty sure the girls first name was Victoria, because in one of her classes she remembered a 'Victoria Jones'.
After she sat Professor Kāne asked them how they were enjoying school, and what they were going to do on Summer Vacation. Lillian was about to answer when a boy said a mean thing about Professor Kāne, right in front of him! She glanced at the professor, before icily replying to the boy, "That's stupid, he wouldn't eat a student and anyway, he has plenty of food."
Then Lillian returned to the conversation, saying, "I like this school so much better than my neighborhood," to Professor Kāne's first question. She truly ment it. Here everyone was nice to her, and not accusing her of being weird, because everyone was, in a way.
And to his second question she said, "If my grades are good, my parents are going to let me buy my choice of a pet from the Magical Menagerie, so I guess I am a little excited to get home." She had been saving for months, because her parents said that they'd give her a little money, if she was a couple Galleons short. But, they said that it would promote responsibility if she bought the pet herself. Lillian still wasn't sure what pet to get even though she had been thinking about it for a long time.
She defiantly did the right thing. Lillian had a very good feeling that she was having a better lunch here than at the Gryffindor table, where she probably would have been thinking about school and not talking to anyone. Here, she was having a lovely chat with several people.

Tori sat across from the Gryffindor girl as Professor Kāne had shown her. She tore off a piece of lettuce from the table and handed it to Vick, the mouse on her shoulder.

Just after the professor asked the question, a child who was probably a little older than him came up and continued the girl's speak, whose name she thought was Lillian.

"And I don't think Professor Lear would have hired a cannibal as a professor at the school."

She put a sandwich in front of him. She listened as Lillian spoke. When she finished speaking, Tori spoke.

"I'm ready. I think I want to travel around during the summer vacation. I want to see new places or learn more about my family. At least I can find a cousin. My family relationship is a bit complicated."

She had talked too much, as he always did. She continued to eat his sandwich without caring. The mud didn't bother her much anymore.

"I fell from a tree while climbing and got covered in mud and I guess we can't do magic outside of class. I could if I wanted to but I didn't learn that spell but it's not a problem now. I've gotten used to the mud."

@Lillian McMason
@Makaio Kāne
@Finnegan Connor

OOC: You are always welcome to join, Finn!

Makaio’s aims at sitting at the Hufflepuff table had been met, however, ironically so. As of this moment, not a single Hufflepuff had dared to approach him and yet now by his count, two Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw had graced his presence. The new addition, a rather mischievous one at that, was Finnegan Connor. Hopefully things would be getting more interesting as he sat down, seemingly more preoccupied with his toast than joining in on the conversation.

Taking the bowl of stew he had, Makaio lifted the bowl to his mouth and drank directly from the bowl, a regular occurrence where he was from, but perhaps an odd sight in the UK. He watched the three of them for a moment as they bantered back and forth. Finnegan teased the girls about the fact Makaio might eat them. This drew a chortle from him as he was still drinking, sputtering some of the gravy like stew into his beard and mustache. Setting the bowl down, he wiped the residue off with his calloused left hand. Then he proceeded to wipe that hand on a napkin. Ok, so he never really spent much time in polite company before now.

He had remained silent as the girls pushed back against the tease, amused at how quickly the young ones tried to refute the older student. “Ah, Mr. Connor. I didn’t see you there,” he lied, turning to the girls he continued, “He has a point, girls. I do know a good student to roast beef spell,” Makaio said, his smile and the twinkle in his eye belying the fact he was also joking.

The topic then shifted to the Ravenclaw’s muddied appearance. The ragtag and scruffy Finnegan asked whether or not the girl could clean herself up. Ms. Jones had fallen into the mud climbing a tree. The next bit caught him off guard as particularly odd. What magic school doesn’t allow their students to use magic? He was about to interject, but Lillian McMason was the first to actually answer his initial question so he figured Finnegan would correct her.

Somehow this started to seem like Finnegan and Makaio vs first year students in the most amusing way possible. He was happy for Lillian, though, that she brought the conversation back. “That sounds very nice that your parents are willing to buy you a pet! I look forward to your continued success in my class, Ms. McMason.” It was a good chance to carry this conversation along with his other two students: “What of the rest of you lot? What are your summer plans?” He asked, once again starting to eat the rest of the food on his plate.

@Finnegan Connor, @Lillian McMason, and @Victoria Lena Jones

OOC: Apologies if I got anything out of order, I tried to comment on everyone's actions in a way that made sense to me. I can make edits upon request.

F I N N E G A NxC O N N O R
omnes magni homines primum fuerunt pueri

gryffindor, third-year
─────────✫

"That's stupid, he wouldn't eat a student and anyway, he has plenty of food." If he were a teacher, he would have given her an E for her cold-blooded delivery. She had guts, even if she didn't look it. Must be why she is in Gryffindor, he thought to himself and almost felt proud of her too for standing her ground. If she wasn't so thin and very first-year looking, he might have actually felt the need to snipe back with some defensive remark. But being an obviously much younger student however, there was very little she could do or say that would make him crawl under the table and cower there, but credit to her for trying. The young Gryffindor carried on the conversation, ignoring him like he was little more than an annoying fly that buzzed around and needed to be swatted away every now and again. A few snarky remarks flitted around in Finnegan's head, but he kept them to himself. She was a first-year and a Gryffindor to boot, she deserved a little mercy. Besides, she must have had her reasons for not going to the Gryffindor table, and so he let her be for the time being and focused on his toast and egg instead. "And I don't think Professor Lear would have hired a cannibal as a professor at the school." Finnegan turned his gaze toward the Ravenclaw girl. “Are you sure? Headmaster Lear is the only one who is wearing armor all day every day. Maybe he knows something we don't... did you think of that?” “He has a point, girls. I do know a good student to roast beef spell.” In a boy's world, simple acts like going along with a joke were invaluable. The reward for it was near boundless appreciation and respect. In two seconds flat, Professor Kāne had achieved what some of his colleagues never managed to get: the approval and admiration of young Mr. Connor. Finnegan smirked at both girls as if to say see? I told you so. But he didn't push the matter. In fact, he was quite content to let them both enjoy their lunch, but then the Ravenclaw just had to answer him with the absolute zinger "I've gotten used to the mud" There was nothing particularly funny about it, really, except the way she said it, the casualness of it. Like getting covered in mud was the most ordinary thing in the world. The timing of it was rather unfortunate too. Right when he was sipping his juice, right when the sugary fluid sloshes around in his mouth, right when his brain malfunctioned is when she decided to strike. The reaction was immediate. He let out a barking laugh, tried to anyway while the other half of his brain was trying to drink his orange juice. The result? Catastrophic. A violent eruption of orange juice shot out through his nose and mouth, spraying across the table, quite possibly hitting his table companions while the remainder streamed out past the corners of his mouth, leaving sticky trails in its wake. There were probably bits of egg and toast in there too somewhere, though he hoped those bits hadn't made it across the table. For several seconds he wheezed and coughed and sniggered all at once, his cheeks reddening as he tried to regain his composure. “Sorry,” he mumbled. Then he looked down at his lap. “Shit.” He'd made rather a mess of himself, and so out came his wand. “Scourgify” Just like that, everything was clean again. Pleased with the results, Finnegan looked back up, having missed a bit of what Professor Kāne had been saying. Something about the summer holidays? He didn't have much to add to that conversation, because he had no plans. No plans that a Professor needed to hear about anyway. Smuggling Forgetfulness Potions out of school to use on his parents so they wouldn't think of pulling him out of Hogwarts wasn't exactly the kind thing that he wanted his Transfiguration Professor to know about. Once again his gaze found its way to the Ravenclaw girl, and this time his wand was pointing at her too. “Are you sure you don't want me to fix it for you?” The way he was already lightly moving his wand about with his wrist could either be perceived as a keen desire to help or an attempt to take her eye out. Reducio EDIT/OOC note: just to clarify on the point of Finn using Forgetfulness Potions on his parents, that is something I am OOC considering doing. It is not a given yet. That statement should be taken as an internal thought of something Finn might have thought about doing, not something he has done yet. This has no bearing on anyone in this thread at the moment, but I thought I'd add this note in case a moderator saw that line and had an aneurysm.

June 2025 Great Hall

@Lillian McMason @Victoria Lena Jones @Makaio Kāne

^{@Ellie Randensmith}
@Makaio Kāne
@Victoria Lena Jones
and
@Finnegan Connor
Why was Lillian being so bold today? What was wrong with her? It was most unlike her to first sit at a different house table to chat with one of her professors. If that wasn't different and/or odd enough, for her, she defended the said professor by talking back to a boy that was older than her, when he said something mean to Professor Kāne.
To jerk her out of her monologue of odd thoughts the boy suddenly spit what looked like orange juice at least halfway across the table! Lillian found that pretty funny, but she was polite. Even though he wasn't on her good side right now didn't mean that she could or should be rude. So she bent her head a little, close to her plate so no one could see, then smiled and snorted to her rice and eggs, instead of adding to the embarrassing scene.
After the boy cleaned up, and Lillian had gotten control of herself, the boy then offered to clean Victoria's robes! She didn't believe him, not one bit! Boys can be a lot of things, but they weren't helpful. Especially him. Something about his eyes made it look to her that he was lying. Or was Lillian lying to herself seeing what she thought she would see. No, she thought shaking her head slightly. I'm not tricking myself. He seems just like the kind of person that would do something like that too.
So, she butted in. "Don't let him," she said to Victoria, but she didn't care if he heard too. To be honest, some part of her wanted him to here just what she thought of him. "He'll probably perform the spell with too much force on purpose. You can't trust him." Lillian hoped that Victoria would listen to her, because she had no idea what an overdone Scourgify would do. Surely nothing good? It might rip her robes to shreds or make some sharp wind. Oh, how she didn't trust that boy one bit!