Disgruntled and confused ((Professors))

[Professor Julius Foxcroft]

Julius hid behind his newspaper pretending to read though he had read the story on that page three times already. It only made him angrier every time he read it. Deep down it also scared him but he would never admit that to anyone. Julius wanted to stay in his own world, away from everyone; he didn’t want anything to affect the walls he had built around himself. He didn’t to be reminded of what was going on around him, it made him uncomfortable to think he was taking no role at all in the saving of the magical world, and try as he might he could no longer convince himself there was nothing he could do. He was torn between his sense of duty and his fear of doing it and leaving the Hogwarts castle which he had left maybe only once or twice since the day he had come to teach there.

Right now he was trying to organize his confused thoughts, and the last thing he needed was to talk to anyone. A student had dropped some potion which no-one had been able to identify yet right in front of his office and it had left a disgusting stench in the entire corridor leading to his office. Till that was dealt with he was going to have to sit with the staff in the staff lounge for now. Julius was sitting in the farthest corner of the room trying to look as inconspicuous as possible and trying not to think about what he had just read. Why couldn’t his life just run smoothly?

[Professor Sandra Tyler]

Sandra crossed her legs as she opened an Ancient Runes book up to the first page. Taking a case out of her desk c she unfolded the soft fabric and took out her black rim glasses and put them on. Sandra didn't have very well eye sight, and used glasses for only her reading. Her mother had the same problem as a young adult. Sighing, she put the book away and leaned back in her chair more and flipped through a stack of mail. Many messages where from her family back home in Scotland, but Sandra was looking for a letter from Allie, her only daughter. Allie was not old enough to go to Hogwarts, and stayed home with her grandmother. Sandra was once married but it never worked out. The man who she thought knew wasn't the one and she barely got along with him, and did not wish to get maried for a long time. Her life was just fine as it is at the moment.

Flipping through all the letters she finally came across Allie's. Setting down the others she opened up the letter and smiled as a there was a hand drawn picture of Allie and herself holding hands. Turning around in her chair, Sandra put the picture up on a cabinet and just starred at it for a while. A shot of jolt ran through Sandra as she thought more of her daughter. She hadn't seen Allie since Christmas vacation and surely misses her daughter. Sighing, Sandra stood up from her chair and soothed out any wrinkles in her skirt. Taking a deep breath she walked out of her class room and down the corridor towards the staff lounge to read The Daily Prophet in peace.

Opening the doors to the lounge, Sandra smiled at all her fellow Professors and walked over towards a table and picked up a copy of The Daily Prophet and walked to the corner of the room where she normally sat. Seeing that an older man was sitting there, Sandra stopped in her tracks and looked at the seat next to him. "Do you mind if I sit there. I normally sit in corner because it is not so loud." Sandra asked with a kind smile and waited for his response.

[Professor Julius Foxcroft]

Julius scratched his neck and sighed behind the newspaper. He wished the other professors in the room would just shut up. Honestly, they were worse than the chattering students in the corridors that always annoyed him when he was trying to get from one place to another in the school. Julius' thoughts were interrupted suddenly by the arrival of another teacher. What did she want from him? He didn't want to talk to anyone; it had been a long day. He tried to hide a bit more behind his paper but there was not much he could do about it. She just wanted to sit; maybe she wouldn’t talk to him. He didn’t know what the other teachers thought of him nor did he care. He led his own life hidden inside his shell, and the less he had to interact with people the happier he was.

"I don’t usually sit here at all, I prefer the privacy of my own office, and also that way any student who wants to ask me something can come there at once. You may sit where you please, I was looking for a quiet place myself," said Julius almost snappily with just a cursory glance at the professor. She was one of the new professors. The way the school changed professors all the time made the Hogwarts image look bad. But it was not like the situation was going to get better, with the war coming up it was going to be harder and harder to find staff. He didn't want to think about the war. Or about the staff. Or about anything truth be told.

((Sorry he's such a grouchy charrie.))

[Professor Sandra Tyler]

Sandra narrowed her eyes at the other Professor and didn't say a word. She didn't feel like getting into an augment with a fellow collogue at the moment. Taking a seat, she crossed one leg over the other and opened up the paper towards the middle. "I am Sandra the new Ancient Runes professor if you were wondering." Sandra said under the paper after long moments of silence. She didn't like silence at all, and was used to things being so loud. Growing up in a family of six was the reason. Everyone in the house always running around and screaming. A lot of tumult sounds made Sandra feel more at home and maybe even youthful. But she wasn't that old, around twenty eight but not too old.

Flipping through her paper, Sandra listened to the other chatter between the other Professors around her. Some of the adults in the room where in large groups of three or four and others in just two. Crossing her leg over the other again, Sandra sighed and turned her head towards the person next to her. Blinking a couple of times she turned her head towards the window and watched the sun rays hit the glass not saying a word. Sandra's stomach started to churn as it seemed to be unbearable. Should she continue the conversation or maybe even start it? But this man didn't seem to want to talk to other people and looked quite confused to Sandra. "You look some what confused. May I ask why you are?" Sandra finally said looking back at her paper and flipping through the pages.

[Professor Julius Foxcroft]

Julius was glad that the professor hadn’t tried to talk to him. Putting up with the sound of the professor’s chatter was already enough. Julius no longer interacted with people much since he had come to Hogwarts. He preferred his own solitude and had become uncomfortable in large groups of people. In the three years he had spent at Hogwarts he had only been friends with one person, Juliette Vector, and that was because he had known her before his personality had changed, and even they had drifted apart. But this was his life and he was comfortable living it this way. He just wanted to teach and teach and teach, and at the end of the day be so exhausted he fell asleep without thinking about his life. He buried himself in his students’ life and their problems, and in writing books about his subject. It made him forget the tragic event that had changed his life.

Julius was mistaken though when he assumed she was going to remain silent. “I know who you are, Professor Tyler,” he said, not willing to call her by her first name. It implied familiarity and he wasn’t going to be make friends with anyone and since she was a new professor she wouldn’t know that so he had to make it clear. “And I’m not confused, I’m just angry and disappointed,” said Julius, lowering his paper and looking at his companion his voice bitter and cold.That was only part of how he was feeling of course. He was not going to tell her why he was confused; he wasn’t even ready to admit that himself and have to face the consequences. It wasn’t even her business, what was wrong with people these days? They no longer seemed to care about being personal with people they had just met. Just because they worked at the same place didn’t mean they had to become friends. Or at least that was his opinion. He saw he was going to have to say a bit more and so he continued. “The Ministry is fumbling and wrecking everything as usual; I cannot believe Fudge is still in charge. I find it hard to believe I once enjoyed working there,” said Julius looking away, more to himself than Professor Tyler.

[Professor Sandra Tyler]

Sandra set her paper down on her lap and sent a nasty glare towards the Professor Foxcroft. All she was trying to do was be nice but maybe this grouchy man wouldn’t come out of his shell. Taking a deep breath she began to speak, "You know all I am trying to do is be nice. Maybe you could cut some of us of us some slack....." she said looking away and down at the ground. Sandra's mind started with guilt and mixed up all what she said. But she had to say that, but maybe saying it a little nicer would be better. Bringing her head up from the ground she looked at the man and said nothing but listened to what he had to say about the Ministry. Now they were getting some where.

"I have to agree with you on that, the Ministry is always wrecking things and Fudge I always never liked the man. To me he only cares about himself instead of others and doesn't know how to handle himself in a real serious conflict." Sandra said looking yet again away and out of the window. The sun rays hit the glass sending some of its rays into the room. Sandra liked spring and was quite happy that things were a lot warmer here at Hogwarts, and so the students could go outside. But spring brought showers, and Sandra hated it when it was rainy out. Snowing outside was okay, but rain made her felt sad and gloomy on the inside. Taking another deep breath, Sandra opened the paper back up and started to read an entry on Gringrots bank.

[Professor Julius Foxcroft]

Well, someone certainly had some nerve. She should know better then to try and engage Julius in a conversation, but then she was new and the other professors had probably not alerted her to the fact that he didn’t like coming out of his shell and preferred it if he was left alone to his own thoughts. "Tell me, are you always this forward with everyone you meet?" he asked. He wondered if they had been at Hogwarts at the same time. But maybe she wasn't even a Hogwarts alumnus. He couldn’t remember her face at all, but then he looked a lot different from back then so maybe that was the case with her as well. He fully returned the glare she gave him, and then when she looked away he thought she might give up on him but she didn't.

"Yeah well, till someone takes control we're not getting anywhere. That girl Julie Rosewood hasn’t been found till now, and I hate to think what might have happened to her," said Julius in a frustrated voice. He was still trying to ignore the nagging voice in his head that he should be doing something and as a result he still wasn't being very nice to the other professor and his voice sounded gruffer than usual. "All those damn Aurors inside and outside the school, what the hell are they thinking? Shouldn't some sort of action be taken?" he said in a low but furious voice. The woman had opened her own paper and was reading it. "Read the story, you'll find some of the stupidest stuff Fudge has come up with on page 3," he said.

[Professor Sandra Tyler]

Sandra set the news paper down a couple of inches from her face to look at Julius as he asked her if she was always this forward with people. "Is there anything wrong with that kind of trait I have? I'm just the girl who really doesn’t care what other people think of my opinion. That does sound quite selfish of me but it's the truth." Sandra said looking over at the far corner of the room where a group of Professors sat talking about up coming classes and other important issues. Ancient Runes would start very soon and Sandra was very excited to begin teaching her very first class. The students really didn't know Sandra all that well to actually think she was either nice, mean, or between. Another small smile appeared on her face as she turned back towards the news paper in front of her and flipped the page to read an entry on Devil's Snare.

As Sandra began to read Julius started to talk about the kidnapping of Julie Rosewood and how she was just found until now. Not taking her eyes off the paper in front of her, Sandra began to speak in a quiet tone of voice. "Yes no one in the ministry seems to really care if she’s gone missing. But then again that’s my opinion but if they really tried maybe she could have been found even sooner...." Sandra said looking off into space really thinking hard on what to say next. "But this is all very strange...Ginny gets kidnapped first than Julie. You know who is really up to something now, and what really ticks me off is that the ministry isn't taking this as a full alert. Come on two innocent students get kid napped and it means nothing. Honestly they really have to use their minds to think that this is all connected." she said not really having the courage to say his name. Collecting her thoughts and emtions Sandra looked back at her paper to read the entery on page number three.

[Professor Julius Foxcroft]

"Well, then you know what's it like to have people resent a certain thing about you that you can’t change," he said with his eyebrows slightly raised. He wasn't sociable, he didn’t want to be, he didn't want people constantly asking him what was wrong with him and with his life, and all he wanted was to forget that part of his life, because there was nothing anybody could do about it. Beth was dead and that was that. He looked away from her and sighed. He was being rude and he knew it, but then he just resumed their conversation about the Ministry and forgot about it. He nodded to what Sandra was saying, she felt just as strongly as he did about the Ministry.

"Have you ever done anything in the war? Or do you remember your parents perhaps doing something in the war before?" asked Julius. He was still thinking about his lack of contribution to the war effort and feeling guilty about it. When he had left the Ministry he had vowed never to return, and the way things were looking now made him feel like he still didn't want to, but he needed to do something. He didn’t want to leave Hogwarts though. He was happy here. Well not exactly happy, but he had adapted to living here and he had found himself enjoying teaching much more than he expected.

[Professor Sandra Tyler]

Sandra was almost finished with the paper as Julius asked if she or her family had done anything with the war. Folding the newspaper up she looked at Julius with an expressionless face thinking the question over in her mind. "No I haven't done anything but I wont to. My mother is a muggle and is a nurse while looking over Allie my daughter. My parents broke up so my father is off some where and really don't know what he is doing." Sandra said with a smile while setting a muggle book in her lap. Sandra liked to read muggle books since she did live in the muggle world. Opening it up to her spot she began to read. "What about you? Did you do something about the war or a family member has?" she asked not taking her eyes off the page she was reading.

[Professor Julius Foxcroft]

"Yes, I worked as an Oblivator for the confounded Ministry at one point. Two years after I finished Hogwarts in fact. I did a year of Auror training, decided that wasn't really what I wanted to do, and then joined the Ministry after I'd taken the tests they required me to take to become one. I'd taken Muggle Studies as a NEWT, and been on trips in the muggle world, so I was no stranger to their habits," he said with a distant look in his eyes. It wasn't that long ago, but that was how it seemed to him; almost as if it was another life. He remembered himself back then with a pang – a hard-working young man with so many dreams and life just beginning for him. He'd been successful in almost all his pursuits. But then his whole life had changed after Beth had died, and so had he. All he wanted now was a quiet life, no more adventures, no more hurt, no more sadness. If only his conscience would leave him in peace.

He felt a knot in his stomach and lashed out at Sandra once again though she had done nothing to him. "Are you even listening?" he asked suddenly, sounding a lot like when he was just about to scold one of his students. He had looked up and saw her reading the article and though that had made it easier to talk to her since he found it hard to sustain a conversation these days when people looked him in the eye he was feeling like an irritated baby, whatever you did or said just wasn't enough to make it stop crying, and unfortunately for Sandra, she was the only one close enough for him to take his anger and confusion out on.

[Professor Sandra Tyler]

Sandra was the kind of women who could do more than one thing at once. Turning the page of the book she listened as Julius talked about his work with the Ministry. Sandra had to admit it was pretty interesting doing so many jobs and moving on to pursued you dream. For Sandra after Hogwarts she chased her dream to become a Maine Biologist. She had always loved Dolphins and other water animals ever since she was four. But only in her Junior year Sandra dropped out because after getting pregnant. Sandra had never been the real her after giving up her dream. But luckily she pulled herself together and found a job at Hogwarts and was lucky that she took Ancient Runes in all her years and excelled at it.

Just than Sandra heard Julius snap at her harshly. Narrowing her eyebrows at him she closed her book and stood up from the chair, "Yes I was paying attention and I must admit you had quite and impressive past in the Ministry." Sandra said in a calm voice not letting his anger and confusion get to her. Turning her back on him Sandra walked a couple steps away and looked behind her at Julius, "Mr. Foxcroft there are two people in the world. The ones who overcome the deadly obstacles and others who let it take over them. Just think which one you might be." Sandra said walking out the the Teacher Lounge toward the Ancient Runes classroom to read her book in peace.

((Just thought I could wrap this post up since Hogwarts will be closing soon.))

[Professor Julius Foxcroft]

Julius was left gaping when Sandra left the room. What did she know about him or what he had been through? Who was she to judge him and the obstacles in his life? And yet, she had hit the nail on the head. She had known somehow exactly what his problem was and he wondered if the other professors had told her his story. How else could she have seen or known that he was worrying about moving on or overcoming a "deadly obstacle" as she put it? Suddenly Julius wished she would some back so he could ask her many questions, and apologise for his discourteous manner, and he chewed on his lip as he almost stood up to follow her.

He battled with himself and in the end he didn’t get up. He knew what she said was right, it was exactly what was going through his mind, that he had to move on, but was he ready to? And the more pressing question right now was: did he have to? He wished he hadn’t snubbed her so rudely. Perhaps they could have talked more about this and she might have made him feel more enthusiastic about coming to terms with his grief, and how on earth he was supposed to do that. His life was in shambles, and as much as he tried to hide it, he could do it no longer. Two years had passed by and here he was now, living in the shadows, not even half the man he had been. Julius left the room and went to his room, took a sip of Sleeping Potion, the only way out he could see right now; his head hurt so much he just wanted to escape for a few hours, and maybe after a few hours of sleep, he would find a solution.

((OK, though actually any threads that have already been started are going to be left for people to post in for quite a while.))