With all that had been on his mind lately, Samuel needed a day to ‘recover’ and to recollect his thoughts. To main things were on his mind, one of course being Daisy and the other being his classes for the next year. Perhaps it was a little early to thinking about those just yet seeing that July had just started but the professor made mental notes to visit both Flourish and Blotts and Tomes and Scrolls to ensure they both had sufficient stocks of the charms text books for students of all levels. The latter shop because students sometimes destroyed their own texts when practicing charms and he only kept a few spare copies in his office or classroom.

Today however he decided he would just stop in at the Three Broomsticks for a drink. Bringing with him the Daily Prophet which had yet to read that day he took a seat at one of the empty tables with his Butterbeer and proceeded to flick through the tabloid (because in his mind it wasn’t anything better) waiting to see what kind of nonsense had been written. At least the sports section was always worth a read.

Samuel wasn’t expecting to see any of his colleagues while he was at the pub even if most of them lived in the village and therefore was surprised when another professor walked in.

@ecorbitt21

James entered the Three Broomsticks, a frown on his face. He was supposed to be gathering supplies for his apartment and the upcoming school year. He supposed it was early, but he was starting a new year at a new school and it was never too early to prepare for it. Unfortunately, the appeal of a relaxing drink was too strong to pass up, especially with everything going on.

He had spent most of the time since his arrival at the muggle hospital his father was recovering in. His mother had nonstop questioned him about his time in the US and his sister seemed resentful, barely speaking to him at all. And so, here he was, entering a pub that was both familiar and unfamiliar, searching for a reprieve from his current every day life.

He was surprised to find one of his colleagues already seated at a table. He nodded to the other man, murmuring, Hello. He pointed to the empty seat before asking, Mind if I join you?

The Charms professor kept shaking his head at all that he was reading in the paper. All of it was complete nonsense but Samuel was highly amused and it was holidays for him too so he deserved to be entertained. He was thankful there wasn’t a class that covered current events at Hogwarts like there was in Muggle schools but from what he kept hearing in the classroom, the common or anywhere around the castle, those current events were sufficiently discussed at the castle.

Looking over at the man Samuel was taken aback, he had heard that there was a new professor coming, for Muggle studies he presumed. He just seemed the quieter type, different from the rest of his colleagues, not that it was a bad thing. Growing up in a muggle neighbourhood he had excelled in that very subject and was glad to finally meet the bloke. “Course you can mate” he replied happily as he closed the paper, folded it and set it aside. Samuel took another sip of his drink and placed the glass gently on the table. “Looks like you arrived just in time” he joked referring to the fact the man had arrived after the school term had ended. But he still had plenty of time to reacquaint himself with everything and the castle was still open for staff so he could stop by there anytime he needed to.

“I’m Samuel Copeland by the way” the head of house introduced himself with an outstretched hand to the other man realising he had failed to do so until now. He really should make it point to get to know the new staff members Samuel reminded himself.

James smiled and accepted the outstretched hand. "I'm James, and yeah it would appear to be that way," he said, chuckling slightly. The Headmistress had given him a brief rundown of those he would be working with, but he hadn't met anyone up until now.

"Is the Prophet still the same drivel as always?" he asked, motioning to the folded paper. For his first few years overseas he had kept up with his subscription, desperate for any connection to his home. However, he learned it hadn't really given him much other than some made up gossip about the ongoings of the wizarding world. James took the seat across from the other professor. It was nice not having to be cooped up in a hospital or in his apartment. He hadn't realized how much he had missed this.

He smiled as he was brought a Butterbeer, taking a sip of it. This was the one thing the United States hadn't had, the simple pleasure of Butterbeer.

Right, James he would remember that, after all he was able to remember all the names of his Gryffindors and he managed to pull that off relatively easy. Samuel took another sip of his butterbeer and nodded. “Gives you the chance settle in nicely. Have you taught Muggle studies before?” he asked, that could very well be the case, perhaps James had thought at another magical school or even a muggle school in a different subject. He just hoped the new professor was able to settle into Hogwarts alright, from personal experience he knew it wasn’t the smoothest of transitions.

“No,….. it’s worse” he snorted slightly. “Honestly if I had a cat, I would use the older copies to line it’s litter tray” he went on to say being completely serious. However, Samuel couldn’t see himself getting a pet let alone a cat. Maybe he could get an owl for himself but being at Hogwarts he was able to use the ones the school had.


This was a better time than ever for Samuel to get to know the new bloke since Ti had disappeared for some while, maybe he had found himself a witch, that thought alone made the Charms Professor smirk.

James smiled and took another sip of his own butterbeer. The conversation was flowing easily and didn't involve discussion of patient status so already it was a vast improvement over the vast majority of his recent conversations. "I spent the past several years teaching the subject in the States. I am eager to try and get back into the swing of things here. I know Hogwarts isn't the easiest of schools to try and settle into, but I am confident I can make it work." In truth James wasn't planning on settling in too much. In all honesty he had only rented the apartment as a place to escape from his family, but most of the year would be spent at Hogwarts.

"That's too bad. I was hoping with the changes going on the Prophet would have been revamped," he said, shaking his head. He remembered how the newspaper seemed to target anyone who thought for themselves or focused on gossip no one cared about. Of course, there would always be those loyal, but his family had never fallen into that category.

"Anything special I should know about in the school? Cliques, couples, etc.?" he asked, hoping to gain some insight before he would be exposed to the masses. In his experience any little bit of information could prove useful in knowing when to say something or to look the other way.

Samuel was impressed to hear that James had thought the subject elsewhere before, wondering it was much the same in the states. But he figured that muggles in both countries were much the same and had the same technologies, processes etc. “Well that’s a solid foundation for you, if you've taught the class before I have no doubt you’ll do just fine here. Did you go to Hogwarts? It’s much easier to be a professor there if you went to the school” he informed the other man taking a sip of drink quickly. Samuel hadn't found it particularly hard, what had been struggle for him perhaps had been how different the students were these days compared to those of his generation.

“I think it’s a case of always been a tabloid will always be one” he told the other guy. “The only decent section is the sports section, it’s the part I really subscribe to it for” Samuel admitted. It wasn’t like that he read the paper for advances in charm development or see what lies the reporters were writing about the current situation or about Hogwarts. He didn’t need to read it to know what was being said.

The professor took a moment and drummed his fingers on the table as he formulated his answer. “Hufflepuff is still the most underestimated house, sadly I think the badgers will forever hold that reputation” he chuckled. “I haven’t noticed any cliques, the students generally get along well with each other and do you mean student couples?” he asked unassumingly. Well it’s not like he meant couples among the staff? And anway you and Daisy aren’t dating, yet.

James nodded. "I was a student at Hogwarts, but it has been years since I have spent any time there. At least, for more than the initial interview process," he said. From his perspective teaching was teaching. The muggle world had it's slight differences between the countries, though the technology was the same.

"You are probably right - once a tabloid always a tabloid. Though I do agree the sports section was always worth it. I wish there was a way to just subscribe to the sports pages." James couldn't help but chuckle. He had often had said he would subscribe to the paper again if it was just the sports section he got. He knew many people who would do the same.

He took a sip of his drink, processing the information. "I suppose I meant any prominent student couples and any faculty relationships - any relationships that may bleed over into the professional world. I know in the States we often would have students upset with their significant other that would bleed over into the classroom. We even had a few faculty members cause a scene in the mess hall." Perhaps this was too personal a question, but he wasn't used to holding back his questions.

"I apologize if this is too personal," he offered meekly.

Samuel nodded as he agreed with the other wizard. “Well then it shouldn't be a hard transition for you” he repeated. But studying and trying to get teenagers to study were two completely different things. “My first few weeks as a professor I always wandered around the castle past curfew, you know just to walk and think but I was always looked out for prefects on patrol and mentally prepared my explanation for not being in my office in my head” he chuckled

“If only that were possible” he conceded. “Did you play Quidditch when you studied at Hogwarts then?” asked Samuel before he took a sip of his drink. He didn’t mind that he didn’t have the opportunity to see professional matches; he enjoyed watching the kids play it at school obviously more so when Gryffindor won. “Oh here’s an idea maybe I could bring in the other sections to my class and have the students charm the paper into some shapes, like Origami or something” he laughed.

He listened carefully as James spoke as this kind of applied to him though he wasn’t dating anyone. “Well not so much in the classrooms but at the end of school year ball we had an….incident involving a couple of the kids with a couple of kids who were dating" he explained keeping it at that since it wasn’t right to give out names or even what houses they came from. He didn’t know of any couples amongst the staff members unless they were being super secretive, which…… Samuel cleared his throat to wipe that thought from his mind. “No you’re right, it’s a perfectly fine question to ask, and there aren't any couples at the moment amongst the staff members. Just out of curiosity sake, what kind of scene are we talking about?” He inquired making note to pay close attention to the answer that James gave

"I didn't play Quidditch, but my sister did. I am a fan of the sport and played around with friends, but I was never good enough on a broom to consider going out for the House team," he said. It was true. Even with his athleticism on the ground he was a piss poor flyer. He had stuck to Muggle sports because of it. "That's probably the greatest use for the paper I have heard of."

James couldn't deny feeling a bit awkward for asking such a question so early. He was sure it seemed like a weird question, but with his past experiences he had discovered it could be a useful question. He couldn't help but chuckle remembering the staff spectacle. Unfortunately, it had caused the professors involved to lose the respect of the student body as a whole. "Most of the professors on staff were single and the women by far out number the men. I am sure you are familiar with the staff having little time for a personal life outside of the school when session is in - two of our female professors ended up sleeping with the same guy. It came out during a conversation in the Mess Hall during the dinner before the End Feast. I am sure you can picture what followed."

"If you are referencing the scenes between the students, nothing as outspoken as that. We had several who were broken up with before class started and stormed out before making a bigger scene. I fortunately only had one incident involving students."