Mariquis hitting the books

[Ariadne]

Mariquis walked into the staff room, carrying a large stack of books. While the students had been on holidays, he had taken a trip to New Zealand to visit some of his school friends. On his return to Hogwarts, Mariquis had decided that it was about it he caught up on some reading. Anyway, he was filling in as Care of Magical Creatures teacher until a perminate replacement could be found. The previous teacher, Professor Darvo, had resigned at the end of last year, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his daughter and her family in Paris. It seemed like a lot of teachers had resigned or taken time off for this year. Not all the places had been filled, so the teachers that there were were having to fill in the empty places until replacements could be found.
Dropping the stack of books onto a table with a bang, Mariquis moved to make himself a cup of tea. Sitting down with it, he lifted the book on the top of the stack off and opened it to the page he'd last been reading. He still had a lot of things to refresh his memory on before his first class as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Mariquis smiled faintly to himself. Perhaps this was going to be fun. He'd always enjoyed the subject as a student, even if his grades hadn't been outstanding. He'd have to be a bit careful though. Some of those creatures he was going to teach his students to care for could be a bit dangerous. He'd have to do his best to not get distracted.

[Verity]

-Mel-

Mel came stumbling in, carrying a stack of papers to mark. She put them down on a nearby desk and sighed. She jumped a little when she heard a noise from behind her; she hadn't realised that there was someone else in the room. She saw Mariquis sitting at a table, reading. "Hello Mari" she said to him. "Good to see you again" she said "I expect that these are all for your extra subject?" she inquired.

[Ariadne]

Mariquis looked up from his book and smiled over at Mel. He had a soft spot for the small Charms teacher and hardly ever pranked her. "It is good to see you as well, Mel." He glanced at the books in front of him and made a face. "I've taken on Care of Magical Creatures until a proper replacement for that stiff Darvo. I fear I might have bitten off more than I can chew." Professor Darvo hadn't been Mariquis' favorite person. The man simply hadn't had any sense of humor. Of course, that meant that Mariquis had felt it his duty to prank him as often as possible.
Putting the book in his hand down, he stood and wandered over to look at Mel's stack, which was of papers not books. "Marking papers already? My, my, aren't you the busy one."
Feeling a bit peckish, he turned to the kitchen to get himself a cookie, but only found a kind he wasn't fond of. Sighing, he began to look through his pockets for his wand. "Now, where did I leave it this time?" Unfortunately for him, his wand was beside his books, not in one of his pockets. Sighing again, he pushed his glasses up his nose and looked over at Mel. "Could you perhaps conjure up some maple and walnut cookies for me. I seem to have misplaced my wand again."

[Verity]

-Mel-

"I'd be glad to" she said to him. "I've always hated cooking, and made it a point to study cooking charms. I can most certain whip up some cookies for you. Balanus" she said, pointing at an empty spot on the desk. A plate of cookies materialised from thin air, and Mel began munching on them happily. "I just had a test with my second-years" she said, swallowing a particularly large bit of cookie. "Just a little pop-quiz, to see if they remember anything from last year" she said, finishing of her cookie. "I've got to mark them, and I have an astronomy class next. Maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew, too" she said taking a bite out of another cookie. "No pun intended" she said to him. She was chewing absent-mindedly when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something fall onto the floor. She picked it up and handed it to Mariquis. "Here. Your wand" she said to him.

[Ariadne]

Mariquis grinned sheepishly at her. "Thank you." Dropping the wand into a pocket, he took one of the cookies and bit into it with relish. "I must say that your cookies are much better than any I could have conjured up." Finishing off the cookie, he went back over to his books and picked them up. Placing them on the opporsite end of the desk to Mel, he sat down and grinned at her, his blue eyes merry. "This way I can read, and eat cookies." He lifted one and saluted her with it. "You, my dear girl, are quite the charmer. Pun intended."

[Shenavyre]

Ly was whistling an Irish folk song as he entered the staffroom. He nodded to Mel and Mariquis who appeared to be enjoying some cookies.
"Afternoon Mel and Mariquis," he said, depositing his classroom work on his desk and sitting down. "How have your first classes of term been? They've got me teaching Transfiguration as well would you believe."

[Verity]

Mel grinned at Mariquis' remark and winked at him. "Look at all this" she said, turning to Ly and indicating the mound of papers on her desk. "They've got me teaching Astronomy" she said to them both. "Ah well. Best be getting to work" she said. Mel sighed and pulled the top paper from the pile and started marking it. Her hand reached over to the plate of cookies, but then realised that there were none left. Having a sudden craving for more, Mel pointed her wand at the plate and muttered Balanus at it. Ten cookies materialised out of thin air. She smiled at Mariquis and helped herself to one.

[Ariadne]

Mariquis returned Mel's smile, then turned to Ly, the last of the firstbatch of cookies in his hand. "I've been assigned Care of Magical Creatures and, if I remember correctly, my first class is tomorrow, teaching the seventh years. I suppose that when I get around to teaching them about dragons, my years of studying them will come in handy. Especially if they decide to eat anyone, the dragons that is. I don't think I'd be any good at stopping a seventh year from eating someone." He smiled and munched on the cookie. "Speaking of students, there are three girls that are standing out in my third year potions class. Isabel, Kit and Rayven. They all appear rather talented. What do you two think of them?"

[Verity]

Mel laughed at the joke about eating each other, incidentally choking on a bit of her cookie; but she cleared it up before anyone noticed. "Yes, Kit was in my first class and she produced quite the laughter charm. I'll be suprised if that girl doesn't make it big, with an attitude like hers" she said.

[Ariadne]

Mariquis nodded. "Yes. Young Rayven seems to be the opposite. Quite a shy girl, she is, but very remarkable. All three of them are. Now, Rod Eachann, that boy is a cauldron's worst nightmare. If Potions wasn't compolsery, I'd suggest to him to drop the subject completely. Ah well. Perhaps those three girls will have a good influance on him."

[Shenavyre]

Ly was leafing through his parchments intently. He looked up.
"Good influence? Let's hope so. I caught Eachann and Ashwood fighting this morning."
He sighed, giving up on his hunt for the missing parchment.
"Had to give the lad detention. He's got quite an aptitude for Defence, and Transfiguration for that matter.."

[Ariadne]

Mariquis shrugged. "It seems we all have our talents, even young Eachann." He thought for a moment, trying to remember what had happened in his third year potions class earlier that day. A grin suddenly split his face. "When you two see young Rayven next, don't be surprised if her hair keeps changing colour. I set a task for my third students to make three potions, and that's one that her group made. She told me that she came up with the potion herself during the holidays. The group also made Amortentia and some other potion. What was it?" He frowned, then shrugged. "Never mind. The girls made Rod drink the Amortentia. I suspect he's following Rayven around at the moment." There was a merry twinkle in his eyes and he laughed. "Funniest sight I've ever seen. That boy going all calf-eyed over Rayven."

[Shenavyre]

Ly smiled wryly. "Poor girl, she's probably terrified. I suspect she'd be overwhelmed with his flamboyant attentions. The potion would have made him even more so." Ly shook his head. He took a sip of coffee he had brought with him to the staffroom. "There aren't any social events coming up at Hogwarts I haven't heard about are there?" Ly directed this question to the other two. He didn't really keep track.

[Ariadne]

Mariquis frowned, trying to think. "Let me think. There's a trip to Hogsmead sometime soon for the third years and one of the Muggle Studies classes is going to a muggle hospital." He frowned for a moment, sure he'd forgotten something. He snapped his fingers when it came to him. "Oh yes, I'm going to be taking all of my Potions Classes to the Forbidden Forest for a special class." He frowned again, slightly confused. "I am? Where did I come up with that one?" He shrugged. "Oh well. It should be fun. Maybe I'll be able to bring my Care of Magical Creatures students along."

[Shenavyre]

"I wish you luck with that Mariquis. No dances then, thank goodness." Ly was relieved of this fact, for it was his duty as head of Gryffindor to teach the students how to dance last year. He did not relish the memory. He perused his new timetable, committing it to memory.
"Mel, could I switch classrooms with you next Wednesday? I have need of a larger classroom that day...boggarts you see." He flashed her a charming'ly dimpled smile.