We Are Trying To Eat Breakfast!

Ashley had always been a bit of a withdrawn person, hence why her job in the Department of Mysteries had been pretty much perfect for her. It had not required much dialogue with her collegues and she had been able to work away by herself in peace, opening so many doors and making discoveries that pushed the boundery's of human imagination. Sometimes she missed those days.

She had not known why she had left her job as Head of the Department, there had been no reason for her to do it after all. No one was forcing her out as she had seen in other Ministry Departments. Perhaps it had been because of the utter mess the Ministry was in. Or perhaps it had just been a choice she had felt that in her soul was prudent. Either way, she had left, and she hadn't been about to let her skills go to waste.

The Occlumancy Position at Hogwarts School had been perfect for her and Ashley had taken it. The previous Head of Ravenclaw House had retired and, as an ex Ravenclaw herself, Ashley had been suitable for the position. So, without knowing quite how she had ended up where she had ended up, Ashely had found herself back at Hogwarts.

There was so much nostalgia threatening to consume her. With her highly disciplined mind though it was an easy enough threat to eliminate. She had adjusted herself to a different life, including eating with her fellow staff members in the Great Hall with the entire school.

She had placed some hash browns, bacon, sausages, eggs, potatoe scones and toast on her plate, pouring out a strong cup of tea to complete the breakfast meal. It was nothing without the tea. She had been working her way through her breakfast and was about to reach for her cup of tea, toast in her other hand, when the owls swooped in. She dropped the toast in irrittation and tried to cover the remenants of her meal. She didn't want anything owl related on her food.

Ashely was unsuccesful when first one letter, then another, and another were dropped on her arms and slid onto her plate. They all bore the Ministry seal. Growling a little bit in the back of her throat, she tore them open and devoured their contents in place of her breakfast.

"Damned owls! Damned incompetant fools!" Ashely exclaimed quietly, folding the letters up and bundeling them beside her plate.

"You'd think the school would keep better trained owl," Sophia remarked, catching another letter, before it too landed in her coworker's breakfast. She handed it over, and took a seat.

Sophia would have preferred to have skipped meals in the Great Hall, really. Even with her Occlumency shields fully in place, she could sense the projections and possible near-futures of the room's numerous occupants pressing against them. Children were among the worst, really; they projected so loudly. The seer wasn't able to really read thoughts so much as she was sensitive to them. A few images and thoughts, stronger than the rest in a person's mind, and Sophia would pick up on them, just as she had the new Potions Mistress's recent tragedy when they met.

Their plans for the day, once decided upon, were much easier to block out.

Not all seers were sensitives, of course, but Sophia was, and she found it more nuisance than blessing, most of time.

Her raven swooped down and landed on the arm of her chair, holding out a letter for her. "Thank you, Magus," she told him, handing him a bit of sausage. Taking the offering, Magus fluttered up to her chair back to eat it.

"I'd say about half of them are bright-eyed and half are still asleep," Sophia said, speaking of the children. "It seems to be pretty well divided between younger students and older students. I guess the excitement of school does tend to wear off around fourth year or so."