Afternoon (OPEN)

Mr. Ordinary entered the staff room, his shoulders drooping as he passed through the doorway, and made a direct line to the chairs lining the large windows. He sat down in the large, overstuffed brown chair that was his favorite. The material was worn in places, but Ransom didn't care. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Tea. He needed a nice cup of warm tea to calm his raging headache. The second years were being absolute terrors and he was tired of cleaning up after the mystery pranker in the fifth floor prefects bathroom. He was exhausted.

Opening his eyes he took out his wand and flourished a cup of tea into existence in a familiar movement. The scent alone made his muscles relax. Merlin, he loved tea.

The Professor sipped the warm drink and stared out the window.

Mad entered the staff room, herself, also prepared to make use of the comfortable seating and beverages available there.

"Hello, Ransom," she said, upon noting the caretaker. "You look as though you've been futilely cleaning up over mischief-bound students all day. Pity summer ends so soon." The woman seated herself across from him, sipping her own tea.

Mr. Ordinary had mixed feelings when Mad entered the room, but they quickly settled into neutrality.

"Indeed, Ms. Lewis, there is a particularly elusive pranker on the fifth floor. I would appreciate it if you would pass along any information you might overhear in the classroom about the identity of this mystery student."

He raised his tea cup in her direction when she took a seat. "I'm afraid all we can do is strategically drink tea and take house points until the year ends." He sighed heavily and took another sip of his drink. "Hopefully we will make it through another year without a Tom Riddle want to be popping up."

"If I learn of anything, I will certainly tell you," responded Mad, "but as you know, Ransom, I don't permit idle chitchat in my classroom."

Mad set her tea on the side table. "Unfortunately, deducting House points is one of the few ways to get through to these little hellions. Though, I've found a good stinging hex is seldom out of place." She smirked.

"And I have found during my tenure that Tom Riddles come and go," the Charms professor pursed her lips. "It's when they transform into Voldemorts that they begin to wreak havoc."

Ransom nodded in agreement with everything the woman had said. "Very true, Ms. Lewis." He glanced out the window, remembering the dark days of Voldemort. He had been small, only in his teen years when it had ended, but the darkness never really dissipated. It felt like the calm before a storm if muggle on wizard violence could be considered 'calm'. He sighed heavily, the tea didn't look nearly as appetizing as it had mere moment before.

"There is something stirring in the air," he tried to voice the foreboding he could sense.

"Indeed, there is," said Mad. "This is but the calm before the storm, Ransom," the woman continued, unconsciously echoing his thoughts. "The muggles press for war, and war there will be. Make no mistake - it is coming. Maybe not this year, nor the next, but it will surely arrive. We can only do our best to make sure we are prepared."

She took a sip of her tea.

"Indeed." The man sipped his tea for a long, silent moment before adding almost as an after thought. "And prepare the children for what is to come."