Professor Hall answered with a huff.  "I'm sure after dealing with the students, dealing with various 'beasties' will be quite the breath of fresh air.  Although in<em>your</em>case," he paused to gesture to the student tables, "I imagine you'll be quite accustomed to the hungry looks."  Sure enough, as Laksha looked out at the students, a great number of the older males self-consciously turned away, though many were caught eyeing her as well as DJ.  Professor Hall rolled his eyes at DJ's hair comments, moving his jaw around uncomfortably before turning back to his food, which disappeared rather quickly.  "Admittedly, teaching is not exactly a passion of mine."  He dabbed the corners of his mouth with a napkin before continuing.  "Though I do not possess the 'gift' that Professor Trelawney does, I trust I foresee your next question.  I came to Hogwarts to pursue other interests."  He smiled thinly and stood.  "And on that note, I will excuse myself, for I fear I have other matters to attend to tonight."  With that, he nodded farewell to them and left, walking out of the Great Hall.  Professor Edgar, sitting next to him opposite DJ, seemed to not notice his absence until a moment or so later, glancing at the spot once occupied by Professor Hall in mild surprise.  He took a moment to consider this development and then promptly stood up and left, his plate long since cleared, as though the thought of leaving the table simply hadn't occurred to him.<br/><br/>Several seats away, Professor Gates seemed happily engaged in conversation with Professor Flitwick, the two of them gesturing wildly and laughing as they traded stories of some kind.  Professor McGonagall was listening in with particular amusement until Professor Flitwick said something that made her blush.  She responded with apparent modesty before seeming to change the subject and address Professor Gates, who sighed resignedly and nodded.  They continued talking, though the mood seemed far more businesslike.  After a moment Professor Gates stood and walked over to the now empty chair vacated by Professor Hall, offering a smile to DJ and Laksha.  "Well it seems they have the attractive professors over on this end."  He extended a hand to each of them.  "Steven.  They have me teaching Potions.  May I?"  He indicated the chair with his free hand.<br/><br/>Further down, at the end of the table, a drunken Hagrid seemed to have Professor Sinistra trapped in conversation, and was ensuring that her glass stayed full with some homemade brew of his.  Sinistra, by her body language, seemed to prefer not being there, but she made no attempt to leave, and politely accepted each offer from Hagrid to top off her glass.  Every time he did, she found a way to discreetly tap her glass with her wand before taking another sip.<br/><br/>The girl who was talking to Leah glanced back over to Hufflepuff before looking back to her.  "You just seemed happy to not be in the same House.  It doesn't happen often.  Usually family members get grouped together."  After a pause she added "he looks cute."  When Lily approached and invited Leah over to a different section of the table, the girl took a step back, glancing over at some of them with recognition before quietly waving goodbye.  Elsewhere on the table, an awkward-looking young man with glasses sat near a couple of younger Ravenclaws, the three of them hunched over slightly discussing something.  The boy was wearing a Head Boy badge.<br/><br/>Jimmy smiled broadly at her question.  "I remember<em>exactly</em>how much you pleaded, and spent quite a bit of time wondering just what you were willing to do to be our Seeker last year.  I would have been willing to find out, but of course I wasn't Team Captain yet."  He considered for a moment, his smile still broad.  "Well, if you want the job as badly as Hagrid wants a dragon...I suppose I can give the spot to you if you get him a dragon.  Seems fair."  He spent a minute enjoying her reaction before responding to her next question.  "Well, tryouts will be this weekend, not sure which day yet.  So I guess you have until the start of next week to impress me in some way."<br/><br/>At the Slytherin table, a boy with short, dark hair and a round jaw made some comment to the kids around him as Professor Edgar left.  Whatever it was resulted in several chuckles, and the majority of the students at the table seemed to be seeking his attention.  One of the, was sitting next to him, a short girl with long blond hair.  She wore a Head Girl badge on her robes, and unlike many of the students at the table, the boy actually seemed to face her when she spoke, though one might think he was the one with authority of the two.  On his other side sat a boy, also dark-haired, with a rather lost expression.  Many of the others seemed to take turns making fun of the second boy, who seemed to say little in defense.  After a few moments of it, the ringleader patted him on the back and said something, and the group seemed to change tone, nodding rather solemnly.