Level 2 contains a big department, and for that reason, the storage closet in the foyer has been appropriated by Ministry Maintenance to be used as a Janitor's closet/storage unit. While the door is usually locked, the contents are not very exciting, there are shelves stacked with cleaning products, and things like nails, glue and gaffer tape, and various tools like hammers and screwdrivers. There's also extra toilet paper in here, as well as hand soap to restock the bathroom. A mop and bucket, several brooms and what appears to be a floor polisher take up most of one corner. Its standing room only folks, and if you're in here without good reason and you get caught? Probably you'll end up having to USE all these nifty cleaning accouterments and have a go at making the bathroom shiny.

You can access the MLE Training Arena through this closet, providing you know the latest password.


You are here.

You're welcome to make your own RPs in here but do be aware of the consequences! Getting up to trouble right by the very people who are responsible for arresting troublemakers probably isn't a good idea![/I]

What's this? It appears as though all the magic has been zapped from the area, so despite knowing the correct password, the training area is sealed. The overall appearance of the space looks unkempt and surfaces that are not chewed in appearance are covered in a film of dust.

She reached the closet door and turned to face the two. "Ok, this is where I see where you are in skills with your wand. You just now showed me that you are more than intellectually capable. Now follow me."
Dacs opened the door of the janitor's closet and stepped in. She said the password and was no longer in the closet as she moved forward she had gone to...

Toni followed in Dacs heels, say the password, "fishstick" thinking why all password almost food like, and banish too.

Sky followed Dacs and Toni in. Nodding and then saying the password. And she too was gone.

If she was honest with herself, Cade would prefer to put off this sort of training until she was better settled in her job. She entered the janitor's closet with dragging feet, knowing that she was doing this more because she felt it important to stay frosty than because she loved putting herself into danger.

But how could someone hired for field work avoid anything that would keep her sharp? She simply could not. She faced the far wall and said quite clearly, "Fishsticks."

Damien stopped in front of the closet and waited for her to catch up. Looking to the girl he smirked, "You will get your instructions on the other side. Password is fishsticks. Say it clearly and then you are through to the arena. Have fun, kid."

Emily caught up at the Janitors Closet... really? Well that was an interesting entrance. She could feel her stomach churning uncomfortably. She was nervous. Her first Ministry appointed training exercise.
"Right... will do," she replied, hoping that she would in actual fact have some fun despite the horrors that were probably lurking beyond.

Damien wasn't coming with her?... that was probably a good thing, she didn't quite like the idea of his looking over her shoulder.
She faced the blank wall of the closet.. feeling a little foolish.
"Fishsticks," she said in a clear, steady voice... and then she was gone.

Damien nodded to himself and... chuckled slightly. He was interested in seeing the state of the kid once she came out. Heh. "Good luck," he mumbled to her retreating back. Then with a little nod he turned on his heel and went off to find Van.

Fishsticks. He still couldn't get over the password as he made his way into the closet. And it wasn't even really the strangeness of it that had the puzzled frown latched onto his expression. Rather, it was a curiosity as to what exactly fishsticks were. Were they battered fish, like fish and chips? Or maybe the fries that went with battered fish? Or perhaps something else completely bonkers.

Needless to say, he didn't think the wall in front of him would be providing any answers. With a sigh and a tug to his sweater, he called his wand into his hand and tilted his head up to frown at the shelves. "Janitor closet. I wonder if that's done on purpose." Reaching out, he let his fingers ghost along a few of the items. It was of high temptation to take some of the nails and glue, given he had absolutely no idea what was through the portal and his pockets were empty of anything but lint. However, he supposed that was his own fault, not coming prepared and quickly took his hand away.

"Alright then." Shifting his weight he let out a slow breath. "Fishsticks." And before he could give another consideration to how strange the word was, he was gone.

Lights stood outside the janitor's closet feeling less than a little awkward. This wouldn't be her first choice of a meeting place, but whatever. She checked her watch then leant against the closet with her arms folding across her chest and one foot resting on the door. She really wanted information, and she hoped Dean would supply.

The closet door suddenly opened and Dean was standing with one hand holding the doorknob and the other hand was holding a file full of papers. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he smiled at her before he peeked outside to make sure no one was watching and locked the door behind him.

The next thing he did was slipping his wand from his sleeve as he pointed it at the door's direction to cast a non-verbal Muffliato. After that, Dean summoned a metal bucket and settled down on the bottom of the bucket. "This," he said holding the file slightly above his head level. "One of my superiors suggested that I made my own research, quietly. And so I did."

"You remember the Dark Wizards Grindelwald and Tom Riddle?" he enquired the woman before he began his explanation. "The Cult already existed since the First Wizarding War. The members originally were the Knights of Walpurgis," Dean paused with a serious look on his face. "Yes, Death Eaters." And there was a silent moment between them. "Although, the Cult's idea wasn't similar to Death Eaters or Riddle. That is why I included Grindelwald earlier. Just like Grindelwald, the Cult's intention is wizards rule over muggles. On this case, they'd like to remove the Statue of Secrecy." End of the history.

Lights bit her lip. "Wow. So, they practically want world domination? But aren't wizards outnumbered by Muggles? I know we have wands," of course she did, she wasn't that naive, "but Muggles have some pretty good technology at their disposal. Surely they'd be able to fight back slightly, especially if we gave them a heads-up?" Lights had heard about previous Ministers of Magic contacting Muggle Prime Ministers about situations that could possibly endanger the Muggle community. She wondered if a Prime Minister would listen to another Head of Department. Deciding that the answer would be yes if it were Bole doing the talking, Lights left that train of thought there, and concentrated on the subject again.
"So will they take over by force or politically, do you think?" asked Lights, leaning on a mop handle. "And how many people are we talking about here?"

"As Gabriel said earlier, they're mental," he smirked at the more naive woman. "Yes, we're definitely outnumbered. But their technology can't defeat our magic," because he already did some research when he had access to firearms whilst working with the police. "I suspect politically, seeing that they appointed Borr as the Minister," he rolled his eyes in disgust and he stopped for a while.

Lights sure ask a lot of questions. Wonder what she's doing in Security? She could do well in Wizengamot. Dean lifted his shoulders as he shrugged. "There's no telling. I haven't go thoroughly yet," he flipped the papers in the files before looking up at Lights. "Borr is one of them. Perhaps their leader too. There's a lot of those pests in the Ministry. Armen Recard... Ren Sakura... Head MT and Mysteries respectively. The aurors have sighted another member of the Cult too; Alexander Wrekin," a frown appeared on his face as he mentioned their names. "But none of them are in the MLE, as far as we know," since Bole or even Damien will throw them into Azkaban straight away if they found out.

Ooh the smirk. Lights hated it. Why did everyone she tried to get information out of always wear that exact same almost-sneer? True, it had been helpful when she'd been looking into the murder to look at least partly innocent, but it wasn't doing her any favours now. Lights suppressed a scowl, and then realised that what Dean had said was quite irritating enough, so she scowled anyway. Fiercely.

Lights considered this, her head on one side. "Borr isn't intelligent enough," she remarked. "A leader is someone who can formulate a plan and keep everyone in their team on it. Unless Borr offered them all gold or forced them to work for him somehow, I think there's someone bigger pulling the strings." Lights bit her lip, thinking.
It was like a game of chess, but it pieces were covered so she didn't know what they were. Obviously everyone was supposed to assume that Borr was heading the whole thing, but Lights had a feeling he was more like the queen - on the top of the pile, but not calling the shots. The other two in the Ministry sounded like bishops or knights - not as powerful as the big two but more variable. And Alexander Wrekin ... Lights didn't have enough information to place him yet. She knew that even a pawn could alter the game entirely, so she didn't want to underestimate him.
She glanced up at Dean. "Where did you get your information? From other people or just keeping your ears open?" Trying to make that question sound innocent ...

He listened to Lights intensely as he went through the file again. What she made sense to him. "True that Borr musn't be the real leader. He's really ignorant. I bet it's someone in the Ministry, but we don't know their identity," scowled Dean as he smack the file on his thigh. "I don't know about Sakura, but Recard doesn't suit to be their leader," he knew that man quite well. At least on how he'd react to certain things or events. "And Wrekin is too young to lead."

And now she asked for the sources. "I can't expose my sources, can I?" he smirked as he closed his file. "I suggest you make your own research. Maybe you'll discover what I haven't discovered. On the other hand, please refrain yourself from asking Bole. And don't ask about them openly." The harsh life he's having working with aurors, hit wizards and patrol officers may have contributed to Dean's maturity.

Lights shrugged, committing all the information to memory. "Okay, good idea. And I won't ask openly - I'll just need to clarify a few things." It looked like she would be asking Gabriel about it anyway. But Dean had been a good starting block. "Thanks," she said with a smile, moving the mop she'd been leaning on, and carefully taking her foot out of a bucket. "Um, will we get in trouble for being in the closet?" she asked, the thought just occurring to her. It didn't bother her - being in trouble wasn't a new concept for Lights - but she wasn't a great fan of being caught in trouble. Doing it was fine, but not being caught was an art. Which was a weird thing for a MLE employee to think.

Rising up from the bucket, Dean brushed off his bottom just in case if there were dust. Then, he did some stretching. The closet isn't a comfortable place, but it's the safest in the Ministry to discuss this kind of matters. "You're welcome. I'll let you know if I find anything new," he smiled at her as he pressed his ear onto the door. "We'll be fine if no one sees us. I put up Muffliato in case if someone eavesdrops," he opened the door after making sure no one was around.

Before he left the closet, Dean has another piece of advise for Lights if she really wanted to investigate about the Cult. "Knockturn Alley. It's the best starting point. Just don't let anyone knows your intention," he said one last time before he let go of the doorknob and walked out.

Lights smiled at Dean. "Ta. I won't." She walked out towards the lifts. It looked like Lights Lennox was going to take a trip down Knockturn Alley.

Lights lent against the closet with her arms folded across her chest and one foot resting on the door. It was exactly the same position she had adopted last time she'd been here. Lights bit her lip, releasing on hand from the arm fold to twirl a curl of her blonde hair around her finger. It was growing longer, and the funky bubblegum blue highlights had almost faded completely. She was either going to have to cut it back to just brushing her shoulders or keep the length. Her daughter loved her hair long, but really Bellissa just liked hair in general.
Why am I thinking about my hair? wondered Lights. She hadn't come here to talk about that. She come for a grimmer matter, and coincidentally the same matter she'd come here for last time. Lights had almost had a heart attack when Ethan had asked her about the Cult, especially with one of them right there and possibly listening. After doing more research into the Cult, Lights had come to realise that they were a lot more dangerous than Dean had let on. She didn't want Ethan to get hurt.
Lights checked her watch, seeing that it was almost 4:30 pm. She smiled in spite of herself. Were her and Ethan's lives governed by 4:30? It seemed so.

Ethan dashed towards the closet. "It's 4:31! I'm late!" he said, coming to a halt in front of Lights. "Hey, your hair is getting longer. So, inside?" He was a bit confused. Were they meeting inside the closet? He didn't think that the Ministry would quite enjoy a husband-and-wife combo entering a secluded closet alone.

Lights smiled and pushed off the door so she was standing upright again. "Yeah, you are late," she teased. She opened the closet door with a flourish. "After you."
Once they were both in and she'd cast Muffliato on the door, Lights leant on the mop handle and stared calmly at Ethan. "Pull up a bucket - this might be a long explanation." Her tone became more clipped, even slightly businesslike. "First thing's first; what goes on tour stays on tour, got it? The Cult's dangerous, and I don't need your death on my conscience if you become a target." Plus she'd lose him forever, and that was unthinkable. "How much do you know about them? A little or absolutely nothing?"

Ethan pulled up the most comfortable looking bucket he could find and cast Spongify on the top of it before sitting down. "Erm, final answer B: nothing except that they exist," he answered. There was a moment's pause before Ethan continued, "Lights, you seem uptight. Sit down?" He pulled over another bucket and cast Spongify on that one, too, patting the top of it.

Lights smiled and sat on the bucket. "Sorry. I'm just ..." She shook her head, rubbing her eyes. Worried? Tired? Whatever. "So, back to the Cult of Walpurgis. They started out ages ago as the Knights of Walpurgis. Grindlewald and Tom Riddle adopted their ideals. Although, the Cult's idea wasn't similar to Riddle's. Like Grindelwald, the Cult's intention is for wizards to rule over Muggles. They'd like to remove the Statue of Secrecy." Which would cause no end of problems and probably a damn lot of paperwork.

Ethan massaged his temples. "And they expect that to work?" he asked, perplexed. How on earth could this happen? Remove the Statute of Secrecy? Erm, sorry Cultist, I think not.
"Why would we want to rule over Muggles?"

Lights smiled in spite of herself. That was Ethan - so innocent at times it was cute. "Because some people believe we're superior because we can make things appear out of thin air and can animate inanimate objects. As for it working, I highly doubt it would." Probably not. Lights took a blue notebook from her jacket pocket and flicked through it. She'd written all the information Dean had given her in it, as well as a few things she'd picked up in Knockturn Alley. She wasn't planning on telling Ethan about her going down there unless it was absolutely necessary. He didn't need that worry. "Recently the Cult have infiltrated the Ministry. Borr is a member, and as we know he's also the Minister." Damn him. "Ren Sakura is Head of the Department of Mysteries." She didn't have much info on Ren Sakura, but she was getting onto it. "And Armen Recard is Head of Magical Transportation. He was in the Atrium before, that's why I didn't want you talking about the Cult there." That could have ended badly, having seen Armen Recard's temper tantrum. "Alexander Wrekin doesn't work in the Ministry, and I'm not sure what he does. But I heard him and Bole talking in the pub in Knockturn Alley, and -" She suddenly shut up, biting her lip. Knockturn Alley hadn't meant to slip out. Damn it.