Jane was regretting her impulse to come greet Conley as she watched Minister Hollingberry dish out pancakes--his efforts looked vastly superior to the one she had on her plate. But she didn't want to hurt Conley's feelings by asking someone else. Anyway, it was the coffee that really mattered (maybe she could grab a muffin off the table on her way out).
She noticed her boss, Airey Flamsteed as she turned to look at the crowd--well, it was hard to miss him when he was flapping his arms like that. She started to catch his attention, but the man seemed busy talking to a woman who'd come up to him. Good Merlin, was he going to hug her?!? No, false alarm. Jane thought perhaps her portkey-lag was making her see things. She wondered if Airey would notice that she'd brought his cup with her to the gathering.
Before she could move away, though, the Minister began his opening remarks, so Jane stood aside and listened respectfully. She looked around with interest at the new department heads. She was a little surprised to see Jake Upstead was the head of Magical Law Enforcement. Wasn't he the father of that student, Nem, that Violet had told her such stories about at the end of the last Hogwarts term? If so, Jane thought that maybe law enforcement should begin at home with that one. |