Hadley watched, amazed at the simplicity that got the Pygmy Granian out of there. Hopefully she would keep walking. Hadley didn't dare move in case the creature turned around, or stopped moving.

There you go, she thought to herself. She wanted to get back into her own work area. This area was nice, but she liked hers better.

" No Problem." Timber responded to the Thank you. as the man stood up.

Timber stood still so not to spook the creature again as it followed after the apple as it rolled out of the office and down the hall.

"Good informants to have." The former DMLE head and new Mysteries Head? He couldn't help but wonder if they had a hand in new position here. Not a big hand, but some influence. On who he wasn't sure. "I suppose good friends to have as well."

He nodded his head in agreement as she passed through to the work room, following soon after. The Spaniard had the same beliefs, but with obvious differences in reason. Clearly.

"Edinburgh Campus." His brow raised. "That's an interesting area of focus. A good one, I've always found it.. interesting. Where do they teach?" He noted the laugh, and well... that was a far as his questioning would go. Mostly because of the laugh. Hm. No, it was probably safer for him to diverge from inquiring on that person. Whoever they were. "Spagyrics. Your background is Alchemy then?"

"I suppose." Althea agreed. "But I do prefer to make my own judgements, where possible." Which was why she had been keen to come on this little tour. She took note that this was a shared space - it was obvious that the other part of the room was creature-focused.

"Darwin." She offered, with a small smile. "I had tenure there myself." But things change. Thea did brighten though when he inquired about her. "Yes, some Alchemy but in particular Magical Metallurgy and Experimental Charms." The twinkle in her eye suggested her enthusiasm was genuine.

"Mmm." He nodded appreciatively at that, letting her take in the shared work space. "My office and our storage room are the only other environmental rooms. The others belong to creatures for their bloodhounds, temporary creature holding, and registration and support offices. The creatures' head, Atticus, his office is just down the hall as well." He motioned to each door where visible, and down the short hall when mentioning the last few rooms.

His hand waved a the last unmentioned pair. "We share the break and conference room." And the reception area, of course. It wasn't as bad as it had been when he first started either. Much less tension between the heads in Rafael's opinion.

That was admirable of her, teaching. He personally never thought he had the patience it required. "I can't say that I have any experience in Magical Metallurgy, but I've delved into Experimental Charms a bit." Only when it benefited whatever project he was working on at the time. "They seem like a fascinating match up."

Anyone?
 

Annalise could barely hold in her excitement. She loved coming in to work everyday. This was becoming one of her favorite places. Sure, she didn't know too many people yet. But she was getting to know a good few of them, and that made her happy. "Good morning everyone!" She called out, waving a hand before sitting in her seat. Ah. Work.

Now to wait for her assignments.

As Jasmine went into work, she saw the whole working area. She admitted she liked it. She was excited to go into work. As Jasmine sat down at her desk ready to start the day, she saw a face that look friendly. Might as well meet some new friends right?

Jasmine waved hello at this new girl walking into the room. She wondered what her name was. She was keen on meeting her.

Annalise had just been sitting down, ready to take orders from her Department Head, when a rather friendly looking woman sat down and waved at her. "Oh! Hello there!" She called out, a shy smile forming on her face. It was always nice to be acknowledged and able to meet more people. "I'm Annalise, nice to meet you!"

Jasmine gave her a friendly smile. Annalise was her name. Seemed like a creative name. She liked it. Jasmine said, "Oh hey Annalise, nice to meet you too." It was her first day so why not make some new friends right?

"Do you know what we are supposed to be waiting for?" Jasmine asked her. She hoped she was not the only one confused.

"Awww. Thank you dear!" Annalise grinned, her blue eyes shining cheerfully. "Honestly," she laughed, tossing her blonde hair back behind her shoulders. "I have no idea what to be doing here, I'm new.." Annalise added, smiling nervously. Hopefully with all that was going on she would make a good impression with her Department Head.


One could only hope...

Ah, yes. It was time for another office meeting. It seemed their department head was already on top of things, as she usually was, preparing for the event. But that wasn't the only thing that caught Laura's attention as she walked into the work room for the first time since the break.

The whole air of the room was different. Bright and airy, it was a refreshing change, and Laura couldn't wait to see how it would affect the energy of the office. She ran one hand along the white coffee table as she passed it slowly by. Then, thinking better of it, she turned back and got herself a small cup from the stack and carefully helped herself to the coffee that was steaming in the coffeepot. She was already feeling more awake, stirring some cream into her cup.

With her coffee and her usual work bag, Laura headed over to the new grouping of matching white desks. One of her division officers was already sitting down, so Laura assumed that was the Permitting section. She took a seat next to the woman - Jasmine, if her memory served - and placed her coffee on the desk and her bag next to her chair.

"Morning, Roxanne," Laura chirped. She shook her ponytailed hair over her shoulder and tucked her bangs behind her ears before taking that first sip of coffee. Mmm, that hit the spot. She smiled to Jasmine next and murmured a warm, "Morning," as she slipped her hand into her bag for a notepad and pen. She supposed her division might think her distant for not being around a lot lately, but hopefully that would change in the near future. In the meantime, Laura sat with her back straight against her chair, crossed her legs, and held her coffee in her lap, awaiting the meeting to start.

As Jasmine was chewing on her bagel and had her coffee by her side, she noticed what look like a nice woman. She did not know her name or seen her around. Maybe she will get to know her? Jasmine nodded towards her and said, "Morning." She didn't want to sound TO rude on the first day. She kept it pleasant. Plus she didn't get on her nerves yet so that was a plus.

She decided to pass the time to do some small talk. "Hi I am Jasmine, what is yours?" she asked politely with the charming smile. At least she knew the heads name was Roxanne so she could make a good first impression when she talked to her.

Just as Roxanne was starting to think no one was going to show up, someone did. Awesome. But it seemed that said person was a little shy, or at least, she hoped that's what the deal was. She searched her memory for a second before matching the face to a name in her files. "Morning, Jasmine. Have a nice vacation?" Just because she was a department head, didn't mean she bit. Much, anyway.

The next person to arrive was one of her division heads. "Morning, Laura. Like the redesign?" She personally was just glad to be rid of those gaudy moving creature paintings. This wasn't even the creatures department so what had they been doing in here? This definitely gave the office a more professional air, while not being so fancy that people felt uncomfortable. Or, that had been her intention, anyway.

Well, the coffee was being kept just a little too hot in the coffeepot. Laura briefly wondered if the appliance was charmed as she deftly placed her cup on the desk in front of her. The last thing she wanted to do was scald herself and do something klutzy like spill the drink on her dress. She pressed her hand onto the cool desk for a moment before settling for picking up her pen and testing it out by drawing a few squiggly lines on her notepad.

The woman sitting next to her had nicely introduced herself, for which Laura was grateful. It seemed they were the only two who had arrived for the meeting – thus far, hopefully, since Roxanne’s announcement had been rather stern – and she was glad for some small talk to break the silence. Besides, Laura intended to get to know Jasmine and the rest of the Permitting Office quickly so they could get on to working together efficiently and effectively. “Oh, I’m Laura. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, twisting her pen absently in her hands.

Ah, right. Handshake. Laura extended one hand to Jasmine for a quick shake. “Excited to be back?” she asked. She was pretty excited herself. She’d had enough of vacation, the whole time basically spent with her older sister and her family. It was about time for a break from vacation, as absurd as that idea sounded in her mind now. Laura went back to twisting her pen and sipping her coffee. Carefully.

As Roxanne mentioned the redesign, Laura’s eyes wandered around the room. “I love it,” she said, grinning. “It’s just so fresh. And a little more appropriate as an office space.” She tucked her pen behind her ear and leaned her elbows on the desk. Well, hopefully that last comment didn’t come off strange or offensive in any way. She just admired the way the room was a lot less showy and yet more attractive than before. Who, in Merlin’s name, did the Ministry’s interior design anyway?? Laura kind of wanted his or her contact information.

Listening to her colleague as she spoke, Laura forced her gaze away from the shock of orange on the far end of the office. She curled her fingers around her coffee cup, feeling its warmth spread through her palm, and softly drummed on it offhandedly. Jasmine was a nice woman. And, Merlin, was Laura jealous of her shoes.

"Yes, indeed. I look forward to working with you, as Permitting Director," she said with a big smile. She liked to believe she could work with just about anyone, but the fact that Jasmine was so pleasant so far made things so much easier. And then, before she could stop herself: "I like your shoes," she kind of blurted.

Chuckling it off a little, Laura took a sip of her coffee, which was now pretty much at the most perfect of coffee temperatures. Pleased, she finished half the cup as she listened to Jasmine's answer to her conversational query.

"Oh, I completely understand about paying the bills," she said, nodding. "Flats in London are no joke these days." She laughed. "But then again, cramped flats aren't as glamorous as cruises! Either way, that sounds like a wonderful way to spend your break. Was it a magical cruise?" she asked, genuinely curious. She had always wanted to take a cruise, but she only knew about Muggle cruises. She wondered if there were magical cruises available as well.

Was waiting for Alice and Goblinfrog, but......
 

"That's what I thought," Roxanne replied with a smile. The dancing mermaids were where they belonged; at a gypsy swap meet. This was the Environmental Department, so she couldn't justify just throwing something away, no matter how gaudy.

Jasmine's look in response to her question was an odd one. Just because she was the boss didn't mean she couldn't be polite. But at least she remained polite in her tone of voice and phrasing. "Considering I was off having a baby, it was pretty good." Tiring, but good. Then it seemed her input wasn't needed, as the two women began to chat about bills and things. Which Roxanne couldn't really relate to. Since, well you know.

She checked her watch then and finally decided to start the meeting. Jeremy and Perwyn would just have to catch up later. Not to mention that she would be seeing them in her office. Have a talk with them about what she expects out of her supervisors. Because missing important meetings was not it. At all. "Well, it looks like we're the only ones showing up today." It was said with a smile, but it was obvious that she wasn't exactly happy with the absent ones. "So, let's get started then. First off, I wanted to let you guys know that our department is rather short on numbers right now. It's just the two of you and Elizibeth, whenever she decides to come back, plus our newbies Jeremy and Perywn. I'm not going to lie, applications for employment in all the departments is currently down. This is being looked into." Just so they were aware. It sucked, but that was just the way things went sometimes. Though, she did have her suspicions that all the events at Hogwarts had something to do with it. That it was preventing students from qualifying for university which meant smaller numbers all over the workforce. Anyway, that wasn't for her to figure out. "What this means for you guys is that more will be expected of you." She paused just then to let that sink in a bit and so that questions could be asked.

Ahh, it seemed they were about to start the meeting a little early. Or was it on time? It was hard to tell, since only the three of them had shown up; Roxanne, Jasmine, and Laura. There was a lull in applicants for Ministry positions as far as Laura could tell, but they couldn't have been the only Environment employees. In any case, there was nothing to be done but to listen up as Roxanne started to speak. To the whole two people in the audience...

Laura plucked out the pen she had tucked behind her ear, swept the bangs that had come loose from her ponytail out of her face, and leaned forward a little in her chair, attention on the department head. She nodded as Roxanne mentioned the severe lack in Ministry employment. It absolutely sounded like a problem that would no doubt affect them soon. As the wizarding community grew, they needed the number of Ministry employees to grow and keep up as well, not diminish. Hopefully, they discovered a solution to the problem soon.

Then, Roxanne mentioned the fact that the few of them left in the office would have to pick up the slack. Of course. It was affecting them now. Work distribution would have to be tweaked in order to accommodate current conditions in the Ministry. Laura took a moment to process this. She scribbled a note on her notepad. Step it up! Then, she looked back up at her boss.

"Roxanne, our division has seen anywhere up to four or five workers in employment at a time. Even if Elizabeth returns, we'll be pretty short," she said. "Given the circumstances, should we be ploughing ahead with big projects, or should we devote more time to doing whatever we can do to increase employment?" Laura paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Perhaps we could discuss ways to get Hogwarts students or recent graduates one step closer to being qualified for Ministry positions. Like outreach programs. Or internships." Biting her lip, Laura realized that the higher-ups were probably already thinking about these kinds of things. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "But since I assume we are most likely to continue with our usual jobs, I wonder, with the reduced staff and increased workload, if there would be any overtime," she said.

Not quoting ;)
 

Too Lazy to Quote XDD