Of course they already had people to think about the Hogwarts situation. Laura smacked herself a little, but she couldn't help but feel like she needed to pitch in her assistance. Shaking off those thoughts, she nodded as she listened to Roxanne.

"I don't really mind either way," she said, concerning the keeping track of how much work everyone did. "Though it would probably be a great way to motivate us, by turning this all into a friendly office competition," she said, ultimately agreeing.

But wait. What was "this" anyway? Was it the assignment that Roxanne had posted on the bulletin board about registering anyone in possession of magical plants? Hopefully Roxanne would go a little more into detail about that with them.

pENWYNwalked through the doorway and into the office with a casualblue tank top shirt and a black pants on. She looked like she had been running. She beamed at her boss and her two coworkers.

"Sorry I'm late boss, I had trouble finding the place." She walked around the table with her hands splayed on her hips. "Niiiiiiice." She complemented the look of the room. She sat down. "What did I miss?"

Laura was absent-mindedly coloring in the margin of her notepad with her pen as the discussion continued on in the department meeting. Once in a while, she jotted something important down to remind herself later of what Roxanne was telling them about overtime and such. She had long since finished her coffee and was secretly kind of itching for a second cup, though she felt like it would be weird to get up in the middle of a meeting between three people.

Oh, make that four people. Another woman had just walked in. Laura looked up at the latecomer. Clearly, she knew she was late and had made an effort to get here faster. Well, at least she hadn't just waltzed in like she had nothing to worry about. However, Laura recognized her as one of the new employees Roxanne had mentioned on the bulletin board. If she wasn't mistaken, the woman who had just arrived was director of the Environmental Rangers, so Laura would leave it up to Roxanne to comment on the woman's punctuality, if she wanted to.

Instead, Laura turned to the woman and said, "Hi, you must be Ms. Geenwall. I'm Laura Miller, director of the Environmental Permitting Office." She glanced at her notepad to recall everything. "We were just talking about a few department technicalities. Basically, Roxanne was just telling us that the Ministry is pretty low on employees in general and that our department is suffering, too." Laura gestured to her boss when she mentioned her name before continuing.

"So the remainder of us will have to pick up the slack for the lack of employees. Oh, and don't worry. We'll be working more hours, but we'll be having overtime pay proportional to how much extra time we put in compared to our colleagues," she said. "When you came in, we were throwing around the idea of keeping track of this all on a board and making it into a friendly office competition of sorts." Then, Laura put her notepad back down on the desk in front of her and looked up at Roxanne to see if she had missed anything.

Phew. At least it seemed like they were all on the same page. With some questions, which Roxanne really didn't mind. "Basically, in addition to the overtime, the tasks that you do would rack up points, and whomever has the most points would win a prize." Unless they didn't like that idea, in which case they could come with something else.

Annnnnd interruption. In the form of one of her employees whom was late. And claiming to have forgotten where 'this place' was. Rather she meant the Ministry in general or this department specifically, the department head wasn't sure. But if it was the later, well, the elevator could've helped with that. Anyway she let Laura explain it while she took a few sips of her coffee. "Plus, I'm going to need to see you in my office after the meeting, Penwyn," she added onto the end. Because, yeah, they needed to talk.

Anyway, moving on. "Does anyone have any ideas, or more questions before we move on to the next item on my list here?" Come on, don't be shy.

Ooh, a prize! How intriguing. But Laura felt like keeping up with overtime was motivation enough, and having an additional prize might be straying a bit the task at hand. Unless Roxanne had something special in mind... "Roxanne, I think a prize would be a fun and appreciated extra gimmick, but I don't think it's entirely necessary," she said. "Unless you've already got plans in place for that, of course."

Other than that, well, no, Laura had no more questions for Roxanne. Yet. In the meantime, she leaned back in her chair and waited for the meeting to move on.

So she only had one employee with ideas, thoughts, etc. Or only one who had the courage to speak up, anyway. Sigh. It was enough to drive a department head crazy. "All right then, no prize," Roxanne countered back. She checked her watch, then, and realized that they had been sitting here talking for forty solid minutes. Much longer than she'd intended. Of course, part of that was the fault of those who hadn't been bothered to be on time/show up at all. But she still had to move the meeting along so that they could get started.

"Moving on, there is another reason I called this meeting. See, I've been doing so thinking since the incident with the plant at Hogwarts about how we could help not just Hogwartians but all witches and wizards be safer around our green friends." And stopping for a moment to let that sink in before moving on. She didn't know how well this was going to be received, but it had to be done. People either weren't being careful with their magical plants or there was something else going on. But it had to be stopped. "All magical plant owners are going to have to register their plants with us, or turn them in. I know this creates more work for you guys, but it's the only way. I'm currently working with the Daily Prophet on an announcement and once it's published, people should start pouring in." And if not, well, they wouldn't like what would happen very much.

Penwyn leaned back in her chair and listened as her Department Head Carter talked. Then she mentioned the plants and finally she had questions.

"That's going to be a kind of daunting task, isn't it? At least half the country has some kind of magical plants. Wouldn't it be more effective to just have dangerous magical plants registered? And how would we even know if someone had registered everything?"

Sooo, someone else had FINALLY decided to chime in. And about time, too. But....half the country? Really? It sounded like someone was just trying to get out of doing the work. Not going to happen. "Actually, wizards don't account for even half of the population of London, much less this entire island. It'll be tough with diminished numbers, sure, but it will be doable." Especially if everyone came to work everyday. "As for your 'only dangerous ones' idea, it's definitely a good idea, in theory. But trying to get even three people to agree on what's dangerous or not would be hard, given people's different ideas of what's dangerous or not." Plus, she didn't exactly trust Jasmine or Penwyn to not just lump all the work on herself and Laura. Not mention that Jeremy hadn't bothered to show his face yet. So, yeah best just to do it as she'd planned.

Checking her watch again, Roxanne finally decided to go ahead and end the meeting. "If that's all, I'll let you guys get to work. Your first competition task should be posted some time within the next few hours, as well as our handy points board. And Penwyn, please follow me to my office." She hoped the woman realized that it was her lateness that had earned her this little trip, not speaking out.

Ahh, a registry. Of everyone with magical plants? Yes, that would be a good amount of work. In fact, Laura thought it was slightly daunting, trying to make sure they got every witch or wizard in possession. Hopefully everybody would be cooperative. Laura already had a few ideas on how to go about their business, which she hastily scribbled onto the leftover clean space of the page her notepad was open to.

As Roxanne left with Penwyn, Laura nodded to her boss. A competition task? She would have to be sure to check the bulletin board later. In the meantime, she wondered if she should go ahead and start throwing around some brainstorms with her division. Well, with Jasmine, actually, since they were the only two left. Laura sighed. This is gonna be a lot of work for just the two of us.

Trying to put on an optimistic smile, Laura turned to Jasmine. "So, I wonder what the first competition task is going to be. Do you think it'll have something specifically to do with what we need to do first to do our job or do you think we should get the ball rolling?" she asked. She was on the fence herself. Glancing briefly at her notebook, Laura decided it wouldn't hurt to just discuss a few ideas.

"I was thinking we could start off with issuing a notice to the Wizarding community about the new registration and give them days according to their surnames to come in and register their magical plants," she explained. "Assuming a majority of witches and wizards come forward in that time, we can worry about investigating those who try to ignore the registry later." Laura paused and looked at Jasmine eagerly, awaiting her opinions of the matter. They could run these ideas by Roxanne later if they came to any decisions.

Jasmine was listening intently to all the ideas her coworkers and boss was throwing around. So now they had to keep track of what plants witches and wizards had in their possession. That would be A LOT of work. But if she got paid overtime that wouldn't be so bad wasn't it?

She hadn't even noticed Pewyn walked in. She nodded toward her. Just to acknowledge that she even noticed her. Don't worry she won't have to talk to her yet....that was a good thing. She didn't like talking to new people unless she had to. Then she left with Roxanne. She grinned, she looked like she was gonna be in trouble. At least it wasn't her.

Then Jazz noticed her co worker Laura was talking to her. Alright Jasmine focus! Just talk. It won't be so bad. She nodded listening to her ideas. She actually liked those ideas. "Yeah i was thinking along those lines too." she smiled at her. She even glanced at Laura notebook, she had great ideas in her notebook. Maybe she should have wrote some notes. Then she could look studious right? Ah well...too late now.

Laura raised a good point though. "Yeah i was thinking about what would happen if people don't come forward. I know from past experience people are not honest." she shrugged. "But i think we should sent out some pamphlets for the wizarding community to sign to see what types of plants they have." she nodded towards Laura.

Now she wanted to divulge some emotions to her. "Don't you think we are gonna have so much work to do? Just for the two of us. I do not think that is fair." She wondered if Laura agreed. "But i think we can make it through. We seem like confident ladies."

Good! Laura was glad to hear that Jasmine agreed with her ideas so far. She smiled but nodded seriously at the other woman's remark about dishonesty. "Yes, I'm sure there'll be a good amount of people who want to try to carry on under the radar, but like I said, we can deal with that after the initial phases," she said, briefly wondering if 'under the radar' was a familiar phrase to the magical world. Probably not, but oh well.

"I'd say to just start thinking about ideas now. They don't have to be fully-fleshed, as long as you've got some things to throw around when we brainstorm at a later date," Laura warned Jasmine warmly. She closed up her notebook with a flourish and slid her pen into its spiral spine. Now to get to work!

Oh, Jasmine had a few more things to say. Laura leaned back in her chair and listened to her coworker, nodding slowly as she processed what she was saying. Hm, it was true that it was a little mad to put the organization of a large registry like this into the hands of two people, but Laura had to advocate the Ministry's decision to OK the project. "It's definitely going to be more work than usual," she said. "But you're right, I'm confident we can get the job done."

With that, Laura tucked her notebook and pen into her bag and stood up to stretch her legs. It felt great to get out of that sitting position she'd been in practically all morning! Taking a deep breath, she looked back over at Jasmine. "Hey, Jasmine, what do you say we get started after a short break? I think I'll get started on some of the work Roxanne's left for us in a few minutes, and then I'll begin drawing up some pamphlets and notices," she informed her. Then, with a smile, Laura set off in the direction of the bulletin board.

Jazz nodded when she wanted to keep the people who were not trustworthy "under the radar" she smiled at that term. She knew what it meant but it was never used in the MOM, she thought she was the only one who used the term. Then Laura gave her a helpful hint. "Yeah...i will start thinking soon don't worry." she assured Laura. She didn't want Laura to do this alone. Jazz knows she would go crazy if she did this work all by herself.

She gave a sigh of relief when she agreed with her. They could do this! If they worked together. Jazz took out her cell phone when she felt it buzzed. Part of being in the muggle world, she had a social life. She loved it but her friends did text her at the wrong moments. She hit ignore and continued to talk to Laura. She nodded assuring Laura they can do this task. They might be top names at the Ministry who knows?

Jasmine noticed Laura getting up and she felt like she should too. Her tailbone was starting to hurt. She got up and stretched it out. Aaaaahhhh....that felt SO much better. She even felt her back crack and the stress was gone. Then she heard Laura ask her something. Oh a break? That sounded great! "Sure! We can get started after a break!" she assured her. Then her stomach started to hurt. She forgot she didn't eat too much. "Do you want to come with me to get something to eat? I am starving." she said to her while watching her walk to the bulletin board. Her stomach was growling a bit more aggressively. Not a good sign. Plus the food here was not TOO good. She wanted to go outside and eat for a bit.

Hm, that was definitely a tiny growl Laura heard in the pit of her stomach. Jasmine had reminded her that they had pretty much spent the entire morning at the meeting with Roxanne and it was actually about time for lunch now. Laura was only really hungry for a nice, light lunch, but she could use some food nonetheless. Seeing as they had a good amount of work ahead of them, she figured they both needed the energy.

Bouncing softly from back and forth on her feet, Laura glanced over at Jasmine from where she was standing by the bulletin board and grinned. "That actually sounds great!" she said with a nod. "We'll need sustenance to face the work we have cut out for us." Laura was, of course, just poking fun at the fact that they were a two-woman team taking on a sizable project, speaking in a light, joking manner. It was better to just laugh at the situation rather than dwell grudgingly on the subject. That kind of negative energy was simply bad for office productivity.

Walking back over to the desks, Laura plopped herself down into her chair and briefly adjusted her heels. "Where did you have in mind to eat?" she asked. She really had no preference herself. Plucking her wallet out of her work bag, Laura got to her feet and looked over at Jasmine, eagerly awaiting her reply.

Jazz saw Laura noticed her stomach growling. I mean it wasn't hard to ignore. Her stomach wanted food and it wanted it now! If she could stop the noises she would. But it would stop once she had a nice lunch....

She was relieved Laura was thinking on the same page. "Great!" she beamed at her. Now for places to go...Jazz had NO idea. Maybe Laura could help? "Umm i was gonna ask you that actually. Do you know any good places or people say that is good to eat at?" Might as well get some opinions before she chose which place to eat.

Oh.

Really, anywhere would do. Laura wasn't craving anything in particular (except maybe a nice gourmet coffee instead of the office variety). Her thoughts flickered to the Ministry cafeteria, but she thought maybe they could use some fresh air. She suspected there would be plenty of long hours spent inside the Ministry in future, so might as well get out for a bit of a reprieve.

"Ah, well, there's the café on the corner," Laura suggested, pointing up offhandedly somewhere in its direction above ground. "Or, if you're hungrier, we could go for the restaurant across the street." She moved her pointing finger in some other arbitrary direction above them. Shrugging, she let her hand fall back down to her side.

Those were two sensible choices, right? Laura thought the café on the corner was delightful, but it wasn't entirely appropriate for anyone seeking a meal. Maybe some other time. Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "If I had to cast my vote, I'd choose the restaurant." She glanced quickly at the clock. Yep, the place was open, so it would do just fine.

SPOILER!!: Laura!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poisonedbyyou

Oh.

Really, anywhere would do. Laura wasn't craving anything in particular (except maybe a nice gourmet coffee instead of the office variety). Her thoughts flickered to the Ministry cafeteria, but she thought maybe they could use some fresh air. She suspected there would be plenty of long hours spent inside the Ministry in future, so might as well get out for a bit of a reprieve.

"Ah, well, there's the café on the corner," Laura suggested, pointing up offhandedly somewhere in its direction above ground. "Or, if you're hungrier, we could go for the restaurant across the street." She moved her pointing finger in some other arbitrary direction above them. Shrugging, she let her hand fall back down to her side.

Those were two sensible choices, right? Laura thought the café on the corner was delightful, but it wasn't entirely appropriate for anyone seeking a meal. Maybe some other time. Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "If I had to cast my vote, I'd choose the restaurant." She glanced quickly at the clock. Yep, the place was open, so it would do just fine.

Oh so Laura suggested they go to the restaurant. Jasmine liked this girl more and more. She preferred to eat somewhere classy. She nodded and said, "Restaurant it is then." she decided on. "You ready to go?" she asked politely and swung her purse over her shoulder and went to the door.

Yay! Since they were the only two people in the Permitting Office at the present and they would be working together, Laura was happy she and Jasmine were getting along. She was used to having a somewhat larger team to wrangle, so this was new territory for her as a division head. But she was eager to make it work out. It wouldn't be too hard because Jasmine seemed like a down-to-earth woman.

"Yes, all set," she affirmed with a nod, her wallet clutched in one hand. Then, she headed to the door.

OOC: Posting in the restaurant thread!

When she entered the Environmental Work office, she took a moment to look around. It was different than she thought it would be. She had pictured in her head a room filled with all kinds of magical plants littered about. To her pleasure, it was a beautiful space. Long white tables and a bright orange wall. The smell of fresh brewed coffee filled the air and everything in the room was neat and tidy. Not what she was used to in the day care.

"Do you mind if I grab a cup of coffee?" She asked the kind woman as they walked past the table. Coffee was a treat and not allowed around the children. She hoped it wasn't rude of her to ask, since she was just there for the plant registry.

"No, I don't mind at all." That's what it was there for, anyway. For people to drink.

"Just give me a second to grab the proper forms and we can begin. Have you got your I.D. and a list of your plants with you?" Roxanne asked, pulling opening a drawer in the permits section containing the blank forms. She sure hoped the woman did, because that would make everything go much quicker.

Giving the kind lady a smile, Zoe gently lifted a clean coffee cup off the table and poured the steamy black liquid inside. The smell was heavenly. It had been far too long since she last had a cup. She paused a moment, trying to decided if she wanted cream and sugar. It only took a little sip to remind her that, yes, she did. The blackness slowly lightened and swirled into a creamy, sugary sweet tan. Perfect.

"I do have my I.D. and a list. Well, it's not much of a list, but I did feel that it warranted reporting them." She reached into her bag and pulled out her identification and list of plants. "I'm Zoe, by the way. I've seen you around, but I can't seem to remember your name."

Now that the break and trial were overPenwyn was prepared to return to work and work harder than she had done last time. Recently she had been skipping and not doing certain tasks when she was told to, but now she was determined to prove that she could work hard if she wanted to. So she walked into the room with a smile and sat down to sort through some papers.

First order of business, evidently, was heading to Greenhouse One to fix the climate issue. BUT before she did that, she had other business to take care of. The Greenhouse Climate could wait just a moment or two.

Gripping her wand steadily, she marched into the work area and glanced around, looking for where the herbologists might sit.

"Alright, who's the bloody Horticulturist who keeps messing with the climate charms?" Alex announced rather loudly. Surely, EVERYONE in the work area must've have heard her rant.

Penwynglanced up from her work as she saw some lady come marching in. Was she one of the newbies to the office? Must be.She ignored her and went back to her almost non-existent work, since there wasn't much to do today. But then as she marched closer, Penwyn noticed her wand in her hand, and then she was shouting something about someone messing with climate charms.

At any rate, Penwyn didn't see anyone jump up in answer to her shout which carried across the entire room, so she stood up and walked over to the lady, placing herself only a foot away from her. "Excuse me Miss, but please lower your voice. It might make it hard for people to concentrate. Is there something you want?" She narrowed her eyes at her wand and placed her gloved left hand on her hips.

The silvery patronus in the form of a African wild dog bounds through the wall coming to an abrupt yet graceful halt.

Opening its mouth, the voice of the MLE Department Head sounds out.

"Climate control in the Food Court requires attention, it's raining, assistance would be appreciated asap before peoples lunches drown."

And with that, the patronus disappears.

Silvery waves came rushing through the walls, they swirled and swirled in the air until a giant Bumblebee was shaped in the middle of the room echoing the following message, "Emergency call from Magical Law Enforcement department. It's raining ice in the offices, we require immediate attention."