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Office of Aron Ashburry-Hawthorne, Department Head
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Zach stood tall and fixed his robe before the door of the Department Head of Level 3. He knocked on it and cleared his throat... He checked his watch to make sure that he is not late for the appointment. |
Grumbling to himself about how the floo network picked the absolute WORST time to malfunction - HE HAD A WIFE ABOUT READY TO POP OUT A BABY, OKAY?! - Aron sat at his desk looking over some paperwork when he heard the knock at his door. Oh, right, he had an appointment with someone from Level 1. Merlin help whoever it was if they had come to discuss the lab explosion. He had had enough inquiries about it already. "Come it," he called, not bothering to get up from his desk. He had work to do and hopefully these actions were a nice indication that the Australian had no time to dillydally like a daisy. |
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"Good day, Mr. Hawthorne. I am Zach McMillan from the office of the Minister." he said with a big smile. The kind of smile that means business. He looked around the office and tried to familiarise himself to the new atmosphere. He rarely drop by the office of the DH of any level and now is the chance to do so. |
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"I'm here on behalf of the Senior Undersecretary. We were just wondering if we have made any decision on the Liaison position for the department, yet?" he said in a very plain and calm voice. |
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"Well, you can report back to your superior that the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes has had two liaison assigned for years now, Angela Dawson and Natasha Warrington." Really? This was what the man had requested an appointment for? Because the Minister's Office was unorganized? |
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"I am really sorry, sir." he said. "Because of the ruckus with the change of government, the Liaison Supervisor is missing in action." he said in an apologetic tone. "I am really sorry." he said standing and was about to say goodbye. "I must be leaving now, sir. I am sorry for wasting your precious time." he said and waited for the acknowledgement from the other party. |
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"In the future, may I suggest the use of flying memos for this sort of business?" he said with a small nod towards the door. Don't let it hit you on your way out? |
*continuing RP from Level 6!* Gabi marched ahead of Aron, knowing exactly where she was going. This was her former level, after all, and even though she'd never actually been Department Head here, she at least knew where the office was. She was also upset that no one had dealt with this problem earlier as she had instructed. That was just what she needed in a crisis - employees who dropped the ball. "So, what exactly is the problem again?" she asked, stopping outside the door and waiting for him to open it. It WAS his office after all. |
Aron felt slightly awkward FOLLOWING her through HIS department, but he really just needed to forget that and his man pride and just be grateful that she was going to personally look into the issue. "Last time I tried using it to the one of two places it should be hooked up to I ended up in Frankfurt," he said as he rubbed the back of his next and set three mugs of warm coffee on his desk. One for her and two for him. I had been quite the week already. "I haven't tried it again since, well, I don't fancy being shouted at in German again." |
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To be honest, Gabi was still learning all this transportation stuff. She'd learned quite a big deal since being thrown into the position, mainly due to the fact that the former Department Head was her boyfriend, but she was still learning the tricks to the business. Thankfully, she knew quite a bit about the Floo network stuff (it was the portkeys that were tripping her up in her transportation education) so hopefully she'd be able to help Aron with this. "Well, let's see....AHA! Yes, one of the spells used to configure Floo connections is specific to each country," she explained. Why hadn't she seen that before! She made a mental note to send a memo to her Floo personel the second she was done with Aron's office. "So if it's sending you to Germany, that's obviously broken. Let me see if tweeking that fixes the problem..." she muttered, kneeling down in front of the fireplace and taking her wand out of her skirt pocket. She muttered a few incantations and waved the wand, and the only indication that she'd done it correctly was a few green sparks that erupted in the middle of the fireplace for a second or two before vanishing. "That's a start. Care to test it?" she asked. Aron knew where these connections were supposed to go, not her, so it made sense that she use him as her guinea pig. |
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"Do those spells of expiration dates?" he asked while sipping on his first cup of coffee. He didn't know how spells and enchantments worked, if those things had specific time limits and all that. Probably something he ought to know considering his department and its involvement. He took a few steps forward and sipped some more from his mug while peering over her shoulder. "You sure I won't end up in Germany this time?" He was partly joking partly serious as his prepared his fire place. Only the flames were a rather...unfortunate color now. "No offense, but I am not too eager to go jumping into white flames," he said with a slight jab of his thumb. Too much magnesium sulfate? |
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She blinked when suddenly, the flames started to turn white, not green as they were supposed to. UMMMM. That wasn't right. Not right at all. "WELL that brings us to another issue," she said. This time she knew EXACTLY what was up with the white flames. She picked up the pot of Floo powder on his mantle and examined it. "Something is wrong with the powder. Not sure what, I'll have to run tests, but that is the only thing that effects the flames. No charm has anything to do with that - just with destination," she explained. She took a deep breath and tried to map out everything that was happening in her head. Ok, so the connections were faulty and not sending people to the correct places. Then Aron's floo powder was defective. So there was more than one reason as to why the network was all wonky...and she had a feeling it had to be connected. Someone was tampering with it. WHO was doing it was a completely different question, but...she couldn't see any other situation where BOTH components of the floo system got messed up at the SAME time. |
Busting through the walls with an energetic flutter, the silver hummingbird hovered in the space above Aron's desk. Opening its beak, the slightly frantic voice of Seren came out. "Aron! It's happening! I need you home now!" The hummingbird dipped and dived, and disappeared into thin air. |
I feel unjustly witty right now....just by that tacky spoiler name XD Quote:
Ah. Yes. That WAS a good point. Aron did not believe in coincidences. Not to that scale at least. So instead of a proper response there was a whole lot of hmmmmmmm-ing going on from his desk as he leaned against it and drank more of his coffee. He was almost done with his first mug of the stuff by this point. "The powder has been tampered with?" he said, mouth open wide and coffee dribbling out of it in the process. Fantastic. All over his white shirt. "Do you mean someone broke into my office and did something to it over the holidays?" Sweet SWEET Merlin what else could go wrong on Level 3? Wait, no, he was not going to entrain the thought of 'what else.' Aron set his now empty mug down and then walked over to look at the powder. "I would offer up the lab on this level, but there was an explosion at the start of the year. Completely unusable. You'll have to use the one on Level 2." He was already groaning in his head about this. Derek was going to be SO distracted from his work and Miss Don't Tough This on level 2 was likely to be a great hinderance. Unless their talk at the orientation had been an indication of her calming down. "Let me know if you need someone from my Potion Accident Response Team for your investigation. Meriwether is one of the best in the business and has a strong team under his supervision." Looked like it was busy times ahead. Speaking of lab explosion....he ought to go check on tha---- Quote:
Aron's jaw was hanging open like a Venus Flytrap - and probably a fly or two flew in and out in the time he just stood there staring at the hummingbird patronus. Happening. It. Happening. Home. Him. Seren. It. Now. Can. Not. Compute.... "MY WIFE JUST WENT INTO LABOR!?" he suddenly shouted out of both glee and anxiousness. Was that an earthquake? Oh. No. Nevermind. Just his hands shaking. His eyes were back on Gabriela for now. "Ineedtogo," he said as he grabbed a few things off his desk and shoved them into his briefcase. "Take whatever you need for your investigation and make sure my office is locked as you leave, yeah?" And then he completely forgot that his floo network was having issues in his haste. Aron leaped into his fire place, grabbed some of the faulty floo powder and spoke. "Bristol!" And then he was gone...and hopefully off to the correct location. |
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Oh a baby! How delightful! Gabi barely was able to utter a small "Congratulations!' before he suddenly grabbed the floo powder out of the pot in her hands and jumped into the flames. "Merlin!" she exclaimed in shock as he literally disappeared in a split second. The flames looked normal but, oh goodness, she hoped he had ended up in the right place! Blinking and slowly getting over the shock of the man diving into a faulty fireplace, she closed the pot of floo powder and tucked it into her purse. She'd examine this back in her office, with the help of her floo employees... She walked out and, as instructed, turned and pulled out her wand, locking the office behind her. |
A memo folded into the shape of a miniature version of the Environmental Head's patronus floats into your office and lands neatly in the center of your desk before unfolding itself to reveal the message inside: Quote:
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A paper eagle circled around the room and landed on the desk and unfurled itself. Text Cut: parchment |
half an hour after my post in the main work area ;) Almost to the second, half an hour later, Jade was knocking on Aron's office door. She wondered what he wanted to talk to her about, she hoped that it wasn't something very long because she had just left Derek with Mr. Erikson. While Derek had been his usual self, she couldn't be sure that he wouldn't end up doing something bad to Erikson if he didn't have supervision at least for the next few days. And of course after this meeting with Aron, she needed to get down to Magical Creatures to find out what was new with Mutant X. |
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"Oh, there that is," he said as he uncovered a memo from Roxanne regarding the lab where the crups had come from. Couldn't the woman have delivered the message herself? Especially considering how paperwork tended to become an accident itself within his office. Setting the memo in his drawer, the Department Head made a mental note to himself to go speak with Emily later about the issue - since it appeared as though Jade had arrived. "Come in!" he called as he pulled out her file from his employee records on the shelf behind him. And he was going to need to reply to that other memo too. Merlin. Get more on top of things Ashburry-Hawthorne! |
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Rising from his seat as Jade entered - the man had some manners in him even if his attire implied otherwise - he gestured towards one of the open seats in front of his desk before speaking. "I did, have a seat," he nodded. "I promise this will not take too long." Considering she had a lot on her plate with this mutant case. Sitting back down himself now, Aron lazily looked over her file since he had read it cover to cover several times already and really had no need to refresh his memory. "You've been with the department for quite some time now," he began as he put the file down on his desk. "What are your long term goals as a Reminisciator?" |
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But yes, she did have long term goals as a Reminisciator. Most definitely. And now was the best time to reveal her desires what harm could it do? She took a deep breath and started to speak, "Well, Sir. Initially, I admit that my ultimate goal has been to become the best Reminisciator I could be and perhaps eventually take over from Shakespeare or whoever else is in the position of Head Reminisciator. But these past months, helping out on cases that involve memory retrieval and restoration and not just memory implantations which has been the bulk of my work as a Reminisciator has made me realized that I really want to work up my way to being the MRRB Supervisor. That is a position that I feel incorporates the best of being a Reminisciator but deals more with the fabric of the memory itself and not just manufacturing memories. It is also what I'm passionate about having started here in that department. I mean, I love being a Reminisciator don't get me wrong but I like to think that there is a lot more to memory implantation or deletion and I want to have the whole experience. Plus I think that I could bring my own learned expertise to the position and lead the bureau to fulfill its best potential. Um, that is my eventual goal." As she finally finished talking, she turned red and was so embarrassed. She had just revealed to her boss her most inner desire about her career. Of course she would be nervous that he would think that she had such a high ambition for a job that she might be highly unsuitable for. |
Aron was mentally grinning as Jade spoke. Yes yes, everything was going just as he had figured they would go, and with Shakespeare's situation becoming a bit more complicated, this was going to work out perfectly... But then she kept speaking and he found the rest of her answer surprising. Not in a bad way, but just a very unexpected one. NOW he really needed to go back over her file. Maybe what he had in mind for her wasn't the way to go. "Well, that certainly IS an outstanding goal, Jade, and one that I have no doubt you will be able to achieve," he said as he flipped through some more pages in her file using his index finger. "I actually called you in here today to discuss a different job opportunity, but after hearing what you just said it seems like, perhaps, a change in divisions would better suit you to help you grow as an employee of this department." He couldn't promote her to Supervisor right away, of course, but something else within the Memory Restoration and Retrieval Bureau was a possibility. "You have done an outstanding job in your current position, even going above and beyond what your duties as a Reminisciator require. My question to you now is...would you like to stay within your current division or do you feel a transfer is in order?" |
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And that was the crux of the thing wasn't it? Thinking it over for another minute, she finally made up her mind. "Well, while becoming the supervisor of the MRRB is my ultimate long term goal years from now. I feel like I haven't yet...um...done everything that I had wanted to do and learn as a Reminiciator so I would like to remain with my division. I know that it is a decision that can benefit me in the long term and it is best suited to me at the moment." Yes, it was the best decision for her. And the reason why she had come to the British MoM in the first place. |
As perfectly understandable as it was, Gavin still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that they'd lost whatever the thing was back in that muggle cafe. It was still out there somewhere and though it hadn't done much in the way of harm, it still couldn't be allowed to move about all willy nilly among muggles that liked flashing cameras at the smallest of deviations from the norm. That rat, that thing, that merlin knows what wouldn't go very far unnoticed. Having decided lunch was now out of the question, he headed back to the Ministry and to the Office of a certain Department Head, the one they'd all assumed would be in charge of whatever that thing had been. Was there some lab escape that was failed to be mentioned? knockknockknock, He'd find out in a minute. Whatever the case, there was no convincing him that rodent wasn't an accident, a rather disturbing looking one at that. Was it the Departments idea of a joke got wrong?....Because Cale hadn't found it very funny from the top of the table he'd flown onto. |
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"Understood," he said as he brought his body forward once again and unceremoniously put her file back in the employee records cabinet. "In that case, I would like to offer you a promotion of sorts. This would include an increase in pay, of course, and a new job title. I would like to offer you the job of Acting Head Reminisciator. With Shakespeare out on a long term assignment and sending his reports to me via owl, I need someone to take command of the division here in the Ministry." He stopped to pull out some official documentation from a file on his desk. "The question is, will you accept the offer? I have no doubt of your capabilities." And there may have been a not-so-subtle wink at the end there. He still tended to lay on the charm thick when he needed something from someone. Just don't tell Seren? Not that she had anything to worry about. Quote:
Getting up, he walked towards the door and tried to prepare himself for the headache that awaited him...only to become surprised that it was not Derek on the other side. Was the new Senior Undersecretary making the introduction rounds or something? "Mr. Isaacs, what can I do for you?" |
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"Mr. Hawthorne." He said by way of simple greeting as he stepped by the man and let himself in. Gavin paused, stuck his hands in his pockets and took in the man's office. The current state of his desk didn't indicate he was in the middle of something. Even better, he could have his full attention. "Nice office." However, this wasn't a social call. The Senior Undersecretary turned to face the man again. "A curious thing happened today, rather curious. There was something that looked like that it had fallen in a vat of toxic waste, running through the muggle cafe just on the corner." A very nice way of putting it. Frankly, that thing was just plain u-g-l-y. It's creator had a horrid sense of humour. "What can you tell me about that." |
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"Thanks, the wife arranged things." Minus the plants, naturally. He had no sense for where things ought to go and just shoved furniture and stuff into rooms just so it would fit. He enjoyed the lived in look. He reached for his cup of coffee on his desk and was disappointed to see that its contents was empty. Looked like another trip to the break room was in order soo--- "What? You mean the creature that is currently being held in on Level 4 escaped?" What? Had Harmony misread its aurora? "Were there any muggle witnesses?" Oh, and now Mr. Senior Undersecretary wanted more information? Well, do did this Department Head. "We caught a creature in the lab last year. Caused an explosion and destroyed the entire place. I have a small team researching the creature, but they haven't produced anything conclusive as of yes. Awful looking thing. Big teeth." |
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The wife arranging the office bit didn't surprize him. Women had a tendency to take over, transforming entire spaces in a single jolt of energy. His sister had already gone and rearranged his home office. He didn't complain. how could he?-- Come again? "Currently being held in Level 4?" He...hadn't been aware there was something down on that level. "I suppose..." He said a bit uncertainly. It could be that creature, had to be. How many other mutants could there possibly be. If the man was offering up explanations of origin then it had to be the same creature. Yes. "Just a few if any. The thing ran along the floor most of the time, no bigger than a rat." But uglier. This point couldn't be stressed enough. "I had the cafe evacuated under the guise of a health inspection, then a few of us from the Ministry attempted to capture it but somehow it slipped out..." He nodded his agreement at the comment on the thing looking awful but stopped abruptly, giving the man a look as if he were strange. "Big teeth? No, no, I'd notice the big teeth if they were there, Newell too. They were normal sized and it's drool turned pink on the floor--think of a rat, small, no fur, wrinkly skin, beady eyes, slightly disturbing and quick." Were they even on the same age anymore? Of course this begged the question. "You mean to tell me there's another mutant out there?" One with BIG TEETH?? Merlin help them if these things were infectious. |
you have to excuse Jade she just got the shock of her life :P Quote:
Eventually she embarrassingly squeaked out loud, "Me?" But then she took a minute to compose herself and continued, "I would be honored to accept, Sir." Hoping that she didn't humiliate herself and end up not getting the job. |
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"Mhmmm. Not Harmony, but the woman before her was the one to capture it initially and take it into Creatures custody," he explained to fill in a few gaps. Aron almost missed...what's-her-name. At least she didn't jingle while she walked and read your aura. He felt violated, somehow, every time the woman did that. "I'll send out a small team just in case. The muggle media would have a field day with this." And then with the flick of his want, the Australian charmed some parchment and his quill to write the appropriate memos to be handed out. Health inspection. Heh. Good one. Aron chuckled at that. "What? No big teeth?" That means there are more of these things running around...and who knows how many of them. At least two. Aron was good at math. Ha. "Afraid that is precisely what I am telling you. The creature found in our lab, we call it Mutant X, also had the same acidic pink saliva." He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He really needed to get his own lab rats on the job and investigating Mutant X. At least now for sure there was a starting point. More saliva. Merlin help him. "Better tell Harmony about this. I have a feeling that there are a lot more than just these two. There were sightings in Diagon Alley last summer as well, but then they just vanished." Quote:
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She definitely wanted the job but that didn't mean that she didn't have questions. |
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Ah, so there was an exchanging of hands where the mutant was concerned. Somehow this made him think it'd be harder to get definites on this thing. Records that weren't filed away after the former left, unrecorded characteristics that should have been passed on to the new? Merlin he hoped not. "Good idea. There were a few nosy Parkers trying to get a look inside even after the evacuation. Victoria had to draw the blinds." What could muggles possibly think was so interesting about a rat. They didn't do anything but carry germs and steal your food. And then the worst was confirmed. More than one of them. If they were all as creepy looking he didn't know what he'd do--probably avoid Level Six. Seemed likely. His eyes widened. "That pink gunk on the floor was acidic?" Must have burnt a hole into the floor by now he reckoned. Oh dear. Aron's squad was sounding even better by the minute. "I don't suppose you'd know if the thing was venomous or infectious?" Maybe not because he was being told to head down to Level 4--hyvdjksfeayeidfis they got away last year as well?? They were in Diagon Alley? Gavin had questions that he wasn't so sure he wanted answers to anymore. "I'll make that my next stop." He sounded a bit distracted by now. Something he'd only just noticed. Memo writing...how...."Yours still fly?" |
*slightly rearranged Gavin stuff* Quote:
He nodded his head at what she said next. "Yes, I would like you to use him as a baseline for what is to be expected of you, but don't feel like because you are a supervisor by trade that that should limit you to doing more of just that. I still hope you will be as active in the field as you wish, there will just be more paperwork on your end to file and reports to write." That cleared things up, yeah? Quote:
Ah yes, the acidic saliva. Yeah. That had been a shocker for his people as well. "Yep, melted the floor right there on the spot. I really did think that Derek was going to pass out." He took a step towards the door with every intention of going with the man to speak with Harmony, when the paper airplane memos he had just sent went crashing to the ground and landed in a pile just shy of the door. "You said the memos are not working on your level?" Faulty charmed parchment? Should be an easy fix for his people. "I'll have some of my people look at the enchantments. Shouldn't be too hard to repair. Probably just need to renew them." Right now he needed to focus on this apparent mutant invasion. So back to that conversation. "Nothing of that sort," he replied as he shook his head and picked up his memos from the floor. "Research is still underway, however. I'll be sure to send a full report to the Minister when we have something conclusive." Memos in hand, it looked as though he was going to need to play the role of an owl and deliver them himself. Bloody fantastic. "I'll go with you. I have a few things I need to discuss with Harmony as well." |
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His eyes flickered to the floor at the mention of that thing making a whole there. If something like that had happened back at the Cafe he could think of someone else that might have fainted but he'd keep that to himself. Professionalism and all. "Nope. Won't fly more than a few inches and that's only with with a manual push. Heard it might be the charms." It didn't go unnoticed that Aron's wasn't flying either. Gavin raised an eyebrow at that. Had the broken charms extended this far? Emily didn't mention not having her memos flying. Things like that didn't just skip a floor."Thanks, I need that level up and running again. Too much to do without memos not working." And mutants apparently running around. Mutants that didn't have anything conclusive researched yet. He'd hold him to his word on getting it to the Minister and nodded at his offer to accompany him. It was just as well, he'd never walked around Level 4, he'd probably have run into everything from the furry to the fanged before finding her office. Gavin headed for the door again and let himself out, keeping a slow enough stride for Aron to catch up. |
short posts....but we were done here anyway <3 Quote:
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"Right, well, I'll send someone down right away," he nodded. Easy fixings for his employees, surely. And with that, he followed his co-worker out of his office and began to make his way towards Level 4. |
It was fun while it lasted :) Quote:
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Having said that, Jade got up from the chair to head over to the door to do her work. |
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And with that meeting over, Aron sat back down again and began going over the remaining paperwork left. |
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