The Origami Room, aka the Office of Ben Cobblesten
 

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The office once occupied by Madeline Grau is now being used by the current Department Head, Ben Cobblesten. As you walk inside, you see a modestly decorated area, with a light wood desk taking up most of the space. There are two navy blue armchairs in front of the desk, in case you wanted to have a seat!

The bookcases are filled to the ceiling with interesting reads, and every once in a while there is a picture frame, filled with a number of blonde people--quite obviously his family. The most interesting decoration, of course, are the paper origami swans hovering near the ceiling. At first you think they're memos, but no, they're just there for decoration.

On the desk is a giant nameplate, gleaming brightly in the afternoon sun streaming through the window:

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Well, come on in! Don't be shy! Have a nice cup of tea with Mr. Cobblesten!

Mona stepped quickly into Madeline's office, leaving her division's folder with their current excuse:

"Really?" Madeline said, more like a statement than a question, sitting down behind her desk and folding her hands across the pine finish. "Well, that is certainly a surprise. Let me just check to make sure that they don't have any appointments lined up for today..." she added, her voice trailing off as she consulted the desktop calender beneath her hands, "No, everything seems open for today. You can head over there right away, if you wish," she said happily. "You'll have to fill out some paperwork when you get there, of course, but that shouldn't take more than a few minutes." she informed her.

Leila walked down the hall from the office for the Muggle Worth Excuse Committee, and made her way to Madeline's Office.

"Hi, Madeline. I'm so sorry to bother you again. Do you have a moment?"

"Of course," Madeline said as Corranda left the office. She had a strange feeling about that woman, but couldn't quite figure out just what it was. "Take a seat," she said happily to Leila.

Sitting in the proffered chair in front of Madeline's desk, Leila sighed, "I was just wondering if you would know the head of the Invisibility Task Force? I was down the hall at that office earlier, but no one would direct me to the head of the committee. It was as if they either couldn't hear, or were completely ignoring me. I need to speak with this person about the Minister's upcoming wedding. And actually, as head of this department, I should probably include you in the meeting. Can you help me?"

Madeline smiled. Weddings, I love weddings! she thought to herself, "Actually, the head hasn't shown up since last week. We're in the process of promoting someone from within the Department to Head," she explained, rubbing her temples as she spoke. There was just SO much that had to get done. She sighed, "If you'd like, we can hold a meeting in the conference room. I'll send a memo to my Invisibilty Task Force straight away." she offered.

"Hello Dan," Madeline said with a smile, "I'm just fine, thank you, how about yourself?" she asked. "Have you met Leila from the first floor?" she asked, introducing the two.

"That would be lovely. I'm waiting to hear back from the Muggle Worthy Excuse Committee as well. I've been to speak with their head, and she said that she would get back to me when they were able to meet. Just between us, I don't think she's too thrilled about this little venture. But it is what I've been assigned to do, and it is one of the top priorities at the ministry at the moment. Especially since there is to be a press conference very soon. This all has to be worked out by that time."

"It is nice to meet you as well."

"I don't know, to be honest," Madeline sighed, "It looks as though he got in the way of a memory charm, probably performed by that student. I'm waiting for them to come in here, maybe I should go get them..." she said, her thoughts trailing off.

"I'm sure it will be," Madeline assured her. "Could you be a doll and do a favor for me? The Minister is requesting a meeting with Doyle...and unfortunately that is not an option. Could you please let him know that Doyle is not well, and we're trying to restore his memory. Once we do that he can meet with him immediately," she assured her.

With that, Madeline flipped her hair over her shoulder and scurried out of the office.

"Certainly. I'll go let Regan know, so she can relay the message to the Minister." Leila smiled at Madeline, and left her to her work.

Doyle stepped into the office and nodded to the occupants. "It seems the Minister needs to see me so we'd best make this quick," he said as he started cleaning his glasses.

"Alright, let's get started. Jason, Dan, take notes, if you could," she added. "First things first; do you remember anything that happened in your office at the school, or how you came to be in the Ministry here?" she asked. She figured he wouldn't remember a thing, but if he did, they were one step closer to finding a counter-charm.

He ignored the woman in the doorway and looked to the witch she was talking to, the one speaking to him. "It was an office at Hogwarts and I do not remember anything between being at my desk in the Ministry and suddenly appearing behind a desk at Hogwarts. I do remember everything after that."

Cassandra, who'd followed Branxton in the office, recoiled bihind him as she saw the Headmistress's head pop in. Don't let her see me, don't let her see me... she kept thinking with her eyes closed. After all Cassandra was a small girl, she just needed not to move.

Why didn't she go to her first... this would have all blown over... it was an accident... why did she have to try to fix it on her own! She was going to lose her prefect status and she'd worked so hard to get that. She was ready to cry.

An Interdepartmental memo soars in and lands on Madeline's desk:

Thomas walked past the Head's Office and looked in. "What kind of party are you people having in here?" he asked jokingly looking at all the people in the office. "Oh well, I brought everyone coffee. Thought you might all be thirsty," he said passing out coffee to everyone in the room.

Little girl? she thought, He better not be talking about me!

Well, so much for hiding from Rae! Great...

She sighed coming out from behind Doyle. "Afternoon Headmistress," she said in greeting to the woman at the door. She turned to Miss Grau and gave her a please-don't-let-her-kill-me look. After all she (Trel) had been the cause of Doyle forgetting his love for the Headmistress and their daughters.

"We were in his office, and he was helping me perfect my memory charm. I was practicing my wand movement first, then when he asked me to voice the incantation... I guess... out of habit from having done it over and over, I just... well... then he asked me why I was at the ministry and... and..." Cassandra's breathing just became more labored and she started hiccupping trying to get the words out... but for some reason, she just couldn't...

What if they couldn't put him back. What if they couldn't fix him... this was all her fault! Stupid memory charm! Stupid wanting to better her skills... and now... look at the mess she put herself in.

"Wife?" Doyle turned in the direction of the voice who had introduced the witch as the headmistress of Hogwarts. Then, the student was speaking again and his head was spun again. "My office? Working on a memory charm? This is all highly irregular."

He turned to the department head and started cleaning his glasses furiously. "Something must be done, immediately."

Cassandra looked at the headmistress' hand. "It isn't my fault?" Was... was this true? It was her wand after all... her spell...

Cassandra jumped. She'd never seem Branxton so... uncool... She wanted to cling to the headmistress, but she felt so very guilty. She looked up to Rae, her eyed filled with tears, "They will fix him, right? I... I didn't... break him? Did I?"

Cassandra looked up to the headmistress and nodded... but as she turned to leave she looked back at Branxton. "One moment Headmistress." She said to the woman beside her. She took a step forward. Not so close that Branxton could reach out to grab her, but close enough. "I... I'm really sorry professor..." she said to him. She then bit her lip and, turning back towards the open door, walked out.

Professor... Merlin's beard but, that was most odd. He reached out and picked up the object the headmistress had left on the desk. It was a locket and when it popped open he was staring down at himself, the headmistress, and two young girls. That was just completely absurd.

"You take it he remembers the incantations?" Doyle asked with surprise. "I apologize for being rude but, if all this is true, I would much rather have someone with more experience dealing with this issue. He could permanently damage my memories and that is only best case scenario. I could completely lose myself if he fails." No, for this he would even go to Cooper if he needed to in order to get someone fully qualified, though Cooper might purposely botch the memory recovery..... Doyle took out his handkerchief and began cleaning his glasses.

Jason was about to reply to Madeline when Braxton spoke before him. Dear Merlins. "No, sir!" he squeaked, coughing a bit after to return his normal voice. "I mean... Sir, I've been an obliviator for three years. I have expreince and believe me when I say this, Sir. I've seen worse cases." Jason honestly told him with a sincere smile.

Hearing Dan's voice once more, he turned to face him and blinked at what he said. Was the man serious? Letting Doyle fall asleep? That's absurd! Before Jason could object on such action, dan had already gone and done it. Quickly, Jason dropped his notebook and put his arms under the man so he wouldn't fall on the ground.

"Help." he breathed, looking at Madeline. Boy was Doyle heavier than he looked like

Doyle had no idea what the man was ranting about but, he soon fell asleep, a victim of the spell, and didn't worry about it anymore.

ooc: :lol:

Madeline jumped up and with amazing speed hurried to Jason's aid. She shook her head. She couldn't believe the actions of some of her employees sometimes. She hoisted Doyle into a chair and pulled out her wand. With a quick flick, Doyle was awake again. She couldn't image what he would say now.

"Alright, Jason, you know the spell, so go ahead and give it a shot," she said as she resumed her seat. "If it doesn't work, we can try it again and I'll add the spell as well, so the strength will double. And if that doesn't work, we'll have to try something else," she finished. "Whenever you're ready Jason. Doyle, I ask that you please sit still...I swear it will not hurt, and nothing can happen to you, I promise."

Jason smiled as a thank you the moment Madeline rushed to his side. Doyle was pretty heavy, he thought as he helped Madeline hoist him onto a chair. Closely watching as she had flicked her wand on Doyle to wake up, Jason took out his own wand and pointed it at the older man.

"Will do, ma'am." Jason grinned, walking a bit closer to where Doyle sat. Placing his wand between his eyes. "This won't hurt a--at all, sir." The nerd said with a smile, and with a quick wave, he muttered the spell. Waiting for a few seconds, he bent down on his knees and stared at the man. "Do you have a wife, Mr. Braxton?" Jason asked, hoping the man would answer with a yes. Usually, people do give him the correct answer. And at the moment, he hoped he'd get it again.

Doyle came to and was about to give the woman an earful when she interrupted is train of thought and insulted him yet again. "I know enough to stay still, Ma'am," he curtly answered and cleaned his glasses before the wizard stepped up and stuck his wand in his face. "I know it won't hurt but, I can still fear for the integrity of my..."

His final sentence was interrupted by the performance of the charm. His eyes went unfocused again and it took several moments before they cleared and Doyle could process what the wizard had asked. "Of course I do," he said, a bit confused.[/color]

Jason gave a sigh of relief once Braxton gave him an answer he wanted to here. Standing from his knees, he turned to face Madeline with a grin. "I think my job here is done. Mr. Braxton, I suggest you should lay down a little bit, since your head might be aching a bit," he told him, smiling down at the man. "And..." Jason started, "I suggest that you tell him every detail that happened to him, Miss Grau."

Thomas walked into his Ms. Grau's office to find it empty. He sighed. I guess I can just leave a note, she's nice and I'm sure she'll understand, he thought. He quickly wrote a note and placed it on her desk before leaving the office.


Thomas

ooc: They're still in the office, people just haven't been online to post. ;)

Speaking of which, I need to get Doyle back to Hogwarts soon so, he's going to move on.

"I don't have time for that. I need to speak with the Minister and get back to the school," Doyle announced, standing up, though he was a bit dizzy and out of sorts. he rested his hand on the back of the chair as he regained some of his equilibrium.

"Whoa, there, Doyle," Madeline said, standing up to place a supporting hand on the man's shoulder, "It looks as though the charm was successful. VERY nice work Jason," she said with a smile at her Obliviator. "It may take a few moments for you to get some of your strength back, but you'll be better in no time. I don't want to keep the Minister waiting so...you're free to go," she announced happily.

She gloomly turned to the ever growing pile of memo's on her desks. How had they slipped into her office? She was sure she had sealed the door shut...oh well, time to get back to work.

"Thank you," Doyle inclined his head as much as he was able before hurrying out of the office as quickly as he could safely move.

A memo containing details of a completed excuse lands gently on Madeline's desk:

Ivan's note circled around the office before coming to a crash landing on the desk, knocking over an ink pot. The top page was on his personal stationary, with this note jotted in semi-legible handwriting:

Just got this in my office. Any idea who Molly is? Maybe this is a job for the police?

Ivan Callistus
Oblivator Headquarters Division Head

Underneath Ivan's wrinkled note was the original missive:

*gaspth* What has happened to Madeline Grau? Something fishy is going on here...her office is empty and it looks like it hasn't been used in months. There are memos everywhere, and when you knock, there is no response. The only thing that gives you a hint to what is going on is posted on the door outside.

Quote:

Dear Employees, I'm sorry, but unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of my control, I've been laid off. I'm going to miss every one of you employees, and the person who is replacing me is a dear friend of mine, and I can assure you are in great hands. Be sure to keep in touch! Madeline Christina Grau

ooc: Check the Annoucements board for more information ;)

Dan had wanted to go and see his boss but then had a look at the notice. Somethings fishy very fishy. He went to poke his nose around for anything he could find.

Alicia knocked on the door and waited. She wanted to start work but didn't want to make the wrong impression.

She backed away from the door and stood, waiting. It opened.

"Hi, I start work here today... What am i doing first??" she asked nervously

"I'm new new girl that works here and i was wondering what i was supposed to do, and then i met this lovely young man here" She said smiling at the man standing next to her.

Alicia walked into the room further and stood ther waiting for a reply. She put her nicest smile waited.

Alicia looked from one man to the other with a confused look on her face.
"Umm... can i ask who Madam Guru is?"

She looked around her, taking in the room. She felt out of place because of her brightness. She raised her hand and flicked a strand of blue out of her vision.

"Ah, very nice to meet you," the man said with a grin. "I'm Ben Cobblesten, Department Head. As for what you're supposed to do...Maddie didn't leave me any memos that said any division actually had a mission going on at the moment, so I guess you'll just have to take that up with your Division head," he replied, taking out a framed photo of a young brunette girl holding tightly to the arm of an internationally known American Quidditch player. "What division might that be?" he asked the young woman.

Quote:

Dan said "The names Dan Weasly I work in the Accidents & Catastrophes department I was wondering why did Madam Guru leave?"

"Madame Guru?" Ben asked, a confused look on his face. "Oh, you mean Maddie! Well, she was unfortunately laid off for being rude to Clara Belle a few months back when the Head of Hogwarts was admitted for memory modification. So, she was fired, and her salary was used to fund the two schools. Thank goodness my daughter doesn't go there anymore! My nephew, on the other hand, isn't too lucky...Gryffindor Prefect, you see, and he has had to deal with a few nasty Slytherin's the past few weeks."

He stopped and blushed when he realized he had been rambling. It was probably just nerves of being the new Head--yes, that was probably it. "It's nice to meet you Dan, Accidents and Catastrophes, huh? I hear they just got a new Head as well."

Quote:

Alicia looked from one man to the other with a confused look on her face. "Umm... can i ask who Madam Guru is?" She looked around her, taking in the room. She felt out of place because of her brightness. She raised her hand and flicked a strand of blue out of her vision.

"I believe Mr. Weasley over here meant Madeline Grau, the former Head of this Department. She cleared out her office a few days ago, actually," Ben explained to the girl with bright hair.

"I honestly don't know where the woman has gone," Ben said when Dan mentioned possibly visiting Maddie. "Perhaps to Germany, to be with the rest of her family. Who knows? But don't fret, I'm sure we'll hear from her eventually. She isn't one to keep her mouth shut for very long."

As he straightened out the neck on his new flexible desk lamp, he spoke again. "I've heard a lot of employees from all around the Ministry are quitting. I wonder what's going on?" he said aloud, even though he didn't mean to.

Jake's head was spinning as he made his way to the new Department Head's office. Jake hadn't even met the guy, and here he was walking into his office to ask for a leave of abscene, one in which he didn't even know how long he'd be gone. "Yeah that will go over wonderfully" Jake sighed to himself.

He couldn't think about that now though, he had more pressing matters on his mind as he knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Ben called as someone knocked on the door. Hmm, that made a total of three employees hanging out in his office...he felt like he should make tea for them or something.

Jake entered the office and was thrown off to see a man sitting behind the desk. Of course he knew Madeline had left, but it hadn't set in for him until he actually saw the new face staring back at him.

"Erm..." Jake began, this was definitely a strange day. Jake was never lost for words, yet here he was trying to gather his thoughts. "I see you're busy sir, but if you just have a moment. Jake Reilly sir, Division Head of the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad." Jake said as he quickly introduced himself, "I'm sorry to meet under these circumstances, but I just received an urgent interdepartment memo . . . something about a family member in grave danger." Jake said with a worried look, he could feel his heart racing and his head pounding as the endless thoughts raced through his mind about what could be happening. He did his best to surpress them. He needed to focus. "I'm sorry I can't be more specific sir, I wish I had further details myself, unfortunately because these bloody memos are monitored," Jake huffed, "I don't even have any other information. All I know is that I need to ask your permission for an indefinite leave of absence sir, at least until this is all sorted out."

Ben almost dropped the stack of folders he was holding when this man told him what was going on. "Oh, of course! Take as much time off as you need!" he told him. Madeline had informed him of something like this before he left. "Don't worry, your divison will be in good hands, I'm sure we have someone who can step up for you..." he muttered, shuffling through a bunch of papers and making more of a mess than actual progress.

Jake noticed the man nearly drop his folders as he broke the news. "I'm sorry, I know this is sudden and I'm just as shocked as you are, if not more so." Jake said, muttering the last part to himself. "Believe me sir, I never expected to be leaving my division. It tears me apart to do so, I hand picked every one of those employees. They're like family to me, but my own family must come first. I only hope I can make it in time." Jake said as he turned on his heel to leave.

"Oh!" Jake quickly turned back, shaking his head once again. "Forgive me, I have no idea where my head is at today. I assure you this is not like me at all. Anyway sir, shall I tell the employees? Or will you be breaking the news to them?"

"I'll tell them, don't worry about it," Ben assured him employee. Mental note: Look up his name in the files. "You just go wherever you need to go and take care of what you need to get done," he told him.

"Thank you very much sir." Jake said, unsure of what else to say. He could say it's been a pleasure working with him, but it was the man's first day, he didn't even know the guy. "Good day." Is all Jake managed to think of saying, as he turned and headed out of the office to find the nearest floo network.

"Accidental Magic Reversal Squad" She said smiling and nodded to show that she had understood what he had said about the former department head. "Can you tell me where i can find the Division head?" She asked politely. Her smile hadn't faultered since she had entered the room. Everyone she knew outside the magical world used to slander her about her apperance, but now people just talked to her like a normal person.

Another knock sounded upon the door, causing Ben to almost drop his picture frame again. Setting it down gently on his desk, he went to open the door. "Hello there," he said with a grin. "How might I help you today?" he asked her politely.

Edith smiled. "Hi, I'm Edith Griffiths. The Liaison for the Department. I'm supposed to brief you about what's going on with the Internation Conference thingy, that's happening soon," she said, rather awkwardly. Smooth Edie. Well done! she mentally slapped herself across the head.

Conference thing? Hmmm, Maddie must have left him a memo somewhere about that. "Nice to meet you Edith, I'm Ben Cobblesten," he said with a smile, holding his hand out for a handshake. "Why don't you come in and have a cup of tea while you brief me on this conference," he suggested, pointing to a vacant chair for her to sit down in.

Ben took the flyer from her and read it through a few times. Hmmmm, he had heard whispers about this around the Ministry, but nothing more than a few rumors. This helped clear things up a bit. "Yes, I understand, please continue. And are you sure you'd like no refreshments?" he asked, waving his wand to pour himself a glass of tea.

Edith almost gagged when he asked if she wanted a cup of tea. Food and drink made her queasy at the moment. "I'm fine, thank you love. Okay, well," she said, turning back to her notes. "We need to gather up as much information on the lax in Muggle Protection in Peru. Dragon sightings are on the rise and their excuses getting lamer and lamer. The Muggles are starting to get suspicious. We need to develop solutions to their slackness and they need to be presented at the Conference, and also we need to make up a whole heap of good excuses they can use for Muggles who have seen dragons. Am I going too fast?" she asked. She just wanted to get this done. She was actually rather nervous. It was her first assignment as Liaison and she was petrified.

Ben nodded and leaned back in his chair slightly as Edith told him what was going on. "Well, naturally, I'd have my Muggle Worthy Excuse Committee on that one. I've just met our Head of that division, Mona something or another, and she was quite a fierce employee--I'm sure that under her watch that department could come up with some excellent excuses," he told her. With that, he held out his hand in a "please continue" sort of way, to let her know that he understood everything she was saying so far.

Edith sighed heavily, her nerves were building up. She was absolutely terrified. For some odd reason, cool, calm and collected Edith Griffiths was losing it.
"Okay," she said after taking a very deep breath. "Last thing. In Bulgaria, Muggles have been clearing woodlands and disturbing the centaurs living in those areas. Their land is being decreased, so naturally, they are unhappy. Not to mention that if a Muggle sees a centaur, they could end up cutting off a limb instead of a tree and that would be much more difficult to fix. We don't want it to get to that point, so we need to develop a gameplan. We need to come up with a variety of solutions to relay to the Bulgarian Minister to avoid the Muggles and appease the centaurs. Okay, I think that's it," she said, looking down at her notes, breathing heavily. "Yep, that's it. Well that's it for now. Who knows, I could have completely different instructions tomorrow," she laughed.

Picking up a quill, Ben began to scribble down notes of everything that Edith had covered. He was already working out a plan to get his Invisiblity Task Force on the job about protecting the centaurs, and he had a number of other ideas floating around in his head, which he'd have to concentrate on later. Making the final touches on his notes, he turned back to his visitor. "Well, thank you very much for that briefing. I'll be sure to consult all my employees about these issues, and we'll be waiting if you come back with further instructions," he told her with a smile.

Edith smiled happily, trying to hide discomfort as her stomach churned. What was wrong with her.
"That's fine. I hope everything goes well. If you have any questions, send me a memo. Well, I've got to go. It was lovely to meet you, Ben," she smiled, standing up, shaking his hand and walking from the room.

"Come in," Ben called. He was seated at his desk, reviewing the employee list for his divisions and comparing them with the records of employees that he had received. My goodness, a ton of people were leaving!

Ben nodded, listening intently to what Ivan had to say before taking the files from him and leafing through them. He caught a few things about muggles being dressed up as horses, balloons, and a lot of other things that he doubted would make sense unless he read the whole thing. "Hmmm, sounds like you've all certainly put a lot of time and effort into this--thank you very much! If you could kindly put these in my inbox, please, I'll be able to review them completely once I have finished up with this," he said, pointing at his employee list as he handed back the reports. "Again, very nice job, Mr. Callistus...did you know you're the first division to even give me an update as to where they stand so far with this assignment?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.