....

.......

One time, when she was about 9, her step-mother had told her that if she didn't have anything nice to say she should keep quiet. It's what she'd done. It was the decision she'd made even after the woman decided to announce whatever complications she may have had with getting into MLE. It seemed to have been working too, but Gidyun just wouldn't drop it and leave her be to her close-ended and narrow minded ways of thinking. How were they not getting this? There were very very VERY few people who could change her way of thinking. Suffice to say neither fit the bill. Suffice to say also, they CLEARLY didn't appreciate her gesture of polite silence, which meant another means of communicating her disinterest was needed.

"I don't care." In case, y'know, it wasn't already obvious. Weren't they moving on? They were talking about children not using magic so why was this still a thing. "I don't care why she's not in Law Enforcement, I wouldn't care if she had 50 years of Head Auror experience under her belt. Genuinely. Truly. There's other ministry's if she wants to be an Auror so bad. Can we drop the subject? You want to stick up for your wife so she doesn't seem crazy, deluded or like an MLE wannabe. I get that, on some level, but now you get that I'm uninterested to know. This training is about Magical Law, not why your wife isn't the one running around the office getting you coffee. Let's just stick the topic, yeah? Underage children and the trace."

The comment on permits gained a nod from Becca. At least someone had thought about it! She leant back in her seat, mostly ignoring Lex's look of pure boredom that was also void of any kind of compassion or care. A glance or two in the woman's direction while Gid spoke had Becca seeing just how restless and worked up she was getting from sitting in a classroom and talking. "I'd also like to remind people that another part of the law on underage magic is the reasonable restriction. A witch or wizard may use magic to attempt to save their own life or that of a muggle or muggles who are present at the time, then we deal with the fallout of that. Also, any underage magical person who does not have a wand and are too young to be able to control their magic is exempt from this rule. We just fix the situation and hope it doesn't happen again." Did no one read the law books?

Blue eyes turned to Lex once more and Becca finally spoke "Would you like a balancing ball to try and make it easier for you to stomach this discussion?" The fidgeting was just annoying and at least she'd be moving around on a balancing ball a little bit.

The question directed at Simon got a glance from Becca again. She wanted to hear his opinion on this and would be listening carefully to any answers that question got. The follow up response that was spoken after Benzie's comment got a small nod from Becca too. Good point. The problem was trying to get the parents to take responsibility for their own children and the disciplining of them.

As the conversation turned back to herself, Becca tried not to roll her eyes. She could have been in MLE if he wasn't, but he'd had the top job there, so she had to forget about what she wanted and just deal with it. Also, she would never have just been 'an employee', not with his knowledge of her background and having seen her at work. She appreciated that Gid had spoken up, but she'd specifically said that Lex should take it up with him if she wanted to know, she hadn't invited Gid to tell everyone. The problem was that it had been said now and was out there. Lex's response made Becca close her eyes and count to 100. She may have skipped a number or two while listening to the woman rant, but chose not to speak her mind. "I don't need anyone to stick up for me. If any of you want to think I'm crazy, deluded or a wannabe, feel free to. Keep it to yourself and wallow in bitterness for all I care, just don't you dare talk about anyone like that to your coworkers." Even if that someone was in the room.

STILL with this nonsense?! Gabby was beyond done with this stupid MLE stuff. Who cared? Honestly... Tempted to tell all the people involved to shut up already, she held her tongue. Only because her boss was there and expecting the best from her employees. She would not let Lynley down because her friend and her job was more important than idiotic conversations.

Moving on to underage magic, there wasn't TOO much that Gabby knew beyond what others had mentioned, but she's did know a bit. "Underage magic is allowed if permission is given from an authority figure." At least as far as she was aware, and she was never wrong...

Yeah....okay....this was getting nowhere real fast and it did nothing to soothe the knot of restlessness that steadily coiled inside her. At this rate, she'd have been better off going through the law on her own time. 'Least then she would have to put up with all ....this.

Lex eased off the desk she'd been leaning against, decidedly done wasting time for one day. "Don't need a balancing ball or you to tell me what I can and can't say aloud." She wasn't a hypocrite and typically did not keep her opinions to herself. What was the point in thinking something but never making it known?

The Auror turned to her boss, her expression speaking to how unimpressed she was with this whole thing. "Moving on doesn't seem possible so long as she's here to follow up on everything. I've got a wonderfully occupied in-tray filled with documents in need of my attention back at my desk so I think I'm done with this magical law stuff for today." Might as well be productive with her day. As it stood, time was wasting away while they sat around here.

She gave the man a small salute before heading out of the classroom. There wasn't a single thing discussed that she didn't already know. Took time, but she'd passed her wizarding law module and didn't need to subject herself to any of this.

Penelope had expected this lesson to be extremely boring, but suddenly it took a mildly interesting turn with the back-and-forth bickering that was going on between Alexa and Gidyun's wife, with a few others throwing their two knuts in here and there. This Auror simply sipped her coffee and silently watched all this go on, half-attempting to pay attention when the DH somewhat tried to bring the focus back to the actual lesson.

It was only amusing for so long though, and Penelope found herself wishing she was spending time with her fussy, tantrum-throwing child down in the daycare over this. Or actually off doing actual work. That would've been nice too. It was pretty clear the two main debaters here were too obdurate to alter their opinions at all about this whole thing, so there wasn't much point in it continuously going on and on and on.

And then Alexa walked out. Well...that was one way to end it, Penelope supposed. She continued her watchful silence though, waiting to see if there would be more to discuss about underage magic or other laws or if the lesson was coming to a close. How long had they been here anyway?

Gid blinked at Alexa now as she spoke. All he'd wanted was a nice quiet training session and it had turned into an argument about people willing to work with other departments. Particularly between one of his aurors and his wife! He listened as Alexa spoke and lifted an eyebrow that went higher as she spoke. Well, that was for one rude and another out of line. "Ex...."

And then Becca spoke. Merlin, well she was right there on all counts. Listening and watching as the two woman spoke back and forth he tried a few times to cut in but as Alexa rose to her feet, he groaned internally not audibly. He was going to need to speak with Alexa later, as her comments had been inappropriate, and shouldn't have been said to anyone. Let alone her boss. She'd said some quite rude comments and he wasn't going to just overlook them. Believe it or not, though he was pretty laid back, he still expected respect. Whether it was for him, themselves, his wife or their coworkers, or even an employee from another department. They needed respect, no matter what position they had.

His jaw set he just watched Alexa go and turned back to the meeting, dismissing her as if she hadn't spoken nor left. He wanted to finish this up. And maybe a little less drama now?



He nodded in response to Gabby. "Correct. As long as it's permitted by someone in authority it is allowed." He flipped to the next page of his notes "Let's move on shall we?" he asked with a wry look around the room at the remaining group. "There's two more laws I want to visit before dismissing everyone. "Can anyone me a few rules towards Animagus?"





OOC: Both Canon and noncanon are fine! If you have ideas, throw them out there. Age laws, specifics. Anything!

Angelo remained generally impassive as the conflict pointlessly and publicly continued. He was glad when it was over and another question was asked, even if it was basic. He considered the animagi ability for a moment, it had never been something that appealed to him. He had no desire to be anything other than himself, and certainly not an animal.

"It is illegal for citizens of the UK not to be registered with the British Ministry." He said, keeping it simple.

Apparently the woman couldn't see that she'd offered a small olive branch to her by offering a balancing ball to stop the fidgeting. Becca just rolled her eyes at the woman as she spoke about her like she wasn't there and then ran away instead of sticking around and actually doing the training. She shook her head as she glanced toward Gid and leant back in her chair. It was clear the woman had an issue with authority or anyone who even dared to have a different opinion than her.

As the meeting turned back to the talk of laws, Becca crossed her arms. Apparently her contribution hadn't been listened to and Gid had focused more on the arguing from Alexa than the actual training. Her eyes closed as someone else spoke and gave the most basic law relating to this subject. Since her words obviously meant nothing to Gid and he didn't feel that she'd said anything worth listening to, she chose to keep her comments to herself and not mention the markings, the disallowing of abusing the ability. She also wasn't going to mention the punishment for failing to register. Gid could mention those things himself.

"Excellent" he said with a nod and smile for Angelo. "Also we need to remember the markings on both the human form and animagus form. And that they must be legally registered." He looked down at his notes and again at the others in the room. "The only other mention I want to have here, is about the use of having or needing a second wand. We need to ensure that all our records are up to date, and everyone's licenses are current."

"Are there any questions in regards to any of these laws? Or any you want to go over still?" he asked the room.

No, Evangeline didn't have any questions. Well, she did have one, but it wasn't like her to ask such a question in public. She wondered what consequences Yenorin would give to Alexa for acting out like that. It was completely immature and irresponsible and.... it was not Evangeline's place to speak. So she would do her best to ignore it and continue only worrying about herself.

But for the last question, Evie just sat quietly, looking around to see if anyone else had questions. This training had mostly been review for her, so no clarifications were needed on her part.

Him as a security head. That was a turn to focus in his direction and Simon did his best to respond well. “Yes and no…” he answered first, trying to gather his thoughts on the matter. “It works for the most part though I suppose it can be tweaked to improve concerning certain circumstances.” It wasn’t exactly a perfect system. “However, there’s also the issue that accidental magic would also be picked up on the trace or anything stronger or more detailed which is not exactly something that a young witch and wizard can control and appropriately be punished for.”

As for parents watching out for their children… “Not unless wands are locked up when away from school since surely they can’t be watching them every second of every day.” And Simon wouldn’t advocate that step. Wands were the identity of a wizard or witch, often becoming like another limb and robbing someone of that familiar presence, even if it wasn’t to be used, could have its own repercussions.


But ugg…there was the return to Lex and Becca going at it again. Simon had to bite back a sigh and the whole matter and he doubted it would end well as he knew the young auror and how she could be and the older woman didn’t seem to be any less stubborn and opinionated. Not that he couldn’t side with the A+C worker and the fact that it should be dropped and she shouldn’t be talked about like she wasn’t there.

And there it was…Lex leaving.

Simon almost called out but it wasn’t his place the way it was Legend’s or Gidyun’s. He did glance towards the department head, wondering how this latest turn of events would be reacted to. Thankfully calmly…for the moment, no doubt other things could happen AFTER the training lesson. And they were moving on anyway. To animangus laws, which he was going to choose to let others speak on.

And no...he didn't have any questions.

He listened as Simon spoke and nodded. "I can understand that. There is some areas I think we can work on. Even the best places, always has areas that could do better. You can never have too much, but we can have too little." His eyes were on him still though "Perhaps you and I can meet and discuss where we can work more."

He laughed a little at the comment of locking the wands up "Even then? If the kids want it they're going to get a hold of them."

He picked up his papers and nodded to the group. "Thank you all for being here for this training. I've heard a lot that will help us both in our jobs throughout the ministry and hopefully help us work together better as a team. If there's no further questions, I'm going to dismiss you."


I'll start up the next training this evening, feel free to post leaving and/or returning!

Gid walked into the classroom and as he looked around he moved to pair off the chairs and divide the tables into areas for just two people. There then people would be able to pair off better. He might speak up though if certain aurors paired off. He wanted them each to have more of a experience, rather than one with someone they knew well.

If Alexa and Becca both came? He'd likely try to keep those two as far apart as he could.

Once the classroom was set up he moved to sit on the edge of one of the tables.




ooc: Come join in! I apologize for the lateness here. I had oral surgery done this morning and am still really sore, but I'll be here all weekend!

So she wasn't completely sold on this second set of 'training'. In fact, even as the Auror walked into the classroom, she questioned her own choice in not instead finding herself somewhere around England trying to get her case together. The missing pieces were finally beginning to fit and she was optimistic enough about there being a cell raid within the fortnight. That was enough to keep this Auror's spirits high.

"Gidyun." She said, offering a nod of greeting as she made her way over to a pair of desks. Were they doing partner things today? Merlin, if Bellaire decided to skip (given this wasn't mandatory and all) she'd have to start considering her options. They weren't entirely bleak so long as this wouldn't be another 'joint' training sessions.

In any case, she'd just partner with someone inside her Department and be done with it. No big deal.

Rather than have a seat in a chair, Alexa propped herself onto one of the desks and waited for something to happen. Very casually, she ripped a chocolate frog from it's wrapper and gave very little rush to tearing it apart by the limbs. This would go with some coffee.

It was coming time for the next training and Simon couldn’t help hoping that it went a lot smoother than the previous one. Especially given the nature of the training since the topic made him believe that there just might be some actual spell work needed. Unless Gidyun was still going completely theoretical. But that was up in the air just as much as the behavior of those who attended the training was. So maybe the security man just hoped he didn’t have to actually step in and help break people up for getting into a heated ‘discussion’ on one matter or another.

Stepping inside the classroom, Simon noted only the department head and Alexa had showed up so far. So issues for now. “Good day…” he greeted with a small polite smile as he further took in the modified set-up of the room. Looks like they were going to all be paired off which made the security man unsure of just where to sit. If they were to sit just yet as neither of his companions were.

Standing it was.

Strolling into the room with tea in one hand and a croissant for Gid in the other, Becca headed over to her husband, thrusted the plate toward him and gave him a small smile before heading to the other side of the room and sitting herself on a desk. She'd seen the pain in the butt outspoken Auror from last time and chose not to speak to her. The woman couldn't handle verbal confrontation, apparently, so there was no point! She leant back against one hand and seemed to be very interested in the ceiling rather than anyone else in the room.

He smiled as Alexa entered. He hadn't had a chance to sit down and talk with her but he was certainly wanting to meet with her in regards to the previous training. He greeted her as well with a nod "Alexa" he responded before looking towards the door as Simon entered.



"Hello" he greeted him with a smile as well. He hoped there'd be a good turn out here as well, but he wasn't going to wait a very long time for the training. He wanted to get things rolling quickly.



"Thank you love" he said softly taking the plate when she thrust it towards him, smiling back softly at her. That really looked good! He really wanted to take a bite but thought, to at least get a few things rolling. "Welcome to the training. I hope we'll have a few more at least join us but we'll see how things go." Either way they had a good group for at least a few one on one with him joining in.

"The majority of this training is going to be hands on, but let's start out with some good defensive charms each of you know and use often?"

Evangeline slipped in just before the meeting began with a nod to her department head. She saw the same faces as last time and simply hoped that things would go smoother this time and that a particular coworker would be a little more.. mature.

Sitting in the same spot as last time, Evangeline straightened her top and crossed her legs. She was pleased to hear that today's training would be more hands on. That was what she liked.

"Perhaps the most defensive charm is Protego," she commented. "Being able to protect oneself is the best defense."

Luc had been honing his stealth abilities, you would never have known he was there until he spoke up. In this case, he was quiet throughout the meetings but fully aware as today was no exception from the seat he chose.

Waiting until the meeting began, now came the part. Defensive stuff. "There's also the Impendiment Jinx.." He commented. "Great for having a few extra seconds while the enemy is slowing down."

Alexa watched the room fill in with a few others, not particularly thrilled with her prospects thus far.

The fact this would be more hands on was at least a welcomed relief....even if it meant going through what seemed like theory at first.

"Incarcerous could be used defensively too. Just like Auditore's suggestion, it could also slow down your attacker long enough for you to get whatever needs doing done." On any given day, Lex didn't really use defensive spells, finding she preferred an offensive defense. Didn't need to defend if you had your opponent ducking and diving for their life.

Oh this was fun. Talking about mundane, harmless defensive charms. Ho hum. Still, Angelo wasn't one to let his mind wander, or to simply sit back and not participate, so he spoke up:

"Contego - its a shield that you can throw up around someone else, so its ideal when you have to protect innocents who may otherwise end up in the crossfire."

When Gid took the plate, Becca gave him a small smile, but that quickly turned to a frown when he put it aside. He hadn't had any breakfast this morning and he needed to eat!

Okay, down to the real work then. Protego got a nod of approval from the red head, just as Impedimenta did. The one that threw ropes around the object got a small glance from Becca. Spellwork said a lot about a person and she could see that Lex was one of those people who felt offense was a good defense.

"I think that the kind of spell has to match the situation. If you're trying to fend off multiple attackers rather than one, it's a different kind of spell. How many people are you trying to protect? Would a smokescreen hold them off until you've safely evacuated the citizens, or do you need to be more forceful?" Heh. Vague theories didn't work when spells were being mentioned. "But if you're talking just spells? I can rattle a few off."

Anyone who had been in the meeting at the beginning of the year with the cursed box might have noticed that Angelo had used a shielding spell.... but it had not actually been a charm exactly, so he hadn't mentioned it as his answer.

The young YATI's gaze drifted to Becca as she spoke, stating the obvious. Naturally a spell had to match the circumstance. But that hadn't been the question, had it. He was mildly curious about what spells she would 'rattle off' as she put it. Or was she done answering? Ah. Too bad. Might have been interesting.

"Very good." he replied nodding. "Knowing how to protect yourself should come first. You cannot protect others if you aren't capable of defending or protecting yourself."



"Excellent. It is great for those few extra seconds." He was happy to see the responses he was getting. Nothing spectacular, nothing super simple either.



"It is." he said nodding in response to using Incarcerous being a good defensive spell. "As long as they are unable to undo it or avoid it in time. In can give you those extra seconds."



"Excellent point! To be able to protect anyone in the vicinity is also good." he responded nodding at the Yati.



He reached to break a piece of the croissant off and put it in his mouth as he listened to the group and responded. When Becca spoke he nodded as well. "Good point. I hadn't given any specifics, and it really does depend on the situation." He smiled and nodded though at her mentioning being able to rattle off a few. He knew she probably knew more than he did!

"Each spell, curse, hex can do amazing things, depending on that situation. I have one point that each of you should remember though too. Not only are those good. You should also know the countercharms and curses. As well as be able to throw them off if needed. You don't want to be trapped in a situation where you can't escape." He looked around the room at each of them. He knew Becca was pretty adept at throwing off some spells. But he was curious to others. "How many of you can throw off a spell cast on you, and which ones?" He wanted to know especially for his aurors, to see where they needed improvement in that area.

Merlin....maybe he should use the training as to be on working on those ones they needed improvement? Otherwise, he might have just made the mistake of aiding everyone with a partner in the training area?

Really, he wanted to know that. Well. Why not. Angelo considered responding that he, and also his brother Dima, were well able to throw off an Imperius, and withstand a sustained bout of Crucio, but kept his mouth shut. Obviously being able to do that meant he'd experienced both, and not in trifling amounts either, and he didn't much feel the need to hold his family lifestyle up for inspection, people knew his family had dark associations, he didn't need to draw undue attention to that fact.

Spells which altered the mind, too, he was particularly able to withstand or escape from, but again... he kept that to himself. Cards close to his chest so to speak. Expression passive, but eyes keen, he waited.