Harmony stood as well, Smoothing her billowing skirt before reaching out to take William's hand. She gave it a squeezy shake before letting it go again, noting the change in his aura for the third time since he'd entered her office. Light pale yellow seemed to emanate from him now. How lovely.

"My pleasure, William. Have a nice day."

"You too," Willy gave his boss a small salute once their hands had separated. He showed himself out of the office with a spring in his step.

Yay, that was all done then. William felt MUCH better walking out of the office than he had walking in. He was beaming as he made his quiet exit, deciding he should go find JanJan to tell her the good news and the not-so-good other bits!!!

Ember started walking towards her head's office, and smiled back at Derek over her shoulder. "This way, my friend--" she said, and she giggled a little as she popped some more goldfish in her mouth. She stopped right outside the door and knoooocked. Right. Was Derek even a friend, though? Hmph. He didn't like her hug...

She turned to look at Derek a bit. "It would be rude to just...walk in...you know...manners..." she explained, as if she were afraid he was going to feel impatient with her. He seemed to really want this mutants! Ember wanted to see le mutants, too! But she would TRY not to stick her nose in anything it didn't belong in--which, at the moment, wasn't much! Hehe.

She popped another goldfish in her mouth. Yum. The strange-fake-cheesy goodness was GOOD. And little fishies were cute--but she couldn't think about this too much or she would feel bad about eating them!

Derek followed the girl and deadpanned when she called him 'my friend'. That was so weird he didn't know what to think. So he just left it. He also avoided eye contact with bluehead.

Once they stopped at the door, she knocked and explained why she had done so. .....Riiiight, he knew that. Merlin, when he thought that girl couldn't get any weirder...

The crunchy sound she was making as she chewed the goldfish made him uneasy for some reason. It felt like it was timing the really long time it was taking for the Department Head to open the door. He tried not to look too nervous as they both waited.

Harmony was seated lotus-style on a large pillow in front of her desk. The red head had her eyes closed and was currently trying to calm herself given the situation at Hogwarts and the upcoming physical fitness exams she was meant to give. So much to do, so little time. Thank Merlin she was so ace at centering herself. Her aura could use a bit of brightening.

"OOOOOOOM. OOOOOOOOM. OOOO--Come in!"

And still no response from Derek, but this was okaaay! Poor bloke was probably just nervous! She sighed and turned back to the front. Waiting for Miss Skylark to answer. AND SHE DID YAY. Well, she didn't open the door, but she DID tell them to come in.

Ember waltzed inside and looked very excited to see her boss--on the floor! Yoga? Meditation? Whatever the case, she beamed at her boss. "Hi, Harmony--I--well--" and she suddenly plopped down and got into the same position as Harmony and before to breathe iiinnnnn deeply...and out. And she neeeeeded to calm herself down because she just got excited so easily! And then she wouldn't be able to spit out what she needed to!

Sooo yeah. All relaxed and sitting and eyes closed...she siiiighed, releasing one more breath before opening her eyes and looking up at Derek. "Well..my friend here...from...which department?" She laughed a little because she couldn't remember! Silly Ember. Was he an Accidents guy? Probably! Yeah yeah, it was Accidents and Catastrophes! "He has mutants he needs to attend to, apparently, and I had NO clue what he was talking about so I thought I'd bring him hereeee!" she said, in a sort of sing-song voice.

"This is very relaxing, Harmony..I should do this...more often.." she said, nodding a bit and giggling a LOT.

Derek had a serious, but confused expression on his face when they were invited in by the Department Head, and he was utterly shocked when the blue-haired girl opened the door.

What......... the flobberworm was all that? My..... whoa. That woman was insane.

Or both women were. Amber was now also on the floor doing the exact same thing as... Harmony. Merlin, why couldn't he have one normal day in the Ministry?

Derek felt awkward as he was the only one still standing, but didn't sit down or anything. That would've been worse, he was sure. He simply stood there watching the two of them as they did their yoga - in a very inappropriate time, in his opinion. He gulped once or twice before Amber spoke up again, explaining the situation. "Accidents and Catastrophes." The lab technician said, blinking at Harmony. Surely she knew him, didn't she? And the Department Head definitely knew which mutants he was referring to.

"I need... to collect some more samples." Derek thought it would be sensible to tell her. Although he didn't think any more explanations were needed. What he was going to do with the samples was his business. Well, the Ministry's business, but he didn't feel like going on about his job. They'd understand that, yes? Hopefully they would.

Ember had a lovely aura about her, did she know? Harmony smiled warmly at her as she joined the department head in her relaxation exercises, happy to have the company. She wasn't at all bothered by Derek's refusal to sit, either. His aura revealed just as much about his opinion on her as Ember's did.

"Ah yes, Accidents and Catastrophes!" The creatures lover smiled up at the lab technician and nodded in understanding. "Lovely department and I'm familiar with your work, Derek! I'm so glad you'll be continuing your work with those poor dears." The mutants, she meant. Despite the destruction they'd caused, they still deserved to be treated with love and respect. "Thank you so much for bringing him to me, Ember. So helpful!" Beaming all around!

"I was actually thinking about starting up a yoga club," Harmony shared, pleased that her employee was showing an interest in a practice that she so revered. Now was not the time for this discussion, though. Back to Derek.

"The mutants are resting comfortably in our creature holding room. If Ember wouldn't mind escorting you there, you can take the samples you need down to your lab."

She was relaxin', enjoying her time on the flooooor. Samples. Samples. Samples. Samples. She said the word over and over in her head before--OH. Derek! She snapped out of it and nodded. Right. She wasn't here to do yoga with her boss--unfortunately--she was here on work stuff! Well, work stuff for Derek.

Oh! It might be the poor Chizpurfles, huh?! Wouldn't Ember like to see those! Now she was REALLY beamy and smiley!

OH. YOGA CLUB. She hopped up and squealed. "Oh--Harmony--You SHOULD! I could help! I would JOIN! I would post flyers EVERYWHERE if you wanted to! Oh my that sounds so FUUUUN!" she said, bouncing around the office like a ball or something--right, Ember, caaaaalm down. She took a few deep breaths and then looked at her boss once more. "And all right--I'll take him--my pleasure--we're pals--" she beaaaaaamed at Derek and played with her hair a little. Uh - HUH.

"Come on, then Derek--let us go see these little mutants!" she cried, waving at her AWESOME boss and heading towards the Holding Room.

Derek gave Harmony a short nod when she acknowledged his Department and that she was familiar with his work. He pursed his lips at her next comment, though. Poor dears? Poor dears????? Did she know those horrible creatures had DESTROYED his lab??? She either didn't remember it or she simply didn't care. Derek didn't approve of either option.

The lab technician kept a serious, almost impatient face when the women started talking about Yoga again. Oh Merlin. It wasn't like he had all the time in the world, you know?? He had work to do! Actually, did these two even know they were BOTH being paid to be working at the moment as well?

They were finally going to see the mutants. Finally. Derek gave Harmony another nod as he turned around and left the strangest office he had ever set foot into.

Through the standard means and secure delivery postage channels, a very important piece of owl mail is placed on the Magical Creatures Department Head's desk. The missive is on special letterhead and sealed with a lime green wax seal.

__

Text Cut:

June 8th, 2084

To the Ministry Department Heads:

If you have not been informed, St Mungo’s Hospital, in conjunction with Mr. Anthony J. Cresswell and his team of Ministry Healers, will be conducting Health Evaluations starting late this afternoon within the Ministry building.

Levels 1 though 4 will attend their examinations in the Technology Lounge on Level 1. Levels 5 though 9 will proceed to the Atrium on Level 8. Appointments are being scheduled for you and your employees and will be sent out via memo shortly.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation during this time.

Wandastian Epitaph
St. Mungo’s Head Healer
M.H.D.

Harmony had just finished a most delicious seaweed and lemon smoothie and was about to do a mid-morning stretch when she took note of the unusual letterhead. The red head glanced curiously at Cupcake who was curled up lazily at her feet, a small smile playing on her lips. "Let's see what they've got in store for us today, shall we?"

Health Evaluations, huh? That was interesting. The creature crazy department head always did her best to ensure that her employees worked in a positive aura-enticing environment so to see that St. Mungo's thought something like this was necessary made her raise her eyebrows. Perhaps a yoga club at the ministry wasn't so far-fetched after all.

Deciding her stretch would have to wait, she pulled a fresh piece of parchment towards her and began to scribble. Surely this was notice board worthy, yeah?

When she'd finished, Cupcake was carefully nudged to the side and Harmony sauntered her way out of the office and towards the notice board. She could think of a few employees in particular who might not want to have their daily routine interrupted by these examinations but it was for the best. Perhaps she too would go and get a check-up. Perhaps.

'Check your harsh vibes at the door'

Naturally, the man had questions. Plenty of them. But they seemed to be answered with one word and one word only: eccentric. His vibes weren't harsh, by the way. They were urgent. They were more of the almost-panicked state that the thirty year old was currently in. But harsh? No.

Vibes checked and a mental prayer sent out to Merlin that the Creatures Head currently was inside and not in the middle of changing, Bryce knocked on the door and waited. He wasn't exactly sure what he would do if she wasn't in. Turn around? Send off a Patronus? Wait by her doorstep like some sort of keen crup? The last one wasn't him, just like it wasn't very Bryce Howell to be standing there growin more and more impatient as the time wore on.

So, he was going to read over the notes he had made. The scrawls. The messy handwriting that he was starting to have trouble understanding, mainly because his attention wasn't fully on the piece of parchment.

Come on, Skylark, open up!

Harmony was just putting the finishing touches on her upcoming seminar and she simply couldn't be more excited! How wonderful to bring art into the work place like this! Perhaps they could even display the pieces when they were finished! Merlin knew the place could use some positivity and no better place to start than right here in her own department!

Hearing a knock, the red head was brought back to the present and she smiled serenely. Visitors were so lovely and she did hope that whoever it was enjoyed kale chips. She'd just brought in a fresh batch so they were extremely crispy.

"Come on innnnn!"

As soon as he heard the voice from within, Bryce pushed open the door while saying, "Harmony, we have to--"

...

...

This woman was mad. Insane. Was this an office or the inside of a large blanket fort? Was she holding small meetings here or a group yoga session? Was she really a Department Head or someone's grandma who had been taking one too many youth rejuvenation potions? The wizarding world won't know the answer to those questions and, frankly, Bryce didn't want to either. The man didn't even have any words, funnily enough. He simply stood there, opening and closing his mouth and trying to find the words to describe..... this.

Words, Howell. Words.

Gathering up his senses, the man looked over at the Creatures Head. "You have a, er, interesting set-up here." Not his usual harsh words. You're welcome, Harmony. "I got an interesting visit from one Headmistress Truebridge of Hogwarts," he said, moving further into the room and glancing around it again before settling on the Head, "Remember that meeting we had a while ago? Well, it turns out that Hogwarts has an infestation of............" Merlin, what was it? The man unfurled his piece of parchment and glanced at it. "Chorts! Infestation of chorts." Did she know what those were? Care to enlighten him?

"They're in the forest and causing the wintery weather conditions. The Floo lines are faulty and a team needs to be sent by the 1st." As for the digging, he gave his messy scrawl a weird look before disregarding that. Whatever it was, it wouldn't help them.

The piece of parchment was scrunched up but he kept his hazel eyes on the woman. "She wants us to work together to drive them out and restore the weather. So are you in?" She'd better be.

How adorable! Were they playing charades? Harmony eyed Bryce's slowly opening and closing mouth curiously before deciding he was a Big Mouth Billy Bass. Ah-ha! She won, yes? That was fun!

"Isn't it cozy? I find that one works best when they're in a comforting environment. This design reminds me of the RV I grew up on." The red head wore a dreamy expression as she stared off into the distance, lost in thought. It took Cupcake moving from her place by Harmony's feet to shake her out of it. What did Bryce want again?

"Chorts! Merlin's beard, I didn't think they migrated anywhere near Hogwarts. That is truly strange indeed." The department head got up and went to her bookcase, scanning the shelf. "I know I've got some information here som--Here it is!" And Harmony removed a large leather-bound book from the shelf, scanning through before stopping somewhere in the middle.

"This is a Chort." The creature-crazy department head had moved towards her environmentally conscious companion, letting him see the large picture that took up most of the page. "Dreadfully aggressive and smart. They won't be easy to get rid of but I'm up for the challenge." She smiled now, her expression enthusiastic even. "I suppose we'll need to assemble teams."

It was going to become harder and harder to take this woman seriously. A real test of endurance; one where he was going to have to bite back his words more often than not. Good luck, Howell. "It certainly looks cosy, alright," Like a fort. A grown up fort. "You grew up in an RV?!" What exactly were her parents doing?!

Riiiiiiight. Not the time. And not the time to daydream, either? But he'd let her have this one. Kind of needed information and help from her.

Which she went onto do. Thank Merlin! "Maybe they decided to go on holiday," Ha. Ha. Throat!clearing. "I was so sure it'd be the Cold Ones after that meeting." Which, thinking back to it, meant that their source was unreliable, as always. Bloody Quibbler.

Bryce leant a little closer to look over the woman's shoulder and at the picture of the-- "Gulping Gargoyles, that thing's uglier than the Venus Flytrap!" More menacing looking too. Again, he was glad that he wasn't in the Creatures Department. Give him a flesh eating plant, any day. "Put together a team of weather experts and Chort experts. Or people good with defensive spells. Think you have enough?" He had one that he was going to be relying heavily on. Just the one.

Hazel eyes landed on the woman again. "How do we get rid of them?"

"I did. It was a wonderful experience. Eyeopening in spectacular ways." The department head smiled and shrugged, knowing it wasn't everyone's cup of seaweed smoothie. To each his or her own, she always said.

Bryce's little joke about the Chort earned confused looks from Harmony. He really should stick to his day job, poor guy. Great effort, though. "I thought there was a strong possibility it could be them but I must admit, I'm glad it's Chorts instead." Cold ones gave her the heebie-jeebies.

"I wouldn't say ugly! It simply has a look that supports it's survival in its natural environment." The red head ran a finger over the picture and then tapped the mouth area. "I've got some people in mind who might be helpful in a situation such as this. They'll need to be prepped, though. No one has had to deal with Chorts in these parts for quite a long time."

Harmony placed the book down on her desk and leaned against it, eyes locked on Bryce's. His question was a good one and she had an idea but it wasn't exactly fool-proof. "These creatures are territorial. They'll want to have control over an area for breeding and feeding purposes. Perhaps if we bring in something that'll challenge their residency, a bigger creature, it'll drive them to try and fight or flee." And then she added, "They're smart and we won't have much time so if they do come for the creature we bring, we'll need to capture the Chorts immediately so that we can return them to their native land." PAUSE. "What do you think? You in?"

Eyeopening. Er. Right. The man didn't think he could survive in a situation like that but to each their own. "It suits you, the office." Take from that what she will.

His little joke hadn't gone down well with the woman but he was going to pretend that it didn't sting him a little. "I must admit: I'm not looking forward to facing any of these creatures." Chorts. Cold Ones.

Why was she defending these creatures? They wouldn't defend her if it came to that kind of situation. Eat her, he was sure of it. Destroy her, even. "Sure you'll be fine once you have a plan that everyone sticks to."

Which she did. Thinking about it in terms of creatures wasn't helping but plants? Sure. Bryce nodded slowly as he took it all in before piping up, "The creature can't be too big or untameable. We're flooing to Truebridge's office, after all." Or going to try and do so. Fingers crossed that the Floo Network would work in their favour. "Okay. I'm all up for that plan. And I have some spare snowsuits somewhere." Meaning that they were good to go. All they needed were their respective teams.

"Think you can meet me in the break room with your team when you're ready?"

"I think so too." And yes, Harmony completely took that as a compliment. She was extremely self aware and knew she could be a bit off the beaten path from time to time but she thought this was what was so great about herself. She liked being unique.

"We'll be okay. I have a good feeling about this mission." And while it wasn't ideal, considering they'd be facing creatures who could possibly destroy them, it was sort of exciting.

"I'll have to consider our options, creature-wise, then. I'm sure we'll come up with something good." And she'd need competent employees to accompany her, ones with experience where dangerous situations was concerned. "Ah yes, protective outerwear will be perfect. I suggest using the Impervius Charm on those as the Chorts have extremely harmful bodily fluids."

As for them meeting up in the break room when her team was assembled, that sounded good to her. "We'll be there soon, then."

And with that, they had their plan. Now they just had to set it into motion.

Harmony taking that as a compliment was quote a relief for the Enviro-crazy Department Head. They needed to work together, after all. The last thing him or anyone else needed was for there to be tension or bickering between the two leaders of the teams. So, he got a simple nod.

"Good. I'm guessing at least one of us would need a clear head for this." Meaning to take a few breaths and have a pastry, Howell.

Bryce nodded again at her words. "Big and mighty but not too big." But who was he to mention what kind of creatures she should bring along? If it was plants-based, the man would have been jumping for joy at the idea of bringing along a flesh eater. Creatures being able to produce harmful bodily fluids -- no urine, please -- was exactly what they needed, wasn't it? It was the bad icing on a cake, the sour cherry in a bowl of fruits and that pesky thorn on a rose. Perfect. /sarcasm "I'll charm all the suits, then." Or get Ronnie to. "Thanks for the heads up."

Good. She agreed with his plan. Perfect, even. And no sarcasm there. "Okay, I'll leave you to it, then." The thirty year old gave the woman another nod before turnin on his heel and heading out of her office.

Hadley smelled the familiar scent of the Magical Creatures department. She had missed it. Now she was back. After what had felt like a million years spent on her world adventure to delve into the depths of the spirit world, she had returned to continue writing her book, and to put all of her knowledge to good use for the ministry. She had managed to do a fair bit of research with Poltergeists, too, and was fortunate, or… unfortunate enough, to have been invited to a manor on the top of a very steep cliff in Switzerland to live with a family of Poltergeists for a month. Well, not a family so much as a… gathering of.

She approached the office of the department head, and saw that there was indeed a new department head. Well, actually, they probably weren't new to the job anymore. It had been a very, very long time since Hadley had been here. She looked at the sign on the door 'Check your harsh vibes at the door' and raised her eyebrows slightly. What did this mean? Obviously she was about to enter an office of friendly vibes and positivity? She could only hope so. After all, she had not really had much to do with the previous two department heads who had been there at the same time as she, and Hadley was certainly happy to meet someone who preferred to stay away from harsh vibes. Hadley sure hoped she wasn't carrying any harsh vibes. A lot of the grief she had suffered from the previous few years was, hopefully, gone. She felt at peace now more than ever, like she had a new outlook on life. At second glance, she saw that the sign had been crocheted. Hadley was certainly impressed.

She raised her hand and rapped at the door three times, waiting patiently for an answer.

Harmony was fishing through some paperwork, brow furrowed. She'd been experiencing some stress due to the mutant problems and though her aura was a spectacular yellow-green, her heart was still heavy.

Hearing several knocks on her door, she set the papers in her hand aside and sat up straighter. "Come in!" Perhaps a visit would help ease her restless soul.

Hadley heard someone say Come In, so she opened the door and walked in, a smile on her face.

Wow. Hadley looked around, her mouth open slightly. She did a full 360 look of the room and felt the corners of her mouth pull up. "Oh I love this office!" she remarked, walking closer to the Unit Head, almost regretting saying that. Probably not the greeting Hadley had in mind.

"Hi, we've not met before. My name is Hadley Willowgrass, I'm one of the Spirit Liaison Officers, I've just been on leave for the past few… months," she said warmly, offering her hand. "I just got back today and wanted to come in and introduce myself and get a bit of a handover, as such, of what's been happening lately."

A paper crane flew inside the office and landed on the table. It bears the handwriting of the Junior Undersecretary.