"Thank you very much, Sarah," he smiled, "just come back in maybe....and hour and a bit? Oh," he blinked a couple times at her request to "send her love" to the Headmaster. "Certainly," he finally agreed before going back into his office, completely ignoring a flyer and it's new found home on his wall.

Chad closed the office door and locked it again. "Uh...my liaison sends you her love, Bontecou," he said gently as he walked back to his desk and took a seat. "...Do you English people seem to have a different way of saying "hi" than other places?"

Marco had purposefully apparated to the forth floor. He approached Chad's door, and gave it a quick knock. He didn't appreciate posters cluttering his window.

Chad sighed as there was another knock on his door. He couldn't do this all day. Nor, could he do it while Bontecou was here. So, he picked up his wand and flicked it towards the door and a note appeared:

Quote:

If you have a concern or something to discuss with me, please send me an owl and I will tend to your concern as soon as possible. Merci!

Chad Stryker

Pepe chuckled. "Some people do say hi in different ways," he admitted and then chuckled again. "I've recently had this problem, myself. It seems everyone always needs you at the same moment. Now, I believe we were discussing this registration business. I would have no objection to registering for you, but you can't guarantee that the next person to come along would be as tolerant. Just because you would use it for good, doens't mean that the next person to come along wouldn't use it to discriminate against us. And if the list were to ever be leaked, I'm certain there are plenty of werewolves hiding what they are in order to secure employment, which they would then be unable to secure."

He raised an eyebrow as a poster seemed to make its way into the office and attach itself to the wall. "Well, that's rather obnoxious, but I see I'm not the only one concerned," he laughed.

"From one french homme to another," Chad smiled as leaned forward onto his desk again, "you have my word that all registration papers will be locked away safely and securely. And, I am a man of word." Chad surveyed Bontecou for a moment, watching to see. "Do I have your trust?"

"I suppose I don't have much of a choice in the matter. Let's hope your predecessor is as honest a man as you are," Pepe said.

"You are too kind," Chad smiled, nodding his head. "Then...I shall keep up my end of the bargain. Werewolves may attend the World Cup. Congratulations, Bontecou," Chad extended a hand out so that they could shake on it. "I appreciate...your reasonableness on this. It was a refreshing change not having someone yell in my face..."

"Yelling doesn't help matters and usually just makes it worse," Pepe laughed and extended his hand.

"Tell that to my employees?" Chad laughed and grasped Bontecou's hand, giving it a shake. "I suppose you will be wanting to get on with your day, then. Unless there is anything else I may help you with?"

"That's all from this office," he laughed. "Thanks for listening and being willing to compromise." And that was really all that needed saying so he got up and headed out the door. He needed to speak with the minister, next.

Chad looked at the clock on his desk. It was the day of another full moon. He supposed he should start putting away his notes and get goings. And that's exactly what he did. Packed up his stuff and slid a vial of potion that Reagan had given him in the morning, into his pocket. Everything ready to go, he slipped his travelling clock on and left his office.

Pandora smoothed her hair and knocked on the door of Mr. Stryker's office. Avoiding things had never been her style and she was not about to change that now. It was time to face the music.

Okay. Awkward. Interesting. It… was… intriguing. It puzzled Sarah slightly as she made her way over to the fourth level. Her? Really… her? She was still quite in shock. But it pleased her greatly. Her brother and sister-in-law were already Department Heads and they were just three or four years older than her! Sarah had goals for herself and she had the two perfect role models for her.

But that was getting slightly off of the reason why she was standing in front of Mr. Chad Stryker’s office. It was a great pity that the Liaison Office was getting eliminated, but such a wonderful opportunity had come her way. Sarah was still quite in a daze. It was like a dream. The sort of dream that she wish would never end. Ah well.

Remembering why exactly she was here, Sarah lifted up her hand and knocked on the door. Being Division Head, calling for duty!

Undoing his traveling cloak, Chad walked back towards his office. He had practically spent at least 48 hours straight at the Hogwarts school, milling about and searching every corner of that darned place. His eyes had dark circles underneath and his face had a little bit of scruffage by the time he had given up hope and asked the groundskeeper to keep an eye out; he had to come back to tell Reagan the Minister.

He then noticed two people standing outside his door. One was his newly instated Division Head and former liaison, Sarah, and...he wasn't going to lie, the second visitor was a surprise. Of course, if she was coming around to yell at him some more...she was going to find that it was the completely wrong day to do so.

"Bonjour," he said as he got close enough, smiling and mustering enough energy to look strong. "Welcome to the fourth floor, Mademoiselle Lee. I hope you find yourself comfortable up here. Please," he stepped forward and unlocked the door, "go in, have a seat. We have much to discuss."

Once she was inside, Chad turned his attention to Pandora. "And how may I help you, Mademoiselle Fortunae?" His voice was light and polite as was his gaze. The past was the past; how could he expect to work with his employees if he would spend time dwelling on the negatives.

Pandora saw Sarah walking towards her and smiled rather automatically. "Hello Sarah, nice to see you again. I don't think he's in... ah," Over Sarah's shoulder she could Chad walking towards them, "There he is."

Pandora was utterly unsurprised when Chad showed Sarah into his office first. He probably expected her to shout again, when that wasn't actually her intention. It had not been her intention the first time but, well she preferred not to think about how out of hand that situation had become. Once Sarah was inside his office and Chad turned to her, she couldn't help but but be shocked by the state of him. He looked terrible, as though he was at the point of exhaustion but at the same time he seemed to be trying to hide what was glaringly obvious. Her usually impassive expression melted in favour for one of concern. His light tone and the almost mild look in his eyes confirmed this for her; the man in front of her needed to go home. "Oh, umm, I can come back later." She felt slightly flustered and actually blushed, her cheeks becoming tinged with a pink glow; both very unusual things to happen to Pandora. She took a step backwards, keen to distance herself from the concern she knew was written in her eyes. He was he boss, had the roles been reversed she would not have wanted one of her subordinates to look at her in that way.

Wah!

Someone suddenly spoke so closely into Sarah's ear, giving her quite a shock. She looked over to see who it was and saw that it was Pandora. Sarah smiled genially at the woman she had talked to just a few weeks ago. It seemed like it had been so long ago. Though so much had happened over such a short, yet long, period of time. "Hello Pandora. Great to see you too," she said.

And then at that moment, Chad came towards them and opened his office door. And to tell the truth. He did NOT look good. There were bags under his eyes and it seemed like he'd collapse any moment. Which was something Sarah would very much not like to deal with if that were to happen. What has he been doing?

She'd ask him later. Sarah just smiled and nodded her head. "Thank you very much, Chad," she said. And then with another curious glance over at Pandora, she made her way into the office and took a seat, waiting patiently for Chad to finish attending to Pandora.

Chad smiled and shook his head. "Come...I am here now, you are here now. What is on your mind?"

If Pandora had been flustered before, that was nothing to how she felt now. Her pink glow became more pronounced and she stammered a little. "I-I-I would really rather not have this conversation in the middle of a corridor, sir."

She had reverted to addressing him formally, respectfully because she did not want anyone who happened to stroll past to hear what she had to say. She had been overheard far too often lately.

Chad watched for a couple seconds before nodding. "Alright, follow me," he said, motioning for her to follow him as he headed into his office. "Sarah," he laughed gently, "I hate to be a prick...but I need my office for a few minutes. Would you mind waiting outside...just for a little? I apologize..."

Chad waited a few seconds for Sarah to leave the office. "Have a seat, Mademoiselle Fortunae," he said, taking his traveling clock off and throwing it off to the side. He took a seat in his own chair behind his desk and leaned forward onto his elbows. "Now, what is on your mind?"

Pandora started to object when Chad asked Sarah to leave his office for a moment, "No I'll -" but decided that it would be best not to argue with Chad.

She sat in the chair that he had indicated. "Thank you, sir." She smoothed her robes and then her hair and looked into his drained face. She chose her words carefully. "I wanted to clear the air. I can't apologise for my beliefs, I won't apologise for them. I still think that the policy towards beings for the QWC is short sighted and will cause all manner of difficulties with the goblins," She said with conviction, "However, the way that I have expressed my opinions of late has been completely out of line. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that and I'm sorry." Her usually dispassionate expression was again gone, replaced by one of genuine remorse. "I think it was partly because I did not feel that you or Georgia were taking my views, which are based on experience, seriously. As I see it, your policy is almost certainly going cause the goblins great offence. The last thing we need is for the QWC to be overrun by a horde of angry goblins. The issue of werewolves is one that is deeply personal to me as you know, and that more than likely didn't help me to keep my cool." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily. "I know that my grief is not an excuse for how I have behaved, but on reflection I believe that is what is at the root of it. If you still want me to transfer to a different department, I will, but I still feel that this is where my expertise can be put to the best use."

Her thoughts turned to the Head of Magical Games and Sports and her expression returned to her customary inscrutability. "I know that people are gossiping about my confrontation with Mr Vindictus. I was actually expecting to be hauled over the coals for that. I know that he has probably interpreted my parting remark as a threat, but it wasn't meant that way. I was deeply shocked by his attitude, I did not expect that a Head of Department would speak to anyone in that way. His attitude only served to inflame my anger. If you wish me to apologise I will, but I cannot guarantee that I will be able to sound genuine."

She looked at Chad, waiting for his response with a sense of tension building in her stomach. She had set out views honestly and calmly and now she could only wait for him to answer.

Chad listened patiently as Pandora seemed to summarize everything that had happened in last little while. Every now and again he nodded and suppressed a large desire to yawn, not out of boredom, but out of pure tiredness. When she was done, he couldn't help but smile again.

"Well, first...this is Rex Vindictus we are talking about. I am fairly certain the man has enough ego to share with every single employee within this ministry...and then some," he chuckled gently, as he leaned back in his chair.

"As for you, while there is nothing wrong with having a personal belief about something, what I had a problem with was the way you presented yourself while expressing your belief. Now, while..I may not have been...too...accommodating," he gave a guilty grin, "still does not give you a right to act such a way. I...apologize for the way I reacted. I should have dealt with it better."

He continued to watch her thoughtfully for a second and then slowly shook his head. "I do not want you to transfer out. You are smart, efficient...passionate," he grinned. "Your division needs you. I would like for you to stay."

Pandora was not surprised to see him stifle a yawn and certainly didn't take it personally. The man looked fit to drop. She thought that if she presented him with a pillow, he would fall asleep right there at his desk.

She blinked when he was so candid about Rex Vindictus. "I had never met the man before, I'm still not entirely sure why I was sent to him and not you." Her pique was perhaps evident in her voice as she added "I can't say that his attitude has increased my already limited patience for Quidditch."

She bit her lip, considering if she should express her thoughts or just meekly accept what he was saying. It was almost like she couldn't help herself, her usual ability to keep her mouth shut abandoning her again. There was something about Chad Stryker that provoked her into speech when perhaps she would be better off keeping her own council. Keeping her voice level and polite she said. "Sir, I'm sorry but you are making it sound like I pulled my opinions out of my backside. I spent the twelve years between school and my father's death studying Magical Creatures, including goblin relations. I'm not sure how many other members of staff speak fluent gobbledigook, but I don't think it can be that many." She was cut off by him conceding that he had not been as accommodating as he could have been. "To be honest, I have wondered wether if I had expressed my self more eloquently, you might have changed your mind but," she paused, wondering if finishing the sentence would be a good idea but pressing ahead anyway, "I have the impression that you were firmly settled on that course of action. Again, my attitude was not as it should have been and I apologise. I am not usually so... forceful about my opinions. I can usually find more effective way of expressing myself." She wasn't sure if that was strictly true anymore but this was not the moment to be honest about that.

When he complimented her and told her that he would like her to stay in the department she smiled. "Thank you sir, I would like to stay. I know you're busy, so unless there's any thing else, I'll leave you to it." She stood up and held out her hand for him to shake. "There's good strong coffee in the break room, I hope you don't mind me saying so, but you really look like you could do with a cup." She added with a wry smile, turning to leave.

Chad smiled and nodded, rather glad that they were able to clear all this up. He reached out his hand and shook hers gently, standing up as well. "Strong coffee...that does sound rather appealing," he chuckled and felt his brain slip off.

"Oh! Wait, I have some news that you might find pleasing," he called as she headed to the door. "I have a feeling you might want to hear this."

Pandora turned back, a look of surprise on her face. She mastered it quickly. "Oh? Are we going back to the forest?" She wanted to go back there and conquer the feeling of panic that she had been waking up with lately. Her subconscious mind had been torturing her, the fact that the dark circles under her own eyes looked almost as bad as Chad's was testament to that. Her head was already starting to pound but she sat back down again and listened attentively.

Chad smiled. "Not quite...well, not yet at least," he admitted. He had to get on that. Whoops. "Well...you will be the first to know and I'd be thankful if you could keep it on the low for a little bit. But, in between the yelling people, rather strange recent events, and this happy, warm fuzzy moment, I had a visit for Headmaster Bontecou of the Hogwarts school. After some reasonable, back and forth discussion...and the acceptance of conditions...werewolves will be able to attend."