Upper Level Corridors

[sweetpinkpixie]

Clean and pristine, the upper level corridors are the most straight forward in the Ministry as the departments here have no time for funny business and require a certain level of mobility to complete their tasks efficiently. You'll notice that the walls lining the corridors feature framed paintings of past and present Ministers for Magic. The closest one you meet as you exit the lifts belongs to the current Minister for magic, Charles Hollingberry, and concludes with one of Ulick Gamp, the first individual to bear the title, as you approach the Minister's Office. Framed portraits of past and present Senior Undersecretaries, department heads, and other Ministry dignitaries are also scattered about.

[The Announcer]

As you head down the corridor something might catch your eye, looking up you will notice a red carpet floating lazily through the building.

[AlwaysSnapesGirl]

It was time for her lunch break, and this week Regina had decided to bring a lunch from home each day. It helped in saving a bit of money, though it did use up some of her time since she kept it in the break room on level one. But maybe that was a good thing too, since it made her walk a bit more.

She was pretty used to the route she usually took, so the unusual appearance of a floating red carpet immediately caught her eye. That...wasn't supposed to be here. Had it escaped from the Transportation department? How would it even do that? Surely someone had noticed and was coming to retrieve it?

She glanced up and down the corridor, hoping someone else might appear.

[The Announcer]

The carpet that was floating around the top seemed to notice someone had come into the corridor because it began showing off, swooping up and down and twirling around the person that obviously came to watch.

[Holmesian Feline]

Simon stepped off the lifts into the Level One corridor filled with framed portraits of this minister and that department head and every dignitary in between. The faces were familiar to the head of security both from those he had served with over his many years in the ministry and from all his previous ventures up to this level. One of the few to be fully trusted to keep things secure and safe. Except for the times that Emily’s other half had been senior undersecretary and forbidden him from doing his rounds of course.

His wand was discreetly out and at his side as he walked, the security man running scans to make sure all the security protocols in place were actively and correctly working. Simon was even more alert and concerned about issues, especially on this level, since his return to full duties, never wanting to let a certain someone down again.

[Zoe]

Life in general had been keeping him busy. Between running errands for Miss Sookie and keeping up with university work, Jordan found that there was very little free time for him anymore. So, he had to take advantage of the quieter moments and embrace them as long as he could.

Today had been a rather busy day for him in the Ministry. If it weren't for the little notebook that he had become accustomed to carrying around with him, he wouldn't be able to tell how many meetings he had attended, memos he had drafted, or coffee cups he had to refill. Now he was the delivery boy, stopping by various levels here and there. The latest venture had brought him up to level one, and now he was ready to make his way back down to level four.

In an effort to give himself a little break from his duties and maybe stall long enough for it to be lunchtime, the twenty-one-year-old found himself looking at the portraits that adorned the walls, starting with Ulick Gamp and working his way toward the lift. Now he was staring at some dude called Lord Borr, who barely fit in the frame.

"What an eyesore," Jordan muttered not so quietly. Was he aware that the Head of Security was near? Not at all.

[Holmesian Feline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoe

Life in general had been keeping him busy. Between running errands for Miss Sookie and keeping up with university work, Jordan found that there was very little free time for him anymore. So, he had to take advantage of the quieter moments and embrace them as long as he could.

Today had been a rather busy day for him in the Ministry. If it weren't for the little notebook that he had become accustomed to carrying around with him, he wouldn't be able to tell how many meetings he had attended, memos he had drafted, or coffee cups he had to refill. Now he was the delivery boy, stopping by various levels here and there. The latest venture had brought him up to level one, and now he was ready to make his way back down to level four.

In an effort to give himself a little break from his duties and maybe stall long enough for it to be lunchtime, the twenty-one-year-old found himself looking at the portraits that adorned the walls, starting with Ulick Gamp and working his way toward the lift. Now he was staring at some dude called Lord Borr, who barely fit in the frame.

"What an eyesore," Jordan muttered not so quietly. Was he aware that the Head of Security was near? Not at all.

There was the occasional worker coming up or down the corridor and Simon acknowledged them with a nod of the head and let them be, knowing most had enough things to keep them busy then his interactions. And he could certainly do his work without. However, as a comment reached his ears, the security man couldn’t help but turn in the voice’s direction. He might have taken it for a dislike of the array of portraits until he noticed just who’s painting the younger man was currently standing directly in front of, Simon himself making a face of his own at the memories of dealing with him.

“Ah yes…one of the worst ministers in our history,” Simon mused, a part of him almost wishing he was forgotten in the line of portraits. Workers up here also didn’t need Lord Berty Borr turning their stomachs with his appearance on top of what he had done. “Thankfully taken out of office with the rest of the Cultists under him.” The picture is no doubt a good reminder that that dark period of their history had in fact happened. Especially since it had happened just before he himself had started working here and most had come after.

[Zoe]

He jumped the moment a voice sounded from behind him. Jordan half-expected the portrait he had indirectly insulted to bark back at him, but no such thing happened. Instead, a different voice was responding to his comment. As the voice continued, the assistant tried to pinpoint whose it was, which was probably impossible to do without turning around. There were tons of portraits in the corridor, and he hadn't been paying attention to anyone else that might have been present.

It seemed like whoever was speaking with him hadn't found his comment insulting. So that was promising, which was why he turned around without the need for hesitation or an apology.

"One of the worst? And Cultists?" he asked, a bit surprised. "How long did that go on for?" Sure, he could have taken a quick glance back at the portrait and taken note of the years Borr had been in charge. However, he'd then have to look at the large man again. That was something he could do without.

His brain was shifting through different roles and names to identify the man he was now speaking with. Jordan had seen the man before on a number of occasions, though hadn't actually spoken to him. But being a department head's personal assistant for the past couple years did come in handy in such circumstances. "You're Head of Security, right?"

[Holmesian Feline]

Simon found himself biting back a laugh as the younger man jumped at the sound of his response. It meant he still had the ability to catch people off guard. “To me, the worst, though I suppose its up for interpretation seeing as he’s one of the two horrible ministers we’ve had while I’ve either worked her or been old enough to know of him.” There were others throughout history, but he didn’t have any connection or direct firsthand knowledge of them like he did with Borr and Nickels. The later he had personally helped escort out of the Ministry.

And had he really come across someone who had no clue of the Cult? Talk about making him feel old…the last incidents with them havening not been TOO long ago. Or were the years really blending in together? “Little more than three years.” And what a trio of years it had been. “Cultists as in members of the Cult of Walpurgis…a disastrous bunch of wizards with ideas that had caused a ton of trouble over the centuries. They had infiltrated the ministry with the minister, and several other high placed positions including at least one department head. Even had an agent at Hogwarts.”

Ah dear Ikea…or at least his ghost.

There, the environmental assistant had recognized him, Simon nodding first in confirmation. “Yes, that would be me. Simon Bennett at your service.”

[Zoe]

Jordan carried on as if he hadn't jumped at all. Playing it cool, he just let the older man speak. Little did he know that he'd be getting a history lesson about the British Ministry and how they let a cult grow under their watch for years. Normally he would have tuned out the lecture, as he did when he took Wizarding History at Ilvermorny, though he found learning about the past a little more interesting now that he was beyond his teenage years.

"That sounds ... like an awful time," he eventually commented. It was right up there with the whole Alliance thing that had, lo and behold, taken root in the British Ministry. "But I'spose every government has its moments of weakness. I'm sure MACUSA has had their fair share..." He trailed off, knowing full well he didn't know any specific Presidents of the past that were involved in cults or the like.

His mind let thoughts about history flutter away as he took in the man. Bennet. Simon Bennet. The name was being ingrained into his memory, knowing that it was probably one he should have known by now considering the man's position. Jordan nodded his head and, since people around here were always so proper, held out his hand.

"Jordan Hicks. Personal assistant to Baek Ho-Soo, Department of Ecological Regulation and Protection." In case he didn't know.

[Holmesian Feline]

“Indeed, it was,” Simon remarked in agreement. That and the time the Cult had returned temporarily with he himself having been accused of being one of them (or at least replaced by a Cultist polyjuiced as him) had been darkest moments in their history that the security man had personally lived through. Something he had sincerely hoped wouldn’t have been topped, especially in his lifetime, but unfortunately they hadn’t been so lucky.

He nodded as the younger man continued. “Most likely…we aren’t much different with the muggle world in that respect.” Cycles of history came and went with periods of happiness and prosperity on one end and devastating horror on the other. Simon accepted the hand and smiled at his companion as he gave it a polite shake. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Hicks.” Putting the living face to the name of the records he and his team would have gone through at some point in time.

"Anything else you'd like to know?" he offered. "A perk of being around here so long...I can at least direct you where you might find information."

[The Announcer]

All seems as it should be in the clean and pristine upper-level corridor. Numerous portraits line the walls, showcasing the faces of former Ministers for Magic. At this time of day, the majority were fast asleep, mainly out of boredom than anything else.

But then, out of nowhere, a screeching filled the hall. "What in Merlin's beard is going on?" sounded the voice of Josephina Flint, which caused the other nearby Ministers to stir in their frames. "HELP! SOMEONE IS STEALING MY PORTRAIT! HEEEEEEEELP!"

Seconds later, the portrait is long gone and her place on the wall vacant. The others remained, murmuring amongst themselves in utter confusion.

[FearlessLeader19]

Lucas’ face was glued to the notepad in his left hand as he scribbled notes with the pen in his right. Over the many, many years during his tenure at the Ministry, the arts of reading while walking and writing while walking had been something he sort of perfected. The current list that was being compiled had everything to do with matters that needed to be discussed with Lisa. “Quidditch team masco -”

The man’s verbal thoughts were interrupted by an earsplitting screech; he actually winced. He stared further down the corridor, towards his estimate of where the screech - and now yells - had emitted. Without a second thought, Lucas swapped his pen for his wand as he sprinted for that direction.

Unfortunately, before he got there, there was nothing for him to observe but a small stretch of blank wall. “What happened?” he questioned the other portraits urgently. “Whose missing?” Excuse him for not being able to put his finger on that in this moment of confusion.

[The Announcer]

Soon the murmurs became louder, the buzz of what happened making its way down the corridor to the ears of all the former Ministers. And so the rumours and theories of what happened to the portrait began.

"Josephina Flint! She's gone!" Grogan Stump responded to the man. "One minute we were all enjoying our afternoon naps, the next she was screaming bloody murder about being stolen."

"But no one was there!" exclaimed Hortensia Milliphutt. "She just ... started making her way down the corridor on her own accord."

"You're speaking utter nonsense, Milliphutt," huffed Radolphus Lestrange with a roll of his eyes. "Frames don't just float away whenever they like."

"It was probably one of the elves," suggested Unctuous Osbert. "Maybe her canvas needed some touch-ups."

"Either way, it'll be a lot quieter without her around," Ottaline Gambol chimed in. "Good riddance!"

[FearlessLeader19]

So many pieces of information at once!

Lucas tried his best to process it all as the occupants of the remaining portraits blabbered. He nodded, his eyes flitting from one person to the next, even before some of them stopped talking. In the end, he thought he had gathered the gist of the matter.

“But have the elves ever taken any of your portraits away?” the man asked warily as he slowly lowered his wand. He genuinely did not know hence his question. "And would Josephina have been shouting like that if it were an Elf?" It made no sense. There had been so many strange happenings at the Ministry that he suddenly felt he was becoming too old for all this excitement. Lucas moved closer to the blank stretch of wall that once housed Josephina Flint’s portrait. Were there any clues as to what might have caused this mysterious disappearance?

[The Announcer]

Hearing the man, Artemisia Lufkin's voice sounded, "All our frames typically need is a good dusting from the precious little dears. But it isn't unreasonable for us to be temporarily removed if retouches are needed. Some of us have been here for centuries, you know."

"Even so, full of dramatics, that woman," Ottaline Gambol retorted. "Huffing and puffing about every little thing is her specialty."

"And your specialty is being an annoyance," Radolphus Lestrange sneered.

More bickering continued amongst the portraits, with Gambol and Lestrange exchanging intense words while the others tried to defuse the tension or simply walked out of their frames to spare themselves.

As for the space where Josephina Flint's frame once was, there was nothing to see besides the wallpaper and the nail from which the frame had been hanging.

[FearlessLeader19]

Lucas nodded thoughtfully, his gaze fixed Artemisia. “I thought as much.’’ He tried to keep the resignation out of his voice, and even fought to keep his thoughts from further drifting to suspicious activities that could involve the removal of a portrait. But given all the weirdness that has either happened at Hogwarts or the Ministry, there was a difficulty in him doing so. This was why the Quidditch Division Manager barely noticed the bickering.

When he did manage to drag himself out of his thoughts, quite a bit of the occupants of the portraits had vanished. This surprised him though it was incorrectly surmised by him that they were heading elsewhere to gossip about this strange happening.

“Well, I’ll be on my way. Of course I’ll mention it to the right people, and I might even stop by to to see if any of you recall any other detail. Good day to you all.’’