"Yes," Rex replied casually and took a sip of his coffee. "I find it strikingly odd that the Ministry is being plastered with freaky creature rights posters promoting a protest of some sort and then an employee from your department threatens me in my office. Quite unusual, I might say considering the normal threats arrive via Howler."

Just when he thought his day was going to turn up for the better.

Chad started to rub his temples again. "I am sorry, Monsieur Vindictus...I can assure you that this employees actions does not reflect the rest of my department." He was pretty sure he didn't have to ask, but... "Did you get this employee's name?"

Rex reached into his pocket and pulled out the official report. "Her name is . . . Pandora Fortunea," he replied and put the report back into his pocket. "It appears this young woman has been giving Georgia a rough time regarding the date the I.A.Q. set for the upcoming World Cup. The last thing the Ministry needs is an employee who's out to ruin our reputation on the eve of the greatest sporting event in the Wizarding World!"

Minister Taylor rubbed her temples with her eyes closed and sighed. She hadn't slept in 52 hours and it was beginning to show in the reddening of her eyes and the droop of her shoulders. Determining the Ministry's budget was not a fun activity and things weren't looking good. Cutbacks were definitely going to be needed in order to cover the Quidditch World Cup. But where to make them? She was losing sleep over the thought of which employees might need to be let go, or which departments would lose funding. Sigh.

When she heard the knock upon the door, Reagan didn't have the energy to raise herself from her chair. She merely lifted her wand off the desk and flicked it in the direction of the door. It popped open with a click, at which point Reagan called out, "Come in please."

Fortunae.

"Not just you, mon ami," he sighed," She slapped that paper down under my nose the other day and threw a hissy fit, I believe it is called, in the breakroom." He massaged his temple gently. "She was upset at the fact that I included the department at the bottom of the notice. I told her to get over it or transfer out..." He sighed again. "I am very sorry for her actions. I can say with confidence that I am embarrassed...I will see to it that she is reprimanded." But he needed somebody bigger...

The door opening to Reagan's office was his cue.

"And since I will not be able to get any sense into her...Ministerr," he called, walking into the room. And then he stopped at the sight of her and was starting to fight the urge to run over to her and gather her up into his arms. Of course, Rex was going to enter in behind him in a couple seconds, so that was completely out of the question. "Bonjour," he added, gently.

Samantha returned to the Minister's door. This time, she listened carefully and didn't hear any voices, though she was certain the Minister was still there. She knocked, holding the message from Headmaster Bontecou in one hand.




There was something on Samantha's mind, something besides whatever was happening at Hogwarts, and she was a bit apprehensive about saying what it was but she knew that it had to be done.

Reagan's face brightened a bit at the sight of Chad, though she couldn't entirely rid her expression of her fatigue and stress. She was going to have to disband an entire department due to cutbacks and only half of those employees could keep their jobs but be moved to a different department. She was going to upset a great deal of people and it upset her most severely.

Spotting Rex entering behind Chad, Reagan greeted them both professionally, "Mr. Stryker, Mr. Vindictus. What can I do for you today?"

"You may enter." Reagan figured it was either Ms. Rose or another department head. WHo else would be coming to see her in her office? Either way, they were free to enter as she, Rex and Chad had yet to begin their meeting.

Samantha entered the office hesitantly, much slower than she usually did. She saw that the Minister did indeed have company, both Mr. Stryker and Mr. Vindictus were there. She looked at them both apologetically. "Good evening, Minister Taylor," she said, not really wanting to go on but knowing she had to. She would get the easy part over with first. "I brought you a message from Headmaster Bontecou. Unfortunately he had to return to Hogwarts right away, but did want me to let you know that the matter is very important," she said, handing the pamphlet to the Minster.



Reluctantly, she went on. "Minister Taylor, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but just recently I've begun to feel that I'd like to get out and travel and enjoy my life a bit more. I know it might be hard to understand since I know you are hard working, too, but I've made the Ministry my whole life. It's been a good life and a happy one, too, but just recently I've met someone who makes me feel differently about things, someone I really want to spend time with. I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I'm not even sure it makes sense to myself, but I do feel that if I don't take this opportunity that I might regret it for the rest of my life. It's been wonderful working for the Ministry and for you, of course, and I would never change a thing about it."

She paused. "I don't know what else to say, and really hope you understand." She smiled weakly, not knowing what else to do under the circumstances.

An important matter at Hogwarts in a letter hand-delivered by the Headmaster himself? That couldn't possibly be good. As if she didn't have enough to stress out about and lose sleep over! Reagan accepted the parchment from Samantha soundlessly, merely nodding her acknowledgement.

When Ms. Rose didn't exit her office like she normally did after bringing in her messages, Reagan knew immediately something was up, despite that her senses were dulled by lack of sleep. From the first sentence, she had a feeling where this was going. As she listened to Samantha talk about having met someone who made her feel different about things and who she wanted to spend time with, Reagan couldn't help but smile as she fought the desire to look for a certain pair of eyes. She knew exactly how that felt and wouldn't, no, couldn't deny another person that joy, even though she so often had to deny herself that very thing.

"Ms. Rose, I think it makes perfect sense. And while I am very sad to see you go, I understand completely your reasoning for leaving. I wish you the very best. I hope you find the happiness you're setting out to experience. You deserve it and so much more. Good luck to you."

Samantha smiled. She knew that the Minister had someone in her life who she cared about the same way Samantha cared about Johnny, and she had a pretty good idea who that someone was. She wished her nothing but the best. "Thank you so much, Minister Taylor," she said sincerely. "I wish you the best, as well. It has been a pleasure working for you and with you, and I sincerely hope that nothing but happiness finds you."

Samantha knew that it would be hard to walk out of the office, but it had to be done. She would always have good memories of this place which had given her so much. But it was time to move on and begin a new life.

"Goodbye, Minister, gentlemen," she said quietly. Turning with a slight wave, she walked towards the door.

When Samantha mentioned something about wanting to spend time with someone that made her feel different, Chad had to bite his tongue to think of something other than wanting to glance at a certain someone himself. Noticing that Samantha was leaving the room, Chad smiled a sad smile and nodded. "Au revoir, Mademoiselle, he called after. "Good luck!"

Speaking of that someone, his tired gaze fell back to Reagan. His face became solemn as he moved over to the couch in her office and took a seat, closing his eyes and resting his head back. Right now, his brain was trying to figure out the best way of telling her what had happened...

Reagan was itching to read the note that Samantha had delivered, but probably shouldn't allow herself to do so with others present in the room. Despite that she was very good at hiding her reactions to things when in the presence of company, she knew that it would simply be easier to read the note as soon as she was alone. But she couldn't resist! Not knowing was agonizing.

She read the note quickly, the only trace of a reaction was the involuntary dilation of her pupils as she read the note. Three student deaths!? And she was just hearing about this now? She set the note down on her desk, thinking of what her next step would be, and absent-mindedly turned her attention back to the department heads in her office, "So, which of you would like to start? You're obviously here for a reason. Please tell me what that reason is."

I need to contact the Heads of Education and Law Enforcement immediately. How could students have died?! He didn't even leave an explanation of how they expired! What is going on at that school? Maybe I should have never allowed Bontecou back into that position...

"I have two," Chad spoke up, still closed eyed as he stuck his hand in the air with two fingers standing up.

"One." Chad lowered one finger. "Bontecou came to visit me in regards to the statement we released about no creatures the other day. He has delivered a rather convincing discussion...I feel that perhaps maybe with some added re-enforcement, werewolves should be allowed."

He took a deep breath.

"Two." He stuck the second finger up again. "He is missing."

Reagan was staring at the note on her desk, contemplating how she was going to mobilize the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, half listening as Chad began speaking. When she heard Bontecou's name, she lifted her eyes to his face and began paying closer attention. "We can certainly reconsider our position if his proposition is that convincing."

She had hoped that Chad's mentioning of Bontecou would provide more details about the horrific status of Hogwarts, but when it didn't, she went back to staring at the note. That is, until Chad ever-so-non-chalantly mentioned that Bontecou is missing. "What do you mean, 'he's missing?'" Reagan asked, her eyes narrowed in confusion as she tried to figure out what Chad was getting at.

"Gone. Zip. Zoom. Not a bit him left in that blasted school. I should know, I looked everywhere for him for TWO days straight." Chad opened his eyes and looked towards Reagan. "It was the full moon...we were doing the usual. I gave him the potion, he went and transformed...and then all of a sudden..Poof! Gone. Even his apparent fiancee knows nothing about this disappearance."

Remember how I mentioned that Reagan was usually very good at hiding her reactions? Well, this time she didn't even bother. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened, "There's not a single trace of the Headmaster? When you went to see him, did he seem different? Acting strangely? Any indication that he might be planning to be going somewhere?" What in Merlin's name was going on at that school!?

"He was as normal as he could be," Chad answered, running his hands through his hair now. "He did not look like he had a plan in mind...though, there does seem to be a rather substantially strong anti-werewolf campaign going on at the school. The Gargoyle Entrance was COVERED in banners and posters. He asked me to check it in case of traps."

Chad rubbed his temple for a second and then remembered something else. "I was looking RIGHT at him before he disappeared. Milliseconds before, there was this...weird feeling in the room. Almost like an elevation in pressure. I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened...gone."

Reagan sat up a bit straighter, her senses a bit more alert. "Alright, we need to get Mr. Wordsmith up here immediately, as well as Mr. Rider. We're going to need to send a team of investigators over to the school. Headmaster Bontecou's disappearance is not the only unusual circumstance that's happened at Hogwarts. Chad, could you find Syd and Jake and get them up here? Drag them if you have to." A frown overtook Reagan's face.

So much for going home after this.

Sigh. "Oui, Mademoiselle," he answered, getting up from the couch. He gave his temples another rub before disappearing out of her office, on the hunt for the two men.

Should he knock? Would it seem rude if he just barged in like that?

... Did he currently care?
Kinda - but not enough.

Taking a deep breath, Jake pushed the door open and entered the increasingly familiar office of the Minister. "Minister Taylor," he nodded as a form of greeting then pulled out Lucy's - or Eva's, if you want - letter. "I was just about to visit you myself - this is about the dead students," he stated, rather than asking, the word 'dead' coming out VERY weakly. "Minister, please tell me there is an explanation," Jake's tone was almost begging - he was sick with worry over all those students. And his stomach almost HURT whenever he thought of Rachel being in that sort of environment.

This. Was. Bad.

When the door to her office opened, she hadn't expected it to be Mr. Rider so soon. And with no introduction by her Undersecretary or Chad, or even a knock on the door, Reagan wasn't entirely sure what to make of his entrance. But there was no time for such petty matters when there were bigger things to deal with. And after all, she'd wanted him to report to her office immediately. But a knock would have been nice...

"Ah, Mr. Rider. I'm not sure how you got here so quickly, but thank you for coming. We have some issues at Hogwarts that we need to discuss, the deceased students included," Reagan shuddered as she spoke those words, "but I'd prefer to wait until Syd arrives, before we get started."

A few seconds later, Bella Greingoth approached the door to Reagan's office, knowing that Jake was inside. Deciding to set an example, she knocked a few times on the door then stood by the entrance waiting to be asked to come in. She couldn't necessarily request others to knock on her office door and wait before entering if she didn't do the same herself. Reagan may give her a few wondering looks, but after all was said and done, Bella would sit down and explain the situation, of course.

Too caught up in everything, Jake rejected the idea of explaining the ideal coincidence and settled for shrugging slightly. It wasn't that important anyways. Sighing as he took in the rest of Minister Taylor's words, he settled for leaning casually against the wall as they both waited for Syd Wordsmith to show up; fidgeting with the hem of his cloak as he did so.

Waiting was never one of Jake's best traits and the more he waited, the worse the scenarios in his head became. If Syd didn't come soon then he'd- Ooh, maybe that was him!!

But wait - that was really quick. Could he have been on his way to see the Minister too?!

Hearing the knock, Reagan pushed herself out of her chair and made her way over to the office door. Peeping through the eye hole, she spotted that Bella was waiting outside her office. Reagan turned the handle and opened the door to greet Bella with a weak smile, weak only because she was so tired and there was very little to smile about, not because she was unhappy about seeing Bella. "Come on in, Bella. I'm glad you're here. I'm going to need you to take notes of this meeting, confidential notes. But we're still waiting for Mr. Wordsmith and Mr. Stryker to return."

Reagan resumed her seat behind her desk and inquired while waiting for Syd, "Do you have any specific information about the deaths of these students, or were you simply made aware of them?" Reagan hoped that Jake was given more detail than she had been given. How could the Headmaster withhold this information for so long?!?

"Sorry I'm late, y'all. Got a little caught up with a division head coming in just as I was leavin'," Syd said as he walked in, tapping his notepad on his free fist.

He looked around the room and smiled to everyone, bowing his head slightly to the minister. Everyone looked so dang serious. These government types...

"I miss anythin'?"