Charely when returning to his office, caught sight of the memo, and immediately went towards their conference room. He wasn't too sure what the meeting could be about, or what tasks his boss planned for everyone, but he'd do his best either way.

"Good morning," Charely greeted, as he walked in. Some coffee will do for him, as he took a cup. He gestured a smile and curt nod to his boss and Victoria, though his eyes lingered just a little longer on Victoria before he chose his seat close, but not to close to her.

After dropping four of his children of at the Daycare, Adam made his way to the seventh floor, checked the notice board, and remembered the meeting. Y'know, it had been hard keeping track of work whilst having six kids - it seemed that Lorelai was never out of labour. BUT he was working on it, and he was more prepared than ever now.

Especially, he thought, running his hand through his hair, now that I can have a coffee. "Morning," he said, with a nod and a smile to his boss and his colleagues as he helped himself to a cup, before finding a seat toward the middle of the table.

Victoria's browns eyes snapped up from her tea to the door as someone entered. Her heart beat a bit faster as she saw that it was Charley. Just meeting him the other day she shouldn't feel this nervous as he walked into the room. Giving him a warm smile she looked towards Ms. Black, did she noticed the blush in Victoria's face she hoped not and looked down to her tea. A smile not leaving her face as thoughts of a certain lunch date came to her head. Work was turning interesting, but the potion also stood in the way of something that could be here... She sighed and tried not to think about it.


Giving Charley another look as he sat down in a seat close by she jumped a bit to the sound of others voices. Oh where was her mind she turned and smiled at the others. "Hello Saxon" She at least knew her. Smiling and nodding at the others, she liked this opportunity to meet everyone, bu the person she was waiting for had not shown her face yet. Sipping her tea again she grinned seeing her friend finally come through the door. "Mariel, I feel like you are becoming a stranger." Had work been so busy she hadn't even spoke to her. She needed to catch her up on some details. Then she saw the look and knew she didn't need to catch her up to much. She gave a small nod of yes that's him and turned back to her tea.

If anyone else still wants to jump in, pretend you've been here all along. :)
 

Aaaah, the first employee, Victoria. The woman had been a great person and has been really helpful with everything. Good, yes. "Hello, Victoria," Lourdes replied. Of course, tea was nice. Maybe she should go get her a cup as well? Later on, maybe. For now she'll just wait for her other employees to join in.

Hmmmmmmm. Fishy. Lourdes saw that little exchange of greeting between this employee and her very own Victoria. Hehe. Was SOMETHING going on? The blonde wanted to know... since well, it was between two of her department employees. "Good morning, Mr. Potter," Lourdes greeted the man.

And more observations to make about those two. Hmmmmmm. Can't hide everything, you know.

Well, Lourdes hasn't seen this one before. Maybe he came out of the break too, like Mr. Smith. No matter. Lourdes was quite pleased that he decided to come back to the Ministry. "Good morning to you, as well," she greeted the man. Maybe she'll have to ask him for his name soon... or just check the filing cabinet later. She was still working on getting to know her employees, by the way. Just got to expand it more.

The next one... well, Lourdes had to admit. She kind of smiled at that. Not because this one was clumsy and amusing, but because Saxon was just... like that. Natural joker, sometimes. She liked that girl. She liked everyone in her level. "Yes, I agree on that," the blonde nodded and gave her employee a smile. Who couldn't like her, anyway? "But good morning, Saxon."

There was her new department liaison. Yes, right over there. Good thing she wasn't late, because that's not what a liaison was supposed to do. Not to mention Lourdes' pet peeve of tardiness. She strongly disliked it... but enough of that. "Hello, Mariel," she greeted the woman.


And now, it was time to start. Late employees? Not welcomed. Maybe they will be allowed, but would probably have a tiny decrease in this month's salary.

"Hello, everyone," Lourdes said and gave a nod to each one of the people in the conference. "First of all, I am sorry for the short notice about this meeting... but thank you for attending. I am glad to see each and everyone of you today." Just so they knew, because she was still making sure nobody was left outside and didn't catch glimpse of her memo. "There is food and drinks over there by the side of the room for everyone so feel free to lay your hands on the great food from the Food Court." Trust me, they were good.

So... that was a good introduction. Time to get to the point. "The reason why I called you all for a meeting is because I want everyone's opinion about the other magical games available for everyone in Britain. As part of the Games & Sports department, I believe it is our duty to take a moment and reflect on the other games and not just focus on Quidditch and Gobstones." Was she making sense? "Besides those two, there are a lot more games that everyone can participate in. What you're going to do is share your thoughts about these games and if we have a positive outcome from this meeting, maybe we can make something out and probably hold a match for each of these games to see if it works out well."

With that said, maybe they had things in mind? Something to share. "Before we start, does anyone have a question? Anything that needs to be clarified?" Lourdes asked.

OOC: Guys, I'm soooo sorry if you don't understand what Lourdes meant. She's being really confusing right now and even I don't get what she is saying to your characters plus I'm exhausted from real life. Bare with us? Anyway... for further understanding, what she actually meant is a debate between the employees. She will flash a certain magical game or sport (besides Quidditch and Gobstones of course) and your charries share their thoughts about it. If there are people who have different opinions and can't seem to agree with each other, we can have things happen from there. Be a little creative and let your characters make CRAZY decisions. It's all for fun! If you still don't understand, feel free to PM me or use any mean of communication and I'd be glad to help out. =)

Victoria noticed a look from Lourdes. She had known her boss for two years now and knew her looks and this was a new one. Did she notice the interesting tension that had filled the room... Oh she hoped not. Glancing towards Charely she couldn't help but smile. hmm was dating in the department even allowed, this was not something she had thought about before, well they weren't even dating so it could just be kept very quiet until she at least knew what was going on.

Listening to Lourdes she didn't have any questions until Saxon spoke, "What type of things would you like us to talk about. Like public relation stuff as in how can we bring muggle sports to the wizarding world or how to get more people to play other wizard sports, or just general information about the sports." She knew she couldn't answer much about muggle sports and hoped she wouldn't look to dumb in front of certain people..

Oh, a question. Yes, Lourdes was pretty glad that she had a few interested minds who wanted to ask. The woman nodded at her employee, Saxon, and pondered on her question. Maybe Saxon understood it wrong... or Lourdes was the one who explained it a biiit unclearly. Oh well... Just for everyone's sake.

"We'll only focus on magical games... and I'll be the one providing the sport." She nodded. And now hopefully they understand now? She wanted things to happen already.

Lourdes was STILL keeping a close eye on two specific employees. Until one of them raised a question of her own. Yes, Victoria had asked. The department head directed her attention to her employee. Right with relating it to the muggle world. "As I said, only the magical games will be tackled. And, well, I just want everyone's thoughts about the game. I am thinking about holding a match for each game and if you feel the need to disagree because of reasons involving safety, then speak up. If you think it's perfectly safe to allow the public to play the said game, then just give a reason why." She was talking too much. A drink was going to be appreciated... in a bit.


No more questions? Okay. Let's get down to business.

"The first game we will discuss about is... Aingingein. Any thoughts?" Then, with a flick of her wand, the board behind her had words on it. It held the details and description of the game.

Aingingein
- Originated from Ireland
- Played by taking a Dom (a goat's gallbladder), and flying through a series of burning barrels on broomsticks.
- The Dom would then be thrown into the final barrel.

OOC: Don't forget that creative answers will mean more fun and lulz for everyone! If some sort of tension happens between your charries, that's okay. Lourdes will take care of that part. More info about Aingingein can be found here.

Charely wasn't quite sure, but he felt like he was under the radar with the look Lourdes gave him throughout his time there. Hmm.. Did she somehow know what was and wasn't going on in the department? He didn't see much of an issue in any case, since they worked in a different area of the department. He carefully sipped on his coffee glancing every now and then, especially when Victoria and Saxon first chimed in their thoughts. Nope, nothing going on. Heh.

Charely didn't have any questions when Lourdes first introduced what would be the topic and the change on the board. He did however, raise a hand regarding the first mentioned sport, Aingingein. "The thought of everyone's safety first comes to mind, with those burning barrels..Does anyone else mind the risk of being set on fire while playing?" The other issue, he was sure his son would have brought up. "Requiring a dom seems quite cruel towards the goat, and a hassle to obtain for each and every game. I think the rules will need to be updated to increase the interest." He had some suggestions, but he wanted to hear everyone else's first.

Adam pondered the game, staring at the board behind his boss' head. Of course, he did agree that it raised some safety issues and, you know, animal rights things, but it sounded quite... interesting. It was definitely something different. "I think it could be done," he began hesitantly, running a hand through his hair. "Obviously there's a massive safety issue, but danger is what exhilarates people." He continued more strongly, confidence in his argument growing. "It's why people ride roller coasters and stuff, because of the thrill. People'll watch it, and there will definitely be some people - stupid? "-ahem, daring enough to play it.

"I think, if we can find a way around the safety issues... I'm not sure how, maybe using a variant of the Bluebell Flames spell, in such a way as we could convince the audience and those playing that it was real, but obviously no harm could come to them if they did catch fire...."

He'd sort of made his point. He hoped he had, at least, although it wasn't clear. Meh.

Saxon listened very quietly and intently to this employee. After a while she started to slowly nod seeing a bit of his point. Yes, yes he was making a sense. Though, she looked towards him and polietely asked, "Do you mean, or I mean, are you suggesting that, instead of using real life flames, which can cause massive burning, to use these bluebell flames around the barrel as a replacement, basically? " Just to be more clear on his idea.

If that was what he meant, then yes, the game didn't sound as dangerous anymore. He had a good point there. But then, she sadly brought up the animal issue, "Still though, wouldn't you say the Ministry could have a backlash on the Dom part of the game? Especially the Department Regulation and Control of Creatures? I mean, wouldn't we have to confer with them on this if we do manage to come to some agreement?" No need to go behind that department's back.

Victoria was listening.. She really was and she hung on every word that Charely everyone was saying. "I agree with the flames. Not only is it dangerous, but it is such a liability for the department. Even with forms and signatures if someone would get seriously hurt or worse we would have to live with that and the reputation of the department would suffer." She listened to the others "I do like the blue flames idea, but as has been said you risk the thrill, but I feel if this is a game that is being set up to play with the right PR interest would be there whether real flames or blue." In Vic's eyes it was all in the way you advertised for an event to bring interest. Even the most exciting games would get no followers if you had bad PR.

As for the disgusting thought of animal parts, "That could be an easy fix. We could get some sort of game balls that are the same size. So no goats would be harmed and no one is actually touching animal parts." because that was gross and just not going to happen. "I do think this could be an interesting game is things are altered into more positive ways." Get rid of safety concerns and just the grossness of the game and it could work.

Lourdes expected a few responses from her employees. Even the quiet ones should start talking, because they all had the right to share their ideas. The department head waited for their thoughts to pour out and served herself a cup of tea. She sort of knew she'd get thirsty with so much talking. Then she took a quill and a piece of parchment. Time to get writing. Yes.
Lourdes listened to Charely as he spoke. He had a point, not that she didn't think of it before she held the meeting. She nodded at his response and scribbled away on the parchment. Duly noted, sir.

They could probably talk about muggle sports soon, but right now didn't seem like the time to do so. It was a business matter, after all... but Lourdes considered it. For next time, you know?

So she agreed with the previous speaker. Okay then. Lourdes still wrote that down. And... Saxon was from Ireland, judging by her reaction earlier. Taken in mind.

Here was someone who was thinking way beyond what was necessary. Lourdes was kind of impressed by this one, even if she still didn't know his name. Oh well, there was a filing cabinet for reasons right? His suggestions, too, were logical.

Finally, the department head nodded and wrote what her employee said on the parchment. "Good suggestions," she said. "Please tell me your name." For getting-to-know reasons. Probably Rex had employed this one.

Well... at least Saxon was thinking out of the box too? But then the issue about the goat's gallbladder. Hmm... interesting question.

"I don't think Aingingein would have been allowed for the public's interest if the Department of Regulation and Control of Creatures did not know about it," Lourdes said in reply to her employee. "The department has the right to be aware about it since it does involve a part of an animal." Muggle or Magical, they were to be treated equally. This was also written down on the parchment.

And then Victoria. Yes, they were going to risk the thrill part if they did change the flames part of the game. Some things to considered, so Lourdes wrote that down too. Great minds, her employees had.


"Everyone has shared great ideas and points about Aingingein. I've listed a lot of things coming for you, but solid decisions will be made later on." Like, at the near end of this meeting. They still had a couple of games to discuss about. "But also about the safety issues, we can never avoid injuries. Even playing Quidditch could mean risking yourself to more of them such as broken limbs and noses." Trust her, Lourdes has experienced that before. Anyway...

Moving on, Lourdes glanced at her list of different games. "The next game will be Quodpot." No, she didn't list Creaothceann in the list. It was banned for loads of reasons. But she was aware that this happened in Hogwarts for one of their Flying finals. Good thing nothing bad happened to the students or that would have meant SERIOUS business.

With the flick of her wand, the description of Aingingein on the board was replaced by Quodpot.

Quodpot
- Originated from the United States of America
- Players attempt to get the Quod into the pot at the end of the pitch before it explodes.
- Somehow similar to Quidditch

They all knew what to do.

OOC: You people are so amazing and I'm just really glad of everyone's participation so far. I'd want everyone to join in but that's okay. I just don't want to keep everyone waiting too long. Speaking of waiting, I am sorry if I just posted now. We had a power cut for about 12 hours. Remember, creative answers is equal to fun! Don't worry about any tension because that is also part of the fun in this RP. Go forth and be awesome, G&S! More info about Quodpot can be found here.

"Miss Black, I do agree injuries happen, but I do feel we need to take in to consideration what kind of injuries with these games. There are huge differences between broken bones at a quidditch match and fans watching someone burned from falling into flamed rings. We have to keep that in mind, because I would hate for someone to get a serious injury or worse in something we have scheduled, we have placed our names on, and you or one of us end up losing our job over." She knew she was being persistent, but this was a big deal for anything they did.

Listening to the next game Victoria had the same issues pop into her head. Why were they thinking of pulling these games in.. Wasn't there a reason they were just quidditch and gobstones? "What happens if the ball does explode? Is it take an arm off explosion, or some green slime pops out on you gobstone style?" She wasn't aware of the game as well as she wished she was. "If it was goo, then I would say that would be pretty interesting, messy, but I could see people having a great time playing it. If it is take your arm off explosion then again I have to bring up the liability issues." The goo could be an added change though, which she could see even her own son playing something that involved goo.

You can still post. Lourdes just had to answer Vic's question. :)
 

Well yes, she was aware that being burned was way horrible than breaking a limb or two. Lourdes didn't feel like she needed an explanation of that sort so she just nodded at her employee. She had a point anyway so... moving on to her question.

This was probably a result of why not a lot of Quodpot fans can be found in Britain. They were just really loyal to Quidditch but... well, maybe give it a try sometime? "The ball just... explodes. Maybe a few injuries could happen but I don't really think it's anything serious. However once the Quod, or the ball, explodes, the player who was holding it must leave the field of play then another Quod will be brought in." That was a lot of Quods, honestly. "I guess it's more like a "last man standing, wins" kind of game." Lourdes has never played it before, so she didn't exactly know. She was just basing it on the knowledge she learnt from Quidditch Through the Ages.

Hmm.. Charely rubbed his chin at the next game, Quodpot. While he never played, it was obvious just reading on it earlier how dull (safety-wise) it is compared to Quidditch. It was more.. kid-friendly? Mariel just about charmed the nail on the dot with that statement.. Hmm. Well, the previous mentioning on the use of Bluebell did seem like a good and clever ruse for the crowd to keep its excitement in Aingingein. Quodpot needed something like that, and more.

That seemed to drive his thinking on how to keep the games fun, mind that the thrills didn't fall into life-threatening and questionable merits, of course. "I'd imagine our audience would like to see a bit more thrill." He looked towards Victoria again at her somewhat-mentioning Gobstones.. yes, that could work. "Perhaps the exploding ball could also coat the player in some sort of substance.. or have small ball inside that gets free after the explosion and starts chasing the carrier off the pitch." No injures required, but it'd at least get a reaction. Nodding at Lourdes, yes, the last one standing.

Boring. Well, Lourdes has never played it before so she didn't feel like she wanted to judge the others for their opinions. Yes it did seem safe but... explosion and that sort of stuff. Maybe small injuries and it's always better to think about safety. Like... always the first priority of it all.

But anyway, the woman wrote down what her liaison had said.

Yes. Thrill. What great idea... Quodpot might need it a bit, right? Especially if you're the last one holding the Quod before it exploded. You just get that big BOOM! on the face. Lourdes liked the idea of some excitement.

"We can consider that, yes," Lourdes nodded and scribbled down on the parchment. However she might have to speak with almost all of the countries about that. Just to make sure things were sync when it came to the certain game. She could... let them try that for safety measures later on... especially with the slime-exploding Quod part.

And then Saxon, who seemed to have related the slime with... Nicke-something. Lourdes knew that was a Muggle TV show (she was a half-blood, by the way) but she never really... watched it even way back when she was a young witch. "So we have slime and goo as suggestions," Lourdes took note of that and it was on her parchment for future discussion.


Nobody else? Okay... time to move on then. "Before I move on to the next game, I want everyone to think about something first. Since we know that Quidditch is somehow similar to Quodpot, do you think the British and Irish witches and wizards could still play it? I know most of us stay loyal to Quidditch, but personally do you think Quodpot can still be played even if it's not as popular as the former?" It's not a safety-related question, but more of a personality-related question. Maybe someone wanted to try Quodpot out? Maybe someone else wanted Quidditch alone and stay faithful to it. She just wanted the opinions of everyone, because they were one department and that was a thing to keep in mind at all times. "You can think about that first and share it later, so that I move on to the next game."

A short sip from her tea first. Mhm. "With that said, the next game will be Shuntbumps." Well... it WAS stilla game. Lourdes flicked her wand and the things related to Quodpot vanished and was replaced by new information.


Shuntbumps
- Once rose to popularity in Devon, England
- Considered as a children's game
- Played by attempting to knock out as many other players as you can

Children's game. Right. "For this one, we can just focus on the audience of the game... which is for children." Some of them had children and nieces and nephews, right? They might have some things to share.

OOC: Sorry for moving on with just a few people. I feel like we have to find a close to this meeting soon so I'll be posting more on a daily basis rather than every other day starting now. It's been running for a week and a half already, and we're not even finished with half (I think?). Just keep it up guys! Shuntbumps info can be found here but I guess everything is already on the board so you don't really have to visit the page. For the Quidditch vs. Quodpot part, there can be parties that don't agree with each other. So... tension. Depends on your charries, really. I'll post again in about 20 - 24 hours from this post. =)

Okay, so Charely smirked into his coffee at this one, since he grew up when it was popular. He was a father and uncle, but his son, Wade was seventeen and his nephew, Luc, was thirteen, despite claiming to be his leap-year age.. They both clearly weren't the targeted age anymore, so Charely only had his own memories to rely on.. hmm? He turned his head.

Hm, more impressive ideas from Adam. "Yes.. I think this could remain indoors as well as outdoors." Limit the height of brooms? "Well, they do have low-flying toy broomsticks that don't go any higher than two feet, which seems okay." He owned one for Wade, which still sat in the attic forgotten. "I agree with the bouncing effect, it could also spread from not only the floors but to the walls and other obstacles, to make sure the flyer won't crash into anything other than with each other."

Vic sat listening to all the ideas, no it was obvious she didn't know the Qudpot game well, but she couldn't help but give Charely a thank you for agreeing with me smile. He seemed to step up whether meaning to or not and agree with her. Eyes lingering a little to long on him as the Lourdes spoke of the next game. Her focus going back to the group as children were mentioned.

"I think this would be a great family oriented event. Let's face it children like to be involved in things and parents need times were they can watch there kids but in a social area. This is the best of both worlds. I like the height restriction. My son would need that or he would be the dare devil in the group." She could see Bart now going way to high and falling.

"I think it's a great way to get children involved in flying at an early age as well. Why not promote a start to possibly quidditch by using this game." The younger they start the better she guess and if it was safe than there was no reason not to. She would let Bart play if he wanted why not.