After she had finished her little bit of speaking Isobel did hope that someone was going to start the introductions off. She looked to one of the younger members of the team as she began talking. Evelyn. Ahh. One of the locked room potioneers. Isobel smiled at her, as she put a tick by the girls name. As a few of her other employee's Isobel nodded her head, generally happy with what they were saying. Along with Evelyn she was a little concerned with the dog. Her department was no place for animals. There was a creatures department for a reason. She gave Evelyn a look, one that said she would get to the dog.

And then. The owner of the dog talked to her. Order of merlin. Isobel actually had no care that the man had an order of merlin. He was still just an employee within her department. "You do not need to worry about the security in the ministry. If you had listened to anything I said you would have heard that I have worked in Law Enforcement, I have worked there for over a decade, and I am very much capable of providing adequate security for our department." And she did have very good connections with the law enforcement department. Nobody needed to worry about security down here. Not anymore.

What was he babbling on about now. Isobel didn't want his life story, and she was pretty sure that the philisopher's stone did not exist anymore. The inventor had destroyed the thing. "I am sorry about your wife Because she knew it was not nice to lose a spose. "But I'm afraid the death chamber is not going to be your Tomb. I will not employ anybody who is near their death And that was final. No matter how annoying this man would turn out to.

Wait. He knew about her wedding. It was clear that Isobel's anger had gone up a tone. How dare he. "I do not have any idea how you know about up and coming wedding, but you will mind your own business." He would. Because Isobel would not tolerate it. "As it is. I am getting married, and my husband to be is actually the department head of Magical Law enforcement. So trust me he has his own demons keeping him awake at night." and No. She was not going to delve into any more of that trouble. "And I would prefer it if we now take a step away from anything to do with any of our personal lives, and remain on a professional topic" That would happen. Or she could be very angry. Next person please introduce yourself?

Alexandria watched as as an excitable woman - Katherine - cooed over the demented man's dog for a moment. Before the blond woman over there decided to start off the meeting. Introductions, ah well, she should have expected that. Listening to each of them in turn introduce themselves, she waited. Evelyn was the young one, who seemed curious about her.

Next, of course, the rather hyper and excitable one introduced herself - again. Katherine Lewis. Ah and then went the woman who seemed like herself to be judging those around her. Magnolia; thought chamber, which didn't seem surprising in the way the woman had been judging them all silently.

Doctor of Death. Nero Nykto. As he delved into some of his own personal stuff about how he planned on this being his eventual tomb, Alex understood then why he seemed to come off as crazy. Because he was. He was obsessed too, from what she could tell.

Right then, she better introduce herself. They were waiting.

Small smile. "I am Alexandria Hadley, and I'm new to working at the Ministry, and of course the Department of Mysteries. But I will be working in the Space Chamber as an Evolutionist." Something she was looking forward to, actually.

Direct, to the point. And they all knew who she was. Now what?

Jade sat back slightly as she watched a few more colleagues join them. There was still only a few of them there, but to her knowledge there wasn't really many of them in their department anyway and if there were, most of them did tend to keep to themselves. It wasn't like any of the them weren't social people, they were just very focused on their work. It had always just been that way there.

Turning her head to their newest Head, she listened. A former Head Auror, that was impressive. Turning her head upon hearing Nero, she fought not to roll her eyes. He had always left a terrible impression on him and was rather happy that he wasn't in the Death Chamber during her time as a division head. In her opinion, their thoughts on the Death Chamber were vastly different and she wasn't even going to get into her feelings about it at the moment.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to everyone else introducing themselves. She wasn't all that great with names but it was a nice reminder of just who all did work in their department. It was good to be at least familiar with those that they worked with each day.

Waiting for her turn, she sat up a bit straighter and smiled. "I'm Jade Smith," she voiced with a wave of her hand. "I've been working for the Ministry and the Department of Mysteries for almost eight years." Hearing herself saying it, she felt a bit old, but she really wasn't! "I'm work in the Thought Chamber, Conscious Specialist. I started in The Time Room before moving to the Death Chamber, where I was a division head shortly. From there I moved to my current position and have been working with the Encephalons." Yes, that was pretty much all of it, wasn't it?

Sherman stayed quiet while everyone introduced themselves. He feared that if he spoke up and said something stupid, he would most probably make everything worse than it already was, with Dr. Nykto and Ms. New Head's argument, the new employees who watched with gaping mouths, and the Nero's guard dog yapping at his wheelchair. The elderly man did not want to get into this. Nope, nope, nope. He hated arguments and chaos, and both of them did leave him in awe. But he guessed it was good that the scary Doctor was standing near him. If a fight broke out, no one would dare throw a glass at Nero and he was old, too.

Wanting to break up the argument, the handicapped man butted in, which was quite brave of him, seeing as he was so shy. "My name is Sherman Clark, and I'm sixty-five. That's old." Not too bad of a start, was it not? "I've worked here for a while now. I'm a Time Chamber Specialist with narcolepsy. And I liked your cookies," he added quietly, staring at the blonde, blue-eyed lady. Well.. her cookies WERE scrumptious.

This was a first for him. Talking to a lady voluntarily? That was abnormal.

Katherine felt like rolling her eyes at all the seriousness happening inside of that room. They all spoke to each other with a heavy tones. She kept heer hands over her knees and a more serious look on her face as she watched the imminent discussion that seemed to be about to break between the Head of the Department and that odd man who had brought the dog.

She could totally get that this was, the first reunion of the Department of Mysteries members but it had been described to her as a little greet and meet, and she was expecting something lighter. But for a first contact everybody seemed suspicious of everyone and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing... She breathed calmly and deeply through her nose and took a decision. No more nice Kat. She clenched her jaws.

Her attention got caught when someone spoke about the Chamber where she would also be working, the Space Chamber, she looked at the woman for a few seconds analysing her as her soon to be partner in Chamber. She looked rather normal.. then the oldest person in the room spoke and again she opened a soft spot for him. He was cute !

So Demetrius thought, the women who was staring at him before was named Evelyn.Hmm.. He would have to remember that for future reference. He stayed quiet and listened to everybody do their introductions and made it a point to remember every bodies name. He knew that his new department head was getting married because he met her fiance as he was walking around the ministry. He was trying to get to know his way around the ministry since he had never been here before today. What was his name.. oh it was Wes Ferguson and he was the head of MLE.

He was at least happy that he was not the only one new, there was another named Alexandria Hadley, who was new like him. He guessed he would have to say his name again and tell them were he worked now. "As I said before my name is Demetrius Clay and i am new to this country , this ministry and its Department of Mysteries. I will be working in the Death Chamber as a Death Specialist."

Opening his mouth to speak, he could find no words, so he quietly slipped quietly into a chair. Isobel was a fiery woman, perhaps there was hope for her yet. Fumbling for a cookie, he took a bite, and nodded his head. "It's good.." Nero leaned back in his seat, trying to look composed after getting put in his place.

Okay. So the guy that shut up. Everyone had introduced there selves. That was that sorted with. Isobel mused for a few minutes, making a few notes on her parchment. She would compare these notes against the folder with the employee details she had back in her office. Okay. Onto other things now. Isobel ticked the introductions bit on her parchment, and then looked up at everyone. Onto the next item on her Agenda. "So. The first thing I did when I transferred down here was look at the job descriptions" which she had not really liked at all. Big departmental switch over was going to happen.

And I have sorted, and changed practically all of the jobs." Meaning that they would all need to have a bit of a switch around. "I am going to be looking at your qualifications and experiance, and then switch you around the various rooms accordingly." and make the department as awesome as possible. "I owled you all about this, but I am just going to ask now if anyone would like to move to a particular room, or stay in the room you currently work in." She nodded. She'd not recieved many owls back. So this should be interesting. "Obviously new hires...I already assigned you one of the new jobs."

There was definitely something Magnolia wasn't too certain about. And it was the fact that she couldn't remember if the former Department Head had done the same. Changing the work descriptions.

He probably didn't. Yet he offered the same opportunity that Isobel was offering them now.

As far as Magnolia went, "Well, I believe I've stated I'd like to remain in my current position, as a Sub-Conscious Specialist," she repeated, again, and this was the third time she's mentioned her preference. It was merely the second time today. They were surpassing records, her and Nykto, for the response he got from this new Department Head was way harsh than the one from the former one.

Magnolia actually started to wonder how Sakura ever dealt with him.

But back to the present. She decided to slip by the whole wedding business, it really didn't concern her and she truly didn't care.

Oh joy, now he had to sit through listening to everybody state whether they wanted their same job or not. At least he had a comfortable chair. Demetrius did want to do some actual work today and he thought introductions were the end of this meet and greet.

But since it apparently wasn't, he resigned himself to get as comfortable as he could and just stare at everybody who talked. The one thing Demetrius did want to know was where that women Evelyn who stared at him before worked just for future information. He already knew he would be working with Nero and hoped he wasn't incompetent.

She got a...look.

Well, that was better than her concerns for the creature being shot down entirely. Besides, the doctor dude being told off by their new department head just may have made her forget about the slobber monster for now, but it wasn't until the woman who called herself Alexandria Hadley did she forget altogether. Hadley! That's why she looked familiar. She looked like Hadley!

Even had the same last name...

Evelyn stared at the women until the department head started speaking again. Quite frankly, she was happy to actually be officially placed somewhere instead of just being a general worker. Slowly shaking her head, Evelyn looked around to see if anyone else had any requests.

Le glare at Demetrius.

Nero didn't just look at Demetrius, but he looked through him, to his very soul. Those ancient eyes fell to the dog that sat at his feet, a hand motioning towards an empty chair near him. "Sit with me, boy." After being humbled by the department head, his age was showing. "There is much for you to learn. Once you walk through death's door, your life will never be the same." Patting his dog atop the head, there were the hints of a smile on the death doctors face.

Demetrius saw that Evelyn was glaring at him again. This could only be because of two reasons, either she liked him or she hated him. Demetrius guessed at first it was because she hated him. But he has not talked enough for people to hate him, soooo that must only mean she liked him.

So he did the smart thing. He turned towards her in his chair and gave her the I know why you are glaring smile. All with a wink at the end because he knew she liked him.

Once he was done winking at Evelyn he turned and saw that the Doctor was talking to him. He wanted Demetrius to sit with him, all the while rambling about Death.

Oh why not, Demetrius thought. He had nothing better to do right now other than irritate Evelyn. So he got up from his chair and walked over and sat in the comfortable chair next to the Doctor. All these chair are really comfortable Demetrius thought. "So Doctor Death, what do you want to talk about?"

Err. Sherman had just become much more afraid of Ms. New Head. No one told off Nero. Not even Corin, and even he had more backbone than Sakura. Who did this lady think she was, Helga Hufflepuff? Because if she wasn't, she was going to have plenty of problems heading this Department. But, then again, Izzy was pretty fiery, from what he'd seen. She sure wasn't going to go down easy.

And they wonder how the other Corin and Sakura had succumbed. Well, not really Sakura, due to the fact that he was kind of part of an illegal Cult, but they weren't going to delve into that right now.

But even so, he reached for another one of her cookies, which he had recently discovered were not poisoned, and listened to her speak. Change his position? Hmm. Well, he already knew that none of the Chambers of Mysteries were suitable for an old man like him, excluding the Time Chamber and the Hall of Prophecy. He had no idea how Nero survived in the Death Chamber, but that was probably a topic that Sherman should avoid. Instead he asked the only question that came to his mind. "What if we switch positions and we aren't working very well in our new positions? Can we be moved back to our old ones, even if new people have already taken them?"

Isobel made note of the employee's that mentioned anything about training. She was going to be looking at everyone regardless, so it didn't matter that much. But generally knowing where they may like to work would be pretty successful. She didn't want people working in places where they weren't happy. The place wouldn't be too successful, and efficient if not. Okay. There was a question. Isobel turned to Sherman, and smiled at them. "That would be down to the employee..." She decided basically upon the spot. "I'd make a decision regarding the old room of work, and see how we can move on." Yup. That was what she would do. But she wasn't intending on any of that happening. She was going to very specifically place people into new rooms, so hopefully they would all be good at their jobs.

"Okay..." Yup. She'd had enough of this now. "That brings this little meeting to an end. You can stay and talk to each other if you feel, but do remember it is a working day, and you should get some work done..." She mused with a little grin. "I'll be in my office if you need me." And with that she stood up, and excited the roo.

*** New Ministry year ***

Alexandria barely wasted time going to check the solar system. Yes she had entered the space chamber and once she saw that most things were intact as she left them before vacation why wouldn't they be?, she locked the chamber back up and headed back down the corridor to the conference room. Why?

Because Isobel was back and they ALWAYS had meetings when the ministry resumed activity after holiday. Didn't they? So she may as well be at the conference room and be early; arrive before the meeting is officially called. She may even have knocked on a few doors on her way to call her attention to her colleagues....

Isobel was quite looking forward to this meeting. She'd been unzombified pretty late into the previous year, and so hadn't gotten time to catch up with her employees. This was the whole reason she'd called the meeting. She wanted to catch up with them all, see what they'd been doing so that they could make plans for the upcoming year. Tucking a loose strand of hair that had fallen from her bun Isobel made her way from her office and towards the conference room. She was hoping that most people would be early today, so they could get started straight away. They had lots of things to discuss.

Ahh. Alex was here. That was good. "Good morning Alex." Isobel smiled, moving to the head of the table, where she placed her file paper and coffee down, before sitting down herself.

Demetrius walked into the conference room ponder a question he was working on in the death chamber. He brought his mind back to the present and saw that he was indeed early. Since the only two people that were here are Isobel and Alex.

All Demetrius really cared about was getting this meeting over with so he could go back to work.But he did feel that he should be more social and not so work driven. He walked by Isobel and greeted her. She was his boss after all. "Hello, Isobel". He then walked over to Alex, said "Hey, Alex" ,and took a seat next to her. Demetrius did not know why. Maybe because he did not want to walk around in a circle to find a seat.

Evelyn was just leaving the kitchens with a to-go cup of tea in her hand when she heard the knocking going on. The young woman paused where she was, scowl becoming ever clearer on her face as she swirled her tea around a little until she saw Alex walking into the conference room. Oh, right. A new year, they had one of those didn't they.

Entering the conference room, the brunette woman actually made an effort to not look so grouchy and made the frown somewhat upside down. The mornings after a well rested vacation were evil. "Good morning." she spoke, eyes cast downward as she claimed the seat near Isobel.

It was an awful morning. They had to wake up.

To be true, Brandon was feeling a bit nervous because this was his first day at the Ministry and he didn't knew anyone which made him feel like he was back to his school days. He walked all the way to level 9 and stepped into his new workplace, he was supposed to work at the Ever-Locked room but right now he had to go to the conference room for a meeting with the department head.

Before entering, he checked his watch - he wasn't late - quickly fixed his tie and stepped into the room. There were four people already, "Good morning" said Brandon. He wasn't going to introduce himself yet so, he took a seat near the other man that was in the room and waited for the meeting to begin.

That were few things that Jade disliked and being late was one of them. Glancing at her watch, she waddledmade her way into the conference room. She had been in a bit of a rush and had to forgo her cup of tea. In her rush, she had even forgotten to cast another cushioning charm on her shoes, but at least she had made it in time for the meeting. The cushioning charm would just have to wait until after.

Seeing her colleagues, she offered a polite smile and settled herself into the nearest chair. "Morning."

Oh good; she hadn't been wrong in her predictions of a 'welcome back' meeting. For a moment later, her boss entered the conference room with file papers and coffee. Ooh coffee! She totally should have gotten one of those before heading down to the conference room, except that she was already wired enough (for some strange reason).

Broad smile.

"Morning Isobel! Welcome back!" Because she had totally been missing from the department for some time, hadn't she? Or was she just so hung up on her space models that she didn't even notice?


"Hi Demetrius! Hi Evelyn!" Gosh, was it just her or why did everyone look soooo miserable about being here? Was she the only one hyped up on energy? Cause it sure seemed that way. Cue another big grin at her two co-workers.

And then another grin at Jade; a girl she knew by recognition mostly. "Goooooooood morning!" Alex nearly sang back. Cause it was definitely a good morning; mmhm!

Oh hello newww employee! Because he totally was new, wasn't he? If he wasn't, then he lived inside a tighter restrictive box than Alex did, which was saying something. He didn't seem very talkative though, which meant that either he was new and didn't feel it appropriate to introduce himself at this moment OR he was just .... quiet and not the talker, like pretty much everyone who was employed in this department. Deciding it was the former, she gave him a big smile as well. "Morning, mister! Welcome!" Because he was knew to her, at the very least, if not the department.

A meeting? There hadn't been many of those since he joined this department and he was quite happy for that so what was all this talk suddenly about meetings? Didn't the Department Head know that meetings meant he had to see people? Who in Merlin's beard told her that would have been a good idea?

Gavin wasn't sure what to do with his face as he walked in. For one he wasn't very enthused about being thrown into an awkward social situation but on the other hand he was thinking it might not have been such a bad thing. He decided to go with a smile, that's what people wore these days, yes? Smile on--ugh, but not a ridiculous smile because that was simply a no--he took a seat and muttered a general 'good morning' to everyone that had already arrived.

Now what?

Did he try talking to people? Was that what people did at these things? He looked around the room at all the people present. Perhaps he would wait for one of them to realize his importance and acknowledge him?....That sounded like a plan so he would sit and wait...

...

Isobel had leant back in her chair, sipping at her cup of coffee as she waited for the rest of her employees to file in. Hopefully they would read the notice board before they went to their rooms. If not then the meeting was going to be rather interesting. Thankfully it seemed that people had read it as they began coming in. Isobel smiled at each in turn, not choosing to speak yet. She would wait till a good number were here before starting. She returned to drinking her coffee as she waited. Hmm. This seemed like a good enough number of people. "Welcome back." She murmured with a smile, settling her cup onto the table. "I hope you all had a good holiday." She sure had, though sometimes she wished she had longer off with her boys. Funny how her husband was quite the opposite.

"I just called the meeting really to catch up, seeing as I was gone for the majority of last year." Which really wasn't too good. Hopefully he department wasn't in to much of a mess. "First though. I'd like to welcome two new members of the department. Brandon Knox who will be working in the ever-locked room, and " Ahh. The other employee wasn't here. Awkward. "And Alex Armstrong....who hasn't arrived yet. But shall be working in the death chamber."

Ella wasn't prepared for her first actual meeting. What with having a baby at home that did not shut up, it was kinda hard to get any sleep. And that was precisely what had happened today, oversleeping. But she WAS prepared to get back into work with an eager attitude, and actually make something of herself. It was pretty clear that she had been a slacker ever since she was employed.

That was just Ella for you.

She took a steady stride into the conference room, and nodded at everyone who was already there. People that she didn't actually know well enough to be colleagues with. Oh wellllll, "Morning." Yeah, yeah, whatever.