Once the portkey lands, you will find yourself in the middle of the Newborough Forest on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Lush greenery surrounds you and tall plants tickle your knees. Trees tower over head, providing spotty, but pleasant shade from the summer sun above. The air is warm and slightly humid, but nothing unbearable. A few large clouds are seen floating above the trees.

Today you will be taking a relaxing hike through the Newborough Forest, through the hills, over the rivers, and into the wheat fields. If you're not a professional hiker, don't worry. This won't be too strenuous!

Do make sure you stay alert and aware of your surroundings. Magical creatures are known to roam about these woodlands. You wouldn't want to miss out!

OOC: This thread is for current Ministry of Magic employees only. In the near future there will be special red accountsfor certain magical creatures. Please, do NOT RP for them. All SS and MoM rules apply, of course. This is intended to be fun, so enjoy! =)

You MUST post HERE before posting in this thread. All current Ministry of Magic employees are welcome to come! No experience or invitation required.

After several moments of whirling around, Ella felt herself being tugged back to the ground. She had grown rather accustomed to portkeys over the years, so she was able to land on her feet quite smoothly. Hopefully the others didn't have motion sickness...

Ella took a moment to look around her at the scenery. They were in a large meadow of calf-height ferns and other small leafy plants. Several feet away, they were surrounded by full, green trees and the sound of nature was floating through the air.

A few seconds after landing, she looked around at the others to make sure she hadn't lost anyone in portkey limbo.

"Everyone settled all right?" she asked. Once she was sure everyone was here with all their body parts, they could begin on their leisurely hike.

Once Hershey was SURE that she had all body parts accounted for, she got all excited again. "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!" She let out an excited whisper to be all observant of the pretty peaceful nature.

IT WAS AWESOME.

CRACK.

She materialized out of thin air like a boss. She steadied herself and looked around. The place looked wonderful. Lush green plants and streaming sunlight, it was as if the place was welcoming them, with open arms.

"Sure looks like fun" she commented aloud.

Jack felt himself squeezed through a vortex and was soon after spit out and fell about a foot to the ground. He felt soft grass beneath as he slowly lifted his upped body off the ground. He saw lush greenery in the form of gigantic tree's and a variety of plants surrounding. His jaw dropped. This place was magnificent, it reminded him so much of the magical creatures preserve he worked for in his homeland in the United States. But he knew this place was wild and this was the chance of a life time. He got up and started to look around but stayed close as he waited for the next set of instructions.

When the annoying Portkey feeling left him, Derek found himself standing in the middle of a very nice forest. Wow.

He took a moment to look around as the others settled and... wow. That was really nice. And look at all those plants...! Surely some of them - if not all - had magical properties... Derek wondered if he'd be able to take some back home with him.

Hm...

When the Head of Department spoke to them all, Derek nodded in acknowledgement and turned around to face her, waiting for... instructions or something.

Manolo lost a bit of his balance as they appeared at the forest. It's been awhile since he last traveled by portkey. He took a knee until the spinning in his head stopped, pretending to study the leaves on the ground. "Hmm...brown and crunchy, I see.." He waited for the other lady, Laurel?, to appear to introduce himself because he didn't really have a chance to do so at the work area.

Laurel easily landed on her feet once everyone had arrived at their destination. Traveling by portkey was always something that interested her when she was attending school, although she was terrible at it in the beginning. But just look at her now, landing like a bird or something! She couldn't help but feel proud! Laurel then looked over at Ella checking if everyone was alright, which she immediately began to look herself over just in case. Seeing everything was in order, she raised her thumb in the air towards Ella giving her the okay that she was alright, which was then followed by a reassuring smile.

She then looked over seeing that Manolo guy she had just met before they left. Laurel could tell right away by the way he was hunched over, that he was feeling a bit dizzy. Laurel smirked a little bit when she heard him make a comment about the leaves..quick cover-up? She made her way towards him and then stood over him as she said with a half smile,"Hm..That probably won't be the only brown & crunchy thing you see if you don't stand up.." She chuckled a bit, then offered him a hand to help him stand himself up,"Here.."

Manolo's head had just stopped spinning when he heard the crunchy footsteps of someone approaching him. He looked up. Ah. It was the Laurel lady. He sighed, looking down at the ground and then back up, "Yeah..." He took her hand and stood up. "Interesting leaves, though. Heh..heh." He scratched the back of his head and stuck out the other. "I'm Manolo, by the way."

Ella took a quick look around at her employees and the others joining them. They all seemed to be doing just fine. Manolo seemed to have a moment, but he was up and looked fine now.

"Alright, everyone... Welcome to Newborough Forest. We're just a couple kilometers from the coast, and we'll be able to camp near the beach tonight. But until then, we're going to journey through this forest and see what we can find."

Good? Good. "The first thing you'll want to know is that this forest is filled with animals, magical and non magical alike. To us, some normal creatures may seem mundane if we don't classify them as 'magical', but they are all creatures and they are all interesting and significant, regardless of their classification." As Ella went onto explain, her small Spanish accent grew a little thicker with each minute, as it tended to do when she spoke of things she was passionate about and got excited.

Moving on... Ella started to lead her pack of employees through some low ferns and gestured for them to follow. "I want you all to be as observant as humanly possible. If you think we haven't seen anything yet, you're wrong. Open your eyes." Ella stopped and looked up into the trees, waiting and expecting the others to look up, too.

In the tree tops above, if you paid attention, several families of red squirrels could be seen scurrying and hopping from one branch to another. Birds of several, countless kinds fluttered their wings and flew from tree to tree, and other various animals scuttled about. But the one creature that stood out the most was the dark greenish-black almost vulture-looking bird that was perched on one of the tallest branches of a tree several feet away. Ella locked her eyes on it and waited for the others to notice. The bird was an Augurey, Ella noticed, and beautifully colored."What can anyone tell me about that special bird?" the department head asked, looking back at her hikers.

They started to walk, lead by the woman..who seemed to be the boss. She wasn't very familiar with many people in here. Some seemed to know each other. Well, no problem. She began to follow the group until they came to a pause.

She was already starting to feel like a small kid. With all those eying the people, leading them, instructions...blah blah. And now CoMC classes? Why did she really sign up for this? She wasn't exactly one with the animals. Sure, she liked them..but she never really listened to anything during her Hogwarts days.

She looked up at the bird the lead woman was seeing. Vulture, really? Tell about it? What was one supposed to say about vultures? Magnificent creatures, full of charm and also human-loving. Heh.

And it was not a vulture. Silly you. She knew what that was. Atleast she thought she did. "Uhm..isn't that..some sort of phoenix?" she asked aloud. Don't expect good answers. I was never good with them.

Manolo followed behind Miss Boss, observing everything she pointed out. Wooo, they're going to camp by the beach! Do he hear someone saying BONFIRE?!

His boss's faint Spanish accent added to the list of why she reminded him of his mother, but he should keep that to himself. The last time was a bit scary and learned that he shouldn't tell people that they remind him of his mother. He supposes its a bit weird.

He knelt down to feed a lurking red squirrel a piece of crisp he had in his pocket. That's something. He should probably clean out his pockets. Who knows what he had in there.

He looked up as Miss Ella fixed her eyes on something up above. Brilliant looking bird, indeed, the Augurey. Manolo slightly raised his hand, "I know that it tends to hang around in Britain and Ireland." Do people raise their hands in these types of things?

Jack kept a vigilant eye and as he explored that vast jungle before him. Soon his department head saw a certain kind of bird. His eyes popped open, he had seen that bird before, but only in books. Jack looked intently at the bird, the poor little guy really did have the sad look with it's thin features which were truly it's norm, facinating. Then his department head asked what they knew about that bird. He spoke up, "Thats an augurey mam, they are said to look like and underfed vulture which this little guy certainly does,thats it's norm which is rather facinating, and their cry is supposed to signify rain. Their feathers would also make rubbish quil cause it would not hold ink.".

Derek frowned at the weirdness of some people around him. He was actually expecting that. Creatures didn't act weird, human beings did. Derek was always quite aware of that.

That Ella woman sure sounded enthusiastic about all this. Which the former Gryffindor didn't mind. People are supposed to be excited about their field, aren't they? Well, at least he was.

When everybody else followed the Head of Department's instruction and looked up, Derek took a glance at all of the people there before looking up himself. Squinting his eyes, he noticed some squirrels and birds. Nice view indeed. The young man started trying to figure out what birds were those and if their feathers would have any sort of magical properties when Ella called their attention to one specific bird.

It was relatively larger than the ones Derek was looking at, but it didn't look as if it was enjoying its freedom like the others did. Then the question. Ella's question made Derek feel like he was back at Hogwarts again, in a CoMC class. That wasn't one of his worst subjects, so he didn't mind. But, just like he did at school, the 26 year-old kept quiet and just watched the creature while other people talked about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dansgurl

And it was not a vulture. Silly you. She knew what that was. Atleast she thought she did. "Uhm..isn't that..some sort of phoenix?" she asked aloud. Don't expect good answers. I was never good with them.

"Ah, good question. The answer is yes and no. While this bird is also known as the 'Irish Phoenix', they does not actually possess the same qualities -- such as rebirth -- as the normal red phoenix." But that didn't make the Augurey any less special. They were still special, beautiful creatures.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awarlesta Black

He looked up as Miss Ella fixed her eyes on something up above. Brilliant looking bird, indeed, the Augurey. Manolo slightly raised his hand, "I know that it tends to hang around in Britain and Ireland." Do people raise their hands in these types of things?

Aww, he raised his hand. Ella chuckled fondly and nodded towards Manolo. "Yes, that is correct. And you don't need to raise your hand." She shot him a friendly wink and began walking slowly backwards to keep the group moving.

"The Augurey is mostly found in Ireland, yes, but there are still a fair amount of them in Britain." For example, that one. They got lucky!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosa Chispa Princessa

Jack kept a vigilant eye and as he explored that vast jungle before him. Soon his department head saw a certain kind of bird. His eyes popped open, he had seen that bird before, but only in books. Jack looked intently at the bird, the poor little guy really did have the sad look with it's thin features which were truly it's norm, facinating. Then his department head asked what they knew about that bird. He spoke up, "Thats an augurey mam, they are said to look like and underfed vulture which this little guy certainly does,thats it's norm which is rather facinating, and their cry is supposed to signify rain. Their feathers would also make rubbish quil cause it would not hold ink.".

This one knew quite a bit, which was good. She expected that of her employees, particularly of the ones who had been around for a while. "Exactly. Well said, Jack." Ella continued walking, making sure her group wasn't falling behind - in stride, or in information.

"Like he said," Ella said to the rest of the group, particularly to those who didn't belong to her department. "The Augurey's cry foretells rain. So as long as he doesn't make any noise, I think we'll be good." But one never knew in a rainy place like Britain. Even in the summer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

It was relatively larger than the ones Derek was looking at, but it didn't look as if it was enjoying its freedom like the others did. Then the question. Ella's question made Derek feel like he was back at Hogwarts again, in a CoMC class. That wasn't one of his worst subjects, so he didn't mind. But, just like he did at school, the 26 year-old kept quiet and just watched the creature while other people talked about it.

And then there was this quiet guy. Ella wondered if he was ever going to speak up - not that he had to, but she was curious to know if he was at least having fun.



"Come on, then, let's move on." Ella waved them on, moving on through some more low ferns, grassy plants and other greenery at their ankles. "Feel free to chat, make friends, have fun. This isn't Hogwarts, you know. We're allowed to have fun." And Ella didn't know how long it would take before they found the next magical creature.

Ok, that answered his question. Now, he felt like a fool for raising his hand. A cool fool.

It was a beautiful day indeed, but he had something on his mind other than beautiful scenery, "Does anyone know what's going at Hogwarts? My sister wrote to me saying that they had some sort of a budget cut or something." Never thought Hogwarts would need to have budget cuts.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that in the Daily Prophet. A lot of people have lost faith in Hogwarts due a lot chaotic things happening at the school over the past decade. I even heard a Professor was even eaten by a plant. Thus I'm not surprised that no one wants to help finance Hogwarts when no one there seems to able to keep the enviroment there safe for any wizard, especially the yong ones.".

Mmmm, squirrels. It wasn’t as tasty as a ferret, but this Hippogriff hadn’t seen one of those around lately, so the squirrel did just fine. The full grown female Hippogriff had just finished a light snack and was ready to wander back to her herd when she heard distant chatter and rustling leaves.

Lifting her head, the Hippogriff blinked her bright orange eyes at the group of humans and stared them down. She let out a short huff of air, as a sort of warning. They were far enough away, but if they made any sudden movements or came any closer without her permission... well, she simply wouldn’t have it.

Ella continued to lead the group, listening to the side conversation they were having about Hogwarts and the supposed budget cut. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, and she was just about to comment, when she heard a rustling of leaves and a huff of air. Her eyes quickly scanned the area before landing on the source of the noise. A hippogriff was partially hidden behind a couple of trees.

”Stop,” Ella said quietly and calmly, holding her arms out on either side of her to stop the rest of the people in the group. ”For those of you not in my level, here’s what you need to know about Hippogriffs. They are highly prideful, territorial animals. One wrong move and you’ll need to run for your life.” She gave them all a warning look before gesturing them forward a few more feet.

”However, once a hippogriff can trust you, they will be incredibly loyal and protective of you for as long as the trust will last.” Ella continued to calmly watch the hippogriff. ”Before we get any closer, someone tell me how to correctly and safely approach a Hippogriff.” They should know this, hopefully. It should have been something taught at Hogwarts. Maybe the MLE employees had forgotten, but Ella expected her own employees to remember.

Irish phoenix. Rain foreteller?

Well, way better than the weather man I suppose.

She glanced at the beautiful bird in question, made a mental note and moved along with the crowd. And then, they'd stopped again. She looked for the reason.

There it was, hidden behind the trees.... half bird and.....oh, a hippogriff. The woman leading them asked a question again. So Hogwart-ish.

"Eh.. isn't it something along bowing low and..." she trailed. What had the burly professor of hers told her back then? "...not blinking.." Yep. Eye contact. VERY important. And the professor had said that, blinking millions of times. Heh.

Derek glanced sideways at the people talking about Hogwarts and its budget cut. He also had read it in the Daily Prophet and found that quite odd. Though he disagreed with the man that mentioned something about the school being chaotic in the past decade.

Well, Derek had graduated Hogwarts less than 10 years ago, and he was alive and fine, was he not? Hogwarts was still a good place and the former Gryffindor did not appreciate it when people spoke bad things about one of the best places in the world.

The best one, even.

So he shot a quick reproving glare at the two men who were saying such things as he kept walking behind the group. Hm.

Hopefully the Board of Governors would do something about all that, though.

Before he could say anything - not that he would say anything, for that matter - the Head of Department was telling them to stop. So he did, and looked in the direction she was looking.

Whoa. That was wicked. And Derek was good at this staring game - when it wasn't with humans, that was. So he did not blink at all while he eyed the mighty creature.

He didn't reply to Ella either.

Manolo nodded, but still found it odd that after years of 'danger' at Hogwarts they were addressing it now and charging for it.

He was lost in thought, when he ran into his Boss's outstretched arms, knocking the air out of him. He sort of gasped for air as well as gasped from the extraordinary creature in front of them. THE HIPPOGRIFF. He froze in place and nodded agreeing with his co-worker on how to approach the magnificent creature.

YAY! A HIPPOGRIFF.

Hershey's first reaction was to want to hug it because it was cute and stuff, but she knew better than to do that. It wasn't a good idea to surprise attack ANY animal, really. She wasn't DUMB. She halted immediately and glanced at Ella as everyone else answered her question, but they seemed to have left out a part.

"Let them make the first move." She added. People had better do this right because she didn't want to die.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dansgurl

"Eh.. isn't it something along bowing low and..." she trailed. What had the burly professor of hers told her back then? "...not blinking.." Yep. Eye contact. VERY important. And the professor had said that, blinking millions of times. Heh.

Ella was pleasantly surprised when the girl from Law Enforcement spoke up first. "Indeed, yes, that is part of it." She nodded and waited for others to answer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colley

"Let them make the first move." She added. People had better do this right because she didn't want to die.

"Also correct, yes." Ella looked at the others, but they all seemed to be in a Hippogriff trance. It was like they had never seen one before. Huh.

Ella snapped her fingers a couple times to get their attention. "This is very important." So listen up, or get clawed to pieces. "Like the ladies said, you must bow, nice and low, maintaining eye contact the whole time. If she bows back, you can slowly move forward to meet her. Do not make any sudden movements or noises and only touch her if she invites you to." She looked around at each employee before stepping aside, out of the way of the employees and the Hippogriff.

"Who would like to go first?" Ella asked pleasantly. She gestured her arm forward so someone could go ahead and follow the steps to meet the Hippogriff.

OOC: You can ALL go ahead and post your charrie stepping forward, just clarify in your post that it's NOT at the same time as a different character. We're running short on time, so we're going to have to just create different timelines for this part. For this reason, please do not do anything crazy. Do not provoke the Hippogriff, do not run wild at the Hippogriff, just... be normal. Please! If you have any questions or if this confuses you, shoot me a PM.

Also please remember: do not RP for the Hippogriff. Approach the animal one step at a time and the red account will reply to all of you! Have fun!

The hippogriff stood and watched the group of humans come closer and converse amongst themselves. She clawed at the ground as a warning that they should not come any closer unless they addressed her the proper way. She was a beautiful, majestic creature, after all, and deserved the respect of one.

She also hadn’t seen humans in quite some time and wouldn’t mind a rub on the nose or a scratch on the ears. Humans were good for that, sometimes.