As Jake entered the party room, he immediately noticed that he was the first there and groaned. Making for the buffet, he grabbed a few muggle crisps from the bowl and munched on them as he impatiently waited for people to show up.

J. J. Starr walked into the party. "Wow, this looks great" Joe Jon Montcenaggio commented. "My name is Joe John MontCenaggio, J. J. Starr for short" he told the other man there. " I have been on a leave of absence" he told him. "What is yoru name?" J. J. Starr asked him.

Jake blinked as a man he had never seen before walked into the party. But I thought the flier said that it was a Department party... "Er... Yes it does. It's nice to meet you, J.J, I'm Jake Rider and you really don't want to know my full name," he said with a grin at the man, wondering who on earth he was when the man answered his unasked question. "Ahh, I see. Well, what division were you in before you left?" he asked, interested. He hadn't thought this Department had any males, though it turns out there was one all this time - he was simply away. Cool - wonder if Luce knows...

Alice walked nervously into the room... It was set up for a party, but it didn't look much like one. There were only 2 people there and they definitely didn't look like Voldemort... or like they had any desire to scare new employees which was pretty relieving. Alice was pretty sure she was in the right place though. She lingered in the doorway for a few seconds wondering if she should wait until more people showed up or walk over to the two guys speaking to each other and decided on the later.

She stepped over to the refreshment table which was where the two were lingering and picked up a few pretzels from a bowl before turning to them. "Hi." she greeted him, giving him a small, shy, smile.

Jake's eyes flicked to the door as he saw out of the corner of his eye someone standing there. To his immense surprise, he found that he didn't know this person either. What is wrong with me? Maybe it's because I'm stuck in my office all day; I don't really see other people and when I do, it's just to get coffee.
"Hello," he greeted the woman with a smile as she made her way over to them. "I haven't really seen you around before. Are you new here?" he asked, hoping desperately that she was since otherwise he risked offending an old employee and that really wouldn't do.

" I am in the same depatment as I was in when I left for America on my leave of absence- Magical Education Dept" J. J. Starr explained to Jake.

Alice smiled as he replied relieved someone had...Yeah it was probably the stupidest thing in the world to be relieved about but still.

"Yep, I just started here not to long ago..." she stated matter-o-factually. "I work for The Magical Education Examinations Authority." she informed him, obvious pride in her eyes. "Oh and my name's Alice, Alice Sumner." Alice said, with a friendly grin as she extended a slender hand for him to shake.

" My name is J. J. Starr " he told Alice. "This is a fun deptarment to work in as well as a hard department to work in at the same time but Miss Samantha Rose is a great boss and makes it easy to work here" Joe Jon MontCenaggio said to Alice. He waited to shake her hand because she wanted to shake Jake's hand first.

"Yes, I realised that, but in what division are you? Inspection Committee or Examinations Authority?" he asked J.J as he grabbed a few more chips, then turned to the woman who had come forward.

Phew, so she is new - good. "I hope you're enjoying it so far - that was my division before I became Division Head," he said proudly but not cockily, remembering the fun times he had spent there; it was in that division that he had first met Lucy. His smile twitched slightly as he remembered how long ago it was since he had last talked to his girlfriend - way too long, in my opinion. "It's nice to meet you Alice, I'm Jake Rider," he said happily, snapping out of his thoughts and shaking her hand tenderly, reminding himself that this was a woman's hand he was shaking.

"Yes, she is indeed a great boss," Jake agreed with a grin as he thought of all the things Samantha had done for him over the past year. Both work-related and not, she has been a prominent figure in my life and I'll never forget her, even after she leaves. After all, without her help I wouldn't ever have met Rachel.

" I am working for the Inspection Committee " J. J. Starr told Jake. " Samantha was nice to let me back here after my leave of absence" he told Jake.

"When I applied here to transfer, that was my preferred Division, but now I think that both are great. If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave?" Jake asked, curious. He knew that he was being a little rude, invading J.J like that - but he couldn't help it, he hated not knowing stuff. Shifting a little, he sipped his butterbeer as he waited for J.J's answer.

" I had family business with my friend's Jason's cousin Excelscior Black in Sweet Water Texas in America" J. J. Starr said to Jake. Hopefully that will satisfy Jake's curiousity.

"I see," Jake said, not really knowing what to say next. Refilling his cup with butterbeer, he sipped it slowly and glanced at the door every few seconds, wishing that someone would come in and put an end to this awful silence that had just descended on them. Grabbing a few crisps, he ate them carefully, focusing very intently on each chip before popping it into his mouth. As he finished up his last chip, an idea for a question struck him and he raised his head and smiled at J.J. "What made you come back to England?" he asked casually, relieved that he found something to talk about.

" I came back to England so I could help on The Regan Taylor Campaign as well as back to work" J. J. told Jake. J. J. Starr likes Jake, he is a good guy. "Hope we can be friends" Joe Jon Montcenaggio remarked.

Alice gave him a friendly smile and extended her hand for him to shake as well, nodding in agreement with what he said. She hadn't really started yet so she didn't know whether it was going to be fun or not, but Samantha had definitely seemed really friendly and nice...Good qualities for a boss to have. It was still a relief to here from one of the other employees that she had picked a good spot to work as well...

Alice tilted her head slightly...he looked oddly relieved as well, but Alice wasn't nosy enough to ask why though she was a bit curious.

So he was a division head. Wow, that must be a lot of work. It was probably worth it though... He must be pretty ambitious to take on that kind of occupation or just like working...

"You too." she replied politely, giving him a little nod as he shook her hand. It was easy to tell her was lost in thought, by the look on his face making Alice wonder just what he was thinking about, which again she didn't ask him about. Instead she busied herself with snatching a few more pretzels from the bowl on the counter.

It made her feel even more happy than she already was, hearing all the good things they had to say about Samantha. "That's good to hear." she said, honestly a smile creeping upon her face.

" Glad to work with you Alice" J. J. Starr said to her. " I know you will do a good job " Joe Jon Monycenaggio told Alice.

Izzy walked into the party and saw a girl and guy she didn't recognize, and Jake. She grinned and walked over to Jake. "Hey Jake," She said looking around the room and she looked at the two people she didn't recognize. "Hello, I'm Izzy Hunters."

Jake nodded at his reply, agreeing with J.J on the Taylor Campaign bit whole heartedly. "Sure we can. Maybe after work some day, we could go grab some drinks at the Leaky Cauldron or something?" he asked J.J with a friendly smile, glad to see that the only other male in this whole Department is as friendly as he is.

"Although the bad news is she'll be leaving soon, to be replaced by a former teacher at Hogwarts, I think," he said sadly, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He couldn't imagine coming to work everyday without running into Samantha on the way to their respective offices, or when he had a few questions to go into her office and find some other woman in her seat, with different decorations and everything. The department won't ever be the same again.

"Izzy!" he greeted her with relief. Yay, someone that I know! "How are you, girl? Anything new on the horizon?" he asked her with a grin, finishing up his second cup of butterbeer. "Have you run into Lucy lately? I haven't really seen her in a while, so I was hoping she might be coming to this party... Do you know?" he sounded hopeful as he asked her, hoping the Lucy would show up so that they could schedule a date of some sort.

"You too." Alice replied, smiling even though she really had no clue what it would even be like to work with him...oh well though. It was the nice thing to say and he seemed pretty nice.

"Thanks." she said honestly. She hoped what he said was true... she wanted to be a good employee.

"Hey." Alice greeted, smiling at her. She'd seen her in the hallway before coming though so she didn't really need to bother to introduce herself... Of course maybe she was speaking to J.J.


"Really?" Alice asked, curiously. Unable to keep her question inside she asked. "Who?" there were some pretty wacko teachers at Hogwarts, but they were fun too. Of course, Samantha had seemed really nice on first impression...it was just too bad she was leaving so soon...Of course it was probably her choice or something. It had to be with the good way her employees spoke about her, right?

"Erm, a couple or so years ago Minister Cooper decided, or rather his wife did, that Hogwarts should be divided by gender - boys an girls separated. I think that the woman who will replace Samantha was one of the teachers at Belle's School - the school for girls - who replaced a male teacher who taught the subject at Hogwarts," he said bitterly, his contempt at Minister Cooper showing through. He hadn't been here the year it had occurred, but the moment Rachel had told him about it was the moment he had decided that he was definitely not a fan of Mr. and Mrs. Cooper.

Eve walked into the Party Room.Her face lite up and her insides tingle.She did this..this was her idea..and it was a nice feeling to see people actually enjoying themselves because of something she came up with.With that,she mingled with people.She walked over to a tall dark stranger she hadn't spoken to in a long time."Hey Jake..or should I say stranger.."she said,smiling.She looked to the person who he was talking to,"Im sorry..How rude of me..Im Eve.."she said to the women.

Alice nodded, listening intently. She didn't understand why he would listen to such an absurd idea even from him wife... to separate Hogwarts. Pffftt the whole idea was a nightmare. Alice had grown up used to the united Hogwarts and she couldn't imagine it any better. It was perfect... to her anyway. Clearly Jake agreed with her as it was easy to see by his contempt on the subject. She passionate about her school and wasn't sure she wanted it to change for a very very very long time. That was why she signed up in the Department of Magical Education.

Alice, feeling more comfortable in the department than ever, gave the other woman a soft smile as she approached them, who looked like she was walking on sunshine as she stepped into the room. "That's okay... you don't have to apologize." Alice reassured her as she did so. "I"m Alice Sumner, but you can just call me Alice. I just started here." she explained in a hurry, extending her hand as she introduced herself.

Eve smiled at the women.She could tell that she was sort of new by the way she was taking in all of the surroundings and the way she liked to be involved in general chat.Eve was a very observant person she had noticed recently.She shook the womens hand,"Nice to meet you Alice.."she said,"Oh right..Well good to have you on board."she said,nodding her head."How are you liking it so far?"she asked her.

"Hi Eve," he greeted her with a smile, then shrugged his shoulders and grinned apologetically at her as she called him stranger. "Hey, I'm the ever busy Division Head and the caretaker of a flighty fifteen year old teenager," he said with a cheeky grin, lifting up his hands helplessly. "Why don't you stop by my office later this week? We'll have a lengthy chat then, ok?" he invited her, already looking forward to the visit. The days that went by without any interruptions were the days the he usually got the least amount of work done due to pure boredom. However interesting his work might be to him, Jake couldn't go for more than a few hours without talking to somebody.