Iain looked up at the new member of his team and smiled at him as he stuttered and scanned the room. "Of course not." He said with a smile. "My name is Iain Hunter, I am the division head. My wife, Liliana, is the Department Head and is currently away on business, otherwise she would have welcome you herself."

He gave the man another smile and then got on to the topics of cubicles. "Pick any cubicle that is empty." He told the man. "Spruce it up a little, I always found the grey to be very bland, but I don't know any mass-charms that could fix everything with one spell... So I left it up to you guys." He told Blackstone.

"And, as for interupting, it is a Division meeting." He picked up another Information Pack {{Start on post #317}}. "We are discussing the questions that need to be included in the questionnaire we will be sending to the transfer students." He paused and then nodded his head.

"Take a few minutes to look over the notes from the meeting we had last week and then see what you can come up with."

"Thanks" Blackstone said as he took his seat. Still taking in his surroundings he noticed the stack of papers Iain was indicating. "Accio information pack" he muttered, and a mountain of papers zoomed to his desk landing in a disheveled heap. He prodded them with his wand and straightened them out. "Wow" he thought. "Even after Hogwarts the studying doesn't end"

He started reading the papers but soon resorted to scanning over the pages. He skimmed over the rambles of the Durmstrang Headmaster... There were many things he enjoyed more than paperwork, but he was in the ministry now. He finally reached the end of it, retaining most of the information.

Blackstone took out a quill and ran it through his fingers. He tentatively raised his hand. "What exactly is the object of this questionnaire? Are we trying to help the other schools attract more students or force Hogwarts to accept fewer?"

Iain smiled gently as Blackstone asked a question. Questions were good they meant that the person was trying to understand. "Neither." He replied with a smile. "We are simply trying to find out why parents, and students, choose Hogwarts over their native schools, by presenting set questions that are open yet restricted in their viewpoints. For example questions that are easy to quantify and put into statistics."

"Oh... Ok." Blackstone felt mildly foolish. But what was the point of knowing this kind of stuff if you didn't want to do something about it? He burrowed himself in his notes again, trying to look like he wasn't the most inexperienced person in the room.

Trying to be helpful he raised his spoke up again "Well, if you want to quantify you can ask which specific programs both parents and students hold in esteem over the others. For instance 'Whose Transfiguration class do you prefer?' 'Quidditch program', etc. The same goes for atmosphere as well. "Do you feel safer at Hogwarts" and so on.

Generally speaking we're looking for objective sort of questions, right? 'Yes and no' and so on?"

Admittedly, Blackstone loved getting involved. He just hoped he wouldn't make a fool of himself on his first day.

[[OOC: Should we post our question ideas here as well or PM them?]]

Iain looked up from where he was making his own suggestions. And nodded again. "Exactly Blackstone." He said with a smile. This man... This man would go far if he kept up like this. "Perhaps multi choice, but nothing that will take too long. We don't want students to look at it, and walk away because it will take too much of their time." He said with a smile.

[[OOC: PM them if you could. Three or Four is all you need to come up with. More if you can think of them.

Welcome and thank you for getting involved. I'm in Scotland, so it might take me a while to reply because of time zones', but I will always reply ]]

"I suppose you also want to have an easy way to add it up without reading through individual responses, too." Blackstone's mind was beginning to move. Hopefully he'd finally wake up. "By the way, who will be administering this? Are we doing that or are we just writing it?"

Prudence slipped into the office and down the path in search of her cubicle. She walked rather quickly so as to avoid any other employees who might snitch on her for being extremely late. She was never one to be late but then again, there's a first time for everything. "Where is my cubicle?!" she whispered angrily to the air. Then suddenly, she stood still, and listened...she had thought she heard voices nearby, followed by a pair of footsteps. The voices were true, and they were close in range. But why did it feel as if someone was following her? She turned around and looked behind her, but not a single person stood around. She shrugged, turned back around, and walked briskly in search of her cubicle. "Come on...Prudence Carnegie...Prudence...Carnegie...Ugh! This is ridiculous !!" she said, loudly emphasizing the word "ridiculous." She quickly put her hand over her mouth, and looked around nervously, hoping she hadn't caused such a large disruption in the office.

"The Division's will be writing the questionnaires, while the Liliana, and Samantha, will be colating the data." At least, that was what was going to happen as far as he was aware.

Iain looked up as he heard someone talking in the main office space. "Excuse me." He said to the two gentlemen and then walked out into the office. "Hello, can I help you?" He asked the Lady that was obviously looking for something. "Are you lost?" He asked her.

"Eep! Ah...what do I do...?!" Prudence whispered to herself. But before she could run away, she immediately froze. Someone had called out after her. Or...so she thought. Who else would this person be talking to? She stood there, motionless, not knowing what to do. Then, suddenly, she turned around as quickly as possible and whipped up her best smile.

"Hi!! I'm Prudence! I'm...well...new here. Um...yes, well...right. Um..." Prudence struggled for the right words, stopping herself each time she found them. Then, finally, she said, "I am lost, actually. I can't seem to find my...cubicle. I might have missed it, or maybe I'm in the wrong place. This is the division of International Magical Trading Standard Body, right?" she asked, confidentally.

"Ok." Blackstone nodded. "So we get questions and make them do the hard work", he grinned. "Is there a deadline for getting this out? I'm assuming they'll want it at least before Hogwarts' midterm break. The Hogwarts Express is running now I believe, so they won't get it done before this term."
Blackstone felt a little talkative, being so full of questions, but he wanted to get a grasp on what was going on.

Blackstone paused for a moment. Was someone trying to take on a boggart? Before he could ask yet another question someone burst in the room looking very lost. Apparently he wasn't the only one who was trying to figure the place out.

[[ooc: Guy's we have until Saturday for the suggestions from you all; The Division Heads and myself are meeting to discuss and put it together finally.]]

Iain looked up and smiled. "It is fine, the ministry isn't new Employee friendly." He grinned at the new girl and motioned to his office. "Why don't you come in and join us? We are just going over the current task." He smiled, and then added. "Oh, and you simply need to pick a cubicle that isn't occupied." He turned to the office then turned back. "Oh, and feel free to modify the colour's." He smiled, and led the way back to his office.

Iain walked back into the office and pointing to the female behind him smiled. "Blackstone, Jenkin's this is Prudence." He moved to his desk and picked up another purl=http://www.snitchseeker.com/level-five/department-international-magical-cooperation-conference-room-53663/index13.html]information pack[/url] {{Start on post #317}} and handed it to Prudence. "We are currently coming up with some questions that could be included in a survey we aim to give to already and newly transfered Student to quell the quams of Other European Magical Schools and Institudes."

He looked over at Blackstone. "We will be putting these out as quickly as possible. We only have today {{IC}} to sort out these questions, so that myself and the others can collate over the next few days."

Prudence soon saw another man pop out of the same cubicle as the other one, which somewhat embarrassed. It was like she'd just made a scene and...oh, boy. Why did it seem like everyone would start popping out of their offices to stare and whisper and makes comments and giggle and go "Wow. Newbie!!" at her? No, no! Don't think like that...think calm. This was her first day, and there was no need to freak out.

"Okay, that sounds great!" she said, wondering if this may be her boss...or something. Alright! It seemed like everything was going well. She'd be introduced to everything and soon, she'd be able to pick out her cubicle, get an assignment and all of that good stuff. Okay. Calm...And with that, Prudence stood up straight and began walking confidently and...THUD.

"Oww..." she said in a muffled voice, immediately after her face met with the carpeted ground. She sighed heavily, and lay there for a few seconds before attempting to pull herself back up.

"Are you alright?" Blackstone asked as he helped Prudence up. "Episky" he muttered, which healed the bruise on her forehead. Being closest to the door it was the polite thing to do. Feeling a bit more confidant knowing that there were others more confused than him, he spoke up again "If you want, we're sort of brainstorming right now. I'd ask Iain if we are still needing suggestions. He's the division head."

Blackstone turned in his chair "As a matter of fact, Iain, do we need any more questions for the questionnaire? Or are we finishing that up?"

"Ugh...I hate being so darn clumsy. Wait a second. I'm never clumsy. How the heck did that happen? Why did I just trip all of a sudden?" Prudence began freaking out. It was true! She'd never tripped or fallen in her entire life. At least not that she remembered. She'd been klutz-free and that came with her high-priced clothes, all of which she made and designed on her own. "I'm okay. Thank you, kind sir!" she said, smiling graciously at the man who took away the bruises which she barely had time to realize was even there. Whew!!

"Ah...um...brainstorming ideas, hm? Um...sure. I'd like to join in. What...what are discussing here again?" she asked, slightly stumbling over her words. Sigh...this was going to be a long and weird day.

Tavelon smiled "I think you tripped because of that carpet right there" he said pointing to the doorway. Don't worry, you're not that klutzy" he said somewhat untruthfully. "Anyway, we're getting together a questionnaire about Hogwarts transfer students. Trying to find out why so many are transferring from other schools to Hogwarts. Just submit your question's to Iain."

Prudence looked back at the spot where she tripped. Blink. Blink. Stupid carpet...how dare it make her look like an absolute slutz. Carpet, you just made her lie!! Gosh!! Hmph. She glared at the stupid carpet, and looked ahead, entering the cubicle.

"A questionnaire, hmm? Sounds good. Um...yeah, I'll definitely think up some ideas and um...send them in. Yeah. Thanks." she said, pausing a bit after a few words. She had to think now. Grrrreeeeaaaaat. Okay. Questions...questions...what questions should be on a questionnaire? Oh! Here we go...

[[ooc: Hey guys. I hope you all got my message about my holiday to Rome. However, the good news is that the B&B has a computer for the guests, and with only three bedrooms ((8 person max), I should be able to get on every night. Which, considering my phone doesn't get signal, is a very good thing. However; just role play between yourselves. Pick a task, and work away at it Thanks]]

Iain smiled and motioned for Prudence to join them in his office. Just as he was away to tell her what they were currently doing, Blackstone flitted in and filled her in much more effectively than he would have; he had a knack for over complicating things... It wasn't a trait that he liked.

"Jenkins, this is Pruedence. Prudence, this is Jenkins." He motioned to the one other male in his office. "Any last minute suggestions are always welcome. Myself and the others are meeting tonight to discuss this.

"Hey Prudence," said Jenkins nodding at the new employee. This was soooooo boring. He eyed the door wondering if he could sneak out for a tea run.

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Abilee was back at work again. She headed towards her cubicle and sat down. She went through some of her papers to see what else was going on. Last thing she knew, was that they were trying to figure out why there had been so many transfers to Hogwarts. But now, she had to get back on top of things.

Blackstone leaned back in his chair, gazing around the cubicle. It was quite ugly. He didn't care much about decorum, and he certainly not that good at artsy-craftsy charms. But there might be something useful he could do. Undetectable extension would be nice to give him some leg room. But certainly he'd need some kind of permission for that.

Suddenly a paper airplane tapping his head shook him from his thoughts. Grabbing it he read the message. Returning to his papers he went through the news items for the week. Primarily it was tariffs.

Apparently Romania had put tariffs on British dragon goods to encourage their nation's market for them. In response Britain could use their own tariffs, but that would stifle trade. Really we can't do much about it. Blackstone thought to himself. That's the trouble with trade standards. It's about making sure things are safe but not getting too involved. He grabbed his book of M.O.M. Trading standards and flipped towards Dragons...

(OOC: Is it ok if I introduce this kind of stuff into plots?)

"Oh, hi!! Nice to meet you, Jenkins." she said looking around in the cubicle. Gosh...it was...small. And very...plain. If only she could brighten this place up a bit, make it more comfortable and...nice-looking. But if this cubicle looked boring and plain, then her cubicle would probably look the same. Right...so when she claimed her cubicle, she'd definitely be spicing it up a bit, while adding a worldly feel to it. Indeed. But first! The task at hand. So many transfers to Hogwarts...it was true. Sigh...maybe she should go pick out her cubicle and set things up first. This seemed somewhat uninterestign right now...

"I'm, uh...just going to...ah, pick my cubicle! Yes, right. My cubicle. Heh..." Prudence said nervously as she began backing away towards to the exit. Just then, a paper plane flew by and Prudence watched as Blackstone took the plane and unfolded it.

"What's that about, if you don't mind me asking?"

Tavelon looked up from his work to see his somewhat scattered new co-worker peering into his cubicle. "Oh... it's about tariffs. Romania's put them on our dragon goods to promote their dragon industry in their own country. We should probably get this down to the Magical Creatures department, don't you think?"

"I'm sorry, I don't believe I caught your name earlier. It's Prisc- no, Prudence, right?" he said, extending his hand.

Jenkins could hardly keep the grin off his face as Abilee walked in to the office. He sauntered up to her cubicle and poked his head in,"Knock knock," he said grinning, "How is it going bestest bud?"

Prudence nodded as he spoke. "I see...yeah, I suppose we should. It seems something in which both our department and their department might need to work on together, especially if there's something about trading and tariffs and...stuff." Prudence grew extremely nervous that she'd practically forgotten what she was talking about. How is that even possible?! She loved working with this type of stuff. It intrigued her. But then again, so did fashion. And other things. Hmm.

"Yes, it's Prudence. Nice to meet you." she said, shaking his hand. "I-I...I could take that down to the Magical Creatures department." Wait, stop what you're saying, stupid! You don't even know what to do with it! Give it to some random employee and say "Yeah, this is for your department. Bye!"...? Nooooo, decline! Say never mind! Say...something! "Well...I mean, I don't really know what to do with it but...um...never mind." Prudence said, backing away, and making her way towards to what she hoped would be a few empty, unused, and clean (yet probably dull) cubicles.

If she backpedals any quicker she'll trip again Blackstone thought to himself. Her brain was probably so scattered that some of it is in her toes.

He of course didn't mean this in a harsh way. She seemed like a genuinely nice person... but Blackstone couldn't help but smile as she sputtered. "Don't worry, I can take it down" he said. But she was already heading back to her cubicle. Very interesting person... but what made her so... scatterbrained? Tentative? Unsure?... whatever it was she was very odd, and Blackstone paused for a moment in his cubicle to chuckle silently before grabbing his papers and heading towards the elevator.