"Yes," Vivienne said and nodded her head. "Zomezing about ze death comez to us all. And zen zee strangest zing 'appened. Zee room got zo cold zat we could zee our breathz. Zen a voice said zomething about zee Ministry or Minister...eet waz 'ard to make out zee last wordz since I waz clozing zee door."

Elijah looked up at this. "About the Minister?"

His hands grew clammy. What exactly was going on here? First the man, now the veil?

"Thank you for reporting this to me. This could be very important." He grabbed his cloak, forgetting completely about the vials. "Let's check it out."

He hurriedly threw his cloak over his shoulders and swung open the door. "If you're chilly, I'll grab you a cloak. You ready?"

"I am ready," Vivienne replied without hesitation. "Eet iz not zat cold in zere. Only when ze strange voices are 'eard." She followed Elijah out of the office.

Michelle knocked on the door to her boss' office. She waited for an answer but heard none. She was really interested in meeting her boss. Well she really just wanted to see what he looked like, actually. She'd heard others talk about him, but as she was new to the division she hadn't officially met him. She waited for another few minutes, then knocked again. When there was no answer again, she turned to leave. 'Guess i'll meet him later.'

Kate walked up to the door, she knocked but got no answer. She decided it was best to wait. She slowly sat down on the floor and started to wait.

As Isaac approached The demartment head's office, he noticed someone going the other way. The liaison assumed that Elijah must be away, after all, he was a very busy man. Nonetheless, Isaac gave a few knock on the door. If Elijah didn't answer, he'd simply wait for him to come back. It would definitely be better than working on that awful paperwork which was piled up on his desk.

Michelle decided to check again to see if the Department Head was back in office. As she made her way there, she noticed two people waiting now. One of them was the guy that had passed her as she was walking away. "i guess waiting wont be so bad." She said. 'At least i'll have company now.'

Kate turned and saw another two people waiting.
'Hello, waiting as well?'

Elijah quickly jumped by his office to see a crowd waiting for him. "Hi," he nodded, pulling his key out of his pocket and unlocking his office door. "How can I help you all?"

Michelle wondered if she should step in first. She looked at the others, maybe they were there for something more important. She just wanted to officially meet the guy she was working for.

"Seriously, don't be shy," he nodded. In fact, he was hoping they wouldn't. Quite a lot was taking place that he needed to attend to. How did everything manage to happen at once? "Talk all at once if you want, actually. How can I help you out?"

He swung open his door and walked inside, leaving it open for them to follow if they wished. Taking a place behind his desk, he rummages through a few drawers then looked up at the group expectantly.

Kate looked over at her boss, trying to figure out how to say what she had to say.
'Hello, I'm Kate Smilnog from the locked room, I was wondering what on earth is going on in there, me and another work person have been stuck outside the door for days??'

Because he didn't want to take too much of Elijah's time, but mostly because he should've completed this task ages ago, Isaac simply left a stack of papers on Mr. Wright's desk, hoping the department head wouldn't notice just how late they were:



Along with a note he quickly wrote:

With all the hype surrounding the upcomming conference, Isaac had completely forgotten about these memos. He certainly wasn't going to be named employee of the month this time, but perhaps in the future? As soon as the pile was safely placed upon the desk, Isaac left the office in a rush, hoping to get back to the preperations for the conference shortly. There was no time to waste.

"Hmm, that's strange," Elijah nodded. "It's not letting you in at all?"


Elijah read the note and nodded. He made a mental note to hang the posters up in every room, along with the break room. It was a good thing for the employees to see, and hopefully something they'd all want to be involved in.

'No, noone has been seen outside it, its just been me and another worker, do you have any idea what might have happened?'

"None at all," he shook his head. "That's quite strange. Why don't we go and check it out? You lead the way."

He nodded to the other people in his office. "I'll be back momentarily. Feel free to make yourself comfortable until I return."

Kate looekd over then turned and headed for the door.
'Of course follow me'.

Donovan walked down the Level Nine corridor from the Locked Room and stopped in front of Mr. Wright's office. Wanting to meet his new employer as well as needing to address an important issue, he took a deep breath before knocking briskly on the closed door. He took a couple steps back and leaned against the wall opposite the office, hoping Mr. Wright wasn't already out to lunch.

"Elijah!" Lorraine exclaimed, hurrying down to a level she was rarely seen on and knocking on the Mysteries Department Head. She had just come from a fabulous little meeting with the shopkeeper at Florean's, where together they thought of the most awesome idea to celebrate Christmas at Diagon Alley with the shopkeepers and department heads. Surely Elijah would just love to join in the fun, as he could totally use some time away from the mysteriousness on this level. It was starting to give her the creeps and she'd only been here two minutes.

Spotting the wizard at his desk, Lorraine held out the charmed box for him to see. "I've got the greatest news! And I know you're just going to die of love at this. I've just discussed with the woman at Florean's Ice Cream, Bella, and we've planned out a wonderful idea to celebrate Christmas at Diagon Alley. We've decided to do a Secret Santa, and we'd like to ask you to join in on all the fun."

Setting the charmed box down on Elijah's desk, she patted it lovingly with her hand. "In this box, we've placed the names of every Ministry Department Head and each and every Diagon Alley Shopkeeper and Assistant," Lorraine explained. "The box was charmed so that when you tap your wand on the box and say 'Accio!', a certain name designated just for you will shoot from the box and land in your hands. Remember not to tell anyone whose name you drew - not even me! All you have to do at that point is buy a gift for that person and somehow get it delivered to them without knowing who sent it - they'll need to guess! Won't that be fun?!" Lorraine's hazel eyes twinkled with delight.

"Now, if you decide to participate, we'll have a little party at Florean Fortescue's on December 19 (OOC: December 19-21 anytime is the roleplay). You can come bringing your favorite party foods and drinks, and we'll see if anyone has been able to figure out their Secret Santa!" Lorraine continued. "So, now then. Would you like to participate? If you would, tap your wand once upon this little box, say the correct incantation, and your name will just pop right on out of there! Go on...give it a try!"

*****

OOC: As soon as you roleplay your charrie choosing a name, please return to this thread and follow the directions. Use the [s] [*/s] feature without the * to cross out the name you choose, then roleplay your charrie sometime before December 19 delivering the gift. You may choose a Ministry charrie or a Diagon Alley charrie. You can just be as creative as you'd like at this point. Don't forget about the party, either! Make sure you cross out the name you choose, so we won't have one or more people choosing the same person! Any questions, feel free to PM me!

Elijah smiled at Lorraine and then tapped the box once. He picked a name, grinned, and began brainstorming what he should give as a gift.

"Thank you," he grinned, pocketing the parchment.

Donovan watched with eyebrows raised as a brazen woman rushed right past him and made her way into Elijah's office without even a word of acknowledgement to the man standing in front of the door. Apparently, people have better manners where I come from, he thought to himself as he waited his turn to speak with the department head. Donovan gave the woman a polite nod as she exited the office and, seeing as she had left the door open and he had already knocked once before, he casually rapped his knuckles on the doorframe as he entered the room.

Spotting the man behind the desk that he assumed was his department head, having yet to meet him in person, he smiled and extended his hand for the other man to shake it. "Hello Mr. Wright, I'm Donovan Calrissian, new head of the Locked Room," he introduced himself.

"Thank you, Lorraine." Nodding once more as a dismissal from his office, he was just about to sit down when a man spoke from the door. Elijah looked up, having not seen him at the previous brash entrance.

"There you are, there you are," he grinned, finally being able to welcome the new man. "I'm excited to have you here. You resume looks promising, and so do you. Come and sit down."

He conjured up a plate of tea and sat back in his own seat, sipping it thoughtfully. It was a nice welcome relief from the day he'd had.

A small owl flitted through the door excitedly and zoomed around Elijah's office before landing himself rather roughly on the man's desk. It hopped around on one foot, with the leg containing the small parcel extended out in front of him. He hooted happily as he shook his leg to draw the man's attention to the long slender navy blue box tied off with a silver ribbon and the note attached.

Looking towards Donovan, Elijah raised his eyebrows. Shaking his head, he reached out to the eccentric bird and untied the parcel. He opened the note first and read, then reached to open the package.

The note attached read:

Quote:

To: Elijah Wright
For assistance in understanding the mysteries of Time
From: Your Secret Santa

As the lid of the box is lifted, the contents gleam in the light. A gold watch lays in the box, showing the current time. If one were to lift the face of the watch from the side, the face swings open to reveal another, more detailed and extraordinary watch face. This face has multiple hands and different shapes surrounding the perimeter. In the bottom of the box is instructions on how to set this particular part of the watch.