"I'm pleased to meet you too Kendra." Oliver replied with a charming nod. If she was a department head or just a regular employee like himself he was none the wiser because of the anonymity the masks presented this evening. It was nice, it made him relax even more so where he stood by the fountain with an interesting woman. Oliver gave a glance at the fountain sculpture before he pulled his full attention back on Kendra agreeding fully with Kendra’s statement. "Yes, I totally agree. I’m glad i’m not the healer on call tonight. No stress, I can just enjoy myself for a night and worry about medical cases tomorrow." Unless of course Fletcher sent him a memo about urgently coming to the infirmary then he’d have to call it night. If the boss ordered then you went.

Oliver was going to ask what Kendra worked with when he was as distracted as everyone else appeared to be too. Looking over at the floos like everyone else and at the smoke that flittered out he asked Kendra mostly. "Where is that smoke coming from? There isn’t a fire right?" Next his eyes caught sight of the sparkly footprints but chose to ignore them because it was just too odd and the smoke was more worrisome from a healer point of view. "I hope nobody inhales too much smoke. It’s not good for your breathing."

It wasn’t Hallie’s fault she was running late…well it wasn’t completely her fault. Admittedly, she hadn’t known what time the ball had started at since she had lost misplaced the invitation. It was somewhere in her flat, either on the coffee table, the dining table, her desk, or her nightstand mixed in with all the other papers that have accumulated there in the past week she’d been back in England not to mention all the paperwork and mail she had left before she left for the 5 month stay in America. That wasn’t the only thing she had left forgotten before she left… her fridge smelled rancid when she returned to her London flat. Hallie was surprised the landlord hadn’t put up an eviction notice, but at least rent had been paid on time. No, it was her grandmother’s fault for not arriving in a timely manner since she was the one who had borrowed Hallie the emerald green gown she had picked up for the evening… and Grandma Miriam could talk for hours.

As Hallie entered the atrium via the floo network she found herself surrounded by a haze of green smoke. Hallie scrunched her nose up in disgust; her hand batting away the dust that lingered in front of her face. She could hardly see through this mask as is. “Bloody Hell…” She muttered to herself. Did the Ministry always go to such theatrical lengths for their parties? Was it a requirement to make such a grand entrance? Hallie quickly walked away from the scene, blushing slightly as she took notice to several of the party goers looking her way. No. Not at her, at the fog… ugh she needed a drink.

She approached the refreshment table and grabbed a glass of wine. She glanced to her left and noticed a young man, his mask on sideways, stuffing his face full of… well she couldn’t actually tell what it was. “Enjoying the food….?” Hallie asked hesitantly, raising her eyebrows in surprise at the amount of food making its way into his mouth.

On the other side of the table was another man who appeared to be not doing much but standing and watching. Hallie sighed deeply. “Does the Ministry always put this much effort into their soirées?” Hallie asked offhandedly, nodding her head towards the fog.

"This is my first time at one of these affairs, but I'm guessing this doesn't usually happen..." Jane said to Sachin and Conley

She really didn't want to have to put her plate down, as she was feeling rather peckish this evening--she hadn't had time for tea with all the things necessary to getting ready for this reception. But she wanted to be able to get at her wand if she needed to. Reaching into a long, hidden pocket, she curled her fingers around its grip and started walking slowly toward the edge of the room to have a closer look.

Spells would reveal no invisible human presence in the atrium at this time, so perhaps it would be a small consolation to know that there were no sinister persons disillusioned or otherwise cloaked in illusion. But the smoke and soot did continue catch on the shoes and garments of the guest, swishing and swirling it around the atrium. And as each new guest arrived, so too did the sound intensify.

And then, suddenly, it was as though someone had closed the chimney. Billowing thick black and dark emerald smoke and soot began spewing out of each of the flows. It's consistency like a rancid split pea soup and smell not much better. It was almost like someone had dropped several tons of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Visibility entirely gone for nearly a minute, the dust and soot settled and coated guest, decoration, and floor alike. Which may not be so bad considering the emerald sparkle to it all...though all did look as though they had been rolling around in a fireplace for half an hour.

It was clear what had been happened: the floo networks had once again failed, exploded, and ejected used floo powder and ash.

Alphonsine noticed the way the woman was looking at her, but her expression did not change from the pleasant one she continued to wear. Had the woman thought she was at a private gathering where small talk from coworkers was discouraged? She wasn't, if she was unaware. At any rate, that was not Alphonsine's concern. She was simply watering seeds that would soon be sown.

Though she did briefly wonder just how long that woman's maternity leave was since the floos had been malfunctioning off and on for more than a year. Not to mention that the lifts had not been working in that time either, so she also wouldn't be able to get around that way.

"Very problematic," she agreed with a sympathetic nod of her head. "I just hope they get it fixed soon, and the lifts too. It's been going on for far too long." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that there was some sort of mild commotion as people turned their attention towards smoke drifting from the fireplaces. "Oh dear. Looks like there are problems again." She sighed. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I am looking for someone I was supposed to meet here. It was lovely chatting with you though." Her tone was as pleasant as her smile as she headed away. She really did have someone else to see, but she was getting the feeling that he was avoiding her, which was very, very concerning. He wasn't one to ever disappoint her.

But before she was able to mingle and talk to the next person, with her eyes still on the lookout for her certain someone, she let out an alarmed shriek as the room was suddenly darkened and black as the floos exploded heavy soot into the immediate vicinity. "What's happening?" she yelled out, certainly inciting some panic as no one would have been able to see for nearly a full minute. And when the dust began to settle, it was rather clear for all what had happened. Once again, the floos failed tremendously and she was left covered in soot, like nearly everyone else. "Oh! My dress!" she cried out, as she was clearly caught in the middle of the chaos and damage. Everyone could see what a failure the Magical Transportation department was, yet again. Such a pity.

Thank Merlin, a fellow newbie. He'd need to go meet the others from his department later on, but for now, he was content to get to know some other new-hires. "Nice to meet you, Alana. I'm Jasper. Creatures department," Jasper made to offer his hand to the woman but quickly realized that her hands were full. He tucked his hand in his pocket again, grabbing a drink with the other. He couldn't help but notice her last name and was immediately curious as to whether she was related to the famous Potters. "Potter, huh? Any relation? I'm sure you get sick of answering that question," he said with a chuckle.

Grae was mid-sip on her glass of champagne when the room filled with smoke. She waved her hand in front of her face, trying to clear the air, but to no avail. She couldn't see a thing, and to make matters worse, the ash was stinging her eyes. Her stomach dropped when the realization hit her: it was the floos.

Once the dust settled, she glanced down, trying not to pout at the fact that her beautiful dress was now covered in soot. Not to mention that it smelled like rubbish in the Atrium. She supposed this constituted a Department of Transportation emergency. Grae placed her champagne (which now had chunks of soot in it) on a table before scanning the room for her department head. Unfortunately, the air was still too dusty to make anyone out properly. She began making her way around the room, squinting to keep an eye out for Kendra. Perhaps there was something Grae could do to help.

Matt was still busying himself with mentally complaining about how the food was so small he had to eat at least 10 of each thing to just feel the TASTE, when he heard someone asking if he was enjoying himself. "Heck yeah!" He replied with his mouth full, turning to see who it was.

Oh, hello. He'd never seen her before. Or... had he? It'd be embarrassing if he had, because he could not, for the life of him, remember ever seeing that person. "Hi, I'm Matt!" He decided to introduce himself anyway and, if he had previously met her, then oh well. He'd be embarrassed hardly. "Nice outfit." Y'know.

As the lady continued to be social and spoke to someone else, Matt turned his eyes back to the exquisite canapés in front of him. As he chose something else to start eating a million tiny pieces of, he overheard the newcomer asking another question.

Soirées? Blimey, some people liked going full out posh, didn't they? He bet she was loving this fancy party thing. He BET she was one of those who loved little miniature foods.

He was about to offer her one of the tiny whatever-that-tasty-thing-was when there was suddenly smoke everywhere. And that meant e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.

"Whoa." He muttered, his hand instinctively going to his wand, but leaving it where it was for now. He looked around and tried to see what was going on. He did consider if this was a performance that was about to happen or something. Matt could definitely see his cousin being dramatic like that at the start of one of her shows, so he kept watching. Or at least trying to see as best as he could through that dust.

...Nope. Seemed like it was nothing important. The Auror's gaze went back to the table. "Aw, the tiny food's ruined!" Never mind their clothes, Matt couldn't care less if that posh outfit was filthy now. It actually made it cooler in his opinion.

Sachin nearly sniggered at the look Conley gave him. Did the husband really think that Sachin was going to pass up the opportunity to make sure he ate well? If the Ambassador didn’t know better, he was one hundred percent sure that the Department Head had been up in his office working without even bothering to take a drink of tea. He was happy when Conley accepted the plate. Good. The other man wouldn’t be putting up a fight.

As for the noise? Obviously Conley hadn’t heard it either but he definitely noticed all the weirdness currently unfolding. Then again, who could miss it? After all, something like this rarely happened at events.

Jane seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Sachin. “You’d be right.’’ Before more could be said, he watched the woman start making her way towards the happening. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea…’’ But wait. Was that the sound Jane had referred to earlier? Yes, Sachin could hear it now. That meant it had to have gotten louder.

And then quite suddenly, the Ambassador found himself covered in dust and soot. As was his plate. Nooo, not the food! Sachin dumped his plate on the buffet table, coughing as he did so. “Con.’’ Cough, cough. “Are you alright?”

Conley was quite aware that Sachin was pleased he wasn’t going to argue with him over food. He only did that in private, and mostly because he knew Sachin enjoyed a good teasing fight every now and then. He made a point of taking a big bite out of one of the cucumber sandwiches on his plate. But one bite was all he had time for because Jane looked to be heading off towards the floos. Conley had been a department head long enough to not rule out anything odd happening at Orientation Events., but even this was a bit odd. ”No, not really,” he agreed with Sachin regarding Jane’s question.

He reached out a hand to hold Sachin back, in case he was going to investigate too. ”Bain can take care of whatever is happening,” he said quietly to Sachin. A moment later, the lights went out. Conley’s grip tightened on Sachin’s arm. His plate clattered to the floor. The last time they had been together in the Ministry someone had ended up dead. He held his breath waiting to see that flash of green light.

Instead there was green soot and dust everywhere. Conley coughed, waving the hand that wasn’t holding onto Scahin in front of his face. A moment late he sneezed- loudly. Another sneeze followed, both hurt. ”I’m alright,” he replied to Scahin. ”Are you?....Jane?!” he called after the woman. Surely she hadn’t gotten too far. He pulled his mask off so he could better see around the room. He was still have searching for…well, he hated to admit it, but another dead body.

Laurel suddenly got the instinct feeling or maybe it was her Inner Eye warning her that this woman was someone to tread lightly around. Almost like you didn’t want to be on her bad side which was weird since she had never met the masked woman before. She was sure of it too since she was pretty apt at remembering voices and faces. She seemed like she had a goal with every word she spilled out and that in itself was worrying since Laurel didn’t have the faintest idea why the other woman had chosen to complain about malfunctioning floos and lifts to her of all people.

"I’m sure transportation and maintenance employees are working very hard to solve the recurring problems with our floos and lifts as we speak.” Laurel reassured the other woman. "I don’t know much about the mechanics of the floo network and lifts but I suppose we can all do what we can and offer assistance." She highly doubted that her unspeakable strengths would be of use when fixing malfunctioning charms though. Smiling as the woman departed to find another prey person Laurel called after her retreating figure. "It was nice chatting with you too." Now where was Aaron?

Suddenly everything went black and Laurel first heard all the alarmed shrieks from other gusts as the floo networks exploded around her and then the ghastly smell that left her wanting to vomit. When Laurel could she again she shrieked out in disgust “Oh no! Not my hair and dress.” She was now perfectly covered in the dark and emerald dust and soot that there was now so much of in the atrium that it had switched places with the festive decorations. Gagging because of the merlin’s beards most awful smell in the room she said to nobody in particular. "This ruined my evening, how am I going to get all the dust and nasty smell out of my hair? It’s going to take weeks.."

What. The. Absolute. Bloody. Hell?!

His spells hadn't revealed anything, but the fireplaces certainly had. Belched back a whole bunch of smoke, soot and what he assumed was floo powder (he didn't really use the stuff enough to recognize the it on sight). Not that he could see anything for a good minute or two, what with all the stuff in the air. Once it had settled, though....

*coughcough*

May he suggest everyone send Transportation an itemized bill for all their ruined clothes? Maybe that would get them off their buns and working to fix the problem. Since it should've been fixed already, given that they'd had two years to get it done. He knew he was already adding up the cost of his ruined outfit. The one that not even his silent Tergeos seemed to be helping.

For now though, Ronan's previous mood was back. Don't get him wrong, he was glad no one nefarious was sneaking around. But having the room you're in blackened with soot because of someone else's incompetence would put anyone in a bad mood. So when he overheard someone (Laurel) seemingly defend the two departments at the center of the problem, he couldn't stop himself from snapping "Are they though? One would think that if they were working on it, it'd be fixed by now given that this has been going on for two years now." Sorry, not sorry.

Maybe ministry gatherings weren't so bad after all. She couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as David clearly couldn't keep his eyes off her. Did he like what he saw?She was taken, but that didn't mean she didn't like others looking. Thought the comment that Jessica said towards Adam did raise her eye brow a bit. She glanced over at Adam not ever thinking about other women here at the ministry taking his eye. Could he have thought Jessica pretty? Was she someone Z would have to pay attention to? She looked back towards Jessica and gave a tight smile, "Well Adam is always a busy man, he probably was just wrapped up in his work to say." Adam would be getting a few new pictures of her for his work station, she was going to make that a point.

Giving her attention back to David as refreshments and food were brought up. "It was a pleasure to meet you both. Maybe we will see you on the dance floor in a bit." She brushed a hand over his arm before turning towards Adam. "Dancing sounds wonderful." She hadn't heard any weird noises as they made their way to the floor, honestly she was a Zita high with the way David had looked at her, she obviously assumed everyone was looking at her this way. It had felt like years since she felt this old Zita come back out. She knew not to push it too far, but the little bit was nice to have.

They weren't on the dance floor long when something happened, something that would turn Zita's mood in a second. One minute she was enjoying the evening and starting to think the ministry wasn't so bad, then the next minute she was covered in... something. She looked down at her dress and up in shock. Her eyes searched where it had come from, "MY DRESS! What in Merlin's beard."

Zita was furious.


She knew Charles was right and she adored him for always bringing her back down to reality. Her daughter was not a child and could take care of herself, though Victoria always was overly protective of Alana more than the others. Her arm went over his shoulder as her other slipped into his hand, he was an excellent dancer and even if they had to be more professional at these events she enjoyed the closeness they could have at this moment, even if it wouldn't be for long. She knew he needed to attend the rest of his employees and she needed to greet any of her level seven employees as well.

"I do feel better with the fact that you are in the same office as she is. I know Fletcher and of course you will watch over her for me. Though maybe let Fletcher more than yourself. You might make her feel like I put you up to it." She laughed knowing that is exactly what Alana would think and something Victoria wasn't beneath doing.

As she enjoyed their dancing she had not noticed any of the chaos, her eyes stayed on his mask and her thoughts fully consumed by their little bubble they had at the moment. It wasn't until they were covered in floo that she even started looking around. Her wand had come out as she searched around. She wasn't MLE, but she was standing right next to the minister so she needed to be ready in case something was going to happen. "Charles are you alright."




Alana and smiled and felt herself relax more. She was feeling more confidant in maybe fitting in if more of the new employees were as nice as Jasper. "Creatures sound really interesting. Do you have specific ones that you work with or do you not know yet?" She loved animals, but was a little nervous around the magical ones and she was realizing that her job was probably going to look a little lame to some compared to the crazy things they might be doing. "What made you decide to join the ministry?" Taking a sip of her drink she glanced around seeing her mother and Charles dancing.

As she went to take a quick bite of her food she heard a noise and looked up in time to see a cloud of darkness flood the area. She gave out a small scream of surprise before realizing that everyone was covered, including her food with grossness. [b] "Well this is one way to welcome everyone in a big way."[b] Was this an omen of how things were going to go working here?

Jane had been slowly heading toward the edges of the room when suddenly there was a sort of whooshing and everything went dark for a minute. She turned away, pulling off her mask, and covered her face as a cloud of green and black particles rose up around her and began settling on everything and everyone. She squeezed her eyes shut until it settled and coughed loudly several times. Floo backup! That must have been someone sensitive to dust making that wheezing sound. You'd think the Ministry would be more on top of things, but then again, given Jane's experience with large bureaucracies, probably not.

She heard Sachin and then Conley saying something but she was afraid to open her eyes too soon and risk getting particles in them. "Yes, I'm all right," she managed to get out once her coughing died down. "Floo backup, sounds like."

He'd move toward the food in a minute, he thought, eyes still surveying the crowd over the top of his glass. Although the mask was giving Dalton some anonymity, it was also kind of annoying him, and he wasn't sure he liked the fact that he couldn't quite see within the whole of his peripheral vision.

So oblivious was he that it wasn't until the woman was stood in front of him that he realised she'd been aiming for him all along. And when she started talking, well, Dalton's eyes widened and it took him a moment to realise that hers, although slightly obscured by her mask, were teasing.

At least, he hoped they were. He was going to pretend that she was teasing even if she wasn't because he didn't know what else to do. "Oh, no, I wouldn't want to - uh, to embarrass anyone. You know, by being the best. By showing off." Had he explained the joke too much? He'd explained the joke too much.

Not that he realised, though - even if he'd had that much self awareness, Dalton's attention was captivated by the fact that it was PITCH BLACK all of a sudden, and even though the light returned after a few moments (moments where he stood in perfect stillness for fear of knocking into someone), it was still a shock.

"What the -"

Ilse hadn’t gotten very far following along behind Frankie when the Atrium started filling very quickly with smoke and soot. It smelled terrible! The entire Atrium went dark for several moments and before Ilse could even do anything to protect herself she was covered from head to toe in a thick coat of soot.

Turning away from Frankie now and opening her eyes to stare back at the party, she stood incredibly still and took everything in. It reminded her of pictures of Pompeii after the eruption. In their case, though, it seemed everyone was thankfully okay so far.

After a moment of staring, she looked down at herself, at her beautiful purple ball gown ruined. Reaching up, she felt the powdery substance in her hair, and even the mask that had been in her hand hadn’t survived; it was so coated in soot that it didn’t even sparkle anymore.

She felt tears sting her eyes.

For one night, just one night she’d felt... beautiful. And now it was over.

She wanted to leave, to run home, to eat an entire container of ice cream, and probably take way too many showers.

But she knew she couldn’t leave yet, she’d have to stay until they knew it was safe to go. Searching for somewhere to hide where no one could see her, she ran back through the party to the other side of the Atrium. Just as she approached a small cluster of people she saw Conley removing his mask, and she quickly turned to take another route through the crowd hoping he hadn’t seen her.

Finally finding a place well away from everyone else, she put her back against the wall, slid to the floor, pulled her knees up to her chest, and cried.

Conley didn't need to worry about Sachin wanting to do any investigation of his own. No, this Ambassador was going to let the appropriately trained witches and wizards handle this; Conley was right, Bain and his Department and the Transportation Department could handle this. All Sachin had wanted to do was to have a nice, quiet evening filled with hearty conversations and great food but instead he found the opposite of that happening.

Sachin coughed and did a series of throat clearings to get his voice working properly again. Conley sounded as though he had come down with a nasty cold or a bout of raised allergies with all those sneezes. At least now the Ambassador has recollected himself and his eyes were adjusting to the mess before them. He reached to pat the husband’s hand reassuringly which was holding onto him. His eyes searched for Jane. The woman might have taken a nasty hit given the fact that she had actually approached the site of the mess.

Then he heard Jane’s voice. Good! She was okay too.

“Well, I think the evening’s ruined,’’ he muttered, raking a hand through his hair to extract as much soot as possible.

He was loath to agree, but Sachin seemed to be right. Normally, he would have leaned over and whispered that he would try to salvage the night with Sachin later, but he was still a bit rattled by the blackout. The pat on his hand alerted him to the fact that he was still gripping Sachin’s arm. ”Sorry,” he said pulling his hand back. ”Just…courtroom.” He was sure that Sachin would know what he meant. Conley ran a hand through his hair, shaking some of the dust and soot out of it. His new suit was likely ruined and that made him a little sad. As for the mask? It too was probably ruined, but he stuffed it in a pocket.

Oh good. They were all alright. At least those in his immediate vicinity. There was still a lot of room to inspect, but unlike in the courtroom, at least there were no decernable bodies laying about. Jane’s cough concerned him though. He grabbed two goblets off buffet, dumbed there contents on the floor and then pointed his wand at them. ”Aguamenti,” He used the first spurt of water to clean the goblets, then repeated the spell and handed one glass to Sachin and another to Jane.

Movement nearby caught Conley’s attention and he turned, just as a young lady turned and walked away. ”Ilse?” he called, but she didn’t’ stop. Conley looked at Sachin. ”I think I maybe I should see if there is anything I can do to help salvage….something.” He didn’t want to leave Sachin and he was pretty certain that there was nothing left to salvage, but he felt as a department head he should try. However, if Sachin said no, let’s go home, home they would go.


Adam had been about to spin Zita when the lights went out. Instead of spinning her, he gripped her hand tightly. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but even a blind man could sense that something wasn’t right. There was that smell and then poof, it felt as if a potion had exploded in his face. He sniffled, snuffed, and snorted. His head shook like a wet dog, spraying Zita with a bit more soot in the process and then he blinked. His first reaction was to laugh, but he somehow managed not to. And it was a good thing he hadn’t laughed, because Zita’s exclamation was loud. ”Are you hurt?“ he asked, even as he frowned. It occured to him that Zita was probably never going to attend another minstry event with him.

And then the smell hit him. Like rancid pea soup and asphalt and barbeque gone bad. It was worse than the corpse flower from the previous year and something about it did not sit well with him. He gagged, turned, and then gagged again. Oh he hoped he wouldn’t get sick.

Hallie smiled kindly in amusement as he responded. He appeared nice enough, although his manners left something to be desired…

“Nice to meet you Matt, I’m Hallie,” She replied, hoping she sounded cheerful. It not that didn’t want to be here, because she did. She was excited about started a new job and meeting her coworkers, but she had been swamped all morning making sure her apartment was actually livable now that she planned on living in London for the foreseeable future and to add a party on top of that well… let’s just say Hallie did have the energy to be her charming self. “and thanks.”

Hallie unconsciously raised her hand and discretely rubbed at ear… Did anyone else hear that… or was it all in her head. Never mind.

“I’m new,” Hallie blurted nervously “I mean… I was just hired here…at the Ministry. It’s my first job.”

Before Hallie could embarrass herself any further… BOOM. Smoke filled the room, blinding the young girl. She opened her mouth to say something but immediately closed it as soot covered her tongue. BLAGH. And then as quickly as it had come it was gone.

Hallie frantically glanced around the room. Every piece of furniture, every guest in attendance including Matt and herself her covered in the stuff. How is she going to explain the state of her gown to her grandmother…?

“Are you alright?! Merlin’s beard! What happened???” Hallie gasped, trying desperately not to inhale any of the soot that had settled. Oh for goodness sake forget about the food…. “That’s definitely not edible anymore.”

The blonde women gazed across the room until her eyes finally settled on the floo stations she had just moments ago arrived from. “Did…Did the floo network just EXPLODE??”

Mum and grandmother surely weren’t going to believe this…

"Thank you so much," Jane murmured, taking the goblet of water, her voice only slightly hoarse now. "Yes, it looks like the affair is pretty much a bust now, if you'll pardon the expression. At least, the food is all pretty much spoiled," she went on, wishing she had gotten at least a few bites in before the explosion. She glanced down at her dress, glad that it was only something she had picked up in a resale shop--if it were ruined, it would be a shame, but it wouldn't break the bank.

She heard the two men murmuring to each other and looked back up. "Please, take care of anything you need to. Don't feel you have to keep me company all evening--I think the affair is pretty much over by this time." A shame, she had intended to give her regards to the Minister, as a dutiful new employee, and maybe try to catch a glimpse of Airey Flamsteed, her new boss. Though a party with everyone wearing masks wasn't the best place to do that. At any rate, it was no use trying to find anyone now, in all the confusion.

“Not yet,” Bryony murmured in agreement. She hadn’t noticed anything overt yet either, so it was promising that there wasn’t anything her associate had noticed. Even if it seemed they were rather exposed standing there at the side of the room observing. She had seen their new boss notice them, however suspicious she still felt at his presence. Yes, there had been minor turnaround regarding their department head during her years as a YATI and then an Auror, but this one had piqued her suspicion for some reason. Not that she’d have ever mentioned it anywhere that it might be overheard.
“As is yours,” she continued, a slight smile on her face at the compliment. “My daughter certainly seemed to like it too. Although I feel a bit like I’m representing my old Hogwarts house in reverse,” she added with a laugh, her blue eyes immediately being drawn toward the vaguely familiar forms investigating the fog near the floos. She was assuming it was Frankie and Ronan, but once again the masks were creating a bit of an issue making certain of identities. As Emilia had also mentioned. “They are, but it’s part of the theme of the night so I guess we’ll need to play it by ear?” Hypothetically. The only sounds seemed to be the music and the growing strange wheezing sound.

“Sure, why not?” One drink wouldn’t hurt, after all. She could go see what the boys were checking into afterward...

…And then everything exploded. Or, at least, she assumed the fireplaces had. All the soot would have given that away to just about anyone, as evidenced by the statement she’d heard from Alphonsine as she’d switched her direction toward ground zero moments after the darkness had cleared. Wand out, Bryony had cast a non-verbal bubblehead charm on herself while she hadn’t been able to see, having slipped her mask off moments before the rain of soot, ash and the sparkle of floo powder had hit her. At least it gave her relief from the smell, somewhat. A bit of it had infiltrated her bubble, but not too much to distract her from doing her job.

Blaming Transportation seemed too much like trying to find a scapegoat to distract everyone from the true culprit, after all.

He kept to the outskirts of the room, watching the people eat, dance, and chat. The slowly appearing footprints, the snuffling noises? Yes, he did notice them. He was the head of MLE after all. Did he do anything about it? Not at all. Why? He was fairly certain whatever going on was not malevolent and therefore it seemed a convenient test for his staff.

He soon learned it was a test for most people in the room, because he watched numerous people who had no justifiable reason for investigating the goings on following aurors (Ronan and Dante) and other security personnel towards the floos. But not all of his staff had been as vigilant as they should have been. One (Matthew), had not moved from the food table and the two ladies (Bryony and Emilia) he had observed earlier had moved towards the bar rather than the floo.

His wanderings, otherwise known as patrolling, had taken him as far away from the floos as possible which was quite fortuitous, because it meant he was on the other side of the room when the floos exploded. He, therefore, had been fairly far away from the blast and wasn’t nearly as dirty as most in the room. Poor Alphonsine, he saw was covered from head to foot. Her exclamation was almost as loud as another lady (Zita). Despite poor [Alphonsine’s condition, the view of the room was almost enough to make the man laugh.

Almost enough, but not quite. His amusement manifested in a mere shake his head. He really should head over and check on Alphonsine he thought. Or perhaps Sian. But before he could make a move, someone (Ilse) rushed past him looking particularly upset.

“Łaska,” he called out, spotting the Security Officer nearby. ”Take Meriwether and make sure that no one is hurt.” Surely there were healers in attendance to assist if need be. ”And check on the Minster as well.” He gave the room one more look over and then sighed and followed the young lady who had rushed past him. Best follow his own orders and make sure she wasn't hurt.

”Are you hurt?” he asked walking up to Ilse. He waved his wand conjuring a handkerchief which he plucked from the air and held out for the young lady between two long pale fingers.

Yassi smiled easily, throwing her head back with childlike glee. Oh, she was so pleased he caught on. It wasn't in her character to give someone a hard time. "Oh, you are very considerate then," she teased some more. It was difficult, this mask situation. At first Yassi quite liked the idea that they were all taking part in it together. Practically, however, it was a nightmare. The eyes were windows to the soul, but the masks were making it difficult to hold eye contact. They were very distracting.

"But now you have made me very curious!" She smiled warmly, gently nudging his arm with her elbow. If he danced, she would promise to join him. There was very little to lose. That was the beauty of anonymity, was it not? She was just about to raise the point when everything went dark for a moment, only to end in a layer of thick dust.

Some of which she had inhaled.

After a brief coughing fit, she unceremoniously cleared her throat. Eying the masked man, she smiled and swiped her finger along his face. "You are covered from head to toe!" As was everyone else (including herself). And then she began laughing. It began as a soft giggling (that she tried hard to contain), but before she knew it the giggles turned into a hearty, belly laugh. So boisterous in nature that it could likely be heard from the other end of the atrium.

Tomasz lowered his mask just as the mass of dark powder swept over the entire room. The canapé that the woman (Evelyn) had offered him was not very appetizing anymore. Politely, he set it back down on the table, looking up at her with apologetic eyes, though he did not have anything to apologize for. He felt embarrassed on behalf of what had just occurred, as if he could have done anything to have stopped it.

The apology was forming on his lips just as he heard his name being called out by his new department head. "Yyy... That is me, I am Łaska," he admitted, offering his current company somewhat of an explanation. "It was a pleasure to meet you." He bowed his head slightly, again making an apologetic gesture as he excused himself to follow commands.

Commands that were very hard to follow given the difficulty to identify personnel while they were wearing masks. He lifted his own to his forehead for the sake of ease as he scanned the area for Matthew. Spotting him (hopefully it was him) a few feet away at the other end of the buffet table, Tomasz nodded at him to follow.

First priority was the Minister and Tomasz understood this as he quickly weaved his way through the crowd, tightly gripping his wand and heading to where the Minister stood with Victoria and others. As he neared the man, Tomasz raised his voice. "You are, yyy, alright, Sir?" He hoped Matthew had followed behind him.

Sachin immediately understood why his husband had sprung into over protective mode. For a moment there, he too saw the flash of green light and Roller crumpled on the floor. Then he shook his head vigorously as though to clear his memory of that incident. As a result, some of the not-so-clingy soot dislodged from his hair and settled for floating towards the ground or onto his shoulders. “It’s okay, I understand.’’ He removed his mask, having now remembered about it, and gave Conley a reassuring gaze. He probably looked weird given the fact that his face was half soot-filled and the other half that had been covered with the mask wasn’t.

The Ambassador accepted the glass of water and took a much needed gulp. He really was sorry that the evening was ruined but was just as relieved to see Jane in one piece. At least tonight’s happening didn’t seem to be the work of anything evil. Just plain, old incompetence of not keeping the fireplaces clean.

“Well, we should make this up by having lunch together sometime, June. If that’s alright with you.’’ Sachin knew that Conley would agree to this. Later, at least, if he wasn’t too busy trying to be a helpful Department Head by checking that anything could be saved. Already Bain was barking orders. “When you’re done, Con, we should get going.’’ All Sachin wanted to do was take a long shower to remove all this soot.

Ilse sniffled and looked up when she heard footsteps approaching her, expecting it to be Conley since he was basically her only friend. She was surprised, though, when she realized it wasn’t him. It was, what had her Department Head called him? Bain. Yes... Bain. He was a Department Head. Magical Law Enforcement. The fact that he was coming to check on her instead of the number of much more important people in the room made her even more embarrassed. Had she really made that much of a scene?

She was thankful, now, for the soot covering her face and neck. At least he couldn’t see how red she had turned. Standing up, she took the handkerchief he offered and wiped the sooty tears out of her eyes. ”I’m fine. I’m not hurt... not physically, anyway,” she said quietly, not making eye contact with him. ”Thank you,” she said, indicating the handkerchief. ”And for checking on me, but I’m sure you have much MUCH more important people to look after right now.”

Kendra wouldn't have minded talking to Oliver a little while longer. He seemed like pleasant enough company and she was looking forward to a relaxing night where she didn't need to think about work or the consistent problems that continued to plague her department. But apparently the powers that be had other plans for her and she barely heard him mention anything further than he was a healer, blah blah blah, because her eyes were trained on the floos for the time being, worried about just what might happen next.

But she was hardly prepared for what actually did happen.

Sorry, but she hardly cared about smoke from the viewpoint of a healer, because she had much bigger things to worry about. And Kendra was just about to excuse herself from the very pleasant man as she thought she might have to further investigate what was happening with those fireplaces. But before she could do any of that... the floos EXPLODED?! What an absolute nightmare!

Kendra stood, frozen to the spot, wishing she could just sink into the floor. Her fault or not, she knew that as head of the department she would need to take the blame for this. She would have to take the responsibility for hundreds of ruined outfits and just a plain ruined night. It was mortifying. And to make matters worse, after the panicked and outraged shrieks, Kendra was certain she heard laughter. The laughter snapped her out of her paralyzed trance and she whirled around to see if she could see just who it was who thought this so funny. It was probably a good thing that she couldn't tell it was Yassi, from her own department no less, as this was very serious and jobs were on the line here. Sooty darkness and masks probably worked in the woman's favor.

But before Kendra could confront the person from the other side of the atrium, Kendra wiped the soot from her face and headed for the fireplaces. Damage was already done, but perhaps she could prevent any aftershocks or at least try to figure out what had happened. Was that Grae? She thought she recognized her as she headed towards the floos, though through the masks and darkness, she couldn't be sure. "Help me get this contained," she mentioned to the woman as she passed. And if it wasn't Grae, she could still use the help. She would expect the rest of the department to help as well, whether they worked with floo or another aspect of the department.