Van actually gave the one transporation lady a polite nod, recognising her as the employee of the month. Well. That award was a bit of a travesty. He couldn't imagine how it would feel winning it, knowing that departments that weren't pro-cult didn't even get a look in.

He checked his desk and seat and enlarged it a little more before sitting and then eyed Damien.

Enough, his look said, and, Later, it promised.

As for the question? Van's thoughts had a clear answer. Damien, Dacs, and Don't-mess-with-me-Recard-or-I'll-sic-them-on-you. Three D's.

The man remained silent, arms folded across his chest, watching.

Maaaaaan. Van NEVER let Damien have any fun. Heh. Well SOMETIMES Damien got to act like a baboon's behind, but not a LOT. Nodding at his friend he DID catch the look in his eye that promised he could be bad later. This made him grin a little and then go back to looking bored at the lackey in the front of the room.

Alright, so Sabel was a hair-span away from grinning like a mad dog with Evander's entrance. Nothing more needed to be said or done, Evander had made his point quite well and had Recard in quite a fluster.

Perfect.

Slipping off his desk, he took a moment to enlarge it before plopping down into it. Rather than tucking his wand away, he kept it resting easily on his lap. Damien and Evander were throwing each other looks, which while he didn't know either of them long enough to be able to read them, he understood that they were all in this together. And no one was going to back down. This was their department, not Recard's and the men the MLE followed and looked up to were not standing at the head of the class; they were in line with their troops.

Daft. Dimwitted. And delusional. The three D's just for Recard. A smirk drew on his lips as he rested back in his chair. Really, if the man wanted more respect than he was getting, he should have started out by handing out respect at the door.

Really Recard, really.

Emily simply rolled her eyes at him. Yes AT him. Because Squidy boy was a self riteous troll and a moron. Obviously because trolls were morons, but Recard was definitely more moronic than a troll.

She smiled in delight as Van and Damien arrived. Now THAT was all class.

But the lesson was underway? With yelling?
She was oh so tempted to flick balled up bits of parchment his way, but refrained herself from doing so. Just because he was treating them like children, didn't mean they needed to respond that way.

"Destination, determination, deliberation," she said in a venomous tone.

Was he serious? Were they talking about the 3 D's?!!

NEWS FLASH MORON! I KNOW ALL THIS!

Gold stars. Really? Did he think they were children? Well obviously. Wait, two gold stars?? Why did Recard give him two? He'd never really met the man before, which maybe meant that he hadn't annoyed the man. But still from what he could tell he hadn't done anything special. After all he'd simply wrote his name and his position in the ministry. One would think that would be common sense.

Although he did actually kinda like 'em. Gold stars that it. So maybe he was a little childish inside, but he wouldn't let anyone know that.

Skander's eyes followed Recard, he was slightly suspicious of the man, and well he should try to show respect and look to the front, since this was a lesson. Although he was with the person who pointed out that Transportation had given them these licenses in the first place. Which was why Skander couldn't help but hide a smirk behind his hand when Bole came in and started yelling. Oh yes, if he wasn't trying to be respectful he would have laughed at the sight. Although he did kind of feel bad for Recard, being told off in front of a room full of people he was meant to be teaching as well as some of his own staff.

"Destination, determination and deliberation," Skander replied automatically once the question was asked. He'd tuned out the yelling a bit but he had been paying enough attention to notice when they were asked things. Maybe by being a good student they'd actually give back licenses faster.

Huh. He was angry, Gabe could tell. The way they were all acting so calm right now was getting to him. It wasn't something he was expecting, was it?

A small smirk crossed the corner of Gabriel's lips as Armen spoke again. He talked so much nonsense it was almost funny. "I'm his Head of Security. Hardly likely to ignore the boss, am I?" Maybe that's what HIS employee's did. Not that he could blame them.

And then the fun started.

Evander entered and acted like everybody else wanted to, with the possible exception of Isobel. In any other circumstances Gabe would have arrested him and thrown him in the cells for inciting violence within the Ministry. But this was Van. He was another Department Head, and completely going to get away with it. Because it was deserved. And it made Recard even angrier.

Staying expressionless as his chair got bigger, Gabriel settled himself into it, wand hand twitching and ready for just one wrong move from the Transportation idiot. Giving his boss and Damien a nod of greeting as they sat down, he looked back up front when stupid boy started shouting at them. Really, did he think that was going to get them to co-operate with him?

The three D's, yes. They ALL knew those, thank you very much. Quite well in fact, considering they had previously passed their exam. Destination, determination, deliberation. Or in Recard's case - Dim-wit, Dementor's kiss and Dear-Merlin-why-can't-that-happen? A man could wish. But, of course, instead of saying it aloud, Gabe merely glared in the man's direction. The others had already said it anyway.

Damien's comment about him being a twit rolled over the Transportation head and only caused his temper to boil a tad bit more. Having already blew his cool once by exploding on the class he didn't need to do it again unless it involved wands. Which he hoped it wouldn't come to seeing as he was vastly outnumbered. Not that he wasn't capable of a good duel, he was an excellent student at school and he did hang around some pretty shady people these days and had picked up some pretty handy things--not that he'd used them, yet.

Ok so these tough guys didn't want to answer the question well it's their choice he guessed. He made a tiny tic mark next to each Gabe's, Sabel's, names; two next to Damien's for the snide comment and....none next to Evander's because...well...hm. Recard was definately keeping tabs who was participating or not and these records would be shown to those who needed to see them.

They didn't want to answer fine, they would be in for a suprise when it came to their Practical exams...he would just have to test each of them himself.



Isobel thankfully participated, if only to humor him, in answering the question and for that he was thankful. He nodded as she answered and smiled smally in her direction placing a check mark next to her name in his notes. "Correct Isobel."

Pleasantly the legislator who recieved two stars before had also decided to be smart and answer the questions he was asked and was actually right. "That is right Skander, thanks for answering." Another good check mark.

And with a small look of surpise at the other voice who voiced an aswer, Armen looked at Emily, who he probably felt the most animosity for in the room second to Evander and Damien (who's whispering back and forth more than annoyed him). Had she seriously just answered that question? "Ummm, yes that's correct. Thank you Emily." Maybe she did have some manners under the cloak of self-righteousness MLE had tried to cover her with. A good check for her.

---------------

Ok so now that some of the students had deamed it acceptable of their time to answer the opening question of their lesson he was going to let one of his collegues take the floor. "Alright again thanks to those who answered the posed question," he cleared his throat ignoring the rolling of eyes here and there. "and as they said the three D's are Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. These important steps are the basis on which you need to focus your mind on before attempting to Apparate even short distances."

Turning slightly to face the two women standing slightly behind him on each side Recard extended a hand in gesture to Katrina. "Now if you all would be so kind to listen as Miss Rayne elaborates further and goes into more detail about each of the three D's and their importance." He smiled at Katrina and nodded at her sack that it was alright to distribute them. He then eyed the room and they had better respect this lady or so help him Merlin.

Dorian had been actively not paying attention as Recard was approached by Evander, than had his little tantrum over people not listening to him. Of course they weren't listening, because they weren't being told anything new. Either about Apparition or about Recard himself. He wasn't a Ministry official, he was a Cult flunky who was trying his hardest to be teacher's pet by targeting them because they weren't mindless drones. Sounds about right to me, although I'd also like to deliberately and determinedly Apparate him to some undisclosed location and leave him there for a while, he thought idly, as the old question about the three D's had been posed. The one he'd known the answer to for over seventeen years now. He wasn't about to say his thoughts, however. Biding his time was better, even if it didn't get him a mark in the book. For all he knew that book was just to decide who the cult thought was most impressionable and who wasn't. He definitely wasn't.

But he started paying attention again as Recard turned things over to the ladies. He'd respect Katherine and Miss Rayne, as neither of them had actively done anything to him. Other than unfortunately be employed in Recard's department, which wasn't their fault. He'd have to make sure nothing happened to them later, when things inevitably went down.

Damien stifled another yawn and eyed the Cult Monkey in the front of the room. Did he think his glaring and bad marks in a notebook was intimidating? HA! Damien had met little girls with pigtails that frightened him more than this flunky.

Then he said something about the ladies taking over. Good! Damien respected women like any Southern gentleman. He sat up a little straighter and removed his hat. Mhm. He may have even smiled at them. NICELY.

Oh, so they were moving on to the part where a proper person was going to do something? Good. It would save having to listen to any more rubbish from Recard. Wouldn't stop the black marks going against their names though, he was sure about that. The man would find any excuse to add those. Which just earned him another glare.

But now Gabriel's attention was drawn to the lady at the front of the room. He gave her a small smile. Always polite to ladies. Unfailingly so. Plus she didn't look nearly as wacko as her boss was. He was listening, arms now unfolded and hands resting loosely on the desk. You may begin young lady, they were all ears for you.

If any of them were to give their flat opinion on the matter of the 'lesson', Sabel was sure, from the looks and the general displeasure emanating from everyone, that they would all agree it was a waste of time. And a poor tactic to try and entice the MLE's to follow under foot and heel of Borr and his goonies.

But like everyone else, Sabel actually turned his attention to the ladies when they were introduced. He held no ill will towards them, yet, save for the disgruntlement of having to 'participate' in their class. Then again, they might not have had the choice of teaching the class. He really couldn't say. So for now, he was neutral against them. Maybe even a little sympathetic for having to work under Recard. But he wasn't going to hatch any hopes. For now, he would listen and offer them as much respect as he could muster.

Oh what was that? He was surprised?! Surprised that she'd participated? Or surprised that she'd actually answered correctly. Emily glared at the fat-headed troll-squid! How dare he offend her with that look.
And no more stars? What a shame, she would have loved to have a reason for turning over her table in protest. But... maybe another time.

But it was the ladies turn?... they seeemd innocent enough in this. Emily sat up a little straighter, arms still folded against her chest. Just because she didn't... dislike them, it didn't mean she HAD to like them. She would listen and co-operate. And that was it. The end.

Katrina was waiting patiently, trying not to earn glares from the members of the MLE. She was fairly certain the whole department was just itching to take out their wands to hex every single one of the instructors... and Katrina did not fancy being hexed. Katrina then heard her cue and quickly snapped out of whatever reverie she had seemed to be in. She smiled at everyone, still slightly nervous and picked up the sack by her feet. Katrina waved one hand, slightly awkward at everyone, some with smiles some still neutral. That was a good sign right?

"So, since you all know the three D's to Apparition, can someone please tell me about the link between the three of them?" Katrina asked, smile plastered on her face.

Mentally she was just hoping none of them cursed her... hexed her, and Merlin's beard, she sure hoped no one in the cluster before her were cannibals. She didn't want to be on the menu... she was still twenty-one and young, please don't eat her. Katrina was pretty sure she would die if this was not her job, but unable to really do anything else, she kept a smile firmly in place, trying her best not to panic.

Or get the department head of MLE mad enough to choke-lift her like he had done to her boss.

Dacs cut a look at Armen before turning to the woman who stepped up to speak.

Like a bloodhound Dacs could smell fear oozing from the girl. But she smiled back before answering,"Does the phrase, 'one must be completely determined to reach one's destination and move without haste but with deliberation.' ring a bell? It does have the three D's."

She couldn't help it. Her tone was polite but added a bit jovial humour to her answer. The girl seemed to hold her ground despite the nervousness, that created an aura around her. Dacs had to give her credit for that.

Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. Saphirra thought. It's sixth year all over again.

"You have to know where you're going and you're determined to go there. And deliberation? You will need to deliberate where you're going and in what-" she thought for a perfect word before continuing-"-state you're going to reach the destination. Splinched or not." She answered. She would like it if they start the practical after this. She's been through these stuff just 4 years ago and it was frustating.

Emily couldn't help but smirk. The woman was practiacally shaking in her boots. They weren't that scary were they? Though admitedly Van's entrance had made things rather interesting. Gosh she respected that man.

Rolling her eyes at the next question she figured she would sound like a broken record. But in the spirit of making nice with the... lady... she answered.

"The link is the process..."

"So unless you want to find yourself in two places at the same time you need to focus on your target... your destination. Then you need to be determined to get your destination. Lastly you need to be deliberate in your actions in order to apparate to that destination. If your mind wanders or wavers then your likely to find youself splinched.... and that would be a shame." She gave Squid a dark look. Oh how she would love it if he splinched.

Really... Dacs had said it better. But repeating the same thing wasn't her style.

Oh so politely and pointedly, Van participated the moment Armen had shut his mouth. He was answering the question set by Miss Rayne, but also taking the oppportunity to speak to his own employees, and he looked around at them steadily.

"Determination requires intent of a firm and definite nature, and in the case of Apparition, Determination refers to the firm intention to reach your Destination, intact and whole, which is of course the reason one must be Deliberate when one apparates. Deliberation is the act of controlled and careful movement, and requires you to be aware of your physical self, and mentally hold yourself together so that when you reach your Destination, you will not only arrive unsplinched, but able to immediately act as required, wand at the ready and mentally prepared to attack, or to immediately disapparate to a safer location, either on your own or taking a civilian to safety via side-along apparition."

Please. These transportation people may know about apparition, but they certainly did not know about doing so in the heat of battle, with lives at risk.

He nodded politely at Miss Rayne again and fell silent.

While Sabel didn't yet hold any ill will towards Katrina, he didn't have any intention of playing along with the game. When it mattered, maybe, but right now he was still too irked at the whole process to bother thinking beyond what he already knew and extending it to how the Transportation department should behave; to how Recard and the Cult should mind their steps.

It was Evander's words that snapped him out of his thoughts, and he watched the man intently, soaking up everything that was said. There was so much in the apparently simple answer, so much that they needed to hear. It wasn't all about Appratition. It never had been. And it was only then, that he realized it.

"You need all three to accomplish just one, Miss Rayne. Without a destination it is hard to be determined or deliberate. Without deliberation, careful thought, it is hard to know a destination and retain determination." His eyes flicked to Recard briefly before returning to Katrina. "And without determination, all the deliberation and destination you have in mind will not hold a penny's worth."

Relation of the phrase? "Without determination and deliberation, one wouldn't be able to reach the destination," answered Dean casually. He looks like he has forgotten that he provoked the Head of Magical Transportation earlier. Or is he just too bold or a bloke?

The link? Right, well, that was a simple enough first question. And one everybody seemed to know the answer to. Of course, Gabriel had to make his own input - chances are Recard would fail him if he said nothing for the whole lesson.

"The three are intrinsically linked. Without two of them you would never achieve the third. To be able to reach your destination you need to be determined and focussed in your mind on where it is you wish to go, letting nothing distract you. Calm and deliberate movements will get you there in one piece - as opposed to having a limb missing." Which was a very bad thing, unless it happened to Recard, then Gabe was fairly certain this whole department would be reasonably happy.

Leaning back comfortably in his chair, his eyes wandered from the young woman he had just addressed to the other one. Would she be all right, or like her boss? Time would tell.

Katrina smiled at the woman who answered. Even if the woman seemed quite frightening. "Yes, that's correct, it was said by Wilkie Twycross, an Apparition instructor from the 1990's," she said. Given, that was probably not going to be on the examination, but it wouldn't hurt to spew some random little fun facts, right? Remembering that the woman had answered correctly, Katrina fumbled with the knot on the sack. Finally undoing it, she grinned triumphantly.

Katrina had seen how everyone had reacted to the gold stars. She was fairly certain that hexes may be cast at any moment now, once she finished.

"You just earned yourself a pretty unicorn," Katrina said, smiling fakely. With that, Katrina pulled a pretty pink sparkly, plastic unicorn out and placed it on her desk.

... Katrina was so getting hexed for it.



Katrina continued to smile, slightly worried about what may or may not happen but she had a task to carry out. "You're correct as well, as for Splinching, we will get to that soon," Katrina said, nodding as she pulled out another pretty, shiny unicorn. She pulled out a pretty blue unicorn and set it on the female's desk. "You earned yourself a unicorn as well," Katrina said, quickly moving on before she got cursed or injured... or both.



Katrina nodded her head. They all seemed to know the correct answer, which made her wonder if they truly all needed to retake the examination. She smiled at the woman. "That's correct as well, it is very important to focus to avoid being splinched," she said. Katrina chose to ignore the look that the female had given her boss. It didn't look very friendly.

Katrina reached into her bag and pulled out a purple unicorn. "And here is your unicorn," she said, smiling nervously, placing the unicorn on the not-so-comfortable desk.



Katrina was quite nervous when she heard the head of the MLE department speak. She really didn't want to be killed by this man. After all, he had choked her own boss, who knew what he would do to the workers of this department. She smiled, hoping he did not notice how terrified she was of him. Still, he gave a very good point, making her wonder, yet again, why they were doing this again. She smiled and nodded. "That's correct Mister Bole, I'm sure that being prepared for anything is always important for your department," she said, before reaching into the black sack and pulling out not one but two sparkly, plastic unicorns. One in a bright sunny shade of yellow and another in a bleak, shade of grey. Katrina was sure that his answer deserved two unicorns...

Maybe she shouldn't have given him any at all. Mister Bole did have the power to hex her after all.



Katrina nodded, slightly tempted to applaud the male for his answer. Which was lovely, just like everyone's answers. She was sure that they would all pass the written part of the exam with flying colors... or unicorns. "Exactly, you are correct," Katrina said, trying not to beam. Really, all of them was getting this correct. If they were truly little children, Katrina would be ecstatic about having such lovely students... except they weren't and they had wands... and they were very capable of casting spells. "Here is your unicorn," she said, pulling out a bright green unicorn with odd purple, sparkly streaks through the plastic toy's mane.



That was the correct answer, of course, it may not have been as specific as the others, but it relayed the same information. "That's right, Mister Benson," Katrina said, nodding and placing an orange unicorn on his desk.



Oh, a more detailed answer! That was absolutely brilliant. And of course, it as correct... just like everyone else. She smiled, still a tad bit nervous, but more at ease now. It didn't appear that anyone really wanted to harm the employees... rather just Mister Recard. Which Katrina did not approve of, but she couldn't do a thing about it. "That is correct, Mister Vartann," she said, glancing at the name tag, just so she knew she wasn't calling him by the wrong name. She set a dark green unicorn on his desk.

After circling the room and placing the unicorns on the desks of those who had participated and answered well, she stood back at the front. The sack of unicorns were still in her hand, but she now moved on. "As most of you said, the link between the three D's of Apparition is very important, seeing as you cannot do one without the other," Katrina started, looking at all of those with unicorns on their desks. "You must always be determined to reach your destination, which means you have to stay focused and you must always move without haste, but with deliberation, so you will not splinch yourself," Katrina said, smiling. She was quite a safe distance away, and there was a podium she could hide behind, should she need to avoid any spells flying around the room.

"With that said, we'll be moving onto the next part of Apparition, splinching yourself, which Miss Spades will kindly talk to you about," Katrina said, moving back a few steps to allow the elder woman to step forward and speak to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement about. Katrina tied a knot at the top of the sack, and set it back on the ground by her foot.

As soon as the first unicorn had appeared from the Ministry of Transportation's Toy Bag of Wonders, the frown had been present on Sabel's lips. It only deepened when one rather odd looking unicorn was placed on his desk. If the woman hadn't looked so nervous, he probably would have snapped a comment at her. But given the way she skittered away after handing out the unicorns, this wasn't something she took pleasure in. Indeed there were few people in their right minds that would hand out plastic toys to the MLE department with a smirk, but he could name a few.

Unfolding one of his arms, he reached forward and picked the toy up between two fingers. His eyes shot to Recard with a glower. It had better be used for the practical part of the exam, or a practice on splinching, though there was someone else he wouldn't mind testing his 'misguided and malfunctioning' apparition skills on.

Letting the toy drop back on his desk, he folded his arms again and rested back in his seat, his eyes on Recard. "Kind of the Ministry of Transportation to spend their earnings on such useful things." Of all the spending they could be doing, none of it was on prudent matters. "But at least you've thought of us. I've always wanted a pony for Christmas."

Now, there was no question and no doubt, there could be no question or doubt of what Recard and the Cult thought of this whole thing. A joke to waste their time. His eyes flicked to Damien and Evander with a look that clearly was at the end of his line; if it was a laughing stock matter, he had better things to do with his time than be a puppet of amusement.

She HAD to be kidding right? Emily glared at the purple thing on her desk... this was beyond insulting, this was... this was... not going to be a good day.

Eyeing the purple plastic, Emily gave it a tap with her finder, knocking it over. Whoops it died. If only the same thing would happen if you pushed Recard over... then again... that was possible. A nice trip down a few flights of stairs might do him some good. It would certainly be an improvement on his personality.

Emily didn't want the damn pony... but what to do with it? She could always throw it at Squid boy... or ... set it on fire. Or better yet set it on fire and throw it at Squid boy. But no, despite the entertainment vallue, she was certain Van and Damien wouldn't approve. What a shame. If only their backs were turned.
Taking the stupid plastic unicorn, she turned in her seat and placed it on the table behind her. She didn't notice who was sitting there, and really she didn't care. She didn't want nor need a stupid TOY!!!

Her lips tilted up in a smirk at Sabel's comment. Heh.. he wanted a pony for christmas-- sarcasm obviously... but either way, she had always wanted a dragon. Never got into the whole girly fluffy princessy type things.

As Miss Raine finished off what was no doubt her part in todays events, Emily then turned her attention to the other woman. She had better not give her a star or a friggin pony... or anything else for that matter... unless it was her license, she would gladly take that back.

...
Unicorns.
...
Seriously?

Sapphira isn't that much into unicorns. Plushies are for 6-year-olds, not twenties above. Even though blue is her favorite colour, she is not going to place it on her bedside table. And besides, she's too polite to say no.

Splinching yourselves?? Sapphy thought. Yeah, I've been through that before. It wasn't pretty.

Then, she started wondering on what other things are there in Santa's sack. Probably a beetle, spider, cockroach, or some ants. Saphira herself would be honoured to conjure some if she's allowed. It would be nice if there's some screams in this class. It's just TOO quiet. And childish, don't forget about that.

Dacs cocked an eyebrow in wonder. Although the gesture was more for a child, Dacs found it cute and it reminded her of something her mother would have given to her. She looked at the pink unicorn and smirked a bit.

She could tell the woman was nervous to even come near her and it made Dacs laugh inwardly. She gave the woman a deadly stare and an mischievous smile. 'Too easy.' she thought. Yes, Dacs could be impish at times but chose to refrain, seeing that Evander was not in a good mood and she would probably have to do something to Armen, for he would of course have some stupid reaction.

Sitting back in her chair she looked from the woman back to the pink, sparkly unicorn and shook her head. 'Pink!' she thought with an inner flinch.