Xavier smiled such a pleased smile at the new Department Head. "Sorry, Gina? May i call you Gina? Well yes Im sorry to say that youre incorrect. Her name is Egypt and I've raised her since she was just a cub. My lie was that I am durmstrang alumni. Ive actually got my education at Hogwarts." He continued to wear his smile with not even an ounce loss of fade nor amusement. "SLYTHERIN ALL DAY BABY! Yelled Xavier in a jockish type tone. He was always so playful and young at heart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Potter Weasley

" Good I like questions" J.J. Starr told Gina."Do I have to answer?" Joe Jon Montcenaggio asked Gina with a smile. "Would it be twenty questions like the muggles do in their world?" J.J. asked Gina laughing.

"No dear," she said with a smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nixy!

Helena giggled and smiled at the woman's cheefulness. It was simply contagious. "Yes, you got it right! But no... I wouldn't say I'm young. Give it a few years and I'll have hit fourty!" She smiled at the older woman, "Well... Yes, I think that they are. But, thank you for those compliments... I certainly don't think I look that young." Hehe. It was true! But that was probably only because she KNEW her age, and the kids.

Which reminded her ... She MUST go to the animal place before going home... Goodness knows she'd need the extra supplies, what, with Luna seeming like she was about to drop the kittens.

"Well, you do to me..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by HannahLongbottom

Malachi's first thought was rather unpalatable, so instead of putting a voice to it he thought again. His eyes twinkling with merriment, he suggested "You take a photo of it, and then place the photograph in the fridge." He wondered what the others might come up with.

"Malachi, such a clever young man." She said and smiked. "But that's not the answer my dear..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nixy!

Helena wasn't sure if this was aimed at the woman she smiled at, or at the whole group. Gina said it loud enough for everyone to be addressed, and two other people had already spoken, so she figured that it was for everyone.

Hmm. A photograph of the giraffe. Clever.

"Well, I suppose it would depend. If it were a toy giraffe, you just clear some space and put it in." Helena rose an eyebrow at her own words. WHO'D WANT A TOY GIRAFFE?! She'd MUCH rather have a real one. "But, if we're talking REAL giraffes, then you'd use a shrinking charm on him, until he was small enough to sit comfortably on the shelf." Hehe. Smile. "Oooh, but you'd have to be careful not to shrink him TOO much, otherwise he might get lost in the butter. I'd imagine that wouldn't be very good."

"Clever as well... but not the right answer." She told the girl.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adriana136

Xavier smiled such a pleased smile at the new Department Head. "Sorry, Gina? May i call you Gina? Well yes Im sorry to say that youre incorrect. Her name is Egypt and I've raised her since she was just a cub. My lie was that I am durmstrang alumni. Ive actually got my education at Hogwarts." He continued to wear his smile with not even and ounce loss of fade nor amusement. "SLYTHERIN ALL DAY BABY! Yelled Xavier in a jockish type tone. He was always so playful and young at heart.

"Of course, Gina, that's me." she said and laughed at the man's exhibition of house pride. "Well one wrong isn't too bad." She said.

"The answer is simple and uncomplicated... Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door." she laughed. "No one asked her how big the refrigerator was, or how small the giraffe. I won't make things hard for you everything will be as easy as I can make it for you... Let's see what you have learned... second question: How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?"

Hmpf. Not the right answer? It was most certainly the most logical one for a wizard. Helena listened to Gina as she explained. Oooooh. Well, THAT made sense. Grinning at her next question, Helena spoke up again. "Um... well, do you just put the elephant in there?" She asked. But wait! The giraffe was still in there!

There was NO way an elephant AND a giraffe would fit. It was a refridgerator, not a zoo!

"Oh, no! Wait, you'd have to take the giraffe out of the refrigorator, first. THEN you'd put the elephant in."

Hehe. It seemed VERY silly, but at the same time, it made perfect sense. Well, to Helena it did, at least.

" Getting an elephant into a refrigerator must have something to do with his trunk . J.J, Starr told Gina."So the elephant probably put the refrigeratot in his trunk ' Joe Jon Montcenaggio. then the awser to the joke is it uses his tusks ro stay in the refrigerator" or maybe you put a "pink elephant into work that day .J, J. tried to convince Gina and himself.

"Very good. That's correct!" She said laughing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Potter Weasley

" Getting an elephant into a refrigerator must have something to do with his trunk . J.J, Starr told Gina."So the elephant probably put the refrigeratot in his trunk ' Joe Jon Montcenaggio. then the awser to the joke is it uses his tusks ro stay in the refrigerator" or maybe you put a "pink elephant into work that day .J, J. tried to convince Gina and himself.

She laughed at JJ Starr and smiled. "Nice." she told him.

"Now the Lion King is hosting an animal conference, just like this one, all the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?"

Helena looked at Gina and grinned as she laughed. The way this woman's mind worked was very interesting. In a fun way. Oooh, she's going to be such a brilliant boss!

Right. Now, third question.

OOOH! Helena knew it. She looked around at the other people, to see if any of them were going to be answering any time soon. She didn't want to talk ALL of the oportunities.

Ah. Never mind them. Helena KNEW it was the elephant who wasn't there. "The elephant wasn't there. He's still in the fridge."

"Well, thanks for not thinking my answer had not been stupid" J.J. Starr told Gina. " This is fun even though I get confused" Joe Jon Montcenaggio said to Gina. "So I see we have another riddle that I can't aswer" J.J. laughed.

" vwry good answer" J.J. Starr told the woman. " I would have never guessed something as easy as that answer" Joe Jon Montcenaggio said to the woman. "Were you ever a teacher at HogWart's ,Durmstrang , BeauBatons or in the muggle world?" J.J. asked her. She knew all the answers.

Helena smiled at J.J Starr as he said this to her. "Nope, Before I worked here at the British Ministry, I'd never held a real job. I left school, got married and was a Stay at home House Wife for 18 or so years, until I decided to move into the world of work." Call her old fashioned, yes; but that was just the way she'd decided to live. Who knows; Helena might never have had her two children if she didn't get married.

Helena grinned at him, feeling quite, well, pleased? Proud? Impressed? The woman couldn't place the feeling, but what J.J Starr had said to her really was quite a compliment!

"Well you should be proud of those answers" J.J. Starr told Helena. "Well, I respect anyone that decides to get married, have a family, be a stay at home housewife and then goes to work when the children are out of the house" Joe Jon montcenaggio explained to Helena. " Hopefully my wife Katalin will come back to the Ministry after our childen are grown up" J.J said to Helana. " Who knows, I might become a house husband?" he said aloud to no one in particular.

She heard a woman talked to her. Ahh. This must be my boss. She couldn't help but thinking. She seemed nice. I mean, when she walked in her co-workers were playing a game. That was definitely a plus. "Stella Matthews, Ma'am." She hoped 'ma'am' was all right. She realized she was probably being wayyy too up tight. She rolled her shoulders in an attempt to loosen up. "A lot of people call me Matty, though." She never really liked her name, it made her feel too... formal.

Stella smiled politely as she took her seat. She looked around the room quickly and felt a slight jolt of... not panic... but, a slight uncomfortable air. She felt young. Most people in the room looked older than her, if only by a few years. Only one man looked around her age, maybe slightly younger. He had been screaming about Slytherin. It didn't make her think any less of him, she wasn't the type to judge. She tried to put on a bold face. She gratefully took the cookie and ate it slowly. Such. Good. Cookies.

She had no idea why she was so nervous. She'd graduated from Hogwarts as a top student, she'd traveled and really established herself as witch. She realized with a start she was probably supposed to take PART in the game. Right. This whole nervous thing wasn't her cup of tea.

"Okay, well. Two truths and a lie? Hmm.." She thought for a moment before continuing, "I speak French, not quite fluently, but well. When I was younger I used to do magic tricks for muggle kids around my neighborhood to make some money. Once, when I was mad at my brother, I turned his hair pink and no one could fix it for three months."

The second one was a lie. She did magic tricks, but never for muggles around the neighborhood and she never made money. She DID, however, do a few magic tricks while she was traveling... and that was for money.

"Perfect!" She said laughing.

"Sure you can..." she said to him.

"My husband is a house husband and he bakes me all my treats." She said with a smile.

"I think your second was a lie. You wouldn't have breached the secrecy act." She said nodding.

"Alright. Last question." She said and looked at everyone, "There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?" She said looking around the conference room.

Helena simply smiled at J.J. Starr. He was certainly very kind, and was good at giving out compliments.
"You're husband is a very talented baker! These cookies are lovely!" Helena said to Gina. She'd have eaten more of them, but y'know... waistline to watch and all.

Hmm. "Well, if all of the animals are at their meeting, then surely the crocodiles will be away from their river? So you'd be able to swim, or wade your way across the river safely, without any worries of being gobbled up by the crocodiles." Now Helena hoped that this was right. Purely because it seemed like she put a ton of effort into the answer. Hehe.

I see you gave me the last riddle" J.J. Starr told Gina. " I probably would be a better house husband than a person who can answer your riddles" Joe Jon Montcenaggio said to Gina."Well, you can use a Transfiguration spell to turn them into stuffed animals or build a Noah's Ark" J.J. gave his answer to Gina.
" Oc course, I defer to Helena's answer because she is very smart Nand probably right" J. J. Starr smiled at Helena.

"Sounds like an excellent answer" J.J. Starr told Helena. " I think you being a good mother and having those children has given you an edge over everybody or maybe just me." Joe Jon Montcenaggio said to Helena. I hope I am not embarassing you by saying all these polite things to you because you deserve all these accolades" J.J. explained to Helena.

Violet was glad that every one in the office was having such a great time at the conference. But she also wondered when they were going to get down to business as well. Violet got a littl antsy when work was getting down. She always felt the need to be doing soemthing. "Is there anything you need me to be doing?" Violet asked their Department Head, she was hoping that there was something, anything really.

Stella nodded a little as her boss totally caught her lie. "You got it." She managed to mention before the next question was asked. She thought about it for a moment before putting in her own two cents about it.

"Well, I'd just cross the bridge. Well, actually, I'd apparate. But, if I didn't feel like it, I'd cross the bridge." She hadn't said there was or wasn't a bridge. So, it was safe to assume there was one. And if her answer was rejected, she'd simply have to say she would swing across a vine or something.

"Well, yes... that's the muggle answer anyway." She said and moved to the next person.

She smiled and shook her head.

"Well... other than answering the riddles? I'm just trying to get to know everyone from their answers. But if work is calling you back to your desk, then you may go. I can send you a memo with the minutes from this meeting." She said to the girl.

"There you go. You just apparate, who care's what in the water!" She laughed. Let's see, British Seats... what does that entail, I mean... what do you do?" She asked everyone.

Violet felt as if she was giving a bad impression...this is not what she had ment to do! "Oh no..no need to return to the desk I just thought I'd make myself usefull if you neede me to." Violet's face actually turned a rose color right now. She started to fiddle with her wedding band that she still wore after all these years. It was habit of hers to put it on in the morning and she also had a habit of playing with it when she was nervous.

Gina saw the woman blush. "Oh dear, no need to blush. You are useful to me here. I need my division heads." She turned to the rest of the room. "So come on... Who can tell me about British Seats... what does that job entail?"

Helena looked at Gina as she asked this. Well. This wasn't as simple as a riddle, was it? She sat there for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to describe the job that she and the other people the devision had to do... She wasn't entirely sure which of the work she'd done here was for just her devision, and what was department wide, though. "Well... In British Seats, we're kinda... like... the representitives for the British Ministry." Not that the other devisions weren't. Hehe. "For example, a couple of summers ago, when the Quidditch World Cup was on, it was our devisions job to greet and meet the Ministers of other countries, on behalf of our ministry. We've done a lot of work like that, such as writing letters to other ministries for Minister Taylor." Yup. That was pretty much their job here in the ministry.

Stella didn't really know the answer to the question her employer, Gina, was asking. So, she sat respectfully and took a mental note when someone, thank goodness, DID know. She did wonder why Gina was asking this though... Weren't they working with the Trading Standard Body? She really didn't know what her job was for Trading Standard Body either. But she wasn't really inclined to ask what her job was. It felt sort of unprofessional.

So, she sat respectfully and took in the scene before her.

That WAS what she should do... right?

Malachi had listened quietly as the meeting had progressed, interested to hear the answers of other people around the table as much as Gina was. He realised that he didn't really know many of the department very well and this was a great chance to get to know how they thought.

He listened to a blonde woman (Hestia? Helena? Oh good grief I'm turning into Esme! he thought) answer Gina's question about the British Seats. Since that was not his division, he did not want to jump in and answer the question. On reflection, he didn't know that he could jump in and give the correct answer anyway. He ran his hand over his face and through his hair, preparing himself for the spotlight of Gina's inquisition.

"Good Good..." She said munching on a cookie.

"It's alright... we'll hear from your Division Head..." She said looking to her. "Miss Reed?"

She winked at Malachi... such a nice young boy.

Violet sighed only slightly, it was interesting that no one understood what British Seats meant, did Violet even know? this was a great opportunity for everyone to learn together. "Well it is my understanding that the British seats division represents Britain in all International affairs. We let other countries know and understand how Britain feels on matters of course already discussed with the Minister of Magic and our Department Head. Violet hoped that explained at least how she was feeling about her Division and that her Department head thought it was a good explanation. "Do you have anything to add to that?" Violet asked turning toward her Department head as well as the rest of the department employees.

"No dear, I think you did beautifully in explaining it." She said.

"Alright. Let's get to work." She said pulling out her file and opening it while stuffing a cookie in her mouth. "The Mermaid Chieftain from the Lost City of Atlantis have sent us a request. They want the wizards from certain countries to be more conscientious about polluting their waters. This is a request that comes from below the sea... We need some of our staff to act as ambassadors to Atlantis" She said and clapped. "We need milk..." she said and went to get some. "Anyone interested please come into my office, and submit an application. If you have any questions..." she drank the milk. "please contact your division heads. The deadline's the end of the month." She giggled and then went to the door. "Oh, you are all dismissed."

Stella collected all of her things and slowly stood up to leave. She bowed her head to the table in thanks and respect before leaving.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to be considered the ambassador of Atlantis or not. So, she decided to just head back to work.

Not that she really knew what she was supposed to be doing at work... but, she would go back to her work space and figure it out!