Walking in the door after Cinna, Lux gave her friend a small smile and laid the muggle down on the floor gently so that it was beside its friends.

That done, she decided that she would stay as well because she was curious to know what the adults were planning to do with the muggles. It wasn't as if she wasn't allowed in the Hogs Head and no one told her to go.

Oh.

They were being asked if they could stay. Awesome since she had been planning to do that anyway. "I can definitely stay," she said while nodding. And drinks too! Yay. She so wanted a butterbeer right now.

SPOILER!!: Charles & Micky

Quote:

Originally Posted by Symphora

Charles never like to apparate inside of anything really...especially the loo...urgh his suit...his precious suit! This operation better be worth the travelling to Hogsmeade. He dusted off his jacket and made sure his tie wasn't crook as they made their way into The Hog's Head main entrance.He glanced around, wary of potential onlookers inside the inn.Nothing to see here folks, just couple of DMAC officers dealing with potential muggle shenanigans trying to expose their world.

He chuckled lightly at their boss joke. Right...as if he would drink in the line of duty. No thank you...wouldn't want to tarnish their reputable department name...nope. It was hardly the time or place, even if they were just dealing with muggles.They could still pose a threat to his team with their fancy muggle weaponry these days. They never could have guess until the expected happened, the muggles might possibly be armed themselves. He hoped that was not the case. Charles set his face back to all seriousness now, his wand armed and ready by his side.
"Sir, do you want us to do a thorough background check on them, just to make sure the muggles aren't armed with any sort of weaponry?"he asked, his voice firm. He knew it wasn't his place, but he had been trained for it. He could handle it if the order was given of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven

It was quick. An hour ago they're just having a meeting and planned about the investigation and now, they're already here. At The Famous Hog's Head because the Hogsmeade folks said that muggles were already entering that village. The Korean guy followed the boss man heading to the loo and apparated to Hogsmeade. "Never dressed up too fancy for work, dude." He said to the suited man. (Charles). Seriously, didn't he realize that working in this department meant that mostly they had to work in field rather than got stuck in a cubicle with paperwork? Micky didn't remember if he'd ever wore a suit for work. He's more jeans+casual shirt+leather jacket+basketball sneakers dude.

Okay, back to work stuffs.

Drinks before work? That's probably a good idea, though he knew that the boss man was sarcastically joking. "A bottle of firewhiskey sounds good." He responded. Joking, of course. Then he turned into the newbie suited guy. "I don't think they were armed by weapons." He gave an opinion. It seemed like the muggles were lost when they were doing some sort of trip. The big question was how on earth they could enter Hogsmeade? He asked the boss man. "Where do we start, boss?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Symphora

Charles regarded the man who pointed out his choice of clothing. Another one who thought he should dress comfortably when they had to do field work. Never.Insult.The.Suit. "Let me worry about my own suit...thanks, and you worry about yours...deal?"he replied, slightly annoyed. He pulled his black suit jacket tighter around him as he followed them in. Had he not seen 'Men in Black' ...he should watch it. Coolest muggle movie ever,his secret inner geek roared. He liked aliens and the cool gadgets in the movies...so what...he dressed nice to work everyday...his suit was the definition of classy and cool.

"Just taking precautions...dudee.."he said simply back to the korean man.Charles certainly did not need to explain himself further. Couple of lost muggles...happen to be here in Hogsmeade...ha ha...highly unlikely story they could have come up with. Suspicious was more the word for it.

Were these two really bickering about dress? Bloody honking daffodils. "I don't care how you dress as long as you get your job done and don't draw attention your yourselves," he grunted. So, Charles, if you were on assignment in some muggle cornfield, better disillusion yourself if you were going to insist on standing out like a flesh-eating shrub among tulips.

"Patronus said they are stunned," he informed, lowering his voice a bit when he caught some of the patrons of the Hog's Head looking their way. Not you Law Enforcement types, who received a nod in acknowledgement only, but the general masses who need not be alarmed. "We'll need to do a perimeter check. See where the concealment charms and enchantments are faulty." He turned his back to the crowd and looked at the pair of them. "Make sure no curses are involved."

Which was his subtle way of telling the pair of them that they ought get on that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harold Lagerty

Harold had made his way out front to look for Huxley. Once he spoke to the shopkeeper he grabbed some butterbeers for the kids when he noticed two MLE sitting in the shop. Well one was still an MLE they had hired the other for the Professor position. "Good Day" He nodded just as he noticed Aron walk through the door.

"Mr. Hawthorne, thank you for coming. I assume you got my message." Hops made his way towards the group that had just come into the shop. "We had come in the back door to keep things a little more discrete." He motioned for them to head back that way so they could see the muggles and take care of things.

Before he could give further instructions, however, the man who sent the patronus paid them a visit.

"Ashburry-Hawthorne, actually," he corrected with a loud clearing of his throat. "But Aron will do."

Nodding, he took a step forward to follow the man. "You two should go take a look outside," he said, turning back to face Charles and Micky. "And be discrete, will you?" No more arguing over fashion choices, yeah? "Come get me if you find anything."

SPOILER!!: the kiddos

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saraie

Following as close behind the shopkeepers as she could, she had never had to levitate a person before. She followed them all the way into the back door of the Hogs Head. She gently laid the woman muggle down on the floor with the other two. She looked around to see where Lux or who ever got the last one.

She didn't know if they wanted her to stay or not. But Cinna decided to stay mostly to see what was going to happen. She was very curious about this was going to stick around for as long as she could. The shopkeepers was already talking about muggles, once walked over to them for a moment seeing the phone of one of the muggles. She nodded "Sure I can stay." She figured that she would have to talk to the Ministry since she had been a witness, well she had seen enough to get what was going on. So the sixth year leaned against the wall and waited. Well on the bright side she was getting butterbeer but she could forget about that nap.

Following the man to the back, Aron noted the students before he did the muggles. "Hello there," he waved to the young ladies. He could only assume that they were involved in the whole ordeal.

"So...who wants to tell me what happened, exactly?" he asked, clapping his hands together once and then his rubbing the palms against one another while looking from shopkeeper to little miss to shopkeeper to little miss. "Provoked attack?" Hence why they were stunned?

Well there were muggles, so clearly an obliviator would be needed. Rusty was one of those as it turned out. He stayed quiet for now though while Aron did what was needed to ascertain what was going on. Those MLErs got a nod or two of acknowledgement though before he casually found a spot to lean, looking far less alert than he truly was. In reality he was ready to pull his wand out in a moment if needed.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Mammy lingered on the sidelines for the moment, observing until needed. The fact that there was an argument over fashion already was amusing enough. She fidgeted in place, alternating putting her weight on either leg. Antsy to get this show on the road! For now, she took what she got, such as nodding to the MLE man she recognized and awaiting story time from the kiddos.

Charles fell silent immediately when their boss shut them up with his disgruntled tone. He cleared his throat,"Sorry Sir..." There were patrons in the area and they didn't want to make a scene that could raise curious glances over themselves all because his colleague made a remark about his suit which was completely unnecessary if he asked him. Charles stepped a little closer but just enough not to appear that he was listening to his boss instructions. He didn't miss of course the underlying message upon his orders. They should really get on with the perimeter checking, he thought uneasily.

Then they were greeted by one of the Hogs Head Keepers, Charles nodded back in acknowledgement. So this was the man who sent his patronus to deliver the message at their conference room. He briefly observed their small exchange before turning his attention back to his boss.
"Yes Sir...got it.."he whispered back and nodded firmly. Charles glanced over to his colleague but didn't say anything more to him. Raising an eyebrow at the man, he turned his body around and head out of the door.

When they were asked what had happened, Lux figured that it was a good idea for her to start off and Cinna add in any details that she had missed. For one thing she had been on the scene a little bit longer than her friend.

"Well," she began after composing her thoughts. "I was talking to Professor Culloden when I saw them walking down the street and using muggle devices." She cast her gaze to the muggles lying on the floor before continuing. "Honestly it feels like it happened so fast. The muggles started asking after their missing friend, making a huge commotion. The two shopkeepers and a few others came over. One of the muggles heard me whisper to Professor Culloden how I thought that their missing friend might be connected to some objects me and a few others found lying in an alleyway earlier this term." One of the objects had been a camera that kept flashing.

"The muggle was asking me for more information on what happened when Professor Culloden gave the order to stun them. After we did so, we brought them in here." Was she missing anything? She turned to Cinna so that she could say her piece.

For the record, Kang Micky just suggested that newbie to pick a more comfortable clothes since they're working more at outdoors. Not debating with him. He started it first. But well, if that guy didn't want to take his suggestion, that's fine. Just don't grumble if there's something happened with his precious suit.

And now back to the bossman. Oh, okay. Working with him. This was gonna be fun. "Alright, boss." The Korean guy said. Now he headed to the back alley with him.

Still feeling like a greenhorn and as the less experienced obliviator of those presently called to Hogsmeade Logan kept to the sidelines, silently observing the group and the surroundings. He stood not too far from Mammy with his hand near his wand, ready for anything and nothing to happen. It was very intriguing to be thrust into the thick of the action just after a month in his new position. He kept a straight face though, showing no emotions even if he wanted to jump up and down with excitement. He had to act professionally.

Cosgrach followed the group into the café and leaned on a wall with his arms crossed. The Ministry people would tell for certain if these were indeed muggles or not. He hoped they weren't . . . although they clearly were. He didn't even know how they breached the protective magic. Was this the work of the Cult?

Anyway, the ministry people would tell.

It didn't take them long to show up, thankfully, and Cosgrach let Lux explain all, then looked back at the head of the A&C. Any ideas how this might have happened, Sir?

Cinna was relieved to see Lux had made it with the other muggle. She returned the smile to her. Not moving from her spot leaned up against the wall. She waited around for the Ministry people to show up. To the sixth years surprise it didn't take them that long to arrive.

Cinna watched the man from the Ministry, She nodded at his greeting. Her brown eyes glanced over to Lux. She wasn't there for the entire thing, but she had seen enough to give her own account of what happened. She might have not meant it but she eyed the man. What was he trying to accused them of? Moving off the wall as she spoke. "Provoked? Obviously." Well Yes it was provoked, clearly. Nope they just felt like stunning random muggles in HOGSMEADE. That was it.

She leaned back against the wall again. Glad that Lux had started explaining her side. Thanks goodness it would gave her time to cool down. She listened to Lux. Once the red head had finished and had looked to her. Cinna added, "Like she said it all happened fast. I didn't show up until the muggles got upset. They really got more once they heard, Lux mention items that they had found. We stunned them before the commotion got out of hand. They were upset and looking for their missing friend." Who was still out there. Somewhere. She didn't know what items were found. She heard Lux say something about a camera with a flash that kept blinking. Weird. Really weird. Trying to remember what the muggles said before they stunned them. She looked back at Lux and then at professor Culloden. She almost forget that he was there. That was good thing that he was.

So WHY were the muggles there? Looking at you now mister Ministry man.

Well of course Simon would pass his regards along. It was a bit of a rehtorical question, but one that Sabel had felt he had needed to say. If for any other reason than to try to keep some normallacy between them. Their lives seemed to be anything but.

The small smile that had touched his lips grew a little as Simon recalled his memory. The light of amusement flickered across his eyes as he picked up his drink. "Turns out, it's a rather touchy subject among students."

So that, Mr. Bennett was how life was going.

The shopkeep got a nod of acknowledgement, and would have got a return greeting if Sabel hadn't suddenly been distracted by the look on Simon's face. Turning slightly, he glanced over his shoulder, pausing at the sight of Aron and some corporeal shadows. A&C employees? Simon got an arched eyebrow, but there was clear recognition on his friend's face. There were quite a few of them.

The few that acknowledged their table got a return nod of acknowledgement. They were here, if they needed help with whatever it was. Whatever was big enough to bring the Department Head down here. Or at least, Simon was here. "Your guess is as good as mine. But, you should challenge that man to a Foosball game." The comment was off-handed as he took a swig of his drink.

Holy holly.

Aron was most definitely pinching the bridge of his nose for one reason or another. He might need to call upon the Law Enforcement types out in front, but not for the reasons that most in the department head's presence would assume.

So...they had a connection with the objects that were now in possession of his department and that his employees were working on analyzing back in the Ministry. Unwarranted Aggression towards muggles. And the mystery of just HOW these people got in the village in the first place.

Naturally, the only option he could think of as to WHY would be that someone had come in and tampered with the enchantments surrounding the area. But he would not voice his opinion of foul play until his employees returned from their investigation outside.

"An examination of those items is currently underway back at the Ministry," he informed the group, although he would not delve into further details than that because, a) it was classified and b) he hadn't the foggiest idea what was going on there just yet anyway. "Did they describe what their friend looked like?"

The Australian walked around the stunned muggles and gave a nod to his team. "We'll need to remove any and all cameras and mobile devices and purge them." May as well keep them really. Not like the muggles would remember they brought the things with them after his Obliviators were done. "I see no need to question them further," he said, looking over at his shoulder and speaking to his team more so than anyone else. "Go ahead and wipe their memories. Drop them off somewhere far from here with new ones of a backpacking trip or what have you."

May as well erase the memory of this missing friend while they were at it. Aron has the inkling that that story was not going to end happily.

Harold had followed the man to the back and handed the children the butterbeers he had promised them. Leaning against the wall he listened to the girl talk, "I heard the one scream and it made me come out of my shop. Saul and I were just standing there watching when the professor waved us over. I wasn't expecting to use my wand on them, they just seemed to be upset and confused." He still wasn't sure how that came about really, but the professor was closer so he had to have had his reasons.

As he listened he started to wonder if he was still needed. Could he head back to his own shop? That's when the cameras were being talked about, "Oh, grabbed this off one of the muggles as he fell. Has a bunch of pictures that will need to be taken care of." They were looking in shops that's for sure. He was sure Saul didn't want them showing pictures of the inside of his shop to many muggles.

"If you don't need anything else from me I think I will be heading back to the Three Broomsticks. Busy weekend and all with the kids running around." His job was done here at least he thought it was.

Turns out, it's a rather touchy subject among students

"Ah..." Simon nodded at his friend's admittance. He had to give his friend a lot of credit to use that subject matter in a class, remembering full well how nearly disastrous it had gone when he had brought it up in his lessons 7th year. He just hadn't been able to convince the younger students that they weren't supposed to get it on the first try...if at all. And that was before his own patronus had showed up as a parrot rather than the expected meerkat.

"Good day," he echoed as the man who was a shopkeeper around these parts acknowledged his presence with his own greeting. The man in question went on to speak to Aron who was obviously there to deal with SOMETHING. However Simon wasn't about to strong arm the situation, and at Aron, Rusty and Mammy's own nods the former auror turned security man relaxed his guard just a little. They knew he and Sabel were there if needed, that was all they could offer at the moment until either something bad happened or they were asked.

Challenge who?

Simon's attention returned to his companion at the comment. "Aron?" he asked to clarify given there were two men Sabel might know. "I'll have to keep that in mind." Even if foosball wasn't something he regularly engaged in himself. Couldn't be any worse that the bowling competition with Jorge.

a silvery-smoke siberian husky dog patronus flew entering the Hog's Head. This was sent from Micky to the Department Head of Accidents and Catastrophes.

"You should come to the main street. We think the concealment charm is off, that's why muggles could enter this place." said the message.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harold Lagerty

Harold had followed the man to the back and handed the children the butterbeers he had promised them. Leaning against the wall he listened to the girl talk, "I heard the one scream and it made me come out of my shop. Saul and I were just standing there watching when the professor waved us over. I wasn't expecting to use my wand on them, they just seemed to be upset and confused." He still wasn't sure how that came about really, but the professor was closer so he had to have had his reasons.

As he listened he started to wonder if he was still needed. Could he head back to his own shop? That's when the cameras were being talked about, "Oh, grabbed this off one of the muggles as he fell. Has a bunch of pictures that will need to be taken care of." They were looking in shops that's for sure. He was sure Saul didn't want them showing pictures of the inside of his shop to many muggles.

"If you don't need anything else from me I think I will be heading back to the Three Broomsticks. Busy weekend and all with the kids running around." His job was done here at least he thought it was.

Screaming? Anyone care to elaborate on why they were screaming? Did they see something? Or was it the standard reaction to seeing magic being performed? Or was it the scream from them being stunned?

Did it really matter? Probably not right at this moment since the department head seemed to have all the information needed to complete step one of this investigation.

Taking the pictures from the man, he gave them a quick look over. So...this was the missing fellow? Clearly none of the people he had informed his department of as being reported missing by muggle authorities. That made things just a tiny bit easier.

"So, I suppose that will be all for now," he replied with a curt nod. If they needed to question him further they knew where to find him.

That went for the rest of the group as well, unless that had more information to share.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven

a silvery-smoke siberian husky dog patronus flew entering the Hog's Head. This was sent from Micky to the Department Head of Accidents and Catastrophes.

"You should come to the main street. We think the concealment charm is off, that's why muggles could enter this place." said the message.

Before he could say anything further to his Obliviators, who already knew protocol and what should be done anyway, the patronus entered and interrupted his train of thought.

"Holy hellebore," he muttered under his breath. "You lot take care of this."

And with that, the Australian departed for main street.

A small smile touched Sabel's lips at the noise of acknowledgement that came from Simon. Seemed that more did not need to be said about how life was going. Teaching the patronus pretty much summed it up, and his friend got it.

That, and the new company to the establishment was rather distracting. His gaze slipped over to the Department Head as the man took a rather hasty leave of the premises. "That would be the one." His grin turned back to his friend. "And make sure you beat him good. I owe him a game, but I'm not there to deliver. It's up to you."

No pressure buddy. None at all. Nothing like a bit of MLE versus A&C foosball competitiveness.

Finally.

The obliviator perked up, standing straight from the table she'd been leaning on. They also received a green light on creative whereabouts? For real? "Sure thing, boss," she smirked a little but held back the salute. Her wand was in her hand in a flash as she moved towards the unconscious muggles. Temperamental ones at that.

They could fix that.

If the others didn't need to search them anymore, and if no more patronuses decided to show up, than... "Obliviate," she began the process on one of the unconscious women. Where they'd be dropping them off though, they'd... collaborate with Rusty. Or something.

As Cinna elaborated on what she had said, Lux nodded along. Yep. That was the gist of things.

Her attention turned to the newcomer, and she was pleased to see that it was Professor Culloden. She had wondered where the man had gotten to, and it was nice to have everyone assembled...at least for the meantime. The ministry workers were doing their thing and the shopkeepers wanted to get back to work. Looked like the little adventure was over.

Contemplating getting something to eat, her attention was drawn back to the muggles when a patronus arrived and announced that the concealment charms weren't working. Just as she had suspected, and it was VERY odd. How could that have happened? She did not like the sound of this at all.

...At least their memories were being erased.

As soon as Aron headed off to take care of buissness elsewhere Logan stepped forward and began the process of removing all devices from the 4 stunned muggles that he could find. As an afterthought he placed all the devices in a sealed bag which he'd take back to the ministry for Anette and Marilyn to investigate.

Grabbing his wand he followed Mammy's as he began the process of wiping the memory of one of the men. "Obliviate..." Flashing a glance at his sister and Rusty he asked."Where do you guys think we should drop these people off? Somewhere in another country?"

It was weird being in Hogsmeade and Amelia had done her best not to look up at the castle she'd called her home for seven years and had.. abruptly left with just months to go. But in all that time, she couldn't recall having even been in the Hog's Head, having always preferred the Three Broomsticks.

Squinting, she looked around, to see if Damien was already here. It had been a while since she'd seen him and so a Hogsmeade weekend was the prefect opportunity. Opting to leave her jacket on for the moment, she slipped into a seat in view of the door, so she could spot him when he came in.

A lot had gone undiscussed between them and Amelia was fighting the little ball of anxiety in her stomach that said this was going to be weird.

Hogsmeade. Damien was no stranger to the village, he'd visited Eden here before he had ever called Hogwarts home, back when he'd been crazy about Cristina and Rorie had only been his very best friend... It was all so different now. He was different now, taken apart and put back together and he was still only half the boy he wished he was.

It's wasn't time for that. For reminiscing about things that he might've done differently, he was meeting with Amelia Bateman, a woman who lent him more than just her ear and it might just possibly be the weirdest, most uncomfortable talk of his year.

Or? It could be great, and exactly what he needed. He wasn't sure which outcome he was more afraid of. Damien walked into the bar, his blue eyes sweeping the place for a sign of Amelia, almost immediately he spotted her, and without even a thought he waved. "Hey yo, Adriannnn." He called out, tucking his hands into his pockets and walking up to her table, taking the seat next to her.

"That's a Rocky reference, by the way." In case she hadn't gotten it.

Anxiety or no, Amelia couldn't help but smile when she saw him enter the bar, her hand returning his wave without a second thought. Because everything else aside, Damien was a friend who had seen her when everything was very much not ok, and never once made her feel like she ought to pretend it was. For that, she would always be grateful.

Chuckling as he walked over, she debated standing to give him a hug, but he was slipping into the chair before she could decide. "Weirdo," she said, affectionately, bumping his shoulder with hers. "Did you get your bodyguard to see what I was wearing so you could dress to match," she teased, gesturing from her black leather jacket to his.

But all lightness aside, her eyes searched his face, knowing from letters some of what had been going on with him. And so her next words were warm and affectionate, with just the slightest hint of concern. "How are you?"

...... She was really pretty. Those big brown eyes, her little smile... Damien was fighting the urge to reach over and tuck her hair behind her ear just for the excuse to close their distance and touch her. He wasn't sure that was allowed, or what was allowed at all...

"You love it." He snakily replied, bumping right back. It was so easy to talk to Amelia, to joke around with her even with all the things left unspoken between them, honestly... It reminded him a little of Rorie and how they'd used to talk, how they still talked, sometimes. Memories, unbidden clinked around in his mind, the most recent of which was the conversation in St. Mungos that had left him aching and reeling for days. ....Oh, Amelia was talking... Right. Right, Damn. "Ha. Ha, you're funny, so funny. Ha Ha." He said, making sure each Ha. Ha. was as sarcastic as possible.

He said that, the concern, the warmth..., but there was no pity and that was... Really nice, a welcome change from the way people had been looking at him lately like he might break. "I'm alright... " He replied, shrugging a little. "How're you.. You look good." Was that too much? Maybe it was too late to worry about that.

"You seem awfully confident of that," she replied, swaying just a little exaggeratedly at the bump. Despite not knowing, not having any more answers than she'd had when she walked in the door, the anxiety was lifting. Because they were joking and it was light and whatever they were, or weren't, they were at least friends.

"I'm hilarious remember? Or did you let a firstie practice obliviate on you." And she poked him in the side. It was so nice to just joke around. Living at home didn't exactly afford her much opportunity for banter and while their exchange of letters - and puns - was welcome and much enjoyed, Amelia greatly preferred his presence.

She watched him carefully, though, as he shrugged and nodded a bit. There would be no prying from her, and she knew that he knew if he wanted to talk about it, she'd listen. And without thinking about it - about whether she could or should or if it was too much - she reached out and slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm good."