(Ministry) Introducing Mike, to the boss...

[Mike Swan]

Mike walked down the street leading to the Ministry, he had applied for the job a few weeks after leaving school and now he had got it. He was dressed quite respectfully, or at least as respectfully as Mike could be. His letter, which he carried in his hands, told him all the relevent information he needed to know. He had his security clearance, so that was one less problem to face upto. His boss, he looked down at the letter, Ashlee Van Dort. It wasnt a very intimidating name, but then again, names didnt make the person. For all Mike knew, she could be. Yet, he recognised the name. Didnt she go to Hogwarts? That, he reminded himself, was not important.

He got into the main grounds of the Ministry and wasnt surprised to see a hoard of people rushing around trying to get to their departments. Mike was taking his time, he didnt want to end up lost, not on his first day anyway. He was nervous, his first task was to find his own department, find his boss, introduce himself, and them voila! Do whatever the lady tells him. He just hoped they would go easy on him, it was his first day.

He got into the lift, a various amount of other people were there too. All looking at him. A squat old lady, with a face that Mike could only say had been forced into a wall spoke to him, "What department?" Mike looked around and said with as much confidence as he could muster, "Magical Law Enforcement" with that the lift began to move at such a speed, Mike thought he was going to sink right through the floor.

After about two minutes in the lift, he was let out on the floor. Not many people lined the corridors, though a few did, giving him smiles and handshakes of welcome. Did he have newbie written on his head? He walked down the corridor to the far end where he stood outside of Ashlee's office. Straightening his clothes down, his palms were sweating and his mouth was dry. His heart felt like it was somewhere between his mouth and his stomache, it was throbbing painfully in his throat and he was sure his voice was going to give way. He knocked lightly on the door, and waited for an answer.

[Chloe Hargreaves]

'Criminals are a threat to the community and therefore have to be removed by any means necessary.'

That was one of the first lessons Chloe had ever been taught and it still rang clearly in her mind; particularly given her present circumstances of usually fruitless searches for rogue wizard hideouts.

Some had been successful they'd "purged a fair few nests" as her grisly colleague would say, but the higher powers were never satisfied especially when Deitrich herself breathed fire down their necks. So deciding to pull out of Hogwarts for a while as she needed specific access to certain 'files' that could be obtained from nowhere else, Chloe had come back to her offices, now she poured over her various parchments digesting every minute detail of the suspected rogues. Some rogues were blatently obvious in their rugged appearance and general miskempt looks, but others were normal everyday people, though thankfully they tended to be the few. Unlike the Red Rose League who were nigh on completely untraceable.

Reading a hefty file on a certain witch who was continually avoiding their clutches Chloe looked up as she heard a hesitant knock at her door. "Come right on in," she called hoping the files she had requested had arrived. With a swish of her wand, which had lain in easy, reach just in case, the door flew open and her scrutinising gaze alighted upon a young man upon the threshold; a young man who had arrived without a stacked pile of papers.
"Where are they?" She asked lightly, meaning the files, "don't tell me there are no more?" She sighed exasperatedly, "I'd believed my colleagues had been busy in my absence, not lazing around." Months of difficult work that had led to few real results was beginning to impact upon Chloe who much prefered action than the waiting she had had to endure.

Grabbing a particularly thin file Chloe's sharp eyes alighted upon the man as she shook it at him. "This file cannot be all we hold about Gobien. Off the top of my head I can think up far more." Knowing her tone was a lecturing one and rather harsh she lightened it but didn't apologise as that would have shown she was in the wrong, which she tended to dislike, "you're sure there are no more?"

[Mike Swan]

Mike tried to keep himself cool, though it wasnt working very well, his mind was swimming and his heart was still throbbing as the door swung open. He stood there for what seemed like an age, staring at a person who seemed to have had him mistaken for someone else. Was this Ashlee? He thought she was nicer. His palms were still sweating as he looked down at his empty hands, was he meant to pick up files? Who was Gobien? What was going on? Mike finally realised he had a lot to learn and he had little time to learn it in. Maybe the ministry wasnt such a good idea after all.

Mike knew of course, about the Rogue wizards, though he didnt know anything about them he just knew they exsisted. How come whatever Mike decides to do, it always ends up with him not knowing what he's gotten himself into? He looked upon the face of the woman sitting behind the desk and decided in his mind, she was only a woman, what could she do? Besides from Avada Kedavra'ing his ass into the next millenium... Not a lot really.

"Uhm" Mike began though felt his voice fail him. He cleared his throat before speaking, "I think you have me mistaken for someone else Miss. Ive only just arrived here today and uhm" Mike lost his trail of thought as she began to speak over him once more, "I dont know if there are any more" he said in a small voice. He didnt even know what he was meant to be looking for, more of what? Toads? he thought despite himself. So she had been away? Well at least he had something figured out.

"I dont know Ma'am" He said, feeling like a scolded school child. Mike looked anywhere but at the woman who was holding the file on someone called Gobien. He didnt even know who Gobien was. He finally brought his eyes back upto meet hers, "I cant be sure because i dont know" Mike said again, "Its my first day here and im not entirely sure whats going on. It never said anything about having to bring files on something i know nothing about" He looked back down at the floor, his first day, was not going all that great, "Im sorry ma'am"

[Chloe Hargreaves]

If this system was meant to be quick and efficient to in turn make her job easier then Chloe thought it was pathetic, once upon a time she had simply been allowed to go fetch any files she required herself, now she had to go through the proper channels; which took an age.

But then he protested his innocence and she eventually realised he'd simply got the wrong office, suddenly her face broke into a smile and she very nearly giggled like a school girl. "You're new, well why didn't you say so? I guess i just kept rambling on, I do that when I'm stressed to the eyeballs you see, don't worry though you're not at my level yet," she laughed waving him further into her once neat and pristeen office, that had now turned into a flurry of randomly stacked papers and parchments throughout the room in no particular order. It was relatively spacious though and the 'window' behind her had been magicked to show her favourite scenery; a snow capped white mountainside which brightened the room considerably. Her desk was large and filled with all sorts of interesting oddments, normally to fight crime or anything to do with the dark arts, all legal of course. Her cloak was upon the wheely chair she continually moved from side to side on, and she wore tattered jeans and a stylish black jacket over a crisp white shirt.

Now her features were far more relaxed and friendly as she gestured to the three other chairs around her round desk; Chloe much prefered equality therefore the table was round to show nobody was really more important; they tended to all be as useless as each other. "Please sit down, first day eh? It's a whirlwind of emotions I knowand yes I can remember, but people are generally dead friendly."

"Eugh God don't call me ma'am I'm not your mother, even if I am above you simple Miss will suffice, or even my name," she pointed at a bit of cardboard that had her name written upon it in her usual flowing script.

Chloe Greenwich

"Where are you actually working then? You're not on work experience are you? I wasn't told about anyone coming," she grinned, "no you're too old for that, but just young enough to be starting." Her calculating gaze lingered upon him as she waited for his answer.

[Mike Swan]

Mike wandered into the room, it was definatly suited to a high ranking Ministry official which he guessed she was, but now looking on it he realised himself that he had managed to stumble upon the wrong office. Two wrongs in one day, how much worse was his day going to get? Though at least he was on the right floor, that he could be thankful for at least.

His heart seemed to have settled down now and his palms were no longer sweating, all in all he seemed to have reverted back to his usual relaxed and calm state, though even so he was still aware of everything around him. The mountain piles of files and parchment seemed to litter the room which could have been radient though showed no signs of relenting. She seemed to be very busy whereas Mike wasnt. He didnt have anyone to work with yet and he was still pretty new, of course it being his first day, to the whole work ethic. "I didnt say so because i didnt get a chance" he smiled, trying to show he was only joking, though he knew he was being cheeky. It was true though, he didnt get a word in edgeways when she had been rambling on. "Well I guess i can thank my lucky stars then, at least i dont have to be stressed out just yet"

Mike took a seat opposite her and carried on looking around, his gaze caught the window at the back and all the snowy mountains. It reminded him much of Alaska when he had gone skiing there with his father when he was only small. "Yeah its my first day and im not ashamed to say it isnt going very well" Mike had had more hiccups in this day than he had in seven years of magical education.

He glanced down at the cardboard with her name on it, "Im sorry..." he said straining to see the words, "...Chloe?" he finished before looking back up at her, "Usually authority figures prefer ma'am or something of the latter anyway" Well Mike knew he wasnt in his bosses office but he supposed it wouldnt hurt to meet someone else would it, "Im Mike, in case you were wondering"

"Im working in the Magical Law Enforcement, that was where i was put anyway when my application went through" He looked down at his letter, "Im supposed to introduce myself to Ashlee, the head of the department but i guess it can wait" Mike smiled lazily again. He had been up since the crack of dawn and was now very tired.

[Ashlee Van Dort]

<sup>Ashlee had recieved a message that her newest member of her devision had arrived. She quickly returned to her office and opened her door to an empty room. "huh, maybe they were wrong," she said allowed, "Or maybe he just entered the wrong office," she thought out loud.

Ashlee peeked in the offices closest to hers and noticed them to be just as empty as hers. She sighed and tapped her foot in confusion hoping someone wasn't playing a sick prank on her. Leigh, I will curse you back to infanthood if you're messing with me, she thought to herself.

Ashlee walked down the hall to Chloe Greenwich's office and gave a quick knock. She opened the door and peered in with a smile when she noticed that Chloe was not alone and that the boy whom occupied her office seemed quite lost. "Hi Chloe, I think my newbie has made a wrong turn," she said with a slight laugh.</sup>

[Markus Ramsay Everritt]

Markus appeared behind Ashlee, his eyes flowing about the room. He had walked around the Ministry for at least an hour trying to find where he was. He knew who he worked for, but could not find her until he had spotted her. He followed her carefully and found her careeing into another office, where he followed. He didn't knock, nor did he speak, just appeared the door one moment.

He looked from Ashlee to the woman sitting at the desk and soon to a person he had seen often at Hogwarts, Mike Swan. He never had spoken to the former Gryffindor before, but knew his face and name from several of the lower years that had tried to prank on this Gryffindor. His eyes flashed with malice, but he hid any thoughts of causing embarrassment later.

He suddenly straightened himself and smiled, changing his demeanour.

He bowed in the customary Everritt way, standing tall and smiled. 'I am Markus Everritt, Deputy Head of Improper Use of Magic. It is my first day... As well.' He said, adding the last part as he thought it had to of been Mike's first day as well, judging by the look on his face.

[Chloe Hargreaves]

The Ministry hadn't gained many new recruits in quite some time, then they happened to all come at once; it was always the way. She was surprised nobody was joining the ranks of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad itself, other departments were being fleshed out whilst the squad that actually brought criminals to justice was flagging, with a complete lack of eligible new recruits. Supposedly they didn't make the high standards and none had passed the preliminary training in over a year. Chloe guessed people were being thoroughly put off by the amount of dangerous action the Squad was engaged in, in such dark times their work was heavy, hard and unrelenting.

Chloe herself had had a slight darkening around her eyes that showed her lack of sleep; it could have been cleverly disguised with make-up but she couldn't physically find the time, nor particularly wanted to when other matters were so much more important. Nonetheless her eyes had lost none of their sharpness as they fixed Mike, but became bright as he made a fairly good impression; he wasn't particularly efficient or else he'd have already found the office and planned in advance, but that could easily be rectified with the correct tutoring. Her eyebrow raised fractionately as he used his dry wit and she gave a small smile saying, "oh don't worry things will soon pile up," she gestured at her own heavy workload, "not to this extreme mind, it depends how hard your taskmaster is."

As he told her vaguely where he was working she responded with a grin, "ooh watch it there, Ashlee is the Head of the Improper Use of Magic office, not the enter lot, or else she'd never get time to find new volunteers." She laughed as Ashlee herself appeared, "talk of the devil and she'll appear," grinned Chloe, "but don't worry Ashlee's wonderful, she'll not treat you too harshly I'm sure, unless it's absolutely necessary."

Smiling at Ashlee, Chloe added a warm "hiya, yeah he's definitely lost, even went so far as to say you were doing old Graham's job, bet you'd love that." She laughed, it was an in joke as the full Department's Head was a grouchy old man he constantly frowned and was up to his head in paperwork to sign.

Chloe smiled at the new boy who had stumbled across her office, "don't worry things will go fine, you're in safe hands, always remember my office is open if you need a chat. I may not be here but still the thought is there." As another raw recruit arrived she smiled turning her gaze upon him, keeping the smile fixed Chloe's eyes sharpened, even his stance showed he wasn't such a nice lad, Ashlee would doubtless have problems with him, but he seemed capable still.
"Looks like you've your full team now then Ashlee, you're investigating the disappearance of Addis aren't you?" She asked already knowing the answer, "let's hope you find him soon then, Graham's getting awful tetchy about meeting deadlines, if you need an officer to make an arrest to hestitate to owl me." Chloe inclinded her head to Ashlee and smiled glad that over the past few weeks that Ashlee had started they had already developed a friendship.

[Mike Swan]

What a day this was turning out to be. Though in many ways it reminded Mike of his first day in Hogwarts, he hadnt got a clue where he was going and you could have always counted on him to either show up to the wrong lesson and sit through that one, usually the fourth years lessons, or turn up very late. After a while they had given him a map of the school hoping he would be able to find his way around, it wasnt until the third year there he managed to eventually remember the corridors, though the thing that used to get him the most was those changing staircases. Please dont tell me they have changing stairs here! I'll never get to work if they do. He thought to himself.

Mike had made sure he was up bright and early this morning so he wouldnt be late, but glancing at his wizard watch he realised he was already twenty five minutes late. Groaning to himself he wondered what sort of impression he would leave on the head of his department now? He figured it wouldnt be a very good one, though then again the head of the department couldnt have had much more of a firery temper than some of the professors in the school, could she? "Somehow im expecting the work load due to the trouble seems to be having anyway"

Mike was about to answer Chloe when Ashlee walked in, closly followed by some guy that seemed a bit familiar to Mike but he couldnt quite place where he knew the face from. He looked back to Ashlee, when the comment was made both about him being a newbie and losing his way already, Mike flushed and looked down to the floor. "Uhm" he spoke softly, "I think I made more than one new turn anyway" he tried to laugh, though it came out in more of a choke.

He looked back to the guy he thought he knew, his eyes scanning the male before him when it suddenly clicked. Markus Everitt. He was a student at Hogwarts too, and Mike couldnt honestly say he was fond of the guy, there was something about him he both didnt like, and didnt trust. This would turn out to be quite the collegue relationship between these two, he was sure his time here was about to get a lot harder.

Mike raised an eyebrow when he saw Markus bow. Was it customary to bow to people these days? Well whatever his reason for bowing was, Mike wasnt going to bow that was for sure. "Mike Swan" he said in answer to Markus, though he knew his introduction wasnt aimed at Mike. He could see many years being spent with sly comments to each other and jibes, maybe this would be fun after all.