OOC: For those unfamiliar with my lessons, please post as if you have been present from the beginning, unless you have a valid, and pre-discussed plot reason for announcing a late arrival. not possible to do a late arrival this time.

PMing me is encouraged if you'd like me to be aware of something character significant for the lesson, ta. I don't deduct housepoints for non attendance, I do add them for participation, interesting, plot furthering or amusing IC reactions, and especially for balanced character abilities. If you can't join us, may be to your advantage to drop me a quick note.

For MLE characters (+ a couple of other profs if free at this time in timetable), you're welcome to join, but if you do, please keep chipping in. Plotting and co-ordinating can be done in plot discussion

Thursday afternoon, 2pm onwards

---

The second years were accounted for, ticked off on the parchment register, assembled in the great hall. Ignan had ticked off a couple of loose ties, but all in all, the second years weren't looking too shabby. This wasn't their usual time to meet, but a convenient time with no lessons for the students, and none for him either.

"This afternoon, as you were told, we are going to the Ministry of Magic to take a tour around the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. You will need to pay attention to instructions given by both your Professors and the staff at the Ministry, because we are guests, and the Ministry is always working. If we have to cut our visit short because there is an emergency, we will."

Professor Storm rolled up the parchment register, knowing the head count of the group and inclined his head to the fireplace, giving instructions and organising his colleagues to send the students through in batches after him.

Under instruction, the students were piled into the great hall's fireplace to floo out, and after a sooty, exciting journey (it seemed some had either not travelled by floo before or had only done it sporadically) the Hogwarts students emerged, complete with accompanying professors, in the Ministry Atrium.

Counting the number of heads again, this was going to become a habit, Ignan was satisfied they were all there.

"Stay close," he instructed the students, who were already gazing around and pointing at the vaulted atrium room. Being mid afternoon it was business as usual, but not as busy as first thing in the morning. Witches and wizards in various uniforms or suit-robes walked between fireplaces and the lift, and the Daily Prophet seller had his feet up on his stand, doing the crossword, trade being slow by afternoon.

He led the students over to where they would each have their wand examined and recorded as visitors, and as the efficient Ministry staff requested each wand in turn, the Professor caught sight of their welcoming committee.

"Good afternoon." He greeted Admete Brown as warmly as he could, extending his hand to shake in greeting.

"Thank you for agreeing to this visit. Once we're through the wand examination we'll be ready to follow on."

Turning to the second years, he presented Madam Brown.

"Second years, may I introduce Madam Brown, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who has made our visit possible today? Madam Brown, the second years of Hogwarts."

Charles was nervous- he hadn't been to the DoMLE before, despite having Aurors for parents. nervously brushing off what soot had accumulated during the Floo trip, he made sure he kept an eye on where Professor Storm was, although he was confident enough not to stay right next to the Professor. When he reached the security desk, he handed his wand over, the process of registering him completed shortly afterwards without any trouble.

He figured the first three messages had been received, of course, but Philo had sent off another owl last night towards home.

Dear Dad,

Remember that field trip the class is taking to the MLE Department of course you do you really really don't need to wait for us at the Atrium when we Floo in. We will not be needing another chaperone because we have others coming from school, nor will we need a tour guide. Professor Storm has an itinerary lined up with the Head of the Department, Ms. Brown.

Also, thank you for the package with Foster's old Beater bats that you sent me last week. I don't think Ravenclaw team is in that dire of a need of equipment, nor do they need an extra second year. But I suppose, should I try training at quidditch, those will be handy to have on hand.

Love to mum and Penny and Paul too,

-Philo

Philo had still sent this letter last night because his dad's last replies could be summed up with "pish-posh m'boy" in a frightfully disconcerting manner.

So as Philo was coughing for a moment from the soot of his Floo entry, he glanced around the arrival space of the ministry. Luckily there were no mustached men he recognized. Maybe the fourth time had gotten to dad. Philo, at least, had been dragged along to the ministry enough times to remember the security procedure. He passed his wand for registration on the wand weigher[1] and received a visitor's badge, as the Ministry so in no high state of security it seemed.

He pinned the badge[2] 'Philo Falkin - Hogwarts Field Trip' onto his uniform as the class lined up again after security.

1.	HP Wiki
2.	first entry on this HP Lexicon page

Merlin, but they looked so young. The future of the Ministry, and for today, a distraction from their current work. Admete expected that she'd hear a bit of fuss about disrupting work, but seemed she was finally getting used to it. She couldn't just be thinking of the day to day, after all.

"Good to see you." She shook Professor Storm's offered hand, then turned to look over the students as he introduced them. Young, yes. But growing.

Her smile towards them was a quick flash, before her expression turned a little sterner. "Welcome to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Level Two. Hope you enjoy the visit. Please remember that our employees are working today, and may be busy." Or yelling at the trainees, or who knew what else. This would be interesting.

To be perfectly honest, Mairead wasn't so sure she wanted to be here.  Though, she had no intentions of letting any of her fellow second years see how nervous and uncomfortable she was.  Ty would, likely, see past the moody, slightly jumpy demeanor but a carefully aimed scowl and postured threat towards the likes of Wakahisa would keep unwanted prying eyes from lingering too long.  Even fellow Gryffindor but insufferable know-it-all Harcroft got a dark scowl cast in his direction. 

But, it was a simple fact.  Government Suits didn't think much of her lot and Mairead had been taught to distrust Suits from a young age.  They ran families off of private fields for loitering and took kids away if their parents didn't send them to school.  They didn't understand the Pavee and many Pavee didn't want them to.   

Reluctantly, Mairead let the welcome wizard weigh her knobby, crooked wand and joined the group gathered around the woman.  Giving the woman's attire one look, Mairead came to the obvious, snap conclusion: this was definitely one of those righteous, cushy - comfy government workers.  Who got paid loads to sit around in comfy chairs and make peoples' lives difficult. 

"Are we gonna see the cells?"  At just about four and a half feet, Mairead was amongst the shortest in her year.  "Or the rooms ye make people talk?"

One loose tie in particular was Heliotrope. Her floppy bumblebee-striped house tie and collar were loose about her neck. It felt nicer on the gills. Heliotrope sat stagnant on the fringe of shabby uniform look in most cases. Her uniform, even with house elf laundry intervention, gave off the suggested odor of future mold growth.

And so far along their travel Heliotrope had yet to stray from the class. She'd been bumped to arriving at a fireplace on the opposite side of the hall but found the line again. Her wand was retrieved, wiped off by the security clerk, registered, and stowed back away by the clinging under-worn-swimsuit below her neck. Her visitors badge ended on upside-down.

But as the class assembled in the larger portion of the Atrium Heliotrope was not looking nervous or awed or afraid. She wasn't look about at the professor or the introduced MLE Head, nor was she looking around the cavernous space with office windows showing other floors.

Her eyes were transfixed on one feature in the middle of the Atrium: The Fountain of Magical Brethren. The golden figures of a witch, a wizard, a centaur, a house elf and a goblin with jets of water gushing out of various places.

While a dip may seem enticing, Heliotrope was transfixed because there was something off about the fountain. Why was a centaur on there? The centaurs, like the merpeople, did not like the classification methods of the ministry to oppose being associated with Dark beings. Had that changed? Then where was the merperson statue?

The conundrum bounced inside her brain as she stood slightly off to the side, just staring at the fountain.

Remi was somewhat interested in traveling to the DoMLE, it beat having to sit around and be alone for however long Ignan's lessons took. Besides, he could try to maybe "get lost" while there.

Remi was flocked and traveled from floo into the DoMLE. Since this was his first time traveling floo he was excited, on the inside. A small smile crept on his face, this place was HUGE. Shaking off some soot Remi jest stood in line, easily going through security and such.

Remi brought a small pouch of dirt. When or if he felt the mood to wander about stray from the class he would simply make a path back, just in case his mental map of this place failed him. When no one was looking, Remi smeared a miniscule amount from his hands to a corner of a wall nearby.

Ignan and Admete shook hands coridally, and then Brown addressed his students.

"Welcome to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Level Two. Hope you enjoy the visit. Please remember that our employees are working today, and may be busy."

"Are we gonna see the cells? Or the rooms ye make people talk?"

"Are you offering to be our prisoner, ó Fearghail?" The Professor asked in an even tone, humouring her as they were outside of the classroom. He didn't despise Mairead, but she she could be a little uncouth.

Looking over at the queue of students it seemed that the last one was just pinning their badge, so he extended his own wand to the staff.

"What we see will depend on how busy things are," Professor Storm explained, "But I am sure Madam Brown has plenty on the second floor for you to witness." He took his wand back and swiftly pinned his own badge on before doing yet another head count. Was it him, or did Le Jean look longingly at the fountain just then.

"We are all accounted for, shall we?" He addressed Brown, gesturing to the lifts, and with the other adults, herded the second years towards them.

OOC: Feel free to describe getting in and going up!

Well, no disasters yet. Though they weren't even on Level Two, so Admete wasn't quite ready to count herself lucky on that. "The temporary holding cells are on Level Two, so you all should be able to see them if everything's smooth." Wouldn't hurt to give them so motivation there, either.

"As Professor Storm said, there's a lot to see on this level. The Department has many subdivisions. I'm sure you're all familiar with some of them." The Aurors and the MLE Patrol seemed the most common ones, and the more famous sorts the Aurors had about added to some of the household name status.

She followed the last few students into the lift,, her heels tapping harshly against the floor. Somehow she didn't expect that too many of the children would be rushing to find out about Animagus registration.

Roxanne was feeling rather upbeat today. Well, more upbeat that usual. She was just getting off her lunchbreak as the second years entered the Ministry Atrium. She tucked her garbage into the rubbish basket underneath her podium and briskly walked towards the lifts that the second years were getting onto. The entrance could be left unattended for a moment. Field trips to the Ministry were alwaus her favorite.

Roxie hopped into a lift as the doors were closing, a bundle of papers in her hands for show. The older gentlemen in the car, she remembered as Ignan Storm, he'd bring Hogwarts students on a trip to the Ministry once or twice a year. Madam Brown was also in the lift with Storm, as well as half a dozen second years.

Roxanne deeply respected Madam Brown, and sometimes wished she'd joined the Auror corp. But then she remembers that she'd be kicked out on the first day of training for insubordination. "Madam Brown, Professor." Roxie nodded her head in recognition. "Students", she smiled. "Are you all excited for your visit?" Her Flixton accent peaked out around her "d"s and "t"s.

Noriko had been in a state of near panic ever since they had left for the Ministry.  On one hand, this was probably one of the safest places on the planet -- even if they were in the center of Muggle London, how could Muggles or werewolves or other awful people break into the Ministry?  But on the other, she'd learned in History of Magic class that they once had.  And besides, the last time she'd taken any sort of trip with Professor Storm's class, she'd managed to accidentally splinch his hand.  What if something like that happened again?!

And so she'd been on edge even before she'd stumbled out of the fireplace, trembling.  At least she'd managed to make it here without getting lost on the way, the thought of which always terrified her.  Madam Brown seemed very, very stern, and she scared Noriko a little, even if she wasn't trying to.  She certainly wouldn't be bothering the busy Aurors today!

The group had started to move again, and Noriko hurried to keep up, casting a nervous look over her shoulder as she tagged along at Professor Storm's heels.  After all the stories she'd heard about the Ministry, the last thing she wanted to do was get lost here; even if there were no Muggles, she was terrified that she'd end up locked in some abandoned office or forgotten corridor, never to be heard from again.  She rushed onto the lift with the others, and was so lost in her thoughts, imagining one horrible end after the next, that she didn't even notice when the Welcome Witch darted onto the lift behind them.  It was unfortunate that she happened to be standing right next to her when Roxanne unexpectedly spoke.

"Madam Brown, Professor."

"EEK!" Noriko shrieked, and dove at her nearest classmate, flinging her arms around them in a panic.

Remi sighed as he smudged a tiny amount of dirt on the ground. With Ignan in a controlled environment, and with so much to see, this place might be less boring than Remi thought.

 "Are you all excited for your visit?"

So much for a quiet tour. Remi know that there would be registration or some sort of accounting of them. He knew this would take some time. He was imagining in his head yelling right back at the red haired lady,"I can't wait to sit in a single file line and have lectures thrown at us? Instead he just made small scowl. Remi was pretty sure no one could hear him.

Then someone shrieked...and started clutching the person next to him. "Well... at least some excitement..."

Moments later they trotted out of the golden lifts and onto level two, regrouping in the corridor where Professor Storm did a quick headcount, tapping one unfortunate student on the head as he did to indicate for them to pipe down.

"Afternoon." He greeted the flaming haired welcome witch, and formally extended a hand in greeting. "I have them well trained to fear everyone, if you believe Wakahisa's reaction." The wizard gestured to the rather spooked girl, "But she's rather more lethal than she looks."

He turned his attention back to his charges and addressed them.
"Do answer Madam Brown, which subdivisions of this Department can you recall?"

"Are you offering to be our prisoner, ó Fearghail?"

As usual, her reactionary defensiveness flared first and Miared cast a dark scowl in the Defense professor's direction.  Despite herself, though, a slight grin replaced the scowl.  "Like ye could make me talk," Mairead said under her breath, a slight daring edge to her tone. 

"Bet we could make her talk, though," Mairead said quietly to the student closest to her, nodding towards the rather bubbly red-head who'd joined their midst.  "I bet, all it'd take is a little well-placed - Go n-ithe na péisteoga thú[1]!"  The Gryffindor's murmured chiding of the Ministry's Welcome Witch was interrupted as someone next to her shrieked and latched themselves onto her arm like startled baby monkey in a Disney movie. 

Wakahisa's choice of comforter in the situation was about as effective as a mouse latching itself onto a cat's nose after being startled by a stray dust bunny. 

They might have been in the midst of the Ministry on a proper, dignified business day during a representing-the-school-and-your-house school trip and a professor might have asked a question.  But those considerations had quickly fled from Mairead's mind.  All she could see was an opportunity to make a Slytherin girl's day a bit more dreary and she seized it. 

"Mudblood!" Without giving Wakahisa more than a moment to realize her mistake, Mairead cried in feigned panic.  "She touched a Mudblood!  Quick!  Give'er a brew before she turns into a Muggle!  I can see her shrivelin' already!  Hurry, be-"[2]

1.	'May the worms eat you!' - one of many interesting Irish curses.
2.	Feel free to interrupt, anyone!  I'm sure it wouldn't take long!

If Eirene could have polished her visitor’s badge, she would have, but she settled for displaying it with care on the front of her uniform. Though she'd never been to the Ministry before, she tried not to adopt the slack-jawed expression some muggleborns were sporting. She was a pureblood, after all! Animated ceilings weren't new. Even if she did gaze up at the golden symbols in the Atrium for a second too long.

Upon boarding the lifts, Eirene stuck close to Noriko, huffing at anyone who dared invade their space. She stood with her feet pressed together and her arms flattened at her sides, resembling a disgruntled penguin.

Admete Brown had that stern, yet upbeat aura about her that Eirene instantly found cool. She focused her attention on the Head of the DMLE, hoping there'd be room on Level Two to whip out a piece of parchment and begin jotting down her every word. If not, she'd use her elbows as weapons and make room. She had to direct her brown-nosing powers somewhere, since Professor Storm no longer appreciated her efforts![1]

Unfortunately, just as she was about to list all the subdivisions, Noriko let out a shriek and latched onto Mairead (of all people!), causing the Gryffindor to spout profanities.

“Shut up, Mairead!" Eirene snapped, reminded of that day they'd met in the wand shop. How dare she make Noriko panic at a time like this!

"You're going to ruin everything for everyone!"

1.	Her assumption based on this thread!