Department of International Magical Cooperation
Positions Representing: International Relations, Law Enforcement, Lawyer, Linguist
Panel & Demonstrations: 3:10pm-4:00 pm
(Border Security and Social Networking Demonstrations)

Azize bent through pulled mustard-colored curtains and erected himself into the large wooden-crafted interior of the pitched tent for the DoIMC. There were comfortable couches and chairs strewn over the area they had set up for the booth, and curtains were drawn (and enchanted) to keep some of the more adventurous students from hiding away somewhere.

However, the dark-skinned government official hardly saw how that was a problem since the Hogwartsian crowd they had accumulated seemed happily preoccupied with other little distractions laid out on their table. Origami animal fact sheets were folding, unfolding, and scurrying off randomly as excited first years tried to read them, (courtesy of a certain 6'2" African's fidgeting.) The Global Gramophone was yelling back at students with their own voices in another language, changing it's dictionary and accent with each changing record. Hanging on the back wall, the elaborately origami-esque folded and animated world map, crafted by the ingenious Dreogan Eleor. The obligatory pamphlets about their professions seemed pitifully ignored or strewn about the place.

As he strode towards the desk, Azize flicked his wand so all the pamphlets neatly piled on a corner of the desk, and then he peered at a few signatures on some sign-up sheets they had set out before turning to his colleagues with a smile, "Topped Loyd's Labyrinth with this one,  no?"

Azize's deep voice undercut the higher-pitched jabber as he closed the space between the map on the back wall and his DoIMC companions, "Some have already marked their names in the pen-pal and internship sign-ups," he glanced at Sasha as he gave a short chuckle, "but I'm sure most are hardly of age for the latter."

After a pause his large hands clapped together as he turned to look at his colleagues, with an optimistic bellow, "Should we start then?"[1]

1.	(This thread is fairly open right now. Students are welcome to jump in and dilly-dally around before the presentation/lecture starts, although would prefer it began shortly  (: )

Just after Azize called for them to start, Johann let out a chuckle, a very amused, goofy look on his face as he peered into the Global Gramophone and laughed at its attempts to translate. Its dictionaries were vast, but not as vast as they needed to be, and the fact reassured Johann incredibly.

Realising people were looking his way he sobered and stood up properly, beaming.
"Yes, er, sorry." He apologised and cleared his throat, the gramophone repeating his apology in barked English, as he'd been testing out the German to English record (once flipped over would do the opposite - English to German)
"YES SORRY" Johann curled a long finger under the arm of the player which held the needle in place and lifted it off the record.

Turning the record over again, ready for a student to speak in English to it again once the needle was replaced, he stepped aside and adopted his boyish grin.
"Questions then?" He asked Azize, and pressed his palms together joyously.

Vlad leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers as he eyed the courtyard which was beginning to fill with students and staff. Though he didn't look it, he felt  ill at ease. His last visit on campus had not gone well. Although...he supposed it was good he had been here that night. It wasn't long after that meeting when a few students actually came under attack by a werewolf, and had to use the knowledge they had gained from Vlad and Bagnold. All things considered, Vlad coudn't help wondering why Declan O'Morain seemed to have taken such a dislike of him, over a simple misunderstanding.  But...most likely he would never know. And in the end it probably didn't matter.

Should we start then?" asked Mulogo, in a genial bellow.

"Yes, er, sorry," replied Johann, perhaps a bit startled. He had seemed transfixed by the Gramaphone; not that Vlad could blame him. Some of those translations were quite entertaining...

"YES SORRY!"
 
Vlad chuckled.  Merlin! The recorded voice sounded so much like Ignan, it caused one or two students to glance nervously over their shoulders. Vlad had overheard some talk that one or two actually believed Ignan was trying to kill them. Of course Ignan would never do such a thing. However... this did not mean he wouldn't enjoy letting them think he would...

"Questions then?"

Vlad nodded. "We might as well start. I believe I saw Colonel Kabir somewhere in the crowd..."

"Brought the coffee and tea, tailored & suited to the each of yours preferred tastes," came their boss's voice (Gabie laughed as she heard it replay in German, even now more amused than what she already was), chipper & bright as the cups were dispersed to the three men in front of them, "...so it should never be said that I don't take care of you in the department." Clearly the time spent reminiscing with Francis this morning had put her in a good mood as did the thought of having potential new aides & interships for the summer, which could lead them into new jobs.

As she placed Johann's beverage down, Gabie smiled at him warmly like she had when he first arrived, the smile indicating she was genuinely happy to have him back on the task force. "Hope the holidays went well, love," she chirped before serving her father last.

A quick peck to his cheek was lightning fast (after all, it didn't look too professional, eh?) & she took her seat next to him. Truly, their boss was in a bubbly mood and hopefully they'd hope this would continue.

Ahmed was decked out in his dress uniform. He wore it only for special occasions, such as the annual Independence parade. Which was rather ironic; since he now found himself in the very country from which India celebrated its independence. Then again...from what his father had told him he himself was half British. As a boy he had never thought much about that. After all his birth mother had not wanted him. She had left him to be raised by his father and later his stepmother...who had been all that any child...or grown man...could wish for, in a mother. But since the loss of his family, Ahmed found himself wondering more and more about his biological mother. Since his arrival in Britain he found his eyes following every woman of a certain age that he saw, wondering, Are you the one?

He thought it again as he noticed Rita Skeeter. Shuddering at the very thought, he shook it off and went to join his friends and colleagues at the DIMC booth. He laughed as he heard the World Gramaphone's rendition of Johann's apology. Ganesh, everyone in the room must have heard it.

He blushed slightly as he saw Ms. Murray-Harker. Vlad had tried so hard to play matchmaker between them...but his old friend should have known better. Relationships between people who worked in the same department were generally a bad idea. Though if the rumors were true, it seemed to be working well enough between Tamis Raynor and Archer Radley. He couldn't help sighing a bit as he thought of that. Radley was a lucky dog, no two ways about it. Raynor was a spitfire, like Ahmed's late wife. So was that young woman from the WCU, who had visited hm in Saint Mungo's. Of course that was on business, he reminded himself. Still...

Enough, he thought, as he caught himself scanning the room in hope of seeing Ms. Ferris.  Arriving at the DIMC booth he took the last empty chair, set his duffle bag on the floor under the table, and reached for a steaming mug of coffee.

"Ahhh, " he murmured, after one sip. "Gabie, you are astounding."

Truth be told, Sasha had quite enjoyed his couple months as an intern in the Department of International Magical Cooperation and was hoping he'd made a good enough impression to return over the summer. He was finding he liked the rather political nature of the office.  He often found the discussions and negotiations easier to navigate than the casual conversations of his peers.  Certainly, reviewing and discussing the legal details of trade agreements was much less stressful than any conversation with Fauna Blake. 

It was strange to be back at Hogwarts - even stranger to still only be allowed back under direct supervision.  It only proved to increase his trepidation about returning full time in only a couple weeks.  He was anxious about how integrating back into classes was going to go. 

Luckily, that was a worry for another day.  For the time being, he could linger by the lecture panel.  He'd primarily accompanied the department as an errand boy - to help out with logistics such as helping with set up and totting things around.

He caught Mr. Mulogo's glance and gave a return grin, a pinch of color rising in his cheeks before offering Mr. Storm another grin in turn as the fellow German fumbled with a gramophone.  His blush deepened slightly and he grinned to himself as Ms. Murrary-Harker greeted his supervisor and he quickly turned his attention to double checking that everything was set up properly.  He finally, then, took his seat a little behind and off to the side of the table. 

Roaming the panels and booths in preparation for a week of being forced to discuss careers options with the older students on a one to one front, Professor Storm joined a gaggle of students waiting for the DIMC panel. Not only because he was curious - but also because he wanted to see how Johann and Gabrielle, with colleagues dealt with the weird and wonderful questions the students could throw.

Ignan spied Sasha sat just off to one side, and the interchange between the student and cousin amused him. Johann was named as Sasha's escort for the day officially, though he was effectively being 'babysat' by the whole department, including Gabrielle.

Johann had explained he and Sasha had got off on a shaky footing, but it appeared now the two were almost thick as thieves, confirmed by the briefest of mentions in a letter this week from Johann (who was quietly asking Ignan how the reception of Sasha's appearance might be, so he could decide how best to handle things) that Johann had stayed a few days at the student's family home after leaving Gabrielle's estate earlier that month, before escaping to France.

At least Johann and Gabrielle seemed to be talking again. Ignan surveyed the headcount as the room filled.

"SERIOUSLY! He was! ...Y'don' believe me, Kaiss." Loud enough to be heard & loud enough for the gramophone to translate her into German, Adelia Delacroix had finally made it to her intership's tent. Sure, she was interested to go check out the Mysteries one after lunch, but given the time, she figured she had better show. And by the looks of Kaiss, she wasn't too keen in seeing Professor Storm. "I believe ya, 'Croix...er, be right back, yah?" the girl spat out, soon heading off. Addie grinned as she waved at the professor before heading where the bigwigs were.

Another wave was given to Sasha & to Gabrielle before she approached Johann, hoping to get to talk to him for a few seconds before everyone had questions. "Oy, you," she said, grinning before pulling out a small handful of sherbet lemons, "here y'go and oh. Still afraid of the Tube?" Her grin was almost jackal in nature as she flopped into a seat in front of Johann, plopping one of the sherberts in her mouth.

Man, she could still see his face and what it had looked like when she convinced him to ride underground to the Tate Modern. Maybe her mum had gotten the photos developed - Addie hoped so as she wanted to forever see the look of a grown man freaking out while she sat there all innocent like.

"Hope the holidays went well, love," Gabrielle smiled as she handed over a coffee. Johann smiled back warmly, and a little sadly at the end.
"Yes, yes they did." He replied softly. They'd kept out of each other's way for the week since neither sure at how the other felt about Johann's sudden declaration that he was leaving Gabrielle's house and taking time from work at short notice, in a horrible mood.

He gave Sasha a grin and thumbs up. The two of them had been getting along much better since their initial hurried introduction. Johann had made up for the stiff interchange with saving some of his more interesting requests of colleagues for when Sasha was with him. They'd struck up a strange friendship, and Johann had even laid low at Sasha's estate for a few days after leaving Gabrielle's place, and before going to France with Vedir.

"Oy, you," Johann's gaze switched back immediately and he gave a large grin.
"Wotcher." He replied, imitating Adelia's usual phrase. His other charge grinned and pulled a small handful of sherbet lemons from her pocket, and held them out to him.
"Here y'go and oh. Still afraid of the Tube?" Johann caught the sweets in one hand before pushing them into his jacket pocket, the coffee still poised in the other.
"Thanks Addie, and shhh, I have a reputation to preserve. It was just the fact I got stuck in the gate... But you saved me, so its all fine." He frowned. "Sorry I had to cancel our last meeting, I'll make up for it."

And so the panel began, with an introduction of each of them. The noise in the room dulled a little as the first questions were posed...

Theta Pepper, wrestling her way to the front, elbowed Delacroix partly by accident.
"Oops, sorry" She apologised to her Hufflepuff friend, squeezing Adelia's arm fondly, catching sight of the way one of the wizards on the panel was looking at Adelia. Theta was sure he looked familiar, but figured if he worked for the Ministry he would.

"Is he like, your boyfriend?" Theta whispered in a low voice to Addie, while another student asked a question about which country Britain did the most trade with. "He's looking at you funny." Theta tried to concentrate on what was going on around them with questions to cover the fact she was whispering about boys.

Best to cover it up a bit more, she figured and raised her hand to ask a question.
"How long do you have to work in the Department to become an ambassador living in another country?" She asked the panel. Not that she had any particular interest, but it was a semi-intelligent question.

"Is he like, your boyfriend?"

"God I hope not, or you'll have some serious explaining to do." Matty chuckled softly making sure to keep his voice down. He had snuck into the tent just as things were starting up and made sure his trip into the collection of chairs to sit next to Addie went mostly unnoticed. He didn't want to interrupt things by having arrived late.

He placed his hand lovingly on Addie's knee before placing a soft kiss on her cheek, "Thought I'd find you here."

Since their secret relationship started back in November Matty had found himself increasingly head over heels for his best friend turned girlfriend, much to the dismay of his logical mind. Love itself was the least logical thing he had ever encountered but he was definitely enjoying the trip down the illogical lane.

As questions were thrown back and forth Matty caught himself staring at Addie and the most profound and illogical thought came into the seventeen year olds head - This is the girl I'm going to marry.

As the discussion with his comrades assured the start of the meeting, Azize turned to see a young Ravenclaw pose a question, "Probably some many years of experience," he ran his gaze over the crowd as his voice bellowed over their rabble, finally settling into a silence. The African smiled.

"I gained my position through a series of risky and originally foolhardy endeavors," He took a step towards the desk and squared his shoulders at the students, squaring his shoulders to address them more formally, "Head of the African Division, Azize Mulogo," he nodded cordially.

Then the tall man firmly parked a single digit on the desk in front of him, arching his eyebrow, "But ambassadors generally have many more duties and responsibilities than such a person," he spoke with the steady hum of his native accent as he patted a hand as his chest, "which are often defined, not by the age of experience, but by how they gained their position."

A wry smirk pulled at his lips, "Anyone have an idea of what that defining factor is?" The presentation wasn't going to completely revolve around questions being thrown back and forth, so he preferred they actually start answering questions--especially those looking towards a job in their Department.

Addie felt Theta's nudge, grinned when she teased about boyfriends that weren't boyfriends but rather big brother models to pick on, blushing deeply when her boyfriend popped a kiss on the cheek, and listened (as best Addie could with all these disractions) as Azize spoke. Her blue eyes looked over to Matty, squeezing his hand that was on her leg with her own hand, grinning like a dope before refocusing on the question that had been presented.

"Is it not getting stuck in surroundings you're unaccustomed to?" she piped up, knowing Johann would *so* kill her at lunch time for this smartarsed comment, but Addie sobered up to then respond more appropriately. Even as she saw, or thought she saw, the department head smirking in approval of what she just had said.

"Wouldn't be it really if you knew the place first hand or even a spirited nature to be stationed there, even if there potential risks to be had? For instance, if you wanted to be in Romania, you'd have to be one good duelist as well as knowing what you've learned in Defense/Magical Creature classes and reading up on the history of the place before jumping in?"

Her own smirk rose to her lips. Hopefully, just maybe she thought, that would be a good answer?

Vlad grinned at the teasing between the youngsters, nodding his approval of Mulogo's idea of asking them questions, to find out what they already knew.

"Wouldn't be it really if you knew the place first hand or even a spirited nature to be stationed there, even if there potential risks to be had? For instance, if you wanted to be in Romania, you'd have to be one good duelist as well as knowing what you've learned in Defense/Magical Creature classes and reading up on the history of the place before jumping in?"

Vlad chuckled. "Knowing about dueling might be a help if you're up against a dark wizard, but not so much if you're dealing with a werewolf, or somebody else who is magical but doesn't use wands. Unfortunately there are quite a few of that sort in the Karpathians. And while there are magical ways to neutralize them that do not involve wands...before you actually freeze the river around a clan of Veelas...you might first want to find out if they have signed the Moldavian Accords and are your allies..."

He winced as the Grammarphone translated his reply, and bellowed it loud enough to be heard across the Great Hall, and perhaps even outside. It was tempting to hex the thing...

"God I hope not, or you'll have some serious explaining to do." Matty's voice the other side of Addie made Theta jump slightly, and he kissed her.
"Thought I'd find you here."

Theta would have said hello, only the panel were looking her way.

"Probably some many years of experience, I gained my position through a series of risky and originally foolhardy endeavours. Head of the African Division, Azize Mulogo,"

Despite herself, Theta Pepper was impressed with his tone, description of his job and his appearance.  Realising what she was thinking, she mentally wrestled her hormones into some kind of check, especially since Sasha was parked not far away and worked with these people - and seemingly was also very friendly with the man Theta had just teased Addie for being the girlfriend of. Way to go Pepper.

"But ambassadors generally have many more duties and responsibilities than such a person, which are often defined, not by the age of experience, but by how they gained their position. Anyone have an idea of what that defining factor is?"

"Is it not getting stuck in surroundings you're unaccustomed to?" Adelia spoke up. Weirdly it seemed to be some sort of private joke with the department, and Theta glanced between them, especially as the one with curly dark hair gave a little impatient sigh.

"Wouldn't be it really if you knew the place first hand or even a spirited nature to be stationed there, even if there potential risks to be had? For instance, if you wanted to be in Romania, you'd have to be one good duelist as well as knowing what you've learned in Defense/Magical Creature classes and reading up on the history of the place before jumping in?"

This time a rather older wizard replied, and Theta glanced between him and the curly brown haired one. Well, if he wasn't Addie's boyfriend… perhaps she could get an introduction before the day was done.

"Knowing about dueling might be a help if you're up against a dark wizard, but not so much if you're dealing with a werewolf, or somebody else who is magical but doesn't use wands. Unfortunately there are quite a few of that sort in the Karpathians. And while there are magical ways to neutralize them that do not involve wands...before you actually freeze the river around a clan of Veelas...you might first want to find out if they have signed the Moldavian Accords and are your allies…"

As the older wizard spoke, there was a click and a whir from the gramophone which was unnoticed by most, but it suddenly began to stiltedly proclaim something in German, the needle had fallen and the record had rotated, so it was presumably translating what the man had just said.

"Is that from personal experience, if you do not mind me asking, Sir?" Theta asked. It sounded most intriguing. Were it not for her lack of grasp on foreign languages she could have been swayed by such stories.