The Department of Mysteries booth couldn't reflect exactly what the Department did at all, for reasons of secrecy and huge complication. One couldn't bring brains and bell jars of time with him. Colin was meant to be here too, but recent complications with werewolves had meant it was unlikely his colleague would attend. Scheduling anyone else to join him was a nightmare - nobody could accurately disclose their agenda or availability on a particular day if they worked unusual hours in their Department. Meetings were a nightmare.

Subsequently the thought of holding a panel that morning wasn't a relishing thought.

The booth instead was filled with puzzles and mental challenges - a self playing chess game, should anyone beat it, would intrigue the minds in the DoM who considered chess to be a good indicator of intellect. As yet, no intern had beaten the board in over six years. It would shriek pitifully if anyone attempted to use force or magic to beat it.

Then there were riddles, and anticheat quills, and a ridiculously intricate jigsaw puzzle which would change its pattern if you took your eyes from it - encouraging lengthy concentration and observation. Other odd puzzles littered circular tables within, lit by low lights, giving the whole tent a rather curious feeling of not knowing if it was night or day within.

The recruitment team from the Department - who Francis was displeased to discover liked to remain entirely anonymous and mysterious so never turned up to recruiting events - had provided bewitched quills and paper which would rise up and float behind each student who entered, like a teacher hovering by their shoulder, and record their every attempt at the puzzles, neatly submitting the list to indicate any interest or potential in a student for later.

Flipping open the door of the tent, Francis Pepper emerged from setting up and flipped the sign outside to 'open' as the Hogwarts clock chimed nine in the morning.

Her booth wasn't open until after lunch (which Gabie thought could either make or break the audience vibe) but Gabrielle was two weeks the wiser after family and work heartbreaks as well as dinners with family (which she hoped her drunken sleepover with Georg stayed silent) and then the one with Francis. Currently, she was waiting for him to leave the interior of his tent so she...ah, and there was the man of the minute. It was perfect as he had his back to her.

"Excuse me - I was wondering is this department as dangerously exciting as its name would lead you to believe or is it every bit as boring if I wanted to go off to be a linguist or magical ambassador?" she piped up, hoping throwing her voice a little bit would mislead him for a few minutes.

The look on her face was high amusement. This was gonna be fun.

Francis Pepper heard the voice pipe up behind him.

"Excuse me - I was wondering is this department as dangerously exciting as its name would lead you to believe or is it every bit as boring if I wanted to go off to be a linguist or magical ambassador?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say either linguist or ambassador were that unexciting either." Francis replied with a smile, turning to clap eyes on Gabrielle.

"Hello you, all set for today?" He asked smiling and extending his arms for their usual hug. It always pleased him to see her. Easter had been difficult. She'd been wonderful to him asking him for dinner the night before the boys had arrived back in London on the train for the holidays. She'd come over for dinner and they'd willingly spent a little time with them both before retreating, and when he was at work, they'd spent their days at their uncle's just up the road in the next town, with their cousins - Theta, Eta and Zeta, only Theta had stayed at school this time, studying for her NEWTS. Francis hoped she'd pop by today just so he could see her since Christmas.

Releasing Gabrielle, he clasped her hands.
"How's your week been? Hardly seen you at the Ministry, I think we've both been busy. Just as long as you've not been avoiding me... I know it was a little awkward with the boys. I spoke to Ambrose, I think he understands." Both of Francis' sons had noted the closeness between the two adults when Gabrielle had visited, and protective of their father and their memory impaired mother, there had been a few moments of staring at each other.

Felix stifled a yawn as he made his way (rather reluctantly) to the Department of Mysteries booth. Normally he would be wide awake now, but last night had been a particularly busy night at the Ministry, and he found himself not altogether with it as he picked his way along each booth and found the right one. He and Francis Pepper didn't really interact much at work, but Felix found he liked the eccentricity of the older man, and he was equally as enthusiastic about technology - though Felix didn't know nearly as much about it as Francis.

"Mo-morning Francis." Felix stifled another yawn with the palm of his hand. No doubt Charlotte would want to get her claws into him this afternoon, so he would have a tiring night at work ahead of him. Thinking about work was making him more tired, and he found it difficult to focus on anything else. Another employee of the Ministry was at the booth too, and though Felix hadn't officially met her, he'd seen her around. He flashed her a smile before looking at the tools and trinkets they would be enticing the students with. His eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned the table, widening as they focused on a telescope stood at the end. "Aha." He walked over to the telescope and bent down slightly to have a look through the eye hole. Standing up straight again he grinned at the other two. "Just checking I know what I'm looking at."

Coming back to Hogwarts was even stranger this time around. Once again Cillian found himself blending in with most of the students that were out and about and he wasn't all that surprised that none of them took notice of him. After all as Professor Cuthbert he hadn't spent much time outside of the Divination tower and for those few students that actually took his class he didn't think that six months was all that long to make a lasting impression. Although he had only been gone for a month now and was hoping to have at least someone recognize him.

He shrugged as he came upon the tent Pepper had set up. He had no idea what he could even do to help the booth out since there wasn't much about his job he was allowed to talk about. He wasn't officially an Unspeakable but he was the Keeper of the Hall of Prophecies one of the more secretive - albiet most notorious - places within the Department itself. If it hadn't been for Harry Potter most people likley wouldn't have even known there was a Hall of Prophecies to begin with let alone someone that spent their days walking up and down the aisles making sure everything was in it's rightful place. Most of the time it made Cillian feel like a glorified guard dog.

He pulled a small glass globe out of his pocket and began to run it over his fingers like one would do with a coin. He was actually rather skilled at it and it gave him something to do. The globe itself was a prophecy orb though it currently held no prophecy. Thankfully there was a little something more to his new job at the Ministry and this was something he was actually allowed to talk about - well to an extent. He kept a globe on him at all times in case he was needed to retrieve a prophecy in the making. At least it kept his job interesting.

The hug was well welcomed as she held onto to him for a few moments before retracting, giggling a little bit as their hands were kept together. Gabie looked down at her small dainty ones compared to Francis's larger & somewhat worn ones. A blush crept to her face. "I feel like we're seventh years.....what with the hand holding," she pointed out, soon removing her hands when Felix arrived. A smiling nod came from her to him, but was looking & listening to Francis as he spoke her.

"It's been a long one, yes, but I did wait for you at the Atrium yesterday for afternoon tea - you didn't show, so I enjoyed my homemade scones and jam on my own. Other than that, it seems everything is slowly going back to normal. Thank you for Easter dinner - though try not to make the lamb so dry next time. Claire would have been so proud of you."

Her eyes scanned the area, half expecting Ambrose to pop around the corner. She knew that the boys would understand somewhat but never fully realize how guilty she felt then for leaving their father and even now as he fought to stay strong, Gabrielle felt she could be intruding on personal space.

"It's going to take time...no puns intended."

"I feel like we're seventh years… what with the hand holding." Gabrielle told him. Francis blushed, more as she dropped the grasp when Felix arrived.
"Mo-morning Francis." Felix greeted, and Francis looked up and round at his colleague.
"Felix, good morning!" He greeted optimistically in return and saw Felix give Gabrielle a smile before he vanished into the tent.

"It's been a long one, yes, but I did wait for you at the Atrium yesterday for afternoon tea - you didn't show, so I enjoyed my homemade scones and jam on my own. Other than that, it seems everything is slowly going back to normal. Thank you for Easter dinner - though try not to make the lamb so dry next time. Claire would have been so proud of you."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I couldn't escape, I hadn't realised you were waiting for me especially Gabrielle. I was … department things." He shrugged and gave a sorry smile, unable to explain his reasons because of the secrecy.
 
"Cillian." Francis greeted after, seeing the new addition to the department arrive and slink inside the tent.

"It's going to take time...no puns intended." Gabrielle assured Francis.

"Well, that's something I do have." He replied softly with a smile. "If I don't, I make it." Francis laughed, and patted Gabrielle's arm.

"Good luck with your panel later, hopefully they'll all be quiet as mice for ours!" He spoke optimistically. "It was meant to be me and Colin doing things, but not with this dreadful kidnapping business. Can never pin another unspeakable down until the last minute, but Felix and Cillian have answered the call, thank Merlin. Hopefully Flannery might too. We're outnumbered by your troop. Then again, although our budget outweighs yours every now and then, I think you do have more staff." Francis shrugged.

"There's lunch for everyone in the Great Hall, I'll try and catch you then, but be good to catch up with Timothy and Ambrose at the very least, Theta, Eta and Zeta too if I can, just so my brother's assured they're all here and not slacking off." He gave a cheery smile and leaned forward to peck Gabrielle on the cheek affectionately.
"I'll see you later, must check up with those two."

With that Francis Pepper turned and vanished back inside the tent, greeting his two colleagues within.
"Gentlemen, so good of you to join me. Sorry, was just passing comment with Gabrielle about how she'd recruited her department to outnumber us. Trying to convince students working in foreign countries on a Ministry wage is a brilliant career." He chuckled. Of course it was, but the Department of Mysteries was far more interesting for an inquisitive mind.

The Department of Mysteries had always been something that intrigued Baxter. He knew that he did not have it in him to be an auror like his father and grandfather- and had no intentions of trying to convince himself otherwise. But he did want to work in the ministry in some capacity, aiding people. Baxter had heard the Department of Mysteries did a lot of magical research that was very beneficial to the magical community, and that sounded like something he might enjoy doing.

So he was sure, for Career Day, that he would be visiting to ask a few questions while they were available for them. He approached cautiously, not seeing any other students around. Baxter wondered, if perhaps, they weren't seeing students at the moment? But the booth was supposed to be an all day thing, and the panel was also supposed to be helpful.

"So what exactly does the Department of Mysteries do?" Baxter finally asked, trying to sound sure of himself. "I've heard they do research. Is that all there is to it?"

Uh-oh, not again. Ambrose thought as he clocked his father outside a tent with Gabrielle Murray-Harker. She'd come to their house over Easter and had dinner with them. Dad had cooked Mum's lamb dinner, but he'd cooked it a bit too much, distracted, Ambrose suspected, by Gabrielle.

It wasn't like Ambrose's father had hidden the fact he and Murray-Harker had dated before Ambrose or his younger brother Tim were realised. Francis Pepper was entirely straight with his two boys about things like that, for which Ambrose had begun to admire. Lots of his classmates parents were a bit funny about talking about things like that. Ambrose, for all his tongue tied ways in spellwork, did not find himself overly nervous to talk to his father about things like girls. (Undoubtedly in later years he would lose this glorious comfort as hormones gave him yet further chronic shyness about such personal matters).

Ambrose wasn't so sure he liked the fact Gabrielle was hanging about at the house (admittedly, once that he knew of, but who was to say - when he was at Hogwarts, his dad lived on his own). Theta had told him that there was nothing to be worried about, that they were just good friends, but Ambrose wasn't so sure. There was something about them that reminded him of how his mum and dad were together before the obliviation. He couldn't quite put his finger on it...

Hanging back until the two adults had parted, Ambrose kept his distance and stayed out of Gabrielle's eye-line, skulking towards the tent, entering it behind Baxter.

"So what exactly does the Department of Mysteries do? I've heard they do research. Is that all there is to it?" Baxter asked, as Ambrose looked about himself, clocking his dad and a couple of other adults inside, but as to be expected, no Colin. Ambrose liked Colin, but the guy was probably recovering from being kidnapped. He realised with a start that one of the wizards was Professor Cuthbert who had taught Divination.

"Research, and make cool stuff." Ambrose informed Baxter, grinning. His father, approaching, shot him a warning look. They didn't get those visits each year from the people in the Department about discretion for nothing, after all.
"Well, its all a mystery, innit?" Ambrose shrugged to Baxter.

"I'd say an entire department full, and that's not even the fun stuff," Marietta replied, stepping into the tent.  She looked down at the Pepper boy, scrutinizing him with pursed lips.  "You've...," she started, holding a hand parallel to her stomach, slowly moving it up until it reached a height on par with the boy, "grown.  Well done."  Time was always a blur, even if one worked as little with the time turners as possible.  "This is present, yes?" she asked, this time directing herself to the boy's father. 

Marietta lifted her goggles, resting them firmly on her forehead.  She blinked twice before speaking, "Oh look, there's a whole gaggle of us here.  Is Ward getting that bad?"  Having spent extensive time in the field to escape the pressures of administration, Marietta was still accustoming herself to being back with 'the ministry.'  She walked further into the tent and removed her gloves, stuffing them into one of the many pockets hidden within her robes. 

"Research, and make cool stuff." The familiar voice of his older son chirped in and Francis shot him a warning look before he got carried away. "Well, its all a mystery, innit?"

"Isn't it, you mean, Ambrose?" Francis corrected him and gave Baxter a warm smile.

"I'd say an entire department full, and that's not even the fun stuff," A familiar, but much missed voice added, as Marietta stepped into the tent. Francis watched her regard Ambrose with interest.
"You've…," she moved her hand up as if judging how tall Ambrose had been last time they'd met, which was some time ago, "grown.  Well done."  Francis nodded thoughtfully, Ambrose grinned, recognising her after a moment's quibbling thought.

"This is present, yes?" Marietta asked Francis.
"Relative to you or me?" He asked with a smile, but lifted his pocket watch out of his pocket to glance at it momentarily. "Me, most certainly."

"To answer your question," Francis looked to Baxter, "none of us even know exactly what the whole Department gets up to - secrets, and research, plenty to keep you occupied, amazed and absolutely guaranteed there's not a job like it."

"Oh look, there's a whole gaggle of us here.  Is Ward getting that bad?" Marietta remarked behind them to their colleagues.

Francis extended his hand to Baxter,
"Francis Pepper, you are?"

Well, Career Fair season. Philo knew that he had plenty of time to decide on a career (Eirene had been spending the last few nights in the common room working on her career plan. They were only first years for pete's sake!). It would still be interesting to see that the different tents had to offer. Philo had no clue what he really wanted to do anyways. According to his family, the only jobs were handling magical creatures, tracking down magicked muggle devices, or playing Quidditch professionally. Eugh.

He came across the Department of Mysteries' Tent, closed except for a slit in the flaps unlike the other tents that were open. Curious, he stepped inside, adjusting the strap of his satchel on his shoulder. In the dim light there were people talking and puzzles scattered about on tables. Jolly! With a smile he stepped in front of the closest, a jigsaw with a pile of pieces, the images on each moving slightly. The interior pieces had the same shapes. Philo spent a few minutes getting clusters together and part of the border.

"So what exactly does the Department of Mysteries do?" asked Baxter Fox, an older boy from Philo's house. He turned to look. Baxter was talking to a wavy haired wizard in old fashioned robes and a cravat, probably in charge of the tent. Philo turned back to his jigsaw.

"D'Arvit!" he swore under his breath. In the time it took him to glance back at the jigsaw the picture had changed. All of the identical shaped pieces he had so far put together were now checkered with a completely different image, no longer by their correct partners. In the scrambling he caught patches of sky, cloud, and grass, telling him the puzzle had changed into a landscape.

"D'Arvit, d'Arvit, d'Arvit..." croaked something in Philo's satchel bag.

"Hush, Arlaug," Philo said, taking off his bag and placing it on the table while keeping his eyes on the jigsaw lest it change again. Arlaug, who often stowed away in Philo's bag, was not your typical frog. Philo had caught the Swear Frog when he was nine. While the frog was slimy, something Philo usually disliked, the colorful language that sprung from its lips had been intriguing. His mother absolutely hated Arlaug, so that meant Philo kept him hidden in a bucket under his bed when back home.

Free with both hands, Philo tasked himself to concentrate on this puzzle no matter what. Soon he had all the border pieces about in lines. There was the dash of creatures running across the borders and throughout the misplaced pieces, and clouds drifted past the patches of sky. With the frame complete he built towards the center, spiraling along the thickening borders. It was easier to place pieces now, despite how the contents shifted, since he had determined what the jigsaw was a picture of.

A pair of eyes appeared over the edge of the table Philo was putting the puzzle together at. Theta Pepper noted the quill and parchment following the boy around was making notes, the one above her had already written 'back again!' she suspected.

"Don't look at me," Theta told Philo ever so slowly - the two had met before, both being Ravenclaws, and because Theta had made a point of being nice to first years, especially as her cousin Tim was one of Philo's classmates. "There was a piece on the floor," she reached over and placed the piece on the table. "My uncle, don't look, he's the one with the long curly hair, has these at home, and we're the sort of crazy family who will do them together at Christmas."

Philo nearly flicked his eyes up but resolved not to. He couldn't stand having to reorganize the jigsaw again. At least the corner pieces wouldn't change much. "Thanks Theta," he said, accepting the piece. Perfect. There was a hole for it that had been left on the right-hand side.

So the man talking to Baxter, with the wavy hair and cravat, was Theta's uncle and Tim's...dad, wasn't it? That meant Ambrose too, but Philo hadn't seen much of him given he was a different year and house.

"That must be fun," Philo said, thinking of spending Christmas solving a jigsaw. His hands were still placing pieces as he found their matches but he could keep a separate tract of his mind open for conversation. In fact, by not looking directly at Theta he found it easier to talk to her. Philo had always been weird on not keeping eye contact when talking to someone. There was just...some sort of agreement you had to come to by being eye to eye with another.

"Wish my family did something like that at Christmas. If it wasn't for the excuse of exchanging presents they would spend the whole day romping the countryside in the snow. Mind you, not to say that sledding, snowball fights, and snow sculpting isn't fun but past four hours it's absolutely frigid. I keep thinking I'm going to freeze my--"

"Bum off!!" croaked Arlaug, peeping out from the bag with his purple eyes set in a green body.

"Knock it off, Arlaug," Philo chided, slapping at the bag. He was so nearly done with this jigsaw that he didn't want any more interruptions.

"Wish my family did something like that at Christmas. If it wasn't for the excuse of exchanging presents they would spend the whole day romping the countryside in the snow. Mind you, not to say that sledding, snowball fights, and snow sculpting isn't fun but past four hours it's absolutely frigid. I keep thinking I'm going to freeze my--"
"Bum off!!"
"Knock it off, Arlaug,"

Theta laughed with good grace.
"He's quite the character!" She smiled, pressing her hands flat on the table opposite Philo and rested her forearms along the edge. Her chin came to rest on her laced fingertips as she watched, not interfering.
"Have you had him long?" Theta asked politely, "I'm not really into amphibians but he seems awesome."

Excited at how Philo was progressing with the jigsaw she sat up a little straighter.
"Gosh you should ask for one of these for Christmas, really if going out in the countryside snow sculpting for hours at a time is so bad, you should totally get an invite to a Pepper Christmas. Any friend of Tim's is a friend of ours, and you'd fit right in." Theta grinned, still kneeling the other side of the table.
"We do the snow part, when it does snow, but we live down South where its flat as a pancake and it doesn't often."

She smiled broadly, hoping Francis or one of the other Ministry people would come along soon. If she managed to convince Francis to take her on as his apprentice, she'd completely want Philo in the department, he had one of those brains that ran at a different speed to most of the population.

(OOC: Alas, Tim is an adoptable NPC, but you're welcome to write what you like about him)