Griffon had been trailing the squirrel for about thirty minutes now. Wild creatures were easy to startle, and this squirrel was certainly no exception. This was not the first time one of his ambiance animals had escaped from his office, but Griffon couldn't resist the urge to keep them anyway. It made him feel more at home when his office looked like the out doors, and he intended to keep it that way as long as he was able to. It was more convenient for him and it was always entertaining for those who needed to stop by his office at some point.

Usually there was a ward to keep the creatures in, but sometimes Griffon just forgot to recast the ward so that it's power would be renewed, and with the hectic month he'd had, the head of the RCMC had just... forgotten (again).

The squirrel had run out and Griffon had immediately given chase. Somehow it found it's way into the lift, and it took him a few tries to find the correct floor. Unfortunately it had decided to take a field trip to the Department of Mysteries- a place where Griffon was unsure that he was welcome. But he needed to capture Roger (which he had named the squirrel while on this mission) so that he could get back to work and not upset the ministry.

At the moment Griffon was crawling along the floor on his belly, attempting to be as quiet and move as slowly as possible. The squirrel was in the corner of one of the department's laboratories, eating some food it had located between its escape and having found it's way to level nine. Griffon had just slowly drawn his wand and pointed it at the squirrel to subdue it when whatever it was eating took effect and.... suddenly the squirrel's hair grew dramatically- which terrified the poor animal as it took off in another direction.

Griffon hopped to his feet to chase the squirrel (again) but his way was barred by the head of the department. "Out of my way, Ward!" he exclaimed. "That animal is on the loose and I need to capture it! Before it eats anymore of Merlin knows what you guys have cooked up!"

Dante Ward did not find distractions amusing.  He didn’t approve of anyone having anything at work that was not directly related to a Ministry approved project.  So when a squirrel with oddly long hair crossed his path as he rounded the corner into one of his laboratories, one could say he was not amused to find Griffon Manley inside.

“What exactly is that creature even doing in my department?” he barked.  “It wouldn’t be eating ‘Merlin knows what’ if you either kept it properly contained or didn’t keep it in the Ministry at all!”   He turned drawing his wand and continued, “I have half a mind to dispatch of the wretch…permanently.”

A few of his employees had peeked out from their offices and work spaces to see what the yelling was about.  He had to resist a sigh knowing the rest of the day would likely be a complete waste in the productivity department thanks to Manley and the latest escapee from his zoo.  He had half a mind to file a complaint with the Minister’s office.

“Back to work, all of you,” he snapped, causing his employees to jump and quickly duck back into their work spaces.

Turning to Manley again he said, “Lead the way…the quicker we get the rodent properly back where it belongs the quicker I can get back to work.”

Griffon Manley was, somehow, actually surprised at the way Dante Ward decided to react to something as simple as a particularly hairy rodent roaming his department. He had heard the man was a bit of a stick in the mud, some had even hazarded to call him a complete and total ass, the word dick was often used as well- but Griffon had never expected the head of the department of mysteries to suddenly decide, out of a petty temper tantrum at having his routine slightly interrupted, to kill an innocent little squirrel. That did not sit well with Griffon, who did not take threats lightly. He drew himself up to his full height- nearly six and a half feet tall- and puffed out his wide chest in defiance.

"I'll have you know, Mr. Ward, if you decide to kill Roger that you will not like the consequences. I will hex you into next week and obliviate you afterwards so that you have no recollection of the perpetrator. Don't think I make threats lightly, sir. I have fifteen years worth of almost daily obliviations under my belt- and my spells are nothing short of infallible by this point." Which was true. When working with Yetis in tibet, part of his job description was to obliviate muggles who had run ins or caught sight of the creatures. And Griffon was a master of the Obliviate charm by this point.

But it seemed, that after Dante had barked at his employees to get back to work, and after being toe to toe with such a large man, that the Department of Mysteries head suddenly saw the light in just putting the rodent back where he belonged, as opposed to killing him. "Shouldn't be too hard to capture Roger," Griffon offered, taking a step back and resuming his non-threatening stance.

"Thing about little rodents like that is you can't just use a regular stunning spell," Griffon explained, stepping out into the hallway, pointing at the little creature scurrying near the wall. "Can kill 'em because it's so strong. Better to use a gentle stunner, or a sleep spell. Putting them to sleep is usually safest. Carry 'em back to where they were, use an awakening charm, and good as new."

Griffon turned to Dante then. "You know the sleep charm, I assume?" Not that he was questioning Dante's magical prowess, it was just something that most wizards and witches didn't use on a daily basis. (Unless they had newborns, but he had a feeling that Dante had never been given the chance to attempt to make a baby given his demeanor.)

Dante nearly rolled his eyes at the other man.  If Manley thought for a moment that Dante was worried that his threats might not be empty, he was wrong.  The fact that he was using physicality was also laughable.  Apparently he had been spending too much time among his animals where males of the species had to be the largest and strongest to survive.  Manley was on his territory and no amount of chest pounding was going to truly intimidate Dante.

"You know the sleep charm, I assume?"

“Yes, I know how to use a sleep charm,” he replied, nearly rolling his eyes again.  “Opposed to the popular belief of the Ministry gossips, I wasn’t always chained to my desk or hiding away in the laboratory because I was in a position of authority.  Now, if you want to compare credentials sometime, you know where my office is…but right now I’d like to get the rodent back where it belongs.”

Always the pessimist he tended to assume the worst about everyone, and given the spouting off which gave Manley the appearance of a rooster circling at the start of some cock fight, he had reason to suspect his abilities were being questioned.  He stepped slightly to one side giving himself a clear line of sight as the squirrel made his way down the hall.

“Let’s just stop it before it reaches my office and causes a real catastrophe.  I still have to figure out an antidote to whatever it is he’s gotten into,” he said, pulling out his wand.

Griffon couldn't help the grin when Dante made a comment about comparing credentials. No doubt Dante's would dwarf his own. Griffon had an impressive repertoire as far as creatures was concerned, but most people didn't take his profession incredibly seriously- not like they did with people who worked on Level Nine or Level Two. It wasn't a glamorous job, working with creatures, but it was rewarding and he enjoyed it.

He watched the squirrel as it paused part way down the hall, looking curiously around. "Antidote?" Griffon asked. "I'm not sure I want Roger ingesting anything else. If all he's got is a little extra hair, I'm inclined to leave him that way. Though I have to admit that a secret project of hair restoration is an odd one to have encountered." He wondered which employee had been working on that- obvioulsy not the head of the department. "I didn't know that Level Nine was so interested in a cure for baldness."

The squirrel was still sitting there, calmly, sniffing the air. Griffon raised his wand, and pointed it down the hall. He flicked it in the direction of the squirrel, but as the spell shot from his wand the squirrel continued scurrying along. The gentle sleep spell dissolved into the wall with no effect.

"Hard to believe I spent fifteen years wrangling yetis and I can't even get my hands on a squirrel," he grumbled after the squirrel took off down the hallway again- disappearing around a corner.