Manditory Ministry Staff Meeting

Zada had been insructed to begin a mandatory staff meeting for all ministry employees. This was going to be the start of new rules and regulations for all employees. She had set the meeting to take place in the atrium. She had permited black wooden folding chairs for all the employees.

There were flags in the atrium bearing the Grindlewald family coat of arms, the shield that was embroided in blazing red, silver and black. The crest had been also turned into a number of enameled shields that hung around in various places including on the front of the podium.

Zada was dressed in black slacks, a black top, black heels and a long topcoat with a patch that duplicated the Grindelwald shield appliqued to the black coat. It depicted her loyalty clearly.

She had sent out memos that ministry employees who did not attend would sufffer disciplinary action.

Calvin shifted in the chair that he had been instructed to take a seat in. He had begun tapping the toes of his sneakers together, due to the abrupt wave of energy that had hit him upon setting foot in the Atrium. Whether it had been the threat that Calvin had received in the form of a letter from his employer, or the extra cup of sugar that he had mixed with his coffee earlier that morning that was responsible for his sudden case of the jitters, Calvin could not decide.

All at once, the overhead lights began to feel too hot upon his skin, and too harsh against his eyes. He squirmed in place, and sped up the pace at which he tapped his feet together. “Uh – Ms. Forbes?” Calvin began hesitantly, looking up from his feet for the first time since he had joined her in the room. “Can I –uh- get up for a minute, and – please – walk around for a bit?” Calvin moved spastically once more. “A bit too much coffee, I-I-I think,” he explained. It seemed as though the lad was under the impression that, should he move, the woman would kill him on the spot.

Ne'Os silently appeared He had arrived a few seconds after Ransom did but no one knew that but him. Ne'Os took great pride in his ability to appear and disappear at will and had no issues with making that known. He moved to the front row he did not care if it was his chair or not he was not afraid of Zada. He gave her a warm smile before he sat and said "I received a memo saying if i failed to show there would be severe disciplinary actions...I regret to inform you that despite your position with in the ministry you will not be able to boss me around as such. You will be pleased to note however that i will take your orders into consideration and follow them at my whim" he said loudly and confidently he wanted her to know that she had no power over him. At the same time however he wanted to convey that he would be willing to listen if it benefited him.

Jess walked into the atrium with a look of calm disinterest etched on his face, secretly quite intrigued as to what it was he was being forced to listen to this evening and hopeful that it was some sort of downspiral in control for the Grindelwald administration - it was all to obvious these days that he was clutching at straws to uphold some sort of grip on the Ministry.

"Shut up you idiot, no one cares what you do, think or say," he said loudly, staring pointedly at Ne'os before nodding curtly at Zada. "Ma'am," he said, a cold, albeit warmer tone than the one he had used for Ne'os, entering his voice as he took a seat next to the one Calvin had occupied a few seconds earlier.

Zoe strode into the large hall with an air of business about her. She had just been in a meeting when this had been called, and she had had to run away quite quickly in order to get here on time. An intern was following along behind her, carrying a bag, a stack of folders, and attempting to juggle a cup of tea at the same time. Zoe looked around the room and took stock on the people who were there already. Most of the workers from her department had showed up, some of them were out for the day and couldn't make it, some of them were just to busy to attend at that point, seeing as feeding time for the Creatures Room was right about this time, and just because someone ordered a meeting didn't mean the Creatures went without supper.

Zoe found a chair that was marked for her, and glanced around the Atrium at the others who had attended. More were pouring in by the minute, and Zoe frowned lightly, letting her intern sit next to her and taking the tea from her trembling fingers. This intern was no good to her, but at least she held the things Zoe had been forced to carry around herself before. Ever since her discussion with Jack Dyllan, Zoe had hired the intern, who looked to work in her Department one day, and although Zoe had immediately disliked the girl, she allowed her to stay for the time being.

Zoe crossed her ankles, took a folder off of the stack from the intern, and opened it up, immediately getting some work done while she had the chance. The likelihood of anyone talking to her was slim, and so she tried not to listen to the immature talkings of people from other Departments. They obviously had nothing better to do then to scwabble between each other, they didn't have paperwork, and interns and Creatures, and employees going on extended trips, these kinds of things took paperwork to document and keep track of, and Zoe was up to her nose, with her meetings going as planned, it was a wonder she didn't have more of her workers doing her paperwork for her, but Zoe preferred to handle her paperwork, they handled theirs, it was how the Department got along nicely.

Zada watched coolly as the nervous young man came in, running on either an overabundance of fear or caffeine one or the other, and she wasn't so sure it was the caffeine entirely. She gave him a bit of a wave with the flick of her fingers giving her consent for him to get up and move. There was something about him that reminded her a bit of a hyperactive hamster. All amped up with no place to go. Still, his boyish quality amused her and she wasn't in the mood to off him. Not today.

She barely paid any attention to Emof. He was all noise. She wasn't competing with him. She was complying with Grindlewald's orders. "So long as your whim complies with Grindlewald, I couldn't care less, Emof," she said quietly. She had heard the Acting Chief Warlock pipe up. And even though she knew he was on the other side of the political fence, she did agree with shutting Emof up. She merely shifted her eyes and looked at the young faction leader who was filling in for the Lupin on maternity leave.

"Hello, Potter," she said with an almost far too calm tone. "Enjoying your post, are you?" She looked over at Gould. Gould had only brought a portion of her staff. She had left several behind. "Gould, you really are going to risk your staff, then, I take it? I am aware of the daily routine of your department. However, the consequence for not attending this meeting will be far worse than some animals who get their evening meal a bit late. Would you like to reconsider that while there is still time?"

Jack typically hated a normal entrance- she had arrived to her meeting with her bosslady on the back of her male secreatry after all- but when it came to dealing with Zada, which in turn meant dealing with Grindelwald, which did not mean she was about to take this meeting lightly, in any sense of the word. She understood what she was up against.

She entered behind a group of people from her department, hurrying to catch up, though she turned the opposite way- they planned to be around Zoe, she planned to be across from her. Eyes on all sides. Teddy was behind her, but she had left her other interns to work. Zada immediately began on Zoe, which caused Jack to look sharply at her.

"I'm sorry, Ms Forbes," Jack said. "I'll go get them so that the entire Ministry can come to a halt for a quick meeting as you would have them do. On the other hand, I can take detailed notes and make sure they get the necessary information as I'm sure many of the Department Heads preferred. I see one Auror. Do you wish for me to get them all from their current case of tracking down a muggle serial killer so we might discuss Ministry protocol as well... Or should I just forward the notes to them as well?" She blinked, her eyes trained on Zada.

While he had intended to thank Zada before standing from his chair and darting to the far end of the room, upon laying eyes on a bickering pair of wizards, Calvin's instincts had left him no time to speak. Instead, he ran in the other direction; away from the frightening men.

Calvin skidded to a halt just before colliding with one of the Atrium's surrounding walls, and turned until his right shoulder was facing the wall. He had every intention of pacing along that wall, with as much space remaining between himself and the people he shared the room with, until he was instructed to return to his seat. Calvin's sneakers squeaked noisily along the polished floors beneath him.

He continued with this dizzying behavior until the name of a familiar department met with Calvin's ears. The fate of Chase's department was being discussed. Immediately, he came to a halt. "Chase! Oh no," Calvin's eyes widened until they appeared as though they had popped from his head. He turned his head sharply towards Zada. "Chase! Chase Moor! You can't hurt her. Please, don't hurt her. She works in that department! She works with magical creatures, but I don't know if she will be able to-"

Surely, Calvin would give himself whiplash if he continued to stop so suddenly.

"Jack?" he asked, looking ever-so confused. Evidently, the possibility of Jack having joined the Ministry had never occurred to the lad. And he was having great difficulty putting together the puzzle pieces that he had been provided.

Zada looked at the young intern who had chosen to speak up. She did appreciate the child's spitfire. Clearly the intern was not a supporter of Grindlewald. She was making a mental note of that to deal with her later, in Zada's own time. Not now.

"If I had meant the meeting to be optional, I would have not made it mandatory, now, would I?" Zada said in a voice that was as smooth as silk. "As for the muggle serial killer, more power to him. Why would I want the aurors involved in that? They should be here. Everyone got the same memo, I do presume. I do not believe it is necessary for you to take notes. Though I thank you for your offer. I will catch up with anyone who does not attend and meet with them myself."

She saw the young man panic about another ministry employee. "If Ms. Moor would like to meet with us as a group, then she has the option of being here, just as anyone else. Or if she chooses to meet with me independently, then I shall be more than happy to add her to my schedule.

Zoe frowned when Zada spoke to her, but Jack quickly piped up, and Zoe set her file on the stack in her interns arms. "It's quite alright Ms. Dyllan.." She said staring at Jack, one eyebrow up slightly before she turned back to Zada. "I completely understand your concern Ms. Forbes.." She said gently, before frowning at her. "However... the Creatures that I have under my control must have strictly controlled feeding times.. unless you want them to go on a rampage during this meeting and run through this atrium killing everyone in site." She said casually. "I am not exaggerating Ms. Forbes... They may only go up to a Double X rating on the Ministry scale, but if they are not fed at exactly the right time, with the exact amount.. well I'd pay you a million galleons if you were brave enough to be in the vicinity of the Ministry."

Zoe raised an eyebrow at Zada and then leaned back in her chair. "Once they are done with feeding time, if the meeting is still session, I will gladly call them down." She said slowly, before her eyes were trained towards Calvin S. Ransom.. ah, the boyfriend of the girl who was in St. Mungos, an airhead if that.. he was.... odd for sure, but his girlfriend was one of the best Healers the Department had, one who wasn't afraid to sit in a Dragons mouth to cure a toothache, what an odd comparison to the boy who sat across the room, trying to say she wouldn't be here. "Of course.. some of my employees are not at the Ministry right now, some are on missions.. others extended holidays... we work on a relaxed schedule Ms. Forbes, and I'm afraid this... meeting... didn't have enough planning in advance for me to round up my entire staff... so please excuse their lateness." She said curtly, before she picked up the file again and started to fill out some more paperwork.