And it's clear to me, I don't have a strategy. [OPEN!]

It was lucky for one Haldey Swan that the Ministry had been destroyed and that the offices were now in temporary buildings. Because, quite frankly, if she had been told to step into a toilet and flush herself, she might have punched someone. Right in the face. As it were, she had no idea that such a system even existed. Her supervisor, Craig, was not one to give everything away. It was like he was testing her, wondering if she would break under the pressure of not having a clue what she was walking into.

After the insane snow storm that had rocked London out of - seemingly - nowhere, she had been grateful that the weather was only a bit cold. As they were reaching the end of January, she had her coat wrapped around her while they walked up to the building. Hadley looked up at Craig, despite the fact that she was rather tall and wearing small heels that were just high enough for work (without being so tall that her feet wanted to die by the end of the day). He looked like he didn't quite approve of whatever they were going to be looking into, and she once again found herself biting her lip to keep from asking straight up what their job actually was. She had been told not to ask so many questions, and really it was just because she wanted to be prepared and do well. But she knew that it would be better to just do as he requested.

Upon entering, Hadley couldn't help but frown and furrow her brow at a man that passed them. What on earth was he wearing? She had never seen such strange people in all her life - and she had visited both Austin and New York while living in America. So that was truly saying something. Craig seemed to have been told where to go, so they stepped into the lift, and Hadley found herself shifting her weight impatiently.

They stepped out onto the third floor, and the first thing Hadley saw was a curly head of hair. The redhead opened one of the office doors, then stopped in the doorway, apparently unamused with what she found within. "Scorpius!" she reprimanded, shocking Hadley into paying further attention. And she thought her name was different. "Scorpius," she tried again, her hands at her hips, "Did you expand this office? Take the spell down, you dolt. I do not want to get in trouble."

Hadley wasn't sure what to do, or say, when Craig looked in her direction. What did one say after hearing such things? The man had.... expanded his office... using a... spell? What the hell were these people? Or, similarly, who did they think they were?

"Right," Craig started, fluffing out the front of his suit jacket before facing her properly. "I need to go meet with someone. How about you poke around and talk to a few people. Essentially, we're looking for something that could be dangerous, got it? These people are... different, so keep your guard up, blondie."

Hadley glared at him for a moment but he walked away before she could complain or react. Her hands flew out to the side a short ways in exasperation, but straightened up and turned to search the hallway. She had clearly gotten in over her head, and Hadley was not at all convinced that the day was going to go as well as she had expected it to.

Rivah was, dare she even think it, bored. Bored, inside the Ministry. Really, the witch never thought she would see the day. Back when she had been working in the Creatures Department, she was far more likely to work an hour over overtime than spend a single minute without something to do.

Nobody had warned her, upon accepting a position among the Wizengamot, that there would be less to do than she was expecting. To be fair, the others that she worked with did spend much longer than she did on the same paperwork. After all, due to the years in her previous job, the blonde had become almost scarily efficient. Any sort of filing or reports took her half the amount of time than it did most others. This left the woman with an upsettingly large amount of free time.

Rivah did set aside a small chunk of her hours to visit her old department every so often. It had been really nice at first, but the new department head was getting a little sick of her face, the witch was sure. It probably hurt the man's ego that the employees were still more likely to listen to Rivah than him. She was starting to pop in less and less, however, upon realizing that everything was running smoothly without her.

The ex-Ravenclaw was headed to the temporary break room, knowing that she wouldn't be needed for at least an hour, when she spotted a woman looking around, appearing to be rather lost. That wasn't too rare, with the new ministry set up. It had taken the Trenton a while to get used to it as well. Smoothing down her dress, having long ago decreed that she wouldn't wear the Wizengamot robes unless necessary, hideous things that they were, she smiled.

"Hello," the witch said, stepping towards the other woman, "you look a bit lost, any way I can help you with that?"

Hadley looked around, a frustrated expression taking over. What she needed, really, was a clue. Could she buy a vowel, maybe? Just... anything would be helpful, honestly. So when she heard the voice of someone coming down the corridor towards her, Hadley spun around and paid close attention to everything the woman said and did. The blonde in front of her - rather like the redhead that had passed earlier - seemed to know exactly where she was and what was going on. If only Hadley was able to say the same things.

The only difference she saw between the blonde in front of her and the man in the lobby, though, was that this woman was dressed in something more normal. And that, Hadley felt, was a good sign. Perhaps she could be of help to Craig if she got someone like this woman to explain things to her.

"Oh," she began brightly, offering a smile in return. "Well, I hope you can. You see, the Prime Minister sent me and a colleague to learn about this... facility," she explained, trying to find a decent word for it.

"Things are quite odd here, but I suppose that it's all rather normal to you if you work here. Um, would you be able to explain, perhaps, why someone was chiding another for expanding their office by using some spell? Those aren't words one hears every day, after all," she added with a laugh, hoping beyond hope that she didn't alienate herself all the more due to her words. Shifting her weight, she tried to appear casual and open to being corrected.

Rivah felt her eyes widen slightly as she took in the words of the woman before her. Good Merlin, the blonde was a muggle. A muggle who had found their way into the Ministry of Magic, no matter that the place was only a temporary location. The witch had been warned, of course, that muggles might get suspicious and start snooping around. She certainly hadn't expected one to actually manage to stumble into the Ministry itself, however. Nor had she expected something like this to happen so soon.

"Of course I can explain," Rivah said kindly, attempting to prevent her tone from tensing in the way it wanted to. Really, the witch just needed to buy herself a little bit of time. Unlike most of her fellow Death Eaters, she wasn't good with deception or trickery. Rivah couldn't spin tales at a moment's notice, or convince someone that what they were seeing was all an elaborate joke with a few smooth words. She could obliviate the muggle, certainly, but missing an entire chunk of memory would likely only make the woman before her more suspicious. That wouldn't do.

So the only option, as far as the muggleborn was concerned, was half-truths. Those she could pull off well enough.

"Walk with me," Rivah said suddenly, sending what she could only hope was a meaningful look in the direction of the other blonde. Reaching out to wrap her hand gently around the muggle's arm, Rivah began to lead them in the direction of her office. "You are currently standing in a highly classified government building," the witch muttered softly, tone firm, "just act like you belong, I'll explain more once we get to my office."