11:11 am; Monday 18 January 2010
Zephyr's high council chambers

A grand room was set aside on Level One for these colloquiums of the highest ranking witches and wizards of the Ministry of Magic, a room old enough and dim enough to make one feel important, to make decisions carry the proper weight.  Since Persepolis Zephyr had become Minister of Magic of October of last year, she'd met with this group at least twice each month - sometimes scheduled well in advance (like this one), sometimes at the drop of a pointed hat. 

They were coming to know each other now.  Zephyr arrived a few minutes after all were settled - finishing up a palaver with an agent from the International Confederation of Warlocks - and took a half moment to look over the room.

There was Edwin Glass, appointed by Shacklebolt.  Consummately professional, prone to glaring at Level Two, and possessor of a ... familiar silver tongue - he always knew just the proper thing to say... 

And Dante Ward.  Tall, dark, and mysterious.  The wizard who replaced Zephyr's old ally, Analiza Snark.  Zephyr found that while she had less influence over Ward, he was a touch more predictable.  Or so she gathered.  One had to let Level Nine be Level Nine.

She nodded then to Admete Brown, new head of Level Two and Zephyr's first appointee. The first witch or wizard in the room that was her express choice.  She was a stalwart, she knew her way around the Ministry and so far she was keeping the Aurors happy. 

And speaking of Aurors, their chief was among them, Tamis Raynor.  A difficult witch to manage - more wand than words, this one.  Luckily, she was Brown's problem for the most part.  But she was a witch she'd never underestimate or really want to be rid of.  She was an institution.  She was significant.

She laid eyes on others in the room, witches and wizards who were established faces at this table, suitable, reliable and opinionated.  Friends some, enemies others.  But there was no greater ally present than Gabrielle Harker, the accomplished and savvy Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.  As much as Zephyr revelled in her lofty post, it was always a comfort to see a powerful friend at your side.

"Good morning," she said, and waved all to be seated.  "Rosier, bring us up to speed, won't you?"

Ah that's right.  This humble narrator cannot dismiss mention of Cameron Rosier, a wizard quietly disgraced but then smoothed out for a new use, like a crumbled bit of paper taken from the bin.  He was her new Senior Undersecretary, a wizard with the closeness to know her mind, and the authority to act on it. 

Meetings. Admete had always found that some of them could bring their own particular sort of nerves, distinct from the dark wizards throwing curses at you sort. Something especially pronounced by the presence of Rosier and Raynor. Former superiors made issues poking about more likely.

This meeting wasn't for worrying about that. Cooperation between departments, whatever private agendas they had all brought. They all had them, whatever they might say, but it was Minister Zephyr's who would carry the most weight.

Most of the others Admete wasn't that familiar with, though her previous meeting with Edwin Glass had gone on pretty well. See how long it went before their two levels started yelling again.

For now, she just nodded to the others as she sat down, then straightened the folder of papers in front of her as she waited for Rosier to speak.

"Oh - sorry, Rosier.  Just one moment."  Despite having requested that her new Senior Undersecretary begin, there was one small item of business she'd nearly forgotten to address. 

"Just one thing."

She leaned forward in her chair at the head of the table and unlaced her fingers so she could open her hands in a welcoming, open sort of gesture. 

"In a few days time, Hogwarts will be hosting the third of the Tournament tasks.  From what I've heard, it is going to be the most impressive one yet.  I intend to be at the castle to personally observe and so my office will be rescheduling the Warlocks' Leadership and Magical Synergy Colloquium originally scheduled that evening.  All affected departments should await our memo as to the details of that."[1]

She smiled.  "And let's begin, yes?"

1.	I'm including this note to give a light foreshadowing to why Zephyr will visit Hogwarts so she can make a pass at the Goblet of Fire.

Maurice Holmes had been rubbing his eyes for the past hour as though he were trying to rid himself of every particle of sleep from his eyes. He picked up the mug lying next to his notebook and took a rather large gulp from it. The potion's effects kicked him in and instantly, Maurice was alert and ready. The mug soon was replaced by the leather bound notebook and fountain pen. Opening the material, the secretary searched for the blank section that followed from the last recorded meeting he had with Zephyr and waited for the meeting to begin. Stealing a glance to the Minister and to Rosier, there was a curt nod and smile - as for the others, Holmes simply smirked.

"Ready when you are, ma'am."

---

_{Gabrielle is in attendance as mentioned; just... she's being quiet for now.}

"Thank you, Holmes."

She opened the thick leather filing folder in front of her and her long finger scanned down the page of hand-written, tightly scrawled loopy notes. 

"Madam Harker, let's begin with International Cooperation.  We've reviewed your memo about the cauldron bottoms and it's been passed along to gold and budget with our recommendations."  Minor business about trade regulations, this and that. 

But more importantly, "Then there's the issue of this report of undocumented werewolves entering from Europe and northern Africa.  Have you seen this?" 

She nodded to Maurice Holmes who had a copy the document she was referring to.  "According to Level Four, they've begun to get reports of werewolves showing up at more than one safe house at once.  They seem to think it's a case of unregistered, perhaps non-citizen, werewolves enjoying the safety services by assuming a registered name.  Has your Department detected any patterns to correspond?"

Zephyr was torn on the issue.  On one hand, it was a good thing that even unregistered werewolves were striving to be safe. But on yet another, this kind of behavior made security holes in the system and taxed the Department's budget.  Law-abiding werewolves could suffer if the system is circumvented.

Murray was the first under the scrutiny of their elected leader, but historically she always performed well - on the chance she was present and not away on one her many sabbaticals. Farting away off on holiday more like, Edwin always imagined in private, but he respected Gabrielle too much to say it to her face. A fellow Slytherin alumni, they had an unwritten house tie of allegiance as Department Heads.

Admete Brown, well, they had their own little alliance there. Paid to keep good relations with the second floor though, they were normally a thorn in his side or a group to torment, than dinner guests.

"Has there been correlation with the registered names duplicated and any press reports?" Edwin asked smoothly. "Might I query the identification requirements at the safe houses?"

Persepolis nodded to acknowledge Mr Glass's question - it was a good one.  She turned her head down the table to peer over her glasses at the small delegation from Level Four. [1]

"Ah yes, sir," said one, speaking for her boss.  "Regulations require werewolves checking in to provide their name and it is then recorded.  Ledgers are audited every other month or every third full moon against the Werewolf Registry here at headquarters.  That is unless a resident is under parole in which case the procedure is, um, different."  She cleared her throat and then leaned closer to the scroll she had open, mumbling, "Is that right...?"

Zephyr was impatient with rote, textbook responses such as this - what Glass needed was obviously something more concise and relevant than a straight reading of the statues and regulations.  She raised a hand, hoping to relieve the underling's feeling that she'd need to continue to recite...

"I believe we're to understand that when the safe house ledgers are reviewed, names are coming up duplicate in more than one location?"

Level Four voiced their confirmation and added, "It's not unheard of.  When a duplicate's detected we dispatch an agent to confirm with the resident where they actually were.  But last six months it's been on the spike.  Same name's coming up three, four times, number of duplicated names were more than a dozen in December.  Duplicate names are different every time.  There was even a dead bloke in October. Some of the den mums - erm, sorry, safe house supervisors reported 'suspicious, foreign-looking' folk, but well, there you have it."

Zephyr frowned.  It was shaky.  And reeked of a casual sort of racism that those who appeared different were looked at first when something shifty was reported, but with some of the most accommodating werewolf laws in the region, it did make sense to rule out an International Cooperation issue.

1.	All NPCs.  We can keep it vague.

Troubles for Level Four. Admete wasn't too surprised to see them under scrutiny, with werewolves being so much in the public eye, but it wasn't the sort of thing to make her look forward to her own turn in the proverbial spotlight.

"What sort of security is at these safe houses, if there as any trouble with the check in?" She peered at the delegation across the table. Might have been new at these particular meetings, but she'd have to dive in eventually. More werewolves at safe houses had some good points sure, but it could cause plenty of trouble as well.

And real werewolf trouble might mean that some of MLE stepped in to help Four. Made her think she might want to go for a bit more training, there. She clamped her fingers around a quill as she waited. Wouldn't do to botch this first meeting and all that.

The Head of the Auror Office (true to the Minister’s inner-monologue impression of her) remained silent as the meeting convened. Stalwart; neither exhibiting an abundance of enthusiasm nor dramatic indifference – simply calmly attentive.  She stood aloof of the delegation gathered around the rather grotesquely ornate table, shoulder blades pressed against the wall with arms crossed and one foot propped behind her.  It would seem an oxymoron to appear confidently relaxed and yet ready to spring into action at the same time. Constant Vigilance. Every Auror had it. Tamis Raynor had made a point to master it.

Her grey eyes tracked each speaker in turn, lingering briefly but without betraying any personal opinions on what transpired.  This was, by far, not the first of these gatherings she had partook in. Sometimes in her current capacity and, intermittedly between the chaos of the past two years, sometimes as something more.  She had yet to sit during one. Her position in the room was strategic. Though not in the way any of the other inhabitants might assume. It was close enough to the table to prevent from being rude and gave her a clear vantage-point of the door, which her gaze flickered to periodically. She was content to let the politicians rely on their preconceived stereotypes of Auror paranoia; believe any unease in her demeanor was directed at what might burst through the door rather than at those already inside it. 

Werewolves. It always seemed to be about werewolves, lately. Though the international spin was certainly new.  One corner of the petite woman’s mouth compressed into a frown, the first real sliver of emotion she had shown since coming into the room.

The issue was a sensitive one on Level Two. Clashes between the Auror Office and Werewolf Capture Unit were infamous. Often ending with a red-faced and fuming Kurby Bagnold pacing self-righteous indignation into the floorboards of her small office. 

It always ended poorly.  Jurisdiction over the Direwolf epidemic had been shady. Especially when Dugan Macduff had made a point to victimize the Aurors. She had lost good men in that emotional battlefield. Ackerly Fox principle. It had nearly cost her Edward Pratt.  On the flip-side, the political and moral upheaval of those inflicted with lycanthropy always sat uneasy with Raynor. The pureblood witch shared many Traditional views on the subject. But she knew and respected quite a few. Hannah Bombay. Knox Greyfiar (she would never admit it to him, even on either of their death bed). And she currently had one, albeit clandestinely, employed in her charge.

This was more cut and dry. Illegal immigration and forgery. Progressive politics in the United Kingdom would make it an ideal location to attempt sanctuary. Easy enough motive. How these potential non-citizens were obtaining the names to duplicate in the first case was her food for thought. Registries were a double-ended wand.

 For now, she remained silent.

Persepolis paused as Level Four shuffled their papers to respond to Head of Level Two Admete Brown.  They began to explain the security situation, that security was minimal - just agents from Level Four - and privacy and procedure and all that.

But Persepolis raised a hand to stop them.  There was something in Brown's rapt attention that was giving Zephyr red sparks - what she did not need was Level Two poking around Level Four.  Perhaps best to turn the spotlight.  "Ah, do file a report, Madam," she bade of Level Four with a note of finality. 

"Brown!"  The Minister directed her next item to the recently appointed Head of Level Two, the witch in a pinch! The fine candidate she'd been able to discover last minute when yet another Rosier scandal had left the department headless. 

"What have you got for me?"

But Zephyr's eyes did fall for a moment on Tamis Raynor, the chief of the Auror Corps, who was lurking against the wall.  Patently apolitical, that one.  But an ally to Zephyr, or so she hoped.

Dante sat listening to the meeting going on around him, sipping at a cup of coffee.  These meetings always seemed a bit superficial to him, but still he did his professional duty.  Ever since the Minister's surprise visit he had been keeping himself busy with constant reviews of his employee's work, hoping to find a project that would gain the support she had promised.  So far he was a bit empty handed, but he had a few ideas.

Most of those ideas would not able to discussed here.  They would have to wait for a private meeting with the Minister.  There were too many outside ears and the last thing he needed was one of his department's projects ending up in the wrong hands.  It could be a complete disaster for all of them.

Time for her to get scrutinized. Meetings. Admete gave the Minister a nod, then cleared her throat as quietly as she could. "Reports on the incident at the Opera. We've had several offices putting in very good work," she said, giving Raynor a slight nod. Had been a good thing to have Aurors on the scene there, with everything. "I expect arrests shortly." And then it'd be up to the Wizengamot to decide on. They'd have plenty of evidence once it got there.

"We're also expanding our cooperation with Hogwarts this year, given the tournament. Arrangements have already been made for a field trip  to the Department for younger students, and we'll have personnel visiting to speak to the older students over the next few months. Have skilled students from four schools there now, want to let them know what we have to offer." Those oft-frustrating teenagers might be the Aurors and heroes of this next decade. She wasn't going to ignore them.

She set her hands atop the stack of paper in front of her and glanced around the room.

"That's an accident waiting to happen." Edwin muttered and smiled at the visit to the Ministry for the younger students.

"I assume we'll all be partaking in that vocational event they held last year at Hogwarts? While we're discussing it."

He glanced to Raynor,
"You did quite well out of it last year, as did Murray. Much as it's a little uncouth to claim it, but perhaps this year's troubles might also throw a spotlight on my own Department as a worthy employer within the Ministry."

Edwin realised they had gone a little off topic, so straightened his papers, and cleared his throat.

"Though we're a little off agenda for discussing that now, I hasten."

Minister Zephyr had the distinct pleasure of a genuine smile for Madam Brown, who was just explaining the latest strengthening initiatives on Level Two.  Persepolis couldn't have done it better herself.  It was a keen strategy to reach out to Hogwarts in that way, to be supportive of the Tournament.  As fine as the investigation into the ghastly events of the New Year opera would be, Zephyr couldn't have been more happy to hear of Level Two's growth and outreach initiatives. 

"Very good," she said, "very good." 

But Edwin Glass also got a grin for his quip about the trouble children could cause around the Ministry and he was quite right.  An aura of chaos followed even the most well-planned of field trips.  But it was absolutely so like Edwin to see a catastrophe in everything around him. 

"No, why don't we touch on that, Mr. Glass.  Career Day at Hogwarts.  I'm sure you're all familiar.  Set for later this term.  Each Department would do well to follow the examples of Two and Four and put on a good show.  The students are our future."

She smiled a smile worthy of a public service encouragement poster. 

Well, that hadn't been so bad. The career fair she could handle. "Planning to attend the fair personally, check with recent recruits beforehand. See how they got here." Admete sort of expected to come out of this with a month's worth of work and a week to do it in, but she'd manage.

She'd have to drag Luthas into this whole thing, though. He might not default to finding it punishment duty. "Perhaps, a collaboration on it? Ministry doesn't just run on Aurors and lawyers, after all." She looked between the other faces at the meeting, gaze settling on Glass for a bit before moving on. Just a few more bridges with Three, that'd serve.

Let their future be all bright-eyes and young excitement for a bit before the wars of paperwork and tea stains started.