Core Meeting Room, Level Four. 0930 hours.


They almost never needed to clear out the large meeting room on the fourth floor because it was too big for anything short of annual general meetings. Balfour had come in much earlier in the day to blaze through the day's paperwork before he oversaw setting up the space for the debriefing. In navy dress robes and with his hair slicked back, he cut a formal figure in the otherwise drab room.

It was the first time he would be fronting an assembly as Division Head, or at least one that was open to being attended by Ministry employees from the other floors.

The nature of the dragon epidemic had incorporated the concerns of other departments besides his own. To this day they were still receiving his weight in notifications or enquiries about relevant trade bans - not to mention recent interrelations with the Australian governing body, considering Margo and Vincent's great endeavours. Loose ends had to be tied.

As familiar faces began streaming into the meeting room, Balfour moved to the front where several of the Dragonologists had gathered by the drawn down charts. Sketches and intricate graphs illustrated the progression in epidemic recovery, and the lost of dragon lives across the island.

"Is that all of us?" he looked around, gesturing for the doors to shut. "Good morning and thank you for attending, your promptness is appreciated. This debriefing is being recorded for official purposes-" Balfour threw a glance at Mrs Lanningham in her corner, who continued to concentrate on a transcribing quill. "- but please don't feel that you must stand on ceremony."

He faced the collection of wizards and witches, leaning against the long desk at his end of the space. The chairs weren't organised in a neat way - they gave you the impression of a gathering, curved around the charts rather than facing them. Beasts Division didn't much like to stand on ceremony for anything short of a funeral.

"I realise that this has been a taxing year on us all so we'll get straight to the point. The dragon epidemic declared in May is estimated to be announced as effectively eradicated by January of next year. Those of you who have read Amherst's report know that this is largely thanks to our friends at the Australian Ministry of Magic." Balfour looked over at Margo with a hint of a smile, proud. "This is only an estimation. Implementation of vaccinations across September have been successful but vaccination is the only solution. Infected subjects cannot be cured. The.... the last of the infected are expected to expire by Christmas."

A look of distaste crossed several countenances at his clinical choice of words. The wizard didn't flinch, although he felt his stomach clench anxiously in response to the underlying melancholy of losing so many of their dragons. To many of the observers, they were only numbers on a chart. To the handlers, they were a multitude of memories. Great beasts slowly, painfully dying.

He didn't linger on the feeling. "This debriefing has been called to approximate for how much longer the trade bans will need to continue, if at all." Balfour cleared his throat officiously. "And to discuss the viability of making a premature public announcement."

Odin knew that with recent occurrences, the Ministry could use some good press, even if he'd rather they didn't lean in that direction.

---

"But why do we have to sit back here?" Pinn protested in a voice that could have been quieter, her Telford accent cutting through the hubbub of the room. Johann reached out and grasped her wrist with thumb and forefinger and tugged. She complied and sat down into a seat beside him towards the back of the room away from the door.

"Will you keep your voice down?" He asked rhetorically, sat at the end of the row, slumped down a bit so he didn't stick out in the crowd. He released his colleague's arm and straightened his shirt cuffs beneath his dark grey suit jacket.

"But - but I can't see the dragon tamers from back here - and that was a key selling point of getting me here, Johann." Pinn persisted. The older wizard applied a hand to his face in despair.
"It's meant to be a debriefing, Pinn."
"Then why weren't we invited?"
"Because we're not important enough but Kelly was invited… she just didn't get her invitation." Johann opened his jacket ever so slightly to reveal a pink memo that was folded into the inside pocket. He raised his eyebrows briefly and smirked. "Think of it as initiative, she's too busy to come anyway." Pinn tutted and shook her head, but her grin revealed she was more than happy to be in on the light-fingered interception.

She turned away to try and catch a glimpse of the faces amongst the crowd. Johann didn't join her, but glanced surreptitiously around them at nearby attendees, keeping his head low. He didn't want to distract Balfour when he was having his moment before all the other Departments, especially as Mrs Lanningham would know she hadn't invited them. Not that gatecrashing a debriefing was a great offence, often the attendees didn't bother turning up, let alone extras.

A few greeted them quietly as they took their seats behind, Johann greeting familiar faces from two and three with a smile and a nod just before a very familiar voice addressed the room, and Johann leaned over to catch a glimpse between a sea of heads and smiled to himself. Pinn wiggled her eyebrows at him a moment and then became attentive again. 

Margo was torn.  Being in a debriefing meeting basically meant she was going to listen to other people talk about the shite that she did for hours and then everyone else debating around her because who wanted to listen to her?  After all, she’d only helped bring the vaccination and its administration technique back to Europe.  Wasn’t like she contributed actively to anything the department did – hah!

So, rather than try to begin with, Margo had sunk into her seat and crossed her ankles (obviously straight up stuck out) under the table.  People watching had proved interesting for a couple of minutes.  Seeing people pile in, she knew the epidemic had been a thing but it hadn’t registered that other people outside of the department, or beast related fields, cared.
 
Apparently, it was a big ministry thing.  That meant Margo would have even less to say.  So, she did what any sensible dragon researcher would do if confronted with the idea of a long meeting and nothing really new to her life… She started counting the wood grain lines in the table before she turned her eyes upward and counted the dots on the ceiling.  Things might have gotten started but she was in the middle of a row and didn’t want to lose count.  It was so easy to blur out sounds sometimes…

Someone from another office might have interpreted her actions as disrespectful, but everyone on Level 4 barely paid her mind.  Except Vincent, who elbowed her and jerked his head toward Balfour when they were mentioned (maybe to bring her back to attention as well).  Margo shook her head (not discreetly at all) and tried to focus again – pretending like she was grinning proudly the entire time.  She was lucky she was halfway decent at things or she’d have been fired ages ago. 

Mrs. Lanningham looked at her in the most displeased way.  Margo was used to it, but Vincent cringed.  He was not often on the receiving ends of a Lanningham glare.  It took quite some time to get used to.  Of course, he felt much more at ease to speak and Margo smirked as he jumped in. 

“I think the ban should stay in place until the last of the infected,” Margo noticed the way his lip curled a little at the phrasing (it was totally messed up), “pass and we’re sure the vaccinations have been completely effective.”

Someone else – Margo couldn’t see (and didn’t really bother to move to look either), piped in.  “That could be months.  Some materials are already in high demand and short supply.” This was… perhaps a tiny bit more interesting, and Margo might have sat up a little taller in her seat… just to you know, watch the metaphorical fur fly. 

Quill Som was near the front sat compactly in her seat, clipboard in hand.  She had a side table and her coffee was on top a stack of files.  She appreciated the work Balfour and his team did, and had appreciated their perfectly adequate willingness to cooperate with her department, the Department of Magical Accidents & Catastrophes. 

In the case of dragons loose, the usual course was a dual deployment - Level 4 for the beast, Level 3 for the rest.  It had to be coordinated.  And, well, they'd had a lot of practice in the past year. 

"That could be months. Some materials are already in high demand and short supply."

Quill raised her pen to take 'the floor'.

"I must agree with Hamilton - we should consider measures to begin economic recovery as soon is feasible.  Demand on these products is growing the black market and reports of 'homebrew' catastrophes are on the rise.  The black market is probably the single greatest threat to the Statue of Secrecy in this decade and with dragon products hard to acquire safely and legally it's going to get worse."

She turned in her chair to get eye contact with the others from the Department of International Magical Cooperation.  "Have we got any answer on the question to subsidize imports from Canada?"

Canada had a strong dragon program with many breeds familiar to Britons. If the Ministry of Magic could allocate funds to alleviate the cost of import, it could reduce the influence of the black market and keep prices reasonable.

Being sat so low in his seat, trying not to be spotted, Johann had to rely on his memory for voices to work out who was speaking sometimes. It was not overly surprising to hear Hamilton chip in that the ban needed to be lifted as soon as possible because it was damaging trade relations.
".. materials are already in high demand and short supply." Interestingly Quill Som chipped in to his defence, that was a new one.

"I must agree with Hamilton - we should consider measures to begin economic recovery as soon as is feasible. Demand on these products is growing the black market and reports of 'homebrew' catastrophes are on the rise…" It was rather lucrative of late to assist the odd client to sell a little dragon product. Johann did not feel he should stand in the way if two parties wanted to risk it.

"… The black market is probably the single greatest threat to the Statute of Secrecy in this decade and with dragon products hard to acquire safely and legally it's going to get worse."

Johann and Pinn exchanged a brief look. He didn't know about his younger colleague, but he'd always considered the greatest threat to the Statute to be wizarding kind themselves rather than a magical market trading dodgy dragon parts that Muggles wouldn't be eating.

"Have we got any answer on the question to subsidize imports from Canada?" Som asked, Hamilton pretended to ignore her, shuffling papers. Johann leant over to mutter in Pinn's ear, and his Telford junior sat up straight in her seat to relay the information. They had intercepted the communications in the past few days to help manage the dispute.

"We have resistance from other international markets, to subsidise imports from Canada is to undercut imports from other countries which have benefitted from our misfortune. Word, er, got out that it was being considered." Pinn glanced cautiously in Hamilton's direction as he glowered, not at all keen that a linguist had shared that unfortunate information.

Johann elbowed her gently, aware she could elaborate further, just needed a push. He would himself only he didn't want to draw attention to the fact he was there. Pinn could look like the clever one, she was pretty good without him anyhow.

"The hold up was also timescale, to my understanding, cannot subsidise for years, months perhaps. Though if it goes ahead it may bring prices down across the board to compete, as you are suggesting. Though, I'm sure Hamilton and Trade can provide the finer details."  Pinn cleared her throat, a little flushed at having the opportunity to speak out at such a big meeting with a Deputy Department Head asking questions. Beside her, Johann gave her a double thumbs up and a wink.

Mortimer had not considered coming up to Level 4 in person at first when one of his secretaries had mentioned the invitation. They had gone as far as to automatically arrange an unspeakble to attend, who was dutifully sat in the third row taking notes despite Mortimer's appearance at the last possible moment. He had grown bored of the lack of progress with the dementor kept in the bowels of the Ministry, and the timing of the debriefing conveniently coincided. That, and he enjoyed putting in the odd unexpected appearance to fan the flames of conspiracy theories. They were so very entertaining to hear about.

A strange gathering of sorts here in the meeting room, Mortimer considered as he ran his eyes over the crowd, identifying people from the back of their heads mostly. Quite a motley crew who were involved in these dragons. No wonder it had gotten out of hand along with the dementors. Perhaps that wasn't entirely fair, there were some amongst that were quite capable, but his opinion of the other floors was that many were devoid of free thinking. Too many here stifled by the need to tow the line and follow protocol. Too slow, reactive no proactive.

Not one to usually chip in too early, or at all unless leading a meeting, but anticipating a bickering match about to erupt between the level five staff he entered the fray.

"How many of our farms are already safe to re-enter the market?" He asked from just inside the doorway. To those not yet acquainted, he would not have looked out of place in an undertaker's parlour, and his voice while low enough to be respectful, carried to all ears.
"Let them benefit from inspection and certification. Restore the public trust in the British product." He suggested.

It didn't surprise him in the least that one of the first interdepartmental reactions was to push a trade agenda of lifting the ban.

Balfour leaned back against the long table at the front, arms folded as he followed the ricocheting discussion - looking away from the others only to exchange a knowing look with Mrs Lanningham. Her quill scribbled furiously even when she looked away from the parchment. She knew how the handlers felt on this subject. They were behaving quite well under the circumstances.

"We have resistance from other international markets, to subsidise imports from Canada is to undercut imports from other countries which have benefitted from our misfortune. Word, er, got out that it was being considered." Someone had responded to Quill Som's query and Balfour threw a glance at the speakers, not particularly interested trade politics but trying to get a hold of what was being said.

Hamilton and Trade, phrased as such, seemed like an odious lot. He was about to interject that the subsidisation issue wasn't something level four could constructively comment on when another voice entered into the discussion: one he hadn't anticipated being here at all. Balfour's eyebrows shot up as he dragged his gaze up to the doorway and considered the mystifying Head of the Department of Mysteries.

Several heads turned around similarly to identify the speak. "How many of our farms are already safe to re-enter the market? Let them benefit from inspection and certification. Restore the public trust in the British product." Mortimer Gamp was at least bringing them back to practical territory.

"Of the thirteen?" Vincent Fournier piped up before anyone else could, looking away from Margo. "About six, maybe seven by Guy Fawkes night. Can't promise a lot from them but it's better than nothing if that's how you're looking at it."

A nasty bite to his undertone implied that Fournier didn't think much of how anyone else here was 'looking at it'. Balfour shot him a warning glance before taking over the reins, the snitch safely back on their side of the pitch.

"If we may borrow the expertise of a trade committee dedicated to such certification," he began cautiously. "I don't see why this can't be part of a solution. In the short term or to begin with, rather. Our Magizoologists are more than prepared to assist on inspection. We might acquire external endorsement if necessary."

There were Potions and Magizoology journals who could be contacted, relied on to objectively evaluate the 'product'. He didn't have to glance at Mrs Lanningham to know that she was already making a separate note of this.

"It won't entirely solve the ban. Even with six to seven active farms on the market, they won't be able to produce even half as much output as before." Balfour grimaced, looking into the gathering of witches and wizards - possibly singling out Hamilton's face for future reference. "We lost a significant number of livest-- of dragons."

No good thing had come out of the epidemic: all they had now was lot of dead dragons with scales and parts that no sane person could use in their magic.

Johann's eyebrows shot up at the sound of that voice. He didn't hear it all that often at all, but it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He turned his head slowly in his lowered position to check it really was Gamp from Level 9. What on earth did Mysteries want with Balfour's debriefing? Especially, what did the Head Unspeakable want?

That and he asked a seemingly mundane question.
"Let hem benefit from inspection and certification. Restore the public trust in the British product."

"… about six, maybe seven by Guy Fawkes night…" Fournier replied, and there was an unmistakeable edge to his voice.
"If we may borrow the expertise of a trade committee dedicated to such certification, I don't see why this can't be part of a solution." Balfour reasoned. Safely hidden beside Pinn, Johann indulged a little in the businesslike tone, the working Spectre cadence. There was care in that voice, but he was definitely a leader.

"Six, seven farms and not even half the output," Johann heard Hamilton speak up, feathers ruffled, "And faith in the product at an all time low, they may not have the customers to support them without such certification." A brief consultation with a colleague to his right, positive mumbling. There was a nod, "We shall co-ordinate such a team with you, Spectre, agreed."

Johann gently rested his fingertips on Pinn's arm again, whispering quietly into her ear once more. She gave him a sidelong glance, and he shrugged. Taking a breath, she sat up a little taller again, pushing back her dense curls.
"We should explain to the public what measures are being taken to prevent and control any future concerns for the health and wellbeing of the population -"
"And dragons. They're the important ones to them." Johann hissed, a little more audibly to those nearby for his insistence.
"- I mean of the country and of the dragons of course. Nobody much likes to read about animals suffering, nor of health risks to themselves." Pinn blushed.

As the topic was picked up by others in the meeting, she leaned over,
"Look I don't care he's your boyfriend, but I'm not your ventriloquist dummy either, Storm."
"Sorry, should have brought Kelly along too, alternated lines…" He rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Quill Som felt out of place here. Now. Not for the company nor the topic at hand. It wasn't until she saw Mortimer Gamp appear that she realized why.  She was out of time. One foot stood behind herself by decades. Why were none of these witches and wizards looking over her shoulder? She tidied up the feeling.

"If we're talking about when to share the recovery timeline with the public," -they were-, "this is a question of accountability and transparency, not about public relations."

In politics, she might be somewhat alone there. 

"I propose we consider sticking to the facts and, if we must put the witch before the wand, we make it clear to the public the risks - that announcing the ban early or actually lifting the ban early could cause a severe set-backs.  I don't think we should lift a ban until we're certain things are clear. And without a Seer, I don't think certainty is truly possible until all the infection dragons have been destroyed."

These were principles that made Catastrophes work.  "Half of secrecy is silence - the other is being sure."

He would have to wait until he was back in his office to heave a sigh of relief but at present Balfour could only offer a terse, officious nod at the Hamilton fellow once it was agreed that Trade would work together for a certification team.

That would be at least one thing they could take from this debriefing, outside of sore toes and the general displeasure of every beast handler in the room. He followed the exchange a little further - agreeing for the most part with the suggestion to be more open with the public about their official measures, particularly to do with the dragons. That was all the information his division could safely provide without going into specifics about the reservations themselves.

A couple of the Magizoologists turned around to see who had been speaking but Balfour spoke over their curiosity, more interested in trying to consolidate the statements into some sort of official stance.

"I can't disagree. The department can and... yes, I imagine we will issue official statements in the Prophet about our attempts to control output safety-" he gestured at Mrs Lanningham, whose unquestionable head nodded in confirmation of this point for the records. "- but we'll pass each one through with Trade, to ensure suitability."

Balfour ignored the incredulous shaking of heads that came from some of the younger dragon handlers, who didn't like to believe that anything their division issued had a right to be screened by another department. Vincent - for once - didn't seem to think this was a bad idea. "We can circulate the statements every month," he put forward in an oddly compliant tone.

Which would only make Bal question it at some point down the line.

He listened to the deputy head of level three have her say, pushing off the table he'd been leaning against to stride over to the closest chart. The clinical diagram of a labelled dragon faded from the grey sheet, replaced instead by a coloured graph that indicated dragon population loss.

"Thank you, Quill. Yes. Of course I understand that lifting the ban in itself isn't something my division can pronounce." Balfour indicated the largest area of the graph, the infected and expired dragons. "But we've given you the facts. The epidemic isn't entirely over and our dragon sanctuaries are overtaxed." He turned back to the watching wizards and witches, opening his arms in a motion of feigned helplessness. "If the ban is lifted too soon, we won't condone it on either the private or public stage."

It was a thinly veiled warning to the other departments. Balfour was comfortable delivering it - this was their province of knowledge. If Trade wanted to do the reckless thing, it was within his and Hollow's right to publish a castigation of the act.

"I think this might be a good place to draw our debriefing to an end. I know many of us have other, more pressing meetings to attend..." he added with a pained smile. "But if anyone from Trade or Level Three would care to stay behind after, we can go over the details for the proliferation of public information."

Chairs drew back at this. There was no hurry to leave the room - the debriefing being a casual one, Balfour expected that most of the listeners would linger about for the next hour to ask questions and gather statistics from the charts. He glanced at Margo, nodding his head in the direction of the door to let her know she was free to leave for the field at any time.

He could hold the office for now.

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