Friday, 3 August 2011
10am

The shop should have been busier than it was, but Zelda was happy for the chance to get caught up on some inventory. The wiry, hardwrought witch picked through the enchanted soaps up on the second level balcony. It had been awhile before these had been sorted out and so the curse-removing goat-fat soaps were intermingled with the cucumber-mint sleepy time natural lather. Normally, she'd have Frank or Figaro doing this, but Frank was spending time with friends, and Figaro was, presumably, at his new job at the Daily Prophet.

This wasn't the only area of the shop that needed care. Without her helpers, things were slowly getting out of hand. They hadn't had a dogsbody since Briggs and it was high time to get someone else in here. At this point, she'd hire just about anyone, so she'd posted fliers around the neighborhood.

Help Wanted
Dogsbody & Delivery
Cleaning, deliveries, front counter, general errands.
Good pay.
Part-time.
Apply in person.

Sellaphix Apothecary

The bell on the front door jingled and she leaned over the wrought iron balcony to see who it was.

Asher had been wandering through Diagon Alley for a bit now and he'd seen the fliers posted.  The first one he saw, he brushed it off, saying to himself that his parents hadn't cut him off yet.  The second one he saw he knew that it might be sooner than he wanted that his mother convinced his father to tell him to get a job.

He shrugged and made his way to the Apothecary and headed inside.  He'd never actually been in here, his mother and sisters doing most of the shopping whenever they needed something.  "Hello," he called out, not seeing anyone at first.  "I'm here about the flier I saw."

He was dressed like a normal teenager, so in the back of his mind he thought he might of dressed a bit better, but oh well. He was here now.  Too late to leave and come back.

It was a boy. He was looking around, and apparently interested in the job. Zelda looked down on him from above with an inspecting eye.

"Hm. How old are you?" She called down, not yet setting down the clipboard overloaded with curled parchment inventories. A quill hovered ready over her shoulder. The young wizard looked sturdy enough, which was good, but she wasn't interested in babysitting. She'd need someone who could run off on deliveries and come right back, who could take initiative when working for her coin.

He looked up to see the woman standing on the balcony and said, "I'm seventeen." He honestly didn't have a clue what the job was he was asking about, he was just heading off his parents cutting off his money supply.  Sure he had his own vault at Gringotts now, they had set it up for him when he turned 11, but it was still under his parents' name until he got a job, then it would become his own.

He knew that he couldn't live off his parents's money forever.  He also didn't fancy doing nothing except spending said money, he could and would earn his own way if it killed him and what better way than to get a meaningless job.  Or not meaningless.  Like he thought, he didn't really know what kind of job this was.

Zelda nodded. Good enough. She spoke as she came around and down stairs at the back of the shop.

"I'm Zelda Sellaphix. I need someone maybe 20 hours a week to do my deliveries, do some cleaning, help customers, and run errands."

She beckoned him over to her at the big counter at the back.  "I don't have time to supervise someone closely, so you'd need to be able to figure some things out for yourself. You can Apparate, I hope?"

Some people found Zelda's directness to be off-putting, although she was certain that in most cases that distaste wouldn't exist if she were a man. She wasn't cruel or arrogant, she just didn't lean towards cheeriness, small talk, or the embellishments that some used to put others at ease.  It would be difficult going if this lad couldn't endure that kind of gentle abrasion.

You can Apparate, I hope?"

He heard her ask and he fought back the urge to laugh.  As if he would of dared to graduate without knowing that skill.  "Yes ma'am, I can Apparate fairly well.  And as for the time you need, I'm not really in high demand right now, so you will probably tire of seeing me around your shop."

It was a poor attempt at a joke, in all reality, he had nothing better to do.  Other than a few days he might have one or two of his kid sisters with him, there was really nothing pressing he needed to do. "I'm here for whatever you need, if I get the job."

"Good." Zelda was pleased at that assurance and let it show a bit on her face with nod.

"Discretion is important to my customers. Some of them may have special instructions as to times they can receive deliveries and where the packages should be left. Also, it would help if you can tell the difference between a dried aloe and squid tentacle..." she said, her own attempt at dry humor. It was, possibly, the lowest possible bar of apothecary skill, but one might be surprised at how few people could meet it.

"Have you got any experience handling a till?" He indicated giant, old fashioned cash register on the counter. It was an arcane bit of mechanical machinery with large levers, buttons, and patina'd number cards. "I might have you ring up customers further along."

"No, I'm not familiar with that kind of machine, but I'm a quick learner." Asher was quick to let her know.  He was actually beginning to look forward to having a job, something to fill his days instead of listening to the wireless or skulking around Diagon Alley.  It was beginning to be slightly monotonous.  But if he didn't get this job, he'd have to move home, deal with his mom and his sisters and there would be no peace at all.

"And I was a whiz at potions in school, so I'm familiar with most potion ingredients."

"Alright, then."

Zelda straightened up. She seemed satisfied that Asher wouldn't blow anything up - again a low bar, but not every previous employee had been able to achieve as much.

"Do you have some time? It's quiet, so I might as well show you the shop."

Upon his affirmative, she turned to face the shop floor and began pointing. "In the front you'll find our cauldrons, scales, glassware, knifes, the like."  It was true, cauldrons were stacked high in the front corner, some nicer ones hung from hooks under the balcony. Racks of knives and tools of all sizes gleamed in the dim sunlight.

"Along that wall are all our fresh and dried plants." And so there were, bundles of crispy stalks, leaves, fronds, and sprigs. There were shelves of dried beans and berries and pods.

And so she went, illuminating all the arcane clutter.  There was a system to it, but large inventory in a small show was always going to be a visual cacophony. She showed him the vases bursting with sticks of incense, coffers of mummified who-knows-what, hard tablets of black teas, and unicorn horns individually boxed and kept under key.

And that was just the main floor. She hadn't even begun with what was stored behind the counter, in the back, up the balcony, or in the cellar. She looked at him for a reaction.

Asher was just in awe of everything she was showing him.  Truthfully, he'd only ever been in here once and that was to follow his mother in when she needed something special.  He hadn't known what she had wanted, but then again, he hadn't cared really.  Now that he was going to be working here, he was paying attention to everything.

His eyes roamed over the stacks of cauldrons and onto everything else she was showing him.  His fingers itched to look through all the jars and see how many of the things in there he could actually name, but he kept his impulse under control as she continued to show him around the bottom floor of the shop.

"This is awesome." he muttered under his breath.  Well, at least he thought it was under his breath, when in reality he had said it out loud.  Working in a place like this was going to be wonderful. Surrounded by all these ingredients all day, every day... well maybe, he was just going to enjoy himself.

A rare thing from Zelda Sellaphix - a true grin that reached her eyes. It was awesome, wasn't it? She was very proud of what she and her husband, and their family before them had built. Their selection had expanded since she and Rafe took over it properly when they were newly married, and Zelda has been working with more local connections to ensure the best quality. It took a lot more choreography, but it was worth it.

"Yes," she said with a nod. "Onward."

She led him up the wrought iron staircase to the narrow balcony that looked over the main floor. Here, again, the shelves were filled to brimming with every variety of shriveled this and dried that and pickled what-else. Even more cauldrons filled a dusty corner in a gravity-defying stack.

Back down she led him to the rear of the shop. Here, behind the stairs and behind the counter, the tight cupboards were mainly things to keep the shop running - cleaning supplies, office whatnots. 

"And the cellar. Watch your head."

She led Asher down a very narrow, very steep set of stairs to an earthern basement. The air wet and cold.

"Specialty and bulk down here," she said. There were large sealed casks, locked chests, and crates. There was also a large utility sink and a work table. "That's the sink for doing the washing up."  She pointed it out - he'd be getting familiar with it. "We need to change out some containers regularly so they don't go foul."

Asher barely heard her say to watch his head in time and ducked right before smacking his head on something.  His eyes were too busy taking in everything.  He'd never actually been in here, all his ingredients for school were bought for him by his mother and father when they went shopping for his supplies.  The only time he had been in the Alley was to get fitted for new robes and when he got his wand.  All the other times, he stayed home with his four younger sisters because his parents were too cheap to find someone else to watch them when they had a perfectly good babysitter in the girls' elder brother.

Briefly his mind turned to whether or not his sisters had won the fight with their mother on which school they would be attending, but his mind quickly raced back to where he was when he heard her say, 'Specialty'.  His eyes got big and he asked before he could stop himself, "What kind of specialty ingredients? Are they rare? Can I see them? Would I ever work with those items?" he rushed out and then took a breath.

That really wasn't the kind of behavior one had when trying to procure employment, but there was a special place in Asher's heart for potion ingredients.  It was the one class he had excelled in and the main focus of any career he may choose to have in the future.  He was like a kid in a candy store.

Zelda pivoted and narrowed her eyes at her new gopher. Asher Chance and his questions sparked a grain of suspicion. It quickly subsided - after all, he was just a boy who she was hiring to mop up and make change. He wasn't an undercover Auror, or a compromised low-key criminal. He was just a kid. 

Her glare slipped into a slightly dangerous smile.

"How about... need-to-know on the speciality stock."

She lead them both back up the stairs, tucking away in her head that Asher might have more potential than just a bit of help. If he really liked this sort of thing, all the better for everyone.

Once upstairs, she pulled a document from one of the dozens of cubby shelves. It was a boilerplate employment agreement. She handed it to him. "Have a look. If we're agreed, bring it back Monday at 9am, and we'll get started, Mr. Chance."

Asher wasn't fazed at all by the look she gave him when he asked about the specialty ingredients.  He couldn't help it.  Even though he had been forced to learn about potion ingredients by his parents when he was younger, he truly found the subject and all that went with it utterly fascinating. 

"That's fine with me." he said in her response that it was a need-to-know basis.

He followed her back up the stairs, still taking in everything in the store so much that he almost ran into her, he had been following too close. "Apologies." he said and took the paper she was holding with a sheepish smile.  "I'll see you Monday then." he told her and then made his way slowly out of the store, still looking at everything on his way out.

Maybe if he was lucky, this job would open some doors for him in the future.[1]

1.	Sorry it took me so long and it's short, but I completely forgot about Asher for a bit there.