Iggy had finally decided to actually seek guidance from one of the other mentors.  Well his aunt Wynelle had suggested he speak to the other mentors if he had questions.  The rest of his aunts and uncles, while clearly expressing how happy they were he was taking to the job, had told him to bugger off after the tenth owl or the third unexpected lunch visit in a row.

So he'd made an appointment with Adrestia Gamp.  Iggy had hoped to be a little earlier than he was, but he'd spent more time at the Science museum than he'd intended. He might have given up hope on actually working with muggles, but nothing was going to stop him from being fascinated by them.  And the Science Museum was always one of his favorites.

He stepped through the wardrobe into the Wizarding History museum proper and checked his watch.  He still had a few minutes, not enough time to look around but he wasn't late at least.  He'd have to check out any new exhibits later. See if his grandfather had loaned anything else.  Or if there was anything new in the room that had his great-times-eleven grandfather's name above the door.  The Marvin Prewett Gallery had held old maps for as long as he could remember but maybe there'd at least be some new old maps.

Iggy looked around the entrance hall.  He couldn't remember if he'd actually met Adrestia Gamp before so he wasn't sure who he was looking for, but the place wasn't exactly bustling in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon.

"Iggy Prewett!"

Adrestia Gamp crossed the entrance hall of the museum, looking quite cosy in the large white jumper she was wearing over her dark dress. She recognised him instantly of course - he wasn't a nobody! Although nobody was a nobody, if one was being entirely honest with oneself.

"You're early. I thought I'd wait for you here but I guess we can go straight to my office," she offered a friendly hand to shake and grinned at him. "It's right through here, we'll have to cross your great grand pappy's gallery." It had never occurred to her that she might someday meet a descendent of the wizard whose name hung over the cartography wing.

Exciting! As exciting as it got here, give or take the odd robbery. Luckily for them, the museum was going through a nice quiet period. No adventurers trying to steal artefacts or maps this week. She gestured through the archway behind her for Iggy to follow.

"I have an hour or two to give. Then I've got to give a talk," Tia rolled her eyes in jest, as if this were a burden. "Which you're totally welcome to stay for by the way! It's going to be about underwater maps."

Iggy heard his name from across the hall from only a slightly older attractive woman, who in a previous life he'd have invited back to his place rather than asking for professional advice.

"I tried to be earlier," he said shaking her hand.  "See if I could spot any new family heirlooms on display," he joked.  There really was no telling what his father or uncles or grandfather would lend or donate.  It wasn't even a surprise anymore to find random things from the manor missing or to reappear.  Though him and his cousins always got caught when they broke something, no one had ever managed to use the revolving door of antiques to their advantage.

"Lead the way, I've never been back to the offices."  His trips to the museum had never included a trip to the offices of the staff.  Nor did the receptions or galas he'd attended with his family.

"I hope it doesn't take that long.  Just have a few questions."  And he'd been a werewolf long enough to know the ropes.  He'd just never walked someone through all the crap that they had to deal with.  "Thank, you for the invitation," Iggy smiled about to decline, "Underwater maps? You work in the Prewett gallery?"  He was pretty sure that was how it worked, they had specialties and as far as he knew the Prewett gallery was the only map gallery in the museum.

She led him underneath the archway that would take them through to the cartography wing, chatting happily all the while.

            "Underwater maps? You work in the Prewett gallery?"

"I do!" Adrestia laughed, thinking it was a great coincidence - but not too great considering the size of wizarding society in this part of the world. "I'm actually head curator of Cartography here. It's not one of the more glamorous wings but we get our fair share of interest from historians and explorers."

The next set of double doors were already swinging back to grant them entrance: they opened on to a large gallery full of glass display tables and storage drawers on the lower floor, and a balcony above that encircled the entire wing. Up there, the walls featured a great number of framed maps and engravings.

Sunlight lit the gallery through the structured glass ceiling.

"We even get the Ministry down here these days," Tia continued, walking down the aisle between display tables, "but I think I prefer it when we're quiet. Have you spoke your first mentees, yet?" she glanced Iggy, curious.

"That's surprising, I mean what are the chances."  Iggy wasn't surprised to find himself walking through the cartography section.  It wasn't unusual to find himself in that section of the museum.  He just wouldn't have guessed that his meeting about werewolf mentoring would be with the head curator of this particular section of the museum.

"I can understand that, never fun when the Ministry descends."  Which in his family was basically any gathering they had.  Though that did finally include him now too.  A couple years later than he'd intended and certainly not in the way he'd been expecting.

"I've met with a couple so far.  A few times.  I  get what it is to live with this.  I get most of it.  My aunt suggested I get some mentoring myself."  And for some reason no one in his family worked on Level 4.  He was pretty sure someone worked on every other level.  Just not the one he needed.  And as far as he knew he was the only werewolf in the family too.  At least no one worked in the capture unit.

"I never got anything like what we do after I got attacked."

Tia led her guest through the main gallery, towards a side door at the far end. Her office was a moderately sized room with a busy desk and a shelf of books; the walls were covered in maps, and relics were displayed on a couple of pedestals. A small table had been squeezed in, overlooking an enchanted window of the countryside. Two cups and a teapot awaited.

She gestured for him to sit as they spoke.

            "I never got anything like what we do after I got attacked."

"Yeah," Adrestia smiled a little sadly, "It would have been nice to have someone there for me when I was turned. But I did know some nice people who were kind to me and this is kind of like paying it forward, I guess." The teapot rose, pouring itself into the cups. She took the other chair.

The Ministry had come a long way since those days. Tia sometimes felt a bit jealous of the opportunities and chances the newer werewolves got, but she couldn't complain about her lot in life. She was doing what she always wanted to do and getting a chance to help people. To make a different in individual lives.

"Your aunt might have a point," she picked up her green tea, "it helps to figure out how you feel about your own lycantrophy. What do you think could have benefited you the most, after you were turned?"