alt_ptolemy | Entries tagged with work

Received draft of Prophet article (Doyle's work, for the most part) and Nesbitt's been prepped for the WWN tomorrow morning. Highlights:

Nesbitt family were found in their Watford home, quite tragically dead, with the exception of Galen Nesbitt, age 29.

Mr Nesbitt returned from work just in time to see the Phoenixes fleeing the scene. He particularly recognised Black's enchanted motorcycle. He also believes he saw young Malfoy - distinctive, after all, and his picture was just in their rag of a paper on Sunday.

Mr Nesbitt then entered his family's home and found his parents, his sister and an uncle who lived with them, all dead. He immediately contacted MLE. On questioning, we learned that the family had been contacted because his mother is a Healer and the false government is in desperate need of qualified staff. According to Nesbitt, the family had no intention of defecting and Mrs Nesbitt had not replied. Malfoy and Black must have shown up and not taken no for an answer.

Any further refinements?

From there Crispin will talk about how to contribute to the cause so that MLE will be better equipped to protect those who live in these outlying communities.

Oh, and we've a confirmed identity on one of the two warlocks found at the old Ministry site: Towler.

Pandora's being over-dramatic. I don't care what she says: Lucy's fine. She'll be fine. I'm not going to leave her alone for a second and we'll have full approval of the article before it runs on Sunday.

If you ask me, she's looking forward to it. I've told her she'll become a celebrity overnight and she's liable to get loads of sympathy in the post. She wants to help out. Thinks it's a fitting way to remember all the mates she lost.

You can come along if you think that will put her mother at ease. Not Pandora herself, though, she's got a horrible poker face and those shark reporters would be sure to smell blood in the water. She needs to get a grip on herself if she's going to be of any use.

Follow-up from yesterday's excitement:

Agree with general belief that young Marvolo must be with Malfoy, likely with Black and Snape as well, since he mentioned them specifically. As such, undoubtedly they are at Grimmauld Place and further search unnecessary. Trust your MLE operatives are on round-the-clock surveillance but equally unlikely that any of them would be so foolish or so brazen as to make a mistake there. Will have to draw them out.

Better news on that score: the Rookwood post gained a reply. Continuing to monitor closely. Authorising additional details once MLE give the go-ahead.

RE: Narcissa. Haven't written yet but will shortly. Preference as to tone? Know the rumours are flying that she's known all along. Can't deny it looks...less than optimal. But she did have reason to believe Bellatrix was dangerous. Mafalda was the proof enough of that. Plan to take conciliatory stance, there. Any sense of the chance of clemency if she should provide needed intelligence that will help recover Marvolo or trap young Malfoy? With permission will send owl rather than over journal; even if she does think she can trust me, she's too clever to slip anything where others might see and she'll know we'll be reading her posts carefully, now. Her pustule of a son left us no choice.

Journals at Hogwarts: About what you'd expect. Recommend Enforcers further discourage assembly--anything we can do to force communication by observable methods will help. Much more difficult to catch when they can whisper in corners. In fact, suspect some may have...communication channels outside of the journals altogether. No evidence, really. Just a hunch, based on recent experience. Wasn't too long since Ned and I were there ourselves, after all.

Oh, on Ned: Wife's been giving him the cold shoulder since mid-April (you'll recall the date). Can't tell from her other communications, since there's no love lost on either side, there, but it's not leaving him in much of a mood for...collaboration. X-ref her communications with R Lestrange. Interesting reading there. Not sure if it's anything you can use. But he's in agreement with me about Narcissa, at any rate, that the timing of her Fidelius was more likely coincidence than collusion.

Will fwd complete list of Marvolo-Malfoy related traffic external to Hogwarts. It's a lengthy list. Hope you've got enough teams to make the rounds.

Aunt Narcissa,

Ned and Thorfinn just informed me about your message.

I see nothing so far in the public journals, so if it's not too late already, please, DON'T do anything. We'll take things from here. It may be that Ned and I need you to say something specific, at some point, but for now, there's no need to broadcast your independent decision. If what you say about Bella is true, it's only going to make things worse for everyone.

Sit tight, you and your mother. If you like, give us the secret and Ned and I can come by later (maybe Thorfinn, too, he's dead concerned about Bella eviscerating Mafalda like that yesterday without so much as a by-your-leave), and talk about what the best way is to keep rumours to a minimum. I reckon you've got about six hours before some reporter realises that the Manor's no longer visible.

(And honestly, the last thing Cadmus Mulciber needs is more of an excuse to remove Bella from power. I know you're frightened right now, but whatever is prompting her will surely pass, and we'll need her if--well, enough about that. The point is, don't worry about a thing.)

Is there anything else you need? If we visit later, we could bring it to you.

-Ptolemy

Congratulations. I'm sure there are more disconcerting ways to get the job but it's hard to conceive of one right now.

Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the office with my own eyes. Trust you'll be getting a new chair? They'll never get the blood out of the leather on that one, I don't care how many cleansing spells they use.

Anyway, naturally, whatever assistance our office can give to restore order, it's yours. We've already put a tight clamp on the Prophet and WWN. I'm sure you saw our memo instructing no one to post any personal statements, openly or private, in the journals.

Too bad no one could anticipate Mavis screaming her way down the corridors when she brought in his morning cuppa. Surprised Antosha didn't give anyone a warning, in fact.

Everything's in place. Took bloody forever to convince the old buzzard to give up his journal. Have reviewed communications (before we were able to cut them off) - subject replied. No immediate damage. Daggenham's been reading through past entries to acquire the right style.

Mafalda, he'll await your signal for next move.

Now I'm bloody well going home, if you don't mind. Tell Fudge I might bother to come back in to the office by next week.

Yes, I've seen. Or rather, I was woken from a dead sleep in order to be shown.

Bugger, bugger, fuck, fucking bugger.

I've sent a messenger round to that whoreson cocksucker of a supposed arithmantic genius to get his arse back to the Ministry with or without the rest of him in the next fifteen minutes or I'm coming round to collect him MYSELF. And there's slim to no chance his house will still be standing fifteen minutes after that if I have to go there.

Then we'll see how he likes fixing the problem he said he'd fixed months ago when his wife and children are bleeding out in front of him. That fucking charlatan. Fixed, Merlin's left big toe!

Bugger ALL.

Told Karo to put plans on hold for now, Christmas parties or not. Trust you'll inform Lana of the same.

Look, regardless of what you might think, I did not rush in to the office just to end the discussion. But I really don't know what you think there is to talk about; if you don't want to start a family yet, there's no reason to rush into it. Just because your mother thinks it's important? Rubbish. If you think I give a mudblood's dam about what your mother says on the topic of family planning then you haven't been paying attention. I married you, not your bourgeois parents. Say the word and I'll see to it she never brings it up again. (Nor Pandora, either. She hasn't dared broach it, has she?)

Anyway, as it happens I do have a real reason to have come in, annoying as that may be. Can't discuss, but if we don't resolve it, heads will roll.

But we'll work something out. No choice about it.

I might not be home tonight. But I'm not trying to avoid the subject. As far as I'm concerned, do what you like. Tell your mother to mind her own.

Hope you haven't made any plans because we are going out tonight!

The archives work! Going back to first September. Of course we'd prefer all the way back to June, to pick up anything we might learn about the planning for the Freedom Day disturbances but at least it's back up and running going forward.

I'll give you the technical explanations later tonight if you're interested. Of course, who would be if they didn't have to be, right? It boiled down to something about the older private messages and the number of people reading them, and that number not including the monitors but Cadgewell did...did something impossibly complicated and now the archives are updating automatically, just as they should do.

Oh, and Ned says he heard from Pugh that we since brought the monitors back in August, a whole crop of black market jewellers have been tidily set up and brought in by means of one of Revanche's fake journals. Another reason to celebrate.

I'm just glad Ned's the one dealing directly with the Drudge. He actually asked me if I'd rather make the reports to the Minister once in a while; I told him I'd rather soak my head in armadillo bile. What a fatuous arse. Fudge, of course, not Ned. Has to be the most boring patsy of the whole Protectorate.

Oh, before I forget--I heard through the grapevine that Aunt Narcissa's back at home. Sent her a Harrod's basket but I was thinking we should see if there's anything else we can do to cheer her up. Give it some thought, will you? (Apart from releasing Uncle Lucius, that is, of course. Dammit.)

Anyway. Tonight. Go buy a new frock or something. I'll be home round six and we'll hit the town.