Harry Potter

"You need preparing.
You need arming.
But most of all, you need
constant, never ceasing vigilance."
-Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.( Read more... )

WARDED TO RON WEASLEY, GEORGE WEASLEY, NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM:

Now that I can breathe again somewhat, I've got a question to ask you three.

Ron, you're obligated to say yes, but George, Neville... don't feel like you have to. It'll just turn me into a nutter if you say no.

Guilt trip done? Excellent.

Groomsmen. Yes?

WARDED TO AURORS:

Come back in one piece.

WARDED TO AURORS AND AUROR STAFF & GAWAIN ROBARDS:

The next days are going to be difficult, and I apologise now for my brusque manner. I tend to become very single-minded and focused when there's a dangerous situation going on, as some of you might remember from Hogwarts.

I have every faith that you, the UK's Aurors, will show the Wizarding World just what you're made of. We will find our people and stop those who would terrorise us.Those whose loved ones have been missing for months will find some measure of closure, regardless of the outcome. There is nothing worse than NOT knowin

We'll be setting up a temporary dormitory for sleeping in shifts when necessary. Meals will be provided by the Ministry as a thank you for all of your hard work.

Steady on.

WARDED TO WEASLEYS (B/M/A):

Don't be surprised if you forget what Ron and I look like. This week is going to be a doozy.

Just remember that I loved you all, even the ones I don't know particularly well.

WARDED TO ERNIE MACMILLAN (Charmed to ring until answered):

Ernie, you're needed down at St Mungo's immediately. Secretary Rhodes was kidnapped from his home. His wife is in critical condition, his daughter is unharmed. We'll need to keep this out of the newspapers.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news on a Friday evening.

WARDED TO RON WEASLEY:

I need to know that you can keep a secret.

WARDED TO GINNY WEASLEY:

Neville's in dire need of a booze break tomorrow, so I'll be heading out with the boys.

WARDED TO VERONICA STRAUGHN:

Ink in for tomorrow evening at 7pm. The Local, with Neville Longbottom, please.

WARDED TO GEORGE WEASLEY:

I don't want to tell you your business, but I'm gonna tell you like I told Ginny. You're both gonna end up regretting it if she's not there. Give her some time to process it all, and I guarantee on the day, she'll be much happier for you.

WARDED PRIVATE:

Love you, mum and dad.

WARDED TO GINNY WEASLEY:

Plans tonight?

WARDED PRIVATE:

Camille Tyler
Noel Beckett
Scott Savage
Travis Stimpson
Alexander Greengrass
Emma Li
Nora Robards
Jacob Rosier
Marina Rosier
Erica Bletchley
Elise Kirke
Anna Cornfoot

As if I could forget their names. As I could forget my failures. And just because we stopped Kirke and Cornfoot from being taken doesn't mean that they're not victims.

Killing Voldemort and tracking down Death Eaters was much easier. At least I knew what sort of mindset to look for. At least I knew the sort of people I was dealing with. This - how am I supposed to investigate what could possibly be millions of Muggles? The lines between the world's were drawn a long time ago, and even if I had a niche to look in, I'd still have to go through all of this blasted red tape just to get there.

Oh no, I can't just ask questions. I have to talk to the Minister, who has to talk to the Muggle Prime Minister who then has to go through his OWN bureaucratic nightmare just to give us authorisation to even talk to a Muggle about anything. It used to be so simple: go out and do the thing, and then hope the Ministry only slapped me on the wrist. Now I am the Ministry, and the Head of a department, so I can't run out all willy nilly because I hate sitting here, feeling like I'm doing nothing.

But we AREN'T "doing nothing." We're tracking every single lead that comes in here. Even the really ridiculous leads that you KNOW are just some tosser thinking it would be funny to make the Boy Who Lived jump at their command.

I could really, really use some good luck here. Some fresh set of eyes to look at this from a new perspective, see if there's something we're missing or overlooking. I really just need someone outside of the box.

So what's going on in everyone's lives? I feel like I've been missing things. Especially after George and his whole

WARDED TO RON WEASLEY:

Er, so is Hermione's party a surprise party? I played it off when she said you were taking her out on Saturday for dinner - just so you know.

WARDED TO VEE STRAUGHN:

This is really short notice, and I don't want you to feel obligated in any way. Hermione's birthday party is this weekend, and as the family's gotten bigger, there are small children that need looking after.

We're trying to get a few babysitters together for the evening so that Hermione can sort of shuck the whole mother title for the evening and just relax. Would you be interested in helping out? It would be from about 7pm to 3am - and likely the children will be asleep well before midnight. Whatever price you think is good, I'll be happy to cover.

WARDED TO RON WEASLEY:

Tell me I didn't miss anything in France this weekend. Tell me it's all terrible weather and boring locals and fights erupting all over the place.

WARDED TO GEORGE WEASLEY:

Feeling like a huge git for not going to France yet?

AURORS - ON THE DMLE NETWORK:

Meeting today at 1pm. Updates on the status of all cases, and introduction of a new one. The Love Bomb still hasn't been investigated, mostly due to all the red tape involved on all sides. The tape's finally been cut through, and I'll need a team for it. Don't volunteer here. Wait until the meeting.

Lunch is included.

WARDED TO VERONICA STRAUGHN - ON DMLE NETWORK:

I need a reservation for tonight, 8pm, for two at some place kind of fancy - just not TOO fancy. Ginny's never been all that comfortable The Neep in Dunmoody is fine, if they've got space available.

[OOC note: So that the Aurors and DMLE staff could talk work without being accused of playing on the journalling network, compromising security etc, I've created the DMLE journalling network. It's just like everyone else's, but for the DMLE only with much higher security. This way the Aurors can talk work. Just pretend it's always been there. XD]

Nothing quite like a morning thunderstorm (and being buried under stacks of applications) to make your hair stand on end.

WARDED TO WEASLEYS (BY BIRTH OR NAME):

Kreacher's been asking after you lot. Particularly you, Hermione, and has demanded that he get to cook for you all. You know how he gets some times, and he always KNOWS when I haven't REALLY asked you all over so consider this a formal request by the house-elf known as Kreacher that he requests your appearance sometime... soon. I don't know. Saturday night, maybe?

WARDED TO GINNY, HERMIONE, & RON:

Bad timing, I know - with the disappearances going on, but Veronica's booked the hotel for this weekend in Brighton. I got a suite with three bedrooms. One for me and Ginny, one for Hermione and Ron, and one for the kids.

It's only for this weekend, to get away from Potter Day and maybe have a small celebration for my birthday. We'll be back in time for Monday meetings, and I'll be on-call should they need me for anything.

WARDED PRIVATE:

I feel like a right twat going on holiday this weekend when Savage's son was kidnapped this morning. I've got my best Aurors on it - the ones that aren't on other cases, that is - and I'd put Xavier on the case if I thought it would help. Instead, I suspect he'll slowly starve himself to death, if he doesn't die from exhaustion first.

There's only a handful of Death Eaters who haven't been caught, but since it's been years since they've poked their heads out, I can't imagine why they would now. And Voldemort can't be I KNOW he can't be

WARDED PRIVATE:

Bloody HELL. First item on the agenda for tomorrow, discuss that tongue of Chris Hooper's. I like seeing young Aurors eager, even excitable, but THIS is why we have a publicity department in the first place.

Rescheduling Holy's meeting today was a bug in my backside, but the fog panic just made it impossible. She couldn't get in, and I couldn't get out. And there were a whole mess of panicked people. Priorities.

The visit to the Minister's office was news enough, though. Not really a Death Eater's artefact. I would have gone with another cover story. Something down in the DoM backfired, from the Love Chamber. That would explain why everyone smelled something different, something they loved (sweet Merlin, steak and kidney pie? Seriously, brain?), and it would have kept people from wondering if there were MORE Death Eater tricks just waiting for them.

Not going to lie, I'm really glad to have something to do that's not cleaning up leftover Death Eater rubbish, but I really hate working with other governments. On the plus side, at least my name has a little cache. I am not above using it to get what we need these days.

I'm bloody starving, and I was hoping to be out of here by now.

WARDED TO AURORS:

Remember that you chose this profession. You went through rigorous testing - mental and physical - as well as three years of training to get here. Your profession is one that people look up to, take their cues from. They trust you - to do the right thing, to protect them. It does not stop the moment the clock turns 5pm and you go home. How you behave outside of the office does and will have harsher consequences.

With that in mind, I want you to watch:

• What you say in public. You will be scrutinized in every way possible. It's not fair, but that's what the job entails.
  
• What you stand up for. That's not to say that you can't have an unpopular opinion, but you need to think of how the public will perceive you and reign this in.
  
• How you wield your power. Make sure you go through the proper channels. If all else fails, come to me. I'm available at all hours.
  
• Your response to this. Snide remarks and back-talk will not be tolerated.

You are Aurors. Behave like Aurors.

If that doesn't work, you can be replaced with any number of the applicants I've got on my desk at this very moment. They're all very eager to become Aurors.

Ahh, there they are.

The end of the Hogwarts year means the deluge of Auror applications. It'll be a trickle for the rest of this month, but as N.E.W.T.s come back, we'll get buried beneath a mound of letter after letter, and my fingers will be swollen and bleeding from being pecked at by so many unhappy owls. Make sure to feed your owls before you send them off, yeah? A happy owl does not shit leave a mess of your application.

First rule of Auror-ship: everything is details. all Auror applications must be addressed "Harry Potter's desk C/O Ministry of Magic." All applications sent to Harry Potter will be ignored.