Emmeline "miscellaneous graph things" Vance (vancey) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-03-21 12:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! [1979-03] march, augustus rookwood, emmeline vance |
Who: Emmeline Vance and Augustus Rookwood.
What: Job interview *cue suspenseful music*.
Where: Level Nine, Department of Mysteries, Ministry of Magic, London.
When: 21 March, 1979. 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
Warnings: Er - job interview?
Status: Complete.
The grey light of the morning did nothing to reassure Emmeline of what would transpire that afternoon. So when it started raining at around midday, the sense of doom she'd been cultivating had multiplied tenfold and she almost decided not to go. But after a rather demanding old wizard had her looking for a half-burnt copy of Octagons and Arithmacy: Conspiracies and Truths, haggling with him for the best price, and having the wizard tell her she'd come back in a week's time... well, it was just too much. After sheepishly asking Mr Chiaroscuro if she'd be able to leave work earlier than usual, Emmeline walked out into the familiar crowds of Diagon Alley. It seemed as if the Wizarding world and the Muggle world's boundaries bled together as she strode into the Leaky Cauldron, emerging only moments later in Muggle London. The people in the crowd had the same purposeful stride, the same vague forward-staring gazes - the only difference was that one side had magic. The walk to the Ministry of Magic passed by pretty quickly as she continued pondering this. Emmeline dawdled for a while at the visitor's entrance, still apprehensive about the whole thing. It was silly, really, she'd been working and studying for most of her life just so she'd be able to secure a job there; yet now that she was being given the opportunity, she was stalling. Emmeline shook her head and stepped into the telephone booth, she glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes to three. Enough time, she thought. After going through security and wearing the odd badge she was given at the telephone booth, Emmeline was directed to a lift. She looked around curiously. An inter-office memo zoomed inside when the lift stopped at Level Seven and it zoomed out again the level after, leaving Emmeline alone. She felt a little sick as the lift descended once more. She'll be fine. She'll do well. It'll be alright. Emmeline swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as the lift's doors slid open. It'll be fine. Augustus wasn’t late – at least he didn’t think he was – clocks within the Department sometimes were off by a few minutes now and then. The paperwork rarely ceased, even during this Ministry-declared war. As an Unspeakable, he thought that there would be less preoccupation with some of the useless duties; shouldn’t the department assist more in the war effort? The irony was that Augustus was one of the few within the department requesting that they assist the cause more. Waffling tried his best, at least in Rookwood’s long experience in the department; sometimes, it appeared that the DMLE didn’t want help. With Crouch heading that department, it could not be very far from the truth. Still, he had an interview to conduct – his first interview in a couple of years. They always had the applications, but a variety of factors weighed against the possibility of actual interviews happening. A few employees usually threw the majority out, based upon their own needs. Augustus usually misplaced the stack – applications had a generally short life within the Department of Mysteries these days. Waffling’s age was part of it. While not forgetful, the department head had his requirements, and those requirements usually didn’t include managing stacks of paperwork. Rookwood received that duty by proxy and had other requirements he had to fulfil; it was a never-ending cycle of negligence, but by not had become commonplace. So why had Vance been lucky enough to receive an interview? After consulting with Broderick Bode on a small matter pertaining to a report of observations, Augustus headed to the department’s rotunda, rather the room with enough doors to confuse any visitor, as well as half of the department’s employees. He supposed, as he looked for the correct exit door, that Vance had been lucky to converse with him through the journals. The fact she worked at Obscurus was yet another plus. There was also the fact that the department severely lacked females; a few employees were awake enough to realise, Rookwood included. While he had his doubts it would help the department to hire more females, Vance included, he supposed that it might force some of the shy male employees (and that was a great percentage) out of their protective shells. Women usually gossiped (and thought highly of him); Augustus could always use more of those. Upon exiting the department through the main entryway (there were other methods of exit, usually), Augustus allowed the large door to click shut behind him. Hopefully he wouldn’t get an acrid taste in his mouth; upon exiting the confines of the department, he felt smaller, if not inept. Occasionally this happened – the mask slipped every now and then. Once he found his motivation once more, Augustus steadily made his way down the hallway to the lift. Greeting, introduction, lead, and interview: his tentative steps for his meeting with Miss Vance were still fresh within his mind. The hall leading to the lift was bare; he heard a few voices from over by the courtrooms, but they were fading away. When you were amongst the courts and the weirdoes, one could not help but feel ill-at-ease. Rookwood would forgive Vance for any fears and anxiety during the interview. Once the lift finally opened, his mind’s excessive musing halted. A slightly generous smile later, he closed in on the lift, although not speeding up to collide with its occupant. “Ah, I presume you’re Miss Vance. Hello, hello! I’m Augustus Rookwood. So pleased to meet you. Just call me Augustus.” After another charming smile, he gestured to the empty hallway around them. “It’s rather quiet in here, but don’t let it deceive you. I assure you that people are working somewhere on this level – how was your trip here? Uneventful, I hope? They're such prats upstairs with the security lately." Emmeline only just stepped outside the lift and barely registered the sound of muffled voices coming from the courtrooms when Augustus Rookwood joined her. Giving Rookwood a rather shaky smile, "Yes, Mr Rookwood--er--Augustus," she replied politely, stepping into the bare hallway. It took a great deal of restraint for Emmeline not to start shuffling her feet like a student expecting detention from a teacher. No, it'll be fine. She returned Rookwood's smiles, feeling at least slightly more at ease seeing that he was quite amiable. This, in itself, came as a surprise to Emmeline. She'd always been under the impression that Unspeakables were the more unsociable sorts of people, especially with the secrecy surrounding their work. Nevertheless, she was glad that she didn't have to be grasping at straws to make small talk. "My trip was fine," Emmeline replied and added, as an afterthought, "Sir." She had always been one to respect the rules of conduct when interacting with those with higher authority. "I suppose it's well enough that they should take such precautions with all that's been happening lately," Emmeline continued, trying to make her tone neutral. She glanced around the hallway as they made their way through. It looked forbidding, to say the least, but that didn't deter her. Emmeline had always had a great curiosity in the unknown. Nodding in response, Augustus turned to backpedal as he walked with Emmeline. "That's true. They definitely need to take those measures during times like these..." There was a small note of uncertainty he added to his words; causing confusion and fear amongst the Ministry employees (even potential) was definitely at the top of his list. Of course, feigning the role of the near-bubbly Unspeakable couldn't include too much of that negativity. Miss Vance seemed quite intelligent enough to understand the current events. "Well at any rate, I might as well give you a peek at the department. You won't see the actual work area, but you'll see a few rooms!" Augustus turned once more and stopped in front of the imposing door he had left minutes ago. He pulled it open with little effort and held it open for his guest. Inside was the rotunda, the room with multiple doors. Augustus motioned her inside. "Don't be afraid. I assure you there won't be lethifolds on the floor. We usually keep the light down in the rotunda to deter unwanted visitors. You see - this door is unlocked and anyone in the Ministry can walk in here. We leave it unlocked for deliveries and the few brave souls," Rookwood gave a smirk at that, "with the courage to venture down to the frigid ninth level." "Mm," Emmeline mumbled as she nodded, hoping she hadn't said too much about the security measures. She restrained herself from fidgeting with the hem of the crumpled white shirt she'd hurried put on the morning, which only served to remind her that she should have worn something more appropriate to the meeting. Emmeline glanced around as they walked through the corridors, occasionally lagging behind Augustus Rookwood's brisk pace. She'd imagined how it was to work here since... well, since she was fifteen. It wasn't exactly a long time ago but the events that transpired during the past four years made it feel like decades. She gave a weak laugh at Rookwood's chiding reassurances, hesitated and then walked through the door he held open for her. Emmeline was lost for words as she took in the sight. It was a circular room, which in itself was slightly disconcerting, with twelve plain black doors without handles. To add to all that, the space was lit entirely by candles that burnt blue, giving the room an almost underwater quality. "Er - kudos to the decorator." The words slipped out before Emmeline could stop herself. Gazing to one of the eerily similar doors, Augustus had to think more than he originally wanted. For a moment, he stalled by adjusting the lapel of his dark green shirt under his slightly oversized muted pastel green robes. It looked as though the Ministry didn’t have a tailor able of making appropriately sized clothing for his slight frame. At any rate, the deputy head of the department was having trouble remembering which door went where, today. Unspeakable Quinn likely remembered, even Bletchley! It sometimes was maddeningly embarrassing for one in his position to forget the rudimentary pieces of the department. A cursory glance back, he smiled, his eyes closing briefly with the expression. “Very spooky, am I right?” He laughed and then, thanking whoever was listening above, chose the appropriate door that lead to the senior offices. “This is probably the most difficult part of the department…finding the proper door so you can get inside.” Rookwood didn’t hold the door for Emmeline, but did wave his wand briefly at the door before entering. As a result, there was no rotation of the circular wall of the room itself, and the door leading beyond was propped open for the department’s visitor. His voice gradually started fading as he walked onward. “The wall usually rotates, but I think we have enough work with the interview and the like.” Not looking back just yet, he unlocked his office with a few unspoken spells. The hall and door to his office did differ some from the circular room in the entranceway – while any visitor would be easily daunted by the rotating confusion outside, the hall of offices seemed almost quaint – gone was the dull black and present was what appeared to be walnut-panelled interior. The floor was a type of marble, but it still looked much more accommodating and friendly. Rookwood’s door stood out from the majority that appeared to be a dark mahogany. His was the same type, but his appeared to be covered from the top to the bottom with notes, papers, and a variety of other items plastered to it. "Very," she replied, grinning. Emmeline was glad that the joke didn't elicit a long, awkward silence. She remembered when she made a particularly bad pun during her job interview at Obscurus Books. Mr Chiaroscuro had blinked at her for a full minute before Emmeline decided she had better explain the joke in case he thought she was daft. She took a moment to look closely at the identical black doors and tried to distinguish one from the other, it really was impossible. Emmeline looked up sharply when Rookwood mentioned that the wall usually rotated instead of remaining stationary. "The rotation...," her voice trailed off as she tried to think of the possible reasons, "It's for security reasons, I assume?" It made sense, Emmeline thought. There were countless years of research and priceless information stored inside the Department of Mysteries. She remembered her father mentioning it once, when he had to negotiate a deal with Gringott's and an Unspeakable. This unwelcome thought of her father brought a frown to her face, which she quickly disguised as a look of interest. There were brief moments when Emmeline would connect current situations with memories of her family. Often, it wouldn't bother her but it were those memories where her family were being particularly... themselves... that disturbed her. Before Emmeline could brood further on the matter, Rookwood ushered her into his office and she began to feel a little nervous again. Perhaps it was the setting: Rookwood seemed to be a very busy man. She eyed the stacks of files and notes scattered all over his desk, and Emmeline felt almost apologetic for taking up so much of his time. Emmeline waited until Rookwood gestured for her to sit down before she did so, then she rummaged inside her bag for her CV and handed it to the older man. After she'd done that, she sat back in her chair stiffly and waited for the interview to begin. He had never answered Emmeline's question concerning the department's rotating doors and implications of security. If she secured the job, then he'd tell her what the rotation was for. His office was definitely a place of work; much of what was piled were old documents that could have been disposed or stored away neatly (as they should have) in the files lining one of the walls. The problem was, the time he could have been using sorting and keeping his spaces neat was often dedicated to the Dark Lord's cause. Weekends were always an option for him to "catch up," but he rarely took advantage of them, due to the fact his weekends were usually consumed with other experiments that were somewhat energy draining. Augustus gave Emmeline a small smile as he took a seat at his document-covered desk, motioning at the same time for her to do likewise. So this was the estranged Vance; he honestly did not know much of her other than the corespondance by owl and journal over the interview and application; Patrick darted around the subject of his sister, especially now that Rookwood had expressed interest in her. She looked normal enough - at least not too atrociously liberal to be considered a militant muggle-lover or hippy. Accepting the CV, he sat back in his chair and read it frankly, as an open-minded manager. "I'm not very formal about these," he noted, briefly raising his eyes some from the paper to glance to his interviewee. "Ravenclaw, hm...yes," he mused momentarily. They did have the majority at the department, usually, if not always. Glancing down the parchment, he gave a quick perusal of her NEWTs. Augustus had already cross-checked these via Hogwarts, but since then, he needed his memory refreshed. "I see that you have all of the minimum number NEWTs required for the position. Above the required marks as well, for the most part." He realised this sounded overly-critical, and having caused a few interviewing incidents including crying in the past, Rookwood expanded constructively. "O in Arithmancy, what do you know! Definitely wasn't my best subject." Moving his head to the side of the parchment for a moment, he smiled, before reading the rest. "Defence is a nice addition - not all of the employees here took NEWT levels - including myself..." Divination was a glaring E, but that was fine. "So Emmeline, do you prefer Astronomy or Arithmancy? And do you go by Emmeline, Em, or some other name?" She took the proffered seat and quietly began observing the office and Rookwood. He seemed to be quite a busy man and the file upon file and stacks of notes were a testament to the work done in the department. Emmeline did not know, of course, that he was acquainted with her brother; although if she did find out that Rookwood knew Patrick, she would have been even more guarded than she was being already. She shifted in her seat before deciding that the way the leather strap of her bag was cutting into her shoulder was too uncomfortable to bear for the entire interview. Emmeline set it down on the floor just as Rookwood began his assessment of her academic history. Emmeline's lips twitched a little when Rookwood mentioned her Hogwarts House. Ravenclaw. Well, her father was disappointed she wasn't Sorted into Slytherin, like Patrick, and she vaguely remembered her mother trying to placate him by saying that at least she wasn't placed in Gryffindor. Ah, what a horror it would have been for them if, god forbid, their daughter was placed in the middle of a raucous gaggle of immoral fiends. The memory made her grimace a little. They had taught her to regard them with a detached sort of amusement but Emmeline had learned not long after her first year that the stereotypes for each Houses weren't always apt. Snapping back to the present, she blinked rapidly and tried to get back on track with the interview. Rookwood was saying something about her NEWTs and she nodded along, adding little tidbits of information that might help her in securing the job. She smiled back when he mentioned her Outstanding in Arithmancy, it was an accomplishment to be sure; it took her the best part of some nights catching up with coursework. Defense, of course, was another matter entirely. Emmeline could say that she thought it would come useful after school, especially with the present climate, but thought she'd shared enough of her views about the War. "It was an interesting field, gave me a bit of practical work in conjunction with the more theoretical courses," she said politely. Emmeline continued to answer Rookwood's questions. Astronomy over Arithmancy. Em is fine. She thought the most interesting aspect of astronomy was the study of planetary movements. Divination? She wasn't a natural Seer but she made up for it in the slightly more structured areas. The interview carried on for another half an hour before she was finally dismissed with another courteous smile from Mr Rookwood. As Emmeline blinked to adjust her eyes to the greyish light of Muggle London, she couldn't help but feel that it had gone alright. |