Who: Gaius and Lach When: Monday, 13 April, morning Where: St. Mungo's Rehabilitation Centre What: An interview for a potential position Rating: lets keep it clean, boys Status: complete
Lach never did enjoy interviews. True, there was typically a certain criteria needed for each position one could apply for, but he never did believe that the 'perfect man for the job' always landed the contract. The opinions of whatever stuffy old robe who was sitting behind that office door had to factor in to a certain extent. Did he believe you were right for the job, or were you merely a worthless piece of bundimun stuck to the bottom of his shoe? No, it would not have mattered if Lach did have the experience necessary to volunteer for the Ministry's new Reformation Program. What he needed to do was make a good impression on Mister Gaius Travers, one which hopefully led the man to believe he was on their side and hated those blood-curtling terrorists whom he had once called co-workers. At least he had never shown true preference for them even before the takeover. A small point in his favor, or so he hoped.
Tugging along the collar of his everyday Medical robes, which the new regime had fondly chosen to keep as the dreadful green with red trim, the Mediwizard hoped he appeared more impatient than he did nervous. This was only his second real test as a spy for the Army of Albion, his first having been setting his superiors to believe he had only fled the Ministry out of necessity to his profession. His eyes were gazing unfocused on the receptionist as he heard the doorknob to the office slowly rotating. There was no turning back now.
From the opposite side of the door, Gaius appeared with a clipboard in hand, glancing up as he entered the room. He had doubts as to whether or not this meeting would prove to be a waste of his time or not -- the collection of Healers they'd employed were all among the most talented they could find when it came to matters of the mind. They were the sorts who wouldn't be held back by their ethical codes or shy away from experimental treatment if they needed to. He was only looking for those who had nerves of steel who would be willing to do whatever he asked them to do, which could have been anything from torturing some one to talking to them at length about anything they could get. He hoped that since Lach had worked with the DMLE that he might be similarly unflappable. He would need to be.
"Mister Kirke, I presume," he said, straightening up as his eyes landed on the other man in the waiting room. "Please, come in." The sooner this was over, the better, as far as Gaius was concerned. He had more important things to do than conduct interviews and half-wished that he could have just assigned some one else to handle it. But he knew the importance of screening everyone involved with the new program -- they could not afford to hire some one untrustworthy.
Lach was on his feet the moment a figure appeared in the door. For a man who was supposed to be a stuffy old robe, Gaius Travers was ... not exactly what he was expecting. To start, the man could not have been much older than himself, which was the most obvious difference. He was carrying himself with an air of importance, and those obviously pressed and polished robes did hint at the notion of being stuffy, but all in all it would not have been off to say Lach was surprised. The first question was whether or not Travers' young age would act in his favor or against it.
"Thank you," he accepted the invitation graciously, slipping past Travers through the open door and into the office. While he waited for the invitation to sit, he could not help but let a bit of his personality slip through. "I prefer 'MediWizard', if it is all the same." His Scottish accent was also showing through a bit more than usual; a sign to anyone who knew him well that he was nervous. So much for a good first impression. "It would be a shame to go through all the training just to drop the title your hard work has earned." He hoped his tone at the end left room for Travers to indicate what he would prefer to be called.
Gaius passed by Lach to walk behind his desk, taking a seat and motioning with his hand to a chair in front of his desk to invite his guest to sit as well. He was surprised by the man's age as well, having grown accustomed to working with older Healers, such as Antonin Dolohov. The age could work both in and against his favor -- youth was sometimes good when it came to doing things with less thought about consequences, as Gaius knew from experience, but it also left much room for error, dissent and other such unpleasant things.
"MediWizard," he said, nodding. "You'll have to forgive me, since it is simply 'Mister' for myself, I often forget that others have more particular titles." He leaned back in his chair and gazed at Lach over the desk. "So, if you would, please tell me what it is that would make you a good addition to our staff."
Upon invitation, Lach took the chair offered and sat with both feet planted firmly on the ground. While the position may have appeared stiff to some, it was actually quite relaxing to him, at least at this point in his life. If there was going to be any trouble, he wanted to be perfectly ready to leap to his feet and pull out his wand rather than having to fiddle with adjusting his posture or un-crossing his legs.
The question was a common one and therefore simple enough to answer. He had hoped Travers would ask him specific questions and permit him to answer each one piece by piece, but if the man wanted a verbal essay then he was going to get one. "Well," Lach began, permitting himself to recline ever so slightly into his chair; still ready to leap the moment anything went sour but his body language also said he was not ready to leave so early into the interview. "I have been a certified Mediwizard since '75 with a bit of time spent in the Creatures Induced Ward, although most of my time was spend in Spell Damage." He was almost certain Travers could research this information himself if he so chose, but it had been some time since his last interview and it was not certain what exactly this new centre would be looking for. At least with the Ministry he knew they just needed someone who would mend a wound under intense pressure. "From there I joined the Ministry in 1978 and have been patching up the fool hearty Aurors and Hitwizards they keep throwing into my office....."
Gaius furrowed his brows as Lach continued speaking and shook his head after a moment. "Please," he said, holding up a hand to stop him. "I have already checked your credentials. You do have certain skills and experience that might be useful to us. With all due respect, I suppose what I am trying to glean from this interview is why you would like to be involved with our program. You seem to have experience and a decent position already, so what is it about our operation that has you interested in working with us?"
Why did he want to be involved? To snoop around and be -- as Thomas so eloquently would put it -- a 'good Bond girl' for Albion, whatever the devil that term would mean. If he used such an honest remark, however, his arse would be fed to one of the patients before he could say Pepper-Up Potion. "You will have to forgive me, this time," he chuckled, hoping to buy a bit of time as he ransacked his mind for how to word the answer which was expected of him. What about the program would interest the common man who had no preference for who won or lost the damn war?
"The humanity of the operation, to start. Rehabilitating everyday, so-called 'menaces' of society is certainly a worthwhile cause, one which, I believe, we owe to these people, considering it was the structure of our former Ministry which forced these poor creatures into their way of life in the first place. Up until the opening of this facility, the only options given to werewolves was for them to forge their own way and hope someone throws them a scrap or join a pack and cause hell for society. There are even Healers trained to come down to the Regulation of Magical Creatures department for evaluations with every intent of merely sedating and euthanize their patients. Now, I have never been asked to perform such a task, but as part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I have been required to heal my fair share of deadly wounds." Keeping a firm mental hand on the location of his wand, Lach permitted his body to relax more against the chair. "I would find it highly rewarding to take part in a project meant to better our society without the use of such harsh measurements. Unless, of course, such measures were taken in self defense."
At this, Gaius leaned forward in his seat and looked at the man across the desk from him thoughtfully. He wasn't sure if he really believed it -- did anyone really believe that werewolves could be rehabilitated? -- but since the success of the operation was hinged on the hope that people would be optimistic about the possibility of making criminals human again, he hoped that Lach was telling the truth. It even made sense, until one remembered that their subjects had been werewolves and, well, they hadn't actually rehabilitated them at all. But hopefully werewolves would not be the only patients they would be 'treating'. It would be a waste if they were.
"That is precisely what we hope to accomplish," he said, leaning back in his chair when Lach finished speaking. "If we can find a more humane way, we can make an enormous difference in the way our society and the Ministry treats those who have been seen, up until this point, as incurable -- undesirables. It is our responsibility, as civilians, to provide the misguided with the proper care and tools to make something of themselves. I am pleased to hear that you feel similarly."
Lach kept his gaze focused solely on Travers as the other man leaned forward in his chair. It was obvious that his words were being pondered over, scrutinized and picked apart for any little flaw or remarkable statement to store to memory. He was not going to add a faltering twitch to the list of negatives which Travers might be formulating.
He was pleased, or at least professed to be pleased, with what he had heard. That was certainly encouraging to hear. "Absolutely. So long as the individuals are informed that such help is possible and are willing to undergo the assigned treatments, then we can only hope for a brighter future. Who knows," Lach added with a smirk. "Perhaps one day Azkaban may be gotten rid of all together."
Gaius smirked at the idea -- it seemed almost preposterous and he doubted it would happen any time soon, but if this man seemed to believe it, than maybe he would prove motivated enough to work with them. He'd have to discuss the interview with Healer Dolohov before making any decisions, but it might not hurt to have an extra person present who believed that what they were doing might actually help. If that was the sort of optimism they wanted everyone to have, it couldn't hurt for the staff to share some of it, naive an outlook as it might be.
"We can only hope," he said, placing his hands flat on the top of his desk to help lift himself to his feet. "I believe that I've heard enough, MediWizard Kirke. Healer Dolohov and myself will be in touch with you after we have made a decision, at which point we can discuss the details." He reached across the desk, offering a handshake to close the interview.
The interview had, surprisingly, not taken very long at all. This fact might have worried Lach were it not for the information that Travers was going to discuss their conversation with another Healer. True, such things could just be a formality, but the fact that an actual name was mentioned gave him the hope that he had said what the man had wanted to hear. "Thank you for your time, Mister Travers" he answered, standing to meet the others hand and grasp it firmly. "I look forward to your owl. It will break up the mediocrity of office work. You would be surprised how boring the Law Department can be without a band of terrorists hiding behind the desks."
He would have to write to those terrorists as soon as time permitted.