InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Yes, dear."

Ordinarily, Rabbit would have preferred to make use of the Park for something like this, because there was nothing like being out in the country with no nosy neighbours if you might need to try something explosive. But that was the very reason why he was currently (still) banned from the premises by his mother, so here they were in the upstairs parlour at the Terrace instead. At least there was no stained glass here, but if anything did need to be blown up, Rabbit had his eye on the hideous taxidermy hippogriff head hung over the mantelpiece.

"Right," he declared, knocking the door closed with his heel. "Let's get this done quick and there might still be enough of the evening left to have fun with." Rabbit considered his audience, and added, "Or whatever you might prefer to do with it. Target is the store of restricted import potions ingredients, in the International Magical Trading office, with a view to tampering with key ingredients. If we do this when I'm on night shift, I can get people anywhere in the Ministry that's on the Floo, but you're on your own from there.

"So I guess the first questions are: Sev, is this something you can teach Pete here how to do, or are you coming along on the night? And Pete, what sort of access do you have that can help get us in?"

Considering his past with Snape, it was almost comical that Peter was sitting here with him now ‘working’ together. And Rabastan was-- a very different animal entirely. “My name is Peter,” he insisted, wrinkling his nose. “And my access is pretty broad outside of Level Nine. I can’t get into certain people’s offices without their authority (the Minister and DMLE, particularly), but other than that it’s mostly available. I don’t have access to the protection enchantments that they put on anything inside those places, though.”

The parlour was quite distracting, Severus had to admit. Privately. He was trying not to look too hard at some of the… decorative choices. Interior design wasn’t his forte, but also he’d never imagined it ought to involve quite so much brocade. Or any taxidermy. At all.

Avoiding marble-dark eyes (the thing was clearly staring them down, for Merlin’s sake), Severus glanced between Rabbit and Pettigrew with a little frown pinching his expression. “While I trust that Mister Pettigrew would be perfectly competent in following directions, I would prefer to be present.”

"Great." Rabbit clapped his hands together. "It's a party. I get us in and out--there's a private Floo connection for the Confederation offices on level five that I can hijack if nothing better suggests itself. I'll look into it. Peter," he rolled the name around with plummy accent and grandiose flourish, "can get you both into the right offices. Stores'll be labelled. Protective enchantments is an interesting point though. I have no idea what the protocol might be." And he was pretty cheerful about it. "Any idea whether we'll be up against anything there?"

Peter shrugged a little. “I don’t know the protocol, but I know that most restricted areas and shipments have them.” When you wore navy blue robes, most people tended to look past you without a second glance. It was easy enough to see things (even hear things) in that kind of position. “I haven’t gotten to mill around and see exactly what they are, but I suppose if we do reconnaissance beforehand we’d be able to find out and prepare better. Otherwise we’ll probably have to wing it.”

“Different suppliers use their own sets of charms to make sure no one tampers en route,” Severus offered with a tilt of his head. “I’m familiar with most already, though there’s a chance they might have some unique to Mungo’s.” It seemed unlikely to him. Ingredient producers- the trusted ones, anyway, those nicely above-board and therefore selected to be doing business with something as well-regulated as a hospital- all shipped in smaller quantities to apothecaries and private brewers. Severus, already working at an apothecary, was probably familiar with most of what they might find.

Anyway, even if they were dealing with some odd black market specialities, Severus probably had that covered, too. Mulpepper’s wasn’t as exacting as somewhere like Slug & Jigger’s. And this was all assuming ingredients were still in crates and boxes, waiting to be opened. Anything already inventoried and sorted would be free of a producer’s security measures.

"Right." Rabbit gave each of them a nod as he thumbed a few brief notes into his phone. "So we nose around a little more and see what's what--that we being you and me, Peter." He shot Pettigrew a look, wondering just how much enthusiasm or initiative he could trust the rat to manifest. Was it worth arranging some reason for maintenance to be called to the office, or would Peter not make the most of the chance? Hmm. "It'll be you two on the spot if anything goes pear-shaped on the night, so I'd like to make sure you're set up with the best chance at pulling it off. Same time, we can't sit on this forever. So let's take a few days, but then we need to get cracking." He tilted his head, considering them. "Any questions?"

Peter raised an eyebrow when Rabastan looked at him, but shrugged. “If you’ve got a good reason for us to be seen together while we’re working, then sure.” He wasn’t sure how prudent it was after having met with Rodolphus not long before. Sure, he was there ‘officially’, but not everyone in the Order was an idiot and they could pick up on that sort of thing. “Otherwise it might be smarter for Wormtail to be poking around with less people on the clock.”

Preparation at the Ministry was entirely out of his hands, so Severus had little say. He was just going to have to rely on these two to clear the way so that the night of, he could handle the actual contamination of ingredients. That, yes, he could prepare ahead of time to make it quick and simple on arrival. There were no doubts as to what supplies he would be looking for in the Ministry stores, and that made his job simple enough. In theory, anyway.

“I’ll be ready on the night,” he assured, evenly. He couldn’t lack in confidence. This was his wheelhouse and he was going to do his part.

Plausibility was Rabbit's favourite plaything, but in this case, Pettigrew was entirely right. "Wormtail is welcome to do just that," Rabbit confirmed with a little nod to Peter. "You hunt your way, I'll hunt mine. Reporting back what we find. To Severus too, of course. Never know what might be important and I don't want the wheels coming off because you pair get separated or something." Rabbit tucked his phone away in a pocket and said, "Right then. Go forth and prepare, and try not to develop any immovable 2am commitments in the next fortnight."