Post by dean on Jan 30, 2012 17:03:11 GMT -5
...and I watched helplessly--
...as the world round me turned into shades of grey--
Ted was never one for formality. All of the pomp and circumstance that so many Ministry workers loved was always lost on the young Auror. Teddy was a professional, sure, but he was not built for a cubical or politics. He was a field Auror and as such felt cooped up under the London streets. All in all Ted did his best to be professional without...being professional. Hell, even when he wore his suit he still sported a pair of Converse All-Stars. Such was the case as he knocked on the frosted glass window of Astor Delacroix’s office.
A lazy "Come in" sounded from the other side, but before Ted had the chance to pull the door, it opened, though not by magic. One of two bruisers standing immediately inside the office, both of which looked as if they where purchased from the same humorless henchmen store, held the door, thick arms crossed over black sweater-clad chests and their beady black eyes locked on Ted as he stepped across the rooms threshold.
Ted took a long look around the office, and he would have to take notice; for the room was equipped and garbed in the richest of furnishings, all wood and velvet. Various certificates, diplomas and moving photographs of prestigious events lined the faded green art nouveau walls, though the many large-windowed view of the atrium below warranted a stare or two on their own. However, it was the noticeably newer additions to the office that really caught Ted's calculating eyes: Every surface-from desktop to table corner to chair cushion- was covered in stacks upon columns of files. Some where thick as encyclopedia, others as thin as a single sheet or parchment. Every surface that is, except Delacroix’s desk and one lonely chair.
Ted glanced from bruiser to chair to bruiser before settling on Delacroix. Lupin had met the Minister on a number of occasions, but he still hadn't gotten a clear read for him. Despite his disdain for the man, Ted knew that Astor was one of the most powerful wizards on the planet.One minute Astor would act like your kooky uncle, all dancing eyes and smile lines, the next he would take down a potential threat with a few words-a true politician's weapon. One did not become Minister of Magic by collecting bottle-caps, after all.
Ted gave the minister a small bow of his head, careful not to take his eyes off of him. "You wanted to see me Minister?"
Astor's talented facade of merriment surfaced, velvet smooth accent and youthful hair the color of fresh wheat lighting up like a flame. "That I did Teddy, m'boy! Come, come, sit, sit. We have business to discuss, you and I"
Ted complied, though he could feel the eyes of everyone else in the room burrowing holes in his head, the sensation almost palpable. When he had sat, Astor started again."The thing is, Teddy-"
"Ted."
The Minister's delicate grin faltered a hair, but if Ted wasn't paying attention, he would have missed it. "Excuse me?"
"Ted. My name is Ted. Minister."
Astor resumed, though his eyes flicked dangerously to the two men behind Ted. "Well-Ted-, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that things in our world are…dangerous as of late, especially for a young man such as yourself."
Ted blinked at him."I’m not quite sure I understand your meaning Minister."
Astor nodded to himself, choosing his words carefully."A boy with…abilities such as yours."
Ted's eyes narrowed a bit."We all have uncanny abilities Sir."
The Minister seemed genuinely surprised. "Oh?"
A paper airplane flew in through a small flap in the top of the door, flying lazily to Delacroix’s desk, landing in a thin brass tray before unfolding itself so it sat neatly with the stack under it.
Astor's face smiled, but Ted could tell that underneath his skin, the man was beginning to grow impatient. "Hmm...So we do, so we do, but you must understand the position having a metamorphagus in my staff has put me and my administration in, Teddy. Not only that, but the dangers this growing hostile work environment poses to you."
Ted fought to keep his tone neutral. "Hostility is nothing new to me, Sir."
Astor looked down at a file at his desk before opening it delicately, as if the paper was going to shriek at a moments notice. "As I see. This is not the first time someone from my office has taken notice to you and your attributes. It says here that you withheld your status as a magical creature upon your acceptance to your apprenticeship under Auror Reynolds."
It was Ted's turn to let his annoyance grow. "I did not intentionally withhold anything, Minister. I assumed that my…status-as you put it-was well known from my recommendations as well as my OWLS and NEWTS from Hogwarts. Frankly Sir, I fail to see where it matters." The Auror was beginning to feel that he had walked into a trap.
"Ah, that does seem to be the root of our problem, doesn’t it Teddy?" Astor sat his elbows on his desk, his fingers meeting in a point. All he needed was a goatee and a puffy white cat and the Bond-villain image would be complete.
"Ted, Sir."
Astor waved the Ted's correction aside as if it were a fly, his pleased smile slipping into a complacent smile of a crocodile."Of course, of course. Now, it seems that the real issue here is your…adequacy as an Auror for our Ministry."
Ted didn't bother hiding the anger on his face anymore. His eyes narrowed even further. "That’s an interesting allegation." Then, as an after thought, "Sir"
The Crocodile smile widened. "Is it?"
"Yes, considering all that I have done for you during my short tenure here."
Astor held up a finger. "Ah, but what have you done Teddy?"
"You have my file right there. Doesn’t it speak for itself?"
He nodded, but said, "I’d rather hear it from you, my boy."
Ted let out a breath. "Alright then, From the top:
"Three inter-species conflicts resolved, Five dangerous Lycanthropes captured, Six giants talked down and returned to their territory, Two Dementors pacified, Fourteen Warlocks captured, ten of which were former Death Eaters, and One Mentor rescued.
Ted looked down at his fingers, he hadn't even realized he had been counting them out on his hands until he was finished. He gave the Minister a smug-albeit restrained- look."Did I miss anything?"
The crocodile smile faded into a pleased grin of a cat who had planned everything out for the mouse to be caught. Ted suddenly had the sinking feeling that he had been ambushed."As a matter o'fact, you have my boy...
He gave the Minister a sharp look, but said nothing.
Astor's face was nearly alight with suppressed glee, though to his credit, he kept his tone professional and unbiased...mostly. "One family killed."
Ted barely kept the anger out of his voice, but only because the surprise overwhelmed it. "What?"
"It says it right here that you failed to rid the Harwell family of Greenwich of an escaped Dementor before they had been killed themselves. Which-as per your oath-makes you responsible for their lives."
"As I said before, these are troublesome times, Teddy. People are forgetting that this Ministry is the only thing standing between us...and them. There had been talk some time about a traitor amongst us. Now with Potter gone...some have...mixed feelings on loyalty."
Ted was just about done being cordial to the Minister. He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes locked on Astor."Since you seem so interested in my report, I take it you read all of it, not just the part where I "failed to preform". The Harwell family where strong wizards, and their threshold-" Lupin stopped, shaking his head, "No. I refuse to explain myself to you. My ability as an Auror-"
Astor began to speak, his own anger obvious. "Your ability is--"
Ted kept talking, raising his voice slightly but otherwise not recognizing that the Minister had interrupted. "My ability as an Auror is not measured in the lives that I lose, but the lives that I save. I have saved lives, and I don't give a damn what your reports or subordinates say to the contrary."
Astor started again, his voice reaching furious quickly. "Now see here, you Mud-"
Ted stood up, and he could hear the guards behind him reaching for their wands. He didn't care. He was on fire now, all of his anger, his repressed oppression, his fear-it was now shooting out of him, and the target was on the man in front of him. "I may be a Metamorphagus, but I am a Wizard first. I am no different than any other wizard, no other man. Not even you Astor." The Minister visibly flinched at the use of his first name, himself shooting up from his desk.
"As for my loyalty to the Ministry, you have the oath I took the day of my induction-an induction that you yourself preformed."
"I promised to protect any living creature from harm and those who would seek to cause them harm, both from foreign threats-" Ted leaned forward, putting his hands on the edge of the Minister's desk, saying in a whisper so only Astor could hear it,"and domestic."
Silence stretched in the room after Ted had finished, the two sweater-clad-lugs practically on top of him now. Astor stood, his face locked in fury at Ted. He knew that all Delacroix had to do was mutter a word to the guards and they would take him down. For a heartbeat Ted thought Astor would do just that, but then his anger gave way to that same feline grin, and Lupin knew that he had just lost.
He had just sacked himself.
Astor leaned a little more towards Ted, his velvet accent coated with pride, arrogance, and another slimy emotion that he couldn't place. When he spoke, it was in the same just-us whisper that Ted had used. "Bravo boy. Indeed, well done-
-Checkmate."
Ted's heart sank as Delacroix nodded to the lugs. "Take Mr. Lupin off of the premises boys. make sure he is dealt with accordingly." The men obeyed like the good dogs they where, each slipping a leathery arm under each of Ted's shoulders. They began to take him away, but Astor spoke up one last time, "Oh boys!". They stopped, one of them turning his head out of confusion.
"His wand and badge if you please. Where he is going I'm afraid he won't be needing them."
Ted's eyes widened. He was going to be taken a camp. interned like an animal. Like hell! Lupin shouted in his head, defiance roaring up inside of him, and with it, his magic.
Ventas Servistas!, Ted shouted aloud, releasing his will.
Torrents of wind swirled around Ted's outstretched hands, propelling the three men into the air. The two guards-both of which a few inches taller than Ted- hit the ceiling, their heads making satisfying 'thud''s upon contact.
The spell was sloppy without a wand to focus the energy, causing a good portion of the magic to spill over, filling the entire office with wind. Papers and other miscellaneous office supplies whipped around the room, shattering two of the large windows overlooking the atrium. Ted himself caught a stapler on the way back down, falling with the two now unconscious men in a heap.
Ted pulled himself out of the pile of body parts and to his feet, turning to face Delacroix. The Minister hadn't been fazed by Ted's little wind show. Sure his business suit was a little rumpled and his golden hair was a bit awry, but his face-his feline-crocodilian sneer-that was as strong as ever. Ted gave the man a youthful grin. "Game's not over yet Astor. Not by a long shot. Your move."
With that, Ted ran for his life and out of Ministry-
-to begin his life as a wanted man.
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