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Jones Family at Career Day
Author: Illyria
Date: 02-07-11 07:42
Several members of the Jones family were present at Career Day. The eldest sister, Arsinoe, was an apothecarist at St. Mungo's Hospital and manned a table on which she'd set various pamphlets on the topic of pharmacy. She also had basic herb kits to give away to anyone who stopped by her table.
Next to her table was the one for healing. Her husband Quin was representing all healers at St. Mungo's Hospital. His speciality happened to be Potion and Plant Poisoning, but he had material on other fields of healing as well. Quin's giveaways consisted of lollipops and small notepads with the St. Mungo's logo printed on top.
Across the room, near some of the other Ministry of Magic booths, stood Olympia Jones. She worked as an obliviator. Olympia had a trifold display board with information about the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, which included the Obliviator Headquarters, as well as the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, the Inivisibility Task Force, and others.
Illyria entered the Great Hall after it reopened following breakfast for the start of Career Day. She strolled up and down the aisles, pausing to look at each and every booth and greet those she knew. There were many familiar faces in the room, beyond her family members, but there were also new faces.
It seemed as if every year, Career Day got a bit bigger. Illyria wished Career Day had existed when she'd been a student at Hogwarts, though she'd not had trouble deciding on a career herself. She'd never imagined herself as a teacher, though, but she was glad she'd fallen into it.
She stopped by Olympia's booth, which was empty for the moment, and said, "I think we need to convince Erigone to move back home."
"I know what you mean. I want to see her new baby."
Adrian Easton Bones had been born just yesterday, the first child of Erigone and Aidan Bones.
"Besides, I want to start planning my wedding and would like her input."
Illyria grinned. "Going to have us draw straws to see who gets to be your maid of honor."
"Or matron of honor, if it's to be Arsinoe or Erigone," Olympia said. "It worked for their weddings, so yes, I think I might do that as well."
"Have you even decided on a date yet?"
"Not yet," Olympia said, "but Lyell and I have mulled over some possibilities. Oh, here comes a student."
Illyria backed away with a smile and let Olympia do her thing. Meanwhile, she went to one of the snack tables.
Unspeakables
Author: Jet
Date: 02-08-11 12:20
"Why is your job called an Unspeakable?"
Jet had been bent halfway under part of his display table to retrieve some pamphlets that had gotten knocked to the floor so hadn't seen the student arrive. He stands, straightening the pamphlets in his hand, to see the speaker is one of the lower years. Hardly looks big enough to even be a first year but she could also just be a very petite person and for all he knows is actually a fourth year or so. Jet doesn't think so, for one the voice is very young sounding, but who knows?
"You know, I've asked that myself a few times and have gotten a different reply each time. The one that made the most sense to me though is that because of so much of the work done in the Department of Mysteries being done somewhat in secret, those who work there can rarely speak openly about their work."
"What's another reason you were told?" the petite student asks.
"That because we don't mingle as much at work with employees from other departments and when we do, we don't talk about our projects, employees of the Department of Mysteries as a whole have a reputation for being snobs and shunning others. That is, we don't bother speaking to others unless we just have to."
"Is that true?"
"No, not really. It is true most of our projects can't be discussed openly, say over lunch with people from other departments, but it's really not true that we're a snobby, unfriendly bunch who only speaks to others if necessary."
"Can you talk about any of your projects?"
"Not about the one I'm on right now but I can tell you some about the other really big project. Have you heard of the Blood Hound device?"
Her azure blue eyes grow large. "Yes. I heard about how it was used to find Professor Dumbledore when he was missing. I'm only a first year so I wasn't here when all that happened but it was in the news and my mum reads the paper aloud to my granddad because his eyes aren't so good; and I've heard some of the older students here talk about it a few times. You helped make the hound thing?"
"I invented it actually and then worked for a long time to improve it."
"Wouldn't that bad Minister lady had stopped you or did you lie about what you were doing?"
She would have put a stop to the project if she'd known. I had to do much of it in secret. I was officially working on other projects, none of them very exciting. One had to do with testing different metals but the head of the project never told me why the metals were being tested. That work was pretty dull since all I did was take different metals in different amounts and test the same charm. Maybe if I'd known more about the experiment I wouldn't have found it dull."
"Is the one you're on now dull?"
Jet smiles, thinking how fun and challenging the work on Polyglottus has been. Unlike with Blood Hound where Jet felt a constant, burning need to make it 100% effective so that more families would know the fates of loved ones and so that more whose memories were wiped could be located, working with Petra on Polyglottus has been engaging and exciting. He answers truthfully, "Nope, not dull at all. I enjoy going to work and the one other person on the project is great to work with."
"I know I'm only a first year so I might change my mind a million times about what I want to be but if I decide to work for the Department of Mysteries, what courses and grades do I need?"
Jet hands her one of the pamphlets. "There's a listing though keep in mind that because of the varying projects we do, if you don't do well in one of the listed courses, say Potions, you still have opportunites in the department. The list is simply a general guideline."
"Thanks."
Jet nods towards a box he's got on the table. "If you're truly interested in learning more about the Department of Mysteries with thoughts of a possible career, put your name in the drawing. At the end of the day I'll be drawing two students' names for a tour of the department. It's a very rare opportunity to see behind the scenes so to speak without first getting a job in the department."
"Cool!" she excitedly says, turning to fill out one of the forms Jet's got by the box. After she's filled one out and dropped it in, Jet gives her a couple of frosted, time turner shaped sugar biscuits. She grins at him as she accepts then walks over to the next booth. He wonders if she'll still be this interested and excited about the Department of Mysteries in six years time when she's a seventh year with NEWTs looming.
Professor Dumbledore approaches then, inquiring how Jet's been doing of late and if any of the old problems from when Jet was first possessed by something or the victim of an odd curse and then imprisoned in a cursed object have resurfaced. Jet cheerfully greets the headmaster and soon the two are deep in conversation with Jet keeping watch for any students who have questions to ask about the Department of Mysteries.
Do You Have To Like What You Do?
Author: Briar Rose
Date: 02-08-11 14:26
Briar looks over the platters she'd set out when first setting up her Career Day booth. The little two bite fruit tartlets she'd brought are proving to be more popular than even the bites of chocolate cake that are the usual list topper at these Hogwarts events. She grabs one of the boxes with more of the fruit tartlets, arranging them on one of the platters then picking up a box with another popular item, doughnut holes. She's got some that are plain glazed, some chocolate covered, some maple covered, and even some with a strawberry glaze. Thanks to a heating charm, the doughnut holes are wonderfully warm but not so hot that the glazes and frostings are coming off.
As Briar is emptying the one box, a boy comes over for the third time. The first two he didn't say anything, just selected a few items from the selections on the platters and smiled at her in thanks. Expecting much the same this time she's a little surprised when with a maple frosted doughnut hole halfway to his mouth he suddenly asks, "To work in a bakery do you have to LOVE baking and cooking?"
"It does help to like any job you do and having a love of it is even better; but no, one doesn't have to love baking and cooking."
"Do you?"
"Yes, very much so. It's a passion. I love it so much that I don't always use magic to mix and stir and knead. I like getting my hands into it."
"My mum isn't like that at all. She doesn't like cooking or baking much though the food always tastes good. She just doesn't like to spend much time with it and anything that can be done with magic is. She makes me peel carrots and potatoes sometimes. I don't care for that."
"I don't much care for peeling vegetables either but I do like cooking them."
"I've never made sweets before. Mum likes baking less than she likes cooking regular food so she buys all our bread and any sweets like pies and sugar biscuits."
"There are a lot of cooks and chefs who don't like to baker and a lot of bakers who don't much care for cooking regular food. Would you ever like to try making sweets of some sort to see if you like baking?"
"I guess, if only to have whatever it is to eat afterwards."
"What year are you?"
"I'm a third year." With that he sticks out a hand to shake. "Donald Li, miss."
Briar takes Donald's hand and gives it a firm shake. "Very nice to meet you, Donald. Tell you what. Next Hogsmeade weekend, come to the bakery and I'll take you in the kitchen and teach you how to bake something."
"You would? What would we make?"
"What would you like to make?"
"These doughnut holes are tasty but I like everything I've ever had from your place."
"Thank you. It makes me happy to know you like my bakery's offerings. How about you be thinking on what you'd like to make and you can tell me that day or if you can't decide, we'll do something on the schedule for that day."
"Okay." Donald's brows knit together then and he very seriously asks, "Are guys bakers?"
"Yes, in fact some of the most famous bakers in the world, Wizarding and Muggle, are men."
The frown clears to a smile. "Cool then. Thanks. I'll see you at the end of February then," he replies with reference to the next Hogsmeade trip on the 26th." His smile goes to a grin. "Well, I'll see you before then because I might come back for more of you're sweets unless you have a limit or something."
"As long as you don't takes lots and lots at a time, gobbling them on the spot or taking for later, no, there's no limit."
"Cool. Thanks again!" Donald selects another doughnut hole, this one strawberry glazed, and picks up a cinnamon apple biscuit from a large platter with a variety of biscuits, and scarpers off, most likely going to get more food from somewhere else since as a third year he's probably not giving much serious consideration to a career just yet.
Dewhursts En Masse
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 02-08-11 19:15
Wotan Dewhurst had been coming to the Hogwarts Career Day since the very first year, when his children had still been students at the castle. It was always a thrill coming back, seeing students he remembered from the previous years grow older and more mature, and meeting others for the very first time. The first years seemed smaller and smaller each year, but maybe it was just Wotan's imagination.
He manned a table for his architectural firm Wren, Inc. Wren, Inc. had several locations throughout the world, so anyone interested in working for the company didn't necessarily have to stay in London, where Wotan himself worked. Like in previous years, Wotan had architectural kits to give away. Even if the students who stopped by his table weren't interested in becoming architects, they tended to like the kits because they were fun to build.
Will Dewhurst, Wotan's brother and Kate's father, was also at Career Day this year. It also wasn't his first time, though he wasn't the veteran his older brother was. Will worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Printing Office. He was responsible for printing many of the publications the Ministry's various departments produced for the public. He had a number of samples on his table, as well as a stack of publications to give out to anyone interested in taking one. He picked a publication he thought the students would be most interested in, one the British and Irish Quidditch League.
New to Career Day this year was the father of Wotan and Will. Walter Dewhurst was nearing retirement but wanted to see what all the fuss was about before he truly called it quits. He also worked for the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Magical Research. His speciality was alchemy. Walter had a number of flasks and small, simmering cauldrons on his table with different sorts of experimental potions in them––all perfectly harmless, of course.
Also new to Career Day this year was Siegfried. He had a display board on his table with many photographs he'd taken while working for Quidditch Illustrated. He also had a few of the articles he'd written. Siegfried had first started working for the magazine as a photographer but had since written articles for it as well. He had a box full of next month's edition to give away, hot off the press. Already, the magazines were going quickly.
While Siegfried worked to restock the magazine stack on his table, Bronwyn chatted to a group of girls about her work for the WWN network. She had been to most Career Days since its inception, first as a student and later as the WWN rep. Over time, her exact job had changed, but she had always been an announcer of some sort. She liked to talk, and had a lot to say.
Bronwyn's manager had given her permission to hold a drawing at Career Day. She encouraged everyone who stopped by to submit their name, because one lucky winner would get a chance to go on the air during one of the WWN's most popular programs. That person would get to play co-host for the day. Not a bad gig!
Parent vs Parent
Author: Ella
Date: 02-09-11 16:44
When Ella and Francis walked into the Great Hall towards the middle of the day, they expected to see Mrs. Harville at the nursing booth. Rosemary had let Ella know by one of the numerous letters she'd recently sent that she had volunteered for Career Day. Ella thought the news was both good and bad. Good, because it would give Rosemary a chance to do something other than the day to day routine of going to work and moping at home. Bad, because she feared Rosemary would be just as much a mess as she'd been when Ella had left her on Platform 9 3/4 in London at the start of Winter Term.
What Ella and Francis hadn't expected upon entering the Great Hall was the sight of Dunstan Harville manning the Ministry of Magic's legal table. He hadn't mentioned anything to Ella about coming to Hogwarts today, and if she'd known, she would have for sure mentioned it to her mother.
Now, Rosemary looked on the verge of tears but tried her hardest to ignore the man across the room as she talked to the various students who came to her booth to learn about nursing careers. She worked at St. Mungo's in pediatric care. Rosemary liked children very much and wanted to give them a good impression about her work and what it was like helping sick children get better.
The moment Rosemary was alone, Ella stole to her mother's side. Francis hovered uncomfortably a few feet away and tried not to look as if he was eavesdropping.
"Mum, I had NO idea Dad was going to be here today. He didn't tell me," Ella fervently expressed in as low a tone as she could manage. She didn't care if Francis heard, but she didn't want everybody else overhearing.
Rosemary expelled a shuddering sigh and brokenly said, "I hoped you would have thought to mention it if he had told you. It's taking a lot for me to stay here."
"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore won't mind if you want to go."
"No," Rosemary replied, holding up a hand. "I want to stay. I'm not going to let him run me off, and I don't want to disappoint everybody."
"You won't disappoint anybody, and I don't think that's what Dad wants anyway," Ella softly replied. She didn't get the impression that Dunstan hated his ex-wife or that he couldn't stand to be in the same room with her. Obviously, they had some sort of differences or they wouldn't have gotten divorced, but Ella thought her father acted mostly civil towards her mother.
The problem person wasn't in the room. Ella decided not to bring up the woman's name.
"Have you talked to him yet?" Rosemary asked.
"Other than 'Hi, I'm surprised to see you here,' no, I haven't."
"Well, you should. He is your father after all."
Ella blinked and exchanged a quick glance with Francis. "Okay. I'll come back later."
Rosemary nodded, pulled a tissue from the pocket of her robes and dabbed the corners of both eyes. Then, she tucked the tissue away and put on a brave smile for the next student to approach her booth.
Ella and Francis stepped away and made the journey across the room to the Law table. Dunstan and the other gentleman at the table were in the middle of talking about some sort of courtroom procedure. Ella listened halfheartedly and didn't address her father until the student cleared away.
"I didn't introduce you to my colleague earlier," Dunstan said. "This is Tobias Beck."
"Nice to meet you," Ella said, shaking the older wizard's hand. Francis shook his hand as well.
"This is my daughter Ella and her friend Francis."
"Nice to meet you both. Are you interested in legal careers?"
"I'd like to hear more," Francis said. He gave Ella a knowing look and then engaged Tobias in conversation. Ella moved to her father's side asked, "How's everything with the... with the baby?"
It was still weird to think that her dad was going to have another kid, that she would have another sibling. She'd been an only child her entire life, for over seventeen years.
"Everything's great. We're both really excited. Are you?"
"Um... I guess. I was really, erm, shocked when Delilah made the announcement, but..." she looked over her shoulder to check on her mother, who was chatting to a group of young girls. For the moment, Rosemary appeared okay.
Dunstan followed Ella's gaze and quietly asked, "How's your mother holding up?"
Ella turned back around to face her dad and said, "Mum's... miserable, Dad."
"Why is she miserable?"
Ella really didn't know, come to think of it. She and Rosemary had never really discussed it. Ella only knew that ever since Dunstan introduced Delilah to his family, Rosemary became upset. "I guess she misses you."
Dunstan looked over his daughter's head at his ex-wife and watched her for a few silent moments. Then he turned back to Ella and asked, "You're not seeing that boy anymore, are you?"
Ella rolled her eyes. "Dad! We've been over this already, many times. I haven't seen him in months and I'm not going to if I can help it."
"Good. I shouldn't call him a boy, anyway. He's a grown man who ought to get in serious trouble for corrupting my little girl."
"Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore."
"I know. Maybe the next one will turn out better."
Ella felt like she'd just been slapped in the face. Even Francis, who had still be actively talking to Tobias, stopped mid-word to look at her.
"I didn't mean it like that," Dunstan backpedaled.
Ella shook her head. "Right." She turned around and walked away.
"Ella! Come back!" Dunstan called, but he didn't bother to follow her.
She didn't stop, walking right past her mother and out the Great Hall doors. A moment later, Francis found her.
"Are you all right?" he asked, following her to the marble staircase. She sat down on the steps. He sat down next to her.
"My dad just implied that I didn't turn out right."
"That's coming from a guy who divorced a perfectly nice woman, married a perfectly mean woman, and is having a baby at his age. What is he, like fifty?"
"Maybe the reason I'm so messed up is because it's in my blood."
"You're not messed up, Ella. You're a teenager. A perfectly normal teenager."
Ella gave him a long look. "I realize you're trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate the gesture immensely, but what I wouldn't give for a smoke right now."
"I think your nurse of a mother would tell you smoking is bad for you."
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Ella replied. She didn't have any cigarettes, though, and without Zane had no way to get any.
"What do you want to do now?" Francis asked.
"Let's just sit here for a while and then go back in. I do want to see some of the other booths," Ella said. "I just need to cool off first."
"Okay. Let's do that," Francis said. He was perfectly content to just sit with Ella until she was ready to go back into the Great Hall.