|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Sept 4, 2010 0:04:00 GMT -5
Victoria had thought she would feel more at ease once she had finished the training program. But there was something about walking into the Ministry for the first time as an actual employee that was, frankly, terrifying. Suddenly, she felt like every person she passed in the hallway was staring at her, judging her, and finding her lacking. She felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb among all these people who had obviously known each other for years. And who was she, anyway, to think she could just walk in here and expect to fit in?
By the time she exited the lift behind Felicia Campbell, the head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, Victoria's legs felt like they were made of jelly. And when Victoria was nervous, bad things tended to happen. Or rather, bad things tended to come out of her mouth. She would never forget her Sorting Ceremony on her first night at Hogwarts. She had stood in line talking nonstop and missed hearing her name get called. She didn't even notice that they were waiting for her until a boy standing nearby (who had later been Sorted into Slytherin) yelled at her to shut up and put on the hat.
Ms. Campbell didn't seem the type to trifle with, so for the moment, Victoria was silent, her lips pressed tightly together. Ms. Campbell led her into the department and over to the desk that was now labeled with her name "Victoria Bennett." And before Victoria could ask her a single question, Ms. Campbell was gone, leaving Victoria standing at her desk and staring blankly around the room.
"Now what?" she said aloud.
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Sept 4, 2010 12:31:32 GMT -5
Things still weren't going smoothly with Kryshna. Daniel felt like he was going insane. They nearly had her a few nights ago, but nearly wasn't good enough. She needed to be caught. Right now, however, Daniel was in the office. He needed a breather, even though he knew that he was going to be working on the case while he was attempting to step away for a moment.
He had gone to the cafeteria to get himself a cup of coffee. Sitting at his desk, Daniel closed his eyes for just a moment while he leaned back in his chair. He had arrived a few moments before Felicia appeared. His short moment of trying to take a deep breath was gone as soon as someone's voice broke the slience in the office.
The voice was very distinct. Daniel opened his eyes and leaned up. Raising an eyebrow in the girl's direction, he gave his head a shake. For some reason, he had a feeling that it wasn't going to be quiet anymore.
The girl's desk was near his own and for some reason, he thought that he wasn't going to really concentrate on his work at the moment.
"You can see if there's a note for you to do something on your desk," he answered looking in the girl's direction.
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Sept 6, 2010 0:29:57 GMT -5
Vicki was already looking down at her desk helplessly. There were some memos--one which looked to be something about a Ministry dress code, another about new security measures, and something from the Minister welcoming her to the department. And that was it... other than a cup filled with quills, an inkpot, and some blank parchments.
Biting down on her lower lip, she looked back up at the person who had spoken to her. "There's nothing here... D'you suppose I'm just supposed to wait here for an assignment. What do I do in the meantime... sit here and doodle? I'm Victoria, by the way... you can call me Vicki. What's your name? Do you have an assignment? Maybe you could tell me a little about what you do here. I mean, I went through the training and all, but it's nothing to actually doing it... I thought she'd partner me with someone to show me the ropes, not just show me to my desk and leave me alone..."
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Sept 6, 2010 5:34:32 GMT -5
She was definitely a talker. "Whoa, just slow down and breath," he said as she seemed to just throw out questions. "Felicia just sort of left you without anything to do?" Inside his head, Daniel was groaning. There didn't really seem like anyone else around that could possibly help her. He was the only one close to her at the moment.
"Maybe she had to go do something first and then she might come back." Daniel knew that he was going to have to be the one to keep her entertained for the time being. Hopefully Felicia was going to come back.
"In the mean time, I'm Daniel. Right now, I'm still just looking over a file, trying to figure out if I missed something. Nothing too exciting today."
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Sept 18, 2010 23:27:32 GMT -5
Victoria frowned in the direction where Felicia had disappeared. "I don't know, she didn't say anything. I got the feeling she had other things on her mind and I was just kind of an annoyance. I'm not annoying you, am I? I know I talk a lot... I do that when I get nervous. And what could be more nerve-wracking than being abandoned at your desk with nothing to do on your first day of work, right?"
She giggled lightly, then perched on the edge of her virtually empty desk. "It's nice to meet you, Daniel. Would you mind... I mean, I guess whatever you're working on is probably confidential, but... I don't know, do you maybe have some tips for a newbie? Like the kinds of cases you work on? Do you work very closely with Aurors? Oh, and do you know that Auror guy who came back from the dead or whatever? Ronald or something, wasn't it? I mean, how cool is that...?"
She trailed off, realizing that she was babbling again. She let out another nervous giggle and began to twirl a lock of her long blonde hair around her finger. She must sound and look like such a ditz, but she couldn't seem to stop herself... "Sorry. I did it again. Sometimes, I swear, my mouth just runs away from me of its own accord."
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Sept 21, 2010 5:36:05 GMT -5
Daniel set his file down on his desk as he leaned back in his chair. He was not going to get a way from this one. She wanted tips and details. He let out a sign and leaned forward so that his arms were resting on his desk.
"First of all, a tip is to not babble so much, especially in meetings we have sometimes. You just get your information and you just go. Secondly, any type of case is open and yes we work closely with Aurors."
He wasn't quite sure what to make of this girl. He knew that he was going to have to be nice because he didn't want Felicia to have his head. Letting out another sigh, Daniel knew if he didn't start explaining something else, he was going to have to keep answering all sorts of questions while she babbled on and on.
"Grab a chair and come take a look at this file," he said meaning the current Kryshna case he was working on at the moment. "Tell me what you think."
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Oct 18, 2010 0:19:36 GMT -5
Vicki blushed as she realized that, yes, her babbling was probably pretty unprofessional. She had even almost blurted out that she thought Aurors were hot... which surely wouldn't have gone over very well. Instead, she pressed her lips closed and smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, you're right, of course. I'm so sorry.... Like I said, I kind of can't help myself when I'm nervous. I'll try not to babble so much..."
She sort of thought he might have been annoyed with her, but when he offered to let her look at the file with hi, she bounced up with excitement. Grabbing her chair, she pulled it around and sat down right next to Daniel. She leaned far over to get a look at the file, and her long blonde hair tumbled into her face.
"Ugh, sorry. I swear I have a rubber band here somewhere..." She began digging around in her robe pockets, trying to find a rubber band. She was going to have to make a note to wear her hair back while on the job.
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Oct 18, 2010 8:00:57 GMT -5
Part of him wondered if Felicia knew that Daniel was the only one that was available at the moment and maybe punishing him for something. The girl wasn't all that bad, however, with the exception that she did talk a little too much.
Daniel only shook his head when the girl became excited that he asked her to look at the file. Before he had the chance to slide it over to her, she was already looking at the file, which happened to be right in front of him. He didn't know what to do with a new person, in fact he didn't even remember what was one of the first things that he did right off the top of his head. It felt like he had already been there forever.
As Victoria looked around for a rubber band, he looked on his desk and picked one up. He slid the file in between them so that she wouldn't have to strain over him to look at it. "Here's a rubber band," he said clearing his throat, offering it to her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Oct 24, 2010 22:10:23 GMT -5
Vicki blushed, realizing what she had been doing. It probably hadn't been appropriate for her to be leaning all the way over him like that, and he was probably pretty annoyed by it. Great. Her first day and she was already annoying her coworkers. Well, one of them, anyway. There didn't seem to be anyone else around other than Daniel and herself.
"Thanks," she said, taking the rubber band from him. "I should really remember to keep one on me at all times... my hair tends to get in the way a lot. I'd cut it, but I kind of think I'd look like a boy with shorter hair."
Again she closed her mouth quickly, realizing that she was on the verge of babbling once again. She probably could have gone on and on about her hair, and how she thought it her best feature, but she was quite certain that he'd be bored hearing about that. Instead she tried to focus on the case file in front of her.
After reading a few words, however, her eyes widened. It was a murder case; a fairly horrific one, and the presumed killer was apparently responsible for a number of brutal murders. It was the kind of case that she imagined would be largely handled by Aurors.
"Wow.... you're working on this case?" she said. "I suppose you're working with Aurors on this one? What kind of work do you do on it?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Oct 25, 2010 17:56:16 GMT -5
As Victoria seemed to start to ramble about her hair, Daniel raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn't sure what to make of her and he was more than positive if Sean was there, he would falling out of his chair in laughter more than likely.
The moment that she turned her attention back to the case file, Daniel took that quick moment to access the girl sitting beside him. She wasn't all that bad looking, but he wondered how she was going to fair as a MLE officer. Her rambling was going to have to stop if she was going to be fairly good at her job.
At her question, Daniel's natural smart comment self was about to say something smart but he bit his tongue. Instead he nodded his head and ran a hand over his face and let out a sigh.
"Yeah, it's a case I'm working on. My brother is also working on it, but I believe he's trying to finish up another case at the moment. This killer has me wondering about everything. What is so special about the victims? Why kill this way? What are they trying to tell us other than just sending fear into the hearts of many, or is that the only message?" Daniel realized that he was rambling off questions and he stopped himself. He shook his head. "I go to the crime scenes and look around, see what evidence I can find and work with a couple of aurors. We haven't really all that much process in catching who or whatever the killer is."
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Oct 31, 2010 0:04:59 GMT -5
Vicki peered down at the file for a long moment, for once not speaking at all. She looked at the victims' names, and something seemed to spark in her mind. She frowned deeply, trying to remember where she had heard those names before.
"These two... I feel like I've heard of them before," she said at last. "I read about them, I think... They were trying to start some program to help wizards fit in better with muggles. To teach them the basics, of dressing like muggles and stuff like that. Like what they teach in muggle studies class at Hogwarts, only for older wizards."
She looked up at Daniel, a worried look on her face. "Do you think maybe these people were killed like this because what they were doing was seen as particularly dangerous by Lord Voldemort? Like, some people they just kill to get out of the way, but people like this, people trying to make a difference and change the way things are done.... they need to be made an example of?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Oct 31, 2010 21:53:28 GMT -5
While Victoria was looking over the case files, Daniel leaned back in his chair trying to think of any very specific connections. Once she started to speak again, Daniel quickly sat up. "Trying to set an example of," he repeated. "That would explain why those people were murdered. Each wizard would be considered a traitor." He stopped as soon as he said that. The first thing that popped into his mind was his father and mother. If so called 'traitors' were being killed, what about his father? His mother would be in huge danger. "Killing each so called 'traitor' would send fear into the other ones like it and make them want to change."
Daniel took a sheet from the file and looke back over it. "But who is next? Is the killing random, but yet the victims are always the wizards who help muggles?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Nov 2, 2010 14:15:12 GMT -5
Vicki continued to peer down into the folder, frowning deeply. One could almost hear the gears in her mind turning as she thought this over.
"No," she said slowly. "I think... I don't think the killings are that random. At least, not the ones here in London. These are people who somehow really offended Lord Voldemort. He wants to make them suffer, and to send a message to others like them that they could be next if they don't stop. If I were you, I would make a list of people around 30 years or older, who could be seen as traitors and who have ties with Hogwarts. See... all of these people are connected with Hogwarts in some way or another. And not just that they once went there... they are connected to it now, even if it's just that they have a kid going there."
Then she stopped and let out a nervous giggle. "Or, I mean... that's just what it looks like to me. Maybe I'm way off base. You probably know the case better than I do."
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Nov 2, 2010 15:34:05 GMT -5
"You might just make it through your first week of being here," Daniel said as he caught everything that she said. A fresh pair of eyes was just what he needed. Now how was he going to present that to the aurors? Of course, he could just not tell them right off and do it himself then present it to them. That might be an easier course of action.
Of course, this made the fact that he was worried about his parents increase even more. Granted his father did not really have ties to Hogwarts, he could still be a target, especially if the new hit thing was to go after muggle lovers. He could talk to his father alone the next time he went for dinner. His mother didn't need to know about any of it. Of course she wasn't dumb, she knew something was up, but Daniel felt better if she didn't know the details.
Daniel wasn't sure how wise it was to get the new person to look at a case that was still wide open, but surprisingly she was smart. She saw the one thing that Daniel didn't see. Of course, he wasn't going to exactly mention this right off.
"This whole case, I'm not even sure how well I know it," he said. He flipped through the pages of the file and found the picture he was looking for. "See this? This is what the killer leaves behind at every scene, in addition to the Dark Mark. Who ever, or whatever the killer is, they're fast and quiet. The neighbors never heard or saw anything, even before their memory was altered. All we have to go on is the marks that are left behind, and who is being murdered."
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Nov 7, 2010 0:12:23 GMT -5
Vicki beamed with pleasure. For the first time, she didn't feel like she was completely out of her league here with this job. Maybe she really did have "good instincts," as she'd been told. And even though this most likely wouldn't be the case she would be starting with, it made her feel a lot better that she was able to make a useful observation on such a difficult case.
"A hired assassin would know how to get in and out of places without leaving behind a trace," she pointed out. "This killer really knows what he's doing. Or she. And this symbol--it's sort of cult-like, isn't it? Have you investigated the origin of the symbol? It looks ancient."
|
|
|
|
Post by Felicia Campbell on Nov 7, 2010 0:23:46 GMT -5
Just then, Felicia walked back into the main room with an armful of parchments. These were rules and regulations and other information that she was required to give to all new employees.
Felicia did not have particularly high hopes for the girl. She looked too much like a spoiled princess; the type of girl more concerned with her hair and outfit than on the case at hand. But she'd been wrong before, so the least she could do was give the girl a chance to prove herself.
"Oh, good," she said, seeing Victoria talking to Daniel Leviner. She had planned to have the girl shadow someone, but she hadn't decided who it would be until she saw Victoria and Daniel hunched over a file. "I see Daniel's showing you the ropes. The good news is, you'll be shadowing him for a couple of weeks."
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Nov 7, 2010 10:37:00 GMT -5
"That's true," he agreed. "As for the symbol, well my brother and I are still looking into that. Every symbol book we've looked in hasn't had this symbol in it, but we'll find out what it means eventually."
Daniel stared at the symbol until Felicia returned. He didn't know how long she had been standing there because his mind was too busy trying to wrap itself around what was going on with the case. He wasn't able to say what he thought next because Felicia made her presence known.
He glanced up as soon as she spoke. The only thing that stuck in his mind was that the new girl was going to be shadowing him. Daniel felt as if his stomach sank to his feet. She was going to shadow him? Daniel didn't like the idea of working with a partner, with the exception of Sean. He and Sean were in sync with each other, so there was no problem there, even if Daniel did always worry about his younger brother. Now he was going to have to take responsibility for the girl sitting next to him. What in the world was Felicia thinking? Sure the girl next to him had pointed out a few things that he probably overlooked and that he should probably look into. How was he going to work with her? He already knew that she was a talker, and how was he going to deal with that?
If Sean was there now, Daniel was sure that his brother would be laughing at him. The expression that Daniel gave Felicia was asking her if she was serious. "She's, she's going to be shadowing me," Daniel repeated with his eyebrows raised.
|
|
|
|
Post by Felicia Campbell on Nov 8, 2010 0:49:07 GMT -5
Felicia gave him a look. She was well known for being a tough, no-nonsense type of boss, and she generally didn't stand for excuses or complaints from her employees. The Leviner brothers were two of her best officers, but that didn't mean she was willing to let them always have their way.
"That's not going to be a problem, is it?" she said, putting one hand on her hip and raising her eyebrows at him. It was clearly a challenge. "Look, you two already seem to be getting along famously. I know you usually prefer to work with your brother, but I really need Sean to concentrate on that kidnapping case. The mother is getting frantic. Unless there's a major break in the murder case, I'd like you to work with Victoria instead. OK?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Victoria Bennett on Nov 8, 2010 0:53:50 GMT -5
Victoria looked between Daniel and Felicia, frowning. She didn't want to be a bother to anyone, she really just wanted to get to work. And it bugged her a little that Daniel seemed annoyed by the idea of her shadowing him. It had seemed like they were getting along well, so what was the problem? Was it just because he wanted to work with his brother, or was he annoyed by her?
"If Daniel doesn't want to work with me, then I don't really want to work with him," she said in a slightly bitter tone. "I'm sure I can manage perfectly well on my own if you just tell me what to do."
|
|
|
|
Post by Daniel Leviner on Nov 8, 2010 6:26:58 GMT -5
Daniel knew not to complain or anything like that to Felicia. Sometimes, that woman scared him but no one had to know about that. He wasn't used to the fact that he was going to have to shadow him. He was used to his brother and he wasn't sure how to keep another person.
Before he got to say anything, Victoria spoke. Her words made him feel guilty. "No, it's not a problem," he said speaking up. Even if Daniel protested against it, Felicia wouldn't hear it. He knew that he was going to have to seem to be okay with it, when he didn't even know what to think about it. He hoped that she would keep up and keep the blabber to a minium, however he couldn't just say that out loud at the moment. "Maybe we'll be able to find out more with a new pair of eyes." Daniel knew that he needed to seem okay with it and he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. That was the one thing he hated.
|
|
