(1941-07-01) Do Pranks Translate Well?
Details for Do Pranks Translate Well?
Summary: Sioned is just doing her job, but is interrupted first by Galahad, then Annie.
Date: Friday, July 1, 1941
Location: Department of International Magical Cooperation
Related:
Characters
SionedGalahadAnnie

It is a rather busy afternoon at the Ministry of Magic, and the Department of International Magical Cooperation is no different. With interdepartmental memos flying overhead, letters flying down chutes, and a the general hustle and bustle of business, everything seems to be rushed. Except Sioned's desk. Somewhat like the eye of the storm, everything seems perfectly in its place, including her. She holds a quill between her thumb and forefinger in her right hand, her left pointing to another document set side by side. Her brow is furrowed, but she does not react to the commotion around her, her eyes firmly on the parchment.

Galahad walks into the department looking around impatiently.
Galahad says, "Ahem. Good afternoon. I'm having a few issues with those charts the trading office gave us."
Galahad points at a piece of parchment held in his right hand, marked "General Statistics on Love Potions -Focus (Amortentia)"

Sioned finally sets her quill to parchment, and the moment she does, Galahad's voice startles her. "N…nani?" She stammers out, going from calm to flustered in the space of about 3 seconds. "Bouekikankei no sy…" She halts, realises she's not in the correct language, and tries again. "What trade charts?" The document in front of her is written in a strange tongue. She blinks at the piece of paper proffered. "Love potions? I have no such memo." She points to her inbox. Empty.

Galahad says, "Of course you won't have a memo. It's from months ago. And the problem's probably just manifested and hasn't been reported yet."
Galahad says, "The protean charm must have worn off. It's supposed to update itself every fortnight, but this thing's stats are clearly outdated."
Galahad takes out a quill and marks down several statistical anomalies, handing the parchment over to be examined by Sioned.

Sioned tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear and squints slightly, trying to read the fine print. "What problem? I'm sorry, you're in the International Cooperation department." As Galahad details more of the problem, Sioned's eyes widen. But not from a sense of alarm. "The… protean charm?" She is trying to get her head around what is going on, but it's clearly above her pay grade. Danged if she isn't trying hard though. "Perhaps you would be better of heading to the Mysteries department…" Her eyes look for a name badge, anything to identify the man. As the parchment comes into her line of vision, she takes it automatically, turning the letters to face her. "Like I said. Mysteries…" She turns the document back towards Galahad.

Galahad curses under his breath. "New girl must have messed up the departments again"
Galahad says, "Well, my colleague claimed to have acquired the chart from the trading standards body. Unless she tried to prank me again. That trickster!"
Galahad slams his fist onto the table upon this realization.

Never a dull moment in the International Cooperation division, the combination of quills on paper, and simultaneous interpreting is akin to hens in a chicken coop. Sioned sits in the middle of it all, an oasis of calm as departmental memos fly overhead haphazardly. "But I'm not new…" She starts, before losing the previously mentioned calm in an instant, as the man slams his fist into the table. "P…please calm d…down." She doesn't stand up however, possibly because her legs are incapable of supporting her weight after that outburst. "W…who are you?"

Galahad says, "Oh…sorry. I'm Galahad Weasley. I guess I really shouldn't blame you for her fault."

Amid the fluttering papers enters a face that is fairly unfamiliar within the confines of the Ministry. Dressed more in Muggle fashion than wizard, Annie Moody pauses to look around. A loud sound draws her attention, and she looks toward the source. One of the faces looks familiar, and the former Ravenclaw approaches with a bit of caution before a smile curves her lips. "Excuse me," she ventures, her smile first to the seemingly irate man, then to the Goshawk. "Sioned Goshawk?" Same year, different houses, but Annie has always been rather good with names.

Galahad sits down on a chair nearby, clearly still fuming with anger. He casts occasional glances at the newcomer.
Galahad says, "She's lucky if I manage not to "accidentally" jinx her. No…I have a better idea."
Galahad spreads a roll of parchment out on his lap, with a mischievious grin on his face.

Sioned nods pointedly at Galahad, once, as if the fact that he shouldn't blame her is a given. Noticing movement in the background, her eyes seek out Annie's, appreciative of any and all help. "Annie?" Her voice almost drips with relief. Even if it's been a while, her predicament has helped to jog her memory. Sioned's gaze flicks to Galahad as he speaks, and brow furrows again. "A better idea?" She isn't quite sure how to react as he gets out parchment, her eyes flicking back to her own work, then to Annie. Help.

Galahad begins scribbling what seems like ancient runes onto the parchment, his smile growing wider as more symbols appear underneath his quill.

Curious blue eyes turn to the Weasley for a moment as he speaks of jinxing someone, and Annie has a second to muse that she'd thought with school out she'd be well away from 'pranksters' for a while. It seems not restricted to the younger witches and wizards. But, she's not here to play authority figure, she has the summer off! Looking back to Sioned her smile warms again. "Fancy seein' yeh here, after all this time. Yeh look like life after Hogwarts is agreein' with yeh." Her own North London accent is as strong as ever. "I was fair pleased when they sent me off with yer name, I've a little matter here…" As she speaks she offers a folded slip of paper. "My uncle is travelin' an thinks it's great fun t'challenge me." When the paper is unfolded characters are revealed, possibly Japanese. Not the best of places to be traveling right now, with the Muggle war and all, but wizards don't always play by the rules.

Sioned can't help but look at the runes as he writes. It was one of her electives, and she understands enough to look slightly alarmed by what he's writing. She is soon distracted however, as Annie draws her into conversation. Her own accent is prim and proper, a little too much so in places. "I really am enjoying it here. There's something different every day." The moment the paper is unfolded though, she uncharacteristically reaches for it out of habit more than anything. "Japanese? Naruhodo." Her tone is neutral, and carefully so. She understands the implications and given the language, what the subject material may turn out to be.

Galahad says, "Let's see whether she finds a secret message consisting of.. .. in runes funny or not." "Abeo Scripto!" *The writings fade from view as Galahad enchants it with a secret message charm.*"

Seeing what appears to be some measure of concern in Sioned's eyes, Annie's drift back to the unknown man and linger curiously. When she looks back to her former yearmate, it's with a raised brow, a glance back to Galahad, and then she eases again. "Uncle Richard loves going where he's not entirely supposed to go." The note will translate into a benign 'hello niece, greetings from Japan' with a little detail of what he's been up to. Mostly visiting gardens, he is something of a plant lover. "I wasn't half surprised t'hear yer name when I asked if someone could translate for me." Still, she can't help looking back to Galahad, and offering out a curious, "Havin' trouble with someone?"

Sioned raises an eyebrow, but whether it's at the document in front of her, or Galahad's words, one cannot be sure. The slight upturning of her lips might give it away though. "What language do you need this in?" It's never good to assume, and she can put it into about 10 languages comfortably. "I'm used to seeing things that are a little more dire in Japanese, to be honest. This is a nice change." Taking up her quill again, she starts to write in neat, blockish letters, translating the document with ease. "I've picked up some more languages since, they keep sending me to places hoping I'll pick things up." She doesn't look up from her work, content to let Galahad and Annie interact while she works.

Galahad looks up at Annie, seeing her features properly for the first time. "One of my colleague's a bit…let's say that St. Mungo's long term residency ward suits her sometimes." Hearing Sioned's offer for translation, Galahad lets out a contained laugh and quickly formulates a reply. "I swear by merlin's beard that the reciepient of this will not require translation."

"Oh, just English would be dandy," Annie remarks to Sioned. And it's the only one the little witch speaks, so. "Thankfully, Uncle Richard is just a bit of an eccentric visitor. I tried to talk sense into him, but he's of th'mind that he's completely out of Muggle affairs." Her tone has the 'he's a sweet man, but' inflection that can be quite common between generations. Returning her gaze to Galahad, Annie's smile comes tentatively, "Some are like that, I do suppose. Still, there's nothing wrong with some fun between colleagues." There might be a little stress on 'fun', she's a librarian after all and one doesn't just step out of that because they've stepped out of school.

There is a tenseness in Sioned's shoulders that finally lets out upon hearing Galahad laugh, that one may not notice unless they were looking for it in the first place. She continues her translation, pausing slightly over a botanical reference. In no time at all she is done, folding the paper over and holding it out for Annie. "I… do not care for that kind of fun." She purses her lips slightly as she puts down the quill, careful that it sits perpendicular to the edge of the desk. "I hope your colleague appreciates the fun, given that they are in St. Mungos." Way to take things literally, Sio! She wasn't fully listening though, her mind on the translation.

Galahad was about to make a particularly witty reply when he heard what Sioned had declared. "St.Mungos…my colleague" he murmurs, his mind temporarily unable to make the connection. Suddenely, Galahad lets out a laugh so loud that the whole ministry must have heard it. "Really!"

The smile turns to a grin to Sioned, and Annie nods, "I see well enough of it at Hogwarts. Thank Merlin for holidays." She accepts the note back, not pausing to read it immediately. She'll take it home to share with Tim and Aurora, who always love to hear what Uncle Richard is up to. It's a reflex that has her giving an automatic "Shh." to the barked laugh, and she immediately blushes faintly and offers an apology. "Beg parson. So used to shushing in the library."

Sioned visibly winces this time, but it turns into a shy smile. This is much better sound than fist against table. "I give you another three or four days before you start counting the days until the start of the new year." Something captures her attention however, and she sits up entirely too straight for whatever it is to be good news. And it's not. "Sioned!" A booming male voice is audile, but it's not apparent from where. "I haven't had anything from you in the past half an hour." It's not a question. "Get cracking!" Sioned sighs and offers an apologetic gesture, palms up. "I think I had better get back to it." The blank parchment in front of her agrees.

Galahad started searching the pockets of his robes. Evidently having found what he was looking for, he pulled it out. A black pocket watch with many dials filled with esoteric markings appeared. "Oh goodness." he exclaimed, checking the time. "She's going to be leaving within 10. I've got to get this into her hands by that time." he murmurs while straightening up and marching out of the office. A muffled "Goodbye" can be heard in the distance.

Annie grimaces at the yell across the office space, but her nod to Sioned is understanding. "We ought t'get t'gether for lunch sometime, if yeh've a mind." She tears a piece off the paper that was returned to her, liberates a quill from Sioned's desk and scribbles an address in Hogsmeade on it. Leaving it on the desk for the Goshawk, she adds, "I c'n make it to town any time, or if yer around up north sometime." She pauses a moment, watching the back of the retreating Weasley, then grins to Sioned. "Best of luck t'yeh, taming the masses." There's no malice in the words, just light amusement. "Owl me!" is called back, as Annie makes her way to the door in the wake of Galahad.

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