Email from Jo Trilby (hobo@wizmail.co.uk) to Lois Trilby (lhtrilby@yahoo.com)
Lois, you won't believe this. I now have a government job.
I'm floored. I almost ended up at Hogwarts, the Wizarding school in Scotland, but my references didn't work out. I think it had more to do with my rainbow robes when I visited the school than my actual work, though. Mr. Lupin recommended me for both that job (as his assistant in his Defense Against the Dark Arts class), and this one. Amaranth ended up picking up that position as Mr. Lupin wanted someone he trusts and very quickly. This whole thing has really hit him hard.
Now, the real kicker about the new job? I'm going to be a confidential clerk, basically an assistant, for the _Minister of Magic_! His secretary showed up this morning at the jewelry shop I'd gotten some hours at, you know, double checking the incoming pieces for curses and hexes before polishing them up for re-sale, and said “Jo Trilby? Come with me.” She made them let us use the back office floo and used a restricted passkey to access the Minister's offices. It was like something out of a film, only without the secret agents telling me I had to carry a mysterious locked suitcase cross country.
A four inch thick stack of forms later, I started training. I'm just lucky I wore my navy chalkstripe robes. Not doing my laundry turned out to be an advantage today since I _had_ intended to wear my denim robes!
Miss Deshanks, the secretary, is impressive but I swear she acted like I was the last bottle of water at Burning Man. The person who had my position before was killed in the Ministry bombing the same night the museum was attacked and they've been short handed ever since. And no, that's not license to worry. Security is a lot tighter now, and I know how to be careful. The only reason they could hire me so quickly was because I'd already had a background check for the museum. I only have partial access until they clear me for the really sensitive stuff. There's stuff that Miss Deshanks will still have to do because I won't have clearance for at least a week, and for longer after that as I just won't have the necessary knowledge. But from what I can see she's been doing _both_ jobs and the Minister has been pulling extra hours as well, on top of emergencies. So even a rookie like me will be a help.
I haven't had much contact with the Minister yet. They've had me reading reports to get up to speed on the actual events behind the meetings and forms and people I'll have to keep track of. And I've been introduced to the diary log, which is an immensely complicated calendar charm that Miss Deshanks guards like it's the holy grail. Which, considering the office, it probably is.
So, there you have it. We get paid on the first of the month, regardless of time worked, so I can breath a bit easier in terms of finances. Even just a week at training pay is better than anything else I've had all month, and I have enough to last to the next paycheck which will be sumptuous in comparison. Salaried, and I can already tell I'll be in early and stay late a lot, but I can handle it. I can afford to keep my apartment and I can tell Amaranth she doesn't have to pitch in on rent anymore if she still wants to keep her stuff here. It's all shrunk anyway while she's at the school. I hear there are other museum people working at the Ministry too, although they're in an entirely separate department so I don't know if I'll run into them. I never thought I'd be so grateful for the subdued dress code at the museum. I don't have to buy new robes for work! And as long the whole three month trial period works out, I'll be a civil servant of all things!
Surreal is probably the only word for it.
Love to Phil, and you of course.
Jo