Ministry of Misinformation
Date: Monday, 19 May 2002
Time: very early morning
Location: Ministry of Magic, Millicent’s cublicle on the Second Floor, Auror Department, then the Hall of Records
Characters Involved: Millicent Bulstrode Morsus
Rating: G
Millicent arrived at precisely the same time she had arrived at the Ministry for the last three weeks - early. She had been planning this morning’s activities for long enough to lay the groundwork for her early arrival so that no one in the Auror Department would either comment or take note on her early arrival this day. She had started her Auror training rotation in the Hall of Records a week ago and quickly determined that there was no need to delay in her plans to assist Augustus. Still, caution dictated that she exercise a strong measure of restraint and act with prudence and careful thought. Millicent had enough patience to wait a full week to make certain she had a complete grasp of all of her co-workers schedules and enough of their idiosyncrasies that she could spot any last minute flaws in her plans.
Identifying none, she had decided that acting early Monday morning when the department’s personnel attention span was at its lowest was her wisest choice. Those who began their day well were too busy discussing the weekend with their friends to notice Millicent already at work at her desk. Those who were recovering from their weekend did their best not to notice anyone at the Hall of Records; Millicent least of all. In any case, she planned to have her good deed complete before there was anyone to witness it.
Millicent had stopped at her cubicle in the Auror Department just long enough to see if anyone who might be checking up on her had arrived and to drop off her jumper. It would make for a convenient excuse to return if she needed one later. No excuse was needed for the leather gloves she wore. They were complimentary to her robes and would make her work this morning completely untraceable - not that she intended to touch anything. Her wand would handle things just fine.
Her wand, in fact, had handled everything just fine in preparation for this moment. Once she’d located the witch in question who had the skills to fabricate the appropriate documents, it had been a simple matter of coercion, collection and covert withdrawal. Simple for Millicent, not the witch in question. Melanie Simpleton, a rather simple soul with appropriate skills had come to her attention through a well paid friend in Knockturn Alley. Their clandestine meeting had been arranged, the documents created on the appropriate age of parchment and ink and signed by the appropriate Ministry officials who were now all most conveniently deceased. The scrolls were similar in tone and content to the ones that had so conveniently and publicly released Lucius from Azkaban, including enough detail and specific benefits supposedly reaped by the Ministry during both wars that the Ministry should be led to release Augustus from his “leash” with an official apology - the release of the Malfoys was too recent for anyone to justify keeping Augustus under surveillance where the Malfoys were not. The scrolls made it clear he had been recruited by the forces against the Dark Lord during his tenure at the Department of Mysteries and had been unjustly tried and convicted during the years following. It was a masterwork of deception with the extra added benefit that no one had to pay for it. There was no use wasting good Galleons on a witch who remembered nothing of their creation or her part in it. Millicent congratulated herself on the excellence of her memory charms as she took the lift to the Hall of Records.
When she reached her temporary desk behind the counter at the Hall of Records, she smiled ruefully at the leftover stack of files from last Saturday morning's workload. There were matching stacks on nearly every other desk around her - a habit within the Hall of Records that suited her purposes quite well. As did the fact that there was no one else in this early, just as she’d expected.
She acted without delay, wanting to see this good deed accomplished before she was called upon to continue the mindless review of Death Eater files the Ministry had her working on. It had been a most fortunate assignment in the circumstances, however, and enabled her to surreptitiously secrete the voluminous file of one Augustus Rookwood within her stack of files before she left on Saturday. Now it was a simple matter to use her wand to withdraw the file, open it to the place in the proceedings where she intended to place her “misfiled” newly discovered information. Another moment of smooth practice saw the falsified parchments removed from her robe pocket and appropriately placed.
Now it was a simple matter of placing the supplemented file in the queue for referral and review by a higher authority. Millicent had determined just which files were sent and to whom during the past week and made certain that she levitated this particular file such that it would reach the desk of Undersecretary Umbridge by this afternoon. Dolores Umbridge delighted in taking care of “oversights” that might in any way reflect poorly on the Minister of Magic. While it might be a touch heavy handed, Millicent had already arranged to take tea with her former mentor later that morning. It would be an easy matter to encourage the Undersecretary in this vein of thinking. The admiration for her superb protection against the possible bad press the Undersecretary had circumvented would be totally unrelated to Augustus, yet fresh in her mind when the file was received.
Millicent smiled to herself, back at her desk with no one yet arrived or the wiser of her very special extra-curricular activity. She could not have said what moved her to assist Augustus so blatantly. It might have been the irritation of this damnable rotation through the Departments that forced her to turn her considerable talents to tasks so far beneath her. It might have been simply the desire to store up a significant favour owed from a warlock she felt worthy of her attention. It could have been other, more nefarious motives that drove her. Millicent was neither given to introspection nor dwelling on such matters.
It had given her a chance to use her position at the Ministry to further her own agenda, and for today, that was reason enough.
Time: very early morning
Location: Ministry of Magic, Millicent’s cublicle on the Second Floor, Auror Department, then the Hall of Records
Characters Involved: Millicent Bulstrode Morsus
Rating: G
Millicent arrived at precisely the same time she had arrived at the Ministry for the last three weeks - early. She had been planning this morning’s activities for long enough to lay the groundwork for her early arrival so that no one in the Auror Department would either comment or take note on her early arrival this day. She had started her Auror training rotation in the Hall of Records a week ago and quickly determined that there was no need to delay in her plans to assist Augustus. Still, caution dictated that she exercise a strong measure of restraint and act with prudence and careful thought. Millicent had enough patience to wait a full week to make certain she had a complete grasp of all of her co-workers schedules and enough of their idiosyncrasies that she could spot any last minute flaws in her plans.
Identifying none, she had decided that acting early Monday morning when the department’s personnel attention span was at its lowest was her wisest choice. Those who began their day well were too busy discussing the weekend with their friends to notice Millicent already at work at her desk. Those who were recovering from their weekend did their best not to notice anyone at the Hall of Records; Millicent least of all. In any case, she planned to have her good deed complete before there was anyone to witness it.
Millicent had stopped at her cubicle in the Auror Department just long enough to see if anyone who might be checking up on her had arrived and to drop off her jumper. It would make for a convenient excuse to return if she needed one later. No excuse was needed for the leather gloves she wore. They were complimentary to her robes and would make her work this morning completely untraceable - not that she intended to touch anything. Her wand would handle things just fine.
Her wand, in fact, had handled everything just fine in preparation for this moment. Once she’d located the witch in question who had the skills to fabricate the appropriate documents, it had been a simple matter of coercion, collection and covert withdrawal. Simple for Millicent, not the witch in question. Melanie Simpleton, a rather simple soul with appropriate skills had come to her attention through a well paid friend in Knockturn Alley. Their clandestine meeting had been arranged, the documents created on the appropriate age of parchment and ink and signed by the appropriate Ministry officials who were now all most conveniently deceased. The scrolls were similar in tone and content to the ones that had so conveniently and publicly released Lucius from Azkaban, including enough detail and specific benefits supposedly reaped by the Ministry during both wars that the Ministry should be led to release Augustus from his “leash” with an official apology - the release of the Malfoys was too recent for anyone to justify keeping Augustus under surveillance where the Malfoys were not. The scrolls made it clear he had been recruited by the forces against the Dark Lord during his tenure at the Department of Mysteries and had been unjustly tried and convicted during the years following. It was a masterwork of deception with the extra added benefit that no one had to pay for it. There was no use wasting good Galleons on a witch who remembered nothing of their creation or her part in it. Millicent congratulated herself on the excellence of her memory charms as she took the lift to the Hall of Records.
When she reached her temporary desk behind the counter at the Hall of Records, she smiled ruefully at the leftover stack of files from last Saturday morning's workload. There were matching stacks on nearly every other desk around her - a habit within the Hall of Records that suited her purposes quite well. As did the fact that there was no one else in this early, just as she’d expected.
She acted without delay, wanting to see this good deed accomplished before she was called upon to continue the mindless review of Death Eater files the Ministry had her working on. It had been a most fortunate assignment in the circumstances, however, and enabled her to surreptitiously secrete the voluminous file of one Augustus Rookwood within her stack of files before she left on Saturday. Now it was a simple matter to use her wand to withdraw the file, open it to the place in the proceedings where she intended to place her “misfiled” newly discovered information. Another moment of smooth practice saw the falsified parchments removed from her robe pocket and appropriately placed.
Now it was a simple matter of placing the supplemented file in the queue for referral and review by a higher authority. Millicent had determined just which files were sent and to whom during the past week and made certain that she levitated this particular file such that it would reach the desk of Undersecretary Umbridge by this afternoon. Dolores Umbridge delighted in taking care of “oversights” that might in any way reflect poorly on the Minister of Magic. While it might be a touch heavy handed, Millicent had already arranged to take tea with her former mentor later that morning. It would be an easy matter to encourage the Undersecretary in this vein of thinking. The admiration for her superb protection against the possible bad press the Undersecretary had circumvented would be totally unrelated to Augustus, yet fresh in her mind when the file was received.
Millicent smiled to herself, back at her desk with no one yet arrived or the wiser of her very special extra-curricular activity. She could not have said what moved her to assist Augustus so blatantly. It might have been the irritation of this damnable rotation through the Departments that forced her to turn her considerable talents to tasks so far beneath her. It might have been simply the desire to store up a significant favour owed from a warlock she felt worthy of her attention. It could have been other, more nefarious motives that drove her. Millicent was neither given to introspection nor dwelling on such matters.
It had given her a chance to use her position at the Ministry to further her own agenda, and for today, that was reason enough.