RP: A Better Day
Date: 25 March 1999
Characters: Neville Longbottom
Location: Ministry, 14 Hornbeam Court
Status: Private
Summary: Neville thinks things are looking up.
Completion: Complete
Neville met an elf at the Office of House Elf Relocation two weeks ago but she hadn't been a good fit for the work he wanted done. This morning, shortly after breakfast, he'd received another letter telling him that there were two house elves looking for paying work that might suit his needs. Neville had changed into business robes and headed right over by Floo.
The pair of house elves had still been in the office when he'd arrived. They didn't seem very old to Neville. He'd talked to them for some time just to make sure they understood what he wanted to hire them to do. Their parents', who had been free elves themselves, had trained them to work in the farm, but then bad men had come and killed their family. It took Neville awhile to sort out they meant both the humans and the elves. They'd only survived because they had been out mending a break in the fence.
They wanted to be 'elves that got paying' and Neville was perfectly fine with that. They even had their own place to live and didn't want to stay elsewhere. That was fine with Neville too, so long as they were happy with whatever arrangements they had. Neville thought they should take more pay than they'd asked for but when he tried to talk them up, they stood their ground. The same thing happened when he offered them two days off a week. Apparently they were wanting Wednesdays off and that was final. Neville told them honestly that he wasn't sure if he'd have that many days work for them but supposedly that wasn't to be a problem if they weren't needed as long as they were being paid and didn't need to take off. A little baffled by that, Neville questioned them further to find that they were good at finding things that needed doing. It was all a little odd to him but the house elves didn't seem confused at all. Apparently there was some differentiation between there not being work to do and having time off that escaped Neville but the elves understood perfectly.
Contracts were brought forth by the clerk from the Office of House Elf Relocation detailing their agreement. Neville paid the fee to the Ministry for their assistance. He tried to arrange for Lini and Coop to begin answering his calls come Thursday but they wanted to get started right away. At least they got it when Neville said he needed to change and get to work himself before the elves could get started. It seemed they understood that this was a time where there was not work to do, but that there was paying, making it all fine. Neville hoped he hadn't bit off more than he could chew hiring these two. He took the Ministry Floo back home and went upstairs to change into work clothes.
Neville looked out the window and was surprised to find it was snowing. It didn't much matter since he was headed to Devon for his client there this afternoon but he hoped it wouldn't be a deep snow. He wanted to get some planting in on the property outside town but he needed the frosts to be over first. He decided to fix himself an early lunch so he could work straight through showing the elves what they needed to do for that client. He'd have to rework all his schedules to account for the extra hands but Neville thought he could spend more time on his side projects now until he secured and apprenticeship. He'd been thinking about his consultation with Master Gurdin again when his eyes spotted a letter on the table. It must have come while he was out.
The return address was the Herbologist's. Neville opened it with shaking hands.
Longbottom,
I expect you promptly at 9 am Wednesday dressed and ready for work. I've decided to give you until lunch Wednesday to show me what you've got. If you're good enough maybe it will convince me to take you on.
Gurdin
Neville smiled. Things today were shaping up nicely.
Characters: Neville Longbottom
Location: Ministry, 14 Hornbeam Court
Status: Private
Summary: Neville thinks things are looking up.
Completion: Complete
Neville met an elf at the Office of House Elf Relocation two weeks ago but she hadn't been a good fit for the work he wanted done. This morning, shortly after breakfast, he'd received another letter telling him that there were two house elves looking for paying work that might suit his needs. Neville had changed into business robes and headed right over by Floo.
The pair of house elves had still been in the office when he'd arrived. They didn't seem very old to Neville. He'd talked to them for some time just to make sure they understood what he wanted to hire them to do. Their parents', who had been free elves themselves, had trained them to work in the farm, but then bad men had come and killed their family. It took Neville awhile to sort out they meant both the humans and the elves. They'd only survived because they had been out mending a break in the fence.
They wanted to be 'elves that got paying' and Neville was perfectly fine with that. They even had their own place to live and didn't want to stay elsewhere. That was fine with Neville too, so long as they were happy with whatever arrangements they had. Neville thought they should take more pay than they'd asked for but when he tried to talk them up, they stood their ground. The same thing happened when he offered them two days off a week. Apparently they were wanting Wednesdays off and that was final. Neville told them honestly that he wasn't sure if he'd have that many days work for them but supposedly that wasn't to be a problem if they weren't needed as long as they were being paid and didn't need to take off. A little baffled by that, Neville questioned them further to find that they were good at finding things that needed doing. It was all a little odd to him but the house elves didn't seem confused at all. Apparently there was some differentiation between there not being work to do and having time off that escaped Neville but the elves understood perfectly.
Contracts were brought forth by the clerk from the Office of House Elf Relocation detailing their agreement. Neville paid the fee to the Ministry for their assistance. He tried to arrange for Lini and Coop to begin answering his calls come Thursday but they wanted to get started right away. At least they got it when Neville said he needed to change and get to work himself before the elves could get started. It seemed they understood that this was a time where there was not work to do, but that there was paying, making it all fine. Neville hoped he hadn't bit off more than he could chew hiring these two. He took the Ministry Floo back home and went upstairs to change into work clothes.
Neville looked out the window and was surprised to find it was snowing. It didn't much matter since he was headed to Devon for his client there this afternoon but he hoped it wouldn't be a deep snow. He wanted to get some planting in on the property outside town but he needed the frosts to be over first. He decided to fix himself an early lunch so he could work straight through showing the elves what they needed to do for that client. He'd have to rework all his schedules to account for the extra hands but Neville thought he could spend more time on his side projects now until he secured and apprenticeship. He'd been thinking about his consultation with Master Gurdin again when his eyes spotted a letter on the table. It must have come while he was out.
The return address was the Herbologist's. Neville opened it with shaking hands.
Longbottom,
I expect you promptly at 9 am Wednesday dressed and ready for work. I've decided to give you until lunch Wednesday to show me what you've got. If you're good enough maybe it will convince me to take you on.
Gurdin
Neville smiled. Things today were shaping up nicely.