RP: Staff Meeting

[shh_cedric]

Date: April 20, 2005
Characters: Bill Weasley, Cedric Diggory
Location: Museum
Status: Private
Summary: Cedric and Bill discuss the state of the museum, how close they are to opening, and ideas for displays
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[shh_cedric]

"Hmm." Cedric glanced at his computer. "Warding isn't my forte. I can do basic ones. You're better at them by far. Will a simple shielding ward do, or is something more complicated needed? And it might be wise to both ward the laptop and also ward this section of the building, as the offices have computers -- although those computers don't 'walk,' so to speak. We'll have electricity back here too -- well, when it comes back, we will. Although for the actual museum, I'd prefer to use Lumos balls. Better light than electric bulbs, I think. Especially for the art."

He listened as Bill described the artifacts, looking over his shoulder at the files and nodded -- or smiling, as at the comment about Isis' ankh. "Maybe she has a wealth of them. Or somebody pulled a fast one. Anyway, those sound good to me. I'm going to leave it to you to decide one the best arrangement for the floors. We don't have quite the space the old museum had, but eventually, we'll get that extra wing added, and at that point, we'll likely have more space, once Terry puts the enlarging charms on it. And theoretically, we could enlarge even further, although that would mean tearing into and rebuilding, not just adding a new wing."

Cedric plopped into one of the chairs. Mr. Maya is coming at the end of next week, by the way, to see the manuscripts. His semester is over, at Austin. From what he saw, he doesn't think they'll prove dangerous, so they'll probably be able to be released without worry. From what he saw, he thinks they concern Quetzalcoatl's Creation story -- in more detail, and the Mayan version, not the Aztec -- plus some more on the calendar and what's supposed to happen on December 21st, 2012, according to them."

[shh_bill]

Shaking his head, Bill furrowed his brow. "Brush me up a bit on Mayan lore, what's supposed to happen on December 21, 2012? It's something bad isn't it?"

He wasn't sure if he felt comfortable using Muggle technology, even electricity because from his experience or more like his experience with having Muggleborn friends who've had it around highly magical objects it has either exploded or in one extreme case the computer came alive and began spitting microchips at them. They finally had to douse it with an aquamenti charm before it finally died.

[shh_cedric]

"What happens depends on who you talk to. It's the last day of the Mayan long-count calendar, which began back in 31-hundred-something BC. I really don't know so much about it myself -- know the Hopi-Pueblo people's thoughts better. Basically, they say it'll be the end of the world as we know it. Defining the 'as we know it' is the critical part. But the earth and sun are supposed to line up with the center of the galaxy, or something like that. Most of the Hopi I talked to didn't look on it as a doomsday necessarily, though. Just the beginning of the next 'sun,' or age.

"And that pretty much covers the extent of what I know about it. Maybe these books will say more."

[shh_bill]

"Are you sure that hasn't already happened?" Bill asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Seems to me, the world as we know has already ended. It seems cruel that it'd do so twice."

He settled back in his chair and sighed softly, picking at the crumbs of his muffin on the table. "So beyond the Mayan calander and the impending collapse of the world, was there something else you wanted to talk about in our non-meeting meeting?" he grinned over at the younger man.

[shh_cedric]

Cedric grinned back and helped himself to a muffin. "Er, well, I wanted to see if you think we can reasonably open end of May, beginning of June. Where are you on getting things ready? You're the better judge of that than me.

"The other thing -- well, I had a suggestion-idea from an old friend about the paintings that I've been wrestling with." Bill had been largely handling the artifacts, as he knew a good deal more about them than Cedric did. "Even with the enlarging charms, we don't have the space we really need for the art -- not yet until we can get the extra wing added. I've been trying to figure out what to do about it. She suggested ... themes. Rotating the art by themes. That way, we'd be able to show more than just what was on permanent display, and it would give something changing to draw people back. I was thinking maybe ... every six months? What do you think? And is 6 months too fast? Too slow?"

[shh_bill]

"Hrm," Bill murmured thoughtfully. "The beginning of June will work. Perhaps the first Friday or Saturday of the month? I've got a few more exhibits to tweak, but depending on the full moon, it should be ok.

"And as for rotating art, that sounds a lot like what the Muggles do. They have art from a certain painter flown in or brought out and they put it on display for a few months, sometimes a year, then return it to the vault. There isn't a specific theme usually, unless you count putting a specific painter's work on display a theme.

"But makes complete sense, it'll keep generating interest and have people coming in for repeat visits. Is there a specific theme or artist you wanted to display first?"

[shh_cedric]

"Beginning of June was sort of what I had in mind." He stopped and thought a moment. "A big Saturday opening? But we can discuss the details later. I think the first, or even the second weekend would be fine. Let me know what will work for the moon."

He listened to Bill talk about rotating art and nodded. "I'm not sure I had anything in mind yet. I went back through our database and tried to tag pieces with notes of various themes. I reckon I was thinking that since my mum is coming to do that mural at the end of June, beginning of July, perhaps a theme focus on British magical painters and other artists?

"Part of it is that it IS our museum and ... it seems fitting to celebrate that, perhaps? Our own great artists? As you know" -- he grinned -- "I'm not much of one for 'Britain brings the light of culture to the poor denuded barbarians,' but we have things to be proud of. And about now, perhaps a little pride in our own past is worth indulging." He smiled.