Bend
Age 15 / 353 words
"Creevey!" came the yell from the inner office.
Dennis carefully sealed the last of the scrolls on his borrowed desk and then hurried through the door marked 'Chynna Dee, Administrator, Office of Imports' to announce "All done!"
"Good, good," said Chynna, bracelets jangling as she tapped papers against the desk to line them up. "You can take them to the archives later." She somehow slid them into an envelope a quarter of their size and then tossed it at Dennis. "First, I need you to run these over to Auror Adler in Law Enforcement. Her eyes only; don't let other people get in the way."
"Okay!" said Dennis, fumbling the catch and haphazardly juggling the envelope until he finally got a proper hold on it. "Deliver it to Auror Adler personally! Got it!"
He turned to go, but she called after him. "On your way back, stop in Accounting and ask Jeremy Stevenson if he'll send someone over to double check our returns."
"Jeremy Stevenson," Dennis repeated.
"That's the one." Chynna sighed, sitting back in her seat. "A piece of advice, Creevey. If you want to know the measure of a man, don't look at what he does; check his bank accounts to see how many rules he's bending to avoid proper taxation."
"My friend Graham says it's important to test how far rules will bend in case the rules are wrong, and it's always best to know that as early as possible, because otherwise you might not go as far as you could, and then you might miss something really important," Dennis said, "although I think he was just trying to convince me to help him break into the Potions supply cupboard at the time."
"Slytherin?"
"Why do people keep asking me what House other people were in? Does the Ministry have houses too?" Dennis asked.
"Rather more than in your school, and a great deal more competitive," Chynna said, returning to her work. "When you've done that, and archived the scrolls, you can go to lunch."
"It's only eleven!"
"I bent the rules," she said and smiled at him. "Run along."
"Creevey!" came the yell from the inner office.
Dennis carefully sealed the last of the scrolls on his borrowed desk and then hurried through the door marked 'Chynna Dee, Administrator, Office of Imports' to announce "All done!"
"Good, good," said Chynna, bracelets jangling as she tapped papers against the desk to line them up. "You can take them to the archives later." She somehow slid them into an envelope a quarter of their size and then tossed it at Dennis. "First, I need you to run these over to Auror Adler in Law Enforcement. Her eyes only; don't let other people get in the way."
"Okay!" said Dennis, fumbling the catch and haphazardly juggling the envelope until he finally got a proper hold on it. "Deliver it to Auror Adler personally! Got it!"
He turned to go, but she called after him. "On your way back, stop in Accounting and ask Jeremy Stevenson if he'll send someone over to double check our returns."
"Jeremy Stevenson," Dennis repeated.
"That's the one." Chynna sighed, sitting back in her seat. "A piece of advice, Creevey. If you want to know the measure of a man, don't look at what he does; check his bank accounts to see how many rules he's bending to avoid proper taxation."
"My friend Graham says it's important to test how far rules will bend in case the rules are wrong, and it's always best to know that as early as possible, because otherwise you might not go as far as you could, and then you might miss something really important," Dennis said, "although I think he was just trying to convince me to help him break into the Potions supply cupboard at the time."
"Slytherin?"
"Why do people keep asking me what House other people were in? Does the Ministry have houses too?" Dennis asked.
"Rather more than in your school, and a great deal more competitive," Chynna said, returning to her work. "When you've done that, and archived the scrolls, you can go to lunch."
"It's only eleven!"
"I bent the rules," she said and smiled at him. "Run along."