open → i've run campaigns against the light;

[scinlac]

a → the ministry

( the time deviants registration department is open for business, and true to its nature as the unholy lovechild of the dmle and the dmac, its main defining trait appears to be 'ruthless efficiency'. well, that and being a little bit understaffed, considering that some parts of the registration seem to be held not just by your betters, but by your way betters.

like bellatrix, yours truly, who completely missed the seminar on work-life-balance, but definitely attended the one on dedication to the cause several times over. she can be found just about anywhere – maybe she just got done snapping at some poor sod, maybe you're unfortunate enough to share an elevator with her, maybe you're sitting across from her at one of the registration desks and looked at her a little funny, maybe you're someone who knows her well enough to be able to tell that she's been on her feet for forty-eight hours and counting –– or maybe you have an actual magical accident to report. whatever the case, she is going to be there, sharp and all cool politeness: )

And what would your problem be?

( and better make it a good one, because getting the trace only really hurts if you annoy her. )

b → wizarding london

( sooner or later, even she will be done professionally oppressing people for a living she doesn't even need too make –– and what better to do with all this fortune than spend it? odds are the actual purchase was made in knockturn alley, but maybe she is en route to some other shop. can't live off of dark artefacts alone now, can you.

anyway, as fate will have it, she manages to walk straight into you, or vice versa, and the newly-acquired item, an especially cursed manuscript wrapped carefully in spell-woven cloth, does as things do when affected by the basic law that is gravity: it goes tumbling. and since bella can't tell if the thoroughly warded cloth is still sitting snug in all the right places, all while being in no position to be involved in someone's rather public maybe-death... )

You mustn't touch it, unless you have a death wish.

( her tone all but implies you do, regardless of whether she was the one to cause the accident or not. )

Comments

[scinlac]

"I suppose that is what it will come down to."

Considering that he has spoken to others, too, though, she isn't as thrilled at the prospect as she could be. She couldn't quite let herself go, not if his death would come with a paper trail, especially if that trail leads to more deviants with ideas above their station.

"I am sure Dolph's department will rejoice."

Go wild, Lucius.

[malificence]

None of them really have the freedom to go as far, as often as they'd like. Dolph would - sometimes - have the excuse of these things just happening in their line of work. Bella, on the other hand, did not quite have the same convenience when it comes to obliviating muggles. The noses of department heads have to appear to be clean.

Of course, Lucius doesn't run his own department. It's probably the first time that thought makes him smile. "No doubt," he says airily. "Not that it would do to rush into things."

[scinlac]

On preciously rare occasions, Bella treats herself: there are numerous deeply enjoyable, precariously Dark things to be done that are terribly agonising in the moment, and yet leave no traces. So, if a muggle is in dire need of having their memory altered to begin with, she may as well take her pleasure first – even if she will have to forgo the sweetest moment, that of their death. It is, in her eyes, an acceptable price to pay, and she doesn't envy Dolph his comparative 'freedom', nor does she envy the aurors their relative prestige. The Obliviator Squad had been a very deliberate choice, and she would have made it even if it it had made the rise to head of a department more difficult – the fact that it was a branch of the DMAC, the department chosen for the Blacks, had been the icing and the cherry on top.

"No, we must give fair chances." Waste them, more like. "Even to those we disagree with."

She smiles, almost devious. "After all, not all of them are blessed with such generous and kindly grandfathers."

[malificence]

He'd wondered how long it would take her to cycle back to that - less time, no double, had there not been a Weasel to consider - and he allows himself one brief eyeroll before he shifts, watching one of the assistants wrestle with an imperious-looking Deviant who looks offended at the idea of having to be traced.

After a moment he turns back, raising a brow as he picks up a little statuette on the desk. Mostly he does it because Bella hates it when someone touches her things. "I am very generous," he says. "Especially when I can't help but think the boy's playing a bit of a role for me."

[scinlac]

All the worst things in life are temporary, as is this desk, which belongs to the TDRD, and while that is at this point in time to half Bella's responsibility, it's not quite her own office. Which is still blessedly free of random time scum. This may explain why she is entirely relaxed about him touching the statuette. And a little bit amused when it snaps at him.

"We did confiscate that earlier."

Live and learn, Lucius. Her brow furrows, however. "Is he now. In what way?"

[malificence]

He gives it an annoyed look, and then Bella another annoyed look, but really. This? He's used to this. Lucius Malfoy can get the best of most witches and most wizards, but Bellatrix Black has known him nearly forever. Even before Hogwarts, given that he was a Pureblood heir - and her two sisters were his age or younger than that. Dorea Black had ambitions, after all.

"Charming," he says dryly. He sets it back down with the sort of click that doesn't bode well for its continued existence.

Now, though, they're on more equal ground, and he tilts his head a bit. "A more perfect Malfoy I've never met. Perfect behavior, perfect attitude, just the right amount of hauteur. That much perfection can never be real." He'd know, he'd played the role to the hilt up to....oh, about nineteen, really. Then too much time around certain Blacks and certain Lestranges brought more of his true self to bear.