Title: Bureaucratic Processes
Summary: He might not be brave, and he certainly isn't a hero, but Percy Weasley knows the system, and he's going to use it the best he can. [AU]
Prompts:
Percy Weasley
2 Dialogue: "We're running out of time."
9. Ridiculous
15. Dialogue: "I'm up to my eyes!"
Author: atokkota
Beta: goldleaves, my amazing daughter who I love very much and am indebted to.
Percival Ignatius Weasley was the current greeting wizard on duty in the Ministry of Magic. It was the wrong side of midnight and heading towards the early morning and the start of the next working day for the employees of this public service organisation. But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to do his job properly. The young man himself was currently on the graveyard shift after his fall from grace the year before, for being part of the team involved in the running of Triwizard Tournament.
Percy had thought that he had been on his way to making his Ministerial career as the executive assistant to Barty Crouch Snr., but the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge had not been happy with his creative proactive problem solving thinking of helping his boss work from home and taking some of the paperwork burden off the man. Percy was, if nothing else, a good paperwork man.
He had been demoted and been placed on the welcoming position during the graveyard shift almost permanently thanks to the pink toad-like creature that paraded herself as the Senior Under-Secretary to the Minister.
During the last year the young man in question had considerable amount of time to review all the official policy and operating procedures. He had been practising the official transfiguration and charms in the customer relation's handbook. As per the ministerial directive after official opening hours he was supposed to put the after hour security grills and utilise the customer complaints double door airlock security system.
When he had come on duty at midnight he had proceeded to put up the customer barriers between his allocated welcome desk kiosk and the rest of the main floo hall. The purpose of these barriers was for the efficient handling of customers and ensuring that each individual visitor to the ministry was dealt with in a confidential and secure manner. All this was to be done while of course maintaining the security of the premises and the employees.
His perusal of the official policy documents confirmed the whisper he had heard when it became common knowledge that Madam Umbridge had been appointed by Cornelius Fudge as the current professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts Hogwarts. The pink toad couldn't maintain her employment as an undersecretary with the Ministry while she was employed at Hogwarts. When he had come on duty tonight he was planning to copy the relevant sections of the policy folders and forward them on in an envelope to one Ms Skeeter. Hopefully the journalist would scratch his back in the future to ensure that he didn't make a silly mistake again with his political career.
After buzzing his younger siblings through the telephone box public entrance not that long ago Percy had been reviewing the files of some individuals who could possible arrive to check upon the shenanigans of Harry Potter and the five other students from Hogwarts.
They expected him to believe that they were on a so called rescue mission for Sirius Black but he could of told them that the man wasn't in the building. His scan of the building had confirmed that the criminal was not present in the building. Of course being his siblings, they hadn't listened to him before rushing off to the Department of Mysteries.
As part of his preparation for potential visitors to the ministry the young welcome wizard had gathered a large stack of files which of course he would have to refile in the morning when he finished his shift just in case some of the key individuals stopped by to check up on what was going on downstairs in the Department of Mysteries.
Currently Percy was working on several recent early release Azkaban prisoners and their known cohorts. So what if they released themselves, they were not there and the Minister had not ordered their arrest so he was not going to put his head above the parapet when they came a-calling. No he was going to ingratiate himself so he didn't get killed or worse even more demoted further within the Ministry of Magic. Ah there was the floo bell here was the incoming customers. Remember to smile and be helpful and polite he reminded himself.
"Good morning and welcome to the Ministry of Magic. I am the welcome wizard today. My name is Percy Weasley. How may I be of service today?" he said before releasing the communications microphone button.
There were currently six individuals currently banging on the reinforced security glass barriers. Pressing the microphone button Percy again advised the customers, " One customer at a time. Ladies First. Please press the green buzzer and pass into the air lock when the first door opens. Only one customer at time will be served at the kiosk to ensure the Ministry's policy for your confidentiality and privacy."
The dark haired gothic corseted witch pressed the green buzzer after hitting the two taller dark haired men out of her way. She had even kicked the tall blond man in the shins so she could press the buzzer bustle her way into the airlock. Percy opened the first door to her before pressing on the microphone button to give her the next instruction "Can you place your wand in the secure drawer and slide it shut so I can weigh it in for you?"
The witch appeared to be screaming at him. The airlock system was really good for
keeping out annoying busybodies, irate banshees and grumpy goblins in check.
"Ma'am, I'm afraid that I must ask you again to place your wand in the secure drawer," Percy advised her again. After pulling her curly hair back off her face the witch complied and placed her wand in the secure drawer pushing it through so he could gather her wand and weigh it.
She had found the communication buzzer to shout at him, "We're running out of time. We are here to pick-up an important item"
"Ah Miss Black it has been a while. Would you like to collect your messages as well? I have quite a few messages for you and some appear to be fairly important with attached paperwork that needs to be completed. Since you are here we might as well get it all done, " he advised her in a civil tone. Percy was only being helpful. He had placed her wand in the secure drawer on lockdown so they could have a discussion of some unpleasant matters without getting hexed.
"It is Madam Lestrange and I want my wand back now," snarled the aggrieved woman
who had places to be and things to do than wait round for this red-headed lackey. The dark lord had charged herself and the others to collect the prophecy and if possible pick up little ickle Harry Potter. They were not to kill him, that of course would be the Dark Lord's pleasure.
"I am sorry but it is against Ministry policy but as soon as we have handled your paperwork, I will return your wand to you. First off I am sorry to inform you that one of the messages is from a smelly man with matted dark hair who claimed to be your cousin. I will read it to you. Oh no, I can't say that to a lady like yourself Miss Black he wasn't a very nice man in his note for you. I will just summarise it for you. He has dissolved your marriage to your husband that is why your wand was recognised as Miss Black. Now it appears that if you sign the attached paperwork you can claim your former husband's vault and this have enough funds for all the magical spa days your deserve. I will put the paperwork in the side swing drawer on your right for you. Sign it using the quill and ink on the dotted line on all the pages tab marked and on the back page within the boxed outline.
"Second message for you will you are working on that stack of papers. Cissy advises that 'Siri' has done the same to her. If you see her ex-husband she would appreciate it if you, I am sorry I am not sure what this means I think it says 'Deal with him as soon as possible'. She is willing to split his vault with you and you can live at her place in Wiltshire with her."
"Will you just hurry up I have places to be and things to do," snarled the witch as she slogged through the tabbed pages of the paperwork. There seemed to be a backlog of forms that she was required to complete. No she way was she going to be a penniless witch so the former Madam Lestrange worked her way through the pages of the divorce settlement proceedings form.
Others now had further joined the men who had arrived with the witch in the dark robes and white masks who were continuing to batter against the customer service barrier. It seemed that one of them had encountered the Ministry of Magic system before so he pressed the buzzer to communicate with the welcome wizard and Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Come on, we need to hurry up. What are you doing in there Bella? Come on move it!" he shouted to her.
"I'm up to my eyes! This boy wants me to do this paperwork and I can get my wand back. It is important to me and the Lord," snapped the witch who was starting to wish she had a wand to burn the paperwork but then she remembered it was her best interest to finish all these papers. The next man who bothered her would get hexed in the nether regions as soon as she got her wand back from the welcome wizard.
She had finally finished the papers and put them into the drawer that they had arrived in. Relieved Bella pushed back the papers to see the welcome wizard, Perce or whatever his name was, slowly flick through each tab marked page to check she had completed all the formalities correctly. He then made a great production of stamping the documents on certain pages.
"Perce be a dear and give me my wand and let me down to the Department of Mysteries. I really have to get on."
"Yes Ma'am I know. I believe you should just wait a minute while I lodge papers," he advised her. Then the floos seemed to fill with more visitors. Taking one look at who it was Percy shut down the outgoing services to the floo so only incoming arrivals could enter the hall that had now turned into a battle between frustrated Death Eaters and arriving Aurors. Percy decided on the better cause of valour and got under the welcome kiosk to take shelter as per the official policy. The bureaucratic process was the best method to address the threat to the Ministry of Magic.
His siblings and their friends were currently in a Department of Mysteries cell and he would visit them at the end of his shift to see if they needed him to contact his parents. The Headmaster had already been contacted about his missing students. So all there was left to do was sit and wait for the Aurors to do their job and then he would handover the recently signed confession statements by Miss Bellatrix Black to the prosecution service.