Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the World of Harry Potter, although I've had fun inventing a few new characters, spells, and wizard tech for this one… So thanks to JKR always :D
A/N: Woo, new multi-chap in the making! This is possibly a bit out there, but I'm hoping it works :) feedback as we progress would be much appreciated. I am NOT a Next Gen reader, so my fic will likely have none of the usual tropes/fanon, so do bear with me.
The Minister leaned back in his leather desk chair, and raised his hand to his temple, rubbing gently to try and relieve his headache. His completer screen flickered in front of him, the sort of yellowy off-white of old parchment: even after being forcibly dragged into the 21st Century, wizarding technology still liked to hark back to its roots. One particularly insistent animated owl was perched on the menu bar of his internet browser, hooting softly and gesturing a letter icon towards him. He sighed.
"Ok, let's see it then," he said in a deep, rumbling voice.
The animated owl on the completer screen hooted happily, and his a-mail account opened. This particular a-mail was from John Smith, the Head of the Department of Mysteries. The subject line made the Minister's eyebrows slowly rise: Project Stone XIII.
"Open new a-mail," he instructed the completer, leaning closer to the screen. The completer obliged, and the contents of the a-mail were displayed.
Success.
There was a long moment where the Minister didn't move; he didn't even take a breath. Then he sighed, and leaned back in his leather desk chair, tugging anxiously at his left ear. Stone XIII: the last in a long line of experiments the Department had carried out in the last six years. And it had worked. He wasn't sure whether to be pleased with that success, or worried about the connotations.
"A-mail to John Smith, RE: Project Stone XIII. Meeting in Department to be arranged ASAP. No decisions to be made until result is seen and discussed."
A scroll of parchment appeared on the screen, and a lovely eagle-feather quill began scrawling animated letters across it. The quill hovered after it completed its task, awaiting further instructions.
"Send a-mail," the Minister said, and the quill disappeared. The parchment quickly folded itself, and slipped into an envelope that appeared behind it. The animated owl was still perched on the internet browser, visible again as the a-mail account closed, and the owl quickly swooped down to pick up the a-mail, and flew offscreen.
The Minister drew his wand, pointed it at the completer, and said: "Logouto."
The screen lit up in a blaze of red animated sparks, and went black. The Minister stashed his wand back in the depths of his robes, and rose wearily to his feet.
Those poor, poor children.