Axel Falkenrath was a great many things. A polite person might say he was private, easy to get along with, and a reliable worker. A suspicious person would say he was secretive, too agreeable to be honest, and that he had somehow weaseled his way into a job he didn't deserve. When Axel had first joined the Ministry as a secretary in the Improper Use Of Magic Office, they had been understaffed and in such desperate need of help that they were willing to hire even him, this young, foreign wizard with no OWLs, no NEWTs, and a garbled, thick accent to boot. Axel was sure that the wizard who hired him had never intended for him to stay long. Few of the underpaid, overworked employees in the bottom tier did. Eventually they would find some other job that paid about as well didn't require so much grind and abuse.
But nobody can predict everything.
Axel arrived on time or early everyday, met and became friends with every secretary, maintenance worker, and desk attendant. He memorized the layout of the entire Ministry building, no small feet, and completed every menial task sent his way to the best of his ability, without complaint. He was every bit that German stereotype, but it seemed to be what the department needed right now. Years passed, and his coworkers came to heavily rely on his consistency and support. Axel came to realize now, that he had value. If he was fired, his department would suffer for it. The Improper Use of Magic Office never ceased to be busy, and no matter how understaffed, disorganized and chaotic it got, the office would have to keep going on. If he was left, it would be his coworkers and boss who would really take a hit.
This was illustrated very clearly one day when he was asked to stay late, after all his normal duties had been finished. Because his boss was staying late, working on his own backed up paperwork, and wanted a hand fixing his self made mistake.
"No."
"What?" His boss asked, confused more than angry.
"I've finished my work for the day, and believe it or not I have a life outside of this place. If it's still an issue tomorrow I will be glad to help, but tonight I'm going home." He spoke matter of factually and without aggression. It might not have seemed like a big deal, but many others in Axel's position would have been tempted to stay, despite having no obligation to do so simply to stay on their bosses good side. Refusing always presented a risk of being fired, even though, technically this was a favor and not part of his job description.
His boss frowned, eyebrows slightly knit in displeasure. "That's fine, I suppose. Just make sure to get here on time tomorrow." Saying so was unnecessary. He had never been late to work. Axel simply nodded in agreement and left for home.
He made sure he would use this newfound power sparingly. He did not want his coworkers to see him as some self important ass. So he continued to do the grueling work of secretary, and do it effectively, efficiently and without complaint. But he also occasionally made suggestions to his higher ups when they came upon a hard decision. Axel turned out to be a surprisingly good problem solver, and when he didn't have a solution to suggest, he knew of another worker who might. He always made sure to phrase it his suggestions in a tone that said "y'know, just an idea, I mean i'm just the guy bringing coffee what do I know? But since none of you know what to do about it I figured I just share this thought. Ignore me if you feel like it I don't mind."
But it didn't matter how invaluable he was, he still made a secretary's salary, the same salary he made when he first arrived at the ministry several years ago. His daughter was growing, and while he knew now that she couldn't care less about wearing worn out clothes, playing in the mud instead of with toys, and reading the same three books over and over again, eventually she would be going to school, and he would need to buy her new robes, a wand, spell books...
He got anxious just thinking about it. He would need a raise sometime in the foreseeable future. But secretaries did not get a raise just for being a good secretary. He would have to get a promotion if he wanted to earn more money.
His opportunity came one day when his own boss got the boot for some bad oversights, simply not getting some crucial things done, and generally pissing off his superiors badly. Axel had prepared a speech, practiced it, and practiced it again as he walked towards the door to the office of his boss's boss. He knocked on the door of the office of the head of the Improper Use of Magic Department. A sweet, yet sharp "come in" answered and he stepped into a blindingly pink, girlish room. It decorated with plates with pictures of kittens on the walls and a large desk in the middle covered with a lacy table cloth, behind it false windows showed a gloriously sunny day.
The women he came to speak with stood beside her desk, smiling sweetly at him as she waited for him to announce the reason for his visit.
He started with pleasantries. "Madam Umbridge, I hope you are well this morning?" She eyed him, still smiling that sweet smile, however, now she also had a quit aggressive look in her eyes.
"Quit well, thank you, can I help you with anything?" She tilted her head. So straight to the point then. He thought. She was very short, and the childish nature of her dress had always made Axel uncomfortable. He hadn't had much reason to interact with Dolores Umbridge directly in the past, but from the few times he observed her at work, he knew she was ruthless.
"I was wondering if you had found someone to fill Trever's place?" He didn't sound as confident as he had when he practiced this.
"Oh, I had a few in mind," She turned away from him to pace a bit in front of her desk. "But why do you want to know?."
Of course, she knew why.
" I wanted to come and make a case for myself to take his position, after all, I've been doing almost all of his work for him for the past year, I know what the job entails and I know how to do it. The few times I did not do his job for him these past months are the very decisions that got him fired. I had recommended against these decisions when they were initially made, but of course, I had no authority to prevent him from doing what he wanted. If I take his place, not only will I be able to do his job better than he did, but I will also be able to continue much of my old job, and we would not need to bring in a new, inexperienced secretary to take my place."
There it was, his main argument.
Umbridge looked thoughtful for a moment.
"sit," she ordered pointing her wand at one of the chairs in front of her desk. Axil did as he was told. Trying the whole time to not seem too nervous or confident.
Umbridge sat behind her desk and summoned a hot teapot and two dainty little teacups decorated with pink roses and gold trimming. Axil wondered absently to himself where she had been keeping the tea before she summoned it. When one of the cups placed itself in front of him he politely thanked her and took a small sip. He wasn't a fan of tea, but in Britain it seemed you were just sometimes required to drink it.
"I've heard much about you." Umbridge started, predatory smile still plastered to her face. "But I don't feel as if we've properly met before. Where are you from? Mr. Falkenrath?"
Umbridge was infamous for being prejudice against many things. He hoped foreign wizards were not among them. "Germany." He answered evenly. His accent had improved a great deal since that first interview years ago. He tried extra hard to hide it now.
"I see, and you were never sent to Hogwarts?"
"No, I was educated at home by my mother and father."
Umbridge nodded. "So they are both magical, yes?"
So this is where this was going. Axel had had a prepared answer for the pure blood question for a long time and had yet to need to use it.
"Yes, you'll have to forgive me, German wizards do not keep such long, detailed records of their genealogy as the British do. Both my parents, and all of my grandparents, were magical. I'm about as pure-blood as a non-British wizard could be."
Umbridge nodded again, this time with a look of sympathy on her face. " Well, Mr. Falkenwrath, we can't help what we're born with, some of us were just born to be better. You've done well though, for someone of your circumstance. " Axel did not know how to react, so he just gave a curt nod.
"You've got the job. No doubt you will probably do better than that half-blood who applied. Congratulations, you'll officially start first thing tomorrow morning." She smiled wider as Axel thanked her, said goodbye and left her office. He was over the moon about getting the job, but he also felt a bit disgusted. Sick. Like he'd just ate a lot of extremely sweet candy that coated his teeth and throat in thick guilt. Umbridge had picked him over one other candidate based on blood instead of hard work or competence.
He hoped he would never have to actually prove his heritage in the future. He'd be in trouble then. Axel tried hard to shake those thoughts and instead looked forward to going home and telling his wife about his promotion.
