Spin Ministry
A story of the aftermath of the MOM break-in and its effects on Percy Weasley. Spoilers for OotP.
Disclaimer: None of the major characters are mine.
Chapter 1 -- Break-in
Percy Weasley was outraged at how slowly the line to get into the Ministry of Magic was moving this Saturday morning. Everyone was being checked and searched. There was even a checkpoint where everyone had to take a small dose of veritaserum and answer questions like, "Who are you? What is your business here? Are you loyal to the Ministry of Magic?"
Angry questions and rumors were going up and down the line.
"Who do they think they are?"
"I heard vandals broke in and destroyed the fountain in the lobby down there."
"Worse than that, a whole army of dark wizards broke in and destroyed the whole place!"
"I'm not taking veritaserum!"
"If you don't they'll pull you out of the line and strip-search you!"
The fountain part at least was true. The statues were in ruins. Enchanted mops were barely keeping up with the water leaking onto the floor.
Percy finally got to the floor where his office was, just down the hall from Cornelius Fudge. He stopped by the break room to get some coffee to calm his nerves.
"Coffee, black" he told the spigot floating in the middle of the air, which instantly came over and filled his cup.
Adam Cephid, who worked in a cubicle down the hall from him, was also in the room.
"Better watch your back, mate," said Adam in a whisper. "Heads are going to roll for this, and you can bet they won't be those at the top."
"What in the world is going on?" asked Percy.
"Less said, less blamed," whispered Adam, and he ducked out.
Percy went down to his office. When he opened the door, a dozen URGENT memos dived at him. The paper airplanes popped open and loud voice messages came out.
"Weasley, report to my office immediately!"
"Weasley, this is Fudge! Where are you? Why are you late!"
"Come to my office, NOW!"
Percy was so startled he sloshed hot coffee on himself. He set down the cup and rushed down to Cornelius Fudge's office. Fudge was behind his desk, furious and fuming.
"Weasley reporting for duty, sir!"
"Weasley, you're late!"
"Sorry sir, slow line today."
"I know there's a slow line. Do you know why, Weasley?"
"No, sir"
"Because there was a break-in here last night! Dumbledore, an army of his followers, and a batch of under-age wizards from his school had a huge battle with Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters inside the Ministry of Magic, even inside the classified areas of the Department of Mysteries!"
"Vo- He Who Must Not Be Named? It can't be!"
"We have lots of witnesses, including myself. He was also captured on Magiccam."
"But sir, the security..."
"It was supposed to be on high alert after the other break-ins, yes. Well, it wasn't! There were no night patrols going at all! It seems that the beverage spigots in the security break rooms had all been bewitched to give sleeping potion in the drinks!"
"This is terrible!"
"You bet it is! It was deliberately designed to humiliate and discredit me. I gave a brief statement last night, but today someone is going to have to face the reporters with some spin control."
"Someone, sir?"
"It's you. Memorize this list of talking points, and call for a press conference ASAP."
"Yes, sir, right away, sir."
"And Weasley..."
"Yes, sir?"
"Change that shirt. There's a huge coffee stain on it. Disgraceful!"
A story of the aftermath of the MOM break-in and its effects on Percy Weasley. Spoilers for OotP.
Disclaimer: None of the major characters are mine.
Chapter 1 -- Break-in
Percy Weasley was outraged at how slowly the line to get into the Ministry of Magic was moving this Saturday morning. Everyone was being checked and searched. There was even a checkpoint where everyone had to take a small dose of veritaserum and answer questions like, "Who are you? What is your business here? Are you loyal to the Ministry of Magic?"
Angry questions and rumors were going up and down the line.
"Who do they think they are?"
"I heard vandals broke in and destroyed the fountain in the lobby down there."
"Worse than that, a whole army of dark wizards broke in and destroyed the whole place!"
"I'm not taking veritaserum!"
"If you don't they'll pull you out of the line and strip-search you!"
The fountain part at least was true. The statues were in ruins. Enchanted mops were barely keeping up with the water leaking onto the floor.
Percy finally got to the floor where his office was, just down the hall from Cornelius Fudge. He stopped by the break room to get some coffee to calm his nerves.
"Coffee, black" he told the spigot floating in the middle of the air, which instantly came over and filled his cup.
Adam Cephid, who worked in a cubicle down the hall from him, was also in the room.
"Better watch your back, mate," said Adam in a whisper. "Heads are going to roll for this, and you can bet they won't be those at the top."
"What in the world is going on?" asked Percy.
"Less said, less blamed," whispered Adam, and he ducked out.
Percy went down to his office. When he opened the door, a dozen URGENT memos dived at him. The paper airplanes popped open and loud voice messages came out.
"Weasley, report to my office immediately!"
"Weasley, this is Fudge! Where are you? Why are you late!"
"Come to my office, NOW!"
Percy was so startled he sloshed hot coffee on himself. He set down the cup and rushed down to Cornelius Fudge's office. Fudge was behind his desk, furious and fuming.
"Weasley reporting for duty, sir!"
"Weasley, you're late!"
"Sorry sir, slow line today."
"I know there's a slow line. Do you know why, Weasley?"
"No, sir"
"Because there was a break-in here last night! Dumbledore, an army of his followers, and a batch of under-age wizards from his school had a huge battle with Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters inside the Ministry of Magic, even inside the classified areas of the Department of Mysteries!"
"Vo- He Who Must Not Be Named? It can't be!"
"We have lots of witnesses, including myself. He was also captured on Magiccam."
"But sir, the security..."
"It was supposed to be on high alert after the other break-ins, yes. Well, it wasn't! There were no night patrols going at all! It seems that the beverage spigots in the security break rooms had all been bewitched to give sleeping potion in the drinks!"
"This is terrible!"
"You bet it is! It was deliberately designed to humiliate and discredit me. I gave a brief statement last night, but today someone is going to have to face the reporters with some spin control."
"Someone, sir?"
"It's you. Memorize this list of talking points, and call for a press conference ASAP."
"Yes, sir, right away, sir."
"And Weasley..."
"Yes, sir?"
"Change that shirt. There's a huge coffee stain on it. Disgraceful!"