ELEVEN
It had been three weeks since Piper and her sisters had gone to see Tazak. In all that time not a single bureaucracy demon had shown up trying to get the Book of Shadows. For the first couple of days they had nervously waited to see if Tazak would keep his word. Soon, however, they decided he had been honest with them. One evening they had just finished dinner and were sitting and relaxing in the living room when Elbert suddenly shimmered in.
"Hello," said Elbert. "I hope you don't mind my dropping in like this. I just wanted to thank you for all your help in getting me promoted."
"As long as you aren't here to get the Book of Shadows," said Piper suspiciously.
"Oh, no," said Elbert. "Tazak put out a directive as soon as you left. No bureaucracy demon is allowed to even touch the Book of Shadows. Not without your permission, anyway. He took you very seriously."
"That's good," said Paige. "We don't want any more bureaucracy demons trying to get their hands on it."
"I'm glad you learned to shimmer properly," said Phoebe. "I have to say I don't care for someone shimmering in while I'm taking a bath."
"I really am sorry about that," said Elbert. "Pudge is right. I really need to make sure the place is empty before I try shimmering in."
"Elbert," said Cole, "please don't call me that. It's been a long time since I was that pudgy little boy. It really doesn't apply any more."
"Oh, yeah, sorry, uh, Cole," said Elbert. "I really will try not to call you that in the future. But I've called you that for so long it's just hard not to, you know?"
"Yes, Elbert, I know," said Cole, smiling slightly. "All I ask if that you try."
"I will," said Elbert. "I promise."
"So, Elbert, how's the new job going?" Leo asked.
"Well, to be honest, I don't do that any more," said Elbert. "After the first week I was doing such a good job that several other demons actually offered me other jobs. It seems there are a whole lot of things I can do that I never imagined I could do."
"So what are you doing now?" Paige asked.
"I'm now Associate Professor of Applied Theory and Rhetoric at the Bureaucratic University for Wayward Administrative Associates," said Elbert grinning from ear to ear.
"That's very impressive," said Cole. "It normally takes decades for someone to land one of those positions. You must really have impressed someone on the administration."
"Just what the heck is that anyway?" Phoebe asked.
"The Bureaucratic University for Wayward Administrative Associates is a training center for bureaucracy demons," said Elbert. "You'd be surprised how long it takes to train bureaucracy demons to properly perform their jobs. As Associate Professor of Applied Theory and Rhetoric it's my job to help train those who are having trouble mastering some of the basic procedures."
"Well, that does sound impressive," said Piper.
"Yeah, it is," said Elbert. "Chornack, the Chancellor, said he was very impressed with my mission here. Even though I didn't bring back the Book of Shadows I went up against the Charmed Ones. Not only did I complete the assignment to the letter, but I also did so without being vanquished or even being hurt. And, partially because of my involvement, Tazak instituted a new bureaucracy demon policy. That's very rare. Chornack said anyone that can do that must be a superior bureaucracy demon and should be teaching others proper procedures."
"Congratulations," said Paige. "Sounds like things are working out for you."
"Oh, they are," said Elbert. "Even some of the mainstream demons are talking to me now. And Chornack is very pleased with my performance. He said that in no time at all I should have a full professorship and will probably get tenure in record time."
"Elbert, I'm proud of you," said Cole. "It seems you finally found your niche."
"Yeah, I have," said Elbert. "They gave me a niche just last week. It's in a very impressive section of the university and everyone comes to me for advice."
"No, I meant you found something you're good at," Cole grinned and shook his head. "And you seem to like it, too."
"Oh, okay," said Elbert. "Yeah, it's great. Well, I'd better get going. I have a lecture to give in about half an hour. It's on the intricacies of defining and cataloging sub-texts of minor theoretical data cross-referenced by date, location, and geographical location. Really interesting stuff."
"We'll take your word on it," said Piper. "Good luck with the new job."
"Thanks," said Elbert. "Pu. . .er, Cole, mom said for you to stop by for dinner soon. She wants to thank you for helping me out."
"I'll see what I can do," said Cole.
Elbert shimmered out of the manor.
"I'm glad things are working out for him," said Phoebe. "For a demon he's not such a bad guy. Almost like he's not a demon at all."
"Well, bureaucracy demons aren't really demons as I explained," said Cole. "And Elbert is less like most other bureaucracy demons. He isn't really bad just kind of incompetent."
"He seems to have changed that," said Phoebe.
"Well, I hope he doesn't come back anytime soon," said Piper. "Once is enough for me for quite some time."
"No need to worry about that," said Cole. "With his new position he'll be much too busy to be making any house calls for quite a while."
"At least the Book of Shadows is safe from bureaucracy demons," said Paige. "Apparently Tazak took us seriously."
"That doesn't mean other demons won't be after it," said Leo. "It will still be quite a coup for any demon that can get their hands on it."
"We'll just have to keep an eye on it," said Piper. "At least regular demons can be vanquished. We have that in our favor."
"And evil can't touch the book," said Phoebe. "That's another point in our favor."
"Well, you don't have to worry about it for a while," said Cole. "I'm sure news of what happened with Elbert has circulated around the underworld by now. Other demons will be reluctant for a while to try it again."
"That's good," said Piper. "Hey, who's up for desert? I have a new cake recipe I've tried out. I'm really interested in seeing what everyone thinks about it."
"As long as it's chocolate I'm up for it," said Phoebe.
"What else would it be?" Piper asked, getting up from the sofa.
Everyone followed Piper into the kitchen knowing that the cake would be another of her culinary masterpieces.
The End
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