"Do you think we've got all day to wait for you? Just because you work directly with the Aurors, you can show up whenever you like and make everyone else's will bend to you?" The witch whose nametag read CALPURNIA PENNYWHISTLE hissed, practically throwing the paperwork at her. Behind her, dozens of witches and wizards, some holding special containers and fireproof clothing, scurried about their daily duties.
"No, madam, I am so sorry," Leta began, immediately rolling out her apologetic speech. "After years of being seen as a charity hire, she was used to witches and wizards blowing up in her face and making rude assumptions about her competence. This time, however, Pennywhistle didn't seem to be interested in what she had to say.
"This job has been waiting all week," she hissed. "Your damned boss, has been putting it off for quite some time, and god knows why. Now where is Scamander? The older one, I mean! He should have been here weeks ago. Why didn't you bring him with you?"
Leta stared at her, confused. "Theseus?"
"Yes! Him! The brother," Calpurnia said impatiently. "We requested him specifically. Why hasn't he come yet?"
Leta felt heat rising at the back of her neck. "I believe there's been a misunderstanding," she cleared her throat. "Theseus is not available today."
Calpurnia wrinkled her nose. "Well, in that case, if Scamander isn't coming, I'll have no choice but to ask for an alternate. Tell your boss to bring someone else, and have them come with you this time."
Her left hand began to feel hot again. "I would, however-"
"You interns are so slow," Calpurnia mused, reaching for a pen and using it to stir her mug of Pepperup. "Are you sure you want to work for the Department of Magical Enforcement?"
Leta narrowed her eyes.
"Theseus is not coming," she replied, a touch of a sneer creeping into her tone. "Silverskin sent me to carry out whatever task you had in mind for him. Whether or not you believe I am competent enough to carry out the task, you have no choice but to hand it to me. Nobody, and I must stress this, nobody else will be coming to take it over. Us Aurors work a tight schedule and we are not exchangeable like the hippogriffs which you lot like to loan out for personal use. So either you give the task to me, or you can wait another two weeks until Silverskin reaches the bottom of his stack of jobs and decides to reassign it. Do you understand?"
"Alright, alright!" Calpurnia snapped, though Leta detected some signs of intimidation from the way she gripped her mug a bit tightly. "It's all yours. You can call in the mister when you're ready, he is currently milling about the Pest Division, looking at the Cornish pixie cages."
Leta smiled graciously. "Thank you, Madam Pennywhistle." With that, she turned around and walked off.
This should be fairly simple, she reminded herself. Most likely it's a joint job with the Office of Misinformation and the Obliviators, which would be a cakewalk. Jobs with the Office of Misinformation were usually simple, fast, and enjoyable. All it took was a quick scanning of the area, trained sedations on Muggles, after which it was a simple matter of handing them over to the Obliviator Squad and watching them work their magic. Sometimes, they took suggestions for false memories, which she enjoyed immensely. She always thought that if she were to leave Magical Force, it might be quite fun to work in Misinfo.
Most importantly, however, the best thing about working with Misinfo was that she rarely ever had to interact with the animals they subdued. Many people assumed that Aurors were used on the animals, but that was not true - most of the time, their gruntwork was spent wrangling Muggles, while the trained Beast Division handled the actual animals. Although she appreciated chimeras and found them to be quite beautiful creatures, she was extremely thankful that the last time she had been called in, she only had to subdue the panicking Greek tourists and afterward was allowed to watch the Beast Division work their magic from the sidelines. All in all, despite her lack of knowledge, she would consider it a job well done.
Doesn't it bother you, though? That nagging voice returned. Theseus hasn't been working here all that longer yet he's already doing international affairs while you're still playing gopher for the Magical Creatures folk. Doesn't this mean you aren't actually his equal, or even worthy of the title of coworker?
Leta took a deep breath and did her best to banish the thought from her mind.
No more doubts. This is going to be a fun job, I can feel it in my bones.
Smiling as brightly as possible under the circumstances, Leta grinned and made her way towards the Cornish pixie cages. "Excuse me, sir!" She called out to the young man standing in front of them. "Are you the one who posted a job requesting an Auror?"
The young man turned around, and Leta stepped back immediately, almost dropping the paperwork Calpurnia gave her.
"I did, indeed! You must be the Auror I asked for," he smirked, grinning as if nothing had happened, nose still as freckled as the day they met and still vaguely reminiscent of a strawberry.
Leta stared at him, a million questions running through her mind, trying to make sense of what was in front of her.
"I'm Newt," he announced, holding out his left hand for her to shake. "How are you?"