Another chapter! Enjoy! C

It was July of 1999 and Pansy Parkinson had worked at Division M's Financial Department for about four months now, though it felt more like four years already.

She adapted quickly into muggle-office world and had to confess that the non-magical people had some benefits over the magical kind.

For example, Pansy had started to prefer pencils over quills (so much easier to write!). The fact that no ink was needed saved so much time! Computers and E-Mail were also handy ways to communicate, over letters and owls (just a few buttons over a living bird that had to be taken care of!).

With 18, she was the youngest in the department, and the only magical besides Marcel Centena, the deputy to the Department Head, Leighton Wright, a muggle man in his late 40's.

Pansy's father Cuthbert Parkinson had planned for his daughter to take over the Parkinson-estate, being the only child, which meant she already had a good head for numbers and financial assets. Because of this Division M thought it'd be a good idea to put her in the Financial Department. And so, Pansy was put to work.

Division M's Cafeteria:

Pansy sat and ate her food. It was simply pasta and tomato sauce, nothing fancy, but it was free to all staff. The kitchen was staffed by real people too, not house elves like at Hogwarts or her old home.

Pansy had spent the past weeks thinking about the financials of Division M. The organization had no lack in funding, as they had benefactors from the muggle world as well as investments in several companies and rights to certain patents, which meant budgets and salaries were all solid, but that was the muggle side of the organization...

An example where the Research Departments of Division M. Muggle-based Departments like Chemical or Engineering had no trouble getting proper funding for their research, as their materials were acquired with muggle-money. The much smaller Magical Departments like Potions or Charms had much stricter budgets, and often the few wizards and witches of these departments had use their own gold or silver to buy resources from Diagon Alley.

"What are you thinking about, Pansy?" asked another young woman, who just sat opposite Pansy at the table.

"Oh, just numbers, Tess" replied Pansy,

"Tess" was actually named Theresa Wong, the British-raised muggle-daughter of a high-ranking official from the Chinese branch of Division M. Due to both women having backgrounds in powerful families and working for the Finance Department, they had quickly become friends. A year or two ago Pansy could not have imagined having a muggle-friend, but much had changed since Hogwarts.

"Well, that's all we think about, Pans" replied Theresa. "More specific, please"

"Well, I've been thinking about this organization. The muggle side of this organization has always proper funding, while the wizarding side lacks much" Pansy said.

"Well, we are funded mainly from the muggle world. The wizarding community does not even know we exist" Theresa replied. "I mean even you are payed with pounds instead of galleons"

That was true. A big shock for Pansy was that her salary was paper or electric money instead of gold or silver, which meant she had to buy her essentials like food and clothing from the non-magical world. Again, the wizards in research had to use their own dwindling gold-supplies to purchase things like potion-ingredients, and the fact that they couldn't get more gold or silver, meant that one day they couldn't go anymore to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. Gringotts Wizarding Bank could exchange muggle currency into wizarding currency, but only in small amounts and the Ministry would notice if there were regular exchanges made by wizards and witches that had no official employment in the magical world.

"I thought we should get a private contract with Gringotts" said Pansy.

"What?"

"My trust-fund account is managed by a goblin named Graggrot. After my mother disowned me, he was sort of the only decent person in my life. He's not my friend, but he's a hell of a banker and confidential as hell as well" explained Pansy. "He could start a secret account for Division M and help us acquire assets in the wizarding world. Invest in promising businesses, which would produce wizarding wealth for the organization, which could be used to fund more magical research and assets"

"That's quite an interesting idea, Pans. Have you taken this to Centena and Wright?" asked Theresa.

"Well, Centena doesn't really like me, haven't you noticed?" replied Pansy.

Theresa looked at her friend in a confused way.

"You're a muggle, but he's a wizard. His sister was killed by Antonin Dolohov, a Death Eater, and my father was one as well, so he doesn't see me in high regard" explained Pansy.

Pansy was a little discriminated by several of her magical colleagues. While Theresa had become a friend, someone like Centena had always given her a cold look. The auror Ernst Cornseed had called her once "Death Eater Princess" in passing, as have several others who worked in Investigation, Security or Tactical Response. This prevented her often to express herself to her superiors at Division M.

"Oh, right… I could back you up. My dad's a big deal, you know, and Wright is a big fan of him" Theresa said.

"Would you really do that?" asked Pansy.

"Pans, you're s friend and you're brilliant. You think I wouldn't back you up? How about we go over more details over the weekend and try to meet the boss on Monday?" Theresa proposed.

"Of course, Tess! Thank you so much!" Pansy replied, smiling.

Next Monday, Leighton Wright's office, Financial Department of Division M:

Leighton Wright and Marcel Centana both sar opposite the two young women, who both sat as well.

"Miss Parkinson, Miss Wong, you wanted to propose something?" asked Wright.

"Yes, sir" replied Theresa said. "It's mainly Pansy's plan though, so she could explain it more, sir"

Centana looked at the young witch in a suspicious way, raising an eyebrow, but Wright seemed intrigued.

"Well, Miss Parkinson, shoot" the Department Head said.

"This organization is well-funded, but only from the muggle-side. That means the muggle-based Departments get better funding that Magical ones. Like Biology just acquired 50 new microscopes for research, while the potioneers struggle to get ingredients for the most simple of brews" Pansy explained.

"Well it's a sad reality, Miss Parkinson" Wirght stated. "We really have no organized allies in the magical world, since the Director and Global Command want to keep total secrecy"

"I know about that, but I thought we could make an exception with Gringotts Wizarding Bank" said Pansy.

"You want to go the Goblins? Are you crazy?" asked Centana.

"Confidentiality is important to Goblins. The one who runs my trust-fund and my family vault, Graggrot, is a good example. If we can talk to him and maybe the Director of the Bank, we could open a vault as well as invest in magical business in order to get revenue" Pansy stated.

"Become investors? That needs Gold! Gold the Division does not have!" said Centana.

"A very intriguing plan, but I have to agree with Centana, Miss Parkinson. Investing could mean thousands of galleons" Wright stated.

"I can give from my trust-fund!" Pansy said.

All in the room looked at her.

"I have several thousand galleons in my trust-fund. I could invest like four thousand. I already know several businesses, both aspiring and established, that can bring good revenue" Pansy continued. "This organization has already developed magical miracles, like the Oculus Veritas-treatment, imagine if we could do more like that"

"Well, you seem eager about this, Miss Parkinson" Wright said. "I would give you a try, but I need to speak to the Director about this. You both are dismissed"

"Yes, sir" both women replied and left the office

That Wednesday Eve:

Pansy was reading a book in her bed, when her telephone, which she had gotten after starting to work for Division M, started to ring.

Pansy picked it up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"A visit to Gringotts Wizarding Bank has been granted. You will go there with Department Head Leighton Wright and Deputy Marcel Centana this Friday to create ties" said a male voice. "Good luck, Miss Parkinson"

The call ended and Pansy put the phone away. She did not recognise the voice, but guessed it could be the mysterious Director of the British Branch. It seemed only the higher-ranking officials of Division M knew who the Director was and from where he led the branch.

That Firday:

Graggrot and the Director of Gringotts Wizarding Bank came along well with Leighton Wright, since the muggle man lacked any of the prejudice wizards usually had, so it was no wonder that a deal came along. It surprised Pansy as well, but it seemed Wright's good head in finances and numbers as well respectful demeanour impressed to goblins enough to ignore his non-magical heritage. Marcel Centana remained silent the entire time, as Wright and Pansy did most of the talking.

Pansy gave the four thousand galleons she promised and the bank invested in several businesses in Diagon Alley. The war still had effects on trade, so many merchants gladly took investments of gold in return for a slice of the profits.

In the following months, Division M started to get regular funding in wizarding currency, which helped the Magical Departments a lot. The organization started to stack up things like Polyjuice Potion or Veritaserum. The wizards of Division M could also start to work on more experimental magic. Some wanted to cooperate with muggle Engineering, in order to create a chip that could make muggle-devices that would work in magical areas, while others wanted to create bullets & grenades that could kill Giants and Acromantulas.

While the Magical Departments were not nearly as well-funded as their muggle-counterparts, it was an improvement and a start.

The Director himself put Pansy Parkinson on his watch-list of aspiring talent. With only four months of in Division M she had already achieved quite something. Who knows what the future could hold with great minds like her?

I hoped you enjoyed this!

I have no idea in finances or banking, so please don't be angry if I got something wrong here.

We also heard more of this "Director"-character.

Comment your thoughts in either reviews or PM's and I'm open for ideas and suggestions to what to write in the future!