teacher123: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and are supportive of the choice of adding Abby instead of Simeon. I hope this got up quick enough for you.
Narothan: Thank you for your recent messages and flattery over this story. I hope you continue to enjoy.
Chapter Six: Mentorship and Meetings
To: Charlie G. Weasley
Re: Training of New Recruits
It is my duty to inform that you have been selected from the staff to train a new member of our international team for this year. The recruit and mentorship program is a pride of the reserve and is used for all new people starting at our dragon reserve as dragon keepers and researchers.
The new recruits will begin orientation on August 24th. It is customary for the recruits to meet with their mentor at a welcoming brunch that day at 11 o'clock in the common lounge and commence job shadowing at your following shift. If you have a shift on the day of the 24th, you are exempt from duty for the day in order to meet your recruit.
If there are any further questions regarding the mentorship, feel free to direct them to me during the day at my office.
Thank you for your support in helping new members of our team become acquainted with their surroundings.
Sincerely yours,
Herbert Kenneth Wilde
Proprietor of Romania International Dragon Reserve
Charlie scanned over the letter for the third time that morning, checking the date and time were correct before returning the parchment paper to its home for the past weeks: his pants pocket. It wasn't difficult to remember those two things considering the fact that countless signs were hanging on walls around the reserve to keep staff aware of the event, but the redheaded dragon keeper had taken the extra precaution of carrying around a constant reminder. Thoughts about his job and the upcoming training of a new recruit kept him focused, not allowing it to wander into thoughts he had promised he would not dwell on.
"'Eh Charlie," a strong voice called him as the letter disappeared into his pocket.
Throwing a glance over his left shoulder, Gustavo Garcia came into view with one hand in the air flagging down his co-worker and his younger sister, Lupe, at his side. The sibling pair jogged together through the hall in sync with each other's movements, as though they had rehearsed stepping together in time like dancers. Coming up on either side of Charlie, only Gustavo came to a halt by placing his hand on his fellow keeper's shoulder while Lupe kept going ahead of her brother.
"You headed to see the new recruits arriving?" Gustavo asked wiping the light perspiration off of his forehead with the backside of his hand.
"I'll be meeting the lot at the brunch," the redhead replied as he scratched his nose lightly. "So I don't really need to…"
"You know the tradition," his Spanish friend interrupted, taking a few steps forward with his arm still around Charlie. "Every time as the fresh meat walks through the doors, everyone else must look down from second floor. It is fun."
With no other words, Gustavo began to lead Charlie in the direction that Lupe had vanished into, the two dragon keepers walking towards the front of the building. The sound of a crowd forming began to overtake the corridor, the noise soon materialising into the people with their heads hanging out of open windows or pressed against the glass to get a good view of the driveway. By luck Lupe had secured a spot at the staircase window directly above the front door and ushered her brother and Charlie to her place.
"Just in time," she told them as they squeezed past fellow co-workers. She gently brushed her ponytail of black hair to the left side of her face. "The bus is just pulling up."
Sure enough, Lupe's words were dead on target as a plain white bus large enough for thirty people drove up the road. The reflective windows prevented the lot from having a good look at any of the occupants as the vehicle turned to its profile side and stopped.
The crowd of people overlooking the ground hushed, waiting with baited breath for the new arrivals to pile out of the vehicle. Herb appeared from directly below, trotting right up to the doors of the bus in order to greet his newest employees with strong firm handshakes as he always did. Very slowly, the doors of the bus shuddered open, allowing the new recruits to enter their new home with hundreds of eyes on them.
Two young ladies hopped out first, neither of them taking notice of the many people staring down at them as they shook hands with Herb and took their personal luggage straight into the building. A few whispers from nearby began to flow through the crowd, covering the important topic of which was preferred: golden-red blonde or chocolate brunette.
Next was a broad-shouldered man carrying a duffle bag over his shoulder as he exited the bus. Sporting a thick moustache and stubbly beard, he looked older than he likely was. Soon enough, the facial hair would have to vanish for the job's demands, but it didn't stop a few catcalls from the researching women.
"By Merlin's pants, let there be more of those," Lupe purred with a glimmer in her eyes that her older brother had luckily failed to notice.
Another person landed on solid ground with a valise in hand. Unlike the male who had come down a moment ago, this recruit looked like a teenager. In a small frame was a young man, looking awkward in his boyish build and pressed grey pants accompanied with a blue tie over a white shirt, perhaps prepared more for a day at an office than a dragon reserve. He was quick to take Herb's hand and give it two firm shakes, before turning his attention to the crowd watching him with judgemental eyes.
"Another man for the Research Department," Gustavo commented as the boy marched out of sight. "About time. Hasn't been a new guy since Seth Johansson left."
Eyes had returned to the set of doors where the new people had been appearing, which closed as the driver pulled away and towards the garage. The quiet whispers and hushed voices suddenly found themselves drowned out by an expected wave of volume.
"Four! Only four new recruits this year!"
The rise of voices formed into groups, many of the watchers turning to their neighbours and friends to talk about the sudden sharp decline in recruitment and how in previous years it took at least ten minutes for the white bus to empty completely. With the window area no longer a necessary component for their morning activity, everyone started to trickle away: researchers heading back for their labs and offices as the dragon keepers went off to find ways to amuse themselves before the shift change.
After the mass exodus, only Simeon and Charlie were left standing at opposite ends of the stairway corridor.
"That's something, isn't it?" Charlie said in an attempt to make conversation with the quiet roommate he hadn't seen against the crowd. "I don't think we've ever seen such few recruits at one time…other than when you were orientated on your own, but that wasn't an official session."
"It is no surprise," the Bulgarian replied, his dark bangs covering his eyes as he cocked his head in a gesture for Charlie to follow him as he walked down the stairs.
"What do you mean?" questioned Charlie as he caught up with his roommate, his mind mulling over the puzzle of how his friend nearly always managed to have information. "What do you know, Simeon?"
"I know Herb approved many to come," his friend responded casually, his hands placing themselves in the pockets of his pants, "and many are from other countries."
In only one sentence from the Bulgarian's mouth, the mystery was making sense.
"Herb sent avay for the vorking visas, but the Ministry did not respond," Simeon continued to explain as the two walked into the entrance area. "He sent Tamara, but she could not get audience with anyone who could help. The recruits are locals."
Charlie heaved a sigh, bowing his head low as he fell behind his roommate's pace. A dull weighty pain began to throb inside him, as though someone had hit him squarely in the chest with a Bludger, and the same Quidditch ball had chained itself to his ribs. Thoughts that had dwelled in the corners of his head flooded as if to drown his brain. The promise of avoiding such thoughts could no longer take place, the shame of his failure weeks before returning at a full force.
"You still blame yourself for vat happened at the Ministry," Simeon spoke again, halted in his tracks as he waited for Charlie to catch up, though he did not look back.
His friend didn't respond, continuing to walk past Simeon as though he hadn't heard the words biting into his ears. With his body weighted down by the throb in his chest, he couldn't move fast enough as Simeon walked three steps behind him.
"You cannot place blame," his fellow dragon keeper began in a casual monotone voice as he tailed Charlie towards the mess hall. "It is politics. The government does it all the time. Both Vorld Vars they vere neutral to start."
Charlie continued to pull himself in a forward motion, acting as though the co-worker's words were falling on deaf ears. Though his legs propelled him, there was little sense as to where they were going other than hoping it would leave behind the new emotion bubbling in pit of his stomach: anger.
"Not all is vell in this country," Simeon continued, carrying the conversation on his own for the first time Charlie had ever known. "Var is not something they vould vant to engage in. It has been that vay since before Ceausescu fell. These are hard times."
"You don't need to justify it, Simeon," Charlie finally spoke, not ceasing his walk or bothering to face his supposed friend. "Don't try. It doesn't take away the fact that everything we did came in vain."
"I am not justifying this," corrected the Bulgarian indifferently. "But you cannot go on pretending in front of people, encouraging them vhen you have lost hope."
The last words spoken finally caused the two to halt in the corridor and Charlie to turn around and face the voice that had trailed him for the past few minutes. The heat in his stomach had been increasing, and threatened to boil over as his fingers tingled with the idea of releasing his power. His wand sat still in his back pocket, but he didn't need that to unleash his burning fury. Slowly it simmered in him as he stared at the dark man only a metre away, maintaining a bubbling effect though sinking back into the lowest part of his chest.
"I'll see you later," the redhead said, walking backwards from the heated zone he was in. "You have shift soon and Valerie is head of the team this week. You don't want to be late or she'll have your head."
Charlie stalked off towards the mess hall leaving the darkly dressed man standing in the hall for a few seconds before he turned the other way and walked to the equipment room to prepare for his job, deciding that his duty had been done.
Thoughts of the encounter with his roommate hadn't left Charlie by the time he was sitting in the lounge and awaiting the arrival of the few new recruits. The anger in him had sunk to stability, but it still simmered as though it had been left brewing over open blue flames. He leaned back on the couch he was sitting on, resting his head so he looked up, and began to count the amount of the tiles that made up the ceiling.
He had only gone through the first two rows before the sound of the door opening made him glance sideways and see a small figure with wavy brown hair enter. For the moment, he believed there was another lecture headed his way judging by who had arrived.
"Hello Charlie," the woman beamed brightly, flashing her wide smile and two rows of lovely white teeth as she approached the seat beside the dragon keeper. "You didn't mention you were training a new person too."
"Morning Bella," Charlie greeted with a weak smile, sitting up straighter as Bella took her place beside him on the couch.
"Isn't this different, being mentors now?" Bella inquired with a giggle, smoothing out the creases of her lavender coloured sundress as she spoke. "I suppose I should have asked if you were training a new person, or should have known you'd be in the running at the least to do so. We were recruits together those five years ago after all."
Charlie gave Bella a genuine smile, thoughts of his own arrival flashing in his mind. It was hard to imagine it had been five years ago when he felt like he'd been around the reserve his whole life.
"It was so thrilling then, to be introduced to this entirely new country and line of work," continued his female friend as her dreamy eyes slipped further into her own reverie. "I spilt nearly an entire goblet of pumpkin juice on my mentor, I was so nervous about making a good impression on my first day. Hopefully my recruit isn't as clumsy as I was or we'll have quite a time in training."
"With a lot of laughs," added her old friend. "I remember when you did that at the brunch. Your mentor seemed amused once she vanished the stain."
"Yes, Emily was good to me," sighed Bella. "Shame she had to leave, but it was a good move for her career-wise. I hope I'm half as good as she was."
"You'll do fine," Charlie reassured with a gentle pat on her knee as the lounge door opened again to allow Lupe Garcia in.
There was no time for an exchange of words between the three mentors, as Lupe was followed by Herb and the four recruits that Charlie had watched get off the bus. They formed a single file as they walked into the room, first the two ladies and then the two men. All four kept their eyes on their new boss, waiting for the next set of instructions. Bella and Charlie stood up with Lupe scampering to their side, all of them ready for the tasks that were before them.
"All right now," Herb started, gathering everyone's attention with his voice and loud orange toucan shirt, "now that you four have had the brief introduction to the reserve, it's time to throw you into the work."
The four recruits eyes widened at the announcement, visible shock overcoming their faces at the thought.
"No worries, I kid," their boss laughed at the sight. "No, no. We do believe here that you'll get more out of experience than any kind of lecturing, but we'll take it all in tiny steps. And that is where these fine people…"
Herb stopped, looking with narrow eyes over to the three mentors that had assembled. He glanced to the mentors, to the recruits, and back again.
"We're missing one," he commented with a sour expression crossing his lips. "Ah well, we'll worry about that later. Anyway, that is where these fine people come in. They will be your mentors, and you will be their shadows for the following days."
The new members of the team looked up at Charlie, Bella and Lupe. Bella smiled happily and waved at the four, while Lupe made eyes for the muscular man with the stubbly beard she had set her eyes on earlier. Charlie only nodded politely as the recruits were too stiff to make any gesture back.
"If you have any questions, they're going to be the ones to ask," Herb pressed on, rubbing his own white chin stubble. "They've all been working here for many years, and have the knowledge that will help you substantially in your training. Take advantage of having them. You'll likely be asked to try things, and don't hesitate to do so. They are mentors for you because they know what you'll be facing in the world of dragons. So let's pair you all up and have a nice little bite to eat."
Pulling his wand from his pocket and giving it a flick, Herb made a full table set for eight laden with an assortment of sandwiches, salads and sweets appeared behind the recruits. The four instantly turned their heads, astonished with the casual feast that lay before them. It was simple, but it made even the fullest fed man feel the tinge of hunger deep inside his stomach.
"Bella," Herb called forward the Italian researcher.
Bella responded instantly, running to Herb's side as he ushered the first woman to approach him as well. The woman seemed shy at first, stepping meekly towards Herb and Bella while pushing the glasses up her nose and her coppery blonde braid over her shoulder. As she stepped up, she was actually taller than her mentor by several inches, but somehow the tinier Italian researcher had an intimidating effect on her.
"Mirabella Ribisi," Herb spoke touching one of Bella's shoulders before reaching for her shadow's hand. "Bianca Vasile."
Smiling the whole time, Bella instantly took Bianca's hand in hers for a firm two shakes and quickly led her off to the lunch table. There they took chairs beside each other, though not before the mentor had knocked over an empty goblet and sent cutlery to the floor, which her recruit kindly picked up for her.
The next mentor was quick to follow suite without any sign from Herb; Lupe was at her boss' side before Bella had even made it to the table. Noticing the tall and confident Spanish woman standing beside him waiting patiently, Herb ushered forward the next recruit and introduced the shorthaired brunette researcher as Denisa Albescu.
"And Charlie," Herb called forward the only male mentor as Lupe and Denisa made their way to sit with their female companions. "I suppose we'll make do without our last mentor here for now, but Mar…"
As if on cue, the lounge doors flung wide open to reveal a very red-faced Ryan Donaldson. His blonde hair was streaked with sweat, and the dirt on his green shirt told the small crowd that he had been working in the dragon's domain. He leaned exhaustedly on the wall, taking large gulps of air.
"Sorry I'm late," he announced in his thick accent, walking forward a little with an imbalanced step. "Completely forgot it was today."
"Well you're here," shrugged Herb casually with a playful shake of his head, "and that's what matters. But anyhow, Marcel?"
At the sound of his name, the clean-shaven recruit stepped forward. He nodded towards Charlie in greeting, professionally carrying himself with thrown back shoulders. Though walking straight and tall, it had little success in making him look like anything but a tall teenager. The thinness of his build gave the impression he was not made for any manual labour, and that Charlie was about to have his work cut out for him.
"Charlie Weasley, Marcel Antov," introduced their boss as the two men extended their hands to each other.
"Pleasure to meet you, Marcel," Charlie said politely as he gave his new shadow's hand a shake.
"The pleasure, it is mine, Mr Veasley," replied Marcel in clear English with the notably similar accent to what Charlie had become accustomed to with his roommate. "Shall ve sit?"
The two men walked over to the table in silence while Herb acquainted Ryan with his new member, Toma Nicolescu. They sat across from Bella and Bianca, whom barely took notice as the familiar voice of the Italian researcher filled the air around the table and monopolised her recruit.
"Wonderful, now that we're all paired up," Herb's voice boomed, silencing Bella's chatter as he strolled up to the head of the table while the last two were seated. He placed his hands firmly on the wooden surface, giving everyone a friendly glance. "For the rest of the afternoon, the mentors are responsible for you new folk. They'll be showing you around your workplace and filling you in on the duties entailed, and of course answering all of those eager questions you probably have. So, eat up and enjoy your afternoon. Mentors, have the recruits in my office by seven o'clock tonight for room assignments and job shadowing will start tomorrow."
With everything said, Herb turned on his heels and left the lounge door shut. No one waited before dashing for sandwiches and salads, the tantalising meal too tempting for them to resist any second longer. Plates shuffled and passed around the table of eight, everyone piling their portions of Nisha's homemade delicacies high.
"Caesar, Mr Veasley?" Marcel asked politely, holding the salad bowl filled with crisp romaine lettuce and creamy dressing topped with bits of toasted garlic croutons out to his mentor.
"Thank you," Charlie nodded with a smile, taking the bowl to scoop out his lunch.
He turned to his new shadow once the salad had been passed across the table. The scrawny lad beside him had his napkin daintily folded in his lap, while the silvery coloured knife and fork worked smoothly cutting through his tuna sandwich into respectable bites.
Even the ladies across the table gave each other quizzical looks over the table manners of the newest dragon keeper.
"So, basically you'll need to take all that equipment onto the field, and it's mandatory to have your wand as close to you as possible at all times," Charlie explained as he lead his private tour through the hallway. "Best if it's tucked into your belt or up your sleeve for quick access."
Marcel nodded, scribbling down notes in his native Romanian language to a piece of parchment paper so not to miss a single detail. He'd taken note of nearly everything Charlie had mentioned along their tour even going so far as to make a map and place stars on the important rooms, the largest one being placed over the infirmary.
"I hope you've got appropriate attire for tomorrow," the redhead dragon keeper coughed slightly as his recruit loosened the knot on his tie slightly.
"Oh, I do," the new worker responded quickly with a nod. "No fear, Mr Veasley."
"Call me Charlie, if you don't mind," his mentor instructed gently, turning down a hall to the mess hall. "We're very casual around here. First names are fine."
"Very vell, Charlie," Marcel nodded yet again, writing the note to himself.
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you decide to become a dragon keeper?" Charlie finally asked, no longer being able to contain the burning question.
The boyish recruit cleared his throat thoroughly before speaking. "Vell, I alvays did like dragons as a boy. I vould think vorking vith the creatures, it vould bring joy to me, to know I am making a difference in their lives, and am preserving their kind for the future."
"Well, good, cause its hard work out there," cautioned Charlie as they finally turned into the almost empty mess hall. The lunch crowd had cleared out long ago, only a few stragglers remaining with coffee and a newspaper as Nisha swerved around the tables and set down enchanted dishtowels to do the work for her.
Marcel looked about for himself, taking a few steps around the large room and taking in the space while Charlie gave a wave to the best cook on the reserve. There was little to say about the room itself that hadn't already been said and written onto parchment by the recruit.
"Vhat is this, Charlie?" Marcel questioned, making his mentor look over to where he had wandered.
The Romanian lad stood before the bulletin board, where everyone had been pasting news about the war in the United Kingdom. Every day the news brought on more sorrow for the country, articles being pasted on top of ones that had preceded it only a few days before. The death of Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of Durmstrang, had been buried under more recent obituaries and missing announcements though it had only been a few weeks since his corpse had been discovered.
"It's a notice board," Charlie explained with a sigh, his eye catching an article from a Zurich paper about the mysterious disappearance of Mr Ollivanders, the wand maker. "We've been using it to keep updated on the war against You-Know-Who."
"Ah…I see," the lanky man nodded along, glancing over the headlines that blared out at him and grazing the adjoining moving pictures with his index finger. "I have been following it myself. Very sad, but vhat is this?"
Marcel pointed at a yellow leaflet with a red border tacked near the top of the board, bearing large bold black letters. Casually, Charlie glanced over and read the brief message typed over it only to become stunned over its words.
The Order of the Phoenix:
Meeting
August 25, 1996
8:00 pm in Conference Room 3
A/N: There was a lot of time writing this chapter when I did it, so I feel I should be noting something about it.
The difficult part was the confrontation of Charlie and Simeon. It has been edited several times and I went back to ask Raquel, Simeon's creator, about it. Something just wasn't clicking with it and Raquel helped clear it up over some conversations. Simeon said WAY too much the first few times, so his dialogue has been cut in favour of his character. He is a man of few words, but all of them must have reason to be said.
Originally, this chapter was also posted over at Phoenix Prophecy, on Simeon's actual birthday. January 1.
Also, I felt Bella was noticeably absent over the past few chapters, so she makes her return here alongside a cast of new people.
And for some reason, Marcel looks a lot like Topher Grace in my head.
I think that's all that's worth noting.
Enjoy!