|
Raphael Caelan McLaggen
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER
154 posts
played by Jenny
you don't realize the value of a moment until it's a memory
|
|
last online Sept 25, 2023 5:53:56 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2021 1:31:14 GMT -7
Post by Raphael Caelan McLaggen on Jul 10, 2021 1:31:14 GMT -7
19 March 2026 Okay, so Rafe was extremely reluctant to admit that Jimmie had actually been right about something, but…yeah, she’d completely nailed it. He had only agreed to join the school newspaper because Jimmie had done a very good job pressuring him into it, not because he had any interest in journalism or media. In all honesty, he’d figured he could skate by with delivering a few good shots a week and then spend the rest of his time decidedly not thinking about the Hogwarts newspaper or Jimmie’s obsession with buffing up her news credentials ahead of graduation. But…in the end, it was turning out to be one of his favorite things. As challenging as the deadlines could be, Raphael found himself doing all sorts of interesting things as part of his role on the paper. Attending club events he’d never heard of before, scouring the Pitch for something that screamed Ravenclaw after their latest Quidditch win… It was only because of Jimmie’s insistence that Raphael had begun to think of the newspaper as a future career path at all, but now it was on his mind almost as much as the NEWTs looming over every seventh year’s head. He’d never had any idea what to do with himself after graduation, but…taking photographs for the Hogwarts Post had given him the first glimmer of hope that he’d had in a long time. Now it was time to do something about it. Addy had been the first to give him a good idea, reminding him that her brother worked for the Daily Prophet. Technically speaking, Raphael also knew a sports writer, but the thought of asking his dad for career advice (especially in a field that wasn’t pro Quidditch)…well, he was mortified at the thought. Grey seemed like a much better option, but the second piece of the puzzle hadn’t fallen into place until Brígh had started going on excitedly about a career fair being hosted at the Ministry. She’d been avidly reaching out to cursebreakers all year, and Rafe was sure she’d take the opportunity to corner a few more and question them thoroughly about the job. On his part…it might be a good time to talk to Grey and see if the newspaper really was a viable option for him. So, on the first day, Rafe found himself uncomfortably sipping a cup of Butterbeer as he towered over most of the other students there. As expected, Brígh had already split from the group and was speaking brightly to an extremely grumpy-looking cursebreaker. Addy had also left him to go speak to a Ministry employee, and they were already chattering away about magicked Muggle technology. That left Raphael slowly scanning the crowd, feeling extremely shy and wishing he had just stayed at Hogwarts. Maybe he could pull a Lily Potter and stay an extra year – that would delay all these hard questions until he’d had more time to think about it. But, as he finally spotted Addy’s older brother, Raphael got the distinct impression that his time was up. He approached Grey uncertainly, trying to seem more confident than he actually felt. “Erm, hi,” he started lamely, trying not to wince at the awkward introduction, “I’m, uh, Raphael. One of Addy’s friends? She...mentioned you'd be here.”grey xavier slater
|
|
|
|
|
grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
688 posts
played by Colin
|
|
last online Mar 27, 2024 19:55:51 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Jul 15, 2021 22:35:44 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jul 15, 2021 22:35:44 GMT -7
▲ Grey had never visualized himself as the type of person to be standing at a table representing the Daily Prophet for a career fair being put on for seventh years, but here he was. The morning shift at the table had been delegated to him, with someone else replacing him at noon if he so desired. At first he didn’t understand why he wouldn’t be able to handle the entire day, and then he was quickly reminded that the Ilvermorny students still attended Hogwarts. That effectively doubled the amount of seventh years, and there seemed to be quite a few Americans that were interested in sticking around in the area after graduation. A few of the tables even had MACUSA employees and other big magical employers from across the pond. Overall though, most of the careers translated well between the two countries. Magizoologists were needed all over, and the same with potioneers. Talking to one of them here was basically getting an idea for what they probably did in America too, if not, on a much larger scale. The Daily Prophet was region specific though, so he didn’t expect too many wayward American students to stop by. They had their own newspapers that seemed to be fairly notable in their own rights, and trying to learn the British publication system with only two years of magical schooling would be impossible for most of them. Even his four years in the Hogwarts school newspaper hadn’t fully prepared him for what a real newspaper was like. The Prophet was actually on an insane scale in comparison. He didn’t even know everyone in the sports department yet, and that was after almost a year and a half of working there. Quidditch, sure. There were only so many beat writers that could be hired. But there were reporters that only covered international Quidditch or scouting, neither of which he had any vested interest in as of yet. They didn’t want him doing those rounds either – he was of better use doing grunt work like what he was currently doing, or crunching player stats for the tenured columnists. Being away from his tiny, cluttered desk at the office and any of the various training pitches he went to each week was sort of nice. The hall that the Ministry was using for the event was part of the Law Enforcement department, so he was quite familiar with the space from his brief auror training two years prior. Seeing it set up in such a way was kind of jarring at first. Now he realized that it was the perfect area to hold such an event, as it could easily accommodate most of the Ministry departments and anyone else that wanted in on it. He had spotted Addy at some point early on, though he was pretty sure he hadn’t caught her attention yet. She wandered off in the direction of the Ministry tables, and there was no way he was abandoning his post to go over there. Claire was probably lying in wait. The last thing he needed was for her to blow up and through a table at him this time. Almost three months of avoiding her would hopefully cool things off, though he had no problem waiting longer. Trying to see if he could see his older sister from where the Prophet’s table was, his search was interrupted by a student approaching the table. The boy introduced himself as Raphael, and he almost didn’t have to say that Addy was one of his friends. He had to be a McLaggen. Grey had worked with Cormac intermittently since he had been hired at the Prophet, and had held interviews with the oldest McLaggen, Mickey, a few times while traveling to Ballycastle for matches. All three of them had a striking resemblance, only assisted by their towering height. Raphael only had a few inches over Grey, but he still stuck out amongst the other students. “You’re interested in working for the Prophet?” he asked, assuming that was what Raphael wanted. Grey couldn’t really think of anything else that they would need to talk about, aside from Addy. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
|
|
|
|
|
Raphael Caelan McLaggen
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER
154 posts
played by Jenny
you don't realize the value of a moment until it's a memory
|
|
last online Sept 25, 2023 5:53:56 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2021 5:19:39 GMT -7
Post by Raphael Caelan McLaggen on Jul 16, 2021 5:19:39 GMT -7
For the last few months, Raphael had managed to get away with thinking about life after Hogwarts in only the vaguest of senses. He knew it had to happen eventually, but the thought of graduating and leaving the castle that he’d become intimately familiar with over the last seven years…it sounded terrifying. The kind of terrifying that could steal your breath away and make your heart pound. No more classes, no more Quidditch, no more spending all his time with Addy and Brígh. They'd do so well out in the real world, with Brígh's aura of confidence and Addy's ability to prepare for anything. But he felt like a small minnow going out into the big wide ocean. He knew it was a slight overreaction, because leaving Hogwarts was a new beginning just as much as it was a final end, but…he’d avoided thinking about it as much as possible. That meant he had a vague idea of what he wanted to do, but no actual specifics. And he wasn’t a planner like Addy, who had no doubt come to this event with lists of questions to ask about prospective careers. So at Grey’s question – his predictable, should-have-seen-it-coming question – Raphael swallowed nervously. “Thinking about it, yeah,” he responded quickly, avoiding the urge to stuff his hands into the pockets of his robes. As big and terrifying as the question was, though, it was still better than the other things running through his head. Now that Raphael was standing in front of Grey, he had automatically started picking out the points of resemblance between Grey and Addy, and it was abundantly obvious that they were siblings. The oldest Slater must be here too, as he suddenly remembered that she worked on this floor as an Auror. He couldn’t remember ever having met her, but if she was anything like the other Slaters – competitive, intense, serious about their futures – he wasn’t sure he could get through that without making an absolute fool of himself. Not that he was doing a much better job now. Rafe wasn’t sure if he should say anything else about Addy – oh yeah, your sister’s great. She’s so smart and pretty and definitely avoiding me right now. Nope, nope, nope. That thought was mortifying, so Raphael rushed to explain himself to Grey because somehow the topic of his future had suddenly become a much safer thing to talk about. And he really hoped Grey had something positive to say, because if he waved him away from the booth then Rafe really didn’t know what he would do. “I really like photography. And I do that, erm, take photos, you know, for the school paper. So I’m hoping…well, I’d like to get an idea of what working for the Prophet might be like. And if you’d recommend it. And how I should be preparing for it now, I guess.” That last comment he added on a whim, because it sounded like the kind of thing Addy might say. In reality, she'd been preparing for her future since day 1 at Hogwarts. He was running a little late, but he did have the motivation. grey xavier slater
|
|
|
|
|
grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
688 posts
played by Colin
|
|
last online Mar 27, 2024 19:55:51 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Sept 11, 2021 14:58:41 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Sept 11, 2021 14:58:41 GMT -7
▲ One of the unwritten rules of interviewing Quidditch players was to never compare them to their parents if they happened to have been pros as well, unless otherwise stated that they could. Statistics were normally his thing anyways, so those questions didn’t typically pop up in post-match interviews as he was more intent on collecting game details and the likes. There had been one warning given to him when he was officially hired though: never bring up Cormac McLaggen to his son Mickey. Ever. There was a reason the father never interviewed the son despite their careers colliding in the manner that they had. Likewise, Grey had a feeling that he shouldn’t mention that Raphael here wanted to join the Daily Prophet like his old man. He knew exactly what Cormac was like and didn’t even want to tread that ground. For all he knew, the kid wanted to shoot photographs for Food & Lifestyle, or other events. Photography wasn’t really his thing despite having a camera thrusted into his hands a lot while working bigger matches, so that spoke to the amount of photographers that the Prophet actually hired. He knew that there were independent ones that were hired on occasion, but that didn’t mean the newspaper wasn’t trying to hire more. Raphael also stated that he took photos for the Hogwarts school paper, and that only helped to pique Grey’s interest in the conversation even more. “No kidding? I was the editor-in-chief my last few years at school. Can’t say we had much of a crew outside of me and Jimmie Blishwick though…” Grey scratched at his neck as he remembered how much work the two of them had gone through just to push out a single article. Sourcing stories from the student body had been absolutely headache-inducing. Considering he and Raphael hadn’t crossed paths in the club, that probably meant he had joined after Grey had graduated. Had it really been that long already? “I would say that you definitely need a portfolio. Luckily the school paper is a good source to pull from. And then whatever you think is your best work.” The school paper was almost a direct line into getting hired, as that was what he had been told following his interview for the preliminary internship. Then again, he had also been the editor-in-chief since his fifth year, so having control of the club for that long looked good on paper. “A lot of the work at first is basic grunt work. You’ll be thrown at different departments and editors, doing whatever they want. Normal intern level work if you ask me. But as a photographer they may have you running around with reporters trying to get what they need. Including coffee.” MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
|
|
|
|
|
Raphael Caelan McLaggen
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER
154 posts
played by Jenny
you don't realize the value of a moment until it's a memory
|
|
last online Sept 25, 2023 5:53:56 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2021 7:04:40 GMT -7
Post by Raphael Caelan McLaggen on Sept 23, 2021 7:04:40 GMT -7
The career fair was steadily becoming more crowded, and Cheese grunted slightly as some goblins elbowed past him to shuffle over to the rowdy cursebreakers on the other side of the crowd. He really hated crowds – or any stuffy situation where there was barely room to think. In fact, the whole evening had been wildly uncomfortable so far, from being corralled like cattle from Hogwarts to the Ministry of Magic, and then being dumped into the wild to talk to professionals about their fields. At least in Quidditch, there was a certain level of separation between him and the crowd. There were 14 players on the field, and then one giant wall of spectators that all blended together. He could focus on finding the Snitch without distractions, whereas here…he had to pretend he was much more confident than he really felt, and there was no easy and obvious way to end the match. He perked up a little as Grey mentioned he had been editor-in-chief for the last few years of his Hogwarts experience. Jimmie hadn’t mentioned that to him, but then again, Jimmie and Rafe didn’t have many casual interactions. She gave him assignments and deadlines, and he saluted and said yes and did everything possible to avoid getting his head bitten off by the Gryffindor. “Oh yeah, Jimmie sort of drafted me for the job after seeing a few of my shots. She had to replace Cordelia, I guess.” Raphael didn’t really know much about the history of the paper, since Jimmie had cornered him into taking up the extra responsibility after that mortifying experience in the Courtyard. But she’d been put into a difficult situation after the last Hufflepuff graduated and left the spot open, he supposed, and he knew Cordelia and how talented she was from Art Club. “She’s great, though. It wouldn’t surprise me if she ends up running the Prophet someday,” Raphael mused out-loud, smiling at the thought. Drat, he really should have brought parchment or something to take notes. Grey had begun to list off a few things he ought to know about working at the newspaper – the necessity of putting together a portfolio, the sorts of things he’d be doing as an intern. It all sounded important, but since Raphael had come unprepared, he decided to just commit the facts to memory and write it all down later. “Erm, I’d have to do tasks for all the departments, then? Including sports?” Rafe tried not to wince at that, although some of his worry might have been obvious from his expression. He hadn’t brought up his interest in the paper to his dad, because he honestly didn’t know how Cormac would react. He already knew that his dad wanted him to follow Mickey into pro sports, but...maybe this would be an acceptable compromise? Still, the thought of seeing him at work, or worse, having to do assignments for him…it wasn’t a thrilling thought. “That all sounds fine, though. Is that what you had to do?”grey xavier slater
|
|
|
|
|
grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
688 posts
played by Colin
|
|
last online Mar 27, 2024 19:55:51 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Nov 6, 2021 12:34:23 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Nov 6, 2021 12:34:23 GMT -7
▲ The fact that he had completely forgotten that Cordelia Smith existed as a person was sort of scary. She had silently handed over photographs for the school paper since before he was put in charge, though was never an official member of the club. The mind rush that hearing her name caused him was like getting whiplash on a broom, and it made him realize that while he hadn’t been gone from Hogwarts for that long, there were already names and faces slipping from his memory. Frankly he didn’t care because he was sure he would disappear into obscurity amidst the halls the second Addy graduated. Assuming his name was even uttered still anyways. Jimmie seemed to have taken over quickly and ruled the paper with an iron fist, which was no surprise. “With the amount of ads her father runs in it, she may already be a minority stakeholder,” he joked, though that didn’t seem as farfetched now that he had put it out there. “Her other options are the matchmaking business or that new pizza parlor that just opened. I can’t picture her spinning pizzas, can you?” The matchmaking business had always been a quick way to push her out of the club room or piss her off though. Grey wasn’t one to hold things over people’s heads but he’d absolutely use that on her if she got too excited about a story, since that was a thing with her. The disappointment in Raphael’s voice was understandable when it came to the role that interns typically played. He had personally viewed it as a way for the senior reporters to knock the newbies down a few pegs – Jimmie was definitely in for a rude awakening though he was sure it wouldn’t affect her too much. Obviously sports fell into that section, and he could see why the kid wouldn’t want to be slotted into that department. “Most likely, yeah. Even though I’m still the newest there, they try to rotate interns through each area. Some end up sticking in departments that they quite honestly didn’t see themselves enjoying, so it kind of works out in the end.” Personally, he had always been driven towards sports, specifically Quidditch. Starting as late as he had in the process after dropping out of the Auror training had helped solidify that spot since he wasn’t going up against any other interns for it. “I did a whole week in food. Ever read the food section? They could just pull recipes from muggle cookbooks and add wand directions and call it a day, but they don’t. It’s honestly a waste of paper.” He felt like he could get away with smearing the food department because only two reporters that worked there and both were ancient witches that he swore were glued to their seats. He’d never seen them physically move before and they were at their desks regardless of time or day. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. They aren’t going to make an intern interview players or anything. And like I said, you’d be there to be a photographer.” Hell, they even forced a camera into his hands when it was really needed. Quidditch and sports weren’t the highlight of the Prophet unfortunately, so that meant that their bit of the budget was severely lacking compared to the rest of the departments. If he had to take a guess, Raphael would probably be swept up by someone in lifestyle and hogged for the entirety of his internship. Once that completed, whoever he reported to for photography would dole out jobs from there. Guaranteeing him that he wouldn’t be given jobs in sports didn’t seem like a promise Grey could make with the little amount of influence he held. Which was none. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
|
|
|
|
|
Raphael Caelan McLaggen
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER
154 posts
played by Jenny
you don't realize the value of a moment until it's a memory
|
|
last online Sept 25, 2023 5:53:56 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
|
|
|
Nov 13, 2021 5:45:01 GMT -7
Post by Raphael Caelan McLaggen on Nov 13, 2021 5:45:01 GMT -7
Rafe nodded in silent agreement at the observations about Jimmie, although the thought of giving her more power than the little bit she wielded over the school paper already was the stuff of nightmares. And the Blishwicks as a whole were certainly no joke – the wizarding world wasn’t that big, after all, so family names tended to stick around for generations and certain industries were really only open to you if you had the right background. The dragon reserves had that sort of arrangement, with local families that had been overseeing the care of dragons since before wizards used wands. It could be difficult to break into that whole business if you didn't know the right people. And look at the McLaggens and their Quidditch legacy. It certainly hadn’t started with Cormac McLaggen, and Raphael was sure that his older brother would be wielding the torch for another generation. He'd never really thought about his brother as a potential father someday, but those kids would definitely be born riding little toy broomsticks or you could call Rafe a niffler. As for the Blishwicks? Rafe had a hard time seeing Jimmie in the matchmaking business, but she was fighting centuries of tradition and the prestige of the ‘family trade.’ To call going against that history an uphill battle would be like calling a manticore a pest. “I dunno, she might have fun kneading the pizza dough. Takes a lot of, er, passion.” Or anger was another word, but Rafe was diplomatic enough not to suggest to a near-stranger that Jimmie might have a slight problem with her temper. Grey knew her and could form his own (obvious) conclusions on that front. At any rate, he was sure to expect being bossed around by Jimmie for at least the rest of the year, so he didn’t want it getting back to her that he was gossiping about her. And if this newspaper photography thing worked out (although Raphael still had his doubts), well…then he might be seeing her for the rest of their working lives. And how long did wizards live, usually? They were friends, sure, and he did like her when she wasn’t yelling at him, but that was still a long-term consideration for the ‘con’ column of applying for a job at the Prophet. He tried not to fidget as Grey explained the internship process, and how they cycled interns through every department so that they could find a good fit for after the transition into a fulltime position. It made sense, but he still winced at the thought of spending a rotation in the sports department. Wand to his head, Rafe would say that he liked his family. Sure, the dynamic could be awkward – overbearing father, overperforming older brother, rebellious sister that liked to piss off the rest of the family. But they were still McLaggens and that meant something to him. But that really didn’t mean he wanted to run into them at work, having to interview Mickey after a game (especially if it was a terrible game), or run errands for Cormac while he lectured other reporters on how to do their job. So it was reassuring to hear Grey explain that he would really only be there for photography, but it didn’t quite settle the nerves in his stomach. “Uh, yeah, that’s…not really what I’m worried about,” Rafe mumbled. He wondered if Grey had ever come into contact with Cormac McLaggen, since they were in the same department. He assumed not, or Grey would probably have realized immediately why Rafe didn’t want to work with/for his father. That was probably a popular sentiment in the rest of the department, anyway. “Okay, thanks man. I guess I have a lot to think about.” An understatement if he’d ever heard one, but for once Raphael wasn’t consumed by the same feeling of helplessness that he usually felt whenever he thought about his post-Hogwarts future. That was a good sign, right? But there was one last thing to check. “And you…like what you do?”grey xavier slater
|
|
|
|
|
grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
688 posts
played by Colin
|
|
last online Mar 27, 2024 19:55:51 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Jan 1, 2022 15:03:17 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jan 1, 2022 15:03:17 GMT -7
▲ Imagining Jimmie Blishwick punching a ball of pizza dough with every ounce of her rage was honestly not as farfetched as they were both making it out to be. He had known her for long enough to be able to tell that she had every ounce of passion for business that her father did, except that she actively rejected the family career and put it all into writing. Nothing wrong with that, because he had always welcomed the additional talent at the school paper. Frankly, the Prophet would be lucky to have her. He’d still pay to see her slugging dough though. Grey was fine with the kid not being worried about taking pictures. It would honestly lighten the load on his own work, since they were still trying to force him to snap photos whenever he had the chance. As if updating centuries of stats wasn’t enough busy work. Sitting in the dark room with all of the Prophet photographers laughing at his blurry photos was a waste of his time and the newspaper’s money with his useless rolls of film. But thinking the job through was the best thing Raphael could do. If Grey had done that right at the start, he could have told his parents to shove it instead of getting their hopes up. Not that anything he would have done for the Ministry as an Auror would compare to what Claire did, but still. All they cared about was how they could brag to their own coworkers or at parties they attended. Acting higher class than they really were always rubbed him the wrong way, and now they had a son that wrote the weekly stats column for Quidditch. “Love it. Was slated to be an auror. This is more my pace. Chasing down Quidditch players beats getting into duels with criminals, wouldn’t you say?” And it helped that he had years of knowledge on how the press worked. There were witches and wizards better suited for law enforcement than he was. His passion had led him to the correct career, despite what some in his family seemed to think. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
|
|
|
|
|
Raphael Caelan McLaggen
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER
154 posts
played by Jenny
you don't realize the value of a moment until it's a memory
|
|
last online Sept 25, 2023 5:53:56 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
|
|
|
Jan 7, 2022 12:18:25 GMT -7
Post by Raphael Caelan McLaggen on Jan 7, 2022 12:18:25 GMT -7
Rafe tried hard to focus on Grey and not notice what everyone around him was doing, because making this a competition was the last thing he wanted to do. But he knew there were students who had been preparing for this career fair for a long time – Ravenclaws chatting loudly in the Great Hall about all the research they’d done, and the mental calculations the Slytherins must be doing about how fast they could get promoted at one job over another. But Cheese had never been a planner like that. He took every day as it came and tried his best to get through it as brightly as he could. Addy was the type to always be thinking six months, a year, five years into the future – outline her goals and calculate what skills and connections she needed to develop to get there. And it sounded like Grey was the same way. At least, Rafe knew the Slater parents could be hard on their kids. He saw Addy cope with the pressure every day, and she’d made a lot of sacrifices to accomplish everything her parents wanted for her. Grey mentioned that he’d been slated (haha, nice pun) to enter the Auror program, although he must not have gotten very far. Addy had mentioned her Auror sister before, but she’d made it sound like Grey had been writing for a long time. And maybe Grey’s question was rhetorical, but Cheese began to consider for a second what it meant to be an Auror. The danger of chasing after Dark wizards, living with the knowledge that any day could be your last. It took someone special to choose the career -- they had to be brave, and selfless, and incredibly talented…but then he thought about what being a sports reporter must be like. Having a desk near his bossy and overbearing father. He cleared his throat. “Auror doesn’t sound so bad, actually.”But Grey still had a point – different careers suited different people. If Grey and Addy’s older sister was anything like Addy, then she must be well suited for such a tough job. And Cheese? He didn’t have the best grades, or the sharpest mind, but he loved photography. It had stopped being ‘just a hobby’ a long time ago, and he’d found a passion and a motivation for it that he didn’t have for most other things. It would drive Cormac crazy to think of his youngest son rejecting Quidditch for something in the arts, but Rafe had been doing a lot of thinking these last few months. He thought about what Ella had said, and what Yas had said, and they both made good points. Maybe it was time to do something that would make him happy, for a change. So Cheese let himself pick up and scan a brochure on the table advertising the different careers at the Prophet, featuring wizards and witches with comically large quills and cheesy smiles. “D’you get a lot of freedom? I’m…not sure a structured day is my style. I have trouble staying focused sometimes.” Cheese accompanied the (very true) statement with a shrug. He didn’t really know what Addy had said about him to Grey (if anything at all, and Cheese felt his cheeks burn at the thought) but she’d always had good things to say about her older brother. Like he could do anything – and it made Rafe wonder if he could be half as successful as a Slater kid at anything they did together. grey xavier slater
|
|
|
|
|
grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
688 posts
played by Colin
|
|
last online Mar 27, 2024 19:55:51 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Feb 16, 2022 20:59:00 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Feb 16, 2022 20:59:00 GMT -7
▲ “It really wasn’t,” Grey responded. Reminiscing on his time in Auror training happened every now and then, and was often times brought up when he ran into old classmates that thought he was an Auror. Their surprise at his ‘career change’ – if it could even be called that since he was always more of a journalist over being a fighter of any sorts – was consistently hilarious. The only issues he’d had thus far came from crazy Quidditch fans trying to push him out of the way to get autographs while he conducted interviews, in which having a bit of physical stamina from the Auror training helped with. “But in this day and age, I don’t have the propensity for that sort of thing. Writing is a better fit.” Something about the pen being mightier than the sword. If only everyone saw it that way. Raphael’s question about freedom was definitely a good one, only because it was sort of depended on who he ended up working underneath. Grey’s editors had figured out that he was good with stats and gave him stacks of past seasons to work through. Supposedly this record keeping was to benefit the commentators in the league and he could see how that would work. Now that they were using computers in the office, transcribing was definitely easier. It was a far cry to call that freedom though. As for going out to team practices and matches? Then a lot was left up to his discretion if there wasn’t an assignment that needed to be met. “I’d say so. Photographers especially, since there the editors aren’t always good at knowing what works for an article. If you know the subject and have a good enough eye to get what they need, I think you get freedom a lot faster.” Hell, even during the finals match over the summer he’d been given free reign with a camera. But that was really only because they lacked photographers. Having someone solely dedicated to it like Raphael would make his job infinitely easier. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
|
|
|
|
|
Raphael Caelan McLaggen
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER
154 posts
played by Jenny
you don't realize the value of a moment until it's a memory
|
|
last online Sept 25, 2023 5:53:56 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
|
|
|
Feb 26, 2022 11:05:59 GMT -7
Post by Raphael Caelan McLaggen on Feb 26, 2022 11:05:59 GMT -7
Even with all the flashy attention that Aurors seemed to attract wherever they went – easily noticeable in their robes with the Auror logo obviously on display, wands always ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice – working for the Ministry sounded awful. Not that Cheese was one of those anti-government wonks or anything, spreading every little rumor about what really went on in the Department of Mysteries or speculating if the Ministry’s intentions were as pure as they claimed. But it was a huge, sprawling mess of bureaucracy and most employees didn’t seem to actually do anything. Just go in and out, push papers around in brightly colored cubicles to distract from the mind-numbing work. Maybe it suited some people, maybe they really believed they were making a difference, but Cheese wasn’t the ambitious kind of hive insect that wanted to work until he died. No, he was looking for something different. A million different ways to view the world, a million different lens he could use to show people what he saw. Rafe had never been a particularly talented communicator, at least not with his words. The camera was his way of connecting with people, and of being heard. But that wasn’t really what this chat with Grey was about. This was supposed to be a professional consultation, learning more about the Prophet so Rafe could decide if he wouldn’t mind dedicating the next years of his life to obeying orders from bossy editors and overworked reporters. He found himself nodding along as Grey elaborated on what the job would be like, because it really didn’t sound so bad. There’d be a lot of reshooting, no doubt, or nitpicking between two identical pictures while the editor tried to describe what they wanted. “But is it a lot of the same every day?” Cheese asked, “Or do you get to try new things, or…I dunno, mix it up a bit?”He slipped his hands into the pockets of his robes as he considered whether he could really see himself working at the Prophet. Or if they’d even take him – there was probably a lot of competition for very few spots. But that was every industry these days, and Cheese needed to choose something. And as tired as Grey looked (with the same bags under his eyes that Addy always got whenever an essay was due for Magical Theory), he still seemed happy to be doing his thing. Unless Rafe was missing a secret warning that was being subtly communicated, but he doubted it. He scuffed his shoe against the floor and wondered if he should ask. Addy probably would, an attempt to be thorough and all, so he cleared his throat and continued. “Are you glad you tried something else first before the paper? Auror training, I mean. Or if you could do it all again, would you just…skip ahead to where you are now?”grey xavier slater
|
|
|
|
|
grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
688 posts
played by Colin
|
|
last online Mar 27, 2024 19:55:51 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
May 18, 2022 20:24:55 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on May 18, 2022 20:24:55 GMT -7
▲ There wasn't much variation in his own work, mostly because he chose to dive into Quidditch stats and interviews. Becoming a statistician hadn't been how he had imagined his career going, but so far it had been fairly interesting. Being the guy that the other Quidditch reporters went to for certain things gave him a sense of value, which he never had in his brief time in Auror training. The repetitive nature of his own job was sort of the highlight for him. It meant that he would know how his day would go and he welcomed that sort of monotony. Obviously getting out into the field and conducting interviews was interesting, but he was better with the binders of stats surrounding his desk, digging into them for eight hours a day. "For me it's the same most days outside of the season. Photographers have a completely different set of tasks daily. So while I modernize centuries of Quidditch stats, you would actually be adding to the hard-hitting stories." This was all in the name of remembering the sport too. Did the Daily Prophet really need to know about a goal scored from two hundred years ago? Nope! But now it was logged into a system accessible by anyone within the department. Theoretically it would be there forever, just like with muggle tech. "I'd skip to where I am now," Grey responded immediately. Auror training had been enlightening for sure. Seeing as that had been more of a recommendation as opposed to a personal choice. Or rather, he personally chose to enter training to avoid the fall out that ended up happening regardless. "All it meant was that I started as an intern six months later than everyone else. I think that helped in my favor with where I wanted to go within the paper." Right off the bat he had been swept up by the Quidditch department and used as their errand boy, which was better than being a practice dummy for offensive hexes. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
|
|
|
|
|
Raphael Caelan McLaggen
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER
154 posts
played by Jenny
you don't realize the value of a moment until it's a memory
|
|
last online Sept 25, 2023 5:53:56 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
|
|
|
May 28, 2022 8:23:59 GMT -7
Post by Raphael Caelan McLaggen on May 28, 2022 8:23:59 GMT -7
Cheese could admit he was mildly impressed by his brief chat with Grey. He knew Addy had suggested it, which usually meant it was a good idea, but she’d been needling him with lots of ideas as they inched closer to graduation. She always knew what she wanted to do, and even their other friends all had a general sense of where their lives were going. Rafe, on the other hand, felt a bit like a tumbleweed drifting around and letting the wind toss him wherever it wanted. He didn’t have that same sense of direction, and the impending sense of doom that had settled into his stomach got a little heavier with every day that passed. But! It was like Grey had offered him a spot on the lifeboat, like he was saying – no worries, there’s cool stuff out there. Because he did make photography work for the Prophet sound cool, and Cheese nodded thoughtfully at his description of the job. And that sense got even stronger as Grey didn’t even take a second to answer that he’d skip to where he was now. Rafe had been wondering if he really should just do as his dad wanted and try to get himself noticed by scouts. It would certainly be the path of least resistance, and Addy at least seemed to get some pleasure from trying to meet her parents’ expectations. But Cheese had never been quite so convinced, and talking to Yas and now Grey seemed to be nudging him in the direction of ‘do what you want, not what someone else wants.’ “I get it,” Rafe said vaguely, although he left it at that without any clarification. He didn’t know what Addy said to her older siblings about her friends, but Cheese wasn’t much eager to dive into his life story at a career fair. Speaking of… “Thanks man, lots of good stuff to think about.” Cheese shuffled awkwardly in place for a moment. He didn’t really know a polite way to end a professional conversation. Shake the guy’s hand and fork over a CV? Except Rafe had never actually made one of those, and he didn’t have business cards in his pocket either. So instead he nodded at Grey and continued, “I’ll definitely think about it. Should probably make the rounds too. I, er, heard there were some scouts here.” His father would definitely send a Howler if he found out there’d been Quidditch reps in the same room and Rafe hadn’t gone to talk to them, so he figured he should cover his bases and track one down. Just so he felt like he was doing everything he could. He nodded again at Grey and chose a random direction to start walking. Merlin, why had no one ever told him how uncomfortable career fairs were? grey xavier slater [End post Cheese!]
|
|
|
|
|
grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
688 posts
played by Colin
|
|
last online Mar 27, 2024 19:55:51 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2022 13:09:13 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jul 17, 2022 13:09:13 GMT -7
▲ “Yeah, of course,” Grey responded. Their conversation was definitely coming to a close now, and he wasn’t sure if there was really anything else left that he could add. While the work the Prophet requested could be demanding at times, he had never personally found it difficult. Being an intern was easily the hardest part of it because of all the requests that the employees put in. All of that was menial work and only done as a way to foster a hierarchy within the office. He had no doubt that after a of couple weeks of fetching coffee and making copies for reporters Raphael would be given an assignment. That seemed to be the trend that Grey had observed over the last few years of work at least. Pulling from his own experience was sort of hard to do because of when he was hired but he was sure once the Prophet picked up Raphael’s portfolio they would move him into the right spot. Hopefully Cormac didn’t try putting Raphael through the ringer in the same manner that his own parents had. It would be worse too, considering what the elder McLaggen did for a career… Speaking of, Quidditch was probably still on the table, and Raphael mentioned that he needed to look for scouts. Grey had seen some of the teams setting up, but that was pretty far away from where the Prophet had popped up their table. That was definitely a good thing for his own sake, because sneaking in a couple of quotes or seeing who was potentially interested in playing professionally was right in his wheelhouse. If his coworkers weren’t lurking in that area doing exactly that, then they were royally screwing up. “Good speaking to you. If you’ve got any more questions before you graduate, just ask Addy for my contact information,” he offered. He really needed to get business cards. They weren’t exactly helpful when he spent most of his time hidden in the records room. Watching Raphael leave, it didn’t take long until the next student approached the table, seemingly ready to talk about their aspirations. Why did they think he was the best representative for this again? [THE END] MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
|
|
|
|