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last online Mar 29, 2024 4:35:18 GMT -7
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Nov 4, 2021 12:07:21 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2021 12:07:21 GMT -7
Rowena knew there were quite a few... issues that needed addressing with the Ministry. That was why she'd intentionally scheduled her meeting with Bianca, head of Law Enforcement, last. So that it would give them all the time they needed without worrying about being interrupted. It had been a horribly smart decision. Why smart? Because they'd definitely needed the time. Why horrible? Because it was now 1 am and Bianca had only just finished explaining everything that had happened up until this point and what had been done. They hadn't even touched on the point of what they'd do about these things now.
They'd just sent a message to the junior undersecretary, asking for some coffee to be brought to her office. A few minutes later and there was a knock at the door as the linguist, Zephyr, dropped off the requested coffee. It was the third pot that had been brought since this meeting began. Rowena had been a bit surprised by him being the one to bring it, but she chose not to think too much about it. Coffee was coffee and no doubt they'd be here a few more hours at this rate. Rowena and Bianca had also take a break while they waited for the coffee, tending to any other needs or messages they might have received in the past few hours. Now, a quarter after 1, they resumed.
Rowena sat behind her desk. It was completely covered in paperwork and files Bianca had brought. There was some order to the chaos, as the files stayed in chronological order. Now, the real work would begin. Rowena was caught up and it was time to actually start to plan how to handle everything.
The first order of business also happened to be one of the oldest.
Rowena waved her hand, and the files on Azkaban leaped out from their position in the chaos and moved to the top, opening up. Rowena plucked up the paper on what had actually been completed thus far. Unfortunately very little. "While there are pressing and more recent matters, Azkaban's continued uselessness is affecting your department's ability to keep our country safe," she explained, justifying why she was choosing to start with Azkaban. "Not only are individuals receiving lighter sentences to avoid over imposing on our neighbor's generosity in housing criminals, it makes us look incompetent if we can't even enforce our own prison sentences." She set the paper down on the stack, leaning back in her chair as she reached for her coffee to take a long sip. Though she was exhausted the coffee helped keep her mind sharp. "I want Azkaban completed, and running, by the end of summer. What does your department and Foreign Affairs need to do this?"
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
263 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Sept 25, 2023 6:21:30 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
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Nov 12, 2021 2:26:28 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Nov 12, 2021 2:26:28 GMT -7
2 June 2026 In a sense, the burning of Hogwarts had been the end of a terrible chapter for the United Kingdom, and simultaneously the start of a new one. The long saga of the Purifiers and their reign of terror was finally over, and there had no doubt been a collective sigh of relief from the public at the confirmation that Elaine Dupree was dead and her followers were being rounded up and questioned at that very moment. But this overarching story wasn’t over, and it had started a new and difficult chapter for the Ministry. In many ways, their work was only beginning: to rebuild everything from scratch and pull Britain into a new (and hopefully better) future. To truly move on from the Purifiers and tackle all the problems that had been ignored because the group was the more urgent threat. The entrance of a new Minister of Magic was a welcome event, if only because the last one had proven to be an apathetic leader with little interest in advancing any meaningful change. As well as his tendency to shove all his problems onto Bianca’s plate for her to handle. But she wasn't naïve, and wouldn't rush to claim that Root could do the job better just because she wasn't Krum. No, Bianca would reserve judgment on this new Minister, and whether Root would ultimately turn out any better than the long line of previous Ministers. For now, she had a job to do, and that was enough to take all her attention -- and besides, Bianca had never been one for politics. She was a law enforcement official, not a politician, and she didn't concern herself much with the internal dynamics of the Department Heads and the inevitable jockeying for favor with the new Minister that had already started. Bianca had taken the last two weeks to prepare for this meeting, because the first one was the most important in determining the new Minister’s priorities and where to start. She knew that even though every department played an important role in keeping magical society afloat…well, not every department was equal and Magical Law Enforcement was arguably one of the most important. That made her position an honor, but an extra burden as well. As Bianca entered the Minister’s Office, a box in her hands with another floating obediently behind her, she fell back on an old Occlumency technique to clear her mind and carefully sort her thoughts into boxes. There were months of events to talk about, everything from a status update on Azkaban to explaining Ministry action over Yrisle, and of course the fall of Hogwarts and the Purifiers along with the castle. There was a lot to cover, and Bianca was determined not to waste this opportunity to get some answers and a clear direction moving forward. Several hours later, Bianca idly brought a hand to her temple to lightly apply pressure and center herself. The meeting was exhausting when they had so much to cover, so they had taken a break. Bianca scrolled through all the messages she’d missed on her phone, most from her secretary but a few from Aurors or other departments as well, while she'd been busy briefing Rowena. Bianca stopped and set her phone down when the next pot of coffee entered the room, although she raised an eyebrow at Zephyr as he dropped the pot off and left again. She supposed the Ministry was under enough stress that more manpower was needed in every department and even translators could get called into coffee duty. She poured a cup for herself, and took a long sip before focusing on Rowena’s next words. Azkaban. It had been an open question for so long, a problem that pre-dated her by about a year as she’d been recruited to the Recapture Unit at the time to handle the fieldwork of finding the escaped prisoners. Bianca contemplated the wizard prison and all the problems it presented to the Ministry while they still had several other fires to put out as well (metaphorically speaking, this time). “We got caught in the bureaucracy,” Bianca answered crisply as Rowena asked what she needed to have Azkaban running again by the end of the summer. “The Foreign Aid Office has already presented three alternatives for rebuilding the prison and restraining the prisoners, since the magic dampener was damaged beyond repair. But we never sat down to discuss them, since that requires the approval of the Minister and we never received an answer from his office.” She paused to consider the problem, and the multiple unanswered requests she had sent to the last Minister asking him to convene a cabinet to discuss Azkaban and choose one of the proposals. “I suggest you call a meeting with all the relevant Heads tomorrow, three hours should be enough, and we can each take the morning beforehand to prepare our office’s perspective on the advantages, disadvantages, and consequences of each proposal. Once we reach a collective decision, the rebuilding team could start construction by the end of the week.” Her analysts had already started this work months ago from the perspective of Law Enforcement, and the planning on their end for what Azkaban should look like had been mostly completed. But the Ministry had a problem moving from thought to action, and that was what Bianca was here for. She'd always been the type to push forward. “Truthfully, Azkaban is a minor issue. There are already three proposals on the table, each with their own strengths, and we only need to debate them and pick one. There are much more open-ended questions that don’t have a clear answer. Like the island.” Bianca had already explained the Ministry's limited action on Yrisle -- the initial investigations and the decision to implement Ministry oversight on the sole entrance once it had been discovered that the island was cursing people. The blockade wasn't complete, since people still had the ability to enter if they had a good reason to be there. But it wasn't a solution, only a temporary measure, and Bianca had also briefed Root on her multiple meetings with Fae and the new collaboration between Law Enforcement and Hy-Brasil to investigate the island and search through their combined archives for a solution. Still...there was no clear way to move forward, no clear way to put the puzzle pieces together from their actions of the last several months. Rowena had her foot in both worlds, Ministry and druid, and so Bianca hoped she might be able to provide a valuable perspective on what to do next. @rowena
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last online Mar 29, 2024 4:35:18 GMT -7
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Nov 13, 2021 11:30:12 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2021 11:30:12 GMT -7
Rowena knew from far too much personal experience that senseless bureaucratic could delay resolutions for years. For Merlin's sake, she'd been a diplomate to Russia and married a Russian man for a few years. You didn't know political stonewalling until you had to work with Russians. But that gave Rowena the unique skill of making stubborn things move. She could be the stronger will and force action.
Bianca's explanation, unfortunately, sounded like a situation she'd faced a number of times. bureaucratic stonewalling. Rowena reached for her own phone and quickly shot out a text to the senior undersecretary, telling them to set up a meeting in the morning with department heads involved with Azkaban for 3 hours, and to reschedule any other meetings she might have that would hinder it. She sent the text, before sending a second, making sure they knew the meeting should be presented to the heads and mandatory and non negotiable, and no one would leave until a decision was signed. That would make it clear how serious she was in getting things done. "You'll have an approved plan tomorrow," she stated simply and confidently.
Ah, the island. With a wave of her hand, the papers shuffled once more, bringing up the documents regarding Yrisle. She leaned forward, elbows on the desk as she eyed one of the maps of the island and thought. Yrisle was a... troubling situation to say the least. Being of druid descent, and having spent a few years of her career actually representing druid society at the Ministry, gave Rowena a intimate knowledge of druid politics. Rowena knew the general druid feelings regarding Yrisle was. "The druids believe Yrisle is the home of... their boogyman if you will. A nightmare to tell their children at night to keep them in line." she thought aloud, knowing Bianca knew the gist of this already. She leaned back in her chair, picking up the map to continue staring at it as she thought. "They would have us banish the island, if possible, and erase it from all records. Hoping the world would eventually forget about it and it would be lost in time once more." She pausing, thinking. Just like how her druid politics experience came in handy right now, so did her Russian. "Unfortunately the rest of the world would not agree. Should we even attempt it I would expect some old acquaintances of mine to jump at the chance to claim it." Already a few names were coming to mind. Politicians back east that were money and power hungry. They'd do anything for more power. "I understand the fears regarding the island, and the uncertainty it presents. Druid superstitions of its origins, its affect on those who have visited it, the fact that we don't recognize a single plant or animal on the island...." Ugh, Rowena knew that no matter what decision the Ministry made people would be angry. Lock it down and the druids would be happy but those that wanted to learn about it would not and they'd open the doors to the political nightmare. Keep it open and druids would be unhappy and people could get hurt.
But the biggest problem of it? They knew too little about the island. "I would propose the Ministry sanction a team to thoroughly investigate Yrisle, with representation of all magical society," she finally answered. By all magical society she meant druid, Wizardkind, and demihuman. "We maintain border control and visa requirements to visit for all others until their investigation is completed." Border controls and port of entries were already something that could be maintained for quite some time. It was a common practice in the world. So she wasn't worried about the temporary solution. But she would not form any definite decision regarding Yrisle until a full investigation had been done. An unbiased investigation.
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
263 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Sept 25, 2023 6:21:30 GMT -7
STUDYING ABROAD
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Nov 20, 2021 4:41:05 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Nov 20, 2021 4:41:05 GMT -7
You’ll have an approved plan tomorrow. And with that, the discussion was over, the files on Azkaban were put aside, and their focus shifted to the next urgent issue. Bianca gave a short nod, although internally she breathed a sigh of relief. Azkaban had been a thorn in the side of multiple departments for so long, because it was a minor issue that had been left unattended until it began to infect everything. Foreign Affairs had worked out a temporary arrangement with neighboring countries to keep prisoners secure, the Foreign Aid Office had collaborated with MACUSA to send out teams to recapture the escaped inmates, and Law Enforcement had put together several proposals on a new and improved prison with adequate security. That should have been it, short-term arrangement to create a long-term solution. But the fact that it had taken this long to receive a Minister’s decision to truly close the issue – well, that grated her. Britain had to be able to take responsibility for its convicted criminals, and the public had to know it was safe.
But she could at least trust Root to stick to her word on this. The meeting would be called tomorrow, the best proposal would be chosen, and reconstruction would finally start. A working prison by the end of summer…finally one item she could cross off her endlessly increasing checklist of tasks. Bianca watched reservedly as Rowena summoned the files on Yrisle, although she didn’t need to study any of them closely. Merlin, Bianca had written most of them and consulted closely on the rest – handling the island had been her responsibility since it first appeared, and she’d taken a number of preliminary measures to keep the situation under control until she could receive overarching guidance on what the Ministry wanted to do. She listened in silence, refilling her coffee for the third time as Rowena contemplated the nature of the island out-loud. She resisted the urge to interrupt Rowena's musings and cut in with ‘I know.’ Bianca had heard the druid perspective straight from the High Druid herself during one of their many one-on-one meetings together to discuss the cursed island all sorts of Ministry and druid shared interests. She knew the druid position perfectly well, because Fae had outlined it to her pretty clearly – Island bad. Hy-Brasil unable to help. Please solve it for us. It was exhausting, that the Ministry was expected to put its own people at risk without any sort of concession in return from the druids, but Bianca couldn't disagree that the island needed to be handled somehow.
Bianca couldn’t comment on global politics, nor did she much care to enter the discussion about what other Ministries of Magic would be thinking right now in terms of exploiting the island for their own gain. She only shrugged slightly. “Those fears are more than just theoretical. There have already been several deaths, and some of these…curses are life-changing.” She took a moment to contemplate this thought. A team of researchers had gone to investigate the island, and only one girl had come back – ostensibly claiming that she’d somehow switched bodies with someone who, in turn, was nowhere to be found. The rest of the team had disappeared for good, and they’d since been declared dead. As for the people who came back changed -- Bianca had seen enough from the Order and from other Ministry folk to know that people were better off avoiding the island completely. She continued, “The danger stopped to a large degree once we were able to control who could travel there. But that only stops the island from sending back individuals…damaged, if at all. It doesn’t do anything to protect our people once they’re on the island, guarding the perimeter or accompanying civilians.”
It was early to disagree with the new Minister on such a fundamental topic, but Bianca gave a ‘tsk’ in disapproval at Rowena’s proposal. She knew the Minister was thinking in a big-picture perspective, but it wasn’t Bianca’s job to be a yes-man and go along with the first idea that got raised. It was her responsibility to deliver what Magical Law Enforcement thought and believed on any given issue, and to offer the kind of considerations that someone outside of law enforcement might not think of. And they still controlled the blockade, subject to only a Minister’s decision to change their orders. “From a security perspective, I can’t in good conscience authorize a team, especially if I can’t attest to what sort of training they received if it wasn’t done with Ministry oversight. I can’t guarantee their safety on that island. If you want to deploy a team anyway…we need to know there’s something we can honest-to-god get from this. Otherwise we’re sending people into their worst nightmare for nothing.”
@rowena
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