Absolution [Liam]

[Deleted]

This Goyle guy seemed to be in a much better mood now that he knew Liam's name, which was weird in and of itself, but Liam didn't comment. He honestly didn't want to say anything that would make the guy uptight again. He was already tired of confrontation today and he hadn't even really been in one. He nodded, "Yeah, I've been here a while." Not as long as most of the adults, but long enough that at least they didn't see him as the "new kid" anymore. The people in his department even respected him a little, he thought. That definitely made work much more enjoyable. 

He nodded when Renard explained where he was working. It sounded interesting enough. Liam would definitely like something where he could learn more about the creatures, but he didn't like the idea of dealing with people as much. That's what he liked about his department, the fact that he could do whatever he wanted and few people bothered him. Most of them just left him to do as he wanted. "Did you do something different before that became the focus?" He was curious to hear what sorts of other things the other guy did. "Or ... what are some of the other things you do?" Liam asked, trying to clarify his previous question. 

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@liam

09.05.2024

Renard shook his head slightly to the question about doing something different in the department prior to his current tasks. They had always been the same, in a sense, the difference now was that magical folk seemed to have forgotten how to lock their shops and houses up to prevent creatures from getting in. The things he pulled out of apartment buildings and back corners of storage rooms made a cockroach infestation look tame. Many times he did them a favor and zapped the bugs too, if they were skittering around. Keeping one’s living and working space clean seemed like it should have been a no-brainer, but the amount of people that didn’t was baffling. A boggart wouldn’t just appear out of nowhere, unless transported in or leaving defenses down. “It’s usually house calls to our furry and fanged friends,” Renard explained, scratching his face as a way to distract himself from letting out a verbal barrage on the dark creatures. “The blood bank needs to be checked up on constantly, because a short supply there means hungry vampires roaming, and the same with the werewolf hotel once a month.”

He took a bite of his food so he could give Flint a chance to process. Not everyone knew about those two locations, mostly because they were tucked away into the recesses of Horizon Alley, out of the purview of the average witch or wizard. Little Jimmy wasn’t going to run into the blood bank on accident when it was a number of alleyways, twists, and turns away from the main street. “But lately it’s been pest removal. Hogwarts did a poor job demonstrating how difficult it is to yank a spooked ghoul out from behind a wall of pipes. Not to mention the smell.” They had the propensity to leave their stench hanging in your nose for the rest of the day if the right steps weren’t taken immediately. The day he captured a decent smelling ghoul would be the signal to retire.

[Deleted]

Renard began to explain that most of his job was taking care of creatures that were infesting homes. He didn't sound super excited about the prospect and Liam wasn't very surprised about that. Taking care of creatures in other people's homes did not seem interesting to him in the slightest. Not that he was one to judge. He was certain that there were plenty of people who couldn't imagine working in the Department of Mysteries. He nodded as the guy explained how he also checked on the blood banks. "So what do you do at the werewolf hotel?" Liam could figure out for himself why it was important to check the blood bank for the vampires, but what did he do with the werewolves? 

"Sounds like they keep you pretty busy then. Is it all house calls or do you have lots of paperwork that goes with it?" Logically, Renard likely had to do paperwork for every job he performed, but since Liam wasn't in that line of work he wasn't sure. He wrinkled his nose a little as the other man explained the difficulties of removing ghouls. Yeah, Liam was definitely in the right place for himself. He couldn't imagine doing any of the things Goyle described.

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@liam

09.05.2024

What did he do at the werewolf hotel? Practically nothing as long as Doris, the secretary, was still alive. The old bat had that sort of look that told him she was always hiding the truth about went on during the full moons. Quite honestly, Renard didn’t care as long as innocents were mauled to death by werewolves. His job was to make sure the sentient creatures didn’t step out of line and the rest of the rabble was appropriately taken care of and removed if they were a nuisance. “Checking to make sure none escaped. They’re supposed to take wolfsbane to keep them sound of mind, obviously, but that doesn’t mean a rebellious one won’t try something,” he explained. In the last few years, Renard had yet to have a problem with the wolves there, which sort of ticked him off. He wanted a reason to go in there and lay down the law. The batch that was always there kept to themselves and followed the rules though, and he disliked that immensely.

“Honestly? There’s more paperwork on things like the blood bank and hotel. That’s more tedious paperwork, filling out forms and getting signatures from people responsible for things should they go wrong.” He didn’t like having to travel to them either, because it was always a waste of time. All of that to get a signature from Doris and her blood bank equivalent. The burning glares of the vampires always got to him too, like they were trying to figure out which side of his jugular would be easier to puncture. “I don’t mind ghoul removal and things like boggarts are always a blast. It’s the infestations of pixies and the likes that can get annoying. And we’re severely understaffed,” he shrugged. That was life, and he was fine being able to run around doing whatever he pleased, with there being very little oversight on him.

[Deleted]

Liam listened carefully as Goyle explained more of his job, talking about the werewolf hotel and annoying paperwork. Liam made a face. Doing paperwork was his least favorite thing about his work. At least he didn't have too much that he had to do. He just had to make sure that his superiors knew what he was doing and that he was using his time effectively. "So have you had any struggles with the werewolf hotel then?" It didn't sound like it, but maybe he had a good story or something. 

He nodded as the guy continued to explain the parts that he didn't mind so much. All in all it didn't sound like a terrible job, though he was more interested in what he did, even though he couldn't talk to it. "Do you spend most of your time out removing creatures and such or here at the ministry?" For the other guy's sake, he hoped the had the chance to leave more often than not, assuming that time at the ministry was spent doing paperwork. 

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@liam

09.05.2024

“Not yet,” he answered, slight disappointment dancing on his words. Renard would kill to have an actual werewolf hunt. He didn’t want one of the kids or a newly turned one though: he wanted one that was known, like a Greyback. That would bring some recognition to the case and would hopefully lead him to drop hints about reversing the current legislation surrounding the beasts. Nobody else knew of those plans though, and it was only known by a few how much he really hated the creatures. As he liked to bring up whenever someone got huffy about his position on them, if there was a cure that could change them back to humans or less harmful versions of their current self, he would fully back that. “And most of the work is done out of the office. Nice to escape this every day.” The monotony of the Ministry got under his skin a lot, and the little amount of time he did spend at his desk daily was more than enough for him.

Renard began to take another bite of his food when a flutter of wings and a memo dropped in front of him. Of course the damn charmed letters would find him when he was eating. “Excuse me for a second,” he said to Flint as he used his eating knife to pop it open. He clicked his tongue as he read the words ‘GHOUL WEDGED BEHIND MUGGLE RESTAURANT FREEZER’. That was going to be a pain to deal with. Obliviators were going to be breathing down his neck the entire time. “Well it was nice catching up, but work calls,” Renard explained as he stood up and collected the remnants of his lunch to throw it out. “Apparently muggles don’t like listening to ghouls moaning while they eat their steaks.” With that, Renard left the cafeteria in a hurry so he could gather his things from his desk and head off to the job.

[sorry. i'm done. this should have been finished 6+ months ago]

[Deleted]

Liam nodded as Renard explained a little more, saying that one of the things he liked most was the chance to leave the office pretty frequently. That made sense, though the office was one of the Liam's favorite places to be. He liked the chance to do all the things he wanted, to explore and learn more and more, but he knew most people didn't understand that. "Yeah, it's nice to get away sometimes." Mostly he was referring to his days off. He enjoyed those the most, especially when he could spend them with Tamara. Other than that, he generally loved work. 

A memo dropped in front of the other man, who opened it and then said he had to leave. He stood and explained that he had to deal with a ghoul. Liam nodded to him, not feeling like he needed to say anything to that. Saying "good luck" would just sound stupid. He turned to the rest of his lunch. His break was almost up, but he was relieved that he could be alone for a bit of it before he went back. He didn't mind talking to people, but being alone was also very nice. 

--- the end ---

renard walt goyle