June 7th, 1888 - Ministry of Magic Atrium

Training the new kid was not high on Kieran's priority list. In fact, it was at the very bottom of Kieran's priority list. Unfortunately for Kieran, it was slightly higher on Pengloss' priority list, and so he'd been assigned to Nuffer. Nuffer seemed like a fine kid - five years of Hogwarts education, sketchy familial circumstances, whatever. But he was also sixteen years old, and Kieran did not usually voluntarily hang out with teenagers.

But he was training him. Which: fine. "When you're not on crime cases or a specific beat you'll be here," Kieran announced once they'd flooed into the Ministry atrium. He gestured around them. "Never show up without a notebook, quill, and your press pass. You did bring your press pass?"  

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   Bella Scrimgeour

To say that Ernie was anxious to get on with his career—and by extension, his adult life—was the understatement of the century, but it was an overstatement to say he'd gone into work that morning enthusiastic and with a bright smile on his face. Ernie just wasn't that sort of person, and at least in this sort of work, he considered that somewhat of a good thing; every good reporter should be able to approach a situation or story with an air of skepticism or even pessimism, lest he find himself assuming there's no story where there is one!

Still his attitude was likely one that would cause conflict towards the training period, and Ernie was mindful of that when he'd met the man—the very handsome man—who had been assigned to train him. It didn't take very long to figure out that the office's attitude was similar to his own, with Abernathy displaying a similar air of cynicism.

"Of course I have it," he responded with an huff, flashing the pass in the reporter's direction. "So what do you do? Stand around and wait for someone to start an unlawful duel in the middle of the atrium?"

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set by Stef <333

"No," Kieran said, as if it was a dumb question. Seeing as he hadn't told Nuffer anything yet he guessed that it wasn't, but he wasn't happy about it anyways. He decided to let it go and move on quick.

"We use them to get into the real offices, come on," Kieran said. He took off towards the Welcome Witch, holding up his pass until she lets him through to the other side, near the lifts. Kieran waited expectantly for Nuffer, tapping his foot against the tile floor for the forty-five seconds it takes the woman to let his compatriot through.

"What floor do you want to go to?" he asked.

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Ernie wasn't in the mood to be disagreeable (snarky, yes, but not disagreeable), so he followed Abernathy's lead without question. It took much more time for him to get through than Abernathy had, which he imagined was from familiarity rather than suspicion. Once he finally found his way through, Ernie flashed Abernathy a quizzical look.

"Anywhere?" he asked, pondering the question for a moment. "I suppose level two." That's where the Department of Magical Law Enforcement resided, right? And they did politics and shit.

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set by Stef <333

"Good choice," Kieran said, although truthfully he would have said that even if Nuffer made a bad choice, and then just made snarky comments while he followed the kid around the office. He hit the '2' button on the lift and started talking as they zipped downwards. "Usually if I'm on Level Two I'm after a lead. You can also listen in on people's conversations, see if you get anything about a case. Back when Ross worked there, I had monthly appointments to get the crime statistics from him, but now I do more work on the Wizengamot and Skeeter's department."

They were almost there. "Another tip - the auror's office is always leaning on other people's jurisdictions, they piss other departments off, and finding out why people are mad at them this week can lead to stories."

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The following 1 user Likes Kieran Abernathy's post:1 user Likes Kieran Abernathy's post
   Edric Umbridge

Ernie filed the information in the back of his mind, quickly coming to the realization that things were more complicated than he thought. He hadn't been sure just what he was in for when he applied for a position at the Daily Prophet's offices, but he was glad that it was more exciting than mulling around the offices with a quill in his hand. Though he wasn't one for adventure and danger, neither was he one who enjoyed complete idleness.

"This job requires a lot of intuition," he commented, more as an observation than a question. "Do the different reporters generally cover different areas? Or is there competition within the office to see who can score the best stories?" he asked as reached the office.

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set by Stef <333

Upon reaching the office the two young men are able to see a few feet in front of them a golden mist. There is an eerie silence, at least until one of the Ministry's messenger owls suddenly comes hurtling towards them upside down, landing in a heap at their feet squawking like a chicken. It soon rights itself, ruffles its feathers and flies off again in a thoroughly irritable manner.

The unsettling silence returns.

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"We pitch to see who covers what," Kieran said, "Eventually things kind of settle - and the editors assign stories, too."

Oh, excellent. As soon as they reached magical law enforcement, they encountered something weird. Kieran beamed. "I'm going in," he said, and stepped into the mist. As soon as he found himself - staring down towards the ceiling. He immediately felt claustrophobic and waved his arms wildly. "Aw, fuck."

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Ernie was not sure whether this was a normal thing or not, as Abernathy's enthusiasm went up tenfold as they reached the law enforcement offices. Fortunately, Ernie was not as enthusiastic as his appointed mentor, and thus found himself snickering from the sidelines as the other reporter waving his arms helplessly.

"I wonder which of the aurors was doing the hallucinogenics," he teased at Abernathy's expense. "because whoever did it was rude enough to leave a cloud of it in the offices."

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set by Stef <333

The ground was still underneath him - above him? - and Kieran did not like it. He was hanging from the ceiling and Nuffer thought it was funny, and he took a pause from struggling to make a very rude gesture at the teenager.

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Ernie could have been that helpful intern who snapped at the moment something went wrong and sent for someone capable of solving the problem. He could have even been the intern who made an ill-advised attempt to help. But he wasn't; Ernie was content to pick out his notepad and scribble away while Abernathy struggled.

"What a story this will make: 'Mystifying Tale: Prophet Reporter Trapped on the Job'!"

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set by Stef <333

Kieran continued to struggle. "I'm going to strangle you," he threatened, and meant it, although presumably he would reconsider before that became a real possibility.

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He really should help, but, like, what was he supposed to do? Magic the mist away? The reporter's threats did little to sway him from taking action; running away could mean missing something, whether that something was article-worthy or something that would make him laugh.

"I'd come help you, but I don't think my press pass grants me access into - whatever that is." He made a waving motion with his hand, all the while failing to keep himself from cackling. "Since I have you as my firsthand witness, would you mind describing the sensations? Does it tickle?" he snickered.

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set by Stef <333

If they weren't on the floor for the literal Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Kieran would have hexed Nuffer. As it was, he made another rude gesture, and pulled his wand out of his pocket. With an audible crack, he apparated from inside the cloud to standing on the clear patch of floor beside Nuffer. "You think it's so funny, you go in," Kieran said darkly. He was totally going to pass off training the kid to someone else after this.

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set by MJ!

When Abernathy appeared aside him, Ernie literally jumped in surprise—and then the defensive scowl came.

"So, what? You can tell the office that we both got stuck?" she scoffed, backing away from the golden mist. "No way. Not happening. Nope. I'm not stupid." Not as stupid as Abernathy, anyways.

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set by Stef <333

Kieran, exasperated and noting a distinct lack of aurors breathing down his neck, gave Nuffer a forceful shove in the direction of the mist and hoped the stupid teenager would fall right in.

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