February 1st, 1891 - Minister's Offices

Ross spent a lot of his workday thinking about moving parts, and what one could do to ensure they moved in a preferable way. He prided himself on being able to read people; this was how one won elections and moved public opinion and ensured that an organization as large as the Ministry was fully functional.

So: it was the start of the week, and he had his standing Monday morning one-on-one with his Junior Assistant.

"Oh, Mr. Macmillan," Ross said, good natured, as Macmillan came through the door. "What are you planning to prioritize this week?"

---

Being Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic was important, he'd pursued the position as tastefully as he could and he by no means regretted this. It was simply unfortunate that the title at face value sounded - in his opinion - degrading. Assistant on its own made him feel like a glorified servant, but he also had the junior to go with it. All his life he'd been fighting to distinguish himself, at first from his brothers, and now amongst his peers. He could never change the fact that he'd been born after Edward, which wasn't to say he was completely reconciled to that fact even now, all he could hope for was some tragic accident or illness to take Edward before his time, and preferably before he had a son.

Considering his distaste for the title and his contrary political views to the Minister himself some might wonder why he hadn't stayed put in his perfectly respectable and important former position. Sometimes he also asked himself this, usually when he had to swallow his opinions and follow the Minister's whims and agenda. Well the fact was a fire hadn't managed to snuff out Aldous Crouch nor had the shame of being crippled removed him from the Ministry. Aldous Crouch wasn't likely to be elected to higher office which meant his career had probably peaked and he could very well spend the next 40 years at the helm. Unfortunately he was now once again junior to a Crouch - and the younger brother at that! - but it was a price he was willing to pay in order to establish himself at the very top of the political sphere. It would make an election easier if he could claim experience over other candidates, he was well positioned to make important allies, and he could also use his close proximity to the current Minister to court the trust of the more liberal voters. When the time came. In the meantime the price he was paying was a temporary chokehold of his pride. It was a bargain.

Sadly for Charles it often didn't feel like a bargain.

"Good morning, Minister," he greeted, flashing him a fleeting smile even though it was Monday morning and it pained him to do so. "There are a couple things I need to chase up from Friday which shouldn't take long at all, then I thought I'd make a start on those documents for [insert appropriate subject here]."

---

"Excellent, Macmillan," Ross said. That was the thing: Macmillan's work was completed diligently and did not leave room for complaint, and just because Ross did not trust him further than he could throw him did not actually mean there was any evidence. Part of the appeal of hiring Macmillan in the first place was that he would be an excellent combination of diligent/kiss-ass that would ensure he was devoted to getting the job done. But now, the careful equation Ross had used to justify adding Macmillan to the office was out of balance with Macmillan's courtship of Miss Lestrange.

"There are a few additional projects I would like to add to your priority list as well," Ross added, because essentially Macmillan's job was to run the various errands Ross was too high-profile to do. These were probably things he would have assigned to Macmillan eventually anyways, but with trying to keep him too busy to do anything shady, it was an excellent time to add them to the list.

---

If he'd said one extra project he wouldn't have batted an eyelid but a few projects all at once? Not that he was afraid of working hard but circling back to his resentment at being a glorified gopher, he couldn't help but think he was about to be taken advantage of. He could criticize Justin Ross inside out and upside down, until the sun set and hell boiled over, but one thing he couldn't honestly accuse him of was being the sort of boss who took pleasure in overworking employees. Sure, he'd insist the opposite every so often when he had a particularly hectic workload, but Ross didn't go out of his way to make it worse. Charles himself had not been so compassionate towards the interns when he'd been an assistant head.

"By all means." As obliging as he was trying to seem, he was bracing himself for what he hoped was an underwhelming revelation. These projects were probably barely worthy of the word 'project' and more akin to tasks.

---

"The first is boring," Ross said, with an apologetic smile. "But I've found that the lift is acting up. Can you talk to magical maintenance about it?" If Macmillan could spare Ross from having to make more small talk, then maybe it was worth having him around. And if Macmillan got stuck in the elevator then he would likely have fewer interesting tidbits to share with Miss Lestrange. It was a no-lose scenario.

---

He- He wanted him to see about fixing the damn elevator?! Were they completely illiterate down in magical maintenance that they couldn't read a fucking letter? Charles supposed it was entirely possible - if not likely - that they were illiterate or at least that some of them were but still, were they so incompetent at their incredibly basic jobs that they couldn't identify a broken elevator and fix it without prompting from the Minister of Magic? Then again the thing seemed to be broken every other week, the lot of them ought to be fired and replaced by actually competent employees. Perhaps that's what Minister Ross was suggesting, maybe he was suggesting that rather than run down there like a street urchin errand boy to remind them what their job was, he wanted Charles to go down there and dismiss some lazy bastards. Now that was more worthy of his time!

If that was the case it wasn't like him to be so vague about it, also the man was such a progressive he probably wouldn't want multiple members of magical maintenance being fired for something so insignificant as failing to do their jobs.

Charles bit back a retort about it being a menial task for someone further down the food chain. "How irritating," and demeaning of you to ask this of me, "I could swear that it's only been a few weeks since it last had to be repaired." And why didn't you ask me then? "I shall make sure to ask them why this keeps occurring."

---

Ross watched Macmillan's reaction with some care, but at least verbally, there was nothing for him to prod at. "Thank you for your diligence, Macmillan," Ross said, easygoing as ever. "As to the second - what do you know of the Church of Magical Jesus?"

---

He rather felt like a dog being patted on the head and told 'good boy' after fetching a stick.

"The Church of Magical Jesus?" He hadn't really meant to repeat it but he'd really not been expecting that change in direction. "Aside from the obvious, not a great deal." Religion interested him even less than his daughter.

---

Ross nodded. "I agree. And I've started to think that we should know more than we do," he said. Maybe it was because he was largely areligious, and married to a mostly culturally Jewish woman, but he found them sort of unsettling.

---

Charles was usually a strong advocate for knowing as much as possible about one's enemy or rival in order to gain and maintain an upper hand but one could hardly consider the handful of oddballs calling themselves The Church of Magical Jesus a threat or really an interest of any kind. "You do?" He usually preferred to refrain from questions in case Ross thought he was an idiot. It also meant he didn't have to risk accidentally sounding insubordinate.

---

"It's important to have an understanding of the various facets of wizarding culture," Ross said, patient and cheerful, although he quirked an eyebrow at Macmillan. Usually Macmillan was so eager to please that he didn't bother poking at things; of course, usually Ross wasn't assigning him work that was objectively annoying. "Particularly those that are rooted in Irvingly or Hogsmeade."

---

If he had a point Charles didn't see it. He understood it probably had something to do with Ross' overall desire to be distastefully "modern" (read: fanciful and foolish) but Charles couldn't see what possible use or benefit it would be to pay any attention to the magical Jesus freaks.

Unfortunately Ross hadn't hired him for his scathing critique. "I take it you want me to look into them then?" He hoped to Merlin they were talking bare minimum and not some sort of in-depth investigation that would drive him to drink.

---

"Do you think such a project is beneath you, Macmillan?" Ross asked. His tone was mild.

---

"Not at all, sir!" He sounded surprised. Of course he thought it was beneath him but he didn't think he'd been giving the impression that he thought as much, not obviously anyway. "I was merely curious to know the sort of scale you're after. Should I be looking for anything in particular?" What was his reason for giving him such an odd and probably banal task?

---

"Well, check in and make sure they're not planning an anti-government insurrection, or anything," Ross said; he was clearly not entirely serious with this part, as he was grinning. With a more moderated tone: "Other than that, I would simply like an update on their views, and perhaps their numbers in Irvingly, for general knowledge."

---

Charles felt as though he was being lightly patronized by the Minister, in particular when he mention insurrections, but he had to pretend otherwise. "Certainly, sir, consider it done." He didn't want to do it, he still didn't think it was worth his time, but he would do it and he had to admit it probably wouldn't take too long if they were all as dull as he expected. If they did so happen to have more intrigue about them than fundraising for whores or donating shoes to orphans or whatever they did in their spare time, then he supposed he wouldn't be so bored and he'd score some points while he was at it.

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