The brain debacle had occupied most of his waking hours since the solstice, and so Balt had, frankly, been quite chuffed when Miss Scamander had volunteered to examine the retrieved Pictish artifact. Of course, it had been secured in a dampening vault in an effort to avoid any further loss of life, but Balthazar had been satisfied the witch was quite capable of handling the matter, and had largely forgotten about it. With Mulciber off for Merlin only knew how long, Balt's paperwork had seemingly quadrupled (given Mulciber avoided paperwork like the plague, this had been a particular surprise) and, frankly, he needed his Unspeakables to function with as little oversight as possible.

But not no oversight.

"Heading out, are you?" he asked Scamander as he encountered her in the corridor near the department's entrance. The smile he gave her was friendly, but tired—it would be another two hours, perhaps three, before he could follow suit.