Despite everything he'd been through that morning, the humor was helping. Alfred smiled wearily at the quip and shook his head. "Penetrated, maybe, but it's not as though that sheds any light on what they do down there," he admitted. While he had physically been down in the Department, he hadn't seen or heard anything interesting, and he had no more idea what they did down there all day than he had previously. Except that apparently, when the occasion arose, they scheduled interviews and threatened to confiscate ships.

"Has anyone ever considered whether they do anything at all?" Alfred replied, his tone equally light. He would not have said anything to this effect at all if the auror hadn't started it, but given the man's earlier remark he felt he had a little license to poke fun at the Unspeakables, particularly if he made it clear he was talking only about them and not about the Ministry as a whole. "Perhaps the secrecy is really just a cover for laziness. There certainly didn't seem to be much productive coming out of my meeting there this morning."