Maddie toasted her empty tea cup, as though it was champagne, to their various firsts. She could understand the motivations he recounted, like the dark Romance of her Russian adventure, Britains wild moors, dark cool forests and pastoral beauty held a Romance of its own – every book she had read in girl hood had supported the notion that the windswept natural world of England was where dashing men and damsels met and bonded over sprained ankles and muddy horse tracks.

Why the ministry? Oh that was a question, why was she joining the ministry? Because it was as close as she could get to what she wanted? Because despite the blazing row that she had had with Ana when she discovered that Madeleine had put in an application, she had grudgingly accepted that Maddie would go to the interview. If only so she didn’t offend some senior ministry type by not showing up and that would reflect badly on Ana.

’Because it is acceptable ish for a lady in my position to work for a department like magical relations without entirely shaming her family,’ she admitted with a half laugh, Telling a stranger that it was a way of escaping the tedium of a debuntates life was not perhaps a good move. ’And you can assure me that Mister Crouch isn’t as intimidating as he seems?’ she pressed again, ’I’ve seen him at a few events and I admit I’ve never wrangled up the courage to approach him- although it might have helped my application if he had known me from society’

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