June 6th, 1889 — Ministry of Magic

If one held to the letter of things, this was not Aldous' job.

As the head of a department, simple business matters were far beneath him, even when the individual involved was from a foreign nation. For newcomers, though, the wizard tended to make an exception—international co-operation, after all, began at home; it would not do, in his opinion, for a foreigner to return home and claim mistreatment by their British hosts!

And so, the wizard found himself at his desk across from Mr. Holm. Immediately, he found himself surprised by how young the Danish wizard was—family money, Aldous swiftly concluded, but not a great deal of it. Still, Aldous had seen young Hogwarts graduates that he would have placed as older.

"Of course, you'll need not make the journey to the Ministry offices often," Aldous reassured Holm, having slid the paperwork across the table to the young landowner, "but for initial paperwork, I'm sure you can understand why it might be best to handle the matter in person."

Bragi Holm

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Bragi had not expected to be greeted by the Head of the department, and so he was rather flustered. To go from wandering the garden to sitting in a civic kankedort in the space of an hour was quite a culture shock. But he maintained a semblance of grace, no blush on his pale face, no widening of the eyes — though it had taken a bit of effort not to stare when he'd first met Mr Crouch, for he was a most striking fellow. Tall, regal and with a curious limp that made him appear older than his years, he felt like a quiet hero from one of Bragi's novels — making him all the more intimidating.

Having shown the papers to his father when he'd first been given them for reference, all Bragi had left to do now was sign them — a more awkward process than he'd anticipated, what with an important Ministry official witnessing, but he managed it well enough. "Of course", the young Dane replied a little breathlessly as he skimmed a paragraph on farming practices and regulations. "Though I don't begrudge the trip at all. The Ministry is... is rather magnificent", he accidentally over-exaggerated (though he did mean it!). "But I imagine it doesn't always seem as such to those who see it each day."

  

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"I suppose you're right," Aldous agreed after a moment's consideration. Much of the architectural work was quite intricate, and while the wizard himself might bemoan some of the bureaucratic elements of his post, he had to admit these were hardly the fault of the building which contained them. "On both counts," the wizard added with a smile.

"I do hope the translation charms have proven up to snuff—our usual Danish translator recently retired, and his replacement, I believe, is still getting his bearings within the department."

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Bragi felt very gently intimidated by Mr Crouch, who was reminding him more and more of a black cat he’d once met back in Denmark. He’d watched as his own cat, Marian, had hesitantly approached the dark stranger, who’d simply observed her calmly, unmoving but for the swish of his tail. Somehow, that had been enough for Marian to flee from her perch in the bushes — but the black cat made no move to take her place. He did not mean to be intimidating.

The young chap returned the smile, rather shy, before signing his name to a couple of the papers. ”Yes, the translations are satisfactory, if rather literal”, he replied, deciding to add an honest criticism so not to imply human translators were not needed. ”We spoke both English and Danish in my household anyway”, he added. ”Sometimes fused together. My father calls it Dane-glish.”

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   Aldous Crouch

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"I confess, it is not a language with which I am all familiar," Aldous answered, "though I do manage to get by in others."

Get by was, perhaps, rather a modest description of the wizard's aptitude, though none of his additional languages had been picked up without a deal of hard work. Had he remained further down the Ministry pecking order, Aldous suspected he would have developed a familiarity with more, but his present post did not afford him an overabundance of time.

"I have always had a great deal of respect for those who communicate easily in a tongue not their own."

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

As he finished the last of the parchments, Bragi felt himself go a little pale with bashfulness. Was the Head of International Magical Co-operation really complimenting his linguistic know-how? Bragi didn’t doubt for one second that Mr Crouch had twice, thrice, ten times the language skills as he. It was just that Mr Crouch also happened to be very modest.

Bragi had no idea what to say to such a compliment, so he simply smiled, then give the paperwork one more cursory glance before stacking them together neatly. ”I think that’s everything, Mr Crouch”, he fidgeted with the corner of the top parchment and then glanced up at the official hopefully.

”Erm, before I leave the Ministry this afternoon, I don’t suppose you have an assistant or an intern who might have a brief moment to show me around? Just the public areas, of course”, he added swiftly. ”I just… find myself ever so fascinated by this marvellous institution.”

  

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Aldous hesitated for a moment. While it was not, strictly speaking, the job of anyone in his department to play tour guide within the walls of the Ministry of Magic,  it was not also uncommon for international dignitaries to receive special treatment in this regard. True, Mr. Holm was hardly a dignitary so much as your run of the mill businessman, but still, Aldous was faced with a decision: just how much did the Dane matter?

Quickly, subtly, he glanced at the antique clock that adorned his office wall. It was almost time for lunch...

"I can certainly give you the 'grand tour', such as it is, as far as the atrium," Aldous offered, having made his decision, "at which point I would be happy to entrust you to the care of one of the Ministry of Magic's welcome witches who are, I'm sure, far more adept at the tour proper." 

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Bragi caught the hesitation, and wished he hadn’t — he now regretted his question and believed it dim, realising all at once that even an intern would not be at liberty to pause and wander with a stranger. This was the British Ministry, the laidback Scandinavian mindset did not translate all that well.

And now he’d made the Head of the Department feel obliged to show him some of the Ministry. If Bragi was a blusher, he would’ve turned bright red. As it happened, he was more the type to go white with embarrassment. But he couldn’t back-pedal now, he mustn’t stammer out excuses apologetically and run for the hills. He must be like Mr Crouch and maintain his grace.

Standing as he placed the finished parchments neatly aside, Bragi replied; ”oh, well — thank you very much indeed, sir. If you are going that way anyway, I’d be very glad of your company.” He’d been about to say honoured, which was true, but would sound incongruous if spoken outloud.

”I hope I am not too whacky to be so interested in the Ministry…”

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   Aldous Crouch

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"I am quite sure," Aldous remarked wryly, "that there is an archetect's ghost somewhere who would be delighted at your interest—in fact, I am sure the wizard behind all of this—" he gestured vaguely around the office to indicate the Ministry structure as a whole "—has been immortalized in a portrait who would surely appreciate your appreciation."

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Perhaps a more pessimistic sort would begin to take Mr Crouch’s kindness as sarcasm, but not Bragi, not ever — he was quite certain he perceived Mr Crouch as he was; charismatic and gracious.

Bragi smiled at the note on architectural gratitude, once more bashful, and with the Ministry man’s permission he gazed thoughtfully around the room. ”May I ask how long you’ve worked here, Mr Crouch?” he chirped conversationally, wondering meekly where he had first sat in his youth; perhaps as an intern fresh out of Hogwarts.

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   Aldous Crouch

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Aldous thought for a moment before answering, fondly, "Almost fifteen years now."

Though he had traveled for a time when first departed from Hogwarts, the wizard had quickly settled at the Ministry of Magic, seeing it as something of a natural progression. In fact, Aldous had not once considered leaving—even to switch departments—which he thought was a testament to how well-suited he was to the work.

"I served as a translator, for a time, before moving my way up the ranks."

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Fifteen years! To a young thing like Bragi, that was about a million years. The widening of his slate blue eyes showed that, yes, he did think fifteen years was ages, but he daren't utter such a thing. He'd probably just sound like an over-awed schoolboy; not that he didn't already.

As to his origins as a translator, which had led to heading up the department, Bragi let out an unexpected chuckle. "You manage to "get by" in languages", with amusement he repeated what Mr Crouch said earlier, with a twinkle of playfulness — ah, cheeky! He didn't mean to be cheeky. He'd just known it; known that Mr Crouch was being deeply modest earlier. He wondered what else this humble colossus had achieved in his years of Ministry service.

  

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"I am hardly an expert in the way a native speaker might be," Aldous offered by way of explanation. Though he had, in fact, never been one to toot his own horn, nonetheless he saw his level of proficiency exactly as he portrayed it.

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Bragi inclined his head obligingly as if to concede; yes okay, Mr Crouch was probably not as linguistically proficient as a native speaker, but that was true almost by definition.

As they continued along a corridor, he gazed curiously up at a long window through which glorious sunshine was now streaming. ”Funny… are we above ground now?” Bragi asked. He hadn’t noticed the windows before, he’d been too preoccupied. But now he felt slightly disoriented; he could’ve sworn they were beneath the ground. Yet there the sun shone, bright as day.

  

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Questions about the building rather than the wizard personally, Aldous was much more confident in answering.

"The whole of the Ministry's offices are, indeed, underground," the wizard explained, "to shield us from the prying eyes of muggles. However, as you might imagine," he added with a chuckle, "hours on end in such a position can make a man rather stir crazy. The windows are a remedy to that—though I daresay they can be rather disconcerting at times, particularly if the maintenance department is feeling...undervalued."

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Bragi peered curiously at the padding windows, then a look of dawning realisation appeared on his face at Mr Crouch's explanation. Of course they were enchanted — why hadn't Bragi thought of that? He supposed it was just because he was so unused to entire magical institutions like this one. He did not equate bureaucracy with magic.

"Oh really?" he glanced up at Mr Crouch with sparkling interest as he hinted at mischief caused by malcontent janitors. "You mean such as... snowstorms in summer, things like that?"

  

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