Work is quite difficult

[alt_arthur]

It has been exceedingly difficult to do my job, given that I'm only allowed to go into the office one day out of four. These appearances at the Ministry are carefully timed so that I'm not even there at the same time as my coworkers. We all have to go through a scourgify protocol, scourgify, tergio, etc., our shoes and hands, etc. The most wary snap bubblehead charms in place if they see anyone else step within sight.

We can't Firechat, so at first we wrote even more memos than usual and left them for one another. No one actually dares touch the memos, so at first we wrote our notes to one another with Dicto-quills. Once the recipient has received the paper missive, it was set to hover in the air until read, and then incinerated with a quick spell. As you can imagine, this makes it quite difficult to backtrack and check work that took place via memo exchange.

So, of course, the obvious thing people are doing is to use their journals. More of the day to day minutaie of the way people do their jobs is showing up in public because of this, which has been quite fascinating in its own way. Although mostly, it's been recording people's frustration with the present restrictions. 'Where's that report?' 'It was in Dreskey's office last week, but that got sealed when he fell ill. Did they burn everything inside?' 'How can I get anything done when I haven't seen my assistant for three weeks?' etcetera, etcetera.

There have been some compensations, of course. It's certainly been pleasant to spend more time with Molly during the day, and the chicken coop is cleaner than it's been in weeks. And I'm sure the goats are mildly surprised that their stall is getting mucked out more reliably. Still, all in all, I'd be happy to be able to back to my old routine, not only with going into the office, but going out into the field. It's been months since I've set foot in a single one of the camps, and I'm quite worried about the conditions there.

Comments

Order Only

[alt_arthur]

Bill showed me quite a tidy little spell that Norma Brownmiller and I have been using. The two of us has a stack of parchment. After we write something, we tap the parchment with our wand, saying 'duplio,' and the other person's name, and then the words appear on the other person's corresponding parchment.

We're keeping it to ourselves for now...don't want the regime to realise that there's another system that could be used for surreptitious communication. Except it can't be--not surreptitious, that is, anyway. There's absolutely no security with the spell, unlike with "Order Only"; anyone can read either what is written or duplicated. So we're simply using it to copy work-related reports to each other.

Merlin knows what the camps will be like, once I'm finally allowed in again. I can imagine, of course. The sickness and death rosters, which I have to review each week, paint a very grim picture.

I hate feeling so helpless.

It has been strange that, whenever I go in, I really don't see anyone. Well, other than Bill, of course. I do miss Tonks. I hope we'll get good news about her soon.

I don't miss some of the blokes in my department chuntering on about the epidemic as if, well, now it's real and such a terrible thing! When muggles and muggleborns have already been dying from the sickness for months now. Disgusting.

[alt_selwyn]

I greatly appreciate your efforts, Arthur, along with those of your colleagues. It's been hard on everyone at the Ministry but I think we can take some pride in how quickly the spread was contained.

Let me know if your department needs additional owls or other resources.