Order Only: Preparing Lies

[alt_arthur]

I know I've barely been able to respond to posts and so on. Molly and I have been preoccupied with the fall out from the events precipitated by the twins and their little stunt at the picnic. But more than that, I've been busier than a niffler going after galleons with this asinine scheme that's been cooked up to give the foreign students a tour of a camp.

And what a camp it is. We've picked a site in Newcastle, and with several people in my department, I've spent the past several days constructing a picture of a cosy life for the muggles and muggleborn there. Of course, it's all a pack of lies.

Everyone has been issued new clothing, and many will be wearing shoes for the first time in years. And more extra clothing will be flapping on laundry lines, to give the impression that the residents actually have more clothing to change into. We have them busy planting flower boxes and tidying landscapes. We wizards have been constructing false facades on all the buildings, showing newly painted exteriors, non-broken windows, with plenty of pre-fabricated "public art," etcetera. We've handpicked the model residents, who have to be specified ages: mums and dads, a few grannies sprinkled here and there just to suggest the possibility of comfortable retirements; babes in arms and toddlers are all right, as are eight to ten years old (as long as they're shy), but no very young children prone to talk, or teens who could blurt out embarrassing truths at inopportune moments.

Food has been trucked in, and a fancy lunch will be served. Good, nourishing fare, of course--the sort of thing these people never see in early April, if ever. An orchestra has been rounded up and instruments provided. I'm sure the programme will be charming, and a touching tribute to Our Beneficient Lord Protector.

Merlin. The hypocrisy makes me ill. On the one hand, I desperately hope the visitors see through it all, but on the other hand I know that the repercussions, if they do, could be severe.

Addendum: I still cannot find Sirius Maxwell and Ivy Lowell. Alice also thought we might wait a little longer to collect our Leap Year baby, Ethan in Brighton, as he is still so young.

Comments

[alt_gredforge]

Whoa. We're seeing a whole other side of things, reading under this Lock.

You really do hate your job sometimes, don't you, Dad? We knew it was hard. But you never really talked about stuff like this.

[alt_bill]

Yeah, he does. Welcome to adulthood.

[alt_arthur]

It's true; I positively despise it at times. But if I wasn't positioned where I am, I would not be able to save any of the babies for Moddey Dhoo. It's the only thing that keeps me going, sometimes. But it seems such a poor recompense: I can save forty or fifty, and marginally improve the life for a few hundred more. But thousands upon thousands suffer cruelly, under my governance.

[alt_kingsley]

You know, my friend, one thing that's occurred to Emmeline, reading this: We've sometimes met some Roma when we've been on the road as the players, and I think that 'Lowell' is a name some Roma families use. They have some mixed muggle/magical families. I remember running into one caravan that had a grandmother who had the Sight, and she had a nephew who was quite a good Artificer.

It makes sense as a possibility, when you think about it. They travel from place to place and prefer to stick to themselves and so avoid registering their childrens' births. If Emmeline's right, that may be why you aren't able to find the name in the census records.

[alt_pomona]

Oh, Arthur, how awful.

I hope the visitors see through it, though I understood from Aurora that she had extremely specific instructions on which Hogwarts students were and weren't to attend. One can only hope that the ones who were allowed have some brains in their heads.

[alt_arthur]

My goodness. That hadn't occurred to me, but it might be a thought worth pursuing.

Only how? I wonder...have you kept in touch with any of those families? Perhaps they have a gathering somewhere, where we could talk to a number of them at once, and someone might know someone who could track the family down?

Hmph. It seems like quite a long shot, when I write it down like this.

[alt_bill]

Maybe they only invited the ones who didn't have brains. For that very reason.

[alt_pomona]

From the little Aurora said, not quite that simple. Of course, for the 4th years, they're drawing from the CCF group, and that leaves out the densest of the lot at any rate. Even there only half of them were invited to attend, and a few carefully picked 3rd years.

One of our Hufflepuffs - Ernie MacMillan - came to me, after being not quite satisfied by her response. His father's a Healer who works with the camps. I do wonder if they're not trying to keep those who would recognise a fraud from direct observation.

[alt_kingsley]

I'll talk with the rest of the Players, see if we can come up with any ideas.

[alt_frank]

if he is roma, then they'd be more likely to know how to handle a magical baby, and would also be more able to keep him from anyone's notice.

the danger would be that if he was discovered, and his absence from the book was noted, he'd be taken by them and the false book would be in danger of being revealed.

do you think if we kept him in the book that people would go out of their way to find him?

that's a hard one.

[alt_poppy]

Arthur. If Kingsley's right, I would be surprised if the family would be interested in our offer. I have a number of connections amongst the Travellers and one or two who are Roma. Those I know don't draw the distinctions we do between muggle and magical. Many of them are wizards, you know, and while squibs are not uncommon amongst them, they don't reject them.

They live separately from the rest of us for good reason, you know. And I rather doubt they'll be terribly concerned about the danger to this child who's popped into our book--nor very eager to have us make off with her.

[alt_poppy]

I agree, Frank. That's the dilemma.

But really, I don't think the Ministry fuss with the Roma at all. Not to track which of them are magical and which are not. I don't think their names appear very often in the book, but I doubt this is the first it's happened. I suppose one of them might have married outside, but no one at the Ministry will expect one of their children to attend school, so I doubt there will be any official mind paid the situation at all.

I suppose that does not rule out our making contact and presenting them with the opportunity to send the child into sanctuary.

[alt_sirius]

Yeah, I agree with Poppy. If she's born to a Traveller, then I don't see any good reason to pry her from her family.

Sirius Maxwell. Somehow I think he's in a similar situation. I just can't imagine anyone in a camp naming the child 'Sirius' and getting away with it for long.