Chapter Eleven
Confronting the Faceless 💀 CompleteNovember, 1997
"Your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this"
The Floo Network Authority is situated on the sixth floor of the Ministry building, along with the rest of the Department of Transportation. The Authority's offices are in a far corner of the department, well away from the lifts, and the Head of the Authority has an additional wall layered between his office and the rest of the Authority's headquarters.
And it is in this isolated corner office that Channer Lindberg spends his days reading proposals, signing papers, and working on ever improving designs for the Floo Network that he's in charge of.
He also sends out reports from the newly established group of Floo Network Regulators in charge of monitoring every single Floo call made from anywhere in the country (the overwatch unofficially. Channer doesn't like unofficial titles but no one made an official one). The influx of personnel has been difficult to accommodate as their offices had never been very roomy to begin with and are now downright cramped.
Channer hates it, if he's honest. He likes having plenty of personal space, but as the head of the Authority he can't just do his work from home all the time like he had back when he was just another Regulator. Now he has to be available in person at the office in case his input is unexpectedly needed. The thing about the Floo is that it's a lot more dynamic than most witches and wizards think, considering how old and generally unchanged the travel method is. New fireplaces need to be hooked up regularly, old ones disabled, and with several people recently trying to make their fireplaces "safer" without proper Authority input the entire system has been thrown into chaos.
Which of course makes Channer's physical presence at the department that much more vital.
He knows subconsciously, of course, the reason for people tampering with their floo connections. He's not stupid - he was a Ravenclaw in school after all - but he's also not suicidal so he lets himself focus on the mechanics and magic they're putting together to fix the interruptions and steers his mind away from why the interruptions exist. It's easier for everyone that way.
So he spends his days signing papers he only really skims, sitting in on meetings with the Floo engineers and passing reports from the overwatch group to Corban Yaxley at the end of each day to be reviewed. Channer doesn't ask what the Department of Law Enforcement is looking for, and he doesn't read the report. It isn't his jurisdiction; therefore, it isn't his place
That's one thing he does enjoy about the Ministry - there's an order and a line of authority and it's all wonderfully clear-cut. Channer has his job, and he's not responsible for anything beyond it. And he loves his job so that works perfectly well for him.
Honestly if it wasn't for the in-person interactions that are now a part of his job description he'd probably like work a lot more than he likes being at home. As it stands he only likes work a little more than his empty flat in Wizarding London.
Though that is subject to change. He thinks to himself glumly when he opens his door one Friday evening after a late night and finds a skinny brunette with ice-grey eyes perched on his couch and helping herself to his ice cream.
She looks up when she hears the door and grins like she's not stealing his food right in front of him. "Heya bro! You're home late."
Channer frowns at her and locks the door behind him. "Adeline, why are you in my apartment?" He sighs. His little sister has been owling him incessantly about needing to 'meet up' for a few days now, but he hadn't actually expected her to break into his home over it.
She closes the tub of ice cream (lopsidedly and Channer resists the need to straighten the lid because Adeline will about it and then it will take even longer for her to leave) and drops it onto his table (stains stains stains stains sticky ice cream ring stains on his nice wooden coffee table) before leaning forward in a way he's far too familiar with after growing up with her.
"No."
"Oh come on Channer I haven't even said anything!" She whines, flinging herself backwards onto his couch with needless dramatics (as she's often wont to do). "This is about helping people!"
"Is it part of my job description?" He asks flatly, choosing to gloss over the butterflies that try to break into his stomach at her words.
She grins. "Actually, I'd say it is." There's a sing-song lilt to her voice and Channer knows immediately that she's not going to be letting whatever this is go easily. He sighs and fixes the lid on the tub of ice cream - it's going to be a long visit regardless.
"Considering you rarely sit still long enough to listen to what I do-" He starts to point out, but she's rushing forward with all her endless enthusiastic energy and Channer resigns himself to letting her run her course before trying to speak again.
"So look I know you're being all head-in-the-sand about the Deatheaters taking over the Ministry but I know it's just because you don't know how to help yet! And I have brought you the solution. Don't say anything yet, I promise this does have to do with your job, it's just sort of... off the record." She grins conspiratorially, as if Channer has already agreed.
There's no way he's agreeing.
"Anyway, someone approached me a few days ago about possibly working for them. I can't say much until you formally join up but we're helping Muggleborns escape England safely! But to do that we're setting up a bunch of safehouses and that's where you would come in. We need somebody to help put together a Floo connection between the houses that wouldn't be on the official Ministry watchlist." She looks at him brightly. "So it's totally in your job description! You told me once you wished you could just tear out the whole Network and restart it from scratch - with this you totally can!"
"No." Channer says bluntly once he's certain she's definitely finished talking.
Adeline gapes at him, and then starts pouting. "'No'? Seriously Channer, just 'no'? I know you can be retentive about following protocol but seriously this is an extreme even for you!"
They stare each other down for what must be several minutes before Channer's inner coward submits and he break eye contact before he can combust from discomfort.
"I'm not doing it and I don't want to hear about it again." He says quietly, his nerves definitely apparent in his tone.
"Channer you can't just-"
He has to drown her out. He can't let her keep talking or he'll cave because he always caves because that's what he does. And if he caves to her then one day he'll cave to someone he shouldn't about all this, and then she'll be dead. And it will be his fault.
So he turns on the radio and pulls out some of the files he'd brought home to review and resolutely turns away from Adeline and the dripping ice cream carton and moves to his office space in hopes she'll get the message and show herself out the way she'd shown herself in.
Realistically he's known her long enough to know full well she's not going anywhere, but it was nice to dream for a few seconds that it might just be that simple for once. But people are never simple. That's why he prefers working alone.
The radio is turned off and Adeline is starting to insult him again before he flips it back on with a quick wand wave. Adeline rants beneath the noise for a few moments before she turns down the volume and stalks over to him.
"Addie." He says darkly. "If you do not remove yourself from my premises then I'll do it for you."
"Oh please stick bug you couldn't move me if you tried. I'm here trying to help people and you-"
"Have a job to do, if you don't mind. Some of us have no interest in throwing our lives away over fairytales." He snaps back. "Out."
Adeline stares at him with eyes narrowed for a long time before huffing out a breath. "It's not a fairytale, and I'll prove it. This is a perfect opportunity, you're just stubborn and over cautious as always. You'll come around."
Channer hears the door click shut when she leaves and he locks it magically and finally puts away the ice cream tub (and scrubs the coffee table) before going back to his files. But he knows this isn't the last he'll be hearing from his sister on this matter, and it eats at his insides, distracting him from his work. Eventually he gives up and goes to bed.
He's right, of course, about Adeline not giving up. It takes over a week but she shows up again on a Wednesday evening after work carrying some parchment and looking entirely too pleased with herself.
"You need to stop inviting yourself into my apartment without asking." Channer tells her, allowing his annoyance to slip into his voice. It had been a long day at the office, and he can't exactly get irritated there. Adeline isn't in any way a superior though, so he has far fewer qualms about being short with her. Plus she's family - he's had a lot more time to get comfortable talking back to her.
"You need to stop shoving your head in the sand." She snaps back. "You know dad's been in Azkaban for two months now. Don't you care?"
So she's angling for an emotional appeal. She really should know that isn't going to work. "Dad went to the trial of his own free will Addie-"
"You haven't talked to him in months, even before all this. What if he dies in there? How will you feel knowing-"
"Knowing I didn't actively try to get myself killed? Because I'm sure he'd be thrilled to get out of there and discover his kids dead." Channer points out. He doesn't need this today, he's tired. Yurina had been sniffing around his department all morning and one of his engineers had to go home early after the Japanese woman had mocked her for two hours over her husband's incarceration in Azkaban.
Being vulnerable to emotional manipulation is a death sentence at the Ministry these days, but Adeline wouldn't get that, living in her backwards world where just "doing the right thing" means everything goes well all the time. Channer lives in the real world, and he knows he needs to get his sister out of his apartment. Now.
She's been ranting for a few minutes now while he was lost in his head and he finally grabs his wand and silences her magically.
"Adeline. I have no interest in helping you kill yourself. I have no interest in killing myself. And you're going to walk out of here and not bother me with this again. Are we clear?"
Adeline gapes at him for a long moment before turning dramatically and storming out of the apartment in a huff.
Channer waits a few minutes before he stands and locks the door manually behind her. He then pulls out his wand and begins to put up wards around his door, windows, and the fireplace. He doesn't care to come home to a surprise sister visit again, and maybe this will be enough to show Adeline that he's serious about her dropping it.
Channer isn't self-sacrificing, and he's so perfectly positioned off of everyone's radar. Why tempt fate? Why push at boundaries when they're only going to get attention he really doesn't want to deal with?
Adeline can think what she wants of him - he's not going to get them both killed when it's far simpler to just not. Why Adeline refuses to understand that is her own problem, not his. (Kind of yours she's your little sister and she's counting on you but-)
Work at least is providing something of a distraction from having to think about Adeline and her doomed crusade. Which is good because Yurina has continued lingering uncomfortably close to the Authority's corner offices and if she asks him anything he knows he'll crack. He's always been an awful liar, it's half the reason he hasn't spoken to his father in so long, and it's a lot of the reason he needs Adeline to stay the heck away and time to think about work again.
Channer flips through the latest reports on Floo interference as a familiar figure passes his doorway, seeming to almost float she moves so gracefully. He knows Yurina glances through his office window as she passes, but he tunes her out and focuses on the numbers. They don't change, they don't judge him, and best of all they have a concrete solution that he'll be able to find if he just inputs the right formulas.
Yurina walks past his office. He skips lunch on accident, losing himself in the formulas in front of him, only registering the physical world again when someone knocks on his office door.
"Come in." He calls quickly, sitting up and nearly tipping his chair over in the process. He's bright red as the door opens and knowing how ridiculous he must look blushing over nothing only makes him flush more.
Luckily the man who steps in is one of his best engineers and someone that Channer actually gets along with rather well, which eases some of his flaring anxieties while simultaneously activating an entirely different set of nerves.
"Mr. Case, is everything going well with the West London reboot?" He asks, leaning forward and steepling his hands on the desk like he's seen other Department Heads doing on occasion (they look professional, like they're in control, he can look like that too if he does this?).
Aiden Case tilts his head. He's a senior Network Engineer and has been with the Authority for longer than most of its current employees, Channer himself included. Channer had looked up to Case back when he'd first joined the Authority after Hogwarts, and now he's the man's superior and he has no idea how to talk to him. (But it's fine when they talk work, and they're at work, so that's what they'll talk about).
"Bit of a rough patch with that actually, I was hoping we could go over a few figures. If I'm calculating them correctly then we may be dealing with someone who knows how the system works on a more intimate level than we'd initially anticipated."
Channer frowns, his inner screaming momentarily shut off while he focuses his energy on the new information. The West London reboot that Case is in charge of is a massive project that they've spent most of the month prepping for and involves a total recalibration of every West London Floo connection. For some reason that district in particular has been spitting people out into random fireplaces with no apparent rhyme or reason and Channer had concluded some time ago that the only way to fix it was a complete restart. They can't afford for anything to be off in their calculations on this one - there's far too much at stake with thousands of people possibly being cut off from transportation during the course of the reboot. "Let me see them." He instructs, reaching out and grabbing the files before Case really has a chance to hold them out.
It only takes a few minutes for him to run the numbers, and he's dismayed to find that Case is correct. "Merlin's beard." He grumbles, mostly to himself but he quickly directs his next words to Case, who's waited patiently while Channer worked. "You're right. You're absolutely right, okay. Get me your two best engineers working this and reconvene, we'll need to reconfigure the numbers in the next hour if we want to get all those connections back up and running smoothly before people need them to get home." He orders quickly, and Case is out the door with a firm nod. Channer turns back to the files and bites down another curse. He doesn't have time for this.
It takes them fifty one minutes and that's fifty one more minutes than Channer had patience for but between the four of them the recalibrations are complete and Case and the other two are back on the floor issuing new orders to the team in charge of the reboot.
Channer stays in his office (safe, familiar, everything in its place) but he pulls out his rarely-consulted Floo map so he can keep a closer eye on the project. He knows the system like the back of his hand which is why he keeps it put away most of the time (nowhere to fit it, not comfortably, not without unbalancing the room) but he really needs to have it out right now, to keep track of whether everything is going to get back up in time. If anything slips he can always step in himself, even if it means leaving the office. The Wizarding World depends on having a functional Floo Network and it's his job to make sure that Network is running as smoothly as possible.
Luckily for him, and his social battery, Case's team gets everything up and running again just past four thirty in the afternoon, and Channer puts the live map away just as Case returns to report.
After the rush of the day, Channer decides to actually go home at five - he can bring the reports he'd set aside earlier home with him and complete them there, after unwinding a bit with his violin. It's been a while since he's played, he's overdue anyway.
So he takes his work bag and heads over to the half of the office that's been designated for the overwatch to collect their report from the day so he can drop it off and finally go home.
What he fails to anticipate is the fact the overwatch apparently hadn't understood Case when he had explained the reboot to them - the entire group begins hounding him with questions as soon as he walks into their quarters.
(Everyone at once, questions blending, need to take control how?)
Channer feels like he stands in the doorway for what must have been hours, surely, brain stuttering unhelpfully at the tsunami of shouting pouring over him. He needs to respond. He can generally make out that the complaints concern the West London sector so he can just explain the reboot and things will calm down but his tongue is swelling in his throat and he can't talk he can't-
A light hand rests on his shoulder and he registers it enough through the ringing in his skull to pull away from it. When he looks over he finds himself staring at Branwen Avery, a secretary in the Minister's office who has been known to drop by and take the overwatch report on the occasions when her schedule allows it.
"Everything alright in here Mr. Lindberg?" She asks lightly, tilting her head and keeping her gaze steady.
Channer is pretty sure his tongue somehow works even less now than it had a few minutes before - talking to women has never been his strong suit.
Branwen doesn't seem to mind it as she gives him a smile and then turns to the overwatch. "Well guys? Everything alright? I'm sure whatever it is you put it into the report and Mr. Yaxley will make sure it's all handled, right?"
Some of the shouting quiets at her appeal, but one of the new recruits, a large man who proudly waves his Dark Mark around like being in a war is something to be proud of, pushes to the front and jabs a finger at Channer, who instinctively steps back.
"Half the bloody system went out today! What was up with that? We can't do our job when half the system is down!" He growls.
"W-well you were informed that this would happen." Channer manages to finally get out, talking more to the wall than the angry overwatch member. "We confirmed with Yaxley yesterday so he knows as well." He adds faintly, still focused resolutely on the peeling paint (that's an easy magical fix, where's the janitorial staff? why is his office coming apart).
Branwen tuts loudly beside him. "Well there you are then! If Yaxley knows then he won't be expecting a report on that section." She says cheerfully. "So why don't I take the report to him and you all can go home and have a well-deserved rest this evening, hm?"
Channer has never been so happy to have her around. He nods to her in thanks - still not making eye contact - and hurries out the door, looking forward to making himself some tea and getting back to work on his files and he'll definitely be pulling out his violin tonight because darn it he deserves relaxation time sometimes.
Branwen catches up to him by the lifts and he does not want to talk to the tall pretty woman (rare one doesn't have to tilt back to look him in the eye) but he should say thank you so-
"Always lovely when people can't understand basic English isn't it? Really, the Authority would run a lot better with a smaller, more efficient team I've always thought." Branwen declares, grinning over at him conspiratorially.
And that (yes, exactly, that) shakes something loose and now this is about business. And business he can talk about, even with women that look like Branwen Avery.
"Absolutely, but even though I'm head of the Authority it's the Department that deals with hiring." Channer explains. "People not familiar with the Floo Network think that since it's massive we must need lots of people but in reality we just need a few who really know what they're doing."
"Precisely! Honestly, they were smart enough to put you in charge, and then they proceeded to not listen to your suggestions half the time." Branwen sighs. "What can you do though? Bureaucracy at it's finest."
Channer wants to argue with her because people move up the ladder for a reason but she also isn't wrong that they promoted him and then ignored his ideas so he can't quite bring himself to respond either way.
She doens't seem to mind though, and he finds himself almost enjoying her chatter as they take the lift down together.
"Well, this is me." She declares as the lift stops at the second floor. "I hope to see you around Mr. Lindberg."
He tilts his head slightly and she slips out, grinning at him as she goes.
"She flirts with everyone son, I wouldn't hitch my carriage to that horse." One of the older Ministry workers standing beside him grumbles when the lifts starts up again.
Channer immediately flushes bright red. He hadn't been, he didn't - (work, it was work which isn't flirting it's professional and logical and flirting is messy they don't go together).
He isn't able to get any of that out though because of course he isn't. The man laughs as he steps off the lift and something in Channer's gut curls grimly inwards.
It gets worse when he gets home and Adeline is sitting in front of his door (at least the wards work, at least something works), looking strangely somber for her but he doesn't have enough energy to spend wondering about that.
"Addie, leave. Please." He says tiredly. The events of the day are clawing at the inside of his skin and he just wants to do some math and go to sleep and his sister is just too much complicated to handle right this second.
She just glares at him. "I went to the Ministry today." She says instead and that's Channer's limit for dealing with people right there but when has Addie ever cared about that? (Not fair, she thinks she's helping, she just doesn't understand. you never explained-)
She's still talking and he hears the words "Branwen" and "deatheater" - and "underground" for some reason? - but nothing is focused enough for him to process it so he just turns and goes into his apartment.
"Are you even listening to me?" That he hears well enough to tilt his head. He's not sure what he means by the gesture but his muscles move automatically.
"That's a no then." Adeline grumbles, but she actually does stop talking for a while, taking a seat on Channer's couch and watching him silently as he locks his door and sets the kettle to boil. He's almost managed to get comfortable by the window, his violin case retrieved and ready to be cracked open, when she starts talking again.
"I'm just worried about you. You aren't stupid Chan, you know what things are like beyond the walls of your office."
"Do I Addie? Or are you projecting because you refuse to acknowledge that there are other ways of living life?" Channer replies quietly, repeating something he'd heard his mother say to his sister in the past, when they were younger but just as likely to quarrel as they are today.
Adeline huffs. "This is different. The world is at war Channer, there's only two ways to live right now."
No, but you've always been pretty black and white in your thinking so you can't understand that. He doesn't say it, doesn't say anything because there's nothing to say. Nothing will change his sister and that's why he loves her but that's why it's so hard to navigate her at the same time.
Except, maybe-
(No, silly, cowardly, she'll just laugh in your face)
"Branwen is a deatheater. The group I'm working with gave me that information, and then I see you two all buddy-buddy at work today. You have to be careful with her Channer, she's a snake in sheep's clothing, looking for soft underbellies."
"Well if I don't know anything I can't tell her anything Addie." Channer sighs. "So maybe stop telling me things I shouldn't know."
"You should know them though. We need you Channer, we really do." Adeline is pleading now and that's more dangerous than anything else she's done so far.
"Leave." He forces out, because the other option is giving in and he can't.
Thankfully Adeline must hear something in his voice because she sighs and stands from his couch. "Fine. But this isn't over. You know you want to do good, and I know you. You'll overcome whatever fear it is holding you back right now."
Translation: she's going to keep pushing. Which is less than ideal. Channer follows her to the door and locks it behind her just as the kettle starts to whistle. He makes himself a cup of tea and sits at his desk in silence for several long minutes, staring blankly at the mug in his hands.
Branwen is a deatheater. I'm probably going to see her again. I'm probably going to act differently around her when I do because I know. If she suspects I know she'll press for information and I'll end up telling her where I learned it. I've never been good at lying. The thoughts chase each other around his head for several minutes, growing louder and more insistent as his neurons link together exactly how much of an absolute disaster this is going to become for his family and whatever group his sister is working for. All because Adeline is far too much of an optimistic Hufflepuff for her own good.
But Channer is a Ravenclaw. Channer is the second youngest authority figure in the Ministry, and unlike Weasley he got his position through skill and problem-solving. So he's the youngest one, really (uncalled for, mean to think that way, not wrong...).
And this, this is just another problem to be solved, and that is something he can do if he puts his mind to it.
His violin case is left unopened on the windowsill, and he begins to brainstorm.
It takes a few hours because he can't write anything down - if it's found it could lead to Adeline and then her group and the whole thing will spiral and-
No writing things down. But he comes to a conclusion. Not an easy one, or a pretty one, and so much can go wrong but-
Adeline. His father. Everyone out there trying to just live day to day. This is what he can offer. A simple memory block and his inability to lie well isn't a problem anymore.
A simple-
...
Channer wakes up with a bit of a headache and not remembering when he'd gone to bed. (Wrong, there's something very wrong with that. panic? coffee)
He must have fallen asleep after getting home. The fiasco with the reboot the day before had been draining. Clearly he'd needed a reboot of his own to fully recover from it.
He smiles to himself at the mental wordplay as he sets about making breakfast and checking that everything in his briefcase is in order for the day. His violin case is out and he regrets not getting to play before passing out the night before - maybe tonight. It's Friday after all, he'll have the entire weekend.
An owl swoops into the apartment just as he's ready to head out, and he sighs but takes the letter as he recognizes the messenger. Addie had gotten her Eagle Owl Cass right after graduating and she's not an unfamiliar site at Channer's window.
He accepts the letter and shoves it into his briefcase, offering Cass a treat before letting her back out and heading to work himself.
He forgets about the correspondence until his lunch break, when it falls out as he digs for a particular file. With nothing too pressing on his plate he decides to read it before he forgets.
Channer,
Sorry for the blow up, I just really think you're not giving this enough thought. Come talk to me tonight?
Addie
Channer frowns. Giving what enough thought, exactly? He always gives everything plenty of thought. Usually Addie accuses him of thinking too much, actually.
Shrugging he pushes the letter back into his briefcase. He distractedly realizes that it's odd this isn't bothering him, but he has work to do.
He can wonder about his sister's odd letter later.
Author's Note: SO. This obviously is taking place later in November and we'll be jumping back a bit in time next chapter, but I thought this was the better follow up to last chapter since it somewhat closes this part of the Underground's arc here.
Next Week: It's hard when you're the only decent person you know (well, one of two)
So I'm thinking I might do a final 'afterwords' chapter to share my thoughts and feelings on writing this story, if that's something people would be interested in? I'm also open to answering any lingering questions people might have there as well!
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