Prologue
Unfogging the Future 🔮 When Magic and Muggle Collide 🔮 Complete
Application
August 30, 2018
The Decision
"I still can't believe Granger stole Shafiq." Cadi grumbles as she flicks through an ever slimming pile of applications. "She was the one person we absolutely knew we wanted to hire."
Audrey sighs beside her, flipping through her own files. "Diana Shafiq was uniquely positioned as well-respected throughout the Invisibility groups, rather than just within her own. It makes sense why Hermione wanted her in charge of the Relocation efforts. Plus, Ms. Shafiq has an amazing work ethic - if anyone can get all those displaced people new jobs within a year, it's her."
Cadi shrugs noncommittally, pulling out one particular file as she does. "Still a bit of a sting. I liked her based on the interview recording you shared." She says. "Anyways, looking through this I'm thinking we have to hire Aruna Kandasamy? She's the only person involved in law from either side who applied."
Audrey grimaces. "I don't like that she wasn't forthcoming about the reason for her extended absence from work the past two years." She admits, accepting the file that Cadi hands her. "Whatever caused it could happen again, and we don't have time for her to not be doing her job. But you are correct that we need someone from law on the team. I'll ask Willow if she would be alright consulting for that though - Ms. Kandasamy won't have any idea how wizarding laws work." She sets Aruna's file off to the side after stamping an "ACCEPTED" on the front. "What other skillsets are necessities?"
Cadi hums thoughtfully as she continues scanning through the applications. "I mean, we could hire Edward Clarke? He's in law enforcement, he might be able to help Ms. Kandasamy?"
Audrey shakes her head. "By that logic we could hire some of the Aurors that have applied." She points out. "Besides, Finn is ridiculously excited to work with a Muggle, I don't want to take that away from him."
"Finn would get over it." Cadi grins, but she puts Edward's file down. "But fine. Are there any Aurors that applied who could work?"
Audrey sighs. "Most withdrew their applications actually. To apply for the Hunter Initiative." She adds at Cadi's confused look. "Estelle Kuhara is still in the running, but I honestly think she'd get bored filing papers pretty quickly. And I happen to know she also put in her name to be a Hunter." She shakes her head. "I suppose worst case we can have Ms. Kandasamy do some work with the Hunters where needed - we're sharing the space after all."
Cadi frowns. "I hadn't heard about that." She says. "Won't that get a bit crowded?"
Audrey shrugs. "No worse than any other floor. Besides, the Hunters will probably be out chasing down leads most of the time. Now focus, we need to finish this tonight so we can send out acceptances with the morning post."
Cadi nods. "Fair enough. So we have a lawyer and two life-long politicians - us." She adds at Audrey's questioning look. "What else do we need?"
"Someone to handle the public image." Audrey says immediately. "If Muggles can put a friendly face to the effort then they'll be more open to what we're trying to accomplish."
"Wasn't our first applicant in Marketing? She probably would do well with that." Cadi suggests, but frowns when Audrey grimaces. "No? Something wrong with her?" She prompts.
"Not... wrong, really." Audrey says slowly, clearly choosing her words carefully. "More... I don't think she could serve as the face of this group. Petranella Clark struck me as a very quiet girl, and while I admit her background using Social Media could be of use, I don't think she's quite what we'd need for this."
Cadi hums. "We'll put her on the maybe pile for now then. Oh, what about Veena Harris?" She says after a moment. "She's already a minor celebrity in the Muggle world, she'd probably do well. I'm not sure what her skills are with company media marketing though."
Audrey smile slightly. "I think Veena is a good hiring choice." She agrees. "And perhaps we can divide this role in two - Mrs. Harris could be the public face and Ms. Clark could handle the online presence?"
Cadi chews her lip as she watches Audrey stamp the two files in question with acceptances. "That definitely could work, but I was thinking - shouldn't the Initiative have a face for the magical world too? After all, both worlds need to be onboard for this whole unification business to go smoothly."
Audrey tilts her head in acknowledgement. "Fair enough." She pauses, and then begins rapidly sorting through her pile of applications. "Actually, I think... yes, here." She pulls out one of the folder. "Miles Taylor." She identifies him as she pulls out her wand to tap on a small square attached to the front of the file. Immediately a voice recording of the applicant's interview begins to play. Audrey fast-forwards through it until reaching the part she was looking for.
"...having grown up in a household almost completely devoid of Muggle interaction, I think I represent a large population of of wizards and witches who have the same experience as me. My experiences can be valuable in teaching the muggles how wizards and witches live and since it'd be my first time venturing out into the muggle world, my new encounters can resonate deeply with those who are like me."
Audrey stops the recording with a tap and looks over to Cadi, who's grinning.
"I think he'd work, yeah." She agrees, and Audrey adds Miles to the pile.
"I actually have one other person to suggest." She adds. "Rose Evans - I figured out where I know her from, she's a regular at George's shop. She's known for being a good speaker, so I think she could do well dealing with the Wizengamot and Muggle Parliament on handling any new legislation."
Cadi perks up slightly. "Hey, wasn't there another person who talked about legislation? I recall someone saying that in one of the recordings."
Audrey's lips quirk downwards. "Landon Colvin." She confirms. "I'm a little hesitant about him though, he admitted he can be stubborn and I doubt the Wizengamot would appreciate that."
"Then he'll balance out with Rose, right?" Cadi points out. "She's the good cop." She laughs at Audrey's confusion. "Muggle expression, it means they'll compliment each other in the workplace."
Audrey hesitates, but then acquiesces. "I suppose it's better to have multiple people on each team." She admits.
Cadi grins. "And since Diana got nabbed we can't use her." She agrees. "Well then, that covers the politics, but we should probably hire a few people to do the detail work. You know, schools, transportation, stuff like that."
Audrey nods. "Fergus Bell." She says immediately. "He's currently the Head of the Portkey Offices and Percy had nothing but praise for his work and professionalism. He'd be ideal to work out if transportation methods will need to change."
Cadi gives a low whistle. "Sounds like it. I didn't think we'd get anyone like that, considering that other than Aruna all my interviewees were tiny twenty-somethings. How old is he?"
"Only thirty five," Audrey admits. "And honestly I was surprised to see his application myself, but I doubt there's anyone half as qualified for the job."
"Oh I agree completely, bring him in. Save me from feeling too old." Cadi jokes, and Audrey laughs as she stamps the file with its acceptance and sets it aside. "Also, thinking on education, I did get a Muggle school teacher as one of my applicants. Desmond something-or-other, did you listen to his interview?"
Audrey thinks for a moment. "Maybe? Play it for me again though."
Cadi begins sorting through her pile, and Audrey idly flips through her own at the same time, pausing after a moment.
"Hey, what about Kylee Danson?" She asks, and Cadi spares a brief glance up before resuming her hunt.
"What about her? Also why do you have her file, she was one of my interviewees."
Audrey shrugs despite Cadi not looking at her. "She's got a background in medicine, and I definitely could see people being interested in magical assistance in Muggle hospitals."
Cadi looks up again, clearly amused. "Caldwell put that in your head, didn't she?" She guesses, referring to Audrey's friend from St. Mungo's, the current head of their research division.
Audrey laughs. "Perhaps, but she's right. We'll probably want to butter up the Muggles anyway, and giving them the cure to the common cold isn't too shabby a starting point."
Cadi chuckles as well. "Alright then, I remember liking Kylee in her interview anyway, let's bring her in." She agrees, and then a moment later triumphantly holds up another file. "Found him! Desmond Edevane, high school teacher and a Muggle with magical siblings. Here, listen to the interview on your own, I've got one more file I want to find."
Audrey accepts the tape and starts to play it while Cadi dives back into her folders. Admittedly she's a bit nervous about this final suggestion, but she's got a solid argument in favor of hiring him, and worst case they can let him go early.
Cadi finds the file quickly enough, and waits quietly for Audrey to finish listening to Desmond's interview.
"He could work." Audrey agrees, replacing the recording and closing the file. "And his experience with both worlds certainly would be of use. You said you had one more suggestion?" She prompts, glancing at the file in Cadi's hands as she adds Desmond onto the acceptance pile.
Cadi smiles nervously. "So you remember that super late application we got?"
"Alex Zhang? How could I forget? We had to completely redo our interview schedule only for him to show up late and not even bother apologizing." Audrey says distastefully. "Please don't tell me you want to hire him Cadi, I can't imagine his interview was so mind-blowing as to make up for the fact his work ethic is obviously terrible."
Cadi grimaces. "I did double check with his references before making this suggestion you know." She points out. "And they say he's an excellent worker. I think he just doesn't think this integration is going to work - he's pretty biased against magical folk."
Audrey frowns. "You aren't doing a great job of convincing me here, Cadi." She points out, and Cadi offers a wan grin.
"I know, I know. I actually think his reluctance could be in our favor though." Cadi explains. "All the rest of these hires want this to work - Alex and his cynical outlook may be able to spot flaws the rest of us wouldn't. If we can convince him, we'll have a better shot at convincing the more reluctant parts of both worlds as well."
Audrey considers it for a long time, before finally, reluctantly, reaching out for the file. "I'm trusting you thought this through." She says warningly. "And I still don't like it. But that gives us ten, which was the maximum number we wanted to include." She sighs, and with a wave of her wand the folders around them organize themselves into the surrounding filing cabinets, leaving only the ten hired applicants on the desk. "I'll send out the owls first thing in the morning."
Cadi grins despite herself. "I know this is going to be a massive undertaking, but I'm actually pretty excited." She admits as the two women pack up and head for the lifts. "Just think, in two days we'll be leading a group that's literally defining history. How cool is that?"
"Stressful, mostly." Audrey replies with a tired, slightly crooked smile of her own. "Here's hoping all goes well."
"Well, we have a solid team at least." Cadi says determinedly as the lift arrives and the two women step in. "If nothing else, we're certainly going to do our best."
Hopefully that's enough. Audrey thinks, but doesn't voice the concern. Only time will tell from here on out if their choices were the right ones. This Initiative will be the deciding factor in magical-Muggle relations going forward for the rest of time, and if they mess it up...
Well, Audrey will worry about that if it happens. For now she wants to get some sleep.
A/N ; And thus the crew is hired! Eagle-eyed readers will notice one name that wasn't on the review page appeared here, and one that was wasn't present. Worry not! Fergus was a slightly late submission I allowed since he was technically finished only a few hours after the official deadline (and his creator knew he wouldn't get a formal review) and Celine's creator already agreed that in the case of her not being hired she wouldn't have applied to the Initiative at all - I have a different role for her~ Next week the story kicks into high gear as the Initiative members report in for their first week of work! See you all then ^^
AIGHT this is a bigger hassle/nightmare than expected so double update on Tuesday instead >~< Sorry guys, I know the last chapter was a cliffhanger!
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