Order Only: World Cup?
Aug. 22nd, 2011 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alt_siriusOkay, so, all of Sherwood's been talking about it, but since we're all outlaws here no one has much in the way of details. I got elected to ask.
Have they really gone and secured the rights to play the World Cup Finals here? Where, then? (Last I'd heard it was going to be somewhere in Canada, but that was over a year ago. Things have been known to change with sufficient application of persistence. And gold.)
And is everyone in the whole realm supposed to go?
If all the camps are going down to skeleton crews, well, I mean to say, we could get dozens out, perhaps.
Of course, there are some who want to throw together some kind of plan to disrupt the match, or the celebrations around it. I have to assume MLE have thought about that, though. And possibly the camps, as well.
But surely the whole country can't simply shut down for the final, can it?
Have they really gone and secured the rights to play the World Cup Finals here? Where, then? (Last I'd heard it was going to be somewhere in Canada, but that was over a year ago. Things have been known to change with sufficient application of persistence. And gold.)
And is everyone in the whole realm supposed to go?
If all the camps are going down to skeleton crews, well, I mean to say, we could get dozens out, perhaps.
Of course, there are some who want to throw together some kind of plan to disrupt the match, or the celebrations around it. I have to assume MLE have thought about that, though. And possibly the camps, as well.
But surely the whole country can't simply shut down for the final, can it?
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 02:39 am (UTC)For starters, no one seems to know where they are going to have it. I heard some speculation about the Isle of Man, but I can tell you that unless the Ministry made the site unplottable, our friends on that small island have no knowledge of the business. And nor do they seem to have noticed the trip between any of the places they regularly visit having got suddenly shorter, which would be the case if a chunk of the island had suddenly gone uplottable. At any rate, they didn't mention anything so obviously suspicious having taken place.
My own tickets to the event caught up with me only this morning in Deptford. I seem to have set the owl a merry chase, and she was none too pleased about it when she found me. I'm hoping my brief disappearance will not have been otherwise noticed.
As for whether everyone is to go, apparently so. I have no idea how they plan to deal with the camps; I dread to think, in fact. For myself, it's a damned inconvenience. I'm due to begin a perfectly miserable official inventory and facilities evaluation under the watchful eyes of a joint team from St M's and the Ministry. That begins Thursday and continues right through Sunday, and then they expect me to be a good citizen and go along to the Quidditch? With students arriving at the school a mere three days after that?
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 02:48 am (UTC)Makes me wonder if it's some kind of ruse. Tell everyone it's the Cup Final to get everyone together and then - I dunno. Run some sort of mandatory loyalty test. Probably that's too paranoid. Let's hope. As-is, I'd bet anything they're using it at the least to get a good look at who shows and who doesn't.
You've mentioned the inspection before and that you're worried the increased scrutiny speaks to someone raising suspicions. Do you truly think you or anyone else at Hogwarts is currently suspect? Ought we to lay some plans in case incriminating information has reached the wrong hands?
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:10 am (UTC)I understand where that thought comes from, but I think the regime want very much to have this event boost their popularity at home and abroad, so while I expect they will take stringent precautions to detect anyone with disruptive designs, I also expect they will avoid harassing or terrorising the crowd. Quite right, though: they will certainly take note of those who don't accept the invitation to attend.
Ah. The inspection. Well. It's not simply a matter of my being under scrutiny. We are, I am informed, to have our largest incoming cohort of first years in a great many years, accelerating the growth of our numbers, so there will be more demand on my stores and my time.
But it's more even than that: we are anticipating a visit to the school by a delegation from the wizarding institutions overseas. Apparently, this is all part of a larger initiative of which the Quidditch Cup is only the first piece. I don't know much more than this, but I was told to expand capacity on my wards, to stock twenty-five percent above the usual amounts of staples, and to err on the side of over-provision.
Now, if I should be found lacking in any aspect of this preparation, then I'm certain my detractors will not hesitate to take advantage of the process to penalise me.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:00 am (UTC)Also, they're surely going to be alert to people in disguises. It's asking for trouble to go, and to no particular end. I'd be more curious to know whether there's some camp we could assist with a breakout. Or how many of the muggleborns who come by will be left alone that day, and whether we could pay them a visit and get a good head start before anyone was back to notice their absence.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:32 am (UTC)And yes, liberating some muggleborns left behind is one of the ideas we've been kicking around here, as well. I suppose we'd have to know a little more about their plans on both ends of the equation before we made any move. They could just as easily dispatch enforcers to suspect houses to have themselves a good long inspection while the family are all at the Cup.
Bill? What do you hear from your contacts?
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:52 am (UTC)At least they didn't plan it for the full moon.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:49 am (UTC)That would make it easier; you could go, I could stay with Bea, we'd have a family presence there with no worries about a disguise that could slip.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 08:53 pm (UTC)Bother.
I've probably made a complete hash of it.
Is there a way to erase a PM before she sees it?
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 09:01 pm (UTC)Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:33 am (UTC)Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:37 am (UTC)Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:39 am (UTC)Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:41 am (UTC)Perhaps the goblins would like a baby. She's very cute when she's not crying.
I wonder if she's cutting a tooth? I suppose that would explain her bad mood.
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:48 am (UTC)Remember how James used to tell Lily they could put an ad in the paper to sell Harry?
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:50 am (UTC)Harry had quite the set of lungs. I think Bea could give him a run for his money, though.
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:52 am (UTC)You could try bumping her head. She likes that.
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:54 am (UTC)Or I'll save this conversation for her to read when she's older and asking why she didn't get Sorted into Ravenclaw.
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:57 am (UTC)Anyway, she doesn't cry when I hold her. How soon do teeth grow in?
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:59 am (UTC)Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 04:06 am (UTC)You could always use my Grandmother Melania's failsafe. She always said when my father or uncle was fussing or teething, she'd have the elf rub a little firewhiskey on their gums. And on particularly bad nights, mix a little in the milk.
Whatever you do, don't sing to her. Then you'll find out just how much louder than Harry she can be.
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 04:07 am (UTC)I should probably take advantage of the opportunity to go to bed myself. I'll get her drunk on firewhiskey tomorrow, that sounds like an excellent plan, thank you ever so much for suggesting it.
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:53 am (UTC)Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 03:56 am (UTC)FOR SALE: one wanton troublemaker. Shifty looking. Messy hair. Excellent at transfiguration. Can turn himself into a stag! Isn't any better mannered as a stag, though. PRICE NEGOTIABLE.
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 04:03 am (UTC)Don't forget 'Questionable taste in mates (rats, werewolves, etc.).'
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 04:04 am (UTC)Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 04:07 am (UTC)And on that note, I'm off to seal my reputation as a gentlewizard and ne'er-do-well. Ta.
Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 04:08 am (UTC)Re: Private Message to Remus
Date: 2011-08-23 04:08 am (UTC)