Sirius Black

Poppy, if you can get to Moddey: We were successful but Fu's injured. Frank and Kingsley got a field dressing on him, enough so he can travel.

We got the shipment of potion but there was something else on the train. Heavily guarded. Resulted in a longer firefight than we anticipated.

Also, there was another car of Muggles being transported to farm country. We let them out and I've stayed behind to help get them to several of Beth's safe houses.

But this ... device - Circe, you could feel the magic emanating off it. Clearly something they didn't want getting into the wrong hands. Fu was so captivated by it that he didn't notice the guard wasn't quite knocked out. I think he'll be all right but we'd all feel more comfortable if a Healer looked him over.

It's been a tense night and day around here, no mistake. So far, the custom hasn't suffered, though like I said last night, it's quite subdued in our little garden compared to out on the streets.

I'm just grabbing a minute or two while Ellie's out in the yard. It's become quite difficult, actually, to stop her trying to keep 'Sinbad' with her at all times.

The good news is that she's been talking to him, when we're alone. Mostly narrating what she's doing but occasionally there's an opinion about Mr or Mrs Ponds thrown in.

Dora, you'll be happy to know that she thinks you walk on water.

Today she's been pretty worried about all this DogStar business. I don't think she knew anyone in the network, from what I've overheard, but she's concerned (as are we all) with what the Ministry will do to find out how many in the company are left, the ones that managed to get away. She seems to be afraid that the few who remain will also do something desperate in their last throes of existence.

Personally, I think it's more likely they'll regroup and start over - although, that said, the papers claimed both that their titular head (my 'lover,' apparently, Remus and I had a good laugh over that one) and their primary recruiter had both been captured.

We've still not seen Beth, either. I suspect she's laying low for now. If she's not in by a week's time, we'll worry.

Oh, and the neighbourhood watch stopped in this evening, again, trying to round up volunteers to brandish their wands along the streets to the west, where 'that element' live. Lucky for us it looks to be a busy night again, so Remus - sorry, Junius - was able to say in all honesty that he thought he'd need to stay behind to give Dora and 'the help' a hand with the crowd, but that they'd be welcome to stop in for a drink afterward. That seemed to placate them.

Remus, I think next time they come calling, busy or not, you'd better go out with them. Or send Dora, depending. I didn't like the way that second bloke looked at you when your back was turned.


Oh, Alice, Frank, before I forget: We can't afford to miss our rendezvous with Aleks this year. I owled him just before Ellie came and sent him the usual requests. Who's going from your end?

Arthur, this application is a monster! No wonder the Ministry had so much trouble getting people to participate. Six pages of application, four - no, five supplemental schedules depending on one's answers - and that's leaving out the mandatory attestations pages with all the clauses one has to sign. 'If selected, I the undersigned do hereby swear and give oath that the Muggleborn Assistant assigned to me or my place of employment shall not be used for inappropriate, seditious, illegal or illicit purposes' and all that.

Well, we expected that much. But Merlin, they make it difficult to try to stack the deck (also the point, I know).

And then it's all in septuplicate (Why are they so obsessed with seven? Numerologically, sure, but Circe. Seven!)

I think we've just about done the thing properly. We put down that the candidate had to have letters and maths, just to be on the safe side. We're not sure what to say about Laszlo's Unlimited, though. If we put down Food Service or Bartending as a secondary requested skill, well, it might trigger them to come and investigate things a little more fully (c.f., the question about agreeing to an inspection of the place of business wherein the Muggleborn will be working if said Muggleborn will have contact with Citizen cutomers in the course of the Muggleborn's duties). Well, I mean to say, the Ministry know about the cafe in the back and our minor annoyance Mr Hill seems to know that not everything in our back garden is officially sanctioned on our licence, else he wouldn't demand quite so much in shakedown Sickles (and yes, he was back again this week, which may be why I'm particularly sensitive to the thought of their 'inspections'). But at the same time, we don't want to leave it off because it might be the kind of thing that tips the balance toward Ellie.

Or perhaps this really isn't such a good idea, at all. Maybe this is an indication that Beth is trying to get us caught somehow, under the guise of doing something altruistic.

I don't mind saying it feels dirty just to fill the blasted thing out. The idea that something so supercilious could also be made into a distilled process is maddening. If there's anything you can think of that will help assure it gets us either Laurel Sinclair or Ellie Summer, mate, give it to us. Dora will drop the application on her trip in Sunday, so we've the rest of the weekend to make any changes we need to make (and make sure it gets fixed on all sets of the application).

Dora and Bea are up. Arthur, Bill, if you've any advice, we'd love to hear it.