[PADRIL] For the Greater Good (...and your career)

[Gordon Flintock]

Gordon Flintock made his way down the curious Muggle London street. The pavement had blue and orange patterns all over it, presumably placed there in order to make the shopping area more "attractive". Over time the grass had grown through the cracks and the etchings had half-faded away so that they now bore a closer resemblance to mould than playing children or the ocean floor or whatever they had once meant to symbolize.

The tone of the path was reflective of the entire street, it seemed. You could tell that once, perhaps even as recently as 15 years ago, the whole street had be redesigned and plastered with "art" and "colour" and "life", but since then the paint had faded, the gardens were overgrown and the shop fronts were too wide for the number of customers that visited them. Gordon silently considered how the area would have been a much more pleasant place to visit if it had been constructed and designed by wizards.

He paused outside his destination, double checking the name on the sign. Gordon was no stranger to muggle cafes and restaurants (he was tired of getting recognized or pestered in wizarding ones) but he had never visited this one before, which was precisely the reason that he chose it. There were a grand total of three customers inside - the location had suited him well but the dreary and awfully intimidating cloud outside which suggested rain had also helped keep curious Muggles and wizards in their homes.

Gordon's eyes quickly scanned the restaurant, looking for the young wizard who he was here to meet. Spotting what appeared to be him in the corner, Gordon approached. "Padril?" he inquired. Gordon was dressed in a shirt with a collar and large blue-and-white horizontal stripes on it, and a pair of light blue jeans, his go-to casual Muggle garb.

[Padril Crennent]

Padril was dressed rather more formally, unsure of what exactly muggles wore to lunch. He was dressed in a black business suite, with a tie he had to magically tie up himself. When he saw how casually Gordon was dressed, he shifted uncomfortably. This was hardly going well.

He stood up and went to shake the man's hand. Something suspicious was going on, but he still felt the need to be overly polite with the Head of the Department of Magical freaking Law Enforcement. Just in case anything happened, Padril had one of those tape recording things those muggles used in those films under his coat to record the conversation. He had seen it in one of Tim's 'movies'.

[Gordon Flintock]

Gordon smiled broadly and shook Padril's hand back. His eyes fell to Padril's suit; he could sense that Padril was uncomfortable about it (and why wouldn't he be?). "Nice to meet you, Padril." He sat down slowly into the plush seat. "And I appreciate the effort with the suit but I'm not that kind of bureaucrat when it boils down to it.

"That being said, I will need you to sign a non-disclosure agreement first, just to ensure the confidentiality of this conversation." His voice was confident and authoritative but his words and actions suggested a more relaxed disposition. Gordon reached into his briefcase and withdrew a several page long document (handwritten on parchment) and a muggle pen. "Standard NDA, but I understand if you want to take the time to read it." Gordon glanced nonchalantly at the menu that was sitting propped up on their table.

[Padril Crennent]

"Likewise," the man replied politely, sitting down. However, Padril raised his eyebrows when Gordon brought up the document, "I'm afraid you're not to one to ask me to sign anything yet. You askied me to a reclusive muggle restaurant, Mr. Flintock, when you could of just invited me to your office, which implies a couple of things..." he spread his hands out. "I'm not going to sign that until you tell me what this is about."

He felt in-control and confident now, he knew enough about Flintock to recognize the man's career was dying. The Ministry had to appear changed so Kingsley could win re-election, and that meant firing a few important people. Given the negative criticism targeted towards Gordon recently, he seemed the likely candidate.

[Gordon Flintock]

Gordon gave Padril a piercing look of distaste and paused before speaking again. Perhaps he had been too friendly.

"There are plenty of other starving authors I could be feeding, Mr. Crennent." Gordon replied sternly. "All it is is an NDA, you aren't signing anything else away, and even after you put pen to paper here you can still walk away." He considered adding a comment along the lines of if you did actual important work for the Prophet then you'd realize that, but decided it was too condescending.

"If you're going to be difficult when you haven't even been asked to do anything yet then you can forget about this."

[Padril Crennent]

God dammit Padril thought glumly, quickly scanning through the document. He firmly decided he was going to undermine Gordon, one way or the other. He hated authority and that stern voice was one that was not used to being defied. It almost made him giggle in excitement.

Seeing nothing wrong, Padril signed the document a bit ominously. Gordon was a dead man anyway, what could he offer? He placed the quill down firmly. "There you go, Trotsky. Can you explain now?"

[Gordon Flintock]

((...Padril knows who Trotsky is? ))

Gordon's face returned to a neutral-smile. He nodded as Padril signed the paper and then returned the documents to his suitcase. He looked Padril in the eyes, looking uneasy and contemplative, while actually picking up trace emotions with his legilimency, in a way that Padril would not notice but which was not intrusive enough to gain any real information (for instance, the tape recorder Padril had concealed). He didn't like what he detected; the rebelliousness and anti-authoritarian attitude that Padril was switching on. He hardly needed legilimency to tell that Padril was determined to defy and undermine him at every turn, but he wasn't sure if it was merely a political tactic or based on Padril's values without checking.

"I'm going to be perfectly honest with you Padril, until you start treating me as a real person rather than a demonic authority figure out to get you, we're not going to get anywhere. I selected you above all of the other more experienced authors because I think you might actually like what I have to offer you. I did enjoy Golden Hearts by the way, but it's not to do with that. All I want right now is a conversation, but I suspect I won't be able to get anything less than an argument at this point. I'd appreciate it if you forgot who I was just for a moment, so we can talk like people. Can we do that?"

[Padril Crennent]

"Says the man who made me sign a document to have a conversation," Padril said dryly. He didn't like how Gordon was trying to force him, to control him in a simple conversation. "Just make the offer. I promise I won't mentally picture you with horns."

Padril, you are a dirty liar he thought to himself, already drawing a red, lashing tail flailing behind Gordon. He resisted the urge to smile and kept his face impassive.

[Gordon Flintock]

"I just wanted it to be our conversation, Padril." Gordon responded. He didn't get the answer he wanted there, but it was good enough. He decided to continue with his conversation anyway, hoping Padril would either not notice or care, or would be curious and opinionated enough to follow through with it anyway. "You would have gotten the same treatment at the ministry, for the record. Probably more stringent really, but I digress. What do you think of the Death Eaters, right now?"

"I mean, not morally of course, but what's your personal stance on the threat they pose right now and what we should do about it?"

The chance to tell the man that counts what to do about the Death Eaters. How could Padril resist that? He was prepared for the snarky remark about how effective Gordon was or how he should do his own job, but also hoped he'd get more from Padril than that.

[Padril Crennent]

Padril raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened, making it clear he was being sarcastic."First, I suggest inviting a failing writer out to a muggle restauarant. Then, get him to sign a non-disclosure agreement. After that, I would probably ask the same writer for his opinion regarding the crisis which is ruining my career. How about that?" Padril felt rather smug, letting off some steam from the previous events in the conversation.

"Honestly, I would offer amnesty. Lots of those buggers just want this to end, but know the consequences. Grant them amnesty, keep an eye on them, and use their information to collect the people who are actually serious about continuing the war." It wasn't quite that simple, he knew, but he also knew that the major issue was simply granting the Death Eaters amnesty. No one wanted to.

[Gordon Flintock]

I didn't ask for a fucking evaluation... Gordon thought, but he resisted talking back because they were making progress. Padril's ideas were interesting and definitely valid but not what Gordon had been hoping for.

"Ahh, amnesty." Gordon replied, with a knowing smile, as if he'd discussed this many times before. "Alright, first I'm going to present a case of sorts against amnesty, on the simplest level of whether Death Eaters should actually be eligible for it, before I tell you what action we've already taken regarding the issue.

"Evidence suggests that most of these people are highly devoted to their cause. They keep on returning - from the first war to Voldemort's return, then Juliet Lee's rise to power. Don't forget that there have been three significant breakouts from Azkaban - given freedoms they still return to their lives of darkness rather than attempt to live quiet and peaceful lives. Wizards have extraordinary hiding abilities. We can hide for years and never be found. I don't believe given the lack of reservation witnessed in their violent attacks and in their persistence and in the lack of... You don't come away truly repenting from that kind of violence and horror without that some kind of devotion or initiative to actually going and righting those wrongs. And I'll return to that point later.

"It's been argued that the Death Eaters feared Voldemort and could not leave their cult alive. Obviously, Voldemort is long dead and many Death Eaters are still practicing under Juliet Lee. I don't believe for one moment that any practicing Death Eater right now is doing so because they are afraid of what will happen to them once they leave. Would you be scared of Lee? Her two great feats are using a small child to kill an old woman, and ambushing the Headmaster of Hogwarts with a room full of Death Eaters. Does that sound like a fearsome leader to you?"

Gordon of course had more to say, but he didn't want to overstep his boundaries. He had made sure to make it clear to Padril earlier that he had more to say, but wanted to allow Padril to talk also.

[Padril Crennent]

"Yes, and why did they break out of prison? Because, quite frankly, it sucks. Azkaban's conditions are frightful and even without the dementors it's a terrifying place to be." Padril leaned forward on the table. "They don't care about the cause anymore. They have to get out, and hell, why not fight the people who locked them up in the first place and help the people who busted them out?" He looked around the restaurant, still empty.

"And they can't return to their normal lives, they'll just be thrown back in prison. Offer them the opportunity. It may not be amnesty, so long as it isn't Azkaban. There's a risk, of course, but unlike the previous incompetent government this one is..." Padril glanced at Gordon, as if considering his word choice carefully. "Aware of the threat ex-Death Eaters pose. With their information, Miss. Lee loses her power, the Death Eaters lose their leader and they fall apart. Once the threat is dealt with, you might reconsider amnesty."

Padril didn't mean for Gordon to forgive and forget, he meant forget amnesty all together at that point and collect the ex-Death Eaters for trial. But, of course, he was careful to phrase his words to make him seem more forgiving and caring. The tape-recorded would be particularly judging on this matter and he didn't mean for it to backfire.

[Gordon Flintock]

Gordon nodded, thinking his response through for a moment before continuing. "Amnesty or similar forms of extended freedoms have been commonplace for awhile now." He looked over to see a poorly motivated waitress finally coming over to serve them. Frowning, Gordon slipped his wand out of his pocket and onto the seat next to it where noone but Padril would see it.

"Muffliato" he whispered, and the waitress suddenly became more concerned with a buzzing noise in her ears, then at one of the fridges that had turned itself off due to the use of magic. Muffiliato was one of Gordon's favourite anti-muggle tricks, one he had learnt from their star Auror Harry Potter who claimed it had been invented by Severus Snape. It worked on anybody though, and so far there was no known counter-charm for it, so Gordon preferred to keep it under wraps as much as he could.

"That should do it for awhile. Now, yes, amnesty..." Gordon resumed. "The Malfoys - granted total amnesty after the war, based on testimonies from Potter and others. Arabella Burke, Sean Matthews, both received reduced sentences based on their co-operation and good behaviour. In the case of Arabella Burke, her sentence has been reduced dramatically so, Sean Matthews is expected to be released within a year. Igor Karkaroff, escaped any sort of extended stay in Azkaban, only while his case was being processed... an unfortunate example of how difficult it was in those days to come clean, killed by Death Eaters some years later. Of course, Severus Snape, the most famous but certainly not the only one who proved his commitment to the Order of the Phoenix and was instrumental to Voldemort's eventual downfall.

It is my personal belief, and one that I think the Ministry sort of holds as well, that granting amnesty can sometimes be the best solution. The majority of the time, however, it just would not work practically and definitely not politically. Ultimately, the safety of the majority of the wizarding community comes before the rights of the Death Eaters. I don't expect that they would have any hope of returning to a real free life. Take for instance Augustus Rookwood. We send him an owl tonight, tell him to come into the Ministry and that he wont receive jailtime if he fully co-operates. Well, if he decides that's what he wants to do, and if he decides that that's the safest way out and that he can trust us, then what? He doesn't get attacked on the ministry, he gets attacked on the street! And then we start commissioning Aurors to watch each Death Eater, to protect them from the wizarding public and vice versa, and then we've got less Aurors doing their real jobs and more stopping riots from everyday wizards and being bodyguards for murderers..."

"I also believe that the risk of an attack on the public from such a Death Eater is too substantial to even consider granting amnesty in the vast majority of cases."

"But if I may, back to your point about Azkaban. Are you suggesting that we should make it more pleasant so as to deter Death Eaters from escaping it? Because that's a very interesting idea."

[Padril Crennent]

Padril shook his head, "Just cut the crap Gordon, tell me what this is about." He would save his suggestions and debates for the inevitable new or reformed government, and wouldn't waste it on Gordon. And he was rather pissed.

Gordon was trying to lead him somehow in the conversation, otherwise he would of made his offer already and Padril didn't like to be manipulated. He began to picture the spell Gordon had cast, the words and how he had used his wand. He was unsure of the spell but didn't ask Flintock about it, unwilling to leave the topic. He would just try it later. He realized the magic would mess with the tape recorder but it was unavoidable. He'd have to piece together what he could.

[Gordon Flintock]

Gordon knew the rule - with most people, it would take three tries of their patience for them to snap. He sighed, outwardly.

"What I'm proposing..." He paused, trying to consider how to phrase it. "Every Death Eater who is alive and active today that we know of has been in and out of Azkaban at least once. What that means is that every Death Eater has been captured, tried before the Wizengamot, deemed unfit to return to normal society, and thrown into Azkaban. And then escaped from it. If it weren't for our practice of throwing Death Eaters into Azkaban, we would have no active Death Eaters today."

"Padril, how would you feel if the Ministry were to introduce the death penalty?"