For those of us in Europe your Victory prompt is 4 days early... VE day isn't till the 9th May :)
Victory The rooms beyond the reception were as far removed from a car showroom as you could get; the corridors were carpeted with hotel-quality red and green carpet and the wall lights were shaded sconces that made it feel like you were walking in a high-end gentleman's club. Which, in a way, this was. Except that there hadn't been anything intentionally salacious going on here since the sixties. The air was warm and there was a faint smell of baking bread -- incongruous, but very pleasant. As Genius walked past the doors he checked the brass plates set at eye-height next to them that carried the room names. He passed Victory, Apassionata and Conquest before reaching the one he was looking for: Stairwell. Beyond that door were the stairs, leading both up and down, and he started down. As he reached the first corner he saw that someone was coming up and moving slightly to the side to ease passing, but the other person -- a severe looking woman in her fifties or so -- stopped. "Mr. Loci," she said, and he looked more closely at her. For a moment she was just fuzzy, a standard security protocol, and then she relaxed the ward a little and he could see that she was Lady Jeniver, Secretary of Magical Defense. He made himself smile. "Lady Jeniver," he said. "I'm just visiting, a quick trip to the Benthic Library." "I'm sure," she said in a tone that suggested there was more conversation to be had. He tried to move past her, but she stepped to the middle of the stairs making it impossible for him to get past without pushing her out of the way. He considered it, but her gaze made him reconsider. "The Victory room will be free right now," she said. "Let's catch up a little before you get back to your... reading?" Genius held back a sigh and turned to go up the stairs, knowing that Lady Jeniver would shepherd him the whole way. She had been a thief-catcher when she started out and remembered a lot of her old tricks. "Borrowing," he said, since it was easier not to try and withhold information. "I'm looking for the Notebooks from the Committee of the Phoenix." "Wait until we're in the Victory," said Lady Jeniver, and they returned along the corridor in silence.
The Victory was a lounge of some kind with a nautical theme: several low couches formed a pentagon in the middle of a large, carpeted room. At one end, far enough away from the couches to not be overheard, was a table at which six people could dine and a wall-mounted flat-screen television. A conference phone sat on the table and there were notepads laid out at each chair. At the other end there was a corner bar, a long sideboard with a ship in a bottle on it and a glass-fronted bookcase with frosted glass to obscure its contents. The room smelled faintly of sea-air and salt-spray. "The Committee of the Phoenix," said Lady Jeniver, "is still active. Are you sure you want to draw their attention? They very definitely keep an eye on their archives." "Harry Potter," said Genius. "Hermione wants to study the plans for the Goblet of Firepower. Since no-one's been able to figure out how to make it work, I don't see the harm in it; the worst case is that we get a new attack on the problem. The likely case is that she discovers she's not as clever as she thinks she is." "How did she even find out about the Goblet?" asked Lady Jeniver. "No, I can see you haven't thought about that. Add that to your to-do list, please; it matters. To me, if not to the Committee." Genius tried not to sigh.
Hah, you had me fooled - when Genius initially walked past Victory I was like 'well that's a pretty obligatory reference to the prompt before getting on to the story again!'
But then you brought us back there proper for a conversation I am most curious to see continue.
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For those of us in Europe your Victory prompt is 4 days early... VE day isn't till the 9th May :)
Victory
The rooms beyond the reception were as far removed from a car showroom as you could get; the corridors were carpeted with hotel-quality red and green carpet and the wall lights were shaded sconces that made it feel like you were walking in a high-end gentleman's club. Which, in a way, this was. Except that there hadn't been anything intentionally salacious going on here since the sixties. The air was warm and there was a faint smell of baking bread -- incongruous, but very pleasant.
As Genius walked past the doors he checked the brass plates set at eye-height next to them that carried the room names. He passed Victory, Apassionata and Conquest before reaching the one he was looking for: Stairwell. Beyond that door were the stairs, leading both up and down, and he started down. As he reached the first corner he saw that someone was coming up and moving slightly to the side to ease passing, but the other person -- a severe looking woman in her fifties or so -- stopped.
"Mr. Loci," she said, and he looked more closely at her. For a moment she was just fuzzy, a standard security protocol, and then she relaxed the ward a little and he could see that she was Lady Jeniver, Secretary of Magical Defense. He made himself smile.
"Lady Jeniver," he said. "I'm just visiting, a quick trip to the Benthic Library."
"I'm sure," she said in a tone that suggested there was more conversation to be had. He tried to move past her, but she stepped to the middle of the stairs making it impossible for him to get past without pushing her out of the way. He considered it, but her gaze made him reconsider.
"The Victory room will be free right now," she said. "Let's catch up a little before you get back to your... reading?"
Genius held back a sigh and turned to go up the stairs, knowing that Lady Jeniver would shepherd him the whole way. She had been a thief-catcher when she started out and remembered a lot of her old tricks. "Borrowing," he said, since it was easier not to try and withhold information. "I'm looking for the Notebooks from the Committee of the Phoenix."
"Wait until we're in the Victory," said Lady Jeniver, and they returned along the corridor in silence.
The Victory was a lounge of some kind with a nautical theme: several low couches formed a pentagon in the middle of a large, carpeted room. At one end, far enough away from the couches to not be overheard, was a table at which six people could dine and a wall-mounted flat-screen television. A conference phone sat on the table and there were notepads laid out at each chair. At the other end there was a corner bar, a long sideboard with a ship in a bottle on it and a glass-fronted bookcase with frosted glass to obscure its contents. The room smelled faintly of sea-air and salt-spray.
"The Committee of the Phoenix," said Lady Jeniver, "is still active. Are you sure you want to draw their attention? They very definitely keep an eye on their archives."
"Harry Potter," said Genius. "Hermione wants to study the plans for the Goblet of Firepower. Since no-one's been able to figure out how to make it work, I don't see the harm in it; the worst case is that we get a new attack on the problem. The likely case is that she discovers she's not as clever as she thinks she is."
"How did she even find out about the Goblet?" asked Lady Jeniver. "No, I can see you haven't thought about that. Add that to your to-do list, please; it matters. To me, if not to the Committee."
Genius tried not to sigh.
Greg - ah yes, that's right!
Hah, you had me fooled - when Genius initially walked past Victory I was like 'well that's a pretty obligatory reference to the prompt before getting on to the story again!'
But then you brought us back there proper for a conversation I am most curious to see continue.
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