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[alt_nymphadora]

Frank and I've had an interesting day. Mostly frustrating, but there may be promise in it.

At any rate, Remus, we followed up on Fawcett's lead at Doncaster camp. Margery Birdwhistle, the 'Minister'. She wasn't having any of what we were selling today, but she didn't entirely close the door on us, either. She listened, but, Hecate, was she suspicious! I expect she thought we were cloak and dagger enforcers, trying to get her to show interest in rebelling. Mostly what we got from her was a lot of 'I don't know what you think is going on here at Doncaster, but...' and 'I'm afraid you've been misinformed about us...' and 'I can't imagine what you hope to learn from me...'

She is a compelling personality. I can quite see why others fall in behind her. She assumes people will listen to her, and she's... stern? Reserved proper, for sure. Anywiz, she heard us out on the subject of our all needing to work together if we're ever going to make Britain free for all British people again.

In the end she said something like, 'I imagine that if you were to come again, I would be little more inclined to believe you.' Something close to that. It was carefully worded. She didn't say, 'Don't ever come here again', and she didn't say she wouldn't speak to us if we did. Actually, Frank and I decided it was a challenge, really, to see if we would come try again. So of course we will do.

And if you think I'm stretching things to call that a success, let me tell about our interview with Polonius Moxon. Let's just say he's not our sort, but we are going to keep in touch--we offered him a button and he took it--so if there's ever a need to coordinate in a crisis, we have a way to get word in and out of his organisation. I suppose that's the important thing for us. He's got a new cell developed there at Doncaster. It's what Dogstar do: when a cell's well-established, one of the members will try to get shifted to a new job so they can set up a new cell someplace else--in a different sector of one of the large camps or in a different camp if they can work it out to move or be moved. Anywiz. Moxon's a staff enforcer at Doncaster. Mid-level, I'd say. Not at the top of any command, except maybe his cell. I think that's the key to him: he's angry. At nearly everything. He may not be a halfblood, but he's not pure. I'd wager on that. He doesn't like his situation, his bosses, is frustrated that he can't get any higher up, and he hates the Muggles he works over. It wasn't pretty. He wants an uprising, but he sees the people in the camps as weapons to use. Frank said something about protecting people if there were an uprising, and Moxon looked at him like he was talking Hindi or something.

Mrs Birdwhistle has good reasons for being wary about what we might want from her people. She knows what to expect from Moxon's sort, so who could blame her for thinking we're all alike?

Comments

[alt_frank]

if we come back to birdwhistle with more of a concrete plan for keeping civilians safe, perhaps some portable samples from fu, that might help.

she sort of reminded me of mum, actually.

especially when she started going on about how she didn't think much of 'idealistic communes.'

think that's the first time I've ever been called a hippie.

[alt_nymphadora]

I'd like to meet your mum someday, Frank. I liked Birdwhistle. She was a strict old girl, and I got the feeling she expects a lot of her people. We could use more people like her.

And less of the ones like Moxon. What a git.

It was amusing that she got the idea from what you said that you live in some sort of cult commune. Imagine what she'd think of Sirius if she met him! Lucky we didn't tell her anything about how we live at Laszlo's...

[alt_sirius]

Oi!

[alt_nymphadora]

Mind you, she might like Remus just fine. He's proper respectful of authority.

But I think she'd take a dim view of the rest of us.

[alt_sirius]

Let your hair go brown, did you? You could have shown her the pink or purple, or the studs in various parts of your face.

One look at that's enough to assure that we're nothing like a cult. In cults the women are all downtrodden and subservient.

Merlin knows Remus and I know better than to suggest we've charge over anything in comparison to you or Ellie!

[alt_nymphadora]

Yes, well. We were trying to put our best face forwards. Or at least not the faces that might frighten her or offend. But still, she took the notion that Frank's in some hippie collective because he was telling her he lives with muggles and muggleborns and they raise children they've taken in and they all believe everyone is equal.

She was not well impressed. Poor Frank, too. It's one of his best bits, but she seemed to think he was just some pie in the sky idealist with no notion of how the world really works outside his happy little farming co-op.

On the other hand, she was rather more interested when Frank mentioned Foo's weapons development.


I'm rather fond of the studs, myself. Do you have a favourite, then?

[alt_frank]

and moxon would've been dead useful if he weren't such a self-interested berk.

maybe we can convince him to lose the occasional bit of paperwork. maybe.

and who knows? he might come across someone who's more our speed while he's building his cell, and he shoves them our way instead of having to listen to them go on and on about how people actually matter.

[alt_nymphadora]

It'd be pretty to think so, wouldn't it? I hope you're right.