Ministry of Magic
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25 years old
Durmstrang Alumnus
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Ash
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Post by Alexandra 'Alex' Jäger on Sept 29, 2016 7:00:49 GMT
Alex had expected there to be pushback against the new Enforcers. She just hadn’t expected anyone to care about her becoming one of them. It wasn’t like she had any friends in this country anyway. Most of the hit division and auror department seemed to find her too volatile on the clock to bother spending time with her off it. Not that Alex minded. She had better things to do with her time. Drinking. Working out. Hunting werewolves. Which she could now do in a slightly more official capacity, although she had a feeling the full extent of her vigilantism should probably stay under the table, at least for the time being. But that was all entirely beside the point. Because apparently someone had taken issue with Alex joining up with the Enforcers. And his name was Ezra. “You’re not talking me out of this,” Alex informed him as he trailed her down one the hallways toward the new offices of the Creature Task Force. The department had been settled in next to the rest of the creature department, booting out some clerical something or other to make room. Things were still being moved in, so it was a mess of half-full boxes and desks placed haphazardly across the floor until they could be settled into more permanent homes. But Alex already had a feeling she would feel far more at home there than anywhere else. Finally some work worth doing. If only Ezra would see it that way. “What's your problem anyway? I’m doing the same thing I do as a Hit Witch – stopping bad guys. It’s just a different kind of bad guy.” A worse kind in Alex’s opinion, but maybe Ezra was the sheltered type who couldn’t see the threat they were really facing here. She had her mouth open to remind him of the damage werewolves had done in Godric’s Hollow, but the words died in her throat as another person came out of the task force office up ahead. Alex promptly stumbled to a halt. The man in front of them did the same, and for a second they both just stared. Alex couldn’t seem to make her mind process what she was seeing. That face. It looked like her father. Exactly like him. Moved like him too. But he was dead. Had been for five years. “What the hell.” It had to be a trick of some kind. Magic maybe. Or Polyjuice Potion. The Warwick family had been pretty rich at one point. Maybe some idiot was trying to capitalize on whatever Uncle Landon hadn’t managed to drink or gamble away… The man spoke, and the words trickled into Alex’s ears as if they were moving through water. It just didn’t make any sense. One word, however, hit against her eardrum clear as a bell. Sasha. He called her Sasha. Only her family called her that. Franz had given her the nickname as a boy, although he only used it now to mock her. But no one else would know that. Which meant… No. It couldn’t be. But there wasn’t any other explanation, at least not one coming to Alex’s mind. Scheisse. Somehow, some way, the man in front of her was actually her father. He was here. Five years of him being dead, and now suddenly he was actually here. He was alive. The selfish bastard was alive. In a flash, Alex’s shock turned to anger. If he was alive, then he had been alive for the last five years. Five years he had let her think he was dead. Let her mourn his loss and try to move on with her life. Move on with the crusade her had forced her into. And now he was just here like nothing had happened? Oh hell no. “You son of bitch.” Fire blazed in her eyes as her body finally remembered how to move. She crossed the short distance to the man, grabbing his collar and slamming him back against the wall. Her left forearm came up to press against his throat just enough to hold him in place without cutting off his air. “What the hell are you doing here?!” Why was he still alive, and why was he coming out of her department, of all places? The answer needed to come fast and it needed to be damn good or Alex just might decide to crush his windpipe. Which would be ironic considering he was the one who had taught her how.
Ezra Wilder Nicholas Warwick Let it begin! |
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Ministry of Magic
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27 years old
Gryffindor Alumnus
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mego
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Post by Ezra Wilder on Oct 5, 2016 2:33:57 GMT
It was hard to bring Ezra down; like really, exceptionally hard. Even in the face of travesty he was upbeat and optimistic, ready to find a solution and fix all the problems of the world. But this...good Lord. This...he would like to call it unprecedented, but that it was not. There were plenty of instances throughout history of evil people in the world, criminalizing innocent groups of people just for what they were. Especially in the Muggle world from whence Ezra came. One would think, considering wizards and witches were one of those prosecuted groups at one time, they would be more sensitive to such a thing. One would be wrong. Working at the Ministry, Ezra played full witness to just what types of horrors the world he'd adopted as his own was capable of.
So he was down. Concerned. This was a big problem, a huge one, and one lowly Auror such as himself couldn't possibly rectify it. He couldn't fix the whole world on his own, and that was hard for Ezra to deal with. He spent a lot of time meditating on it. Eventually, he came to some sort of resolution (he nearly always did, such was the power of meditation). He couldn't fix the whole world, but he could fix his little pieces of it.
He considered Alex one of his little pieces. He couldn't be sure, and he would never say it out loud, but he was pretty sure he was about the closest thing the girl had to a friend. At work, anyway. Not too many other people were fond of her around the office. Ezra liked her spirit; but he did not like what she'd gone and signed herself up for. Immediately after he heard that she'd been designated one of the new Ministry Enforcers (even the name twisted Ezra's heart uncomfortably), he marched himself right down to her office. Obviously she needed a friend to talk her out of this insane idea.
But Alex was having none of it. It wasn't insane to her. Ezra tried his very best to be open minded to people's experiences and opinions, and was mostly successful, but this was just too much for him. It just seemed so wrong, and he didn't understand why Alex couldn't see that. And he couldn't give up on it, either. When she tried to get away from him, he followed her. He felt like he had stones knocking together in his gut as she led him into the new Creature Task Force offices, but he followed her.
"Alex," Ezra shook his head exasperatedly. "You're smarter than that, I know it. These people haven't done anything bad, not all of them." Alex stopped, but Ezra barely noticed why. Barely noticed her staring. He was too preoccupied trying to come up with the perfect thing to say in his head, the thing that would really hit it home for her.
This preoccupation caused him to miss several things in rapid succession. Alex was staring at a man, and he spoke to her. Alex went from stopping and staring to burning with anger; and then she was on the man. His back thumping against the wall brought Ezra's distracted mind back to the present. His own shock spread across his face as he took in the sudden scene before him, and he whipped out his wand. He didn't point it at anyone, just raised it off to the side, ready to go. He held his other hand up at his coworker. "Alex," his voice dripped with caution. What the hell was this?
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Temporary Character
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Gen
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Post by Nicholas Warwick on Oct 8, 2016 22:03:13 GMT
Nicholas couldn't necessarily say that it was good to be back amongst wizardkind once more. They were rife with softheartedness and petty intentions, causes worthy and unworthy, bleeding hearts and martyr figures. They had been since the Battle of Hogwarts, with Kingsley's lot taking over the Ministry and turning into a place of kindness, as if none of them had a single clue what politics actually meant - or how to wield power. It was sickening, really, but no surprise that they'd been suddenly ousted by those who knew how to play the game: the Wizengamot.
The Wizengamot weren't work his allegiance. They were, however, worth his interest, particularly when they had a similar idea of how one treated vermin like werewolves, and so when Margaret Bennet had come into power Nicholas had sent out feelers, trying to test the shape of their new government, see what support he might get to continue his lifelong work of vengeance. Nothing had come of it, until now. He'd been on the verge of leaving for another country, any less dangerous country for him to be seen it, when the legislation had been passed. And how glorious it was - it might have been lenient to start, but Nicholas could see the way the wind was blowing, and he knew that this was his chance to rid Britain of the vermin once and for all... with the Ministry behind him. Who could claim he was Dark and disturbed when he had a badge to go with his name?
And a shiny badge it was - Enforcer. Nicholas liked that name, and liked the power it held. His was the wand that would save the masses from a plague...
... well. His and his daughter's, of course.
That was the other deciding factor in his staying. It had previously been a push to go; Alex's temper was much like his own, and he didn't know precisely where he stood with her. But now that was an asset rather than a threat - for how could a weapon that he had moulded, a weapon of his own flesh and blood, turn against him when they were both on the same side? She wouldn't. Nicholas may not have seen her, but he knew his Sasha, and he knew that she'd eventually see sense.
It was going to be delicate, though, which is why he'd mostly been avoiding the Ministry. He'd wanted her to see his name on the roster and come to him, rather than he go to her, wanted it to be private, wanted to have control. Of course, plans rarely worked the way it should, which was what led to him being slammed against a wall outside the Enforcer office, arm against his windpipe, his darling Sasha growling into his face.
For a moment he considered turning the tables on her. He certainly had the advantage of height, muscle, and Sasha needed to remember just who had trained her, who had made her who she was today. But there was another man behind her, wand out, looking cautious - and it wouldn't do to become the aggressor. Instead, Nicholas ignored the mounting pressure to breathe and examined Alex, expression as calm as he could make it. "Is that any way to greet your father?" he murmured, raising an eyebrow. "You know why I'm here. It's why you're here. We're here for your mother."
He paused, letting that sink in, and shifted slightly, tucking his hands into his pockets in an overexaggerated move of relaxed confidence. "Darling, I think you're scaring your friend," he drawled, eyes flickering to the man, giving him a small and charming smile. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"
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Ministry of Magic
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25 years old
Durmstrang Alumnus
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Ash
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Post by Alexandra 'Alex' Jäger on Oct 13, 2016 23:31:46 GMT
As usual, Ezra was missing the big picture here. Getting bogged down in the idea that all people were essentially good. Alex sighed inwardly. Why did he have to be so blind? “Then we don’t go after all of them. The ones that can keep to themselves have nothing to worry about. But the others? They have to be dealt with.” She didn’t even bother keeping the anger out of her voice. This was personal. Far more so than Ezra could possibly understand.
The words were barely even out of Alex’s mouth before she saw the shift in her father’s eyes. It was small, barely even perceptible. She doubted any outside would even notice. But she knew him enough to see through the mask he wore so well. That was the look he got when she made a mistake in training, a mistake her father was about to let her face the full consequences of. And in that moment, she realized with cold dread she had just made a terrible mistake. He was going to make her pay for this. Shit.
It was Ezra’s presence that saved her. Her father knew better than to paint himself as the villain. So instead he just took it all in stride, leaving Alex to play the part of deranged aggressor. And then he went and brought up her mother. Son of a bitch. He had no bloody right to drag her mother into this. But he always did. And just like always, it gave Alex pause. This was why he had trained her, why he had put her through so much hell. Because someone had to fight this war. Someone had to make the monsters pay. But curse him for knowing how to shift her perspective so well! Alex swallowed before slowly pulling away. She took an extra two steps back just in case, her stance light as her subconscious searched for the hammer blow that would inevitably fall. It might not be today, but at some point he would make her regret shoving him against the wall. And it would be painful.
Ezra was still there, probably thoroughly confused. And her father had called him a friend. It was a rare thing for Alex’s instincts to be for someone else, but in that instant they suddenly were. Because Ezra couldn’t let things go. The more strange things he saw here, the more he would dig. And her father didn’t hold with digging. Best case scenario, he would deem Ezra a distraction who needed to be put in his place. And worst case… One way or another, Alex had to make sure Ezra stayed out of this. “Put it down,” Alex said firmly, glancing briefly over at Ezra. Threatening her father was tantamount to suicide. And Nicholas Warwick never forgot a grievance. But if Alex could make him believe she had Ezra under control, maybe he would let that slide.
“He’s a colleague,” she corrected her father tersely. In truth, Ezra had become something more than that despite Alex’s best efforts. But her father would see that as weakness, and weakness had to be removed. “Ezra Wilder. Auror. Ezra, Nicholas Warwick. My father.” Her eyes didn’t leave her father as she spoke. She was still trying to figure out why the hell he was here. If he really had been alive this whole time, why reveal himself now? His new Enforcer badge gave a bit of a clue. He had probably joined up for the same reasons as Alex. But he hadn’t seemed surprised to see her. He had known she was here. In fact, he had almost looked pleased at being found before she slammed him into the wall. But her father didn’t do family boding. He wanted something from her. It was the only explanation. And that made Alex nervous. Hell, him being here at all made her nervous. He was supposed to be dead! But he wasn’t. It made Alex angry and hurt and also just a little scared, although she doubted it showed. She had finally managed to scrape together some semblance of freedom after leaving her grandfather and brother in Germany. But if her father was back, that could all go up in smoke. He would never let her out of his grip. Not really. Not even in death, apparently.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” she told him, her tone carefully even. “You look… lively.” Not exactly the best veiled jab at him being alive. But her half-brother had always been the one good at twisting words. Alex was the fighter. So was her father. That reminder clicked a few of the pieces into place. The only thing he cared about was hunting werewolves. And it was hard for the enemy to see you coming if they all thought you were dead. He had probably been using his supposed demise to his benefit. Which once again made Alex angry. He had trained her as a soldier in this damn war, and then left her to fight it alone. There was a slight edge in her voice as she asked, “How’s the family business?” More important than her, obviously. But that was hardly news.
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Temporary Character
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Gen
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Post by Nicholas Warwick on Oct 30, 2016 20:04:16 GMT
Ah, Sasha. So rash, so passionate. Nicholas surveyed her through half-lidded eyes, wondering whether she bent that fury on more appropriate targets, or if she'd forgotten how to do so while she'd been sitting in the Ministry, likely going soft. Well, perhaps not soft. Her forearm against his windpipe was testament to that, but rash certainly. Her skills would have been what had kept others from considering teaching her a lesson.
His daughter was a worthy opponent, if only just; she knew what he meant without having to speak plainly. Nicholas raised his chin a fraction, confirming exactly what she was thinking - yes, they were going to discuss this later, and she was going to recognize exactly why she couldn't take him on, why they needed to work together - without saying a word.
When Alex' throat bobbed, swallowing a fraction of a second before she backed off, Nicholas knew that he had won, albeit briefly. His hands remained tucked in his pockets, but his eyes remained locked on hers, reminding her as forcefully as he could why they were here. There was no other reason, and Alex should know this, Alex should understand. "I'm sure that she'd be proud of your choices," Nicholas murmured, contriving to look just a bit soulful, wistful, at the memory of a wife who was long gone, merely living in his quest for vengeance. Whether Karolina would be proud of what Nicholas had moulded his Sasha into would never be seen.
Alex ordered her friend to drop his wand - a wise precaution on his part, though Nicholas did not see him as any more of a threat than a buzzing fly. Family grievances, after all, were commonplace in life. As long as the boy believed that, Nicholas was supremely unconcerned. "Is that so?" he asked, voice light, charming. "Always a pleasure to meet a new co-worker." He drew his hand from his pocket, extending it to the other man to shake, smile a bit sharp around the edges.
His daughter drew his attention once more, and Nicholas raised an eyebrow. "And you expected anything less? I assure you, my skills are still sharp," he emphasized. "I'm always interested in applying them where they are most needed." Alex, however, didn't appear to be pleased with any of it - his reappearance, his methods. Nicholas' lips thinned; he hadn't trained Alex to question him to this extent. Hurt feelings and emotional investments had no place in their line of work; that was what being a Warwick meant. Of course, darling Sasha hadn't wanted to be a Warwick, had she? She hadn't taken their name. "Thriving, and unlikely to be handed on anytime soon." I'm still in charge. "Of course, you already have work, don't you?" What are you doing here?
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Ministry of Magic
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27 years old
Gryffindor Alumnus
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mego
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Post by Ezra Wilder on Dec 1, 2016 5:52:25 GMT
'Keep to themselves?' What the hell did that even mean? Surely Alex wasn't so deluded. Ezra had a thousand questions for her, ones he needed for her to answer for her own benefit more than his...but he didn't get a chance to ask any of them, because Alex was too busy throwing people against walls. "Not scared, sir; concerned, " Ezra said, not unkindly, his gaze flicking to the man Alex was holding against the wall. He didn't seem scared either, or even bothered - which was strange in and of itself. But Ezra didn't know this guy from Adam and he had an obligation to protect people in harm's way, at least until he knew better. His gaze went back to Alex, hard and sharp and demanding.
She had the audacity to tell him to put his wand down. Nothing else, just that. "Yeah, no, that's not gonna happen. Why don't you take a few more steps back for me?" Ezra's wand stayed where it was. If Alex was going to make him treat her this way...so be it. You couldn't just throw people up against walls. They weren't above the law here, even if this bloody Enforcer rubbish was making them think so. Ezra watched the interaction between Alex and the man with some impatience - she wasn't on him anymore, but still too close to make him comfortable.
Or maybe not. Ezra was apparently finally deemed important enough to know what the hell was going on - apparently, this man was Alex's father. Didn't really explain why she was throwing him into walls, Ezra certainly didn't greet his own dad that way...but he knew all too well how messy families could be. Still. Physical violence was best avoided, especially in the halls of the Ministry itself, for God's sake. "Pleasure to meet you, Mister Warwick," Ezra said warily, stepping forward to shake the man's hand with his free hand. He wasn't so sure it was a pleasure, really. Alex obviously wasn't happy to see him. But Ezra tried not to make judgments until he had all the facts.
What followed was a very strange, stilted sort of conversation. Not to be rude, but Ezra stood right there and took in every bit of it - absolutely captivated by how two family members (a father and daughter, no less) could speak to each other as if in a vacuum, no affection or much familiarity at all. Or rather, the affection and familiarity was there...it just seemed downright poisonous. It made Ezra feel nervous and he was never one to get that way. "If you two are done being at each other's throats...," he tapered off, shrugging and pointing his thumb over his shoulder - back the way he came. As long as he could rest assured these two wouldn't kill each other the moment he turned his back.
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Ministry of Magic
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25 years old
Durmstrang Alumnus
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Ash
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Post by Alexandra 'Alex' Jäger on Dec 14, 2016 4:27:48 GMT
Somehow Ezra had gotten it into his head that Alex was the dangerous one here. Son of a bitch. It was like telling a mouse to stop tormenting a snake. Well, a mouse with some fierce combat skills. But still. The metaphor held. She wasn’t the dangerous one here. Alex sent Ezra a fiery look, refusing to give an inch. She wasn’t his dog to command as he pleased. Besides, this was for his own good. Although her father didn’t seem concerned as he shook hands with Ezra. All he probably saw was a fly. For Ezra’s sake, it needed to stay that way.
Sharp skills. Was that threat supposed to be veiled? “So are mine.” Alex’s voice was tense and her stance wary. She might not be able to beat him, but she could mess him up pretty good if it came to that. He had let her think he was dead for five bloody years. No way in hell was she just going to fall back in line after that. If he wanted his beloved Sasha at his side, he was going to have to twist her arm. Probably not the brightest plan on Alex’s part. But where her father was concerned, defiance was really the only weapon she had. Even if the only person it hurt was her.
The subtle message came through loud and clear. Alex was being told to sit and stay. Like hell. “I’m sure Franz will be glad to hear that,” she said, her eyes cold behind the fake sweetness in her voice. Did her father even remember his stepson? Probably not. He’d never really cared much for the boy. Not that he cared for Alex either, at least in the sense of fatherly love. Sometimes Alex wished he could have ignored her existence like he had her half-brother’s. But it hadn’t worked out that way. She shrugged in answer to her father’s question. “Duty called and I answered. That’s how you raised me.” For better or for worse, he was the one who had made her this. And Alex hadn’t forgotten his lessons. She wasn’t a tiny seven-year-old who could be cowed into submission or a gangly teenager whose arm could be dislocated to prove a point. She could fight back now. And she would if he pushed her to it.
Ezra butted into the conversation, and for once Alex was glad of the interruption. It gave her a way out of this conversation. “Right. Some of us have actual work to do.” She flashed her father an apologetic smile that couldn’t have fooled the village idiot. “We’ll have to catch up later. You can tell me all about the last few years." And where the hell he had been. "See you around, Dad.” The last word was punctuated with all the ice Alex could muster. She turned around and headed back the way they had come, catching hold of Ezra’s arm in the process and practically dragging him with her before he could open his big mouth. She needed to go drink herself into a coma.
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