blowin' in the wind

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

Jaxon had gotten his meeting with the Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games. It was today. He had gone over the points he meant to make with Dr. van der Hoosan. She supported bringing Caleb back onto the team. The Ministry just had to buy off on it. He knew the woman was working her own angles on making it happen, but he wasn't just going to stand by and do nothing. He had a voice. He had things to say. There was no reason that he could not share the opinions and beliefs with Beckett Graves. 

He was not just at the Ministry to petition for muggleborn players; he had come to lobby for players, in general. There were rules in the sport that needed to be revisited. Quidditch was the greatest sport in the world, but that did not mean it could not be better. It could. It could be more inclusive. It could be safer. That would benefit everyone. 

They did not understand what had happened with the Epidemic. Infections were down, but they were still happening. Not to werewolves still, but to other people. Jax had watched the Hogwarts matches at the end of the year, scouting possible reserve players--and just seeing the talent that the less impressive teams were picking up. Slytherin had been sick, especially to have such a young team--they were going to be vicious next year. It broke his heart that Hufflepuff had not made it into the championship game. How many years had he watched the snakes and lions play? Way too freaking many, that was the answer to that question, way too freaking many. 

But when he was at Hogwarts, he had noticed the extra precautions they had taken to ensure student safety. Players were given a quick once over by a healer before the match--and designated personnel were assigned to monitor the match, making sure that no one fell off their broom to their death. They had been so lucky when Sylvia and a few of the other players had fallen during matches. No one had died--but they could have, and they could still. Even without the Epidemic, a hard Bludger hit to the head could easily knock someone unconscious and send them free falling to the ground. Someone needed to be there to make sure they did not go splat on the pitch. No one wanted to see dead Quidditch players. 

So, he was here. He was asking the Ministry to mandate the extra safety measures. It was his first real foray into the political realm and he was excited and eager for it. He meant to give an interview after this, as well, probably to Which Broomstick? Maybe the Prophet if someone there would run the story, as well. He wanted the public to see him as more than just the captain of their national team. This was all in preparation to come out as a werewolf and start working to change the prejudice against those who suffered from lycanthropy, Werewolves had been so brutally abused under Durant. They needed a champion to make sure that such injustice did not befall their kind again.  

The seeker was shown into Beckett's office by the man's secretary. Jaxon extended his hand to the man behind the desk. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Graves. It is a pleasure to see you again." The Cole toned down his country drawl a bit, focusing on enunciating his words clearly. He had not taken such care in other interactions when the Graves. But those had been different circumstances. He had been just a player interacting with an opposing team's owner. Or a player receiving an award for the quality of his play. Today, he was here as a man with a mission. 

@beckett • 625 • outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[nospaces]

[attr="class","cbg"]

[attr="class","cbgtop"]

[attr="class","cimg"]

[attr="class","clbox"]

[attr="class","ctopline"]How many roads must a man walk down

[attr="class","cscriptde"]before you call him a man?

[attr="class","cline"]

[attr="class","clyrics"]How many seas must a white dove sail[break]
Before she sleeps in the sand?

[break][break]

[attr="class","cbody"]The Quidditch season was very nearly underway, and that meant that their office had never been busier. It was one of the busiest times of the year, in all actuality, and this year was no exception to that. In fact, he’d argue that they had not had a busier May in quite some time. With the epidemic taking so many able players from them, every team on the league had more openings to fill than they’d ever had before. More often than not, a team would have one to three changes in roster each season. Seasoned players on good teams stayed put. There was always some shuffling—talented players in lower divisions that were scouted to a higher division team after a good season, someone retiring that needed replaced, but something like this had never happened before.
[break][break]
Most teams had more than five players that needed replaced. Some had completely lost their starting players, some had lost their entire reserves. There wasn’t a team in the league that was unimpacted by the epidemic, and that had meant that every single team had more changes to submit to their department before the league season started. That was mandatory, after all. Completed rosters needed to be submitted, as did the results to all of the physicals. Without those submissions, a team could not participate in the season.
[break][break]
With so many teams still fighting to get the best players on their roster, there had been more changes and shuffling than every before. He knew that would change further when the graduates from Hogwarts left the school. Plenty of teams were recruiting from within the school. And several captains, owners, and coaches had implored him to let them scout from Hogwarts before graduation and use it as something like an internship with students being able to leave the castle for practice and for the first week of matches before the term came to a close. That was something that he’d vehemently opposed, of course. Their focus should be on their schoolwork. If they wanted to recruit within Hogwarts, fine, they could recruit all the seventh year players that they wanted. But he was not going to support a plan that pulled them from school during their exams so that they could participate in the first match of the season. Not when they could just as easily wait a week until they were done with school.
[break][break]
The teams that had suggested this were the ones that he had expected, and it had come from the people that he had expected. As head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, he dealt with people from all throughout the Quidditch sphere, and there were those that he had just always gotten along with less. It was nothing against them. There were just always going to be people that rubbed him the wrong way. And people that put the success of their team over a student finishing their education was a level of selfishness that he did not support. He could love Quidditch and use common sense—and there were certain people that were incapable of that.
[break][break]
Today’s meeting was not about students playing while still in Hogwarts. At least, he hoped that it wasn’t. He didn’t know the specifics of what Jaxon Cole wanted to talk about. The meeting had just been scheduled in a gap of time he’d had in his day, and he expected he’d find out soon enough just what the seeker wanted. If it was about Hogwarts students, he’d send them away like he’d sent everyone else away. Most teams had gotten their full rosters. It was not a necessary step to take, and he didn’t want to hear another thing about it.
[break][break]
Ireland let the man into the room, and Beckett half raised from his seat to shake his hand in return. “Of course. It’s a pleasure to see you, as well,” and that wasn’t a lie. As the Department Head, it was nice to see him. As the Tornados coach, Beckett wished that Puddlemere hadn’t snagged such a talented seeker, but since they had Viktor Krum on their roster, he wasn’t all that worried this season. “Please, take a seat. What can I help you with?” He asked, curiously, sitting back down again.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]713 ● @ mr. cole ● outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

[googlefont=Dancing Script]
[newclass=.cbg]width:400px;background:#262626;padding:30px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cbgtop]width:400px;height:120px;text-align:left;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cimg]float:left;width:100px;height:100px;padding:10px;border:1px #aaa solid;[/newclass]
[newclass=.clbox]float:right;height:100px;margin:15px 5px auto auto;text-align:justify;width:257px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.ctopline]font-size:9px;letter-spacing:2px;text-transform:uppercase;font-family:verdana;color:#aaa;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cscriptde]font-size:23px;margin-top:-3px;font-family:Dancing Script;color:#125235;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cscriptde span]color:#ccc;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cline]height:1px;background-color:#888;margin:3px auto;[/newclass]
[newclass=.clyrics]font-size:8px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;text-align:justify;font-family:verdana;color:#999;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cbody]font-family:verdana;color:#999;font-size:10px;text-align:justify;line-height:14px;letter-spacing:0.5px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cnotes]font-size:9px;letter-spacing:1px;text-align:center;opacity:0.8;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cred]text-align:center;font-size:6pt;color:rgb(132, 132, 132);letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;[/newclass]
[newclass=.cred a]color:rgb(132, 132, 132);font-size:6pt;letter-spacing:1px;font-family:verdana;[/newclass]