Isaiah did wonder if it would have been a smarter idea to do a complete overhaul of the Auror Office the moment that he’d been put into office. He could have waited on his ideas for the Beast Division, after all, and then he wouldn’t be having this problem. There weren’t many aurors that he actually trusted. There was Duncanson, a clear mistake, Potter, who obviously had to go—a pureblood had just been given a position as an auror, and that was counterproductive. He needed to do some shuffling around so that he could fully focus on this problem, as he was finding it to be the biggest issue he’d faced as far as incompetent, untrustworthy and generally awful departments were concerned. They all needed to go. It shouldn’t be too hard to recruit some new aurors on the side, ready to take over once he had cleared up the trash. Duncanson would be harder to get rid of, but he was sure that he’d think of something.

“Yes, a report, very good,” he stated, nodding. Of course, he didn’t doubt that he would bolster Potter’s accomplishments in order to make him look ‘impressive’ enough to keep around, “Or better yet, just send his files up to my office and my undersecretary can make a report of her own—just to keep it fair and unbiased… you understand,” Isaiah added, noting that the man was clearly getting at least slightly agitated by this conversation. It was too bad he wouldn’t openly say something offensive, instead choosing to be passive aggressive about it. He nodded slowly, only hearing the words offering to send reports along for any of the aurors. The man really shouldn’t agree to all of these things so quickly. He was giving Isaiah everything he wanted, and everything he needed to reach his goal of having control over this office as well—more than he did already, obviously. “Send anything applicable over and she’ll take a look. Perhaps it’s time you start raising the standards you use for hiring,” he mused, carelessly. His standards must be slack to hire this group of useless wizards and witches; that, or he was purposefully stacking the office with incompetence. Isaiah let his lips quirk up into a small smirk as if he was amused by the man’s statement, when really, he was beginning to get irritated by absolutely every word coming from the bloke.

As far as he was concerned, the only reason that someone would be stalking a pureblood tart was if she had done something to deserve it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t something that he could just say in present company. Although it was still a work-in-progress, Isaiah knew that wasn’t yet a politically correct thing to say. “The way I see it there’s really only those two options. She’s making it up, or Potter is incompetent and can’t find a stalker that can apparently get close enough to leave these photographs and letters without being seen.” It was just highly improbable, in his opinion. A third option, of course, was that Duncanson was blinded by logic having very little to do with anything logical and a lot more to do with what the bint was offering him. Isaiah raised his eyebrows at the man’s words, shaking his head slowly, “We can’t help everyone. Don’t waste your time focusing on those that don’t deserve it,” he told him, and that fact seemed simple enough for even Duncanson to understand. The purebloods didn’t deserve help, as they only wanted to help and protect their own. Duncanson was everything he hated, pretty much, in one being. He was passive aggressively dismissing him now, and he did hate when people didn’t respect their superiors. Unfortunately for Duncanson, he was going to be finding himself out of a job before too long. “No, I do believe that was it unless you had anything else to bring to my attention.”

Ever since Durant had become Minister, things seemed to be on the decline, the treatment of Death Eaters and their families becoming more harsh, added with the current prejudices that were building against purebloods in general, it really didn’t seem like a good idea that this man had any power or control. The bloke was a horrific leader, leading the people towards hatred and destruction while they blindly followed him. It was a miracle, really, that Benjamin still had his position, knowing that if Durant had his way, he’d be out of a job before he could say ‘wand’. Just seeing Durant gave Benjamin a headache now, knowing that the bloke just would not quit until he had everything he wanted. This was why Benjamin knew he had to be extremely careful in how he ran things, every decision being carefully monitored and critiqued.

Sometimes Benjamin wondered why he ever took a bloody desk job when he liked being out on the field too much. He supposed it definitely had a lot to do with the fact that he hated being told what to do and much preferred to lead. He also didn’t trust many others in this position and had eagerly accepted it, knowing that he could use it to his advantage later. He was a snake, after all. “I’ll work on the report with the undersecretary. Surely you know that even I can’t be so careless to let paperwork leave the department without watching it carefully. You know how it goes,” he shrugged, smiling lightly. Like bloody hell he’d let the paperwork leave his eyesight, trusting that the secretary would write whatever they damn well pleased in order to kiss Durant’s arse. They had nothing to bloody hide as all of his aurors were strong in their positions. Hell, Benjamin would give him reports of previous aurors just to suit his need, showing the growth and improvement of the department as a whole. “Perhaps you’re right; but even then, any of my current aurors would be fully capable of passing again,” Benjamin replied confidently. A part of him wished that Durant would find himself in need of assistance by an auror just so he could see what they were capable of, then part of him wished that never occurred as he’d be forced to save his sorry arse.

The more words this bloke spoke, the more Benjamin found that he detested him. Everything he said sounded unintelligible, merely acting as if he bloody knew everything. “Well, that sort of black and white thinking is what we don’t look for in the Auror department; the ability to think outside of the box, rather than focusing on two options, is a fantastic quality. But, that’s why you’re the Minister, and not an auror,” Benjamin stated, laughing lightly as if they were a pair of old friends. Really, he wanted to curse himself just to get out of this situation. He would have to talk with his Aurors later and tell them if they saw Durant talking with Benjamin, it meant that they had to cause a disturbance somewhere to get him out of there easily. “I do appreciate your suggestion, Minister, and I will consider your words,” he nodded, not meaning them in the slightest. “When I have anything to bring to your attention, you’ll certainly be the first to know,” Benjamin stated, a joyful smile falling on his features as he watched the Minister. Hopefully he would be leaving now.

Isaiah had a hell of a lot going on—of course he did, he was the damn minister. He had been waiting for a long time for the chance for the position, and he hadn’t been surprised in the slightest when he had finally been victorious. Convincing the wizarding world that Kingsley had been incompetent and delusional had been relatively easy, far easier than he thought it would have ben. After all, he’d helped save their community with Potter; Isaiah had thought that people would have some manner of loyalty to the man. But loyalty was apparently easy to use and corrupt, he’d found, and that was how he’d been in this position for as long as he had. Although he was sure there were people that were still against him, the man in front of him being an example, far more people trusted him than they would believe. Some people had his loyalty through other means, as he was not above… questionable ways of gaining support, but that was kept far under the radar. The point was, Isaiah was going to be around for a hell of a long time, and Duncanson was absolutely not. Not for another six months if he had his say—well, not for another day if he had his say, but Isaiah knew how to be patient. The man was expendable, it was all a matter of time at this point, and Isaiah would find a way to push him out of the position. There was always a way.

It had been a long time since he’d been irked so much by a conversation, but found that Duncanson was irritating him more as moments went on. A blind man would see that the head of aurors disliked him, and Isaiah wasn’t blind. Every word he spoke, every fake smile that he forced, just aggravated Isaiah more and more. Though, simultaneously, he found himself amused by it. The man had to kiss his ass to keep his job, and Isaiah did think that must be hard for Duncanson to do—making it all the more entertaining. Of course, if Isaiah wanted the paperwork within his office in the next hour, he had the power to make it so without Duncanson watching it carefully. However, he knew that his undersecretary could get all the information that she needed from the reports, and tell him what she found that didn’t make it into the reports. “Of course, we certainly wouldn’t want anything to get misplaced or fall into the wrong hands,” he agreed, though he did wonder if the head of the auror office would be letting his undersecretary see everything, or if he would be hiding reports that did show the incompetence of his aurors. Except then there would be no reports left to show the woman, he thought, mildly amused. If he tried to hide every misstep his aurors made, there wouldn’t be much left to report at all. Isaiah chuckled under his breath, partially at his own thoughts though mostly at the man’s next statement. None of his aurors would pass any standards that were actually decent—that was the problem. “Perhaps—perhaps not,” he said instead, though he was well aware that Duncanson would let them pass anyhow, giving them special treatment in order to ensure they didn’t get sacked. The man was only further proving by the moment the need for him to be replaced.

Of course, the man wanted to continue his womanly passive-aggressive remarks. Isaiah wasn’t surprised in the slightest by this, but he found that his statement showed that they needed a brand new auror department. Thinking in black and white was the best way to ensure that the scum got off of the street and that the job got done. Thinking outside the box sounded like something that McGonagall would come with, or someone ridiculous like that. It was hardly what they needed in the auror office. “Right you are, Duncanson,” he said, offhandedly, already deciding that this was worth putting near the top of his to-do list. Having an auror in charge that he couldn’t trust to do what was needed was important, after all, and needed to change as soon as possible. The man would certainly continue to help the ridiculous purebloods and others who didn’t deserve it, wasting office resources until Isaiah made sure that he’d never get even a job cleaning the damn Ministry. Though the idea of Duncanson working for Magical Maintenance did amuse him… “I’m sure I will,” he stated, though he very much doubted that Duncanson told him half of what the needed to know. That was one of the damn problems. At that thought, he headed toward the door.

It really was a miracle that Durant had yet to get him kicked out of his position as Benjamin had certainly been expecting it. He was thankful to whichever powers stood that he was still in his position. The man had no reason to dislike him, really. He clearly didn’t know about Benjamin’s actual past with being a Death Eater and coming from a line of Death Eaters. Had he known, Benjamin was certain he would have been arrested long ago and sent to the Work Camp. He understood the dangers of being in his position of power, knowing that if he were found to be a Death Eater in this position, it would look really terrible. People would immediately fear him, thinking that he was set in that position to overthrow the Ministry. At least, that was the story he feared would spread. He was concerned that it would bring heat towards all in the department, causing everyone underneath him to lose their jobs immediately as the fear was instilled in the minds of people all around. Benjamin had taken part in hiring those underneath him; not only would he be screwed, but everything he ever did would come undone, including the lives of those he brought onto the force.

Politics were a necessary evil of this world, Benjamin had learned early on. He hated it and wanted nothing to do with it, but it was a game he had to play on a daily basis. People seemed to think that politics were a black and white issue for only politicians. That was most definitely not the case. Politics existed in every position, people needing to watch their arses in order to achieve the outcome that they desired. It was amusing to him, though, how it seemed that the Minister believed he held all of the cards. There were protections placed on the items and files that the Auror Department contained that only Benjamin knew about. It was for security reasons, of course. This was to prohibit the misplacement of information into the wrong hands. Not even the Minister would have access to some things if Benjamin didn’t allow it. Hell, the Minister wouldn’t even know that some of it existed unless Benjamin told him. “Glad to see we’re on the same page,” Benjamin shrugged, smirking lightly. it didn’t matter what position either of them would ever fill, Benjamin knew he would have never liked this bloke, finding him to be an arse. This man was simply despicable.

This conversation was irritating, and going absolutely nowhere. Benjamin wasn’t even certain why he bothered to argue with him when it would be an even greater waste of time. “Safe travels,” Benjamin stated, pulling out his parchment, getting ready to return back to work as he watched the Minister head towards the door. If he was lucky, the man would continue to walk.

--End Thread--