Foreign Relations

Foreign Relations

He'd enjoyed reading the Daily Prophet once upon a time, it had been a respectable newspaper... once upon a time. Now it was depressingly government run, you could tell by the lack of editorials. He sighed took a swig from the green beer bottle sitting on the bar in front of him. The Daily Prophet sat fold by his left elbow and two tin pails sat in front of the beer bottle. He was a burly, baby boomer, American agent who had some how along the way become the CIA's liaison to Great Britain's Ministry of Magic. He looked disinterestedly at the two pails in front of him; one held shelled peanuts and the other held peanut shells. He picked up a shelled peanut and broke through the shell with a crunch and a crack. He popped the peanut into his mouth and then dropped the broken shell into the appropriate pail where it rattled to a rest. As he munched he labeled a different complaint to each nut.

Crunch-crack rattle

Voldemort was back.

Crunch-crack rattle

Albus Dumbledore had been kicked out of Hogwarts.

Crunch-crack rattle

This mess was going to take a lot of classified paperwork.

Crunch-crack rattle

Classified paperwork always took longer.

Crunch-crack rattle

Fudge was an idiot and a paranoid bastard to boot.

Crunch-crack rattle

"Mad Eye" Moody from the Order of the Phoenix was late.

Crunch-crack rattle

Why the hell wouldn't anyone actually say Voldemort?

Crunch-crack rattle

Delores Umbridge was a sadistic b-

"Is this seat taken?" An amiable voice asked from over his left shoulder. He turned and blinked... Albus Dumbledore was standing behind him.

"Nope."

"Very good, you are I assume Jeremy Arlington of the CIA?" Dumbledore asked as he sat down. His statement was rather more of an observation than a question.

"The US Government does not officially recognize the existence of multiple hidden wizarding societies through out the world. It would certainly not send an agent to one of the said societies, and that agent would certainly not be offering a renegade member of one of those societies peanuts," Jeremy slid the two tin pails over so that Dumbledore could reach them easily, "Peanuts?"

"Thank you very much," Dumbledore accepted the invitation. After a few moments of cracking and crunching the recently disposed headmaster continued the conversation, "Do you have an unofficial stance?"

"Cornelius Fudge is not the war time leader Winston Churchill was," Arlington stated flatly earning a hearty chuckle from Dumbledore, "Other than that I'd say my opinion and my boss' opinion involves a team of black ops agents, a sniper rifle, and Voldemort's head."

"I thought that the American government had a anti-assassination policy?" The professor asked idly.

"That only applies to would-be dictators that exist." Arlington stated easily, "What happened to Mad Eye?"

"I asked him to attend to other duties." Albus explained. The two men sat in silence for a long moment, "It would not be wise for the CIA to take action in regards to Voldemort at this point in time."

"Oh, and in a year or two when he's got an army backing him it would be wise?" Arlington asked hotly.

"It most certainly would not," Dumbledore said patiently, "However you are not entirely aware of what powers Voldemort has at his disposal."

Jeremy Arlington stalled by taking a swig from his beer bottle, "You know Dumbledore, Muggles aren't nearly as helpless and 'cute' as a lot of wizards seem to think."

"I'm very much aware of that fact Mr. Arlington," Dumbledore said firmly, "It still remains my strong advise that the CIA keep its distance. At least for the time being."

"The CIA will take your advise into consideration," Arlington said tightly as he controlled his frustration.

Dumbledore nodded and left. Jeremy Arlington fell back into the pattern he had adopted before Albus Dumbledore had arrived.

Crunch-crack rattle

Things just got more complicated.