New Moon at the Werewolf Support Services

"New Moon at the Werewolf Support Services"

When he left his London flat that morning, Lycurgus Randall of the Werewolf Support Services had been looking forward to a quiet day at the office. It was a new moon and that usually meant a slow period. Werewolves tended to seek help in the days immediately preceding and following the full moon. He might be an under appreciated part of the Being Division, but he thought that he and his assistant Selena Lowell did far more good than the Knut counters allocating resources would ever admit.

He was contemplating his nice, quiet, paperwork filled day when the lift doors opened onto the fourth floor and a loud argument assaulted his ears. One voice was loud and gruff, the other icy, but laced with righteous fury. Randall groaned as he recognized both voices.

He peered cautiously around a corner. As expected, Selena was having a blazing row with Helios Burke of the Werewolf Capture Unit just outside their office. Selena was in full glory. Randall cursed Burke for letting the witch work up to her full frosty fury. It was going to be impossible to get any work done with everyone avoiding Selena as though a werewolf had bitten her.

There was no one else in sight other than the usual Ministry workers watching the show from the safety of their office doorways. A small mercy, that. At least there was no victim of lycanthropy caught literally (rather than the usual figuratively) between the Beast Division's Werewolf Capture Unit and the Being Division's Werewolf Support Services. The Werewolf Capture Unit numbered eight at present while the Werewolf Support Services consisted solely of himself and Selena. Fortunately, Selena could stare down a basilisk and Randall himself had acquired a reputation as someone not to cross. The story of how Walden McNair received rabbit ears during an argument and was forced to come into work wearing a bowler hat for a week still circulated when gossip ran scarce.

"It's my job to capture dangerous werewolves. They are dangerous, dark creatures. Even Muggles know that!" Helios protested. Randall closed his eyes. He rescinded his condemnation of Selena and transferred his ire to Burke. Not again. Was there a wizard in the Werewolf Capture Unit who knew anything at all about werewolves? He hoped it was just an inconvenience for the werewolf involved. Two years ago, an overzealous wizard on the unit killed a werewolf during the new moon. That employee was dispatched to the Pest Advisory Board. It was only after he fouled up there at he went to the Centaur Office.

"It wasn't even a full moon, you lunatic!" Selena snapped. She had her arms crossed over her chest in indignation, Randall suspected it was also to stop herself from taking her wand out. Good thing or Burke would have found himself a slug already. Selena was quite good at transfiguring things, but not so talented when it came to undoing her work.

Lunatic: one who is insane and believed to be affected by the phases of the moon. Randall smiled and commended Selena on her choice of phrasing. It was almost certainly deliberate. He doubted it even registered to Burke. The only thing that registered to him was a werewolf.

An odd joke, but one both members of the Werewolf Support Services enjoyed.

Randall took a deep breathe before walking toward the combatants. He reminded himself that he was the senior here. "Is there a problem here?" he asked Selena mildly.

Selena answered quickly before Burke could even open his mouth. "Jasper Pye was dragged in by the Werewolf Capture Unit. He was in full compliance with the new regulations. It was the bloody new moon! What was he going to do, lob a take-away carton at someone? There was no reason for it and the idiots in the Beast Division still haven't released him."

Randall turned to Burke. "Well?"

"We got a call in from a witch in Manchester that she'd seen a werewolf. We picked him up," Burke shrugged.

"Your mandate only applies when Mr. Pye is transformed or is about to," Randall said coldly. "Release Mr. Pye and issue him an apology. If you're lucky he won't make a formal complaint against you."

Burke's expression was one of incredulity. "An Apology? For a werewolf?"

"And someone find a lunascope for your office. Or hire someone who actually got an O.W.L. in Astronomy. Good day, Mr. Burke," Randall said. It was unmistakably a dismissal. He watched Burke's face burn at the implication that his office was incompetent; which Randall believed it was in all matters not directly related to hexing innocent people.

He thought Burke would protest, but the man mumbled something about releasing Pye straight away and scurried back to his own office. Which was much larger than the one Randall shared with Selena. It also had a window.

Randall waited until he and Selena were alone in their cramped office before reprimanding her.

"Did you have to start a row with him in front of half the department?" Randall demanded. "Here I've been trying to get the Registry moved back to Being Division and you risk undoing all my hard work by creating a scene! You know Purkiss doesn't want any more scandals. If we handled this quietly and made it seem like we saved him from a scandal, Purkiss would have been willing to listen."

Selena had the decency to appear guilty. Ministry politics was not her strong point. "I'm sorry. Pye's only been a werewolf three months. He didn't deserve to be dragged in and caged like that. I tried to convince Burke to let Pye go, but I'm junior to him and..."

And Burke does not have any respect for a witch who married a Muggle. "Burke's actions reflect upon the Beast division. Yours reflect upon Being Division. Remember we cannot afford to have a reputation for starting fights in corridors. We have things difficult enough as it is."

Unlike Burke, Selena listened and did see the point. As befitted a Ravenclaw she had sense as well as passion, even if one tended to overrule the other. Randall knew he could try until he was blue in the face to convince the Werewolf Capture Unit that a werewolf was simply a victim of lycanthropy, but they would never hear him. Sometimes he wondered if they learnt about werewolves from Muggle books.

There was a knock at the door. Selena opened it to admit a worn and battered Jasper Pye. If possible, he looked even more depressed than the last time they had seen him.

The bitterest potion to swallow was that once, not very long ago, they had real change in sight. The progress they had made ever since a popular professor at Hogwarts was exposed as a lycanthrope was steadily being undone from above.

"Lost me job thanks to that lot down there," Pye said dejectedly. He collapsed into the paisley armchair they kept for visitors. Randall handed him a cup of tea while Selena located the parchment that listed employers willing to hire lycanthropes. The number grew smaller every year.

Sometimes it seemed the main function of the Werewolf Support Services was to provide tea and an understanding person to talk to.

"The owner of the Regal Cinema is looking for help to sweep up after picture shows. His sister's a witch. Just keep him informed of when you'll be out."

Pye accepted the position and Selena drafted a letter to the cinema owner. After Pye left, they started to tackle paperwork. There was much more of it with the new regulations.

"Sometimes," Selena sighed, "I think I spend my entire career filling out forms."

"They don't make it easy," Randall agreed. Indeed Randall sometimes thought the Ministry viewed them more as an adversary than a part of itself. Selena's predecessor had not been able to cope with seeing his hard work steadily undone and left after only four months. Randall persisted; just as the moon always grows full, the Werewolf Support Services would continue. Another departmental in-joke but this time one that revealed respect.