Desmond frowned to himself. There was no reason for him to have forgotten that Squibs didn't have the ability to ward journals. The stress from his job was obviously getting to him.

People didn't seem to understand what exactly being the assistant to the Minister of Magic entailed. He imagined it was akin to the way that nurses felt helping a surgeon out during an operation if the surgeon's only real responsibility was to dress themselves. He organized the minister's paperwork, set all her meeting times, and made sure that appropriate gifts were sent to her husband on his birthday. It was a much more stressful job than people could even begin to fathom.

He'd picked up a heavy coat to throw on and then apparated to his usual spot near a muggle payphone in the middle of a small English town, dialing April's number (he'd memorized it long ago).

When she picked up the phone, he didn't miss a beat. "Sorry about the journals," he muttered, rubbing a hand through his hair (it was an expression she could probably hear in his voice by now, "I've been a bit scatterbrained lately."

Ha, lately.

Who: Desmond and 'April'
What: An ... appointment
Where: On the phone, then Demond's flat

( Oh Merlin, he bloody hated this sort of thing. )

UPDATE! - An hour and a half after the initial report

"Diagon Alley is in a state of emergency, an earthquake has hit and shaken everyone and thing to its core. The Ministry of Magic has shut its doors---only aurors, hitwizards, and other authorized personnel may enter. Victims rescued from the Ministry will be sent directly to Hogwarts.

St. Mungo's is in a similar state; they are taking injuries off the street, but are overflowing and understaffed. Please, any retired healers, nurses, or medi wizards, your expertise is needed. Some overflow of St. Mungo's patients are being relocated to various wizarding locations outside of London, stay tuned for more information on that.

This day just keeps getting weirder-----tornadoes have struck various locations across the United Kingdom. Lanchashire, Bristol, Dublin, Hogsmeade, and Essex are currently reporting tornado strikes.

No---no casualties have been announced, as of yet. Hopefully it stays that way.



Sid--I'm just going to keep talking until you respond.



CHARACTERS INJURED 1-4 CAN RESPOND IMMEDIATELY! This will be updated as time goes by/we stop feeling evil

Dirk loved his job, he did, but he loved Fridays even more. He still got to go in and work with the goblins (when they let him!), but he got to look forward to a nice quiet weekend of doing whatever he pleased. Lately it had been trying to get Derek to hang out with him, even though that usually just involved watching telly. It was something! Dirk was worried about his big cousin, especially now with the war getting so intense and--

He blinked curiously, as the shelves of his cubicle began to shake. Dirk's eyes twitched back and forth as he watched the pictures he had hanging drop to the floor, and the bust of Gorgak the Terrible started to inch forward and forward. And his desk was shaking, and now his chair, and Dirk was startled to his feet at the sound of someone screaming, "EARTHQUAKE!"

An earthquake! Oh hell, Dirk had just been thinking that some erumpents had escaped again! Earthquake! What was the first rule of an earthquake? These were NOT the things they taught you in Hogwarts! How was he supposed to survive an earthquake if he didn't have the proper training?! DEREK WOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO, THAT IS WHY DIRK WANTED TO REMAIN CLOSE TO HIM AND----

The bust of Gorgak the Terrible teetered off the shelf and smacked Dirk straight in the forehead, making him drop to the ground, and thankfully roll under his desk.

He really did love his job, he did.

ooc: http://www.scribbld.net/users/valesco_mods/32698.html