Campaigning in the Harbour

[Ioan Finch]

In the days leading up to the first debate, Ioan knew that he had to begin truly becoming a face in wizarding society. He had hoped that the Scitorari would show more unity and come together to help him, and Metrophanes though he truly only cared about himself this campaign, but no one from the group had reached out to him since his name had been announced. Nevertheless, he would persist and he made his way down Bleak Street, a nod as he recognized some of the people. The streets were uncharacteristically quiet, which was saying something for Bleak Street.

Conjuring a table when he reached the corner where Bleak Street met the rest of the Harbour, Ioan settled himself in to wait, a nod to the Auror that he was forced to allow to accompany him everywhere. That explained the quiet of Bleak Street. Ioan had pamphlets with his face and name but they were free of his talking points. The whole point, to him, of talking points was to discuss them, not to read about them, and he hoped to do just that today. Ioan knew this country well, had called it home for all of his adult life. He knew that he had just as good a shot of winning this election as the other candidates and a better shot than most of them, and he'd begin proving that today.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

briar was walking along obsidian harbour. she was almost unrecognisable today as she was dressed as smart as she could with her mane of hair back in a neat braid. She had just been to a meeting with some executives of a rather large company and she wanted it to go well and thought her usual slightly wild look was not what was needed. On her way back she had picked up a batch of Wolfsbane from the hospital for her, Dederick and some of her clients. She walked along the harbour enjoying the feeling of sunshine on her skin and postponing the time that she had to get back to work she saw one of the candidates sitting at a table trying to advertise himself. she walked over. he was the candidate that in the first debate had really made her blood boil.
She walked over to the table and put her bag on the floor "hello Mr Finch. I am Rowan. I have a question about one of your responses at the last debate." she said using her childhood name now her last name a trick she used when she didn't want it to be obvious who she was. "As minister for magic you will obviously be working within the ministry and overseeing all of its departments. I was wondering how aware you are of its inner workings and what goes on within each department." she asked keeping her question vague and open and almost innocent sounding, to begin with.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan watched as a woman approached his table, nodding at the greeting. "I knew just about as much as is released to the general public coming into my campaign" he stated, "which is a dreadfully small amount." Honesty seemed to be the best policy here. He'd made several pointed remarks about the ministry needing someone who hadnt worked there in charge. Besides it was almost as if the ministry was hiding something with as little information as it released to the public. He understood for certain offices, but for others, it seemed a bit much. "I'm learning more every day. It seems running for office means they think you're worthy of information." He tried for a joke, not knowing how it would land. He left out that his sister also worked there while he waited go see where Ms. Rowan was going with this line of inquiry.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar nodded when Ioan said that he didn't know much about what went on in the ministry. she knew there were some departments that were secretive, but having been on the inside since she had left the school she knew a lot more than most, and sometimes she forgot that. To be honest a lot of what went on in there was boring as hell and she didn't pay any attention. But all of that didn't excuse his bulldust at the debate. in fact, his try at a joke only added a little fuel to the fire that was her temper, not much but a little bit. she nodded again giving herself to form a reply without saying something she would regret. it was a technique she had learned over the years in her work working with people who were just as hot-headed and defensive as she was and those who would find an excuse to not listen to her. "if you don't know what does on how can you talk with so much certainty about some departments during the debates?" she said in a fairly even tone but with a slight note of restraint in her voice.

 

[Ioan Finch]

It didn't take a Seer to note that the woman before him was attempting to make some kind of point here. The question was what it was and whether or not he'd able to maintain his composure in managing it. Considering some of the people he had to deal with, he felt reasonably assured that he could. "Care to refresh my memory?" he indicated. "I said a great many things during the debate regarding the lack of information that the Ministry puts forth and about what more the Ministry can do to assist werewolves and I even spoke about our Wizengamot." The man had certainly not been at a loss for words during the debate.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Biar blinked and took a breath as if to steady herself as Ioan said he couldn't even remember what he had spoken about at the debate. he ran off a few topics he had mentioned. and exhaled as he listed her two departments. she actually hadn't listened to what he had said about the wizengamot during the trial as she hadn't even been thinking about re-applying to be a member then. she lifted the bag off the floor and put it on the table. inside the bag was about fifty small unmarked vials each containing one dose of wolfsbane potion. "take a vial, it may help you remember, don't worry it isn't poisonous" she said taking one for herself and taking the cap off before taking a deep swig of it to prove the point about it not being poison. she had been drinking the stuff long enough that the taste really didn't bother her, it still tasted as bitter as ever but it was something you got used to. but this time it had the sweet aftertaste a point well made. "I am not sure how much you know about this potion. But it is only good for the month it is made. and only needs to be drunk for one week at a time. which means there is enough for about 7 people here. also, It is a hell of a potion to make, and expensive to buy. but these vials are all provided to those who need them by werewolf support services" she said smiling at him, so much for werewolf support services being a lost department that was just there in name. Someone will now be a vial short, but I guess I will have to survive, it is not like I haven't had to do it before." she said smiling widely. there was a time in school when she had missed out on her potion for a couple of months. they were some of the worst transformations she had had, she still had the faint scars down her face from them though they had faded over the years and could only be seen if you looked for them. In truth, she always ordered one extra set of vials just to be on the safe side in case she had any last minute requests for the potion. but Ioan didn't need to know about that.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan held up his hand as the Auror tasked with watching over him started as the woman lifted a bag onto the table. He didn't believe he was in any real danger, though he knew his hand would only still the Auror if they believed the same. It didnt help that the woman mentioned poison at all as she implored him to take a vial, which he did albeit hesitantly. He didnt know this woman or her intent, but he knew potions and fairly quickly ascertained that even if it was poisonous, the vials were sufficient enough to contain them. The man turned his blue green eyes back to the woman as she continued, a look of amusement on his face as she mentioned not knowing how much he knew about potions. It was apparent she hadn't paid him much attention during the debates aside from some comment she had taken umbridge with, which he was still trying to determine. If she had paid any attention to him, she would have recalled that he was a Potions Master by trade. "A great deal" he murmured as he turned the potion over in his hand, letting it swirl as he worked out what it was.

"And how often does your department send staff there to deliver them?" the man challenged her, a thumb pointing over his shoulder, as he knew first hand that many of the Bleak Streeters came to him for their potions, Wolfsbane and otherwise, fearing going to the Ministry for anything. He hadn't even seen the current lot of candidates put up posters in the area, and to him that went to show that they would simply continue the same as the current administration. Writing Bleak Street off as a denizen for evil rather than seeing it for what it truly was. "Do you even have sufficient staff to do the outreach that you need?" he added pointedly assuming that she worked there since she seemed so affronted. "I don't think providing potions should be the bulk of your work because we all know the people who want to use Wolfsbane will find it one way or another. It's getting the people who are too poor to afford it or too ashamed, too fearful of their neighbors knowing what they are, who need to be provided services more than just throwing a potion at them. And if the Minister isn't equipping you with the tools you need to do that, it's them you should be upset with, Ms. Rowan. Not me for calling him out."

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar realised too late that this was the candidate who had a history of potions. she kicked herself internally. oh well, she had gone this far down ship creek, there was no point back paddling. "Then clearly none of this is news to you then" she said. his next question took her aback slightly. "monthly of course," she said as if staking the obvious. and twice a month during a blue moon" she said a slight joke to bring the tension back down a notch.
She could tell that at this moment the ball was in his court. she had messed up by forgetting his history and now it was his turn to make his point. she listened as he made his point about his view of the current state of the department. her eyebrows rising as he spoke. "you think I am a glorified messenger-dog." she said. "organising that is easy, takes a day or two tops, a little more when it is my turn to brew. she said. there was a roster of where she got the potion from so no specific provider got caught brewing a vat of difficult potion every month and she was on that roster too. she wasn't a potions master by a long stretch, she was too impatient for that. but wolfsbane, wolfsbane she knew almost by heart.
when he said that he would offer her help in the department she rolled her eyes slightly. " what i great idea. you think I am not working on that already?" she said. the department was hard at times. but she would rather that than have to work with someone. and she knew her plans had faltered a little when she had taken long service leave a couple of years ago. the potion was still provided. but the rest of the branch was on a standstill. she wasn't sure what to say what she was thinking without sounding like a child. she had given up a career of professional Quidditch, a career she had dreamed of to take on werewolf support services, it was her baby. it was like telling a mother she would be a much better mother if she did this or that. even without the ministry, she would still be doing what she did even if all she had was a soapbox. who knows if she would have more success or not without the name of the ministry attached. there were pros and cons and she had faced them. she didn't need resources, she had grown up having to make everything she needed from what she could hunt gather and trade. being given stuff was not how she worked, and any provision of help within the first year in office of the new minister would be taken with cynicism. "nice offer, I haven't heard that a thousand times before, and not just from the ministry. but I have what I need. I don't need short-term fixes so you or any other candidate can say you are doing something to help" she said, it could be her stubborn nature, her experience of having heard it plenty of times before, her inbuilt self-reliance or the general mistrust she saw in a lot of werewolves that was also there in her but she did not want to be a charity case, even if that was almost what she was running.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan didnt know what exactly it was he had said that so affronted the woman before him. He was explaining the situation as he knew it, as a person who lived on Bleak Street and saw the disrespect for its residents on a daily basis. For everything he said, she seemed to have a response though he questioned whether the office truly went to Bleak Street. He didn't believe her at all, not when he knew at least two people who quietly came seeking Wolfsbane from him, a disclosure they wouldn't need to make should there have been such easy access. If she behaved towards everyone she disagreed with as she did to him, he could see why people didn't want to visit the office. There was something to be said to the saying that you got more flies with honey than vinegar, after all, and all of her responses were a rebuttal as if he knew nothing because he didnt work for the Ministry. It was exactly his whole point in running. The Ministry as a whole did not know what its citizens truly needed because it always thought it knew better.

"Well, unfortunately for you, Ms. Rowan...you work for the Ministry, not the other way around" Mr. Finch stated, sitting up, the smile on his face all but gone. He was surprised at the woman's notion that she acted on her own without the approval of her department and without the consequences that came from not doing so. It was an arrogance he expected from Minister Kingsley, not some lowly Ministry employee. "So you will be listening to me or one of the other candidates in the next few months...or not have an office at all" he said matter-of- fact. Ioan had plans for the department, plans that meant more of his people received help. "Or just not you in it, and we'll find someone more...pleasant to do the job" he added, sitting back in his seat. Ioan knew that any leader would come in and see what worked and what didn't, and if Ms. Rowan held this disdain for the rest of the candidates, she would find herself on the losing end of that battle surely. He couldn't see any of the candidates allowing someone like her to represent an office they planned on expanding.