NOVEL WEB Chapter 15
Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 15– Making Strides.
"Okay, Ms Lumley. Thank you for your time. I will be in touch shortly if the position is indeed yours. Expect an owl." I say to the gorgeous blond woman dressed in entirely pink robes that has made it very clear that she would be willing to do anything to have this position I am offering, anything. However, despite her looks, the meticulous makeup, the puckering pink lips and the seductive body that promises to fulfil my every fantasy, I will not be offering her the position.
I made the decision to go after women with actual substance and personality, women that wouldn't just give in to me because of my name and fame or even my wealth. This woman is very eager to spread her legs for me, meaning she should not be so easily trusted, especially for the position I am offering. If she is doing that merely for this position, then she could easily compromise me, plus she is hardly qualified for the job either.
Don't get me wrong, I still take advantage of the opportunities presented to me and spend the nights with some of these women that are throwing themselves at me, offering sex to me freely, but I don't spend many thoughts on them. I will probably follow up with Ms Lumley sometime in the future if I am ever feeling bored, but that is it at most. I will just set up a time, show up, do my business, wipe her mind afterwards and leave without thinking about it again.
It is much more of a hassle to have all these women, material women and fanatics, running around preaching that they slept with me, coming up with pregnancy schemes and ways to get my wealth or marry me. It is just simpler to just rid them of those memories and then leave without being troubled by the thought of these women running around out there. I will probably even meet them again in the future and spend the night again with them. They won't remember the first time, and to be honest, I probably won't as well.
Of course, that doesn't mean I forgot about my new goal and aspiration, and these are just little bits of fun and slight distractions. I didn't just want to coast by on Gilderoys wealth and fame, which is why I have been regularly going out to muggle London and trying to meet women at bars. I rely on nothing but my social skills, which leave much to be desired since I was just an antisocial nerd and Gilderoy skirted by using fame and wealth.
Without the fame, the wealth and even the magic, I was just continually striking out, being constantly rejected. The amalgamation of my nerdy self and Gilderoy's vain self apparently didn't make for a likeable personality, which I came to realise as woman after woman refused even to give me a second of their time. And just like any problem I have come across in this new world, I decided to solve my problems using magic. If you have the tools to make your life easier, then why wouldn't you use them?
I started to make liberal use of my mind magic to lightly touch upon the minds of the women I talked to and get a read on their thoughts and emotions, I didn't affect them in any way, but I did read them and try to use them to help me woo them. But even if I knew how they were feeling, it didn't help if I didn't understand how to overturn that emotion and have a positive effect. So then I went around, and coincidentally I found a playboy that was hooking up with tons of women. I had seen him all over the place when I was on my nights out, and he always went home with a girl.
One evening I followed him into the men's room and used my wand to lock the door behind me, isolating this suave guy in the bathroom. After that, I used my Legilimency and dived into his mind, copying all his social skills and abilities and putting them into my own mind. But, of course, this didn't just make me George Clooney straight away, and I wasn't just suddenly attracting women left or right.
The information and knowledge were now in my mind, they just had to be assimilated, and that would happen by going into a situation where that knowledge would be applicable, and it would reveal itself to me slowly. But it had definitely worked. I had gotten into a long conversation with a girl at the bar, but I obviously ended up doing something wrong as she suddenly got up and left, but I am definitely making progress. Through the combined knowledge of the cool dude and my emotion and thought reading, I am making strides.
"Oh, well, thank you for your time, Mr Lockhart. If you need anything at all, anything, please do not hesitate to owl me." Ms Lemley says, placing her arm suggestively on my arm as I start to shuffle her towards the exit of the room. I easily ignore her actions, having felt one too many fans make passes at me that I can easily ignore the touches.
"I assure you, Ms Lumley, if I have any need of your expertise, I know exactly where to find you. Now, have a lovely day." I finish, ending the conversation as I open the door and gently push her out by placing my palm on the flat of her back. Then, knowing she has done all she can do to get this position, she waves toward me as she moves to the exit of the building. I wave back at her with a polite smile which immediately fades after she leaves, and I look around the waiting room at the rest of the applicants.
This morning, this room was packed with a bunch of women that were eagerly awaiting an interview with me in the hopes of getting the job I was offering, and so far, all of the women that have shown up have been muggle-borns. Which is no surprise, really, since although I placed an ad in the Daily Prophet, which cost a surprising amount, the place where I started the interviews would take place was muggle London.
Well, not stated as such, as that would get me a lot of criticism from the more pure-minded wizards and witches in our community. No, I simply gave the address where the interviews would take place. I did not say that it would be in London or even in any magical community, I merely gave the street name, the building number, the time, and what floor was mine, and that was it.
I had rented a small space in an office building in the middle of London, not that far away from Charing Cross road either on which The Leaky Cauldron is located. Of course, there were many streets with the same name as this all over England, but that was part of the test. I was looking for someone clever, resourceful, with common sense, an understanding of both the magical and muggle worlds and some standing in our community, though I wasn't holding out hope for the last one.
By giving the location as I had, I confirmed that the people that found this location, at the very least, had an adequate understanding of the muggle world and that they were magical. However, by not giving the exact location and just some vague information, I ensured that the people that came were either very intelligent or just lucky to know the place since I could be on any similarly named street in England. But they had magic at their disposal, and they could easily, within an hour, travel to all such roads in England and scout them out before the time I specified. Furthermore, they had magic, so they didn't have excuses.
So far, I had interviewed quite a few clever muggle-born witches that were very intelligent, natural Hermione types that just didn't have good prospects in the wizarding world, what with it being the pureblood club that it was. And then I got the types that were also muggle-borns, but they were kind of dimwitted and a bit slow. They were just lucky to have been born in London, and this was the only street they knew of by this name. They didn't even stop to contemplate if it was wrong; they just showed up.
Though what all these witches had in common was that they were all smoking hot, since they all much up there, they concentrated on their outward appearance, and they offered me the results of all their hard work, but that is not what I am looking for right now. How did I know exactly what these women are like, what they are thinking, and how they found this place and everything else about them? Of course, with magic, I used my Legilimency to discover everything about them as soon as they took a seat. I would be trusting them with a very important task after all.
The ad I put in the Dailly Prophet was an opportunity for someone to become my secretary slash financial advisor to help me with my work as well as my wealth. No doubt that the last one drew a lot of eyes. It makes sense that I would need to hire such a person, though, since the last one mysteriously disappeared out of the blue. Of course, that did not fully explain what I would be requesting of them, but I would explain that to the person I actually hired.
My ideal person for this position would be a pure-blood witch or at least a half-blood witch, and they would have to have no problem with the muggle world and be very intelligent to fulfil precisely what I need from them. However, I think that is just a pipe dream, and I will never find the ideal candidate, so I will just have to put up with one of the intelligent muggle-borns that showed up. Hopefully, I can mould them into exactly what I require over time.
Oh well, I have just one candidate left, and then I can finish this and go home to review all of the candidates in my mind and pick the best one for my purposes. So I move my eyes away from the door which I just watched Ms Lumley walk through, and I look towards the final applicant so that we can- Oh... Oh wow. I just- It is hard to find the words to describe the vision of beauty that sits before me... just, wow.
Sat there, calmly looking through one of the magazines I left out for people to rifle through. She patiently waits there for her turn, which is weird because I looked through the room before. I never saw her there, and she is definitely a woman that stands out in a crowd. I would be able to find her in seconds if she was in a Where's Wally book.
She was a light brown-haired woman, and she looked like a patrician beauty with aristocratic bearing. However, there was none of the arrogance one would expect to come with such a bearing and noble features, her eyes were wide and kind, and she had a slight smile as she perused the magazine, a sight to behold. She had the classic great good looks and bearing common for members of noble wizarding houses. She was a tall woman with long legs; her face had a strong jaw, a thin mouth, and heavily lidded eyes with long eyelashes.
Her beauty was further enhanced by the clothes she wore, which drove me to believe that she wasn't actually a pureblood, even though she definitely looked the part. She wore a black business outfit, a tight white shirt wrapped in a slim black blazer, a knee-length skirt that covered her black pantyhose-clothed legs, with simple black heels.
Paying serious attention to this woman down to the smallest detail, I notice that she has a ring on her finger, but for some reason, that just makes me even more attracted to her, which confuses me greatly. I would offer this woman the position in a heartbeat; her beauty is so great. I don't even care if she is entirely unqualified. I can just hire two people, one for the actual reason I am hiring, and this woman can just be my secretary and assistant. However, I have an undeniable feeling that this woman is as clever as she is beautiful.
"Hm?" Her striking brown eyes flutter up and catch sight of me standing in the doorway, and I feel an immense contradiction in me. Part of me is drawn deep into those eyes, and I never want to look away from them, but the other half desperately wants to turn away from them in embarrassment at being caught staring at her, a remnant from my past life as an antisocial child. In the end, I am caught between the two, and I stare at her blankly, not responding in any way whatsoever.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is it my turn to be interviewed?" She says, seemingly believing that I had called for her and she had been too absorbed in the magazine to hear me, giving me a convenient way to carry on without looking like a total idiot.
"Yes, please follow me, and close the door behind you," I speak, leaving the door open and walking back into my office without waiting for her, rounding my desk and taking a seat in my comfy chair. And I take this moment with her out of my eye line to calm down and recollect myself because I cannot afford to get distracted now as the person that takes this job will be very instrumental in my plans in the future, and I can't afford for those plans to go awry.
"Please, take a seat," I say as she enters the room and gingerly closes the door behind her before she follows my instructions to sit on the slightly uncomfortable chair in front of my desk. I employ the full force of my Occlumeny as she crosses one leg over the other and presses her hands to her knee, the position being very distracting.
"Now, please tell me your name and why you would like the job," I say, asking the very same first question I said to all the previous applicants that sat in that same chair. There is a reason I ask those questions, and it is because it will reveal to me the entirety of who they are. Not the answers they will supply me with using their mouths, but the answers I will take using my Legilimency as the truth will be at the forefront of their mind. So, as she goes to answer my query, I immediately use my Legilimency.
"I am Andr- GET OUT!" I hardly touch upon her mind before I am blasted out, not expecting such resistance. My body is blown back a bit, my chair rolling back on its wheels before I place my feet down firmly to bring it to a halt. I look up at the woman before me, that has rage growing in her eyes, and I can see her reaching for her wand. My mind rushes, trying to find a way to explain what just happened without me having to resort to lethal methods to keep this woman quiet about this and to prevent her from killing me. Surprisingly a simple Gilderoy Lockhart plan comes to fruition, which I implement by starting to clap my hands vigorously.
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
"Congratulations, you are the first to pass the first barrier to getting this job. Might I add, your Occlumency is superb, definitely something that will help you get this position." I say with a happy, charming grin on my face as I nod my head and continuously clap my hands. This was the only thing I could think to do that wouldn't make things worse and might even de-escalate the situation. If anything, I am hoping that my unpredictable move will stun her and keep her from using her wand on me.
"YOU- You, what?" She starts, deflating as she hears what I say, which proves that my plan is working. Thankfully it seems to be working, but it doesn't take away from the fact that I have seriously messed up. I have just been using my mind magic so much lately, and I haven't run into any resistance whatsoever. I was using it all the time out in Muggle London. I used it on all the women I slept with to wipe their memories, I used it on all the applicants today, and without thinking, I used it on this woman.
"Oh, confused, are you? Well, let me explain. I have been testing the defences of all the applicants that came in today. Nothing invasive, just lightly checking their defences, and so far, no one at all had any sort of defences, all except you. But, of course, the position I am offering is contingent on you having good defences. I am trusting you with sensitive information after all, and you will have to guard that information." I explain, watching as the anger slowly bleeds from her face, though her expression is now stone cold without a hint of the warmth or kindness that was there before.
"Why didn't you just simply ask if I or any of the other people had Occlumenccy training? You know, instead of just invading our minds without permission." She says frostily, looking at me with cold eyes though I can only feel grateful that her hands are no longer reaching for her wand, now firmly clenched by her side.
"Well, of course, I could have done that, but I wouldn't have gotten a true answer from them. Most people lie in interviews to get jobs. I do not doubt that nearly all the people I interviewed today would lie about having Occlumency and then rush out to research it. The position you are looking to fulfil is that crucial and important I can't depend on the words of people, not without proper proof, so I decided just to test it myself. I am sorry if you are offended, that was not my intention, and I never intended to actually look into your mind. I was just seeing if you had defences." I say, though her face stays blank. However, her hands do stop clenching together.
"You are offering the position of secretary and financial advisor. What could those jobs possibly involve that would force you to test us in such a way?" She asks, using her logic and acting calmly, which I am excited to see since a levelheaded lady like this is just what I require. Not to mention she has Occlumency. But, of course, I wasn't lying when I said the job would need it, and I was just planning on hiring one of the muggle-borns and teaching them, maybe even getting a training partner out of them.
"That is just what I put in the ad, but the position entails so much more than that. So let's start over, I will tell you the complete details of the job I am offering, and we can start the interview again. Is that alright with you?" I say calmly, feeling that the situation has now calmed, and I am ready to get it back on track. This woman is by far the best candidate I have seen today, and I don't know anything about her except she has learnt Occlumency and she has a calm personality, demonstrated by the fact she didn't immediately blast my head off when I tried to read her mind.
"... Fine." She relents after a moment, and I restrain myself from pumping a fist in victory. She settles back into the position that she was in before, with her legs crossed and her hands over her knees, but this time there is no warmth, only cold in her expression, which is honestly fine. I can't decide which one I like better, the kind and warm look she has earlier or this cold and frosty look she has put on now. I can't pick which one I prefer, both being equally attractive.
"Now, please tell me your name and why you would like the job," I say once again, asking the very same first question I said to all the previous applicants that sat in that same chair, but this time I make no effort to use mind magic on the applicant. I genuinely would like the answer now since this woman is the very first to impress me today, and she was ready to murder me earlier when she was reaching for her wand, literally, and that kind of ruthlessness can be used and pointed in the right direction.
"I am Andromeda Tonks, and I am thirty-seven, and as for why I want this job? Well, as soon as I left Hogwarts, I got married and started a family, and now my child is fully grown and starting a life of her own, and my days are now left quite empty. However, I quite enjoyed your books while I was home alone, they filled the time, so when I saw your ad in the Daily Prophet, I decided to try out for this position, though I am now thinking that may have been a mistake." Oh, shit, Andromeda Tonks, as in the mother of Nymphadora Tonks and the sister of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, one of the Black sisters. I can't believe my luck. I want her even more now, in the employment sense, that is, nothing else, honest.
"Please don't let my earlier actions dissuade you. This is a tremendous opportunity for you, and I am sure you would kick yourself if you missed it. The true details of the job I am offering is very different from what I put in the paper. While there might be hints of secretary and financial advisor work, what you will be doing will be very different. Shall I go on, or do you want to leave? It is up to you." I say because I don't want to waste my time here if she is going to refuse, and I don't want to explain what I want her to do since I don't want that getting around. She is the only one I am offering this information to, since I planned to tell whoever I hired after they were hired.
"Go on, I might as well hear what you have to say, and as long as it's nothing fishy, then I'll consider it. I have nothing else to do anyway. Nymphadora is in her final year and will be moving out at the end of the year, and my husband is constantly working and stressed from his job. So I need something to do." Oh, well, the way she says it does not inspire confidence, but I am willing to take that chance. Plus, it seems like there are some problems at home, which is to be expected after around twenty years, but that just means she will focus her all on the job since she is bored at home with no one about.
"Good. I want to hire you to run a business for me, manage my assets and increase my wealth. Right now, I have a ton of Galleons just stored up in a vault in Gringotts, just rotting away, and I want to use it. You can't take it with you after all. I would be hiring you to use my wealth to make even more. You would be scouring the world and finding and investing in people with worthwhile projects." I also plan to have her manage my interest in the muggle world, but that is for later.
"That is about the gist of it, whaddya say?"