Evangeline hadn't always appreciated the start of a new year. Most recently they had had to deal with a new department head every year and another treacherous start of the year meeting that was pointless and bland. But this year, even though they got a new department head... it was Alexa Cambridge. And her meeting was five minutes long. And Alexa Cambridge was a boss. So, needless to say, Evangeline was in a good mood this year.

She had some things on her mind as of late, and some decisions to consider. Angelo, of course was supportive of her, which she always appreciated. The Auror twisted the ring on her left finger slightly before knocking on the door of her new Department Head.

She hadn't actually been in her office, needing to make a stop down in the daycare like she did. It was amazing how much longer days felt when Emmerson didn't have classes to go to and today was no exception to that remarkable revelation.

Heading back to her office, she slowed at the sight of Evie already waiting there. Oh. Had she missed an appointment? "Shacklebolt." Lex greeted, finally closing the distance between them. Not bothering to draw her wand, she non-verbally and wandlessly removed the curses in place.

Alexa nudged the door open and gestured the younger woman forward.

This wasn't a social call, she knew that much. Her Aurors had always been good at managing themselves and not wasting time. They were also good at not wasting other people's time...something that could not be said for the past few Department Heads they'd had. So, no, she didn't think the Auror was popping by to say hello and was rather curious to know what it was actually about.

"Sit wherever. It's all the same to me." She offered, sinking into her own seat behind her desk.

A hint of a smile appeared on her lips when Alexa appeared and came down the hall. "Afternoon," she replied as she waved away the charms on her door. That was what she wanted. Her own office. Alexa had surely deserved it and she wouldn't want anyone else sitting behind this door. But Evie wanted her own, too. Though, it would get tiring, sitting at a desk for hours at a time...

The Auror followed her new department head into her office and looked around with a somewhat pleased smile. "You know, I like this," she said as she took a seat on one of the couches. "You've earned it."

And that was all the socialness that was necessary.

"I wanted to talk to you about the YATIL position. I'd like to apply." Did she need more information?

That meeting was... so quick.

But it was good, though. Long meetings weren't her favorite because she often got bored and sleepy. After they got dismissed, Ava decided to reach the department head because she wanted to talk about her.... condition. Well, she knew pretty much about how she couldn't be promoted as an auror yet since she left in the middle of her last training year. It would be good if she got a chance to be back because after all, being an auror was still her ambition.

Taking a deep breath, the 21 year-old knocked the door and waited. It's going to be fine, Ava. It's going to be fine. Her mind kept reciting those sentences.

The comment got the faintest smile out of her too. It was nice, wasn't it? At first, she thought she'd absolutely hate it, but after fitting it to exactly how she wanted, things weren't looking so bad. "I've decided it's not the worst office I could suddenly be forced to spend more time in." A sentiment she was sure Evie could understand. When you were out in the field near constantly, a desk and an office did sorta feel like confinement.

But good, they were getting to the serious stuff. While Lex liked Shacklebolt, she didn't like small talk. It irked her beyond words. The woman had never had the patience for it and didn't think the new position would change that.

"Thank Merlin." Was her first reaction.

"Good. Someone has to deal with them and I was half worried no one would want to." The attitudes toward some of the recent YATI didn't go unnoticed. Hiring outside the division would've been a royal pain in her rear. "Tell me what you can bring to the position."

The knock on the door drew her head up up from the pile of papers she was currently pouring over--and getting a mild headache from. She shot a brief glance over at the bulletin board by the door, looking to see if whoever it was bothered to write their name on the board on the other side but no such luck. She'd have to wait til whoever came in did.

"Come in." Lex called out.

Yes, Evie did understand. She liked being out in the field, working, running around, getting stuff done. Coming into the office wasn't bad work, but she could only handle so much before she needed to get back outside. So yes, she got it.

Now, onto business.

Honestly, Evangeline was having a little trouble remembering that Alexa was now her boss and not just her friend, and she needed very much to speak with professionalism... but she needed Alexa to understand as well. "To be honest... I don't think anyone does want to." Which meant that she didn't really want to, if she was being honest.

"I was a YATI once. They're cocky, they think they know it all. I was guilty of that too and sometimes I still am. I'll be honest, I don't know how much patience I'll have with them. But... I'll whip them into shape. If nothing else, I'm stubborn and I don't deal with people's.... crap. They'll respect me, they'll respect you and the department, or I'll push them until they do." And she wasn't going to accept anything else. Was that okay with her?

Taking a deep breath, Ava stepped in entering the office once Cambridge had let her in. And now what? Right, she came here to talk about her future in this program and that's what she should say to the department head. It's not that difficult, was it? "Good morning.. Miss Cambridge." Or is it almost noon? Okay, it didn't really matter right? "I would like to talk about... my future in YATI program." The 21 year-old tried to not sound nervous while mentioning it.

Gulp.

It was a well known admission. The fact Evie showed up to request the position was a small surprise in itself. Aurors were busy people. They were always on the go and always on edge with that constant vigilance. Most wouldn't have the patience to deal with essentially children; overgrown children who were just tall enough to graduate Hogwarts. It was like she'd said. they were cocky. More than that, they were reckless, loose at times. Tried to do more than they were trained or qualified for. Much like Shacklebolt, she'd also been guilty of that--dangerously so. Her higher ups had knocked her down several pegs and she was grateful for it, even if back then it made her blood boil in all the worst ways.

"I like that answer." It gave her less worries about the hands the future of the department might be left in. "There's been a lack of some of that in recent years." And it was noticeable.

"Here's the thing. They need the guidance, the firm discipline, someone to remind them what they are until they become something else. You won't disagree a few have either forgotten or never knew." And it was the reason most currently in the department didn't want the position.

Before she'd become Head Auror, she'd considered YATIL, just to puff up her qualifications....but even if Vivi didn't hold the position, looking back, she wasn't sure she'd have had the patience. Shacklebolt admitting she wasn't sure she did wasn't a deterrent, it was an honest assessment rather than a lie to gain position, which she appreciated. "You'll need to be tough when it's called for. Revoke privileges, set desk assignments, suspensions. You'll also need to be fair. Like them or not, reward when they're exceptional--not to spoil but to encourage." So not EVERY TIME but enough to keep morale. "Is this something you think you'd be able to do?"

Oh. Burton. She'd been expecting her, and sooner than later based on the subject that needed discussing. "Morning." Lex gestured her into one of the seats opposite her at the desk while she levitated a file over from her cabinet.

It took a bit of scrolling to find the documents she was looking for but when she found them and spread them across the table for them both to have a look.

"Finished the first year, finished the second year. The third is the one you had issues with." Rather than scroll through the entire document, she looked to the younger woman. "How much of your third year did you get through. Give me the months."

She was nervous about it, truly, but Evangeline knew she was right for the job. It was a lot of work, but she could handle it. They were a bunch of overgrown children, but she could handle them. She would. Believing in herself had gotten her this far and it was going to continue to take her far. She was nervous, but she wasn't intimidated.

This was a step up the ladder. When she was younger, Evie had decided that she wanted to be an auror. Well, she had made it. She got her dream job. But the dreams didn't stop there. She wanted to keep going. This was another step.

She listened to her new boss and nodded. She needed to be tough, yes. Tough, fair, but also appreciative when they did well. When Alexa asked, Evangeline nodded. "It is. I can handle it."

Giving a small nod, Ava then took a seat once the department head had asked her to. Okay, what now? But before she talked, Cambridge had gotten her personnel files and spread them across the table so she could look at them by herself. Yes, she didn't finish her third year which was the reason why this one right here came to see the department head.

"Nine months." The 21 year-old answered. She vividly remembered when her life sort of went downhill started from the end of September last year, then the diagnosis and decision to leave the country for some sort of mental health recovery. Since then Ava lost hope to be back at YATI because she had missed too much and was afraid not be able to catch up. After all, being an auror was her dream and she didn't want to give it up.

It was no small task wrangling overly confident but under skilled children. A few of them had forgotten their places and lacked the discipline that the department typically demanded. Lex nodded once, pleased Shacklebolt wouldn’t he backing down despite the criteria she’d just outlined for her. Not backing down was a good sign. Those who were afraid of a little extra work were among her least favourite in all her years working in MLE.

“You’ll have to get them up to speed on expectations, acceptable behaviour, when to step up and when to step down. What ranking is and where they fall in the ranking. All that stuff. It’ll be your job to ensure that by the time they become Aurors, they aren’t the sort their partner would intentionally leave to die out in the field.” Otherwise they’d be permanently stuck on desk work being the liability that they would become and that was plainly a waste of resources.

“How do you plan to go about that and everything else I’ve listed.” Being willing was one thing, being capable was another. She wanted to ensure this one was both.

Nine? That was nearly the entire year. Just a little longer and they wouldn’t be here having this conversation. But they were here and it needed sorting. The situation here was a bit tricky. YATI was ongoing training, you had to be physically and mentally up to the tasks set before you. A break from that could potentially see skills slipping. This was the sort of occupation where your life quickly became centred around your work.

“Wish you’d have stuck out those last three months, I won’t lie, but I understand where it’s coming from.” Her own sister had taught her the severity of these sorts of situations and she herself had a little stake in there as well. It was the sort of thing you couldn’t entirely sweep under the rug and move on from when it struck.

“So here’s what we’ll do. You’ll train with the third year YATI but on an accelerated program, mostly to get your body back into the shape it needs to be. I won’t have you join the ranks then quickly fall out because of poor conditioning. You’ll begin the modules you never started and complete the ones you left in the middle of. That’s still more time on your hands than the average YATI so you’ll be helping Simon out with security when you’re not offsite for training. Any questions so far?” Before she continued.

Yes, she understood very much about how she left just three months into her last training year. If using time-turner were allowed, Ava would like very much to go back at that September and dealt with all the mess she had made, including finished her YATI. But it already happened and now... here she was. At least Cambridge understood about her condition that made her had to leave.

Listening carefully to the department head, Ava mentally made a note on her head. Accelerated program? Well, it was kind of relieved that she didn't need to start all over again but still, it was quite a challenge. "I do, yeah." She nodded when Cambridge asked her. "Does this mean there is a tiny possibility I could complete my program before end of the year?" Because she thought so. Ava also wanted to ask if helping with security team was mandatory but she decided not. It's not that she didn't want to help Bennett and the security team, but she had another job outside her YATI program which she needed to earn extra galleons for pay the rent.

Lex nodded. "I'd say there's every possibility you could be done the program before the year's out but that's somewhat dependent on you, your performance, how well you fall back into the swing of things and an evaluation by a certified Healer." All very self explanatory things. Surely Burton didn't need her to explain the why behind the necessity of each thing she'd just listed.

"I don't expect this to take more than 6 months, but again, that's entirely up to you and your progress. It could be longer." But given everything she'd have to catch up on, and the new modules to tackle as well as finishing the ones she'd suddenly left, she didn't anticipate it being much shorter.

"I'll let Simon know to be expecting you. He'll give you the run down of things he might need help with and how ministry security works. Take it seriously, it'll count toward an evaluation of your attitude toward work." Something taken very seriously in this department--at least with her own Aurors. They didn't have time for free loaders or those who lacked drive and motivation.

Six months. Considering how many modules left she needed to complete, it seemed quite reasonable. Just like what her department head had mentioned, it all depended on her effort and the other evaluation, including from the healer. "Alright, ma'am." Ava nodded. Surely this wasn't an easy challenge for herself and as long as her mental health was stable enough, she could do this. In six months she could be promoted to be a junior auror. Hopefully.

And it seemed helping with the ministry security wasn't an option because it's also part of her evaluation. Okay, if that's what she wanted, Ava would do it. "I will take it seriously, Miss Cambridge. I'm ready whenever Mr. Bennett needs me." Cue a little nod. "Now if you excuse me, I need to start my training."

“That’s what I wanna hear.” Work ethic was important. Taking whatever job one happened to be assigned seriously was important. If Burton kept up this apparent inclination toward work, there would be no issues.

“Of course, I’ll let you get back to your work.” With a slight wave of her hand, the door swung open for her to exit. They were done here and now she had her own work that needed getting back to. Following the door, the opening to the appropriate drawer in the filing cabinet swung open and the files were replaced. Without a personal assistant, she couldn’t afford to let things get too messy.

A little later on today, she would stop by Simon’s desk and let him know about this new development.

Evangeline was a Shacklebolt. They didn't back down. Even in the face of untrained YATI.

"I want to go over the training expectations," she said immediately after Alexa asked her question. She had been taking time to think about this. "The times have changed and I want to make sure our guide is up to date. I want to meet with them individually, periodically, make sure they understand their expectations and meet their goals." And those meetings would be brief. Everyone in the MLE knew how much the MLE hated meetings.

"They'll need constant evaluation. Training in pairs to prepare them for a partnership. They'll get docked serious points if they can't handle teamwork." She knew one YATI in particular who might struggle with that. "It's going to take a lot of work, but I'm prepared to make them the best YATIs since Angelo and me." She finished that sentence with a hint of a smile. Oh yeah, Benzi was alright too.

She knew of YATIs better than Evie and Angelo, there had been many. They turned out to be some of the best Aurors—and Head Aurors in some cases—that the department had ever had even to this day but Lex wasn’t about to go around the bush about all that. The basic meaning behind the sentiment was what she focused on and it meant that things would get done.

Alexa was thoughtful a moment, silently considering the plan of action before nodding again.

“Alright. I like where it’s headed. Consider the position yours. Do you wanna talk paygrade or you wanna leave that as a surprise til the next cheque bounces in?” Only the faintest hint of an amused smile at that.

Level two. Magical Law Enforcement. It was a place Grace Hensley had not been in over a year. She had enjoyed her maternity leave. It had been nice to spend time with her two children, even if having two of them was hard work. But now it was time to get back to work. Ezra had just turned one, and now she wanted to return to work. Being an auror was as much her identity as being a mom was. That meant she needed to get back to work, and back out in the field. She had spent the last four or so months getting back into shape. Having a toddler, and a baby had helped with that, but she had been out running, spending time and the gym, and honing her wand work. Being an auror was a dangerous job, and she needed to be at her peak when she got back in the field.

The brunette smiled to herself as she wandered through the familiar office. She had missed this place, and it felt like home so much. She smiled, standing outside the department heads office for a moment, composing herself, but knocking. Today was the day she returned to being an auror, and she was excited.

Lex was in office at this hour solely for the reason she was expecting Grace. There was somewhere else she needed to be but not before 1. There was plenty of time. While she waited, she looked through a few of the papers she'd gotten from Emmerson's dance school about an upcoming recital and things needed. The knock on the door drew her from her list making.

"Come in." She said, gesturing the door open with the smallest wave of her hand. Her wand still in its holster, there was no point drawing it for such a simple task.

While she waited, she gestured the drawer to the filing cabinet open too and summoned Grace's file under the assumption it was the younger woman. This was the time they were scheduled to meet and she wasn't expecting anyone else.

If she was honest Grace was excited to be back at work. She hadn't had much time in the field, what with having a child in the middle of her YATI training, and then having Ezra a year after finally completing her training. It had been hard work, but she had achieved all of her goals. A family, and an auror. It had been worth it all. So she was excited now to get back in the field, and to the job that had taken her so long to get qualified in. She might not have had as much experience has some of the other aurors, but she was talented, and she was hard working. She was excited to get back out there, and do something for her.

She smiled, as the door opened and she stepped into the room. She was happy that Alexa was the new department head. She would be good at the role. "Hello Alexa" She murmured with a smile as she came into the room. "Thanks for arranging a time to see me!"

She was slightly nervous, but didn't show it. She was confident, too. She knew she wasn't the best, but she was possibly the best option that the department currently had. Maybe. Regardless, she was fairly confident that the position was hers. Alexa didn't deal with people longer than she wanted to and she was clearly entertaining the idea.

A small smile touched her lips when she heard the words from the department head's mouth. As for paygrade... "I trust you to pay me as much as you would have liked to be paid." Alexa hadn't had the position, but her paycheck had obviously increased over the years. She knew what to do and Evangeline trusted her. Besides, money wasn't everything.

It was her job to make time, preventing Lex from understanding any sort of gratitude Grace may have been feeling--practical like that--but the Department Head nodded all the same. "Of course, have a seat." She gestured to the chair opposite hers at her table while she began collecting everything on her desk into a neat pile. These she would get back to later. Hopefully she'd have more of a head for it by then.

"Done sitting at home going mad I take it?" There was the faintest hint of a smile at that. She vaguely remembered her own maternity leave. Most of it, for her, was dying to go back to work and constantly avoiding her motherly duties if she could get away with it. A horrible time she was in no rush to get back to. Don't get her wrong, she adored her daughter. Emm was the most important thing in her life.

That said, she didn't want to revisit those early days. Hardly a good memory there.

"Sounds like we're done here then." Was there a single MLE-er who didn't understand how precious time was? Probably not. This was a busy department on a whole. With nothing pressing NEEDING to be discussed in the moment regarding the position she was now relieved to have filled, Lex felt comfortable putting an end to the exchange, afterall they weren't sitting at the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, no they were still on the clock.

"I'll send the necessary paperwork over to the payroll department and make the necessary changes to your file but I'll leave the introductions to you." Let Shacklebolt break the news and deal with whatever arose. It was now her problem--er....job.

"Have a report written up by the end of their trimester for me to review. I'll also be hosting a special training for them. You'll get that report when it's done. Outside of that, you're free to go."

Well, that was easy. She had known it wouldn't be too hard, but Evangeline was prepared to fight for it if she needed to. But honestly, like they had said... no one really wanted this job. So she had been pretty confident.

"Sounds great," she responded with a pleased smile. She was almost tempted to make an invitation to join her at the Leaky or a place owned by Angelo's family, but... what would they even talk about outside of work? Maybe later.

Evie nodded at the request of the write up at the end of the trimester. She would get that done. She would do her best and then she would do even better. She stood up. "Thanks, boss. I'll see you around." And with that and her pleased smile, she turned on her heel and left the office.

This Grace did understand, but she still thought it polite to say. She wanted to get off on a good foot with her new boss. She didn't intend on having any more babies any time soon, and so was ready to focus on her career. Or at least, she wanted to focus as much as she could with two small children at home. Luckily she had a great husband. Grace was happy to finally be going back to work though. It would be good to do something for herself, and she couldn't wait to get back into the field.

She smiled as she took a seat. She didn't know how this conversation would go, but she couldn't wait to get back into training, and do the job that she had worked really hard. "Oh yes" She murmured with a little laugh. She adored her kids, but it was hard work being at home with them all the time. At least Narcissa could kind of do her own thing now. She was looking forward to getting out, and being able to have some time with actual adults without kids.

"I adore my kids. But I'm ready to actually have some adult conversation, and so something non-kid related"