Push and Pull (Sirius Black X Reader)

Chapter 15

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"Well, no, I don't think we should do it this way."

"It's more efficient if we make the cuts."

"At the expense of a lot of people."

"Listen, Y/N," Hal says, "it makes sense to weed out the old ones, make some cuts, regulate what we allow in—"

"Well, maybe, but we're meant to keep everything. And it's not like there's that many prophecies that need storing. There's not that many prophets to begin with, so—"

"No, you're not understanding," Hal says, holding a hand out to stop me from talking. "It doesn't make sense to keep old prophecies after they've already come true. We can free up space."

"All right, but it's not easy to determine if a prophecy actually has been realized, and there can always be misinterpretations. Plus, this wing was founded with the intention of keeping record of the prophecies, which is best done by keeping them, not to mention—"

"We can document them on paper," he says, "and anyone with a brain can determine if a prophecy has come true."

"What about the Great Prophecy of 1909? Everyone thought it was resolved until Francis Handler was crushed by a filing cabinet."

"That's an outlier."

"Well, who's to say what's an outlier and what's not if we just toss every old prophecy out?"

"You're arguing for the sake of arguing," he says. "You forget that you have no authority here anymore."

"I have seniority."

"Seniority doesn't mean shit after what you pulled in eighty-one," he says quietly. "If you want to make the rules, then maybe you should have thought of that before you went off the rails."

I stop arguing and look at the ground. Hal says, "I'm going forward with the proposal, and it's going to get approved because it's the smart thing to do. If you oppose me during the committee hearing, I'm going to demote you to the secretary position in the entrance room, and then you'll never get to see how much better the Hall of Prophecy looks once my reorganization plan goes through."

"You can't demote me," I say quietly.

"Once my proposal goes through, I'm getting promoted. If you keep your pretty mouth shut, I won't demote you. Simple as that." I don't respond. "See, you're already making good progress. See you around, Cupcake."

I watch as he leaves my office, glaring at the bald spot on the back of his stupid head. Once he's gone, I close the door and collapse into my chair, staring at the ceiling to try and keep the tears inside. Stupid Hal with his stupid suits and his stupid combover and his stupid nicknames.

He's been creating a proposal to reorganize the Hall of Prophecy, wanting to discard old prophecies and make new regulations to get prophecies admitted into the hall. Which makes no sense and prevents the Hall from serving its purpose, but apparently I'm not understanding. Hal was once my inferior, back when I first started here. He started a couple years after I did, and he answered to me. Until I was bumped down.

There's been an opening for my old position. Rosie, the woman who took my spot, has decided to transfer to the Department of Magical Transportation to reform the broom laws. I've been toying around with the idea of reapplying for my old position, but I know it'll be a lot of work. I'm not sure how to proceed. Not to mention the competition.

I sigh and gather my things, and then I clock out for the day. When I pass by Hal's office, I can't help looking in, and he wiggles his hairy fingers in a condescending wave. I ignore him. I go to the apparation center and close my eyes, focusing on Sirius' house.