Witches, wizards, and wix throughout the United Kingdom sent thousands of owls to the Ministry of Magic last month after a mix-up of epic proportions. I am certain that many of our readers found themselves with a portkey to a destination that they had not requested or Floo powder that would not work. After getting back to the Daily Prophet offices from an unexpected trip to the Shetland Islands instead of Ballycastle, Northern Ireland for the Bats match (I did make it there halfway through the match, thankfully), I immediately started investigating what had happened. After all, it is rare that such big screw-ups happen!
Getting in touch with the Department of Magical Transportation proved a little difficult as there was an overabundance of other magical folks trying to do the same thing. Finally, I gave up trying to Floo and just went over to the Ministry myself. Passing through the Atrium, one could hear the grumbles of wizarding folk who were displeased with the situation. I must say that I do not blame them. It was very inconvenient trying to get from Shetland to Ballycastle!
Making my way out of the elevator to Level Six of the Ministry, I was met with quite a sight! The Department of Magical Transportation seemed to host not those affected from the United Kingdom, but also international diplomats! It was certainly unexpected to see so many people gathered in the office making their complaints known and trying to reorganize for portkeys to the correct places. After waiting patiently, I finally managed to get a moment to talk to the Department Head himself: Percy Weasley.
"I am ... not quite sure just yet what happened." The normally composed and well put together member of the famous Weasley family was rumpled, hair messy and glasses slightly askew as he rubbed his temples. "This is a disaster of unmitigated circumstances, and I am personally trying to find out what happened."
After passing over a headache potion I happened to have with me, I left the poor man and started asking around the Department. "Mr. Weasley will do everything he can to repair any damages this caused the Ministry," Roland Fitzpatrick, Percy Weasley's secretary, stated promptly. "I know several ambassadors were unhappy with the mix-up considering they were supposed to leave today for their home countries. But Mr. Weasley personally worked with them to get the correct international portkeys, and they seemed to be in a happier mood when they left."
"Really, Weasley should hand in his resignation over this!" Celestina Selwyn huffed as she waited impatiently to get a new batch of Floo powder. "This is an outrage, and if a proper pure-blood was running this Department, it would have never happened. Janitorial is where Weasley belongs, and I'll be making my opinion known to Polaris, my husband and member of the Wizengamot!" While it is understandable to be upset during this, some around Lady Selwyn immediately jumped to Percy's defense. Indeed, under his leadership, the Department of Magical Transportation is one of the few Departments that rarely has any trouble. His precision and proclivity to details instead has the Department running smoothly.
One source who wished to remain anonymous stated that they thought this was an act of sabotage against Percy Weasley, who is coming up for his yearly review next month. The source said that they had overheard a couple members of the Wizengamot planning something so that Percy's spotless record as Head of the Department would be tarnished. However, I must stress that this source has no actual proof as it was something they had overheard.
Regardless, it was less than twenty-four hours later when Percy Weasley made the following statement: "After an intense internal investigation, it was found that a member of the Portkey Office had not been taking the proper documentation on who requested a portkey and to where. This member has currently been suspended from their duties and is facing disciplinary action. In the matter of the Floo powder, Floo-Pow, the licensed producer here in Britain, has confirmed that their own investigation revealed that there were two batches of faulty Floo powder. This resulted in the Floo powder not working properly or giving off alternate colours. Floo-Pow is currently looking into how the faulty Floo powder was given their seal of approval and is currently recalling any powder that was purchased within the last month."
It certainly seems that Percy Weasley's aptitude for buckling down and working hard and efficiently managed to make him come out on top with this news. Murmurs among Ministry personnel are that he should be appointed to one of the Ministry seats amongst the Wizengamot for his dedication and thoroughness in finding out what had happened. One Department Head who also asked to not be named said that they think Percy handled the situation with decorum and most definitely brought more positive press to the Weasley family as a whole. It remains to be seen how the Ministry will react to the thoughts of its personnel. Hopefully, this gives Percy a very good review next month!