The long table in the Minister's Secretariat was rarely this quiet.
Three sealed boxes sat side by side on the table.
The red wax on their seals had not fully cooled.
They were like three bricks freshly pulled from a furnace.
The heat was not on the surface.
Yet it seared beneath everyone's eyes.
The young secretary opened the first box.
The corners of the pages were aligned.
A reference number was written on the cover.
Below it were a department name and a recommended course of action.
The secretary's hand paused.
"This doesn't look like a complaint."
The witch beside him leaned over for a look.
"Then what does it look like?"
The young secretary turned to the first page.
"Like homework being handed in."
Those words silenced several people around the long table.
Homework had become a dangerous word lately.
It brought Hogwarts to mind.
The Red List.
Thinking of Retraining.
And Dolores Umbridge.
The second box was opened.
It held even more parchment.
Some feedback forms even had little slips attached.
The slips listed page numbers.
They even marked line numbers in the attachments.
"Page thirteen, paragraph two."
The witch read quietly.
"Cites Hogwarts' experience in ranking-based management."
She turned to the next sheet.
"Page seventeen, footnote four."
"Conversion rate for Retraining for those ranked last."
Her voice grew quieter and quieter.
Not out of fear.
Out of embarrassment.
Because these people were not shouting nonsense.
They knew all too well what they were writing.
The old secretary put on his glasses.
"Does anyone oppose the job certification itself?"
The young secretary quickly leafed through several submissions.
"They have objections."
"But they aren't opposed."
"This one says it supports the Wartime Job Competency Certification."
He paused.
"Then it says, however, that it opposes citing humiliating school management