Kapitel 28: Development
Rose had to admit, she was looking forward to this day. She would finally get to do what she came here for. She would see the Death Eaters behind bars. And she would see what the chances were of them needing her help to escape again.
Thomas seemed a bit nervous. She tried to give him an encouraging smile, but she wasn't sure she succeeded. Okay, maybe she was a little nervous herself. Her dream from last night was not helping. What had that been? She had to collect herself.
At breakfast, she got an owl. It was, as she suspected, from her "aunt". She smiled, reading the letter.
"What is it?" Thomas asked her. Oops. It wasn't like Kevin to smile much. She had to explain why a letter would suddenly make Kevin happy.
"It's from my aunt. She heard about me getting a job here and she wanted me to know she is proud of me."
"Really? How did she hear about that?"
That was a good question. She hadn't thought about that. "I needed an address when I filled out the application to be a guard. Hers was the last one I had here in Britain that I could remember. Maybe they sent a reply there.
Or she could have heard it from some of her friends. She is the kind of person that has friends everywhere, hears everything. Which is why I was sort of a disappointment to her. I didn't fit with her image. Now though, she thinks I can be her gossip supplier from Azkaban. I should've known." She threw the parchment in the bin. Of course, it was only the spare bit of parchment she had in her pocket, not the actual letter. She would read and decipher that in private later. But Kevin would probably be annoyed as well.
"Well, at least she cares. I mean, it'll be nice to have someone to write to you. It reminds you that there is a world outside this prison."
"True. I'll probably be writing her back. Just not right away. I don't want to sound too eager."
Then there was time. Their first face-to-face with the Death-Eaters.
It was anticlimactic. Rose and Thomas went into the corridor with the food. They accepted it without a word. The worst they got was a glare. Lestrange barely even glanced in her direction. She had worried that he would recognise her right away, but clearly, he didn't bother to study every guard the same way he had studied Rose Malfoy. Not yet anyway. Maybe he would be more bored later.
Later that day, Rose looked at the letter she had received. It was very good. Her mother mentioned many things that would enable them to talk in codes in later letters. She started writing a return message, thanking her for the letter, and talking in general terms of how life as a guard was less exciting than she had imagined, but that she had had an "exciting start" with the Minister's arrival. She was quite pleased with the letter.
She used her "alone time" that evening to sneak around under the Invisibility Cloak. She spent some time in the Death Eater ward, but no one there was talking, or doing much of anything. One of the old guards came with food, and the only difference she could see was that he got even worse glares than she had gotten.
Thomas came running towards her, when she chose to become visible again. "There you are Kevin. I've been looking for you! Barnsby wants to talk to you."
"Talk to me? About what?"
"He didn't say. He just told me to go find you, he seemed a bit annoyed that you weren't in our room."
"Well, there is no rule that says we have to stay in the common areas. But where is he now?"
"He's waiting in his office. You should go there right away."
Rose nodded and walked over to where Barnsby now had his office. She knocked and was told to come in. She was a little nervous, though she probably had no reason to be. But what would Barnsby want to talk to her about? Was he suspicious?
"Kevin. There you are. Where have you been?" Barnsby asked when she had closed the door.
"Sorry, sir. I've been up on the higher floors, walking. I like to walk up there alone, when I am not on duty. It relaxes me."
Barnsby looked at her suspiciously for a few moments. Rose tried to not look guilty. "I heard you were looking for me, sir?"
"Yes. I have decided to have a short conversation with all of you new recruits. You got a rough start on your employment here and I wanted to be sure that you feel well taken care of. Life here can be pretty dull, and I hope you don't judge us all on the events that happened in the last week."
Rose was surprised. She hadn't pegged Barnsby as the caring type. Maybe she had judged him too quickly. Or maybe he just wanted to see whether she was the type to be swayed to his side.
The next thing she knew, she was back in her own room. How did she get here? What had happened? She tried to remember. She had gone into Barnsby's office. What had happened then? She had a headache. Had Barnsby placed her under a spell? If so, how had she escaped from it?
Pieces of her conversation with Barnsby started to come back to her.
"If I asked you to do something, would you do it?"
"Yes"
"In a few days, I might ask you to help me get a few of the prisoners out of their cells and into a boat. Would you do that?"
"Yes."
"Good. You would do whatever I say, wouldn't you?"
"Yes. You're the boss"
"That's right."
Rose could hardly believe it. Had Barnsby done this to all the guards? Was this how he managed such tight control? How did he plan to get away with this in the long run?
She had to tell her mother about this! She scrambled to find the letter she was going to send.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein