[Montrose Magpies Stadium] Between the Lines

"What is this about? Tell me something," the low, deep voice of the Montrose Magpies Captain demanded of the Minsitry officials who were escorting him to the meeting room within the Magpies team facility.

Circenn Kekoa Teague shrugged his way through the door, taking a seat he was motioned into after a moment's hesitation to only be rewarded with a 'please wait here, sir' and a slam of the door. The chaser glared at the door before exhaling heavily and stretching his long legs in front of him.

It was mid-morning and the team had been in the middle of practice. Coach had been barking out drills, the whistle on her lips as she watched her players zoom here and there, Circenn stopping to give the second stringers pointers when the Ministy officials flooded into the pitch. There were enough of them for Circenn to realize it didn't mean anything good and yet they were some of the most tight-lipped bastards he had even run into. They weren't telling him or his teammates anything. Just escorting them into separate rooms. A few seconds later, Circenn pushed himself out of the chair and paced the room. Except doing that only made him feel more caged because his long legs brought him from one side of the small room to the other in less steps than he would have thought.

He pushed a hand back over his hair, grabbing at the small bun at the nape of his neck before forcing himself to exhale again. He was worried for his teammates, for himself, and more than anything, he wanted to know what the hell this was about. They all had an important game coming up this weekend and they needed all the time they could get on the pitch. He rolled his wide shoulders, feeling the fabric of his practice robes stretch across the spanse of his back as he racked his brain for what the Ministry could want with him and his team. Circenn settled himself by placing his back against the wall facing the door, the coolness of the wall behind him radiating over his shoulders and cooling down his internal temperature. Or at least that's what he hoped. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back until it touched the wall, his toe still tapping an irritated rhytym.

And it was silent in the room except for his own breathing until the door swung open and Circenn blinked his eyes open, falling on the witch who stood in the doorway. "Who are you and what is going on?" he demanded of her immediately.

@Frida Trickett

Being Head of the Broom Regulation Office really was very thrilling! Frida was finding that there were so many perks to the job, more than she could have ever imagined! Her new pay, for a start, was excellent and she found she could splash out on a few things that she previously couldn't before. Being the boss meant she had her very own office and she could decorate it however she liked! She could get away with asking for tea from subordinates (which would've earned her odd looks before) and she found she was taken much more seriously by Ministry employees who weren't her co-workers! The Trickett didn't think she could be any happier with her job.

The high-spirited witch was in a flurry of excitement that morning when the Heads of Department of both Magical Transportation and Games and Sports briefed her on what could potentially turn into a huge scandal! It was always exhilarating when investigations had to be carried out, Fri thought, and she knew she had learnt a lot since the time she went on a 'field trip' with her boss and then head, Marcus, in Knockturn Alley but even though she had been head of the office for quite a few months she knew this would be her first major, hyped-up case. And boy, was she excited for the challenge!

As she and her colleagues made their way from the Ministry to the Quidditch Pitch, where intel had told her the scandal-causing team were practising, the Hufflepuff alumna began to think about the case in more detail. The rumour was that at least one or more members of the Montrose Magpies (or the whole team, according to the daily prophet, though Frida took that with a pinch of salt) had brooms which had been enhanced beyond the current Ministry specifications and regulations which, of course, would potentially send the Quidditch governing bodies and fans into a frenzy if the allegations were indeed true. Frida couldn't believe that anyone would try and play dirty like that, but the fact that the team was high up in the leagues did make them more suspicious, especially as Frida thought (in her very subjective opinion) that the Falmouth Falcons were a much better team. She was hesitant to be so judgemental on the accused team though since it was her job to be as unbiased as possible, and a family member was in the team too.

Her objectives for herself and her subordinates were more than clear; question all team members and their coach, seize their brooms and check them against the standards and report back and make a conclusion on whether the rumours were correct or not. After that... Well, she'd worry about that when she got to it.

Frida, who had a flair for the dramatics, ordered her colleagues to flood onto the pitch, some seizing the players' broomsticks, others escorting each member to their own interrogation room. This left only the bewildered coach, whom Fri immediately tried to appease before leaving her second-in-command in charge of her. Though the Trickett wanted to interrogate her family member, she knew it would be wrong and realised it was more fitting if the Head of the investigation, herself, interrogated the Head of the team, who apparently was Captain Circenn Teague. Strolling along the corridor of rooms, the brunette ensured each player had a colleague questioning them before heading into her own interrogation room.

The brunette opened the door with her hips lightly, carrying two glasses of water in her hands, holding the door open so that the trail of documents floating behind her had all managed to get through before gently shutting it. Though she was immediately addressed, she took her time with it, trying to create a relaxed atmosphere. Eventually, she turned around to face the voice and smiled brightly at him in an attempt to put him at ease. And myself. She'd seen the Montrose Magpie Captain many times on the Quidditch Pitch during matches with the Falcons but she'd never seen him so close before. He was an... impressive specimen, Frida thought.

"Apologies for the wait, Mr Teague. I hope you've not been waiting too long!" The Trickett placed the glasses down on the table before snapping her fingers, whilst beaming at the Captain, causing all the papers to float down onto the table and start arranging themselves. As soon as they had finished, the Hufflepuff alumna sat down and finally introduced herself. "I'm Frida Trickett, Head of the Broom Regulation Office, at your service!" She smiled warmly before cheerfully continuing, "I'm sure you have an awful lot of questions for me, but as it turns out, I have a lot of questions for you! So, let's collaborate to answer each other's, shall we? To start with, do you have any idea why I'm here, sir?" Fri pulled out her wand, twirling it in her hand a few times before gasping and adding an enthusiastic "Oh! And help yourself to the water, it fills itself up!"

Her hesitancy to get started or answer the questions he had flung at her when she first walked in made his stomach knot. This couldn't be good. From where he stood against the wall, his eyes watched the long trail of papers that followed her and neatly began to set themselves up on the table. What was this about that required this amount of paperwork? It gave him a foreboding feeling and he didn't like it.

The niceties she said to him upon greeting didn't do anything to improve his mood, however. He knew he had been rude. Not even bothering to introduce himself at the first, but his anger and irritation were getting the better of him. He would've introduced himself but that was a moot point since she already knew exactly who he was.

Circenn reminded himself that she was just trying to do her job, but he just wanted to get to the bottom of this. "No, I don't have any idea what is going on," he nearly growled at her. But then he sighed heavily as he tried to calm himself, his eyes finding his shoes, as he took a moment to himself. As he inhaled, he took a few steps toward the table, pulled out the chair and dropped into in, crossing his arms over his chest. He was a little calmer now and he looked at her with almost an apology in his eyes. He reminded himself again that she was just doing her job. "Can you tell me what's going on please?"

Frida brushed a hand through her hair, surprised that the Quidditch player had absolutely no clue about what was going on. It didn't even occur to the gullible witch that the captain could have been lying, she trusted what he said. News and rumours clearly travelled extraordinarily quickly if the person whom the news was about wasn't even aware of it. His gruff tone didn't have any effect on her and it went completely over the Trickett's head as she continued to smile warmly at him. Before she answered his question, the Head of the Broom Regulation Office took a sip of water. The excitable witch was trying to keep it slow, something the former head had pleaded with her to try and do when she first accepted the role. "I'm certainly glad we got to you before you read the papers this morning, then." The brunette laughed, trying to keep light of the very grave situation Mr Teague found himself in.

The Hufflepuff alumna felt a little sorry for the man sat in front of her. She always did have a soft spot for Quidditch players. A situation like this was never easy, especially when the person had absolutely no clue because she then had to watch their first reaction to the allegations. Still, the Trickett found that to be a positive thing because their reaction would often be very telling. She had a good opportunity in her hands at that moment, and she wasn't going to waste it.

"Well," she began lightly, offering yet another reassuring smile to Mr Teague, "as I'm sure you are aware, the league playoffs are quickly approaching!" Frida trailed off, clapping her hands excitedly, she loved watching the final matches of the year! They were always so fast-paced and exhilarating! "Oh! Well, anyway," she rambled, trying to calm down and get herself back on track, "because of that, the Ministry is cracking down hard on the rules regarding forbidden broom brands or enhanced and modified brooms which are beyond Ministry specs. As I'm sure you'll appreciate, any rumours or claims against a team must be taken seriously and investigated, especially at this time, in order to make sure each team has a fair chance." The Trickett paused, flicking her hand so that the piece of paper she would need in a moment wriggled its way out of the pile and rested in front of her, before she continued with a warm, non-threatening tone. "Unfortunately, an allegation has been made against a few members of the Montrose Magpies..." Her eyes made contact with the captain at this point, her look apologetic as she finally finished her sentence, "Including yourself."

Her hands lifted up in a calming, gentle manner, following the sunny woman's compassionate nature to the letter. "Your broomsticks have been seized for examination and testing and I promise you," Frida placed emphasis on her words, not wanting to upset the captain any more than she needed to, "I have my best and brightest dealing with them. They'll be taken care of to the best of our ability." The Ministry witch smiled gently once more at Mr Teague. "Your teammates are also being questioned as we speak... but please, don't think of this as an interrogation. I don't believe in those," the friendly woman explained, "just think of this as a friendly little talk. And please, if you do have anything you want to say, on or off the record, don't hesitate to tell me. I'm not just here to ruin your day, I'm here to help you and your team as much as I can."

The former Hufflepuff gave the Quidditch player a few moments to potentially collect himself, as she took another few sips of water. Once Frida felt she had given him enough time, the Ministry employee beamed lightly as she chirped a simple "Okay! Let's start. Do you have any reason, any reason at all... however insignificant you think it might be, that any of your teammates might be cheating?" The kind and empathetic woman wanted to keep the heat of the captain for as long as possible, even if he was the prime suspect.