Advantageous Opportunities [Elle]

[Rowena Jones]

July was always temperamental in England. One day could feel like the height of summer, the next it would be grey and gloomy with a high chance of drizzle. Today was one of the latter and Rowena snuggled further into her jacket, her hands wrapped around a large coffee mug. She was inside Florish and Blotts which in recent years had made a small addition of a cozy café where patrons were invited to grab a book, a drink and some cake and waste away the hours of the day.

It was one of Rowena’s favourite places. Books, knowledge and coffee. What more could a girl want? She didn’t have all day to waste today unfortunately. She didn’t even have her lunch hour on which she was currently enjoying. No, Healer Withyck had left on emergency Maternity leave after her twins had been born two months early, leaving an annoyingly empty position in Rowena’s staff. She’d been moping about the loss, she needed her staff more than ever after the Flux had returned its victims. There had been an increase in work load, too many splinches to count, as well as quite a few paranoid people throwing one too many curses around.

She supposed she could understand it, for them the Demon Wars had only just ended. She’d probably be on edge too, but it had been rather bothersome. She gone to Milton to beg a Healer from a different department when he’d suggested she meet with a ‘Elle Callahan’. So here she was, waiting for the woman who would hopefully solve her woes. She glanced down at the file Milton had passed to her. Elle was apparently one of the aforementioned Returned, but beyond her date of birth and a few other basic details, there wasn't much to go on. She'd just have to see if this Elle was up to her standards herself.

[Elle Callahan]

Nerves rushed through Elle Callhan like poison. It took three tries to put on lipstick because her hand wouldn't stop shaking. It was bloody ridiculous. She didn't want to feel like a first year going to the head master's office. She was a bloody grown woman. She could take the floo to Diagon Alley. She wouldn't die. The magical catastrophe that took away 17 years of her life wasn't going to repeat itself. At least according to some ministry goon. Elle needed to get over her fear. She needed this job. She couldn't crash with Alex Kameren for the rest of her life. She'd go mad with pining after something she couldn't have. A part of her wanted to cancel the meeting. It'd only been a few days since she'd been back. Maybe she was rushing things. No. She'd just have to suck it up and go. She'd asked Milton for this chance and he delivered. She was lucky anyone was considering her a good candidate for a job at all. Hogwarts had practically laughed in her face. It had been a long shot considering it was the middle of the term. Going back to St. Mungos wouldn't be that bad. Elle needed the distraction of a past paced maddening environment.

Elle gave each dog a pet on the head and flooed to the leaky cauldron. She'd nearly tumbled out of the fire place, landing on her arse. She did a quick dusting off spell and headed into the alley. She froze shocked out the difference 17 years could make. The alley was bright and shiny like a new sickle. Hundreds of people were bustling about no fears of demons keeping them home. New businesses had opened up, others had expanded. Elle had been confused at first why they were meeting at the bookstore but she understood as soon as she walked in and saw signs for the Cafe. Elle took a deep breath and quickly made her way into the cafe, dogging a waiter with a tray as she looked for Rowena. Elle clutched a parchment folder with her resume, outdated as it was. She spotted a woman alone at a table. She matched Milton's description so Elle approached a smile on her face.

"Excuse me, but are you Rowena Convington?" Eden asked a hopeful smile on her face. At the acknowledgement, Eden held out her right hand.

"Elle Callahan, thank you so much for taking the time to meet me. I know you're time is precious. It must be a mad house at the hospital these days. I'll be quick about it, if I may. I don't want to keep you too long. Here's my resume." She said offering it to the woman, praying she wasn't speaking too fast or being too forward. She just remembered how hard it was to take a break away from the hospital. It was a precious thing.

Elle took a seat, folding her hand to hide her nerves.

[Rowena Jones]

"Excuse me, but are you Rowena Convington?"

Rowena glanced up to see a tiny young woman who appeared to be a little bit younger than herself. She nodded sharply and stood to shake the other woman’s hand.

"Elle Callahan, thank you so much for taking the time to meet me. I know you're time is precious. It must be a mad house at the hospital these days. I'll be quick about it, if I may. I don't want to keep you too long. Here's my resume."

Rowena glanced in amusement at Elle as she took the proferred document. “Please take a seat Elle, do you want a coffee or cake? They make an excellent carrot cake here,” she said sitting down herself and taking a look at the parchment in front of her.

Elle had a good application, decent grades at Hogwarts, training at Mungos, experience at Hogwarts… Rowena had certainly had worst applicants start in her department and they had done pretty well for themselves. Rowena was strict in terms of what she expected from her staff but in return she gave them as many opportunities as she could and tried to push them to be the best they could. No, the experience was plenty enough to give the other woman a chance. The obvious ghost in the room was the missing 17 years.

It was tricky really. It wasn’t as if Elle had taken a break and had a chance to forget all she had learnt, but there was still 17 years in which magical healing had been able to develop and Elle hadn’t been around for them. There’d be new techniques to learn, new ways of doing things… Rowena sighed and took a big sip of her coffee.

“I’ll be blunt. I’m a tad concerned about the fact that you’ve missed 17 years. And that you never actually specialized in Spell Damage. It’s a tricky department to jump into after such a big absence. One mistake and you can make what you’re trying to fix even worse.” She said as she put her mug down. “You’ve not been returned long. What makes you want to come work for my department so soon after such a huge event?”

[Elle Callahan]

Please take a seat Elle, do you want a coffee or cake? They make an excellent carrot cake here,”

"Coffee would be lovely thank you," She said as she took a seat opposite Rowena, she smoothed down her black skirt as she did so, not wanting it to snag as she sat down. She folded her hands to keep from fidgeting as Rowena read. She'd spent an entire day working on her resume, trying to make herself seem a catch despite the missing 17 years. She needed this job. She couldn't live with Alex forever.

“I’ll be blunt. I’m a tad concerned about the fact that you’ve missed 17 years. And that you never actually specialized in Spell Damage. It’s a tricky department to jump into after such a big absence. One mistake and you can make what you’re trying to fix even worse.” She said as she put her mug down. “You’ve not been returned long. What makes you want to come work for my department so soon after such a huge event?”

"I know 17 years away from medicine is almost a life time in advances. I'm a quick study and a hard worker. I may not have officially specialized in Spell Damage but I did work at Hogwarts for a year which is a crash course in spell damage. Students would often come to the hospital wing for spells gone wrong and it was during the flux when spells were corrupted. A simple body binding spell would cause a coma even when lifted. A levitation charm caused a student to float among the roof beams even after the spell ended. I had to come up with solutions that wouldn't make it worse. Sometimes I couldn't use magic for fear it would make the situation even more complicated. I know I've only just got back but I'd go mad without work. I need to do something. The best way to get my life back and learn about this new world is to start living it. Work is my way of living. Give me a chance, try me out for a few trainee shifts, see if I fit. If I don't meet your standards then don't hire me. No harm no foul." Elle said hoping she hadn't been too impassioned.

[Rowena Jones]

"I know 17 years away from medicine is almost a life time in advances. [...] Give me a chance, try me out for a few trainee shifts, see if I fit. If I don't meet your standards then don't hire me. No harm no foul." Elle said hoping she hadn't been too impassioned.

Rowena nodded throughout the speech. She hadn't quite expected such a passionate plea but couldn't argue with the reasoning. And she really did need a new Healer. As the other woman said, she could certainly test her out for a few shifts and see if she was up to the standard Rowena expected from the staff in her department.

"Ok." she said finally, as she finished writing down a few notes on the parchment before her before looking at Elle. She just wanted to see how quick thinking the petite woman was. "Just a few example scenarios if you don't mind."

She paused, tapping her fingers on the table as she considered some of her more recent cases,
"Firstly, how would you treat a patient who had been hit with several successive Stunning Spells? Secondly, your patient has been hit with a modified Leviosa charm and is unable to keep both feet on the ground at any time."

[Elle Callahan]

"Ok." she said finally, as she finished writing down a few notes on the parchment before her before looking at Elle. She just wanted to see how quick thinking the petite woman was. "Just a few example scenarios if you don't mind."

Elle grinned. It wouldn't be a healer interview without a few hypotheticals. Elle took a deep breath, ready for anything. She listened carefully as Rowena spoke. Elle pursed her lips a bit as she thought about the questions. Stunning spells could be quite leathal and sometimes tricky given the patient's reaction. Age had a lot to do with stunning spells recovery.

"The treatment for the patient for the stunning spells would depend on the age of the patient and how many spells and if anything else is wrong. If the patient is young and the successive spells isn't more than two or three then the patient could be kept under observation until the spell has worn off. A Rennervate can also be used to undo the actual stunning. However the use of rennervate on an older patient who has been stunned with successive spells could be dangerous. The side effects of numerous stunning spells is the biggest worry, especially in older patients. If the patient is older or have been hit with multiple spells I would carefully watch the patient as the counterspell is uttered and be prepared to restart the heart and other organs that might have failed to restart." Elle said carefully, hoping she gave a detailed enough answer.

"With the modified Leovisa charm, I would layer several spells on top of each other. I'd start with a Finite Incantatem spell because sometimes the simplicity of a general counter spell works. However, in the general likelihood that it doesn't work I would do a gravity charm to counteract the effects of the leovisa charm,"

[Rowena Jones]

"The treatment for the patient for the stunning spells would depend on the age of the patient and how many spells […] I would carefully watch the patient as the counterspell is uttered and be prepared to restart the heart and other organs that might have failed to restart." Elle said carefully and Rowena scribbled down a few things on her notes, gesturing for Elle to continue with the next scenario.

"With the modified Leviosa charm, I would layer several spells on top of each other. I'd start with a Finite Incantatem spell because sometimes the simplicity of a general counter spell works. However, in the general likelihood that it doesn't work I would do a gravity charm to counteract the effects of the leviosa charm,"

Rowena nodded, a small grin playing around her lips that she hid by taking a sip of her drink. She was impressed that Elle mentioned the Finite Incantem spell which was exactly what Rowena had used to treat that particular case. She still couldn’t believe that she’d been the first to do it. Too many Healers, eager to impress jumped into overly complicated spell casting and too many Witches and Wizards panicked at unusual magical occurrences. Sometimes, the simplest solutions were the best.

Add that Elle had a backup plan ready in case that hadn’t worked and Rowena thought she could do worse in a new hire.

"Can you start tomorrow? I have a 10 hour shift starting at 2pm that needs covering. I'll be there all day, so if you could come at midday to my office on the fourth floor I will get you started. We’ll see how you get on and work from there?"

---

(Figured we could tie this one up quick and start a more recent one at some point )