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*Norman grins*

Not too severely.

Can't complain, can't complain. Although next time I shall remember to bring a book. And yourself?

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*Peter grumbles*

Either allow me to leave this cell, if only for a short while, or provide me with some reading material, or both.

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*John briefly turns his head towards Peter.*

I've got a stack of constituency letters here that need to be read and replied to if you're at a loose end.

*He returns his attention to Norman.*

Oh, I'm very well thank you - catching up on all my constituency casework during party conference season. I am not yet used to no longer going to Conservative Conference - I doubt I ever will be. I take it you're headed there at some point, if only to drop in on a fringe event?

Anyway, I do believe we have more immediately important things to discuss - have you managed to take a look at the wards?

Edited Date: 2012-09-20 07:51 pm (UTC)

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Yes, it should be... ~~marginally less embarrassing than the Liberal Democrat Conference~~ eventful, this year. But I promised Ken I'd stop by. Still, I suppose you can watch Boris upstage Cameron just as well from the comfort of your sitting room.

I have. They look solid, although you might want to shore up the bit around the door. It's wearing a little thin. And this section along the bottom- *Norman points to the holes* It is supposed to look like that, isn't it?

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*Peter's ears strain to hear the wizards' conversation. His stomach drops at Fowler's comments. It is far too late for him to attempt to hide the damage to the wards- his only hope is distraction and that John will attribute the damage to decay. He calls back*

Well if you're sure you want me in contact with your constituents...

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Oh do be quiet for a moment while I take a closer look at what Norman has mentioned, Peter.

*John inspects the wards more closely. They do appear to have been tampered with, just as Norman said.*

...No, Norman, it isn't supposed to look like that.

Peter, have you been trying to get through my wards again?

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Oh course not, that would be incredibly foolish given that one of the conditions of my stay here, rather than in a DEFRA cell, is strong wards.

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*Norman's eyebrows shoot up. It could be natural degradation of the spell, but he wouldn't trust Mandelson to tell him the weather, much less confess an escape attempt.*

It would be very unfortunate if someone were trying to undermine John's containment so that you would be taken into custody. I don't suppose you have any enemies who would do such a thing?

Well, for your own safety we'd better investigate how the wards were damaged. When did you put them up, John?

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The first set were put up when Peter was first brought here, so the time of the recent blue moon. Since then, additions and alterations have been made on occasion, when needed. As such, there is no possible way that that-

*John points to the bottom of the wards have been worn away by something or someone*

-could have happened by any sort of process other than magical interference.

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*Peter wanders over to the door and peers at the wards, commenting mildly.*

Objects, imbued with magic over a great deal of time, have been known to reject additional spells before. It is entirely possible that your doubling of the wards provoked such a reaction.

*He pauses.*

There was a case recently, wasn't there? I can't recall if it was reported in the Spellcaster's Periodical... or was it Wizarding Weekly? Do you remember seeing it? Something about a piece of furniture, I think it was...

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But if that were the cause we should be seeing an interference pattern between the two wards, and yet they appear to be entirely discrete. And look, the holes don't line up, either. There are more of them in the inner barrier. I suppose that's the one John set up first? That would explain why it's suffered more damage.

Edited Date: 2012-09-20 08:46 pm (UTC)

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It looks to me as though someone has been picking away at the wards-

*John tries to glare at Peter*

-for quite a while for them to get to this sort of state.

You wouldn't happen to know of any good diagnostic spells, would you, Norman?

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I don't think I could analyse the wards themselves- you'd have to do that, since you were the caster. It shouldn't be difficult to do a trace and see whether any spells have been cast in this room over the past few days, however.

Don't worry, Mandelson, we'll catch your mystery saboteur in no time!

*It's possible Norman is enjoying this just a little. He still remembers the 1997 election.*

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...excellent.

*Peter considers casting a low level distraction jinx, but suspects that would draw attention, rather than divert it. He considers confessing it now- John would probably be more inclined to forgive his attempts to escape if Peter came clean, rather than forcing him through the diagnostic spell rigmarole, but there is a Tory watching him with barely disguised glee and Peter can't bring himself to confess in front of someone he spent a large portion of his adult life trying to beat back into unelectability, a task in which he largely suceeded. Instead, he sits on his bed, takes up the copy of Campbell's book and continues with the annotations, careful to look as though he didn't have a care in the world.*

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*John pauses just long enough to allow Peter to confess should he so choose. He doesn't.*

Well, if no one else has anything to say on the matter, then I suppose I shall have to cast a diagnostic charm...

*John focuses very hard on the spell - practical spellwork such as this has never been his strong point and he knows full well that he'll never be able to get a positive identification of the caster; the most he can hope for is a few hints.*

*After a time, the spell begin to work. As John suspected, it doesn't identify the culprit. All is shows is that the alterations were cast by someone when they were inside the cell.*

*John thinks back through the list of magical folk who have been inside Peter's cell long enough to cause this degree of damage to the wards. There really is only one possible explanation.*

*John lets the spell die and looks at Peter. He can tell that the werewolf is trying to ignore what's going on around him, but John has spent too long in Peter's company to accept his current state at face value. Perhaps if he could talk to Peter alone...*

Norman, I don't seem to be able to get a grip on this, unfortunately. If I recall correctly, there's a small section at the back of the Lords' Library for diagnostic spellwork - would you mind terribly going to see if there's anything to aid me in this? I'm afraid all of my own collection are woefully lacking in this area...

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*John's diagnostic spell is astoundingly... not good. It's the sort of thing Norman might have cast as a schoolboy- no proper localisation, no isolation of the separate magical traces, and of course no identification of casters. This sort of analysis is Norman's strong suit, so perhaps he's being uncharitable, but really, Michael could have done better and Michael's specialties are hair care and shooting fireballs at things until they explode.*

*John's always been a bit of lightweight- Norman remembers when he first came to the Commons; he used to bob up and down on the benches like a helium balloon- but he would have expected his elevation to his current office to settle him a little. This is an area of magecraft the Speaker really needs to master, and it's clear John has not been applying himself to it with the necessary rigour. Norman may have to have a word with Betty about her successor. If she'd been this inept Mandelson would have have run rings around her back in the 90s.*

*Norman could cast a better tracer right now, but there's no point in humiliating John in front of his prisoner. That's hardly going to enhance his authority, and if they can't rely on the wards to keep Mandelson in they'll have to rely on his fear of his gaolers. Maybe he should suggest Ashdown take another shift.*

Very well. I'll go see what I can find.

*He's going to come back with textbooks. Lots of textbooks. John obviously needs them.*

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*John waits until he is sure that Norman has gone before he turns back to Peter. John crosses his arms and waits for Peter to say something to him - or at least acknowledge that Fowler has gone. Peter doesn't even look up from his book. John sighs.*

Peter?

*John waits until Peter gives some indication that he's listening.*

Have you been tampering with the wards to pass the time?

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*Peter lets the book fall into his lap.*

I was bored!

*He realises how petulant that sounded and hastily adds.*

The BIS work is hardly taxing, I've read all the books Dawn so kindly provided and have been allowed outside of these four walls precisely three times since coming here, and two of those were on the same day.

*He looks away and figets a little.*

...besides. The detail of the spellwork by the Mace is very interesting. Quite unique. If you look at it closely. I didn't mean to unravel the wards, just... investigate them a bit.

*Peter drops his eyes, hoping he looks sufficiently penitent for John to find the story plausible.*

Edited Date: 2012-09-20 10:02 pm (UTC)

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Peter, the DEFRA inspectors are due back any day now - what in Merlin's name are they going to say about this?! If you are bored say something to whoever is on duty rather than trying to break out of your cell! How difficult is that concept for you to grasp?!

*John tries to calm himself. After a while, and a few breathing exercises, he just about manages to get his temper under some sort of control.*

Perhaps you're right - in part. I will review the guard duty rota, put regular exercise blocks into the timetable and get you out of the cell. Maybe then you won't be bored enough to try escaping again.

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*Peter continues to keep his eyes downcast*

...sorry.

*He keeps staring at his hands whilst John attempts to calm down, but after hearing John's decision, allows a grateful smile to spread across his face before looking up.*

Thank you.

Edited Date: 2012-09-20 10:19 pm (UTC)

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