The Abominations | Ilvermorny

The Department of Child and Youth Services, MACUSA, September 3rd - 2018

The Magical Congress of the United States of America has many employees and many departments. With each new administration, a new budget is made and adjustments are implemented that impact each department. In the early 2000s, Child and Youth Services used to have over fifty staff members, they had one of the nicest sections on an upper level of the building and lots of funding. Now, they are down to less than ten. 

The entire department now fits into one musty room. The room is dark and depressing and is located on the second floor. There is only three windows in the entire room and they all line a single wall that's barely street level. The windows are usually covered in muck and trash from the sidewalks the lookout on. 

Contrary to popular rhetoric preached by politicians, the department does a lot. Child and Youth Services handle all legal adoptions, social workers, child abuse and neglect cases, special needs policies, treatment of mental health inside Ilvermorny, and bargaining with the Department of Education. But because of the Abominations phenomenon, many public figures see the Department of Child and Youth Services as an unimportant expense that helps freaks enter society. 

The door to the room pushed open and in came the once important Lavinia Renshaw, with a sour look on her face. Her hair was tied up in her usual bun and her work clothes were covered by a light black jacket that just showed her ankles. She had just come from Ilvermory to meet with her niece, and everyone in the office could tell that it did not go very well. Everybody, including Masara. 

"Lavinia, is everything okay with Olive? What happened?" She asked in a concerned tone. 

Masara wore a floral printed shirt and black dress pants, with her natural hair neatly parted to the side. She sat behind a desk with an old typewriter next to some grey filing cabinets. The room was silent as the sound of Lavinia's heels traveled with her across the room to her desk. People peaked their heads out from behind their cubicles to see what was happening. Lavinia had not been this upset in a while, and Masara asking her clearly bothered her more. 

Lavinia unbuttoned the jacket and tossed it onto a chair next to her desk. Her desk was larger than Masara's and the ones inside the cubicles. Her's had her name neatly placed directly in the center along with a new typewriter and a shiny blue inkpot. She pulled out her chair, which made a scratching sound across the floor and sat behind the dark grey metal desk. 

"Adolescence." She replied. 

Masara glanced over at the others in the room and scowled at them. They turned back to their work to give the two some privacy.  

"That is not an answer." 

"As your boss, I am not required to answer to you, Masara." She muttered, unpacking her bag and putting away the journal. 

"Yes, but if something is wrong I would like to know. She is my child." 

Lavinia glared at her from her desk. "As her mother, you have chosen to keep much of her past a secret. Something I disagreed on." 

"What I chose to tell my children is none of your concern-"

"As is the conversations I have with them." Lavinia interrupted. 

The tension between the two was rising. 

"How do I tell my daughter that we found her biological father, when he is a monster that is floating in the catacombs below the city? How will she react?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you don't. Because she is my child. Not yours. You gave her to us." 

"But as the head of this department, I can decide what information I share with you, Masara. And I chose to keep this private. Like you did with that information." 

There have been rumors in the office that, originally, Lavinia wanted to adopt Olive. Apparently, the government heads made her choose between the child and her job. They claimed it would make her unable to run the department on the grounds of 'conflict of interest', but what they really hoped for was that Lavinia would adopt Olive and quit. 

Masara had heard those rumors years ago, and ever since she has noticed that her sister-in-law has always favored Olive over her other nieces and nephews. She is not comfortable with the idea of Lavinia and Olive meeting in secret every so often, but she has no authority over Lavinia.

The two stared at each other for a moment, silent. Neither spoke, they just went back to doing their work. The room stayed quiet and tense for the rest of the workday, nobody wanted to upset either of the two and spark another argument.