Maddox had no reason to drop by the Quibbler, except that he wanted to see if Monty was there, and also he thought it might be nice to bring him lunch. He had no doubt that the office would be bustling with everyone trying to figure out what the hell happened. What kind of Salazar Slytherin bullshit was that snake mark anyway? It gave him the chills, and he didn’t like it. So he’d channeled the discomfort into something productive. His job in the paper didn’t have him analyzing the death of Ministers, after all, and it seemed insensitive to focus on sports analysis at a time like this, which meant he had the day off.
He came into the office, sack lunch for Monty in hand, but paused when he heard Llewellyn speaking. He listened, nodding along as he spoke. “I’m not really the person to ask, but balance seems good yeah? You can talk about her accomplishments and whatever’s going on with this mess? Did you learn more, Mr. Lovegood?” He wondered, curious if he’d gotten more inside details, being a skilled journalist and all.
Though Unspeakable Cahill had already solved his spiral, Llewellyn had remained stuck in and around it, repeating it to himself throughout the day as he’d rearranged the work from the original edition, sprinkling in the extra pages which thickened it so nicely, while leaving the bulk of the extra work for the suggested (and genius) special edition. Putting out the first Quibbler of the year was necessary, and the additional edition was a nice bonus, and a kind gesture, rather than overkill and disappointment from all sides. Still talking to himself, he wondered where he’d forgotten to consider the notions the Ministry’s favorite Mystery had presented for contemplation. Somehow, his train of thought and logic simply did not have a stop in either Emotional or Information Overload as it made its’ way through to Public Awareness. The sudden sound of another voice was jarring – though, not in a bad way. It was helpful, actually; especially on the awareness front.
“I did, actually, though not in the way you meant, most likely. But I did learn more, today, and that is what I feel is the most important component, overall. Balance, though, yes, agreed. And doubly, so, Mr. McKinnon, as you’re the second to suggest balance, so you’re not as far from worthy as you think, opinion wise, though, why you’d let anyone else determine that for you, I will continue to remain unclear on.” Getting away from the point, any point, tended to be Llewellyn’s thing, though he rarely realized it; it was all connected to him, and he could prove it to you, though it would be such a dizzying journey that it was usually easier not to point out seeming irrelevances in the first place to avoid such nonsense. “But to answer your actual question, Maddox, yes. I did learn more. And because I am so familiar with you, at this point, if you don’t mind me saying, because I feel you are very much a part of this Quibbler family in your own way, and because as soon as I figure out where to place the article our Mr. Potter is polishing up –” Llewellyn paused, here, but not for breath, or to break in his ramble, purely to gesture to where Fleamont was working away dedicatedly and turn back to Maddox, “– it will be about twenty minutes until the arrival of our Print-Prentice™ Podric, like clockwork, to whisk the entire thing away to hit newsstands, doorsteps, windows, and perches by dawn, and the pair of you, as any would be, will be be tempted to read it early, and seeing as you’ll have nearly unimpeded access to do so, I’ll just tell you myself: the Minister’s murder is not the only New Years’ incident under heavy, hushed investigation. We’ll all hopefully know more by the weekend, but graves were disturbed, several people are missing, and one of them might be an Auror. Oh, and there’s going to be an election. I think those are the highlights you were seeking, yes?”