"Oh, but you don't know that I'm not deeply devoted to studies of ant species," he countered. "Only that I wouldn't discuss it with you if I were." He was not at all interested in ant species, but he had been in this type of conversation often enough that he had standard deflections built up for when people expressed an interest in his career — and he had taken the slightly warmer tone as an indication of interest. One of his favorites was to pretend that the Department of Mysteries was interested in all sorts of random and nonsensical things, like the study of ant species — without actually stating anything outright, of course. He didn't think anyone ever believed him, but some people found it charming, which was better than the response he got if he responded with a tight-lipped smile and something bland like ah, yes, but I can't say much about it.

"Sorry to prolong your eternal dismay," he added. "But I'm afraid I won't be the one to break the mold. Perhaps instead you could tell me what you're interested in — more specifically than all of academia? As we seem to have excluded the ants."

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