Eric Schlossbauer

Eric in "The Ministry of Unladylike Activity"

**Hans Erich "Eric" Schlossbauer** is one of the main characters in the Ministry of Unladylike Activity series. He is best friends with Fionnuala "Nuala" O'Malley and Wong Mei Li "May".

## Childhood

Eric grew up with his two parents and twin sister in Germany. At the beginning of the Second World War, his father was put into a concentration camp, so he and his mother and sister fled to England. The only possession of his father's that he still has is his father's watch, which he wears all the time and treasures greatly.

## Personality

Eric is a caring person who is usually calm and collected, even when he's nervous or scared. He is a mediator in his friend group, and a big animal lover: he will drop whatever he's doing just to pet a cat, or pick up an animal. In The Ministry of Unladylike Activity, Nuala says that he always has an animal on him, and that she once saw him pull a grass snake out of his pocket. Eric tries to avoid getting into trouble and putting himself and his friends in dangerous situations, but he will for the sake of detection. He has a strong sense of justice and believes that doing what is right is more important than following the law.

## Storylines

### The Ministry of Unladylike Activity

Eric is first introduced in this book, when he and May both run away from each of their schools respectively, and pretend to be evacuees in Elysium Hall in order to find a Nazi spy. There, they meet Fionnuala, but don't get along with her at first, especially May. Soon after their arrival, a murder takes place, and Nuala reluctantly joins forces with Eric and May in order to figure out who the killer is, and who the spy is. Eric tries to settle May and Nuala's frequent arguments, and becomes close friends with both of them.

### The Body in the Blitz

In this book, Eric reunites with May and Nuala after previously having part ways with them while he goes to his school, and they go to their school. They meet in Hogarth Mews, where they will be staying to advance their training with The Ministry as a last resort due to a shortage of spies. During the investigation, he displays logical thinking and is observant, but also hesitant to put himself in unsafe situations. However, he gets over his fear so he can help his friends.

## Relationships

### May Wong

May and Eric meet at the very beginning of The Ministry of Unladylike Activity, when they both show up to the same address they found; Eric found it by solving a crossword, and May by stealing it from Hazel. When they are refused entry, they decide to take matters into their own hands, and go to Elysium Hall together, while pretending to be evacuees with fake names to sound more English. They become close friends quickly, because they only have each other before Nuala joins their group. They are the only ones who know each other's real names and why they are here, and they work together.

### Nuala O'Malley

Nuala and Eric meet in The Ministry of Unladylike Activity, when May and Eric arrived at Elysium Hall. May and Nuala originally get off to a bad start, with both of them acting rude, and while Eric also thinks Nuala is rude, he thinks that they shouldn't be too quick to judge and reminds May that she was rude as well. He often mediates May and Nuala's fights throughout the book, and by the end of the book, him and Nuala are close friends.