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sweetpinkpixie · 02-09-2014, 10:08 AM

The Toxicology and Development Laboratory on level 3 is a facility set aside for employees of the Accidents and Catastrophes department in order to continually work on their brewing and potion identification skills, or develop some experimental potions for assessment and tweaking purposes. While this Laboratory is primarily for use by potioneers, it is also a space appropriate for those who are working to identify particular spells or charms as found on bewitched objects.

This is a larger and more modern-appearing space than the Magical Forensics Laboratory found on Level 2, and more specialised for Potion brewing and experimentation. Law Enforcement Employees with the appropriate clearance, DERP Botanists who need more space and facilities than what the greenhouses provide, and Ever-Locked Room Potioneers and Charmists from the Department of Mysteries are permitted to work here along side the Accidents and Catastrophes potions specialists as needed.

To one side of the lab there are brewing stations complete with all the equipment a potioneer might need. Along the back wall there are magical analysis machines that help with analysing constituent and component parts and ingredients of unidentified potions, as well as testing whether certain ingredients might react dangerously together. Along the other side of the lab you'll find stations for preparing ingredients and analysing bewitched objects. There is also a special magical poisons work area, and plenty of storage space for in-progress potions and completed brews.

If you need anything else within this space, you are expected to either provide it yourself or speak with your department head if it is something a little more questionable, large, or dangerous. Many muggle items are available in storage for charms or potions work (including a few automobiles), and you may indeed find some items within the storage cupboard on the other side of the department. Please remember this is a dangerous work zone and all safety procedures must be followed to the letter - use your protective charms and make use of the protective gear provided.

While this room is intended for use primarily by level 3 employees, those who work in other departments may make use of this space with a written request and approval from Aron Ashburry-Hawthorner, Accidents and Catastrophes Department Head.

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OOC:
If YOU want to make use of this thread for RPing you are more than welcome to! A&C employees do not need to ask permission to RP here, and are encouraged to do so regularly to work on their character's skills. If you're not part of A&C please send sweetpinkpixie a PM or VM or have your character make a request to use this space IC, you'll likely be approved but I'd like to keep track of who is in here, and the reasons for it too. I highly encourage MLE, DERP and Mysteries employees to come and play here!

Sometimes, a particular laboratory scenario may be provided for A&C employees to work on. An announcement will be made whenever these are happening.

As usual all Site Rules apply at all times.

Hey Ju · 04-19-2014, 05:41 AM

He got to the door of his precious lab, half hoping it would be intact, half sure it wasn't going to be like he hoped.

At first glance, Derek was relieved to see that nothing had exploded or anything and that, appart from the greyness of the dust, everything seemed in goo-- were those feces???

Derek finally started to look more closely at everything as he stepped into the lab and was careful enough not to bump into anything and make dust fly about and block his vision. He was also hoping not to inhale any of that nastiness. And to think his equipment was covered in that......... dust and... ugh. Whatever creature had done all that bites and claw marks all over the furniture and walls should die. DIE. Derek was sure it had been those stupid mutants again and he was ready to strangle them if they decided to pop in there while he was in his lab.

.....Actually, he could put up some traps for those stupid creatures. But he'd have to think of Muggle traps, since magic apparently was still useless in there? Wait, was it? He wasn't sure, to be honest. So, since he still had his wand at the ready, he cast a "Scourgify" around to see if anything would clean up a bit.

**The Announcer** · 04-29-2014, 12:56 PM

While you work to repair the damaged work space, you might notice some movement out of the corner of your eye. Shaking it off, you get back to what you were doing only to notice it again a few minutes later. Was that something moving?

CHIZPURFLES!!!

Tons of the teeny-tiny crab-like creatures have come out to play. UH-OH. Looks like you’re in need of some pest control. Better work fast, these little creatures are starved for magic and hungry for wands.

sweetpinkpixie · 04-30-2014, 01:22 AM

Hurrying into the lab, Aron was relieved to find that Derek hadn't spontaneously combusted when he saw the state of things. At least the bloke was being somewhat practical and cleaning things up, yeah? Shoving his hands into his jeans pockets, Aron leaned against the door frame looking smug with amusement before speaking. "Shall I leave you two alone?" he asked. Meaning Derek and the lab.

He was going to just leave with those being his parting words, until he noticed the counter-top movement. Well, at least it wasn't mutants this time?

Hey Ju · 04-30-2014, 01:39 PM

Derek was pleasently surprised to see that his cleaning was working. He wasn't really sure what to expect because who knew what was going on inside (and outside, for that matter) the Ministry building. He carried on trying to reorganise his work space, checking here and there if anything was irreparably damaged when he saw... he wasn't really sure what he saw from the corner of his eye, but apparently it wasn't anything so he kept working.

The lab technician was slightly startled when his boss spoke up from the door and shrugged at his... rhetorical question. He went over to the counter and was about to Scourgify it when he properly saw them.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, no, no, no, NO!!!!! That was one of the worst Potioneer's nightmares! BLOODY CHIZPURFLES!!! NO!!! Derek's face immediately turned red and he tightened the grip on his wand. He felt the urge to pour LOADS of pesticide on those BLOODY, STUPID CREATURES right there and then, but he had none with him.

.......Would that acid work? HE STILL HAD SOME. FLIPPING CREATURES must die.

He quickly put his free hand in his pocket to retrieve the acid vial, but luckily he came to his senses before he destroyed his lab even more. No. The acid would only make things worse. SIGH.

UUURGH!! He would have to brew a pesticide............. or buy a ready-made one, because he had NO TIME.

..."Can we apparate from here?" He actually asked Aron, finally looking from the awful chizpurfles to his boss. He did want to go to Diagon Alley asap, aka NOW, but he also didn't want to kill himself from trying to apparate from within the Ministry while the building was still... untrustworthy.

sweetpinkpixie · 04-30-2014, 02:00 PM

Apparate? He was joking, right? Aron was going to assume that was what the man was doing because there was no way that they were going to leave now given the circumstances.

"Didn't know you had a sense of humor, Derek," he force laughed while giving his employee a firm pat on the back. "Don't you have anything in your bag of tricks we can use?" The bloke did carry around acid, apparently, so there was a good chance he would have SOMETHING that could be of use. "Or something that you can't tamper with to make something to get rid of these things?"

Aron's blue eyes shifted towards the magical equipment that he knew would be useless given infestation - which all suddenly made sense as to why the phone booth had worked for a brief time - but if they went all caveman-like and used regular fire under a cauldron then they SHOULD be able to brew something.

"Check the supply cabinets on that side, I'll see if there is anything on this side."

Hey Ju · 04-30-2014, 02:28 PM

............What?

Derek had no reaction to Aron's pat on his back and just blinked. What? Sense of.... humour? ON a situation like that???? ....What?

When the man went on about looking for things they could use in the supply cabinets and Derek blinked again. O...kay. Maybe that answer meant he would get killed if he apparated from inside the Ministry now. Derek had to agree that would be bad indeed, so he just went along with Aron's plan, because there was no way he'd manage to pull himself up from the whole the came in through. Not even for his lab's own good. Sigh.

Derek did know how to brew pesticides, but the matter was... if there would be enough ingredient to make something useful. Chizpurfles did feed off all things magical, didn't they? Mostly, Potions ingredients had magical properties, so.... ugh. He'd have to hope for the best.

Opening the supply cabinet freaked Derek out. He was able to not react dramatically, but he STARED at the inside for a good few seconds before moving again. Mumbling something about the bloody chizpurfles, Derek rummaged through the small jars, pots and vials, looking for something that hadn't been touched/eaten/ruined by the stupid creatures. Oh. He held up a jar that was... literally intact. He took a good look at what it was and was not surprised when he saw it was baneberries. Of course chizpurfles wouldn't eat that. He turned around and walked over to a counter, carefully holding the glass jar with the berries.

sweetpinkpixie · 04-30-2014, 03:02 PM

Flinging open the cupboards haphazardly - because really, what did it matter given that the place was already a dump? - Aron reached in with his right hand to search for anything that could possibly be of use. Truth be told, he was really looking for ANYTHING that was still usable. It was a make it work moment, Derek, so you were going to take whatever they found in here and do just that. Make it work.

He found a small jar of armadillo bile that...seemed to be alright judging from the color...and a small case of dried belladonna. Well, that would certainly kill the things.

Turning around to Derek, he placed both things on the one usable brewing station. "You think you can brew something out of this to start with?" he questioned as he eyed the other unexplored cabinets for a moment. There was probably still some other hidden, er, treasures to be found in here somewhere. Might even have a pesticide or two that had been used to keep the plants in the waiting area pest-free.

Hey Ju · 04-30-2014, 03:44 PM

When Aron returned from the cabinet, Derek's eyes only focused on his hands. On what he was bringing over, for that matter. His brain started to work quite fast as he went through all of the properties of each ingredients and the best way to utilise each of them.

"Yeah, I... think so." He told his boss. Luckily chizpurfles didn't quite eat the stuff that could... you know, kill them. The creatures weren't that stupid after all. Derek set up one of the cauldrons - thank MERLIN those pests didn't destroy the actual cauldrons. That would've made Derek.... well, never mind that now, it was all good. 'Good.' - and placed the three ingredients next to it.

The fact he was back to brewing things IN his lab - even though it was in that crazy state at the moment - made Derek relieved and even happy. The driving force of getting rid of those creatures made him want to succeed even more, so he turned his full attention to the Potion and left his boss to... do whatever.

Starting with the armadillo bile... heating it Muggle style - Merlin... - then added a few dried belladona leaves... and waited for the thing to heat more.

...

........

Merlin, this was going to take forever.

sweetpinkpixie · 05-01-2014, 12:19 AM

Aron was no dunce when it came to potions, but Derek was literally able to make miracles happen so...yes. Best leave this to the expert in the room. "Great," he nodded while pulling open another cabinet just to see what was inside. Nothing but feces by the looks of things. Gross. Scourgify-ing the space, he turned back to Derek.

"I assume you can handle the brewing on your own?" Obviously. Derek probably would prefer if Aron left the lab all together knowing how the man worked. "I'll look for some sort of container to put the brew in." A spray bottle would be best. "How long do you think it will take?"

Which was sort of a rhetorical question because the answer Aron wanted to hear was 'Not long at all boss!' or 'Definitely by the end of the day!' because the Australian had had quite enough of this rubbish.

Hey Ju · 05-01-2014, 12:55 AM

As the Potion heated up, Derek added a few more dried belladona to it. Slowly but steady, by the end of five minutes he had added all of the belladona they had found and he left it to simmer for a bit, controlling the fire every now and then.

Derek nodded when his boss asked if he could handle the brewing on his own. He definitely could, sir. He also never understood how people prefered to work together. It just didn't make sense. Well, okay, the fact that Aron was looking for a container for them to use after the pesticide was ready was a plus, since Derek could focus all his attention on the Potion. Alright then, there was some good in team work after all. But not enough to be indispensable, in his opinion.

Derek was watching carefully as the Potion simmered and looked up to his boss when he asked how long it'd take. Hmm... "20 more minutes?" He could only do so much with few ingredients, but it would have to do. The good thing is that chizpurfles wouldn't eat away the few things that could destroy them. That was one of the few uses Derek saw in creatures in general, to be honest. They were good at distinguishing ingredients and whatnot.

The Potioneer looked around for a cleaner countertop, but he honestly couldn't trust the area just yet. He ended conjuring a pair of plastic gloves and used his hands to squeeze the banberries as he added one at a time. He'd squeeze them as hard as he could to get most of the juice out before dropping the rest into the mixture. He went on and on and on, and was determined to use all of the baneberries he had found. ALL of them. They were highly toxic and since this wasn't the most powerful pesticide ever, he would have to enhance it with the one strong ingredient he had.

Those chizpurfles were going to BE GONE in no time. He couldn't WAIT.

So, after spending pretty much the last 10 minutes just squeezing baneberries into the cauldron, Derek turned off he heat and turned to Aron. "It's... ready." He announced, taking off the plastic gloves. "The sooner we use it, the more efficient it will be." Because the baneberries were just freshly squeezed and all that.

....Did his boss find anything they could use then?

sweetpinkpixie · 05-01-2014, 02:18 AM

20 more minutes? That was music to his ears. Except country. That music was just awful. He would rather defang a rapid flesh eater than listen to that rubbish.

But he was getting off task.

Giving Derek a quick nod of confirmation, Aron continued his search for a spray bottle or any sort of appliance that they could use until he stumbled upon a box of blue spray bottles that were caked in a thin layer of dust and....of course THAT too. "Scourgify," he grumbled, cleaning off the layer of filth from the bottles.

"Here, ladle that stuff into one of these and let's give it a test run on the chizpurfles in here. Just to be sure." They needed to clear the area anyway so really it was two fwoopers with one stone. Aron tossed Derek one of the empty bottles - not TOWARDS the cauldron, mind you, but behind him a little so it would land on the floor should he not catch it.

Hey Ju · 05-01-2014, 03:47 AM

Derek dropped his used gloves onto the counter and caught the bottle Aron tossed him. He made sure it was clean before he started ladling the pesticide into the spray bottle until if filled up.

He was going to have his wand at the ready in case some of the creatures started to crawl up into his cauldron, but then he remembered it would be fine it they ended up eating that thing anyway. It would be even less work. Although he highly doubted the chizpurfles would eat that, since they hadn't even eaten the baneberries. Clever little creatures. Hmph.

He walked over to an infested area and...... sprayed the content all over the tiny creatures he could see and watched them. Or tried to, at least. They were quite small after all.

**The Announcer** · 05-01-2014, 02:21 PM

Clawing, biting, and pooping while the two humans did there thing, the chizpurfles were completely oblivious to fact that their impending doom was drawing closer and closer and....

Was that the sound of hundreds of tiny voices screaming in agony as the poisonous mist descended upon their carefree community? Within a matter of seconds all the little chizpurfle bodies had flopped over onto their backs with their tiny crab-like legs sticking up in the air.

sweetpinkpixie · 05-02-2014, 12:25 AM

Ah, so Derek did have good reflexes still. Excellent. It was fun to poke at Derek and see what would happen next - even if it wasn't the most ethical thing to do as his boss but hey, had to get his kicks somewhere. right?

Peering over Derek's shoulder, one hand covering his mouth, he watched as the man sprayed the living daylights - literally - out of the chizpurfles. Smirk. "Let's scoop those bodies into a vial or something for testing later," he suggested, eyeing Derek for a moment. Surely the man had a vial or something in his lab rat utility belt.

Hey Ju · 05-02-2014, 03:34 AM

Derek actually had a small smile on his face when he saw the chizpurfles screamed - which was really creepy, actually - flopped over and... well, died. Brilliant.

He nodded at his boss and pulled out a vial he had in his robes pocket, holding it out for him to take. Aron could take care of the dead creatures as he ladled more of the pesticide into the other bottle, yes? "The other departments will need this as well or...?" He asked as he got the other spray bottle from him and went straight over to the cauldron to fill it up.

Derek was actually fine with the idea of others coming in to-- well, no. He'd rather take the bottles outside for the other people instead of them walking into his lab. "I can um, take it to the others." The former Gryffindor offered, regreting it right after. Maybe it would be best if he stayed in the lab collecting the chizpurfles tiny little dead bodies than to go around the Ministry seeing all those people and having to explain things to them.

Merlin.

sweetpinkpixie · 05-03-2014, 02:22 AM

Taking the vial - knew he could count on you Derek - Aron began to push the tiny bodies into it. Glancing over his shoulder, he gave the man a quick nod. "Yes. See if you can't round up some of the other employees on our level to help you distribute. Will be quicker that way. And that crowd lingering there in the waiting area too. Turn their wasting of space to good use," he snorted as he finished scooping up the dead bodies and capped the vial.

Turning his attention to the remaining bottles, he ventured giving his wand a wave to remove the tops off all of them and levitated them off to the side so he could begin filling up the rest of them with the solution. "You should give your creation a proper name you know," he teased, trying to lighten the mood just a little. "Just something to think about as you go about playing owl."

*Nordic Witch* · 05-03-2014, 01:42 PM

Tasha had just finished moving her stuff back into her little cubicle when the little memo from Aron landed on her desk. She usually stayed well clear off the lab since she didn't have buiseness in there but this seemed like an all hands on deck memo.

Pulling her blond strands back with a ribbon Tasha walked the short distance from her cubicle to the lab. On the way she noted the thick layer of dust and creature droppings lying everywhere.

Heading into the lab she headed over to Aron and Derek immediatley and looked from one to the other. "Hi, what's going on? Did you need an extra pair of hands? I just got the memo." Tasha explained in case they were wondering.

sweetpinkpixie · 05-03-2014, 02:40 PM

Just as Aron finished filling up another dozen bottles or so, Tasha entered the lab. "Fantastic," he greeted her, getting straight to business and handing her a small box of the spray bottles. "Take these to level 4. Make sure you speak to Skylark while you are there and fill her in on things. I would send a patronus to do it myself, but given the severity of the infestation I reckon these things will devour it before it even leaves level 3."

He shot another glance towards Derek. "Isaacs from the Minister's Office is in the waiting area, so bring him a box of the goods and then head to level 2."

He was going to hang back here, yes in YOUR lab Derek, for the time being and focus his efforts on giving level 3 a spray down with the remaining employees.

*Nordic Witch* · 05-03-2014, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Just as Aron finished filling up another dozen bottles or so, Tasha entered the lab. "Fantastic," he greeted her, getting straight to business and handing her a small box of the spray bottles. "Take these to level 4. Make sure you speak to Skylark while you are there and fill her in on things. I would send a patronus to do it myself, but given the severity of the infestation I reckon these things will devour it before it even leaves level 3."

"I'll get right on it boss!" Tasha reassured him. Making sure the dozen or so bottles were safe in her arms, the blond backed out of the lab. She didn't like the news that the infestatation could devour their whole department within minutes. First a lock out. Then the navy dump and now a creature infestation. At least this infestation seemed to be easy enough to get rid of with the use of Derek's pesticide bottles.

Taking the stairs rather than the lifts Tasha left level 3.

Hey Ju · 05-03-2014, 04:45 PM

Derek stared at the bottle he was holding and blinked. A name? He was really bad at those things... and it wasn't like he was the entrepeneurial type either... it wasn't like he was going go to around selling the pesticide any time soon. Though maybe that was an idea he could think about later... hm...

He turned his ead to look at the door when Natasha arrived and listened to his boss' instructions. At least he wouldn't have to leave the Department now. And for the first time Derek didn't mind having all those people fussing around in the waiting area.

The lab technician got some of the filled up bottles and headed out.

*Nordic Witch* · 11-15-2014, 06:34 PM

Sophie headed into the toxicology lab with her kit of poisonous mushroom vials bouncing against her waist in the late afternoon. A witch had called her out in the very early hours of the morning to help her get her big garden ridden of poisonous mushrooms. It had taken the whole morning and it wasn't until well into the afternoon that Sophie had been able to leave the property.

Pushing her dark hair back and into a messy bun with a pen, Sophie took a seat in the section equipped with all the right instruments for analysing her specimens. Rubbing her neck and feigning a yawn she wondered if she should have stopped for something energizing to drink in the break room first.

Hey Ju · 11-17-2014, 04:26 AM

Merlin, that had been stressful....... well, for Derek. It probably wouldn't've been so for a normal person. All they did was talk, but that was an awful thing to do. People were almost always to be avoided, in his point of view, and that was what he was planning to do when he went to his lab.

Only to see that Sophie Connolly was already there. The lab technician froze on spot for a moment and hesitated for a fraction of a second before he entered his lab. That was now to be shared with her. Merlin.

He walked over to his own work station and shot a glance towards his co-worker, wondering what she was working on ~~and whether she was going to blow up the lab~~.

*Nordic Witch* · 11-17-2014, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

Merlin, that had been stressful....... well, for Derek. It probably wouldn't've been so for a normal person. All they did was talk, but that was an awful thing to do. People were almost always to be avoided, in his point of view, and that was what he was planning to do when he went to his lab.

Only to see that Sophie Connolly was already there. The lab technician froze on spot for a moment and hesitated for a fraction of a second before he entered his lab. That was now to be shared with her. Merlin.

He walked over to his own work station and shot a glance towards his co-worker, wondering what she was working on ~~and whether she was going to blow up the lab~~.

Sophie was studying a mushroom sample through a microscope and was pausing to document her findings on a piece of parchment when Derek walked in. She gave him a wave and a small smile as he passed by her to go to his work station. "Hi Derek!"

Taking up a vial full off poisonous mushrooms she held it up in the air to show him as she said. "I'm identifying what kind of poison is in these mushrooms. An old witch's breeding experiments had gone a bit too far." It was to put it mildly since people and creatures that had eaten the mushrooms had gotten sick. "What are you going to be working on?" Given that she was still a newbie to the job Sophie didn't mind learning from someone more experienced.

Hey Ju · 11-21-2014, 04:41 AM

"Hi..." Derek actually greeted the woman with actual words. One word, but still.

She sounded enthusiastic and the lab technician didn't know how to respond to that very well. He... didn't really ask what she was doing but since she felt the need to share it with him, he listened. An old witch's breeding experiments? Did the Ministry know about that? He wondered what Emmalee's reaction to that would be before snapping back to reality and eyeing the vial Sophie was holding up. "Any... news?" By Merlin, what was happening to him?? He was talking. Asking questions. Something was wrong.

Blink. Derek should've seen that coming. The woman asking him what he was working on. He never really shared his work with anyone for many reasons, but he shrugged and answered. "I'll continue working on the mutants' case."

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