Silas grabbed the earmuffs and jammed them over his ears. He'd once heard a baby mandrake's cry and it knocked him out for a solid day. He didn't quite care for the look of them, either, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't be sick.

But only pretty sure.

Before putting the earmuffs on she asked, "Should we worry about anyone walking past the office? Maybe we should cast the Muffliato spell just be sure no one passing by faints?" She wasn't sure what enchantments had been placed on this office, having never actually worked here before and not having done any of them herself. She tugged on her earmuffs looking around thoughtfully...

Lima smiled and took a pair of earmuffs. She was impressed by how fast Abs had gotten the stuff. "Good thinking, Dora," she replied right as she was going to place them on her head. "Muffliato!" she called out. That should do it. Even if the office already had protections and all tht it never hurt to be safe. "Okay, when everyone has their earmuffs on, give Abs a thumbs up and she can pull the Mandrake out."

Dora smiled at Lima and then turned and gave Abs a thumbs up making sure the earmuffs were tightly on her ears. She hope for Merlin's sake that this mandrake potion worked!!

A nervous smile danced across Silas' face as he gave a nervous thumbs-up. He braced himself for the mandrake pull. He closed his eyes and waited for it to be over.

Seeing that the others had given their thumbs up, she smiled. Now they just needed to wait for C.C. and Serena to get their pairs on and then she would do her own. It was almost time to start this.

Okay. So, if what Lima had said was right, the antidote shouldn't take too long to take effect whenever it was brewed and taken. And for the first time since entering that office, C.C felt relief. Honest relief at being able to get rid of Serena.

The smile said it all as she beamed at the division heads - oh, how she would owe them her life when (if - no, she'd think positively) they'd cured her!

Was the woman going crazy? C.C raised an eyebrow when she returned with a little wagon. The question that rose to her tongue was, What the heck is that?, but just before she opened her mouth it was explained.

'Don't know why I'm bothering helping her,' she muttered (though few could hear by now), slipping one pair of earmuffs over her arm as she adjusted a second pair over Serena's ears. 'Prefer her to be knocked out.' Her little, almost-silent tirade continued for a few moments until she withdrew her hands with a scowl, slipping her own on.

Great. Mandrakes time. Possibly the worst thing since dodgy Polyjuice potion. She nodded at Abigail, silently praying that this would work. Especially now.

Dora waited for the mandrakes to be pulled out and brewed. She smiled reassuringly at Serena hoping that this would be over soon it must be horrible for her

Silas slowly opened one of his eyes to see if the mandrake had been pulled. Everyone looked rather tense, but nothing yet. Oh goodness... oh goodness Silas clamped his eyes closed. He certainly couldn't hear anything, but he didn't want to see anything either.

Seeing that both Serena and C.C. now had earmuffs on, she was the only person left. She quickly placed hers on her head and waited for Abs to pull the mandrake out.

Ben was bored. He hadn't checked in on his Accidental Magic Reversal Office yet today, so he figured now was as good a time as any. Whistling to himself, he walked into the office and, to his immense surprise, he saw a crowd of people standing around. It was never this busy! What was going on?

That was when he saw a woman who had--TWO HEADS? "EGAD!" he exclaimed. Honestly, he shouldn't be surprised by now. He saw some stuff up on this floor that would make the Department of Mysteries employees heads spin.

That was when he noticed that everyone seemed to be wearing earmuffs. Hmmmm. That was odd. Was it a new fashion statement? Better not leave the Department Head out! He took out his wand and with a flick of his wrist, bright purple earmuffs appeared in mid air and he plopped them over his ears, standing in the doorway and acting as if he totally knew what was going on.

Abigail nodded towards Dora when the girl asked about casting Muffliato on the office, just in case anyone walked by. She was about to cast the spell, but Lima had already done. "Great thinking Dora," she told her employee. It would probably be bad if they had continued and someone walked by and heard the mandrake scream and...well...passed out.

She looked around as everyone put on their earmuffs and made sure she got a thumbs up (or a nod) from everyone before she headed back over to the wagon to pick up the pair of gloves that were beside the water bucket. "Okay, let's do this thing," she said with a smile on her face. She put her own pair of earmuffs on and then wandered back over to the pot on Lima's desk. She was about to pull the mandrake out until she spotted someone standing in the doorway. Slightly turning her head, Abby smiled when she noticed it was Ben- her GIANT boss.

Opening her mouth to say something, but she quickly closed it. Nope, this was NOT the time to greet people. She turned her attention back to the pot and gripped her hand around the leaf part of the plant and took in a deep breath before she pulled the mandrake out out the pot and placed it on the desk right next to the pot it came out of. She closed her eyes briefly, because she did not like the ugliness of the plant. Turning back to Lima, she nodded to imply to her friend that she could continue on making the potion.

EWWWW!! Mandrakes were so.. ugly.

But whatever, she had a mandrake draught to make. And it was now time to start. She nodded back to Abs and took out her wand. She started cutting the mandrake up finely with the Diffindo Charm.

When that was done, she dumped the mandrake into the cauldron and poured the water over it. Then she used the bluebell fire spell to heat it.

She took off her earmuffs and waited for everyone else to do the same. It would only take an hour to brew this.

Silas slowly opened his eyes. Oh, good. They were cutting and would begin brewing. He HATED the sight of mandrakes and preferred to avoid it whenever possible.

He saw Lima remove her earmuffs and so did the same. That was the point when he noticed the man standing in the doorway, thankfully clad with purple earmuffs. Why did he recognize his face? And then it dawned on Silas. That's.. oh my, that's the department head. Silas stared perhaps a bit too long, as he decided whether or not to approach and introduce himself.

Abigail stood near Lima, just in case she was needed. She stood still as a stone while her friend threw the mandrake into the cauldron along with the water that was in the bucket, then Lima also used the bluebell charm to heat the cauldron wasn't. Once she was done, Abby collapsed in a nearby chair and looked around the room at all the people. She removed her earmuffs from her head just as Lima did a few seconds earlier.

How much longer would it take until they were done helping C.C. and Serena? Hopefully, no less than two hours. All she wanted to do right now was head down to the cafeteria and grab something to eat. But, she needed to help C.C. and Serena first. "How long will it take for the..." She pointed towards the cauldron. What was that potion called? Mandrake...something. Mandrake....DRAUGHT! That's what it was. "Um, Mandrake Draught to be ready?" She finished.

As she was done asking her question, she turned her attention to the guy she had yet to introduce herself to. Well, she WAS tired up in the mission when he arrived, but since they were waiting for the potion she was able to finally introduce herself. "I'm sorry for not bring able to introduce myself," she apologized to him. "I'm Abigail Weather." She smiled politely at the man.

"No worries; things were a bit, uh, hectic" Silas said, extending his hand to here. "I'm Silas Druery, and it's my first day with the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad." He chuckled. "And I have to say, this is quite the introduction." He looked at the two-headed woman out of the corner of his eye; he hadn't caught her (their?) name (names?) before he'd been swept up in trying to find a solution.

Silas black hair was pointing in every direction. He had a habit of running his hands through his hair when he was nervous, and that, coupled with his sweaty palms, had made for hair that was more unkempt than usual. He tugged at his vest uncomfortably. New people made him anxious.

Correction, new witches and wizards made him nervous. New muggles he could handle.

Dora followed suit and removed her earmuffs. Mandrakes gave her the willies... they were so ugly!! Then she approached Lima and said ,"Is there anything I can do to help?" Then she remembered the HUGE piles of books she had brought to research and flicked her wand an vanished them. She could at least clean up her mess.

Ahhh, mandrakes! That was what they were doing, and why they were wearing earmuffs. He had to admit though, he quite liked his purple pair, so he pocketed them without a second thought.

"Mandrakes? Merlin's beard! What's going on in here?" he asked, blinking and looking around at all the employees.

Looking up, Silas figured now was as good a time as any to introduce himself. As he walked over to the Department Head, he extended his hand. "Silas Druery, I'm new to the department." Gesturing to the rest, he began to explain.

"I'd just arrived for my first day, while they were working on addressing CC's, uh, problem. Dora had just returned with some books, so I sat down to see if we could find any solutions." Silas intentionally left out the part where he'd suggested a correct polyjuice potion. It was superfluous. "I came across a passage that said that in addition to reversing petriciation, Mandrakes had been used to reverse other transfigurations. I suggested it, and a few others thought it might be worth a try after a bit. So, Abigail left and came back with a Mandrake, and here we are."

Silas took a deep breathe. He didn't know what Ben would think.

Matthew made sure his earmuffs were clamped tightly to his head. He was a pretty good Herbology student at Hogwarts, yet hated the mandrakes, they were awfully ugly. He was pleased to have been assigned to this division. First day on the job, and it was already an adventure!

She smiled as Dora offered to help. "Well, it would be a great help if you cleared off all this mess here," she said as she scanned around the desk and saw books and other things littered everywhere.
And Ben was here? Since when? She looked at her boss and tried not to laugh at seeing him in purple earmuffs. And before she could tell him, Silias piped in. "Yep, we're going to be giving the draught to her soon. Hopefully it will cure her."

If Lima remembered correctly the draught took an hour to make. And she had just put it on not that long ago.. "Well, it takes an hour to brew.. and I just put it on like 5 minutes ago.." They just had to twittle their thiumbs and wait another 55 minutes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Lissy Lou

Ahhh, mandrakes! That was what they were doing, and why they were wearing earmuffs. He had to admit though, he quite liked his purple pair, so he pocketed them without a second thought.

"Mandrakes? Merlin's beard! What's going on in here?" he asked, blinking and looking around at all the employees.

Abigail leaned back in her chair as everyone around her began to explain to Ben why they had a mandrake in the offce. She began to tap her fingers against the arm chair and as soon Lima finished what she was saying, she added on.

"You seeeeee, Ben. C.C. had a little problem with polyjuice potion and..." She turned her attention to C.C. and Serena, "You can see the effects of the potion. Lima, no wait, it was Dora...or was it Silas? I'm pretty sure it was Silas. But, he came up with the idea to try and fix Mandrake potion and I went and got the ingredients," she explained. "Besides the polyjuice potion, she also had a little problem with an invisible lower body. We got that all fixed, though! No worries." She smiled at her boss before she turned back to the cauldron.

*****

Tick. Tock. How much longer would it be before the potion was doooooone? Glancing back down at her watch, she quickly looked back at Lima. "It's been a hour," she announced. Lima HAD said it would only take an hour for the stuff to be ready, right? Standing up from the chair, the little Division Head walked over to the cauldron and looked inside it. Hmm. It looked ready!

Silas looked up. "Ready?" Silas looked a little nervous. What if it made things worse? It had been his idea. "Well, then I guess we beter get to it?"

Silas looked around, unable to get a read on anyone's expression. He wrung his hands nervously as he waited.

She took a deep breath as the draught was now ready. "Abs, would you like to do the honours?" It was only fair after Lima had made the thing.

Dora smiled sheepishly at Lima and said, "I just did that, sorry I did make quite a mess didn't I?!"


Dora stepped a bit closer to get a better look at what was going on. For the love of Merlin she hoped this worked. "Everyone keep your fingers crossed!" Dora exclaimed and waited patiently for the outcome.