Keith watched as Lola went back to her seat and got busy. He took another look at the Cauldron and went back to his own seat, took out a bit of parchment and started to write down a few things.

He went back to the Cauldron and took a look at it again. The potion was already turning into a slight shade of pink. He turned around and said to Lola, "I guess you were right. It's already starting to turn pink. Come and take a look."

"Ooooo coffee! Thank you!" She drank it down feeling it warm her insides. "I so needed a pickme up," she said rubbing the cup to her cheek. She got up and picked up the parchment, pocketing her quill.

She tapped it with her wand twice, making two equal copies appear. "Here you are Lola, Oh, and Keith... was it? I have you a copy as well." She said with a getntle smile on her face.

Lola was a little disappointed at the fast progression of the potion. She enjoyed waiting. Nevertheless, she stood up and walked over. "Ok, now the book says we just have to remove the heat," Lola waved her wand and the flames beneath the cauldron vanished. She read over the instructions again. "Now we just have to let it cool. It should thicken a little." She ritualistically cleaned her red-rimmed glasses. "That was really fast, it might be harder to follow instructions in books like these if the times are drastically different. But faster is better, imagine all the saved time!"

Lola walked over to Chiara's desk and grabbed one of the parchments. "Thanks a lot!" she said graciously. She read over the notes, pleased at the effectiveness of the quill's scribing abilities.

Keith took the copy of the parchment from her. He gave her a warm smile.

"Chiara, right?", he asked her as politely as he could. Then giving a slight grin, he said, "I was wondering whether it would take us a while to break the ice. Not too long though!"

Keith nodded at her and got back to his desk. He was just adding a few finer points to his notes, after which he folded the parchment in half and pocketed it. He waited for about 10 minutes, reading through the notes that Chiara had just handed him, then got up and went over to the cauldron again to check if the potion was thicker.

He turned to Lola and replied, "Yep. Fast again. It's pretty thick now. I just hope that the speed doesn't have any adverse effects when preparing complex potions. It would be a bummer if the normal contents got prepared faster and some were left undone. You think that might be a disadvantage?"

"You're welcome..." she said smiling to her co-worker. Good, she hadn't alienated her...

"Break the ice?!" Chiara said with a chuckle. "I've been told I look unapproachable, but I am really very down to earth. I hope we get to hang out, maybe Friday afternoon's after work, the three of us could go to the local pub?" She smiled. "What do you think?" She asked the both of them.

Keith laughed lightly.

"I never meant you looked unapproachable. I just meant that you looked a bit reserved. But I guess that's the same thing then", he said, smiling at her.

Keith looked at Lola, at Chiara's question, and then replied, "Sure. I'm game for it anytime."

Chiara covered her mouth as she yawned. She was tired... and there was something about what the minister had told her that made her want to slip into a dream world and think of the man... Minister Cooper was so handsome, charming... and powerful. She sighed.

He'd suggested she transfer to a different department... he even said he'd assist her on it... she was now thinking a job change would be good. She liked Syd. He'd given her this job, and she would hate to leave the job... but what if she transfered within the department? She suddenly wanted to find Alison Raine-LaRousse and see how she was appointed to Liason...

Lola walked over and stuck a stirring stick into the solution. "It is pretty thick," she noted, "but it's about the right consistency. How about we make a little bit of a mess?" she smiled mischievously. She walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a jar of Armadillo Bile. "Any of you guys ever spilled this onto a wood surface? It doesn't come off so easily, but if this potion works, it should be a snap!" She put the jar down on an empty desk, and pointed her wand at the container, which shattered.

Lola could see the contents spread over the desk. She pulled out a rag and tried to mop up as much of the liquid as possible. She forgot how vile this stuff smelled. "Erm, sorry about the smell, guys," she apologized, slightly embarrassed. When she finished cleaning up the excess liquid, there was a dark stain left on the desk.

Taking her rag and dipping part of it into the solution, she hoped this worked, or else she would have sullied a perfectly good desk. She scrubbed the surface, which was now covered in the pink cleaning potion. She pointed her wand over the desk and water squirted out of the end. She took the rag and dried up the desk. With a sigh of relief, Lola announced "Whoo! That worked! So what do you guys think about this? I think the speedy completion is a great thing, as long as it's noted that times in potions book might not apply."

Keith nodded and thought about what Lola had just said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But I still think it's not such a good idea when it comes down to complex potions which need to brew and be prepared over a longer period for them to have a stronger effect. Maybe it should be noted that such complex potions are to be avoided in this potion? And won't that defeat the entire point of the potion?", he asked.

He stretched and slouched back to his desk, slumping down on his chair. He badly needed a bite as he hadn't had any breakfast that day.

"So Keith...Lola," she said sipping her coffee... "Where are you two From?" She asked.

Keith smiled to himself. He knew this question just had to crop up some time or the other.

"Well, I'm from all the way at the end of the world", he said. "I'm basically from Tempe, Arizona in the US. But I've been here most of my life - I had my education here in Hogwarts, and joined work here. I haven't met my parents in quite a long time now."

He scribbled down one of the cons of the cauldron on his piece of parchment and put down his quill. Stretching his hands, he looked over at Chiara with a pleasant smile on his face.

"Where are you from?"

"I was born in Italy, but came to live in the UK at a fairly young age. I was 10, and I too went to Hogwarts. What house were you sorted in?" She asked as she updated her notes.

"I went into Ravenclaw", he said. "The hat barely touched my head."

He smiled and continued, "That's a pretty weird decision considering my entire line has been in Slytherin. All my cousins are from Slytherin."

"Is that so? I had a lot of friends in Ravenclaw... I myself was sorted into Slytherin... my mother's family was all Slytherins. Tends to be the case with families, but one escapes from time to time." She said winking at him.

"My father... well, my dad's a muggle but he was determined to woo my mother. Which I guess is a Slytherin trait." She shrugged. "So tell me... why the ministry? Why... Equipment control?" She said the last two words with distaste... it hadn't been her first choice.

Keith turned sharply at what Chiara had just asked him. He could detect a kind of disinterest in her question - perhaps it was a distaste for this particular department.

Weighing his words so as not to sound hostile about his position, he replied carefully, "Well, Equipment control was not my first choice. It was an ambition of becoming an auror - one of the elite upholders of the law - that drew me towards the ministry."

He sighed, start doodling on his parchment, and acknowledged, "I would have to admit that I'm only biding my time until I at least get a lateral shift into the auror department - I'm rearing to head into field work."

He looked up slowly at Chiara and asked, "What about you? Why did you choose this department?"

Lola sat back in her chair, daydreaming about the outdoors. She looked around, hoping for a window, but found none. She amused herself by thinking of all the funny things she could enchant those windows to show. But that wasn't her job, nor her area of expertise. Charms weren't her specialty.

Lola, lost in thought, caught snippets of Keith and Chiara's conversation. She briefly heard Chiara mention Italy. It was as if her brain was recounting all that happened while she was lost in her imagination. "You were born in Italy? That's cool, you speak any Italian, then?" Lola always had an interest in language, she was only partially proficient in French, but always hoped to learn more.

"No, No..." she said chuckling, "I wanted to be in charm control... it's a passion of mine..." Her tummy rumbled.



"Yeah, I do. In fact when I saw the Minister," she paused for effect, "He told me I should be in international co-operation..." She smiled.

"I really need a snack... I'll be right back." She said heading to the break room.

Keith nodded. He had had a feeling that this wasn't where she wanted to be. He acknowledged it and quietly started writing on his parchment.

He looked up when she was heading to the break room, then looked back down at his parchment. Feeling what he had written was quite enough, he pocketed it, wondering silently how long he would have to work in this department before he finally got a break.

He looked at Lola and asked her, "So, how long have you been in the department?"

Lola thought back about her time at the Ministry. "Well, I've only been in this office for about a month, so not long. But before that I was in the Office of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. There I was on the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, which was... interesting." She giggled at some of the things she had to deal with. "I swear, when I was a young child, I never caused any trouble with my abilities, but these days... I suppose with more wizards are living around muggles, it's bound to happen."

She pulled out a pocket mirror, trying her hair in different styles. It looked a little too unkempt, even for her. Has my hair gotten even less brown? she thought. It was always a mousy, dull brown, but now it looked even more so. Maybe I'll have to colour it... She dreaded the thought of changing her hair colour, as her mum always nagged her about. But now, it seemed like she would have to agree with her.

Rebecca opened the door and walked in the room "Hello, i am here on behalf of Miss O'Connor, is everything ok in here?"

Draconis Dumbldore Walked in.He was new here,so he didn't know much about Level 2.

A little memo flew in and tapped Rebecca's hand

Rebecca smiled at it and then read it out to everyone in a loud voice

"I don't know much about computer's,But we could be dealing with some type of invisible dementor."

Rebecca nodded "Good idea, check it out, but in the meantime we should go to Counterfit spells" Rebecca smiled

"Or Its Possably the Protein Charm."