BP: Running Late
Who: Alistair Summers, open Where: The Ministry of Magic When: 14 October, 2024, late-afternoon Rating/Warnings: None Summary: Alistair goes to work on a whacky experiment.
Alistair had woken up late. Usually Horatio woke him up early, but today was different. He threw on some robes, hoping they were clean enough, and apparated to London, just a few blocks away from the street entrance to the Ministry of Magic.
This was Alistair's normal Wednesday routine. He liked his routines. They reminded him there was order in the universe despite the Ministry's chaotic nature, which was another reason he liked working in the Department of Ministries. He was away from most of the nonsense. Werewolves, Voldemort, exploding toilets - those were unimportant things. The position of Jupiter, cloud types, how many daffodils were around when casting a charm - these were the things that were going to lead to a revolution in magic.
As he walked to the Department, Alistair was dreaming about the experiment he had planned for today: The variations in the strength of a bubble charm with differing magnitudes of lunar light strained through a canopy of Alihotsy leaves. He walked straight into someone and their late-afternoon tea spilled all over him.
Now he didn't know what to do. Does he go home, change, and risk not starting his experiment at the right time? Or does he live with the tea-soaked garment and carry out the experiment?
"I don't mean to interrupt, but why not just use a cleaning charm?" The person he had knocked into had interjected into the monologue Summers was having with himself.
"Bollocks man," Alistair responded incredulously. "Cleaning charms? They never work right unless you let them set for an hour on the clothes in a light rain."