Errand Soap and Suds PV Finished

Tatiana had eaten an early dinner, and decided she'd wait in the courtyard and read a book while she waited for meal time to end. In effort to pocket a little extra spending money, as well as volunteer to help out around the castle, she'd volunteered to do another errand for Professor Jensen. Instead of sprucing up the greenhouse like she'd done last time, she agreed to help clean some of the dishes with two other students she didn't know very well. She reckoned she had seen them before in one, or several, of her classes, but they'd never spoken. Even so, it didn't matter much anyway, knowing them or not wasn't going to change their dish cleaning effectiveness.

As the sun began to set, she packed her book in her bag and started heading toward the kitchens. It was curious to Tatiana, however, why dish cleaning had even been an option for potential errands. Sure, she'd done her fair share of washing up after meals, having grown up in a (mostly) muggle household. But wouldn't a school, especially Hogwarts, have some sort of magical means of doing so? Personally, she had recently learned the cleaning spell, Scourgify, but she didn't mind getting her hands wet either. She wouldn't hold it against her partners if they didn't know how to cast it, but figured it would be much quicker work if they all did.

The last few students were trickling out of the Great Hall as she passed, moving through the towering doorway and to the kitchens in the back of the room. Looking up as she walked, the enchanted ceiling exposed the colorful sky above. The sun just beginning to fall past the horizon, it shone a canvas of bright pink and orange colors clashing against the quickly darkening indigo night sky. No matter the day, rain or shine, the ceiling never failed to impress Tatiana. But then again, every new magical thing or experience she discovered since arriving was impressive. She was easily fascinated and always eager to unearth more magical mysteries. Perhaps not mysteries to someone who had grown up around magic, but they certainly were to her.

As she turned the corner into the room, the first thing she noticed was the large pile of dishes in the sink. It shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, as she saw just how many plates and platters and silverware lined the large tables of the hall every day when she went to eat. But seeing them now, all together in a grimy, messy, haphazardly arranged stacks, the task all of a sudden seemed rather daunting- at least, if they were doing it without magic. One of the other students on their dish cleaning task force had already arrived, a red headed Gryffindor girl in the same year as Tatiana. Figuring they still needed to wait for the last girl to arrive, she made her way over to her and extended her hand toward her. "Hi, I'm Tatiana," she introduced herself. "So, did you want to get started, or should we wait another few minutes?"

Word Count : 522

Reducio

@River Dewlight & @Tatiana Crane

Lallie looked up from the ground and saw a brunette walking up to her. Probably one of Lallie's partners for the chore. She was a brunette with long wavy hair that looked to be a Second Year. She pushed herself off the wall she was leaning on when the girl came up to her.

"Hey, I'm Luna, Lallie Luna. It's nice to meet you." Lallie said taking Tatiana's hand and shaking it, "We might as well wait for the other student. If we do the task without magic there seems to be three jobs to do, washing, rinsing, and drying." She might have been a little formal with her introduction but that was just how she was raised.

After a moment of awkward silence, another student came up to them. She had ginger hair like Lallie's that curled around her. The girl gave a slight nod which Lallie returned with a smile. With that everyone was here for the chore and they could start.

"Hi. I'm Lallie, Lallie Luna." Lallie said extending her hand out to the girl waiting for her to respond. The girl seemed to on the quiet side which Lallie could understand. She was normally quieter in these situations but Lallie normally was vocal in group projects since she had an irrational fear of being left behind if she didn't input anything.

After River responded to Lallie she knew someone would have to say something to start them working on the chores. She didn't want to mention using the Cleaning Spell in case either or both of them didn't know the spell and make them feel bad or embarrassed. The errand would go by so much faster if even one of them did the spell.

Just blurt it out you wimp. It's not like they care about you. She guessed they wouldn't take that much offense to it. Even if they did why do care so much? You don't know these girls. It would be no different to you if they died in their sleep tonight! Now that was a little too far. It seemed like that thing inside Lallie's head had gotten more violent since the appearance of the good one. It was like it got more violent as a protection system when it was threatened. It was so, so, primal.

"So I guess we should start cleaning. Do either of you know the Cleaning Spell since that would probably be an easier way to clean. I'm fine with cleaning normally if you guys want to clean that way." Lallie said timidly. Why was it so hard for her to speak her mind?

Total Word Count: 838

Lallie shook her hand and introduced herself, adding, "We might as well wait for the other student. If we do the task without magic there seems to be three jobs to do, washing, rinsing, and drying." Tatiana's moods lifted slightly at the girl's words, at least two of them knew how to perform the spell. Now, as long as the last girl also knew it, they could be out of there in a jiffy. She was silent for a moment, and before she could respond, the other student entered. She was another red head, but this one she was sure she'd seen around her common room before. She walked over to the girls without a word and gave them a brief nod. Breaking the silence, Lallie said, "So I guess we should start cleaning. Do either of you know the Cleaning Spell since that would probably be an easier way to clean. I'm fine with cleaning normally if you guys want to clean that way."

With the help of their wands, they could be out of there in twenty, thirty minutes max. There were piles on piles on piles of assorted dishes and silverware, but with their wands, the mess could be extinguished without as much as getting a single one of their hands wet. She looked over at the last girl to join them, waiting for her response. Surely, she wouldn't make her feel any guilt if she didn't know it, and she'd even clean the Muggle way with her if that were the case. But even if only two of the three knew the cast, their overall speed would still be exponentially increased. "I do," she told Lallie. "How should we split them up?" She grabbed a towel from the table and fidgeted with it in her hands while she waited to here the game plan. Dishes weren't much fun, but getting a few sickles out of it made it worth it. And, if nothing else, it was still another opportunity to meet a few new students.

Total Word Count : 864

The last girl to arrive, River as she'd just introduced herself, offered to take the plates after confirming she could perform the cast as well. Whew. They all knew the cleaning spell, and thank Godric, the task would have taken much longer without it. The two redheaded girls both seemed nice so far, even if the conversation had been minimal. And at least they seemed ready to get this over with, as Tatiana surely was. "I can take the cups and silverware," she offered. "Or the... bowls? Whatever is left after that." Happy to take whatever job was given to her, Tatiana graciously accepted whichever role Lallie would decide she didn't want.

After the girls had decided how to divvy up the work amongst themselves, Tatiana made her way over to one of the sinks, eager to get started. She hung a dishtowel over her shoulder, just in case she needed it, and took out her wand. Pointing it at the pile of dishes and making an 'S' shape through the air, she cast the scouring charm. "Scourgify." With a quick flick, the dishes rose up from out of the soapy water and began dancing around in front of her. Right before her eyes, the soap and grime began sliding off of each one and falling back into the sink. The work was a bit monotonous, but she had very little to do on her part, and it was all finishing up pretty quickly. She made small talk with the other girls as she went, but none seemed particularly interested in anything but getting out of there.

Little by little the leftover bits on the dishes fell off into the drain and then the water slid off of them, leaving an immaculate and perfectly dry dish in its wake. Tatiana stacked them neatly on the counter beside her as they finished, soon amassing a large collection of now clean dishes to be returned to the kitchen. As soon as she was finished, she turned to see the other two girls were just about done themselves. Grabbing a clean and empty crate, she began loading her clean dishes into it and offered to do the same for River and Lallie. "Thank you both for the help!" She smiled and waved to both of them and returned the dishes to their rightful shelves.

Tatiana completes the task and exits the thread.

Total Word Count : 1253

Reducio

@River Dewlight & @Tatiana Crane

Lallie smiled when River shook her hand. It was a nice name but not one she's heard before. At least not one that she could put a ginger's face to. Her father had always said to pay attention to the way someone shakes your hand since it gives you an idea of what kind of group partner they were. Lallie didn't really do that since she was too busy focusing on memorizing the new person's name. However, she could tell that River was a good, no-nonsense worker.

Lallie exhaled as she heard River and Tatiana say they knew the Cleaning Spell as she realized she had been holding it. She was glad that everyone knew the spell so that no one would be embarrassed. Lallie didn't know why she was so nervous to ask them the spell, it was just her nature. Luckily though the chore could go smoothly and quickly now.

"That would be great, River. I can take the silverware and cups if you want, Tatiana." Lallie said. Fantastic, now everyone can get to their job. The cups and silverware clean the fastest but this job probably had the most items to clean. Mostly due to the fact that each student uses multiple pieces of silverware but only one plate, cup, or bowl.

Lallie picked up a dirty cup with a splash of milk still in it. She took out her wand and made a practiced 'S' motion at the cup while saying, "Scourgify". Bubbles moved like a wave through the cup as it became spick and span. 'Good I still remember it.' Lallie thought as she placed the clean cup in the drying rack. She continued on sprucing spoons, cleaning cups, and freshening up forks. It was rather easy since when you bunched the silverware together the spell would clean them at the same time.

Before long she was done and had placed all the clean cups and silverware on the clean dish rack. She had taken a little longer than the other girls but not by too much. "I'm glad I got to work with you two girls. Thank you and I hope to see you again." Lallie said smiling at both girls. She nodded before walking off to get the best view of the sunset.

Lallie completes the task and exits thread

Total Word Count:1218