| Details for St. Mungo’s Mayhem – Vials Unleashed |
| Summary: | At last the stolen vials have resurfaced and wreak havoc upon the healers and patients of St. Mungo's. |
| Date: | Monday, November 19, 1937 |
| Location: | St Mungo's |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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It is a fall day. The weather is cool and overcast.
St. Mungo’s Hospital - London
What appears to Muggles as an old abandoned store, to the Wizarding Eye it is actually St. Mungo's Hospital. In the middle of the room, behind a busy and paperwork filled desk sits the receptionist. Next to her is a little sign, painted on a cheerful little yellow board, that says, "Questions? Can't Talk? Can't remember why you're here? Never fear, the Welcome Witch is here." Behind her is a large sign that lists the various departments of the hospital with little arrows pointing people in the correct directions. The rest of the room is filled with comfortable looking waiting room chairs and little tables with magazines and newspapers both Muggle and Wizardly.
It's been a very quiet day all things considered. No extreme emergencies…yet. Just a sort of silent tension that's been building like a coiling spring about to reach it's limit before it shoots off. The Healers In Charge are a little oddly all congressing together by the front desk Emyrs' predicament gains a side bit of attention from the Healer In Charge of Spell Damage. But hushed words from another Master Healer grabs his attention again and there seems to be a quick vote going down by a show of hands to decide something or another that's being entirely kept from the staff and patients both. Big Secret Big Wig Stuff(tm) is going down.
Rhyeline sits apart from Magnus and Healer Jonothan in a small examination room in the Spell Damage ward. As Annie takes her hand, the girl subtly clings to it. "I am though. That's all that happened. Just got a bit dizzy. There's no need to worry." As Magnus directs a glance over to her, the young witch's dark gaze flickers up and meets his before she quickly looks back to her friend and then down at her hands.
Finishing with a patient, Keenan twitches aside the curtain, his bright healer robes giving a quick swish around his ankles. He wears them almost casually as a flick of his wand adds a last notation to the clipboard, and then he hangs it on the peg at the end of the patient's bed. Once finished, he pulls the curtain back around, then turns back. "Right, and…" he catches sight of Emrys. "And ye are?" he asks the man, tucking his wand into his sleeve. "What happened here?" The here seems to indicate the man's hands as he nods to them, and holds his own hands out.
Denny has been in for a visit, but he's getting better now. Mostly. His left hand is still covered in bandages, and he's busy testing how well he can flex his fingers when he moves into the lobby. His eyes take a short sweep around the building briefly, the cluster of people earning a wary eye as the man shuffles slong in the circle around the area.
Almost before Magnus is done speaking, Annie's attention slips back to Rhyeline, very much like the sister she claimed to be to get in the room. "Have you been exerting yourself?" she asks the smaller witch. Being in an examining room with the others, she has no view of the big powwow going down, and since her attention is all for Rhye it's unlikely she would be interested in it even if they were in the same room.
Donner is leaning close over a massive tome, consulting something for a patient but also listening as close as he dares to the Healers In Charge. Any time the Big Wigs huddle like that, it's almost certainly something extra gruesome. Or they're deciding who to foist off the paperwork on, but Donner's willing to take the chance if there's a chance of blood and guts.
Nurse Irma Oliphant (Hogwarts class '75, spritely for her age in the way only Wizards can be, with a tremendous Gibson Girl hairstyle lurking under her crisp cap) is bustling about, on the verge of routine cleaning duties. But these are civilized waters, so she's stopped, first, to have a bit of a chat at the entrance of the Magical Bugs wing, huddled towards the front of the hallway with one of her fellows. There are teacups involved, half hidden by voluminous nurses' clothing. The nurses are gossiping, in lower tones, and with occasional, creaky tittering, though half an eye is on the Big Wigs. Old nurses don't spook easily, but they also keep an eye open.
"Emrys Snowdon." Emrys tells Keenan, when he's asked who is. His own hands are held out, in echo of the other man's posture. "Hate mail. Went off as soon as I opened it." He explains with a wry smile. "It burnt up some of my paperwork." Which he sounds like he's extremely put out by. Oh, and his hands and cuffs, of course. But what actually seems to bother him is the paperwork.
Magnus casts a single glance at the hushed discussion between Annie and Rhye, his gaunt features conveying interested focus - but at the sight of motion through the window of the small room, he glances out towards the hall and observes the goings-on with an arched brow. The ambassador frowns, reaching up with one hand to rub at the line of his jaw, and nods towards Jonothan. When he speaks, his voice is considerably lower - difficult for the two women to hear. "Is something going on outside, Mr. Greengrass?"
Keenan nods as he listens, and looks to the hands, not touching them, but he gives a swirling motion to indicate his request for Emrys to turn them over. The big wigs, for the moment, are ignored. He has a patient, and he knows that if it concerns him, they'll make sure he knows soon enough. "Was there an instant flash? Any color to it? Or did it burn for a little while like flames before it went out?" he asks clinically. "Did it make any extra noise besides besides tha 'whoosh' of air?"
"I'm alright, Annie," murmurs Rhyeline, lowering her gaze. "I just-" she hesitates "-probably didn't sleep enough. Or something. It doesn't matter. I'm feeling better. " Then as Healer Greengrass excuses himself, Rhyeline nods with respect and says, "Thank you very much for your help." Peeking up at Annie, she bites her lower lip a moment. "Can we go home?"
Katherine walks in through St. Mungo's doors cradling an arm to herself that shows to big knots of swelling along the forearm. Althought her face is ashen white and her jaw is clenched hard enough for its muscles to be seen bunching up under the skin she's not giving any other indications of pain.
Emrys thinks for a moment. "There was…a sort of popping sound, almost like a small bang I suppose. Instant flash, burnt anything it touched but those things didn't then burn like flames. A little bit of greenish-yellow color for a moment." As he's filling Keenan in, he turns his hands over as requested.
No Rhyeline, you can't go home, no one can go home! The vote is unanimous and every Healer in Charge lifts their wand and then say, "Quarentanos!" There is a flash of their wands and the whole Hospital starts to sparkle in all the joints and seams and there is an almost suckling sound as all windows, exterior doors, vents, and even a crack or two in the walls seal up tight. There is no Apparating in or out. The bricks of the Floo Fireplace shift much like the gateway to Diagon Alley and seal off access to the fireplace. Full and complete quarantine!
Rushing from the mental ward an orderly pants and exclaims breathlessly. "They gone! Vanished! Bit's o'm jus started disappearin'!
Master Healer Hawke of Trauma steps to a little tube from a box on the wall by the front desk and sets it against the pommel of his wand and his charismatic calm impeccable bedside manner voice comes over the Hospital 'PA' System after he places the tip of his wand to his throat. "Attention please. Everyone remain where they are. Saint Mungos is now under quarantine. Please remain calm. More information will be forthcoming, we promise."
Katherine blinks a few times in surprise then looks around herself,"great…" She mutters to herself before moving further into the hospital and grabbing the first staff member she sees,"Quarentine or no quarentine I have a broken arm here and need at least something for the plain."
Annie puts her arm around Rhye, "Of course, poppet, I'll take yeh home." She starts to help Rhyeline to her feet, and it turning for another thank you to Magnus, when the quarantine comes down on them. She frowns, looking up at the voice. "Quarantine?" The question is for no one in particular, and her arm tightens slightly around Rhye's waist.
Keenan nods as he looks at the hands. "Sounds like a combination bulbodox powder and frozen ashwinder egg, set off with exploding fluid. The explosion of the friction would have thawed the egg. Looks like it was a small one, or yer whole office could have burned down…" he's about to suggest a course of treatment when he notes the sparkling of Quarantine going up around them, and he holds up a hand to wait for the announcement before he goes on. "Bloody brilliant," he mutters under his breath. "Well, look, since ye're going to be here awhile, might as well come on over and take a bed to make yerself comfortable. I'll get some salve for those hands, in the meantime…" he pulls out his wand and gives a short incantation to numb the feeling. "That will temporarily keep them from itching." He gestures towards a nurse to escort Emrys to a bed, and then turns to the other Master Healers.
As Jonothan hurries out of the room, Magnus frowns and turns towards Annie and Rhyeline, his expression thoughtful. "Well, thank you for coming to attend to Miss Diderot, Miss Taylor. I suppose you'll both be-" The announcement causes him to pause mid-sentence. After it's finished, he seems to have gone several shades paler. When the orderly goes tearing past the room screaming and panicked, Magnus nonchalantly walks over to the door and turns the lock, then stands back a couple of feet. "I'm sure it's nothing serious."
Their chattering silenced the moment the announcement is made, the two nurses standing in the Magical Bugs entrance exchange looks: calm ones. This ain't their first time at the rodeo. Caps are straightened, watches are checked, and Irma draws forth the source of their teacups: a handy little tea service. "Don't worry about it, duckie," she tells Annie. Magnus and Rhye are included in the sweep of her calming smile. "Happens all the time. Have some tea and a sit-down 'til they take care of it, is my advice."
"Ashwinder egg." Emrys frowns slightly at that. "Sounds like I really upset somebody. Not that that's exactly unusual, but…" He falls silent then, for the announcement. "Well, this is terrible inconvenient." He seems to agree with Keenan in that respect, but then the man is summoning a nurse even as he protests, slightly bewildered "A bed? But…it's only my hands." Still, he seems the type to obey the doctors.
Stuck? In the hospital? This will not do! Denny's face scrunches up into an ugly frown as his eyes flitter to the windows and doors, over to the panicked orderly, and then toward the cluster of doctors. That's where he ends up stomping over to. "MLE," The man announces, "What seems to be the problem?" AKA why can't I get out of here, damn it.
As the ominous voice rings out over the hospital’s magical tannoy system, Rhyeline’s eyes widen as the flicker of nervousness deepens in her eyes. As Annie’s arm goes around her waist, the girl’s arms both go around hers and biting her lower lip, she clings to her dear friend. Looking to the Ambassador, she hesitates a moment before saying, “Magnus, what’s wrong? What do they mean quarantine?” Tea for any crisis. Just because they’re wizarding folk doesn’t mean they aren’t also very, very British. At the sight of the elderly nurse offering tea, Rhyeline withdraws into silence, keeping close to Annie.
Keenan nods to Emrys. "Aye, it's only ye're hands. Just thought ye'd rather have a bed to lay back until this's done. Chairs in the waiting room get damned uncomfortable after about fifteen minutes." He gives the man a wink, then raises his eyebrows as the MLE pushes his way forward to demand answers from the healers. There's a bit of amusement in his eyes as he crosses his arms loosely across his chest, balancing more of his weight on his left foot as his right foot comes to rest heel to toe on his left.
Annie doesn't exactly look reassured by the Ambassador's words, having never been stuck in a Mungo's quarantine before. She can count on one hand the number of times she's even been there. "Maybe we should ask someone," she ventures. "At least find out what's going on." She looks ready to head for the door and bring Rhyeline with her.
Donner starts when the quarentine is enacted. He edges a little closer to the Healers in Charge. Maybe if he looks busily engaged with the administration, none of the patients will ask him what's going on.
Magnus glances over to the door with some degree of irritation when it's opened up almost immediately after he'd made certain it was kept sealed. The ambassador seems disinterested in the proferred drinks and merely shakes his head politely, though he looks back at Rhyeline and Annie with a blank expression, his pale eyes showing… something. "I'll be right back." Before Irma can close it completely, he slips out the door, then pushes it shut, his gaze going up and down the hall - particularly in the direction the man just came running from. Irma gets a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "Do you have any idea what's caused the lockdown?"
"I suppose you do have a point there." Emrys admits to Keenan with a slight shake of his head, following the other man's attention when it shifts to the man from MLE. He squints slightly, trying to see if it's anybody he recognises.
Katherine clenches her jaw again as the orderly she managed to grab dashes off. Maybe to find her someone to help maybe not. So moving very gingerly so as not to bump her arm around she find a seat in the waiting room and sits down to… wait.
“My love, maybe we should stay here until things have quieted down,” murmurs Rhyeline as she follows Annie with great reluctance towards the door. “We aren’t healers, there’s nothing we can do.”
"Not the faintest, duckie," says Nurse Irma, serenely. An unwary passerby, too slow and hesitant to avoid it, has a cuppa foisted off on him. "I shouldn't worry, though. I'm sure the Healers have it all under control. They generally do, within a few minutes." Elsewhere in the area, other nurses can be seen performing similar tasks - not necessarily involving tea, but making sure patients and visitors are kept relatively calm and comfortable, their basic needs tended to. With a polite nod, she ventures onward, tea tray at ready.
As Hit Wizard Denny tromps across the hospital to confront the Master Healers who are now disbursing to go to their separate wards and handle things there does a tinkling sound and then a sinister crunch come from underneath his foot. A cloud of rather pretty purple spore *poof* out around his foot. Timed perfectly with Healer Hawke raising a hand to halt the Hit Wizard while saying "Sir, please stay where you are and remain — Bollox. Don't move sir, don't move. Hold your breath and don't move. A bubble head charm is cast and the Healer casts several spells that turn the purple spores black…but did he get them all!? Under Denny's foot the broken vial with shards stuck in his sole has a label stuck to it. "Spattergroit" is written on the label, underneath a bunch of symbols used by the Magical Bugs and Maladies department to organized their (usually secured) disease samples for research and development.
While Annie wants to appease Rhye, she can't help her curiosity, especially after Magnus goes out. She compromises, at least to her it's a compromise, by stopping at the door, and propping it open with her foot so they aren't so cut off from information. "Alright, love, we'll stay here." For the moment. Maybe it's nothing. No one looks upset. She even pokes her head out a bit, just in time to barely hear a crunch.
The sound of the crunch nearby brings an instant reaction from Keenan. He puts his own bubbly head spell on, and then charms his hands as well. His casually worn robes are buttoned up tighter, and now he's completely sealed from contaminants. He looks to the vial on the floor, and then to Healer Hawke, curiously. "What do ye need me ta do, sir?" he asks.
"I see…" Magnus stalls at the entrance to the room when the nurse gives him that decidedly unhelpful answer. The commotion from the entryway - including the crunch and the resulting cries - make him wince. He waits until she's paced off, and then suddenly turns and… marches down the hall towards the mental ward. He doesn't appear to have noticed Annie poking her head out behind him. Once he's a good distance from anyone else, the ambassador… begins looking for a patient with Vanishing Sickness. He has a plan, but first, he needs to catch a disease from a lunatic.
Denny looks less than pleased when he hears the pop of the vial, the man's lips parting to no doubt offer up some kind of complaint before it begins to actually leak. The Hit-Wizard freezes rather abruptly in place, his cheeks puffing out comically when instructed to hold his breath. The bubble helps, though he doesn't actually dare to start shuffling around again. Not yet. "Do you just leave this stuff around now?" He sounds less than thrilled. And all warbly from the spell to boot.
"Oh good." Emrys says, in his most sarcastic tone, when things go from merely inconvenient to decidedly problematic. He seems less inclined to move now, given what just happened to Denny, so instead he watches and waits.
Rhyeline bites her lower lip as Annie peeks out into the hallway. Despite her caution, the girl's own curiosity is starting to get the better of her as well. After a moment or two, simply can't help herself. Drawing close once more to Annie, the girl peeks out through the slightly open door as well. "What's going on?" she asks, a hand clinging a bit to the muggle coat the slightly taller witch wears over her simple dress.
Donner looks at the ground when Denny steps on the vial, trying to puzzle out what the man stepped on. At the purple puff, it takes a moment to register and then he skitters backwards wand coming up to cast a Bubblehead charm on himself. "How did that get out!" he yelps.
Irma is by this point a fair bit down the corridor, but the crack of the vial catches her attention. The elderly witch isn't close enough to make out precisely what's happening, but Bubblehead charms are a good indication that whatever it is, it's trouble. After a shuffling moment to stick the tray out the way, she draws out her wand and follows suit.
Annie's eyes widen as all the bubblehead charms pop up and she quickly pulls back into the room, urging Rhye with her. "Alright, maybe this isn't the best time to be sticking our noses into things, poppet. Seems we might be best off in here." She makes to shut the door, if she can bring Rhyeline back with her.
Ranjali, who has been visiting (aka snogging like schoolgirls)with Audrey during her late lunch, flings open the door to the storage room she had dragged the singer into earlier. Her eyes, the corners tight with sudden worry, take in the scene in moments. What she sees is also not much, but it is enough. Spinning, she pulls her wand out and points it at the blonde, casting the buubblehead charm on the other woman before bothering with herself.
Eventually, Magnus stops in his tracks. Something seems to have occurred to him. The man turns and, with a scowl, paces back in the direction he'd come from; when he reaches the door to the room he'd originally been in, he spots Annie and Rhyeline peeking out. The man takes the opportunity to catch their attention with a wave of his arm so that he can slip inside after them. As soon as he does, he casts the bubblehead charm that is currently all the rage outside on the two witches, then on himself. "I think it would be best if we kept the door sealed henceforth."
Audrey's eyes go wide with surprise when Ranjali's wand is pointed at her. She thought they were having a good time! But suddenly her head is encased in…a bubble? This is a new one for the Squib. "Ranji? Wh-what is this? What's going on?" She moves to cling to Ranjali's arm, more than a little lost.
It seems things are taking a turn for the worse. Rhyline withdraws quickly back into their room at Annie’s urging, just as Magnus returns and slips inside after them. Finding a bubble charm encasing her head, Rhyeline blinks and reaching up, she pokes at it curiously. Luckily the surface tension withstands her fingertip’s prodding.
Emrys settles down onto the bed he's been directed to, and then pauses. After a moment he very gingerly, wincing all the while, begins to mess with the sheets. And finally, finds himself eyeing a vial. Rather than pick it up, given how bad the seal is looking, he announces rather loudly "I found….something."
Annie is quick to duck out of the way as Magnus joins them again, and then… there's a bubble on her head. She looks to Magnus, her smile grateful. "Ta, Ambassador." She's still dying to know what's going on, but she's not quite tall enough to see out the small window in the door. "D'yeh know what's happening?" she asks him. He was the only one of them actually out there.
Relaxing, if only slightly, once the charms have been cast, Ranjali offers a tight smile, "I'm not certain, a quarantine has been issued. You'll be relatively safe with that on… " Depending on what sort of problem they are facing, that is. "I'll need to see what's happening, and if I am needed. Come, you should stay with me for now." Taking Audrey's hand, she steps out to glance around, her attention quickly swinging to Emrys as he makes his announcement. "What is it?" She asks, turning to head his way.
Audrey nods nervously to Ranjali's explanation, allows herself to be tugged along after her. Of course, it makes the one-handed effort to button up her blouse a bit awkward.
"Something quite dire, from the sounds of it," Magnus replies slowly. He looks down at the door, and casually places his boot in front of it to effectively jam it from being opened; he doesn't particularly want it being opened in case anything (or anyone) infectious comes inside. He's really only concerned with the people inside this room.
"That is a very good question." Emrys replies to Ranjali, gesturing toward the vial with the label that looks like it's been through the wash and the precarious seal. "It was hidden in the sheets…would have got me, too, if I didn't have my extra paranoid face on today. Doesn't look safe."
The nervousness of Rhyeline’s eyes only deepens at the words that Magnus and Annie exchange. Now the girl is looking rather scared. The danger associated with international politics is one thing, but being trapped in a small room in a sealed off hospital is entirely another and not something the girl seems to be able to deal with as easily. Keeping as close to Annie as possible, Rhyeline slips her arms around her waist once more in a tight hug.
Without warning, Rhyeline’s delicate form is yanked away from Annie’s side as invisible hands grope and drag the girl deeper into the room and almost at once, her sharp shriek of terror pierces the calm quiet of their room. Twisting and trembling, the girl struggles desperately against the invisible hands and through her screams, one may hear the bad voices, the terrible voices saying, "Such a pretty thing…smells so lovely…wonder what her insides smell like."
Annie has no hesitation in stepping closer to Rhyeline. The fact that Magnus feels the urge to brace the door from opening is both worrisome and reassuring at the same time. At least they're not in here alone. And apparently they are even less alone than Annie thinks, as Rhye is suddenly pulled away from her. "Oi!" she yells at… nothing. Then her hand comes up to swipe at the back of her neck, and she stumbles back a step. She can hear breathing, but sees only more nothing.
The ambassador's eyes suddenly shoot down to his outstretched arm as he feels pressure being exerted on it… someone is trying to yank his wand out of his hand. The man utters a rather lovely-sounding string of French profanities, then hisses, "/Protego/!"
Master Healer Hawke just gives Denny an 'are you an idiot?' expression though his face schools immediately. "Three weeks ago there was a break-in. Five vials were stolen from the stores. Your superiors didn't think that the vials were still here. Wonderful detective work in finding the Spattergroit bottle. We're still missing the Vanishing Sickenss, which I'm making an educated guess is somewhere in the Mental Ward. Ludicrosis, Scrofungulus and Dragon Pox is still unaccounted for."
Rhyeline’s desperate screams only heighten as the invisible hands pull at her clothes and grope, seeking her intimate places. Unfortunately, her strength is no match for the invisible hands and before long, in the back corner of the room, they drag her down to the ground.
The mention of Dragon Pox brings a stillness to Keenan, as he freezes and then frowns. He shakes his head, then glances around. "I'll search the Plant and Potion Poisoning ward, an' see if there's anything unusual there. I did inventory yesterday, if there's something out of place, or extra, I'll stand a better chance of recognizing it." He turns and starts in that direction, watching where he puts his feet as he walks.
Ranjali comes to a stop beside Emrys, squeezing and then releasing Audrey's hand so she can examine the vial for herself. "I think we may all best have our paranoid faces on for the time being." She murmurs. Her wand is pointed at the vial then, and she murmurs quickly two incantations. "Protego." is first, followed once the shield is in place around the vial by, "Levioso."
Emrys watches intently as Ranjali interacts with and examines the vial, apparently curious as to exactly what it was he almost got a dose of.
"Thank you," Denny replies dryly. "I'm good at my job. It's good to know I could have had that under my pillow while I was here." He sounds less pleased with the situation as time goes on. One big puff of a sigh is made, and then he asks, "Well, let's go on a treasure hunt." He moves his foot now, shaking it back and forth as if to be sure anything sticking to it might be dislodged.
Finding nothing behind her, Annie turns back at once, quicker on her feet than with her wand, and more sure. There's nothing there, and she doesn't want to hit Rhye with any charms. So she aims not quite directly at Rhyeline and launches herself bodily and without restraint. She hits something quite solidly, knocking the air out of herself as she hits it and then the floor.
With the vial floating in its small shield beside her wand, Ranjali glances over the others. "I need to take this to my superior, so that it can be identified. Do you need anything before I do? Did you come into any contact with it?" She reaches back, while she speaks, for Audrey's hand, her face a mask of concern that hides quite effectively the intense guilt she is feeling for having put her love in danger.
Audrey keeps clinging to Ranjali even she she must release her hand, just balling up a fistful of the woman's robes. She is so far out of her element than she might as well be a fish in a desert. When Ranjali's hand returns, she breathes a little easier…but only a little. "I don't understand any of this, Ranji. What's happening? Why do we have to have these…bubbles?"
Irma ventures towards Master Healer Hawke (and Keenan and Denny, by extension). The elderly woman's expression is still placid, but focused, especially on the words 'treasure hunt'. "Yes," she agrees, nodding at Denny's comments. "It sounds like a very… careful… search is in order. Especially for that Dragon Pox…"
Trust Cooper to be off duty when shit is hitting the fan. She arrived at Mungo's earlier in the day, just returning from a mini-mission where she incurred a rather nasty gash on her upper arm. A healer was half way through fixing it until the quarantine took effect, and amid all the chaos the procedure remained unfinished leaving a raw and rough scar on her skin. Avoiding the mental patients on the way down to the lobby, she spots the familiar face of Denny, talking to Healer Hawke, and heads over in their direction with a bubble surrounding her face just like everyone else. "Did you say a break-in?" she asks Hawke, catching the last few words of their conversation. "Disease vials were stolen?"
"No, I'm…someone else was getting me the things for my hands." Emrys holds them up, to show the red welts covering them. "But it's fine…this is a little more important. And unless it got into the sheets somehow, I don't believe I did. The seal looks precarious…but intact." He smiles at Ranjali then, encouragingly. "You should get it to your supervisor right away. I'll be fine."
Magnus curses again as he feels the person grabbing his wand temporarily disappear. He glances sidelong at Annie and Rhyeline for a half-second, his lips peeling back in an /extremely/ hostile snarl at the sight of the latter. "Homenum revelio!" His wand cuts a quick pattern in the air, and he begins pacing /backwards/ towards Rhyeline, keeping his wand pointed in the direction he thinks the first invisible body was flung… though he's not certain.
Despite not being able to see Rhyeline's attacker, Annie now has a better idea of the size of it, at least. Her face is determined as she moves to grapple with it. Grabbing what feels like a leg she doesn't fight fair at all, lunging her head forward to bite into into the appendage with surprising viciousness.
Ranjali nods, looking at the welts with a moment's hesitation. But the Impervius'd vial takes precedent for now. So she turns to look around, leading Audrey in the direction of the Master Healer once she spots him. "I don't know, yet." She murmurs, "But I rather think Master Hawke can explain it. Something, though, caused the quarantine to be placed on the hospital. And until we know why, the bubblehead charm will keep you from breathing in anything harmful, if whatever it was is in the air."
"If it's in the air? Could be be somewhere else? Something we've touched?" Suddenly Audrey is fearfully looking every which way, as if she'll see some ectoplasmic ooze clinging to a wall that is surely the cause of the quarantine. Her grip on Ranjali's hand tightens. There is no way in hell she is being parted from her.
A man’s howl of pain bursts forth as Annie suddenly starts to viciously gnaw on his arm. A heavy invisible hand tries to thwack Annie in the face, trying to get her off its arm. It gives Rhye just enough time to at last break free from the grabby hands and crawl away, trembling like a leaf. Pulling out her wand at last, she whirls around. Wand quivering in her hand, she points it blindly at the air where she had been (avoiding Annie). In a tremulous voice, she cries, “Stupefy!”
Master Healer Hawke co-ordinates those that want to go on the search and sends them off with well wishes and 'be carefuls'!"
Annie takes a solid hit to the side of the head but holds on tenaciously, like a terrier, letting loose with a string of curses that many would not even suspect she knew let alone kept somewhere in her vocabulary. She only lasts a few more seconds before she finally loses hold and is flung aside, hitting the wall with a thump. Again, the breath whooshes out of her with a grunt, and Rhye unleashes a spell at the attacker.
Emrys, apparently tired of sitting on the bed with itchy hands, wanders off to join the treasure hunt. No sense sitting around when he could be being useful, after all.
Ranjali pauses mid-stride to face Audrey, looking the woman in the eye as she states calmly, "You are going to be alright, Audrey. No matter what, I will make certain of it. Now, as we've touched nothing that wasn't in that closet," the faintest of blushes is now visible on her cheeks, "I believe we are relatively safe. But I will need to speak with Master Hawke to be certain. He will tell us what we need to know. And you will need to be strong while we listen. Can you do that?"
Denny quickly sets to being an authority figure. "Cooper. Help out, would you? I'm going to search the Spell Damage ward, you-" Here Denny pauses, the man swallowing rather audibly. His lips move again to little avail after that, a few fingers rising to touch against his throat. After a few more seconds of attempted speech he scowls, glaring over at the Master Healer as if this were entirely his fault. He points over at the ward he indicates, then around the people gathered in the immediate area, and then begins to stomp off. His face looks a little…purplelish.
Audrey nods rapidly to Ranjali. "Y-yes…alright." Her growing terror is plain enough to Ranjali, but she puts on the actress' mask and takes a deep, calming breath, adopting the appearance of calm. Nevertheless, the trembling in her hands is something she cannot suppress.
Despite how her wand hand trembles, Rhyeline’s spell rushes straight at two of the invisible mental ward residents that were already advancing on her. The sound of two heavy bodies collapsing on the ground is more than apparent. Looking then to Annie, the little witch sends out another spell, hoping to catch whoever she is chewing on so tenaciously. “Stupify!”
Two of the invisible patients are revealed by Magnus's spell; he's crossed the distance between himself and Rhyeline by now, and he stands in front of the thin girl with a predatory smile twisting his lips up at the corners. Of course, he can only see faint, glowing outlines… but that's enough. The ambassador isn't particularly interested in playing nice with them, so he points his wand at the nearby hospital bed. "Locomotor lectus." With a twist of the wand, he sends the heavy piece of furniture hurling at the mental ward occupants.
Cooper gasps when Denny begins to change an odd hue, the bubble surround her face contracts when she does so. "D-Denny, Oh god!" She places a hand on each shoulder of the hit wizard to get a good look at him and calls for a healer. "Someone….please, someone stabilize him!" And a healer does indeed take poor Denny out of Cooper's hands. Pushing her glasses up she assures him, "I'll go through spell damage, instead!" And turning on her heel, away she goes in a rush toward the Spell Damage wall.
All this hitting into things bodily is taking a toll on Annie, and the young witch stays curled up on the floor for several moments. The spell that Rhyeline sends out is proven successful by the thump of a body falling to the floor. She groans, but moves again, looking up as she pushes herself to sitting, eyes seeking out Rhyeline immediately to see if her friend is safe.
"Don't worry about it, duckie," Irma tells Cooper, kindly, in passing. "He'll be right as rain." With a brisk nod at the Master Healer, the elderly nurse bustles briskly off towards the Magical Bugs ward, absently checking the time in her watch as she goes.
“Smells so nice,” comes a voice from where Rhyeline had sent her first stupefy attack. “But she fights… Such a naughty pretty thing.” It seems Rhye’s spell hit one target, and when he fell back, the second one went down to. Magnus’ spell has revealed his faint outline as it slowly gets up and starts to advance. Digging her heels into the floor, Rhyeline kicks away from the mental patient. But before she can lift her wand a third time, Magnus interposes himself between her and the man. The lectus slams violently into the man and he lands against the wall with a sickening crunch. As the furniture crashes to the ground, so does he. The faint outline of a man moves no further. Nor do either of the others who had attacked little Rhyeline. At last, all falls silent in the Room 2 of the Spell Damage Floor. As the calm settles, Rhyeline’s eyes overflow with tears and dropping her wand, she hides her face in her hands, trembling.
Ranjali offers Audrey one more smile, this one both sympathetic and proud. "Good, then. Lets find out what this is all about." She nods, and returns her trek toward Master Healer Hawke. "Sir." As soon as she's close enough, she holds out the floating vial for him to see, "Can you tell us what is happening, please? And why a vial of what looks suspiciously like Scrofungulus was found laying in a bed looking damaged enough to fall apart at the slightest touch?"
Master Healer Hawke licks his lips, he's feeling a touch hoarse from all of the calling and commanding he's doing. Yes, that's all. "There y- are H-r Wi-tho-." The man is very well educated and his speech is usually very refined and clear. He must really be getting hoarse!
Cooper moves quickly and swiftly up the stairs, gears turning in her head at the info of vials missing. Parts make sense, but she can't piece everything together. And being carried away with her thoughts, she accidentally exits on the wrong floor. "Shite….where the bloody hell am I?" she scowls and then looks around to see a playroom with a handful of barely walking toddler. "Oh great. The children's ward," she says rather dryly. Turning to return back to the elevator, she passes a rather adorable green-eyed baby sitting atop a baby hospital bed sucking on the cap of a bottle. Gingerly she smiles at it, and continues on until - double take - OH GOD THAT'S VIAL! "No!" she screams, immediately yanking the disease container away from the baby, leaving it crying as if Cooper just stole its candy.
Magnus bends down by Rhyeline almost as soon as the room goes quiet - though he also shoots a questioning look in Annie's direction. "Miss Taylor? How badly are you hurt?" He seems more concerned with his assistant, though; he kneels by her and reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder in concern… but pauses when he notices his hand has effectively disappeared.
In the potions ward, Keenan's carefully inventoried Potions are now in complete disarray. Bottles are floating in the air, and it seems they are clumping together as they go. Then, there's a hop, and they stop, hovering over the top of a mixing table, and the stoppers start popping off and rolling in the floor. As Keenan enters, he hears the sound of them falling, and begins running towards the sound. Even from the end of the aisle as he advances, he can tell what some of them are and he pales as the first one begins to disappear into an invisible.
"Stop!" he calls out, pulling his wand, to be met with high pitched laughter as the Euphoria Elixir takes effect. Another potion is literally disappearing, and Keenan sends a 'petrificus totalus' in the direction of the floating bottles, but he can't hit a target he can't see. There's a sliding sound as the patient decides to get out of the way, the Invigorating Draught spurring her along as she crawls under the table to get away from the Healer. Swearing under his breath, Keenan goes forward, trying to get an eye on the floating potions again. Another bottle clatters to the ground, as Pepper Up Potion is consumed. Swearing copiously in Gaelic, he starts crawling under the table, and reaches forward to grab at thin air, his hands closing on something, perhaps an ankle.
He breathes a sigh of relief and begins to tug, then he sees the swelling solution raising in the air, and he blanches. "No!" Letting go of the ankle, he lunges forward, trying to knock the bottle aside, but the combination of the other potions in hyping her up, and the fact that he can't see her bunching her legs up to kick out at him, means that he finds himself hurtling backwards instead with a painful crack of the back of his head to the underside of the table. He still makes one more attempt, but the potion disappears as well, and the laughter turns to hideous screaming as the overloaded patient's system is now swelling as if trying to get out of her body.
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph," Keenan breathes, and he grabs at the shelves, finding a deflating draught. "Where is your mouth, dammit?" he breathes, trying to get a grip on the invisibly wiggling and swelling body. His face pale, but suddenly the body deflates under his hands, and he finds himself covered in gore as her over taxed body could no longer contain the potions inside it.
Irma, meanwhile, makes her return to Magical Bugs - and finds the place in a mild uproar. Invisible hands and feet and miscellaneous limbs, everywhere: two docilely sitting on bemused patients' beds, holding conversations; another pair investigating equipment and opening cabinets; one using spare cups to play an impromptu guessing game with a bemused waiting room visitor ('s house keys). The healers and their assistants are doing their best to round the handful of harmless lunatics up. Irma, after giving the scene a long stare, huffs out a mild sigh, mutters "Bugger all," and joins in the frustrating chase.
Annie doesn't quite feel like getting all the way up, so she's hunched over as she leans on the wall which, surprisingly to her, doesn't bear an imprint of her body. Sure feels like she hit it that hard. She holds up a hand to Magnus, half groaning, "I'm alright." The hand waves. "Rhyeline." Clearly an indication to pay attention to the other girl.
Ranjali blinks, frowning first in confusion and then concern. "M-Master Healer?" Widening eyes look from the man to the vial, though by the time she looks up again her eyes are lit with suden understanding and purpose. "Don't move!" She commands the Healer, before setting her wand down on the nearest table and turning to make a dash for the nearest supply closet, Audrey still held firmly by the hand. She moves with a speed only ever seen by her coworkers, releasing the singer's hand once inside to snatch a bottle from the back of a high shelf, and after double-checking the label rushes it back to Hawke, ripping the cork out as she runs. When she gets back, she picks up her wand again, leaving the vial, and presses the bottle top into Hawke's hand. "Drink." She says, and as soon as he does so lifts her wand to add, "Curaro Punictus!"
Emrys, meanwhile, who doesn't come here very often at all, has gotten himself thoroughly and completely lost. He's adding nothing useful to the search he'd originally set about upon, but is getting a very thorough impromptu self-guided tour of St Mungo's.
Audrey doesn't dare move once Ranjali has let go of her. She has enough wits about her to see that she'll only get in the way if she tries to follow. But despite being nearby, she suddenly feels like she's a million miles from anyone, and touching anything could leave her like Master Healer Hawke, or worse. She hugs herself tightly, and blinks back gathering tears.
At the sound of Magnus and Annie’s voices, Rhyeline lowers her hands and lifts her tearful gaze. As she does though, she catcp hes sight of something the others haven’t noticed yet. Reaching frantically for her wand, she flings one last stupefy in its direction, although her voice breaks as she does, tears leaking from her dark eyes. The spell hits, but it won’t last quite as long as the others.
Magnus looks over at the seemingly empty part of the room that the red bolt of Rhyeline's stunning spell lances off towards, and then hears the thump of an invisible body hitting the ground. However, in the state that the girl was in, he's sure the charm was rather weak… and what's more, he has no idea of exactly where the mental patient fell. Rather than risking his spell being inaccurate due to the relative difficulty of finding the unconscious form, he simply points his wand in the general area that the sound came from. "Confringo." The resulting explosion throws quite a lot of floor tiles and plaster dust into the air… and also a good deal of blood.
Letting Magnus take care of the last threat, Annie pushes off the wall and takes a stumbling step to Ryheline. Man, this is gonna leave a mark. She drops to her knees, gathering her friend up into her arms, whispering softly to her. "It's alright now, poppet. We're alright." The grand manner in which Magnus does see to the threat makes her grasp more tightly to Rhye, turning to look with an awestruck, "Bloody hell." No pun intended. And that's…. kinda gross. Annie quickly turns her head away, attempting to block Rhye's view as well.
"Shit…shit shit shit," Cooper is looking rather panicky now and she doesn't take notice that she's cussing like a sailor in front of a child. But this baby had the freakin vial in. its. mouth. She takes a gander at the vial which contains green and purple pustules. And although she can't identify the disease she does seem rather certain that the seal wasn't broken. Still, she checks the baby for anything dire and casts a quick impervius charm on the vial before slipping it into her robe pocket. "A healer, please. I need a healer!" she calls down the hall over the wailing tones of the baby, but it seems like everyone's occupied with other children. So with a reluctant groan, she picks up the crying brat in her arms and rushes back to the steps to return to the lobby. Only…she's lost herself again…somewhere in the Spell Damage Ward where she hears something explode from Exam Room 2.
Rhyeline still trembles like a leaf, though as she feels Annie’s presence drawing her into an embrace, she hides against her chest. Clinging to her dear friend’s muggle coat, she cries silently now that the full horror of what just happened is able to settle upon her fully. Luckily, Rhye’s view is quiet effectively blocked and she doesn’t try to move.
Magnus looks down at the two witches as the huddle together; he's still concerned, but it's clear that they're both safe now. The man stands slowly and makes his way towards the other end of the room, stepping over bits of rubble as flecks of dust and paint float down on his pristine business suit. He nearly trips over something soft, fleshy, and invisible, and looks down to disdainfully kick it out of the way before proceeding to the door so that he can open it and peer outside.
Master Healer Hawke is looking rather purple. He can't speak at all by the time Ranjali returns. He just looks grateful and quickly takes his medicine. Ranjali has just saved her bosses life. Guess who's getting a BIG Christmas Bonus this year!? The explosion gets several healers and orderlies pouring into the room. The first Healer in the room casts an 'Expelliarmus' at Magnus. "I know the MLE is in the Hospital somewhere. Make sure they take this man into custody." When more orderlies come in they start casting a sort of paint spray from their wands and the three men that attacked Rhye that were stupified are taken back into custody. The one that grabbed Magnus' wand as well is dragged off to, while the one that just stood there, with bad breath is loaded into a body bag. The two women in the room are also escorted to a different room and some orderlies stay with them to protect them.
Emrys pauses on his way into Creature Induced Injuries, as something on a passing cart catches his eye. For a moment there's indecision, since stopping the cart might make it drop. And then he remembers himself, and draws his wand. Which takes a minute, and there's much wincing as he does so. "Accio!"
"Easyy now…easy now….," Cooper whispers awkwardly hushing the child in mere whimpers while she draws her wand. The blast coming from Exam Room 2 has the auror on the edge. And just as she approaches the room cautiously step by step, a slew of healers come rushing past her pushing their way into the room. Well…that's not exactly the strategy she's taught to enter such a situation…but none of the healers seem to be screaming in horror and running away so that's a good sign. All the commotion has the baby wailing again, but Cooper still catches the word 'MLE' and immediately steps into the opening of the doorway saying with an authoritative scowl, "I'm an Auror, what's going on in here-." Her words stop short upon seeing blood all over the room and her wide eyes settling on the diplomat. "Magnus?" she looks rather horrified, not at the gore but over seeing the man himself, and she does her best to calm the baby on her hip as she assesses the situation.
There's a few moments as Keenan just freezes, stunned. He carefully sets down the deflating draught, and sits back on his heels to wipe the gore from his face. He swallows a couple times, then pushes to his feet and finds a nauseau potion. He downs it, and puts the bottle back on the shelf. Time to continue searching for that missing potion… except that this is one goddawful mess. As he walks, his foot strikes something that's softer, but inert. Bending down, he reaches a hand to poke at the body, and then kneels, following the body up to the head, and assessing. An empty bottle lays nearby, and it's a good bet. Taking out his wand, he gives a wave, and
As soon as Master Hawke looks to be recovering, Ranjali allows herself to relax. Slightly. She nods to the man, then turns to Audrey to take her hands and pull her close, her face still holding her reassuring smile. "Are you alright? Its going to be fine, really. He's well again, see? And remember, you don't need to be afraid. I won't let anything hurt you."
Rhyeline and Annie remain huddled on the ground in Room 2, hugging each other and trying not to notice the gore around them. The vanishing sickness has spread further, making them hard for the orderlies to notice as they start to tidy up. Eventually after the healers at last see to them and pronounce them ready to leave, the two friends would head home together.
Once Emrys has the vial safe in his hand, he pockets his wand and makes his way back to the reception area. Which is somewhat trial, error, and asking directions. He's keeping the vial clutched tightly, like a prize, as he searches out Master Hawke to show off his find.
Taking out his wand, Keenan gives a wave, and 'levicorpus' to lift it to the air. Then he runs his hands along the side again to orient his floating patient out to the hallway and to a gurney. Using the straps he ties down the invisible wrists and ankles, and pulls the chest strap across, too. After taking the patient to the room, he pulls out the antidote and revives the patient. Making sure to lock the door behind him, he goes in search of more patients, and the cure for the vanishing potion so that they can be made visible when found.
Magnus merely steps back from the doorway and allows the flood of people to surge around him so that the healers can sort out the casualties. He offers no resistance when he's disarmed, though he does gaze balefully at the healer in question for a second. "Don't damage that." After a moment, when Cooper follows, one of his brows lifts and he smiles - even as the voice of the revived Master Healer carries down the hall with orders to take him into custody. "I think you'll be needing this, madamoiselle." And, after looking back one more time at Rhyeline and Annie, he walks through the door and waits for the MLE to deal with him. At the sight of Audrey and Ranjali standing relatively nearby, he merely offers a complacent smile and wink to the witch and the squib.
Audrey is having a difficult time controlling her trembling. The hospital is in chaos, people running around with their wands out. Of course, Audrey has no wand. She is powerless. But Ranjali's reassurance gives her pause. The fear is still present, but she nods, again clinging to Ranjali. "I know you won't." But then it's her turn to feel protective, and her hackles raise at the sight of Magnus. Suddenly emboldened, she slips free of Ranjali and strides toward Magnus with fire in her eyes.
Ranjali glances back at the Master Healer to assure herself that he /is/ in fact recovering. She sees Magnus pass by as she does so, sucking in a breath. She starts to glare, satisfied for now with that. But Audrey, it seems, has other ideas. "Audrey!" Surprised, she hesitates a few seconds before reaching for the singer's sleeve, giving the woman a head start.
Over in Magical Bugs, the nut-roundup is proceeding… apace. Four of the five have been caught, painfully slowly, but the fifth has managed to hide herself quite thoroughly and will take a deft bit of spellcasting to locate. Still, the Healers and their nurses will catch the poor lunatic, soon enough, before too much damage has been done, and before any murder or serious mayhem can occur. On the other hand, poor Irma will find herself at the mercies of a Healer, herself: a few seconds contact with Denny, and the elderly nurse has caught herself a case of Spattergroit, and will find herself a patient in her own ward.
Cooper still looks rather horrified at the bloody scene in the room, treading caution not to touch anything that will mess stuff up for investigators later. "Did you….do all this, Magnus?" she scowls angrily in reply to that smile of his. Why is he not taking her seriously right now! She's a law enforcer! Grrrr. Of course, in all this horror, she's forgotten that there's a crying baby in her arms. Maybe that's why no one's taking her seriously. Holding her wand up at him, she peers to Rhye and Annie in the corner before ordering Magnus, "Okay well now you've got to come with me." And suddenly, the brat falls silent, and makes no noise. It's enough to elicit the Auror's attention. "What's wrong with you, ma-," Cooper's voice suddenly disappears too. And suddenly her eyes widen in panic once more as both she and the baby begin to turn a shade of purple.
Cooper and the baby start developing purple pussy stuff on their face.
Magnus turns to look at Cooper with a wry smile. "I protected myself, my assistant, and Miss Taylor from invisible lunatics, yes. It's unfortunate that the blasting spell did more than knock them unconscious, but…" He shrugs mildly. It's not that he's not taking the auror seriously, it's just that he's already processed the fact that he'll be taken into custody, and is putting up no fight whatsoever. Well… not to her. He misses the fact that she has begun to change colors due to the fact that he's paying attention to Audrey's approach.
After getting his patient, set, Keenan skips on the inventory for now. It's a lost cause. He does find a couple of potions for himself. He grimaces, because he's not going to feel great for the next couple days, but better safe than sorry. He downs them, and then continues to help round up the remaining patients, ignoring the looks some people give him at the dried stuff on his clothes and in his hair. Only when it's done does he go to the Mungo's rooms and strip his robes to spend a good hour scrubbing himself clean.
"Look what I found." Emrys declares when he finds Master Hawke, holding the vial out for the other man to take. "I'm not sure what it is, but I bet you're missing it."
Ranjali watches Audrey approach Magnus almost helplessly, her once confident facade fading fast. And then she sees Cooper and the baby, notices the shade the Auror and child are suddenly turning… and her mask is instantly back in place. She breaks into that same run, grabbing the half-full bottle from Hawke on her way. But the time it takes to get the bottle is just enough for the symptoms to get even worse, and this time she can tell, by the time she gets close enough, that she is too late. Sighing, she gives the babe a sad look, though she is unable to meet Cooper's eyes. "I'm sorry." She murmurs, turning her gaze to the floor. "I wasn't fast enough. There's nothing we can do until the next full moon."
"You vicious, evil, rancid, filthy, disgusting pig!" Audrey spews at Magnus arms raise to pound angrily at him and claw at the bubble protecting his head. She doesn't get but a few harmless blows in before two orderlies (and it does take two) drag her off of him. She continues to struggle, her pretty face twisted up in rage, trying to get at him.
Magnus doesn't seem inclined to stop Audrey from hitting him - in fact, he looks mildly bemused until the two orderlies drag her away. The man merely chuckles at the mystified looks the nearby staff gives him, and waits patiently until the lockdown ends to get this nonsense over with.
The royal colored pustules on Cooper and the baby's face intensify, and she gives Ranjali a silent look of disbelief before suddenly feeling rather heavy with fatigue. The baby too is getting sleepy, and silently cries against the auror's shoulder. Cooper'll have to leave the arresting in someone else's hands since a team of healers is sweeping her and the child away to get the proper treatment.
There is a terrible clatter from the Artefact Accidents ward. In one of the rooms where there seems to be quite a few people with cauldrons stuck over their heads. They were placed into sleep potion induced sleep until their heads can be shrunk and the pots removed. One invisible crazy person has gone to the effort of arranging the pot heads in such a way that the Crazies have a pot head band! One bangs away at five of the pot heads with spoons that he probably pulled out of a couple of the pot head's pots and is drumming away at five of the patients. Another Crazy is clanging tow heads together to act like cymbals. Another is rattling and batting some handles on the cauldrons around. One of the other patients in the room has half a broom through his leg and is awaiting surgery in a coma as well, but until then another Crazy is hanging the leg off of the edge of the bed so she can make and add a scraping sound to the 'music'. All in all, 5 invisible nutcases make up this 'band' that's been discovered.
Emrys has quite happily, almost naturally, taken charge when he discovered the person who would normally be in charge is still recovering from a bad case of Spattergroit. Various search parties go this way and that under his direction. As one of the nurses comes up to report the latest finding, he's directing a group of orderlies off in another attempt.
The base amount of time for the Quarantine to last would be 6 hours, once all of the 65 patients who escaped from their ward after going invisible from Vanishing Sickness are found. Thanks to the surprising efforts of Emrys Snowdon the rounding up of the the invisible escapees takes seven hours. Bringing the total of quarantine time to 13 hours. Auspicious some Arithmancy buffs might say. Those that contracted the Vanishing Sickness are treated and fine by the time the lock down is removed. Those that contracted Spattergroit during the outbreak incident are to be kept at the Hospital until the Full Moon so that they can be given the healing ritual of: Taking the liver of a toad, binding it tight about the victim's throat and standing naked by the full moon in a barrel of eels' eyes.
But the mystery remains… Why were five super potent disease filled vials stolen from the very secured vault in the Magical Bugs and Diseases Ward? How were they stolen? By who? Not to mention for what purpose?