Gloves, Toaster and Toilets

Arthur Weasley apparated back to the Ministry of Magic, feeling slightly more cheerful than he been in the morning. He walked across the hall of the Atrium, towards the lift. He pushed the up button and waited until the lift clattered into view. He got into to the lift, as well as a few Interdepartmental memos. Most of the people in the lift greeted him and asked about Harry Potter's disciplinary hearing. He assured them that Harry had been cleared of all charges.

As the lift arrived on the second floor, Arthur got out and headed down the hall and entered his office, bumping into Kingsley along the way. When he entered, he saw that Perkins was working on the report for the regurgitating public toilet in Bethnal Green.

"So, Arthur, what happened in Potter's hearing?" said old wizard, in a way of greeting.

"He was cleared of all charges as far as I know. What's going on with the regurgitating toilets?"

"It was Willy Widdershins, he was found by a fourth toilet covered in - well - it seems that he was unsuccessful in trying to make a fourth regurgitating toilet. He was found by an Auror about an hour after this. Right now, I'm writing up a report on what happened and the charges to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so you've got that case off your hands. You may as well start on something else as I have this under control and don't need any help with it."

"I might as well, thanks for the information."

Arthur headed toward his desk and as he sat his gaze passed briefly by the picture of his family. He tried not to think about his third son and turned his attention to the in-tray. He looked over the hiccupping toaster, deciding it was a small enough problem to leave until later. He looked at the brown, leather gloves. When he had last seen them they had been twiddling their thumbs, now, however, they were standing on index and middle fingers on the edge of the in-tray, waiting for attention and tapping their middle fingers, impatiently. Arthur knew that he would have to handle the impatient gloves first.

Arthur pulled out a piece of parchment and started a report.

Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office

Arthur Weasley

Artifact: pair of brown, leather gloves

Defect:

Solution:

Responsible Party:

Summary:

The gloves knew that they were going to be taken care of so, they stepped down and flopped onto a nearby piece of blank parchment. As Arthur pulled out his wand to find out what spell was on the gloves, the right glove grabbed a nearby quill. Arthur stopped to give the gloves a chance to reveal more about themselves. The gloves then, using a combined effort, dipped the quill in ink and started writing.

We were given life to by an old Asian man -

"They can write?" Arthur said incredulously

Well, obviously, we can - well, only me, the right glove, because the guy is right handed - and we hear and understand you as well. So, back to business, what do you want to know?

"Well, for starters who gave you life and what charm did they use?"

An old Asian man named Jacob Miller used a motion to the motionless spell directed at us, as gloves. The incantation was Motus Manicae.

"What is the counter charm?"

The counter charm is Durare if you direct it at us at random. If you direct it to us as gloves it's Durare Manicae. Just don't do the counter charm so quickly, we enjoy having the power of motion.

The parchment on which Arthur was keeping track of this violation now read:

Artifact: pair of brown leather gloves

Defect: have power of motion

Solution: Durare

Responsible Party: Jacob Miller

"Now, where can I find this Jacob Miller?" asked Arthur, as he needed more information on this pair of gloves.

Err - well - you can't find him - you see - he's dead. He charmed us as a sort of last act. He died of natural causes on August 5, and we've been in the possession of a couple of Muggles, who bought us at thrift stores. We were careful to not show that we were magic but, we let a few things slip and were obviously caught.

"Well, I like you so, I'm going to take you home with me and call the case closed. I'm going to use the parchment you wrote on as the summary so, hop off it and wait by the in-tray." Arthur hesitated after saying this. "You know, write another note saying that you don't want me to do the counter charm, just for show, 'course." he added. They obliged by adding a short note.

The gloves hopped off the parchment and settled between the in-tray and the picture of the Weasley family. Arthur turned his attention to the hiccupping toaster. He knew the counter charm for this, as it was a fairly common problem. He muttered "Omittere Singultus" and the toaster stopped hiccupping fairly quickly. He then wrote up a report on the hiccupping toaster and marked it closed. He placed the toaster on the far corner of his desk to be sent to a Muggle thrift store. He put both the reports on a brass spike, adding a note the one about the gloves. The note explained that the gloves were now in his possession.

He sat back in his chair, knowing he had no work left for the day. He dozed off for a few hours. When he woke up, he had a quarter of an hour to get to his shift, as he was covering for Tonks. He put the gloves in the pocket of his Bomber jacket, as well as parchment, a quill and ink. He put on the jacket and after a quick look around the office he decided he was ready to leave. He left his office thinking about the Order and wondering whether Kingsley would come to dinner.