Good People Know Good People

Simon’s role as favour-doer for friends and acquaintances was a firmly entrenched one, a side-job, almost, a natural accompaniment to his actual job at this point. Something about working in Accidental Magic Reversal seemed to convince others that all magic was accessible to him, or at least that he was adept enough to face every catastrophe with the utmost confidence. Since the job always got done, he was often presumed to be the man for the job.

That wasn’t quite the case. Many a time Sim had been as utterly befuddled as the next person, unable to draw on his reserves of practical knowledge to solve the problem presented to him. The difference, of course, was that Sim simply worked at it long enough to figure it out, where others would duck out and call someone else in. Someone like him. Because in the end, it took no special talent to do what he did- just attention to detail and the quiet, dedicated drudgery of day-in day-out hard work.

But these thoughts never actually crossed Sim’s mind. He was always happy to respond to any calls for assistance, whether on the clock or off. Today was no exception. When the neatly folded memo fluttered onto his desk just before lunch, the handwriting familiar and the department stamp even more so, he didn’t hesitate to finish off filling in that morning’s report, grab his wand and leap into action.

Well, more like leisurely spring. Or a leisurely amble, really, to the part of the Ministry that had been home to more accidents than any other, inexplicably- or perhaps not. There seemed to be a certain recklessness that accompanied athleticism, unsurprisingly more pronounced in those who had dedicated their lives to it.

He didn’t know what the problem was this time, but he wasn’t too concerned about it. Maude was one of those colleagues responsible and genuinely likeable enough that either way, it wasn't at all a chore to pop by and offer a helping hand and some friendly conversation. And he figured that if it wasn't enough of an emergency to warrant a formal intervention, it was likely just something that needed attending to discreetly before the boss noticed.

Actually, in this case, he wouldn't be at all surprised if it had something to do with the boss, one way or the other.

Concealing a small smile and a head-shake, he arrived at the office door to find it ajar. Raising a hand, he rapped lightly on the door with his knuckles before peeking his head in, smile at the ready.

"Morning, Maude. Everything alright?"



@Maude Prichard

Maude looked up with the sort of smile that just happened without the wearer really thinking about it. "I don't know how I'm still surprised by your quick response times," she told him with a self-depricating shake of her head.

His question, of course, was an important one. One that, unfortunately, came up quite a bit in Maude's line of work. "But, as usual, I'm afraid, being called into this department is not exactly a good sign. Unless you've interviewed to change departments," she added in jest. It wasn't one of her best jokes, but she pretended otherwise as she stood and walked around the desk to come up alongside him. It wasn't exactly one of her 'good days,' thus far. But seeing a friend like Sim did help.

"Tross invited a group of kids up to the studio - some U-17s who play at Hogwarts during the year but want to play professionally. Since they're on break for the holidays, it seemed like a decent time, I guess," she explained, pausing to shrug and shake her head a little as they started off down the hall. "Some of the players from Cardiff came around to have a match with them since Henry's such a big supporter of theirs. But... well, things took a turn for the worst, and it's honestly astounding how rubbish their keeper is at healing charms. You'd think, right, that someone who's spent a lifetime, almost, playing sport like this would be better at it!"

Maude huffed and let her arms swing up a little with exasperation. "Point is, Henry can't fix it but he wanted to stay and keep an eye on things. The boy's leg, that's the problem. It's gone a bit, well... green. Strangest thing I've ever laid eyes on, to be blunt about it."

She glanced at Sim with wide, completely confused eyes, but pushed open the door to the Henry's office. "We'll have to take the floo to the pitch," she told him, giving him the name and stepping through. On the other side, she came out in a recreational center of sorts, and led the way out to the pitch as she wiped a bit of soot off of her trouser leg.

"If anyone can fix this," she added with certainty as she lifted a hand to his arm for a friendly pat to go along with her smile, "I'm sure you can."

True to his Hufflepuff nature, Sim managed an amused chuckle at Maude's joke, perhaps some sort of instinctive intuition pushing him to help keep up the lightness, or perhaps just because it was a sweet attempt at humour all the same. The comment about changing departments held more significance than he'd expected and she'd no doubt thought, since Sim curiously found himself pondering it on it a few seconds longer than he ought, some curiosity pushing him to give it more weight than a simple jest. Magical Games and Sports wasn't for him, he knew that. But there were other departments in the Ministry, and more he could be doing, wasn't there? The thought didn't unsettle him at all, but it was intriguing enough that he filed it away for further inspection, maybe with Cor after they'd tucked the twins in later that night.

Back to the present, he followed Maude down the corridor and nodded along to her explanation, with every word the situation's potential for disaster becoming clearer. But he maintained a calm expression, his even-tempered nature not one to give into alarm where it wasn't wholly warranted. And a green leg, bizarre as it sounded, was more of a worrying nuisance than a real cause for panic.

He waited for Maude to go first, then stepped through after her. Already he was running through the list of possible spells in his head, or a combination that might reverse the damage. His knowledge of healing spells wasn't nearly as comprehensive as other charms and reverse transfiguration, most of his work being focused on inanimate objects rather than people. But he had enough exprience to know that most things had a solution if you looked for it carefully enough. He'd find a way.

He said as much to Maude as they approached the pitch, replying to her generous confidence with a thoughtful half-smile and a more modest assessment of his abilities.

"Well, I'll do my best, and we'll see how it goes, eh?"

He sent a friendly nod to Henry once they came up to the group, familiar enough with him from their days on the Hogwarts pitch even if he'd seen much less of him in recent years than he had of the friendly Hufflepuff who tended to be his port of call in the department. He followed it with a general greeting to the crowd, slightly less easy than the one Maude had been the receptor of not five minutes ago. He wasn't exactly uncomfortable with large groups of strangers, but nor was he naturally outgoing or as boisterous as Maude and Henry and co. presumably were.

The question was on his lips when a brief glance around brought his attention quickly to the teenager lying on the floor, groaning and clutching a startlingly verdant leg. He came closer, crouching next to the kid to get a better look and pulling out his wand though he wouldn't be using it until he had a better idea of the specifics of the problem.

Maintaining the calm composure, he looked up, figuring that between the worried students and the well-meaning quidditch players, Tross was likely the best hope for a quick but efficient rundown that might give him more to go on than Maude's rushed overview. The more information he had, the less likely they were to have another unfortunate mistake on their hands.

"So, uh, what's happened here, exactly?"