August 31, 2021 – 6:49 PM
Ford's mouth popped open just slightly in surprise when Dodonus mentioned shooting spells off. For a moment he'd forgotten about his wand in his pocket, thinking only of how spirits in these glasses were dependent on someone from the outside coming along to help them out. Spirits didn't have magic, though — surely two capable wizards could figure their way out of this predicament? Well, one capable wizard and Ford. Or... Ford and Dodonus. He knew Dodonus had done some impressive charmwork in the past, like in his attic, but that didn't mean he was the sort who could do complex magic spontaneously. They weren't out of the woods yet.
"For life won't be very long if we stay stuck in here and starve to death," he pointed out, drawing his wand. He considered the glass with a puzzled look on his face. "D'you think finite incantatem would end the spell and push us out of the mirror, or end the spell and leave us trapped inside?"
Set by Lady!
September 1, 2021 – 6:51 PM
Tycho Dodonus — Played by Kit
Tycho nodded in agreement as he took his own wand out. "Worth the risk to find out?" He questioned as he touched the glass again. "If it ends the spell, we could have to cast spells that catch the shopkeepers attention." He certainly hoped that they wouldn't be stuck in here. As much as he didn't think he would particularly mind being stuck somewhere alone forever with Ford Greengrass, he would much rather they didn't die.
September 2, 2021 – 7:25 PM
Ford turned his wand around and rested the edge of it between his teeth for a moment as he considered the glass in front of them. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "If it only ends the way in and out, it might make it harder for them to rescue us once someone notices we're in here." Having point this out, he had a sudden thought which made him frown. "Assuming they want to rescue us."
Why would they have a mirror like this, anyway? Spirit mirrors didn't trap living people — so this was something that worked on a different kind of charm than what Ford was familiar with. Had the magic gotten mixed up on accident, or had they created this mirror intentionally to try and trap someone? That would almost certainly be illegal... but this was Knockturn, so there was no way of saying for sure.
If they'd wanted to trap someone, though, Ford couldn't imagine that he and Dodonus had been the intended targets. What would they do if they discovered their illegal-kidnapping-mirror was full of accidental victims? Probably nothing good.
Set by Lady!
September 3, 2021 – 1:20 AM
Tycho Dodonus — Played by Kit
"Oh yes. This is Knockturn Alley, after all," Tycho said in agreement when Ford implied that the person might not want to rescue them. Knockturn was home to all manner of illegal and dark artifacts. Never mind how he personally knew that.
"Either way, once we're out should we take it with us and report it?" Tycho was not a law man and Ford was in Spirit Division so he had no idea how they should go about getting it to the proper person to look over it. "Still. Better to try than to get stuck forever, I suppose?"
September 3, 2021 – 1:10 PM
"Report it, definitely," Ford agreed with a nod. As for taking it with them, they'd have to see how things shook out. He knew how to sneakily transport an object that was too big to be comfortably carried with magic, thanks to the wardrobe relocation efforts in April, but just because something had worked once didn't mean it would work again. This Knockturn shop might have some charms in place to prevent people from walking out with their merchandise, or otherwise be a bit more complicated than stealing a wardrobe from a Muggle inn. They probably should at least try to take it with them, so that no one else got stuck inside it while the relevant Ministry department was investigating it (Ford wasn't entirely sure which department that would even be, because if the magic on it was intended to trap people it was no longer a Spirit Division case. Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, maybe? Law Enforcement? Not him was the important bit). If it came down to it and they had the choice between getting away from this situation safely or taking the mirror with them, though, Ford would be choosing to get away. There was a reason he wasn't an auror, and if this was really dark magic being used by dark wizards, there were people who did this sort of thing and Ford wasn't one of them.
"We're not going to get stuck forever," he said resolutely. "I just think we ought to try and be smart about this, so we don't... you know. Have to deal with any unnecessary unpleasantness on the way out." What he meant was that maybe getting out of the mirror quietly was worth a little extra effort, rather than escaping in a way that would alert whoever owned it... since they didn't know anything about those people or their intentions.
Set by Lady!
September 9, 2021 – 2:29 AM
Tycho Dodonus — Played by Kit
Tycho nodded when Ford said that they should definitely take the mirror with them. He doubted a shopkeeper would be keen on that if they knew the two men had been inside the mirror. But Tycho figured they could figure out what to do there once they actually got out of here. Being stuck in a mirror was a different horse than getting stuck in a tent full of delicious cookies and fun people.
"Shall we try and cast the spell you suggested first?" Tycho asked as he twirled his wand.
September 11, 2021 – 12:07 AM
Ford didn't think the conversation had progressed to any conclusion whatsoever, much less a conclusion satisfactory enough that he wanted to start firing off spells. He chewed his lower lip. He didn't have any better ideas than trying to end the enchantment on the mirror. He certainly thought that had a better chance of working than trying to use an offensive spell against the glass. At the very least, this route was less likely to end with one of them injured and still stranded on the inside of the mirror. The worst that could happen, Ford imagined, was that their situation was materially the same, except that some of the magic about them had gotten a little more or less complicated.
If he'd been called out to deal with this as part of a Ministry job, he probably would have gone about it differently — looked something up, tried to figure out the spell that had caused this, taken his time. He didn't have the luxury of a library and an infinite amount of time in here, though. He also wouldn't be called to anything like this, because things that affected corporeal beings were well outside of his division, so he had no relevant expertise to draw on.
"Well, I suppose," he decided. "If we die, stick around and I'll find some way to make it up to you. Finite incantatem."
Set by Lady!
September 18, 2021 – 2:16 AM
Tycho Dodonus — Played by Kit
Tycho chuckled in response to the mans words before waiting to see if the spell would work. Well, they were still in the mirror but something seemed to have happened. The glass on the mirror was not as still as it had been before. Maybe if they touched it much like they had when entering this place, it would send them out into the shop?
There was only one way to find out: Tycho touched the mirror and waited to see if it would do anything at all.
September 21, 2021 – 12:21 AM
Ford had opened his mouth to say wait — though wait for what, he couldn't have said — but before he could make any noise at all Dodonus had put his hand up against the glass in front of them. It shattered, loudly and violently. The magic must have made it particularly brittle, because normal glass wouldn't have done that no matter how much force Dodonus had exerted with his fingertips. Ford shut his eyes instinctively to shield them from shards of glass, and when he opened them a moment later the two of them were back in the shop. The mirror was still broken, with bits of it lying scattered at their feet, but both Ford and Dodonus appeared to be unharmed.
"Oh, wow," Ford said, shaking his head as he looked at the wreckage. "D'you reckon there's any point in taking it with us now, or not?"
Set by Lady!
September 21, 2021 – 1:12 AM
Tycho Dodonus — Played by Kit
Tycho was glad for his sunglasses as the glass of the mirror shattered. He had not been expecting that at all but it looked like they would not be spending their lives together in a mirror. However long they might have survived considering they'd have needed food and drink at some point.
"I think we should. At the very least to have it examined by whoever might be responsible for such things. Or I take it home and tinker with it," Tycho said. "As it is, we should probably before the shopkeeper comes and sees we both discovered and ruined the mirror in one fell swoop."
September 27, 2021 – 1:20 PM
Ford shook his head lightly at Dodonus' response. "You're not taking it home," he said firmly, as he picked his way across the broken glass on the floor back to the edge of the mirror. He used a quick spell to shrink it down to a size that could fit in his pocket, then reached down to pick it up. Unfortunately his spell hadn't changed the weight of the object, so it was a little awkward to pick up, but not impossible. Mirrors weren't as unwieldy as wardrobes, after all, and he had experience surreptitiously moving one of those out of a Muggle inn. "At least not until someone at the Ministry's already cleared it and we know you won't accidentally get stuck inside a broken piece of glass, or anything."
Probably he should have just left his answer at no, but he had to admit that he was curious about the mirror's origin and intended purpose as well — and he had a decided soft spot for Dodonus and the things that emerged from his tinkering. That had been the genesis of their bizarre friendship in the first place. Ford slipped the mirror into his pocket and tried not to let the weight of it affect the way he was carrying himself and walking. "C'mon, let's go," he said, heading towards the shop front.
Set by Lady!
October 9, 2021 – 11:15 PM
Tycho Dodonus — Played by Kit
Oh, boo. Tycho momentarily pouted in response to Ford telling him he wasn't going to take the mirror home. He immediately dropped that though when Ford amended that he probably could once someone at the Ministry had given it the all clear. And that was probably a good idea in hindsight.
"Good bye, my dear. It was simply not meant to be," Tycho said in faux-dramatic sadness to the doll in the mirror before following Ford out.
