Each second strained by, slowly inching along as if it were years of his life. Yet he stood there in silence, considering just how to get out of this predicament. He dealt with beasts not machines, they were entirely different. Yet he considered it from every option. He could try this spell, or that, this charm or that, but no matter what he could think of his thoughts whirled back to Maggie standing silently next to him, not inclined to speak either.

Five minutes in Percy had checked his watch, seven minutes in he had begun to try spells (nonverbal at first) then mumbling them at the grates, ten minutes in he had begun to wonder if someone might be of more help to them then him, fifteen minutes in Maggie spoke again.

It was not the same light tone she had always used with him, instead it was sharp, tense, as if she wished to not even share the same air Percy did. Agitated Percy tapped his wand against the lift’s bars again to no avail. “What do you think I’ve been trying to do for the last ten minutes?” He asked, frustration evident in his tone, even as he kept his eyes on his task instead of her.

Merlin’s beard there was no mercy in the world today! Percy thought staring at the lift that remained stubbornly in place. The summons, Maggie, the immovable lift, it was as if the universe were conspiring against him, waiting to kick him back down again to the misery that seemed his lot in life.