An American Fangirl at Hogwarts 《3》 of the ☆Ink and Pixels series☆

Chapter Two: Help Wanted... Desperately

"And how do you feel about loud and sudden explosions in the workplace?"

"Uh... they're okay, I suppose. Why would you ask-"

The interviewee was interrupted by a loud and sudden explosion in the workplace. George hurtles through the office door with black soot covering his face and hair, which was sticking up in all directions.

"Please make note that we should not continue experimentations with Exploding Pastels," George said calmly, "I nearly lost a finger."

Madison scribbled it down on a nearby notepad. "Noted," she replied calmly.

Suddenly, Lee's high pitched scream sounded from the shop.

"GEORGE!" Fred shouted. "IT'S GETTING BIGGER!"

"Well that's probably not good," George said, backing out of the office, "sorry for the interruption."

The young man she was interviewing turned back to Madison with wide eyes.

"What's getting bigger, exactly?" he asked.

"Unimportant," Madison said, waving it off.

"So when would you like to start?" Madison asked, grabbing a pen to write down the schedule.

BOOM!

"MY EYEBROWS ARE GONE!" Lee shouted. "I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT EYEBROWS!"

The young man shook his head. "Uh I change my mind," the young man said, hopping up from his seat. "This place is crazy," he declared before darting out of the office, out of the shop, and up the street faster than you could say "Black Friday".

"So how'd it go, love?" Fred asked with a smile after she stepped out of the office.

Madison crossed her arms across her chest. "Probably a lot better if there wasn't something growing out of a cauldron in the middle of a joke shop," Madison commented, nodding to the foam that spilled onto the counter and floor.

"But we only just started this experiment," George said.

"Yes, but you guys have managed to ruin five interviews."

"Well that's only five," Lee said, "we could have mucked up all of them."

"I've only had five interviews this morning," Madison retorted.

"How did we muck up?" George asked.

"Well for starters, you offered one girl a piece of candy and she turned into a canary and ran out sobbing. Then you guys tested love potion on two candidates and they tried to make out with the coat rack. Then you guys managed to let the pocket dragons loose and they set a girl's skirt on fire. And, of course, that wasn't enough so you guys start experimenting and nearly blow up the joint!" Madison listed. Her blood was boiling and her face burned a deep red.

The three fell silent. Madison had never been one to scream at them before. And she certainly never wanted to have to. But this was getting ridiculously out of hand. She couldn't leave them alone at this rate. They would be down two employees after school starts back. Even if all of the students were away, the orders would still stay pretty backed up. How was she going to do this if they couldn't act serious long enough for her to hire someone?

"I have one more interview after lunch," Madison said calmly, "and I'll have to hire them unless the other five miraculously decide not to sue us."

George was avoiding Madison's gaze. Lee was looking at his face in the mirror. He really did lose his eyebrows. But she didn't care about what they were doing because Fred looked at her directly. His face was stern. He didn't look angry, but he didn't look happy either.