Closed Errand Swish Swash

There were some things even magic could not fix. Making sure everyone in the world had access to water was one of them. Maisie wasn't afraid of getting her hands dirty; she was used to it. So, she gladly signed up for this month's errand. It was, after all, for a good cause—not just chocolate frogs.

Wearing some old clothes and with her hair plaited to one side, Maisie sauntered down to the abandoned toilets in time for the errand. She seemed to be one of the very first people there, which didn't surprise her all that much. Compared to some of the previous errands, this one was arguably less than exciting. But that didn't stop Maisie from being glad to be here.

With a gentle nod, she acknowledged Nurse Sabo, who had put all of this together. She wondered for a second what connection the witch might had with muggles as she'd not heard many talk about issues like this that affected muggles more than wizards, but decided not to press her about it. It wasn't very much of her business when there clearly was a task at hand.

Approaching the cleaning supplies, Maisie reached first for a rag and some cleaner. The mop had been tempting, but it seemed quite tall for her small frame. Plus, other people would probably want it. That is, the people who were uncomfortable with the task and would rather seek some comfort cleaning the floor instead of a toilet. But Maisie wasn't afraid of a little hard work or discomfort. Not to mention, she had no spells to use in a situation like this, even if she had wanted to go that route. There was only one way: the same way that people around the world who had the good fortune to have a toilet, cleaned them.

So, she walked right over to the furthest bathroom stall to get started. It seemed only logical to her to work from back to front. That gave her both something to look forward to as something to look back on once this all would be done. Or perhaps that they all could look back on.

Dropping to her knees, Maisie sprayed some of the cleaner onto the cloth and started to wipe across the porcelain. It was an easy motion, just requiring enough force to remove any gunk or other stain. Using the light from the window, she tried to make sure she didn't miss a spot. She'd stay until it looked good.

Tes remembered when the school nurse had set up the swimming pool, to make sure the students knew how to swim. That had been fun, despite her own swimming ability being fairly poor. She saw the medical wing fairly frequently, between her monthly wolfsbane potions, post full moon rest days, or her own tomfoolery, so it seemed only fair she'd help out when Nurse Sabo put out an errand to help clean the Hogwarts toilets.

She didn't mind dirty work, it couldn't be much worse than scooping manure or watching a horse give birth, so she approached the bathroom with a practical cleaning outfit and a skip in her step. House points, chocolate frogs, and hopefully some other treats would make this worth it. Tes had heard it had something to do with a lesson on proper sanitation, but she was just happy to help out.

"Hi nurse!" she said as she came into the bathroom, waving to the first year that was already getting ready to clean. She snatched up one of the provided snacks on a bench, eating it in a few quick bites, before selecting her cleaning supplies. She could probably just scourgify what she wanted to clean, but she wanted to start with an example, so she had something in mind when she cast her spell. The imagery helped her with all her spells, as imagining something that wasn't the toilet exploding usually helped her spells not backfire on her as often.

Spraying down the toilet, as well as she walls and stall doors around it, then putting toilet bowl cleaner in the bowl, she hummed happily as she worked from top to bottom, wiping off cleaning spray and the edges and bottom of the toilet, as well as scrubbing out the bowl. The house elves kept everything clean, so it wasn't an arduous or even unpleasant task. That didn't stop her from pulling out her wand for the next stall, brow scrunched in focus as she readied herself to cast a basic first year spell.

A quick "Scourgify!" as well as an "s" shape, and the top of the toilet was sparkling clean. The bowl, edges, walls, and everything else was just as dirty as before. With a quiet sigh, Tes picked her cleaning supplies back up. With the strength of her spells, it looked like it would be just as quick and easy to scrub by hand as it would be to cast scourgify over and over.

Poppy didn't want to do this, but she couldn't go to buy her own chocolate frogs are a first year, so she had to earn them. She had gotten her last chocolate frogs back when she cleaned the divination classroom. That ended up not being too bad, so she figured this couldn't be so horrible either. A classroom was a much nicer place to clean up then the bathroom, but how bad could a bathroom be? The ones at her house were already rather clean after all, and the ones in the castle had never been too bad.

She was also here because it was always a good idea to have the school nurse like her. Poppy wanted to join the dueling team, and possibly broomstick racing, because that was like dueling in the sky. She had a strong feeling she was going to get injured while competing in either of those sports. Therefore, she would end up at the hospital wing and need the nurse's healing to keep her ready for class. The nurse would have to heal either way, but she had a feeling the experience would be nicer if she was on the nurse's good side.

Then she realized that both her house and hogwarts had house elves to do the cleaning. Her house had one hired house elf who mainly cleaned, but sometimes helped with cooking. She thought back to the pureblood gatherings were her mom was sometimes praised and other times criticized for treating her house elf so well. She always wondered why it was such a discussed topic. Shouldn't everyone get at least a day off per week, and good pay?

She grabbed a mop once she had left her thoughts. She choose the mop so she wouldn't even have a chance at accidentally touching the dirty surface she would be cleaning. She went over to a spot that didn't look too gross and started to mop away. She wished she had a spell to just fix the mess, like some of the older students certainly did. Then she could come in, cast a spell, get some candy and leave.

How nice that would be, but no she had to actually work to get the reward. It was probably better this way. It taught her a work ethic she would need for fifth year, when her life would be consumed by studying for owls that would all but determine her future.

Yolanda wandered into the second floor bathroom. This was where Nurse Sabo had decided they would clean the toilets.

Yolanda had 7 older siblings so she knew what it meant to divvy up chores at home. She had taken the task because it was for a good cause and had wanted to show her support. It had kind of blown her 11 year old mind when she realized not everybody had toilets or running water or food or… yeah, basically she had the realization that she was quite lucky.

Yolanda already realized she was lucky but sometimes it was good to put things into real perspective. It was things like toilets and running water and house elves that made life easy – things she would make sure she took notice of and appreciated.

She supposed that was the whole point. Seeing some candy on the table she popped a sucker in her mouth. She decided it was important to wash her hands right away. Mumbling a quiet ‘good-day’ and nod at Nurse Sabo she headed over to the cleaning supplies; she grabbed a mop and bucket with some cleaner and went to work.

Yolanda could see one girl using some spells on the toilets again and again; she envied her! Not that she didn’t want to do the work but she wanted to learn more and more useful spells. She took note to take some time to study and do some homework that night.

It was great to see a turn-out of people wanting to help clean and support the cause. She knew her grandmother had helped in a charity for girls reusable feminine products that would be used around the world, where girls didn’t have easy access to such products. There were so many sad realizations in the world and so many issues it was unbelievable.

But there were also drives like this that brought awareness and hopefully that awareness would turn into change. If all her little first year legs could do was mop today to help support then that’s what she would do today. Every bit counts. Maybe when she was older she could start a charity of her own doing or do something else important….

For now she better get on task! She just kept mopping and got into a real rhythm.

Humming a bit she looked around and was glad to see she wasn’t the only one not using spells. This was going well – she thought to herself. Yolanda was having a better time cleaning then she thought.

Hana heard about the wizarding world's exclusive treat, chocolate frogs, from her father after she found out that she is a half-blood witch. After hearing the news about this month’s errand and the chocolate frogs as a reward, Hana immediately signed up for it. ‘Mmm… Chocolate frogs, chocolate frogs, I really want to try the chocolate frogs, but I am still a first year student, I can’t go to Hogsmeade to buy the chocolate frogs. Well, I guess I will get some by cleaning the toilet. Also, isn’t it nice to help people, especially to the ones that served us?’ she mumbled to herself. ‘I did some chores at home with my brother when we were young, cleaning is really not that bad. I mean…Hogwarts is a very nice place so the toilets here won’t be too bad, right?’.

Hana walked in the toilet and the first thing she saw was the school nurse. ‘Oh! Hi! I’m Hana, won’t mind if I join?’ Hana looked around the toilet, dirty mirrors, wet floor and walls with stains, Hana also noticed the girls that were in the bathroom helping to clean, and greeted them. ‘Okay… it’s a bit dirty but it’s not that bad.’ she whispered while tying her hair into a high bun. Then, Hana walked towards the area where the cleaning supplies were placed, she grabbed a towel and some cleaner. The towel was pink and old and the cleaner was almost finished, Hana looked at the cleaning supplies once more and noticed numerous bottles of cleaning liquid. ‘Wow, I guess we’re going to clean this toilet really thoroughly.’

Hana approached the mirror, scattered with a thick layer of dust, the glass is stained with dirt, there are marks all over it and it is very hard to get a clear view of the reflection. Hana tried to wipe off the dust with only the towel, but all it did was move the dirt all around the mirror, making it more dirty. Hana then took the cleaning liquid and sprayed it on both the mirror and the towel, and she started to wipe aggressively, hoping it would make the mirror look cleaner and better. After the first try, the mirror looked exactly the same but without the dust. Hana wanted to give up but she told herself not to, so Hana continued wiping the mirror forcefully. After a thousand tries, the mirror finally looked brand-new, without any stain or dust. Hana, dripping with sweat, put the cleaning supplies back to its original place.

The cleaning was done which left Hana starving so she got some sweets on a bench next to two sinks. ‘It was… fun, I mean it’s worth it if I get chocolate frogs.’

Avis pulled her yellow rubber gloves up to her elbows and surveyed the cleaning supplies in front of her. After gathering said supplies from the school nurse, she had been assigned a toilet on the end. She'd personally been hoping for a sink but if cleaning a toilet is what it would take to get those Chocolate Frogs, Avis decided it was worth it, especially after losing half her supply in an accidental dorm fire. She rolled her eyes at that thought and picked up a bristle scrub and what she hoped was toilet cleaner.

Kneeling in front of the toilet, she poured the cleaner into the bowl and watched it in a sort of satisfactory way as it swirled around the porcelain. Avis went to work with the scrub. Luckily, the toilet was not absolutely disgusting due to previous work by the House Elves but there were still a few mysterious streaks which Avis told herself were just... dirt.

After scrubbing the bowl clean and adding a few more squirts of the cleaner, she decided she'd finished and admired her work. The interior was spotless. Now all she had to do was scrub the exterior with the rag provided and she'd finish up her first toilet! Strange thing to be proud of but oh well.

She reached forward to pull the outdated chain that triggered the flush and gave it a tug, watching expectantly to see the last of the cleaner wash away from the bowl. However, instead of the water and cleaner disappearing, the toilet begin to fill rapidly with water and Avis gasped. She'd, of course, chosen the only clogged toilet in this bathroom to clean and her decision was now backfiring in front of her.

"Oh no. Oh no. Oh..." she mumbled to herself, pulling desperately on the chain again, but to no avail. The water only filled up faster and she danced out of the way as water began to splash onto the ivory tile floors of the lavatory. "Bollocks!" she cried and burst out of the stall, dodging dirty water and scrambling to pick up the supplies before they got soaked. Avis spotted a plunger among the cleaning tools and putting on a brave face, tiptoed quickly across the spreading water on the floor. It was finally slowing down a bit but the damage had been done. She sighed and raised the plunger above the toilet bowl, realizing she was not only going to have to clean this toilet again, but the entire bathroom floor.

Maybe those Chocolate Frogs hadn't been worth it after all.

WC: 433

Emiline heard of an errand about toilets, for world toilet day. She made her way towards the second floor bathroom, in an outfit she would not care if it got dirty. I wonder how many people will be here? At least i know how to clean a toilet. huh, who knew that chores would come in useful for a change. She thought. Emiline then strolled into the bathroom and saw quite a few people already mid-clean. She went up to the cleaning supplies and plucked out gloves, spray, towel and duster. Before she started, She rolled her sleaves up and quickly tied up her hair so it would be out of her face. God forbid Emiline getting toilet water on her just washed hair.

She looked around the bathroom to see which job she should start on. As she scanned the room, the furthest cubicle caught her eye, it was the one that needed the most attention. She quickly gathered her things and plopped them in front of that stall. She wetted her scrubber and started to scrub the filthy walls. The more she scrubbed the dirtier it seemed to get, the once white foam now black with dirt. Emiline sighed, this was going to take a while. She dipped the scrubber into her bucket of water and started scrubbing again. She repeated this process five times before the wall started to show its original colour. Now the water was a horrid murky brown, Emiline picked it up and tipped the water into the toilet, then flushed and went to refill it. Now i just need to do that three more times. Emiline got to work, scrubbing, wiping, rubbing the walls of this cubicle. After a while, the walls shined with their cool cobblestone texture, absorbing the light after so long being hidden underneath a blanket of grime. Emiline stood there for a moment, to admire the cleanliness of the walls. Woah, that looks good. Now for this floor.

Emiline moved her supplies slightly to the left so they wouldn't be in the way of her cleaning the floor. She replaced her longish scrubber and took a different one which looked like the end a broom. Emiline dipped her brush into the soapy mixture and got onto her hands and knees. She scrubbed for a while until she was surrounded by dirty foam and her knuckles where slightly hurting. Emiline sat up and wiped her forehead. Her leggings were slowly getting wetter and wetter as they absorbed the foam."Phew, this is exhausting." Emiline said with slight whine creeping into her voice. Finish it! her mind taunted. She got back into it scrubbing and washing the floor. Finally, a small section of the floor was brought back to its former glory. Emiline then picked up the supplies and brushed herself down. She would have to change again now, good thing she wore her least favourite outfit. She thanked the nurse and picked up two chocolate frogs as she left. She definitely deserves them.

WC:504

Avis slipped through the second-floor hallway, before dashing into the bathroom in between classes. To her dismay, there seemed to be a party. How was she supposed to use the toilet when they were all being cleaned? She sighed and looked towards the door. She certainly did not want to clean a bathroom, she had done that enough at home, but she couldn't very well leave having already walked in. With a wary glance at the Nurse, she grabbed a rag and some cleaning liquid and made her way to the sinks, hoping to ignore the Nurse entirely and avoid the Nurse's line on vision. She glanced at the treats on the bench next to them longingly, but with all the dust and grime floating in the air, she didn't want to risk it.

She sprayed the cleaning spray onto the sink and faucet, before attacking it with the rag. She forcefully scrubbed in a little circle. Good old elbow grease, that was what her mother always told her. Especially when she complained about chores. Avis smiled, if not a little bitterly, as she remembered a couple of years ago when Alaina had decided to mop her room. Her room was carpeted. Water had dripped through the floor into the kitchen before her mother had noticed. And decided to blame Avis for having told her sister to mop the floor. It wasn't Avis' fault, she had meant the kitchen floor, it wasn't their fault if Alaina took it the wrong way. Either way, for the next month Avis got a very full chore chart.

She had to admit though, that cleaning faucets was quite satisfying. As she finished scrubbing the first one, it gleamed and Avis smiled to herself. She quickly scrubbed the rest of the sink, enjoying the look as each part gleamed. Maybe that was the key, the dirtier it was to clean, the more satisfying it would be when it was clean. She finished the top and squatted down, pulling her cloak up on her lap in an attempt to keep it at least moderately clean. She sprayed and scrubbed the pipes with slightly less force, the pipes looked old, and Avis didn't want them to burst a pipe if it was corroded through. So she carefully scrubbed the pipes, and while they looked better, they were still clearly old. Not nearly as satisfying as the faucet.

Once she finished she moved to the supplies and filled a bucket with a little bit of cleaning liquid and water. She dropped her dirty rag into the bucket and collected a few other dirty rags to drop into the bucket as well, before leaving the bucket next to the door. These rags could be scrubbed against the side if need be and used again, but either way, the dirty rags would be collected, making less work for the Nurse after this catastrophe was over.

Magic was a useful tool in all types of situations.

Of course, for Wren, a beginning first year who could hardly cast the mending charm, this was more of a theory than a principle. So as she read the errand description on the bulletin board, she knew her wand wouldn’t help her now.

She showed up at bathrooms with her hair tied and an old smock over her robes, Smiling at Nurse Sabo, she grabbed supplies and got to work.

Though she was all for having clean sanitation facilities, Wren didn’t really want to start the day by cleaning a toilet. She decided to warm up to it by first scrubbing a sink. The grime caked onto the insides was absolutely disgusting, but Wren used the feelings of disgust to fuel her purging. Her father used to tell her to “put some elbow grease into it!” Whenever her mother saw a messy bathroom, she pulled out her wand and with a flick, it was cleaned. But her father had taught Wren to value hard work.

Several minutes later, the inside of the ivory sink was sparkling. But the countertop was still covered with an unidentifiable green liquid. Wren pulled up her sleeves and began again.

Once every surface of the sink shimmered like new, Wren knew it was time she took on a toilet. Tying up her robes at the knees, she entered a stall.

Squat in the middle of the cramped stall was the porcelain throne. Unfortunately, it seemed Wren had chosen a particularly filthy one. She crouched low to start cleaning the outside and nearly wretched at what she saw, but she was determined to finish what she’d started.

Beginning with the outside, Wren used the vinegar spray and rubbed it in with rags until her hands were raw. What I wouldn’t give to know a cleaning spell, any cleaning spell, right now. She moved slowly up the toilet, trying her best to scoop the dirt, dust, and other… grime out of the crevices. Once the rag was no longer specific enough, she switched to a toothpick, coaxing the residue out of the harder to reach spaces.

The outside had been cleaned. Wren knew what came next… the step she’d been dreading…

She had to clean the bowl. Plugging her nose with her cleaner hand, she leaned over the seat and began to scrub. Thankfully the toilets had been emptied of water, which made them slightly less disgusting to clean. Wren scrubbed and scrubbed until her arms were about to fall off, but finally she found her work satisfactory.

Washing her hands in the now cleaned sink, Wren said her goodbye to Nurse Sabo and left to take a shower.