There is
no such thing as a failed experiment,
only experiments with
u n e x p e c t e d
outcomes.

In the dim light in the compartment, the men cast hazy and uncertain shadows across the floor. Philippine [it had never taken much to scare her] gave a little scream and took a step backwards, back pressed against the open window, and eyes wide.

Ruby's gaze matched hers and, though neither spoke, the uncertain expansion of Philippine's pupils gave Ruby enough reason to let that stupid, noble Gryffindor recklessness kick in.

"Excuse me," she said, drawing herself to her full height [and Ruby, being the tallest of the three, did look impressive upon doing so] and stepping in front of both Philippine and Ariel - mostly Philippine though, I have to admit - before any of the men had a chance to so much as open their mouths. "May I ask what you want? In case you can't see, there are girls in this compartment, and it's amazingly rude of you to step in like this."

She did not sound scared, only brisk. Her tones carried distaste, an utter disregard for the intruders, and her dark, copper-coloured hair seemed to cackle electrically.

The three men behind the front one - Ariel, petting the kitten's head and slooowly telling it that yes, everything was fine and no, it did not need to worry [the kitten decided this human either had no brains, or did not know anything about boos and scares and Halloween] referred to him, in some bright corner of her mind, as the big, bad leader - exchanged glances that, all three of them realized, seemed far from angered or evil. Confused? They had no time to ponder over this, as the man at the front raised an eyebrow, and directed his gaze towards Ruby.

“Excuse me, madam?”

He had a deep, mature voice; the kind Philippine would have called sophisticated, Ariel niiiice, and Ruby 'Oooh, HAWT!'; the kind that belongs to people that have a heckalotof important things going on in life, and tend to stick to their own business, because there is so much of it and of such significance, and because they have the excellent sense no to interfere unnecessarily in others' businesses.

His one sentence caused Ruby's tones to falter. She turned round to look, first, at Philippine - the dark-haired girl, no longer possessing that air of a scared rabbit caught in a lion's lair, shrugged and looked thoroughly confused - and then at Ariel - the redhead waaaaved to Ruby, and held up the kitty in her arms to show Ruby that look! The kitty's absolutely happy so everything is okay! [The kitty sighed, and decided it might as well go to sleep. This human was nuts.]

“I was – " Ruby hesitated. "I mean, this is unexpected. I - all three of us, in fact - we'd like to know what is going on here." She had thought them to be dark artistes or death eaters, but now that the front man had spoken, it dawned upon her that none of them had an evil aura about them, though all of them looked brisk and business-like. "You are, err, not students," she added, rather lamely.

“Indeed not.” It was not any of the men that responded, but a voice that came from behind the blockage they had created, at the door of the compartment. One of the men stepped aside, and the person that had spoken appeared in their field of vision, a fair, dark-robed, middle-aged lady that had a confident air about her. She gave Ruby a quick, humourless smile, and held out a badge. "I'm Simone Black," she said briskly. "Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, at the Ministry. It seems there is a confusion here -" She turned to the men at the back. "I told you all not to hog one compartment, guys. Feller?"

The man that had spoken earlier gave her a short nod. "Confusion," he said briskly. "I've no idea how so many men ended up in here, and the young lady -" he looked at Ruby, who realized that he had handsome eyes. Amazingly handsome eyes - "Gave me no chance to send any of the men away." He turned round to the men at his back. "Two to each compartment, at the most," he said softly. "Understood?"

The men nodded, muttered and disappeared, and Simone Black turned to the three girls in the compartment again. "I apologize for the confusion," she said, not sounding apologetic at all. "Those men are new, and apparently don't have a hang of how things happen, yet." She cast a critical eye in the direction the three men had left in, before turning back to the girls. "Right. This is a security check, ladies. Hogwarts has been provided additional security this year, and we need to make sure everything is okay on the train before we let it proceed to Hogsmeade station.”

Ruby and Philippine breathed a mutual sigh of relief. Ariel? She was busy chatting to the kitten, telling it that see, everything did turn out alright, nothing to be concerned about. Simone gave the redhead an odd look, before shrugging and turning back to Ruby. [She had decided that, since Ruby had been the one doing all the talk, she must be the 'leader' of the trio.] "Luggage, ma'am."

Ariel [who had actually stopped listening to the general conversation the moment Simone Black had declared herself to the Head of MLE] finally put the kitten's basket to a side, and joined in the talk. "Luggage?" She asked, as she pretended to tuck the kitty in. "Ours?"

"Yes." Simone sounded like she had a lot to do, and each second she spent here, took from the time she could give to other, far more important matters. [This made Ruby want to scowl, but she had the good sense not to. Head of MLE meant Simone must be a busy lady, after all - her briskness could be forgiven.] “Ministry security will take your trunks and other belongings. They'll be searched and, should they be found to be okay, you'll find them in your dormitories once you reach Hogwarts."

She turned to the man behind her, the one that still stood in the door. "I'll leave you to handle this compartment, Feller, and then I need you in the conference room. There are things to be discussed."

“Hey!" Simone scowled as Ruby uttered this, and turned around, one eyebrow raised. "I have lipstick in my bag," Ruby protested. "I need that. Besides, I'm not having any of those -" She jabbed a finger in the direction of the corridor, now full of men knocking on compartment doors, declaring themselves to be Law Enforcement, and sometimes asking for permission to enter - "Go through my precious trunk. You can't be serious, lady."

Simone's gaze had a highly impatient touch to it, now. “Honestly. I have no time for this, Miss -”

“Sarden,” Ruby supplied unhappily. “Ruby Sarden.”

“Miss Sarden,” Simone said coolly. She did not seemed impressed by Ruby's behavior, and that caused Ruby to look even more bratty and rebellious. “The men are not going to search your trunks, Miss Sarden, those shall be passed on to female employees – and I assure you, none of them eat lipstick.”

Ruby scowled and crossed her arms against her chest, but Simone had already turned on her heel and left.



Reference:

[] "There is no such thing as a failed experiment -" Richard Buckminister.