"I'm with the boss on this one," said Aphrodite. "Pardon my French, but—SON OF A BITCH."

"Ah, guys?" said Charlie, brushing her blonde bangs away from her eyes. "We're attracting attention."

It was true. Several students had stopped to watch the scene. Some (like Lavender Brown) were standing there, staring at the MSEA in shock and confusion. Others (like Natalie McDonald) were watching with great interest.

October recovered from her "son of a bitch" mood, and was suddenly all business again. "We need to get out of here before someone panics and gets the wrong idea."

Charlie nodded. "Last time I was in the Potterverse, a ship-owner in Hogsmede hexed me when he saw my gun. Even after I got out of the hospital ward, I couldn't taste any food I ate for a month after that."

"He said he was very sorry," Brandon added, remembering that mission.

"I don't care if he was sorry," Charlie said moodily. "My birthday fell that month." She turned to look at Hermione. "Do know what it is like, to have devil's food cake with chocolate frosting, and not be able to taste it?" She sniffled, and leaned against Aphrodite. "Hold me…"

"Quit screwing around," October snapped. She pulled out her walkie-talkie. "Monroe. It's your boss."

"Uh, hi, boss," came the young woman's voice from the other end. "Did you exterminate the Sue already?"

"Nope," said October. "She's a reality warper."

"Wait, what?" said another, younger voice from Gigi's end. "What's a reality warper?"

"Not now, Shadows!" Gigi said. "Go clean something."

"Interns get stuck with all the boring jobs…"

"Well, duh. Why do you think we have interns?"

"Focus!" October snapped. "Monroe, I need you to bring us back."

"On it, boss."

"Wait!" said Luna. "Bring you back? Where are you going?"

"Back to HQ," said Brandon. "We need to get ready for a super-mission."

"…can we come?" Ginny asked.

October (for once) went silent, and stood there for almost a full minute, blinking, staring at Ginny in surprise. Clearly, this was a new scenario for her.

"Why would you want to come?" asked Aphrodite. "This is a hard, smelly, unpleasant job."

"If anyone's gonna take that bitch out, it's gonna be me," said Draco.

"This is a job for professionals, kid," said October.

"Don't call me kid, I am not a kid, I am a full adult by wizard law," the Slytherin said irritably.

October ignored him and continued, "If one of you guys got hurt in a different universe, we'd be screwed. The answer is no, and that's final."

"I bet I can convince you," said Ginny, smirking.

"I doubt it."

Ginny cleared her throat and began her speech.


"How does she do that?" asked Aphrodite. They were in the MSEA HQ's lounge, eating the refreshments that were always left out for exterminators to eat during their downtime.

Ginny smirked. "I have my ways."

October was pacing, too agitated to eat. This didn't seem to be an issue for the rest of her team, though. Brandon had made himself a cracker and cheese mini-platter, Aphrodite was daintily sipping on her banana smoothie, and Charlie was shoveling down a plate of cookies.

"I think," October said finally, "this is a job that requires the transporter packs."

This was (apparently) a big deal, as Charlie stopped eating long enough to say, "No. Freakin'. Way! Really?" and Aphrodite choked on a bit of her drink. Once she wiped up what she'd spit out she said, "Those haven't been used in ages."

"Are you serious, boss?" said Brandon. "I've never even touched one."

"I only have for tests," October admitted. "It's not often a mission requires one, but then again, it's not often we have to deal with a reality warper, either…"

"What are transporter packs?" asked Harry.

"They're like the transporter we used to travel to your universe," explained Brandon, "but they're smaller, work faster, and are for one person at a time. It takes a lot of responsibility to handle one, which is why we only use them in dire situations, like when we're traveling to multiple universes for one mission."

"So that's how we'd keep up with Sapphire," said Hermione.

"Exactly. We'd be able to switch universes almost as fast as she can."

"Are there enough for all of us?" asked Luna.

"Oh, yeah, there are about fifty in existence," said Charlie, brushing it off with a wave of her hand. "Most missions that need transporter packs need a lot of exterminators."

"Here's the game plan," said October. "We'll get you into proper exterminating uniform, teach you how to use the transporter packs, track down Sapphire, and go kill that bitch."

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Ginny, finishing what was left of her apple.

"Onwards, to adventure!" Brandon shouted in the most Gandalf-y voice he could manage.