Post by ginger newts on Oct 23, 2004 12:21:50 GMT -5
Okay, it's a bit unorthodox perhaps, but nobody said we couldn't do it so Sensiblyquirky and I worked on this one together.
Albus Dumbledore was beginning to get angry and anyone who knew him well would say that was a very rare occurrence indeed. He had been looking forward to the Halloween feast all day, knowing that the house elves would be preparing some of his favorite dishes. Albus was not disappointed and he had filled his plate with heaping amounts of meat and potatoes and other delicious foods, the only problem was that the food wouldn't stay on his plate. Every time Albus moved to poke his fork into a bite of food it would vanish, only to reappear when he moved his hand away. This had been going on for twenty minutes and all around him the staff was giggling, drawing the attention of some of the students. Deciding to give the food a break, Albus reached for his goblet, but just before his hand could close around it, it slid a foot down the table to his left just out of his reach. He stretched out his arm for it and it went skidding down the table to land in front of his deputy. She gave him an apologetic smile and placed the goblet back in front of Albus, but as he reached for it the third time it moved again.
Minerva had been watching all of this out of the corner of her eye and was trying very hard not to laugh. Albus kept glancing in her direction as if she might know the cause of his dilemma, she just looked at him innocently and pretended she knew nothing at all of what was happening to the man sitting next to her. It was very, very difficult not to laugh when she handed him back his goblet, she thought that was a particularly nice touch. Minerva could feel Albus' annoyance growing into anger, no doubt he was hungry and had been looking forward to the feast, he always did. Well, it serves him right, she thought, teach him to tell me I'm no fun. Yes, Minerva not only knew who was behind the prank on the Headmaster, she was the culprit.
A week ago, Albus had called Minerva to his office and said he had an idea to make Halloween a bit more fun. The feast was nice, he said, but he was growing bored with so many years of the same thing.
"As you know, children used to declare Halloween mischief night and on that one night of the year they were allowed to get away with the pranks they pulled. Complete immunity from punishment as it were. Of course, the pranks were intended to be harmless and cause no real damage to anyone. I was thinking we should let our students declare a mischief night, it could be quite entertaining for the staff as well."
"Albus you can't be serious!" Minerva had responded, truly surprised that he had found this a good idea. "The students commit enough pranks as it is, I certainly don't condone giving them license to commit more. And with no punishment? The castle would be a complete wreck by morning and you know half the students would end up in the hospital due to pranks gone wrong. I think that may just be the worst idea I've ever heard."
"Oh, Minerva, lighten up," he argued. "It's just a bit of harmless fun for the students. This is the first Halloween in eleven years that we've been truly safe and I for one would enjoy a bit of levity."
"Yes, but Albus, a mischief night?"
"Just because you've never done anything fun in your life..." he was cut off by a very angry noise and the slamming of the door.
And now, at the feast, Albus was paying for those words and Minerva was quite enjoying herself. The desserts had appeared at this point and Albus was looking longingly at a chocolate pie, hoping it would stay on his plate long enough for him to eat it. Then he had an idea, perhaps if he didn't put the pie on his plate at all he would be able to enjoy it. Minerva, however, was too quick for him. She saw him reaching for the pie with just his fork, apparently planning to eat it directly out of the pie plate, and quickly vanished the entire pie. Albus actually let out a groan of frustration, now the entire Great Hall was watching the fuming headmaster and Minerva used the opportunity to her advantage. A few well chosen words and Albus' beard had turned a bright green, clashing horribly with his purple robes.
Only one person would have the audacity to mess with his beard. Standing, Albus turned and glared down at his deputy, who was having a very hard time not laughing.
"Could I see you for a moment please, Professor McGonagall?" Albus said in a low dangerous voice.
"Of course," Minerva said cheerfully as if nothing was wrong, and she stood up to follow him.
As soon as they had cleared the Great Hall Minerva dissolved into laughter, "Oh, I'm sorry, Albus, but your beard..." She couldn't finish due to her laughter.
"I'm glad one of us finds it amusing," he snapped. "Minerva, change it back. NOW!"
"What do you mean 'change it back?'" She stopped laughing. "I didn't change it in the first place and surely you know enough spells to fix it yourself, after all you are the greatest wizard of modern times." She was teasing him and she knew she was about to pay for it.
Albus glanced back over his shoulder toward the doors to the hall, the feast was breaking up and students were starting to pour out into the entrance hall. "Staff room," he whispered angrily, taking Minerva by the elbow with a little more force than necessary and guiding her through the corridors. They reached the staff room and he pulled her inside, closing the door behind him.
“Minerva, I know you were the one doing all of that to me at dinner, would you please tell me why.”
Minerva looked at him innocently, “It’s mischief night.”
Albus glared at her and said nothing.
“You said it yourself, Albus, un-punishable pranks tonight.”
“But Minerva, I’m hungry and just look at my beard. Why my beard?” Albus would have been whining if he hadn’t been so angry.
“Well maybe now you’ll think twice before you say I’ve never done anything fun in my life,” Minerva countered. Albus was now advancing toward her and she got a little nervous, “What are you doing, Albus? You can’t punish me for this, I played by your rules.”
“Ah, but the rules don’t say that you cannot be pranked in return,” Albus told her with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“What are you going to...ahhh!”
As she had been speaking Albus waved his wand over Minerva’s robes. They were now a revolting pink color, not to mention shorter and tighter. She thought they were absolutely hideous, not to mention embarrassing. Getting out her wand, Minerva tried to transfigure them back to their original state, but nothing happened. Albus had coupled the transfiguration with a charm that would not allow her to reverse the magic until he was ready to do it. If looks could kill, Albus would have been dead on his feet.
“Change them back right now!”
“Not until you fix my beard!”
They were both red in the face, breathing hard, and were staring each other down from across the staff room when the door suddenly burst open and several cheerful staff members came in. They all looked back and forth between the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress, torn between fear of their obvious tempers and laughter at the ridiculous way they looked. Albus and Minerva didn’t even acknowledge the entrance of the other people into the room. Filius Flitwick walked around the legs of the taller people in front of him so he could see what had caused them all to stop in the door. He gave a little squeak when he saw Albus and Minerva and that was the impetuous for the rest of the assembled staff to laugh.
Albus Dumbledore was beginning to get angry and anyone who knew him well would say that was a very rare occurrence indeed. He had been looking forward to the Halloween feast all day, knowing that the house elves would be preparing some of his favorite dishes. Albus was not disappointed and he had filled his plate with heaping amounts of meat and potatoes and other delicious foods, the only problem was that the food wouldn't stay on his plate. Every time Albus moved to poke his fork into a bite of food it would vanish, only to reappear when he moved his hand away. This had been going on for twenty minutes and all around him the staff was giggling, drawing the attention of some of the students. Deciding to give the food a break, Albus reached for his goblet, but just before his hand could close around it, it slid a foot down the table to his left just out of his reach. He stretched out his arm for it and it went skidding down the table to land in front of his deputy. She gave him an apologetic smile and placed the goblet back in front of Albus, but as he reached for it the third time it moved again.
Minerva had been watching all of this out of the corner of her eye and was trying very hard not to laugh. Albus kept glancing in her direction as if she might know the cause of his dilemma, she just looked at him innocently and pretended she knew nothing at all of what was happening to the man sitting next to her. It was very, very difficult not to laugh when she handed him back his goblet, she thought that was a particularly nice touch. Minerva could feel Albus' annoyance growing into anger, no doubt he was hungry and had been looking forward to the feast, he always did. Well, it serves him right, she thought, teach him to tell me I'm no fun. Yes, Minerva not only knew who was behind the prank on the Headmaster, she was the culprit.
A week ago, Albus had called Minerva to his office and said he had an idea to make Halloween a bit more fun. The feast was nice, he said, but he was growing bored with so many years of the same thing.
"As you know, children used to declare Halloween mischief night and on that one night of the year they were allowed to get away with the pranks they pulled. Complete immunity from punishment as it were. Of course, the pranks were intended to be harmless and cause no real damage to anyone. I was thinking we should let our students declare a mischief night, it could be quite entertaining for the staff as well."
"Albus you can't be serious!" Minerva had responded, truly surprised that he had found this a good idea. "The students commit enough pranks as it is, I certainly don't condone giving them license to commit more. And with no punishment? The castle would be a complete wreck by morning and you know half the students would end up in the hospital due to pranks gone wrong. I think that may just be the worst idea I've ever heard."
"Oh, Minerva, lighten up," he argued. "It's just a bit of harmless fun for the students. This is the first Halloween in eleven years that we've been truly safe and I for one would enjoy a bit of levity."
"Yes, but Albus, a mischief night?"
"Just because you've never done anything fun in your life..." he was cut off by a very angry noise and the slamming of the door.
And now, at the feast, Albus was paying for those words and Minerva was quite enjoying herself. The desserts had appeared at this point and Albus was looking longingly at a chocolate pie, hoping it would stay on his plate long enough for him to eat it. Then he had an idea, perhaps if he didn't put the pie on his plate at all he would be able to enjoy it. Minerva, however, was too quick for him. She saw him reaching for the pie with just his fork, apparently planning to eat it directly out of the pie plate, and quickly vanished the entire pie. Albus actually let out a groan of frustration, now the entire Great Hall was watching the fuming headmaster and Minerva used the opportunity to her advantage. A few well chosen words and Albus' beard had turned a bright green, clashing horribly with his purple robes.
Only one person would have the audacity to mess with his beard. Standing, Albus turned and glared down at his deputy, who was having a very hard time not laughing.
"Could I see you for a moment please, Professor McGonagall?" Albus said in a low dangerous voice.
"Of course," Minerva said cheerfully as if nothing was wrong, and she stood up to follow him.
As soon as they had cleared the Great Hall Minerva dissolved into laughter, "Oh, I'm sorry, Albus, but your beard..." She couldn't finish due to her laughter.
"I'm glad one of us finds it amusing," he snapped. "Minerva, change it back. NOW!"
"What do you mean 'change it back?'" She stopped laughing. "I didn't change it in the first place and surely you know enough spells to fix it yourself, after all you are the greatest wizard of modern times." She was teasing him and she knew she was about to pay for it.
Albus glanced back over his shoulder toward the doors to the hall, the feast was breaking up and students were starting to pour out into the entrance hall. "Staff room," he whispered angrily, taking Minerva by the elbow with a little more force than necessary and guiding her through the corridors. They reached the staff room and he pulled her inside, closing the door behind him.
“Minerva, I know you were the one doing all of that to me at dinner, would you please tell me why.”
Minerva looked at him innocently, “It’s mischief night.”
Albus glared at her and said nothing.
“You said it yourself, Albus, un-punishable pranks tonight.”
“But Minerva, I’m hungry and just look at my beard. Why my beard?” Albus would have been whining if he hadn’t been so angry.
“Well maybe now you’ll think twice before you say I’ve never done anything fun in my life,” Minerva countered. Albus was now advancing toward her and she got a little nervous, “What are you doing, Albus? You can’t punish me for this, I played by your rules.”
“Ah, but the rules don’t say that you cannot be pranked in return,” Albus told her with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“What are you going to...ahhh!”
As she had been speaking Albus waved his wand over Minerva’s robes. They were now a revolting pink color, not to mention shorter and tighter. She thought they were absolutely hideous, not to mention embarrassing. Getting out her wand, Minerva tried to transfigure them back to their original state, but nothing happened. Albus had coupled the transfiguration with a charm that would not allow her to reverse the magic until he was ready to do it. If looks could kill, Albus would have been dead on his feet.
“Change them back right now!”
“Not until you fix my beard!”
They were both red in the face, breathing hard, and were staring each other down from across the staff room when the door suddenly burst open and several cheerful staff members came in. They all looked back and forth between the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress, torn between fear of their obvious tempers and laughter at the ridiculous way they looked. Albus and Minerva didn’t even acknowledge the entrance of the other people into the room. Filius Flitwick walked around the legs of the taller people in front of him so he could see what had caused them all to stop in the door. He gave a little squeak when he saw Albus and Minerva and that was the impetuous for the rest of the assembled staff to laugh.
brilliant responce 
Great challenge response! 
