Happy birthday!

[shimotsuki]

Here's wishing a most excellent -- not to mention very lucky -- birthday today to tegdoh! This is a very short little something that I hope will give you a bit of a smile in the middle of your busy day.

Suspicious Activities
(332 words | G | Marauder-era)

Suspicious Activities
Minerva strode into the Transfiguration classroom, deposited a pile of notes and marked homework papers on her desk, glanced at the blackboard to be sure that it was unsullied by bawdy art or cheeky comments, and turned to face the students.

Her sharp eyes scanned the rows. All of the Gryffindor seventh-years were sitting quietly at their tables, with nothing in front of them but wands, quills, and note-taking parchments, waiting politely and attentively for her to begin her lecture.

All of them.

This was not normal.

With a rush of adrenaline, she scanned the classroom again. Potter and Black were sitting together in the front row, with Lupin and Pettigrew right behind them. All four boys smiled sweetly at her. Her lips thinned, and she checked their tables again for hidden objects, their robes for suspicious bulges.

Nothing.

With a sigh, Minerva braced herself for the unexpected and began her lecture about identifying magical signatures in Transfigured objects, keeping one eye firmly fixed on the four boys on the left side of the room.

Still nothing.

By the end of the lecture, her nerves were frayed and bristling. It was all she could do not to snap at poor Maire Donovan when she stopped to ask a question after class as all the other students filed out.

All of them.

Once Miss Donovan had left her in peace as well, Minerva searched the empty classroom quite thoroughly. Nothing was missing; nothing was superfluous; nothing was out of place.

What on earth had those boys done this time?

A sudden scuffle of footsteps in the corridor brought her head up with a snap. Four heads dashed past the door—two black, one brown, one tow-colored. A shower of blue sparks struck the dusty old tapestry hanging on the wall in the back of the classroom.

Minerva stared as the faded images of knight, lady, castle, and willow tree rearranged themselves to form letters, then words, bright with new colours—

.:* HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PROFESSOR!!! *:.

ETA: And be sure to have a look at the "prequel" contributed by zia_montrose in the comments!
.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Aw, how sweet! I'd always thought that Minerva had a special relationship with James, Sirius, Remus, and even Peter. It's nice to see the marauders step slightly out of character, however, they were still very sneaky.

I enjoyed this one. What a great way to come home after a hard week at school, and am upcoming vacation to enjoy, eh?

You just made my day. Who said Friday the thirteenth is bad luck? ;)

I'm even the first one to comment!

Thanks, and keep writing!

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thanks -- glad you enjoyed!

I like the idea that the Marauders conspicuously not pranking anyone made McGonagall more nervous than a prank would have done. ...I think the boys even did that on purpose. ;)

[duck-or-rabbit.livejournal.com]

LOL

Minerva's patience is sea deep.

Four heads dashed past the door—two black, one brown, one tow-colored.

Dashing heads is a pleasure-filled description. I see their shining crowns, lol.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I did think that phrasing was a little odd (and now I see there's another 'head' in the same paragraph, ick) -- but I was imagining black robes in a dim corridor, and thinking it was the faces/heads that would stand out the most (heads here, because they are running away). Oh, well!

I do like McGonagall. I'm glad she made it out of DH intact.

[duck-or-rabbit.livejournal.com]

(and now I see there's another 'head' in the same paragraph, ick)

ROFL, Hadn't noticed the extra head actually.

I was imagining black robes in a dim corridor, and thinking it was the faces/heads that would stand out the most

Youthful hair has a distinct luster, greedily catching and throwing any available light, and that's what I saw.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

a distinct luster, greedily catching and throwing any available light

Trust you to have gorgeous, image-filled language even in a comment! (And I'm glad that's what you saw.)

[duck-or-rabbit.livejournal.com]

Consider my comment flattered.

And merry day, tegdoh! :D

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Somehow I think that a pranks-free class was a more mischiveous thing than any the boys could have thought up. Poor Minreva, but she is made of strong stuff, and has her reward at the end.

Thanks for sharing the gift!

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Somehow I think that a pranks-free class was a more mischiveous thing than any the boys could have thought up.

Hee hee -- I think you're probably right! :) Thanks for reading.

[zia-montrose.livejournal.com]

What an aptly named snippet! And much more fun than the project I've been cudgelling myself to work on this Friday afternoon. : )

I really like Minerva's blackboard check and bulging-robe check...  She feels perfectly in-character and I can't help but admire her.  But now you've got me helplessly imagining the conversation that led up to this, so maybe I'll share it:

"Did you know it's McGonogall's birthday tomorrow?"

"McGonagall's birthday? What should we do?" James's eyes widened at the many prospects.

"More like what shouldn't we do," corrected Remus.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... don't you think she'd be far more suspicious if--if--" He could no longer keep a straight face as his mates looked on from across the dormitory, waiting... He stifled a private snigger.

"We act like perfect little angels?" Sirius guessed, then grabbed his ribs to stifle his own emerging laughter.

"Wow, now this has possibilities!" declared James. 

Thanks for that!  :  )

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

And thank you for the prequel! *snort* Ah, those Marauders.

It would be fun to write more McGonagall. I'll have to see if I can work on that...

ETA: I put a link to your comment in the main post so everyone will be sure to find your prequel. :)

[zia-montrose.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks for showcasing me. It's hard to know whether it's a good idea to 'graffiti' someone else's page, but I thought you might appreciate Moony's masterminding.

And just to let you know, I too, liked the line about the 'heads'. It struck me as subtle and economically-phrased and it felt like the way the mind would see it. : )

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Graffiti welcome on this journal! :) And glad to know you thought the 'heads' were okay...

[tegdoh.livejournal.com]

Cool - it's like getting two pressies in one!

[sspring92.livejournal.com]

i love flist Birthdays! I can just picture the smile and maybe a little ::sniff:: from McGonagall.! I would have loved to have her for a teacher

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really like McGonagall. I like to think she had a soft spot for the Marauders, even though she would've tried not to let on.

[gilpin25.livejournal.com]

Sometimes a dubious reputation (or four of them) really does serve on its own, doesn't it? LOL. I like the idea that they'd enjoy pranking her by not doing so, and even more, the real sense of affection for McGonagall that is suggested by them having a laugh and doing something nice for her at the end of it. It's an echo of the fondness with which she refers to them in PoA.

This definitely made me smile. :) I enjoyed zia_montrose's prequel too, especially the idea for subtle mischief originating from Remus.

Am aiming for some kind of communication this weekend... ;)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

It's an echo of the fondness with which she refers to them in PoA.

That really stood out to me in PoA, too. I happily subscribe to the fandom approach that has McGonagall as a former prankster in her own right who secretly applauds the Marauders' goings-on, even though as a teacher now she can't (much) let on. And I assume she has to try not to let them get the better of her, hence the frayed nerves in this scene as they kept her waiting, hee.

Glad for the smile. And no worries about communication, as always. ;)

[gilpin25.livejournal.com]

I'm commenting again, purely so my icon can say hi to yours. I was going for the This might inspire/guilt me if it's not currently true approach with mine. ;)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

LOL. Yours is a lot more realistic for this modern world.

In case anyone was wondering, it's totally not the case that I blew twenty minutes making a new 'writing' icon before attempting to post at a certain writing comm last night. ;)

[tegdoh.livejournal.com]

sorry I'm so late in commenting ...

Thank you SO much! I really enjoyed this little ficlet, it seemed like exactly the type of thing the Mauraders would do, and it definitely brightened what was a very stressful weekend.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

I'm happy if it gave you a few seconds of smile during your dreadful weekend!

I hope the rest of the year will be especially excellent to make up for your extra birthday stress.