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!
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Comments

[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. ;)