Karaoke Fever

Albus Dumbledore loved karaoke. He loved

singing cheesy pop songs into the microphone,

loved prancing about like a fool on the stage

in front of people.

It gave him a thrill that not even defeating dark wizards

would give.

Ever since he was a young lad, he had had

a secret desire to own a karaoke bar. Of

course, he had become a professor at Hogwarts,

and later the headmaster, so he was unable to fulfill his dream.

What he really saw in the Mirror of Erised was himself, singing and

dancing along to music in his very own karaoke bar. .

His mother had always been against his dream,

squashing it repeatedly.

Albus' father, Goshead Dumbledore, bought him his

first karaoke machine, a snazzy blue little number when he

was seven years old.

That was the day when he first started to worship karaoke.

Over the years, his love for karaoke slowly became an

obsession.

In his quarters at Hogwarts, he had a special room full of

karaoke equipment. There was everything from cheap plastic

Barbie karaoke machines to big, overly-expensive karaoke machines

that you could find in karaoke bars.

There were tapes and CDs of karaoke rooms piled into a closet.

He had 80's pop, Britney Spears, the Beatles, the Backstreet Boys...

any pop icon you could think up.

Albus was not a very rich man. Sure, he was Headmaster at Hogwarts,

but that job did not pay enough for a man as obsessed with the art of karaoke

as he.

He sold most of the books he received as birthday presents in which to get

money to fuel his hobby.

Now, Albus had a problem. He had all this equipment, music, and even a

stage. There was nobody to watch him perform.

Of course, he did not want his associates to find out about his love for

karaoke. If any one of them found out-- especially Minerva McGonagall,

deputy headmistress-- he wouldbe in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies

as fast as you could say "Gosh-darn-it."

Albus scratched his chin. How could he find a crowd to view his skills as a

karaoke master, without being sent to the mental ward by his colleagues?

He pondered this for many hours, using his Pensieve to sort out his thoughts and ideas.

All of a sudden, after hours and hours of brainstorming, he gasped.

"Fawkes, I have finally got it!" he shouted joyfully to the ever-present phoenix.

"We shall have a School-wide karaoke contest! This way, I shall be able to spread the joy

of karaoke, and be able to perform without making a fool out of myself."

Albus picked up his large, fluffy red phoenix quill and dipped it into glistening emerald ink.

He began to write in a flowing hand onto a scrap of parchment.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

First Annual Karaoke Contest.

Winner receives 100 Galleons.

Runner-up receives 75 Galleons.

Second runner-up receives 50 Galleons.

All participants will receive an extra-credit grade in Muggle Studies and History of

Magic.

And thus, the Hogwarts School-wide Karaoke Contest was born.