Hogwarts' "Science" Fair - The Weird Edition

Hogwarts' "Science" Fair, The Weird Edition

Students frantically scrambled around the Great Hall, putting the last finishing touches on their projects before the judging began.

Over in one corner, Neville was frantically trying to wipe Stinksap off his other plants and himself, his Mimbulus Mimbletonia dripping in the foul substance. Someone had thought it would be funny to give the plant a sharp prod, causing the Sap to explode. It had covered everyone within a foot radius, and some students had been unfortunate enough to get a face full as well. Neville was apologizing to everyone who passed by his display, which he had named Life Cycles of Magical Plants.

Over at another table, Hermione was surveying the mass of students, clucking her tongue. She had finished her project a week in advance, and was quite proud of her work. Hermione had decided to research Metamorphmagi. She had studied the facts, properties and anything else she felt she might need to have. Even she thought she had done quite well; she happened to discover a very complex way for a person to disguise themselves without the use of Potions or Glamours. It had been tedious, exhausting work, but it had paid off in the end. She felt sure she had a very good chance at winning.

Draco smirked as he watched his display. He had chosen Runes as his project, and had managed to procure several family heirlooms for his display. He had a wide selection of amulets and even a very valuable dagger that had been his great-great- great Grandfather Malfoy's. Draco felt he would win for sure, that way he could rub it into his face later.

Parvati, of course, was doing Divination as her project. She had several different types to help her display, titled The Noble Art of Divination. Among those selected were Alectromancy, Alomancy, Apantomancy and Hydromancy. She was beginning to think she had made a huge mistake; the rooster was already eating the grain and the salt, and the black cat was taking swipes at the rabbit. All the animals were drinking from her large basin of water, causing Parvati to have to shoo them away furiously. She wished the judges would hurry up before her supplies were all consumed.

Harry had taken a slightly different route in his project. He had decided to try and transfer electricity into the castle. It had started very botched, but he felt he had done a decent job. He had chosen to use pinwheels as a means to light a dollhouse Hermione had lent him. She hadn't played with it in ages, and it had needed a coat of paint badly. But after two weeks of planning and testing, he'd finally pulled it off. The lights weren't on yet, and students were giving him funny looks and laughing as they passed his display.

Ron, to the amusement of many, had decided on Tea- Leaf Reading. He had cups

and saucers, a huge pot of tea, and a chart he had drawn up with symbols and their meanings. He wanted to do Quidditch, but Harry had convinced him that it wouldn't do much, as lots of Wizards knew about Quidditch already. So Ron had thought many days about what he could possibly do. He had finally settled on his current choice. Everyone thought he was rubbish at Tea- Leaf Reading. Even Hermione had lectured him, thinking he thought it all a big joke, but he had stuck fast to his choice. He only hoped he wouldn't make an absolute fool of himself.

Finally, finally, the judges called in loud voices "Okay, students, please go to your displays! The judging is about to begin!"

The judges consisted of two witches and two wizards, all professors at Hogwarts-

Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sinistra and Professor Snape.

They moved to the first table, Terry Boot, who had a talisman of some sort. After watching Terry demonstrate some kind of charm with it, they nodded, wrote something on their scrolls of parchment and moved on.

When they came to Draco, Snape looked as if he had already decided he was the winner, which was probably true. The professors looked carefully at the heirlooms while Draco talked in a low voice about his project and how he had made the Runes himself. They nodded at his words, marked on their parchment, and moved to Parvati.

Parvati wrung her hands, but faced the judges and proceeded to show them her Divination talents. It was rather a mess, as the rooster ate a G, T, Z, and K, in that order. Flushing, she made a hurried prediction and moved on to the salt. They appeared unimpressed, and when she got to the water, all hell broke loose. The rooster made an attempt to jump off the table just as Parvati bent down to pick up her stones, and when she felt a thud on her back, she screamed, jumped up, and knocked the water all over herself, the judges and the other animals, who made frantic escapes to the floor and between tables. The judging was halted for ten minutes as the animals were gathered and carried outside. Unable to finish, Parvati had burst into tears and run from the room.

Hermione felt a tug of sympathy, but straightened quickly when it was her turn. She showed her research and even demonstrated the new method she had discovered. The professors' faces showed shock as she adopted wild, bright blue hair. She compared the results to the traditional Glamours and Potions, grinning triumphantly when her way showed more promising. She added last details, smiling when the judges looked pleased. Even Snape had a look of grudging respect on his sneering face.

Ron was next. He dramatically poured the tea for all the professors, then waited for them to drink it. When they handed their cups back, he swirled the remains three times, turned the cups over, and allowed the tea to drain. Giving each cup three taps each, he brought them back up, and proceeded to tell Snape that he had an umbrella, a goat and a Lizard in his cup entwined together.

"It means, Professor, that you have annoyances tied in with hidden enemies and misfortune. Not really sure of the circumstances... it might be concerned with you losing out on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position again..." Ron trailed off as Snape gave him his Most Powerful Glare, usually reserved only for Harry Potter.

"Right... Okay, Professor McGonagall has a kind of needle and an ox, which means that you'll have arguments with associates, but earn their respect, maybe? Well, anyway, Professor, somebody will respect you soon... erm, I mean someone will respect something you say soon... I mean... oh, bugger it."

Students were laughing at Ron's predicament, and even McGonagall had a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"Really, Mr. Weasley, I quite understand. No need to blunder further. What can you see for Professor Dumbledore?"

Relieved, Ron continued with the last two cups. When he was done, the judges wrote a few words on their parchment and moved to Neville.

Neville had a light sheen of sweat covering his face, but went over each of his plants very accurately. He got more into it the further down he went, and by the time he reached his Mimbulus Mimbletonia, he was positively beaming. He confidently explained everything he knew, and when he was done, McGonagall looked very proud. She gave Neville a pat on the back when they moved to Hannah Abbott's table. She had decorated her table with stars and zodiac signs, and began telling about the constellations.

At last, they arrived at the last table, Harry's. When he was told to begin, he explained about electricity and how wind was a means of making it. After his explanations, he said a charm, causing wind to blow in a gentle breeze around his display. As the pinwheels began turning, slowly gaining speed, a shout was heard from a student who was watching.

"Look!" he shouted. "Potter's got eckeltricity! That house is lighting up!" And indeed it was.

The pinwheels were constant, and the lights in Hermione's old dollhouse were blazing brightly. Students were awed at Harry's idea, and the professors were no different. He flushed in pleasure, saying, "It was only an idea I saw on the telly once. Apparently they use it in America to save the use on, um... fossil fuels, that's it. According to the telly, Americans say they use too much fossil fuels, so they decided to use a different way to get electricity. They also use water, which they call hydro power, and the sun, which is solar power."

"These are Muggle Americans?" questioned Professor Sinistra. She looked faintly surprised.

"Yes," Harry said. "They need light at night, and since they don't have wands...mind you, solar power is useless on cloudy days or nights, and wind power is useless on muggy days. They use rivers and lakes for hydro power, so that's probably a more constant means for electricity. They still use those fossil fuels, but now they have these others, some hope to quit using the fuels altogether."

Even Dumbledore looked faintly surprised at Harry's project.

"Harry, this is a wonderful project. But it was supposed to be a magical display."

"I know, Professor... but what's more magical than electricity at Hogwarts? Especially since a lot of magical students have never seen it before." He gestured at the crowd around him; some Slytherins even looked slightly impressed at the progress Muggles made without magic.

"Americans, can you believe it?" said Blaise.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and called, "We have seen all displays now. You are dismissed, and after dinner, we will reveal the winner."

Students clambered back to their own projects and began clearing it away, anxious for dinner and the winner to be announced.

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When dinner arrived, every student was there. No one wanted to miss the winner being announced. There were five places to win, first through fifth. Of course, everyone had their own opinions concerning who would win.

"Come on, it's going to be Hermione Granger, did you see her change her hair blue?"

"No way, it's Ron Weasley! He actually got all the predictions straight for once, Trelawney even said so!"

"I think it's going to be Malfoy. He had all those ancient heirlooms with those Runes on them."

"Well, Harry Potter had a wicked eckeltricity display. I think it'll be him."

A couple laughed at this. "Come on, Potter? Dumbledore even said he didn't do the project right!"

At last, Professor Dumbledore stood up and clapped for silence.

"Students! The professors and I have reached a decision! The results will be read from fifth place to first."

Not a sound was heard as Dumbledore pulled a piece of parchment from his pointed hat. He cleared his throat, then said, "I would like it if the winners would please come to the front of the Hall to receive your awards."

He cleared his throat again, then said "In fifth place: Mr. Ronald Weasley, for his precision in tea- leaf reading!"

Ron blushed red as a tomato as he got up and moved to stand next to Dumbledore.

"Next, in fourth place: Mr. Draco Malfoy, for his knowledge and understanding on how to inscribe Runes!"

Draco got up from the Slytherin table and stood next to Ron, making sure there was a little space between them. Draco sneered at him.

"In third place: Mr. Neville Longbottom, for his extensive knowledge of Herbology!"

Neville got up, almost tripped on his robes, and made his way next to Ron, who clapped him on the back, saying, "Well done, mate!"

"In second place, Miss Hermione Granger, for excellent research and demonstration of Metamorphmagi!"

Hermione looked flattered and disappointed all at once as she stood between Ron and Neville, who both said simultaneously, "Yeah, Hermione! Good job!" She smiled at them, grateful for their support.

"And now first place. The other professors and I had a very hard choice between this person and Miss Granger. Both did an outstanding job, but in the end, we did decide."

Dumbledore paused, obviously loving the tension in the room as they waited for his answer. He looked out at the anxious faces and his eyes twinkled as he said, "Well, I think first place can wait until breakfast, don't you?"

There was an instant uproar at these words as students protested loudly. Professor McGonagall gave him a severe look and cleared her throat significantly.

Eyes full of laughter, Dumbledore called for silence, and waited until the students had settled down before he continued.

"As I was saying... in first place: Mr. Harry Potter!"

Students jumped to their feet screaming their approval. Harry, turning a deep crimson, stood and walked up to the front with the others, wedging himself between Ron and Draco.

"Mr. Potter impressed us with his ingenious knowledge of American Muggle methods of getting light. He was also extremely successful with his own electricity, which we think deserves full credit!"

Harry was looking at the floor, the red standing out on his face even more at these words. Next to him, Ron was clapping him hard on the back as Hermione looked round at him and said, "Well done, Harry!"

Neville also told him what a good job he'd done. The only person who was silent was Draco, but through all the applause, Harry didn't notice.

Dumbledore handed out the prizes- bars of Honeyduke's best chocolate, varying in size to the winners' place. He awarded Harry twenty points as well, and they all trooped back to their respective tables, applause still ringing in Harry's ears.

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"Hey, you here?"

"Yeah, I'm here. What's it to you?"

"Come on, don't be like that. I won fair and square, and you know it."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Draco..." Harry sighed as he sank down next to him.

"Harry..." Draco mimicked, moving away from the other boy.

Harry ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated. He'd known it wasn't going to be easy to talk to Draco after the awards, but he hadn't known it would be like this.

"Please talk to me. What do you want me to say, that I'm sorry I won? That I'll let you have first place instead? I'm sorry, ok? Not sorry I won," he amended, "Sorry you're taking it so hard."

Draco finally turned and looked at Harry. He sighed and allowed Harry to move closer. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

"Look, Harry, it isn't you. It isn't even that you won. It's that I spent a lot of time on those Runes, and I didn't even beat Longbottom! What the hell does that say about me?"

Harry put an arm around Draco, who leaned against him, and responded, "It says that out of all the students who had a display, you ended up beating all but three of them. No other Slytherin got an award, you know. And I don't know about you, but that seems pretty damn good to me."

Draco allowed Harry to pull him even closer before he spoke again and said, "Yeah, I suppose there's always that. Of course, I knew I'd beat all the other Slytherins, but I thought I'd get at least second place..." Draco laid his head on Harry's chest, sighing again.

"You know, Draco... you aren't really second place material to me."

Draco bolted upright at this, turned to Harry and spat, "What?"

Harry simply looked at him calmly before repeating, "I said, I don't think you're second place material."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Draco fumed, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at Harry.

"Well, see, I don't think you're second place, simply because to me, you'll always be number one."

Draco studied him for a minute, and a small smile broke out over his face. He snuggled back into Harry's embrace before answering, "Yeah, well, we knew that already. Don't worry, Potter, you're still first place to me, too. Well, after my hair care products, of course."

Harry rolled his eyes, saying, "Wow, I almost beat your shampoo? I feel so proud."

"So you should, Harry. Not everyone only almost beats my shampoo, you know."

Harry chuckled affectionately.

"Git."

"Wanker."

A few seconds silence passed, then:

"Love you, Harry."

"Love you, too, Draco."

FINIS