The Curse of the Giggling Goblin

-McGonagall-

Nymphadora Tonks sat cross-legged on Minerva's desk, twirling a wand in her fingers as she chatted with Harry, Ron and Remus. Minerva walked into the classroom, silently gasping with horror at Tonks' muddy shoes on her impeccably tidy desk. She strode up to the group, trying to look authoritative. "Please, Nymphadora, my desk is not a footrest," she said curtly.

"Oops, sorry about that. I'll clean it up, I promise," Tonks replied sheepishly, sliding off the desk. Minerva sighed and sat down at a table next to Hermione. The rest of the class took their seats, and Tonks cleared her throat. "Okay, everyone, due to some bizarre twist of fate I'll be your Transfiguration professor for the week. We're going to start off today with a tricky spell; turning mice into clocks. When you are finished, your clock is supposed to work, too."

To Minerva's left, Ron and Harry began transfiguring their mice, or at the very least trying to. She placed her mouse on the desk, and pointed her wand at it. Her first attempt was not very good; the clock still had a tail and squeaked instead of ticked. Her second try turned out perfectly, producing a fine clock. She looked over at Hermione, who had also done rather well. Ron's clock was still furry, and Harry's looked fine but the hands ran backwards.

Minerva was upset at the fact that she had difficulties with the spell, remembering that when she had attended Hogwarts everything went right the first time. She shrugged, and passed her mouse-clock to Tonks before leaving.

Thankfully she was able to avoid Divination, instead attending Arithmancy with Hermione. The class went by smoothly, and Minerva even managed to remember bits and pieces of the subject.

After class, she headed to Potions. "Hey, wait for me!" Hermione called, catching up to Minerva. "I wonder what Potions is going to be like," Hermione said as they walked through the hall together.

"Well, the Weasleys have never been boring, that's for sure. I'm a bit worried about Professor Snape, though."

"Yes, he looks like he's about to crack...wait a minute! I forgot something!" She checked her watch. "I'll be right back, go ahead without me." Hermione hurried off, and Minerva shrugged and continued to the dungeons.

She took a seat next to Remus. "How goes it, Minerva?" he asked.

"Could be better, I suppose. I'm looking forward to dinner, I had forgotten how all this running about makes me hungry."

"You seem a bit edgy. Feeling alright?"

Minerva shook her head. "Well, no. I mean, yes. Wait...I really have no idea, Remus." She buried her face in her hands.

"You're starting to sound a bit loony...and I thought Severus was bad. I think you should go lie down for a while, make yourself a strong cup of tea."

"No, no, I'll be fine. A good night's sleep should cure me."

Class began, and Minerva listened as Fred and George introduced themselves. In the middle of their speech, the door opened and Hermione quietly crept in, followed moments later by a sheepish-looking Ron, who sat down beside Harry. Hermione took the only empty seat, which was next to Severus Snape.

"Where were you, Ron?" Harry asked.

"I'll explain later," he whispered back. Minerva raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Where had they been?

-Eight o'clock-

Minerva sat down in a squashy armchair by the fire, her feet aching. The day had seemed excruciatingly long, and she was looking forward to some quiet time to herself. Unfortunately, the Gryffindor common room was quite possibly the least quiet place to be. No sooner had she sat down than a giggling group of girls sat nearby, not noticing her.

"Have you seen Lupin yet?" one of them asked the others.

"Yes! I never knew he was so cute! I hope this spell is permanent..."

"Me too. Some of the professors totally have a bug up their ass, don't they?"

"I know! Especially Snape, that guy really needs a Cheering Charm or something..."

Minerva snickered to herself as the girls continued. "He's such a mean old git, honestly. The only person that takes more points from Gryffindor is McGonagall."

"No kidding. What's her problem, anyway? She's our head of house, you'd think she could cut us some slack."

Minerva blinked. Was she really that bad? She stood up from her seat and quietly walked to the dormitory, sitting down on her bed. After staring at the walls for a while, she lay back and looked up at the ceiling. The click of an opening door made her look up suddenly, and she saw Hermione entering the room.

"Hi...I hope I didn't wake you up," she said, flopping down on her bed.

Minerva shook her head. "No, I was just thinking. Good work today in class, Hermione, especially in Potions."

Hermione blushed. "Thanks. I hope Professor Snape isn't too angry..."

"He'll get over it. Severus knows you're the best student in his class, he just hates to be outdone."

"Did you hear that Snape and Harry got a detention from Professor Trelawney?"

"No...I didn't know the substitute professors could give us detentions. What on earth happened?"

"Well, apparently they were joking around in class, and when Trelawney yelled at them Snape said something rather rude to her."

"Oh dear...Sybil can get a bit snippy when she's not taken seriously. She's gone round the twist since being sacked by Umbridge last year, if you ask me," Minerva muttered.

Hermione laughed. "I don't believe in any of that Divination nonsense. As if the planets have anything to do with my future..."

Minerva nodded. "That's exactly my point of view." She looked up at the clock. "Oh no! I just remembered, I was supposed to meet Albus half an hour ago! Sorry, Hermione, I've got to run."

She grabbed her cloak off the bedpost and ran through the hall towards Dumbledore's office. In her haste, she did not see Hagrid coming around the corner, and the two of them collided, Minerva falling backward.

"Oops, sorry there, Professor," Hagrid said, helping her to her feet.

"That's quite alright. I hardly recognized you without your beard, Hagrid, you've had it for so long. Is Albus still in his office?"

The young man shrugged his massive shoulders. "Probably. I've just been ter see him, he said he was waiting for yeh. Good night, then, Minerva."

"Good night, Hagrid," she replied, then hurried off at a slightly slower pace.

She met up with Dumbledore at the entrance to his office. "Good evening. What kept you so long?"

Minerva smiled. "I'm sorry, the time just slipped by so fast..."

"Think nothing of it, my friend," he replied gallantly. She felt her cheeks turn pink as she looked into his twinkling eyes. What on earth was the matter with her? She had never felt nervous around Dumbledore before, but at the moment she felt like a love-struck schoolgirl.

"Are you feeling alright, Minerva? You look a bit flushed," Albus asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her stomach did a backflip.

"I'm...I'm fine. It's just a bit warm in here, that's all," she replied, taking off her cloak with a nervous giggle. "I think I'd better go lie down..."

Dumbledore nodded. "If you insist." He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes twinkling mischievously."It is a bit warm in here, isn't it? Perhaps I'll go open a few windows, and-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Minerva ran forward and kissed him quickly on the lips. She jumped back instantly. "Sorry. I shouldn't have...um...AAAHHH!" she shrieked, running off down the hall and leaving behind a very bewildered Dumbledore.

She ran into the dormitory and fell back onto her bed, still trying to catch her breath. Ginny and Hermione looked at her oddly from across the room. "What happened, Professor?" Ginny asked. "You look like you've just run a marathon."

"Nonsense. I'm fine. Really."

"I thought you were going for a walk with Professor Dumbledore," Hermione added.

"I was, but I...I didn't feel well," she muttered, covering her face with a pillow.

"Well, that much is obvious. You've been acting funny all day," Ginny replied.

"Have I?" Minerva asked, sitting up and clutching the pillow to her chest.

"Every time Dumbledore is around, your face goes red, you get really jumpy and you start fiddling with your hair."

"What are you implying, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny giggled. "I think you fancy him."

"Preposterous! Nonsense!" Minerva sputtered. "I most certainly do not!"

"Sure...if you say so," Hermione replied with a wink, then turned her head as footsteps echoed outside the room. "You'd better hide, quick! I overheard Lavender and Parvati talking earlier, they're planning on giving you a makeover."

"Oh no...they won't get away with that. I'll hex them into next week if they come at me with lipstick, honestly I will," Minerva insisted, pulling her wand from her pocket just as the door opened.