The Curse of the Giggling Goblin

Day Two: Wednesday

-Dumbledore-

Whistling as he strolled down the corridor, Albus was in a reasonably good mood. However, he was deeply concerned for his fellow teachers, and had decided to visit each of them in turn. Classes had just ended for the day, and Albus headed towards the Gryffindor common room to see what on earth had gotten into Minerva. Ninety-nine percent of the time, McGonagall was well-balanced and in control, but the night before had caused Dumbledore to wonder if, perhaps, she had gotten into the Firewhiskey.

As he stepped through the portrait-hole, he nearly collided with Remus, Ron and Harry, who carried their broomsticks and were decked out in full Quidditch gear. "Oh! Albus, I've got to ask you something," Remus piped up after a nudge from Ron.

"Yes?"

"Is the Quidditch match still on for tomorrow?" Remus asked as Ginny caught up to them, also carrying her broom.

Albus scratched his chin. "Most assuredly, assuming we can find a referee. Normally it would be Professor Snape's turn, but I'm afraid he might be even more vindictive than usual. Speaking of which...Harry, what happened last night? Sybil mentioned that Severus left earlier than expected." He looked Harry in the eye, but the bespectacled young man looked away uncomfortably.

"I don't think he'd be too happy if I talked about it in front of everyone," Harry muttered.

Dumbledore nodded. "I see. Well, my office is always open if you change your mind."

Harry nodded in acknowledgement, then followed his friends out of the dormitory. Albus turned and looked around the common room, finally spotting a dark-haired young woman sitting primly in a chair by the fire. "Minerva?" he called, walking over to her as she jumped and whirled around.

"Albus! What are you doing here? I'm so sorry about last night, I haven't been myself the past couple days, and I never meant to...it just sort of happened..." she babbled, gripping the arms of the chair tightly.

Dumbledore patted her shoulder. "Calm down. Everything is fine. I am rather confused, but then again, this is a confusing time for all of us."

"So you're not angry?"

"No, of course not! Don't get yourself into a tizzy over this, my dear. You're not the only one who's had trouble controlling their emotions. I think you would benefit from a bit of fresh air, why don't we go outside for a bit?"

Minerva nodded shakily, and Albus escorted her out of the common room and outside into the sun. "I must confess, Minerva, the workings of a teenage girl's mind are foreign to me. Try as I might, the female mind never ceases to baffle me beyond words."

McGonagall smiled. "Right now, I'm inclined to agree with you..."

-Snape-

Snape sat on the windowsill in a corner of the library, reading a book about the many uses of toads in potion-making. After a particularly horrendous day, he wanted nothing more than to feel like he was actually learning something. Potions had been the worst, yet again, and he gritted his teeth at the memory of Fred and George's lesson. They had taught the entire class how to make a potion which caused them to sprout antlers of various sizes and colours, which wore off after two hours. Severus had initially refused to drink the concoction, but George had insisted that everyone had to test their partner's potion in order to receive marks. Being forced to work with Hermione Granger again, Snape knew that her potion would be very effective, yet he had foolishly drank the entire vial. He spent the remainder of the afternoon sporting a particularly magnificent set of elk antlers, which proved quite difficult to get through doorways.

He gazed out the window, noticing Lupin, Potter and the Weasleys practicing on the Quidditch pitch. As he stared longingly at their broomsticks, he wished for a chance to play. His own broom had been destroyed decades ago, but he had often snuck out at night when everyone was in bed and practiced on the school brooms. In recent years, his eyesight was not quite what it had been, but years ago he had fancied himself a fairly decent Seeker although he had not been on the school team. Now he was young again, and longed for the chance to fly out and grab the Snitch right out from under Potter's nose.

"Severus? I thought I would find you here," Dumbledore's voice said quietly, interrupting his reverie. "I must say, your antlers were quite spectacular. I might see the Weasley twins later about getting a pair for myself," he chuckled.

Severus raised an eyebrow, annoyed. "The instructions are in my notes. Take them," he muttered gruffly, tossing his notebook to Dumbledore.

"Those two are quite the inventors, I must say. Mark my words, someday their concoctions will wind up in Potions textbooks across the country."

"Hopefully I'll be dead long before then," Snape replied.

Albus laughed. "All sunshine and smiles, aren't we? Severus, is there anything I can do that will cheer you up, even just a little bit?"

"Not really..." Severus answered, gazing outside at the Quidditch pitch.

"You want to play, don't you?" Dumbledore inquired softly. "I just had a brilliant thought, Severus. What if we postponed the regular game until next week, and in its place have a match where the teachers play against the students? I mean, I'm a bit rusty on a broomstick myself, but it would be fun nonetheless," he said excitedly.

"You have a strange concept of fun, Albus. Besides, the professors' team wouldn't stand a chance. Could you imagine Hagrid on a broom? Look at Lupin out there, he can barely keep up with them."

"It's not about winning, Severus, I just think it would lift everyone's spirits a bit. Come on..." Dumbledore pleaded.

"No."

"You can be Seeker..."

Severus thought for a moment. "Fine, but just this once. How on earth did you become so damned persuasive, anyway?"

Albus shrugged. "Years of practice, I suppose. Excuse me, I've got an announcement to make."

-Lupin-

"Attention everyone, tomorrow's Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, has been cancelled," Dumbledore's voice boomed.

"What? He just promised us he wouldn't-" Remus began angrily, but the announcement continued.

"Instead, there will be two new teams playing: the professors, myself included, against selected members of each house's Quidditch team. All team captains are to report to my office immediately to nominate their players. Thank you," Dumbledore finished, and Remus looked back and forth between Ron, Harry and Ginny.

"He can't be serious. The man's gone mad!" he gasped, half scared and half overjoyed.

"Don't be such a chicken," Harry laughed. "This is going to be utterly insane, I know it."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, but it sounds like we'll have to team up with some Slytherins. D'you reckon you'll get picked as Seeker? That would be great, just to see the look on Malfoy's face."

"Harry, they'll probably pick you just because of your track record so far," Lupin explained. "I'm going to Dumbledore's office to put my name in as one of the Chasers, I'll put in a good word for all three of you."

"Thanks. Find out who the Seeker for your team's going to be, okay? I'm almost afraid to ask, but still," Harry added, "I've got to know who we're up against."

Remus gave him a nod, and headed towards Dumbledore's office where a large crowd had already gathered. The auburn-haired young man was frantically writing down names as the team captains shouted them. A few professors argued about who was to play which position, and Albus stood up, waving his arms in the air. "Quiet, everyone! I think everything is sorted out now, isn't it? For the student team, we have Potter, Weasley, Spinnet, Crabbe, Goyle, Smith, and Bradley, with two spares, Weasley and Chambers."

"Wait- which Weasley is doing what?" Remus asked. "And what about our team?"

"Patience, Remus! Ron is Keeper, Ginny is the spare Seeker," Dumbledore continued. "As for the professors' team, we already have a Seeker, two Chasers, and two Beaters, but we still need a Keeper and one more Chaser."

"I'll be a Chaser," Remus replied, and Dumbledore wrote down his name on the parchment.

"Excellent." The crowd began to file out, leaving only the professors. "So now we have Lupin, Snape, Sinistra, Hooch, Hagrid and myself. We're in need of a Keeper still. Any volunteers?" Dumbledore inquired, glancing around the room. "Minerva! You have excellent reflexes, why don't you be Keeper?"

"Oh, no, I couldn't..." McGonagall answered.

"Come on, Minerva, I'm sure you're just dying to get back on a broom," Remus added.

"Well, it has been a long time...but I can't promise I'll be any good."

"Who cares? I think we all agree that none of us are terribly good at Quidditch, am I right?" Remus said, looking around the room. The other professors nodded in agreement. "See?"

"Alright, you've got yourself a Keeper," Minerva agreed.

Remus grinned. "This is going to be a hell of a game."