Year Four - Teachers Lounge
“It’s suspicious I tell you! Unnatural!”
“For someone who is always complaining that he never pays attention in class and never applies himself to his studies, don’t you think you’re being a little harsh?”
McGonagall slapped a hand on the table, making her teacup jump. “He’s not paying attention, he’s planning something! No student does a turnaround like that without having a reason!”
“I don’t see why you insist on waging war with a child. Maybe if you weren’t yelling at him all the time he’d behave, I certainly have had no such problems in any of my classes,” Professor Sinistra snarked. “You are the only one who hasn’t been able to make him interested in learning, and I think that has a lot more to say about you than it does him. “
“That is-”
“Sorry, sorry. Class ran a little long today. Is the tea still hot?”
“Don’t worry about it, Septima, we’ve not even begun yet,” Flitwick swiftly used the arrival of the Runes teacher as a way to break up the oncoming fight. “Pour yourself a cup, we even refilled the sugarbowl for you,” with a little grin. The woman was known to use five or six spoonfuls, making it more a pudding than a drink after all.
With her back pointedly half-turned to McGonagall, Sprout shuffled her papers until they made a tidy stack in front of her. “What about you Alastor? Severus? More tea?”
“I don’t drink anything I didn’t bring myself, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” the ex-Auror bellowed, thumping his staff on the floor.
“No one is going to poison you Alastor…” Tiredly. Almost as if she’d said it every day for the whole school year so far.
“That’s what you think. The brats here are almost as bad as Dark Wizards, hexing each other in the halls, spiking the food.. The day I let them get one over on me is the day I’ll be in the grave! CONST-”
“MORE SUGAR SEPTIMA?” Flitwick interrupted loudly.
“Oh, no thanks. I think I’ve added enough.” And sure enough, the spoonful of ‘liquid’ was thicker than any tea had the right to be. Shudders were carefully concealed as the woman lifted the teacup for a hearty sip and sigh of contentment.
“Can we please start the meeting? I have things to do, students who actually need my help.”
“Minerva, you have to teach him for at least one more year. Could you try-”
“Speaking of another year!” Flitwick yet again butted in cheerfully. The man was on a roll it seemed. “I feel good about this year’s O.W.L.’s. The Fifth Years are all in a kerfuffle as usual, but I think they’ll do just fine with the occasional reminder of sleeping and eating. But we are going to need a battle plan prepared for Mr. Potter, which is why I asked you all here. Any ideas what we can do to convince him to take the tests seriously?”
After a beat of silence- “ . . .lock him in the library until he passes?”