| Details for The First Wizarding (Food) War |
| Summary: | What starts out as a sedate dinner on a slow night becomes chaos with the introduction of Peeves and dancing fish. |
| Date: | December 7, 1941 |
| Location: | Great Hall |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Dinner in the Great Hall tonight seems to be quiet with an odd sort of tension. The evening is warm and the enchanted ceiling above reflects dark clouds brewing in the skies, obscuring the stars and the moon. Students lazily filter and chatter amongst themselves. The faculty table tonight is relatively empty as well; something seems to be occupying many of the professors tonight, though it's likely coincidence; when you spent three-quarters of the year with each other, there are bound to be at least a few days where several people are busy. Headmaster Dumbledore is nowhere to be seen, and neither is the assistant headmaster, although Professor Viridian — with his bright turquoise robes — is both present and impossible to overlook.
A few students are collecting or sending out their evening owls, while others study their books, and of course, most are eating. At the Gryffindor Table, leaning towards the Hufflepuff side, Phoenicia is currently enjoying the battered fish and chips that has been prepared for tonight; unused to seeing it on such nice plates, though, she's inclined to do a double take now and then and poke it to make sure it's real. The nice plates for fish and chips! Her aunt would be baffled.
Over at the Slytherin table, on the other hand, near the Ravenclaws… Dipper (or Augustina if you're feeling formal) has a small line up next to her; people looking to have their fortunes read tonight. She wouldn't and couldn't do the reading at dinner, but in return for leaving a small precious object — which she has a perfect record of returning to each owner, thank you very much — she promises to give them a fortune on a specific topic for which they ask tonight. Of course, she has to decide you're suitable for reading… which she might not if she doesn't know you.
Lissie sits at the Hufflepuff table nibbling at her chips. They're delicious, and so she savors them, them and the fish, with liberal sprinkling of malt vinegar as a benediction. The girl sighs happily, content with the day. She has a small book beside her hand, and now and again she turns the page to read.
At the Ravenclaw Table, Laurean lets himself be carried away by a melancholy feeling for a moment, since nothing really interesting is happening at the moment. He looks around, trying to catch every expression of joy and happiness. "Ah, memories. Sweet nostalgia is feeling really strong tonight…" Says the young Maestro, thinking out loud.
Relaxing at the Gryffindor table and actually behaving himself is resident Troublemaker Extraodinaire and one of the most zany members of the Higgins clan, yes, Finley Higgins is doing the most unexpected thing that anyone could believe of him. He's BEHAVING himself. He's not even pigging out as he eats the chips lazily. His blue eyes are actually sort of only half open as if he were dosing a little bit, which might be why he's behaving.
Relaxing at the Gryffindor table and actually behaving himself is resident Troublemaker Extraodinaire and one of the most zany members of the Higgins clan, yes, Finley Higgins is doing the most unexpected thing that anyone could believe of him. He's BEHAVING himself. He's not even pigging out as he eats the chips lazily. His blue eyes are actually sort of only half open as if he were dosing a little bit, which might be why he's behaving.
Watching with small, hawkish eyes from the Hufflepuff end of the hall is Pringle — or as he is better known to the troublemaking segment of Hogwarts, 'He's-Coming-Hide!' Of course, it's just dinner and there's nothing to worry about… but there's still an audible sigh of relief from much of the student body (and, to the very perceptive, a few of the faculty when a prefect pokes his head inside, hurriedly waves at Pringle, and beckons him to follow.
Seizing on the palpable relaxation from a number of the students in the room, Professor Viridian taps his wand on the edge of his goblet, as if signalling for attention before a toast; after a moment, the set and untouched battered fish at a number of the empty seats suddenly… stood up for lack of a better word and started clapping and dancing around, taking a bow.
Situated behind a plate of chicken pot pie with a heavy amout of grilled tomatoes, Ravenclaw student Michael Harker looks over at Laurean as he speaks, though he doesn't really hear what the other boy is saying. He thinks to ask, but decides that, for the moment, his chicken pie is more interesting. His hands still ache faintly from helping Ogg with… whatever that was supposed to be earlier, but every bite of wonderful Hogwarts food makes the pain more and more of a memory.
Flashing the smile towards Pringle as he leaves, Finley sort of comes up from his relaxation. His eyes light on the dancing fish and that does get an applaud from the young teen. "Can they be dancin' a jig?" He called out merrily as he climbs to perch on the chair.
"Dancing fish," Harker says flatly as he finally sees what a growing number of students are goggling at, some in confusion, most in amusement.
Laurean turns his gaze towards Michael with an expression of surprise: "Oh, thank Merlin, you also see them! I thought I was losing my mind! What is going on?"
Professor Viridian raises his wand to accede to the sudden request. "For the dear boy at the Gryffindor table," he responded — but midway through his incantation, his plate suddenly flew up and smashed itself into the Professor's face, catching him by surprise. His wand flew high into the air, as did the dancing fish — as the wand slowed to the top of its arc, so too did the fish, landing in wriggling, writhing jigs, square dances, and waltzes across the faces of several students. With the ringing of bells and a maniacal giggle, a translucent figure in a jester's cap flew out of the middle of the faculty table.
Lissie gasps, but she has the presence of mind to pull out her own wand. As to why she has a wand in the Great Hall, blame Walburga. At Any rate, she leaps onto the bench, pointing her wand in the arc of the fish. She's not really done this on such a mobile target before, but as she calls out, "Wingardium Leviosa!" a quartet of piscine pieces is caught by the spell, and she holds them steady, then looks for somewhere to put them. "Peeves…." she growls under her breath.
Laurean stands up and tries to reach the Faculty table as quick as he can, in order to provide Professor Viridian with some assistance. On the way, he tries to locate any source of authority, while dodging oncoming projectiles. Armed with his beech wand, he shouts "Recedo!" when one of the plates almost hit him. "That court jester again!" The young Maestro says in a grumble.
Although it is very obviously Peeves to blame, a couple of Slytherins over near Dipper seem to freak out at Lissie pulling out her wand; maybe they're panicking, maybe it's just an excuse, but a salvo of piping hot chips goes flying through the air in the Hufflepuff's general direction, losing momentum somewhere in the middle of Gryffindor table.
Dipper's eyes go wide. "Oh no."
It's a reaction mirrored by the unfortunate Gryffindor prefect near where the fries came flying down. "'ey! Nae! Stop!" Phee cries out as the girl who just got a hairful of fries grabs a bunch of wedges to retaliate herself… her toss, however, is even more in vain, exploding all over the middle of Ravenclaw table, a number of which hit Laurean in the back of the head.
It's a reaction mirrored by the unfortunate Gryffindor prefect near where the fries came flying down. "'ey! Nae! Stop!" Phee cries out as the girl who just got a hairful of fries grabs a bunch of wedges to retaliate herself… her toss, however, is even more in vain, exploding all over the middle of Ravenclaw table, a number of which hit Laurean in the back of the head.
"Smashing!" Finley says cheerfully as he enjoys the show and actually applauds the display. The curls on his head bouncing a little as he begins bouncing a bit in place. He was excited about the whole thing. Clapping along to a jig beat, the teen enjoyed a good jig and was standing up on the bench now tapping along and grinning wildly.
"Ouch! What the hell… fries!? What's next!?" Remembering his last experience with the poltergeist, the young Maestro doesn't dare to make any more predictions. "I think I'll need some assistance over here!" Shouts Laurean, while trying to avoid more nasty surprises from the air.
Lissie sets down the chips on a plate, then flicks her wand again, oblivious to the food flying her way. She points it towards Peeves, but she can't quite manage to call out the spell without her voice squeaking. Attacking a poltergeist, even if it is only indirectly attacking her, seems somewhat intimidating. Then she gathers herself, but the spell is already cast and useless.
Nearby Professor Viridian, Professor Starkey is trying very hard not to burst to giggles as she helps him scrape the food off of his face and he tenderly rubs his nose. The blue wizard looks a bit more bruised wizard for a moment. He seemed to be alright, but for a bruised ego.
Meanwhile, Peeves' interest has been sparked by the bold Hufflepuff who tried to stun him! Giggling excitedly, the jester-capped ghost swoops down and picks up a plate in each hand and starts launching them into the air, sending food spinning everywhere across the Hufflepuff table. "My turn!"
Phee slid to a stop next to Laurean, catching the seventh-year recovering from the chip assault. "Ye okay?" she asked. "This is nae gettin' better any time qui-" her words interrupted with squealing when an upside-down plate of green beans whizzes overhead, spilling its contents all over her and down her robe.
"Oi! Peevie Peevie cannot hit the broad side of the barn." Finley says teasing the poltergeist and trying to turn the attention to him. He's a weird kid but he usually means well as he balances on one foot and sticking his tongue out at Peeves. It wouldn't be the first time he's teased the poltergeist.
"Oh my… are you alright, Phoenicia?" Laurean looks at the Gryffindor girl with deep concern and realises how useful it would be to know one or two spells from the Domestics Club in order to provide her with some real help. "We need to think somenthing fast. First, we should gain some kind of advantage over him. Allies, anyone else in this room that could help us: Viridian, Starkey… what about the other Prefects?" The young Maestro tries really hard to elaborate a successful plan with so little time.
"Oi! Peevie Peevie cannot hit the broad side of the barn." Finley says teasing the poltergeist and trying to turn the attention to him. He's a weird kid but he usually means well as he balances on one foot and sticking his tongue out at Peeves. It wouldn't be the first time he's teased the poltergeist.
Over at the Slytherin side — which has turned into the ground-zero for an all-out war with the Gryffindors with the poor Ravenclaws stuck in the middle — Dipper has just crawled underneath a table for shelter. This is ridiculous.
Lissie reacts again, grabbing a dish cover and putting it on her head, as she waves her wand at the food. "Avifors!" she calls out, but her gesture, understandably, is unfocused. "That's *it*! she shouts as fish rain down on her helmeted head. "I'm joinin' th' deullin' club after this!" Her eyes flash as she stamps her foot on the bench. "This is quite enough, Peeves!"
While seeing the efforts of Lissie, the young Hufflepuff he met last summer, Laurean tries the same incantation: "Avifors!" This time, some dishes are transformed into colorful birds. Again, Laurean pronounces another spell with determination: "Sonorus!" With his voice amplified, the young Maestro becomes the focus of attention for a couple of minutes. "Someone should open the doors, quick!"
"I'm on et!" Phee went to do just that for Laurean, her hand reaching for her wand to do a Door-Unlocking Charm — only to step on a piece of slippery battered fish, give a great 'whoop!' of surprise, and spill over backwards onto the floor. Wand first. There's an awful snap when she hits the floor — oh, it's not a broken bone, that'd be easy enough for the infirmary to fix. It's her wand. … She scowls, jumps back up to her feet and rushes for the door, spurred on by anger to shove them open as hard as they'll go.
Over at the faculty table, the professors seem to be regathering their wits — as Peeves focuses his attention on Finley, he's caught quite off-guard by Professor Slughorn sending a ball of light his way. There's an eerie sort of feeling in the air near the Hufflepuff table, like… something's about to explode.
"See. Ye jest need ta think a bit outside the box there." Finley says as he homes down from the bench and stars walking towards Phee and the doors. "If'n there's a charm, pushin' ain't gonna make one lick of difference." He says as he approaches her. He didn't bother running. Anyone knows running when there's been food flung around is a sure fire way to end up on one's bum and wincing for a bit. The broken wand though does cause a wince from the teen. "Di' ye need some help?"
Medea has been doing her best to keep out of this whole messshe's a good student, she doesn't get in spell-slinging food-fights or anything of the sort. She's been hunkering under table, doing her best to avoid the barrages of chips, fish, and whatever else that have been flying back and forth between (who else) Gryffindor and Slytherin. But when she sees Phoenicia go down and hears the tell-tale 'crack,' she jumps out of her seat and hurdles across the floor, wand poised as she glares around her at anyone who thinks she makes a good target for food throwing now. "Get back in your seat, you little nusiance!" She points her wand threateningly at a particularly active Gryffindor first year who's winding up to hurl another handful of food over towards the Slytherin table. "Or I'll hex you so badly your ears will fly away and nest in the rafters!"
"We should hae th' *birds* gae after Peeves!" cries Lissie, the hairs standing up on the back of her neck. She doesn't know why, but doesn't seem to think it's for any other reason than nerves. She whirls towards the table, waving her wand at a pile of peapods. "Avifors!" she cries, and of a sudden there is a flock of small wrens, grey with green banding. "Get him, my little pretties!" she cries! "Oi, get that manky poltergeist!"
"Quietus." When Laurean sees Phee on the floor, his first thought is to run towards her but, predicting the consequences of that action, he proceeds with extreme caution before reaching the entrance doors. "Are you alright? I should have opened the doors myself! I'm so sorry…" The young Maestro says this last statement with a dejected expression.
All the birds squawking and crying lead to Peeves laughing in mirth as he leads them on a merry little chase through the Great Hall… completely oblivious to whatever it was that Professor Slughorn did. And what that was became obvious with a little more time. At the spot where Slughorn's ball of light struck, there was suddenly an unearthly wailing of terror and gnashing of teeth near the hufflepuffs — then in a burst of silvery blood came the ephemeral silhouette of the Bloody Baron. Peeves had been far too distracted to notice until it was too late! He stormed — as much as a flying ghost could storm — straight for Peeves, his ghastly chains clanking, and it sent Peeves scurrying out the just-opening doors, followed by a flock of birds, and the baron.
That just left all the students still fighting amongst themselves.
Phee leans back against a wall and rubs her hip where it'd hit the floor, wincing. "It's alrigh'… should 'ave been a wee bit more careful. Looks like we at least got Peeves out. But I 'ave nae the foggiest what tae dae about the rest of these numpties taenight." She grinned a little. "Professor Viridian seems tae be enjoyin' 'imself at least."
"Why wouldn't he? That was brill." Finley says grinning broadly at Phee. "Well other than your wand breaking. Yer gonna need ta get a new one." He says wrinkling his nose a bit. Broken wands were an expensive thing to replace. "I'm sure that they'll get it all nice and spic and span as soon as we ain't here."
With the poltergeist gone and Phee seemingly no worse for wear, Medea turns back towards the tables and starts doing her best to corral some of the younger students still hurling food back and forth. "CrowleyDon't think I don't see you about to throw those potatos, you put those down!" Really, she just wants things to settle down so she can go back to her book and her letter home. And once things calmed down, maybe she could check on Phee, too.
Sighing due to the results of his last plan, Laurean states the following: "Well, I think we could try something, but I can't assure that it solves anything. We need a good singer first. Music has charms to soothe the savage beast, right? Hope it works with these ones too." With a concentrated gaze and tilting his head, the young Maestro tries to figure out who could be a suitable performer.
"Yae, try nae tae remind me. Me poor wand." The redhead winced a bit and shook her head. "Righ'. Ye work on tha', Mr. Maestro. Howe'er, I think Dee 'as the righ' idea. Credence! Dae ye want tae lose 'ouse points? Because this is 'ow yer gonna lose 'ouse points!" she shouted, going after her own table. Wand or not, she was still a prefect!
As the prefects and the other students with responsibility (or at least active guilt and shame complexes) set about destroying all the hard-earned fun in the great hall, things eventually calmed down, only to get a dramatic gasp and an interesting… look from Headmaster Dumbledore over his half-moon spectacles as he enters. A sheepish silence falls over the Great Hall, matched by an amused smile on his face. It was the start of a long night of cleaning…