Disclaimer: The characters all belong to JK Rowling. Everything else that you recognize will belong to someone else. Nothing belongs to me.

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Minerva McGonagall's PoV

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I awoke Christmas morning at five thirty. Almost my all time late. It takes nearly ten minutes to do my hair in the morning, so usually I'm up and going by five. As deputy headmistress, I have to inspect the castle each morning, wake up the headmaster, wake all the other heads of houses, and alert the house elves for breakfast. Otherwise, we won't get any. Many people believe all I do is sit around, teach and deliver messages to Dumbledore. If that was all I had to do in the morning alone, I would be living a life of laziness and comfort. And people ask me why I can be irritable.

Anyway, the day started out in a rush. Thankfully the house elves were already up, and fixing breakfast for us. The new one, Dobby, gave me a small piece of toast before I could even ask, and cautiously asked if he could see one of the students that he had become rather attached to and had a Christmas present for. I agreed to let him go once the students were up. Even I'm not that strict on Christmas.

After that, I had to wake up the heads of houses, always a chore, though Severus Snape is a task alone. Roseanne Sprout and Filius Flitwick are always rather easy, once you use fireworks or levitate them off the bed and drop them on the marble floor. Severus on the other hand slapped me so hard in response to my prodding him in the back, that I was forced to body bind him and bounce him around the dungeon before he would get up, an all time high. He wonders why I wasn't put in Slytherin.

Albus Dumbledore, as active as many people believe him to be, would rather sleep in for one day a year than receive a bucket of candy every day for the rest of his life. He is by far the laziest man I have ever met, including Ludo Bagman. To awaken him on Christmas, however, is a cinch. Pull out a set of nice socks stuffed with muggle Lemon Drops and place them under his nose. In a few moments you will have one wide awake, and very happy, headmaster.

The rest of the day went rather flawlessly. I refused, as always, to attend the staff carol singing in the staff room, preferring to keep my ear drums in good healthy condition. A house elf named Millie delivered a cup of hot cocoa to me around one o'clock. I thanked her and gave her a small cookie I had received from my *dear* fellow staff members. Surprisingly, it wasn't jinxed and she thanked me and went on her way.

I always want to show off at time like this, the Yule Ball, I mean. As much as I love tartan, I, like you, know it isn't the best choice for fashion. I am not stupid. I had already laid out a nice set of nice light blue dress robes that were rather low cut and a plain black dress for underneath. Dumbledore however, put down his foot. It seems Roseanne had tried the same thing as well. I was forced into the red tartan and a hat with a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim while Roseanne was told to wear some old dark green robes that had quite a lot of lace around the edge. As much as it may seem that we have no fashion sense, allow me to say, that the dress code here is stricter for teachers than it is for students. However, I was able to sneak away with the light blue dress robes hidden underneath the horrible tartan ones.

When I arrived at the entrance hall, many students had already arrived, apparently trying to squeeze in as many minutes of dancing as possible.

"Champions over here, please," I called. They came to my call quickly. Miss Delacour had chosen to come with the Ravenclaw quidditch captain, Roger Davies, who was obviously interested in her as well. A bit too interested. I was a little afraid that he might walk into a wall. Next came Cedric Diggory. He and Cho Chang, a smart fifth year Ravenclaw, seemed happy with each other and were talking to each other in calm friendly tones. My own Harry Potter came up next, being dragged by a girl abut his height in bright pink robes that I immediately recognized as Parvati Patil. At least he had found a partner. Lastly was Viktor Krum and his date, a very pretty girl in periwinkle robes. At first I had no idea who she was, but when she turned around I heard her call "Hi Harry. Hi Parvati," and realized at once that it was Miss Granger. She didn't look like herself, but it was a large improvement. Her hair was pulled back in a loose form of my own usual style, and made sleek with what appeared to be a large amount of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion.

The doors to the Great Hall swung open at exactly eight o'clock. A large mass of students and teachers walked in through the open doorway and began to choose their seats at the oddly placed tables. Once they were all seated, Dumbledore nodded to me, and I walked over to the champions and their partners.

"Now, get in line next to your partner and follow me," I said. They did so and I led them over to their respective table through applause and jealous looks. The first thing I noticed at the judges table was the absence of Mr. Crouch. Percy Weasley was in his place. Great. One year with him was enough, and I had already had seven. Now I was supposed to survive this? Absolutely spiffing!

Once the champions were seated with their partners, I walked over to my own table and took my reserved seat next to Severus. He didn't look all that happy with the seating arrangements.

"I'm not that bad, am I, Severus?" I asked in mock disappointment.

"It isn't you, Minerva" Severus snarled, "I've got 'Mad-Eye' on my other side," I looked past him and sure enough, there was Moody. He was talking to Sophia Sinistra, though she seemed distracted. Apparently, Moody's magical eye had rolled around and was staring at Severus through the back of Moody's head.

After a minute of talking and waiting, I was beginning to wonder where the food was. Suddenly, I heard Dumbledore's voice call out, "Pork chops". I turned to look at him just in time to see the requested pork chops appear on his plate. I looked down at my own golden dish and saw a small menu laying beside it. As you might imagine, I felt rather stupid. Quickly, I picked up the menu and scanned it. There were many puddings and stews, including goulash, and of course, pork chops. I chose a simple stew that turned out to be French, and surprisingly tasty.

"Why does everything on this damn menu have to be foreign?" Severus asked impatiently.

"To please the guests, of course!" I said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well why don't we give them samples of our own dishes?" he responded icily.

"Because, er, because Madame Maxime might throw a fit." I said quietly so only Severus could hear. He gave a small snort of harsh laughter. A few minutes passed in silence. But only a few minutes are allowed to pass that way when you are part of the most garrulous staff this side of the Earth.

"Who are you planning on dancing with?" Severus asked suddenly.

"Only men plan that sort of thing," I said tartly, "Why do you ask? Am I on your list?"

"Er, no! Of course not," he said a touch too quickly. I gave him a skeptical look and he continued, "Well, if you want to be-"

"Sure, Severus," I interrupted, "That would be fine."

Once the food had vanished, Dumbledore stood up and motioned for us to do the same. When we did, the tables whisked away to the walls and a set of band instruments appeared on a small stage that I hadn't even noticed beforehand at the front of the hall. Then came the "Weird Sisters". The students burst into wild applause while I tried to keep myself from screaming at their hideous torn robes and obvious hair management problems. They trudged up to their instruments as the champions and their partners stood and walked to the center of the hall. The band struck up an unreasonably slow waltz-like tune.

Now, most people know that, in a waltz, it is both proper and polite for the male gender to steer. Unfortunately, Hogwarts doesn't offer a class on ballroom dancing. I could see both Miss Patil and Miss Delacour steering. Potter obviously wasn't much good at dancing, and had even more obviously never taken a class in his life. Davies on the other hand, seemed to be more interested in his partner than in where his feet were going. Soon more people walked out onto the floor. Severus bowed nervously to me, and I let him take me onto the dance floor. We danced in tune to the music, swaying slowly back and forth, chatting idly. When the song ended, I applauded politely, but Severus leaned over my shoulder and gave me a surprise, friendly kiss on the cheek.

"Get out from under the mistletoe," he hissed in my ear. I took his advice immediately. He seemed ready to ask me for another dance when Karkaroff came by looking slightly worried.

"Excuse me," he said in a slightly squeakier voice than usual, "May I borrow Severus?" Before I could answer, he led Severus off into the distance and through the doors out into the grounds. Ludo Bagman chose that moment to come over to me.

"Should be free flying from here, eh, Minerva?" he said in his usual cheerful voice.

"I certainly hope so," I said, watching the students dance, "Look at them, Ludo. Not a care in the world, except for who they're dancing with. I wish I could still be a student here. It was so much easier."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Minerva!" he exclaimed suddenly, "Would you care for a quick dance?" I had a moments hesitation, but decided to go for it.

"Why not," I said.

Bagman turned out to be just as energetic as he looked. As the Weird Sisters struck up a faster tune, Bagman extended his hand only to settle it on my waist. I was startled to see that I was actually not that much taller than him. The dance itself went smoothly, Bagman nimbly avoiding my feet, but after the song ended, he leaned down, planted a quick kiss on my hand and hurried off. Almost immediately afterwards, however, he ran into the Weasley twins. They stopped him and began talking to him quietly. Bagman managed to shake them fairly quickly, but I went over to tell them off for bothering him nonetheless.

"Weasley," I said sternly.

"Hi, Professor," said, er, the one on the left as they turned to face me, "We were just telling Mr. Bagman about our Canary Creams," I knew about the trick treats as I myself had almost bitten into one when Albus asked for a piece and burst into feathers after eating it. Suddenly, the music started up. The one on the right used this to his advantage.

"Would you care for a dance, Professor?" he asked innocently, "I won't prank you, I promise." He took my stunned look for a 'yes' and called, "I'll catch up with you later, Fred," before swinging me onto the floor. This had to be George.

I thought I must have been shrinking. George Weasley couldn't have been only about four inches shorter than me. He smiled sincerely up at me, giving me an uneasy feeling.

"You look, er, nice, Professor" he said.

"No I don't, and I know it. This is not my first choice of formal wear," I whispered to him.

"What is?" he asked

"No spreading rumors," I begged him. He nodded and I led him over to the far corner of the hall. Then, quietly I took off the offending tartan robes and ugly hat, revealing my light blue robes. He dropped his jaw and his ears went a touch pink.

"Woah," he said softly. Despite myself, I blushed. I began to put the garments back on, but he held out his hand and stopped me. I gave him a questioning look which he answered with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"Don't," he said, "and take off your glasses," I began say, excuse me, lie, that I needed them to see, but he interrupted me, "Don't even try. I know that you don't need them."

"Do you spy on me in your free time?" I asked only half joking.

"No," he said calmly, "but Fred does. C'mon. No one will recognize you. You could pass for a seventh year." I considered the possibility. I dearly wanted to be with the students. Dancing with them, even, and for my teacher side, this would be a wonderful opportunity to really get to know what goes on when the teachers aren't around. Either way, it was a good idea. Slowly, I put down the disturbing tartan robes and hat and banished them back to my private quarters.

"That better?" I asked, heightening the pitch of my voice a little.

"Much," George said, his grin splashed across his face, "Let's see how many people you can fool."

"Hold up just a second," I called. I wanted to enjoy the experience fully. I pulled out my wand and touched the knot on the back of my head three times. Instantly, my hair tumbled down my back. I sighed heavily. Now, this was the life.

"Nice," George said, "It's longer than I expected." I turned a light pink. "C'mon," he repeated sliding his hand around my waist, just like Bagman had. He led me out to the dance floor to catch the very end of the song. I carefully slid my glasses into the pocket of my robes. During the applause for the Weird Sisters, Lee Jordan came over to talk to George, and spotted me.

"I-I, er, don't b-believe that...er...we've met," he stammered. George and I struggled to overcome our identical strong desires to laugh.

"You're Lee Jordan, the quidditch commentator, aren't you?" I said in my falsetto voice.

"Yeah," George laughed, "Professor McGonagall's always telling himoff for biased commentary. Even in the classroom." I smiled.

"What's your name?" Lee asked. Gorge suddenly looked worried. We hadn't gone over what to do if that came up.

"Mineta," I said, using the quickest name that came to mind. That was the name everyone called me if I said my real name too quickly when I first met them. "Mineta Lanam," The last name, I now realize is a couple of the letters from my real last name, backwards. At that point, it was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

"Would you, er, like to dance?" Lee asked. George grinned even more broadly.

"Sure," I said smoothly. We took the next dance. At least Lee Jordan was polite enough to steer. The dance after that, I played the same trick on a Hufflepuff sixth year. He wasn't very interesting, however, and I decided that I could revolve on the spot and pick up tidbits of conversation from other dancers at the same time. Katie Bell was just dumped for a real Ravenclaw seventh year, and Miss Fawcett was currently mad for Mr. Stebbins. After that, I tried my charm on Fred Weasley, who was completely oblivious to who I really was. Next I tried a stupid looking Slytherin seventh year, who was easily fooled, but then came Dumbledore.

I knew ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to fool him, but I was surprised at how happy he actually looked.

"Getting to know your students, eh, Minerva?" he asked with a hint of humor in his voice. "Always wanted to know how you planned on doing that."

"They mostly think the same way I used to when I was their ages," I said smiling, "I think I know how I'm going to run my next class," I was going to hold a lesson on why not believe everything you hear or even see.

Unfortunately, that was the last dance. Since my 'costume' had already been banished up to my private quarters, I joined the students on the way out of the Great Hall. I had only gotten halfway out the door, however, when I heard someone call.

"Mineta" I turned around. Lee Jordan was coming toward me. He looked a tad pink in the cheeks. "Would you, er, like to...you know, go out?" He asked sheepishly. I couldn't help myself. I laughed, hard. Jordan's face fell.

"Oh, Jordan," I gasped, returning my voice to normal, "I'm so sorry. It was all a joke." Jordan's jaw dropped as far as the muscles would allow.

"Professor McGonagall!" he exclaimed turning a bright shade of red. I reached over and patted him on the back.

"It's all right," I said soothingly, "I fooled everyone except for Professor Dumbledore."

"Yeah," he said, obviously very embarrassed, "but, oh, Lord!"

"Just go to bed and forget about it," I told him. He started to interrupt, but I continued, "Then ask Katie Bell in the morning. She's just been 'released'." Lee Jordan game a small, sheepish smile, then leaned down and kissed my hand. Despite myself, I could feel my cheeks go pink. Then he raced off to his dormitory. I shook my head and sighed. What a night!

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A/N Hey! Did you enjoy? Am I evil to poor Lee? I'm sorry that everyone's so OOC, but I needed a small break from keeping everyone in character. The Later Years was beginning to wear on my nerves. Just thought I'd have some fun with the strange image of young McGonagall rocking out to my "Chicago" and "Grease" CD's. And boy was it fun! Review with your nice comments and flames please! Review with nice comments, and I'll post another chapter of madness from a different character's PoV (you can tell me the character) Review with flames and I'll post another chapter of madness from a different character's PoV (you can tell me the character). I'll take anything!

^-^ (meow!)