Chapter 21
Hogwarts Sisters
The procession finally led them all back to the Gryffindor common room, where everyone was dancing to the Hogwarts sisters CD, which played at high volume the song "Mine" from the Muggle movie, Pocahontas.
The party was in full swing, when suddenly the Fat Lady´s portrait swept open and in walked Professor McGonnagal, Madam Hooch, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor Sprout.
Xiomara smiled a thin smile when she heard the music playing. "Brings back old memories, doesn't it?" she called out, yelling over the blare of the CD player.
Minerva turned her attention from her friend to Lavender Brown, who was dancing next to the CD player. She tapped the young woman on the shoulder politely.
Lavender turned to see who was trying to get her attention, and started when she saw it was Professor McGonnagal. She quickly turned off the music, and nodded at the Head of her House.
"Thank you, dear," McGonnagal said, nodding in reply.
Everyone assembled turned their attention to her and were startled to see the four female instructors. "Excuse me, but we all thought that since you all seem to like the Hogwarts Sisters so muck, you might like to know a bit more about them."
The Gryffindors cheered enthusiastically, and a buzz of excited conversation started.
"So...who would you like to know about first? Hmm?" McGonnagal asked, which brought the conversations to an abrupt halt.
"Tabby!" Ron called out at once, which caused Hermione to groan.
Professor McGonnagal only smiled. "Very well then...we'll start with Tabby. She was the oldest member of the band, you see...and had learned to play keyboards, you know, pianos, organs, that lot...very early on in her life. Some called her a prodigy, but that's of no importance. Tabby was the one who first suggested they should call their band, the Hogwarts Sisters. In addition to her time with the band, she also was the Captain of the Quidditch team, a top-notch Seeker, no less."
"Just like you, mate," Ron ventured, whispering to Harry and Hermione, while he elbowed Harry good-naturedly in the ribs.
McGonnagal continued. "Now, when she had finally graduated from school, she went on to become an Auror." She paused then asked, "Might there be anything else you might like to know about her?"
"Ooh! Why did she call herself Tabby?" Hermione asked, her brown eyes bright with interest.
McGonnagal smiled at that. "Well, truth be known, it was the fact that I change into one, I should imagine," McGonnagal informed them all.
There was a stunned silence, as everyone digested that discovery.
"You mean...you mean, you're Tabby?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Mr. Weasley, have you ever known me to tell a lie?" McGonnagal demanded. Ron could only shake his head.
Madam Hooch, standing beside her, cleared her throat noisily.
"That's quite enough out of you, Xiomara. That was a special set of circumstances...and if you do recall, Xiomara," Minerva recounted. "Had I not lied to the Headmaster about just who had given Professor Dippet hair that looked precisely like some clown's wig, you would of been expelled."
"Yes, I remember. What I never got was why he seemed to take it so badly," Xiomara ventured to her friend, Professor Sprout. "Dippet went from being bald and grey, to having a full, if somewhat colorful head of hair."
Minerva shook her head and rolled her eyes in disbelief. She hurried them along then, asking once again, "So, is there anything else you all would like to know?"
"Yes! Why did you quit your job as an Auror, Professor?" Harry asked.
"Well, to tell the absolute truth, Mr. Potter, I become rather tired of it, actually," Minerva answered, which caused Harry to gawk at her. "I wanted to do something more rewarding personally, so I hired on here to teach Transfiguraion. Anything else, then?" No one moved. "No? Who shall we discuss next then?"
"Hawkeye!" Kitty shouted enthusiastically.
"Xiomara, I think you'd handle this one the best," McGonnagal declared, nodding to her friend.
"You're probably right, Min. All right, you lot...do your worst. Ask away," Madam Hooch said as she sat down in a chair.
"Madam Hooch...why did you call yourself 'Hawkeye'?" Mariah wanted to know.
"Ooh, that's a hard one, Mariah. Duh! Well, let´s see," Amelia said answering for her mother. "She has the golden eyes of a hawk, maybe that's why she called herself 'Hawkeye', hmm?" Mariah glared at her, her cheeks blushing.
"Your child certainly has your personality now, doesn't she, Xiomara?" Poppy Pomfrey commented as Professors Sprout and McGonnagal broke into a fit of chuckles.
"You're a bloody comedian, Poppy, that you are," Xiomara growled sarcastically. "Any other questions, children?"
"Yeah, I have one. Why did you choose to play guitars?" Dean asked from the back of the room.
"Good one. Well, you see I learned to play from father, who was quite good to begin with. And, well, the band really did need a guitar player, so I joined up. While at school, our band meant everything to me, it was my inspiration, really. The two most important things in my life at the time were Quidditch, and the band."
"What did you play?" Ron asked.
"Guitar, silly boy," Xiomara returned with a grin. "Weren't you listening?" Everyone laughed, even Ron. "No, really...I was a Beater on the Gryffindor squad," she informed them.
"Not quite as good as you and Dean are, but every Slytherin Chaser learned to fear me because of my skill." She paused a moment to rest her elbows on the table before her. "After I graduated, I played Beater for the Ballycastle Bats for a few years, they were a decent team then. Soon, though, I tired of the competition, and decided to come back to Hogwarts and teach. Been here ever since."
The Gryffindors all stared, trying to come to grips with the fact that their teachers had at one time been...really cool.
"More questions, eh? No?" Madam Hooch barked, and seeing no hands, added, "Next Sister, then."
"Badger!" Erek called out, as Badger was his favorite.
"Sylvia, that'd be you," Xiomara said and moved away, so Proffesor Sprout could sit.
"Might as well start with my nickname," she said, sitting down. "I was the only member in the group that was a Hufflepuff, and, well, since the badger is Hufflepuff's symbol, I decided to use that."
"I had the best sense of rhythm in the group, so I was the ideal drummer, and that's what I did in the group. The others always left it up to me to figure which songs we should play, since I was the only Muggle born of the lot. When I graduated from Hogwarts, so many years ago, every one promised to keep in touch. I had no burning ambitions, so I stayed here at Hogwarts, doing what I loved best, Herbology. Well, you all know I'm the Herbology teacher, now you know why. It wasn't too long though, before Min here came back too, followed not too much longer by Xiomara. That made three of us...so we simply---as we always had---waited for our Dr. Florence to appear..."
"Why ever do you say that?" an indignant sounding Madam Pomfrey asked. "You make it out as if you three were always waiting for me. Well, that's simply not true!"
"It is? So, then...what about that time at the Yule Ball?" Minerva asked, smiling.
"Yes, dear...Or what about the other ninety-nine times we all had to wait for you to show up for a rehearsal?" Xiomara asked.
"Ooh, yes. And what about---"
Sylvia began, but Poppy cut her short. "All right. All right, so I was slightly terrible at remembering things...at times. But can we just forget the past for once, hmm?" Everybody laughed at that, which made Madam Pomfrey smile and blush.
"Very well now, let´s see...where was I?" Sylvia asked herself. "Oh, yes! When we all went to school here, and created those CDs, you will undoubtedly notice that in some of picture, ther are boys singing with us?"
Many of the Gryffindors nodded, remembering the pictures on the covers.
"Well...those fine gentlemen were our boyfriends," Sylvia informed them with a smile.
"Y-Y-You had boyfriends?" Ron gasped, shocked.
"Of course we did, silly! Why, two of us still have them, don't we?" Sylvia said. As the room erupted in hushed conversations, Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione.
"Well, I'll tell you this much...one of them must be Madam Hooch, well, because she's got a daughter," Hermione said. "But, as for the other, I'll admit I just don´t know."
"Oh, it's not that hard," Xiomara said, coming up behind the trio. "Just try to imagine the most unlikely one of us."
Everyone cast nervous gazes, McGonnagal's way, which caused her to huff. "Oh, come now! Is it really all that hard to imagine?" she asked.
"Excuse me, Professor...but I think that I speak for everyone when I have to ask," Ron said. "Who is the lucky fellow?"
Professor McGonnagal's lips thinned and she stared over her square spectacles at a now red-faced Ron. "That is a question you'll not get an answer from me, Mr. Weasley," Minerva said primly.
"Oh, Min. Fine, if that's the way you want it," Sylvia pouted a moment, then continued. "Anything else any of you want to know? Anybody at all? No, then? All right then, Poppy, it looks like it´s your turn."
"I believe that I will start much like Sylvia here," Poppy said as she sat down. "Let us start with my particular nickname in the band: Dr. Florence. Now, I've always wanted to become a Healer, from way back, so the honorific of Dr. was a simple choice. As for, Florence...well, that happened to be my mother's maiden name, so I chose to use that. As for musical talent, mine lay in the woodwinds and brass. If it had a mouthpiece or a reed, I could play it...and well! Needless to say, that's the job I got in the band. After I graduated from Hogwarts, I fulfilled my dream to become a healer, and before you know it, I had a job, and was back with my old friends again." She paused to let her audience digest that, then timidly asked, "Anything else any of you would like to know?"
Nobody said anything else, but...then again, who could blame them?
"Well, I'm afraid that's all for us for the moment," Minerva declared and the four started walking towards the portrait opening once more. "Oh, and by the way, kindly don´t tell anyone else about this, please...it will be our own little secret, shall we? Do go on, though, play the songs in the Great Hall at full volume, discuss and debate about who you like the best. We four are actually quite proud of being the latest trend in music once again." And, with that, the once and again famous Hogwarts Sisters left the room.
Hogwarts Sisters
The procession finally led them all back to the Gryffindor common room, where everyone was dancing to the Hogwarts sisters CD, which played at high volume the song "Mine" from the Muggle movie, Pocahontas.
The party was in full swing, when suddenly the Fat Lady´s portrait swept open and in walked Professor McGonnagal, Madam Hooch, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor Sprout.
Xiomara smiled a thin smile when she heard the music playing. "Brings back old memories, doesn't it?" she called out, yelling over the blare of the CD player.
Minerva turned her attention from her friend to Lavender Brown, who was dancing next to the CD player. She tapped the young woman on the shoulder politely.
Lavender turned to see who was trying to get her attention, and started when she saw it was Professor McGonnagal. She quickly turned off the music, and nodded at the Head of her House.
"Thank you, dear," McGonnagal said, nodding in reply.
Everyone assembled turned their attention to her and were startled to see the four female instructors. "Excuse me, but we all thought that since you all seem to like the Hogwarts Sisters so muck, you might like to know a bit more about them."
The Gryffindors cheered enthusiastically, and a buzz of excited conversation started.
"So...who would you like to know about first? Hmm?" McGonnagal asked, which brought the conversations to an abrupt halt.
"Tabby!" Ron called out at once, which caused Hermione to groan.
Professor McGonnagal only smiled. "Very well then...we'll start with Tabby. She was the oldest member of the band, you see...and had learned to play keyboards, you know, pianos, organs, that lot...very early on in her life. Some called her a prodigy, but that's of no importance. Tabby was the one who first suggested they should call their band, the Hogwarts Sisters. In addition to her time with the band, she also was the Captain of the Quidditch team, a top-notch Seeker, no less."
"Just like you, mate," Ron ventured, whispering to Harry and Hermione, while he elbowed Harry good-naturedly in the ribs.
McGonnagal continued. "Now, when she had finally graduated from school, she went on to become an Auror." She paused then asked, "Might there be anything else you might like to know about her?"
"Ooh! Why did she call herself Tabby?" Hermione asked, her brown eyes bright with interest.
McGonnagal smiled at that. "Well, truth be known, it was the fact that I change into one, I should imagine," McGonnagal informed them all.
There was a stunned silence, as everyone digested that discovery.
"You mean...you mean, you're Tabby?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Mr. Weasley, have you ever known me to tell a lie?" McGonnagal demanded. Ron could only shake his head.
Madam Hooch, standing beside her, cleared her throat noisily.
"That's quite enough out of you, Xiomara. That was a special set of circumstances...and if you do recall, Xiomara," Minerva recounted. "Had I not lied to the Headmaster about just who had given Professor Dippet hair that looked precisely like some clown's wig, you would of been expelled."
"Yes, I remember. What I never got was why he seemed to take it so badly," Xiomara ventured to her friend, Professor Sprout. "Dippet went from being bald and grey, to having a full, if somewhat colorful head of hair."
Minerva shook her head and rolled her eyes in disbelief. She hurried them along then, asking once again, "So, is there anything else you all would like to know?"
"Yes! Why did you quit your job as an Auror, Professor?" Harry asked.
"Well, to tell the absolute truth, Mr. Potter, I become rather tired of it, actually," Minerva answered, which caused Harry to gawk at her. "I wanted to do something more rewarding personally, so I hired on here to teach Transfiguraion. Anything else, then?" No one moved. "No? Who shall we discuss next then?"
"Hawkeye!" Kitty shouted enthusiastically.
"Xiomara, I think you'd handle this one the best," McGonnagal declared, nodding to her friend.
"You're probably right, Min. All right, you lot...do your worst. Ask away," Madam Hooch said as she sat down in a chair.
"Madam Hooch...why did you call yourself 'Hawkeye'?" Mariah wanted to know.
"Ooh, that's a hard one, Mariah. Duh! Well, let´s see," Amelia said answering for her mother. "She has the golden eyes of a hawk, maybe that's why she called herself 'Hawkeye', hmm?" Mariah glared at her, her cheeks blushing.
"Your child certainly has your personality now, doesn't she, Xiomara?" Poppy Pomfrey commented as Professors Sprout and McGonnagal broke into a fit of chuckles.
"You're a bloody comedian, Poppy, that you are," Xiomara growled sarcastically. "Any other questions, children?"
"Yeah, I have one. Why did you choose to play guitars?" Dean asked from the back of the room.
"Good one. Well, you see I learned to play from father, who was quite good to begin with. And, well, the band really did need a guitar player, so I joined up. While at school, our band meant everything to me, it was my inspiration, really. The two most important things in my life at the time were Quidditch, and the band."
"What did you play?" Ron asked.
"Guitar, silly boy," Xiomara returned with a grin. "Weren't you listening?" Everyone laughed, even Ron. "No, really...I was a Beater on the Gryffindor squad," she informed them.
"Not quite as good as you and Dean are, but every Slytherin Chaser learned to fear me because of my skill." She paused a moment to rest her elbows on the table before her. "After I graduated, I played Beater for the Ballycastle Bats for a few years, they were a decent team then. Soon, though, I tired of the competition, and decided to come back to Hogwarts and teach. Been here ever since."
The Gryffindors all stared, trying to come to grips with the fact that their teachers had at one time been...really cool.
"More questions, eh? No?" Madam Hooch barked, and seeing no hands, added, "Next Sister, then."
"Badger!" Erek called out, as Badger was his favorite.
"Sylvia, that'd be you," Xiomara said and moved away, so Proffesor Sprout could sit.
"Might as well start with my nickname," she said, sitting down. "I was the only member in the group that was a Hufflepuff, and, well, since the badger is Hufflepuff's symbol, I decided to use that."
"I had the best sense of rhythm in the group, so I was the ideal drummer, and that's what I did in the group. The others always left it up to me to figure which songs we should play, since I was the only Muggle born of the lot. When I graduated from Hogwarts, so many years ago, every one promised to keep in touch. I had no burning ambitions, so I stayed here at Hogwarts, doing what I loved best, Herbology. Well, you all know I'm the Herbology teacher, now you know why. It wasn't too long though, before Min here came back too, followed not too much longer by Xiomara. That made three of us...so we simply---as we always had---waited for our Dr. Florence to appear..."
"Why ever do you say that?" an indignant sounding Madam Pomfrey asked. "You make it out as if you three were always waiting for me. Well, that's simply not true!"
"It is? So, then...what about that time at the Yule Ball?" Minerva asked, smiling.
"Yes, dear...Or what about the other ninety-nine times we all had to wait for you to show up for a rehearsal?" Xiomara asked.
"Ooh, yes. And what about---"
Sylvia began, but Poppy cut her short. "All right. All right, so I was slightly terrible at remembering things...at times. But can we just forget the past for once, hmm?" Everybody laughed at that, which made Madam Pomfrey smile and blush.
"Very well now, let´s see...where was I?" Sylvia asked herself. "Oh, yes! When we all went to school here, and created those CDs, you will undoubtedly notice that in some of picture, ther are boys singing with us?"
Many of the Gryffindors nodded, remembering the pictures on the covers.
"Well...those fine gentlemen were our boyfriends," Sylvia informed them with a smile.
"Y-Y-You had boyfriends?" Ron gasped, shocked.
"Of course we did, silly! Why, two of us still have them, don't we?" Sylvia said. As the room erupted in hushed conversations, Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione.
"Well, I'll tell you this much...one of them must be Madam Hooch, well, because she's got a daughter," Hermione said. "But, as for the other, I'll admit I just don´t know."
"Oh, it's not that hard," Xiomara said, coming up behind the trio. "Just try to imagine the most unlikely one of us."
Everyone cast nervous gazes, McGonnagal's way, which caused her to huff. "Oh, come now! Is it really all that hard to imagine?" she asked.
"Excuse me, Professor...but I think that I speak for everyone when I have to ask," Ron said. "Who is the lucky fellow?"
Professor McGonnagal's lips thinned and she stared over her square spectacles at a now red-faced Ron. "That is a question you'll not get an answer from me, Mr. Weasley," Minerva said primly.
"Oh, Min. Fine, if that's the way you want it," Sylvia pouted a moment, then continued. "Anything else any of you want to know? Anybody at all? No, then? All right then, Poppy, it looks like it´s your turn."
"I believe that I will start much like Sylvia here," Poppy said as she sat down. "Let us start with my particular nickname in the band: Dr. Florence. Now, I've always wanted to become a Healer, from way back, so the honorific of Dr. was a simple choice. As for, Florence...well, that happened to be my mother's maiden name, so I chose to use that. As for musical talent, mine lay in the woodwinds and brass. If it had a mouthpiece or a reed, I could play it...and well! Needless to say, that's the job I got in the band. After I graduated from Hogwarts, I fulfilled my dream to become a healer, and before you know it, I had a job, and was back with my old friends again." She paused to let her audience digest that, then timidly asked, "Anything else any of you would like to know?"
Nobody said anything else, but...then again, who could blame them?
"Well, I'm afraid that's all for us for the moment," Minerva declared and the four started walking towards the portrait opening once more. "Oh, and by the way, kindly don´t tell anyone else about this, please...it will be our own little secret, shall we? Do go on, though, play the songs in the Great Hall at full volume, discuss and debate about who you like the best. We four are actually quite proud of being the latest trend in music once again." And, with that, the once and again famous Hogwarts Sisters left the room.