*21*
Tuesday was quiet. Severus spent his morning teaching and for once there were no catastrophes during his lessons. Even Joanne Kay, who was on the way to break Longbottom's record of ruined cauldrons during her first year, managed to keep her things intact and even produce a decent infusion of camellia sinensis. Not that that was a special achievement. Camellia sinensis was easy to handle. It all but came in bags.
Since he didn't need to stay behind to get rid of melted cauldrons, splashed potions and poisonous clouds in the classroom, Severus even allowed himself the luxury of lunch in the Great Hall. The company there was often annoying but there was a greater variety of food to choose from than if the elves served lunch in his office.
"Severus, how nice of you to join us!" McGonagall greeted him from afar. The other heads of house were sitting together, immersed in conversation. "Sit down!" The witch pulled out a chair at her left.
"Is there an occasion for this gathering?" asked the potions master.
"Not really or we would have notified you," Sprout said kindly. "We were just talking about that nose removing charm yesterday. It was great!"
"Really?" Severus was surprised. Sprout hadn't sounded thrilled when she had to go looking for her nose.
"Yes! The students are convinced that something strange is going on here at Hogwarts. They were splashed with their drinks, lost their underwear, lost their noses… Are you aware that not a single student signed up to stay at the castle for Christmas? We have a good chance of being actually free. Albus will have to pay us that skiing excursion finally."
Severus smirked. "That would be great!" Dumbledore had promised his teachers years ago that there was going to be a skiing excursion as a bonus for the teachers, but only if there were no students who needed to be looked after during the holidays. Severus had looked it up. There was only one Christmas in Hogwarts' history when not a single student had stayed behind. In 1307, the headmaster had sent everybody away in order to be able to work on the warding spells over the holidays.
The potions master rubbed his hands with glee. Not that he knew how to ski but when the excursion was for free, he'd certainly give it a try and when Dumbledore had to pay, he'd enjoy it this way or that.
Then he remembered. "What about Potter? The boy has never gone home for the holidays."
"The Weasleys sent an invitation and being his head of house," Minerva grinned, "I granted permission to go."
"You are aware that Albus has the right to overrule you," Flitwick chimed in.
"He won't," Minerva said with an air of superiority. "Sybil made a prediction that Harry will suffer a violent death if he stays at the castle."
Severus snorted. "He doesn't honestly believe her!"
"Enough to allow Potter to go." Minerva handed him a small bowl of walnut ice-cream as dessert.
After lunch, Severus went to his office to open the advent calendar. The Gryffindor trio was already waiting in front of the door. The potions master ushered them in and then opened his window without much ado.
"Beautiful!" cried Granger as soon as Severus had touched the skull. Strangely enough she was looking at him.
The potions master looked down his robes. Stars were twinkling on the black background. He looked like a walking starry sky.
"Great," he muttered, "now I have to change before my next lesson!"
"Oh," Granger sounded disappointed. "Leave them on! They are beautiful! Look! You have Auriga on your chest!"
"That's what I need," snorted the potions master, "my students searching me for constellations." He sent the trio off and hurried to his private rooms to change robes before his next lesson. He had to admit though, that the starry robes, indeed, looked nice.
The choice whether to change or not was taken from him when he opened his wardrobe. Every single robe he had twinkled. Severus shrugged and returned to his classroom.
He had been right. The students stared at him all the time. Children even pretended to have questions in order to be able to look closer. By dinner time, Severus was ready to throttle the next person who pointed out that he had Auriga on his chest. At least everybody was merry. Who would have thought that astronomy was such a mood lightener! There was a lot of giggling and laughing, but it couldn't be helped and as long as the students also brewed what they were supposed to, Severus didn't say anything about it.
Albus, of course, loved the new robes. He was a bit jealous because he didn't possess anything similar.
"Do you think it's a copy of the sky outside, like the ceiling?" the old man asked enthusiastically."
"If it was, it would change," the Astronomy teacher, Sinistra, remarked from the side. "But it obviously can't be, since we don't have a full moon."
"A full moon?" Severus echoed. There was no moon on his robes, was there?
"A full moon," confirmed the witch. She looked at Severus midsection pointedly.
It took the potions master a moment to catch on. Then he twisted and turn to see his behind. Albus finally helped him by conjuring a body-sized mirror. Yes, there it was! A big bright full moon was shining right on the potions master's behind! No wonder everybody had been so merry!
With a harrumph, Severus sat on the offensive celestial body and reached for the potatoes.