Author's note: Sorry for the delay. Real life couldn't wait, so this had to.
8
Snape brought the egg in the fur pouch to breakfast the next day. There was no way he was going to allow an unknown possibly magical creature to hatch in his quarters unsupervised.
"It's endearing to see how fond you are of your gift," Dumbledore remarked as Snape laid the little bag on the table beside his plate.
"It's not so much fondness as fear," Snape admitted. "We all know Hagrid's definition of 'harmless' differs from the general one."
Dumbledore raised a brow. "So you bring a potentially dangerous item to breakfast in hall full of students? Is that what you're saying?"
"I supervise a potentially dangerous item at all times," Snape corrected. He reached for the honey.
"Have you succeeded in identifying the egg?" Sprout asked as she sat beside Snape.
The potions master admitted that he hadn't and since he knew that the kind head of Hufflepuff was not only a master herbologist but also knew a lot about magical creatures through her many travels he started a conversation about which books he had consulted and which creatures he had found which had quite similar eggs but not exactly the same.
"The problem is," he said between two bites of toast, "that I do not know where the creature comes from. So far I know that it is not native to Britain. I went over 'Magical Creatures of the British Isles' yesterday but no luck."
"The problem is," Sprout pointed out, "that you do not know whether it's a magical creature at all. It could be any plain songbird."
"It could," the potions master conceded, "but Hagrid said I should keep the eggshell. There are not many non-magical birds whose eggshells are used in potions. None of those eggshells are blue. I bet it's a magical creature."
"Starling eggs are used, aren't they?" Sprout helped herself to some more eggs.
"Have you considered that the animal in question could be a cross breed?" Dumbledore asked from Snape's other side.
The potions master sighed. If that was the case, he had no chance at all to identify the egg before it hatched.
Soon the egg was forgotten though because it was time to reveal what everybody had got this morning.
It started harmless enough with people unwrapping cookies, jars of creams, vials of perfumes and little trinkets obviously transfigured by young children. The first and second years' gifts were received in good humour. Older students praised the good work and the younger ones beamed with pride. Dumbledore was happy.
Then Harry Potter jumped to his feet.
"Don't you dare go to the bathroom, Harry Potter!" he shouted at Hermione Granger who was sitting beside him.
"The same goes for you!" the girl shouted back.
Around them people looked puzzled. Dumbledore and Snape arrived at the Gryffindor table at the same time and at top speed.
"What is the meaning of this?" asked Dumbledore.
"Explain!" Snape ordered at the same time.
"I got this present," Hermione Granger held up a piece of black gift wrapping paper. "When I opened it, it happened."
"Why is it always you? And why does it always involve me, too?" asked Harry Potter.
"What exactly happened?" Dumbledore asked.
The saviour of the wizarding world huffed. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Humour me," demanded the headmaster.
"We swapped bodies," cried Potter. "And if he goes to the bathroom now…" he pointed an accusing finger at the Granger girl.
"As if I'd be interested in that!" the Gryffindor know-it-all defended herself.
Potter lunged at the girl. "Fighting girls now, Potty?" Draco Malfoy cried from the Slytherin table. Of course everybody had stopped whatever they were doing to see why the headmaster and their strictest teacher were rushing to the Gryffindor table.
"That was a cruel thing to say, Mr Potter," Dumbledore admonished Granger.
"I mean," Granger wrung her hands, "I may be interested but not that way! Without a choice!" She looked at the Potter boy imploringly.
"You toad!" Ginevra Weasley threw a slice of toast at Granger. "I thought I was the only one you were interested in!"
"Of course, Ginny!"
"Stop it this instant! You're driving me nuts!" Snape glared at all students involved and a couple more.
"I suggest you both go up to the hospital wing and stay there until you change back," Dumbledore looked at the students over the rim of his spectacles. "Madam Pomfrey will be able to help you with your bathroom problem."
The two unlucky Gryffindors left the Great Hall with the school nurse in tow and Dumbledore and Snape returned to their seats.
"You have to speak to the Dark Lord, Albus," huffed McGonagall. "He can't put body switching charms into the advent calendar!"
The headmaster promised to have a word with the Dark Lord and was just going to elaborate his plan to convince their guest that some spells were not advent calendar material when he was interrupted by an outcry of pain.
Once again the old wizard surprised everybody by his speed. "What happened?" he cried when he reached the Ravenclaw table.
One of the first years held out her hand for the headmaster to see. "Mary got a sugar sprinkler. When I wanted to use it, it bit me! But I asked first and Mary said I could use it!" The girl sobbed. Beside her, her friend looked close to tears, too.
Dumbledore cast a couple of wordless spells at the sugar sprinkler in question – a rather traditionally designed piece made of glass and silver – before he smiled at the two girls. "There, now it will only alert you with a jingle if somebody takes it without permission. Try it."
The crying girl reached for the sprinkler and nothing happened but when a fifth year boy took it at Dumbledore's request, the sprinkler gave a loud jingle. Mary and her friend both clapped.
Snape got a nicely decorated candle. It seemed an unspectacular gift at first sight but Snape discovered later that it was scented and the aroma changed to match his mood.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Potter and Granger made an appearance at dinner and there was some speculation whether they had already changed back or not. The two Gryffindors enjoyed the attention – no surprise when Potter was involved – and left their housemates guessing.
The rumour mill had it that Dumbledore had had words with the Dark Lord and the dark wizard had promised not only to stick to harmless spells but also to have an eye at Lucius and Bellatrix. There were rumours that the latter was not going to be very difficult since the vow had punished Bellatrix painfully when the little Ravenclaw was hurt.
Snape made a point of not working in the evening. Instead he sat on his couch and read a potions journal. His new candle filled his quarters with a Christmassy smell of oranges, cinnamon and vanilla. Before bed, he looked at his miss-me-not for a while. The blonde witch inside it waved and blew him kisses.
That night, Severus Snape dreamed that the crisis was over and his witch was able to return to him.