The Houses Competition
House: Hufflepuff
Class: Transfiguration
Category: Drabble
Prompt(s) chosen: [Action] Discovering a secret
Word Count: 986
Disclaimers/Trigger warnings: For the sake of this Drabble, please suspend any belief that anything about animagi goes between either form. For example, a witch with lactose intolerance in human form would make the animal form lactose intolerant too. For the sake of this story, animal physiological quirks and human physiological quirks do not synch up for an animagus.
Some Like it Milky
"Minerva, do you have a moment to spare?"
Minerva, up to her eyeballs in paperwork and student essays, peered over the rim of her glasses towards the entranceway to her office where her boss, and friend, Albus Dumbledore was waiting patiently. What did he need to speak to her about? The school year had only just begun a fortnight ago and there couldn't be any conceivable way Harry Potter was already elbows deep into some sort of trouble already! She loved James and Lily when they were students, she would gladly call them her favorite students even if James did come with a merry band of chaos-causing friends, and while she was grateful the best of her former students had passed onto their only son, she couldn't help thinking that his knack for getting into trouble was going to be the death of her before he graduated.
"What is it, Albus? Not to be short but as you can see, I'm a mite busy" she said as she set down her eagle owl feather quill.
"Well, it is a minor inconvenience compared to the work of our young charges but the House Elves in the kitchen came to me in quite a snit." Albus let himself into the office and took a seat while popping a lemon drop from his robe pocket into his mouth. He offered one to Minerva wordlessly but received a negative answer making him return it to the pocket. "Now, it is a relatively minor concern but they have been experiencing a..." The elderly wizard concentrated for a long moment like he was having trouble recalling how the House Elves had explained the problem to him, the pitiful creatures practically in tears at the time. "I believe they called it 'moo moo juice' shortage in the kitchens" he said with a furrowed brow.
Minerva arched an eyebrow while she folded her hands together in thought. "While I am certain that this is indeed an earth shattering problem for the House Elves who prepare our meals, I am failing to see how this warrants being brought to my attention. Or yours for that matter," she said with a questioning tone.
"Well, the House Elves seem to think that—how do I put this without it sounding worse than it is?" For a long moment Albus seemed to wrestle with a thought. "They have said that they saw you walking out of the kitchen with 'moo moo juice face' in the early hours of the morning."
Minerva couldn't help but scoff at the very idea. "Albus, have you forgotten the fact that I am what the muggle-borns call lactose intolerant? More than anyone else, you should know what dairy does to me," she said with a subdued incredulous tone.
"That's the thing Minerva, I am well aware of how dairy makes you react but the House Elves are insistent that they saw a cat that looked like your animagus form leaving the kitchens. I also am aware that the weaknesses of an animagus' human form do not translate to the animal form meaning—"
"I know what you're saying Albus and I am telling you that I am not responsible for the milk shortages the House Elves are seeing. The last place I want to willingly be is under Poppy's tender mercies," Minerva said with the barest hint of a shiver. She remembered being under the matron's care when she was a student once and she swore to herself that she would never be the woman's patient ever again. How Harry managed to escape without some form of passive trauma from the woman's overbearingly nice yet strict clinical care she would never know.
"I suppose that's all there is to say then. If you notice anything funny in the halls during your early morning patrols, do let me know right away. The last thing I want is for the House Elves to strike. A man needs his bread pudding," Albus said as he stood from the chair and left the office.
"Preposterous! Me walking out of the kitchens in the wee hours of the morning with my face covered in milk. What will those House Elves think up next, Fawkes' feathers in the cereal supply?" Minerva said, rolling her eyes.
Fred and George Weasley were snickering amongst themselves as they snuck through the hallways back towards the tower. By sun-up the Slytherins wouldn't know what they were walking into! Tie dye ties and pink robes would make them regret viciously attacking Harry like they did last year.
The sound of footfalls echoed off the masonry.
Both twins froze as they saw McGonagall in her animagus form stalking towards them. With milk on her face up to her whiskers. Instead of noticing the pair, the feline went past them without so much as a glance in their direction. What seemed strange, if one were to observe, was an unsteady stumble every so often and a glassy look in the feline eyes like they were in an unseeing dream but otherwise cat McGonagall seemed perfectly fine.
"Gred, did you see what I saw?"
"McGonagall as a cat walking away from the kitchen with milk all over her face? Is that what you meant, Forge?"
"Indeed, brother mine. Do you think that she's the reason the House Elves have been upset about missing milk?"
"Surely not, do you remember when someone replaced her tea with milk and she was gassy one lesson a year before last?"
Both twins shared a look before mutually shaking their heads. Minerva McGonagall, the unspoken den mother of Gryffindor, could not possibly be sneaking milk from the kitchens. Deciding to forget about it, they returned to the tower and hopped into bed, with dreams of shrieking Slytherins come morning dancing in their heads.