Shortly Thereafter
Chapter 3. Dumbledore's Decision
The month of September flew by, swept along by the hustle and bustle of the beginning of school, and soon gave way into October. One October morn, amidst a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and French toast, Dumbledore stood to make an announcement.
"Many, many years ago, before any of us, even I, were born, there was a man named Portuous Phiphitty. Portuous was an old fashioned old codget and unfortunately he was the Headmaster of Hogwarts." He paused, letting the students take this all in." He believed that one comes to school only to learn. As a result of his beliefs, he did away with dances or galas, as they sometimes called them, and other social events so boys could not get distracted by girls and vise-versa."
"Hey Professor!" A voice from the Slytherin table called. "How about a point?"
Dumbledore laughed good-naturedly. "I'm getting there, Jahonon." The caller blushed. "Last year, you students did so well academically, that I've decided to reinstate galas this year." Cheers and applause from the student body greeted this. Dumbledore quieted them and droned on about failing and privileges for about ten minutes, but no one was really listening. The students were to busy chattering amongst themselves about the dance.
The following Monday, an invitation was posted in all the House common rooms.
All are cordially invited to attend a Hallows Eve Gala,
to be held on Saturday, October the thirty-first. The
gala will commence at seven o'clock and close at the
hour of eleven o'clock.
This gala is a masquerade, please dress accordingly.
One after another, students found the posted invitations or heard about the dance through friends. Soon the halls were abuzz and in class no amount of threats could buy their attention. Only when they were reminded that failing revoked their dance privileges did the students settle down.
Hermione finally got some peace when she began her music unit of American Muggle Culture. Pulling out her keyboard she amazed the class with her rendition of "Respect".[A.N. Cheesy though it might be, I like it.] Once the class heard her play they became fascinated with the keyboard. Using a multiplying charm, Hermione issued each of her students a keyboard, along with an assignment to compose something.
For the rest of the period, the teenagers played with their new toys. Carmen Paperma developed a quick feel for the keyboard and was composing little ditties in no time. Unfortunately for the rest of the class, her twin did not share her skill. Cameron Paperma, try as he might, was hopelessly tone deaf.
'Oh well', Hermione thought. 'Ya, win some, ya lose some.'
Draco Malfoy was having no such luck. No matter what he did, every time he turned his back, everything broke loose. Girls launched into endless chatter about dresses, makeup, hair and occasionally, accompanied by giggles, dates. Some of them danced together, dreaming about that certain boy that captured their interest. And worst of all, any time Draco tried to divert their attention to the subject he was teaching, they broke into fits of giggles and gave him very strange looks that more often than not, made him perplexed, which made them giggle all the more.
The first years finally decided to pay attention to Draco, but only after he threatened to assign them a five-foot essay to complete over the weekend of the dance. Draco sighed. He could not wait until the week was over and the dance was history. His nerves were thoroughly fried.
When Draco got back to his rooms, he saw a notice on the end table to his favorite arm chair. Raising an eyebrow, he picked it up and read it.
D. Malfoy,
Could you possibly chaperone the Hallows Eve Gala?
If not please let me know.
-Dumbledore
Little did Malfoy know that in another section of the castle, Hermione Grange was picking up her own notice.
The month of September flew by, swept along by the hustle and bustle of the beginning of school, and soon gave way into October. One October morn, amidst a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and French toast, Dumbledore stood to make an announcement.
"Many, many years ago, before any of us, even I, were born, there was a man named Portuous Phiphitty. Portuous was an old fashioned old codget and unfortunately he was the Headmaster of Hogwarts." He paused, letting the students take this all in." He believed that one comes to school only to learn. As a result of his beliefs, he did away with dances or galas, as they sometimes called them, and other social events so boys could not get distracted by girls and vise-versa."
"Hey Professor!" A voice from the Slytherin table called. "How about a point?"
Dumbledore laughed good-naturedly. "I'm getting there, Jahonon." The caller blushed. "Last year, you students did so well academically, that I've decided to reinstate galas this year." Cheers and applause from the student body greeted this. Dumbledore quieted them and droned on about failing and privileges for about ten minutes, but no one was really listening. The students were to busy chattering amongst themselves about the dance.
The following Monday, an invitation was posted in all the House common rooms.
All are cordially invited to attend a Hallows Eve Gala,
to be held on Saturday, October the thirty-first. The
gala will commence at seven o'clock and close at the
hour of eleven o'clock.
This gala is a masquerade, please dress accordingly.
One after another, students found the posted invitations or heard about the dance through friends. Soon the halls were abuzz and in class no amount of threats could buy their attention. Only when they were reminded that failing revoked their dance privileges did the students settle down.
Hermione finally got some peace when she began her music unit of American Muggle Culture. Pulling out her keyboard she amazed the class with her rendition of "Respect".[A.N. Cheesy though it might be, I like it.] Once the class heard her play they became fascinated with the keyboard. Using a multiplying charm, Hermione issued each of her students a keyboard, along with an assignment to compose something.
For the rest of the period, the teenagers played with their new toys. Carmen Paperma developed a quick feel for the keyboard and was composing little ditties in no time. Unfortunately for the rest of the class, her twin did not share her skill. Cameron Paperma, try as he might, was hopelessly tone deaf.
'Oh well', Hermione thought. 'Ya, win some, ya lose some.'
Draco Malfoy was having no such luck. No matter what he did, every time he turned his back, everything broke loose. Girls launched into endless chatter about dresses, makeup, hair and occasionally, accompanied by giggles, dates. Some of them danced together, dreaming about that certain boy that captured their interest. And worst of all, any time Draco tried to divert their attention to the subject he was teaching, they broke into fits of giggles and gave him very strange looks that more often than not, made him perplexed, which made them giggle all the more.
The first years finally decided to pay attention to Draco, but only after he threatened to assign them a five-foot essay to complete over the weekend of the dance. Draco sighed. He could not wait until the week was over and the dance was history. His nerves were thoroughly fried.
When Draco got back to his rooms, he saw a notice on the end table to his favorite arm chair. Raising an eyebrow, he picked it up and read it.
D. Malfoy,
Could you possibly chaperone the Hallows Eve Gala?
If not please let me know.
-Dumbledore
Little did Malfoy know that in another section of the castle, Hermione Grange was picking up her own notice.