A Hogwarts Production (sort of)

It was the beginning of Harry Potter's fifth year, and he was currently sitting at the beginning-of-the-year feast, talking with his best friends Ron and Hermione. They were currently debating on what the new DADA professor would be like.

Hermione stated that it would probably be a female, Ron was arguing his case for either Vampire or Hag, and Harry just hoped they wouldn't be out to kill him.

Just then, Dumbledore stood up. "Students one and all, I hope you've had a delicious feast! I have a few announcements to make at the start of term. First, I'm happy to welcome back Professor Lupin and his dog Snuffles as your new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher this year!"

He smiled as Lupin walked in with 'Snuffles' on a leash and the room burst into applause. He waited for Lupin to seat him self and the applause to die down before continuing.

"I am also pleased to announce that this year our school will be hosting a nice talent show kareoke contest! Sign-ups will be going up on Halloween and staying until Thanksgiving, so you will have plenty of time to find a song to sing and to sign up. Students are allowed to do more than one song if they wish, and to sing in groups or alone, if you have more questions feel free to ask any teacher. I'm sure you're wondering why we're doing this now, when we haven't in previous years, and the answer is the simple fact that I feel we'll need some cheering up soon and this will be something fun to take your minds off of other matters. Oh yes, no one will be able to see your name or what you're singing after you write it down, so don't worry if you want to keep it a secret. Off to bed now!"

Everyone rushed out, chattering away about what they were going to wear, sing, and do, super excited about this new development. Harry wondered what he was going to do, while Hermione didn't look very interested.

Later that week, the Gryffindor common room saw a group of girls discussing what to sing. None of them were really sure of what to do, even though most of them wanted to do something. They all discussed quietly for a while before Parvati Patil came up with a solution. "Let's all write a song down and put it in a hat, then each of us can draw one out to do."

This was pretty much agreed with, but Angelina added a condition. "Even if you don't like your song, you have to sing it, though. It'll make it more interesting." "Okay." "Yeah." They all put a song into Hermione's hat now. Each girl drew out one until there was only one left, which Hermione took. Her face fell.

Ginny immediately asked her what was wrong, but Lavender interrupted. "Ah ah a-h! Not allowed to tell what you got!" Katie and Alicia, the other seventh-years, agreed, while Natalie McDonald, the youngest of the group, looked sort of like she wanted to contest that, but changed her mind.

Most people also felt this way. Many pairs of friends wouldn't even know if the other was singing or not, it was so secret.

Some of the teachers were also a bit unsure about the whole thing, but Albus was adamant. Professor Lupin had thought it was a good idea, until the day Fred and George walked up to him with a question.

"Professor Lupin…" "Yes?" "Could we, um…" "Borrow." "Snuffles?" He was instantly suspicious. "What for?" "Oh… just to, um, give him a walk." "You know, to get him out into the fresh air," "And to give him some exercise." "Yeah, he probably has been getting bored just sitting in here all day." "Uh huh, I would be too, wouldn't you?"

Lupin just raised an eyebrow at them. He was still suspicious, but he couldn't just downright refuse them. He clipped on the leash and hesitantly handed it over. "I'd like him back safely before 9:00 tonight. That gives you three hours, which should be enough. If he gets dirty it's your responsibility to give him a bath."

They grabbed the leash and raced off, Snuffles galloping alongside. However, instead of turning and going outside, they slowed down on the fourth floor and ducked through one of the tapestries, coming out in a little dead-end passage. They walked up to the third picture on the left, a scene with a little farmhouse and a big pasture of pigs, and tapped the top right corner twice.

The picture swung open to reveal a room. It had purple carpeting and pale yellow walls and ceiling, with a small table in the corner, flanked by two three-legged stools. On the table was a box.

Fred closed the picture after them while George unclipped Snuffles and rubbed his hands together. "All, right, let's get this party started!" He turned to Snuffles.

"Sit!" Snuffles just stared at him. "No, sit!" This time he blinked. Fred pushed down his hindquarters, stating "sit" at the same time. They all stared at each other again. Snuffles stood up.

"Sit!" He sat. "Good boy!" One of the twins handed him a dog snack. He stood up again. "Sit!" He sat. Another treat. Yummy. Now he decided to do this more often, good pay. George walked across the room with a treat in his hand. "Come!" Snuffles trotted over, tail wagging. George gave him the treat. "Now, heel!" He started walking around the room. Snuffles followed. Fred handed him a treat. Yum, yum.

The twins started conversing. "Well, Gred, he looks well trained." "Yeah, he must have just been used to Professor Lupin telling him what to do, and not us." Snuffles snorted. The boys continued. "Think this might work?" "Maybe, first comes the real test, and then practice, practice, practice." "Yeah."

Fred turned to Snuffles, who was sitting and staring at him. "Alrighty then, speak!" Snuffles cocked his head, then, enjoying this, let out a bark. Fred's face lit up. "Good boy! Very good! This deserves two treats!" Snuffles started barking even more. "Good! But, stop now." He stopped.

Now George sat down in front of him and started repeating "Out, speak, out, speak, out, speak, out, speak." Snuffles looked at him like he was nuts, which he probably was. "Out!" Snuffles stared some more.

"Speak!" "Woof!" "Good." "Out!" "…" "No, you speak!" "Woof!" They stared at each other a bit more. "Out!" "Woof!" "GOOD, good boy!" "VERY, VERY GOOD!" They gave him three treats, then started dancing around the room hugging each other, not even noticing or caring the fact that Snuffles learned abnormally fast.

They continued doing this and that in somewhat the same style the rest of the time, making him bark a lot and teaching him when to stop, and other things, until it was time to return him. Fred and George were ecstatic as they left, continually patting Snuffles on the head and praising him, also giving him a huge bone.

Professor Lupin was just finishing up on grading some essays when they arrived back at his office and patted Snuffles's head one last time. He glanced at his clock. "Well, did you have fun?" He asked in a dry voice. "Oh, yes, he's a great dog." "A very good boy." "Very."

They raced out and Lupin shuffled the papers together before grabbing the leash and leading Snuffles back to their living quarters, which had a living room with two bedrooms off of it (one for guests), a bathroom, and an office.

Snuffles went straight to the dog bed in front of the fire and lay down, gnawing at his bone. Remus walked over to stand in front of him. "Sirius." He kept chewing. Remus repeated in a warning tone, "Sirius…" Pop!

Standing in front of Remus Lupin was now a man. Coincidentally, he was also a convicted mass-murderer who was wrongfully accused, had escaped from prison, and was now on the run. Fun.

"What do you want?" "What did they do?" "Who, Fred and George?" "Yes. They didn't take you on a walk." "They gave me treats. Yum… Lots of treats… And a bone." Remus raised an eyebrow. "What for?" "Tricks" His eyebrows shot sky-high, but then Sirius continued. "I sat, and came, and rolled over, and barked, and got treats, and got a bone, and got more treats, and they patted me, and they knew just the right place right behind my ear and under my chin to scratch me…" He trailed off before adding one tail sentence. "Good kids."

Remus turned around and walked away, pausing at the door. "They stole and figured out our map in their first year, memorizing it and giving it to Harry in his third. They are the embodiment of us at that age. They are not good kids. They are trouble pranksters. What did they do?" "They wouldn't want me telling." Sirius turned back into a dog and lay back down on his dog bed, nursing the bone.

Remus went into his office to continue grading papers, shaking his head. Now he wasn't so sure Albus was in his right mind. There seemed to be some sort of disease at this school affecting everybody- Sirius included.

Hey, Everybody!! Didja like the first chapter? Next we'll move on to the actual performances. Can anyone guess what Gred and Forge are doing?? If you can I'll give you one of Snuffles's treats… or maybe not. He could get mad at me… I'll pat you on the head and praise you, instead! Read and Review!! J

Perfect Tenshi