A Christmas Story   von Zwiesi
                           (Wieder Englisch(sorry!))
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                                  Kapitel 1: 
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“Is everybody here?“ Dumbledore asked the people who stood around him.
“Why, for heavens sake, did we all have to come here? What’s the matter?”
a sneering voice demanded to know.
“Don’t freak out, Snivellus”, whispered Sirius who stood right beside
him.
Snape ignored him, still looking at the headmaster, who stood at the other end
of the room. He had ordered them to come to room of requirements one week before
Christmas.
“Silence please!” All eyes turned upon him. “I ordered you to come here
because I had a new idea. The muggles always read the same story around
Christmas. It’s about the birth about a boy, Jesus, and well I thought that we
might do the same, to understand them better. And it always seems that they have
a lot of fun playing this story.”
His audience broke into an excited chatter. 
“That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard!”, Snape grumbled. 
“That’s a funny idea, don’t you agree, Sirius”, James laughed at the
sight of the poisons master’s expression. He looked like he had been slapped
in the face.
Suddenly the door slammed open and Hagrid burst into the room. In his great
hands he hold something that looked like a cat’s cage. “Sorry, the dementors
were making some trouble! They didn’t want to hand out the prisoner, but
finally”, he patted the cage, “I got him!” Triumphantly he held up the
cage.
“Sir, who is in this cake?” MacGonagall asked the headmaster.
“Well I needed a lamb and the only person who is a small enough animagus is
Peter.”
“Pattigrew?”, MacGonagall’s eyes widened in disbelief. Dumbledore smiled
at her over the rims of his half moon spectacles. 
“It’s going to be a great fun, playing this Christmas tale”, he mused.
MacGnagall gave him a doubtful look, but said nothing. The Professor turned to
Hagrid. “Let him in the cage. He’ll only get out when it’s his turn to
take part in the play”, he ordered. Hagrid obediently put the cage down in one
corner and then stood like a guardian beside it. Snape looked around and
examined the room. Along the walls stood clothes rails with strange, colourful
costumes appropriate for any occasion and any role one could imagine. What role
had Dumbledore planed for him? Reconsidering it he didn’t really want to now.
It could only end up in a disaster. 
“Well first I’ll hand out the text books.” Dumbledore flicked his wand and
a neatly bound script appeared in everybody’s hands. 
“Does everybody now the story we’re talking about?” Dumbledore looked
inquiring at the crowd that gazed banned at him. He asked himself again if it
had been a good idea to arrange this whole act. Snape for example didn’t look
very amused. On the opposite he rather looked like he would go postal at any
moment. James, Sirius and Lupin, who stood right beside him, on the other hand
enjoyed themselves a lot. Just like in old times the messed around and poked fun
at their old rival. Poor Severus, he really always had bad luck. Dumbledore
really had to refrain from laughing. It would even come harder when he thought
of the role he had planned for him. It wouldn’t get easier. But he had just
not known what else to give him.  It would just be perfect.
“Well, first of all, we need our main characters Mary and Joseph.” He
pointed at MacGonagall. “You’ll have the honor of playing the mother of
Jesus.”
The face of MacGonagall was indescribable, a mixture of disbelief, anger and
astonishment. “Oh, but Sir, you must be kidding, I’m way too old”, she
declared but Dumbledore cut her short. 
“That’s something we can change.” He flicked his wand and suddenly there
stood a woman of about 20 years. “You cannot be sinuous, Sir.” But he
didn’t change his mind. 
“Of course you need the proper clothing”, he continued. Another wave and her
black robes turned into a bright red dress and a blue cloak. MacGonagall turned
around and examined herself in the mirror standing next to her. She didn’t say
anything but her expression turned into blank horror. But Dumbledore went on
without showing any remorse. Snape even thought he had seen a little smile on
the old mans face. He seemed to enjoy himself a great deal.
“Filius, I thought you might play the baby Jesus, as you are the smallest of
all teachers.” Before the small man could protest he murmured another charm
and Flitwick lay in a cratch, packed in diapers, a big comforter in his mouth.
James couldn’t repress a giggle anymore and burst out laughing. The rest of
the teachers besides a still grumpy looking MacGonagall and a motionless Snape
joined in. 
Dumbledore knew that he would have to apologize, but they would understand. It
would be great fun doing the play. Well Sirius and James would stop laughing
soon enough.
“Well, for the great and exhausting journey Mary and Joseph go on, they need a
donkey. And we only have one animagus who’s big enough, so James may you
transform?”
James looked shocked.
“What? A donkey? I’m a stag!”
Dumbledore gave him a firce look and he packed down. With a painfull sight he
transformed. “There is still something to do. You don’t really look like a
donkey.” Dumbledore flicked his wand and two big grey ears grew out of the
stags head and the antlers vanished. Now it was Snape’s turn to laugh. 
“Looking great, Potter”, he scoffed. The addressee spun around, attacking
his opponent, but Snape just stepped aside. 
“Pull yourself together, gentleman!” Dumbledore commanded. “You’re not
teenagers anymore but respectable men.”
The stag turned around and faced the headmaster with a suppliant look. “No,
James, I won’t turn you back until this whole play is over! And you, Sirius,
will play the ox. No objection. You laughed at the others, now you have to
endure the consequences. If you may transform into your animagus.” Sirius
hesitated for a moment, but then obeyed. The black dog trotted beside the stag.
“Well, you too need some adjustments.” Suddenly two horns grew out of his
head. It really looked ludicrous. A big black dog with horns. Now even
MacGonagall couldn’t repress a laugh and Snape looked down at the two deformed
animals. Angrily the dog snapped at the black cloaked man. 
Dumbledore ignored the childish behavior of the three men and continued. 
“Pomona, Sybill, Rolanda, Cuthbert, Wilhelmina, Horace, Charity and Hagrid,
you’ll play the shepherds. And our dear little visitor will be the little lamb
that you’ll give the little baby Jesus as a present.”
Now everybody’s attention focused on the little cage beside Hagrid. 
“Will you now just tell us who or what is in this cage.” Snape wanted to
know. Dumbledore nodded and Hagrid opened the cage and reached for something
inside it. When he took out his hand, he hold tight onto something hairy that
gave anxious sounds. At second sight they identified this something as a rat
with a misshaped claw. Everybody hold his breath. There was a dead silence.
Suddenly a black flash darted at Hagrid, growling threatening. But Hagrid had
expected something like this and had been alerted. Quickly he stretched his arm
over his head out of reach of the black dog.
Suddenly Dumbledore’s voice thundered through the hall. “Let him alone!”
At once the big dog holed up beside the stag. 
“Now we’ll come to the rest of you. As you may have noticed only my Defense
against the Dark Arts teachers are left. You’ll play the angels.”
“What?” Snape looked at the headmaster in horror. “No, with every respect,
Albus, you must be kidding me. I will never play an angel!” He shook his head
in disbelieve. This must be a bad joke. The headmaster would never propose such
a thing. But the addressee looked at him out of his two blue eyes that were
twinkling amused behind his spectacles. 
“You’ll be a fantastic angel, I’m sure! And because you’re the one who
served me the longest time and had to die for destroying Voldemort you’ll be
the archangel Gabriel who brings the good news to Mary.”
Snape wanted to protest, wanted to leave the room, but he hadn’t even turned
around when he already felt a chill running down his spine and a tickle between
his shoulder blades. When he looked into the nearest mirror that seemed to have
grown out of the floor he frowned. He looked at a man with the same pitch black
eyes and the same hooked nose. But the rest was totally abstruse. Blonde hair
curled around his face and down his neck, his black robes had turned white and
two feathered wings had grown out of his back. He was unable to move or speak
just opened and closed the mouth, forming word, but not a sound came out.
Suddenly he realized that all the other teachers were laughing at him.
Wrathfully he turned around and darted at the headmaster. 
“This is just….”, he searched for the right word, “…absurd!” But
Dumbledore gave him a warm smile. 
“Look at it as a compliment. And besides, the other teachers don’t look any
better.” Only now Snape noticed the other four blond headed, white dressed,
winged people. Quirell looked abstruse with his white turban on his head and the
black wings. Umbridge on the other hand seemed rather pleased with her dark pink
ones. Lupin’s had a light grey shade and Lockhard’s were bright yellow like
a sunflower. In secret Snape begrudged Moody for his absence. The old fellow had
said that he had too much to do to hang around with them.
The old man murmured some more charms and the little rat got a fluffy, white
coat and the designed shepherds were suddenly clothed in furs. 
Snape had a looked at his textbook. Some parts were marked. Those were
apparently his parts. 
“And you, Sir?” The younger version of MacGonagall gave him an inquiring
look. The adressee’s face crossed a brief smile.
“I’ll be Josph.” He flicked his wand and suddenly there stood a man in the
early twenties, dressed in a simple brown robe and a hold a hiking stick in his
hand. This was the man he had known when he had entered Hogwarts he mused.
Dumbledore clapped his hands and suddenly everybody went silence. “So now
everybody knows his role we can start with the rehearsal. The first scene is the
one of the annunciation. So may you, Minerva, go up there on the stage?”
Suddenly a chair and a table appeared out of nowhere. 
“And you, Severus, we’ll let you float down from the ceiling.”
“What do you mean by we’ll let you…” Snape interrupted the
headmaster’s instructions.
“We’ll let you down on some ropes. You’ll get a belt around your waist and
Hagrid will let you down.”
Before Snape could protest he felt himself lifted into the air. There he hang,
dangling in midair above the stage, beneath him sat MacGonagall at the table.
She looked up and blushed. That was enough. Angrily he cut through the ropes
that held him and landed smoothly on the stage. With a harsh flick of his wand
he turned his appearance back into normal. 
“I’m quitting!” And he rushed out of the room.

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