A Twist In Time

Can You Do The Hippogriff

"Move your body like a hairy troll, learning to rock and roll, spin around like a crazy elf, dancing by himself." I swung my hands in the air, dancing around the children as they sat at the table waiting for their breakfast. They were dancing to the beat of the music, copying my moves. "Boogie down like a unicorn, don't stop till the break of dawn. Put your hands up in the air, like an ogre, just don't care." As the beat picked up and the chorus of the song came in, Finn got up from his seat and started dancing with me. "Can you dance the Hippogriff, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, flyin' off from a cliff, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma. Swoopin' down to the ground, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, around and around, and around, and around, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma."

I caught sight of Ada looking at us in disbelief as she glared at the record player playing the music. So, I may have brought some of the good 'oldies' from my time to listen to - honestly though, I practically packed my whole room, how was I supposed to know I'd get stuck here?

"Go around like a scary ghost, spooking himself the most," I sang, swinging my arms in the air and pulling Finn closer as he laughed. "Shake your booty like a boggart in pain, again and again, and again. Get it on like an angry spectre, who's definitely out to get ya. Stamp your feet like a leprechaun, get it on, get it on." Mary and Katie got up and joined in dancing and I spun my way to Ada, grabbing her hands and getting her to dance with us as the chorus hit again.

"Can you dance the Hippogriff, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, flyin' off from a cliff, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma!" We all sang along with the chorus and I was surprised the children even know it. Even Matthew had joined us and he was normally a tough cookie to crack. "Swoopin' down to the ground, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, around and around, and around, and around, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Oh, come on! Ooh, you gotta move it! Gotta move it like a creature ... Creature of the night! Yeah that's right! A creature of the night!" I hadn't seen them having this much fun in a long time. It felt like because a war was going on, we couldn't have fun, not while the men were out fighting for our country and our lives.

"Well do ya feel alright? Yeah, do ya feel alright?" There was a crazy instrumental part and we were all going crazy, bopping our heads to the music, swinging around wildly. I picked Thomas-J up from the pram and danced with him around the kitchen, his laughter fighting to become louder than the music. Ada was doing the same with Edward, swopping him down and lifting him in the air. "Can you dance the Hippogriff, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, flyin' off from a cliff, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma." I laughed along with Ada as our erratic dancing tried to drain all the energy from us. "Swoopin' down to the ground, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, around and around, and around, and around, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma."

Katie was clinging onto Finn as he spun her around and Mary had somehow gotten her hands on Voodoo and was dancing with him in her arms. Matthew was standing on one of the chairs, shaking his arms in the air, his head bobbing along with the music.

"C'mon! C'mon! Yeah, can you dance like a Hippogriff? Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"Whooo!" I called out, spinning Thomas-J one last time as the music ended. I glanced at Ada, who was breathing just as heavily as I was before we both burst out into giggles.

"That was ..." I glanced over to Newt, who was standing in the doorway, a lost and confused look on his face. "That was interesting," he finished, coming into the kitchen and helping Matthew down from the chair. "What was it?"

"Do The Hippogriff," I muttered, my breathing heavy as I tried to catch my breath. "You know, can you dance like a Hippogriff?"

"Hippogriff's don't dance," he said matter of factly. I rolled my eyes and settled Thomas-J back into his pram giving him the Ukrainian Ironbelly Newt had bought him.