Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of the acclaimed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and considered by most to be the greatest wizard alive, finished his nightly circuit of the castle. He hadn’t found anything amiss, but he had known that before beginning his nightly walk. All of the students had departed on the morning Hogwarts Express, bound for London and their homes to spend the summer holidays.
The castle lay silent so he moved forlornly toward his rooms, missing the chatter and laughter of the children. It was always the same for him when they left. Albus was by nature a social person and he missed the companionship of others.
And then he happened by the staff room. The hour being late he had expected most of the teachers to either be asleep or packing furiously for their own vacations. Instead he heard a roar of raucous laughter.
His brow wrinkled. It sounded like a party… and he hadn’t been invited! After a moment’s hesitation and a loud yelp from the room he pushed the door open resolutely… and was stunned.
“Might I inquire as to what is going on here?” He asked as he stared at the table in the middle of the room.
Seven people sat around the square table – Poppy Pomfrey, the school nurse and her gentleman friend Alastor Moody, Filius Flitwick, the charms instructor and Sybil Trelawney, the first year Divination teacher, and the potions master, Severus Snape next to Rolanda Hooch, the flying instructor. The seventh person, sitting completely on her own was Minerva McGonagall, professor of transfiguration and his normally calm to the point of iciness assistant headmistress.
‘Normally,’ Albus thought because her square spectacles were askew on her face, her outer robes of tartan lay in a pile on the floor, and a half-empty bottle of firewhisky sat by a full glass in front of her. In her hand she held a fan of five cards that she had been studying intently.
Several more bottles of whisky stood around the table and all of the people were holding cards. The center of the table held a large pile of poker chips. But what caught and held Albus’ attention were the various states of undress of all the table members.
Alastor Moody was shirtless. Poppy Pomfrey had lost her outer robes and appeared to be barefoot as well. Madame Hooch had also lost her outer robes. Flitwick was minus a coat, over shirt and necktie. Severus Snape was wearing heavy boots, a white undershirt and green silk boxers with hissing snakes slithering across them. But Trelawney… poor Sybil was wearing nothing but a heavy linen shift drawn all the way up her neck.
“Albus!” Filius called out rather loudly, his tiny features bright with an alcohol haze. “Come join us!” He waved Albus into the room. “Minerva needs a * hiccup * partner. She’s wearing entirely too many * hiccup * clothes.”
Albus bit his tongue to keep from laughing at Flitwick’s inebriated speech but a glance at the others showed that they were all in a similar state, even Minerva. Albus did a double take then looked again at his headmistress and dear friend. They often shared a drink or two together on a cold evening but he had never seen her in quite this state. The top buttons of her inner green robes were undone and the tight bun she normally wore on top of her head looked in imminent danger of falling down. Indeed, several strands of her long ebony hair had worked themselves free and curled about her face.
