A Taste of Magic

Chapter 71: 71st Course - Combined Effort

"You seem to be self-medicating more often these days," Pomfrey observed.

Dumbledore looked down at the decanter on his desk and the glasses at the ready. "Hmm, you might be right. This has been a stressful year, which is no excuse. Should I start cutting back?"

"Tomorrow. Share the wealth before then." Pomfrey smiled as the others chuckled, including Dumbledore, and he poured out generous measures of alcohol into each glass. He handed them out, raising his in a silent toast.

"Mmm, wow, this is good," Pomfrey said, looking at her glass. "What is it?"

"Something French," Dumbledore said. "Nicolas came through and moved my things about and replaced a few bottles and things when he was here during the Festival."

"Oh is it the snake wine?" Flitwick asked.

McGonagall coughed. "Snake wine?"

"No, that is at the Hog's Head," Dumbledore laughed. "Drake brought it to Aberforth."

"Is it wine made by snakes?" Sprout asked.

"Made with snakes in it," Dumbledore said.

"No thank you," Sprout shuddered. "After seeing them about in my greenhouses, I'm rather fond of the little things now." She winked at Snape who snorted dryly.

"I am not fond of the taste myself." Dumbledore sipped his drink. "A bit strong for my liking and it does have a very reptilian taste to it."

"Sounds unpleasant," Sprout said.

"Indeed. How are the preparations for the Academic Event?"

"Done essentially," McGonagall said. "The material is ready and the questions prepared. We have a lot of the students from all three, four, schools who put in names to compete." She smiled. "And there is one bit I find truly enjoyable." She fished out a roll of parchment from her robes and handed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at it and smiled. "The UR Team is rather robust, and I highly approve."

"UR Team?" Snape asked.

"The Uncommon Room Team," Flitwick smiled proudly. "They put themselves in as a group to compete together."

Snape looked at the team roster and his eyebrows rose. "Ah, well. That is interesting."

"Five of yours working together with members from every house and all you can come up with is 'interesting'?" Sprout asked sardonically.

"I could be honest and say what I truly thought of it," Snape said. He took a long sip of his glass and said nothing more.

McGonagall rolled her eyes. "Why are they called that, does anyone know?"

"They refer to their workroom as the Uncommon Room," Flitwick said. "A place for them to be outside of their common rooms. A fitting name in my opinion."

"That is a good name," McGonagall said, smiling fondly. "And how are the preparations for the Second Task?"

"Done. We finished the scrying pool work and finished the rune arrays so we should be able to observe them from a distance. The boundaries of the Forest and the Lake have been more or less established and the Tribe and the Village Beneath are ready to play their parts." Dumbledore looked out the windows towards the Forest and the Lake.