Disclaimer: The usual, not mine, I am merely borrowing from J.K. Rowling to while away the time until Book 6.

 

A/N: Yes, I’m still working on Owls, but I thought I’d put this out there anyway because I enjoyed writing it and hoped that maybe you all will enjoy reading it. Thanks as always to Zsenya who is an amazing beta reader and very patient. I think I understand about the commas now.

 

 

 

Wand Waving Gone Wrong

           

            “So, what did you do in Defense Against the Dark Arts today, Kit?” asked Alicia, “Did you learn anything?”

            Katie gave her a look.

            “Of course not.” Angelina answered for her. “Who learns anything in that class?”

            “Professor Umbridge can’t teach at all and she doesn’t want to teach either,” she added.

“Well,” said Katie, “her Defense teaching methods are rubbish, because if you’ve never practiced, you don’t know what you’re doing and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could just easily wave your wand,” she did so, “and turn somebody into a cat, don’t you think so, Alicia?”

            “Meow,” replied Alicia.

            “That’s not funny, Alicia,” said Angelina who was already on tenterhooks about tomorrow’s game what with Ron’s abysmal Keeping and Harry’s temper. “Stop it.”

            “Meow!” Alicia said more vehemently, causing the other two Chasers to whip round. They stared. Sitting on Alicia’s robes was a small tabby cat with bright green eyes. Alicia was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t very difficult to determine what had happened. Angelina rounded on Katie.

            “Katherine Louise Bell, what have you done now?!”

            Katie picked up the cat, unfazed by Angelina’s tirade. “Turned our best friend into a cat, I think.”

            “Well, turn her back, we need all three Chasers for the game tomorrow!”

            Katie shrugged, waved her wand and said “Finite Incantatem!”

            Nothing happened. The cat yowled unhappily. Katie looked sheepish.

            “I forgot. Finite Incantatem mainly works when you have an idea of what the spell someone is under is. I have no idea what I did to change Alicia.”

            Alicia meowed indignantly as if to say “Kit, you idiot”

            “Kit, you idiot!” said Angelina, as though translating. “Good timing too, the day before the first game. Well, we’ll take her to Professor McGonagall, she ought to be able to do something.” She took Alicia from Katie.

            “I’m not letting you near her now. Who knows what you’ll turn her into next?”

            “One mistake and you pay for the rest of your life,” Katie grumbled.

            On their way to Professor McGonagall’s office, they were stopped by a familiar “Hem, hem.”

            They looked round.

            “Miss Bell, Miss Johnson, what is that?”

            Angelina thought fast. “It’s my new cat, Professor. She escaped onto the grounds, I’m bringing her back.”

            Professor Umbridge looked at them and her ugly face seemed to soften. “Well, that’s all right, then. You know, I love cats, have several myself. What’s her name?” she reached for Alicia with a sort of greediness, “May I hold her?”

            Angelina cringed not wanting to hand Alicia over, but not knowing what else to do. “Her name is Lady.”

She handed her over to Umbridge’s waiting be-ringed hands. Alicia protested this via violent meows and writhings, but it was too late. Umbridge was holding the struggling cat and cooing baby talk endearments at her. Angelina and Katie sent silent apologies to Alicia with their eyes. When Umbridge finally handed Alicia back, they hurried to McGonagall’s office as quickly as they could.

            She looked at them over the top of her spectacles. “Miss Johnson, Miss Bell, and where is Miss Spinnet?”

            “Er, well, she’s right here.” Katie indicated the cat.

            “Meow!” Alicia agreed emphatically.

            “And why have you not turned her back?”

            “That’s what we wanted to see you about, Professor. Katie doesn’t know what she did, so she doesn’t know how to turn her back. We thought you could help.”

            Professor McGonagall picked up the cat and looked her over carefully.

            “Miss Bell, how could you be so irresponsible? 20 points from Gryffindor and be glad it isn’t more! I don’t see that there’s anything to do except wait for the spell to wear off. It will wear off, I can tell you that much, but I don’t know how long it will take.”

            Alicia gave a strangled yowl of horror.

            “I’m sorry, Miss Spinnet,” said Professor McGonagall to the cat. “In the meantime, I suggest you make yourself comfortable by the common room fire.”

            “But what about Quidditch? The game is tomorrow.” Angelina sounded anxious.

            “I’m sorry, Miss Johnson, but there’s nothing I can do.”

            Angelina turned, menacingly, toward Katie.  “Kit, how could you? You could have just destroyed our chances for the Cup!”

            “I’m sorry,” wailed Katie. “Honestly, Angie, I am. I just waved my wand and . . .and I wasn’t thinking.”

            Alicia gave her a look that promised dire consequences when she returned to humanity.

            “Waved your wand?” Professor McGonagall asked sharply.  “How?”

            “I don’t remember,” Katie said forlornly.

            “Try.”

            Katie knitted her brows and gave an experimental wave with her wandless hand.

            Professor McGonagall took out her own wand and imitated the wave while saying “Finite Incantatem.”

            Again, nothing happened. The tabby cat remained a tabby cat.

            Three more times, they tried the experiment. When they stopped to look at Alicia, they discovered that she had curled up on Professor McGonagall’s desk and gone to sleep.

            “Again, I’m sorry, but the only thing to do is take her back to Gryffindor Tower and let the spell wear off.”

            “All right,” said Angelina hopelessly. She picked up the small cat and carried it back to Gryffindor Tower. Alicia promptly curled up in front of the fire and went to sleep again. It was clear that she had decided to sleep the spell off.

            In the meantime, Angelina and Katie took out their Transfiguration textbooks and looked up everything they could about accidental transfiguration. But there was nothing that seemed to address an accidental wand wave.

            Then Angelina slapped her forehead. “Kit! We’re such idiots. The twins! They can help. They’re always trying to cause this sort of thing, maybe they’ll know how to cure it!”

            “Yes! You’re right! Let’s go find them!”

            Fortunately, the twins chose that moment to come through the portrait hole. They were doubled over with mirth at the success of some prank.

            “Did you see his expression? Priceless!” laughed George.

            Alicia, at the sound of his voice, awoke and shot towards him. Obviously, she had come to the same conclusion as Katie and Angelina.

            “Whose cat?” he asked as Alicia twined round his legs, clearly taking advantage of her feline form.

            Frantic as they were, Angelina and Katie had not lost their senses of humor.

            “Yours, actually,” said Katie giggling, “Don’t you recognize her?”

             George bent over, picked her up and looked closely at her. The two girls along with Fred burst out laughing as realization spread over his features.

            “Alicia?” he asked the cat.

            She purred.

            He turned back to Katie and Angelina, “What did you two do to her?”

            “Not me, Katie. McGonagall couldn’t do anything so we thought we’d ask you two to help.”

            “McGonagall couldn’t do anything and you’re asking us?”

            “Well, we thought maybe you might have some unconventional ideas,” Katie replied.

            Alicia meowed in agreement and looked pleadingly up at George.

            “Poor Lady Green-Eyes, we’ll think of something,” he said sympathetically.

            “Why don’t you kiss her?” joked Fred. “That’s supposedly the universal Finite Incantatem plus you’ll know if you’re her,” he lowered his voice dramatically, “true love.”

            “Actually, that’s an idea,” said Angelina. “Why don’t you try it?”

            Katie brought out Alicia’s robes. “If this works, she’ll need these right away.”

            George shrugged. “All right.”

            He kissed the tabby cat’s nose and instantly, the cat began to metamorphose into Alicia’s slender form. Katie threw the robes over her friend to preserve her modesty and waited for Alicia’s fury to break.

            Alicia turned around, looked her friend straight in the eye and said, “Kit, you’re one of my best friends and I love you, but, but you idiot! What were you thinking?!” She rounded on Angelina. “And you! How could you let Umbridge do that? You’re smart enough, you could have thought of something!”

            Alicia shuddered, remembering, and decided something.

            “I think I am going to take a shower now, I feel extremely dirty. By the way, Fred, you are a genius. And George, thank you, but next time, you might want to remember that spell-breaking kisses are usually not meant for noses but rather,” she placed a mocking finger to her lips, “right here.”  

 

The End