Private message to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy

[alt_selwyn]

I don't know if you've checked the student journals, but it does appear that the end-of-act curtain did fall more than a little prematurely, and the Matron retrieved from the audience because the lass playing Alecto Carrow urgently needed her attentions.

I'm not sure what they're planning for a second act. They should probably just call it a day, at this point; if they succeed in topping the first act it will doubtless mean catastrophe!

Arista is fascinated, of course.

Comments

[alt_lucius]

Will have to inform Ari that no, Ptolemy did not suddenly discover his senses and cut Serena's death scene, after all.

You were a little late coming back with Arista; Pansy announced before raising the curtain again that Miss Perks will play Alecto for the remainder of the evening.

Arista is not the only one. At this point, I expect nothing less than Shakespearean tragedy, with traitorous bodies littering the stage and gouts of blood spattering the first three rows.

[alt_narcissa]

Where's Tony's impersonator gone to?

You don't think they're having a little laugh at Miss Parkinson's expense, since Alecto was replaced and now Tony's no longer on the scene?

Private Message to Narcissa

[alt_lucius]

No, though I do think it ironic that it was the actress playing Tony who hexed Alecto in the first place. At least, it looked like the hex originated from her wand.

Merlin. Alice Pendelton Longbottom - there's a sorry sight indeed.

Re: Private Message to Narcissa

[alt_narcissa]

She was pregnant during the battle for the Ministry, though, wasn't she?

I can't imagine duelling in that condition. Nor having a husband who'd put me in harm's way like that.

But then Frank Longbottom - he always was a selfish brute.

Re: Private Message to Narcissa

[alt_lucius]

Yes, we'd had reports she was - honestly I don't recall if she was at the battle, darling. Frank certainly. Though you're quite right, it would not have surprised me if in their desperation at that point, she threw caution to the wind.

I don't ... AH. HAH. Where's the playbill?

[alt_lucius]

MOODY'S MAD CAT?!

And it's Weasley's youngest boy, to boot!

[alt_selwyn]

I have a terrible feeling that Chloe is going to be putting up with Arista pretending to be a Mad Cat for the next fortnight.

Do you suppose he was supposed to sprint around the stage like that? I rather got the feeling the snake expected to catch him on the first go-round.

[alt_selwyn]

The Mad Cat was Arista's favourite bit, naturally.

[alt_lucius]

Then she has good taste. It was mine as well.

And no - I strongly suspect it was a case of the Weasley boy not following his instructions. A Weasley making a cake of himself: Surprise, surprise.

Haven't laughed this hard since - well, since Barty's birthday, I think.

I think we ought to present Dolores with a mad cat, don't you?

[alt_selwyn]

Absolutely. Try to be sure someone's standing by with a camera for it.

It appears the Weasley boy's sister is furious -- probably because he got more laughs than she did. She wasn't terrible, but she didn't get the ovation he did!

[alt_lucius]

Will get the Prophet in to cover it. She'll be livid - worth every moment. And I hope it smashes every one of those pink plates of hers. (Of the many ways in which Cornelius is an improvement, the decor is certainly high on the list!)

Oh, yes. The sister. Isn't she the one who tried to be re-Sorted into Slytherin last year? Yes, I'm sure. You wouldn't have even seen it; not sure it even made a footnote in that month's minutes.

[alt_selwyn]

...she what?

You're not serious!

[alt_lucius]

Oh, yes. Have to give her points for boldness, at least: Wrote to Horace, Minerva and Peakes - and me, of all the Governors - begging to be re-Sorted. The usual waffle that there'd been a mistake and she'd be ever so much happier in Slytherin. Of course, the letter and her other outbursts already made it quite plain that there had been no mistake of any kind. Weasleys. Gryffindors through and through.

Except - perhaps - the middle boy. Percival.

Massopust oversees the eldest one, doesn't he? I seem to recall he had some objections about that Weasley as well. Or do I mis-remember?

[alt_selwyn]

Massopust doesn't much care for Bill Weasley -- considers him unreliable. He's always seemed quite competent to me, but I try not to get in my staff members' hair more than necessary. If Weasley came to me unhappy I'd probably have him moved to another of my departments and see if he got on better with another manager, but he seems to like his job even if he doesn't always get on with Massopust, so... well, it's not worth rocking the boat.

Percival -- you mean the Head Boy? He does seem to have risen above the worst tendencies of his family. Perhaps the girl will too, in time. But Slytherin! Ha. Imagine her rooming with Hydra Lestrange. No, I agree, she was clearly born a Gryffindor whether she likes it or not.

[alt_narcissa]

The few times I've spoken with Weasley Tertius I've found him every inch the Gryffindor, love.

But then perhaps he shows you a different face.

[alt_lucius]

Oh, the boy loves rules, no doubt. But he's decidedly ambitious - and as we've discussed, that can be used to advantage. If for no other reason than to get under Arthur Weasley's skin.

Besides, their blood may be pure but their opinions are .... Well, 'unreliable' is perhaps a good way to put it. Of them all, he's the most likely to provide a glimpse of what is truly being said under their dilapidated and leaking roof.

[alt_narcissa]

Mm. And it doesn't hurt that it only took him three days to learn exactly how you care for your tea, or that by the end of the second week he had re-organised the library and catalogued it by subject, year of publication and author's surname. And it's nothing at all to do with his willingness to run errands fit for a house-elf.

[alt_lucius]

He's trainable, yes. What of it?

My dear, we ought to stop amusing Dominic with our assessment of Hogwarts' Head Boy and let him return to more important matters.

[alt_selwyn]

Mm. If that's your interest, the girl might be similarly forthcoming. She seems distinctly interested in distancing herself from her family -- proving that she's different. Tell her she's 'special' and 'worthy' and 'obviously not like the rest of her family' and she'd probably spill every poorly-thought-out tactless joke ever told in their overcrowded living room after a few too many firewhiskeys.

[alt_lucius]

Perhaps.

You may well be on to something there.