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Pleased to learn that a new Astronomy professor had been appointed, Dumbledore dashed off a quick invitation to Bean, identical to the invitations he had sent the other members of the Hogwarts faculty. Then he toddled off to the staff lounge in his best high-heeled boots. Time to ready the room for his tea party.
The house elves had assembled a staggering array of teabags, teapots, varieties of tea, tea-related accessories, sweeteners natural and artificial, tea sandwiches with crusts off, pastries, biscuits, et cetera, hopefully not ad nauseam. Dumbledore bustled about happily, humming to himself like the bumblebee who shared his name, charming napkins into origami shapes. As a final touch, he zapped a dish of clotted cream with a simple food-coloring spell to rainbow its contents.
The final effect he deemed quite satisfactorily cheery.
He knew better than to hope the group he had invited would mesh well. No faculty ever did, unless confronted with some shared enemy, and those were not forthcoming: Voldemort was popcorn, the Headmistress and Sorting Hat were best left alone, and Dumbledore did not think it kind to gang up on poor Kojiro. Nonetheless, he preferred heterogeneity, even with its attendant discord. In diversity lay strength!
To make sure they mingled well, he turned himself invisible (something he could do without an Invisibility Cloak, because he was just special like that). Now they would have to talk among themselves, rather than waiting for the former Headmaster to moderate their discussion or play the host. At the proper moment he could always duck out of the room and reappear properly with apologies for his lateness...
The house elves had assembled a staggering array of teabags, teapots, varieties of tea, tea-related accessories, sweeteners natural and artificial, tea sandwiches with crusts off, pastries, biscuits, et cetera, hopefully not ad nauseam. Dumbledore bustled about happily, humming to himself like the bumblebee who shared his name, charming napkins into origami shapes. As a final touch, he zapped a dish of clotted cream with a simple food-coloring spell to rainbow its contents.
The final effect he deemed quite satisfactorily cheery.
He knew better than to hope the group he had invited would mesh well. No faculty ever did, unless confronted with some shared enemy, and those were not forthcoming: Voldemort was popcorn, the Headmistress and Sorting Hat were best left alone, and Dumbledore did not think it kind to gang up on poor Kojiro. Nonetheless, he preferred heterogeneity, even with its attendant discord. In diversity lay strength!
To make sure they mingled well, he turned himself invisible (something he could do without an Invisibility Cloak, because he was just special like that). Now they would have to talk among themselves, rather than waiting for the former Headmaster to moderate their discussion or play the host. At the proper moment he could always duck out of the room and reappear properly with apologies for his lateness...