Janice tried to run from the shirts as it rained down on her. Alas, on fell on top of her head.
"Ouch."
It made quite a nice blanket, though.
Janice smiled uncontrollably after Lord Borr has tuned his back.
"Alyssa, he was SUPPOSED to teach us DADA last year, but instead he didn't show up in classes. He gave us long-term assignments about planting trees and aerobics and how aerobics helps us in defense," she whispered in Alyssa's ear.
"You're most probably the one who curtsied."
Janice couldn't wait for this part. She really hoped that her team's Snow Yogi won. It took them HOURS to get it done, and its/Janice's yellow coat is starting to freeze.

"Hey! I'm American. I don't know what to do when I meet someone of his stature here....plus he's a Lord! I mean when I met the President, I shook his hand and that's all because he is still a commoner. But over here, you guys have all your pomp and pagentry, I never know what is proper and what's not. Just blame it on ignorance." Alyssa told Janice, now embarrassed that she had bowed/curtsied.

Eeeeeep. Looks like Tori was still fussing over his untimeliness. But, aha! He caught that giggle of hers, and Paulie smirked just a little. So, she wasn't TOTALLY mad at him.

"Eugh, well he is one ugly blueberry, then," he remarked, making a face. And Paulie liked blueberries. Not this fat one, though. This was all reminding him of that gum girl from Willy Wonka.....

"Mmmmhm, no way," Paulie smiled as she agreed, then bobbed forward a bit for a quick kiss. Good luck kiss, of course. Speaking of which, when were they gonna DECIDEEE on a snowman already?!

"Sure is. I wouldn't eat him." Tori stared up at the Minister with a crinkled smell. And was it just her imagination or did the man emanate a certain... odor too?

Tori giggled again, longer this time, as Paulie stole a kiss off her lips. She grabbed his hand before he could go anywhere and gave it a squeeze. For good luck.

"We'd better win," she leaned up and whispered confidently. Nodnod.

"Sierra," Lord Borr recognized the daughter of his secretary. He was next to useless, but his daughter was useful. There was still hope for HER. "Put on your t-shirt and come join me in my litter." Let the students of Hogwarts SEE what benefits they'd receive for being obedient little informers. "Point out which is yours?"

"Sir? I am your MINISTER, Student." Lord Borr urged his litter on quickly, before the young man could start groveling or sniveling. Lord Borr had taught his lesson and he expected the RAVENCLAW to learn quickly.

"You are welcome. Put it on, put it on! Show your Ministry pride!"

"I'm sure it is an honor for you! As busy and important as I am ALL THE TIME, I made special time for you, the poor students of Hogwarts. I know you all need a role model and someone to look up to in this leader-less environment."

"I remember YOU," Lord Borr chuckled at the young girl. "Lord Borr never forgets a face!"


"I see," Lord Borr motioned for his litter to be placed front and center and in the process, unbeknownst to him he knocked two snowmen to the ground. "I cannot stay long. The Ministry keeps me very busy and I AM the Minister," he chuckled. "I will not serve myself, foolish woman. Am I to come all this way, INSPIRE your students, GUIDE their lives, JUDGE their creations, AND FEED MYSELF? That's the problem with you Hogwarts Professors. The whole lot of you are LAZY."

With that, Lord Borr used his cane to point out the winners to his house elf cavalry, and they related the winners to the Professor "in charge" of the event.

"Someone have that Groundskeeper come and clean this place up! WORTHLESS, that one. You all remember that! If you don't do well in school and are LAZY, you'll end up a worthless groundskeeper! But if you keep your focus and get yourself a GOOD role model, you could end up JUST LIKE ME!" Lord Borr whacked a nearby snowman in the head and the top tier rolled away.

Sierra had turned her attention elsewhere for the time being, yet when her given name boomed throughout the area in that unmistakable voice, she glanced up again.

He wanted...

her to...

do what?!

She peered over at Eino and then to the ground, where a t-shirt had fallen by her feet. She'd ignored it before, but what could she do now? This man was the Minister of Magic, and truthfully, he'd been good to her. She knew whose side to get on, and right now, that person was Minister Borr.

She scooped up the t-shirt, slipped it on over her hoodie, and then climbed into the litter. She did a little 'parade wave' with her hand as she passed by both Hollingberry and Bunny.

...and her entry? "That one there," she said, pointing to the snowman dressed as a Hogwarts student. "It's mine and Eino's." She ducked as his cane came swirling around.

Dear Merlin!

Selina was boiling with anger. She now knew why her mother always spoke so colorfully whenever she brought up the Minister. Who did this fat man think he was? Yes, he was the Minister... but he was not their king. He was extremely rude and she wanted to shove all of his words back down his throat like he would ingest a dozen pies.

But she kept quiet and simply clenched her fists. She plastered a smile on her face and kept her head low. There was no way she was going to start anything against the Minister... she was a student. There was nothing she could do about the way the Ministry was functioning. Even if the Minister was an daft idiot who couldn't see his toes.

Kurumi's eyes widened and she quickly offered him another bow. She could have said something like, and I remember your face, but that would have been awkward and redundant. Who COULD forget the man's face? "Thank you, Lord Borr," she said with her voice only slightly quivering. She began to wish that the kitchens were not closed so that she could have baked some cookies for him as she had done her second year. Oh well.
Just like him? No thank you...

Kurumi's face remained pleasant as she all but clung to her snow elf. Thankfully, she had located herself towards the edge of the stage, so she was out of his cane's reach. Still, it was horribly rude that the man would just wave it about like that, destroying everyone's work. Students had worked very hard on their snow creations and to just have him dismiss them like that was...terrible.

She eyed the Muggle Studies professor when Lord Borr laid into her a bit. Well, she was suspicious, but no one deserved to be talked to in that way. And then the man was insulting their Groundskeeper - the man who had done some of Borr's assignment with her.

One thing was for sure, Kurumi was giggling to herself when Sierra was asked to join him. If that was some of the special benefits received for her father working directly for the man, Kurumi was content to have a father that worked several thousand miles away. She didn't want to get swallowed by a Walrus.

Was this guy serious?

Not only was he disgustingly fat, he was also...quite obnoxious. Glancing around, she noticed a uniform tension settling over the area.

The blonde didn't like they way he was talking to everyone, but kept it to herself. There was no need to rouse unwanted attention.

The shirt that he was imploring everyone to wear, however, went to the ground. She would NOT wear that horrible color. Turning back to her snow creation, she gave it a final wave.

Viola!!

It was a snowMAN competition...but that was boring...She'd gotten the idea from those muggle movies she and Carter had watched over hte summer. Because of them, Marilyn had a new found love for Pirates.

Jonathan looked at Lord Borr as he spoke. He's here at Hogwarts? Was he the 'special guest' the groundskeeper was talking about earlier?

Still, Jonathan just continued making the snow man. He was having a hard time since his fingers were so cold. He took a second to look at Marilyn's work. 0______0. What is that? Truth be told, it is super wicked and awesome on so many levels. Jonathan walked nearer to her snowman. Wait. Should it still be called a snowman?

"This is awesome" he said as he bent down and looked at it. How did she manage to do this? Jonathan's eyes glittered. He liked it very much.

"Right, Minister," Kennedy said and swallowed hard, but nonetheless he put the hideous shirt on. The man was the minister after all. What if he disobeyed and got sent to jail or that place they called Azkaban?

SHUDDER.

No way! He listened to what he was saying and his ears already hurt because of that voice. Kennedy did NOT agree with what that man was saying. His teachers weren't lazy and the groundskeeper was NOT worthless. He didn't know these people on a personal level, but he did respect them, just like this man should.

Kennedy's eyes widened. HE. DID. NOT. WANT. TO. BE. LIKE. THAT. MAN. He wanted to Kennedy Escalante, shy extraordinaire.

Young Kourtney stared, wide-eyed as a rather large man was carted onto the grounds, his voice booming around the clearing. Others were greeting him as the Minister...but she looked on in a bit of confusion. Minister? This was the Minister of Magic?

Her gaze moved to Kurumi who was standing nearby, but soon her head snapped back towards the man who claimed to be the Minister. How could he insult the groundskeeper? He was a cool person; he had created that really fun dance lesson at the beginning of the year. Frowning slightly, she shook her head as the man swung his cane and knocked off the head of a snowman.

She definitely didn't want to end up like him. Success was important, but who wanted to be an arrogant eyesore?

By now, Ira was really starting to hate the 'Minister'! How the hell did he think that he had the right to insult everyone? Ira felt bad for her Muggle Studies professor for the little bashing she received. How could he call her and the others lazy? And the groundskeeper! He was not worthless!

The great Minister was not only extremely fat but too arrogant and self boasting! Ira felt pity for the poor ministry officials working under him! As the minister must have got fatter and fatter, the poor employees must have got thinner and thinner!

Then Ira giggled. Who would want to be like him? At least, definitely not Ira!

Alyssa was getting impatient. "Alright! the judges are all here, including the Special Guest Judge. Can we start judging now before all our snow building creations start to melt," she muttered to herself. It seemed to Alyssa that the judging was taking longer than the snow building itself. Her fingers and toes despite being aptly covered was starting to freeze and she already knew that her nose was no longer on her face, because she couldn't feel it!!

Janice felt really stupid. She hadn'tknown that Ally was American.
"Wait. You've MET the president/prime minister
before?"


"See?" Janice muttered Alyssa. "Told'ya."

Janice put her hands inside her silvery parka. It's freezing out here, and the 'blanket' didn't do any good. As if it isn't bad enough, her nose started to itch again.

[QUOTE=cheeseStrings;10709044]Janice felt really stupid. She hadn'tknown that Ally was American.
"Wait. You've MET the president/prime minister
before?"

"Yes, I did once. Dad and Mom were invited to attend one of his Christmas White House Parties, and they brought me along. He has 2 daughters, one is around my age and they are really cool....and so was the Prez and his wife.



"OMG!! He's a pompous nincompoop!! And what's this about him saying that Sierra was an informer and being rewarded for their obedience, and asking her to show which creation was hers? If he selects Sierra's snowman as a winner because of that reason, there's going to be a revolt here!! If she does win, it should be because the creation was a good one, not because she knows the Minister!!,"Alyssa angrily whispered to the rest of her team.

"Well... I suppose it sounds like a fun tradition." She was being nice. Really she wasn't sure if it had a point but the kids did seem to be having a good time? So she helped out with the snow packing and all that, shooting small polite smiles at the children that Eddie addressed and watching him in amusement as he seemed to be enjoying himself too, which was nice to see and rather infectious really.

"Not much of one, I'm afraid." Althea laughed gently and smiled at the Gryffindor boy. "I've never done this before so we'll have to rely on Eddie... err, Professor Roslund's expertise." She pat pat patted at the snow.

"Hello." She greeted in return, just to be polite. Surely the girl was more interested in working with her classmates than talking with the Charms professor, who had been admittedly reluctant to come along in the first place.

"Hello Erin." She watched the girl add eyes and wasn't sure what else to do, so Professor Schirmer just hovered near Eddie.

... and peeked over at Dash. As things started to wrap up, but didn't say anything. She still wasn't entirely convinced that man was anything other than a very good-looking bad egg. The thought annoyed her a little and she straightened up, fixing her eyes on the students.

It was unfortunate that Althea was the bristly type. Aside from her initial reaction to the Minister of Magic's arrival, which was less than positive but well hidden, she instantly took offence at this 'leader-less environment' and 'LAZY' business.

Her ice queen expression was right there, and her glare was fiery. How dare he? Outrage bubbled within her and the tall blonde woman decided right there and then that the Minister of Magic was possibly more arrogant and annoying than the History of Magic professor.... just infinitely less attractive.

And to attack a child's snowman! Sure, she wasn't sure she approved of this snowman business, but someone ought to take that man's cane and hit him over the head with it. Or snap it. Or perhaps tip him out of his bloody litter. What kind of man came to a school on a levitating litter? Really?

Her nostrils flared and she moved a little closer to Edvard, wondering what he made of the whole thing.

"Me neither," Paulie agreed, eying the stomach fat spilling over the Blueberry's pants. Shudder.

He smiled though, when he felt Tori take his hand. Really, he wasn't all too concerned about winning this thing - UNLESS the prize was something like one million galleons or trip to Hawaii. Then he'd be pretty bummed. But otherwise he would have built snowmen with Tori regardless of whether they were gonna be in a competition or not. "I hope so.." The Princess did sound pretty convinced.....

From what had started out as a lovely, charming, delightful event, very quickly became a living nightmare.

0_______________0

Bouncing Blueberries!

Poor Gemma! Poor Chad! .... Seren could hardly believe what she was hearing. Was the Minister off his rocker? Or perhaps the power had literally gone to his head and eaten what was left of his sense, leaving behind that parasite which clearly urged him to eat more than was necessary.

If there was one thing Seren did NOT like... it was poor manners. Rude bahaviour!! and a clear disrespect for others!!! Especially when it concerned her colleagues, friends and family.

Shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her coats, she crossed her fingers and wished and hoped with all her might that he wouldn't upset or offend any of the students.

Aurora had been watching and keeping quiet, shivering slightly. She was beginning to become wary of snow... it always ended in nosebleeds. She chuckled a little as Kennedy put the shirt on and sidled over. "Don't worry, I don't think you could ever end up like him." she whispered - he had seemed a little worried at that statement.

Oh god. Oh god. NOOOOOOO!

Her perfect snowman creation was now going to be looked at as an evil depiction of the guest judge.

MERLINS MOLDY SHORTS! Why hadn't they been WARNED?

She looked at the large snow creation she had made...and winced. Hopefully he didn't think it was him....well...it looked like it could have been a Magical-Take over - because her creation had been destroyed and rebuilt facing down ont he ground.

It was SUPPOED to be Gulliver from the book Gulliver's Travels. BUT now. With Mrs. Bulbous Borrasours here it would be looked at as him.

Maybe he was sycophantic enough to see past the minisnow man army? Maybe not. She hoped she'd not be HATED for life for it...wait?

Whimpering she hoped it would crumble...but of course it didn't. Her snow creation was safe - and all thanks to Murphy's Law.

Ryan hadn't seen this man before but knew who it was.He looked around noticing that there was alot of other students looking beffudled at the Special Guest.He whispered to himself you are not like him a single bit,you are not obnoxious and not big like him.He just hoped that this would be over with soon because their snowman was melting.

Minerva stood in the cold with her friends waiting for the judges to make their decision.

Finally the man had arrived, after leaving them waiting for so long.

There was no way he would lie about it, Dash did not like the Minister of Magic. He was a rude, arrogant and acted as if he were Merlin's gift to them all. It annoyed the Professor to no end...probably because they were so much alike.

Oh! Of course, the wonderful Lorr Borr just had to go on insulting Gemma and Chad-Oh! The other professors too how wonderful. And knocking down snowmen as well, how charming. He looked over at the Professors that were on the grounds. Hopefully they weren't too offended.

Scabior took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before he opened his mouth to speak. "Glad you finally made it Minister, thank you for fitting us into your schedule." The ministers day probably consisted of two things; eating, and bossing people around to get him more food, but Scabior would play along with his busy act.

"Feed your self? Well actually-" He paused and did a double take to his side. Did something beside him just move? He swore something did. Not a student either...strange. "Actually Minister. I didn't expect you too eat at all. After all you are the Minister of Magic. Much to busy to spend more than five minutes in Hogwarts inspiring students, never mind eating food. And with lazy Professors too! On the horrible grounds? Why would you do such a thing, sir?" His voice was filled with fake cheer. Idiot man.

"We should announce the winners now Minister." So they could go and win some official Borr related prize.

The judges were taking so much time to announce the winners! Well it wasn't much surprising owing to the self proclaiming busy man, 'Lord Borr'!

Her feet and fingers were becoming numb by now and she was really tired from having spent hours to make the snowmen...She really wished that the results would be announced soon so that they could go back to their common rooms and warm themselves by the cozy fireplaces.