Picking up the thread, A Dare Options

[zymurgy]

... the thatched roof of Hagrid's hut. The owl felt the rope pull taught, and began to fly in circles around the hut, trying to get it loose again. Unfortunatly, that only made matters worse.

Hagrid was roused from a fine afternoon tea, when he watched a large section of his thatch dissapear into thin air. Astounded, he dashed outside, and caught sight of his roof dangling from a thread.

He grabbed hold of it and tugged.

The thread grew taught.

Hesperus gave up and let go of the thread. With a mighty crash, Hagrid fell backwards and the thread fell to the ground.

Hagrid, having hit his head, was in no condition to notice as the thread was picked up by...

[agrippa]

... a blast-ended skrewt.

The skrewt did nothing, not having a brain large enough to understand was string is.

With a puff of flame, it moved four inches forward, singeing the string just a bit. Since skrewts don't notice much of anything, this one didn't notice when the string was picked up by ...

[timeturner]

Madam Hooch. She was on her way to the Quidditch pitch when a piece of string caught on the end of her broom. Intent on a nice fly around the stadium, she didn't notice the thread attach itself. She twirled her broomstick in her hand, unknowingly entangling the Ball of String of Doom even further.

Hearing a strange noise, Madam Hooch spun around and saw one of Hagrid's dreadful blast-ended skrewts looking straight at her. She could smell something burning and realized with a scream of horror that it was her robes. Her arms flailed and her broom flew into the air as she dropped to the ground, rolling in the grass, desperate to put out the flames. As the broom launched into the air, the thread untangled itself.

Madam Hooch was giving her robes a final pat and didn't notice when the thread was picked up by....

[McGonagall's Cat]

One of the nameless faceless first-years who was wandering in the background, as they are wont to do. The black-robed student curiously carried the thread, wrapping it around and around its core, until one of the main characters showed up, entirely overshaddowing all the annonymous supportting players. The first-year obligingly stood dumbstruck as the thread rolled out of his/her hands to be picked up by....

[zymurgy]

... Loona Lovegood.

She looked sideways at the string in her hands for a moment, and began to wind it over her thumb and elbow. Humming under her breath, she started towards the forbidden forest.

When she reached the forest, she hung the loop of thread on a tree branch, and went onward to the clearing where her favorite thestrals liked to play. Getting a slab of uncooked steak out of her bookbag, she dropped it on the grass and waited.

Meanwhile, the thread had been spotted by...

[McGonagall's Cat]

... Professor Sprout, who had just dropped off a huge bunch of cabbages for Hagrid to feed to the mooncalf burrowed behind his hut. He was hoping to show it to the fourth-years during the next Full Moon.

She had been strolling leisurely along the boundary of the Forest on her way back to the greenhouses, commenting to herslf about the various useful plants that grew at its edge. "Yes, yes! Whortleberries will be pleniful next Spring. And look at the daisies! My, my yes."

Spotting the thread, she headed to where it hung. At the foot of the tree, however, was a delightfully frilly fern growing. As she bent to examine it more closely, the looped thread snagged on her hat. Tumbling down across her face, it snarled itself in the rough bark-like cloth of her robes.

"Dear me!" she exclaimed as all efforts to pull it from her shoulders were fruitless. "I must find assistance with this!"

She rushed off to the castle, the thread trailing out behind her on the breeze, eventually falling away from her clothing completely.

It only lay stretched across the lawn until...

[timeturner]

it was picked up by a portly little man known as Cornelius Fudge.

Fudge eyed the string with curiousity, wondering where it could have come from. Before spotting the thread nestled within the grass, he had been wandering the grounds of Hogwarts, moving from tree to tree, slowly hedging towards the castle. After consuming several large glasses of red currant rum back at the Ministry office, Fudge had realised that it was imperative that he travel to Hogwarts immediately.

Unfortunately, now that several hours had passed, his thought process faltered and the reason he had come to the school seemed most elusive. Try as he might, the only thing that he could truly focus on was the string as he wound it into the shape of a ball.

The lack of focus turned into a serious problem when Fudge suddenly realised he had accidentally joined a large group of students on their way to class. Being a sight taller than the class of second years that surrounded him, he was well aware that he was not blending in very well. Cornelius scowled at the curious looks that were being sent his way.

One student even had the audacity to mockingly comment on his hat. The comment wasn't very funny in Fudge's opinion, but the students made quite a show of pointing and laughing hysterically.

Fudge snorted with irritation, but was not surprised. A throng of twelve year olds couldn't be expected to have the good sense to appreciate such a fabulous hat. The lime green colour of the bowler was the perfect accompianment to the fashionable orange suit he had chosen to wear today.

Resisting the urge to strangle the students closet to him with the precious piece of thread, Fudge continued on, winding and winding. He was so focused, that he didn't see the student-conjured banana peel slide under his foot until it was too late.

Fudge slipped and fell to the tune of laughter. The ball of string flew from his hand and landed........

[evlpez]

The ball of string flew from his hand and landed squarely in the hand of Professor Severus Snape.

"Minister. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Severus asked as he held his other hand out to the prostrate politician on the dungeon hallway floor.

"Professor Snape. Thank you, sir. Actually, I was looking for Dumbledore, I think." Fudge looked around him groggily, suddenly aware that he had no explanation for being where he was. At least looking for Dumbledore was a fair enough excuse to be wandering the castle. The stench of currant and rum wafted and assaulted Severus' sharp nostrils.

"You might have better luck in his office, Minister," Severus droned as the last of the students trickled into the dungeon classroom. "Before you go Minister, one moment please."

Severus slipped into his office across the hall and back out again in a wink, the ball of thread in one hand and a small vial in the other.

"Take this, Minister. It will help revive you from your somewhat diminished condition." He handed the vial of sobering draught to the Minister and absently began winding the thread around the ball. "Now if you'll excuse me sir, I've a class to teach."

Fudge held the vial in his hand and turned towards the stairs. "Yes of course, thank you Professor. I shall check his office, then. And thank you... for this." He held up the vial before tipping it down his throat.

Severus watched his retreating form with a disgusted sneer. How such an inept and disgraceful wizard could have been made Minister of Magic, he'd never know. He sat pondering the way the Ministry was handling the return of the Dark Lord and how things might be different had there been a more competent person in the seat of power. All the while, he wound the thread round and around, lost in thought. He began to step down the hall as he fiddled, following the thread as it led.

Suddenly he heard a timid cough from behind him.

"Professor? Are we going to learn about shrinking potions today, sir?" asked a swotty little Ravenclaw girl who bore an uncanny resemblance to Hermione Granger. His lip curled as he realized he'd forgotten the students in his classroom.

"Five points from Ravenclaw for disturbing me, Miss Watson. Get back to your seat." He dropped the thread ball on the floor beside him, straightened the clasp at the throat of his robes and followed her into the classroom. The ball of thread rolled a few feet and came to a stop, where it waited until...

[zymurgy]

... the feet of Remus Lupin kicked into it.

"My, my," the Werewolf muttered, "must be the Ball of Thread of Doom Flitwick was so worried about."

Remus picked up the ball and began to slowly roll up the string.

"I'm not sure why he called me all the way from Minsk to take care of a ball of thread. It doesn't look all that dangerous- but then again there was that one time when I got stupified by an ingrained hex in a perfectly innocent looking toothbrush."

Just then, the worst thing that could have happened, in Remus' opinion anyhow, happened: Draco Malfoy came down the hall.

"AAAAHHH!" shrieked Malfoy, "WEREWOLF IN THE HALL!"

Immediatley total panic ensued.

Students came running to see what was the matter, and upon catching sight of Remus, began to panic, shriek, and run around in little circles.

Nonplussed, Remus dropped the thread. He barely had time to think that the new DADA Professor had done a rotten job of teaching them how to defend themselves against Werewolves, when he saw something that was, amazingly, even worse than Draco Malfoy- Cornelius Fudge, with a hangover.

"Dumbledore!" grated the Minister clutching his head, "How DARE you let this-"

"I assure you that Remus has his condition totally in control," placated Dumbledore.

"-this person of negligible backround- " continued Fudge.

"-I can personally vouch for Mr. Lupin's trustworthyness," interrupted Dumbledore, only to be cut off by Fudge yet again.

"- to start the students into a shouting screaming panic when your Potion's Master's sobriety Potion didn't include a Hanover Supressant?"

Remus didn't wait to hear more. He was also getting a big headache. The ball of string had rolled who knew where, and he really wasn't about to get indicted for causing a Ministerial Headache. He ran as fast as he could, away from Fudge and the students.

Meanwhile, the thread rolled on until...

[timeturner]

…it nearly flattened Trevor. The toad was hopping slowly down the hall looking for his owner, who had accidentally left him in the library. Trevor’s internal clock told him that it was nearly time for Transfiguration, which meant he would once again become a victim of his master’s wand. It wasn’t all that bad though. He had never been seriously injured and the boy always rewarded him with a slew of tasty flies.

Trevor’s protruding eyes protruded even further when he saw the ball of string rolling towards him at what seemed like an unbelievable speed. With no time to dive neither left nor right, Trevor jumped straight into the air and to his surprise, landed in Neville’s arms.

“Trevor! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Neville cried. “We need to get to class. If we’re late, Professor McGonagall will take points from Gryffindor for sure.”

Trevor was so happy to still be toad-shaped rather than pancake-shaped that he nuzzled deeper into the folds of Neville’s arms and never saw that the ball of string had rolled into…

[zymurgy]

...the south corridor.

Professor Sprout was just shuffling in from Greenhouse 7, when she saw the thread.

"Bother it all," she sniffled, "I don't have time for balls of string."

With a resounding sneeze, she raised her skirts and kicked the string. It flew off and hit a distant object with a loud fwump.

"That'll teach it to get in my way when I have a cold," she coughed, before making her way to her quarters to sleep off her chill.

She probably wouldn't have left the scene if she'd realized that the object the ball of string had hit was...

[McGonagall's Cat]

... the forehead of one of the Hogwarts House Elves.

Normally the little creatures tended to be fairly forgiving, however, this particular elf had been balancing a huge basket of apples on its head on the way to the kitchens. The impact caused the basket to tumble. An over-full bushel of many varieties of apples rolled across the floor like a red, yellow and green wave. They ricocheted off the bottoms of the walls, a large urn, and the foot of a dented rusting suit of armour. The floor looked like an odd billiard table with the balls going every direction unable to find pockets.

The furious elf began to jump up and down, shouting, “You is not good! You is bad apples!” while it rubbed the sore spot on its head.

It then glared and pointed a finger at the basket, which proceeded to swoop around the floor gathering the wayward apples back into itself.

The thread, tangled around a Granny Smith, was scooped up along with all the other rounded pieces and the grumbling elf continued on its way to the kitchens without noticing. Unfortunately this trip was doomed.
As the elf opened the portrait of the bowl of fruit someone from inside the kitchens came charging out. The resulting collision caused the basket to fly into the air, flipping end over end, spewing fruit in a magnificent arc and tossing the ball of string clear over to where it …

[Azgard]

... where it stopped.

Fred and George were coming up to the kitchen entrance when they noticed the house elf on the floor and decided to help him pick up all the apples

“Oh, yous is not having to help, these apples is baad apples!” but George had picked up a few apples anyway. It was Fred who noticed the thread lying on the ground.

“Hey, George, I do believe this is the Ball of Thread of Doom which has had everyone so worried…” An evil grin spread across his face, “ Do you know, I think I found this earlier and dropped it on Professor Vector’s head?” He looked at his twin as they started walking towards the Great Hall. Fred had started winding the thread without even thinking about it.

“Did you really? You threw away this valuable Ball of Thread of Doom?” George looked at Fred in astonishment.

“That was before I knew what it really was, I had no idea it was something more than just a ball of thread…. Imagine…” Fred’s face had a crafty expression on it.

“I know what you’re thinking! Whom should we set this lovely little ball of thread on?” George was playing innocence. “Maybe Filch?”

“Or Snape!” In their excited state they bumped into someone and dropped the ball thread, which rolled until….

[evlpez]

In their excited state they bumped into someone and dropped the ball thread, which rolled until it it was well behind their obstacle.

"Fred Weasley, where on earth have you been?" Angelina was nose to nose with him, and clearly not in a good mood.

"Eep." Fred squeaked.

"My fault, Angelina," George said as he pulled Fred away and behind him for protection. "Entirely my fault. Fred was just saying how it was so important that he be on time to meet you and I made him come with me to er.. do something."

"See?" Fred peeked over his twin's shoulder, smiling sweetly. "Not my fault. Couldn't be helped."

Lee Jordan came up behind Angelina and put his arm around her.

"Angelina, my darling! When are you going to give up on this delinquent and listen to me? I'm the man for you. I wouldn't stand you up, ever."

Angelina smirked as Fred made puppy dog eyes and pushed George aside.

"Never again, Fred," she warned as she walked past.

"Never again, 'Lina, I give you my word." Fred grinned at George and Lee and turned to follow her.

Lee sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry, mate. We're irresistible," George said, patting Lee's shoulder and heading into the Great Hall. Lee stood there, deflated and lovesick, watching the back of the woman he adored. Finally he turned and tripped over the ball of thread and landed on his face. He was knocked out and the ball of thread flew down the corridor, landing...

[Azgard]

The ball of thread flew down the corridor, landing...

In the hand of Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall stopped in surprise; she had been looking for this little ball of thread for half the morning and had been about to take a break when it landed in her hand.
'Ah, here is the ball of thread of doom... I am going to put an end to this once and for all!' She thought to herself. Instead of walking along winding the string she took out her wand.

"Accio thread of doom!" She had been hoping all the thread from the ball of thread of doom would come to her hand all nice and neat, she had done the same thing with her yarn several times before.

The result was disastrous! The thread was not acting the way it was supposed to, it was coming towards her, but it was also catching students, professors, and random objects and dragging them with it! It was pandemonium!

She dropped the ball. "Finite!" She shouted over all the voices in the halls, and the thread became limp once more. "Well, I don't think I will be trying that again any time soon!" She looked around at the mess and started helping people to there feet, temporarily forgetting about the ball which had rolled...