Fic: More Than Meets The Eye (Challenge #69)
Title: More Than Meets The Eye
Summary: Arthur treats himself to a movie at a muggle cinema.
Characters/Pairings: Arthur Weasley.
Genre: Comedy
Beta: None
Rating/Warnings: G; None
Medium: Fic
Word Count: 1,095
A/N: With apologies to Nick Swardson.
It had been a quiet day at the office. So quiet, in fact, that Arthur had decided to clock out early. He did not head home though. No; and he was a little worried Molly would be tiffed with him when he did return, but he was treating himself that afternoon. There was something he was dying to try - it was a late birthday present to himself. Or, an early one, depending on how you looked at it.
February wasn't that far off from July now, was it?
Arthur was taking the afternoon and visiting a muggle cinema.
It wasn’t too hard getting himself to the cinema. There was one in particular about three miles away from the Ministry he had been staking out for the past month or so. Today was finally the day that he would put his plan into action and see a muggle “moo-vee.”
He strolled up to the ticket counter, confident in his actions because he had seen many people do the same on his stake-outs. The young man behind the glass stared blankly at Arthur and the aging wizard smiled back.
“May I have one ticket to your most popular movie, please?”
The young man’s eyebrows came together beneath his purple and gray hat. He shrugged and pressed a button; several white squares seemed to appear out of nowhere. He took Arthur’s muggle money as a trade for the white squares and Arthur was off - confident still - through the glass sliding doors just beyond the ticket counter.
His confidence began to wane though. He hadn’t actually managed to come this far in his preparations. What was he supposed to do?
There was a group of young people walking toward a man behind a podium. They handed the man their white squares and the man behind the podium ripped them in half before handing part of it back to the muggles.
Arthur quickly jumped in line and handed the man his white square.
The man ripped it in half and gave Arthur the smaller piece. “Theater 12. NEXT!”
Arthur jumped a little when the man shouted and hurried past. His nose was assaulted with the most wonderful of smells. He took a deep breath and followed the scent to a long, large counter. Many people stood behind the counter, taking orders from dozens of muggles. Arthur hung back to watch for a moment before joining in the line, his muggle money ready in his hand.
The most popular order seemed to be for a giant (quite literally larger than his head) bucket of popcorn and a carbonated beverage. Not wanting to seem out of place, Arthur ordered four of each.
Carrying the large buckets of popped corn and large glasses of carbonated drinks by himself was tricky without magic. At one point the buckets were stacked so high in his arms that he couldn’t see where he was going.
He tripped over a thirty something year old woman, dumping an entire bucket of popcorn on her head. It looked rather like a hat. Filled with buttery popped corn.
She was not too pleased with Arthur after that. Neither was her husband.
Arthur apologized profusely and gave them another bucket of popcorn and two of his drinks as compensation and then high-tailed it to theater number twelve. He passed an interesting sign that read “TRANSFORMERS” and smiled brightly.
Muggles and their notions of magic - so close and yet no fruit (as goes the saying the muggles themselves use).
The theater was impressive! There was a giant screen and before it, hundreds of chairs. Many of them were occupied already. Arthur found his way towards the front and sat down with his two buckets of popcorn and two large carbonated beverages on either side of him.
He smiled brightly at first the young teenager on his right, and then at the elderly man on his left.
He was so excited he was almost dancing in his seat.
Arthur took several big gulps of his drink to help calm his nerves. He coughed and blinked rapidly, setting his drink down and almost spilling it all over himself. He did not expect it to be that carbonated or that sweet.
“Phew!” He said, exhaling with puffed cheeks.
The teenager on his right looked at him like he was crazy.
“Very sweet drink,” he mumbled. The teenager rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the screen because, at that moment, the house lights dimmed.
Arthur gasped. “The movie is starting!”
He gripped on to his arm rests in sheer excitement, almost knocking his drinks over. The elderly man to his left stopped the drink from falling over and raised a big, bushy eyebrow.
“It’s just the previews, son.”
Arthur was disappointed at first until he realized what previews were - mini movies! Each one was captivating in its own way. He was planning on how he could sneak out of work more often to see even more muggle movies without upsetting Molly when the previews stopped, and a dancing telly phone told him to it was rude or text to call in the movie theater.
Arthur nodded his agreement, proud of himself for knowing what a telly phone was and for not owning one.
Finally, the movie started.
It turned out the most popular movie in July of 2007 was actually called Transformers.
At first it started out fine. Just a young boy named Sam who lusted after a scantily clad woman while his parents bought him a car.
But then - the car was alive! And more and more cars were alive! And there were epic battles on the streets of cities!
“WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?” Arthur couldn’t help himself. He was on his feet, terrified and shocked and overwhelmingly impressed with the muggle spirit and adaptability. “HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THIS? YOU BRAVE, BRAVE SOULS!” He embraced the elderly man next to him. “I can’t - I can’t even! This is so…I mean, WOAH! Just, seriously, everyone! I mean. What! How! WHEN?”
Two larger men approached Arthur with their flashlights out; he could tell by their name tags that they were employees of the cinema.
“Gentlemen! May I just say how impressed I am and-”
They cut him off by each grabbing him under an armpit. They lifted him off his feet and carried him out of the theater.
All the muggles left in their seats started applauding.
Arthur waved back at them as best he could his in current condition.
“Oh dear. Molly is going to be sore she missed this!”
1,095/30 = 36.5 +5 = 41.5 = 42 points for Hufflepuff!
Summary: Arthur treats himself to a movie at a muggle cinema.
Characters/Pairings: Arthur Weasley.
Genre: Comedy
Beta: None
Rating/Warnings: G; None
Medium: Fic
Word Count: 1,095
A/N: With apologies to Nick Swardson.
It had been a quiet day at the office. So quiet, in fact, that Arthur had decided to clock out early. He did not head home though. No; and he was a little worried Molly would be tiffed with him when he did return, but he was treating himself that afternoon. There was something he was dying to try - it was a late birthday present to himself. Or, an early one, depending on how you looked at it.
February wasn't that far off from July now, was it?
Arthur was taking the afternoon and visiting a muggle cinema.
It wasn’t too hard getting himself to the cinema. There was one in particular about three miles away from the Ministry he had been staking out for the past month or so. Today was finally the day that he would put his plan into action and see a muggle “moo-vee.”
He strolled up to the ticket counter, confident in his actions because he had seen many people do the same on his stake-outs. The young man behind the glass stared blankly at Arthur and the aging wizard smiled back.
“May I have one ticket to your most popular movie, please?”
The young man’s eyebrows came together beneath his purple and gray hat. He shrugged and pressed a button; several white squares seemed to appear out of nowhere. He took Arthur’s muggle money as a trade for the white squares and Arthur was off - confident still - through the glass sliding doors just beyond the ticket counter.
His confidence began to wane though. He hadn’t actually managed to come this far in his preparations. What was he supposed to do?
There was a group of young people walking toward a man behind a podium. They handed the man their white squares and the man behind the podium ripped them in half before handing part of it back to the muggles.
Arthur quickly jumped in line and handed the man his white square.
The man ripped it in half and gave Arthur the smaller piece. “Theater 12. NEXT!”
Arthur jumped a little when the man shouted and hurried past. His nose was assaulted with the most wonderful of smells. He took a deep breath and followed the scent to a long, large counter. Many people stood behind the counter, taking orders from dozens of muggles. Arthur hung back to watch for a moment before joining in the line, his muggle money ready in his hand.
The most popular order seemed to be for a giant (quite literally larger than his head) bucket of popcorn and a carbonated beverage. Not wanting to seem out of place, Arthur ordered four of each.
Carrying the large buckets of popped corn and large glasses of carbonated drinks by himself was tricky without magic. At one point the buckets were stacked so high in his arms that he couldn’t see where he was going.
He tripped over a thirty something year old woman, dumping an entire bucket of popcorn on her head. It looked rather like a hat. Filled with buttery popped corn.
She was not too pleased with Arthur after that. Neither was her husband.
Arthur apologized profusely and gave them another bucket of popcorn and two of his drinks as compensation and then high-tailed it to theater number twelve. He passed an interesting sign that read “TRANSFORMERS” and smiled brightly.
Muggles and their notions of magic - so close and yet no fruit (as goes the saying the muggles themselves use).
The theater was impressive! There was a giant screen and before it, hundreds of chairs. Many of them were occupied already. Arthur found his way towards the front and sat down with his two buckets of popcorn and two large carbonated beverages on either side of him.
He smiled brightly at first the young teenager on his right, and then at the elderly man on his left.
He was so excited he was almost dancing in his seat.
Arthur took several big gulps of his drink to help calm his nerves. He coughed and blinked rapidly, setting his drink down and almost spilling it all over himself. He did not expect it to be that carbonated or that sweet.
“Phew!” He said, exhaling with puffed cheeks.
The teenager on his right looked at him like he was crazy.
“Very sweet drink,” he mumbled. The teenager rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the screen because, at that moment, the house lights dimmed.
Arthur gasped. “The movie is starting!”
He gripped on to his arm rests in sheer excitement, almost knocking his drinks over. The elderly man to his left stopped the drink from falling over and raised a big, bushy eyebrow.
“It’s just the previews, son.”
Arthur was disappointed at first until he realized what previews were - mini movies! Each one was captivating in its own way. He was planning on how he could sneak out of work more often to see even more muggle movies without upsetting Molly when the previews stopped, and a dancing telly phone told him to it was rude or text to call in the movie theater.
Arthur nodded his agreement, proud of himself for knowing what a telly phone was and for not owning one.
Finally, the movie started.
It turned out the most popular movie in July of 2007 was actually called Transformers.
At first it started out fine. Just a young boy named Sam who lusted after a scantily clad woman while his parents bought him a car.
But then - the car was alive! And more and more cars were alive! And there were epic battles on the streets of cities!
“WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?” Arthur couldn’t help himself. He was on his feet, terrified and shocked and overwhelmingly impressed with the muggle spirit and adaptability. “HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THIS? YOU BRAVE, BRAVE SOULS!” He embraced the elderly man next to him. “I can’t - I can’t even! This is so…I mean, WOAH! Just, seriously, everyone! I mean. What! How! WHEN?”
Two larger men approached Arthur with their flashlights out; he could tell by their name tags that they were employees of the cinema.
“Gentlemen! May I just say how impressed I am and-”
They cut him off by each grabbing him under an armpit. They lifted him off his feet and carried him out of the theater.
All the muggles left in their seats started applauding.
Arthur waved back at them as best he could his in current condition.
“Oh dear. Molly is going to be sore she missed this!”
1,095/30 = 36.5 +5 = 41.5 = 42 points for Hufflepuff!