Horace Slughorn recalls
"On the day of the performance tempers were fraught, to put it mildly. Some showed it more than others, of course.

"Minerva was calm, competent, and malevolent to her fingertips. Of course that was all quite in character, and Filius, clever fellow that he is, took the malevolence in the spirit in which it most certainly wasn't intended and complimented her on being such a good actress and such a support for him. It thawed her to some degree.

"Poppy and Irma glared and bickered, and Pomona avoided them as much as possible. On the one hand, I was very sorry to see this. As you know, I had hoped for different things. On the other hand, it made Pomona strike up a conversation with Severus. She had been among those who said they felt almost sorry for the lad, for where my little plan for Severus was concerned, the play had been a success. Filius, too, got a new appreciation for the boy. Severus billowed and waltzed assiduously, and while he clearly hated the job, he did it without challenging his director.

"During the following years, they became quite good friends, and I like to think it's the play that started that friendship.

"Filius himself was very nervous about the performance, and even more nervous about his actors. And he fretted because he had made some sort of arrangement with The Leaky Cauldron for a Christmas outing for his sister and her family, and he wasn't sure everything was quite settled.

"I told him to jot down the essentials and offered to take it up with Tom myself, as Filius could not possibly be spared from Hogwarts on that day. It could have waited another day, mind, but Filius was nervous enough as it was. And I always enjoy a little time away from Hogwarts. A quick snifter at the Leaky would be the very thing, I thought.

"Once I got there, who did I find behind the bar? None other than Faith Burbage. Her father, Peregrine Burbage, is a great friend of mine. A very famous scholar. He wrote a much-praised book on Thestrals – you may have read it. Oh, sorry, you're a Muggle – you probably didn't. But it's a seminal work, trust me.

"I thought Charity would enjoy having her sister among the audience. She's quite close to Faith, always writing letters. So I asked Tom to give her the afternoon off. He agreed at once, and I was pleased to see it. Because he agreed to give her the afternoon in a way that made it perfectly clear he would give her the pub, his heart, and a wedding-ring if she would only encourage him a little. And the way she looked at him …

"I was glad to see some happiness that day. And overjoyed for Faith. Nice girl, clever, too. In Ravenclaw, she was, and I always felt sorry for her. After her mother's death she didn't go to University – her father wouldn't have it. Wanted her to look after him. Now, I'm the first to admire Peregrine's books, but he's as demanding as they make them, and I thought Faith had had a very bleak life with him.

"So we Apparated back together, and I got Faith safely into Hogwarts. It would be a lovely surprise for Charity, I thought.

"And then the final hour was there, and we were all lined up for the Christening scene. Albus had outdone himself with the costumes, and everything looked as festive as could be, with the King and Queen as the resplendent centre of the scene. As we waited for the play to begin properly, with a herald announcing the arrival of the Good Godmothers (and one would have thought that Argus Filch, after a lifetime in service, would have managed the part just that tiny bit better) I told Charity her sister was in the first row.

"To my surprise, Charity turned pale, then puce. And then she had to deliver her lines.

"She started well enough, expressing regret at not inviting Maleficent. That was all she had to say according to the script. But then she went on saying she knew how important it was to have manners and a touch of class. Well, that still fitted her part more or less, although I could see Filius making frantic gestures in the wings.

"But then she went on to say that one had to remember one's social standing and one's family, and one couldn't just go and live with an inn-keeper. "It's debauchery!" Charity practically screeched by now, and when she added that "it will kill poor Papa," I fully realised that my little act of kindness had gone utterly awry.

"I silently damned and blasted Hogwarts pantomimes, Albus for thinking of it, and the gods in general for screwing things up so royally.

"Our fellow-actors were flabbergasted, as you can readily imagine. Minerva saved the day, as she invariably does, by addressing me (the King) and pointing out that the three fairy godmothers had clearly put a spell on my Queen that had addled her brain. But that didn't alter the fact that she, Maleficent, had not been invited and …

"From there on, she continued with the script. All was temporarily well. Charity had no further lines, other than an exclamation of shock when Malificent cursed the infant, and she managed that with great conviction. The play continued.

"Severus pulled off his waltz in a thoroughly respectable manner, and Aurora looked absolutely lovely. The audience applauded the scene, which was very fine indeed, and I felt we were on the home stretch.

"Alas. I had counted without the fairy godmothers. Pomona, like the good sport she is, did everything in her power to make their big scene go well. Poppy, I must give her her due, did an admirable job with the 'bake a cake without magic' thing. It looked funny without being over the top, and the children loved it.

"Irma, meanwhile, put Pomona on a chair to be the model for the dress. This had been rehearsed endlessly, and she did as well as Poppy in the acting department. The children loved this, too, and they screamed with laughter at the funny faces Pomona made whenever she could peer from under the dress fabric.

"The thing was a success, and I was so pleased for Filius.

"Then the fairy godmothers realised that not using magic wouldn't work, and they drew their wands. Poppy's magical cake was beyond beautiful, and got a well-deserved applause. Irma's dress looked lovely, too, but as a final touch she Charmed the fabric blue.

"When Poppy noticed this, she immediately Charmed it pink. And Irma Charmed it blue, and Poppy Charmed it pink, and they were yelling "Blue!" and "Pink!" at each other.

"Finally Pomona stepped in to calm them both down – and both Poppy and Irma spoke their spell at the same time. Pomona was right in the middle of the two shafts of sparks, and she was pink and blue all over.

"Filius did the only thing he could: he dropped the curtain. On stage it was mayhem. Irma and Poppy ranted at each other, Pomona was almost in tears at the thought that the play would be spoiled, and Filius was beside himself with anger.

"I stepped in. I had to. I told Filius to clean up Pomona. I told Poppy and Irma to behave, for Filius's sake if nothing else. I might not have succeeded there, but Albus joined our group, and his authority carried the day.

"The next scene should have been the one in which the three godmothers tell Aurora she's a princess, and she must return to the castle and marry the prince to whom she's betrothed. But Pomona needed quite a bit of cleaning up. Always very tricky, getting in the middle of conflicting spells. It would take a little time, even for a talented wizard like Filius.

"So Albus and I decided to jump in. Albus would play the other king – that is, the father of Aurora's fiancé. We would talk about how we had arranged this marriage, and what clever fellows we were. It would give Filius the time he needed.

"We ad-libbed freely about the engagement and upcoming nuptials. I must admit we filled our goblets frequently, toasting each other, and we got fairly cheerful and perhaps a bit over the top. But the children thought it the funniest thing ever, and that was all that mattered.

"Then the three godmothers did their scene with Aurora, and once again I thought we were home and dry.

"It was not to be.

"The children had become quite raucous, and when Severus leaned over to kiss the princess – I had told Filius to make sure the audience got a back view of Severus, since the poor chap, with that nose of his, and that lank hair, did nothing to enhance the picture – one imp on the first row shouted, "Oh, the poor princess!"

"It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Severus drew to his full height and glared at the child. It was such a glare that I myself felt shivers running down my back, and three ickle first-years started to cry.

"At that point, Filius did the only thing left to him. He started the waltz music, signalled to Aurora and the Prince to waltz off scene – and that ended the play.

"Even Albus, with all his thespian enthusiasm, felt it was an experience never to be repeated.

"There are two interesting little sequels to this story, however.

"About a year later, Pomona suffered from a tummy-ache. She didn't want to make a fuss, since it was once again around Christmas and everyone was busy with end-of-term marking and the Heads of the Houses had to get their students off for the holidays.

"It turned out to be an appendicitis, with complications, too. Pomona had really been uncommonly brave, not to say foolhardy, to carry on for as long as she did.

"She ended up in the sick ward, and because of those complications she had to stay there for four solid weeks. And obviously she spent a lot of time with Poppy, who felt very sorry for Pomona, missing all the Christmas cheer and, more important for a teacher, the Christmas holidays. She, Poppy, I mean, was a true ministering angel.

"They have been very happy together ever since.

"As for Tom, he married Faith Burbage and became as cheerful a publican as one could hope to find. And the food in The Leaky Cauldron improved beyond belief."