SSC2007-05: The Cane Acts at Hogwarts (*/t, spank, cane, fantasy) [Missing scene] [502 words]

This story is fiction and deals with school caning. If such a subject is offensive, uninteresting or if you are a minor (i.e., child) please leave now.

This work is copyright by the author and commercial use is prohibited without permission. Personal/private copies are permitted only if complete including the copyright notice. The Harry Potter/Hogwart universe is the copyright property of J. K. Rowling and I'm using it under the parody exception to copyright. It probably redundant to note that this is 'a missing scene' sort of fanfiction.

Thanks to Kessily for help with the mysterious and magical ways of Hogwarts.

The author would appreciate your comments -- pro and con, including constructive criticism, and suggestions. E-mail: YLeeCoyote@mail.com

The Cane Acts at Hogwarts
By
Y Lee Coyote

It was prep at Hogwarts and several in the Gryffindor common room were worried. There had been some minor disturbance at dinner; suffice it to say a lot of comestibles on the walls and floor had to be dealt with by the house elves. All knew that Dumbledore was not smiling after McGonagall got a custard pie in the face. Several young gentlemen had good reason to be worried for they had been warned about such things.

The dreaded tapping was heard. It was a gentle tapping like that of a swagger stick of a new lieutenant knocking on a general's door. Immediately, the room was deadly silent for each pupil knew what it portended and feared what might happen to him/her.

Each and every eye stared intently at The Cane, the whipping cane, the enchanted whipping cane, as it floated off its rack. "Who would it select?" was the question on everyone's mind along with the prayer that it would be someone else. Its cuts were notoriously most vicious.

The Cane sailed past everyone and started circling the room again. It was known to do this and just return to its position. The Inquisition called this 'the showing of the instruments'. The result was as good as if it had been used. Every eye was watching it to see. Hearts were racing and many brows and axillae were in need of mopping.

The Cane stopped. A shoulder was tapped. The protocol was known. The Cane neither spoke nor listened so there was but one thing for the tapped pupil to do. He went to the front of the room. He removed his gown, opened his belt and trousers letting them drop. He paused before dropping his pants but The Cane tapped the desk impatiently and he did it, blushing all over. He bent over, tightly grasping the far side of the table, presenting his bum for The Cane. The Cane lifted his shirt tail away from his bum. All knew exactly what was coming.

There was a SWISH as The Cane moved for the first cut. It was one of the best -- as all were The Cane's cuts. An angry tram line appeared almost immediately. The lad gasped at the pain. The others just watched, several with engorged crotches even though they could be next.

There were five more cuts; each as horrendous as the first. Five perfectly straight and parallel tracks with one perfect diagonal. The lad was not quite crying but his cheeks were wet. He wished that he knew a healing spell even though they were strictly prohibited.

The Cane returned to its upright position and every pupil again locked his eyes on it. The Cane glided back to its rack. There was a collective sigh of relief. The lad quickly pulled up his pants and trousers. By the time he returned to his place the punishment chit was there; Snape had been displeased in Potions class once again.

Leaving, Ginny whispered: "You got the cutest bum, Harry."

The End

© Copyright A.I.L. July 25, 2007

While I'm not a big fan of fan-fic, I truly enjoyed this one. Totally aside from the setting, which was accurately rendered, the idea of a "spanking machine", of an implaccable, unrelenting punishment from a machine, or in this case, enchanted cane, has always feature big in my fantasies.  I could easily imagine myself in Harry's place.

I've enjoyed all the HP books, and this story fell nicely into the missing scene category.  Certainly, if there was a caning to be had in the series, it would have happened in a similar manner.  I have a couple of minor quibbles, though.  I didn't understand what the tapping was. My first impression was that the cane was knocking for entrance, but the description went on to tell me the cane came off a rack in the room itself.  Also, the common room was round, therefore had no "front" to speak of.  He should have gone to the *center* of the room.

I'm being picky, I know.  As I said, they were minor issues and I enjoyed reading a scene that was, until now, "missing" from my HP knowledge.  Nicely done.  Not great but surely nicely done.

I felt your writing in this instance caught the gist of how J.K. Rowling herself writes.  I loved that the caning was administered by the "whipping cane" itself rather than a person, that was a clever and fun idea.  It made me smile when I realized it was Harry himself getting the caning.  I had to wonder though, why wasn't anyone punished for that ruckus in the dining room earlier?  Not fair!

I'm always amazed by people who can write convincing fanfic and this is an excellent example!  The story catches something of the weirdness of Hogwarts combined with the conventional Britishness of school setting.

This is also the first take on a spanking machine that I've ever enjoyed.  In a strange way, in the context of the Harry Potter universe, this creation (the cane) felt very real.

One of the things that Rowling herself is best at is the creation of magical objects which have a life of their own, and work powerfully for the narrative. The magical cane seems like exactly the sort of thing she'd create, should she need an instrument of punishment at Hogwarts. It seems to fit right in.

There's some very nice writing here, too - both on its own terms and as a reflection of the original work. Unfortunately, there are also quite a few jarring breaks in the narrator's voice, which don't fit either the tone of the story itself, or Rowling's world. The use of 'him/her' is unnecessarily clumsy - 'them' is a perfectly acceptable alternative. The use of 'bum' isn't consistent with the somewhat more formal voice. Most jarring of all, the reference to 'engorged crotches' just doesn't fit, and seems to come from an entirely different story.

So, a very enjoyable and mostly well-written piece, which would have benefitted hugely from some careful editing here and there.