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Halloween Feast
Author: Ellis
Date: 11-27-14 09:49
Blakeney stood before a full-length mirror in the bathroom and studied the costume she wore for Halloween. Upon learning students could wear fancy dress for the feast, Blakeney had written home with ideas. Her mother had followed through with the perfect outfit, a combination of store bought clothing pieces and hand-sewn embellishments.
Blakeney's dress was silky and pale lavender in color, with a filmy bluish-purple overlay for a skirt. The sleeves were of the same filmy material and were slit in several places so that they hung like moss from a tree branch or grasses drifting lazily from the floor of a lake. Nestled over Blakeney's dark hair was a simple tiara with a lavender stone in the middle. A similar jewel adorned her necklace.
One of two final pieces to her costume was a pair of filmy wings, the same bluish-purple as her skirt and sleeves. Finally, she applied a liberal amount of glitter to her hair, edge of her face, and collar bones.
"You know real fairies don't look like this," Blakeney said to Tessa, who was making final adjustments to her own costume.
"Really?"
Tessa's face fell when Blakeney told her that fairies weren't beautiful and graceful like Muggles imagined. "But," Blakeney went on, "I wish they did. Thanks for letting me borrow that book of yours."
Tessa said, "No problem." The book was a storybook with a lot of beautiful illustrations. The fairy in the book from which Blakeney had drawn inspiration wore a dress very similar to the one Blakeney's mother had managed to create.
The girls finished primping and then set out for the Great Hall and the Halloween Feast. It was still filling up when they arrived and made their way to the Hufflepuff table. Blakeney glanced around for Alys and saw that she was already seated at the Gryffindor table.
Alys had her hardanger fiddle with her and was dressed in Norwegian traditional dress, something else their mother had managed to recreate from various pieces of clothing. The dress Alys wore consisted of a white blouse and black skirt, a burgundy bodice with simple embroidery, and a white apron over the skirt.
She was strumming on the strings of her instrument, which Blakeney couldn't hear over the noise of the gathering crowd. Alys stopped as soon as the dish upon dish magically appeared on the long tables, signaling the official start of the Halloween Feast.
Halloween Party
Author: Lee Sickleby
Date: 11-27-14 13:00
Lee sat in the living room of their shared flat and waited on Alaia to finish getting ready. His best friend and college roommate Cei Walker had invited Lee to a Halloween party at his place. These days Cei lived in Southall, London with his wife of two years. Lee still saw Cei on and off, but both had gotten busier in the last few years––Cei because of his marriage and Lee because of work.
Like Alaia, Cei had no idea what Lee really did for a living. He also didn't yet know that Lee was in a serious relationship, but that would all change tonight.
Lee got off the couch and walked up to the bathroom door. "Argh! What's takin' ye so long, me lass?" He was dressed as a pirate captain.
Inside the bathroom, Alaia laughed and then replied, "I'll be out in a minute."
Lee went back to the couch. Exactly a minute later, Alaia emerged dressed as a pirate wench. Lee's eyes were immediately drawn to her tightly cinched corset, which left very little to the imagination, especially with her chest practically bursting out of the top.
Alaia laughed again and asked, "Well, what do you think?"
"I think I have to leave you at home," Lee said, closing the gap between them and pulling her tightly against him. "If I let you go, you're bound to have a wardrobe malfunction, and I can't have other men drooling over you."
"Trust me," Alaia said. "I've made sure everything stays where it's meant to. You look dashing."
Lee looked down at his costume, which was very nice. He wore leather boots that went up this knees, black pants, a dark red, long coat with shiny buttons, a matching hat, and an eyepatch. A sheathed cutlass was on his hip.
"I do, don't I?" he teased. "Are we ready to go?"
"Ready."
A short while later they apparated to an out of the way alley in Southall and then emerged onto The Broadway, the main thoroughfare in that part of London. They passed by a number of Indian restaurants, grocers, and retail stores and then turned down a side street to a more residential part of town. They passed a number of houses until they eventually came upon one only wizards could see. It was attached to a blue house with a pointed gable.
Cei's house was almost a mirror image of the blue house, only instead of stucco it was made of beige stone with a few red ones thrown it for good measure. The front door opened into a small sunroom.
The sounds of a party were already underway. Lee wondered what the Muggles in the neighborhood heard and where they thought the noise might be coming from. He and Alaia approached the door and rang the bell.
Cei's wife Pooja opened the door and greeted Lee, whom she recognized since he'd been best man at the wedding. Lee introduced Pooja to Alaia, who was delighted to learn Lee was dating somebody, and in turn introduced her to Cei.
Cei was dressed as a Maharaja. Pooja was dressed as Margaret Thatcher. They thought they were being cute and funny, which they were. Lee thought they made a great couple.
Cei immediately starting asking questions. Where did they meet? How long had they been dating? Were they really already living together? And so on.
He eventually left Lee and Alaia to greet other new arrivals. Lee turned to her and asked, "So, what do you think?"
"Your friends are nice," she said, "and the party seems fun so far."
Lee smiled and pointed to the bar. Alaia grinned and reached for something under her skirts, which had Lee puzzled at first until she produced a flask with a skull and crossbones on it. He laughed and put his arm around her and they headed over to get a drink.
Halloween Wear
Author: Charlie Weasley
Date: 11-27-14 19:10
There had been a few Halloween related events at St. Emrys today and there are a number of parties this evening being hosted or sponsored by various groups and organizations. Of these, one is for university staff and is more family oriented. As with the current popular trend of Halloween parties with a heavy Muggle influence, the staff party is costume optional.
After telling Hendrika a few weeks ago about the party and a discussion on whether to go and what costumes to wear if they did. More specifically, what costumes Charlie and Hendrika would wear as they knew if they took the children without costumes the children would not be happy seeing others there with them. To determine costumes for Schuyler, Artie, and Ava was a simple matter of asking them.
When asked, Artie responded in less then a second. "Dragon. The Swishid one."
"The Swedish Short-Snout," Charlie had replied, not the least bit surprised. Artie plays a great deal with the various toy dragon sets and his current favorite color is blue, the Swedish Short-Snout being silvery blue.
"Yes, Swishid," the seventh year old had affirmed, his stubborn streak not allowing him to acknowledge he'd said Swedish incorrectly.
The same question posed to Schuyler took slightly longer to be answers, the eight year old deliberating his options. When he did decide Schuyler went to get a book, quickly flipping to the page he wanted. Pointing to a creature in the picture he stated, "A griffin."
Three year old Ava first said she wanted to dress like her favorite dolly but an hour later told her parents, "Butt'fly."
Charlie had the idea to be somewhat comedic by coming to the party dressed as a banshee. The ha ha part of this idea is that banshees appear to be women.
Hendrika wanted to join in the fancy dress fun but had a harder time deciding on a costume. She doesn't need the wheelchair all the time these days but thought it prudent to plan on having the wheelchair at a big hours long function as this staff party. In the end, she decided on something that would incorporate the wheelchair as part of the costume.
When Charlie and his family arrive to the party, held in part of the university allotted to Merlin College, a dragon, a butterfly, a griffin, a banshee, and a woman a colorful Middle Eastern style garment sitting on a flying carpet enter the party, all looking forward to a fun eating with good food, music, and a few games for the children.
Kents at the Feast
Author: Jolyon
Date: 11-28-14 11:14
Jolyon sat at the High Table with the other professors and their families and worked his way through a plate piled high with food. He had briefly considered inviting Lorrie to attend the Halloween Feast as his date but knowing how his children felt about him dating their aunt helped him decide against the idea. Instead, he made plans to meet up with her later.
He was dressed as a Yeti. His furry white costume came with a mask, which Jolyon had abandoned so that he could eat.
Jolyon had initially thought it might be fun to dress up as a family with Arielle and Asher, despite the fact that his kids were probably too old to want to coordinate with their dad. The thought was short-lived, since Jolyon knew Asher would never willingly participate. With Arielle still keeping her distance from him, Jolyon doubted she would show any interest either.
What he didn't know was that Arielle had already started coming to terms with the fact that he and her aunt Lorrie were dating. She still didn't like it and much preferred it if her parents would get back together, but she accepted that things couldn't always go her way. Arielle just hadn't talked to her dad about her feelings yet. Maybe she would someday soon, but the urge and the opportunity hadn't exactly surfaced.
She sat in the middle of the long Gryffindor table and wore a pink tutu, tights, and ballet shoes. Her hair was pulled into a smooth bun and she wore a enough make-up so that people in the back of a hypothetical audience could see her face.
At the Slytherin table, Asher was starting to come to the realization that his costume had been a poor choice. He'd gone the cheap, last-minute route and cut eye holes and a mouth into a set of white bedsheets. The mouth hole allowed him to get food into his mouth, but the food rarely made it in without touching the sheet. His ghost costume had turkey grease and gravy, mashed potatoes, and other food stains all around the mouth hole.
"A poor representation," stated the Bloody Baron as he drifted past.
Asher pretended like he didn't hear. Instead, he glanced up at the High Table and looked at his father. Even though his costume wasn't the best around, Asher felt that he didn't look as ridiculous as the big furball seated at the staff table.
Halloween Costumes
Author: Mildred
Date: 11-28-14 13:45
The celebration of Halloween was even more fun than usual because tomorrow there would be no classes. Instead of spending the afternoon doing homework Mildred and her friends had gone to their respective dormitories and dress up for Halloween. Then they planned to meet at the Great Hall, which was decorated for the Halloween feast.
"Are those bats real?" Amelia asked, looking at a flock of bats that crossed the Great Hall from one end to the other. She was wearing a pink pajama with white dots, a pair of matching slippers and she carried a pillow with her as an accessory.
"It's probably a spell," Melpomene said, as they all sat by the Gryffindor table. Melpomene was dressed up as a cowgirl, which caused a lot of confusion to Mildred and Amelia. Queenie, as an half-blood, was familiar with the concept and she had made Melpomene promise that she would lend her the boots she was wearing, even if she had to put a spell on them because they didn't wear the same size.
Mildred was dressed as a St. Mungo's healer. Last summer she had made a trip to her grandmother's attic and she found a set of old healer robes that had belonged to her mother, during her years of training and learning. She thought it would serve as a good costume to use at Halloween. As she was putting it on earlier in the evening, she couldn't help to wonder how her mother would have used her hair while working. Mildred couldn't remember. But she had an image of her father wearing the same lime green robes, saying goodbye to her as he went to work, when she was still very little.
"Where are the boys?" she asked, noticing that both Achilles and Wesley had not arrived yet.
"You would think that they would get ready before us. Maybe they are applying make up to each other," Queenie teased, looking at the food, hunger reflecting in blue her eyes. "If they don't hurry, I'll start eating without them. I don't care."
Queenie was dressed as Ignatia Wildsmith, the inventor of the Floo powder. She had bought a small package of Floo powder at Hogsmeade and she had applied it all over her robes and hair, portraying a scene where Ignatia allegedly had a nervous breakdown while inventing the Floo powder and had started tossing all her samples away, getting covered with them. Most people believed such story was untrue, but Queenie thought it would be fun to play it. Mildred just hoped part of the powder wouldn't fall into Queenie's food by mistake, and she would eat it and end up at the Hospital Wing.
"Hello, girls," Wesley greeted as he and Achilles joined them.
Wesley was dressed as Godric Gryffindor. He even carried a replica of the Gryffindor sword on his waist. The rubies on it glowed with the candlelight. Achilles on the other hand, was wearing the robes of the Azkaban prisoners.
"I'm sorry we took so long," he apologized, seating next to Mildred. He would always sit next to her now. Even when she tried to seat between other people, Achilles would always try to make some space to sit at her side. "But Mr. Gryffindor here wanted his sword to look as real as possible, and it took us a while to figure out what spell to use to make the sword's rubies to glow."
"It was worth the waiting," Melpomene assured. "It looks amazing!"
The others agreed. Then they started to eat, the conversation flowing with ease. Wesley had heard a rumor this morning that McGonagall was considering giving permission for the students to play pranks on each other during the weekend without points being taken from any house. It would be sort of an extension of the Halloween day that they were celebrating today.
"Who said that?" Amelia asked, looking up, making sure the bats were not flying nearby.
"A bunch of first years, at the common room. They were all excited and already planning some pranks against the Slytherins. I told me that it would be impossible that the headmistress would let something like that happen in the school, but that maybe if they were careful and played their pranks right, that they should go ahead with it."
"I don't mind participating, if it's against the Slytherins," Queenie offered.
"Me too!" Achilles said, backing her up.
Melpomene rolled her eyes, obviously disliking the idea. Mildred did not want to have any part on that as well. while the others tried to come up with a plan to trick some innocent Slytherins, the two girls looked at the High Table and started to comment on the teacher's costumes. The first to call their attention was Professor Kent in his Yeti costume.
Kate and Tessa
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 11-28-14 16:10
Hogwarts feasts were the few times that students were restricted to sitting at their respective house tables. Kate and Hugo sat together at the Hufflepuff table, while their Slytherin friends kept each other company across the room.
This year, Kate had gone all out on her costume. She was a mermaid. Her hair, which she had grown out, hung long down her back and was entwined with strips of greenish brown cloth meant to look like kelp. She didn't show much skin despite the nature of her costume, because nude fabric took the place of her bare skin. Her top consisted of larger strips of "kelp", and her fin was really a long skirt in the mermaid style that shimmered like real scales and looked a different shade of dark green from various angles. Clear heels completed the outfit.
Hugo had also gone the way of a sentient magical creature, only he was a centaur. He was bare-chested, which so far had not drawn negative response from any of the teachers, most especially Professor McGonagall. His bottom consisted of the common two-person Muggle horse costume, magically enhanced so that a second person didn't have to walk bent-backed behind him. The humorous part of it all was the fact that his hindquarters stuck way out into the aisle, so that anybody passing behind had to go around him.
"If we had a costume contest, you would definitely win it this year," Kate said to him.
"I know!" Hugo said, not the least bit modest. He knew he looked funny, which was why he'd gone with the costume from the start.
Not too far from Kate and Hugo sat Tessa and Blakeney. Tessa was a peacock. She wore a dress that was teal in the front and dark blue in the back, which also fanned out and looked like the bird's tail-feathers. She wished it had real peacock feathers on it, and if she'd had more time to plan out what to wear for Halloween, then she might have tried adding them to the outfit herself. She supposed it was still an okay costume the way it was, though.
"Why don't wizards dress up in costume ever?" Tessa asked Blakeney.
Blakeney shrugged. "I don't know. I guess you could argue our normal way of dress… robes… are like costumes to Muggles. Don't you think?"
Tessa nodded in agreement. She helped herself to another helping of creamed corn and said, "You have to admit it's fun, dressing up."
"Yeah, it is," Blakeney agreed. "I'm glad we're allowed to."
"Me too!"
Badgered (Devon)
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 11-29-14 18:23
Devon had been thinking of a potential Halloween costume since the end of this past school term. She wasn't sure if fancy dress would be the thing at her third Hogwarts Halloween feast but she wanted to be prepared just in case.
Unfortunately, having those weeks to think of a fabulously wonderful costume led nowhere. Devon thought of any number of costumes only to discard them all. It was one afternoon in late August, only days before she was due to ride the Hogwarts Express for start of the 2008-2009 school year that with the help of her cousin Christopher and his girlfriend Catriona that she had an idea she liked.
Somehow wearing costumes for the Halloween feast had come up, prompting Christopher to remind Cat that a few of the parties by St. Emrys University groups do fancy dress and maybe they should also be thinking of costumes. This led to Cat saying maybe she'd go with the obvious, a cat. Christopher considered a cat as well, though something like a tiger or leopard versus Cat's idea of going as some sort of domesticated kitty. He then thought about other animals, including the Ravenclaw eagle.
When Devon boarded the train at King's Cross a few days later, Christopher had narrowed down his costume choices to three: an eagle, though not necessarily the Ravenclaw mascot; leopard; one of his beloved beetles. Having him thinking aloud around her days earlier had gotten Devon to thinking and by the time she was ensconced in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, she had a costume packed in her trunk.
Entering the Great Hall, in a sleek rendition of the Hufflepuff badger, Devon wears slim but not too form fitting, softly furry outfit with a badger's coloring. She wears a mask over her eyes and nose as well as make-up on the rest of her face and neck to complete the overall look. Taking a seat at the Hufflepuff table with friends Duncan Dippet, Hiram Young, and Emily Murray, Devon is quite happy with how she looks and that from what she's seen of other costumes so far, she's the only badger in sight.
Helping herself to some of the dishes nearest to her, Devon continues looking around to see what others are wearing and discussing all the costumes with her friends.