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(Azaelia) Spying on Robert
Author: Isolde
Date: 11-12-16 16:21
Although the Halloween carnival was taking place, the library was still open in case anyone would rather study than take part in the festivities. Despite that, Azaelia had made a display of scary stories and had a bucket of sweets for her visitors. The library was also one of the locations of a spooky scavenger hunt taking place around the whole castle. Already, a few students had come in to see if they could check off items from their lists.
Azaelia wore a native Chilean dress for Halloween. Her costume consisted of a red top with puffy sleeves and a full, bouncy red and white skirt. She wore black pumps with wide heels and thin straps across the tops of her feet. A straw hat called a chupalla was on her head.
She'd tried getting Robert to dress up to match in a wool poncho, pants and boots, but his claim that wool itched his skin and additional arguments over nothing made it pretty obvious to Azaelia that he had no interest in celebrating the holiday. It also seemed clearer that their marriage was falling apart all over again.
Azaelia sighed at her station and reached for a piece of wrapped chocolate. Just then, she noticed Robert pass by the open door of the library. He was dressed in corduroy pants, a jumper, and a brown sportcoat.
She grabbed a woolen shawl made to match her outfit and draped it over her shoulders and arms. To Harkin the house-elf she said, "I'm stepping out for a moment. Mind the desk, will you?"
"Harkin will," said Harkin in reply.
Azaelia then walked out of the library and followed her husband. She was glad that her shoes didn't click clack as she walked on the flagstones. The soles of her shoes were made for dancing without making noise, except when stamping. Azaelia followed Robert out of the castle completely undetected, which was almost surprising, considering how many people were out and about. Her outfit was also pretty and eye-catching, yet no one stopped her along the way.
Robert crossed the busy Hogwarts grounds and continued out of the gates to Hogsmeade village, where he headed up to High Street and then took the little used path to the Shrieking Shack. Azaelia waited at the corner of Ceridwen's Cauldrons and watched as Robert paused outside the shack. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him. Azaelia shrank even further behind the corner of the cauldron shoppe. When Robert was sure the coast was clear, he entered the Shrieking Shack.
Azaelia waited another moment and then crept forward. She realized she stood out like a sore thumb, dressed all in red. She sidled up to one of the windows and carefully peered inside.
She saw Robert talking to a wizard she didn't recognize. He was elderly and was dressed in dark gray robes. A red fur cap was on his head. It was definitely on the cool side, but Azaelia thought the fur was a bit excessive for this time of year. It wasn't even winter yet.
She tried to listen to what they were saying, but she could only make out a few words here and there. "Follow… grandchildren… recruitment… Death Eaters."
Azaelia suddenly felt as if she'd been slapped in the face. Was Robert somehow involved with the Death Eaters? She veered away from the window and leaned against the outer wall of the shack, breathing hard. Maybe it wasn't that he was involved but that he was investigating them. He did work for the Ministry, though in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. This fellow, whose accent sounded Eastern European or perhaps Russian, could be an informant or something. Maybe they were working together and in secret to stop evil.
Azaelia tried to believe it, but for some reason she couldn't. Instead of listening in further, she walked away from the Shrieking Shack and returned to the library to think.
Vampires and Blood Pops
Author: S Snape
Date: 11-12-16 19:46
Inspired by an incident that took place during a pass through the haunted house Severus has transfigured his canines to appear as vampire fangs. The fangs have a red substance suggestive of blood and more of the red dribbles down in a line from the fangs on each side of his mouth. His already pale, though somewhat yellowish, pallor is now a dusky whitish gray. Severus took the further steps of adding extra arch to his eyebrows and slicking back his hair.
His usual black robes now seem more of a sweeping cape with a stiff collar trimmed in, what else, blood red. Severus knows the overall look is cliché but it is one immediately recognizable by both wizarding world born and Muggle born students.
For added effect, Severus has red lollies that could pass for blood pops. These had periodically offers to students, each of them never expecting to see Professor Severus Snape in fancy dress much less handing out sweet. If he had known what a chuckle he would get from their expressions, he would have done something along these lines years ago, though not every year as then the shock and novelty would have long worn off.
A student nearly steps on the cape, offering Severus, "Sorry!" This is followed by, "Oh, Professor Snape. Doubly sorry!"
"Mr. Croft. Blood pop?" Severus offers Davidson one of the lollies.
Dave's eyes practically bug out. "Is it really blood?"
"True vampires do eat lollipops made with blood but this lolly is a regular sweet and is either cherry or strawberry in flavor."
Dave reaches to take the offered candy, a thank you on his lips, only to freeze in midreach. "True vampires? You mean they're real?"
"There are some, yes. You've not learned that yet?"
"Noooo, not that I remember and I think I'd remember."
"Mrs. Blackheart," Severus says in reference to the librarian, "could recommend a book on the subject should you be interested." He waggles the lollipop as a reminder for Dave to take it. "Did you use your father as inspiration for your costume?" he asks of Dave's Muggle police uniform.
Finally accepting the sweet, Dave replies, "Thank you." To the question he starts to say yeah but remembers with whom he is speaking, "Yes, sir."
Anyone who knows Severus, particularly those who know him well, would be surprised at his fancy dress, at his passing out sweets, and downright astounded that he's engaging a student in small talk of a civilized nature. They would be flabbergasted to hear him now ask, "And your sister?"
"Harley is a crimson rose butterfly." Dave points her out across the Great Hall.
The extra arched eyebrows arch even more. "Most would have simply said butterfly."
"Gran has an interest. Harley shares it. Couldn't help but learn a little myself."
Spotting a pair of students who appear to be bickering Severus excuses himself from Dave who calls out, "Thanks again for the lolly."
Unwrapping the "blood pop" Dave sticks it in his mouth, discovering it's strawberry in flavor, and continues the direction he'd been going before nearly stepping on Professor Snape's cape, which is out of the Great Hall to walk once more around the grounds, playing some of the games there and most likely taking in the rides and haunted house for a second time.
Queued Up
Author: Gerry
Date: 11-13-16 10:02
Gerry and Will stood in line for the spooky carpet ride. They'd already gone through the Haunted House, played some of the games in the Great Hall, and stuffed themselves silly on Halloween-themed sweets.
This year, Gerry had decided to dress up as a mountain troll. He especially liked his false teeth, which were big, sharp and crooked. They made it difficult for him to talk and often caused him to drool, which just added to the effect. He took them out whenever he wanted to eat or have a real conversation, but otherwise they stayed in. It was kind of fun trying to get Will to guess what he was saying.
Will was a werewolf. Together, Gerry and Will growled and grunted at anyone they ran into. Most people laughed them off or completely ignored them, but some of the younger kids looked genuinely scared. The boys were sort of hoping they could top last year's big scare, even if it would cost them more house points.
They hadn't seen Kaycee all day. By now they figured she was cooped up in her dorm room, too embarrassed to show her face after what happened last year. Gerry snickered at the memory.
"What's so funny?" Will asked.
"Jusinkingofwhahappenlasyear," Gerry slurred.
"What?" Will asked. Then something caught his eye that at first caused confusion and then outright amusement.
Gerry turned to look and saw Brianna walking around looking like a half-man, half-unicorn with only two legs. She'd slipped out of the head part of her costume, which dangled in front of her and almost looked as if the unicorn were dipping its head to get something to drink from a troth or other source of water. She was holding her costume up by the waist so that the whole thing didn't drop to her ankles.
At the familiar sound of her brother's laughter, Brianna scowled at him and asked, "What's so funny, Will?"
Will pointed at her lower half. "You're missing something."
Brianna's scowl deepened and she turned her body so that her shorts were exposed. Her half of the costume had a gaping hole in the back, where her partner's section was supposed to meet it. "I'm never doing a two-person costume again."
"Arenyoucol?" Gerry queried.
"What?" Brianna asked.
"I think he's asking if you're cold," Will supplied. Brianna was wearing a thin, long-sleeved T-shirt, which didn't do much to protect her from the fall air. Her backside also felt a bit chilly. Her legs, however, were quite warm.
"Yes. I'm looking for Noah, but if he doesn't turn up, I'm going to change out of this and into some warm clothes."
"Is Noah your boyfriend?" Will teased.
"No," Brianna replied. "I only asked him to dress up with me because Cynthia changed her mind. Speaking of…" Her eyes narrowed when she spotted Cynthia in her rainbow wig across the grounds. She went against her better judgment and stalked over to get into another argument with her friend.
The boys, meanwhile, reached the front of the queue for the spooky carpet ride. They were briefly torn between watching the impending fight between two unicorns and the carpet ride, but the latter won out in the end.
Kaycee - Invisible Man
Author: Lee Sickleby
Date: 11-13-16 12:16
Kaycee had thought of the best way to disguise herself at the Halloween carnival. After perusing a catalog for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, she'd put in an order for a Headless Hat. When worn, the Headless Hat caused her entire head and the hat itself to go invisible. Kaycee would have loved to get her hands on an invisibility cloak and completely disappear, but the hat would do.
She'd purposefully dressed her body in clothing that wouldn't identify herself as a girl. Being only twelve, Kaycee didn't look very womanly yet, so she could pass for a boy if she wanted. She wore trousers, a button-down shirt, a vest and a long coat that almost went down to her ankles. The trousers and button-down were items from her own closet. The vest and coat she had her aunt purchase and send via owl post.
Kaycee almost looked like a dapper gentleman, only without a head. She also carried a cane that had belonged to her great grandfather and had a gold-rimmed monocle attached with a golden chain to her vest pocket.
She spent the day checking out the tables in the Great Hall and the activities on the grounds. Kaycee avoided speaking unless she had no choice, such as when she wanted a beverage from the refreshments table. When she spoke, she affected what she deemed her man's voice, though to her ears, she sounded like another version of herself. No one seemed to know who she was, though, though some tried to guess.
To avoid talking, Kaycee often found herself nodding or shaking her head, but then she realized no one could see her do so. Instead, she'd give a thumbs up or wag her finger.
She'd wanted to hide to avoid a repeat of what had happened last year. Knowing Gerry and Will, they'd try to have another go at her, and they'd probably want to top their achievement with something bigger and better in their opinion and more horrifying and mortifying in hers.
She had her own plan for them, however. Her aunt June was a huge lover of the Muggle sweet M&Ms. Before school started, Aunt June given Kaycee a large box with varying kinds, such as plain milk chocolate and peanuts. Kaycee still had plenty left over, even though two months had passed since term began.
An idea came to mind while thumbing through the WWW catalog. U-No-Poo looked remarkably like M&Ms…
And there they were, Gerry and Will, having just gotten off the magic carpet ride. They were whooping and hollering as if they'd just had the time of their lives.
Kaycee made a beeline for them. Gerry noticed her first and nudged Will, who looked over and grinned.
"Wicked cool costume," Will said. "I wish I'd have thought of something like that." He turned to Gerry. "Next year we should make it look like we blew off one of our arms or legs. We can have blood and everything."
Gerry nodded and drooled.
Kaycee, saying nothing, reached into her coat pocket and pulled out two plastic bags festively tied with orange and black ribbon. Inside each bag was a mixture of M&Ms and U-No-Poo.
Gerry snatched one from her hands and sniffed at it through the bag. He really looked and acted like a mountain troll.
Will asked, "What's this?" He took the other bag.
"Shockolat," said Gerry. "Fanks," he added to Kaycee.
Kaycee hooked her can over her arm and gave a double thumbs up. Then she turned away from the pair and strolled off down the sloping lawn. Nobody could see her smiling. She imagined them scarfing up the chocolate, not even realizing that a sweet with uncomfortable consequences was mixed in with the harmless M&Ms.
Act of Kindness
Author: Susan Fricks
Date: 11-13-16 15:06
Susan had mixed feelings towards Halloween. On one side, she loved to wear a costume, and she could taste the large variety of sweets available all around the school. But on another she got spooked with ease and she was always afraid something might jump on her while she was walking.
This year she was dressed as a mediaeval princess. It seemed like a good idea until she got tired of lifting the heavy skirts of her dress. Blair was dressed as a mad version of a St. Mungo's healer. She had blood covered all over her robes and her hair was a mess. From time to time she would let go a crazy laugh, as if she was going mad. Blair's friend Georgiana was dressed as a cowgirl, and Maud was wearing a dress filled with constellations. She was representing a galaxy. Whether she had inspired herself in her aunt or not, Susan couldn't tell.
All the girls but Susan wanted to go to the Haunted House. Susan was too scared to enter. Last year she had gone to the Haunted Maze and she promised never to repeat such experience again. She felt a little bit silly because Blair, Maud and Georgiana were younger than her and they did not seem to be afraid, but such thought was not strong enough to make her enter the house.
She was waiting outside for them, sitting on a bench when Titus joined her. He carried a bag of sweets in his hands which he offered to Susan. He didn't wear any costume. She picked a small chocolate and thanked him. They watched the students and teachers wondering around the grounds, most of them wearing costumes. Professor Nott, wearing a magnificent purple robe, was seen entering the castle, followed by a boy who looked queasy. He probably had too many sweets and was being taken to the Hospital Wing.
"Why aren't you wearing a costume like your brother?" Susan asked.
"Tiberius is not wearing a costume. That is one of his fancy ceremony gowns. The sort of thing you would wear in an elite party. He is just showing off. And I don't like to dress up. It's silly."
"I think it's funny. You can pretend you're someone else for a few hours."
"Like a troll? I don't see any satisfaction in that," he teased pointing to a boy dressed as a mountain troll which was passing by. Susan recognized Gryffindor Gerry Martini Blackwell from her year, as well as his friend William Wentworth, who was a werewolf.
"If not pretend, then at least to have fun," she declared, not eager to surrender yet to his arguments.
"It's no fun if you're just sitting here, not daring to enter the Haunted House. You're missing most of the fun."
She realized he had seen what happened a while back. She looked down and confessed she was scared. Titus stood up and offered to go with her. "I'll protect you," he declared, offering his arm to her. "You don't want to be the only student not going to the Haunting House do you? Look! Even those first years are going!"
Susan accepted, not wanting to say 'no' to Titus after such act of kindness. They walked together into the house, and the moment they crossed the door, she held tight to him, taking comfort in his tall figure, suddenly not feeling as much fear as she did, because he was there next to her.
Scavenger Hunt
Author: Marzipan
Date: 11-13-16 15:43
Vallon and Carter wandered into the trophy room and glanced at their scavenger hunt lists. There were different versions of the scavenger hunt, and theirs, since they were still young, was one of the easier ones.
Vallon jabbed his index finger at a picture of a stick figure and then pointed at a trophy in the shape of a thin, featureless man. "That's him," he decided.
Marzi, who was following the boys on their hunt, looked at the trophy in question. It was an old trophy for a dueling award called Last Man Standing. The name under it was one she knew very well: Percival FitzRoy.
The boys were already filing out of the room to search for the next item on their list, when Marzi called out, "Wait."
She'd been in this room before but had never noticed her father's trophy till now. Then again, there were rows and rows of trophies in the room, some as old as Hogwarts itself.
"But Muuuuuuuuum," Carter complained. "There's a time limit to the hunt and if we don't hurry, then we'll lose."
Marzi frowned and said, "All right. Where to next?" She gave one last glance at her father's trophy and then followed the boys into the corridor.
This year, Vallon had decided to dress up like Hagrid. He wore a big furry coat and had a bushy beard strapped to his chin. His brown wig was equally wild.
Carter, on the other hand, had decided to be an auror for Halloween. He had a badge on the front of his robes that had the M for Ministry of Magic on it, with Auror written beneath it. He also had a play wand, which he brandished whenever he saw someone portraying someone or something bad.
Last year Marzi had been too sad to dress up, but not so this year. She wore a German dirndl dress and had a small beer stein strapped to her belt. Marzi wished she had a pretzel right about now. All this wandering was making her hungry.
"Ghost!" Vallon exclaimed. He marked ghost off of his list, and Carter did the same.
The Fat Friar gave a chuckle and disappeared through a wall.
"I wish we could walk through walls," Vallon lamented. "It would make this hunt go faster."
"Where to, boys?" Marzi asked again.
They both pointed in the same direction and set off for whatever was next. Marzi did the only thing she could and followed them.
Balloon Pop
Author: Furnella Hodfuffer
Date: 11-13-16 15:52
Mariposa holds Jacinda in a way that allows the one year old to pop a balloon. Each balloon has a prize and though the intent of the game is to stand behind a line and try to pop balloons from it using one's wand or with special darts provided. Because of Jacinda's age the person currently in charge of the booth is allowing her right up to the balloons. Mostly, the child is batting them around rather than actually popping any but then one explodes. Jacinda gives a start and Mariposa worries she's had a fright. She's not worried about Jacinda's hands or fingers being stung by the popping balloon because of the costume her daughter is wearing, a purple with lime green dots pygmy puff. Part of the costume extends over the back of the hands and over the fingers.
Mariposa's worries prove unfounded when Jacinda suddenly chortles loudly, reaching for another balloon. Mariposa's free hand comes up to stop her but the attendant, someone Mariposa doesn't recognize so she takes the woman to be either a parent volunteer or someone associated with the company that brought many of the games and rides for today's carnival, tells her, "No, it's all right. Students are given three tries a turn."
Jacinda has the balloon making lots of squeaking sounds but she doesn't pop it or another that she reaches for. As a student has come up to the booth to play she takes the one prize for the single popped balloon telling Jacinda, "Time to move on, poppet."
The prize from the balloon is slip stating the bearer may redeem it at Twice Told Tales. She'll let Jacinda pick out a book from there, though at the moment the child is aware she's won anything. She was simply wanting to grab those balloons. Now she's turning her attention to grabbing the cat ears on the headband Mariposa wears.
After volunteering to work one of the carnival booths Mariposa had thought to dress as a hag with large, crooked nose, and jutting chin with hairy warts but then changed her mind, coming as a cat instead. She hadn't wanted to scare Jacinda. AJ is dressed as a pirate for the same reason. His initial thought had been a costume that would have made him a dreadful looking skeleton. Though leaving Jacinda for a time at the Hogwarts daycare, they had planned on walking her about for a bit before one of them took her home or back to the daycare depending on whether either of them was ready to leave or not.
At the moment AJ is overseeing one of the games in the Great Hall but Mariposa's shift ended about a quarter hour ago. She went and retrieved Jacinda and they'd come outside. The balloons immediately caught the child's eye.
Now what catches her eye is Margaret Kegg, someone Jacinda knows somewhat well. Spotting them, Margaret waves and comes over. Jacinda immediately puts her arms out to Margaret to be held as Mariposa asks, "What are you? I don't recognize your outfit."
Margaret appears to have a picture frame around part of her front. Her hair is long and dark and her clothing looks to be from a period of four or five hundred years ago.
"There's a famous Muggle painting called The Mona Lisa."
"And here I thought I was somewhat familiar with their more well known works of art," Mariposa smiles.
Before either says anything more Louis Kegg comes rushing up. "Margaret, I need a partner for a game and can't locate any of my chums. Come help."
Louis's outfit is far more obvious to Mariposa as he's a dragon, though unlike another dragon costume she saw earlier that was somewhat restrictive to the wearer Louis's is not.
Margaret agrees to help her brother and Mariposa walks with them to go watch, taking Jacinda back from Margaret. Along the way Louis tells them both what he's won at the games and asks if they'd seen certain "bloody wicked" fancy dress that he wishes he'd thought of.