Costume Choices
Author: Cho Chang
Date: 03-05-03 17:04

Cho arrived in the Ravenclaw House after her last class, tugging at her ebony tresses, seeing Sykra she hurries to her, calling, "Hey Sykra!"

Sykra waves, "Hey Cho..." she could tell Cho wanted something from the look on her face, "Wh'd'y' want?"

Cho smiles sweetly, "I need costume ideas. Fairy? Pixie? What?"

Sykra rolls her eyes, shrugging, "I dunno...What about a famous couple with Fynn?"

Cho's eyes widen, "Good idea!" her mood dampens again, "I don't know where he is to ask him..."

Aradia, having overheard the last few bits of the conversation as she was walking in, nods, "Oh that's easy, Cho. You can change with your wand if he wants to do something else..."

Cho hugs her two best friends, "You two are awesome. If you need any help, please let me know." She waves and jogs up the stairs to their dormitory to fix her hair and devise a costume. Wondering in the back of her mind if perhaps Fynn would knock on her door for costume help. :-) Who knows.

---

Decisions, Decisions
Author: Fynn Greenleaf
Date: 03-06-03 00:23

Halloween was fun.

Back in Kent, Fynn and his friends would assume their dream identities- superhero, superhero, or superhero. That was when they were so much younger- five or six or seven. In recent years, (and when the occasion arose), Fynn would think of something inventive but still rather boring. For a Muggle Halloween, he recalled a previous incarnation- a gang of he and his friends had dressed up as Italian mobsters; a hasty ensemble which required no more than a suit, a cigar, maybe a hat, and well slicked hair. They'd spoken in a weird distortion of a New York-Italian slang, mixed, unmistakably and instinctively, with their irrepressible English accents, gone up to pretty girls saying "Ciao, bella amore mio!!!!!. They'd thought they could conquer the world. It was remarkable how a few events could alter such perspectives, tear down those vain, stupid hopes.

But this year's Halloween? He contemplated the possibilities idly, deftly twirling his pen around- flipping it in the air, catching, flipping, catching. The library was fairly quiet; looking down the long table, he could see his friends industriously scribbling away, quills intent. His mind, however, was wandering. He got up and they murmured a long quiet line of "byes" down the pew. Fynn took his books and wandered down the hall. Ah, Halloween. It seemed to have a sedative effect on him; it made him drowsy with anticipation. Christmas made him drowsy with anticipation, since he was young- but not recently. Halloween, however, still held that special appeal- it was escapism, a chance to be anything else. "Hey Fynn!" Lee Sickleby, a jovial fifth year, and two of his friends, joined Fynn in the midst of his reflections. "So, what are you wearing for Halloween? I bet its something cool!!! Like, I dunno!!!!!!!!" Lee exclaimed, or inquired. Fynn could see the exclamation marks, bright in the air. Lee's two friends giggled.

"I don't know...still trying to think about that." Fynn replied, mouth forming into a strained line, frankly mildly piqued by Lee's outburst of sunniness. How could anyone be so prozac-optimistic? And Lee seemed to have a smile grafted perpetually on his face. "So, uh, are you and your girlfriend going to wear matching costumes or something???" Ah. Cho. He hadn't seen her the whole day. The memory of her lit up his momentary moodiness. He'd go see her, and ask her what she thought he should wear. And he had a few nice suggestions for her too- hmm, a mermaid, a princess, Frankenstein's bride, a Hollywood siren...he could imagine. Actually, she'd look lovely even if she went as a paper bag. At that moment he spotted, leaning against the wall and looking stone angry, his favorite person from Slytherin- Alexis. She wore an expression of vivid annoyance, at nothing in particular. Fynn diverged away from Lee and gang, and went to talk to her.

"Hey Alexis."

"Hi." She looked murderous. "Well...you certainly don't seem like Miss Sunshine today." She looked up and laughed slightly, and then her stare broke off and she looked away.

"Anything wrong?" Fynn asked, concerned and remembering how she had talked to him when he was feeling like hell...wait, he didn't want to recollect that. Instead he leaned against the space beside her, both of them in shadow yet in the open at the same time. He noticed that passersby whom knew them both did seem irked to see a Slytherin and Ravenclaw as friends, talking. But he didn't care, anyway. Sometimes such divisions were stupid, and ceased to matter. Fynn waited for her reply.

---

Fire
Author: Severus Snape
Date: 03-06-03 08:06

Professor Severus Snape sat in a stiff, high-backed armchair in his darkened chambers. Light flickered across his pensive face from the roaring fireplace across the room illuminating his pale features. As he pondered this and that, he gently propped his elbows on the extended arms of the chair and tented his long, slender fingers. A pair rested against his lips as he silently waited for evening to draw near.

As time for the Halloween Feast approached, Snape rose from his seat and prepared to leave his chambers. His dark eyes, however, fell upon the anonymous letter he had received a few day ago. Rigidly, he crossed the room and picked up the envelope, turning it over to remove the letter from within it.

Dearest Severus, began the letter.

Snape momentarily thought back to one year ago when Majandra Fine seemed strangely smitten with him. Upon realization that the Gryffindor girl had been a bit more forthright with her advancements, Snape quickly cast her from his mind and resumed reading the letter.

I have admired you for a very long time. Admired so much that I've developed a deep love more so than admiration for you. I now wish to express this love. Words cannot describe it, time cannot contain it, man cannot bond it and death cannot break it. It transcends all. It is more endless than the beating of my heart, for one day my heart shall stop, but my love for you shall burn as fierce as the first day I laid eyes upon you. This likely comes as a shock to you seeing as how I fear revealing myself. You do not know me, but it is most certain I know you. We have never really gotten a chance to speak properly, but I feel as if I know you as much as you can know a loved one. Still, seeing your face, I am sure I do not know enough. I long to spend time with you and learn everything about you. It seems unfair that so much time has passed us by, but I wish to let not another grain of sand slip through the hourglass. I love you.

Always,
Your Secret Admirer*

Snape's cold eyes narrowed as he thought to himself, Who could admire someone like me? He crumpled the letter with one hand, suddenly very irate because surely someone thought this to be an amusing joke. With a few long strides, he approached the fireplace and cast the wrinkled letter and its envelope into the flames, watching it burn with increasing resentment. After the parchment disappeared from sight and thought, Snape swiftly stole out of the room and went to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast.

*Text provided by Veronica Dumbledore

---

Not Tellin'
Author: Vera Delgety
Date: 03-06-03 09:04

Today was Halloween! When Vera heard about dressing up as Muggles Vera laughed. She had a lot of Muggle clothes that she liked to wear. Sure, Muggles where a bit strange, but they did have some good fashion sense!

As the day grew on, Vera went through her clothes and such when she finally found the right costume. She was going to go as the popular movie character, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". She had watched it and thought it was very interesting.

In between Lawrence's classes, she dragged him outside to look for some good sticks and branches. She wanted to carve some stakes by hand for a more authentic look.

"Vera, what exactly are these for?" Lawrence asked finally. Vera grinned. "My Halloween costume." She replied.

Her boyfriend rose a brow. "And, what are you going as?"

Vera only grinned more. "Okay, well leave it a surprise then. You'll just have to wait and see what I'm going as..."

---

Darkness
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 03-06-03 09:31

As if the unnerving events of last evening had never occurred, Ethan awoke on Halloween morning surprisingly well-rested. The disturbing news of Koyla's escape had unquestionably exhausted Ethan's mind to the point of complete weariness. Not a dream nor thought had entered his head during the long and peaceful night.

It took him several moments after climbing out of bed to remember that one of the most dangerous men in the wizarding world now traipsed the globe like a free man, able to kill and maim anyone in sight. Apprehension and fear consumed Ethan to no end, but at the same time, an unsettling anger also crept into Ethan's soul.

With some hesitation, he relieved Professor Grubbly-Plank of her substitute-teaching duties and taught his Thursday classes as if nothing serious had happened. One look on Alanna Beck's face during the first class of the day told Ethan that she hadn't been informed of her sister's killer's escape. In fact, it seemed quite likely that the British and Bulgarian Ministry of Magic wanted to keep the fiasco extremely hush-hush for the time being.

Throughout the day, Ethan's outward appearance bore carefree, cheerful and upbeat feelings, but deep within, he felt awful. He fought that urge to lash out and do some damage, whether to the objects inside his chambers or to himself–things he'd regret later of course. Thankfully, he managed to keep some sort of self-control.

That is, until the evening arrived.

Shortly before the commencement of the Halloween Feast, Ethan studied his reflection in the mirror in his office. A man with shoulder-length, black hair and billowing, black robes stared back at him. Momentarily casting his worries aside, Ethan laughed. Professor Snape would certainly cringe at the thought of someone dressing up like him for the feast, but Ethan figured it was all in good fun.

He turned away from the mirror, and as if a shadow passed overhead, he suddenly felt dark and dangerous. He clenched his hands into fists and spoke aloud although to no one but himself, "Koyla will pay for all he's done."

Yes...

That voice, the one Ethan hadn't heard in several days now, returned with apparent renewed interest.

Embrace your anger, Ethan!

You want to hurt him. You want to kill him.

Ethan's mouth fell agape; a part of him agreeing with that voice, but another, perhaps stronger part fought the urge to slip into utter darkness.

"No! I want no such thing!" Ethan cried out. He whipped around as if trying to locate the source of the voice.

You do! I can feel it. You know it to be true...

"No, I can't! I won't!"

In time you'll see how easy it becomes.

Ethan staggered this way and that, truly disturbed. "W-who are you?" he gasped, clutching onto his head. He tried to block out the voice; the voice that seemed to whisper directly into his ear.

You know who I am.

...Don't you?

Sinister laughter, followed by cryptic words:

Ethan...

Your time has come.

Violently shaking his head, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor took a careless step backwards and stumbled over the hem of his robes. He came crashing to the cold, stone floor and hit his head, falling unwillingly and unescapably into utter darkness.

---

Hmmmh...
Author: Sykra Sawyer
Date: 03-06-03 11:36

Sykra laughed as she watched Cho run up there stairs. Everyone was getting so excited about everything. And all she could think about was how she wished Orlando could be there.

"Thinkin 'bout Orlando again?" Aradia was watching her friend.

"Only partially."

"How do you 'only partially' think about someone?"

Sykra tossed a cushion at her friend. "By also thinking what my costume should be!"

Aradia laughed. "Still haven't decided?"

"Nope." Sykra leaned with her head on her hands. "Wha'd'ya think I should dress as?"

"Well..." Aradia acted as to be lost in thought. "Something that doesn't involve anything dangling, long yards of fabric, or nothing because we don't want some avalanche of students goin down the stairs..."

"Okay hey now that was last year...and I'm not as clumsy as then!"

"Uh huh..."

Sykra glared then grinned. "I'm goin' up to the dormitory now, maybe Cho will be more help!" As she headed up the stairs, she slipped and knocked into another student heading down the stairs. "Oops sorry..."

The Ravenclaw grinned sheepishly down towards her friend, who was shaking her head. "Don't say anything!" Then Sykra headed back up the stairs, a little more slowly this time.

---

Halloween
Author: Sirius Padfoot Black
Date: 03-06-03 15:17

Sirius finishes toweling dry his damp hair then reaches for one of his new formal dress robes. Tonight is the first time since resuming a normal life that he's had any real reason to wear anything but everyday wizarding wear. Sirius had debated whether to attend any of the Halloween festivities to which he'd been invited or whether to even drop in on the more informal gatherings being held around Hogsmeade, such as at The Three Broomsticks or The Spinning Horn.

Sirius had been a spectator the past few days at the Koyla trial. He was as surprised as everyone else in the courtroom when it became evident something was amiss. When word come down that Koyla and his groupies had escaped, to say people were stunned at the news would have been a gross understatement. Sirius's first instinct had been to stick his nose into things but Dierna and Michael Turin (whom he'd met a few times when visiting the Ministry) were understandably not available. Sirius left word for Dierna to contact as soon as she had determined a way for him to be useful and then returned to Hogsmeade to wait.

To fill in the time between then and now, Sirius had worked to put final touches on the secret tunnel and vault between Dierna's and his homes. The only thing left to do now was for Dierna to put her own charms, spells and curses on the structures. They've also considered asking Albus Dumbledore to work some of his magic on both the tunnel and the vault to ensure the safety of both. Sirius has a letter all written up to owl over to the professor but wants to get Dierna's final thoughts on the subject before issuing the request. He's fairly certain that like him, she'll decide that having Professor Dumbledore's aid in securing the tunnel and vault would be extremely prudent.

Sirius adjusts his robes, dons a cloak, and picks up his wand. After waving it to smooth the wrinkles in the cloak, he pockets his wand and moments later is exiting his house. His first stop, Briar's Bakery to pick up a cake he'd ordered to take to the first party on his list.

---

It's all about the HAIR
Author: Cho Chang
Date: 03-06-03 18:03

Cho stood perplexed in front of her vanity mirror, brow furrowed, lips pursed into an almost frown as Sykra entered their dorm, "What's up Cho?"

Cho sighs a little, shrugging, "My hair's not cooperating."

Sykra giggles, "Ooo...I didn't know hair had a mind of its own, you must be in quite a jam."

Cho tosses her a mock scowl, sticking her tongue out, "But SSSs--yyyyy--kkkk----rrr---aaaaaa...It's all about the hair. It must compliment the outfit without overruling it and maintaining its own statement..."

Sykra salutes, "Yessir." managing a few steps to her own vanity mirror before bursting into giggles.

Cho starts giggling as well, putting the final touches on a crown like array of twists and fanned spikes that could be easily altered to fit whatever costume she finally decided on. She poofs herself into a green outfit with a tattered skirt that was short but not too short and matching top with tattered sleeves and v-neck, all of a flimsy, shiny green, opaque enough. The accents of color in her hair change to green as well to match the dress, she looks to Sykra, "Fairy?"

---

All Dressed Up
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 03-06-03 18:23

Standing in front of the mirror, Pyrrhus adjusts the carefully coifed wig and utters the charm which causes the wig to perfectly fit itself to his head. Once satisfied it's sitting correctly, Py then murmurs the charm that causes the wig to adhere as if it were glued or pinned on.

Pyrrhus grins as he takes in the full effect of his costume. His grin broadens as his ultra white teeth (made so bright thanks to Madam Pomfrey's assistance) catch light and literally sparkle. With a sweep of his extremely elaborate and overly adorned lilac robes, Py picks up an ornate, matching lilac quill and four copies of Magical Me and exits his room.

With extravagant flair, Gildaroy Lockhart enters the Slytherin common room.

---

Crimson Gypsy
Author: Isolde
Date: 03-06-03 19:48

Swift and light-footed, Isolde slipped out of her dormitory and silently entered the Slytherin common room. She stifled a giggle upon laying eyes on the flourishing Pyrrhus, who had his back turned to her. Although an ordinary person would not necessarily be able to recognize him from behind–the blonde wig and unPyrrhus-like attire could fool anybody–Isolde certainly knew him.

Since her appearance in the common room went unnoticed by the young Professor Lockhart, Isolde tiptoed across the room, clamping a hand over the bangles adorning her wrist to silence their clatter, and halted behind him, striking a rather provocative pose.

"Oh, Professor," Isolde purred.

Pyrrhus whipped around grandiosely and flashed her his sparkling pearly whites. His eyes widened as he took in her appearance and a polished hand reached out and caressed her hair, its golden tresses now the color of coal.

She wore a red, form-fitting gown trimmed in gold and belted by a sheer purple sash. The short bell sleeves of the costume were made out of the same purple material. In one hand, she carried a matching purple scarf patterned with golden moons and stars. Golden bangles adorned her wrist and an ankle, and one large hoop went through her ear. Finally, a golden band with a glittering ruby in the center rested upon her dark hair.

Isolde teased Py with one of her bare feet, gently rubbing it against his lilac robes. "I think I could use a little tutoring in Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Do you think you and I could have a little," she paused for effect, licking her ruby-red lips seductively, "one on one session?"

She raised herself on her tiptoes and wrapped the purple scarf around Py's neck, bringing his face closer to hers.

Pyrrhus' shockingly-bright teeth nearly blinded her at such close proximity, so she lowered her heavily mascara-coated eyelashes and awaited his reply.

"Of course, but in due time! I have many fans and the list is long for a little alone time with," Pyrrhus paused and in typical Lockhart fashion, smiled wide and emphasized, "Me."

Isolde pouted, slowly removing the scarf from his neck by pulling on one end and watching as the other end traveled around his neck until it fell limp at her side. Then, she smiled.

"So, what do you think?"

Pyrrhus nodded approvingly. "I like...no, I love. What are you exactly?"

"A gypsy," said Isolde. "A very sexy gypsy named Carmen who plans on stalking young Professor Lockhart until she can show him what she can do! Shall we go to the Great Hall?"

Pyrrhus' grin only widened. "You bet. I can't wait for dessert!"

---

Encounters of a Slightly Different Kind
Author: Alexis Black
Date: 03-06-03 21:03

Alexis leaned casually against a wall, her eyes narrowed as she observed Fynn talking to some very obnoxious boys. She wished she knew an easy silencing spell to shut them up. Soon enough, they passed, casting Alexis wary looks and crossing to the other side of the corridor.

Good.

Alexis and Fynn engaged in conversation, Alexis doing her best to seem cordial, but she was always a terrible liar.

"Anything wrong?" She was surprised by his genuine concern. In answer to his question, several pressing thoughts whizzed through her head. Really annoying schoolmates, Her stupid sister, Her friends who seemed to feel like she wasn't worth sharing secrets with.... She shook her head. As far as she knew, Fynn didn't know she had a sister and she wanted to keep it that way, and she thought she might be making up the situation with Isolde and the others, like paranoid delusions. She certainly didn't want to offend Fynn by telling him she hated his friends.

"Nothing." Alexis said carefully, trying to sound nonchalant.

He smelled only faintly of smoke.

"What are you dressing up as?" He asked lightly after a long silence.

"Nothing." Her voice was sullen, as if she had finally given up all pretenses.

"Well alright then, have it your way." He grinned, subtly trying to cheer her up, "be miserable on a day like today."

"And what is so special about today?"

"Aha, more than one word." He was grinning now, "It's Halloween."

"So?" "Don't you feel that warm, fuzzy feeling inside?" Alexis rolled her eyes at him but smiled weakly all the same. The two shared a companionable silence after that, until a Ravenclaw boy passed by and gave them a disdainful and surprised look.

"Did you see the look he gave you?" Alexis laughed aloud now. "That was definitely directed at you!" Fynn teased, "Anyway, I better get going before anyone else comes along and ruins my reputation."

"Can't be seen with the evil Slytherin." Alexis agreed wryly.

Fynn left for his common room and Alexis meandered toward hers, certainly not in a rush to finally enter the onslaught of costumes the common room undoubtedly already was.

---

Knock, Knock! Who's There?
Author: Blossom
Date: 03-06-03 21:08