The Halloween Ball

[Prof. Desdemona Garrotte]

“Higher, Rickels, higher!” The medium sized mirror wobbled as the small elf strained to raise it even farther above it’s head. That the creatures arms could only reach so far concerned neither party, as Sir Rickroll Hobblesnort obeyed his mistress unquestioningly, and Desdemona herself had always had a tendency to make impossible demands. The mirror itself was a Lear family heirloom, oval in shape and framed in stained glass. It was also the kind of mirror that should have been fastened to a wall, but Dessie found she had better lighting right here.

The face that looked back at her in the glass was no longer her own. Her polyjuice potion had finished brewing several days earlier, and she now had a number of bottles filled with the liquid on the small shelves lining one wall of her small dungeon room. One shelf also held an ornate box, another heirloom, filled with the final ingredient – various samples from different individuals she wished to disguise herself as, each neatly held inside a folded piece of parchment and labeled in the neat hand of one of those silly Slytherins that had begun following her around. They’d been quite helpful, but really, their absolute admiration of her was sometimes tiring.

The face in the mirror was currently that of a certain Slytherin prefect, Analeeta or some such name. She’d already used the girls to access the baths on several occasions - much to the relief of that odd little Kinsley boy – but she’d yet to really interact with the girl’s compatriots. She was quite confident in her acting, though, and she now planned on hurling herself headlong into an extremely social atmosphere without any prior observation of her disguise’s habits or personality – the Halloween Ball. Now Dessie had always hated these gatherings; she’d never been to one, so she had no choice but to hate them. It was all she could do to crash this one and throw it into utter chaos. She had no plan as of yet, but she’d come up with one soon enough. Or not. Maybe she’d just start blowing things up.

“Now Ricketts, you know the rules,” the woman scowled, her eyes focused on fussing with her obnoxiously red hair, “ And so do I, so don’t even think of trying anything. If someone comes anywhere near this room without properly announcing his or herself, you get all of my potions and things away from here. No lights, and not a peep out of you. You’re not to leave this room unless you’re called. Understand?”

“Yes, Miss Dessie,” the creature coughed, his arms wobbling under the mirror’s weight.

“You’d better. Or I will make you understand.” Waving her wand at her own face, Desdemona proceeded to recite a spell she was pretty sure she remembered some of the more lazy students use to conjure a simple, butterfly shaped mask. No mask appeared. She did, however, sprout a pair of cat’s eats and some whiskers. “Oh bother. I suppose it’ll do. It’s not my head that looks like a freakshow.”

Standing, she smoothed the slightly revealing red and silver dress she’d had one of the girls send for. She rather liked it, really, and it was only very slightly too big around the waist in her normal form. She’d have to have Rickshaw store it for her after tonight. She’d rather not see it ruined. “Well then, I’m off. Be sure to behave yourself, or I shall be cross when I return. Don’t let me down.” As she strode off down the dungeon hall, failing to tell the poor elf he could put down the mirror, a tiny “Never, Miss Dessie,” echoed after her.

Minutes later, she’d arrived at the Great Hall. She was rather uninterested in the array of costumes, walking past most of them as she attempted to locate the real Anna-rita-whatsername, so she’d know who to avoid for the remainder of the party. Unfortunately, the girl was either not present yet or she was one of the few that were so well disguise that Dessie could not properly tell who they were. Which, since Dessie wasn’t familiar with any of the school’s current students, could have been anyone. She’d just have to play it by ear, then. She was just glad she’d brought a spare potion, so she could make a last minute switch if she had to. This could be bothersome.

[Ember Blackheart]

Ember sighed as she flopped onto her bed. She really should go to the ball - and who knew? It might actually be fun. She sat up, then stood, waving her wand around her. Her casual black robe was replaced by a black (of course) silk robe that tumbled down, flowing smoothly and rippling of its own accord. She strapped on an owl mask that covered her eyes but still allowed her to see. She also drew on black velvet gloves that continued up to her elbows.

Ember glanced at herself in the mirror. Her brain would never let her admit that she might look pretty, but she did have to admit that this was the best she'd ever looked. Her night-black hair blended perfectly with her mask and dress, while contrasting with her extremely pale skin. She sighed, and turned to go, when her black kitten, Angelica, lept for her shoulder, landing perfectly with a pleased yowl. She sighed again - at least Angelica would match - and walked out of the door.

Almost everyone was already at the ball, so she passed few people on her way. She slid into the Great Hall unobtruisvely and gazed around at the decorations. She let her eyes slide over different people and costumes, and then walked forward into the room slowly. Perhaps she should go back - it was so crowded in here, and people kept bumping into her. But then she remembered her promise to herself - and Vella - that she would go, and continued on. She grabbed a cookie or two, then looked around again for somewhere out of the way to sit and watch.

She made her way over to a corner near the teachers, shuddering as she glimpsed Proffesor Snape's costume. So... unregal. Madame Hooch seemed to be dressed as... a fishbowl? and Professor Black seemed to be going as nothing at all. Ember sniffed as Professor Lupin approached the teachers - dangerous, having a werewolf in the school. She turned away and looked around the rest of the room. There was the minister and his wife - but why would they come to a Hogwarts ball? They must have been students in costume, but whoever they were, they were really convincing. Jasime Cimmerii came up to them, dressed as Alice in Wonderland (one of the books Vella had insisted on reading her), and the Malfoy girl stood next to a boy dressed as a demon-thing. She sighed. Most of the costumes were way more creative than hers - she wasn't actually anything in particular. Well, she would just stay back in her corner for the rest of the night.

[Sirius Black]

Hearing Remus speak was probably the greatest sound Sirius had heard since...the last time he spoke? Either way, he was just very glad to see him finally appear. The group felt tense, and Sirius knew if anyone could get rid of the tension (mainly around him), it was Remus.

As soon as the corny joke came out of the man's mouth, Sirius knew the reason he'd fallen in love with him. Yep, Remus Lupin could so easily distract people from him and lighten a mood by being so very lame. He shook his head at the joke and stayed quiet as Lupin continued on. When he felt his hand on his back, the forced smile (pretending he wasn't upset with Hooch) was replaced by a real one.

It was then a young Hufflepuff spoke, and Sirius thought she could rival Lupin's approach to making him feel better about himself. He patted Addiana on the shoulder and said, "You could be a hero one day too. Do you have my class? If so, you get extra credit now on everything." He smiled brightly at her.

Sirius went to greet Lupin finally when he felt something underneath his skin. He glanced around, but Lupin seemed normal; the people around him didn't seem to notice either. He looked down and could see the bulge in his chest and he stumbled back a little.

It was then a Pomeranian sized creature burst through out of his chest and through his robes, flailing it's little arms at the teachers around him. Sirius fell back, barely catching himself before he fell on his ass. It was, in fact, a little gray alien like creature, just like out of any science fiction muggle movie. Sirius had never been more close to yelling in terror in his life. Fortunately he did not and it only took him a moment to recognize that Lupin had done this. Forgot perfectly executed lameness; this was why he loved the guy.

[Prof. Remus Lupin]

Lupin stood there silently, waiting for the new addition he’d added to Sirius’ “costume” to reveal itself when, quite suddenly, nearly the full force of something collided with his arm. Now, most people that looked upon Remus Lupin would have thought that he would have been quite fragile, what with his rather lanky build and often tired and somewhat sickly appearance. However, those people would have been grossly underestimating the man, as the fact that he was a werewolf made him quite sturdy and gave him somewhat heightened reflexes. So when the collision in the form of a girl occurred, it was with little effort that he put his arm out to help catch her, rather than be taken down to the ground with her.

”No, no, that’s quite alright, Miss,” he smiled warmly at her, wondering which student was behind the mask. It was obviously one of the older students by her height and polite embarrassment; a younger student might have just run away after a quick mortified apology. ”Really,” he assured her, ”it’s just some straw from the Shriek… it’s just some old hay, nothing to worry about at all. And this fellow,” he stroked the crow’s feathers soothingly, ”is spooked by the flapping of his own wings.” He chuckled softly as the bird squawked in protest of such a characterization.

”I do believe that I know a spell that might help you to walk a little easier. It’s a good preemptive defense against the Jelly-Legs Jinx, but I imagine it would be useful for walking in high heels as well, it’s…”

Just then, a strange thing happened to Sirius. Or, rather, it would have seemed strange to anyone other than Lupin, since he had been the one to make the strange thing happen, after all. He still winced though, as the creature that had suddenly burst out of Sirius’ chest was far more grotesque than he had remembered it having been all those years ago. ”Still, somehow not quite as terrifying as Snape’s costume, is it?” he said in a very low voice as he leaned in toward Sirius’ ear, so as not to be overheard.

It was a good thing, he thought a moment later, that he did not have a weak heart, as it seemed that the universe was banding together to attempt to give him a heart attack. As just as he was beginning to make a mental list of all the numerous reasons he loved the man next to him, despite the hideous flailing creature that had clawed its way out of his chest, a young student dressed like Madam Pince (who probably wouldn’t have been pleased by such a costume,) ran over at top speed and skidded to a full stop, just barely having managed not to collide with the entire group of professors.

”Professor ……. Lupin …….” the boy wheezed breathlessly between laboured gasps for air.

”Slow down, lad, what’s the matter?” Professor Lupin asked with a kind smile on his face, certain that the student was overreacting over something that would end up being relatively unimportant.

The boy, however, shook his head as though his purpose there was far too urgent to risk taking the time to catch his breath. He continued on with his message, just as breathlessly as before, taking deep gasps between each word.

”Common …….. room ……… Dare ………. books …… fire ……”

Lupin’s smile quickly faltered into a grim frown. It seemed, from what he could make out, that someone in the Ravenclaw common room had dared someone else to start lighting books on fire and, most likely, had managed to set the entire room ablaze in the process.

”Odon, will you help this young lady with that spell?” he asked quickly, before he turned back to the boy in the Madam Pince costume, ”Have some chocolate, you’ll feel better!” He then bowed his head respectfully toward his colleagues, made a ‘it’s probably one of your students that’s managed to get into my house’s common room and cause this disaster’ look toward Sirius, and then sprinted off toward the exit with the group of crows cawing and flapping their wings furiously to keep up with his long stride.

As he quickly made his way back to Ravenclaw Tower, he wished, if only for that moment, that the spell that prevented Apparition within the castle walls didn’t exist, as that certainly would have made his frantic journey far less difficult. Of course, the spell was quite necessary, though he doubted that when it was put into place, fires in the common rooms were taken into account.

He barely even touched the stairs of the spiral staircase as he jerked to a stop in front of the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. He reached for the eagle-shaped doorknocker when it cleared its throat and began speaking.

”Why is a Ravenclaw like a writing desk?”

Now, Ravenclaw students were required to give an answer to a riddle in order to gain entry to their common room, just as the students of the other houses were required to give a password to enter their own respective common rooms. The Heads of House, however, were not required to do any such thing. The doorknocker had, of course, been skeptical when Lupin had first been appointed as Head of Ravenclaw as he’d been a Gryffindor in his school days, after all, but it had come to accept him long ago. Why it was giving him trouble on this night, of all times…

”Ah,” he said as the reason came to him, ”it’s trick or treat, you’re meant to give me a choice.” He gazed at the crack under the door, a bit relieved that there was not smoke billowing out from it, nor were there students running out screaming. Come to think of it, he hadn’t met a single student on his way, which, were the common room on fire, one would think that there would be more students in a panic than just the boy dressed as Madam Pince. Perhaps, then, he should have waited for the boy to catch his breath and speak more clearly.

”Why is a Ravenclaw like a writing desk?” The doorknocker asked again, ignoring Lupin’s comment, who sighed in response.

”That’s very funny… you’re not going to let me in without the correct answer, are you?” he sighed again and shook his head. ”A Ravenclaw is like a writing desk because a Gryffindor is unlikely to take notice of either one.”

The door swung open and its creaking hinges very nearly masked the sound of the doorknocker’s snickering. Lupin stepped inside and looked around quickly, taking a mental inventory of the room. There were no flames, no smoke, no singe marks; just a boy sitting on a couch, reading a book.

”Ah, so here’s the common room, you’re the Dare… burning books?” he asked, rightfully assuming that the boy in front of him knew exactly what he was talking about.

[Professor Odon Nemet]

As the argument between Madame Hooch and Sirius began to heat up, Odon wondered momentarily if anyone would notice if he just slipped away. The immediate flaw with that plan, he quickly figured, was that there was really no where to slip away to. Sure, he could go sit in his office and grade papers or prepare his next lesson or even go to his quarters, to do what he didn't know, but neither of those ideas really sounded like winners. Besides, he really did like Halloween, it was one of his favourite holidays, when he managed not to think of it as a reminder of Toril's death, which he really had been trying not to do as of late. With a sigh, he thought, a decade and more of grieving was enough wasn't it? Glumly, the visible side of his face drooped into a frown. He was tired of being angry, lonely and longing for something he couldn't have. After all, he was young yet. Another love and the possibility of a new chance at a family weren't completely hopeless, but how on Earth to break it to Toril? She seemed just intent on being miserable about what she couldn't have as he was.

The cawing of Lupin's crow brought Odon from his thoughts and he was somewhat startled to find that the little group had grown while he hadn't been paying attention. He recognised the voice of one of his prefects and was about to greet and compliment her costume, when a loud ripping sound made him pause with his mouth open. Tracking the sound, his eyes landed on Sirius as some sort of creature burst from within his robes. While his mind had come to a stand still, Odon's instincts hadn't wasted anytime. With a loud oath, Odon took a large step back, his left hand into his costume and out with his wand at the ready and pointing at the disgusting looking thing protruding from Sirius' chest in an instant.

Staring at the ugly thing with wide eyes and a baffled expression, it then occurred to Odon that it was part of Sirius' costume and he'd likely just made an ass of himself. Straightening, he tried to nonchalantly return his wand to his pocket, steeling himself for the snickers he thought were sure to be issued from his colleagues. Luckily for him, and unluckily for Lupin, the moment didn't seem to develop much before the Head of Ravenclaw house was summoned. Overhearing the conversation, he didn't envy Lupin as he watched the other man race from the Hall toward his common room. The stairs alone at that speed would likely kill Odon, he hoped that Lupin faired better.

[Addiana Cadwalader]

Hells bells, heels had been a very, very poor footwear choice, not that it had really been up to her. As always, Addi had deferred to her father's judgement with costumes and dress finery. And really, he had yet to let her down, although, she had wondered secretly if her mother had had a hand in the decision making process.However, it always seemed that the selection sent usually had less frills and lace than her mother usually preferred. Of course, those dresses were generally worn in Muggle society, so perhaps Coredelia's wizarding sense of fashion was quite different. Addi had a brief mental picture of the Muggle Studies professor and thought, yes, it was indeed possible. Though, it didn't mean she would cut her mother any slack and actually wear the hideous things.

Suddenly the corset made sense! Addi's upper lift drew upward into a snarl. And the bloody heels and the blasted crown, details Coredelia would take great pleasure on imposing Addi. Glowering, beneath the half mask, Addi remarked under her breath, "Troy better love this costume or I may have to kill her."

Her costume misery was interrupted by Professor Black. His praise made her feel somewhat better and she quickly answered, "Yes, I've taken Care of Magical Creatures as an elective, but there's no need to give me extra credit professor."

Eyes already on Professor Black, Addi's line of sight dropped to his chest and she gazed in horrid fascination as his robes began to bulge and twist. A faint uncertain sound issued from her lips as she watched in morbid curiosity. Which lasted for all of ten or so seconds before an alien creature burst from within the robes, shrieking Addi jerked backward completely forgetting that she wasn't in her trainers, and again catching her heel in a crevasse. Landing with a tooth jarring thud, her previous fright was forgotten as humiliation settled in. Her rear smarted from the hard floor, even though she had several layers between the two. Her head was nearly enveloped by the outer layer of her gown and she was quite sure that if it weren't for the petticoats and layers of crinoline, her bare legs and more would be on display.

Sucking in a deep breath, she willed the urge to cry away and instead began to fight through the layers of cloth and get to her feet. The lovely corset was hampering her ability to bend, so it looked a bit like she was attacking the dress. Finally, with a defeated moan, she asked with as much dignity as she could muster, "Would someone please help me up?" Quickly followed by the thought, merciful Lord in Heaven, please, please tell me Troy didn't see that!

[Dare Rian]

Lifting his head from the section of the book he had been engrossed in, Dare closed and set the book aside, giving Professor Lupin a rare smile, just before the professor’s words sunk in. He was just shy of rolling his eyes, mostly because of the simpleton who bungled the message, but he supposed that with tattletales, beggars couldn’t be choosy; after all it did have the desired effect, before he scratched his head and glanced about the common room. “Books on fire? Really, I’d pay to see one of these brains burn a book. I bet they’d probably blubber the whole time or pass out at the mere suggestion,” glee radiated from Dare as he thought about it, but he quickly returned to his costume dilemma. “As you can plainly see professor, I am not burning any books,” he continued, stretching the truth only marginally, “And I’m not sure how this scene,” he gestured to the common room, “Would suggest to anyone that I might be burning books.”

His mind wandered a little and he thought out loud, “Although, perhaps the idea of me actually being able to read might have been outrageous enough to send one of my engaging housemates into a frenzied misapprehension.” With a shrug of his shoulders, he quickly pushed the less important, in his opinion at any rate, things from his mind and focused on the problem that had driven him to such lengths to begin with.

“Although,” he said casually, “While you’re here Professor Lupin, I could use a little help with my Halloween costume.” Pushing himself up and out of the overstuffed couch, he brushed the wrinkles from his linen loincloth, before continuing, “My costume is a great deal more complex than just the ancient Egyptian theme you can currently see. After experimenting with several spells, I still have not achieved the desired results. You see, I’ve been trying to make my head look like that of the jackal headed Egyptian god Anubis.”

Hopeful and a bit impatient, he waited while that bungled explanation settled in before asking, “Would you please help me Professor?” The word please stuck in his throat, but he got it out without sounding terribly ridiculous, although he still hated having to say it. For as long as he could remember, the word please had been associated with begging and Dare had learned rather young that it did you little good to beg for anything. Instead, he had developed an arsenal of other means to get what he wanted and he frequently used grateful or appreciated in place of please.