Luscious Pumpkin Jam (dated to Halloween night)

[ugly-old-hat.livejournal.com]

The party was not intended to celebrate Halloween, actually, but to celebrate the existence of pumpkins. It just seemed Halloween would be a good time for that kind of a celebration.

Wizarding culture had a special regard for the pumpkin, making it into tarts and juice and savories, forcing it down the gullets of every magic-user from such a tender age as to form a lifelong habit. The Sorting Hat, being steeped in magic, had also steeped itself in many a vessel of pumpkin juice over the centuries of its storied existence. Pumpkin juice, pumpkin ale, pumpkin hooch. Gooey pumpkin-gut strings, luxurious nutrient-rich slime studded with pale seeds. Oh pumpkins, glorious gourd of wizard's delight!

The Hat had dubbed this party after one of its favorite recipes: the LUSCIOUS PUMPKIN JAM.

The huge doors of the Great Hall were open. While magic kept the chill seasonal drafts from the Great Hall itself, party-goers who wished to enjoy the crisp autumn air could do so from the luxury of a pumpkin carriage. These were quite literally hollowed pumpkins that the Hat's magic had transfigured into full-size carriages, capable of carrying several occupants. Each was lit from within by enchanted candles, and studded with gleaming black jewels, with carved faces in lieu of windows. Several of the enchanted wonders were lined up outside the doors, with their house-elf coachmen ready to whisk students around the school grounds in slightly-gooey, pumpkin-scented comfort.

Indoors, all was warm and merry, and candlelit, and mostly orange. Instead of bobbing for apples, guests could bob for miniature pumpkins, the sort Martha Stewart might have used to decorate a mantelpiece, their tub filled with pumpkin juice in lieu of water. A pumpkin-carving station took prominent position near the doors, with paints and yarn to bedeck uncarved gourds for those students uninterested in pulling out pumpkin pulp. Tables had been moved to accommodate a dance floor, with a karaoke machine placed nearby. Golems inspired by Arcimboldo, wholly composed of autumnal fruits, did duty as waiters and DJs.

From the vantage of the head table, elevated above the main body of the hall, the Hat could take in all at once the entire spectacle. Satisfied, it rapped a self-congratulatory pastiche/homage:

"There ain't no party like a Sorting Hat party 'cause a Sorting Hat party don't STOP!"

The Hat felt most coolio itself, extending a strap to caress languidly the sequined sombrero that lay beside its place at the Great Hall's head table. The sombrero did not respond, of course. It was rather like the hat-equivalent of a RealDoll. Inert though it might be, the sombrero was velvety AND blingy, and that was what mattered.

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[he-was-born.livejournal.com]

A party? Jherek Carnelian was not one to miss a party, least of all a party celebrating a significant component of Wizarding culture! Not that he understood why pumpkins were of such import- he supposed it to be a quaint and silly tendency of early 21st century Earth humans, which perhaps held some inexplicable religious connotations given an entire day dedicated to them. Perhaps it had something to with 'sin', and that Garden of Eden story he'd learned from Earth books (read to him by house-elves, as Jherek remained quite illiterate- although he'd learned to recognize a few words based on visual repetition, the idea behind writing remained quite primitive and confusing to him). Whatever the reasoning behind a pumpkin festival, a festival was a festival, and Jherek was determined to make a good show of it.

And so it was that he spent the entire morning and best part of the afternoon preparing his costume for the Luscious Pumpkin Jam. If not for the fact that he'd kept his flesh intact, Jherek might as well have been one of the Arcimboldo golems, swathed as he was in a garment which vaguely resembled an exploding cornucopia, albiet a gourd-centric one. His robes were a resplendent pumpkin-colour, and his cape was a striated orange-and green, studded with numerous small but perfect gourds in their many shapes and hues. A collar of golden gourds wreathed his neck, and golden jack-o-lanterns served as Jherek's pauldrons, lit from within with a warm orange glow. Atop his head sat a precarious tower of a hat, its artfully-arranged pile pumpkins, gourds, and sparkling black-and-orange jewels rising nearly a yard above the curled orange locks of his hair- to finish the look, he'd stained his lips black, as well as his eyes- including the whites. Upon his arrival to the party, the ridiculous hat had already become somewhat crooked, but Jherek was not one to let this bring him down. He adjusted his headwear, smiled brightly at the Great Hall's decorations, and soon found himself near the dance floor, looking for a potential partner.

[glamhologram.livejournal.com]

Jem loved Halloween! Glamour, glitter, fashion, and a gaggle of orphans to take trick-or-treating! How she would miss the Starlight girls this autumn, at Hogwarts. She had tried to dress up some house elves, but they refused to accept any clothing.

She had to be content with dressing herself up for the occasion. The holiday practically mandated a pumpkin-colored ensemble. While it's possible the mun is colorblind and this is more of a harvest gold color, IT LOOKS KIND OF ORANGE, OKAY



The short pants and stockings would free her legs for some festive dancing! The party's name alone promised some musical fun, and Jem was totally ready to put the jammin' in Luscious Pumpkin Jam!

She found the karaoke machine almost at once. But the song she wanted to sing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyJsP1_fKSc) was a duet. Catching a glimpse of a spectacularly costumed partygoer - who even looked a little like Riot (http://i.imgur.com/RGeKV.jpg), to Jem's eye! - she beckoned to him, to Jherek Carnelian, making a little pretty please? eyelash-batting face as she did.

Little did she know, the most magical karaoke prompter in the world couldn't have helped her out with this duet. How could Jem have known that Jherek was illiterate?

Jem, who was practically the patron saint of literacy (http://cleopatrasperfume.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/my-jem-interview-%E2%80%9Croxy-rumbles%E2%80%9D-for-literacy/)!

[he-was-born.livejournal.com]

Jherek had already noticed Jem by the time she beckoned to him- she was after all one of the best-dressed people at Hogwarts in his opinion, and tonight's ensemble was no exception- he especially liked the striped boots, and rather regretted the omission of striped footwear from his own outfit. Having met Jem at her Sorting, and having found her entirely delightful, he couldn't very well resist her look, and wandered over, smiling. "A wonderful ensemble, for the most scintillating of singers! I especially like the boots."

The karaoke machine was a new one for Jherek, and his natural curiosity meant the the subject couldn't be avoided. "Do you know what this device is for?" Although he'd heard a couple people singing, he hadn't associated it with the machine- music could originate from thin air where he was from, so he didn't tend to think too much about its origin. But, he actually knew a surprising amount about music, particularly from the 19th and 20th centuries, having found a cache of 'platters' dating from this era during his Hi-Rise phase. He'd taught himself many of the songs, and ended up with a particular fascination with the 19th century, which soon lead to his Hi-Rise becoming the ranch. In light of his former 20th century fixation, it was quite possible that his illiteracy wouldn't prove too much of a hindrance. . .

[glamhologram.livejournal.com]

"It's for singing at parties," explained Jem, in what wasn't quite a stage whisper. "The prompter shows you the words, and you sing along with the music! I do miss my backing band, but karaoke's outrageous!"

[he-was-born.livejournal.com]

"Words?" That was somewhat distressing, given the aforementioned illiteracy- but Jherek wasn't daunted. "I'm not that good with words, but, I do love music! Are there songs from the 19th and 20th century? Those are the songs I know best- I found some platters. Perhaps I will recognize one? And we could sing it?" Jherek smiled hopefully at Jem, although the effect was somewhat marred by Jherek's entirely black eyes.

[glamhologram.livejournal.com]

"The 20th century is where it's at!" Jem was a child of the 1980s and felt her own time was incredibly futuristic, what with Synergy and all. An Elton John single from 1976 was sufficient compromise between the 18th and 19th centuries, surely? "Let's show this party how it's done!"

With Jemly aplomb she leapt, dancewise, toward the microphone, leading Jherek by the hand in the anatomically improbable way she so often managed in her music videos (though usually in those she was leading a glum-faced or loopy Rio Pacheco). They might as well have been borne upon the wings of a rainbow. A rainbow bedecked with visible notes of music.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's time for this pumpkin to jam! Presenting, for our first-ever engagement, JHEMREK!"

[he-was-born.livejournal.com]

Jherek may not have been a rock star, but, he came from a world in which pretty much everyone was the equivalent of a rock star- at least the popular ones. And Jherek was popular! He followed Jem unabashedly to the microphone, a huge smile appearing as soon as he heard the first notes of the song.

"Oh! I know this one! It's the great Captain Fantastic, of the Order of Pinball Wizards, who dueled his rival Tommy for the hand of the fair Acid Queen!" he exclaimed, quickly transfiguring himself up an appropriate pair of enormous, rhinestone-laden glasses with bright orange rims. Jherek's lack of literacy indeed proved no hindrance- Elton John had been well-represented in his collection of 'platters', and the fashionable legends which surrounded the ancient musician had lived on into his era- although somewhat muddled. Luckily, Jherek didn't dwell on these, and instead focused on the song- something about Jem's presence made this surprisingly easy, and, he actually nailed the starting point- and pretty well, at that. Jherek's voice was a quality one- not so polished as Jem's, of course, as he was no professional. But, he was enthusiastic, clear, and on-key, even on the occasions where he muddled up the words.