The Hogwarts Hocus Halloween Hextravaganza, Before Midnight.

[pumpkinpatchsir.livejournal.com]

((Okay, the party will be divided into two parts, one taking place before midnight, and one after the Halloween spell is starting to work. This is the first part, obviously. The other will be posted immediately afterwards but takes place roughly five hours later or so, in game time. Remember, this post is for partying only, and no people-turning-into-their-costumes crack!))

ASK NOT FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, IT TOLLS FOR THEE

Jack watched the words that were magically carved above the door to the Great Hall, in plain view of everyone entering it, and he smiled secretively. Everything was set. Tonight was going to be interesting. Who would have known magic could prove to be so useful? He made a mental note to investigate this even more for next year. Now that Sally was here, he'd be able to discuss it with her at great length. She always had such lovely ideas.

Since Jack was not exactly a beginner in the scaring people business he had carefully checked out the atmosphere of Hogwarts and gotten a distinct impression of what was considered frightening here. Outside the Great Hall the lights were out and shadows lurked in the corners. At irregular intervals (but always when one was least expecting it) the mad cackle of a deranged evil clown echoed through the Entrance Hall. Small cats black as midnight stroke around the walls, not speaking to anyone but constantly smiling evilly at anyone passing them, showing gleaming, pointed teeth. Also, because Jack never had it in him to resist the absolute classics, bats were hanging upside-down near the ceiling.

Inside the Great Hall, it was less dark and spooky, but still obviously Halloween. Cool white mist was trickling along the floor. Jack-o’-lanterns hovered in the air around an area cleared for dancing. Along one wall stood a large table with various Halloween treats: pumpkin pie, candy corn, toffee apples, hot cider, mini-cakes and a large bowl of punch.

The Halloween party could begin.

Comments

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

"Well, to be honest neither do I, and I am one," she admitted. "I was never what you might call a social creature, back home--the people I saw most tended to not be 'people', in the classical sense of the word."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Which was likely part of why Stephen and Susan got on so well. "I could never be called a 'social creature' either. I have been consulted in matters one would consider to be of a personal nature, mind, as a physician. A ship, too, is something of a floating microcosm, a world unto itself. One cannot live in such close quarters with such a press of humanity without learning something of their ways. That floating world is masculine in character, of course. I did once have a woman as loblolly-boy, a matronly efficient Polly who came highly recommended by a Dublin doctor I had known; and there are ships where the gunner will take his wife aboard. Captain Aubrey has always preferred not to have women aboard, when he had the choice." He thought of Clarissa again and smiled. Clarissa had been a stowaway, and Jack had not been pleased in the least to have her presence forced upon his ship as a fait accompli; Stephen, though, had found her most agreeable, though not in the way Jack might have suspected.

"I should understand women better than I do, now that I have been one. It was while you were popcorn; there is a potion that accomplishes the change." Suddenly a speculative look crossed his face. "Do you think Teatime would recognise you, were you a man?"

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

"Playgrounds are much the same," she said, shaking her head. "I took the children to several different parks, and I told them that if they could get the hand of playground politics, the adult world would hold no fears." The fears of adults were so pale in comparison to those of children...adults feared only the tangible, while for children the imaginary often held much more terror. "They really are a small cross-section of society, with everything that goes therewith."

Susan had to laugh at the idea of herself as a man. "Unless I could do something about this hair, he'd recognize me if I was a poodle," she said, indicating her veiled head. "I've never tried dyeing it, but something tells me it wouln't take. It's like the birthmark, I think; bits of soul genetics no magic can erase."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

"Ah, yes, the hair. I had quite forgotten it, I confess. Next to the things one sees routinely at Hogwarts, hair that moves of its own accord seems so trivial as not to be worth mentioning. You are quite right; it would give away your identity readily."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

"I suppose I could wear a scarf, but that would likely attract more notice than not." Bugger. "It's not even as if I could cut it off, either--it attacked the last hairdresser that tried."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

"That does sound formidable," Stephen agreed, suppressing a chuckle. "It would seem you have a weapon besides the famous poker, then, at least."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

"I can certainly see it trying to strangle him," she agreed. "Though I'm not sure it would be very effective."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Stephen grinned. "It might slow him down a bit." This was not a serious discussion of tactics. He hoped to keep the conversation light, or as light as it could be.