Open Glory and Gore

[Celia Vuong]

Celia used to love Halloween. Back home, the holiday was an elaborate affair, requiring weeks of planning as she and her friends tried to come up with the perfect group costume. They'd spend hours at the thrift store, carefully piecing together their outfits. Of course, that wouldn't be happening this year. Her friends were halfway across the world, and the thought of them having fun without her was enough to put her in a bad mood.

She'd wanted to skip the Halloween Feast again this year, but she knew that if she wanted any semblance of a social life, she had to attend. Plus, she did miss a good party. In the end, Celia had decided to volunteer to write about the feast for the Hogwarts Monthly, effectively forcing herself to go. The assignment would hopefully net her a front page headline, and it would provide a good excuse as to why she was wandering the room miserably alone and without a real costume. She had work to do.

Wearing her cutest black dress and a cat ear headband, Celia entered the Great Hall and scanned the room, a bit overwhelmed by the decorations. They were impressive, she had to admit. She jotted down a few notes before approaching the first person she saw. "Hey, I'm covering the feast for the Monthly. What do you think of it so far?" Her transcription quill hovered above her notepad, ready to take down their quote.

 

[Padme Hume]

Padme had put on a rather simple ballerina costume and was enjoying the hall. She had liked the other school's halloween festivities but had to admit these were a little more fun. Hogwarts Scotland was a more formal dinner feast and not many dressed up, though the food was pretty incredible. She was a little in her own world when she head someone beside her ask a question. "Oh it's good, looks really nice and I'm excited to see the fun house..," she replied, trailing off a little not sure if she should say more. ​

 

[Celia Vuong]

The quill immediately got to work, copying down the girl's words. Though Celia was glad the older girl hadn't declined to be interviewed, the quote she gave wasn't exactly the most gripping material. Celia waited a second for the girl to elaborate, but when that didn't happen, she offered an encouraging smile and nodded. "And why the fun house specifically? Have you been before?" Given the girl's age, Celia had to assume this wasn't her first time at the Halloween feast. Maybe she would be able to provide helpful context about past feasts.

 

[Padme Hume]

Padme gave a little shrug, "It's been a few years since I last went into the fun house, so I'm eager to go and see if there are any changes to it. I'm sure that it's had a few," she elaborated before looking back at the young girl. She knew that obviously they were interviewing somewhat, but she couldn't help herself from asking. "Are you looking forward to anything in the hall?" ​

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia kept up her smile though the girl's description was still a bit vague. Interviewing was trickier than she'd thought, and she wondered how journalists managed to get such good quotes. That seemed like something Poppy and the others should have gone over at the last meeting instead of playing the dumb mad-libs game. "What's usually inside the fun house?" Celia asked, glancing at the tent in the middle of the room. Would she have to go in herself? This was already more work than she'd imagined.

At the girl's question, Celia shrugged. She considered keeping her answer short and firing away another question but decided a more conversational approach might help. "I'm not sure. This is my first time attending the feast. I guess I'm looking forward to hearing the results of the Costume Contest. There are some interesting costumes." She was already planning on rating a couple in her article. Celia paused and nodded her head towards the girl's outfit. "Why'd you dress up as a ballerina?"

 

[Padme Hume]

Padme gave a little thought to the question. "There are mirrors, like perspective mirrors that make you look taller, shorter etc, and there are rooms with lights and walls meant to trick the brain. It's a lot about illusions and making it not spooky but fun," she said. "So nothing jumps at you," Padme said with a little shrug. She listened to the girl as she talked about this being her first time. She hadn't pegged the girl as a first year, but perhaps was. "Any that you really like or think are going to win?" Padme asked ehr before looking at her own costume. "It was a costume I had, it's easy too and you don't end up too warm," Padme said. ​