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[Tuesday Palmero]

Tuesday was super excited for Halloween this year, any excuse to dress up was fun for her and her sisters even if the holiday wasn't really a big deal. Last year she'd painted all her skin yellow but this year she wasn't going as something so obviously costume-y, but she was more excited for this year's costume than last year's. Her mum had always taught Tuesday and her sisters all about different women to look up to as role models, so this year she was excited to be dressed as Frida Kahlo, one of her favorite inspirational women. Tuesday adjusted the large flower crown on her head as she made her way through the great hall admiring everyone costumes. It seemed that everyone went all out this year and it made the night feel more festive and fun. As she walked around the hall she decided to pick up a cupcake that looked like a spider, but all of a sudden it started scuttling across the table and Tuesday screamed, thinking it was real and pulled her hand back quickly.
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[Gideon Zelinsky]

For Gideon, Halloween only meant one thing - sugar, and lots of it. He was never too enthusiastic about what he dressed up as, never spent too much time or energy planning out how to be the scariest looking kid. Every year he'd simply get a new random "spooky" outfit to wear, and focused on being one of the first to go door-to-door and get the best sweets before the only children took them all. It didn't matter if he wore a sheet with eye holes cut out, or an undead "XYZ" costume from the mall, adults couldn't say no to kids when it came to Halloween. With Hogwarts, door to door knocking was no longer an option. It was even better - it brought the chocolates and lollies straight to him! Now it was no longer a question of who could get through all of the houses fist, but who could get to the snack table first.

Jumping ahead of people wherever possible, dressed in simple black clothes with white bones, Gideon entered the Great Hall and veered for the food as quickly as possible. He piled a plate high with cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties, licorice wands and a handful of bertie botts, feeling somewhat adventurous given the night's event. Before he could leave to find one of his siblings, his sister no doubt dressed as a fairy again, a girl right next to him screamed at what he initially assumed to be a spider. Without thinking about it, the Gryffindor instinctively slammed his plate of food down on top of the creature, squashing it. It wasn't until he lifted the plate back up that he took it for what it was, a chocolate cupcake with pretzel stick legs that weakly floundered before growing still. "Gideon saves the day again." He said with a awkward grin, more to himself than anything. It was a little embarrassing to have tried to kill a cupcake, but hey, at least he hadn't screamed. Looking up at the girl who did, he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, you weren't going to eat that, were you?" ​

 

[Tuesday Palmero]

It wasn't until after Tuesday had screamed that she considered the possibility of a spell on the cupcake to make it move, still making it perfectly safe to eat. But before she could even consider that option, someone effectively squashed the cupcake with their plate of food. She was stunned at both the amount of food overloaded on the plate and the gesture itself. She watched as the boy lifted the plate and realized he had only just made a mess and laughed at his comment. "My hero," she said jokingly before adding, "Thanks anyway," appreciating the gesture all the same. She laughed and shook her head at his question. "The frosting's the best part, and most of it ended up on your plate," she said with an amused smile, pointing at the underside of the plate. "Besides, I'm not sure I trust these anymore," she said conspiratorially, poking the edge of another spider cupcake to see if it moved again, though this one stayed in place, as cupcakes should. "Think I'll be safe with a cauldron cake?" she asked the boy, seeing as he had piled his plate with some and they didn't seem to be moving so far.
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[Gideon Zelinsky]

Giddy beamed at the girl's comment, and in response almost tilted his plate to check the underside of it for the icing she had pointed out, only thinking better of it part way through the action and narrowly avoiding any further mess than the one he had made already. Instead, he agreed that it wasn't best to trust the spidercakes, and removed a few from his plate. "I dunno, after seeing these cupcakes, can we trust any of the food?" He joked, though a part of him did wonder what else was animated to do something. "Maybe the cauldron cakes are charmed to explode, like if you messed up a potion. You might be safer with some sugar quills and pumpkins pasties. Can't go wrong with them, right?" He couldn't think of a creative way that could backfire, and surely some of the food was trustworthy enough not to turn on them. "Its kinda cool but, that they have all this spooky stuff. Have you been into the Haunted Tent yet? I saw it up last year but I never went inside." It looked so cool, and he'd tried to convince Morrigan to go in with him, to no avail. "Not that I was scared of it or anything, I just didn't get a chance." The boy was quick to add, in case there was any doubt on his masculinity. It definitely wasn't fear. He could handle anything inside. Probably.​

 

[Tuesday Palmero]

Tuesday chuckled as the boy almost tipped his food over to check under his plate but caught his near-mistake just in time and saw him put a few of the spidercakes back, which was a smart move in her opinion. Just as she reached for a cauldron cake, she considered what he said and pulled her hand back slowly. "You do make a good point," she said thoughtfully, and in the end reached for a pumpkin pasty as she didn't think anything could happen to those. "Though you never know - what if this is just the professors' way of tricking us. We think we're getting treats and surprise! all of the sweets are inedible!" she said playfully, taking a bite of her pasty afterward to prove she wasn't serious.

She looked over at the Haunted Tent he mentioned and heard faint noises from it which sounded creepy, but fun nonetheless. Tuesday shook her head and replied, "I didn't go inside last year either." It wasn't that she was scared, really, but she had only been a first year and she didn't think she knew enough magic to protect herself against whatever was in there. Not that she'd really be in danger, but still, she liked to be prepared. "Gideon was it?" she asked for confirmation before introducing herself, "I'm Tuesday." A sly smile appeared on her face and said, "I'll go in if you go in," hoping he was up for it. "Unless you have some eating contest to win first," she added afterward with a chuckle, gesturing to his plate.
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[Gideon Zelinsky]

Gideon was pleased to hear that he wasn't the only one who hadn't ventured into the Haunted Tent yet. He could only wonder as to what was concealed inside. It seemed so small from the outside, like it couldn't possibly fit more than ten people standing together, but he'd at least passed by it enough to notice that the interior was deceptively large, however obscured by a thick fog that stopped him making out anything more than sneaking silhouettes. When the girl introduced herself as Tuesday, and challenged him to enter the tent with her, the boy grinned. Part of why he hadn't gone in on his own was because it simply sounded boring to do alone. There was no fun in adventuring into a spooky tent when there was no one else around to join in on the fun. "I'm up for it! Let me just uh, hide these somewhere." He looked down at the plate he held, and then toward the table next to him, quickly reaching for a few orange and black napkins. "Last time I ate this much in one night, I was sick for for an entire day. Definitely not doing that again. I just want to make sure I have enough to last me the week before everyone else takes it all. It's not every night we get feasts after all, especially with candy." He explained as he piled the napkins on top of the plate of food, setting it down onto a dark corner table in the hopes that no one would notice what was underneath and steal it by the time he got back. There was no way he was walking through the tent holding a plate, that was just a disaster waiting to happen. "Okay! I'm good to go. So, ladies first, right?" Giddy said playfully, gesturing over to the nearby tent. He was excited to finally be able to check it out for himself, and see if it was really worth all the fuss. After the spider cupcakes, how bad could it be?
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[Tuesday Palmero]

Tuesday watched, amused, as the boy hid his loot under a pile of napkins, though she couldn't blame him, since it wasn't every day that they got this much candy. She was just glad he wasn't going to try take the plate with him into the tent because he'd probably end up dropping it when he got spooked. Once he was ready, Tuesday walked over to the tent with Gideon and stood on tip toe to peer inside, unable to see anything past some misty fog. She turned to him when he said ladies first and replied, "You're just saying that so you don't have to walk in first," half playful and half resentful, but she walked in anyway. Immediately, she could hear faint moans and chains rattling and strangely, water dripping. Or maybe blood, she thought belatedly. Tuesday yelped as felt something brush by her feet as a scaly, scratchy hand tried to grab her ankle and she jumped away from it, looking around at her feet. She had to squint to be able to see around her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the tent. She turned to look behind her and said, "Gideon? You better be in here too." She'd been so busy taking in her new surroundings that she hadn't paid attention to whether or not he came in after her and hoped he hadn't chickened out on her.
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