Scaly Cinderella

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe hadn't really participated in Halloween last year, but after a joke she had with Oswald at the end of their first year she knew the perfect costume and had prepared accordingly. Now she just hoped she could actually find the boy somewhere. Her own mask wasn't covering even half her face, so she was sure anyone could recognize her, but she didn't see Oswald anywhere. There were so many masked people though that he could easily be around. Unless he hadn't gone to the feast at all, which would be a shame.

Her assassin costume had been fun to prepare for, as it forced her to think out of the box. She had a plastic sword she'd gotten in a muggle toy store, her wand (as that was the most useful thing to actually kill someone with, she reasoned), and a chain of small potion bottles filled with simple water and food coloring. They were supposed to be poison bottles, and she figured she might have some fun trying to get someone to drink one.

The Great Hall looked pretty neat, Professor Alicastell seemed to enjoy decorating a lot, or maybe another professor had done it? More likely the actual decorating had been a house elf, though the design could have been anyone's. With nothing beter to do, she decided to eat some sweets. She approached one of the tables and picked up a cauldron cake as she listened to the headmistress open the feast. She chewed idly while waiting for something exciting to happen. In the distance she spotted her sister with a Christmas tree hat. She snorted, Rose was silly, but she loved her for it.

 

[Oswald Brigham]

Oswald loved Halloween. Seriously - what wasn't there to love? Dressing up in fancy costumes, eating pumpkin-flavoured food and pumpkin-shaped candy, decorating the school with cobwebs and cauldrons and skeletons. Halloween was the best time of year, hands down. Oswald had been working since September on his dragon costume, which had turned out totally fantastic, in his very humble opinion. He'd wanted to decorate the body with real dragon scales, but his dad hadn't let him. Still, this hardly detracted from it, and Oswald had hardly been so pleased with something he'd made in his entire life.

When the night of the feast finally arrived, Oswald put on his dragon costume and made his way down from the Gryffindor common room, nearly tripping over a couple of times as a result of his impaired vision. He'd left a small slit through the dragon's mouth for him to look through, but it really wasn't enough - especially not with so many jack-o-lanterns placed in hazardous and unexpected places. At last he made it to the hall, his toe throbbing where he'd accidentally kicked a cauldron, but his enthusiasm in tact.

Oswald glanced around. The celebrations had already begun, with most of the students tucking into the feast while the rest chatted to one another around the edges of the hall. Oswald looked this way and that, not entirely sure what it was he hoped to see until he saw her. Phoebe! He laughed inside his mask: she was dressed as an assassin. That had to be a poke at their numerous encounters where Oswald had accidentally sprung upon her with a weapon. Forcing the smile off his face (just in case Phoebe could see through the dragon's mouth), Oswald strode across the room to meet her. She was laughing at something (or someone) at the opposite end of the hall when he arrived, and, suddenly feeling a little warm and not so dragon-like, all Oswald could do was give her an awkward little wave.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe was just starting to think she should create her own fun by coming up with some mischief, when she noticed someone in a dragon costume head her way. She grinned widely, having little doubt about who it was. She leaned forward to peer into his costume's mouth, tilting her head slightly. "Oswald, is that you in there?" She asked teasingly. "Did a dragon finally get tired of you tracking it and eat you as a Halloween snack?" She grinned, shaking her head at her own joke. "Just kidding, you look amazing! Did you make the suit yourself?" She reached over to touch his shoulder lightly, wondering what sort of material the suit was made of. "I guess you can see what I am, though I should have gone as a dragon slayer instead I think," she said as she looked at him, her eyes twinkling. "Never too late for a career change, though, is it?" Her hand moved to the hilt of her plastic sword, she had enjoyed their jokes about this before and their 'sword' fight with sticks on the grounds last year. "I could kill you with a sword or... I could give you a cauldron cake, which will it be?"

 

[Oswald Brigham]

Oswald couldn't decide whether to be disappointed that Phoebe had sussed him so soon, or ecstatic that she had guessed right away. He bared his claws as way of reply, reaching out to slash her shoulder and then changing his mind while his hand was half way there and pulling it back in again. "Yeah! You think so?" he said, beaming in his costume. Phoebe liked it. She was impressed! "Hah!" Oswald stood a little taller and put his hands on his hips. "I bet those cauldron cakes are laced with poison! As if I'd fall for that amateur trick!" He thrust his chin up, and the jaw of his dragon-mask wobbled a bit, as if it were held together with spellotape (which it might have been). "You can try to kill me... but you'll never catch me." With that, Oswald made a run for it, hurdling over a black cat that tried to trip him up as he escaped.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe thought it was nice that Oswald was so proud of his costume, and she was glad she had complimented him. It was something Rose would have done,and something Phoebe could easily have overlooked if she had been distracted by something else. Seeing him stand taller from a few simple words made her think she may have to do that more often. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten, however, as he exclaimed the cakes must be laced with poison she laughed, as that had been exactly what she was going to pretend. When he ran away from her, she was surprised but delighted. She practically threw the rest of her cauldron cake down onto the table and raced after him. "Come back here, you fire breathing fiend!" She said dramatically, swinging her sword as she ran.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was having a great time in her dragon costume, feeling like she was going up in her role as her favorite magical creature. She hadn't really celebrated Halloween at home, though it was more and more common in her home country, so getting to dress up and be silly here was pretty great. She had the hood of her costume up, as she didn't see the point in being a dragon with a human-girl head. So far, she hadn't seen anyone she recognized yet. Which made sense as she didn't really know all that many people yet. She gave a few students she passed a thumbs-up, though, whenever she thought their costumes were particularly sick. Some of these people really went all out, and she bet magic helped as well. Maybe when she knew more magic she could go as a more realistic dragon, with actual fire. That... would probably not be allowed, but a girl could dream.

Speaking of realistic dragons, there was one! Not a real one, but a boy in a costume that was definitely more like a real dragon than her own was. Fleur didn't mind hers, as she thought it looked funny and cute and she was hoping it would help a little bit in giving the creatures a better reputation. Enough people already thought they were scary enough to hurt, which was horrible. Still, the boy looked like he was having a lot of fun being chased by some girl in a mask. Fleur didn't get why almost no one else was really being silly, most of the older students just stood around chatting in their beautiful costumes instead of living in the real Halloween spirit. She had to get in on this. With a roar, she jumped between the boy and girl and laughed maniacally for a moment as she spread her arms wide. "Dragons protect one another!" She shouted eagerly, not caring about any odd looks she may or may not be getting from surrounding students. "Step back or be deep-fried by my fiery breath!"

 

[Oswald Brigham]

Oswald grinned as he ran, weaving between two older Gryffindors and then turning back to see how far behind Phoebe was. He didn't want to make it too hard for her to catch him, after all. But just as he turned, from the right side of his view there suddenly leaped another dragon! Well, he could only see its back, but it certainly looked like a dragon (albeit a slightly more casual one). As she spread her arms and yelled, Oswald laughed out loud. Deep-fried? What kind of dragon was this? An oil-spitting one? Still, they had somebody else to play with, now, which was awesome. Oswald wondered who it might be, not recognising her voice, but decided it would be more fun if he didn't know. "Yeah! Dragons stick together!" he yelled at her from behind, and then, "But, uh, we should probably run. Run!"

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe wasn't sure what to think of the second dragon jumping in at first, as she was enjoying herself with her friend, but she soon discovered the girl seemed quite fun as well, even if her threat didn't make all that much sense. "Two dragons? I will defeat you both and use your blood in potions!" She grinned, waving her sword menacingly. She started running after Oswald again, though the other girl stayed close to him as well. "It would be smarter if you two split, I can only go after one!" Phoebe could never resist pointing out flaws in other people's plans, not even when it was to her own advantage not to.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was happy these two didn't seem to mind her just jumping into their game. She flapped her arms as if they were wings, though she had actual wings on her back. She nodded when the boy told he to run and did so, still occasionally flapping her arms because it was just more fun and dragon-like. Who cared if it didn't make much sense? The girl chasing them told them to split up and Fleur shook her head. "Never! Dragons stick together." She repeated. "You won't separate us!" She was being a bit dramatic, especially considering she didn't even know the boy's name, but she was having a lot of fun pretending. This would only be neater if she could actually fly. But running around wouldn't save them forever, she looked around and then grabbed the boy's arm. "Under the table, she can't grab us there." She said, pulling him to one of the tables lining the walls. Part of her was just hoping to get her hands on some candy while they were playing, but he didn't need to know that.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

It felt like an eternity since Geo had attended a social event. In fact they all seemed to happen around the same time of year, kicking off with Halloween, before her birthday and the Yule Ball. Last year Geo had chosen to attend the Halloween feast dressed as Monty Pendleton, and while amusing, she did feel as though she cheated somewhat. Going forward, she would make all her costumes and compete just like the others.

As the Hufflepuff wandered the tables of food, snuffling food under her bright clowns mask every now and then, she had her eyes open for students she'd not spoken to in a while. Under this costume no one knew it was her, and she was free to roam the hall as she pleased until wanted to be noticed. A few tables down, there seemed to be some commotion, as a couple of dragons were battling a fearless sword wielding mask wearing ninja woman. Slowly, Geo made her way closer to those fighting it out, hoping that she would catch them off guard and give them a fright. Soon she was standing behind the girl who chased the dragons, who had quickly hid underneath one of the tables. She smiled to herself, trying not to make any noise as she waited for the students to notice her presence.

 

[Oswald Brigham]

Who was that girl in the dragon costume? Oswald was starting to become bothered by the fact he couldn't work out who it was. Maybe she wasn't in his year? "Hey!" said Oswald indignantly as Phoebe swung her sword around. "You learned that from me! Trying to use my own moves agains-SWEET MERLIN ALMIGHTY, PHOEBE RUN!!" Responding to the tug at his arm, Oswald dove with his new dragon friend beneath one of the tables, feeling immediately guilty for not fighting off that absolutely terrifying clown thing that was creeping up on Phoebe. Then again, she was trying to slay him, so maybe he'd just leave her to fend for herself. Genuinely terrified, Oswald grabbed at his dragon-friend's arm and pulled her closer to him under the table, his heart hammering a wild rhythm in his chest.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe was enjoying the chase, though she didn't understand why the two didn't listen to her excellent advice. She snorted when she watched them head to the tables, that was an amateur move. As if she couldn't get to them there. She could get under tables too, please.

When Oswald yelled at her to run, she scoffed. That was such an obvious tactic to distract her so they could get away. Wasn't it? He did look really scared so she turned her head to check and let out a horrified scream when she saw the terrifying clown face. She was so startled she threw the plastic sword she was holding at the clown, jumping back from it. "Holy crap!!" She shouted, her logical brain soon reminder her this must be someone in costume, but her heart was still beating wildly in her chest. "Wow, you are HORRIFYING. Good job." She said, her voice a little shaky. She mostly talked to the figure in the hopes that the person would talk back to her and prove it was just a costume. A horrible, horrible costume.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur noted that the boy told the girl he had taught her to use that sword. That was interesting, and she wanted to ask about it but then she spotted the clown. Fleur's eyes widened and she was glad to duck under the table with the boy. That was a scary clown and Fleur didn't mind at all that the boy pulled her close, feeling braver with her dragon friend even though she had no idea who he was or what his name was. She peeked out from under the table cautiously and shuddered. "Please tell me that's just a costume." She whispered as she moved back to sit close to the boy again.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Considering she'd made the costume herself, Geo was pretty content with the reactions she was recieving for it. The first dragon noticed her quickly and she was pleased to find it was a voice she recognised. As the sword wielding student turned though, her face was priceless. Geo remained motionless as the sword was flung in her direction and crashed to the floor; afterall she'd not bothered to cut out any arm holes and therefore any kind of defensive would prove futile. She just stood, absorbing the stares that were in her direction, before slowly edging closer and closer towards the girl. A moment later, she were but a few centimeters from the face of the student, and as a couple of tense seconds past as she froze, the bright eyes of her mask were glaring down into the face of its victim.

Geo couldn't take it any longer. She burst out laughing, one arm freeing itself from the clothed cape to push the mask back to the top of her head to dispel the mystery. "You guys are hilarious!" She continued to laugh at all three of them, before turning to retrieve the fallen weapon. "Here, you'll need this if you want to live" She gave a grin and a wink before handing the sword back to the girl. "Phoebe right?" She'd seen her in classes a few times, but never had she spoken to her. She looked around the Ravenclaw to see who else was peering from underneath the table with Oswald, but she had no idea who was dressed as the second dragon. "I'm sorry!" She called out, hoping it wasn't a first year.

Geo wandered towards the table that habited her friend, picking at the food once more. Hogwarts always did have such delicious treats when it came to their events.

 

[Oswald Brigham]

Oswald leaned closer still to his dragon-friend, torn between the desire to use her as a meatshield and the desire to protect her from that terrible clown thing. After a moment or two, however, the clown began to laugh, which was even more frightening until Geo removed her mask and revealed her face. Oswald breathed a long sigh of relief. "Geo. Good one, Geo!" he yelled, before tugging his fellow dragon's arm. "Quick, she's distracted," he said, crawling out from beneath the table and resuming his sprint to freedom, hesitating only to look back and see if the red dragon was following him.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe was tense and uneasy the entire time the clown didn't talk back to her. But she didn't want to step back as she neared. She wouldn't show fear for a stupid costume, not more than she already had. Though she felt very uneasy and wished she would just give up her pride and run. Finally, though, the person started to laugh and pushed the mask away. Phoebe couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It was just a girl form her year, a girl she recognized after a moment as Geo. She had never talked to her, but knew Elly hung out around her before. "Yeah." She said a little weakly as she asked if her name was Phoebe. She took the sword back from her and resisted the urge to hit her with it for this prank. It was a good one, she had to admite, but Phoebe wasn't a fan of being humiliated.

She was soon pulled out of this slump as Oswald and the red dragon started to run again. She frowned, at least she could succeed at this. "Hey, not fair!" She shouted as she started to follow them again, brandishing her plastic sword.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur couldn't help but think the girl dressed as assassin was pretty brave for not running away from the clown. But it was soon revealed to be a student not much older than her. She guessed all these other students were second years, as she didn't recognize any of them. Though the boy in the costume could technically be in her year, he was hard to recognize. She shrugged when the girl said sorry. "It's cool! That was pretty amazing." She said with a thumbs up, but then the boy tugged on her arm and they were running again. Fleur laughed, this was so much fun! Part of her wanted to ask the boy's name, but the mystery was also kind of fun. She wondered if she could figure out who he was later.