Open Y36 Halloween Feast

[Katherine Alicastell]

The Great Hall had been completely redecorated in preparation for All Hallow's Eve, with the help of both house elves and staff members who had been kind enough to volunteer their time. Gone were the four colours representing the houses of Hogwarts, tablecloths of red, yellow, blue and green now replaced now with banners and streamers of orange and black. Thick cobwebs clung to the corners of the hall, and larger, web-like hammocks were strewn about for the students to relax in if they grew tired of standing around. Above, the usual starlit ceiling was replaced by a darker, far more eerie sky. Its false full moon was partially cloaked behind heavy clouds, and occasionally silhouettes of bats would pass by overhead.

A few stations were set up across the hall with their own games, such as bobbing for apples and a grindylow piñata. As usual, a spooky tent had been erected, its magical interior filled with fun-house mirrors, rattling coffins, and pop-up skeletons. The floating candles were updated, covered in an array of pumpkins grown by the younger Herbology students, and carved out by the skilled house-elves of the castle. Indeed, even a handful of the bat-eared beings were caught up in the Halloween theme. Some of their gowns were spattered in red paint, while others had painted their faces to be more reminiscent of the undead. The tables were pushed to the far sides to allow for more space, and laden with candy bowls, cauldron cakes, pumpkin pasties and other assorted Halloween themed foods. There were even a few plates of cupcakes resembling large spiders, which were enchanted to crawl around when the students least expected it, and gummy worms that wriggled around on their own.

The Headmistress stood at the front of the hall, looking down upon the gathered students and staff, all dressed up and ready for the night's festivities. As per usual, some of their costumes were quite creative. No doubt the staff would have trouble deciding on the best dressed for the competition. It was always a difficult decision with how much effort many people put into the holiday. Katherine herself was dressed in a simple black gown layered with intricate webs, though her face remained unconcealed by any form of costume or fancy makeup. It was one of the down-sides to the night, the difficulty in recognising students who were up to mischief, of which there would no doubt be a few.

"Welcome all," The woman began, her voice magically amplified by the wand at her throat. "To the Halloween Feast. We have plenty of food and festivities this year. Don't forget to enter our Costume Competition and show off your looks for a chance to win points for your house. Tonight is also the night to be extra wary of the school's poltergeist. Most importantly, ensure you enjoy yourselves, and have a wonderful night. Let the feast commence."​

 

[Terrell Foley]

Halloween at Hogwarts went the extra mile: cobweb hammocks, bats in the moonlight sky (Terrell couldn't tell if they were real or not) - even the lighting was dramatic. The Hall that night featured an array of Halloween themed games and Terrell didn't know where to go first.

He was dressed head to toe in a homemade lion costume, it was kind of big on him, bunching at the knees and elbows, the paws dangling empty like the sleeves of an over-sized jumper. The tail was dragging along the floor and the mane covered both shoulders, but at least the maw of the lion was big enough for him to fit his whole face through so that he could still bob for apples.

"Shay whut?" Terrell asked after the headmistress had spoken, "There's a costume competition. Where do I enter?"

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Halloween was one of his favourite holidays, if only because of all the free candy. Though it were a shame he couldn't go trick or treating, that didn't mean he was going to give up on dressing up, grinning under his visor in full shining armor like a proper knight. He even had a sword strapped to his belt, though he did have to admit it was plastic. And he wasn't even bother by the clink every single time he moved, using the back of one armored hand to push up his visor to get a better look at how the Great Hall had been decorated for this event. "Cor," he breathed out, grinning from ear to ear, the grin brightening further as he heard about a costume contest. "Lame," he did offer however when he heard that the prize was just house points, "who even cares about stupid House Points?"

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar walked into the Great Hall, and was amazed to see how it looked. Cobwebs were hung everywhere, the decorations were orange and black compared to the usual house colours to represent Halloween, and the hall was filled with skeletons, spiders and tons of other little decorations and activities. She spied an area set up for a pinata, bobbing for apples, and what even looked to be fun-house style mirrors! Thinking about it all, she was sure it'd be impossible to get through everything in the night, but she was determined to try. Setting off towards the tables laden with food (since of course, food is clearly more important) she saw some people from her year and house and made her way over to them, frequently stopping along the way to try the assortment of different foods. After reaching them, she talked with them for a while and just had fun, showing off their costumes, (hers being a standard 'muggle' witch costume), daring each other to go try out some of the fun activties, and just having a real great time.