All prefects are invited to be part of the process of planning the Halloween ball!  If your character doesn't want to be involved/wouldn't be involved - no worries.  Just wanted to open this up to everyone without locking everybody in.  I explain in the post that this is post the serious part of the meeting, so you're free to make up anything that happened in the meeting based on the topics I mentioned were covered in this post.  Looking forward to making it a boss Halloween Ball!

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Jordyn knew that part of her job as Head Girl was to organize student efforts for student events.  One of the longest standing staples at Hogwarts was to organize the Halloween Dance.  She’d tried to put it on the agenda for the first prefect meeting, but it had been deemed far too far in advance, apparently. 

Now they had just had a Hogsmeade weekend and everyone was back from their activities… it was as good a time as any to have her meeting.  Plus, while she had been overjoyed to finally see Jai again, coming back to the castle was very bittersweet, and she probably wouldn’t tell anyone out loud, but it was a planned distraction for herself.  She couldn’t think about how she missed her boyfriend if she was leading a meeting and planning a party!  She was far too focused for that. 

It didn’t help that she was already petrified of planning this dance.  Sure, there were guidelines and things, but she wanted it to be unique and really show off her skills as a leader!  No one could prepare for that kind of party in less than a month’s time. Though she was secure in her role, she couldn’t help but fear that others looked at her like she didn’t deserve it, she knew her friends would have done that to anyone in her badge if it wasn’t her – always questioning if it was the right choice.  Some of the other candidates were probably far more popular than Jordyn was (at least outside of her house)… so it didn’t really help matters at all. 

So, once it was October and it was time for a prefect meeting anyway Jordyn had been sure to include it on the agenda and then volunteered extra time after the “official” part of the meeting for planning the event.  Putting out patrol schedules and going over strengths and weaknesses from the month before with some guidelines would compromise most of the official time (since that was what was needed), but the rest was Jordyn’s. 

Granted, it was sort of official since they needed to do it and in the back of her head she supposed those that didn’t help with the set up would assuredly be doing a bulk of the patrol for the evening – with her, of course (couldn’t leave others to muck it up).  She had her moleskin notebook and quill, something she gifted herself at the end of her internship.  It posed the double honor of now being her official head girl notebook as well. 

“Now,” she brought attention to herself, “it’s time to start planning.”  The first couple pages of her book were filled with her own ideas, but a good leader would listen to the rest of the group first… and then when they left her wanting, she had a storehouse of much better ideas.  “The past couple of years have been collaborative with other clubs, and I’d like to do that again, but we have to come to them with something,” she said honestly, “Does anyone have any ideas?”

A month into school Ayla had discovered that she was actually doing rather well with the whole Prefect thing. It was still hard to juggle homework with patrols and the Quidditch Season hadn't really picked up just yet but she was settling into a healthy balance between it all and finally feeling like herself for the first time in over a year. She hadn't been expecting it but she was actually warming up to the Head Girl, it wasn't hard to see how Jordyn got the position in the first place.

Now that the initial meeting was over, the minutes had been taken, concerns had been brought up and patrol schedules for the following month had been finalized they were getting into the meat of what they'd be doing that night, the part Ayla had been greatly anticipating. With what she knew of the older Slytherin she was a little surprised she had taken this long to start the preparations. Regardless Ayla was practically at the edge of her seat, her head swarming with ideas. If there was one thing she could really get behind, it was planning a party.

She wanted it to be nothing like they had in the past, not that she needed to think about any past Halloween Balls. Two years later she still blamed herself for what had happened to Maddie. If she had just taken that dance, without teasing Xavier perhaps none of it would have happened. However that was speculation for another time.

"I was thinking this year we could look at doing a Masquerade Ball instead of a costume party."

After years of struggling to fit in, Chloe had finally found her niche. There was nowhere else Chloe was happier than sitting alongside her fellow prefects and working on prefect-y things. This alone made her last year her favorite year. Chloe sat there in her Ravenclaw sweater and a pair of jeans, her hair pulled back through the use of a beanie. She had taken careful notes of everything that had transpired so far. Who said what, direct quotes, all of it, she made sure to mark down, keeping very good records. Finally, the moment they all had waited for. The Halloween party planning.

In that moment, she noticed what a nerd she was for getting this excited about party planning. To be fair, the party always seemed to be the best way to kick off the year. She noted Ayla's opinions in her notebook, though she didn't exactly agree with them. The masquerade ball idea was great and all, but students always got so excited to plan their costumes. The students would  do anything and everything to make their costume the best. And of course, the younger years always seemed to enjoy it.

"Well," Chloe started. "I love that idea. Theres something really glamorous about a masquerade, but if we go with the costume party idea, I was thinking we could have a costume-making-get together for the younger years. Maybe some really good transfiguration students could help make the materials needed. Or we could help enchant parts of the costumes to make certain things float and follow or change color throughout the night."

"My other idea concerns the decorations. Which, if I could, I would really like to work on them. I was thinking that instead of the standard pumpkins and gouls and basics, we could do  a twisted Alice in wonderland kind of thing. Like, something scary in the way of madness. Bright colors, distorted images, like a muggle fun house," she explained. "Whatever we end up doing, I'm positive that this night will end up being brilliant,"

The latest in a fine tradition of picking unlikely prefect candidates, Bastian had nevertheless been surprised that his application had been accepted. Not in a bad way! Pleasantly surprised. He had a badge. He could take points off people! He was a glowing example of how to be a good student – depending, of course, on what your perception of what a good student was.

Of course, being a prefect had several unfortunate consequences, mostly related to the people he was forced to spend time with. While some of the others were undoubtedly incomparably wonderful, and others were merely average, there was one individual who doubtless walked arm in arm with the devil, and another who was just… tedious.

Normally, he paid little attention in meetings – he knew that the others had greater experience in such matters, but this was a meeting of importance. Who didn’t love Halloween? And they were entrusted with the considerable task of making sure that the festivities were enjoyable! Bastian was prepared to make sacrifices. He would volunteer to do things. Well, he might, if it seemed like his help was needed.

How unfortunate that the first suggestion was so heinously awful. Bastian sat, stunned, as one of the Ravenclaw prefects spoke, barely able to take in her words he was so completely gobsmacked by the terrible suggestion laid before them. Was nobody going to speak against it? Decry it as the blasphemy it was? How could even Ayla consider it a good idea?

“Just because you want to live in a romance novel set in eighteenth century Venice doesn’t mean the rest of us do! Some of us want to have fun and enjoy ourselves rather than intrigue and plot genealogically favourable matches for our inbred peers! It’s like you hate Halloween,” he finished in a whisper, his eyes wide and expression distraught.

Outburst finished, he heaved a sigh and leant back in his seat. Surely the others would see this for the madness it was! Another event could be a masquerade – any other event! Not Halloween!

"Not to, uh pile on," Mac cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck as he shifted his weight forward, elbows resting on his knees, "Bash does have a point. While you ladies would look amazing in ball gowns and masks, do you really think it's practical or fair to the younger years to just throw tradition out the window"? He was trying to be gentle, he was vaguely aware that Ayla had had issues over the last two years (though he got the distinct impression she was a bit of a drama queen about the whole thing and made it bigger than actually was), he didn't want to step on any toes. "I mean, Ayla do you really think someone like Erik would enjoy that? If we go that route we risk alienating all of the younger years, and by 'run the risk' I mean completely and totally without a doubt," diplomacy was supposed to be his strong point but Bastian had a point about it being pretty ridiculous.

He frowned when Chloe mentioned nixing the whole traditional pumpkin and ghouls theme in favor of...Alice in Wonderland. Rubbing his face he sighed and shook his head, "I'm starting to feel like 'that guy', but Chloe again, you're alienating a huge portion of the student body who have no idea about Muggle literature. Speaking personally, until a year ago I would have had no reference to what a twisted Alice in Wonderland theme was. If you look at the younger years especially, who haven't had that exposure to muggle culture, you're basically sending them on a bad gillyweed trip with no context of why it's even happening". As a middle child Mac had spent most of his life trying to make life as fair and equitable as possible, so he didn't exactly understand how people could make suggestions that would clearly make any portion of the student body feel inherently other, that was sort of the opposite of their job wasn't it?

Of all the people to be given Prefect status, why did it have to be given to Desrosier? It wasn't like she had been a prime candidate herself but the boy was a complete lap dog and could barely take a breath without Esther saying he could. She couldn't think of a single instance in which her and Bastian would actually agree on something and so it wasn't a surprise when he instantly shot down her idea, nor was it much of a surprise that he had been a complete asshat about it either. In fact the only thing she had been surprised about was that he hadn't been even more cruel to her.

Ayla didn't even bother hiding rolling her eyes when Mack said Bastian had a good point. The only good point that kid would ever have would be at the end of his nose. However she supposed if they were going to get anywhere in this meeting she'd have to relent to the majority. She let out a bit of a chuckle covering it with her hand when Mack tried to reason with her by bringing up her brother. Clearly he hadn't spent enough time with the Gryffindor troublemaker. Erik would easily revel in any instance in which he could hide his face in order to achieve maximum mischief.

She gave Mack a smile letting him know that she wasn't angry about the opposition, after all she had only said they could look at doing it, not that they should do it, brainstorming for the win, "You do have a point there," She made sure to speak directly to the older Ravenclaw completely ignoring Bastian, "Leave the balls for Valentine's, right?"

"Is there a wizard equivalent? To be honest it's pretty much impossible to make everyone happy or to cater to everyone." She gave a brief glance towards the Slytherin Prefects, "Is there a way to do a haunted landscape type deal without specifically going Alice on it?"

"Uh." Zel looked at Ayla. "A masquerade ball can be... Cute?" He cleared his throat, "But... Costumes." The werewolf loved Halloween. He loved dressing up in costume and helping his little siblings figure out what they wanted to wear. This year, he was actually going to be able to spend Halloween with a good portion of his family. He knew how much Emeric was looking forward to dress like like Manti-Core, the famous comic book super hero. And Zenia was going to be Jackalope Jones! They had convinced Zel to be their archnemesis, Red Cap Cyrus. He had to wear a stretchy fabric costume and everything. They were going to be adorable.

"My siblings and I have already got our costumes, and we can't really afford to change up everything." He admitted. Then asked, "Alice in Wonderland, what's that?" It certainly didn't sound scary or Halloween-y.... The name sounded familiar, perhaps it had been mentioned in Muggle Studies once, ages ago.  Or maybe Verity had mentioned it.

Either way, despite the fact that he was in a NEWT-Level muggle studies class,  friends with a muggleborn and his sister-in-law was a muggle, Zel was a bit oblivious to certain aspects of muggle culture. He tried, oh he tried! After all, Mario Kart had been quite the obsession for him in the last year.

"I think, maybe we should discuss problematic costumes and how to handle them? I mean... Like dressing up  like a werewolf. Or a Goblin."

The idea of a masquerade ball made Nell cringe. Forcing everyone to dress in fancy get-ups and dance around the Great Hall like a bunch of pansies? Not Nell’s idea of fun. Though she probably wouldn’t have been as vehement as Bastian. After all, if everyone started attacking each other, there was no way that any of the planning would get properly done. And then Chloe, one of the elder Ravenclaw prefects, suggested Alice in Wonderland which made absolutely no sense to Nell. Of course she knew what it was, as a Muggleborn who had known absolutely nothing of magic or Hogwarts, but those from wizarding families would not. Perhaps something along the same lines (but without the direct reference to Muggle literature) would work, though. In Nell’s opinion, Halloween was about dressing up and being frightened to near-death, so the scarier the better.

Before she could weigh in on both of the suggestions, Macaulay (the other seventh-year Ravenclaw in the group) spoke up and seemed to smooth things over like a pro. He was so diplomatic and logical about the whole thing – Nell couldn’t help but admire how he handled the situation like a true Ravenclaw.

She turned her attention as Zel Trumble, the great giraffe, brought up the subject of inappropriate costumes. It didn’t surprise Nell that he was the one to broach the topic and it wasn’t necessarily one that she judged to be of major importance this early in the planning phase, but he did have a point. “Couldn’t we just comprise a general list of costumes that would be off-limits, and then release the list to the Houses and staff?” Nell suggested, feeling like it was a rather simple remedy, “That way, if anybody does wear a costume that has the potential to offend someone, we can handle it like any other rule-breaking.” That seemed the most obvious way to handle such an event. Now they could get back to other matters at hand, like decorations and music and possibly a theme that everyone could agree on. An unlikely outcome, but one could dream.

Virgil had made it through the meeting slumped in his seat without having to exert the effort of saying anything substantial but they were reaching the limits of his patience, which wasn't something to laugh at - he had to share a common room with first year Slytherins. They were more easily tolerated than the suggestions being thrown about today.

He smoothly spoke over Trumble's concerns (anyone ignorant enough to want to dress as a Werewolf rightly deserved to be hexed by the offended parties) and slid his lazy gaze over to Dimbleby instead.

"We are skint on ideas if the extent of our creativity is muggle stories or... what was it you said, Collins?" Virgil crossed his legs, somehow managing conceit and listlessness in the same movement as he raised his pale brow at the Hufflepuff. "Haunted landscape? You would think we didn't already share a castle with wailing poltergeists and nearly headless ghosts." Surely they weren't so inured to Peeves as to completely forget his very presence.

The seventh year knew that denouncing their general imaginations without providing an alternative would only mean opening himself up to a barrage of catty witticisms, likely to be as painfully unoriginal as their idea crop thus far.

"Personally," he held a hand to his chest with an air of mock diligence. "I think we ought to abandon these faux Americanisations of a truly native holiday by returning to our roots. The traditions of Samhain[1] advocate bonfires, among other things. What's to stop us from having one on the grounds?"

The Great Hall was an awe-inspiring setting and yet he felt that it did not appropriately encapsulate the feeling of imperilment and fright that so many of them associated with Halloween. Outdoors, with the Forbidden Forest looming in the distance and the glossy black reflections of the lake, there was much more potential.

Not that Virgil had high hopes for anyone else understanding that. "I daresay we might get away with ritual human sacrifice," he glanced briefly but pointedly at Bastian. "But by all means, continue with the banality of fairy tales, if you can't handle a change of scenery."

1.	Gaelic harvest festival that helped form and influence contemporary Halloween.

Until Virgil’s suggestion, Esther had remained silent, content to look from speaker to speaker shrewd eyes—secretly torn between the romance a masquerade might offer (sorry, Bastian) and the admittedly good arguments against it (at which she deflated with hidden relief).  There was no doubt a masquerade appealed to her inner princess – as it would to anyone with an inner princess – but so was the fact that many looked to the holiday to dress up in the spirit of festivity. It would be a shame to take that away from them.

She looked at the seventh year with a lush smile, grateful for the alternative. “Oh, that would be brilliant,” she breathed, dark eyes shining with excitement. Normally it was forbidden to hang about the forest (near or within), but the usual exceptions – detention and Care of Magical Creature lessons – all shared a common theme: they were supervised. A slight increase in vigilance would hardly be asking for much on either the faculty’s part or the student body’s…

“And if we can’t hold it in the forest–” She was doubtful that they’d be allowed, not after the dementors in March, “we could still set up in the space between it and the castle instead. It’s rocky, but…” Coyly she quirked a shoulder. “There are spells to move around a few rocks. We could flatten a patch here and there. We could do it, with or without the groundskeeper.”

If all else failed, they erected a few decks for food and dancing. An uneven ground might even prove interesting; those who chose to eat or rest could enjoy a good view from an elevated platform.

Jordyn hadn’t expected such a vigorous debate – or so much participation in the planning of the event.  She supposed she shouldn’t be so surprised, after all, prefects were the people who were involved in school and wanted to make the experience something worth sharing.  So, when the first round of shares went around, she was not entirely convinced.  Ayla with a masquerade (the idea of a mask was slightly appealing) and Chloe with what she assumed was a muggle story – confirmed by other mentions around the room…   She wanted to keep the peace though, so when Bastian used his tactless methods to shoot down the two suggestions Jordyn was equally unsure about it, she was thankful for Mac’s diplomacy skills.

It seemed like that piece of the discussion was at least moving on.  As much as Jordyn had her own ideas, she wanted her team to also have a voice and Zel’s comment about costumes and regulations was true… though, Jord was a little embarrassed she hadn’t thought of it.  “We’ll let the Headmistress and Heads of Houses know the concern about offensive costumes,” Jordyn began, “As Nell suggested, then we can figure out what rules we can enforce around it.” 

She took down the suggestion and lifted her eyes as Virgil, fellow seventh year, pointed out that they could do something completely different.  Her eyes lit up with the suggestion.  Granted, it was an odd one… but a different location?  Jordyn hadn’t experienced that in all of her time here at Hogwarts.  “As much as a human sacrifice might be… fascinating,” she also looked to Bastian, mostly for his reaction (he had a fantastic flair for drama), “I think we could work with a change of location. 

Esther mentioned the forest and Jordyn shook her head.  That was probably not going to happen, it was usually a location reserved for class… or detention.  “There’s also the quidditch pitch,” Jordyn suggested, “It’s flat – less landscaping problems, and I’m sure we could enchant it to look like a medieval forest fit for a festival.  it’d be much more palatable to professors as it is… enclosed.  Significantly less wandering off?” she put forward without too much confidence.  It was, after all, Hogwarts and students were not known to be entirely keen on following all of the rules. 

“Besides,” she added, “a bonfire would be quite the centerpiece.  We could forgo the druid music, however,” she smirked and wrote down the idea to the growing list of notes from the meeting. 

Ariadne was attempting to pay absolutely full attention to the prefects planning meeting. It was to plan her final Halloween at Hogwarts, and she wanted it to be a good one. They always were pretty good, but she wanted to remember this one, whatever happened.

Hufflepuff, Ayla Collins was first out of the trap with a suggestion of a masquerade ball. Not an idea Ariadne was against, but she was keen to hear other ideas before pitching her own to see how she might recruit people to her way of thinking if it wasn't in the direction naturally.

Chloe spoke up from beside Ari, supporting the masquerade idea but adding some assistance, thinking about the younger years. Always thoughtful was Chloe, Ariadne liked that in her friend a lot, and she smiled at the suggestion, nodding along.

The proposal for the decorations followed, and Ariadne's eyebrows rose at the thought of the twisted Alice in Wonderland idea.

Bastian was quick to squash the ideas though, and Ariadne's eyes flitted to the boy as he appealed to them to lose the thought of romance. Mac was quick to support his fellow wizard.

Thankfully there were no immediate grumpy responses, and the topic moved on to more traditional themes - until Virgil took traditional and added in human sacrifice as a joke.

Ari's eyes widened and her face twisted.
"Did you really just say that?!" She muttered, glancing to Chloe beside her with surprise.

"So what's that then, a big bonfire, the usual costumes…?" Ariadne asked to briefly recap from dotting her gaze from one prefect to the next. "And outside? Anyone good with fair weather charms, because if its blowing a gale we're going be cold, coughing on smoke…" She glanced around, aware of the reception she was getting, "… aah, just sayin' guys, I mean it'll probably be fine."

Sitting around, looking at the other faces and hearing the suggestions, Chloe was reminded why she was fighting herself on applying to the prefect situation- some of these people she couldn't stand.

She didn't want to point fingers, no. Wait. She did, but she was trying to be nice and keep it all to herself. But really, the Slytherin who had joked about human sacrifice, (she was still not naming names...Virgil...)  just seemed to boil her temper a little more. He was hell bent on making fun of people and acting like he was all high and mighty. And he wasn't! He so wasn't! She caught Ari's side eye, and sent her back a roll of her eyes. "Of course he just said that," She fired back a little quieter, but not much. "If any house would have suggested it, we all know it would come from the Slytherins," The last comment she had said a little lower, just enough to express her frusturation.

She didn't hate all Slytherins. Jordan had never particuarly wronged her, but Virgil. Virgil crawled up under her skin like a tick and sucked out all patience she had for his whole house. "I think the Quidditch Pitch would do just fine. While it may be a little nippy, I think we could probably set up a few warming stations around, keep everyone's blood pumping, and the stands should block some of the wind. As for costumes, I think it would be best if we kept it classic Halloweenish. And I know this is far in the future, but maybe masquarade for Valentines day? Or maybe we can hold a seperate masquarade party all together,"

Mac was a bit surprised at Chloe's attitude. Now, granted, he had several friends in the house of Salazar and had never fully bought into the idea of rivalries outside the Pitch in the first place. There were shitty people wherever you went, but that also meant there were good. If Chloe Harris was going to get her knickers in a twist every time Bastian said something stupid or Virgil made a morbid joke she was clearly not cut out to be a Prefect.

Clearing his throat he nudged Ariadne with the toe of his boot, looking just past her to Chloe, "That's a shit thing to say considering they're a fourth of the population, your bigotry's showing Chloe," his voice was low, hopefully low enough that only she could hear, but he felt it needed to be said. Prefects shouldn't play favorites which meant they also shouldn't have been nasty about their least favorites. It was an impartial job, or you'd have house point padding going on everywhere.

"I like the bonfire on the pitch idea! Something fresh and new wouldn't completely abandoning a fine long standing history, or scarring the weens for life. Unfortunately this weekend is the only one we'll have to head into the village before. it could make costume finding a little harder this year? Chloe did mention the idea of upper years helping the younger, I think that might be a bit of fun, or at least helpful. We could come up with different categories for a costume contest, rather than the typical best, worst, bloodiest".

"I know a few good warming charms that are easy enough. Should make the Pitch warm enough if it gets too chilly out." Ayla offered. She decided to stick to things she knew she was good at for now. Sticking her neck out earlier with an idea had nearly gotten it chopped off, she wasn't looking to have that repeated. Especially after Virgil had cut down her suggestion on a compromise. She hadn't caught Chloe's comments but at that point she certainly would have agreed. While not all Slytherins were horrible (though honestly she could only think of one that she genuinely liked) they definitely didn't do much to make themselves more likable.

She turned to Nell with a nod, "I think a ban list is probably the best way to go. That way we know who's looking for trouble." This time around her thoughts didn't turn to the Slytherins but to her own blood. She hoped her brother wouldn't be stupid enough to make a costume that he had been specifically told not to.

Mac also brought up a good point, "Shouldn't be too hard to make them in castle though right?" Ayla felt it best not to mention that her own costumes in the past years had been sent to her through the post and she had tweaked them from there. She didn't even know if there was a place in Hogsmeade to buy something like that, "Don't the Hogwarts Players make all their own costumes? Maybe we could get them involved in helping out?"