Friday, October 3, around 4:00 (after classes are done for the day). Plotting thread here.


Fauna waited in the empty classroom, writing out ideas for the Halloween Ball decorations. She’d shoved the desks out of the way and arranged the chairs so that they faced each other. Every time a noise sounded by the door, whether it was the sound of sneakers against stone or boisterous third-years, she looked up hopefully.

She’d been thinking about this meeting since breakfast, but she wasn’t as nervous as she had been last year, when the art club had organized some projects for Remembering Day. The mural and the student art show had been a big hit! Fauna crossed her fingers that many of the same members would show up for this meeting, like Megan, Atticus, and Waker, and bring along friends as well. They had a lot to get done. She probably should have called the first meeting in September.

However, there was no use worrying about that now.  Fauna shook her head and looked back to her list. In her sketchbook, she’d scrawled:

Halloween dance ideas

-Theme?
-Great Hall, corridors, other parts of castle
-Grounds? Creepy hospital hut?
-Food- talk to house elves. Nico, too, for mad scientist 'potions' lab
-Music- talk to Tilly
-permission- talk to… headmistress  

She’d started doodling a gremlin in the corner of the page, when the door suddenly opened. Fauna looked up and smiled at the newcomer nervously.

Mysti was quite excited about the meeting for decorations and whatnot for the Halloween dance/ball.  Fauna was heading it up, and no doubt would think of some incredibly creative stuff! Hopefully there’d be a nice group of people helping as well. Thoughts ran through Mysti’s head thinking about how everyone would be dressed, as well as how the castle would look.  There was so much that could be done!

Having just been released from a particularly interesting class of History of Magic, she headed down a floor to the empty classroom Fauna was using.  Walking down the stairwell she thought about the floating pumpkin lights that had been there the previous year for Halloween.  They should definitely do something like that again. Perhaps see about some enchantments to make them talk! Or just scare people. Mysti knew she’d have a good laugh if some first years got scared by them.

Now, she walked down the corridor and found the right classroom. At least, she hoped it was the right one. Mysti pushed open the door to see Fauna sitting at a desk doodling.  Fauna looked up and smiled, but looked nervous. Of course, Mysti knew Fauna probably was nervous that some unwanted Slytherins would show up and mess things up. Another reason Mysti felt she should be there. Leaving Fauna alone with Slytherins wouldn’t be very good.

“Hi Fauna! I’m the first one to show up? Well, I’m sure more people will be here soon! I’m so excited about the dance!” She gave her friend a hug and then sat down next to her. “So, what should we work on? I had a thought about enchanted pumpkins in the stairwells, or even hallways that would scare people! Like shouting out ‘boo!’ or something. What do you think?”

As she sat there, she got more and more excited about Halloween coming. It always was so much fun in the castle. And it had always been her favorite holiday.

'You can get pumpkins to do that?' came an excited voice from the doorway, and in trotted Pax, grinning widely at Fauna and Mysti. 'Is there a charm for it or something?' Spellwork was decidedly not Pax's forte (he did much better in written work and potions than practical wandwork), but that didn't mean he wasn't impressed with some of the things it could accomplish.

Pax slid his backpack off his back and onto the floor, and hopped onto a chair. He hadn't been too nervous about joining the art club, given Fauna was heading it up, and he'd felt comfortable around her ever since they'd got to talking about SAWS in the Hufflepuff common room back at the start of term. Add the fact that fellow Hufflepuff Mysti Ketteridge was there and the little first-year was feeling quite at home already.

'Um, I guess we're probably just planning and stuff today, but in case we aren't, I brought some paints,' he said, indicating his backpack, evidently quite pleased about this. His Uncle Tristan had given him a brand new set of acryllic paints for his twelfth birthday and he was eager for an opportunity to use them.

A new school year brought new opportunities. And now, it was time for the first art club meeting during this year at Hogwarts. Meg enjoyed being in the club the last year, despite her apprehensions. She probably shouldn't have been so nervous, especially during the Remembering Day Celebrations. Being a muggleborn, she barely knew anyone that came to visit Hogwarts for the festivities, or even anyone that visited the art booth.

Yet, that may be precisely why Meg had been so apprehensive. She only had two more years at Hogwarts before she would eventually graduate. After that, she would need to find a job. It didn't necessarily matter if it was as a muggle or a witch, but the point still remained that she would need to be active in both parts of her life. As a muggle, she was essentially unknown as well. However, she still believed, despite many attempts at calming the idea, that she didn't belong in the magical community. She felt as if she needed to prove that she was meant to be there. Therefore, she would naturally be apprehensive.

No matter how she felt about her nerves, Meg hoped Fauna didn't mind them, or preferably that Fauna didn't notice them. Fauna didn't appear to mind, but she had no idea what Fauna was thinking. So, she really had no clue on that matter. But, helping out in these various things with the art club improved two problems of hers. First, the events made her, at least a little, more known in the magical community. Secondly, the events could only improve her standing in Fauna's eyes, hopefully anyway.

In addition, Meg liked art, and liked being in the art club as it was. So, Meg turned a corner and walked into the empty classroom that the meeting was being held in. Noticing Fauna, Mysti, and Pax already in the room, she smiled to the three Hufflepuffs. "Hi everyone," she greeted them as she walked over to an empty seat next to the others and sat down. "So, what decorations were you thinking of," she asked.

Fauna set her quill down and grinned at Mysti when she walked in the door. Thankfully, she could always count on her housemates and friends to show up to her meetings. Returning Mysti’s hug, Fauna waved at Pax when he appeared in the doorway.

“Talking pumpkins would be really fun,” she echoed Pax’s exclamation. “We could get the portraits in on it too? I’m sure they’d like to do something other than gossip… possibly. Or not,” she smiled.

“Maybe we can use the paints later today to plan out colors,” Fauna suggested, glad that the first-year was excited about all this. She also thought it would be more fun to use different colors along with the typical orange and black.

Adding ‘talking pumpkins’ to her list, she looked up and greeted Megan as she came in. Meg was always so dependable, showing up to the meetings and events last year, and even the summer face-paint event. That, combined with her talent, made her an invaluable member of the club. Fauna only wished she had the courage to sign her name on her pieces… though that would come with time, she hoped.

“Well, so far, Mysti was thinking about talking pumpkins,” she told Meg. “Other ideas…” Fauna glanced at the short list. “Professor Gunnar might be interested in helping us set up a… potions lab, of some sort. They wouldn’t be real potions, of course, but… they could look like it, and be set up at the beverages table. Bubbling green gunk in vials and all that good stuff!” Fauna paused. “Well, it wouldn’t taste like gunk.” She paused again. “As long as we ask the house elves to make it and not someone like.. me.”

Fauna shrugged and smiled again. “We could see if any of the other professors might want to do something, too. Professor Grimlish would be perfect for this… and I’ve heard Professor Levartian is very friendly. It might be good to get some of them involved.”

Fauna circled ‘theme’ on her list. “The main thing we should probably decide is... if we want to do a theme for decorations, or not. If we do, do you guys have any ideas?”

When Pax came in and then Meg, Mysti said hi to them each in turn. Hopefully more people would show up too.  She always enjoyed large gatherings coming together to help with things. The dance was a perfect opportunity for that as well. Though Mysti hadn’t been involved in the art club before, she kind of wanted to get involved a bit more this year.  Quidditch was the only thing she had done in the past, but she felt there was more she could do.  And it would be fun to start with the art club as she already had a few friends in it.

“The main thing we should probably decide is... if we want to do a theme for decorations, or not. If we do, do you guys have any ideas?”

A few different ideas raced through her mind.  Mysti thought first about graveyards, but thought that might be a little too cliche.  Something more fun, that would be for everyone.  And she knew that some people (well, probably mainly the female Slytherins) might want something more elegant.  Looking around the room, her eyes fell on a window. But it wasn’t the window that gave her the idea, but what was outside of the window.  She looked out into the forest.

“A Night in the Forest? Something like that maybe? I think it could have appeal to different people. There’s scary things in the forest, like werewolves, and such. But there’s also fairies, imps, nifflers, and other creatures.  We could try getting the professors to help and get some really big towering trees or something. That’s a thought, perhaps.”

Mysti liked the idea, but was always open to others.  She also enjoyed that she was able to help contribute, instead of having her brain fog up.  Mysti realized that she enjoyed being useful, and was glad to have the chance to be. 

Pax had been glancing around at everyone with a mixture of enthusiasm and sudden shyness; he had noticed that he was both the only younger student there, and the only boy. He was beginning to sense a trend in the clubs he attended. But any nerves threatening to crop up were quickly quieted when the planning for the Halloween Ball got underway. He grinned widely at the mention of Professor Gunnar, one of his favourite teachers, and the possibility of potion-themed drinks. He was certain he could help with that, and was pondering variations on theme when Mysti spoke up.

'Oh!' he said, in the same tone of hushed excitement he tended to reserve for an unexpected plot twist in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Mysti was one of the housemates that he looked up to, and he found himself pleasantly reminded of one of the reasons why. They should make creativity one of the Hufflepuff traits, he thought happily to himself.

'I like that idea,' he declared. 'I mean, like the Forbidden Forest, that's a scary place but lots of people want to go in and see what it's like... Like the good kind of scary, like a horror film or a rollercoaster.' Until you actually went in to explore, that was, Pax recalled with a small shiver. Pax wouldn't be venturing back into the Forest any time soon. 'And it'll be safe because it won't be the real Forest,' he added a little too quickly.

Remembering the potions lab Fauna had mentioned, he went on, 'Um, I was gonna say maybe it might be cool to have drinks in cauldrons, y'know, like massive punch bowls... But I dunno if that'd work with a forest theme... Unless you get witches or anything brewing potions in the forest in the middle of the night. Heh, y'know, "double double, toil and trouble.." ' He realised he was quoting a muggle playwrite, and glanced uncertainly at Megan, whom he was pretty sure was muggleborn, wondering if she'd get the reference. 'Or, um, or maybe a-- a swamp?' He giggled a little. 'A butterbeer swamp?' The most fun ideas always seemed the least practical.

“Oooo,” Fauna echoed Pax, glancing at him with a grin. “I really like that idea, too.” A Night in the Forest was elegant and sophisticated enough for the group of girls who would want to dress up as fairies and other pretty beings, creative enough for those who would want to try out a centaur costume or transfigure themselves into hags, and mischievous enough for the students who were already imps in their own right- like Figaro. And that one Gryffindor first-year she sometimes saw Pax talking to.

Fauna wrote it down and underlined it twice. “Mysti, you’re a genius. That’ll make everyone happy… even people like Neely,” she murmured, shaking her head in amazement.

Pax, who often had good suggestions, spoke up about a few ideas they could use for beverages. He was right, too. A mad scientist’s lab of potions wouldn’t fit into a forest setting very well, but they could always use it another time.

“Cauldrons burn and fires bubble?” She quoted after him, thinking she recognized the lines. “Wait…”

Fauna blushed. “Anyway, a swamp would be perfect!”

She scribbled a few more notes down. “We could have a section that looked like an acromantula lair, with webs?” She wondered, glancing at the group. Fauna wasn’t sure if she liked the idea or not, but it was something to contribute, at least.

Meg looked to the three other Hufflepuffs after she sat down. What didn't help too much when entering these meetings, was that she really had no clue what was going on when she walked in. This same thing happened last year with the Remembering Day ceremony planning, and now this. But, at least she wasn't too late into the meeting. Plus, she wasn't the youngest student to join the meeting this time around! Naturally, that had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the meeting, but it was a fact that she noticed.

Meg nodded to what Fauna said. "Maybe with the talking pumpkins, they could start talking when someone's in the area? Like, if someone sat down at a table with one of those talking pumpkins on it, the pumpkin could talk to that person?" she offered. Certainly that would be considered impossible out in the muggle world. But, here in Hogwarts, it could happen. Besides, didn't they do something like that during the Art Booth, where the names of the deceased moved where the people moved? Yes, she thought that it was very similar to that. "Ooh, maybe some of the food could be made in the shape of spiders, or things like that?" she offered again.

As Mysti suggested the theme of 'A Night in the Forest,' Meg smiled to her. "Yes, goo idea," she complimented her with a nod. Yes, the Forest was a scary place, since there were lots of creatures roaming around through there, some of which were not too friendly. Therefore, she tried to keep her ventures into that forest sparingly.

When Pax and Fauna both quoted Macbeth, Meg shrugged. "Those quotes weren't mean to be frightening, rather the play you two are referencing is a tragedy..." she stopped suddenly, realizing that she was probably adding knowledge that no one in the room cared about, and blushed lightly. "Well, I mean, if you want, feel free to use those," she responded quietly.

At the idea of using a section like an acromantula lair, Meg nodded. "Maybe have that around the refreshment table? The punch would be in a cauldron adorned with spiderwebs, and fake steam coming out of the top?" she offered.