Right after the Halloween party.

Figaro wasn't the first to arrive back at Hufflepuff House after Professor Bombay had ordered them to their common room.  But he was among the loudest.  The transfigured faun costume had finally worn off and he was left in just a pair of light athletic shorts.  Barefooted and completely amped up on sugar and adrenaline he was pacing and fidgeting. 

"What the murdering hell was all that! Another fire? Another fire?" he exclaimed with some nervous laughter in his voice.  "And those weren't real werewolves right? Couldn't be, right?  I mean, what! Was! That!"

He threw his hands up into the air and gushed out an exasperated sigh.  And in all the excitement, he hadn't eased his grip on his Dennis Creevey auotgraph.  In fact, in the grand guesture, he seemed to notice it for the first time.  His eyes brightened and he thrust it out triumphantly at whoever was listening.

"Not to mention this: Creevey autograph.  Legit!"

     Alice's lounging outfit.


   Alice had skipped out on the Halloween ball. She had gotten a dress and all that junk that would be expected but when the time came she just couldn't bring herself to get dressed up and actually go to a dance. Her promise to grow up and start attending things had failed but it's not like she actually promised anyone other than herself.

   She was sitting on a chair in the corner reading a book. Being an idiot he didn't realize that the common room would be so abuzz with talk of the damned dance she didn't attend and by the sounds of things it was something not to have missed. Her shorts were to short but she figured if she stayed curled up and hidden no one would notice her. The only real problem was that she was extremely frozen.

   The one person who really got her attention was of course, none other than Figaro. She snickered listening to him go on about this and that. None of what anyone was saying made any sense anyways. She rose clumsily. Laying in the same position for so long was painful but she walked over to the fireplace anyways. If she were just quiet she wouldn't be noticed and could warm up a bit.

outfit after she comes back from the escapades

Fifteen minutes ago, Addie had left the Halloween Ball and all of its escapades. It had been one evening that was likely to be remembered for quite some time. Snark would likely have heads rolling by Monday, if not sooner; the professors and students affected by the potions would cause more than enough drama for a while, not to mention since this had occurred shortly after what Addie had read in the Prophet. She had gone to her dormitory and changed into something a little more comfortable, opting to actually keep her mustache -- after all, it was still Halloween no matter the seriousness of the situations around them.

Her arrival back to the common was met with Figaro bursting out with pure energy. She had always found him slightly more entertaining than her own brother, Alfie. That was sad and Addie truly did know that but she enjoyed his company a lot. The smile that had been only but faint at the ball was now being seen by herself. "Oh, you really did get that signature, Fig? Lemme see it?" she chirped, heading over to him, ruffling his hair (as she seemed to often do to those she cared for) as her eyes began to look over the signature.

"Yup, looks authentic, so you had beetter keep that in a safe location: It'd be a shame to have it stolen and whatnot. What'd you think about the ball? Aside ... the current predicament occurring? Snark is going to be worse than an overprotective mother hawk once she starts weeding out those around us. Hopefully, it's not going to be another witch hunt," she commented, finding amusement in using the term 'witch hunt.' Her eyes skimmed over to see Alice right near them. "So, what'd you tonight? The ball was good . . . up until a few minutes ago."

A pause. "One moment I'm enjoying spending time talking to Scorpio, the next, I'm being innocently attacked by a furry version of the tragic hero. Hm."

When Fauna at long last entered the Hufflepuff common room, her mind reeled and her head throbbed. One of the professors at the dance had just shooed her away from Devlin Matthews, telling her they’d take care of him. She was secretly grateful. The Headmistress had been screaming at all the stragglers and Fauna hadn’t wanted to get caught up in it.

Fauna looked like a mess. Her destroyed costume now resembled something out of the Corpse Bride, not Little Red Riding Hood. Her long skirt was ripped where people had stepped on it, she’d spilled punch all over herself, and she thought she had a scorch mark on her shoe. Fauna had no idea where her basket had gone during the chaos, but at least she still had her wand. There was that.

Though others had changed clothes, she didn’t think to do the same, and instead flopped into the chair near the fireplace, rubbing at her forehead and closing her eyes for a moment. For a second she felt like bursting into tears. She waited until it passed, not wanting to make the night worse.

Fauna finally opened her eyes and glanced at Alice. “Merlin,” she sighed, half-listening to Fig and Addie as she watched Alice look into the fireplace. She’d had enough of fires to last her a lifetime. “Did you not go, Alice?” She asked quietly, focusing on someone else to take her mind off of what had happened at the dance. “I didn’t see you there.”

Dahlia entered the common room looking exhausted and a little more than worried. She had always been afraid of fire, it had been her biggest fear growing up even knowing there was a possibility she would one day become a witch. Somehow nothing in the wizarding world was more terrifying than the primal fear towards fire. Her costume was covered in what looked like soot and there was a caramel apple stuck to her chest. She had yet to remove it wanting to prolong the inevitable knowing that it wouldn't be comfortable pulled hardened caramel from her bare skin.

Looking back now she wasn't entirely sure why she had done it. She had leapt in front of a flying caramel apple. At the time she had told herself she was doing it to keep Keagan from getting into anymore trouble but was that truly it? She didn't think she had the energy to try and analyze her own confusing actions at the moment. She was just thankful she had gotten out of that nightmare alive. She wasn't sure if she would have made it had it not been for her knight in shining armour so to speak. The sight of an armed centaur leaping over the flames to pick her up and carry her away was so fantastical that she still didn't stop to think that he had been just an older student in an elaborate Halloween costume. This was Hogwarts afterall, was it really all that surprising for them to have invited a real centaur to the dance?

Dahlia looked around the common and her expression of worry deepened. In the beginning she hadn't thought much of it when she hadn't seen her sister at the dance but now that she wasn't in the common room either she was seriously worried, "Hey, has anyone seen Ayla?"

After Adelia had a few moments to look at his sweaty bit of paper, Figaro stepped up to stand on the golden-rod colored sofa adjacent to the fireplace. "Keep your distance! This is gonna be worth money someday," he said with mock irritation.

Fauna and Dahlia and Alice all looked so slummy.  But they were the kind of girls who tended to be like that, sometimes.  But Adelia seemed to be more of his own mindset - a little chaos an uncertainty was exciting, fun to talk about and process as a group. 

"Oh for sure.  We're all totally banjaxed.  Snark's going to come around and hex our ears off!" he said, but then rolled his eyes and made a farting noise with his mouth.

"But she's not here now, is she?" It was that happy time between the crime and the punishment when you could just bounce on the couch.  If you could force yourself to live in the moment and not worry about the consequences, for these few moments, they could be really great moments.

"So who did it?  Who's up for the chop? I mean, a werewolf potion? Pretty sick idea.  And another fire is exactly what Hogwarts needed this year.  I hope we can round it out to five before Christmas.  Gives us a record to beat during spring term, eh? Bloody hell!" he laughed as he bounced languidly on the couch, all bare-chested in his shorts.

Eveline was still wearing her costume, which was rented, and not at all magical. As she looked at the mirror in the Room of Requirement, where she had been hiding, she saw that she didn’t look much different from before she drank that punch. After all...she’d been disguised as a part-human, part animal, with huge wings. The only difference was that now she had a wolf’s face, not a monkey’s, and it wasn’t a mask.

Well...obviously the whole school wasn’t on fire, or by now the Room Of Requirement would be letting her know she was Required to get the hell out of there. She was sure that, one way or the other, the party would be over. So...she might as well go back. Making her way to Hufflepuff, she was amazed that she didn’t run into anyone on the way. Probably everyone had been sent back to their Houses...

As she reached Hufflepuff and walked into the Common Room, the first person she saw was Figaro Sellaphix. She smiled a little, in relief. Figaro was a bit of a space case, but not a bad sort overall. At least, he would probably not run screaming when he saw her. She noticed there were several girls in the room. Except for her brother Razzy, Eveline didn't know any of her housemates well, but she guessed that was probably more her fault than anyone else's. She thought she might like to make up for it but wasn't sure how to go about it. Well...no time to start, like the present...

"What the murdering hell was all that!" exclaimed Figaro. "Another fire? Another fire? And those weren't real werewolves right? Couldn't be, right?  I mean, what! Was! That!"

"Not to mention this: Creevey autograph.  Legit!" Looking closer at the photograph in Figaro’s hand, Eveline saw it was indeed Dennis Creevy, smiling and waving. 

"Hey, has anyone seen Ayla?" asked Dahlia, looking as if she might be worried.

"We're all totally banjaxed," said Figaro.  "Snark's going to come around and hex our ears off!"

Eveline sighed. Figaro was probably right. Given Snark's behavior, she was all too likely to blame everyone but whoever was actually responsible for all this. Eveline didn't yet realize it...but she was well on the road to becoming a rebel.

"So who did it?  Who's up for the chop? I mean, a werewolf potion? Pretty sick idea.  And another fire is exactly what Hogwarts needed this year.  I hope we can round it out to five before Christmas.  Gives us a record to beat during spring term, eh? Bloody hell!"

Eveline approached Dahlia uncertainly. "I think I might have seen Ayla...I don't know for sure, but I think that's who it was. She was crying. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but then I got my wings caught in the stall, and...well...Moaning Myrtle was there. By the time I got loose again she was gone. Ayla, I mean..."

“Cool pic,” she congratulated Figaro. “As for what happened at the Ball...I’d say it must be Polyjuice Potion, and somebody started the fires just to scare everyone. The real question is...why?”