Originally Posted by Entry #1 by Slytherin Fox

The big day had finally arrived, the day all of them looked forward to with so much anticipation each year.

The mood was certainly different at this Halloween Feast then from past years. The Gryffindor table was subdued, the students there seemed to have little reason to party, and both the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables also seemed a bit morose. The Slytherins, however, were enjoying themselves immensely, their table was definitely the place to be. Headmaster Snape was in rare form dressed as a giant, velvety black spider. He continually raised his arms, all eight of them, showing off rather uncharacteristically.

The entire Great Hall was decorated in Slytherin green and silver with a bit of black and orange thrown in for the season, of course. At the head table sat an enormous pumpkin, hollowed out and carved rather artfully to reveal the symbol of Slytherin House, the snake. There was a constantly burning candle inside this pumpkin, and the flame made the snake appear to dance eerily in the darkness.

And the candy! Candy was everywhere, all types of wizarding treats such as chocolate frogs, ice mice, Bertie Botts, sugar quills, blood pops, crystallized pineapple and sugar mice to name a few, all colored either green, silver, orange or black to reflect the them of the night.

Then there were the Slytherin students themselves, the true stars of this particular night. They were here to shine, and their costumes reflected that. At the very center of the action was Draco Malfoy, looking resplendent and very much at home as Little Lord Fauntleroy, complete with short pants and a large bowtie. Pansy Parkinson vied for his attention, clad as Little Bo Peep. She had even managed to get Draco’s sidekick Vincent Crabbe to pose as her fuzzy white sheep. Draco’s other constant companion, Gregory Goyle, looked oddly comfortable as Humpty Dumpty. Millicent Bulstrode was dressed as a giant, fluffy cat (if only Hermione Granger had been able to see that!), while Blaise Zabini was clad as a sequined lion tamer, occasionally cracking the whip in Millicent’s direction. There were many other costumes, of course, these were simply the ones which stood out the most.

Most prominent amongst the staff members were Alecto and Amycus Carrow, who had decided to come dressed as the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. What made their costumes most notable was the fact that Amycus was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood while Alecto was the wolf, a role which she seemed to relish quite thoroughly as she growled at her brother and anyone else who dared approach them.

The party was in full swing with music provided by Draco’s favorite new band, the Wombats (paid for by his father, of course). The costume parade was just concluding, it was the stroke of midnight and the winner was about to be announced. Suddenly, a huge cloud of smoke filled the room and with a loud bang, Voldemort himself suddenly appeared with Bellatrix at his side. It was unusual to see the Dark Lord in costume, but he did seem oddly suited to be dressed as a giant king cobra. Bellatrix had matched his costume by dressing as a snake charmer, clad in purple and emerald green silk, and it turned out that she really could blow a tune on the flute-like snake charming instrument she carried. Voldemort was actually charmed, retreating back into his dark green velvet basket for a few moments, and Bellatrix couldn’t help but smirk with pleasure at her skills.

The Dark Lord finally recovered his senses and reared his head up again, preparing to deliver a speech to the assembled crowd. “At last justice has been dealt, Slytherin rules Hogwarts as it should,” he announced in what may have been the shortest speech ever made at Hogwarts as Bellatrix played her flute once again and Voldemort retreated back into the basket one last time.

The Slytherin table stood and loudly cheered as the merriment continued. The three other tables were forced to sit and watch, having no reason to celebrate. They secretly hoped for Harry Potter to return, but many of them were losing hope of that ever happening.

There was one person, however, who would never give up home. She sat silently at the Gryffindor table, just pondering the spectacle and dreaming of the day her prince would return. This was, of course, Ginny Weasley, perhaps dressed most appropriately of all as a red haired Cinderella. Much like Cinderella herself little did she know that her beauty outshone all the girls, no one would dare to tell her, and her natural modesty made her that much more attractive.

“One day he will return,” she told herself silently. It was all she hoped for, all she wanted, and she knew deep inside that her hopes were not in vain. Not only was the boy she loved missing, but also her brother Ron and her friend and role model Hermione. But she knew they were all safe somewhere, and one day her dreams would somehow come true. Until that day she would wait and be ready.

Draco won the costume contest, but that wasn’t a surprise to anyone because his father had paid for him to win, as well. Everyone congratulated and fawned over Draco, perhaps a bit insincerely, but that was something the Malfoy family was quite accustomed to.

So ended another Halloween feast at Hogwarts, perhaps a bit different this year but still a fun and festive occasion. The students were all filled with candy, a good time was had by most, and half the group went to sleep dreaming of what they would wear next year while the other half dreamed of a new tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Entry #2 by Nattie

The great hall was as splendid as ever, but the warmth and welcomingness seemed to have been sapped from it. The Halloween Feast now underway, none of the laughing and joking was heard, it was all hushed whispers, talking in quiet undertones, desperate to hear about any snippets of news about their hero - Undesirable No 1.

Huddled together, deep in plans, Ginny, Neville and Luna were talking in fast murmurs. Luna no longer had the dreamy look on her face and said “Should we really be doing this?”

“But it is rightly ours, we‘re Gryffindors,” Ginny responded immediately, motioning towards Neville and herself, the stubborn look making her truly her mother’s daughter.

Neville looked from Ginny to Luna and then glanced up at the staff table, at Snape sat in Dumbledore’s chair, looking out of place and dwarfed by it, at McGonagall shooting looks at him as if she had a bad smell under her nose, at Hagrid, who looked so upset and miserable since the death of Dumbledore and then the departure of Harry, and then finally at the Carrows, both of them sat there as if on a throne looking down on their kingdom, looking for troublemakers. Neville knew that if they were unable to find any tonight, then they would just pick a fight on a poor unsuspecting younger student, incapable of fighting back. “We have to do something. I know Harry is out there on some mission, but we are in here. We have to keep morale up, make people realise that we are still fighting and we are going to keep on.” He turned to face Luna and gave her a defiant smile. “I understand you are scared, and you don’t have to do this, but I do.”

Luna smiled broadly. “You’re very good, you know Neville. I’m in. So when do we do it?”

Just as they were about to discuss this, Seamus came over to them, eyes blood shot and face etched with worry. “Has anyone heard anything about Dean yet?” he asked, he was so worried, he didn’t bother to keep his voice down.

“Dean, sit down, you’re gonna get…”

“You… What d’ya think ya doing?” Amycus Carrow shouts echoed around the great hall as he stood up but was hunched over, pointing a crooked finger at Seamus. Snape, whose head until that moment, was bowed but eyes were surveying the hall, raised his head and looked at the scene in front of him, but remained silent.

Seamus said nothing.

“I said… What d’ya think ya doing ya filthy little whelp?” he boomed. He seemed to have found the argument that he had been looking for. “Ya know the rules and ya continue to break ‘em. So I’ll have to show yer the only punishment yer seem to listen to.” He raised his wand “Crucio.”

Seamus fell to the floor with a scream and writhed around, the sound of his pain echoing around the hall. They heard Amycus drawling laugh, Alecto Carrow’s wheezy giggle, her eyes transfixed on the figure of Seamus still writhing around, and heard McGonagall’s disgusted and astonished voice say “For Goodness Sake, Severus, do something!” She stared at him as if finally seeing him for what he truly was, and then came to her senses when she heard a bang and Seamus’s screams stop.

Neville stood there, his arm outstretched, having stunned Amycus, looking impressive. Ginny and Luna were knelt by Seamus, making sure he was alright, but keeping there eyes also trained on the staff table.

The giggle stopped from Alecto and it turned into a mutinous scream. She didn’t seem to care for the wellbeing of her brother, just that the “stupid kids” had done it. “What ‘ave you done to ‘im? You’ve killed ‘im? I’ll kill you!” She screamed, about to raise her wand.

At this, Snape got to his feet. “He’s beet stunned Alecto and he’ll be alright. But I think a week worth of detentions are in order Longbottom, although, I am surprised you managed to pull off that spell. No doubt you were aiming for someone else and got the target wrong,” he quipped.

“Detention?! But he attacked a teacher!!!” Alecto was talking now in raised whispers with Snape. It was obvious who was in charge and she was scared of him, but still she persevered. “He needs teaching a lesson and teaching a lesson now. Cru..” She had her wand trained on Neville.

And then an almighty crash and boom. There stood Ginny, Luna, Neville and McGonagall, all with their wands drawn, all having jinxed Alecto, who was slumped over her brother. Neville then shouted “DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY.” At that the Gryffindor table erupted with cheers, the Hufflepuff table followed suit and so did Ravenclaw’s. Just Slytherin sat there is stony silence, watching with a thirsty hunger at what was going to happen next. “SILENCE” Snape’s voice boomed through the hall, easily taming the cheers, intimidating the seated students into the quiet he demanded. Ignoring McGonagall, Snape got to his feet and walked down the Great Hall towards the trio, his black robes billowing behind him and as he reached them, he returned to his normal softly spoken tone. “You three. My office. Now.”

As he strode out of the room, Ginny breathed to the others, “Well it’s now or never for the sword.” The others gave her a defiant nod and they followed Snape out of the hall, their heads held high, watched by every eye in the great hall.