(1937-10-31) Hallowe'en Feast and Dance - 1937

Details for Hallowe'en Feast and Dance - 1937

Summary:	At a very special Hallowe'en Feast, the Hogwarts Champion for the Triwizard Tournament is announced, followed by a costume contest and a dance.
Date:	October 31, 1937
Location:	Great Hall
Related:	The Halloween Costumes (not a log)

Characters

The Feast

With the student body gathered in the Great Hall, each house table filled to the brim, Headmaster Dippet stands at his podium, a serene half-smile on his lips. He taps his wand for attention, causing an echoing sound not unlike a gavel. "Your attention, please," comes his resonant baritone. "Welcome, students, to the annual Hallowe'en Feast. I hope you did not intend upon nutrition this eve, for you'll find no such sustenance here. Tonight, we feast upon candied nuts, cream-filled pumpkin cakes, chocolate bats, and chewy worm treats. Madam Spleen has asked me to remind you all to thoroughly brush you teeth before bed.

"After the feast, as you all know, we will hold a costume contest for those students who choose to enter. Those who do not wish to enter, but would like to be judges alongside myself, may see me during the feast. After the costume contest, First through Third Year students will be ushered back to their common rooms, and Fourth Year students and above may remain for the dance, along with their chosen guests.

"Last, but not least, very shortly the Goblet of Fire will release the name of the singular Hogwarts student that will represent our school in the Triwizard Tournament! Good luck to all that entered your names."

Dippet lifts his hands, "May the feast…begin!" He claps them together, and suddenly the tables are laden with candies, chocolates, cakes, puddings, pastries, and confections of every imaginable Hallowe'en-inspired shape, colour-coded according to each house. Squeal of delight go up, especially among the younger students, as everyone digs in to the junk food feast.

Hephaesta's eyes boggle out of her head at the appearance of the treasure trove of candy, looking a bit like her goggles without the goggles. She sits beside Ophelia, fingers laced with the other girl's, looking almost nervous about losing a hand should she try to compete for some of the treats in the current mad dash of students trying to fill their plates with their favourites.

Ripley was ready and comes down to the great hall to feast away. He comes in the door and looks about to see those that have assembled so far. He's grinning from ear to ear as he finds himself a place to sit down and he listens to the announcements before he reaches over and grabs a hand full of candied nuts and begins to toss them into the air to catch and eat them.

Gareth shifts nervously in his seat, wedged between other Ravenclaws at the table, who all seem to be diving at the sweets with abandon. But he seems to anxious to eat anything, glancing furtively toward the Goblet and shivering from time to time. "It's not going to be me," he mutters, one shaking hand reaching for a drink. "Please don't let it be me. I'll never pass my OWLs if it's me."

His Pirate Persona is something of a mystery to most, this is true but Cillian does like to share so tonight, he's decided to show school spirit. He immortalizes all the Quidditch players in the school actually as he carries along his toy broom, as he listens to the speech he's one of the loudest in cheering and pumping his fists in the air when candy and such is presented at the Gryffindor table.

Lucian snatches up an entire bowl of chocolate truffles, earning a few nasty looks from other Slytherins, to give Ria first pick from them. His eyes pass over Ripley briefly, but he stifles any reaction.

Warren is a fan of candy, so he's been looking forward to this for some time. The prefect, though, has the decency not to rush forward and stuff his face full immediately. He's almost delicate about it, waiting patiently in line, loading up his plate with chocolate all in due time. Then a second plate, one the first is full. One must take full advantage!

The fact that Seamus wears the costume that he is wearing is probably a bit surprising given his normal behavior. However, he's sitting there totally at ease in his costume as he passes around plates to those at the Hufflepuff table. He's taking polite amounts of food here and there.

From the look on Josie's face, she must have never seen so much candy in her life. For a moment she stares in awe, then, nudging back her big hat so it doesn't slip into her eyes, dives forward to start filling up her plate, fuller than she's ever loaded it.

Gabrielle sits at the end of the Ravenclaw table near the back of the room. She's rather stiff, but that could be from the bodice. She'll pick at the nuts in front of her, but doesn't dive in with the rest of the table

"Thank you dearest," Ria gives Lucian a pleased snaky smile as she pretty much attacks the truffle bowl. The girl isn't in costume for some reason has dark blue hair! Did she have an accident? Is this her costume? Did she come as Ajax's deep haired sister? There's no sure answer! But when the announcements are finished, she turns to face Lucian, whispering something in his ear. And then looks for Ripley in the crowd and gives a signal to the Fox twin that she wants him to come over.

Ripley keeps flipping the nuts into the air and catching them in his mouth. He turns his shield and rolls the nuts down them to hi mouth. He grins quite wide and looks across the room to a familiar face and gives a wink to Gareth.

Lorraine has seated herself at the Slytherin table, though she holds herself aloof from her housemates. Every once in awhile she takes a piece of candy from the pile she's collecting and unwraps it to pop in her mouth. "I hope we've enough potions on hand to deal with all the belly aches the littler ones are going to have after this mess," she comments to the air, watching a group of first years gobbling.

Mabel applauds at the feast announcement from Headmaster Dippett. For one who's walked in on the arm of one Mr. Flash Gordon, the reminder about the Goblet's verdict does give her lips just a wrinkle of concern. But not for long, as the sweets appear on the table. "Ah, now here we are," she says, to Eamon.

Like Ria, Lucian is similarly out of costume, sporting merely his Hogwarts robes. Surely it means nothing. He's just a humbug, right? He frowns at Ria for a moment, murmuring back to her.

Gerald grabs some of the candy, taking care to not get his costume messy. Even so, he is grabbing as much as he can, for fear that there might not be enough for seconds, as crazy as that might seem. He seems to be enjoying himself.

Eamon smiles at Mabel kindly and pats her arm. "Don't look so serious," he murmurs, leaning close to her ear to be heard over the din. Seeing the candy he chuckles. "I don't think you needed to buy extra for the first years. I'm going to have to roll them up to the Common Room as it is." The joys of being a prefect…

Gareth manages to get the drink to his lips, starting to take a teeny little sip, but as his eyes dart away from the Goblet, they happen to land on Ripley, just as the older boy winks at him across the room GULP-cough-cough-cough! He gets the goblet back onto the table without spilling it, sputtering to get air — and only air — into his lungs. Trying to recover some semblance of dignity, he says to Gabriel, "I still don't think you look much like a ghost."

Ripley looks to the Goblet as well. He stares at it for a long moment before he goes back to the food and samples other pieces around the table to where he catches Ria's wave over. He lifts his shield and moves down the way to settle next to Ria and Lucian. He lifts a brow, "Evening. Nice costume, Lucian."

Warren, once he has his plates and has picked at them for a few moments, he sets himself to another task. The boy rises from his seat, taking a few chocolate provision to nibble of during his trip. Then, he's off to see Dippet. The prefect comes a halt next to the staff's table, bending forward to greet the headmaster with a respectful dip of his head and a chime of, "Mr. Dippet. I'd like to volunteer to judge the costume contest."

Idrissa is at the Ravenclaw table as well, she is looking around curiously as if looking for someone though so far he isn't to be found. Costume wise she is Little Red Riding Hood! A white blouse, black skirt, slip on shoes, a beautiful red satin cloak, the hood bunched down at her neck and it is tied loosely with a thick string in a bow. She even has a basket which has some baked goodies within. Her hair is pulled back in a few berets to keep them out of her face. She takes in a soft breath an is soon picking nervously at a finger nail.

Mabel ahs, to Eamon, raising a finger as she selects a pastry to nibble on, "That's why I tried to mostly get them sweets that move around a good deal." A pause. "Well, apart from those Unpredictable Pralines. Still not sure what those might do, of course."

The figure in purple that is Gabriel shakes his head a bit at Gareth,"Not a ghost. A crime fighter." For all his talk of how much he wanted to be here for the candy he's actually being rather sedate in his picking of his treats. Leaning over to another Ravenclaw firstie that's gobbling down sweets like there's no tomorrow he says,"Pace yourself Will. You keep eating it like that you'll be in the infirmary before anyone else."

Ria gives Ripley a good once over and with a grin she snickers, "Evening indeed! Nice belt, Orion!" She points to his belt with approval and says, "You make it yourself?" Turning over to Lucian she nods back at Ripley, "Yes, we both came as Hogwarts Prefect. Lucian as himself and me?" She gestures to her deep blue midnight hair, "I'm Ajax."

"They probably explode," Eamon tells Mabel cheerfully, picking up a cauldron cake. "We'll find them laying on the carpet in a puddle of candy-induced vomit and wafting smoke."

Cillian swings his feet and looks to Josie as he wraps chewy worms around a pumpkin cake and places it between two chocolate bats to create a sweetie sandwich and he grins with a shake of his head. "I tink we may hit the treasure trove for sure." A pause. "Do ye tink the costume will help unite all the houses for the feast at least?"

There must be some sort of enchantment on Colton, who's in a very tattered black suit with oversized tortured black shoes and a thin bamboo cane. Wearing a derby and sporting a square of a moustache over his upper lip the usual rather chatty young man is silent. His eyes go theatrically wide as he watches Josie, The Kid to his Charlie Chaplin Tramp feast on the candy. His movements even seem to be a bit staticy like he was a flickering bit of old film himself as he takes up a fork, takes up one small crimson jelly bean and then attempts to cut the thing in half with his knife. But of course the been half goes *pinging* off like a jet somewhere. He pouts and then tries again. *ping* Another… *ping* He comically weeps and then reaches under the table and pulls up…a shoe! It's a shoe made out of chocolate and licorice and he puts it on an empty plate and starts to portion it up for Josie and himself.

Headmaster Dippet seems to be enjoying a private joke with Ancient Runes Professor Gervaise Flint. At Warren's greeting, Flint chides the Prefect, "That's Headmaster Dippet, young man." But the Headmaster quells Flint with a raised hand, "Of course, Mr. Bennet. One of our finest Prefects can certain act as a judge."

Gabrielle will glance over to Gabriel and give him a smile, "You look just like the funny strip you showed me."

Lorraine smirks at Ripley's comment to Lucian. "He's obviously come as a prat, Ripley. I'd say he's pulled it off well." Of course, Ria's cheerfulness just has her shaking her head. "Well. At least you look appropriate," she adds of the sportlier Fox twin, approving of his star-themed costume. "Where's Leander? Is he a constellation as well?"

Ripley nods to Ria, "Orion, yes." He grins quite wide that someone got it. He gives a little nod about Lucian and Ria. "Not bad." He speaks and gives a little smirk before he casts a sideways glance across the room once again to Gareth.

Lucian shrugs and nods toward Lorraine. "She's right. I'm dressed as you, Rip." He gives a good natured smile, though it seems more directed at Ria than at Ripley.

Gareth ohs, nodding to Gabriel then. "Right, a crime-fighting ghost. But you still don't look like a ghost." To Gabrielle's words, he nods again. "He showed me as well, but the funny strip character also wasn't very ghostlike. I'm still not making the connection." His eyes keep darting between the conversation, the Goblet of Fire, and Ripley across the room.

Claire has been soured on candy since Arian… let's say overindulged - so her plate is filled with a moderate amount of favorites, mostly sour gummies. And lots of water. She shakes the sleeves of her purple costume robes off her hands, and when Warren comes back to the table she mimics Headmaster Dippet's voice. "That's Headmaster Dippet, young man."

Gabrielle will give Gareth a look, "He's a crime fighter. the name is scary to villains. What's not to get?" she'll pick at some more nuts and herself glance at the Goblet.

Ria's eyes wander between Lucian, Ripley and Lorraine. The feast has barely begun and trust the snake table to already be at each others throats. Yayyyy house unity!! So clearing her throat she looks over to Lorraine, observing her costume. "As a frequent consumer of chocolate frogs…" Or anything chocolate in general. "You are definitely Toothill. Though you're missing your gilded trophy. Have I got it down pat?"

"Are you dressed as Peter Pan?" Seamus asks of Kaiden, taking in his Housemate's clothing and offering no real comment about it. It's pretty daring to wear tights isn't it? Least for a guy. Seamus looks around checking out various costumes here and there.

Ripley lifts a brow to Lucian, "Rather I would think it was just you, Lucian. After all, doing nothing for a costume for a costume ball is definitely prat material." He looks to Lorraine and his face changes to a smile, "He's about somewhere. Probably snagging in the hall." He chuckles. "Nah. He didn't know what I was coming as. I don't even know what he was coming as…"

Warren bobs his head, beaming a bright smile toward the older man. "Thank you, Headmaster Dippet." He gets it right the second time, even if he doesn't look Flint in the eye. Once the staff is back to talking he skitters off back toward his table and the plates he left there, which have been fairly well decimated in his short absence. He turns to stick his tongue out at Claire, but when he actually spots her costume the boy nearly chokes, covering his face with a hand to cover his laughter.

Briar sits with Kaiden at the feast and is sort of just quietly eating and tending to the roaring live tigerlilies that are woven into her hair. She's been cultivating them all month so now people finally get to see them in bloom woven in her hair. Much like the Tigerlily in the movies and books, it's perhaps a touch obvious that this Tigerlily is a touch miffed with the Peter Pan sitting beside her, but she's trying to have a good time tonight.

Kaiden looks up from the food that he isn't eating and addresses Seamus, saying, "What? Oh, yeah. Peter Pan." He shrugs and pushes stuff around on his plate, saying, "Briar said I could pull them off. She made our costumes, as I don't know a thing about sewing." He'll avoid looking over at her as he just goes back to sitting in silence and waiting for the night to be over already.

Lucian just gives Ripley a cocky smirk, like he knows something the other boy doesn't. He leans over to whisper in Ria's ear.

Lorraine has to snicker at Lucian. "Hah. Ripley's a prefect now?" No, Lorraine has no alliances to anyone, really. She'll laugh at anyone. "You got it, Sykes," she tells Ria with a nod. "I had a bigger trophy in mind," she adds, nodding to the Goblet flaming away merrily, on everyone's mind.

Finding her way to the Ravenclaw table as the City Mouse goes to the Slytherin table with some of the 'goodies' from her basket, Elspeth gets settled in just in time to hear Headmaster Dippet's speech. There's so many costumes to look at, that she doesn't respond right away to the feast appearing on the tables. Finally, giving a chuckle to Claire's mimicry, she reaches forward to snag a couple of pumpkin creme pastries, and experimentally nibbles at them with her front teeth.

Ripley lifts a brow as he looks to Lucian and stares. "What?" He says to Lucian, giving the other Slytherin a long gaze. He then shakes his head and waves a hand, "It's so not worth it." He grins a bit and looks about, "It's a party. I'm not playing your games, Lucian."

Hephaesta cannot help but giggle at Claire's impersonation of Dippet. "I almost didn't recognize you, Cameron," she says shyly, possibly unheard in the noisy room.

Gabriel nods to Gabrielle and then to Gareth,"What she said. And you both look really good tonight too. Gabrielle, that's a really nice color on your dress." Then he starts chewing on a gummy worm.

"A stick in the mud, perhaps," Ria jokes about Leander when the other Fox twin is mentioned. She really wanted to say a bug up a butt. But she'll never get her prefectship back with that language! Catching Lorraine's sights on the trophy, she winks at her, "Aye. A girl after my own heart then. If you get it, just remember that I'd love to see Durmstrang." She gives the redhead a snaky grin. And to Lucian and nods, "I know you are." Her arm wraps around his shoulders to give him an affectionate squeeze.

Idrissa half listens in on the other conversations around her while she goes about chewing on a bite of pumpkin pasty that she managed to wrangle off a plate before others was able to get hold of. She seems a bit sad, Arian is off somewhere, so much for that whole idea. A book is pulled from her basket and she opens it and goes about reading.

Lucian seems to find Ripley's reaction even more entertaining now. "Relax, Fox," he says from mid-hug with Ria. "I told her I was trying to be nice. Just ask her."

Gareth still looks rather baffled by the whole concept, but then, he probably doesn't understand costumed crimefighters — or even comic strips in general — so he simply nods and looks at Gabrielle's costume once more. "Yes, it's very nice, Gabrielle. You did an excellent job." Again, his eyes flick to the Goblet, a quick shiver running through him.

Ripley looks to Lucian and gives a little smile, "So when does the Goblet do it's thing?" He says, changing the subject. "We are all in it, right?" As he looks to his fellow Slytherins.

Gabrielle will look down to the dress causing her newly red hair to fall over her shoulder some, "It's Mabel's. Can you believe she just had this? It's the nicest thing I've ever worn." she'll smooth out the lap with her gloved hands.

Lorraine raises an eyebrow at Ria thoughtfully. "Only if you'll remember the same," she replies, making a Celtic knot out of gummy worms on the table in front of her. "Especially since I seem to be tragically without a snogging partner these days." Though the jab was a little below the belt, she doesn't look up at Lucian. "Some time during dinner, they said. I doubt Headmaster Dippet — either one — will let us miss the event."

Claire breaks character to laugh at Warren's reaction. "It's good, right? That's why I needed so much aging potion; I still don't think I'm old enough." She drops back into the headmaster's baritone, "Your compliments are most appreciated, Miss Mulciber, it was a prodigious undertaking."

"It's good," Warren agrees. He seems content to pluck at his stack of chocolates, the boy occasionally taking glances around the room. "So," He chimes to those at the table, "So, who do you think the goblet will choose? What house, even?" Another few chomps. "Gryffindor's supposed to be the brave ones, that's where my money's at."

A soft sigh comes from Cillian as he clears his throat and looks to his various tablemates. "I 'ave composed…a poem for tonight!" He raises his voice as he stands up on his bench and raises a glass of milk, that Irish colored voice being a tad loud. "Oi! WE stride and slither, fly and burrow on paws and bellies and wings and in holes but when astride a broom and zipping cross the pitches, no matter the house we're all wizards and witches. On this candy eve as we make ourselves sick, we're Hogwarts and that's all there is to it, so raise your mugs and gobbles your chocolates, Happy Halloween all professors and students!" He blows a kiss to the teachers table and then looks at the other tables. He adjusts his goggles and bows to the Ravenclaw table and then smooths a hand down his parchment chest as he bows to the Slytherin and Hufflepuff table and then turns to grin at his tablemates.

Well. That's a rather odd detail for Lorraine to disclose, but Ria's polite company so she continues it on anyway. "In my limited experience, they're a lot of work. You're not missing out on too much, I'd say." And the Slytherin girl does not catch on to the jab. Ironically enough, she gives Lucian a teasing smile instead.

Hephaesta smiles warmly at the praise from Claire. "It's brilliant." To Warren, she tilts her head, and her hand tightens in Ophelia's. "I think…yes, they're very likely." She nibbles nervously at her lip.

"You are looking very pretty, Gabrielle," Elspeth offers, her whiskers twitching as she scrunches her nose on the wierd feel of talking with the enlarged teeth. She pauses, then tosses a jelly bean at Idrissa. "It ith being a party, not a thtudy hour," she teases lightly, then her whiskers twitch again in her puzzled response to the lisp brought on by the teeth.

Gerald Claps softly, looking at Cillian. "Very good,Cillian. you wrote that?" he says while patting him on the back in approval.

Lucian keeps his eyes firmly on Ria when Lorraine mentions snogging. But as soon as she looks away, he shoots Lorraine a sharp look. Shut up! "Yeah," he finally says to Ripley, "We're all in it." His eyes drift to the Goblet, narrowing with…what? Anger? Trepidation? It's hard to tell.

Mabel dingdingdings on a glass, rather informally, as Cillian proposes to tender his poem, then applauds a bit theatrically when it's completed.

Gareth is just about to say something to Warren's question, when Cillian begins reciting his poem, which brings a small smile to the Ravenclaw's lips, easing his nervousness some. When the Pirate Quiddich Player takes his bow, Gareth begins to applaud, shouting, "Well done, Captain! Well done indeed."

Gabriel laughs at Cillian's poem, delighted by the imagery and then raises his cup of pumpkin juice with a loud, "HEAR, HEAR, GREAT JOB CILLIAN!" Before poking Gareth in the ribs and pointing at Idrissa,"See, she followed our suggestion. She's Red Riding HOod.

Colton as Charlie Chaplin perks up hearing that there's betting going on. Then he leans on air as he listens to Cillian following the poem by clapping his hands together as if they'd make quite the ruckus, yet, no sound comes from them!

"I will say that it is quite daring. You would have to ask a girl whether you pull them off or not." Seamus says with a hint of a laugh as he considers it,"Green does work for you though. Just not sure of the tights. I think I should have gone for something with a bit more colour."

Gabrielle will raise her juice to Cillian's poem and give him an encouraging smile before turning back to Elspeth, "Thank you. I feel ridiculous with all this make up on(she barley has any) and I can't take a full breath." she'll smirk, "I don't see how pretty ladies do this all the time."

Ripley looks about the room at all the costumes and grins at some of them. He looks back to the table of snakes, "I wish you all the best." He says and as Cillian leaps up with his poem, Ripley listens and gives a bit of a smirk. "Not bad for a firstie."

Josie is flickering too, just like Colton, and just as silent. She doesn't do quite the same 'silent movie' acting job of Colton, acting more naturally but the flickering enchantment seems to make her movements faster. As 'the Tramp' has so much trouble with his candy, she offers some of her own to him, but she looks to the show he's portioning up curiously. Her attention turns to Cillian at his poem, and she joins in, clapping energetically, but like Colton, it's silent.

Idrissa squeaks as the jellybean bounces and hits her and she blinks before looking up. A faint smile is sent back to Elspeth. "I know.. I just.." Just what? Who knows, the book is closed and she chews on her lip seemins so out of place. Though she does hear Gabriel and glances over to him. "Well it was a good idea." There is even a little fuzzy wolf plush looking animal in that basket of hers, its head peeking out and just over the table's edge with great yellow eyes.

Kaiden looks up at Seamus and says, "I like it. It's not like I'm offering a free show or anything. The tunic's long enough to keep those prying eyes at bay." He studies Seamus costume and says, "It looks good. A pirate, then?" Kaiden looks over his shoulder at all of the loud people and grumbles quietly to himself.

Lorraine smirks at Lucian, like the evil little witch she is, and shrugs innocently. Her eyes move past the Goblet to Ravenclaw table, something sour and thoughtful creeping into her expression. Then she returns and lifts a mug of pumpkin juice. "Well then. To the best one for the job."

Noalan continuously reaches up and touches his potion altered face in a distracted way. Truth be told, the rather stiff formal wear is more uncomfortable than the temporary cosmetic change. When the food appears, Lan grabs some of the pumpkin treats but is glad for the real food provided by his 'country cousin' not that eating is all that easy.

Elspeth grins to Idrissa as she gets the hang of talking and eating with her new teeth. "It ith being a good idea, and I am liking your cothtume very much. I am alwayth being amathed at what people come up with. Claire, I wonder if that cothtume will let you add pointth to Ravenclaw?" Her hazel eyes, still looking like normal human eyes, grin over to her fellow quidditch player.

Gareth nods to Gabriel, looking toward Idrissa. "I hope it isn't me," he says, completely out of context. Then he frowns, blinks, and says, "What Bennett asked, I hope it isn't me. But someone from our House, that would be good. Oi, Bennett! A moment?"

Briar chimes in about Seamus and Kaiden talking about his Peter Pan costume, "I like it too, course I'm biased." When Kaiden starts to grumble she gives him a little nudge to knock it off and then pokes at his cheeks in a 'smile dammit' sort of way.

As he waits for the goblet to spill it's prize, Ripley's leg is bouncing up and down under the table. His eyes move from one person to the next as he looks about all around and then his gaze comes back to the table he's at. "I can't wait for Quidditch." He speaks, "So ready for the season to start."

Cillian exhales softly after he gives his poem and he settles back down on his bench, nodding to Gerald and laughing softly as he tips an invisible hat to his table mates. "Now c'mon! Somebody else do somethin'. We 'ave to be real loud, we're lions!"

Claire lifts her strawberry milkshake at the conclusion of Cillian's poem. "Oh well done Mr Peele! Neatly said indeed!" On the topic of the Hogwarts Champion, she says to the Ravenclaw table, "Nonsense, Mr Bennett. The Champion could come from any house! The founders all prized different attributes in their students, but there are many kinds of heroes."

A young Slytherin girl lets out a shriek as the Bloody Baron passes through her bowl of candy corn. The grim figure gives her a wide-eyed look of sheer menace, and she faints into a friend's arms. Sir Nicholas passes through a wall on his heels, tut-tutting. "My good Baron, honestly, was that necess-…sary…" He trails off as the Baron's gaze turns toward him. "Yes, well. I'm off then." And he floats on toward the Gryffindor table.

Idrissa smiles to Elspeth. "Thanks, I really like yours too. How do the teeth feel?" She questions before peering up at the squeal and blinks as she watches the Blood Baron floating up out from the candy corn.

Llewellyn arches a brow at the Baron's approach - he's gotten a little more used to the fellow over the years, but only just - and does his best to lean the poor girl up against the edge of the table. "Easy there, he can't touch you any more than he can the food."

Eamon gently touches Mabel's arm and nods when Sir Nicholas appears. "Did you already give him his gift, Hawker?" he asks in low tones.

Warren applauds the poem politely. Two or three claps, then back to what he was doing. Which is mostly eating. "Does anyone have something better than that? Can we show him up?" No beating around the bush about that. Claire's words draw another faint snicker, the prefect mumbling, "You're trying very hard to get this vote, I like it."

Gabriel smiles at Idrissa and says,"You look bored over there. Come sit at the end of the table, we're lots more fun." As he speaks he nudges Will in the ribs, "Make space for Red Riding Hood, Will. You're going to be headed to the infirmary soon enough I betcha. You haven't listened to a word I said about pacing yourself." And then grins at Gabrielle,"Well, you pretty even without all that stuff." Said very matter of factly.

At the hufflepuff table, a blond girl wearing no costume is coming down on one sweet after another. Arevan already seems to be getting a sugar rush and is becoming slightly manic. "Now this is what I call a party!" She says, her cadence more rapid than usual. "Not really fair that we don't get to dance, I feel like dancing, anyone got some music?" She says, bouncing in her seat.

Gabrielle will roll her eyes, "I feel like I can't move. I hope Chris doesn't know how to dance…I don't see how people dance with stuff like this on….I'm so glad I wore flats….."

Lorraine is not afraid of no Baron! Okay, also, he's a ghost. What's he going to do to her? Walk through her a few times? Big whoop. Eyes roll for Cillian's poem and she groans. "Freaky little cyclops. That didn't even rhyme completely."

Mabel nods to Eamon, "Oh, just left it out, really, tradition and all: I'm sure he'll find it soon enough, really."

"The dance is after the contest." Seamus says towards Arevan, before looking at Briar,"I would hope you would be biased for him in the costume as not only are you dating him, but you made the costume." He says laughing merrily, and then nods to Kaiden,"Yes. A pirate, but instead of a sword I used my wand. I thought it made for an interesting twist."

Kaiden looks up at Briar and flashes her a bit of grin before turning his eyes to the food, "I wish they something healthy to eat here. This costume is a tight enough fit as it is." He looks over at Seamus and nods, "That's a pretty cool idea. Your persona have a name?"

Ripley gives a laugh as the Slytherin girl freaks out. "It's just the baron. Get used to it." He comments and grins. "He does that a lot."

Gabriel leans over the table to talk to Warren. "Hey Warren, want to take numbers on who get sick first, Will here or the blond Hufflepuff over yonder?' Which earns him a smack upside his purple head from Will, who's stuffing his mouth full of pumpkin pasties with his other hand and talking around it,"Gotta eat fast Ward or yer not gonna get your fill 'fore the ball." To which Gabriel responds,"Hah! I'm Gareth's guest. I don't have to worry about that." then sticks his tongue out at Will.

Gareth chuckles a bit as Gabriel and Will carry on, and he finally decides to risk something sweet. Taking a cauldron cake, he nibbles it gingerly, but somehow, he can't keep his eyes off that giant Goblet up there. Turning a bit green, he puts the cake down again and guzzles down a glass of water. "Hmm? Oh, yes. Dance." He pats a napkin over his moustache. "Costume contest first though, isn't it? Perhaps Bennett should be taking small wagers on that."

Mabel applauds again as the ghosts make their appearance: after all, what's Halloween at Hogwarts without the ghosts? She gives Cillian a bit of a wink from down the table.

Idrissa seems a bit unsure but soon shifts on down over where Gabriel and the others are. She smiles and nods while setting her basket back down. "Thanks Gabriel." A faint glance is sent to Will.

Leander is late to the feast. It's really not like him, but unfortunately he got caught by Peeves in one of the stairwells, and was chased up and down several flights of stairs by the blasted poltergeist. The Slytherin boy - looking extremely irritable - stomps in from the direction of said stairwell. He makes his way over to his house's table and takes a seat near his twin, his dark eyes scanning the table until he locates an unclaimed cup of pumpkin juice. "Ugh."

"Ya, but I can't go to the dance, can I?" She replies to Seamus, "Can I? Unless you're asking me to go." She giggles, taking a long drink of some chocolaty drink.

Josie shakes her head to Cillian's call for noise, and points to her mouth, mouthing the words 'I can't' with no sound. Obviously, silenced. She shrugs and grins, and then goes back to eating eagerly.

Speak of the devil…or the poltergeist, Peeves swoops in after Leander, cackling. "Thought you'd get awayEEEEEK!" One look from the Bloody Baron, and Peeves screeches in midair, backtracking the way he came.

Nearly Headless Nick drifts along through the center of the table suckling on his fingertips. "Thank you Gryffindors for my Deathday present. Very kind of you to leave such a treat for me to enjoy." He bows to those of his house as he drifts each time he does there's that little squelching sound as his head falls off to dangle by the ribbon of transparent silvery flesh. But he soon enough puts his head back on only to bow and lose it again a moment later.

Elspeth chuckles to Gabrielle, and tosses another jelly bean in Gabriel's direction. "Thtealing Idritha from me?" she asks with a grin. Her gaze goes between the two Gabs, and then she's considering, "maybe you can be loothening the corthet to danthe?" Reaching down into her basket, she picks up an apple, plain old, ordinary apple, and takes a bite from it. A bite that drops on her plate as it's too big for her mouth, and she takes a knife to cut it in half. She looks over to the Slytherin table to see if Lan's having any troubles with his food.

Eamon pours himself a glass of pomegranate juice and asks his date politely, "Do you want anything to drink?" He glances down the table and if he was a betting man, he'd bet the boy would be the first conscript into the Battle for the Toilet. Nearly-Headless Nick's head-loss is the trigger. The kid turns green and leaps up, beating a hasty retreat out of the Hall. "Hope he makes it," comments Eamon with a grimace.

"Happy Deathday, Sir Nicholas!" Gareth calls from the Ravenclaw table, waving to the ghost.

Ria catches a glance of the angry Leander being a Halloween grinch from the corner of her eye. Leaning in to Lorraine and Lucian, she murmurs with a smirk saying, "I told you he was coming as a stick in the mud." And she takes a rather satisfying drink of her milk, which she specifically requested since they were having all this chocolate.

Warren wags a chocolate frog admonishingly at Gabriel and Gareth, replying, "Ward, I keep telling all of you, I have limits on what I'll bet on." A pause, and he adds, "It's probably going to be Will. Hufflepuffs never have trouble doing stupid things, right?" A somber nod follows, along with a lopsided grin.

Cillian stares at Josie with some concern, leaning towards here and narrowing his eye from behind his goggles. "Darn it all to a peachbucket, I wish I 'ad Lady Hephaesta's goggles…what 'appened to yer voice?"

The Triwizard Champion

Suddenly, the Goblet of Fire sputters and fwooshes, its ominous blue flames turning red. Headmaster Dippet is on his feet, and strides forth to the podium, again tapping his wand for attention.

Mabel smiles, then, and ohs, letting Eamon fill the glass with pomegranate juice, and toasts aloud for the Gryffindor table, "Sir Nicholas!"

Ripley watches Peeves and claps a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Hello, brother." As he reaches out for a drink of pumpkin juice and thinks for a moment. Suddenly, the goblet comes to life and his eyes go right to it. "Looks like here we go."

Gabrielle nods, although she's not she she understood everything that Elspeth actually said, "I may have to, or I'll faint like ladies in the olden times!" She'll smile at the thought, "and then everyone would have to dance around me!"

Lorraine smirks in response to Ria, glance Leander's way. "Right? I don't think he knows how to be anything else." And then she shuts up because the Goblet is turning red and Dippet is on his feet.

Gerald toasts with Mabel, "Sir Nicholas!" and takes a swig of his juice. He quickly beocmes quiet directing all of his attention to the Headmaster.

Eamon sets the pitcher down and lifts his mug, echoing, "Sir Nicholas! Happy Deathday!" The tapping gets his attention, and he turns to see the Goblet has come to life. His expression sobers.

Seeing the goblet of fire start to react, Noalan fidgets nervously. He tries to concentrate on his eating with his oversized teeth.

"Hey, Rip." Leander's gaze shoots in the direction of Peeves as he reappears, and the boy looks ready to spring from his seat and go careening off in any convenient direction in order to get away from the poltergeist. Luckily, the Baron preempts any such need, and the Sixth Year visibly relaxes. He offers a half-grin to Ripley and then glances over in Ria and Lucian's direction with a calculating expression… but Ripley's words and the sound of Headmaster Dippet soon claim his attention.

Josie rolls her eyes at Cillian's question, points to Colton and herself, as if the movie-like flickering and silence of both of them should give all the answers, perhaps not thinking that Cillian may never have seen a Charlie Chaplin movie. She claps silently again for Nick, then she looks quickly towards the goblet as it changes colour, very curious and excited.

Lucian gives Leander an even nod of greeting. One might even call it respectful.

Gareth suddenly pales when he sees the Headmaster stepping up to the Goblet, and he looks even more forlorn than his costume requires. Swallowing, he struggles to keep his shuddering under control, rubbing at his arms as if for warmth.

Claire involuntarily catches her breathe when the Goblet of Fire starts to sputter. She turns her attention to the real Armando Dippet.

When the hall quiets, Dippet raises his deep voice to echo through the chamber. "Students! The time is upon us! Fame, fortune, and eternal glory await one lucky student, who will compete as Hogwarts' Champion in the Triwizard Tournament!" Without further ado, he steps up to the Goblet, and almost seems to have a silent conversation with it. There is a sputter, and crackle, then an arc of red flame as a scorched piece of parchment shoots out of the Goblet, and is snatched from the air by Headmaster Dippet.

As the piece of parchment goes flying up into the air, Elspeth looks across the room to Lan, and lowers her hands to her lap as she waits for the name to be read.

Warren quiets down when the goblet begins to get uppity. He finally turns to face the thing, craning his head to look. He even fidgets a little bit, gnawing on his frog while he waits.

He'll explain about his costume later but the Goblet is now issuing the name of the Champion. Seamus is nervous but he's trying to appear calmer than he really is. He bites his lower lip a bit out of nervousness.

Gabriel nudges Gareth foot to point out the Goblet is about read, not that there's really a need for that considering his friend has been watching it like an eagle all night. Then he busts out laughing as Will, as predicted, starts running out of the hall in search of somewhere safe to toss his cookie… And his pumpkin pasties… And his chocolate cauldron…

Mabel seems to only slowly cotton onto the Goblet's change in the color of flame, then, ohs, at the headmaster's announcement of the champion selection… Glances about the hall at the likely suspects, and pauses for the moment of suspense, as the Goblet flares and presents a name…

Ripley leans forward, all of his attention is on the Headmaster. He gives a little lick to his dry lips and his eyes are nailed upon that little piece of paper.

Absolutely still and silent, Ria eyes the piece of paper with anticipation though otherwise her face is unreadable.

Dippet unfolds the no-nonsense piece of parchment, reading the name to himself. He looks up, his eyes scanning across every table, until finally settling on the Slytherins. Has this been fixed? Everyone knows Dippet was a Slytherin!

Eamon sucks in a breath and holds it, face growing pale. A hand reaches out boldly for Mabel's arm… but he looks like he might need the support.

Leander returns Lucian's nod. He idly raises his cup of juice even as Dippet is speaking - running up and down stairs with an insane ghost on your heels is tiring - but his dark eyes never leave the front of the room. He even leans forward a bit, unconsciously mimicking the students around him that are doing the same.

Arevan finishes of a slice of pie and reaches for another, "mmmffmmf are you crazy? We should have had werewolves and vampires come to the party." She says through a mouth half full. She almost doesn't notice the goblet start to react. Her eyes lift to the head table as she gulps down the last of her drink.

Ripley lifts a brow and tilts his head to the side as Dippet looks to their table. His eyes flash around to Ria and Lucian and then to his brother before they go to DIppet once more.

Kaiden reaches down and grabs Briar's hand as the name is about to be called out. A pale look shoot across his face and the boy almost begins to hold his breath in anticipation.

Gareth is now roughly the same shade as any of the ghosts in the hall, and if he doesn't remember to breathe soon, he's likely to pass out long before Dippet reads the name.

Lucian's hand holds Ria's, squeezing tight. His mouth has gone dry and his eyes are wide.

Lorraine's eyebrows lift in anticipation when Dippet's eyes turn towards their table. Time to start sucking up, ladies and gents.

Idrissa peers up at the talk of the goblet and how it is time. Time… Oh dear. She shifts on her seat while brushing her hands off and ponders who it is going to be!

Briar was just lifting her hand over to do the very same in taking Kaiden's hand. When Dippet looks towards the Slytherin table she slumps a little and caresses the back of Kaiden's hand supportively.

Gabriel thumps Gareth's back trying to get him to breathe as the older Ravenclaw goes from pale to paler. "Breatheman breathe!"

Dippet's voice rings out, filling the hall. "The student chosen to participate in the Triwizard Tournament is…LEANDER FOX!" The Slytherin table explodes in cheers, many hands patting and reaching toward Leander in congratulations! Dippet gestures toward the Slytherin table with a beckoning wave of his fingers.

Ripley feels his eyes go absolutely wide as he turns and looks to his brother. "Lea… HOLY SHIT, LEA!" And Ripley jumps to his feet to grab Leander and pull him into one hell of a hug.

Ria's eyes go wide as she tries to contain the look of rage that is trying to plague her face. It's somewhat apparent in her eyes though and she snaps to turn around to throw a subtle glare at Leander. "You've got to be kidding me," she sharply mutters to herself. Stiffening her jaw, she remains completely still while her table erupts into cheers. That is who she's going to have to suck up to?!

Lucian's jaw drops in surprise. But then a slow smirk comes to his lips, as if it makes a certain sense. "Merlin's beard…congratulations, Fox." Despite his acceptance, he still looks a bit shocked.

Leander? Lorraine's face twists in a sort of a scowl as she looks to the Wrong Fox Twin. But she doesn't /want/ to suck up to him! A look is exchanged with Ria.

Kaiden breathes out a sigh of relief and rests his head on Briar's shoulder. He's not at all happy with Ria at the moment, but she'd probably die if she got sent off to the tournament, and that would be hell to explain to the parents.

Gabrielle loosens the tight hold she had on her right forearm. And takes a deep breath.

Cillian was about to eat a bat, he was, because they are sweet and remind him of Addison but for now he just chokes on the bat and stares, eyes widening with a slow blink.

Ria would NOT die goddamit.

Gerald claps and cheers loudly. "Congratulations Leander! Make us all proud!"

Elspeth's shoulders relax, and her hands unwind in her lap. Then she looks up, and being a good sport, she claps her hands for the lucky winner.

The cup of pumpkin juice is frozen in place. Leander fails to notice the juice dribbling down his chin, because he's too busy being shocked when Dippet calls his name. He slowly sets the cup down, and a moment later is pulled into a bear-hug by his twin. "Woah - wha!?" There are students patting him, and the best he can do is nod at all of them. He's not exactly used to generating a lot of social attention. Eventually, he looks back up at Dippet and makes his way forward, pushing out of the crowd around him as he does. "Ex.. excuse me, please."

Warren exhales a breath, visibly relaxing after the name is called out. He might have even been a little worried. His eyes move toward the Slytherin table, seeking out the chosen champion. The prefects lips press into a thin, thoughtful line. Then he goes back to his candy.

Eamon exhales, realizing he's still holding Mabel's arm. Sheepishly he lets go and then applauds for Leander, a genuine smile on his face. "Huzzah to the Sly Fox!" cheers the Gryffindor prefect.

Gareth's back is beaten a few times, and as the name is announced, he sucks in a loud breath…then promptly falls forward onto his empty plate. Empty save that partly-nibbled cauldron cake, that is, which smooshes over his face.

Mabel shifts a glance back toward Eamon, at the clutch of her arm, saying, lowly, "Oh, don't tell me you've slipped your name in, too," she smiles, straightening and turning to applaud at-least politely, seeming a touch surprised indeed at this choice, but she looks toward her cousin Lois, as though the Goblet of Fire had just weighed in on something about her social life, rather than perhaps eternal glory. She keeps applauding, though, as Leander makes his way forward.

Ripley looks to his twin and seems to be just as happy as he would have been if his name was called. He's still on his feat and grinning just as much as a boy can grin. A little bit of thought come over his face and that smile falters a bit before it comes right back and he's applauding. "Lea! Lea! Lea!" He starts to chant.

Claire's eyebrows go up in surprise. She is able to pick the boy out by following where everyone is looking, but otherwise he's completely unknown to her. "A Slytherin," she says in her regular voice, "Huh."

Ria glances over at Lorraine, both exchanging a mutual bit of disdain, before she follows Leander with her eyes up to the stage. Another sip of her milk is taken. This time a bit less satisfied.

Gabriel giggles as he notices certain unusual reactions and leans closer to Gareth and Gabrielle. Motioning at the Slytherin table, which he's gotten into the habit of alway facing at meal times for some reason, he says,"Check out Evil Princess #1 and Evil Princess #2."

Idrissa looks to see whom it is, a soft oh escapes her and she offers a clap and then peers at Gareth. She blinks and leans over to poke at Gareth. "Hey… You alright?"

Gabrielle will work her right hand for a moment, then stand and clap. Cause, that's what you're supposed to do, right? She'll reach over and slap Gabriel in the back of the head, "stop it."

Hephaesta lets out an enormous sigh of relief, leaning into Ophelia and wrapping her arms around her for a hug.

Noalan applauds loudly when the choice is revealed. A fare amount of tension leaves his shoulders, "All right Leander, go Slytherin." He says, a little light headed with relief.

Gabriel then he jumps ar Gareth passes out, grabs him by the back of his shirt and pulls his face out of the chocolate. Then he proceeds to give him a couple of sharp little slaps, "Gareth, wake up!"

Elspeth's eyes slide from Lan, to Leander, and then she furrows her brow at Gabriel. "Who?" Her gaze follows where he's talking about, but she waits to see if Lan is going to turn around and see her motion to him, you will sleep tonight, yes?

Ophelia blinks, looking up from her cauldron cake. Then she sighs. "I don't even know him." She mumbles to Hephaesta. Though, notably, she doesn't look so much upset as mildly dissapointed. And maybe, just a little bit… relieved. "And I had so been hoping to help whoever it was… " She hugs her sweetheart, though, offering her a smile and a gentle squeeze. At least one of them can be truly happy about this.

Gareth slowly begins to rouse from his faint, sitting up and dabbing his fingers at the smooshed cake on his face, just before Gabriel begins slapping him. "Ow! Gerroff, Ward. It wasn't my name, was it? I imagined that part. It was Fox, right?" He blinks a few times, eyes going owlishly wide, as he looks toward the Slytherin table. "Was it…Ripley Fox?"

Having skipped the costume and dancing part of events to enjoy some quiet time to herself, Eibhlin has snuck in to the Great Hall for the feast. She's settled in on Ophelia's other side (opposite Hephaesta), forcing someone else likely to make some room. She doesn't care! Having not even tried to put her name into the Goblet, she doesn't seem overly affected. "I don't know him, but I think a Slytherin may have the best chance in Durmstrang territory…" she murmurs to the girls near her.

Lorraine had better be Evil Princess #1. She's not about to be #2 at anything. It's a shame she has to kill Ria. She's turning out to be a decent sort of ally. At least, when it comes to disliking scrawny, sickly, blood traitor Slytherins.

Leander's march to the front of the Great Hall is quick and efficient. He avoids as many large clumps of students as he can (and ignores their catcalls, as well). His pale skin has gone several shades paler, but he keeps himself relatively steady as he approaches Dippet and bows stiffly. "Headmaster."

Arevan applauds with everyone else, but some one else being able to go on cool adventures and not her doesn't really make her all that happy. Mostly she's looking forward to the next one.

The Slytherins pick up the chant. "LEA! LEA! LEA! LEA!" At least until Dippet's booming voice calls for, "SILENCE!" He beckons Leander forward, offering him the scorched parchment as a kind of souvenir. "Congratulations, my boy. It seems that the Goblet of Fire has decided that you will best represent the values and strengths of Hogwarts. Have you anything you would like to say to your school, as their Champion?" He gestures to the crowd, tilting his wand toward Leander like a microphone.

She may have been a bit late to the Feast, but that may as well have to been to avoid anyone trying to convince her to get into costume. Eibhlin doesn't do costumes. She's settled in on Ophelia's other side (opposite Hephaesta), forcing someone else likely to make some room. She doesn't care! Having not even tried to put her name into the Goblet, she doesn't seem overly affected. "I don't know him, but I think a Slytherin may have the best chance in Durmstrang territory…" she murmurs to the girls near her.

Hephaesta whispers to Ophelia, loud enough that Eibhlin can hear, "Maybe you can still help him. He looks…nervous. I'll bet he could use someone brilliant like you on his side."

Gabriel sits down again as Gareth comes around and starts rubbing the back of his head,"Well, they are Gabby." An evil little glint shows in his eyes as he starts to nod to Gareth then changes his mind adn goes into a head shake. NOt that it would matter since Leander is up on stage by now.

Briar glances over towards the Gryffindor table, pointedly at Mabel. The fact that a Slytherin was picked obviously rekindles the feelings their discussion at the 3 Broomsticks provoked. Damn right she thinks this selection was fixed. She pats Kaiden's head on her shoulder and then golf claps weakly for Leander.

Lucian squeezes Ria's hand, giving her an encouraging nod. "I'll take care of it," he assures her, offering no more explanation, as Dippet has demanded quiet.

"I hope his luck is better than when he dueled Eamon." Seamus says seriously to his Housemates. "That was a pretty fast duel from what I gathered of the events." He says casually, considering this for a moment.

Ophelia nods thoughtfully to Eibhlin, "Well, that's true. Still…" She looks around for the Sytherin in question, offering a smile as he passes near. The smile is turned on Hephaesta, along with a hesitant look, "Do you think so? I assumed he would have his own friends. But perhaps… " Her eyes take on that particular quality of a Ravenclaw with an idea, and she sits back to watch the Champion thoughtfully.

Claire sees the girls Gabriel is talking about. "The red haired one never had a chance. No reflexes." Remembering she's supposed to be playing a character, she mimes the Headmaster's gestures, sinking down in her seat a little to avoid notice by the staff table.

Gareth's eyes follow Leander up to the front of the hall, and the Ravenclaw still looks rather pale…until he remembers that the other twin is wearing a costume, so this can't be him. His gaze darts back to the Slytherin table, and much to his relief, there's Ripley. "Thank goodness, it's his brother. I'd be worried sick." His napkin gets the rest of the cake from his face, and he quickly drinks down another glass of water. "Let's never do this Triwizard thing again, shall we? It's too harrowing."

Ripley keeps standing and looking to his twin. There is a sense of pride on the boy's face as he does so and a great deal of thought going through his brain. A flash of fear that is quickly covered up by that notion of pride again.

Gabriel catches snippets of Hephaesta and Ophelia's conversation and leans way over behind everyone between him and them to pipe in,"He's a Slytherin. He'll take whomever he can use to have the best chances to win."

Leander reaches out to take the piece of parchment he'd dropped into the goblet; he glances down at it briefly, and then tucks it ceremoniously into a pocket of his robes. Dippet receives another respectful nod from him, and he slowly turns to face the whole school. His lips thin out into a stark, hard line as he considers the offer from the Headmaster. "Hogwarts is the best school going into this competition, and I intend to prove that." The boy pauses, and a smile - unusual for him - creeps across his features despite the white cast of his face. "It's an honor to be chosen to represent all of you." Yeah, he's not likely to be making any speeches, being a big fan of the 'less is more' mentality.

Hephaesta glances to Gabriel, blinking. "Well…wouldn't you?" she whispers.

Kaiden realizes he's being too lovey dovey at the moment and lifts his head from Briar's shoulder, clearing his throat and blowing it off by looking around idly.

Josie looks downright disappointed at the choice of Leander, and glances to Phae. Perhaps she was really hoping her friend would get to show her bravery. She does clap, again silently, for Leander though as he gets up to the front, if not nearly as energetically as she would have for someone she knew.

Idrissa pokes at Gabriel's side. "Hey, if you was up there I bet you would like help." She points out with a soft mumble of a tone. Yes the one picked is a Slytherin but still.

Eamon smiles at Mabel weakly. "Oh well. I mean, I'm only a fifth year, I didn't really think I'd get picked." keep telling yourself that, Adventure Boy. "Maybe now we can get on to the costume contest… before anyone else gets sick." Will still has not come back from his toilet foray.

Ophelia nods once more, hearing Gabriel. "Another good point." She murmurs. She grins at Hephaesta when she catches the girl's reply, and glances over at Gabriel, "I think I've an idea. It will have to wair until tomorrow, though. Perhaps you can all help me with it. We might even all like to take part."

Ria antsy with anger she murmurs something for only Lorraine to hear. And squeezing Lucian's hand she's unsure of what he means by his statement, but doesn't question it, too fumed to care. Leaner's terribly short speech elicits an eye roll from her as she groan lightly and takes a sip of her milk. Tugging at Luc's sleeve she mutters to him, "Let's go soon, before I throw up this blue out of my hair."

Ripley lifts a fist into the air, "Way to go, Lea!!!" And the smile grows once again on his face as he lifts his pumpkin juice and jumps up on the table, "TO THE CHAMPION!" As he looks all about to all the houses, "TO THE HOGWARTS CHAMPION."

Mabel looks around at the general furor, and stands up, "Well done, Fox!" she calls out, and applauds.

The Headmaster nods, smiling his crooked, toothy smile at Leander. He turns to face the student body again, announcing, "Hogwarts! I give you your Champion!" He starts a loud clap, which is quickly picked up by the rest of the faculty, rapidly by the Slytherins (along with whistles and cat-calls), and finally the rest of the room joins in.

Gabrielle claps as well, and then will sit down and stare at her plate for a moment before sighing in relief.

Lucian claps along with the others, nudging Ria with an elbow. "Better cheer him on if you want a chance to go."

Lorraine's mouth curls up into a smile, icy eyes crinkling as they dart towards Ria. "Bright sides, Sykes. Always the bright sides." Hearing Lucian's comment, she quickly — if very belatedly — joins the clapping. No cheering though. She can't stomach nearly that much bull on top of all the sugar.

Gareth begins to applaud as well, calling out the name 'Fox' along with the others. His color has returned to normal, and he shoots a look toward the other Fox twin, giving him a grin.

Eibhlin casts a glance to Gabriel as he speaks, but it's more of a 'you're not throwing things at the Slytherins again are you' look than anything else. She does tilt her head a bit at Ophelia. "An idea on convincing him to take some of us?" She looks towards the head table. "I think we've the best chance, really, if he doesn't select people just from his own house." She doesn't cheer (it's just not how she is), but she does clap.

Hephaesta smiles at Ophelia, "You can count on me." She's more than happy to support Ophelia's Triwizard aspirations now that she knows she won't be in the tournament risking her life.

Ophelia pulls her hand gently from Phae's to clap with the school, a bright smile on her face. He may be a Slytherin, and someone she barely knows. But he is the champion of her school, and thus its representative. And if the goblet chose him, then he must be someone worthy of the position. Nodding in reply to Eibhlin, she stands and calls out, "To the champion!" Of course, she forgets to join in the toasting part. But hey, she tries.

Gabriel joins in on the clapping and toasting. Once its died down he answers Idrissa and Hephaesta both with,"Well… Yes. But they'd be my friends too and they would be helping me because they /want/ to help /me/ not because of some manipulation." It makes sense to him at least.

Claire applauds, but as Dippet, not herself. She wears the magnamonious expression of a professor looking upon a favored student. "Bravo Mr Fox! Bravo!"

"He's going to take people who are useful," Warren comments as an aside, "So you should make yourself that, if you want to go. Mr. Fox is now the Goblet of Fire." He joins in the applause, putting in the enthusiasm necessary and not too much more.

Gabrielle shakes her head, because she can see Gabriel's got it partially right. this is just going to be one huge manipulation….all around. she'll reach for her juice.

Ripley moves to sit back down at his table. His expression sombers a little bit and all manner of thought could be seen to go through his head as he looks to his brother. He sits back a little, expression going somber.

Ria gives her own snaky smile back to Lorraine and gives her a wink. Though reluctantly she waves around an imaginary flag in her hand while she give a half-assed and dry, "Yay. Leander."

Idrissa nods slightly as she hears Gabriel, well he does have a point there. She looks to Warren and ehs softly. "He is most likely right with that idea Ophelia."

A tiny mousy voice at the Ravenclaw table comes from a giant tea-pot with Akilina sitting inside of it dressed like a mouse with the teapot lid on her head at a kilter. "Anyone that wants to go and watch still can. That's what they're saying. The 'entourage' just gets bragging rights and front row seats."

The huge, booming announcement from Dippet - along with the loud cries from his twin - are enough to make the smile disappear very quickly from Leander's face. The dark-eyed boy stands firmly in place, looking sternly determined (if still somewhat shocked). He gives another formal bow at the wave of applause, and manages a grin at Ripley - and Lois. He can't help looking a little pleased. Ria's half-hearted cry causes his head to snap towards the Prefect, and he looks at her for a long moment, estimating… then back at Dippet.

When she sits down again, Ophelia leans in to quickly kiss Hephaesta's cheek. "Thank you." She nods to Warren, im complete agreement, "Yes, exactly. That is part of my plan, of course." She grins at the others, the expression fading only a tiny bit when her gaze passes over Gabrielle. But she keeps it up, determined not to be upset tonight…

From above the rim of her glass, Ria stares dead straight into Leander's eyes when he peers at her. The corner of her mouth crinkles into a dark smirk, but doesn't stay long. And she too turns her attention back to the festivities.

Now that the Goblet has made its selection (and NOT him), Gareth suddenly finds his appetite. "All your costumes look so amazing," he says to everyone at the Ravenclaw table, and no one in particular, as he starts loading cakes and candies onto his plate, making up for lost time.

Dippet excuses Leander to return to his table, and once more takes the podium. "Enjoy the remainder of your feast. Soon we will adjourn to the Costume Contest, and after that, the Hallowe'en Dance."

Eibhlin isn't even wearing a costume, but she takes the compliment anyway. "Thanks," the girl quips at Gareth.

Hephaesta looks down at her own not-a-costume. She's certainly dressed up, but it hardly looks like a costume. Nevertheless, Gareth gets an appreciative smile.

Mabel settles down, then, and says to Eamon. "Well, that's a bit of a relief. After seeing some of the entries, I was a bit worried the Goblet would take a mind to choose champions from the lower years, really. She catches Briar's look, though, and offers a slight shrug: to her, things are obviously somehow as they should be. Whatever the reasons.

Briar is still holding Kaiden's hand still, which is something. "Are you still going to be going to watch the Tournament Kaiden?"

Lucian nudges Ria, "Now might be a good time for us to slip out."

Ophelia glances at Gareth, then down at her robes. Quirking a brow, she grins at Hephaesta while turning back to the table and the remains fo the feast. "Ah… thanks? I suppose I thought it would be fun to come as a, ah, fifth year Ravenclaw student this year?"

Gabriel grins at Eibhlin and says,"Well, if you came as an Eibhlin its the best costume of them all, don't you think?" Then he stares at Gareth for a moment before clearing his throat,"I'm Gareth? Wasn't Will's example enough of a lesson on pacing?" And finally he leans to Gabrielle and whispers something to her.

Eamon nods to Mabel and clears his throat. "Well, I suppose it's all well enough. Leander's a smart guy. Not sure he's up to the physical aspects but, well…the Goblet knows best." He says that a bit dubiously. "Wonder what your cousin thinks of her man getting picked."

"Good luck," Warren offers cheerily toward Ophelia. His musing on the goblet and it's choice seem to be receding, and he raises his milkshake glass to Gareth before he returns to his food. "I tried. I had to bargain hard for the robe, but I think it's worth it. I'll probably trip over it if I try to dance."

Cillian drops some worms into his pumpkin juice and sprinkles it with the crumbs from one of his cakes and he cackles.

Kaiden looks over at Briar and shrugs, "Probably not. Not a big fan of those purist cu…" He cuts himself off quickly as he realizes he's in the company of children and a Prefect who is unhappy with him at the moment.

Idrissa smiles to Gareth. "Thanks." She offers while picking off a few crumbs from her cloak and looks over to her basket. The little wolfie toy is picked up and the fur is smoothed out some. "Really Akilina? I didn't think others was allowed to go. Would be sorta nice to see some of it… Well maybe for a first see sort of view type deal."

Another couple at the Slytherin table is trying to slip out to go get into their uniforms. Soliel and Balthazar have been very quietly enjoying themselves but now it's time to go change into their costumes and get ready for the dance.

Lorraine eyes Ria and Lucian and her lips quirk in a knowing smirk. "Sneaking off to snog?" she asks them, no tact at all. "Hm. I have some business to attend to, anyway." Eyes flick towards the Ravenclaw table again. "Better if a prefect wasn't around, really."

Gabrielle will actually smile full when Gabriel whispers, and she'll turn and whisper something back.

"Are you going to eat that?" Arevan asks a near by student then goes ahead and slides the cake from that part of the table to front of herself, taking a slice. It's a wonder where she puts it all. Perhaps she has an undetectable extension charm on her stomach.

"Thank you, sir." Leander gives one final bow to the Headmaster, then makes his way back to the Slytherin table when he's dismissed. The deer-in-headlights look has faded now, and he seems deep in thought as he slips back into his seat next to Ripley. He's doing his best to ignore any attention directed his way, save for giving out polite smiles and nods. "Bloody hell, Rip."

"Sounds good," Ria rises from her seat as she nods a 'pardon me' to Lorraine. Though she smirks and offers another try, "Yes. Snog and snog furiously. Catch you later." And slipping out with Lucian, she joins Soleil and Balty to head back to the commons and change.

Ripley grins to his brother and gives him a little punch to the shoulder, lightly. "Good on you." He speaks and laughs a bit. "I know you will do well." He says and sounds as if he truly means it.

Gabriel leans over to Gareth and asks,"Why do you think Evil Princess #2 keeps glancing over this way?"

Giggling, Ophelia offers Waren a thumbs-up gesture. She quickly finishes off her cauldron cake, washes it down with the last of her juice, and stands. "I should head upstairs, actually. I want to make certain that… that everything works properly." She leans down to give Hephaesta one last kiss on her cheek, waves to the others at the table (yes, even to Gabrielle) and heads for the doors.

Once his plate is overflowing, Gareth begins to eat…slowly. Politely, like a civilized wizard. At Gabriel's question, he casts a look toward the Slytherin table. "Which one is Evil Princess #2 again?" he whispers.

Hephaesta smiles up at Ophelia, squeezing her hand and giggling at the kiss. "Okay. See you soon."

Mabel smirks over to Eamon, saying, "Oh, I don't know, just possibly it's my cousin that has one up on this famed magical champion selector, really. Magic, don'tyouknow."

Gabriel jerks his chin up a little bit in Lorraine's direction, not wanting to be /too/ obvious in answering Gareth's questions,"The firehead. She's less princessy and more mean from what I've seen. At least #1 has a nice streak hidden in there somewhere."

Gabrielle will gently swap at Gabiel's arm again, "Stop that. The Tournament's about school unity. At least for tonight." Gabby will raise a hopeful eyebrow ay Oph and lightly wave back.Maybe things are better?

Lorraine gets to her feet, sweeping her red gown up so it doesn't trip her up. From there she slips over to the Ravenclaw table, smiling oversweet and giving somebody a chilly look to get them to make room for her near to Claire and Warren. "Hello, Ravenclaws."

Eamon smiles at Mabel. "Pym has a good eye." She approved of him, after all! "Forget the Goblet, let's just have Lois pick our champions from now on?"

The Costume Contest

The Minister for Magical Sports comes forward to put wave his wand and have the Goblet of fire hover and then begin it's journey out of the Great Hall. The large area it was in is now empty and students wishing to have their costumes judged are encouraged to line up in that vacant area. As there was only the one volunteer to judge, everyone is encouraged to come forth and give their opinions on who's got the best costume.

Gabriel look at Gabby and, miracle of miracles, actually looks ashamed. He starts focusing on a chocolate cauldron on his plate until his sees Lorraine walk over. At that point he starts watching her like a hawk. Gotta be on your guard. But he refrains from /saying/ anything mean.

"Thanks," Leander says, looking down in an attempt to locate the pumpkin juice he'd left behind some moments before. He fails to find it, and suddenly his dark eyes widen a little. "Oh, bollocks - my costume. I forgot because of Peeves." The Champion Apparent stands, conscious that a lot of people are probably staring at him, and departs towards the dungeons in a hasty manner. He'll be back soon enough, no doubt.

Gabrielle visible relaxes as soon as the Cup is out of sight. She'll reach over and grab the first, most gooiest chocolate looking thing she can find and take a big bite.

Claire narrows her eyes as she tracks Lorraine's path across the hall to her table. For a moment she has a suspicious expression, then suddenly breaks into a wide grin. In an exaggerated Headmaster Dippet voice, she says, "Why Miss Nott, how high-minded of you! 10 points to Slytherin for positive house relations!"

"Hello Nott." Warren's greeting toward the visiting Slytherin is amiable, the boy taking a moment to nudge his plate aside before he peers in that direction. "Nice to see you visiting. Welcome to our home, please enjoy yourself." He seems sincere about it, if somewhat humored. A hand is waved in Claire's direction. "Exactly."

Gareth's eyes widen a bit as Evil Princess #2 approaches the table, and he shoots a quick look toward Gabriel. When she doesn't immediately turn him into a toad, Gareth relaxes a little, waiting to see what does happen instead.

Ripley sits back and looks deep in thought for a very long time. Lots of small flashes of emotions flow over his face as he thinks about recent events.

Briar leans in to give Kaiden a very quick and chaste kiss to help him cut himself off. Then she gives him a tug as she stands up to go over to the empty area and mill about waiting for the contest to start. "Oh you look very nice!" "Wow." "Very pretty." "I love it!" She is complementing nearly everyone on their costumes and giving them good sportsman greetings and even hugs.

Lorraine arches an eyebrow at Claire and slowly returns her smile, like a hungry feral cat. "Why thank you, Headmaster Dippet. And… Flamel?" she guesses, looking at Warren. "Well. Us old people must stick together, yes?" Smirking, her eyes return to Claire. "And about the…incident on the roof, Cameron. I want you to know I'm not mad. No hard feelings, I hope?"

Colton stands up and smacks his sleeves of his tattered black suit. Then with feet apart, a bit duck like, he waddle walks along side Josie, The Kid to his Tramp twirling his bamboo cane about.

Kaiden stands up along with Briar and walks behind her, looking around at everyone else in costume. The kiss from Briar seems to have brightened his day a little bit, as there's finally a real smile on his face. He does make a concious effort to make sure that his tunic is pulled down over the revealing tights.

A tall, ominous figure makes its way slowly into the Hall. A black, tattered roughspun robe hangs about its gaunt frame, completely concealing its body in a shapeless mass of darkness. The arms that protrude on either side are sunbleached bones. The hood thrown up over its head shows a skull-like face underneath with red, glowing eyes - in fact, a dull red glow surrounds the entire figure. To top it all off, it's clasping a huge scythe. Yes, this is the most obvious, cliche costume possible: Death.

Death - a.k.a. Leander - stalks over to the Slytherin table and sits down. When he speaks, there's a rattling death-wheeze underneath (clearly some kind of charm). "…Ripley, I'm thinking this might not have been the best costume choice."

Ripley looks up to Leander and grins, "It's amazing!!" He laughs and even listen to the rattle. "Too choice." As he's laughing so hard.

Eibhlin does not go up to be judged. Instead, she gets to her feet and grabs a few pastries before they're all gone. "Well, it's time I get out of here before I feel like a third wheel to the whole school."

As the costume contest is announced, Elspeth slips from her seat at the table and picks up her basket. It's a little bit empty, so she reaches out to take a couple of pastries to fill it in a little bit. She goes towards the Slytherin table to where Lan sits in his costume, so they can walk over together.

Maeve is running late to dinner, but does enter calmly. The tiny Gryffindor is dressed in a cute fairey outfit. The everpresent harp is there, but is set down at the entrance of the hall, in case she should choose to perform. She waves to friends, mostly at the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables, then sits down in an empty spot at the latter.

Claire can't quite keep the suspicion off her face, but she shrugs and grins. Leers, more like. Haha, got you. "As long as you continue to comport yourself with the dignitiy and respect to your peers as is appropriate to a young lady of your age, then of course, no hard feelings at all." The speech pattern is Dippet's, but Claire doesn't quite hit his indulgent tone.

Warren dips his head approvingly, replying to Lorraine, "That's right. You're Toothill, yes? I like it." There's a glance between the two girls after that, over to Claire, then Lorraine, then Claire again. "Well I'm glad that's all worked out." Yep, he's playing oblivious. Nothing wrong over here, nope, not at all.

Gerald waves to Maeve. "You better hurry up, you don't want to miss out on all of the sweets." He smiles and winks at her. "What kept you?"

Ophelia steps into the hall a few paces behind Maeve. She's glancing around nervously, and seems completely unable to find a good place for her hands to rest. One moment they tug at the straps over her shoulder, the next they are fluttering nervously around the petals of her skirt, which are currently a deep orange in color. She lifts a hand to her hair, as she makes her way to the table, but thinks better of fiddling with the deep red flowers woven through the locks. Noticing Maeve in the crowd, she smles brightly at the adorable costumeand finds herself a place at the Ravenclaw table. She doesn't sit, though, too worried still that doing so will somehow mess with the charms that are keeping her skirt in bloom. Or crush one of the butterflies!

Ripley looks to his brother and keeps nodding at the boy's costume. He leans in and speaks softly to his brother, close and low.

A long lazy smirk is given to Claire. "Dignity, respect, yada yada, you got it." Then Lorraine leans forward, cupping her chin in her hand. "So, does that mean you'll save a dance for me later, Dippet?"

Hephaesta gasps in awe at Ophelia. "Ophie, you look beautiful!" She approaches to reach for Ophelia's hands (giving her a place to put them!), gazing open-mouthed.

"You think? I feel like it might be a bit… too much…" Leander frowns. He locates a new glass of juice and picks it up so that he can take a swig - it appears to simply disappear under his hood due to the charms on his costume. When Ripley leans over, he pauses momentarily and then leans back to say something in return.

Eibhlin is surrounded by sappy couples! Must flee and return to a world of sanity!

Gabriel and Gareth are not a sappy couple! Not even a couple at all.

Ripley gives a weather big smile at the response from his brother and leans in to whisper more.

Standing in the line of costumes, Elspeth looks around some more, and smiles to herself at some of them. When Ophelia comes back in, she gives a broad smile to her housemate, and nudges Lan. "That ith being a clever cothtume."

Idrissa lets her gaze drift over the room, taking in the costumes and so forth. She fiddles with a bit of trim on her cloak which is very simple compared to some. Not that she minds. As for couple, does the stuffed wolf in her basket count? It is cute, and fluffy, and has those yellow eyes that totally seem to follow someone if they look at it. Not that they do in the least.

Blinding golden light fills the doorway, causing several nearby students to squint and shield their eyes. After a few moments of this luminescent display, the shine dims enough to see Lucian wearing a resplendent suit of gilded armour. It is more ceremonial in appearance than practical (it is a costume, after all), with a mane of wire-like metallic gold spokes radiating out from his neck-brace, shoulderpads, rerebraces, and various other armour pieces — even a thin crown upon his brow. The spokes are enchanted to radiate light, which streams off of the ends of them like sunbeams. Likewise, the sunburst patterns embossed on the armour gleam with magical illumination. He is the sunlight, the rays of dawn, the Day itself.

A darker presence ominously rolls in just seconds after, offsetting the brightness of Lucian's attire with an long ornate gown that seems to consume any nearby light. With skin as pale as the moon and hair a deep midnight blue, Ria delicately floats in as the embodiment of the the night sky, her chin up with dignity. The material of her long and lean gown flows smoothly like evening clouds down to the floor where the ends disappear completely. It seems that the hem of her skirt melts into the shadows on the floor so it's unclear where her dress ends and darkness begins. As she walks, light reflects off her ornate diamond jewelry, and makes certain parts of her the material shimmer. Twinkling dots of light sprinkle her midnight blue hair and her skin seems to glow like moonlight.

"I'm not really in the mood to judge or be judged," Ria says to Lucian, still scowling from earlier. It's the perfect cherry on top to finish off her bitchy queen of the night outfit. "Anyhow, I am rather impressed with yours. I didn't think you could get it to be so bright.," she says, gracefully hooking her arm around his.

Maeve shrugs to Gerald. "Sorry. I was puttin' th' final touches onto m' costume. I didnae want t' come down until it was ready…" She turns, and grins at Ophelia. "Oh, ye look so pretty, Ophelia. And so do ye, Hephaesta."

Claire chuckles. "Hohoho, well I suppose I could indulge a student," she says. Her smile is patronizing, but her eyes are calculating. What are you up to, Nott?

Lucian's gleaming costume is so much easier to look at when its light is absorbed by Ria's gown of darkness. "Who needs to be judged? Just look at the dropping jaws. That's enough for me." He smirks.

Ophelia turns, hearing Hephaesta. She blinks a few times, seing her sweetheart's costume. How unexpected… and yet. "Phae." Stepping forward, she reaches for both of the genius' hands, "Thank you. You look lovely. Your hair… " She reaches up, but as with her own stops just short of touching the updo, "I love- ah!" Breaking off to squint in the sudden light, she brings her hands back to shield her eyes, squinting at whatever it is coming in. "What… oh! Oh, look, she did put diamonds in her hair afterall." When her eyes are adjusted she smiles, blushing at teh continued praise from Maeve. "Thank you! And yes, she does doesn't she?"

Gabriel, who has been watching the interplay between Claire and Lorraine with interest, googles at Lucian and Ria for a moment then leans over to mumble something to Gareth, having had enough swaps upside the head for one night, thank you very much.

Lorraine is up to no good, to be precise. She nods her head though, rising to her feet. "Splendid. I'll find you later, then." Lifting herself from the Ravenclaw table, she turns to see Lucian, lifting a hand to shield her eyes. "Merlin's beard, does that boy ever do anything half-way?" she wonders, shaking her head and perhaps wishing her veil were not so thin.

Leander murmurs one more thing in reply to Ripley and then sits up, looking at some of the students returning to the Hall after changing - in particular, Lucian and Ria get a long stare from him. He inconspicuously looks down at his own outfit for a moment and frowns beneath the shadows of the hood.

Ripley looks to the two new faces in the room. He chuckles a bit and shakes his head, "A blinding asshole." he states quietly and shakes his head, still, his eyes stay on Ria for a moment longer. He swallows a little bit and blows out a deep breath. "But she looks amazing…" Once again, quiet.

Gerald laughs. "No need to apologize Maeve, I'm not the one who chanced missing… the candy." He pauses for a second as the puts a hand in front of him to block the sudden burst of light, and blinks.

Warren covers his mouth with his palm, coughing once before he begins to push himself to his feet. Danger! Danger! Evacuate! "Well, I need to go judge." He does note, as an aside to Claire, "Try not to do any harm, would you?" And off he goes, moving toward the hall to do his official duties.

Gareth nods to Gabriel's whisper, his eyes moving back and forth between Claire and Lorraine. "I couldn't agree more," he says softly. He glances back to the Slytherin table again, gaze drawn toward Orion-Ripley.

"Warren- wait no, Warren! What the hell was that?!" Claire half-whispers through clenched teeth.

Hephaesta clears her throat, tugging at Ophelia's arm. She takes a deep breath, finally ready to reveal her costume in full. She uncorks a small bottle, and downs the potion in one gulp. Suddenly, her skin starts to shimmer, as swirling patterns of gold, blue, and violet glitter appear along her face and shoulders. But then the extraordinary happens, and a pair of irridescent blue butterfly wings unfurl from her back, flittering excitedly.

Gabrielle hangs back, not wanting to be judged.

Ripley stands and shows off his costume to all about and pulls at his brother's sleeve to come do the same.

Ria seems like she's got an even bigger stick up her butt this evening. Part of its the costume yes, the other part is that she isn't keen on drawing too much attention to herself. That's hard when you're boyfriend came dressed as daytime. "Maybe their jaws are dropping because you're so bright," she grins at him, floating along slowly into the Great Hall. She keep close to the boy lest everyone be blinded, her dress doing well to absorb some of the intensity off his costume. Now that her head's a little cleared, she brings Lucian with her back over the Fox twins. And gingerly she steps up to new Triwizard Champion and says, "Leander. Congratulations." Again, very dryly.

Mabel does a little bit of circulating, once everyone's had their fill of sweets, and as things start thinning out, snaps her fingers and her feathered cloak comes to life as a pair of wings, staying on Eamon's arm, whoever they're supposed to be, to some in the hall. Stoops a bit toward Gabriel, "Ah, if it isn't Mr. Ghost-Who-Walks," she smiles. "They talk about 'I'll see you in the funny pages,' but here we are just now." And there's the blinding light from Lucian and Ria's costumes. She glances back, a moment.

Kaiden looks over at Lucian and rolls his eyes, saying, "Bloody showoff." He just shakes his head, taking another moment to look around at the competing costumes.

Ophelia turns, her eyebrows lifted in question. And when she sees the transformation the curiosity vanishes, replaced instantly by awe. "Oh, Phae… Phae, its so beautiful." She smiles even wider, beaming at her sweetheart, her fingers moving to trace the air around the glittering swirls on Hephaesta's face. "You're so beautiful."

Gareth taps his wand against the stuffed raven on his shoulder, whispering a quick charm. Immediately, the bird squawks, "Nevermore!" Gareth grins a little, then quickly remembers himself and goes back to looking like a gaunt, malnurished, misunderstood poet. Emo before emo was even a word.

The pumpkin juice that Leander has been nursing is nearly gone, by now. When Ripley gets up and tugs him up, he blinks and sets the cup down. He seems completely uninterested in going along with all of this - he really has no ambitions about winning any sort of fashion contest - but the approach of Ria and Lucian gives him something else to concentrate on, luckily. The Slytherin boy clears his throat and nods politely to them. "Thank you." He seems on the verge of saying something else to the two of them, but for now, refrains.

Lucian chuckles. "Think what you will. I know my jaw has dropped because of you." When they near the Fox boys, he nods, "Yeah, congratulations. Do us proud, eh?"

Soleil left with Balthazar, but came back all on her own. She's looking a touch distressed and the white feathered wings on her back flutter nervously and then fold back down. Very self consciously she comes in and goes towards the open area where the costume contest is happening.

Hephaesta's blush just seems to make the glittery patterns on her face sparkle with inner light. "Thank you," she whispers, barely audible. Her wings gives a little flutter. "So…do you think we go together?" She reaches up to touch the butterflies in Ophelia's hair, giggling softly.

Gabriel grins at Mabel,"I knew at least one person would get it. Not counting Gabby and Gareth, I showed them ahead of time. And Gareth still doesn't get it. YOu make a good Princess of the Hawk Men, nice balance to the other two Princesses around tonight." He makes sure to lean out of Gabby's range on that last comment.

Cillian looks uncertain as he gets to his feet, wobbling a bit on the blocks he has on the bottom of his shoes to make him taller and he takes a few cautious steps. "Um…where's the contest?" He holds up his toy broom. "I'm ready."

Idrissa watches quietly from the RavenClaw table, the stuffed wolf in her basket is pulled out and she lets it sit upon her lap while she peers over all the other costumes, everyone really out did themselves it seems. A faint smile is seen and she soon shrugs and looks down to her costume. Plain is good too! An she'll just hang around until all the costume stuff is done and then wander off back to her house, skipping the dance.

Christmas looks over at Gabby and smiles softly from behind his mask. He leans in and whispers, "How many times have I told you that you look amazing tonight?"

Giggling in return, Ophelia nods. "Most certainly I do. We do." She takes another moment to just stare at the girl's beauty, enhanced even more (as always) by her happiness. "Shall we see what everyone else has come as?" Taking one of the girl's hands, she steps close and turns to look at the others.

"Well, I guess we should get to the contest." Seamus says finally going to join the others that were dressed up. He does give Gabrielle a wave, when he notices her. He'll have to tell her that the costume turned out nicely.

Gareth nudges Garbiel, then nods toward Colton and Josie. "I don't think I understand their costumes. Are they…Muggles? Why are they flickering and not speaking? Is this some Muggle ritual for Hallowe'en I don't undersand?"

Gabrielle blushes and looks down, "It helps that I'm wearing a dress that's more expensive than my whole wardrobe. "But she'll smile at Chris as she says this.

When the contest is called, Josie is quick to finish her last few bites of candy and then looks up to Colton, and hops to her feet to walk with him to join those being judged, her movements seeming at high-speed and flickering still, and totally silent.

"You're welcome," Ria says curtly to Leander looking him up and down. "You're death. Interesting. A rather foreboding choice, would you say?" And she stops to look at him. How the heck can she communicate 'Good god bring me to Durmstrang please? I'll give you a lap dance!' to Leander in just a look. Because even though she's thinking it, she certainly won't say it out loud. She seems nicer to the other Fox twin though, and even offers a smile to the boy. "Ripley, if you stun Leander the day of, you can go on and compete yourself. No one would know the difference," she quips.

Christmas smiles softly at Gabby, "Regardless of how much it costs. You look beautiful. You are a shiny star tonight." When Ria's voice touches his ears he frowns looking over in her direction and rolls his eyes slightly turning his back to the Sykes girl.

Maeve hops up, and gets up to join the contestants. No one will ever accuse the tiny Gryffindor of not having nerve. She grins, silently, as she takes her place.

Gabriel gets to his feet and grabs Gareth arm to pull him along as he explains Josie and Colton's costumes. "You know how Wizarding pictures move? Well Muggle have motion pictures, which are projected on a screen and its like watching a really long Wizarding picture. They even have sound now-a-days. But when they first started making them they had no sound and they flickered a lot. The two of them are Charlie Chaplin and another character from one of these silent motion pictures." As he talks he pulls Gareth over to the judging area.

Cillian gets to his place and waves enthusiastically to Maeve, flashing a grin and shaking his head. "I dun tink I got enough folks lookin', I should've 'ad somebody make tings move or get all fancy and glittery. I just put me stuff together meself unfortunately. Thought it was all ya know, in the spirit of the goblet and the school…oi! Ye look adorable!"

Gabrielle will tug on Chris's arm gently, "Be nice. She looks pretty." She gives him a slightly warning look.

As Elspeth approaches, Lan pushes himself up from the table and joins her in line. "They're all good. More comfortable than ours too." Once again he reaches up to touch his ear.

Gareth lets out a small yelp of surprise, allowing Gabriel to tug him along. "Of course, pictures move," he says in confusion. "Why wouldn't they? And why wouldn't they have sound? Muggles are very odd, you know that? No offense to your parents, of course." And then he's in the judging area, drawing back his shoulders and trying to look both dignified and mopey at once. Eyes dart left, right, left, then he taps the raven with his wand again. "Nevermore!"

Hephaesta happily joins Ophelia to go look at the other costumes. "I love all the themed couples. It's really sweet." She tries to move gracefully, like a butterfly should, but her slight limp makes the attempt awkward.

Elspeth gives Lan a grin, "well, maybe when the contest is being over, you can be loosening up a bit?" she suggests. "Begging your pardon I just want to…" she trails off to give a little twirl at one of his whiskers. "Whiskers are, how is the word? Becoming? on you." There's a little smile around the large teeth, and she leans closer to say something quietly to him as they line up.

Gabriel shrugs at Gareth,"Its all about the lack of magic. Sometimes they need to use really complicated ways to do things that Wizards can do easy. Moving pictures are one of those things."

Lucian smirks at Leander, "So how's it feel to suddenly be on top, Fox?" Love or hate Slytherin, the Triwizard Champion is going to be someone with a lot of influence and attention, if only for a short time.

Ophelia gently pulls Hephaesta toward the judging area, her eyes alight with wonder as she takes in the other costumes people have worked so hard to put together. "Oh, look. Its that Chaplin fellow from the muggle pictures, that must be what Gabriel was talking about! And look at Elspeth!" Giggling, she continues to look around. Which, of course, means that she eventually sees Kaiden and Briar. Blinking, she quickly looks away again, though she can't help but blush a little at seing him in /tights/ of all things. "Goodness. That's, ah… oh did you see Warren? He was coming as Nicholas Flamell, I wanted to get a look at that… "

Having made the circuit with Mabel, Eamon smiles at her. "This is rather exciting," he says, and hopefully they're headed for the costume contest, because obviously he didn't get dressed up in skin-tight anything for anyone but her.

Ripley looks to his brother and then to Lucian and just gives a little chuckle to the prefect.

Hephaesta does follow Ophelia's eyes to…oh dear. Did he have to wear tights? She stifles her urge to frown, maintaining a neutral expression. "I saw him earlier, his costume was great. But what's a Chaplin Fellow?"

Gabriel leans over in line to answer Ophelia,"He's an actor in silent motion pictures." For what the explenation is worth.

Speak of the devil. Kaiden walks over to Ophelia and Hephaesta, tugging the tunic down a little bit as he walks. He rests his hands on his hips and smiles at them both, saying, "You both look absolutely breathtaking tonight, girls."

"Thanks, Proudmore," Leander offers in addition to his previous statement. Ria, on the other hand, gets a dark (well, it would be pretty hard for it to be anything but, considering his choice of costume) glare through the red eyes and a shrug. "I suppose so. But I don't believe in any sort of superstitious nonsense, so the coincidence doesn't bother me." He smiles - well, the skull mask smiles - and then turns to Lucian again when the other boy questions him. "Hm… well, I suppose a lot of people would enjoy the attention. I'm looking forward to the competition, though." Much more than he could have anticipated, for that matter.

Noalan jumps a little as his wisker is tweeked. "Don't do that, it feels really strange." He says rubbing his cheek. "Ya, I'm feeling better all ready. Now if only this craving for cheese would go away." He takes his time looking around at all the costume, many looking quite a bit more comfortable than his.

Josie waves to Hephaesta as she and Ophelia come near, and grins, pointing to Colton at her question about Chaplin. She's still silent, of course, but nods quickly (with the flickering it's so quick it's a blur), to Gabriel's words.

Lois has been here the whole time, of course. Except for the part where she wasn't, because a Second Year with a terrible almond allergy saw fit to nevertheless eat half a marzipan pumpkin - and Lois is never one to refuse the opportunity to (meddle) take someone to the infirmary and Madam Spleen's tender mercies. Thus she is just slipping back in, after a little over fifteen minutes absence. Craning her currently leaf-wound neck, she searches out familiar faces. Oh, hey, is that her manslave over there? Excellent. Thataway she goes.

Gabrielle will look around at the costumes, then lean over and ask Chris, "I never asked you…can you dance?" She sounds a little worried.

Colton Tramps about the open area silently introducing Josie to everyone. Hearing Phae's question has him comically bulging his eyes out and pantomiming a stab to the heart he then dofts his derby and bows to the girls while one arm is around Josie. In the bow though Colton loses his derby and it drops to the floor. With a sigh he waddles a few steps and the derby scoots away from his grasp. He straightens up, puts both hands on his hips and then wags a finger at his derby. Then he waddles a few more steps closer to the hat still on the floor and it scoots away again. For a good five minutes Colton as Charlie Chaplin goes about the contestant area chasing his hat. Eventually he's right back infront of Phae and Ophelia when he leaps on the Derby and finally catches it. Laying on the floor at their feet he puts the derby back on with a wink. Then he stands back up and winks to Josie too.

Christmas grins and says, "I am ok." He cocks an eyebrow and wonders, "Why do you want to dance?"

Hephaesta's wings flutter nervously when suddenly Kaiden is there. His words…they just stun her. She has no idea how to react. He's being nice, complimentary even. Her hand tightens in Ophelia's, "I…I…th-thank you." She gives him a nervous, but hopeful smile. Then, look! There's Josie! The sight of her favorite Gryffindor brings a much bigger smile to her face, which she directs to Kaiden. Josie for the save!

"Excellent. Excellent. Not being afraid of death is important for a Triwizard champion. And on the bright side you'll have a good understudy in case you're feeling under the weather," Ria smirks to Leander and winks to Ripley. She'll wait a while for Lucian to finish his conversation before turning around to the rest of the room, "We best be saying hello to others now. Have a splendid time." And so she drags her little lap dog off to greet other people. However, she pauses and stops short when she spots Colton and Josie, raising her brow curiously. Ria absolutely does not recognize the muggle actor. But she does seem familiar with the mustache, "Are you supposed to be Adolph Hitler?"

Gareth nods to Gabriel, still watching the two silent picture stars with some confusion. Then he lets his gaze move around some more, nodding to a few people he knows. "Are you having fun, Gabriel? Say, I haven't seen Nicki tonight, have you?"

Mabel laughs a bit as Gabriel heads off. Smirks up toward Eamon, animated hawk-wings stirring to stay out of the way as she cradles a cup of pomegranate juice as she glances about at the various costumes. "Not everyone here will know what we're about, but…" She spots the little Charlie Chaplain, and says, "Just adorable, that," she winks.

"I….don't really know?I'm not very good you see.I may step on you….alot." Gabby apologizes to Chris in advance.

"Chaplin? He's a .. yes, thanks Gabriel. Ajax knows a bit more, I think. He's supposedly pretty famous. And his name is cute, Charl Chaplin or something of the like… " And then Kaiden is approaching. And talking to them, both of them. "Th-Thank you." She manages to say, in between glances at Colton and Josie. "You as well. And Briar. Are you two… from another muggle fairy tale?" Like Hephaesta, she finds a smile, and even a laugh, as Colton and Josie make their performance. "Oh, now I see why he's famous."

Elspeth chuckles at Lan as he jumps, covering her mouth as it squeaks into more of a giggle. "Cheese is being good for you, and building strong bones," she tells him. She looks around the room, "it seems a lot of people were thinking in couples themes. You missed the fun being at our table, Claire was even acting like Headmaster Dippet all night. It was being funny."

Maeve happens to be nearby. "Brilliant costumes, Josie, Jones. I've nae seen many o' his films, but th' ones I have, I've liked." Gabriel gets a smile. "And who are ye, Ward?"

Cillian ahhs and his shoulders slump as Maeve turns her attention to Josie and such and he fidgets a bit before smoothing his hands down his robes and clearing his throat as he turns to watch people.

Christmas smiles and says, "I think I can take it with these boots on my feet. It's your choice Lady Marion." Chris extends his hand to Gabby with a smirk on his face.

Gabriel laughs at Colton's act, clearly having fun. Then he starts noticing all the fuss the girls are making about Kaiden. "I am having fun, yes. I haven't seen Nicki but not its your turn to explain something. Why are all the girls all atwitter about Kaiden's costume? I'm wearing tights to and it doesn't seem to bother anyone."

Kaiden smiles at the two of them and nods to Ophelia, saying, "Aye, we are. Peter Pan or something like that. I can't quite remember. It's apparently about some boy that never wants to grow up. Rather fitting, ey?" He turns and spots Gabriel, giving him a wave, "Hey, Gabe! You working on that pitch?"

Gabriel before Gareth gets a chance to answer he turns to Maeve,"I'm The Phantom. Crime buster extraordinaire."

Eamon just continues to gaze at Mabel like the sappy puppy that he is. Kaiden is wearing tights? Who cares. "I don't care. I didn't do it for everyone else." He clears his throat. "You look great by the way. I don't know if I told you yet…" He looks over towards good Ol' Charlie, distracted. "Oh. Yes. Er. Adorable."

Gabrielle will laugh, "I don't know. I may be Ravenclaw's secret weapon to winning the Quiditch cup this year…" She'll take Chris's hand .

Leander casts a final look in Ria and Lucian's direction as they wander off, then leans over to nudge his brother and whisper something to him. When Lois approaches, he looks up and stares at her - he thought he'd seen her during the announcement, only to realize it was someone else (in his defense, he was practically going into cardiac arrest at the time). It would probably be difficult to find the Slytherin, except he's standing next to Ripley. "Oh… Lois. Did you, erm - did you miss the selection?" The glowing red eyes look the girl up and down in her dryad outfit. Luckily for him, there's no way to detect a blush under the skull mask he's wearing. "You look beautiful." Well, at least stating the obvious is good sometimes.

Ophelia giggles, squeezing Hephaesta's hand in return. "Y-yes, rather. Was it Briar's choice, then?" She looks over to the other Hufflepuff, offering a small wave in yet another attempt to cover her nervousness. As she does so, one of the petals falls from her skirt, dissolving into organge glitter the moment it touches the floor.

Noalan 's face is hard to read like this, but his eyebrows raise a bit at that, "Couples?" Then quickly goes on to add, "It is more fun to have a themed group. Not sure many people here will get our." When she comments about her table he responds, "I was too busy being at the champions table, but, if you'd like, I could act like more of a pompous jackass than usual." He clears his throat then adds, "I say cousin, you could have made a little effort in outfit, this is a gala. Honestly, you're a complete embarrassment."

Gareth takes a quick look toward Kaiden, then just as quickly away again. "Because they're all barking mad," he tells Gabriel. "You should know that by now."

Gabriel grins at Kaiden and nods,"I am. And by the way, I'd like you to teach me to box during Athletic club practices. I think it'll help with dueling." Then he turns back to Gareth with a rather more emphatic nod,"They really are is a pair of tights bothers them so much."

Briar comes over along with Kaiden to offer hugs to Ophelia and Phae too. "So beautiful, the both of you! Well he was going for Captain Hook for a bit there. But he leaned back towards Peter Pan."

Colton's answer to Ria is him putting up one hand all Nazi like, the only difference is he's making a rude face and sloppily goose stepping about and then he turns about and flips up the tails of his coat to reveal there's one thing that's 'in color' about his costume and that one of the back pocket is ripped revealing red and white polka-dotted boxers on underneath. When his complete mockery of the German Dictator is over he then moves back to Tramping it up with Josie.

"Bare feet," Lois says, edging very cautiously around a pack of moving Hufflepuffs, "might have been a terrible idea - hello, Leander, you're looking very gruesome, which I suppose was the point." Without so much as a by-your-leave, she moves to insert one vine-strewn arm around his, shedding a few leaves in the process, and then leans on to peck him on the cheek. "Thank you, Leander. Good evening, Fox." This last is to Ripley, accompanied by a relatively cordial nod. With the chatter of students all around them, the prefect is late in registering precisely what Leander said. "Selection?" Her brow furrows. "What - oh, right, for the Triwizard."

Lucian arches an eyebrow at Ria, a bit confused. "Who is Adolf Hitler?" He looks Colton over, with his typical disdain for any Gryffindor. With his ridiculous display, he rolls his eyes. "What an idiot."

Christmas takes her hand and leads her to the dance floor. He pulls her closer to his body and lifts her onto the tops of his boots and says, "I think I can handle it." He begins to step in a standard 1-2-3 waltz he learned from his father.

Littlw mouse whiskers twitch as Elspeth raises her eyebrows. "Basking in the glory of association so soon, are you?" she asks. "Maybe you can be introducing my to your champion, if I am not being too much of an embarassment to you… I was putting on my best clothing for this gala."

Gabrielle starts to pull him to stop him, "Chris!No!" She'll laugh a little, but isn't moving at all.

"Brilliant." Seamus says looking at Colton. "Absolutely brilliant." He then glances towards Gabrielle,"Remind me later Gabrielle, I have a sketch I did earlier that I wish you to examine and give your opinion on. And that outfit turned out nicely despite your misgivings." He says smiling at her, before wandering away to find someone else to speak with right now."

Gareth steals another glance at those tights, grinning a bit stupidly. "Yes, barking mad, the lot of them." Then he begins visually searching the hall. "Have you seen where the Foxes vanished to? I wanted to congratulate Leander…and meet him, formally."

Kaiden nods to Gabriel and says, "I'd love to. Just…wear padding." He chuckles and continues, "It will definitely help. Don't have to throw up a ward if you can just step out of the way, y'know?" When Briar approaches and speaks, a warm smile rests on his lip.

Ria draws back a little bit at Colton's displays, not understanding the answer to that question. "Adolf Hitler is that german muggle dictator who keeps making idiot moves that violate the Treaty of Versailles and our government is stupidly thinking of appeasing them." Ria too seems rather disgusted with the lewd display of undergarments and simply says to Lucian, "Come let's just move along."

Mabel smiles, "Well, I must say you make a good Flash, MacCaille. As choice of costumes go, it certainly saved me some awkwardness: it's no time to run about looking all Wagnerian, and all. Though you'd probably make a fine Siegfried, as well, of course. It's just too dashed political, it turns out, imagine that. That Continental fuss, you see." She pauses, having mentioned this before. "Meaning we're safer in the funny pages, yes?"

Gabriel grins at Kaiden's suggestion but the Gareth is asking questions so Gabriel points over to the little gathering that includes Leander and Ripley,"Over there."

Gabrielle will go to respond to Seamus and he's gone before the words get to her lips, she'll go to turn back to Chris when Kaiden shouts, and she looks over to see the elder Sykes with swords strapped to his back. She pales slightly and will force a smile to Chris.

Ophelia glances down, as Kaiden moves on. Ok, that could have gone /far/ worse. Taking a steadying breath, she glances up to see if they are being stared at, notices Gareth, and has to bite her lower lip suddenly to keep from chuckling. Tugging on Hephaesta's hand, she makes her way to their fellow Ravenclaws, "Gabriel! May I ask… who?"

Eamon shakes his head at Mabel and sighs. "You open your mouth and talk and I don't understand half of what you say, Hawker, but you sure are nice to look at…" And then he starts laughing. "Oh my, I just got something. Hawker. Hawkman. Hah! Haha! With the wings and the…" He forcably stops laughing, face sobering. "Sorry. Too many cauldron cakes."

"This is your best?! My word, that is the saddest thing I've ever heard." Lan says trying, and failing, to perform a snooty sounding laugh. "Even the flowers are laughing at you." He says, gesturing to Ophelia. In a more normal voice he continues, "If I don't get Dipped at my table, I have to take what I can get, right?"

Hephaesta practically hangs on Ophelia's arm now. Did she just make progress with Kaiden? Is everything finally getting better? She can hope. SHe smiles at Gabriel, lifting her brows curiously at him.

Maeve sighs, and settles down back at the Gryffindor table as soon as the judging is over, then frowns as she looks over the table full of sweets. "Hmmm. I dinnae want a tummy ache…" Sounds like someone's a little bit of a spoilsport

Lorraine is milling. Oh yes, so much milling. With the eating over with, she's got nothing to do but look for trouble. That's what she's good at, after all.

Christmas ignores the Skyes brats and leans in saying softly to Gabby, "I don't hear them…or see them. Tonight is all about you." There might be music playing or not but he just keeps dancing with Gabby on his feet.

Lucian stifles his laughter at Ria's comments about her brothers…okay, no he doesn't. Especially about Kaiden. "They're…ah…daring?" That's the best compliment he can come up with.

Gareth nods to Gabriel then, starting across the room toward the two Slytherins. What was his mission again? Oh right! Congratulate…someone for…biceps? No, that wasn't it.

Claire steps stately over to Lan and Elspeth. "Dipped? Or Dippet?"

Elspeth lifts a corner of her apron to her eye to dab at an imaginary tear. Then she grins to Lan, and gives him a nod. "This is being true. You are needing something to distinguish your table." She looks around, and signs to him I hope you sleep tonight Then she gives a nod around. "Should we be going to talk to other people? I know I am being embarassing, but I can maybe be making up for that with a…" she reaches into her basket, "meat pastie I snuck in?" She holds it out to her Citified Cousin as she watches the green tight clad Hufflepuff talking to her housemates.

Gabrielle will force a light laugh, "I'm not 7…stop."She'll try to pull away from Chris's dancing, but not Chris. "Can we wait to do this so I can hide in the crowd please?" She's smiling, but there's a pleading tone to her voice.

"Hm, yes. I guess 'gruesome' was the idea." The Slytherin ponders over Lois's words with a slight frown - he wasn't really /intending/ to look so dire. It just seems to have been a side-effect of the costume choice. "Yes," he responds when the Gryffindor mentions the Triwizard Tournament, his voice (as usual) flat and over-serious - but edged with just a faint hint of excitement. At this point, Lois is giving him a quick kiss on the cheek - again, thank /goodness/ for masks. "I was selected." He waits for that to sink in, though he's momentarily distracted by the sight of Gareth walking in his direction. The other boy seems to stop short, though, so his attention goes back to Lois and his twin.

"Oh, Headmaster Dippet," Elspeth stresses the title, "I was not seeing you there." She hastily hides the forbidden healthiesh food back in her basket, and puts the basket behind her back. "I was just telling my friend here how lucky we were to be having you at our table."

Gabriel is about to answer Hephaesta's questioning look when Gareth starts wandering around the room like a lost puppy. So of course, he has to help. Calling out loudly to him,"Gareth did someone put a potion in your food? The Foxes are the /other/ way!" Job well done he turns back to Hepaesta,"The Phantom. He's a crime fighter from the Muggle funny papers."

Ripley is just smiling at those around him as his gaze goes through the crowd. He grins to Lois, "The Goblet chose Lea!" he claps his brother on the shoulder and chuckles. His eyes go through the crowd to meet one person once again and begins to watch Gareth a little.

But Gareth takes off before Ophelia can get close enough to get an answer. So she stops, shrugging at Hephaesta. "Ah, well. I suppose I'll have to ask him tomorrow. I didn't expect to see so many muggle costumes tonight. Though its fascinating, really. Almost makes me wish I'd taken muggle studies this year. " Almost.

Hephaesta shrugs, "I take Muggle Studies, but I don't know most of these costumes. I think a lot are from Muggle moving pictures. That's not really the kind of thing we study, usually."

Christmas stops dancing looking at Gabby with a confused look on his face, "Am I doing something wrong?" He sets her down on the ground and takes off his Robin Hood hat and runs a hand through his hair.

"WHAT." Lois's voice, after Leander makes his big reveal, raises a few decibels. So many objections spring to mind that she seizes on the first: "But that's in NORWAY. It's - it's COLD there!" Her grip on his arm tightens to the point of discomfort, even as she stares, unseeing. The mutter comes: "I'll have to knit you so many jumpers…"

Gabriel puts his hands behind his back and starts rocking on his feet in a most u-crimebusterly fashion. Smiling at Hephaesta and Ophelia he says,"I really like your combination. It was imaginative. And if you want to know about the Muggle costumes just ask. I know all of them." From time to time he cranes around looking for the red-headed trouble maker that is Lorraine, making sure she's not too close to Claire.

"Well. I guess we know how Lois feels about Leander being the Triwizard Champion," murmurs Eamon, hearing Lois' shrill exclamation. He smiles wryly at Mabel, though not before the other Sykes brother causes as much hubbub as the younger one. Uh-oh. Even, however, Eamon is not immune, but at least not for the same reasons.

Gareth's eyes are locked firmly on his own feet, which is possibly the safest place for them at the moment. And somehow, his feet know just where to go, guiding him over to where the Foxes are holding court. When they stop, he blinks a few times at them, as if willing them to move again, then looks up with the realization that he's arrived at his destination. "Oh. Hello. All right, then?" His color had just returned to normal, but then there's Ripley, looking all…constellationy, and Gareth once more flushes. Fortunately for him, he seems to have missed Lois' little explosion. "L-Leander, I wanted to s-say congratulations. I'm Carrow, Gareth Carrow. Ravenclaw, Fifth year. Um. Your brother knows me."

Lorraine is definitely getting closer to Claire. Sorry Gabe, and have fun intervening on THAT trainwreck. "So. Headmaster Dippet," says the nasty Slytherin girl from behind the tall Ravenclaw.

The Hallowe'en Dance

Madam Hooch takes the podium and announces to the room, "We are still tallying votes, and it is taking longer than anticipated. Meanwhile, let the music start, and enjoy the dance! Younger students may remain until the announcement is made. However, the remaining food has been moved to the Entry Hall, where pumpkin carving and a sanctioned food fight are already under way!" She grins a bit impishly, encouraging the children to have fun. The music begins with a flick of her wand, and some of the braver students start to take to the dance floor, which has opened up now that the tables have been vanished away.
Lois gives you a cookie.

Noalan nods art her sign and adds a simple *like a baby*. "Is there anything your meat pie can't do?" Suddenly approached by the 'head master' he once more puts on his snooty voice. "Is it dippet? I had thought it was a description. Does no one here know how to dress for an event? My cousin here seems quite taken with you though. Are you some sort of old master pig doctor or something?"

"No!…no…I just….I don't want attention drawn to me. Please?" She'll give him an apologetic look, "I swear it's not you…I just don't want anyone else attention."

As he turns to look upon Ria he smiles, "How ravishing you look Re Re." He picks her up by the waist and twirls her around putting her by Kaiden and away from Lucian. He looks down at his outfit and frowns, "Ria this is a Roman Gladiator piece I uncovered. This is a costume party…get your knickers out of a knot and relax." He finally looks at Lucian and cocks an eyebrow before he nods his head saying to the young man, "Good eve to you Master Proudmore." He turns back to his siblings and smiles warmly.

Ophelia smiles brightly at Gareth. "Oh, thank you! Who is Gareth, then? The raven seems familiar, but I confess I tend to rely on Ajax to know about such things." Her smile turns a bit sheepish, and she reaches up to brish a lock of hair from her face. Two more petals fall from her skirt, while the glow from within begins to shift, the color changing slowly from orange to yellow.

Lucian glows painfully bright the moment Ria's nightly presence is taken from him. How's that for incentive to let them stay together? "Good evening," he says dryly, pointedly moving to stand by Ria again (to the grateful eyes of many nearby).

Ripley looks to Gareth and gives a bit of a laugh. He looks between Leander and Lois and reaches out to take Gareth's hand and plus the boy close to him, "He more than knows me." Ripley speaks and leans over to kiss the boy on the forehead, "He's my boyfriend." He says and wraps his arm around the other boy and pull him in close with a bit of pride.

Mabel nods to Eamon. "She does fuss, sometimes, I'll admit." She looks up as Hooch makes her announcement, saying, "Oh, dear, I suppose we'd best vote or something, do you think?"

Gabriel squints his eyes as the light in the room brightens momentarily, right as he's leaning over to see what's going on with Lorraine and Claire. But he keeps talking regardless of where his attention is, answering Ophelia,"Gareth is dressed as Edgard Allan Poe, a famous if kind of dour Muggle poet. His work kind be kind of creepy and scary."

Hephaesta blinks over at Gareth and…that Slytherin boy? What? She looks over at Ophelia in confusion. "I thought…wait…"

"I— well, I suppose it is rather chilly…" Leander says. The charmed death-costume adds an appropriate wheeze of death along with the statement. Something about the idea of a knitted jumper does /not/ appeal to him, despite his complete lack of a fashion sense. The skull-mask frowns, but is then (happily) distracted by Gareth. "Oh - hello. It's good to meet y—-" This is when Ripley intervenes. The glowing red eyes go /WIDE/ for an instant, and then narrow. "…I see. Hello, Gareth." He shoots a /what the hell we need to talk/ look at Ripley which somehow manages to convey itself even through the absurd mask.

Ophelia is still looking Gareth's way, confused about his costume. She barely even hears Gabriel's answer, or at least it takes a moment for it to register. Because Ripley then makes his announcement. Rather suddenly, she drops Hephaesta's hand and stalks over to the two, grabbing at Gareth's arm the moment she is close enough. "Care to explain yourself?" She asks the boy through gritted teeth.

Gabriel looks really confused at Ophelia's sudden departure, "What's her problem Hephaesta?"

Christmas smiles softly, as he picks her up by the waist and places her on his boots again, "Its fine." He looks in the Skyes's direction before turning his attention back on Gabby, "They are being harassed by the adult for whatever reason. Forget they are here and lets enjoy the rest of the evening?" He begins to twirl her around in an attempt to make her laugh.

"I'm glad I don't have to clean up the mess in the Entry Hall," comments Eamon. "Still… pumpkin carving sounds a bit fun." Growing up sucks sometimes! "Lois, fuss? Pffft." Sarcasm drips from his words and he winks to his lovely auburn haired date.

Ria is still pouting as she's forced to twirl, causing her skirt to float up. "I can't stand walking around school anymore over-hearing girls gawk at my brothers! I already hear enough about Kaiden and if Garrett ever decides to finish puberty, I'll likely never hear the end of it about him as well!" Speaking of the other twin, she turns her head to give Kaiden a once over. "Oooooo Kaid! You look adorable!" she practically gushes over him, opening her arms for a hug. "And elf! Just the cutest little elf in the world!"

Lois is still busy working through her objections, here. "What if you get KILLED. Leander, I absolutely forbid you from getting killed. Or flirting with any horrible Beauxbatons girls, or - or eating eaten by a hydraa, or - and is anyone there going to know English, please tell me you know Fre - what?" Thanks, Ripley! You just distracted her mid-thought! She pauses, mouth open, to stare. And finally: "What! What, when did this happen? How did no one tell me!"

Hephaesta's hands go to her mouth. "Oh no…she's going to kill him." Phae hurries after Ophelia, her limp slowing her. She tugs at Ophelia's sleeve, "Ophie…" She pleads…for what? She isn't sure. She just doesn't like seeing her upset.

Kaiden looks over at Lucian and says, "Hrmmm, I'd heard the addage about polishing fecal matter, but you've gone above and beyond, Proudmore. Must be that Slytherin drive, hrmm? Well, that company has gotten less than pleasant for me, brother. I hope to see you at Hogsmeade soon. Until then, do take care." With that, he walks over to find Briar again, after giving Ria a short hug.

"You must forgive us, we do try our best but we must seen so backward to such a cosmopolitan mouse like yourself," Claire says. "However certainly you can appreciate the diversity of our student body, here at Hogwarts." The last is delivered more curtly than is warrented, and Claire shoots Elspeth a slightly desperate look before turning around. "Ah. Miss Nott."

Maeve is about to follow Ophelia, but sees Hephaesta following, and settles back down to her spot, as she slowly eats a pumpkin cake.

Well, when asking questions doesn't get you an answer there nothing better than hands-on experience. So Gabriel follows along behind Hephaesta to see what all the fuss is about. And help Gareth if he needs it.

Gabrielle stumbles a bit as she's twirled, not really /wanting/ to be twirled puts a damper on , well, twirling, "Chris… I said no. " She'll attempt to regain her footing and give him a stern look. "that's not some adult….That their brother.."

Gerald raises an eyebrow as he watches the drama unfolding between Ophelia and the others, and keeps an eye on Maeve, who seems to look concerned.

As the threat of 'being found out by the Headmaster' passes, Elspeth hands over the pastie for real this time. "I am thinking there is little that it is not curing." She gives a smile to his sign, and a nod. She opens her mouth to say something else, but then Ophelia is apparently upset about Gareth being with a Slytherin boy. She blinks, and her mouse nose scrunches up again. "I wonder why she is being so upset, I thought was being with Hephaesta."

Lorraine smirks at the much taller Claire, putting her hands on her hips, back arching as she over-dramaticly looks Uuuuup at her. Half-giant, remember? "I see you haven't been clained yet for dancing." Never mind that the music has only barely just started.

Gareth turns six or seven lovely shades of red at Ripley's words — and kiss, eyes bugging wide once again. "I…um…." Before he can manage anything more though, Ophelia has grabbed him by the arm, and he lets out a terrified little sound. "What? Who? I didn't…What?"

Lucian rolls his eyes at Kaiden. "That'll be the day, when I start taking fashion advice from a ballerina." He turns to Ria, "Hey, I'm going to grab a drink. Have fun with your charming brothers." Yeah, no sarcasm there at all. He drifts off to a buffet table at the side of the room for some pumpkin juice. Oh damn, there's that blinding light again as he moves away from Ria.

Christmas sighs and says, "Fine. I will get your some punch." He begins to walk away from Gabby to make his way through the crowd to get to the punch bowl. His cheeks are flustered but he just walks with his head down.

Ripley looks and sees the incoming Ophelia and sees the others that are headed their way. He pulls Gareth in close to him and wraps an arm around the boy and looks to those that come in for the attack. "Whoa there, missy." He speaks and reaches out to take Ophelia's hand off Gareth. "It's a party. You want to talk, we will talk, but nothing like that."

Mabel ahas. Watching the general scene, but at least smiling a bit about Ripley. "Ah, good. Bit of a fuss, yes, but I was worried someone was going to get hurt over that bit with Ripley til just lately." She keeps an eye, though, on Lois's chiding Death about possibly dying. "Ah, and there's Leander, obviously."

Gabriel tries to be more diplomatic than Ripley once he realizes Ophelia's target is Gareth,"Ophilia? What are you doing to Gareth? He's our friend, remember? Friends don't manhandle friends…"

Dippet is nudged awake and he is then passed a peace of paper. After standing up and shuffling and then speaking over the music, "A warm round of applause to Leander Fox, for the most votes for Boys Costume. Very good start to being a Champion my good man." Then another piece is pulled out from behind the first and he holds it up closer to his face. "Ophelia Summerbee is the favorite in the Girls Costumes. While…" The next piece of paper comes out, "The favorite Costume 'Team' is Colton Higgins and Josie Davies! Now dance the night away!"

Being this pompous a jerk is harder than he though. Doing his best Noalan scoffs at Claire. "I think band of misfits suits this lot better." But apparently some stuff is getting 'real' near by. "Who's doing what?" He asks elspeth.

Ophelia doesn't look away from Gareth, even when Hephaesta pulls at her arm. She just glares, her eyes full of protective anger… and of hurt. "I trusted you. I trusted you not to hurt him!" Yanking her hand away from Ripley, she turns to face him with even more anger, "And you! Haven't you hurt enough people! First Gaberielle, and now this!" And then Gabriel is speaking. Spining, she adds one last comment to him before walking away. "Nor do they claim to be in love with one's best friend, only to run off an start dating the first boy to show interest less then a month later."

Josie looks up to Dippet and bites her lip as the costume winners are anounced. When Colton and her are announced, she cheers… or, well, mimes it anyway, since she's still silenced.

Gabby sighs a little shakily, and will walk over to a wall. As she glances around, she sees the gaggle that's forming around the Foxs and she'll sigh. But doesn't go to intervene. She'll just rub her temple like she's getting a head ache and her cheeks will start to flush.

Caretaker Pringle, ever lurking at the edges of the hall, starts to move toward Ophelia and Ripley. But when the students part, he pauses, watching for now.

After being released from Kaiden's arms, Ria covers her mouth and turns a bright red, "Oh X! Don't…pleasee…" It's far too late now. Her brother's gone off to jiggle his loin cloth (and other things) at Madame Hooch. And she turns around to whine about it more to Lucian, but realizes he's also on his way off, catching the last of his sarcastic comment with a brow quirk. And to save the poor eyes of the students around him, she goes on after Luc, a hand reaching out for his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Maeve frowns, and sighs, standing up. This time she really is moving towards Ophelia, outburst be damned, not even noticing as the Headmaster announces the winners of the costume contest. However, she stays back slightly, waiting to see what happens

"Aw hell." Ripley shakes his head, "Really? Gabby fell for me and never told me anything about it so you can't hold that one against me. Gabby is my friend. That's all. That is what I told her." He sighs, "Things happen all right? People get drawn to each other. Do you want Gareth happy? Well, I know me makes me happy. That is what matters with this."

Gabriel literally lets out a little eep at Ophelia rounds on him. Then his eyes doa quick back and forth between Ophelia and Gareth and he decides to jump on the grenade, or try to at least,"But he never said he was in love, per se. He said he had an interest. And Ajax was a little… well-standoffish when Gareth tried to fix things, I know I was there and…"

Gareth is shaking by now, his head most of all back and forth. "It's not like that! I tried to talk to…." But then the Headmaster's voice is booming out, announcing the winners, and Gareth falls silent, pressing his back against Ripley. "You won," he says softly to Ophelia. "Didn't you hear? You won."

"Do you see the irony in her lecturing him about dying?" Eamon stage-whispers to Mabel. He claps politely for Dippet's announcement of the winners. "I think we're a cuter couple," he opines, and then bows, holding out his hand. "Are you ready for a dance, my lady? Or shall I fetch you more juice?"

Gerald slowly stands up and carefully watches Maeve and the growing argument. slowly walking toward Maeve, staying at a distance, but close enough to get involved should she get in trouble.

"I - I won't get killed," Leander promises, his hands coming up to wave defensively in response to Lois's orders. "And I'm certainly not interested in any Beauxbatons girls—" He, like his Gryffindor counterpart, is halted by the appearance of Ophelia and the drama that begins to ensue. He looks completely lost, casting another dour glance at Ripley. Skull-faces have no eyebrows, so it's impossible to see that his are shooting through the ceiling at the moment. And then, suddenly, Dippet is saying his name /again/. The Slytherin boy startles, looking around in complete consternation, only to realize he's also been selected for the costume contest. What in the bloody hell is going on!?!

Claire raises a hand, palm up in invitation. Well, not raises so much as extended, on account of Lorraine being so much shorter in comparison. "It seems fitting for the Headmaster to open the dancing," she says in cool tones behind a fixed smile.

Elspeth sighs and shakes her head to Lan. "Being honest, I am not sure what is happening? Things are changing so quick in Ravenclaw that I am not keeping up very well." The announcement of winners is more interesting to her, and she gives a delighted applause for Ophelia. "She won!" she tells her Citified Cousin Mouse, and looks over to see her, wondering if she even realizes she won.

Hephaesta tugs on Ophelia's arm, her wings flittering. "You won, Ophie! Your costume won!" She bounces excitedly, the springs in her leg-brace squeaking.

"What?" Lois asks, perfectly lost. She looks from Gareth, to Ripley, to Ophelia, to Leander (just in case //he/ knows), before finally seizing on the one thing she does know for certain. "Um. Leander." She forces herself to smile, brightly. "Congratulations on winning the contest! And oh, that reminds me, you'll have to tell me if you have enough warm socks." How is that related, Lois? "I think I have a skull and crossbones pattern somewhere for knitting, and it would be fun to try to do socks with it…" Oh, that's how.

Christmas gets to the bowl, and takes two cups. He begins to draw some punch looking over as the students are gathered around the Fox boys and mutters softly to himself as he continues to get punch for Gabby and himself.

Oh dear. This does look to get a might bit messy. Seamus starts walking toward the chaos. He really didn't want this to get Pringle involved. Plus it wouldn't be too good for poor Gareth to be so thoroughly embarrassed and then have to deal with the Pringle as well. "Ummm… Can we all calm down a bit? I don't think arguing here and now is the best of time and places." He says trying to discretely direct attention to Pringle himself who is looking at the group like he /wants/ them to get in trouble."Congratulations Fox and Summerbee on your win."

Lucian takes an angry swig of pumpkin juice. He speaks as calmly as he can to Ria, but his ire is obvious on his face. "Do you even notice when people talk to me like I'm scum? You're so quick to tell me to back off, even when I'm defending myself or you. But others, especially your family, can take a dump on my face, and you say nothing."

Briar is once again in miffed mode. She shakes her head and if Kaiden comes closer to her the Tigerlilies in her hair will growl and hiss at him. She beams and claps for those that one. But then she starts to head out.

Colton takes a bow and then waddles along next to Josie as they make their exit since Josie's a first year.

Gabrielle will just slowly push off the wall and look to see if she can get Chris's attention.

Pringle definitely wants them to get in trouble. But with the Headmaster present, he needs clear and blatant rule-breaking to drag anyone out of here. He watches the gaggle of students like a hungry hawk.

Ripley keeps his arm around Gareth and holds Gareth in close to him. He speaks in the same voice he has been, calm and even. "Ophelia. Is Gareth your friend? If so, be happy for him instead of this." Then he catches the words of Lucian and sighs a little bit, "Hey, Lucian. Careful." As he flashes a glance to Pringle. "Prefects need to make sure that someone like me doesn't fight. Right?"

Gareth glances to Gabriel, then nods quickly, saying to Ophelia, "And I've tried talking to him, but he's been avoiding me." One hand comes up, resting on Ripley's arm holding him close. "This isn't the way I wanted things to go. It just…happened. You see that, don't you?"

Christmas turns with the glasses of punch in his hands as he walks back towards Gabby. He cocks an eyebrow looking at her like "What did I forget?" As he pauses in his walking looking back towards the table.

Mabel nods, and smirks. Out the other side of her mouth than usual. Yes. Irony. Hands her glass to Eamon and says, quietly. "Please drop this on the floor immediately." Then, wand plucked out and tapped in the general direction of the lovely Ophelia, she intones, 'Risus hilaris."

Lorraine's eyebrows narrow just slightly, not maliciously as much as calculating. The Slytherin girl is always looking for an angle, for herself and from others. She sets her hand in Claire's, warm and soft-skinned like she's never seen a day of work or blistered so much as a finger on a broom (and likely, she hasn't). "I sure hope you don't smell like Professor Dippet," she says after a moment, having just thought of the possibility.

"No. Ajax is my friend. And Gareth has decided to dump him into the gutter like last year's… what?" Ophelia is ready with more. There's so very much more to say. But Gareth manages to distract her, thankfully. "I… WHAT?" Suddenly redder than the flowers in her hair, she looks up at Headmaster Dippet. "Oh, gods… ohmygods… " She looks to Hephaesta then, trying a few times to smile, though its the charm from Mabel that finally gets her smiling brightly, and turning away from Gareth and her anger to grab her sweetheart and hug her tightly, suddenly unable to hold back a fit of giggles! She won!

Eamon doesn't question. He does. Drop! The glass shatters spectacularly and Eamon even obliges the distraction further when he sees exactly what Mabel is about by making a huge fuss about being clumsy and flailing his arms in dismay.

On is way to find Briar, Kaiden is rolling things around in his head and stops in his tracks, taking in a deep breath and exhaling it slowly before turning back around and walking back in Lucian's direction. He approaches the Prefect and says, "That was mean of me to say. I'm just dealing with a lot of stuff right now." He offers Lucian a hand to shake and says, "Truce?"

"Let's just go." Gabby'll look over to the mess happening, "I really don't want to be here anymore" She'll reach for Chris's hand if he'll take it.

Hephaesta is a little confused, apparently not catching the Cheering Charm being cast. But she's happy for the hugs, and giddily returns them! "I told you you're amazing!"

Christmas shrugs and smiles widely at Gabby as the charm takes affect, "Sure lead the way." He sets down the drinks and takes her hand and allows the girl to lead him.

Lois is also pretty confused. She does pick up, out of the corner of her eye, Mabel flicking a wand - and then Ophelia's sudden temperament chance. 2 + 2 equals the prefect lifting a hand in an approving little salute to her cousin. And a disapproving one at Eamon, foul glass dropper that he is.

Leander looks completely lost at the revelation that he's won a costume contest. He casts another glance down at his death outfit - is this some sort of joke on him? - and frowns again. Perhaps he really /shouldn't/ have picked this blasted thing. "I have plenty of warm socks, Lois. Don't worry." If Leander was the type of person who rolled his eyes, he would be - luckily, he's not (particularly because it would probably land him in a world of trouble). When Ophelia's name is announced along with his, he takes the opportunity to step forward and offer her a (grim, skull-faced) smile. "Congratulations." And he leans over quickly to whisper something else into Ripley's ear.

Ria is taken a back by Lucian's statement. "I…I didn't even hear…," she unsure of what to say. Were her brothers really that mean? Should she have notices. "Luc..I…" Pressing both her lips together nervously she turns to Ripley and assures, "Uhmm…it's alright Rip, I'll take care of this one. I feel as if you might have your hands full yourself." And then Kaiden pops up again to make his apology, which makes her jaw drop, her eyes skidding back and forth between her twin and her boyfriend.

Laughing, Ophelia pulls back enough to kiss Hephaesta's cheek, then even farther, swinging herself around the other girl in a somewhat childish little dance. "It was your idea, of course it won! Now! Show me how we can dance, alright?" Seems she's forgotten Gareth completely. For tonight, anyway.

Gareth lets out a small breath of relief, relaxing back into Ripley's embrace. "That could have gone worse," he mutters. "Jax could have have actually been here." He looks toward Leander and Lois again, offering a weak smile. "Um. As I was saying, Carrow. Pleased to finally meet you, Leander." His right hand extends, though not very far, as his arms are both pinned by Ripley. "Congratulations on both your wins tonight. And best of luck in the Tournament, of course."

Gabriel spins around as Ophelia walks off and glares at Ripley,"you timing sucks!" And then he walks off to find a spot from which he can spy on the rest of the room, preferably keeping an eye on Evil Princess #2, seeing as she looked like trouble tonight.

Maeve doesn't know about the cheering charm, but does relax as she sees Ophelia relax and her demeanor completely change. As it appears that the feast is over, she starts to head out, grabbing her harp. "Congratulations, Ophelia," she says to her friend as she departs.

Eamon offers Lois a quick, cheeky grin and points an accusing finger at Mabel while winking, and then goes back to looking abashed. "Oh, such a mess I've made!" Ahem. "You're brillaint," he murmurs to Mabel, clearly a bit proud of her. "Er. Does somebody have a broom? Can I just spell this up?" Bueller?

Christmas sets the drinks down and says, "Ok. Lead the way." He takes her hand and follows her.

Ripley leans down and whispers something soft into Gareth's ear and gives the bow a kiss on the cheek. He hugs him close once more and then cants his head towards Leander. He releases a little bit as Ria takes over for Lucian. He rolls his eyes as he looks to Gabriel, "Because someone tells me the right time to say anything, right." He shakes his head and pulls away from the hug around Gareth. He leans over and whispers to Leander before leaning in and whispering to Gareth.

"Try and behave yourselves… He's watching everyone quite thoroughly tonight." Seamus says in a soft voice to those around him now,"I think he might invent you doing something wrong." That being said, he starts wandering off to see about what some of the others are actually doing.

Gabrielle will lead Chis out of the Great Hall.

Lucian glares daggers at Kaiden. "Just stay away from me, Kaiden. I've never done a thing to you, but you're always picking fights with me. I'm sick of being your punching bag. I'm sick of trying to make up with people only to have them stab me in the back over and over. Just…go away."

Hephaesta's eyes widen. "D-Dance? Okay…I…um…" She stumbles a bit as she tries to keep up with Ophelia's dancing. "Maybe…a little slower?" She laughs nervously, embarrassed at her struggles.

Kaiden keeps his hand extended and his face solid as stone, "You have my blessing to continue this courtship, Proudmore. I know it doesn't mean a great deal to you, but I shan't threaten you with physical violence, or say an undeserved cross word to you again. I know that you make Ria very happy and that's enough for me. I only ask that you continue to do so."

In for a penny, Gareth supposes. Or maybe the correct expression is 'The cat's out of the bag'. Either way, once Ripley is finished with all his whispering, Gareth turns toward him, wraps one arm around the older boy's neck, and pulls himself up for a good smooch, right on the lips in front of the whole school! No, they're not quite snogging, but it's definitely not the sort of kiss one gives a distant relative either. It does, however, turn him another lovely shade of pink.

Ria looks at Kaiden with an appreciative expression on her face. Smiling warmly at her twin she replies to him, "Thank you, Kaid. Just uhm, give us some room for tonight hmm? I'll catch up with you soon." And to Mr. Sun, she tries to place a hand on each of his shoulder and look him in the eye again as she always does when she tries to calm him down. "Luc, I'm sorry. I should've paid more attention, I was distracted…"

Mabel winks to Eamon and fusses about the dropped glass, smiling, "Definitely, soon, a dance," she says, in a bit of a hush.

Claire is unwilling to swerve away in this game of Chicken. She arranges Lorraine's hands, one on her hip and the other shoulder height. Claire places her hand in the small of Lorraine's back, wavering between not wanting to touch her more than she must, and not showing fear. It's a rough sketch of the general ballroom stance, Claire's seen it if never actually done it. She leads, of course.

Ophelia giggles, "Sorry. Of course." She stops moving, for a moment, as yet more petals fall from her skirt, revealing the new flower underneath, which is white. And as soon as those petals hit the ground, the flowers and butterflies decorating the rest of ther costume also turn white. Taking a deep breath as this happens, she works to compose her sudden excitement, and holds out her hands for Hephaesta to direct. "Now, how do we do this?"

"Are you sure?" Lois tells Leander, reaching over to fuss absently with the folds of his costume. Elsewhere in the Hall, it's teen melodrama: here, in a little bubble of Old Married Couple, it's affable country comedy. She'll probably produce a sandwich for him at any minute. "I'm not good at socks yet - I have trouble with the heels - but I could get Madam Patel to help me…" Her tone suggests that Leander is going to get sock'd, whether he likes it or not. The girl politely averts her eyes at Gareth and Ripley's kiss, but looks fairly pleased in some obscure way.

Ripley returns that kiss and grins as he looks to Pringle and gives the man a bit of a wink. "Well, Gareth. Since I promised you a dance… Shall we?" He begins to move out to the dance floor and possibly bring some calmness to the room as the couples that are left should dance as well.

Maeve smiles, not begrudging her friend her moment, and instead leaving her be with her sweetheart. Besides, the Firsties are being chased out, and it's time for her to go. Once more, she shoulders her harp, and heads out.

Lorraine is a handsy little … witch… too. She keeps her icy blue eyes fixed on Claire's face, a large quantity of smugness mixing in with her usual smirk. Smells like triumph. No, actually it smells like expensive perfume, but that's practically the same thing. Unlike Claire, she's got no problem touching, even moving into the taller girl. Her eyes, however, remain cold, and the hand clasped in hers is squeazed perhaps a bit too hard.

Leander mutters something else to his twin, then reaches out to grasp Gareth's hand in a quick, firm shake. Despite the shock of it all, he doesn't seem at all displeased to see the two together, anyway. Like Lois, he turns aside at the sudden show of affection, although a wry smile is tugging at the corners of his lips in a very un-Leander-like way. It's a good excuse to keep his attention completely on his Gryffindor date, though. "I… well, if you make them for me, I'll wear them." The Slytherin boy doesn't sound happy about that, per say, but he follows it up by slipping a hand into Lois's and glancing towards the other couples meandering off. "Would you like to dance…?"

Eamon picks up the biggest chunks of glass on the floor before somebody arrives to clean it up the rest of the way with a cleaning spell. "Yah, I'd like that," says Eamon sincerely, perhaps a bit of a blush on his face.

Lucian's dagger-glare at Kaiden softens into more of an I'd-like-to-punch-you glare. "Yeah. Great. I'm touched, really." No, not really. But he drops the glare, looking to Ria and letting her words speak for him. With her, though, he is still straining to keep his cool. "It's not just tonight. It's always. I get that you have higher standards for me. We've always pushed each other. That's fine. But could you maybe care that I'm being treated like garbage? Especially by your own family? I can take the abuse. What I can't take is your apathy about it."

Pringle stiffens. Did the room just get darker? He strides toward Ripley, jabbing a finger at the boy. "Fox! Come here, you cocky little blighter!"

Kaiden drops his hand dips his head to Ria, turning to walk off. He'll search around Briar for a good while, but upon seeing that she's left…and noticing all the happy couples dancing, he'll sigh, take the hat off of his head and walk out of the Hall.

"D-dance?" Gareth asks, that deer-caught-in-Muggle-car-headlamps look in his wide eyes again, as Ripley leads him out to the floor. "Er. I've only read about…I mean, you'll need to do the leading. And if I step on your toes, it will be your own fault." He glances around to see how other dancers are doing things, and just as he's about to place a hand on Ripley's shoulder…Pringle is there. "What?" he asks in surprise, jumping back half a step. "We didn't do anything!"

Mabel winks to Eamon as they crouch a bit on the floor. "Well-earned, Mr. Gordon. Well-earned. Shall we, then?"
Elspeth has disconnected.

Ripley looks up to Pringle. "Excuse me, Sir. Just what seems to be the problem?" He says, honey dripping off his words as he looks up to Pringle. "I was just dancing with my boyfriend." The picture of innocence.

Claire is a sucker for the who has a stronger grip game, and can't resist squeezing back, just a shade harder. She's slightly flushed underneath the beard and age spots, though looking a few years younger than she was at the start of the feast. It still puts her in her late 70's however. Claire moves her head close to Lorraine's, and says through gritted teeth, "The hell is your game, Nott?"

"I'll do my best," Lois says, missing (perhaps - probably - deliberately) the reluctant tone. "Socks, and a jumper or two, and maybe a hat or a scarf… When do you leave, anyway?" Her brows furrow as she starts to mentally plan out a knitting schedule, but clear as the offer to dance is given. She smiles brightly up at him, nodding enthusiastically enough to send a leaf from her green crown fluttering towards the ground. "If you promise to try not to step on my toes - hm?" Pringle's arrival merits a surprised look. "Sir?"

Eamon clears his throat and rises to his feet, brushing his palms against his pants and then offering his hand to Mabel with another bow. "Let's."

Hephaesta takes Ophelia's hands, giggling. "Um…I don't really know how to dance. We just…step around?" She looks to the other couples to get an idea. She isn't the most mobile dancer, but she seems perfectly content to just be in Ophelia's arms.

"Oh! I know a little, Ajax taught me." Ophelia steps in close, and as soon as she gets an idea of how Phae is able to move she steps in close and starts a slow sort of adapted waltz. Adapted partially in consideration of Hephaesta and partly because she doesn't actually remember /how// to really waltz. But hey, they're dancing!

Pringle snarls with a touch too much wicked glee. "Students shall maintain decorum at all times," he quotes the school rule at Ripley. "I dinnae care if he's your bloody husband. Snogging isn't allowed!" He grips Ripley by the sleeve, clearly ready to drag him out of the hall. Nevermind the numerous other couples snogging at this very moment. They didn't wink at him!

Ho-ho, it's time to one up. Lorraine increases the pressure of her fingers, the one on Claire's fragile old man hip increasing too. "What game?" says the Slytherin sweetly. "No game, Cameron. I admit, I like your style. It takes stones to hex a disarmed girl with no witnesses." Which is sarcasm, but it's definitely something the redhead would do.

Ripley looks to the headmaster and speaks, "Sir. It's the ball. One little kiss, sir. Please." As he's about to be dragged from the hallway, he looks to Pringle, "Pringle, Sir. Haven't you ever had someone you wanted to kiss, sir. It's a romantic night." He looks about, "Everyone else is sneaking a kiss or two."

Hephaesta does a lot better with forward and backward steps than lateral motion. But they soon figure out that if Ophelia just move around her when they need to turn, allowing Phae to spin in place, they can maneuver well enough.

"I'm not certain, yet…" Leander frowns a bit, though he seems mildly perplexed by Lois's question. He knows at least enough about the Tournament to understand that he's supposed to pick a student entourage to go with him. He leans forward and whispers something in her ear, then stands back. He's just starting to lead her off when Pringle arrives. After the Caretaker gives his outbrust, Leander pales a bit, then suddenly steps forward. "Sir." Despite the man's reputation, he moves forward just enough to whisper something in /Pringle's/ ear, though other students might find the idea repulsive.

"Lucian, I swear. I didn't even know. Kaiden, he always tends to talk to me like. I swear to you I didn't even notice," Ria looks desperately apologetic at Lucian, squeezing his shoulders. Pressing her lips together, she sighs and admits, "Suppose that counts as apathy…You're right. I'm sorry." And then the moon goes forward to hug the sun, "Forgive me? I'll keep an open ear next time. Just bring your head back to now and let's enjoy how radiate we literally both look tonight."

Mabel straightens, then, as the music's struck up, and takes the dance floor with Eamon. Hoping not too much else threatens to explode.

Leander whispers: Mr. Pringle - please, I beg you to forgive Ripley's disrespect. He might not appreciate all of your hard work, but I do. I beg you to let him enjoy the dance, as foolish as he might be.

Gareth huffs loudly, drawing himself up to his full, if meager, height. "This is an outrage!" he calls. "You can't possibly punish him for something like this." He's not going for his wand, he's too smart for that, but the look in his eyes says he'd really, really like to. As Ripley is dragged off, Gareth storms after, the raven on his shoulder croaking and squawking the whole way.

One can almost hear bones popping as Pringle slowly turns his sneer on the other Fox, and Leander is suddenly under the burning eyes of the Caretaker. "Keep. Your smart-ass brother. In line. Got it?!" He barks the last, and releases Ripley with a jerk of his hand, stalking back to his perch at the edge of the room.

Besides Eamon, in his pants? Er. Wait. Ahem. Self-restraint! He has it! Taking Mabel gently — more gently than he treated that glass, certainly — and with the prescribed gentlemanly distance between them and his hand definitely on her waist and not a millimeter towards any other direction, he stars to lead her around in a very simple dance. "D'you reckon Pringle just didn't like him snogging a boy?" he asks in Mabel's ear.

"I'm what?" Whatever Leander just whispered to her, Lois is surprised by. And then, after a beat, delighted by. "Oh! I've always wanted to see Scandinavia! You're a darling!" Cheek peck! What, she was complaining five minutes ago about how cold he was going to be? Don't be silly, she'd never do that. But her startled delight is soon dimmed by Pringle… Pringling. "Oh, sir," she says, gazing up at the caretaker with the warmest and most charming smile in her prefectual portfolio. But whatever coaxing attempt she was about to try is cut off by Leander's success. So she beams instead. "Sounds like the two of you need to leave room for Merlin's Ghost between you tonight, then."

Claire grinds her teeth when she tries to raise the pressure again, and finds her aged hands don't have the gripping strength they do at 15. Note to self, never get old. "Bulllllshit," Claire says, rolling over the l's, her mouth directly next to Lorraine's ear. "You expect me to believe you don't expect to get something out of this?"

Ripley lifts a brow as he looks to his brother. He gives the boy a look that Leander could easily translate. Still, he chuckles a bit and turns around to bow to Pringle, "A pleasure, Sir." And then rises up to head back out and take Gareth's hand to lead him back to the dance floor.

Ophelia doesn't have Ajax's easy grace, certainly. But she has been taught by him, allowing her some skill. She quickly adapts to the forward-and-back sort of dancing, adding in the spins and twirls that have her giggling and beaming with happiness. She even leans in for a quick kiss to the girl's cheek with a few of the spins, overcome now with her happiness.

Lucian sighs, deflated a bit exhausted. It's awfully difficult to stay angry when Ria is being soft and affectionate. Then he gets a wry, teasing smirk, "You wear me out, you know that?" He slips his hand into hers, and moves to lead her out to the dance floor, walking too close to a few Gryffindors and momentarily blinding them. Oops.

Gareth gives another indignant huff in Pringle's direction, but manages to refrain from saying anything more, as Ripley tugs him back to the dance floor. "As if we're the only people here kissing," he mutters, red now more with rage than embarrassment. "Maybe we should just have our dance and…retire for the evening?"

Lorraine turns her cheek just a fraction, smirking, nearly coming in contact cheek to cheek with the tall girl, who… doesn't look much like a girl at all right now. "Who says I'm not getting anything out of it?" She relaxes her grip, not actually wanting to break Claire's hand. "Your potion is wearing off. What did you use, polyjuice? How'd you get the Dippet for it?"

Hephaesta's sunshine smile is made all the brighted by the glitter on her cheeks. She's in heaven, dancing with her sweetheart here in front of everyone. Her butterfly wings flutter with her elation as she twirls, using her braced leg as a pivot, making her quite the good twirler (if she has a hand to hang onto)!

Gabriel finds himself a dark little corner where he has a good view of the dance floor and the happenings there. As he starts to notice the interplay between Clair and Lorraine, too far to hear them but close enough to see Lorraine's manhandling of his housemate his eyes start to narrow.

After the first song, Ophelia pulls back, and slowly stops dancing. "Do you need a break?" She asks, tilting her head and carefully scanning Phae's face for any sighns that she is tiring.

Mabel's costume wings flick a bit, almost in imitation of her owl, rather than the hawk her name's punned on, but says, "Oh, if that's it, that'd be awfully Mugglish of Mr. Pringle. One's supposed to hide these things that way, you see."

Leander is extremely thankful he's wearing such a concealing costume this evening - if he weren't, the entire student body would be able to see his cheeks turning a very attention-grabbing shade of red. "Oh - I—-" He's a bit too startled to continue, although when Ripley shoots him a milk-curdling look after the little exchange with Pringle, the boy stiffens and regains his composure. He paces away from Lois just long enough to grab his twin and mutter a few words to him, then walks back to Lois and casually wraps his arms around the Gryffindor girl's waist. When he's deep in thought, he tends to do such things without his usual awkward formality. "I believe you owe me a dance, Lois."

Ripley reaches up to touch Gareth's cheek and as Leander whispers to him he grins, "Thank you." And then he's got Gareth by the hand and is moving the two of them out of the dance world and into the castle proper for a little extracurricular activities.

Hephaesta's face says she might need a rest, but she shakes her head. "No, let's keep dancing. I like it. It's my first dance…if you don't count dancing with Archie."

Eamon gives Mabel a curious glance. "Does it bother you?" he asks curiously, nodding towards the handful of girl-girl and boy-boy couples. "I've never considered him the most enlightened of folk anyway. Thumbscrews, and all that." The lad shudders, losing his step and moving awkwardly back into rhythm.

Gareth smiles at Ripley, nuzzling against his hand affectionately. And then he's being led away once more, a goofy grin on his face and starry look in his eyes.

"I do," Lois agrees, cheerfully allowing herself to be steered whither he will. "Don't step on my feet," she adds, a casual order. She's already having to step around dropped bits of food, abandoned pieces of costume, and other floor-level miscellany. Bare feet were the BEST idea.

Claire has shed another handful of years. The loose skin around her neck has started to firm up. She pauses before answering, but can't find a trap in the question. "Aging, the beard's a fake." Lorraine is close enough to see the edges don't lay perfectly flat, especially as the potion starts to wear off and her face changes shape. "Warren made it for me."

Ria laughs heartily mid-hug nodding as she replies, "Yes, well I learned it from some guy." Score, Ria! It certainly is easy to sucker Lucian into forgiveness with a little bit of affection. Her bare-backed dress helps for sure. Men. Are. So. Simple. She holds on to his hand as they find a place on the dance floor, though when they pass Lois and Leander she purposely steps a bit a way from Lucian to let the radiance of his costume blind the new Triwizard champion and his date. Once they've found a spot, she tilts her head at Lucian, pursing her lips with teasing doubt. "Are you sure you know how to do this? Dance I mean? A few girls warned me you have two left feet."

Ophelia watches Phae for another long moment, glances at the doors… then nods. "Alright. Just one more, though. I don't want you to wear yourself out with this." She steps forward again, sliding her arms around Hephaesta. And for this dance, no matter the tempo of the music, she moves slower, eliminating the fancy twirls to just move with the music (at least somewhat in time with the beat) as though it were the slowest dance she's ever danced.

Lorraine can indeed see that, now that she's actually looking at it. "Hrm. That's a relief. You not having actual stones, I mean." Smirk. Leaning back to see Claire properly again, she examines the further changes. "Warren's a decent fellow," for a half blood. "Good at potions. I see him sometimes when I'm doing work for Slughorn." Of course, she's probably not actually happy that the aging potion is wearing off, especially since physically, she'll no longer have the upper hand — or the upper foot, even.

Lucian scoffs, and pulls Ria in close, taking one hand in his, his other going to her back. "Liar," is all he says, and he starts to lead. He may not be dancing with the stars (though, actually, he kind of is), but he's clearly no klutz on the dance floor. He gazes into her eyes, enchanted, their faces only dimly illuminated by his costume at this distance.

Mabel ahs, commenting to Eamon, "I don't know if we'll ever figure Mr. Pringle out, but *propriety,* you see. Dashed inconvenient if people make a fuss about it all, but it takes the fun out of it if everyone's just hanging it all about or fussing about who's making babies with who, for that matter. Causes the Muggles no end of grief if they take it all too seriously, and obviously wizards will be at each others' throats about it if they think it won't make enough pureblood babies, too. Manners. That's the thing."

Hephaesta looks a little disappointed at the notion of only one more dance. But if she plays along, maybe she can get a few more dances! With the slow tempo, she just hugs Ophelia, resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, murmuring softly.

Leander - given the opportunity to do so - moves Lois away from the larger clumps of other students and wanders off towards the emptier bits of the dance floor. He's not exactly the /most/ coordinated boy in the school, but luckily, he comes from a rather old-fashioned family with old-fashioned tastes - one of which is ballroom dancing. "I won't," he murmurs, keeping his hands around the Prefect's waist as he maneuevers away from the clot of teenage drama.

Ophelia's steps falter only a little when she hears the soft words. Then she's moving again, turning and rereaching up with one hand, lifting Hephaesta's chin so she can give her one more kiss, this one actually on the lips (gasp)! When she pulls back, she whispers something in reply, and carefully stokes a hand along the other girl's arm.

"Is that why nobody's ever seen you snogging?" teases Eamon. "Manners?" He slides his hand slowly around to the small of her back. "Alright, alright, propriety." Sigh. Dancing though! His face brightens again, and he returns his attention to the task of whirling her around the floor.

Gerald makes his goodbyes to the people he was sitting with, and waves to whoever notices him.

And because Ria is a mega, uber, power-hungry bitch she's used to leading every boy she's danced with in the past. That number amounts to two. She made the second one cry after she took control, and the rest never wanted to dance with her again, lest they become sobbing messes in her arms. So when Luc leads, it takes her by surprise a bit, her brows raising and her cheeks turning just a little red at his hand on her bare back. "Well well well," she says, trying to keep her cool. "Which one of your old girlfriends taught you to dance?"

Mabel just nods, with a winning thin smile. "Quite." But she knows a few dance steps as well, having a fairly convincing whirl about it.

"Scandinavia," breathes Lois again, with a pleased little sigh; she's so distracted by the thought that she barely notices the blinding passage of Lucian. The spots in her vision must surely be delight. Her feminine accomplishments extend to dancing, with immediate and gracious concession of the lead position to Leander; it's not her strongest skill, but she proves adept at keeping up and keeping her vulnerable toes free from danger. She's some whirls in before she manages, more solemnly, "We will have to talk about this beforehand, though. If there's anything I can help you train in…" The Slytherin is giving a warm and affectionate look. "We need to make sure you win, after all."

Pringle barks a warning at Ophelia…not to mention a number of other couples whose lips even look like they're going to touch. That is, until Professor Mopsus appears at Pringle's side. "My good man, I have a sneaking hunch that your office is being violated at this very moment." Generally, when Mopsus has a "hunch," it means "there is no possible doubt that it's true." Pringle is off like a shot, quickly vanishing from the Great Hall.

Eamon suspects he's pushed too far and returns her thin smile with his own, breaking out the dimples for her even. Once the song ends, he gently takes his hand from her waist. "Since I shattered your glass, can I get you a new one? Or maybe something to eat from the Entry Hall? Providing there's anything left…"

Claire's hair has started to turn back to blonde at the roots. The de-aging process has accellerated, Claire's in her early fifties now. Despite her returning strength, she doesn't try to crush Lorraine's hand. "He is. He's a good prefect." The conversation is a little more natural, but Claire remains rigid with tension.

Hephaesta blushes brightly and snuggles into Ophelia again. Her butterfly wings flap slowly in time with the tempo of their dance, there irridescent surface casting blue shimmers over the both of them.

"I—-" Leander is about to respond - thoughtfully, no doubt - to Lois's worries, but he's distracted very effectively by Ria's maneuvering of Lucian into his field of view. He cringes, raising a hand to block his field of vision, then scowls at his Housemate. Well, /both/ of his Housemates, really. When his eyes clear, the first thing he sees is Eamon, and he pauses in his slow rotation with Lois so that he can lean over and grab the other boy's shoulder. He leans in and whispers something, then goes back to his dance. "Of course. I… you know I wouldn't object to that." The Slytherin boy smiles. Yep, it's all good in paradise… FOR NOW.

Lorraine tests her luck — or Claire's tolerance — by stroking her hip with her thumb. Yep, still old lady hip, but getting closer to young every minute. What! She's tense. It's tension-relieving. Or just more to keep the Ravenclaw off balance. "He serves," she agrees idly. "He's useful."

Lucian grins, shaking his head at Ria. Never a dull moment with this girl. "Medusa Malfoy. Not that I'd consider her a girlfriend. I told you, I've never had a 'girlfriend' before." Seeing her blush, and thoroughly enjoying it, he gently rubs his thumb along her bare back.

With Hephaesta's whispered words filling her with joy, Ophelia gladly stays for another dance, and another, until it becomes clear that Hephaesta has reached her limit. At that point, she gently pulls Hephaesta from the dance floor, whispering a suggestion that they step outside for some air… or maybe just some unobserved snogging…

Mabel glances up as Leander says something, but takes Eamon's suggestion as meaning there might be some reason, nodding to Leander and Lois as they take a break from the dance floor. "Sounds just lovely."

Eamon gives Leander a curious look when the boy grabs his shoulder. He nods sharply, face suddenly serious. "When you've a minute," he agrees easily, and then returns his attention to Mabel, smiling fondly at her. "Now, about that drink?"

Ah, Mabel and Eamon are nearby? This being the first time Lois has been within easy speaking distance of her cousin all evening, she takes the opportunity to say, "Everything well? That was a clever bit of spellwork, earlier… MacCaille is -" she pauses in her sentence, a trifle ominously, "- behaving himself, I hope." Once she has Leander's attention again, she tightens her grip on his shoulder, gazing up at him with a mix of affectionate annoyance and just… affection. "You know, come to think of it," the Gryffindor says, teasingly, "I'm less surprised by this whole thing than I should be… You attract trouble like anything, after all."

"Medusa Malfoy? She can dance?" Ria tilts her head, looking rather surprised at the answer, "You know that she's missing a pinky toe right? I've seen it. It's disgusting. Would've thought not having it would throw off her balance or something…" Then again, it could have been before the days Medusa lost her toe. Still, Ria jerks slightly feeling the thumb on her back. Nervously, she eyes Pringle. Certainly that gesture was subtle enough where he wouldn't pull them off the floor right? She's red. As red as a tomato.

Claire dances like a tree. And not like a swaying willow, like an oak. Stomp stomp stomp. The hip stroking doesn't so much relax her as wind the spring another round tighter. The last couple of decades come off quickly, and Claire's back to her chronological age. She peels off the beard and tucks it in a pocket. Claire scratches her jawline - that thing itched! - before replacing her hand on Lorraine's back, because what else is she supposed to do with it?

Mabel smiles over to Lois, as the two prepare to spell themselves from the dance floor, nodding to Lois, it being the look in her eye rather than tone that says she means it, "Oh, a perfect gentleman, of course." Smiles to Leander. "Congratulations on your selection, by the way, Fox, Do let us know if we can help."

Eamon is so good! See? Look at that tail wag at her praise. He's trying. Boy he's trying. He grins at Lois, showing off his teeth in a way that he hopes looks friendly but probably just looks manic.

"I… sorry about that," Leander mutters. Yes, he does seem to attract trouble - or just plain generate it - on a regular basis. As he passes Ria and Lucian in a slow revolution, he looks tempted to stop the two of them… but doesn't. Plenty of time for that later. The boy's dark eyes follow the forms of other students as they leave with their dates - his brother included - and suddenly, as the song comes to a close, Leander pulls Lois closer and tilts his head towards the exit to the hall. "It's awfully stuffy in here, Lois. Would you like to take a walk?" Maybe he's nervous about stepping on her bare feet, after all? When Mabel addresses him, he glances towards the girl and gives her an earnest smile. "Of course. Thank you."

Lucian continues the stroking of his thumb. That shade of red is just too delicious to let go of. "I've never seen her feet. But she's a great dancer." He peers around, looking for Medusa's blonde hair, but either she's blending into the crowd, or she's slipped away from the dance. "Of course this was in Third Year. I have learned a thing or two since then." To prove it, he lifts his arm, guiding her in a spin that sends the clinging shadows at the hem of her dress into a pinwheel.

Lorraine, being a bold sort, steps a little closer to her oak tree of a dance partner. Definitely within that bubble of personal space. "You look better without it," she tells the tall beater. "And the age spots, for that matter. Now you just look like you stole Dippet's wardrobe."

Mabel half-curtseys, half- bows, and all halfway, as many of the eligible couples start retreating from the floor, and, while Eamon pours a fresh glass of pomegranate juice, pulls a large black disc out of some magical pocket in her costume wings. "As for the rest of the evening, I understand some Ravenclaws are curious to find out what the word 'Swing' means."

"Hmm." Lois has only SUSPICION for Eamon. Mabel gets a smile, though, before her path with Leander takes them further away. One-two-three one-two-three… "A walk?" Her eyes flick towards the entryway, just in time to see that oddly unmemorable Hufflepuff, Clark, slipping into the Hall - you know, ages after mysteriously disappearing for… some reason. Why he decided to wear a knight's armor, but in red and blue, is anyone's guess. Lois, regardless, decides that discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to exes - and nods up at Leander. "Yes - I could do with some fresh air, I think." Pym, out.

Good things come to those who wait! Eamon, infinately patient, holds the glass of pomegranite juice and eyes the black disc. Suspicion! He's the most proper man in this room right now! "Swing?" Poor boy sounds nervous.

Good thing Ria can't sense Leander looking over at her, because if he did try to approach them, she would cut. his. head. off. for ruining a perfect moment. But the Slytherin girl makes a mental note to ask Medusa to dance next time she sees her. Ria is under the impression the pinky toe is the most essential part of dancing. But before she can ask what it is that Lucian learns, she's spun around with a 'whoa!' And somehow she manages to come out of it gracefully, or perhaps the spinning shadows under her dress make her look good. With a chuckle she rejoins him in the dance, "I know a few tricks too." And in one swift movement, she puts her leading skills into play and pulls Lucian into a slight dip. She's rather rough with it too. No wonder that one kid cried.

Lucian is far too engaged in Ria to take note of Leander, either. She has never looked as beautiful as she does in her gown of midnight. This is a memory he'll cherish forever. When she pulls him into the dip, he completely loses himself in the moment. Thank Merlin that Pringle is gone, because the kiss he lays on her is certainly beyond the Caretaker's tolerance.

Claire cracks half a smile. "Well he is such a fashionable dresser." Where fashionable equals 1700's old man wear. And then ahhhh, personal space! It takes a minute for her brain to parse the new logistics. Oh, duh, she could just step back. In fact, she's probably dispatched the requested dance. Claire extricates herself from Lorraine. "Ah. Well. There you go," Claire says, still suspicious but slightly pink.

And that kiss certainly catches Ria off guard, because after the few brief seconds of her enjoyment she flurries into a panic and drops Lucian on the floor in a piling heap of sunshine.

Lorraine looks satisfied with Claire's pinkening face, even as Claire extracts herself from her hold. "Does that mean you don't want to take a walk with me?" teases the Slytherin, merciless.

Lucian just starts laughing, laying there on the floor. "Ria, you are so jumpy." He pulls himself to his feet, and offers her his arm. "Come on. I'll walk to back to the dungeon. We can blind some snoggers in the labyrinth."

Claire mumbles something unintelligible and walks away. Walks away in a direction that does not require her to turn her back completly on Lorraine. Because does not compute.