𝐌𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 | James S. Potter

13. Halloween Part 2: No. 1 Party Anthem

To answer Aurelia's question, Cameron in fact disappointed very much with his costume. A simple black cape, a white shirt and a pair of fake fangs, his uninterested face expression truly showed the work put into his costume. Once they all met up in front of the Ravenclaw common room, all he said to them was: "Let's get this prank over with," with a slight lisp.

    Albus, though, seemed to have pulled something off in the last minute, and Nora thought he looked brilliant. He mixed and matched colourful trousers and a patterned shirt, a large bow tie, and an oversized top hat. He put on some vibrant make up and messed up his hair, fitting for the character of the Mad Hatter.

    Mars went as an over-the-top muggle stage magicians, complete with a fake mustache and a top hat, a colourful fake bouquet of flowers in his hands.

All ready and dressed up, the group made their way up the moving staircase that led to the Gryffindor common room. They knew the password, of course, Albus got it from Lily just after the school year had started.

Instead of the Fat Lady, they found a group of first or second years manning the entrance, checking a list before allowing costumed students inside. The boy with the list, a small Gryffindor sporting thick black glasses, peered at them sternly. At first Nora thought he was only dressed up as a bodyguard, but then seemingly not.

The group shared a perplexed look—why was there a list, and who had given this task to these kids? Despite this, every arriving student had simply given the password and entered without being asked for their names, largely ignored by the young gatekeepers.

Just as Nora was about to speak with the Fat Lady herself, the boy with the list interrupted. "I'm sorry, I can't let you in," he said, positioning himself firmly in front of Nora and signaling for her to stop.

The rest looked at him, bewildered and already slightly frustrated.

"What do you mean you can't let us in?" Nora asked, her voice tinged with ironic amusement, hoping to diffuse the situation with humor. However, the boy remained firm.

"I mean I can't let you in," he said, his Irish accent coming through.

Mars and Albus tried to walk past him and walk in on their own, but the other three boys stood in their way, and neither Mars nor Albus seemed to want to push their way inside.

"This is ridiculous," Albus scoffed, "you've just let those Hufflepuffs in!"

"They weren't on the list," the boy shrugged, adjusting his glasses.

"They weren't on the list?" Mars echoed, almost chuckling. He nervously tapped his right foot on the ground.

"Nope."

"Would you mind just—," Scorpius began, awkwardly motioning for the boy to step aside, "going away?"

"As a matter of fact, I would."

"I demand you to let us in!" Scorpius raised his voice in an attempt to sound authorative.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Cameron huffed.

"You can't demand anything of me," the boy retorted, standing his ground as he raised his chin defiantly.

"I believe I just did," Scorpius answered back, and at that moment, although he towered over the Gryffindor, they looked awfully alike.

"And I didn't listen."

"Listen here, mate," Nora began almost in a whispering tone as she slightly crouched down.