A Muggle Halloween

By wej5541

Disclaimer: All characters and settings belong to JK Rowling. I am just playing in her play box.

A/N: I know that Harry’s ‘Wizard of the Month’ entry makes it sound like Harry didn’t return to Hogwarts for his 7^th year. I just like it better if he did.

It was dinnertime at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in early October. The loud rumbling slowly settled down as the crowd noticed that Headmistress McGonagall had stood up to address the crowd.

“May I have your attention please,” McGonagall started and then paused for the hall to further silence itself, “In celebration of the newly restored Hogwarts and in memory of former Headmaster Dumbledore, we will be celebrating Halloween this year with a muggle style Halloween party and ball. Everyone must attend the party and those 4^th year and above may go to the ball. Details will soon be posted in your common rooms.”

The noise in the Great Hall suddenly increased again to talk about the announcement as the Headmistress took a seat.

“Ginny, could you, would you, you know go to the ball with me?” Harry Potter asked his girlfriend Ginny Weasley who was sitting next to him at the Gryffindor table.

“Of course I will Harry, thanks for asking.” Ginny said before leaning over to give Harry a quick peck on the cheek.

Harry looked around as Ginny started talking with their best friend Hermione Granger and noticed that Ron Weasley, his other best friend, was talking animatedly with their roommates.

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A few days later, Harry was descending the stairway from the Boys Dormitories in Gryffindor Tower and noticed several people including Ginny bunched around the house posting board. After giving Ginny a hug, Harry looked at the board and found the following notice.

Hogwarts 1^st Annual Muggle Halloween Party and Ball

Party (In Room of Requirements – 1 PM)

- Booths by vendors in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.

- Various ‘Muggle’ themed games including.

Jeopardy (Muggle trivia game)

Dunking for Apples (You get on your knees and bend over a pool in an attempt to catch an apple with your teeth)

Banner Design Competition (Best Banner gets hung above Great Hall during Ball)

Twister (Game where you tangle limbs with other people and try to stay upright)

Best Costume Competition (Separate Male, Female, and Couples competitions)

- All Booths and Games include Trick-or-Treating where you can get free candy by saying “Trick or Treat” Candy donated by Honeydukes.

- All games give Candy Corn (A muggle corn-shaped candy that Professor Dumbledore loved) as prizes. At the end of the party house points will be given to the houses based on the amount of Candy Corn the house members have collected in the following manner:

1^st Place – 200 points

2^nd Place – 150 points

3^rd Place – 100 points

4^th Place – 50 points

Ball (In Great Hall – 7 PM)

- Dinner including popular Muggle food.

- Music provided by the Weird Sisters

- Dancing

“It sounds like fun,” Harry said as he turned his attention back to Ginny. “I can’t wait until Halloween this year.”

“I can’t wait either,” Ginny replied while giving him a hug. “Who do you want to dress up as?”

“Maybe we can go as Arthur and Guinevere!” Harry said so excitedly that Ginny could see it on his face.

“Did you know that I was named after Guinevere?” Ginny asked while looking up at Harry’s face.

“No I didn’t, but I’m glad I found out now.” Harry took Ginny’s hand and the couple headed down to breakfast.

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A couple of days before Halloween, Harry and Ginny were returning to Gryffindor Tower from a local broom cupboard when they heard loud shouting leaking through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

“You assumed? You just assumed that I was going to the ball with you and you fail to mention this until the last minute?” Hermione’s loud voice said.

“Of course I’m going with you, who else would I go with? You aren’t going with anyone else are you? How could you!” Ron shouted with a bit of concern near the end.

“No Ronald, I’m not going with anyone. I’d rather go alone then go with someone who just assumed they were going with me!”

“We can’t go alone; we will be the only 7^th years there without dates.”

“That’s your problem. I don’t care if I’m alone or not. A girl likes to be invited as soon as it is possible. Just look at Harry, he invited Ginny to the ball less than 30 seconds after it was announced.”

“What about, what about the House Elves, we can’t let them go slaving away without pay all night!” Ron pleaded.

“Just caring about House Elves to get back in my good graces won’t work this time Ronald. Good night!”

Harry and Ginny were still listening from behind the portrait as they heard Hermione storm off. They had looks of surprise and great worry on their faces.

“We have to do something about this.” Ginny said looking over to Harry. “We won’t be able to get any peace at all for the rest of the year if they aren’t back together soon.”

“I have an idea.” Harry said as he leaned into Ginny’s ear to let her in on the plan.

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It was nearing 1 PM on Halloween as Harry was waiting not so patiently for Ginny to come down the girl’s stairway. Harry was dressed like an old king and even had the sword of Gryffindor which McGonagall let him borrow for the occasion.

Harry’s attention level took a sudden leap as he noticed Ginny coming down the stairs. She was wearing a tight white gown that was practically glowing on her. Harry had never seen her so beautiful.

“Ready to depart to the party milady? The party is about to commence.” Harry said.

“Why sure sir,” Ginny offered her arm to Harry and he grabbed readily. “It would be my pleasure.”

The couple then left the common room amongst the stares of everyone in it.

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Soon they arrived at the party and began to wait with the rest of the students. Ron and Hermione were staring at each other, but glared whenever one caught the other looking. Before long the doors to the room of requirements opened and Headmistress McGonagall walked into the hallway and began to speak.

“Welcome to the first annual Muggle Halloween Party here at Hogwarts,” She began moving her head back and forth so that everyone could see her. “You may enter the party as soon as I say now,” she walked out of the way and said “Now!”

Before Harry and Ginny could take 2 steps into the room of requirement, Kreacher appeared right in front of them holding two black and orange bags up in the air.

“Master Harry and Mistress Ginny must have these bags so they can go trick-or-treating!” The house elf said.

“Thank you Kreacher,” Harry said as he took his bag and looked at the elf. “You can now go back to the rest of the elves to help the other students.”

Kreacher then moved on to Hermione and continually demanded she take the bag despite her protests that it isn’t necessary and that he shouldn’t be working so hard.

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Harry and Ginny continued enjoying the party while falling on top of each other during twister, foolishly trying to get apples with their mouths, and laughing together at the sight of pure-blood Slytherins trying to answer muggle trivia questions in Jeopardy. They even had a chance to shop at some of the booths and visit with Ginny’s brother George, and his friend Lee Jordan who were running the Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes booth.

Finally Professor McGonagall took the stage to announce the winners of the costume competition.

“The winners for best costumes for a couple go to Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley as King Arthur and Guinevere.”

“Yes!” Harry and Ginny shouted together before going up on the stage to receive their small trophies.

“Now for best male costume,” McGonagall continued with her announcements, “the winner is Ron Weasley as Frankenstein.”

Ron made his way on stage to receive the reward looking the best he had in several days.

“The winner for best female costume goes to Hermione Granger as Glinda the Good from the muggle movie ‘the Wizard of Oz’.”

Hermione joined Harry, Ginny and Ron on the stage also looking excited.

“The winners of the couples costume category along with the male and female winners acting as a couple will open the ball with the first dance.”

The room of requirements was filled with loud applause, Ron and Hermione looked surprised while Harry and Ginny had big grins on their faces.

Professor McGonagall continued on with the winners of the most candy corn (Gryffindor) and best banner (Dean Thomas). Harry approached the Headmistress when she was finished.

“Here are the 20 galleons I promised you professor.”

“Forget it Potter, they won fair and square and having them back together again will make life easier for me as well.”

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A while later, Harry and Ginny found themselves in the great hall and took their seats at their assigned table with Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbot, and a disgruntled Ron and Hermione.

Before they had time to talk it was time for the first dance. The Weird Sisters started a slow number and Harry and Ginny started moving to the music. While he still wasn’t much of a dancer, Harry was definitely enjoying dancing with Ginny more than he did opening the Yule Ball with Parvati his fourth year. Looking around Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione were both glaring at each other while dancing very tensely. Half way through the number the rest of the couples joined in the dance and both Harry and Ginny noticed a marked improvement in Neville’s dancing ability; he wasn’t stepping on Hannah’s toes nearly as much as he did Ginny’s at the Yule Ball.

After the dance the couples returned to the table to begin the meal. Ron and Hermione were obviously still angry with each other so Harry started talking with Neville and Hannah.

“When did you two get together?” Harry asked.

“We started seeing each other last year,” Neville started, “And then we started spending most of our time together during the summer.”

“What are you doing now?” chimed in Ginny.

“Neville works as a landscaper, and I’m working as an assistant barmaid at the Leaky Cauldron,” Hannah said.

Harry realized that the meal was served when he heard Hermione say…

“Thank you Kreacher, you don’t need to work so hard though. You need to take more time off. I’m sure Harry would give it to you.”

“Hermione, for once can’t you just let Kreacher do his job, you are driving everyone crazy,” Ron shouted at her from across the table.

Harry agreed with Ron’s sentiment, but wisely avoided voicing his thought.

“So Neville, when did you get so good at dancing,” Harry asked in an attempt to break the tension.

“As soon as the Headmistress invited us, Hannah and I decided to take dancing lessons so I won’t have to bruise her toes like I did Ginny’s. Sorry about that Ginny.”

“That’s ok Neville, that was ages ago and we have both learned much since then.”

The couples ate their meals slowly, Ron and Hermione still glaring at each other.

“Harry, why don’t we dance some more,” suggested Ginny.

Harry responded by getting up and taking her arm. They made their way across the dance floor until they arrived at Ginny’s oldest brother and their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Bill Weasley.

“Bill, nothing has worked so far we will need those portkeys after all,” Ginny said urgently.

Bill reached in his pocket and pulled out two pins.

“Attach these to each of their costumes and then Harry can activate them with a silent ‘Portus Activate’ charm.”

When they arrived back to their table they both feigned tiredness and Harry attached the pin to the back of Ron’s pants. After a nod from Ginny, Harry carefully waved his wand thinking of the necessary spell. Both Ron and Hermione suddenly disappeared from the Great Hall.

“Where did they go?” asked Hannah.

“We sent them to Moaning Myrtles bathroom. She will keep them locked in there until they kiss and make up,” Ginny answered.

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Thirty minutes later loud voices were clearly heard coming towards the entrance.

“When I get through with them they are going to wish that they had died,” Said a voice sounding like Ron’s.

“Ginny, I think we should run!”

Fin