Nearly a month and half have passed since the encounter with Acton, but Harry saw no sign of commotions in the Auror Office. Then he immediately wondered if he just had no idea what was really going on in the office. However, he knew that Acton had something in his mind and no longer worried about the issue.
The weather was getting chilly and gloomy, signaling that the autumn was well on the way. However, no one was discouraged by the cold weather, because Halloween was today. The recruits had a day off and had a masquerade with other Aurors. They did not have to dress for anything, but there was a game involved that also worked out as a test. Everyone had to disguise themselves and act perfectly like someone else. The others were allowed make one guess. The room was enchanted so that if the guess was correct, then the respondent's disguise would be undone automatically. Otherwise, not only the questioners could not ask nor guess about the identity of the others for the remainder of the night, their disguise would be undone in return. Therefore, they had to make very careful guesses as to who the real person was under the disguise. According to the rumors, there was supposed to be a surprise prize for the last three individuals.
During the course of the classes, Harry soon realized that the point of this training program was not to learn new materials. As Calista and Doug made clear, the recruits had all necessary information. The purpose of the program was that the young wizards had to learn the ways to moderate their skills to fit Aurors' jobs. Harry had learned not only refine his Transfiguration skills, but acting, various accents, and trivia information in order to enact someone completely different. They also had to remember the faces of important officials in Ministry in case they had to be the double. Experience in foreign language was an excellent addition and everyone had to know basic phrases as well.
At first, everyone struggled at the rather eccentric material of the course. However, they soon realized the necessity and rigorously followed. After much confusion and struggle, Harry could say that they did rather a fine job. And as a gift, the Auror Office was having a day off on Halloween.
As Halloween party neared, everyone became busy to perfect their second identity. Ron was bustling through the old copies full of hairstyles and faces. Harry chuckled, remembering the first time he had received the package. He was dumbfounded to learn that he had to remember as many features on the papers as possible. Although it seemed pointless at first, Harry soon noticed dramatic changes in his Transfiguration. And he embarrassedly remembered his rather plain disguise he used as James Evans. No wonder Raquel recognized him immediately.
Speaking of Raquel, she seemed to be the only who was gliding through this course. It was as if she was a natural in disguise. Even Calista was impressed with Raquel's skill and talent. Doug made a joke about how Raquel's codename should be Shapeshifter due to her excellent disguise skills. She was the only one who was allowed to skip the disguise portion of the class. However, she still had to attend the conceal portion of the class.
As important as the disguise was, it was also important to hide the traces of their original identity. Harry had learned for the first time that everyone's magical energy had distinct quality. Using Transfiguration would usually hide this quality, but hiding one's trace solely depended on individual skills. It also worked the other way: if they had sharp skill as to see through Disguise Charm, they could more easily figure out who the real person was, or at least figure out that the person was using the charm.
This party, as fun as it was supposed to be, was a real life example of how this skill was going to be used. Many times, Aurors used this charm to blend in with the rest of the crowd or act as a double. This party will force the recruits to use their skills to maximum to trick everyone.
As the masquerade approached, Harry became more anxious. He looked at his reflection under bright full moon light. He had no idea what he should disguise as. On one side, he wanted to disguise from someone completely opposite from him; but on the other side, that would be exactly everyone's intention. Therefore, if he actually disguised to someone somewhat close to him, it could work as a ploy to throw off others. Harry smiled at his eagerness for this party. He was ready to test the skills that he had learned so far.
Then an idea came to his head. He had no idea if it would work. In fact, it could expose him at the bet, but he was willing to take a risk. Harry quickly underwent a disguise. Looking at himself in the mirror, he touched his changed body rather awkwardly. He was positive that he was close, but he could not make sure. Complaining about the new burdens on his chest, he grudgingly came out of his room.
Luckily, the hallway was empty except candles and Jack-O-Lantern hanging in midair for decorations. He quietly headed to the Lounge, anxious to see who might be there. The hall was decorated beautifully with candles and Jack-O-Lanterns. He noticed live bats flying in the air and cats standing on the top stool of the wall. There were ghosts here and there that he had never seen. Unlike Hogwarts, there were no residing ghosts in the Auror Office, so Harry guessed that they were invited to the masquerade as well. There were already many people in the hall enjoying good music, drinks and other's companies.
Harry quickly closed his mouth before anyone can see through his act. He put his hand on his head, stumbled and groaned. He sat by the window as if he was in pain. Soon enough one person approached him. Through half lidded eyes, Harry carefully searched for the signs in her disguise. She was…. Little Red Riding Hood? With curly pigtail, little face and most importantly with giant red hood that she was wearing, Harry did not have to second guess what the disguise was supposed to be.
"Are you OK?" The girl asked. Harry failed to recognize any resemblance to anyone he knew. He studied the face carefully with no luck. Eyeing her carefully, he continued his act. "I'm not really feeling well. I was hoping to see Acton somewhere. I'm really bummed but I can't really go to the party with this fever." He tried to imitate the voice and the intonation of speech as much as he could. He was hoping that he was doing a good job. Little Red became instantly worried and put a hand on his forehead. It was slightly warm due to the charm he had put on his forehead.
"Oh no!" She cried. "You're burning up! I will help you up." Harry limply leaned against the teenager, desperately trying to find the trace of magical energy. However, she was good at concealing her own energy even when she was busy helping him out.
When they finally reached the door, Harry was ready to give up. There was no way this cheap trick would have worked, he wearily thought. He smiled at her the best he could and was about to head the door when he heard the fateful words.
"I hope you feel better soon, Raquel!" Little Red cried out. Harry smiled in incredulous turn of luck. He fully turned around to face the girl who had no idea what was coming to her. Slowly, but surely, her disguise was becoming undone. She did not notice the change immediately, but when she did, she shot a surprising look at Harry. He was not sick anymore; rather he was very happy. He quickly changed his appearance to the one he had already planned. He couldn't believe that his plan actually worked. He congratulated himself as Little Red slowly turned back to the man he saw couple times in the Lounge. The Auror was struck by what had happened, but he began his roaring laughter.
"Nice work, probie. That's a fine job you did. Bloody hell, I didn't know I would be out of this so quickly." He pointed at Harry with smile. "I'd really like to see who you really are. I will be keeping an eye on you." Then he wearily walked away, waving at his friends who were laughing.
Harry smiled at his surprising accomplishment. Even for him, all those classes and rigorous trainings were overwhelming at time to make him doubt about himself. This surprise gave him a huge confidence in his skills, which delighted him very much. He finally felt confident enough to enjoy the party.
Quite some time has passed since the masquerade started. Everyone was releasing the tension of the game and finally enjoying the masquerade for the sake of it. When the Lounge was crowded with people, two people walked in that not only drew everyone's attention but made their jaw drop.
Kingsley Shcaklebolt? He madly thought. What in the world could he be doing here? Then he remembered the nature of the party and quickly realized that it was someone who disguised as the Minister. Harry chuckled at the detailed disguise that included the signature hoop earring. He was deathly curious of who actually dared to disguise as the Minister.
But the other person who walked was the one who created more commotion. Harry knew that in Muggle world, people took their costumes and imagination to their version of fantasy, but he had never guessed that someone from this office would too. Standing behind seemingly Shacklebolt was the exact replica of a Veela that he saw in Qudditch World Cup. She—there was absolutely no way that a man would transform into a Veela—was as striking as a real Veela. Dazed, Harry wondered if she somehow possessed the same charm that real Veelas did. However, he did notice differences: She was more reserved and cold compared to Veelas who were mostly concerned with seducing men. The moment he saw her, he dived into his consciousness to trace the magical energy. He was surprised to be repelled by such a strong, brute defense against her and Shacklebolt. She gave the entire Lounge a meaningful look, ending with Harry. He figured that everyone tried to trace who she was and all failed.
Soon the initial shock was gone and everyone returned to their usual business in the party. During the course of the masquerade, many people came in and were forced to retreat to their original appearances. Ron held out pretty well until when someone spilled a drink on him; he lost his concentration and his hair turned bright red. Before he could change it back, someone yelled out his name and he was reverted back to himself.
An old man from the corner of the room walked into the crowd and found Shacklebolt. The man began to laugh uncontrollably, making everyone stop talking and stare at him. When he finally stopped laughing, he said to Shacklbolt through his panting, "Oh, Acton. I can't believe that you actually turned into Shacklebolt. It took me forever to figure out who you were!"
Shacklebolt made a mysterious smile and by everyone's surprise, he turned back to his real self: Acton Salmander. Harry saw the old man silently cheering for himself. He could not help noticing the similarity with the behavior of….
"And from my observation, you must be Jaden. Only he would display such behaviors," said a beautiful brunette woman with thick rimmed glasses. Her appearance vaguely reminded of Harry Marianne, but he knew that she knew better not to disguise into someone who looked so much like herself. But then, it could be exactly what she hoped everyone would think.
Harry's brief dilemma came to an end when Ron blurted out. "You are Bernard! No one says my observation except you!" The woman looked at Ron grudgingly as she turned back to Bernard. Harry turned his attention back to Jaden who had dark gray hair as if he was portraying his mood. Harry was surprised that Jaden was not one of the three last remaining wizards since he could change his appearance without any spell as a Metamorphmagus.
As such, the guesses were taken back and forth, causing laughter here and there when the person's identity was revealed. Harry was surprised that he had been able to hold out for this long. The lack of energy and giggling showed him that everyone was drunk and the party was dwindling. He quickly glanced around the room and was surprised that…
"Alright. The masquerade is over. Why don't you three come over here?" Acton waved at Harry. He excited walked to the center of the room. The other two were Veela and six year old looking newspaper boy. The boy chuckled and quickly removed her spell, revealing Raquel. Veela quickly changed her appearance too as LeRouge. Harry noticed how little her facial appearance changed. With minimal changes in her appearance, she was still able to portray a completely different person—or creature, in this case. While he marveled at her talent, Harry also turned himself back to his original self. Acton smiled at the three winners and gave them tickets.
"This," explained Acton, "is the ticket for the opera called Rennervate that is opening tomorrow night. As a part of Ministry office, Auror Office was given three tickets for the world premiere in the best seats of the theater. Usually, I would put it in an auction, but I thought it would be a great prize for the masquerade. Happy Halloween."
Harry tried his very best not to laugh when he saw Raquel's expression. While he was sure that he was no fan of opera, he was excited for the new experience and a chance to get out of the Office for the first time in quite a while.
OK, i admit it if you think this chapter is a bit crappier than the others. I had really really hard time writing this because... I didn't like it. :/