Chapter 18

As they entered the Great Hall, a house-elf dressed in formal wear ushered them to a round table in the middle of the room. His name was Winkle. He was one of the 'freed' house elves who 'worked' for Hogwarts and got paid for it. Dobby and Hermione had managed to at least get a few to step out of their lives of servitude.

At their table they sat and looked around at the other students. All of the tables were round instead of their usual long straight ones. Each seated eight people. The rest of the students were also decked out in their best 'duds'.

Hermione noticed that Draco was getting angry and curious glances at his choice of dinner company. She also noticed that he chose to ignore them. When everyone was done being seated, Dumbledore clapped his hands and several elves came out of the kitchen side door.

They went to work setting different dishes down on tables. Ron, being the bottomless pit, lifted the top off the plate as soon as it touched the tablecloth. When he saw the different array of food he jumped right in. In two seconds his plate had to be a foot high with food.

Hermione just stared at him in wonder. She couldn't figure out for the life of her where he packed it all away. The others actually studied the food before choosing. There were so many delicious fixings on the arrangement that she found it hard to decide.

Though, she did decide to stay away from the moving food such as the chicken fingers. The tiny chicken claws walked back and forth within their 'chicken coop'. She placed a little bit of everything else on her plate and set to work at eating it.

By the time she was halfway done, Ron and Harry had gone through seconds. She watched Draco's face become one of disgust. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "If you think this is bad, you should have seen them when Mr. Weasley took us out to an All-you-can eat buffet. Between them and the twins they practically had to shut down the restaurant!" She snickered and went back to eating her portion.

When it looked as if everyone in the Great Hall was done eating, Dumbledore clapped his hands again and the house elves came out with more plates. This time Ginny smacked Ron's hand before he could lunge at the food and lifted the top off the platter herself. It was a giant double layered 'chocolate moose' cake! The moose was looking back and forth between the party and let out a low groan.

Harry and Ron quickly glanced at everyone. No one made a move at the plate so they grabbed it and started cutting a 'small piece' from its body. Harry took the moose's head and Ron his backside. As Ron brought the fork to his mouth, the tail swooshed back and forth giving him a chocolate mustache.

Lavender, even though she was disgusted with his eating habits, she couldn't help but giggle at the sight of his new look. She handed him a napkin so he could wipe it away. When they finished everyone just stared at them quietly.

"What?" They asked in unison. Everyone just laughed at them as crumbs fell from their chocolate covered chins. They were also oblivious to the disgusted looks their dates were giving them which made the others laugh even harder.

A clinking of a glass drew their attention away and to the head table. Professor McGonagall had stood and was waiting patiently for the conversations to cease. "Now that everyone is finished with there meals, we will be exiting to the auditorium. Everyone is permitted to attend the performance."

"Though, I regret to inform you, that only the sixth and seventh years will be aloud to stay for the dance afterwards."

This statement started an echo of groans throughout the Hall. Dumbledore stood and raised his hand, silencing them. "There is no need for that. This is standard tradition and should not be a surprise to you. When you get to be an upperclassman, then you too will get to reap the benefits of your station."

The younger students settled down and rose with the rest of the students to proceed to the auditorium. Draco and Hermione were already at the doors so they could direct everyone properly.

As they arrived at the doors, Hermione cringed as they came to a stop. She was crossing her fingers hoping all would go well. Draco pushed open the doors and let everyone file in. They instructed everyone to move all the way down the rows so everyone would have room to sit.

Hermione watched her friends sit in a row near the front. She and Draco would be sitting at the head of the audience to conduct the events and commentate if needed. As everyone sat the lights dimmed and a bright lightening bolt cracked through the ceiling and where it hit a sixth year student now stood.

Everyone applauded at his entrance and the show began after his opening speech.

(A/N: I know it is short but I just got back from vacation and threw this together for a filler. The next chapter will have the performance and some other interesting tidbits so stay tuned...lol)