Harry Potter and the Mind Mage

By James Milamber

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry this took so long, but several things came up. Not only am I in the process of moving house, but I had a major case of writers block. But here it is: the first chapter of the Hogwarts Halloween Ball!

By the way, the "Mighty hero" quote was almost verbatim from (yet again) the Mallorean. I'm terribly disappointed in you all…although full points to goddess of war and wisdom as the only person who got it right.

Attention all Sirius fans! If you're looking for a great fic about Sirius, check out Sirius' Choice by Whimsical Firefly. The best fic I've read about just exactly what happens to Sirius after he falls through the veil…so go read and, of course, review!

The day of the Halloween Ball dawned to a castle bustling with activity. The Great Hall was sealed as it was decorated, so the students were forced to eat breakfast in their common rooms.

By lunchtime, most of the female population of Hogwarts had disappeared to get ready. Ginny gave Harry's hand a brief squeeze before following Hermione and Isabelle.

'Aren't you going too?' Harry asked Cassie, seeing that she hadn't moved from her place next to Alex.

'I suppose,' she made a face.

'Don't worry,' Alex said with a grin. 'You have an entire night of that cute accent to look forward to. Won't that be fun?'

Cassie stuck her tongue out at her twin before she followed the other girls slowly up the stairs, muttering under her breath.

The boys whiled away the hours by holding an impromptu chess tournament. Harry was knocked out in the first round rather spectacularly by Alex, who was in turn barely beaten by Ron. The redhead was looking a little wild as he came closer to a defeat than he had faced since Harry had known him.

Finally, about half an hour before six, when the Ball was scheduled to start, the Gryffindor boys retreated to their dorms to get ready.

Harry studied himself in the full length mirror he had transfigured his Charms textbook into. His robes were a shade of emerald green that matched his eyes almost exactly. They were much fancier than those Mrs. Weasley had bought him in his fourth year. Ginny had told him that this particular cut had been popular back in the fifteenth century. There were a few too many ruffles and other extravagances for his taste, but he had to admit that Ginny had been right, it did look good. On an impulse, he wore the medallion Ginny had given him outside his clothes. The emerald eyes of the Basilisk glinted dully whenever they caught the light.

Ron's robes, thankfully, were free of lace. He wore the robes the twins had purchased him the previous year, simple yet functional. The redhead was currently pulling at the collar with one finger, as if it were strangling him.

'Stop worrying about it, Ron,' Dean laughed, shaking his head.

'It feels…I dunno, really tight,' Ron was starting to get panicky. 'Maybe I can spell it or something…'

He started looking for his wand, but Harry spotted it first and quickly summoned it.

'Oi! Give me back my wand!'

'Ron,' Harry said calmly. 'It's fine. If you try to change it now, you'll only make it worse. Do you want it to be worse than it already is?'

'No,' Ron slumped back onto his bed.

'Here,' Harry tossed the wand back. 'Don't use it on the robes,' he warned.

'Yeah yeah,' Ron grumbled, stuffing the wand into his pocket.

'If you want it adjusted, get Hermione to do it,' Seamus suggested, receiving a pillow in his face for his effort.

'Seriously Ron, it's fine,' Alex assured him. While the other boys all wore coloured robes, Alex wore elaborate robes of deepest black. His long hair was tied back, falling past his shoulders. The dark colour accentuated his pale skin, making him look uncomfortably like Voldemort.

Harry shook his head ruefully. Maybe he was getting paranoid. He was seeing threats of Voldemort everywhere he looked, now it seemed even his friends weren't safe.

He turned and strode to his bed, picking up his wand. He was about to stick it in a pocket, as Ron had done, when Zith rose up from his bed.

'Allow me, Master,' Zith wrapped herself around Harry's left wrist, leaving a small gap between herself and the back of Harry's wrist. Getting the idea, Harry slid his wand into the space between his skin and the snake's scales. The result was a makeshift wrist holster, which Harry could access quickly if the need arose.

'Thank you, my friend,' Harry hissed. Zith gave him a look of what he could swear was amusement.

'One is happy to be of service, Master.'

Harry smiled and slid his sleeve down to cover the snake, although considering she was almost the same colour as the robes, it was almost unnecessary.

'Come on you lot, it's almost time,' Alex said from the doorway, tapping his watch pointedly.

'I can't do this!' Ron suddenly blurted, his eyes taking on a look of sheer panic.

'Ron, get a hold of yourself!' Harry said sharply, grabbing Ron by the shoulders and shaking him. 'What's got you so worked up? You've been going out with Hermione for two months!'

'But we've never been on a date,' Ron emphasized.

'Neither have me and Ginny,' Harry shrugged. 'Just stop worrying, okay? You've known her for six years, you'll be fine.'

'Please don't use my sister in examples like that,' Ron said in a pained voice, reluctantly allowing Harry to drag him from the room.

All the male members of Gryffindor in third year or above were waiting in the common room, some looking apprehensive, some excited, and not a few terrified. Inevitably, all were gazing steadily at the staircase leading to the girl's dorms. The phrase "cattle to the slaughter" crossed Harry's mind briefly, but he quickly squashed it.

'How long do you reckon they'll be?' Ron asked nervously.

'I have no idea,' Harry said in exasperation. 'Ron, will you…stop…worrying…'

He trailed off helplessly, his eyes riveted to the stairs. He barely acknowledged the fact that Hermione, Isabelle and Cassie were there. His eyes locked immediately on the diminutive redhead at the rear of the group descending the stairs.

Her robes were of a lighter green than Harry's, cut in a similar archaic style. Her hair had been elaborately curled, with ringlets spilling down over her left shoulder in a wave of colour. She was smiling somewhat hesitantly at Harry as she reached the bottom of the stairs and crossed the room to stand in front of him.

Harry felt like he was frozen. He wanted to say something, to tell Ginny how absolutely gorgeous she looked, but everytime he opened his mouth his mind went blank and the words wouldn't come out. He stood there, staring into her wide eyes for a good half minute before he managed to make a sound.

'Wow,' he breathed, and her answering smile warmed him through. 'You look beautiful, Ginny.'

'Thanks, Harry,' she said a bit whimsically. 'You don't look so bad yourself.'

He extended his arm to her. He was rather proud that he managed to keep it mostly steady. 'Shall we go to the Ball, milady?'

'We shall, milord,' Ginny firmly took his arm, not even twitching when Zith rubbed her blunt nose briefly against the back of Ginny's hand.

As they left the common room, Harry couldn't keep his eyes off the girl by his side. She was not oblivious to his attentions, and a slow blush began to creep up her cheeks.

Finally they made it to the Great Hall, to find the doors standing wide open. They entered to a scene almost unrivaled in Harry's time at Hogwarts. As usual, live bats flocked around near the ceiling, which showed a clear night sky dotted with stars, an oddity since it wasn't dark outside yet. Hagrid's massive pumpkins had been carved into grotesque shapes and situated at intervals around the walls. In place of the usual House banners were masses of orange and black. Massive cobwebs, some as thick as Harry's wrist, hung loosely in the corners, swaying slightly in the breeze from the open doors as if alive. As at the Yule Ball, the house tables had vanished, replaced with many smaller tables, each designed to hold ten students, but the middle of the room was cleared, obviously designed as a dance floor. The Hall was about half full of students already, either sitting at tables or milling around near the entrance. Some were in Halloween dress, some wore simple dress robes.

Harry led Ginny to a table near to where the Gryffindor house table usually stood, holding her chair for her as she sat. It probably wasn't necessary, but he wasn't thinking too clearly at the moment and Ginny didn't comment.

They were soon joined by Ron and Hermione. 'Thanks for waiting, mate,' Ron said as they sat.

'Huh?' Harry's eyes snapped away from Ginny to rest on his friend. 'Did you say something?'

Ron grinned. 'Nothing, mate,' he said dismissively.

'Good,' Harry said distractedly, not even hearing Ron's amused snort.

'Harry,' Ginny giggled. She tilted her head in Ron and Hermione's direction.

'What?' Harry asked, confused. Comprehension dawned in his eyes. 'Oh.' He blushed, ducking his head slightly, then turned to face his two best friends. 'Sorry guys,' he apologised.

Ron was watching him with a grin, which Harry returned. Hermione was dressed in light blue robes, and as at the Yule Ball, she had straightened her hair. Much more than that didn't register as Harry's attention was again taken by Ginny. Ron chuckled, and Hermione shook her head with a smile.

They were soon joined by Neville and Luna, the former in robes of deep blue and the latter a paler blue trimmed with bronze. Luna's blonde hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and she was once again wearing her necklace made of butterbeer corks. Ginny had told him some time ago that Luna's mother had given the necklace to her the day she died, which was why the Ravenclaw loved it so much.

The Hall continued to fill, and Cassie and Seamus joined them. The former was smirking in satisfaction and the latter was blushing furiously. Harry briefly wondered what she had done to make the Irish boy blush, as he wasn't usually easily embarrassed. He decided he really didn't want to know.

Finally, when the Hall was mostly full, Alex and Isabelle made their entrance. Isabelle wore robes similar to her date's, a shade of black so absolute it almost seemed to swallow the light. Her hair had been left loose except for two long braids which had been entwined with silver threads and wound around her head, so they resembled a dark crown. They made quite a couple, and eyes from all corners of the Hall turned to follow their progress. Harry was a little surprised to see a silver embossed sword hilt at Alex's hip. His eyes followed the line of the hilt to find a black scabbard. The final effect was of a gothic prince and his princess, and Harry's blood ran cold as he watched the two approach.

'Hey guys,' Alex said with a smirk as they reached the table and took their seats.

'You two look great,' Ginny said warmly, nudging Harry lightly in the ribs.

'Where'd you get the sword?' Harry asked Alex curiously.

'What, this?' Alex drew the sword with a steely hiss, holding it up to the light. The blade was not the bright silver that Harry had expected, but a dull black with a vaguely Celtic motif engraved in blue near the top. 'It used to be Dad's, back when…well, you can probably guess. He let me borrow it for tonight. Dumbledore wouldn't let me bring it unless I put a Blunting Charm on the blade, though,' Alex explained, demonstrating by drawing the edge of the blade across his wrist, which remained unmarked. With a flourish, he slid the sword home.

'Your attention please!' Dumbledore called from the front of the Hall where the head table usually stood. A round table somewhat bigger than the others had replaced it, and seated around it were most of the Professors. For obvious reasons, Firenze was absent, as was Trelawney.

'Welcome one and all to the Hogwarts Halloween Ball!' Dumbledore beamed around the Hall, and there was a light smattering of applause. 'Before we get officially underway, I have a few announcements. Firstly, there will be a competition later for Best Dressed Couple, judged by a panel of Professors and students. Any couple who wants to enter should see myself, Professor McGonagall, or Professor Milton.'

'Secondly, I know it is customary for students to seek out the rose gardens and a little more privacy as the night wears on, but I ask that students restrict their movements to inside the castle.' Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and there was a titter of nervous laughter. 'Further, the main doors of the castle will be locked until tomorrow morning.'

The Headmaster clapped his hands together sharply, and with a great booming noise the massive doors out in the Entrance Hall snapped shut. For the second time in Harry's years at Hogwarts the doors sealed themselves closed, the huge locking mechanisms clicking loudly into place. There was an excited murmur from the Great Hall as the noise stopped.

'I assure you all, these measures are for your own safety,' Dumbledore said reassuringly. 'Now, enough of such maudlin matters. This is a Ball!'

He clapped his hands sharply together again, and with a sharp crack orange and black confetti appeared all over the Hall, showering everyone present. The students cheered, but Harry noticed some of the teachers looked less than pleased. In particular, Snape looked like it was taking all his self control not to leap to his feet and start decapitating people, starting with the Headmaster.

Harry smiled to himself as he looked back down at the table, where in front of every person a menu had appeared. This is going to be an interesting night

A/N: No, this isn't the end of the Ball. Stay tuned for the next chapter soon…

Review Responses:

Crumpled Paper: Basketball? BASKETBALL?!? Bloody Americans…cricket is the ultimate sport, but it was demonstrated definitively that Americans can't play it when the Canadians started an International team and they got absolutely FLOGGED. Poor bastards…

Evansk: See above. Cricket is not like Baseball in the least. If you're going to London, you have to know Cricket, my friend. The English invented the sport…course, the Aussies are still the best. And I'm not just saying that. We haven't lost a test series for about five years now. And that's not even mentioning Sir Donald Bradman…

Whimsical Firefly: Several million? I wish…

Saerry Snape: Saerry read and reviewed…what do I do? I know…AHHH! (runs screaming) Just kidding…but I really didn't expect a "moody Slytherin who likes the colour black" (to quote one of your old Profiles – sad, huh?) to like this story…shows how much I know, huh? I know, I know, I'm rambling. Sorry. Thanks! Erm…yes. Update NM!

Hermione2be: James will become more important as the story progresses. That's all I'm saying.

clcountry: I take it you're not a Slytherin then…

sunflowerchild: I think I should be offended…

Julia: Most of the students are just staying quiet (wouldn't you?) but the DA knows Harry better than the rest, and aren't going to turn on him after one little incident. Okay, a big incident, but still…

JCsDancerGurl: Hurrah! Someone cottoned on…you are the only one who worked out what Tonks was doing! I'm glad SOMEONE figured it out.

siriusblack08: I don't mind in the slightest. Send me the first chapter when you've finished it, and I'll take a look.