This is the 2nd of 3 Halloween 2021 chapters. The 3rd will be written and posted closer to Halloween 2024 and will focus on a trick or treat session and the students' reactions to getting the ghost bags.
After breakfast, students all gathered on the Sloping Lawns and found the people they were supposed to be spending the day with.
Headmistress Kirke spoke into a giant orange megaphone she was holding in her left hand.
"The staff has set up several Halloween themed activities in a carnival like setting with tents and booths. There will be multiple tents or booths for each activity so that waiting on other teams to finish isn't an issue. I now leave you all to it. Happy Halloween 2021!"
Lily had found her fellow October 2021 Hogwarts Interhouse team members, Bruce, Navarro, and Wilma, and the four of them were discussing how much they appreciated the concept of these interhouse teams.
"As a first year," piped up Wilma, "I'm really enjoying the opportunity to meet older students and students from different houses that these interhouse teams are supplying. It has been utterly fulfilling to be a part of this team and I look forward to meeting new people for my November team."
"That's great to hear. Wilma," beamed Lily, "I feel the exact same way. The chance to meet and interact with new, different, and different kinds of people is precisely what Headmistress Kirke was aiming for with these interhouse teams. It has been a joy to meet and spend time with you three this month and I can't wait to meet my November teammates."
"Let me third that," nodded Navarro happily, "The interhouse part was the focus, but I also like how Headmistress Kirke represented four different years in each interhouse team. It's very heathy for students to interact with schoolmates who are both younger and older than them."
"All four of us are on the same page then," said Bruce warmly, "These teams are going to be responsible for really expanding all of our horizons at Hogwarts."
"Do any of you three have any ideas for what we should do first?" Lily asked Bruce, Navarro, and Wilma kindly.
"I think we should just do the events in the order we come to them," suggested Bruce, "Since we're going to do them all anyway, why not just do it that way?"
Navarro, Wilma, and Lily all agreed to this, and they walked up to the nearest booth, which proved to be a Bobbing for Oranges station.
There was a pool of water loaded with oranges in it in this booth. To the right of the pool was a digital clock that read 4:00 that they supposed was a countdown clock. The booth had a sign atop it in orange lettering that read: BOBBING FOR ORANGES!"
Below this title were the rules, which read:
In this version of Bobbing for Oranges, the object of the game is for each team member to catch four oranges in four minutes or less with each of the four team members using a different method. An orange shall be defined as caught the nanosecond it leaves the pool. Any individual who catches four oranges within the time limit of four minutes will win a small prize. If all four team members succeed, then they will all also win a bigger prize. This setup is meant to reward successful individuals while also encouraging teammates to root for each other rather than compete against each other. Each team member being required to use a different method should encourage teamwork as teams plan who uses which approach. The clock shall start the nanosecond the first attempt is made. Good luck!
"So," smiled Lily, "I love the rules here. They fairly reward individuals who accomplish the objective of the game while also encouraging comradery and requiring teamwork."
"It's a nice mix," agreed Wilma, "So, we need to divvy up approaches."
"Bruce is the oldest and he wants to go into politics," noted Navarro, "Let's let him take on the leadership role and instruct each of us on which methods we should each use."
"So," beamed Bruce, "I have the biggest mouth of the four of us. As such, it would be easier for me to use the traditional method of catching the oranges with my mouth than it would be for any of the three of you. Thus, I am assigning myself the mouth method."
"That's good thinking, Bruce," complimented Lily.
"As for Navarro," said Bruce thoughtfully, "He is a descendant of the inventor of the Golden Snitch. I think he should be able to catch things in his hands. I am therefore assigning Navarro the hand method."
"I did try out for the Seeker position for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team in my second year. I had an intense competition with Mellisa Jones for the Seeker Position. Mellisa beat me by the hair of my chinny chinny chin and she became Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain just two years ago in her second year on the team and third year at Hogwarts. Mellisa is in my year, and she is one of my best friends and we grew up knowing each other. Mellissa was very classy about being on the winning end of that trial. She told me that I was her equal and that I was just as worthy as she was. She told me to hang in there and that I would get another chance to make the team in the future. Well, we are both fifth years this year. Chaser Marissa Marshall graduated after last year. "
"Let me guess," piped up Lily, "You will be taking over Marissa's Chaser spot?"
"Nope," smirked Navarro, "Mellisa is moving to Chaser this year. I will be the new Seeker."
"So," grinned Lily, "We'll be playing against each other!"
"We will," said Navarro crisply, "Mellisa proved to be an excellent Seeker. Her performance helped Hufflepuff win consecutive Quidditch Cups in her first two years on the team. And the only reason we haven't four peated is because of Saver and you. See, Mellisa was really disappointed in all of the performances of the people who tried out for Chaser. She therefore decided to move herself to Chaser and make me Seeker."
"Smart captain," said Bruce approvingly, "Wilma and Lily, I know you are both very talented at Charms."
"Wilma can try the Summoning Charm," offered Lily kindly, "I know she'll do a great job at that. You can figure out something else for me. I want Wilma to be able to showcase her Charms talent."
"Aw, thanks Lily, that's so sweet," cooed Wilma, "I'm the best in my year in Charms. I don't like to boast about it too much though. I'm naturally humble, though I am quietly proud of my Charms skills."
"Lily," grinned Bruce, "How about you try to blow the oranges out of the pool?"
"I'm game," grinned Lily, "That's a different kind of challenge that should interject some fun into this."
"Begin," instructed Bruce.
Next nanosecond, Bruce, Navarro, Wilma, and Lily all got to work.
Bruce found catching the oranges in his mouth more difficult than he had envisioned. He failed to catch any oranges on his first six attempts. He finally caught an orange in his mouth on his seventh attempt, by which time a minute and half were gone. It took him another seven attempts and another minute and half before he caught his second orange. After three more attempts and thirty more seconds, he caught his third orange. After three more failed attempts, Bruce managed to catch a fourth orange with one second left on the clock.
Navaro, on the other hand, had a much easier time catching the oranges is his hands. In some ways, this just felt like a form of Water Quidditch to Navarro. He easily caught his first orange on his first attempt ten seconds into the game. he quickly proceed to catch a second orange ten seconds later and another twelve seconds later. After two misses that occurred because Navarro had become too excited and overconfident, Navarro took a deep breath and took a few seconds to calm himself down and refocus. Having gathered himself, Navarro caught his fourth orange with an impressive two and a half minutes to spare.
Wilma, meanwhile, had retrieved her wand from her right hand pocket with her right hand and attempted the Summoning Charm.
In the New Era of Hogwarts, Summoning Charms had downgraded from a fourth year spell to a third year spell. Wilma, however, was only a first year and had not attempted or been taught this spell in class. She had, however, read up on the theory of Summoning Charms and practiced a few simple ones herself. Amazingly, Wilma was able to achieve instant success in the task. Her Summoning Charm immediately pulled four oranges out of the pool and into her hands.
Lily, meanwhile, struggled with her assignment to blow the oranges out of the pool. She kept blowing on the oranges and not much happened. Two minutes in, with no success, Lily decided to change her tactic. There was no rule against this. She just had used a different tactic from any of her teammates. So, Lily rolled her hands into fists and punched an orange towards herself to get it close to the edge of the pool. She then took off her flip flops and dipped her right foot into the water and aimed a kick at the orange from under. The kick's aim was true, and the orange was knocked out of the pool. Lily repeated this process of punching oranges to the edge of the pool and kicking them successfully two more times. At this point there were thirty seconds left. On the last orange, she needed to kick it three times before she connected with it, but she got it out of the pool with three seconds left.
"Excellent, "cried all four of them as they realized they had succeeded. Lily slid her flip flops back on once she'd finished the task.
The oranges they had caught magically flew themselves back into the pool. At that point, a gargling noise could be heard. Some water in the middle of the pool made waves and their prizes appeared. These prizes zoomed into their hands automatically. The smaller prize was an orange plastic orange each. The bigger prizes were bronze trophies depicting people bobbing for oranges, with each team member's trophy depicting the method he or she had used to catch the oranges.
"I love the trophies," cooed Wilma, "It's a really nice touch that they each depicted the method the individual used."
"I completely agree," piped up Lily, " They capture our moments in time."
"They'll be nice trinkets to remember this Halloween by," declared Navarro.
"All the credit in the world to Lily for thinking to change her tactic halfway through," complimented Bruce.
"What I was doing wasn't working, so, why not try something else," said Lily cheerfully.
"Catching the oranges with my mouth was harder than I thought it would be," admitted Bruce, "This was both a humbling and a rewarding experience."
"I did well as long as I didn't get too full of myself," admitted Navarro, "Getting bigheaded leads to failure. I got back on track when I calmed down and regathered myself."
"This was a piece of cake for me," said Wilma quietly, "I'm proud of my Charms skills, but I just don't like boasting or bragging. I'm just not wired that way."
"I respect that," said Lily approvingly, "It's nice when people can be proud of their accomplishments without being full of themselves."
"That was a good challenge," said Bruce matter of factly, "But let's move on."
Bruce, Navarro, Wilma, and walked a few yards to the south and came upon an orange tent. The tent had a title in black letters that read Balloon Pop with a set of instructions below. There was a setup of orange and black balloons below the tent as well as an orange and black table with orange and black darts, pencils, arrows, and nails atop it. A digital clock similar to the clock used at Bobbing for Oranges was present to the right of the table. The instructions read:
The balloons set up for this Balloon Pop are a combination of normal balloons, water balloons, and balloons filled with various substances. Only the normal balloons will be poppable. You will have four minutes to pop as many balloons as you can. At the end of four minutes, the water balloons and filled balloons will automatically float into the hands of the winner, who will have the opportunity to throw them at the other three. This should allow for some lighthearted fun and laughter. Your clothes will automatically clean and dry themselves a minute and a nanosecond after the last water balloon or filled balloon is used up. The clock shall start the nanosecond the first attempt is made. Good luck!
Bruce, Navarro, Wilma, and Lily all eagerly grabbed a Dart and began aiming at the balloons.
Lily hit the first orange balloon she aimed at, and it was a normal balloon that she hit and popped.
This was the first of many loud bangs heard over the next four minutes as the four of them jovially lost themselves in the mindless fun.
They alternated between using darts, pencils, arrows, and nails, enjoying using different objects to pop the balloons.
When the four minutes were up, the water balloons and filled balloons presented themselves to Lily.
"That's really cool," beamed Bruce, "After struggling the most with the first event, Lily was the best at the second event."
"Congratulations, Lily," said Navarro sincerely.
"It was impossible to keep score in our own heads throughout," observed Wilma, "We were having way too much fun!"
"Bruce? Navarro? Wilma?" asked Lily seriously, "Are you three actually comfortable with me hitting you three with the water balloons and filled balloons?"
"Bring it on!" chorused Bruce, Navarro, and Wilma excitedly.
"It's good to hear that you are all up to some Halloween mess," beamed Lily cheerfully, "But I'd like to participate myself!"
At this declaration, the water balloons and filled balloons automatically spilt into groups of four and also fourth each flew into the hands of Bruce, Navarro, and Wilma.
"Oh!" piped up Wilma wisely, "The balloons obeyed their mistress. Lily became their mistress when she won the balloon and so controlled the balloons."
"Excellent!" beamed Lily, " Let's have a fun, wet, and messy water balloon fight!"
Bruce, Navarro, Wilma, and Lily all happily began throwing the water balloons and filled balloons at each other.
The four of them happily smiled, laughed, and giggled at the mindless lighthearted fun they were all having as they covered each other in substances such as water, sand, glue, toothpaste, and many others.
As the instructions promised, they all got automatically cleaned and dried a minute and a nanosecond after the last balloon was gone.
"That was really fun," beamed Bruce, "I'm a pretty serious person by nature. It's good for me to have some frivolous fun every now and then."
"That's good for all of us," agreed Navarro.
"Having fun on Halloween is A Very Good Thing!" piped up Wilma.
"Being able to have another session with my October 2021 Hogwarts Interhouse Team is the most fun part of it all," smiled Lily with joyfulness in her voice.