oh, of course everyone knew the rules. headmaster slughorn talked through all of them after the sorting ceremony, before the feast — only roam the halls with a companion, and never later than two hours after dinner. the rules this evening, he said, were different; with dinner at a later hour due to the bustle of everyone’s arrival to the castle, curfew was to begin immediately following the feast. his eyes sparkled with humor as he reminded all the upper years that that meant no secret funny business.
ha! good try, headmaster. the notes passed hands on the hogwarts express, flitting from compartment to compartment. no one could recall who first sent them out; all that mattered was that, for all the new rules, some routines were to remain. after all — if it was sometimes unsafe in the castle now, shouldn’t a party outside be perfectly safe?
between the great lake and the forbidden forest, just beyond the greenhouses and out of sight of any frequented windows in the castle proper was a small stretch of lawn that most every hogwarts student knew about. after all, it was where the secret, illicit start of term party was always held. all of-age students were invited, regardless of blood status. ringing in the new school year could allow for a loosening of social norms.
the sneaking around, the carefully calculated wait until the younger years were safely ensconced in bed — it was tradition, one that the mystery monster wouldn’t take from them.
spiked punch and strong firewhiskey changed hands. some students had charmed an old, muggle record player to blast music perfect for dancing; others could be seen kicking off the night with dazzling fireworks shot out of their wands, others still telling them to keep out of sight of the windows. of course, headmaster slughorn likely knew of the party; that knowing wink before the feast said it all. but who was he to stop a night like this?
and with that … we are open for interactions! the timestamp for this first event is the evening of sunday august 31, 1980, the night before term starts. now’s the time to post starters and starter calls. you can post all starters for the event in either/both the petrifystart tag or the event tag, petrifywelcome. the event is tentatively set to last for one week out-of-character. we can’t wait to get writing with all of you!!
