The days have grown shorter, the nights longer; a chill has swept across the campus. It can only mean one thing: Samhain is approaching.
In the week leading up to the sacred holiday, preparations are in full effect for the traditional Samhain celebration: wood collected for the bonfire, tents going up in the lawn around the mansion. There is an electric energy through campus, a buzz of excitement this time of year, that is contagious.
Meanwhile, with the temporary ban of practical chaos magic still in effect on campus, the grounds have also been abuzz with conjurers looking for ways to fill their time outside of their theoretical studies. Rumors of an illicit underground battle magic club have once again made themselves quietly available to those in the know -- with the right password, you can get past the wards and access the armory on Wednesday and Sunday nights to join the ranks of those practicing forms and techniques of the long-banned discipline
And other chaos students have taken to causing trouble wherever they can: while last week the library and social hall fell victim to their vengeful hexes, this week, the forests themselves have been set with magical traps, and some of the staircases have been jinxed to disappear under the feet of unsuspecting students. Professors Chapman, Stokes, Vance, and Nam -- as well as Headmistress Crow -- have grown harsher on students practicing chaos magic in their free time, against the terms of the ban in effect.
In fact, rumor has it that one student -- second year chaos witch Leonora Varma, who was caught attempting to hex the lock on Headmistress Crow’s office door -- has been suspended for the remainder of the semester for her breaking of the ban.