"You guys are never going to believe what I just permission for," Cassy said two days before Halloween as she sat down at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast and knocking my x-wing back pack on to the ground.
"And what exactly would that be," I sighed, picking up my Star Wars backpack that I had been using since first year.
"Minnie is letting us have a Halloween party in one of the unused classrooms," she said excitedly.
"Seriously," I asked her, not quite believing Professor McGonagall would agree to a party, especially after the whole Snape prank thing.
"Yeah, seriously! I explained how students will perform better if they have an outlet for their stress and showed her the stats on what having a party will do for the years moral," she explained, pulling out a stack of research out of her backpack that she had done to prove her point.
"You know, I'm not even going to laugh about what a Stark thing researching the benefits of having a party is. I'm just super excited about having a Halloween party for the first time in five years," I laughed as Cassy held her hand up for a high five.
"Never underestimate a Stark when it comes to parties," Cassy laughed as I high fived her.
"I've never gone to a typical muggle Halloween party before," Cedric said, looking a little excited at the idea.
"Well, strap yourself in for a bumpy ride, pretty boy. Us Starks throw one hell of a party," Cassy said as she got up to leave to tell the rest of our friends.
"There's heaps of sweets at muggle Halloween parties, right?" Henry asked, his eyes lighting up with the idea of tons of candy.
"Seriously dude? Is food all you think about? But yes, they are," Danny laughed, nudging Henry and making him laugh as well.
"What else do you do at Halloween parties," Hamish asked.
"Usually, people get dressed up in costumes. Traditionally the costumes are usually something scary. But lately, some people get dressed up as their favorite fictional characters," I explained.
"We can be Luke and Leia again," Danny said excitedly.
"What, and cop flack over episode 5! No thanks! I love Star Wars just as much as you do, but I had something else in mind," I said disappointing Danny.
"Elsa Margret Rogers, I swear to god if you are going to go as Elsa from Frozen, I'm gonna have to disown you," Danny laughed.
"No, I'm not going as Elsa. But I'll have to talk to Cassy and see if she will agree to my idea," I said, getting up from the table to talk to Cassy back over to the Gryffindor table.
"You hear that, Freddie? A real-life muggle Halloween party!" I heard George say excitedly as Cassy told them the news.
"I know, George, can you imagine all the amazing 'tricks' we will be able to pull off!" Fred replied, basically bouncing with excitement.
"Sorry to interrupt boys, but I need to borrow Cassy for a second. We have important costume planning to do," I said pulling Cassy up so we could talk in private.
I couldn't stop the smirk from appearing on my face as we walked out of the great hall. No one would ever expect the costumes I was thinking of. Now I just had to get Cassy to go along with my plan.
"Will you just say still!," I told Cedric as I tried to finish his makeup for Halloween in the prefects bathroom.
"I don't understand why you couldn't just use your glamour like you did with yourself," he replied as I put the final touches on his Halloween makeup.
"Because," I huffed as I put down the makeup brush I was holding. "It doesn't work that way. Or at least, I'm not at the level I said. Now look in the mirror and tell me that it wasn't worth it."
I stepped back to look at my attempt to turn Cedric into the Joker and I had to say, I did a pretty damn good job.
"Wow! You did an amazing job! I don't even look like me," Cedric said as he looked in the mirror at his pale complexion, green hair and red grin.
"Thanks, I tried my best," I said, feeling uncomfortable with the complement.
"Now, explain who I am again. I know that he's one of the bad guys but there seems to be a hundred different versions of him," Cedric asked.
"You're the Joker, the clown prince of crime himself. And there are a number of different takes on him but essentially, they are all the same person. But the look I have gone for is the traditional Joker mixed with Jeremiah Valeska from the TV show, Gotham," I explained as I sat down to put my boots on.
"And you are?" Cedric asked.
"The one and only Harley Quinn, nice to meet ya," I said, standing up so I could check my costume one last time.
"Well, my dear Harley. Why don't we head down to the party," Cedric said, holding his arm out for me to hold.
"Great idea, Puddin'," I said in my best Harley Quinn/Brooklyn accent.
It was still a few hours before the party was due to start but both Cedric and I wanted to help Cassy with the decorations. She had been in full Stark party planning mode ever since she got the approval for the party. Honestly, I still couldn't believe that Professor McGonagall agree to it but I wasn't going to question it. Of course Loki had volunteered to supervise the party along with Professor Sprout. So things wouldn't get too out of control, well it probably would have if it was just Loki.
Cedric and I were getting odd looks as we walked through the halls from the students who hadn't gone to Hogsmeade. But we both laughed it off as we continued to head over the classroom that Cassy was setting up. It wasn't until I saw Harry sitting all alone that I stopped so I could talk to him.
"Well, if it isn't Harley Quinn and the Joker walking the halls of Hogwarts. Going to cause some chaos now that you're out of Gotham," he joked when he saw us.
"Don't ya know it!," I laughed as I sat down next to him. "What are you doing here, all alone? Shouldn't you be at Hogsmeade with Hermione and Ron?"
"I wish but Uncle Vernon wouldn't sign it after the whole blowing Aunt Marge up thing," he said sadly.
"Do you want to come to the Halloween party with us?," I asked, trying to cheer him up.
"Thanks but I'm okay. Neville forgot to get his permission slip, so I thought I would spend the afternoon with him," Harry said.
"Are you sure?," I asked him, which he nodded his head in response. "Well, if you're sure. But if change your mind, you know where to find us."
"Poor kid," Cedric said as we walked away from Harry.
"I know. He doesn't deserve the treatment he get's from his family. No one dose," I said as the sounds of AC/DC filled the hall, telling me that we were close to the classroom.
"I'm assuming the party's in there," Cedric said with a small smirk on his face.
"Guess so," I said as Cedric opened the door for me and I walked into the classroom. "Odin's beard!"
The walls between three of the abandoned classrooms had been removed to create one large room. And let's just say Cassy hadn't held back on the decorations and had continued our costume theme, because when you walked into the room it felt like you had actually walked into Gotham. One part of the room was done up like Gotham city, complete with bat light and batmobile. The other part of the room was done up like Arkham Asylum with Jokers trademark Ha Ha graffiti in lime green written on the wall. The last part was done up with purple mood lighting and fairy lights with tables full of food and a Welcome to Gotham banner behind it.
"So, what do you think?" Cassy asked walking over dressed in a skin tight Catwoman costume like the one that Anne Hathaway wore.
"I think it looks amazing! I feel like I'm actually in Gotham," I said, looking around the room.
"I know, right! Once you came up with the idea of Harley and Catwoman costumes, I just kinda ran with the idea," Cassy said sounding proud of her self.
"How did you get the car thing in here?" Cedric asked her as he eyed the batmoblie suspiciously.
"Oh, it's a hologram curtsy of Stark tech," Cassy told him as she walked over and waved her hand through the car.
"Wow! Muggles really have some amazing things," Cedric said as he walked over to the batmobile and waved his hand through it make sure it wasn't really there.
"That's not even the best part," Cassy said with a smirk. "Oh, dynamic Weasley duo!"
"You didn't?" I asked, dreading the version of Batman and Robin she had got for the twins.
"Oh, yes I did," Cassy said as her smirk grew bigger.
It took everything in me not to lose it laughing as Fred walked out dressed as George Clooney's Batman and George as Chris O'Donnell's Robin. Full sculpted suits and all. Trailing behind them was Lee dressed as the Gotham version of the Penguin.
"Bloody hell mate, costumes tight enough?" Henry asked as he walked into the room dressed as a very stylized Mad Hatter, holding a purple top hat in his hands.
"They're Batman and Robin. Of course, the costumes are going to be tight," Hamish said, walking in behind him dressed in a suit with glasses and an umbrella.
"Manners maketh man, Hamish," I said, taking in his full costume.
"You don't know how happy am I to hear you say that. I thought no one would know who I was" Hamish said, sounding relieved.
"Of course, we do McLaggen. Kingsman is basically the British version of SHIELD. Besides, I could look at Taron Egerton's ass all day," Cassy said in a dreamy voice, making me roll my eyes.
"Really Stark? I didn't need to know that," Danny laughed as he walked into the room with Maggie.
"Shut it, Solo. No one asked for your opinion," Cassy laughed, referring to the Han and Leia costumes that they were wearing. "Besides, didn't you get the compulsory family costume regulation of Batman notice?"
"Uh, yeah. I had the Riddler costume ready to go but Maggie didn't like any of the options left for her, she said all the girls' costumes from batman were, uh, sluty. So, we went with Star Wars instead," he said as he ran a hand through his temporarily brown died hair.
We both watched Maggie walk away from us without saying a word. I felt kind of hurt that she couldn't even say hello. She seemed to be angry at me lately and I didn't know why. I could feel the temperature drop in the room as I started to get angry about Maggie's attitude. I had been there for her throughout everything and this is the treatment I get for no reason. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down so I could fix the temperature as Zane walked over to me and Cassy dressed as Lando Clarssian.
"Are you two, okay?" he asked, sounding concerned.
"Yeah, we're fine," I said, wanting to defuse the situation before Cassy said something she might regret but it was no use.
"Apart from the fact that Elsa and I are dressed like sluts. But, hey. Who cares? I think we look fabulous," she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder and linking arms with me.
I couldn't help but wonder what had got in to Maggie as Cassy dragged me over to the Arkham section to finish off the decorations. I just hoped she would snap out of it sooner rather than later.
When the party started, I managed to push Maggie and her attuite out of my mind. I was too busy having fun with Cedric and my friends to worry about anything else. Even Loki and Professor Sprout, who I caught dancing along to You need to calm down, were enjoying themselves. When Professor McGonagall came in a few hours after the party had started and turned the music off with the wave of her wand, everyone started to complain. But I knew from the look on her face that something was wrong.
"I want the prefects to come with me and the rest of you back to your dormitories and get changed," she commanded, making everyone stop talking all at once.
"Professor, do we have time to get changed?" I asked Professor McGonagall as I grabbed my Harley Quinn baseball bat and chased after her.
"I'm afraid not, Miss Rogers," she said looking down and freezing for a few seconds. "That is you, isn't it, Miss Rogers."
"Yes, it is Professor," I laughed.
"What's going on Professor?" Cedric asked as he and Zane ran to catch up with us.
"Sirius Black as attempted to gain entry to the Gryffindor dormitories," she replied, briskly before leading the Gryffindor's to the great hall.
"Did she just say the mass murder, Sirius Black, was in the castle?" Zane said, sounding worried.
"Yeah, she did," I said in shock.
"Why would he want to get into the Gryffindor's dorm?" Cedric asked, as I looked away not wanting to give away what I knew.
Harry had told me about Sirius Black in confidence on the Hogwarts express and I didn't want to betray his trust. But at the same time, I didn't want to keep secrets from Cedric, not after everything we had gone through over the last year. But it wasn't my secret to tell and I knew that Cedric would understand. But it didn't stop me from feeling guilty.
Percy was in full head boy mode when we walked into the great hall, telling all the prefects what to do as the teachers searched the grounds for Sirius Black. But when he saw all of us, fifth year prefects walk in he stopped talking mid-sentence with a look of disgust on his face.
"What in merlin's name are you lot wearing?" he asked with a sneer on his face.
"Calm down, Percy. We were having an approved Halloween party," I said, trying not to laugh.
"Oh, yes. I heard about that. But couldn't you have changed as least," he said looking at all of us, which included Lee, Zane, Alicia Spinnet dressed as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, the Ravenclaw prefects dressed as vampires and the other Slytherin prefect dressed as fairy.
"No can do, Perce. McGonagall said we had to come straight down," Lee said as he patted Percy on the shoulder.
"Very well then. As I was saying before you lot interrupted, I want each group of house prefects to return to their dormitories and bring them back to the great hall. We will all be spending the night here while the teachers search the grounds," Percy said before dismissing us.
"Do you think he's still in the grounds?" Cedric asked as we followed the other Hufflepuff prefects.
"Probably not. I mean, going on what I've seen before, once someone's position has been discovered they tend to move pretty quickly. The last thing you want to do is hang around if you are in the enemy's home ground," I said, sounding more like Dad with every word I spoke.
"Copy that, Stargirl," Cedric laughed as he grabbed hold of my hand.
"What can I say, once an Avenger, always an Avenger," I laughed.
It took just over an hour to organise all the student's in to their sleeping bags in the great hall. But once they were, all of us fifth year prefects were given the job of taking first patrol walking around the great hall to keep an eye over everyone. By the end of the hour, I was yawing and trying not to fall asleep. It was close to 1 am and I had been up early getting ready for the Halloween party and the lack of sleep was really starting to get to me.
"You right there, Harley?" Cedric asked as I yawned and stretched, still holding onto my baseball bat and holding behind my neck.
"Of course, Puddin'. Just a little tired," I said, putting the Brooklyn accent back on.
"Can you too please go away. I don't want to see your pathetic muggle costumes or hear you talking like stupid muggle characters," Draco sneered from his sleeping bag.
"Oh, shut up ferret face. You're meant to be asleep by now anyway. And you don't want to mess with me Malfoy. I'm tiered, I'm going on five hours sleep and I'm holding a baseball bat. Don't make me go all Harley Quinn on you," I warned, holding my bat over my shoulder so he could get a good look at it.
Something in the way I spoke to him told Malfoy not to mess with me because he quickly slid back into his sleeping bag and turned away from me. Both Cedric and I had to hold back our laugher as we continued to walk around the great hall. When the sixth-year prefects dismissed us, I gladly walked over to where our friends and climb into the sleeping bag and finally get some sleep.
"I can't believe that they canceled my Halloween party! I put so much effort into planning it!" Cassy said as I sat down and pulled my boots off and undid the plats I had done in my hair.
"I don't know how all of you are so calm! There is a mass murderer in the castle and all you care about is that your Halloween party was canceled," Hamish said, shocked at Cassy's casual attitude.
"It comes with facing death as an Avenger every other day," I said getting into my sleeping bag as Professor Dumbledore walked into the great hall. "Now I suggest we all go to sleep or at least pretend to. Professor Dumbledore just walked in.
Everyone seemed to listen to me, most likely because they didn't want to get into trouble from Professor Dumbledore. Even though I wanted to fall asleep quickly, the Avenger part of my mind was working in over drive. Why did Sirius Black try to get into the Gryffindor dorms? Would he really be brave enough to take on Dumbledore just to get to Harry? But most importantly, would he try again and what extent was he willing to go to so he could get to Harry?