There was a general buzz of excitement on Saturday, the day of the ball. Apart from Feast and Quidditch, there weren't many social events at Hogwarts. Hogsmeade trips were the only other social event, but they were only for the third year and up. Everyone likes a good costume party, and with magic, I expected them to be awesome; I knew mine was.
Gilderoy was in a great mood all day, inviting every student and teacher to come to see the performance and have a good time at the ball. What got my goat was how he kept saying, "I Taught the band everything they know". Professor Lockhart never attended practice; I hoped he knew how to sing his song.
My hopes for tonight were to have a good show and have some fun before the events started happening.
I specifically invited Luna to come. She said she had already planned on going. That was good. I looked for her bullies but didn't know any of the Ravenclaws well.
Susan and Hannah said they were definitely coming and had great costumes. It has been hard lately talking to them, both being huge fans of Lockhart's. That's all they wanted to talk about. Seamus and Dean had been heavily involved with Speed Quidditch; Seamus was a beater for the Nifflers, and Dean was helping manage things as Madame Hooch's assistant. Both said they were coming and had made costumes. Neville was left alone most days and ended up hanging out with some Gryffindors or chilling, listening to our practice. He said he was unsure about going.
"Neville, you are going, and I need you to look after someone and make sure she's not bullied," I told him. I told my bandmates to meet before dinner to go over the set list and pack things for the quick move. I will also introduce Neville and Luna at this point.
It felt to me like the longest dinner ever. But once it was over, things went full force. Quick as greased lightning, we moved tables and hung decorations, and the elves appeared with nibbles, snacks, and drinks. Even elves like Lockhart, apparently. With the stage set up, we got into costumes. I was dressed and done up like Gene Wylder from Young Frankenstein. White frazzled hair, large goggles, a laboratory coat and moustache. Grant was dressed as Dracula, and I convinced Tim to wear a hump and be my Igor. Tina was dressed as the bride of Frankenstein.
Gilderoy entered after everything was done. He was dressed like a Prince Charming.
"Excellent, Excellent," he said while looking around the great hall. "now we have 10 minutes before we let the students in. Tell me, when is my song?" he asked.
"The second song, First we open to get people in the mood, then I introduce you up, and we go into your song," I explained 'and then you can go a brag and boast while I do the work.' I added in my head.
"Excellent, so I'll welcome the students in then," he said before walking off.
"Okay, get ready," I say to my band. We head towards our instruments. Grant and Tim seem fine, but Tina looks a little nervous. "you okay?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'm just nervous. What if there's a lot of people? What if there's no one?" she whispered to me.
"Then either a lot of people will enjoy our music or a lot of people will miss out." I said to her."Don't think about the crowd at first. You played dozens of times with us just fine; focus on us," I tried to calm her. Our stage became blacked out, a simple spell cast by Grant. We could see each other, but it was like we were standing in full shadows for anybody off the stage.
The crowd started to come in, and I smiled at all the costumes. Unicorns, werewolves, ghosts and ghouls. Once everyone was in and talking and wondering what was going on, I nodded to Grant. We used our wands first to make the great hall's door creak slowly to a close with a satisfying *boom*. Then, in the silence that followed, lighting struck above in the enchanted ceiling, thunder crackling. Eerie footsteps came from the stage. We start the intro to the song In the Darkness, accompanied by howling wolves. Then Grant hits the instantly recognisable notes, and the stage lights up to show us in full costume. the song shifts from its original pop beat to something heavier.
•Thriller by Michael Jackson • ♦Rock Cover by No Resolve or Punk Rock Factory♦
♫It's close to midnight
And something evil's lurking in the dark♫
I sing as I stare down the crowd.
♫Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it♫
I looked shocked at the crowd.
♫You start to freeze
As horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed♫
I let rip the anthem to any Halloween bash.
♫'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike
You know it's thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight, yeah♫
---
Thriller got people moving, and because it was a huge hit, some of the muggle-borns knew the dance, so we had many thriller hands up marching up and down, and some from wizarding families joined.
"Welcome, fellow students, To Professor Lockhart's Halloween Ball. Wooo", I said the last in my spookiest voice. "we are Arcane Rthyms, and we will be providing tonight's music. Now, let's invite the man himself up." I said, being the best MC I could, "The spooktacular Professor Lockhart."
Lockhart Pranced onto the stage and grabbed my mic. "thank you, thank you," he said to the applause. "aren't the students wonderful?" I grimaced as he said, "I taught them everything they know. Now, thank you for coming to my Halloween party and especially for getting dressed up for the occasion. Now we are going to play a song together."
--