As you near the party tent, you notice a shimmer in the air and an excess of fairy lights. They only grow more dense as you get closer and closer to the marquee. Are the lights covering for something? Is all this for naught?

Stepping into the large tent, you'll feel something ghost over your skin. It might cause goose flesh and minute numbness...but the strange, magical feeling won't last.

Wait, were you here with someone?

That bit of confusion sweeping over you is a temporary spell that will cause you to forget who is beneath each costume. In other words, you will not recognize your friends because they are well and truly disguised this evening. The entire prefect event area - and the path of the hippogriff carriage rides - has been charmed to cause this temporary forgetfulness. Don't worry, you'll recognize your friends and enemies tomorrow...literally tomorrow, as the spell wears off at the stroke of midnight.

In the meantime, why not strike up a conversation to see if you can beat the Cinderella spell?

Layla Ackerly had actually made an effort to look somewhat girly and polished as she arrived at this event. She was wearing a dress, a long chiffon one at that and a matching teal mask that concealed the top of her face to the world, not that it made her completely unrecognisable, you could still tell she was herself. Her hair was up in a messy yet still formal chignon and she had attempted a teal smokey eye using magic. She felt weird yet slightly pretty but there was no comparison with the rest of the girls in the school. They looked beyond beautiful in their extravagant ballgowns.

She had arrived with Sammy, her cousin who she was both amused and ashamed to say had arrived wearing a batman mask. He had received a look when she had met with him to walk down to the grounds but she had known Samson for as long as she could remember, she knew that he was incapable of being ‘normal’ at an event like this. Why conform to everyone else’s standards when you could go dressed as a superhero? “You’re so strange. It’s a shame you can’t disown family” she told him teasingly. Sam was one of those people that the blonde could be entirely herself with. He supported her no matter what and they had a relationship that was more like brother and sister than cousins. It was a shame that Layla couldn’t replace her older brother Bradley with her face twin.

Their intention was to go to the photobooth but as soon they arrived a weird feeling washed over her and suddenly it was like she had forgotten who everyone was. She blinked a few times in response.

The seventeen-year-old turned to the guy who was standing and heading in the same direction. “Hey..” he got a narrow of the eyes. “..Is there a reason you’re followin’ me… And wearin’ a batman mask?” This comment was also proceeded by her usual frown of disapproval. Men were weird creatures. “Sorry to break it to you mate but you ain’t Bruce Wayne.” At least she didn’t think he was considering Bruce was a fictional character.

Ethan paced around near the Muggle Photobooth area thing as he waited for Josie to arrive. He was super early for the event that he was able to roam around the place and check out all the cool spots for the evening. He really should tell Caleb that the prefects did a great job that term, despite the...well, unfortunate events that happened earlier. But...what about that shimmer thing going on over there? Ethan was curious, but that curiosity can wait, because...Josie. They can explore the place together, right?

Well...they will eventually find out that it’s not the case...

With brows furrowed, Ethan inspected the corsage in his hands. Was Mordred making fun of him? What is a corsage, even? His cousin only gave him a very brief message about it. ‘Give this to your date.’ Ethan was already panicking, obviously at a loss. Where in the forsaken pit is Simon??! He really could use some help! The Slytherin turned the huge flower over and saw a string. A CLUE! Ethan breathed in and out and forced himself to think. “The flower is to be given...but, isn’t it rude to just give it to her? And why did Mordred take out the stem??!” UGH. He needs to have a copy of ‘How to Date :: Muggle Style’ ASAP. “Think, E. Think! What’s the use of the string? For securing stuff...okay. Tie it to what?”

Oh, dear Merlin. Have mercy on this boy.

Was she dressed too plainly? Should she have worn a more extravagant ball gown like all of the other girls she was seeing a few moments ago? To be honest she did doubt herself for a moment, but she was actually very happy with her dress. The fourteen year old felt like it was a nice length, a really pretty color & not to mention the mask she had found was rather nice as well. Her chocolate brown locks were woven into a rather difficult hairstyle she wouldn't have been able to do without magic, thank Merlin. But the only thing that was a slightly bad about the outfit were the heels.

Actually, she'd never worn heels before..ever. Which meant that one of her biggest fears was falling on her face. BUT, she quickly discovered after leaving the common room, that going at a slow steady pace was the best way to do so & that was seeming to be working for her all the way to where she was supposed to be meeting Ethan.

But she hesitated & stopped walking when she had seen the tent ahead. There was something strange going on. She took notice of this shimmer in the air...not to mention fairy lights. The fourteen year couldn't put her finger on it, but something seemed a bit strange to her. Before she could even question it, she took notice of a boy in pretty interesting look mask pacing back & forth. Josette couldn't tell if it was Ethan or not, but she figured there was only one way to find out.

She made sure her mask was still on her face properly & took a moment to check for anything that might be wrong with her dress. Not seeing anything wrong, so far, she started to slowly walk towards the pacing boy, getting nearer & nearer. When she was at a reasonable distance, she cleared her throat hoping to possibly get the boy's attention.

"....E-Ethan?"

Dante had the perfect mask for this thing he could not spell. A Pirate Mask. It made him want to talk like a pirate the whole time and make pirate puns. He knew a couple of those. They were easy. Plus he had a snazzy red suit on.

It was perfect.

Dante was on his way to this thing to meet with Maggie because they said they would meet somewhere at this party thing and this was the most muggle thing here. Made sense to Dante. But see something happened on the way over and he completely forgot about what he was doing over here and why he came over. And what was this booth thing. Huh. This thing was truly weird. He knew some muggle stuff but not everything and it was cool.

Dante just stared at it for like a minute wondering what do you do with it.

Yes. Maggie DID in fact look awesome. As always. But ESPECIALLY today.

When she spotted the photobooth she couldn't quite believe her eyes at first. This was....not something she'd seen in the wizarding world. It reminded her of HOME. So naturally she made her way there IMMEDIATELY. To check it out and see if it was actually a photobooth or just something that LOOKED like a photobooth.

That HAPPENED in the wizarding world a lot. Some jelly beans weren't ACTUALLY jelly beans.

The other reason why she was heading that way was to take PHOTOS of course. Because she looked awesome. And you couldn't have too many photos of yourself if you had a face like Maggie. Once at the photobooth she eyed the person standing in front of it for a moment - almost patiently. Almost.

"You need to go IN!" Just FYI.

The fact that stupid spell was in place and she couldn't recognise ANYONE there made Agatha a bit annoyed. What if she ended up hanging out with the most ridiculous of Ravenclaws??? NO. That would be TERRIBLE.

That didn't stop her from staring for a very long time at random guys she thought were good looking. Like that blond over there. Who WAS him anyway? That didn't matter, he was rather handsome, she had to admit. She hoped that wasn't a Ravenclaw.

Even Gryffindors were alright. She was sure that bloke with bunny ears she saw before was a freaking Gryffindor. Anyway. She was now at the photo booth because she looked STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL and that must be registered. Not that she didn't look amazing on a regular basis, but still, that dress was too pretty to not be taken a picture of.

So he had to go inside. Well that did not really help. Go inside and do what exactly. Sit and Talk about your feelings. That was just silly and probably wrong. Just you know, if he was right he was totally going to be pleased with himself for like two seconds then miserable that he was right.

"Ahoy! thar. But goin' in be all fine and dany. But what be this thin'?"

Of course he was talking like a pirate. Why wouldn't he with wearing this mask and all. Plus it was fun. And he got to ask the question he had.

Talking like a Pirate is Fun with a capital F.

Heading over to the photobooth, Lux had a moment of confusion as she suddenly forgot where she was heading and why. The same thing had happened as soon as she stepped over to the dance area/buffet earlier, and she was sure a spell was to blame.

Oh well.

She was here to have pictures taken, and people watch. Everyone looked fantastic in their costumes and masks and it was fun trying to figure out who was who even though she found it impossible to recognize anyone. Maybe with some socializing she would be able to piece things together, but for the moment everything was a huge mystery.

James wandered around looking at the various things when he saw someone near the photobooth. Grinning he walked over and felt that weird sensation again. What WAS that? And whoooooo was that? Smirking he walked over and stood by her with his hands in his pockets.

"Fancy a picture?" he said with a small smile. And if she didn't well he'd find someone who would yup. Indeed he would.

As the boy approached her, Lux saw the brown hair and in her mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that she was talking to her boyfriend. "Of course I would like a picture, my Lion." Pfft, as if he needed to ask her for permission.

In her state of confusion over who everyone was, she had momentarily forgotten that there was no way Bay could be at the event since he had graduated last term.

James raised an eyebrow that was hidden by his mask. Lion? What? Who was this one confusing him with? "Definitely not a Lion. For one they are very furry," he smirked and laughed in his head at his own joke cause it was funny. HA.

"What do we do just stand here and they take the picture?" He looked around looking for the blue dress girl he had seen and sighed. "I feel like chocolate. Should have grabbed some at the buffet table..."

Not a lion?? Whaaaaaaat???

Confused, Lux blinked before it dawned on her. Of COURSE it wasn't Bay. She had even known that he wouldn't come since he wasn't a student anymore. She just wished he was here was all. This boy didn't even resemble her Lion anyway, as she would have figured out almost immediately anyhow.

"Whoops, sorry. I momentarily confused you with someone else." At least he had a good sense of humor, whoever he was. "I think we have to go behind the curtain and it takes our picture." At least she was pretty sure that was what happened when she had her picture taken in one of these things a while back. "And don't even mention chocolate, because I just ate some but want more." She laughed.

The good thing about this is that Finn could go up to people, or at least have people come up to him, and he might have an easier time talking. Its not like he knew who was under there anyway, so there wouldn't be too much pressure in trying to make conversation and worry if he was being secretly judged. So, this was the slightly positive thing for him.

As he went around, the photobooth had caught his attention. This one seemed silly, just taking random pictures... with a random. But, who knows, maybe he would figure out who he might've taken pictures with at midnight. That could be funny.

He saw some girl just standing there and he slowly made his way over."Look.... I don't know you..." Obviously. This also wasn't the best way to get a girl interested in taking odd pictures with you. "I don't know... This, this could be fun, ye-yeah? Wanna join me?" Also, if she said yes, Finn wondered if he would have to be crouching in the booth or something? She had a really poofy dress that looks like it could get in the way, and clearly, no girl ever wanted her dress to be sat on.

James grinned and gave the girl a shrug. "It happens what with the masks and all. Who did you think I was?" Well as least he knew this wasn't his girlfriend so no snogging here!

He tried to peak around the curtain and looked thoughtful. "Why behind the curtain?" That seemed weird but maybe it wasn't. Meh he'd figure it out at some point he was sure. He laughed and glanced at her. "But chocolate is awesome! Can never have too much of it. Though I haven't been eating as much of it anymore."

Agatha was about to go into the booth when she heard a voice talking to her. A male voice. She immediately turned around, even though she wasn't able to recognise who it was. He sounded quite demanding and he SO wanted pictures with her.

The Slytherin eyed him, trying her best to recognise the person behind that mask. .............And she failed once again. URGH, stupid spell! But then he was just asking if she wanted pictures with him, and psh, please, of course HE wanted pictures of her. He could've been more certain of what he wanted, in her opinion. "Sure." She said, suddenly grabbing his hand and pulling him into the booth with her. "Watch my dress, it was expensive."

Once they were in, she gave him another look. "You're not a Ravenclaw, are you?" She didn't care WHO he was, as long as he wasn't a Ravenclaw. Although there was one or two Ravenclaws that were alright, but they had all graduated so she knew that person couldn't possibly be any of them.

Though that one Ravenclaw was a good kisser, so she wouldn't mind testing out her theory.

....

...........

What was he doing?? Maggie gave him a VERY confused look. And even wrinkled her nose a little. "Stop that." 'That' being the talking weird. Why couldn't he just speak English like normal people did.

Instead he was.....just weird.

"It's a photobooth." Maggie deadpanned, sidestepping him to get INTO said photobooth. Seeing as HE clearly wasn't.

She did not get it or she found him annoying already. Both worked for today. Since she had no idea who he was and vice versa. Normally this would be too idiotic for Dante to even attempt. But it was different here.

"Sorry lass i will be talkin' like this until t' party ends."

Ooo, a photobooth. To take photos of people and no camera. That was pretty cool. Dante followed her in not caring if she wanted his company or not. Tough lucky if she didn't. This Pirate has getting some pictures.

"Looks at all these props!"

Some of these were really cool.

Haha, the boy sure had that right, but Lux still couldn't believe that she had mistaken him for Bay even momentarily. Good thing she hadn't kissed him because that would have been not so nice. She didn't kiss other boys and had no desire to start because she already had the best one ever. "I thought you were my boyfriend," she admitted knowing that he wouldn't mind since everything was so confusing right now.

Smiling, she shrugged. "The muggles like doing it this way. I find them so interesting." Muggles were awesome and Muggle Studies was one of her favourite classes. "I have to give you props on cutting back the chocolate intake. I don't think I could do that." Ooh, look it was almost their turn in the photobooth. Awesome.

Someone really wanted to take those pictures didn't they. Finn was surprised by such urgency, but at least that meant he didn't have to look like an awkward idiot stalling or something. An now he was inside, and carefully sitting down, making sure that none of him was pulling on her dress. Which, question, now that she brought it up. "Was? Did it-did it lose its value?" Well, she said 'was' so that meant the past. And he was being honest when he thought about that.

"Um, no." Definitely not a Ravenclaw. Nope. Nowhere near it, or so he believed. Besides what did being a Ravenclaw have to do with photo taking? Anyway, seeing as he was by the entrance of the booth Finn pulled the curtain so that no one could see them inside. Well, close quarters, this was new.

"Right...Well, how do you... how do you work this thing?" Finn had no experience with anything muggle so this was all brand new to him. All he knew is that there would eventually be pictures taken. He did notice the magical take on the photobooth and he instantly grabbed one of those flying mustaches and brought it up to his mouth. Someone had to get the sillyness thing rolling."C'mon... Try one of the props." Something here had to fit to her liking.

You know what’s freaking him out more? That girl over there staring back at him. It’s a good thing that she’s a bit far, and that she’s got her mask on. By the looks and feel of it, that’s not Josie. Ethan continued to pace, his eyes darting back and forth to the shimmering thing. The event was done by the student leaders, so everything should be harmless right? But...what about the constant vigilant thing? No, no. He deserves to enjoy the night and should throw away all the bad thoughts, anchor it, and ditch it in the lake.

He was too busy figuring out the corsage and the shimmering curtain just behind him when Josie arrived. All else stopped when he saw her though. JHDSFJHDSAJFHDSLKFJLFDHLKSDFH. Ethan just deadpanned at her...and senses were turned back on the moment she spoke. “H-Hi.” Ethan waved awkwardly at Josie, and then smiled to ease his own tension. It took him a while to register everything that was happening. “You look beautiful...” Wait, where is his filter again? No, where is his brain? “I mean...you always look beautiful...” Uhm...where is this going?

Ethan closed his mouth, forcing himself to structure the next words that will come out of his mouth. “Thanks for coming out with me tonight, Jo. It means a lot to me.” SMILE. “Uh...and this is for you.” He said as he held up the huge, white flower. “I suppose...this should be tied around your wrist...” He’s got it, okay? He waited until Josie offered him his hand.

Agatha staaaared at the unkown guy. "No, it was expensive because I already purchased it." So it wasn't expensive anymore? Duh? She gave him a judgemental look but he was probably not going to be able to see it very well. Whatever.

He wanted pictuers with HER because she was AMAZINGLY beautiful that evening. And good for him that he wasn't a Ravenclaw. "Good." Though, to be fair, she had already noticed that by the question he had asked. Although she had met some pretty brainless Ravenclaws, so nothing was new.

She didn't even know what she was thinking anymore, because now he was putting a mustache on and there was confetti falling over them. If this guy was a Ravenclaw, that would've been reeeeally weird. Also, he probably didn't have a girlfriend, since he was in there with her all alone.

Right? Right.

She obviously got a Dancing Queen tag that was floating somewhere over their heads and held it near her. That was her, see, The Dancing Queen. "Im a great ballerina." She casually informed the guy, turning at the camera and posing. A photo of them was taken in a matter of seconds so she figured they were just supposed to pose for it.

Brilliant. "Nice mask." The girl added as he looked at him.

GRRR, if only she could TELL who that was! Agatha did NOT like this spell, not at all.

Finn just nodded to make the girl feel better or something. Riiiggghhttt. She did that to the dress. The dress didn't look expensive it just looked really big and bothersome. "How can you-you walk in it?" It looked like it could get dragged around a lot and get stuck in places.

He still didn't understand the whole Ravenclaw thing but it wasn't important, especially to right now and the night. So whatever that silliness of question was about, was currently forgotten and ignored.

"Don't you mean..... Bal-ballerina queen?" If only he hadn't stuttered slightly that could've been real smooth. Just saying, you know, it sounded more appropriate with that title. There was a pose happening and Finn was too distracted by all the floating magical things that he had not seen that there was a flash of a picture being taken. So, the picture must've been ruined.

"I-I wasn't ready!" He said slightly angrily. The flash better wait for him next time. So, he glanced around the booth and picked up the funniest combination of props he could find, some weird glasses and a top hat, and placed them in the appropriate places.

Oh, she was complimenting his mask? Hey, that wasn't so bad, was it? "Thanks!" He said quite happily. He'd wanted to go with something simple, and that it sorta fit with his outfit.

Honest. The boy made an odd face, one that looked slightly confused, and crossed his hands over his chest and angled his body slightly. Or, not so much cuz he could barely tell he was pulling the bottom of her dress. Oops. "'Nother pose." He said, even smiling slightly but getting right back into picture mode. And she had to do something different this time. "No need for a queen stance or anything like that." He warned her.

Kace needed to have someone take photos with him. He just needed to find Emmy and Cinna because he wanted a group photo. He wondered how he was gonna find them with the masks on. He didn't like this concept because he was a curious person and wanted to know things but then againnnn he did like surprises. He saw someone he knew of the hair color. He smiled and waved to her and see if the girl noticed with the other guy.

He waited patiently and wondered if he would find other people to take a photo with.