Task 1: Decorating the Hall and Grounds

[Mia Fountain]

The committee needs to decorate the hall and the grounds for the activities. How will you decorate for the holiday? Will you use more spooky decorations or more fall themed decorations? Will any of the decorations be enchanted, if so what do they do? Tell us about the decorations you would use in 75 words or more or draw one or more of them.

Tell us about your decorations or post your picture of them below by October 31st, at 11:59 HOL time to earn 10 beans. If you post an image, please remember to keep it 600x600 pixels or less.

[Adeline Morior]

I would consider using both the fall and Halloween themes. There is a great integration of the two purely due to the colours they share in common. Pumpkins, orange, yellow and red leaves are all as much a Halloween theme as it is fall.

I would get pumpkins of all sizes and colours, I would have candles floating above all the hallways and there needs to be awesome “floral like” décor made from all the amazing coloued leaves stationed all around the doors and in wooden crates. I would add a few bats, spiders and skeleton illusions with magic, to really give it an awesome feel.

Loads of cozy fires, places to sit around fires and yummy pies and treats. The halls absolutely beautiful sky themed roof needs to have a nice moody, cloudy, almost stormy look and feel with the candles floating about and a few bats flying about around the ceiling of the hall.

[Scarlet Robloutain]

The holiday ambience would be a visual feast, weaving spooky and fall aesthetics seamlessly.

Enchanted floating pumpkins, each carved with intricate magical patterns, would hover above, emitting a soft, ever-changing glow. Tables would be adorned with fall-themed centerpieces featuring miniature enchanted trees that change color with a gentle tap.

Ghostly apparitions, when approached, wouldn't just play tunes but tell whimsical, ghostly tales, creating an immersive atmosphere. The halls would resonate with the rustling of enchanted autumn leaves, and strategically placed scarecrows would occasionally burst into enchanted laughter, adding a delightful surprise element.

[Evie Figg]

I would love to have a combination of SCARY and FALL decorations through the Hogwarts grounds!

The Great Hall would be filled with bright orange pumpkins, fall leaves, acorns and apples, to evoke a healthy appetite for autumn treats!

The halls will be aligned with pumpkin garland, leading the way to the Great Hall. The walls will be fill with that of "mock" Dementors, where if you are to pass by them, they simply just wave at you.

Each classroom will be decked out in cobwebs, skeletons and enchanted spiders everywhere! (Not to worry, they're not real spiders) And every teacher is to have a big bowl of candy to hand out at the end of each class.

[Silvana Mandeville]

I would like to decorate it like a fall forest. I would have a long pathway with a web design on it. The way would lead us to the throne-like in the front where our Headmistress would sit. There are also made-up trees which are planted on both sides of the way. The trees will be enchanted to resemble a person who will wave, smile, or bow to everyone who passes by. Behind those trees I would like to have a small clearing with pumpkins and enchanted stones to sit and enjoy the event. On the ceiling we have red, orange, and yellow candles hanging on.

[Prof. Felicia Hartwick]

I would decorate the Great Hall with small pumpkins of various shapes on the mantle of all the fireplaces, along with candles dotted along the mantle as well. In some of the fireplaces, I would hang cauldrons filled with apple cider over the flames. A small table along side with glasses and cinnamon sticks to use to get a warm drink of the apple cider.

Of course as always during this time, floating pumpkins and candles over the tables of each House and Head Table.
Each table would have apple and pumpkin pies and apples of all types to enjoy. And of course, what would the Fall season be without candy. Smaller cauldrons of candy from Honeydukes would grace along each table.

Outside on the grounds, twinkling lights would we weaved in the trees to light up the darkness. This time pumpkins would be scattered about and hay bales and scarecrows would be placed around the area. Students would be told that they can decorate a scarecrow for a decoration contest. Winner would be announced on Halloween night.

[Kenz Eternal]

The most obvious part of the decorations would have the be the floating jack-o-lanterns in the Great Hall— they are iconic, beautiful to look at, and a great tradition to continue. I would then go through the halls and politely ask (or enchant when they aren’t looking) the portraits into wearing different costumes for the entire month. How cool would it be if they all got in on it? Next, I’d transfigure the suits of armor into skeletons, and enchant them to dance every time a student walks by. Maybe I’d have them burst into song— who doesn’t want to hear ‘This Is Halloween’ a million times a day?

[Dibyarup James Potter]

To decorate the hall and grounds for the holiday, I will use elements that reflect themes of Fall and also Halloween. There will be pumpkins, cornstalks, hay bales, acorns, pine cones, burlap, and wheat sheaves, apple baskets and autumn leaves to add a warm and earthy Fall theme to the place. I will also use some wooden signs and Fall-themed posters to contribute to the event's decorations and ambience. Additionally, I will arrange for strings and piano instrumental music to be played from the morning till before 6 pm to add a soothing feel to the whole place.

Now coming to the spooky bits for Halloween, I will be using fake spider webs, spooky lighting, scarecrows, false cracked gravestones to signify an escaped spirit and also arrange for spooky background music after 6pm. There will also be several enchanted jack-o'-lanterns that flicker and emit soothing perfumes.

This way, the decorations will complement instead of overpowering one another.

[Lex Green]

I would decorate the great hall with a combination of both spooky decorations and more general fall decorations. The main colors used would be reds, oranges and browns, since they are the most fall-inspired colors, and these also overlap into spooky decorations (with orange pumpkins for example). I would have lots of floating decorations around the hall, and also some banners or posters on some walls with fall-themed slogans on, in the fall colors. I would also have pumpkins at each table - ideally, pumpkins with carving designs that represent each house (maybe the house symbol), or general Hogwarts items.

[Anne-Marie Gagne]

I would use both fall themed and more spooky decorations. Lots of oranges, yellows, reds, and browns used. Have perpetually falling leaves from the ceiling with streamers put up along the walls of the Great Hall. There’d also be a white banner behind the head table with the words “Happy Fall” in black font with images of leaves fluttering along which would switch to a black banner with orange font to say “Happy Halloween” on the 31st. There would be piles of pumpkins sitting in corners with streamers and the top most pumpkin would be a jack-o-lantern floating a few inches above it. As well as skeletons of different magical creatures set around the school that can move around. If we can convince them, maybe some different ghosts could be more prevalent around the halls to make it more full of the icy coldness of accidentally walking through them when one least expects it.

[Amy Smith]

The grand hall was ablaze with a spectral glow as Jack-o-lanterns cast their flickering light on every corner. Cobwebs would dangle ominously from the towering chandeliers while ghostly apparitions would float above. Skeletons would be perched on candelabras while a menacing fog filled the room, enveloping everything in a murky mist. A life-sized vampire statue would loom near the grand staircase while the walls would be adorned with macabre paintings of bats, skulls, and tombstones. Spider webs would cling to the gargantuan columns while a sinister moon would hungfrom the ceiling, its pale light lending an eerie atmosphere to the hall.

At the far end of the room, a colossal spiderweb would be hanged ominously over a dark, wooden coffin. And above it all, a menacing presence stirred. The colossal, shadowy figure of the grim reaper would loom above the dance floor, its bony hands brandishing a sickle. It would seem to preside over the hall, its silent watch casting a spell of unease on all who entered.

The stage with its morbid theme. In the center would stand a monstrous, man-eating plant that writhed in anticipation, waiting for its next prey. Around it, various haunted objects and magical potion bottles would litter the space, seemingly poised to leap into action at any moment.

[Janne Halla]

Kinda like the idea of Muggle cheese cloth ghosts in a wizarding castle.

[Prof. Alexander Brighton]

I would use a nice mixture or Fall and spooky decorations. So I would enchant the ceilings to make it appear like red and brown leaves are falling from trees, even though nothing actually is. Almost like something is projecting it. Then I would carve out pumpkins with spooky faces and set them in random areas of the castle and the grounds. I would also decorate with very realistic ghosts and skeletons hanging around where you least expect them. Above the doors to the Hall and maybe even the castle, I would have the words "Enter if you dare" written in red ink. Then have spider webs around most of the windows and spiders hanging from some of them, not real ones though.