Writer's Block 38.4 - Voting!
banner by renrenren3
Challenge: Masquearade
Points: 2pts for voting. 1st/2nd/3rd/Participation Only: 50/40/30/10 points & 20/15/10/5 knuts, respectively, for winners.
Deadline: Voting until Wednesday, August 30 @ 7pm EST/11pm UTC.
Details: Vote for your top 3 favorite drabbles. Do not vote for yourself or have other people vote for you.
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Third Place:
NAME/HOUSE OR SIGTAG
A.
Title: The Mask
Gilderoy Lockhart was the master of masquerade. He had lied and cheated and otherwise twisted the truth so that it would fit his ambitions. The world thought that Gilderoy Lockhart was an accomplished wizard, a Master of Dark Arts and otherwise a very talented man. Oh he was talented, but in only one thing: Memory Charms. The suave and flamboyant man the world saw was nothing but a mask, and it fit him like a glove. Those who had seen behind the mask had been Obliviated a long ago, and only Gilderoy knew the truth. Or so he thought, when he accepted the position of the Dark Arts Professor in Hogwarts.
B.
Title: No more hiding
Greyback stood, the redhead’s blood dripping from his fingertips. He could see Bellatrix, at the end of the corridor, and Amycus, a few paces away. Neither of them glanced his way.
The werewolf grinned widely, exposing his yellowing teeth. He had found a perfect place, a perfect crowd. One in which he could be himself all the time, where his werewolf side wasn’t only tolerated-it was honoured. He no longer had to pretend to be a regular man, hiding behind the mask of an ordinary wizard.
The masquerade was over. He could finally be the creature he was always meant to be.
C.
Title: Fancy That
Masquerade! Paper faces on parade...Hide your face, so the world will never find you…
The words thrummed in my head as I marked yet another abysmal potions essay. Why we didn’t teach children the basics of writing as part of the Hogwarts curriculum was beyond me.
Why those damned song lyrics kept fluttering around in my mind was also beyond me. I’d seen Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical when it had first come out, of course -- my love of Muggle musicals was yet another secret of mine. At least it was a pleasant one.
Lily had enjoyed musicals, too. She would have loved Phantom of the Opera.
I studiously ignored the obvious parallels in the plotline and my own love life. I may not have had a hideous countenance physically, but I was tolerated at best and loathed at worst.
I’d come to terms with it sometime back, at one of those interminable staff meetings where Albus twinkled benevolently down at us all. The patronizing bastard. But I’ll give him this: he knew how to use the strengths of his pawns. And I was so damned good at deception. Especially now, after so much practice.
My arm began to burn in that familiar, insidious way. Speak of the devil. Duty called.
Masquerade! Seething shadows, breathing lies...Masquerade! You can fool any friend who ever knew you!
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the melody of it. Persistent little tune. I’d have to occlude like hell so His Murderousness didn’t overhear. I suspected he’d be less than tolerant of Muggle musical lyrics.
Well, unless he harbored a Muggle musical secret of his own. You never knew with him.
Images of Voldemort bursting into Muggle song in front of his minions flooded my thoughts for a surreal moment. I choked out a small laugh before I caught hold of myself.
Occluding like hell -- yes, that was a very good plan.
D.
Title: MASQUERADE BALL
IT WAS THE ANNUAL HOGWARTS HALLOWEEN FEAST, BUT THIS YEAR THEY HAD DECIDED TO MAKE IT A MASQUERADE BALL. INSTEAD OF REGULAR MASKS, PROFESSOR FLITWICK HAD TAUGHT EVERYONE HOW TO USE CHARMS TO MAKE YOUR FACE APPEAR TO HAVE A MASK. THERE WAS ALL SORT OF CREATURES.HARRY HAD CHARMED HIS FACE TO LOOK LIKE A STAG. HERMIONE WHO WAS A CUTE RABBIT HAS SAID HE'D LOOK QUITE REGAL. RON HAD CHOSEN A LION WHICH WENT WELL WITH HIS RED HAIR. BUT OF COURSE WITH MAGIC INVOLVED THERE WAS BOUND TO BE SOME MISHAPS. POOR NEVILLE HAD SOMEHOW MANAGED TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE HE HAD NO FACE AND SCARED A BUNCH OF FIRST YEARS. IT WAS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A HORROR MOVIE, VERY FITTING FOR HALLOWEEN.