The Eastern Empire

Chapter16: Samain

Even the muggles feel it, this night of October 31st is the one where the barrier between the world of the dead and that of the living is the most fragile, the finest. They celebrate Halloween, putting on masks of monsters to have fun, without remembering that it was formerly not to be recognized by these, to hide his humanity to survive. Today the barriers have been reinforced by wizards. Only pass the spirits: demons, monsters or other creatures of darkness can not come to terrorize the poor little humans. Everything has been forgotten by these, and even the wizards are obviously beginning to put aside old traditions.

In the past, Samain's ritual was practiced throughout England. It was a festival of great importance: one of the main ones. Presiding over it was a great honor and only the most respected could claim it. Surprisingly, Terence was a perfect match for this profile, and recently he had gained a new reputation among students. Previously, he was feared, nobody was looking for trouble, certainly, but it was only for fear of consequences and retaliation because there was no doubt for most older students, he would join one day Death Eaters. It was better not to rub against him, except if one counted anyway to participate in the war, in one camp as on the other. But all this had changed in recent weeks. He murmured that Higgs had announced that he did not wish to join the Dark Lord. The most observant had noticed that he no longer directed the Slytherins as soon as his rally to the Black had been announced to the aspiring Death Eaters. And all had realized that by showing themselves alongside these, he clearly announced a new positioning. Many argued, however, that the Blacks and Malfoys were only high-ranking Death Eaters, that it was all a game to trouble the enemy, but to see Mathew's furious look when he watched them, the majority doubted now. For a large number of students, he became the one who refused to serve the greatest dark wizard in England, without hiding behind Dumbledore. He was free, tracing a different path, even though he seemed close to the small group of first years. For this, many students now respected him.

Thus, if they had had to appoint a master of ceremonies, he would certainly have won a majority of votes, something he was not aware of at all, feeling on the contrary weakened since he had left his role of leader of the Slytherins. At that moment, he was content to observe the audience. His dark-faced face tried to hide the stress from his face, and only the benevolent glances of Gemma and his cadets reassured him. It must be said that there were more wizards than he had thought.

Most of the students in the assembly wore loose, dark cloth capes with hoods covering their heads and falling on their shoulders. On their faces were simple white masks, which gave them a ghostly air. They did not have any distinctive signs and could have been worn by any Muggle just celebrating Halloween, but that was the goal. The wizards had come to celebrate Samain and not show their belonging to a camp or an ideology. Some were probably just curious about what this party was about ... Some were present without trying to hide their identity: Alexander and his friends were among those: Blaise, Theo, Hermione and Draco, but also Gemma Farley and Professor Snape, which was a good match for many students. Terence understood the reasons for his presence: Dumbledore had had to ask him to spy on the ceremony, ironically, his double game allowed him to move forward uncovered.

The park was dark, a little further away, behind Alexander and Terence, the reassuring lights of Hogwarts still shone, soft lights seeming to illuminate the darkness that stood in front of the school. The forbidden forest was disturbing at night, its shadow devoured the park, as if trying to gain ground to get closer to the walls of the castle. Between these two contrasting landscapes: darkness and light, wilderness and civilization, chaos and order, the park drew a wide border and they stood in the middle of it, wedged between these two camps, which was not unlike their real situation. The lake, too, seemed to change in appearance under the moonlight. Its waters became black and opaque, and most of the students were happy to keep them far enough away so as not to fear that one of its inhabitants would attack them.