#BehindThePortrait Halloween Challenge

Hello 9 ¾ Amino and Happy Halloween!

As is tradition, being your friendly neighbourbood egirl leader, I’ll be bringing you the Halloween Challenge!

This year, we’ll be diving into a new murder mystery, where you’ll be bringing the story to life, with you as the hero!

This year, we will be exploring a little known world as the new Mystery at Hogwarts unfolds… #BehindThePortrait

Prologue

I gazed absentmindedly at the portrait of 3 medieval witches surrounding a cauldron, deep in conversation, as I strolled back to my dormitory. Their depiction was rather old fashioned, and I wondered what the story was behind it; why the painter had decided to show such an archaic image of wizardkind. One of the witches in the picture caught me staring at them. She was an old gnarled woman in a heavy black coat and a pointy hat, a wart on her nose.

“What are you looking at?” she called out in a high pitched, creaky voice. Startled, I apologised and asked what they were talking about, out of politeness.

“Never you mind!” squawked another squatter witch. The third witch cackled nastily. “Mind your business and get back to your room!”

“How rude!” I exclaimed. I stuck my tongue out and scuttled off towards my dormitory, the jeers of the witches following me as I went.

It was the night before Halloween, and the common room was full of life and laughter as people talked excitedly about tomorrow’s festivities - the feast, the decorations. Unfortunately I could not in. I had made the mistake of rushing my homework for Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall had ordered me to redo it, double in size to teach me a lesson about effort and result. Waving half-heartedly at my friends sat chatting, I tried to find a quiet part of the common room to get on with my homework.

~~~~

By the time I was done with the monstrous essay, I was the only soul left in the common room. The fire had died down to glowing embers, and there was a mild chill in the air. Rubbing my eyes, I glanced wearily at the clock. It was 11:57. I yawned, and started to pack away my things, ready for bed. As I picked up my bag, the clock chimed, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Midnight. It was Halloween. The air in the common room seemed unusually still and cold… You shook yourself. ‘You’re being silly because you’re tired.’ I said to myself.

Without warning, the fire flared up, and an eerie wind whistled, echoing through the corridors. I heard a scream in the distance. A shiver ran down my spine. ‘Now that… was creepy. Hogwarts has really outdone its Halloween effects this year.’ I thought, unnerved. I looked at the clock again. If I was caught out of bed at this time I would definitely find myself in detention… But I couldn’t just ignore that scream.

I stole up to my dormitory and dropped off my things, and then crept out of the common room into the empty corridors. I headed off with no real sense of which direction to take. I had heard the scream, but it wasn’t exactly enough to pinpoint the location. I headed towards the staircase, carefully listening for the wheeze of Argus Filch, keeping my eyes peeled for any signs of movement.

When I reached the grand staircase, I glanced briefly at the picture of the medieval witches I had taunted earlier. The portrait was vacant. I knew it wasn’t unusual for the occupants to visit each others paintings, so at first I paid it no mind. I headed down a flight of stairs, but then a shimmer caught my eye. I looked at the paintings on the wall and couldn’t help but let out a small gasp of surprise. All of them were empty. How bizarre…

As I contemplated them, I saw the shimmer again. It was coming from the portrait. I moved closer, until my nose was almost pressed to the image of an empty room, and reached out my hand… And it went straight through the painting! I withdrew my hand in shock, backpedaling and tripping over my robes, falling with a thud onto the stairs.

‘What on earth was that?!’

Meow…

I snapped my eyes to the source of the sound. It was Mrs Norris! I felt my heart fill with dread. Without stopping to think I shot upright and ran with all my might back to the dormitories.

Back in bed, huffing and out of breath, thoughts were spinning around my head.

What had been with that portrait? Why could I reach inside it?

As I laid and tried to figure out what I had seen, I slowly sank into a troubled sleep.

~~~~

After an uneasy sleep, I rose slowly in the morning. I headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast, unable to shake a feeling of discomfort. As I sat at my house table and started to butter some toast, everything seemed to be as normal.

I watched as Professor Flitwick came scurrying down the length of the hall, and observed with curiosity as he began conversing seriously with Dumbledore at the staff table. The feeling of dread grew in my stomach, and I found I couldn’t swallow the mouthful of toast I had been munching on.

Dumbledore rose slowly with a grave expression on his face. The students, who had been chatting away, slowly turned their heads one by one to look at the Heaster, and a silence spread over the hall.

“It is my greatest regret to announce that today’s Halloween celebrations are cancelled.” Dumbledore spoke quietly, but every word rang in my ears. “There has been a death within the castle. Until we can figure out what has happened, I must ask that all students return to their common rooms for the day.”

At this, the noise in the hall immediately exploded, voices of panic rising throughout.

‘A death?!!’ I thought of the scream I had heard last night… And of the weird reaction to the paintings… They… Could it be connected?

There was much bustling and pushing as students hurried to return to their houses, but I dragged my feet. I made my way up the stairs, studying the portraits as I went. They looked no different than they always did in the daylight. Maybe it had all been a crazy dream.

Suddenly, I felt a hand grab my wrist, and drag me aside unceremoniously. Or should I say… Inside?

I looked around and realised there was a frame in my vision. I could see students, but it was like looking through a window. The room was unfamiliar, containing only a chair, but otherwise surrounded by darkness.

“You have to help us.” A voice came from the dark void.

To be continued...

The Challenge

There has been a murder at Hogwarts! It's time to put your investigation skills into gear and solve what happened! It happened in the dead of night, with no human witnesses… But the portraits know what happened....

The challenge is to complete the murder mystery. Using the Prologue as a prompt, write a short story and solve the mystery of the death on Halloween.

As a basic guide, you will need to tell us:

~ which portrait enlisted your help?

~ who was the victim?

~ how did they die?

~ who did it?

The world behind the portraits is generally unexplored territory, so use this chance to give them a story of their own!

If you’re not sure where to start, this link is a great resource to get started!

Some guidelines:

~ please to observe Amino guidelines when writing your story - no graphic/explicit violence!

~ please include a trigger warning at the beginning of your post if it will include blood

~ please use real Hogwarts portraits for reference!

~ please only include canon Harry Potter characters in your story, no Original Characters (OCs)

How to Participate

~ Make your post as a blog!

~ Please keep your story to a maximum of 1500 words (you do not need to include the prologue)!

~ use pictures and gifs to bring your blog to life!

~ please to post links to any references you use!

~ don’t forget to include the hashtag #BehindThePortrait!

Prizes

As usual, particularly original and interesting entries will be featured.

Additionally, 3 with the best stories will receive a custom title of their choice! Winners will be selected by the Leaders and Curators!

Deadline: 31st October, Midnight EST.