𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂 || 𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖

Chapter Sixteen: Masquerade

Chapter Sixteen

Huddled around the Hufflepuff table, loud chatter was coming from it. It had started with Hope, Matty, and Nellie, who had sat down together there. Gradually, Esme, Poppy, Leander, Garreth, Thomas, and other friends began to sit down next to them and join in the conversation.

When Ominis and Sebastian were let out of their class and showed up to the Great Hall for lunch, they moved to go sit with them. Hope and Nellie sat a little closer to Matty, glancing at Sebastian as if to say "We get to sit next to her this time" before he got any ideas.

Sebastian, who noticed the glance, took a seat next to Thomas who was a couple of seats down on the opposite side of the table. He placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. "So, a masquerade ball. How do we all feel about that?"

"I'm excited, it sounds fun, doesn't it?" Poppy asked with a smile. Hallows Eve had been one of her favorite holidays since coming to school.

Matty nodded her head in agreement. "I'm super excited. I've never been to a masquerade before but it sounds so fun. I know we'll all know who is who but the "mystery" of it is still fun, I'd expect." She said.

"And of course, putting together the outfits," Bella spoke up. Bella had been to several masquerades in her lifetime as she was an avid attendant of several events in general due to her status and family's influence in Italy. The way she looked and the way she carried herself was often the top priority during these events but she always did it for herself, not anyone else.

In fact, she had helped Matty a lot with her style since showing up last year and there was no doubt several of the girls would be going to her for advice on what to wear to the upcoming event. Isabella was just the girl to go to in their eyes.

"I expect everyone to come dressed in their best and try to look good." She followed up with, giving them all a firm stare. "It's our last year here and we might as well make a good impression."

"As if anybody is going to remember us." Thomas snorted. "We're just some kids at a school."

"Sounds like someone doesn't want to dress up." Sebastian teased, throwing a grin at his friend, to which Thomas just rolled his eyes. He planned on returning to London after his school years to help his parents with his younger sisters, so making "good" impressions wasn't really his top priority.

"Dress for the occasion and enjoy it while it lasts is what my mother always says," Matty said with a small shrug. She always tried her best to make the most out of events. Those were the memories she'd always keep close to her heart as they were good ones to reflect on when she was having bad days. And especially as of late, she had had several already, so being around her friends and reflecting on old memories kept her going.

***

Carefree, happy, and enjoyable. That's how Matty felt right now and it was so relieving to just forget about everything stressful in her life right now.

She, Esme, Ominis, and Sebastian were up in the Room of Requirement carving pumpkins. She had tried to get Hope and Garreth up here but they were stuck working on an assignment for Sharp's class, which was probably going to end up with Garreth somehow botching something for an "experiment". He was lucky to have been paired up with Hope who would try to steer him in the right direction.

Matty's hands were already covered in pumpkin shredding as she was using a pen to draw the design on the outside. Sebastian was helping Ominis and Esme with theirs since Ominis wasn't quite sure of his abilities while using his hands and not being able to use his wand to see and Esme absolutely refused to touch any part of the inside of the pumpkin.