things that go bump in the night || twelvies!open

Wendy had not been entirely convinced when the camp counselors had announced that they would be taking a hike into the woods at night and setting up a campfire. She wasn’t exactly on friendly terms with the dark but didn’t want to tell her friends that because they’d probably think she was a big baby so she had dismissed it as there being a book much too exciting to put off. They at least knew how Wendy felt about books, so the excuse probably didn’t sound weird at all. But the camp counselors, Carla and Teddy, who looked no older than teenagers themselves, had really worked on a great sales pitch and by the time one of them promised they’d make s’mores, Wendy figured that if her friends were going she ought to go too. The book could wait.

They had departed for the woods right after dinner, as the sun was setting, and had walked well into the forest equipped with flashlights, water, and some snacks. Wendy had brought a book of course, just in case, and figured that it would be great protection in case they ran into a wild animal or something scarier. “Do you think they’ve got werewolves in here?” she asked out loud, hoping that someone in the vicinity could answer her question.

The young Willbond was not familiar with Stowe and had absolutely no idea what sort of creatures one might find in its forests, “I heard they’ve got Hidebehinds in these parts, they eat people you know!” she added, to emphasize her point; the thought alone made her shiver just slightly. Now, Wendy hoped she hadn’t read that book on mysterious magical creates of the New World, she knew too much. But, she silently hoped they wouldn’t encounter anything scary. She had brought a book along to keep her entertained, not to fight off forest-dwelling beasts of the night.

When they finally reached a clearing, one so far in that the lights of the campsites were barely visible, Carla and Teddy began to set up a fire and prepare the ingredients for the s’mores as the campers found spots to sit around, some logs, a couple of large rocks, and the floor were available. Wendy opted for the rock, the log seemed a little suspect and probably filled with creepy crawlies at night. She didn’t want to take any chances. Moving closer to the little set-up the counselors had made, Wendy reached for a marshmallow and one of the roasting sticks, moving back to her seat and hesitantly leaning closer to the fire.

“Anyone want to tell us a good story?” Carla asked in her typically cheerful voice. “What about something spooky?” she suggested. Wendy looked around expectantly, already clutching her little backpack close to her body for comfort.

This was a dilemma. Hazel did not like to avoid social events; there were too many other opportunities within them, and too many unanswered questions upon choosing not to go. If she skipped, would she miss the biggest event of the summer? What if something really funny happened? Or someone important showed up? Though Hazel did not particularly care for being cool or well-liked, she prided herself in being the girl who was always in the know. Missing out on the bonfire could deprive her of some serious knowledge, and even if Sienna gave her information secondhand, it wouldn’t the same. Hazel felt that her own attention to detail could not be matched.

But the outdoors. And a bonfire – which implied scary stories. Their group of students had a few who loved to indulge in the horrific and the spooky, which meant undoubtedly that at some point, they would be expected to huddle around some sticks and listen to the unsettling tales of ghouls and goblins and girls whose heads fell off. Hazel was not exactly thrilled about all of that. So, she paced the floor of the cabin with her hands behind her back while Sienna sat patiently at a desk, waiting for her to finally come to a decision.

About ten minutes later, the patience had morphed into impatience, and once Sienna implied that they would be keeping Teddy waiting, Hazel was sold. Teddy, in all his curly-haired bright-eyed glory, was one of the cute counselors, and the newest addition to Hazel’s list of crushes.

Lagging behind the rest of the group, the pair of girls made their way to the campfire. Hazel clung onto the straps of her pink backpack while she and Sienna chatted animatedly. Occasionally, whenever they had to sidle past a small puddle or hop over a log, the Korean witch would make a face or sigh emphatically, announcing her annoyance. How did so many people enjoy being outside? There was too much grime and dirt and pests. She could only remain calm by quietly reminding herself that science at a summer camp would probably look good on a resume; she had to start planning early if she wanted to be Minister, after all.

When they arrived at the clearing, Hazel’s brow rose, eyes scrutinizing the scene before them in questioning confusion. “Where are the chairs?” she asked Sienna, who only laughed at the very serious question. The redhead ushered Hazel to a log and the girl’s eyes widened. She stifled a squeak, scowling at the implication that she had to place her perfectly clean trousers on a dirty tree branch that surely had insects crawling throughout. Swinging the bag from her shoulder to her arm, Hazel carefully unzipped it and pulled out a pastel green blanket. It pained her to know that by the end of this, one side would be covered in leaves and soil, but at least her clothes would be protected. Hazel laid the blanket across the log and took a seat, crossing her hands in her lap, back as straight as possible. She ignored Sienna’s laughter on the side of her.

Once everyone was seated, Carla grabbed their attention, the fire lighting up her face and eyes. When she spoke, Hazel’s heart dropped into her stomach. Something spooky? Already? This, Hazel decided, had been a bad idea. Even Teddy’s encouraging smile couldn’t make her feel better.

Brendan was nearly chomping at the bit at the prospect of a nighttime hike, complete with a campfire. He loved the forest, and the prospect of going at night excited him more than it made him nervous. He and his family had spent many a night camping out in their fields, and had gone on more hikes than he could tally. What could go wrong?

As the little troupe of his peers (led by two counselors, Carla and Teddy) trekked through the woods, Bren heard Wendy musing loudly a little ways ahead of him.
“Werewolves?” he frowned. “I mean, it’s not a full moon so they’re just people now anyways…” He said this barely louder than his normal conversational tones, though, so it was unclear if Wendy had even heard him. Her mention of Hidebehinds gave him a bit more pause, but he kept moving. As long as he didn’t fall behind the group…

A few moments later the party broke through to a clearing, revealing a ring of logs and rocks around a campfire-burning site at the center. Unfortunately, as usual, Bren’s indecisiveness got the better of him. He turned slowly on the spot, trying to figure out where he wanted to sit – but as he did so, the available spots rapidly dwindled as most of his peers hurried to claim the spots that were not next to the counselors.

Which meant…

He sighed internally; the only open spot was next to Carla. At least JR would be on his other side. Bren dropped quickly onto the open tree stump, offering his friend a small smile as he did so.

But when he heard Carla’s voice to his left propose something to the extent of a spooky story, his expression fell slightly and he bit his lip. The outdoors at night didn’t particularly scare him, but it was clear from the range of expressions he glimpsed in the firelight that not everyone felt the same. He had a handful of stories in his back pocket about myths and legends from the various Channel Islands… but he also hated the spotlight. And so he deliberately avoided Carla’s gaze as best he could (a difficult feat, considering she was just inches away from him), as though avoiding eye contact would protect him against being selected at random.

For the moment, below is a seating chart (credit to @Fosse for creating it) to help organize the chaos!
Note: people are free to move, new people can sit between other people, etc. – this is just the Starting Lineup.

The summer camp was so much fun! There were countless activities to take part in. She could spend time with her friends from Hogwarts and find new friends as well. Wiltrud could not even say what she liked most about it. When the camp counselors had spoken about the hike into the forest at night and setting up a campfire, Trudy had been excited and eager for the night to come. Who didn't like a little adventure? Besides it would be nicely spooky and spooky was cool.

They left after dinner and Trudy was carrying her rucksack filled with some important things. After all, a good preparation was important when going on adventures. When she had played being an adventurer in the garden with her grandma they had always packed a rucksack as well.

As they walked Wendy asked if there might be werewolves and Trudy considered it for a moment before sharing her opinion on the matter with her housemate and friend. “Nah, I don't think so,” she shook her head and would have liked to give some clever explanation why werewolves were not likely to be seen around here but, truth be told, she had no clue. “They probably have checked everything for safety though, don't you think?” she added anyway and glanced at the counselors.

While she had been absolutely unconcerned when Wendy had mentioned werewolves the hidebehinds were something she found more scary because they were known to live in this area and they were nocturnal. Her eyes widened and she felt cold sweat run down her spine. “No...” she said, more to calm herself than Wendy this time. “They must have taken precautions...” She was not so sure any more though.

Finally they reached a clearing and Carla and Teddy were setting up a fire. Trudy chose to sit on a rock next to Wendy. She scanned their surroundings for movements and listened closely if there were any noises in the dark forest surrounding them but did not see or hear anything that worried her. This could actually be a pretty fun night.

However, when Trudy was just about to get comfortable and relax, Carla asked if anybody wanted to tell a spooky story. She quickly took off her rucksack and opened it. A moment later she held her stuffed erumpent Edna in her hand and smiled. “Edna likes spooky stories too,” she said just loud enough for those sitting close to her to hear. Trudy held her beloved toy erumpent in a hug and pressed it to her chest which made its horn glow in a soft orange colour. She was ready for what was to come now and looked around curiously – who'd share a story first?

A night-time hike though the forest, ending with a bonfire and smores? Perfect! Kitty was excited. She missed her moms already, especially since summer was when she was supposed to spend time with them, but she thought the camp would be a great opportunity to make new friends and hang out with people from all over the world. She stuck close to her bestie, Rion, and sat with him around the campfire. She, too, picked a rock to sit on rather the log, but also reached over to the log next to her and poked a finger in, looking for a creepy crawly. She wasn’t afraid of insects or bugs, unless they were cockroaches. She liked the ones that rolled up and the ones that had a million leggies. She liked letting them crawl on her hands. She didn’t find any, though, so she turned back to the rest. She grabbed a stick with a marshmellow on it and went ahead “toasting” it in the fire. She really just caught it on fire and let it burn before blowing it out. She liked them burnt and crispy, though.

She was already making her smore when the counselor started talking about scary stories. She had read a whole book of scary stories not long ago and certainly remembered most of them! She was eager to share. She noticed a few less-than-pleased faced, and hoped they wouldn’t ruin her fun by complaining. She peeked at Trudy, a nice Ravenclaw witch with her stuffed animal. She smiled at her—how courageous! Kitty liked stuffed animals too, but had been told they made her look young and afraid. So, she had forgone bringing even one to sleep with. She thought it was cool that Trudy didn’t care what people thought, though.

“Oooh, I’ve got one!” Kitty announced. “You guys ready?”

She cleared her throat theatrically before she began telling a wizarding version of Harold, a story about a scarecrow that comes to life.  She admittedly was a little chilled by the story, but it was okay. She would never be that mean to anything, even an inanimate object, so it wouldn’t come back and hurt her. She tried to rope that into the ending, a reminder that it only hurt people who were mean to it.

She eagerly looked around for the faces of her team, and was hoping to see some fear-turned-excitement, but worried she might just see some fear by itself.

She was actually at camp! Isis had been looking forward to this for weeks, ever since her financial aid application had been approved. The twelve year old couldn't decide what she was looking forward to most - campouts, performing arts, or just meeting students from all over the world. She was kind of worried about how they were all going to talk to each other, because she only spoke a little bit of French, but apparently even though magic wasn't allowed there was some sort of spell that meant they could understand each other on camp grounds. What if they went too far away, though? Oh - okay, it wouldn't be a problem for her, this was her own country, she wasn't even very far from Ilvermorny. That didn't matter, though. It was camp, and that made it exciting!

Isis hadn't expected to feel quite so shy when all the younger kids assembled ready to head for the campout, though. It seemed like they all knew each other already. Maybe it was just for British kids...she'd checked her schedule and then whispered to Carla to check it was really okay, and the counselor said she could sit with her or help tend the fire if she wanted, and that made Isis feel more like she belonged, and she relaxed a bit, wandering along on the edges of the group as they chattered about the creatures that might be lurking in the woods. Perhaps being in her home country meant she was a little more comfortable with her surroundings than the others, and thus she fell back, watching the moon's pattern through the trees and tossing a smooth stone she'd picked up from one hand to the other.

Either way, Isis was one of the last to arrive at the bonfire, by which time it was already blazing and most of the closest seats seemed to have been taken. Someone had just suggested ghost stories as she slipped in between two students and settled herself cross-legged on the ground next to a girl hugging a stuffed animal. "Hey" she whispered, not wanting to interrupt the story that was just beginning. It was a good one, too and Isis felt the hairs on the back of her neck beginning to stand on end. She had to resist the temptation to turn around to check there wasn't something lurking behind, just out of the circle of light cast by the fire...

"Awesome!" she exclaimed a little too loudly, once the girl was finished "That's real creepy..." almost, she began to turn, but stopped herself just in time, spearing a marshmallow to toast, though she really wanted to be reassured, to have someone tell her that it wasn't real, that it wouldn't really happen...

"Y'know, Hidebehinds don't often come this far North" she offered, her voice a little higher than normal "and they never bother big groups of people...just hikers who go out alone. And...I'm pretty sure they're scared of fire, too..." she added, almost as if she was trying to convince everyone rather than reassure herself. Almost.

The trek through the dark woods felt bold and adventurous and got JR's heart racing, his hand a little clammy as it gripped the little flashlight that had been given to some of the kids before they started through the woods. JR heard the whisperings of some monsters and creatures and glancing around, he was sure that these woods would be the perfect spot to pick off one of their group. It was a good thing he wasn't scared at all by those rumors. Not one bit.

As they got to the clearing, JR ran over to a log, pushing his shoulder into @Benny Rivera as they both tried to sit down in the same spot, digging his heels into the dirt trying to get leverage he needed to win. He didn't really care about the spot but he had this feeling building in him from the walk and the dark and the idea of scary stories and roughhousing with his friend was a good release. Benny ended up with the spot and JR huffed a frustrated sigh as Carla told the boys to settle down and pointed out an empty spot next to @Brendan de Havilland . He plopped down on the log next to his dormmate with @Tomie Vos on his other side and grabbed at one of the sticks, shoving three marshmallows on the pointy end and sticking them into the fire.

He was only half-listening to Kitty's story as he was making a burnt mess of his marshmallows, pulling the stick out to find them charred to a crisp. He gave Bren a grin and a little shrug. Whoops. Then wondered if Carla was going to give him any more marshmallows. Instead she took his stick and traded him a s'mores sandwich that was already done so he settled back onto his log and tried not to be bitter about the fact that she thought he couldn't make his own. This one was pretty good though. He glanced around the fire to see who else had a story. He definitely didn't have one and even if he did, he wouldn't tell it unless he had practiced the delivery until he had gotten it just right.

Benny pushed JR back as they fought over a spot near the fire, his face lighting up in the sort of smile that came from rough housing. He used all of his weight, and his serious lack of muscles, and ended up coming out triumphantly. Of course he wouldn't gloat about it too much. The young wizard held his arms up on either side showing off the muscles he didn't have and then followed JR when he started roasting marshmallows. Benny put one on the end of a stick and pushed it into the crackling smoking fire in the center of them all. He meant to pay attention to it, he pulled it out a few times to check on it and remained vigilant. He was on track for the perfectly roasted marshmallow... until Kitty started her story.

He'd completely forgotten about his marshmallow by the time the story was finished. He had a chill running up his spine. That was scarier than Tomie's horror comics but he loved it. There was a look on his face, a mix of excited and terrified, and he jumped when something in the woods behind them cracked through some branches. The startled movement jostled his forgotten marshmallow stick and the half melted, burned through, marshmallow fell off of the stick and landed unceremoniously on the ground beside the fire. He looked at it and cursed under his breath before turning back to them.

"Did you guys hear that?"

Tomie, JR and Benny arrived together, and found a good space for three people to sit. She took the middle seat without thinking about it, brushing off some dirt as one of the others kicked some up at her leg before they settled and took a seat on either side of her.

She liked Kitty’s story a lot, but she’d heard it, or a version of it anyway, before. Tomie was more entertained watching the others’ faces when they thought no one was watching. She made a mental note to compliment Kitty on her storytelling later on.

From time to time, her dark eyes were drawn to Shelby, who was sitting almost directly across from her, mostly obscured by the campfire’s flames. She and Shelby had bonded a lot in the past few days. At school, she usually just hung out in the boys’ dorms with Benny and the others. The main difference was that sometimes she wanted to hit Shelby in the arm or give her a playful shove or something, like she did with the boys, but it felt weird to do. She’d kind of thought they’d be sitting near each other tonight.

“Oh really?” Tomie piped up innocently, wiping the sticky marshmallow bits at the corner of her mouth with a thumb.  “I heard they’re attracted to campfires,” she added, reaching for another marshmallow to poke her stick into. Naturally, she had no idea what a Hidebehind was, but if it was something spooky then it felt like the right environment to tease a bit.

Tomie turned to look over her shoulder as Benny pointed out a noise. “Oop, what did I say,” she said with a playful shrug, her eyebrows raised as she met Benny’s eyes.

Rion had wandered over here, snacks in hand, and a blanket for him and @Katerina Masi to sit on. He'd offered treats to @Benny Rivera and @Tomie Vos as he sat down with Katerina. He wasn't exactly scared, but he was a little intimidated by the spooky atmosphere. He was hardly reassured by the barely-age-of-responsiblity camp councilors, whom started the event with a call for scary stories. He could see the others humming and hawing about starting, but Kat, being bold as she was, started first. Her story was chilling, and at some points he found himself gripping at the blanket, or latching onto Kat herself. He'd released himself from Kat as she finished the story. "That was great, Kat..." he said shakily, "You haven't told me that one before!"

His bold Gryffindor friend was probably suitably proud that she'd ruffled some feathers. He looked at the others reactions, which was difficult to do as some their of faces were shadowed by the night, but he'd managed to pull some shocked expressions from the circle of faces. He noticed the Ravenclaw girls; @Wendy Willbond, @Shelby Trickett, and @Wiltrud Wagner sitting next to him and Kitty. "You guys have enough marshmallows?" he said, offering a bag of them he'd stashed in his sack for those who didn't have enough. Rion liked to be prepared with all sorts of snacks in the interim of not being near camp. He'd packed sweets, granola bars, trail mix, an apple or two that would probably go bad if he didn't eat them tonight, and other various goodies.

He'd briefly considered asking @Brendan de Havilland to help him bring more in his pack, but he thought that it'd probably too much. He was too intimidated to ask @Wyatt Hawkins Jr or @Hazel So if they wanted snacks, because they probably ate like kings at home. He was briefly pulled back from his musing about confections upon hearing the crunch that Benny and Tomie heard. His chest tightened as the leaves rigged a little, his eyes widening as a pair of glowing slitted eyes appeared out of the forest, boring into his own. "Guys, I think I see---" however, right as he said this, he creature bounded out into the light, revealing itself to be Zeus, his cat familiar. "--My Cat.." He was relieved to see Zeus, but wondered how he'd gotten away from the cabin. Perhaps he'd left the window unlatched, and his cat head butted it open. "Guess we know it wasn't a hidebehind, eh?" he joked to the group.

As Katerina told her story, every noise suddenly became much louder, a lot more obvious. Hazel was more aware, alerted by the slightest crackling of leaves or the softest whisper of wind. Instinctively, she wrapped her fingers around the strap of her backpack; her toy pygmy puff was inside, and she bemoaned the fact that there were too many faces here, most of which would probably judge her for still relying on a stuffed animal for comfort. As Kat continued on, Hazel shyly grabbed hold of Teddy’s sleeve. By the time they’d arrived at the ending, she exhaled shakily, having forgotten that she’d been holding her breath for the last bits of the story.

She examined the faces surrounding her and was surprised to see some of the other upcoming second years smiling. How did anyone find joy in these sorts of things – this mystery always puzzled her. Scary anything never failed to force a daunting sense of paranoia over the Slytherin. She hated that feeling of uncertainty, of feeling like something dangerous was looming nearby, waiting… Hazel turned her head as comments came around from different peers, mentioning hidebehinds or monsters. “That’s not funny,” she chastised before her gaze darted around to look for the creepy creatures.

When the two eyes appeared glowing slightly in the distance, Hazel shrieked. “It’s Harold!” she yelled, throwing her arms around Sienna. She only peeked up when Rion mentioned a cat, huffing loudly once it seemed like the coast was clear. Although she felt relieved to see that the orbs hadn’t belonged to some monster, her fragile heart could only take so much!

“Hey,” Trudy greeted the girl that joined the group of Hogwarts students. She was spending so much time together with her friends from school that she almost didn't find the time to make new acquaintances which was actually a little sad.

When Kitty began to tell her story, Trudy listened closely, gasping every so often and feeling rather appalled when she heard the ending. She shuddered. “Wow,” she whispered sounding rather astonished. The American girl next to her was a little louder with her reaction and Trudy eyed her a little suspiciously. She even had something to say about the hidebehinds which was rather interesting. Clearly she knew a bit about the local fauna.

Rion turned into the direction of Wendy, Shelby and her and offered some more marshmallows which Trudy gladly took. He was such a nice and thoughtful boy. “Thanks,” she said, smiling at him before giving some to Wendy and Shelby.

Trudy glanced at Tomie curiously as she mentioned to have heard that hindebehinds actually like campfires but didn't really feel scared by that remark. Even when Benny pointed out a noise she did not feel terrified but still looked instinctively into the direction out of which he had heard something – just to be sure. And something was there. Hazel yelled that it was Harold and, although Trudy did not believe this for a second, she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She sighed a breath of relief when she saw that it was just Rion's cat.

“Well then, now I'll tell you a story,” Trudy started, sounding serious. The girl looked around, feeling somehow delighted and scared at the same time that so many were now listening to her.

Spoiler: show

“There were four kids, all around 10 years old, who knew each other from school. One of them, Amanda, was new to the school and to the village where they all lived. She was a curious girl and had seen a castle ruin on the top of a small hill outside the village. She asked the other kids if they should go and explore it but they were reluctant. George, the oldest – he was already 11 – and tallest of them, said that he heard rumours of a dark witch living there and that people who went there never returned or when they did, they were changed.” Trudy paused, thinking of how to go on and pulled Edna the erumpent into a hug when she continued.

“Okay, so Amanda was a daring girl and she teased George that he was a coward and silly for believing such stories because, obviously, witches weren't real. The other two, Linda and Rufus, were rather quiet at first but in the end the four of the decided to go to the castle. They packed their rucksacks and went on a hike there the next day, telling their parents they'd just have a picnic on one of the fields close by. It was stormy, the clouds were chasing each other and when they were almost there, a downpour seemed imminent. As they reached the old gate a few ravens flew up, screeching as they did so. Linda didn't want to go in but when she was just suggesting to wait outside, the rain started. They ran inside the ruin, looking for shelter from the rain.” Trudy glanced around, wondering if the others were listening and if they liked the story she was just inventing on the spot.

“Well, they separated, Linda and Rufus staying a bit behind while Amanda and George went further inside… They looked around, finding nothing special. Then, however, Amanda froze in front of a seemingly blank wall.” Trudy put some emphasis on this sentence and licked her lips before she went on. “George asked her 'what are you looking at? Now come on, let's go and find the others again.'” The Ravenclaw spoke with a different voice to underline the direct speech. “Amanda, however, just stared at the wall. While to George it was entirely blank, an old stone wall with nothing special about it, Amanda saw letters written with blood on it. There will be no way out of here. You're mine now! Don't even bother to run. 'Don't you… see the writing on the wall?' Amanda finally whispered.” And Trudy also whispered these words.

“George didn't see anything and said 'that's not funny. Here's nothing, so let's just wait until the rain stops and leave.' Amanda looked at him, shaking her head. 'You really do not see this?' she asked confused. 'No, I see nothing. Now stop it. I'll go find the others. Do you come with me now or what?'” Trudy made sure to speak the dialogue with different voices so the others would know for sure who was speaking. “Amanda looked at the wall again. She hesitated, shrugged, and wanted to follow George when suddenly a woman appeared in the room that he had just left. And she was not alone... What Amanda then saw was nothing she had ever seen before or even heard of.” Trudy nodded importantly and pressed Edna to her body so that the horn was glowing orange again.

“There was a mini dragon right next to the woman! Amanda stared at it in disbelief, thinking that she might be hallucinating. Then, however, the woman began to speak to her… 'You have been foolish to come here, my little one. My companion is hungry and naturally likes young humans. See how he already looks at you? He's only waiting for my command and he'll eat you alive...'” Trudy had spoken these words slowly and threatening, hoping it would have the desired effect and sound a bit scary.

“Amanda shook her head in disbelief, not able to understand that the situation she was facing was real. 'No,' she said weakly, 'you are not real! That dragon cannot be real.' She briefly looked to the side, hoping that George and the others would turn up and confirm that this was merely a hallucination. 'hahahaha,' made the witch” and Trudy tried to give a dangerous laugh herself.

“'You are not the first one not believing their eyes,' the woman said and Amanda made a step backwards, preparing herself to run for it even if it did still seem unreal and silly to her. 'Don't. Don't try it.' the woman warned, picking up on the movement. Then she looked at the dragon and gave a nod. 'Attack!'” Trudy had spoken rather quietly until now but said the last word quite a bit louder.

“The dragon and Amanda moved about at the same moment. Amanda ran where George had gone and the dragon was at her heels. She knew it would catch up with her. She could feel its breath in her neck, could hear its steps coming closer and closer and...” Trudy had spoken fast until now and hesitated before continuing in a much calmer tone. “The exit was near, She could feel the breeze from outside, she could see her friends waiting for her in the grounds. The sun was shining again. The dark clouds had moved. Birds were singing...” Trudy sighed deeply.

“Amanda had almost reached the exit when the dragon caught up with her and bit her into her leg. She stumbled and fell. Her leg was bleeding, the dragon was on top of her, ready to bite her head off.” Trudy nodded. “The others saw her fall, saw the dragon and were petrified. They wanted to help but… couldn't move. Linda even averted her gaze because she didn't want to see what most certainly would happen any second now.” 

Trudy shifted her position on the stone a little and took a deep breath. “What happened then seemed even more unreal than the appearance of the dragon itself. Suddenly – the  dragon was already opening its mouth – it was catapulted off Amanda. The girl tried to get to her feet, but her leg was aching so badly and she didn't succeed. Finally, George managed to pull himself together and ran towards her, urging Rufus to join him. They went to either side of Amanda and helped her get away from the castle.” She paused and shrugged.

“Right, no one's dead, but imagine how they must have felt, think of the nightmares they have had ever since that day… It might not surprise you that a little after this incident Amanda's family was approached by a ministry official who brought her Hogwarts acceptance letter...”

Trudy looked around expectantly. Admittedly her story was not as intense as Kitty's had been but she had made it up herself and she hoped that she had done a good job changing her voice to imitate the characters and emphasise different parts of the story.

[[OOC: I put the actual story there as a spoiler. It turned out a bit longer...]]

Isis wasn't scared. She'd been on enough hikes and spent enough nights around campfires to know that there was nothing to be scared of. Bad things didn't like the fire, or the light, and they definitely didn't like loud noises and happy voices. Mom had told her that when she was little and still young enough to be frightened of the dark.

Unfortunately, Mom wasn't here right now, nor were any of her friends. Just lots of other kids she didn't really know yet and who might decide Isis was the best choice to feed to a hidebehind if there happened to be one lurking in the woods. Just because she'd read about them not coming this far North didn't mean that a stray one wouldn't just decide to wander up here, attracted by the presence of so many kids in the hopes that one of them was bound to wander off alone. She hoped there was going to be another story soon, one that was exciting and interesting and only a little bit scary so she could concentrate on that and not worry about hearing...

"What?" she reacted automatically when a boy said he heard a noise, then sunk down a little, embarrassed. The marshmallow she had been attempting to toast had been wavering in and out of the fire and so was scorched on one side and stoll cold on the other, so she decided to cut her losses and eat it anyway as her eyes darted one way and then another, trying to seek out the source of the noise that she hadn't even heard. Isis could feel her heart pounding and she was on the verge of getting up and going to sit with one of the counsellors when another boy saw something...his cat! "Kitty!" she exclaimed again, though this time she was less embarrassed as the atmopshere relaxed instantly. Imediately she felt better and quite ready to hear a story, which seemed to be one that this new girl - the only one who had so far spoken to her directly and thus the one Isis thought of as her friend - was making up on the spot. Sure there were plotholes you could drive a school bus through, but to make up a story just like that...and to do all the voices... that was quite a talent. Isis hoped the girl would be joining the creative arts programme so they could get to know each other better.

She clapped as the girl finished, feeling quite back to her regular self again. "Awesome! I'm sure glad they all got out safe...uh, I've got one, if you wanna hear..." she began "My grandmom likes to tell this on Hallowe'en after we've got back from trick or treating. It's kind of weird, and, uh... well, it gives me the creeps, anyway" Isis said, and began. It wasn't so much a story as an atmospheric setting, though it scared the heck out of Isis every time she heard it with out her understanding why. When she finished, she looked around a little nervously, hoping it hadn't scared anyone too much.

[OOC: I first heard a version of this weird little tale when I was about 12, at camp...]

The entire idea of telling stories sounded fun, even if the genre suggested had been horror, Wendy was confident that she could handle it. The young witch had read all sorts of things prior to coming to camp and even in some of her favorite romance novels, there were plenty of situations that Wendy had considered to be terrifying: losing your way in the dark, leaving your lover in an alternative universe, coming across a mysterious object, the meeting with the final boss, those were all fun story ideas in her opinion. Wendy was even considering which one to tell first, figuring that she could tell the one from the latest chapter of the novel she had been reading. But Benny hadn’t gotten to that part yet and she felt bad spoiling the story.

As she pondered what to do, she started working on a marshmallow, the s’mores thing sounding like a big mess she didn’t want to take a part in. Wendy listened to Kitty’s story with interest, her heart beating faster as the Gryffindor girl told her story before her eyes widened at the end. “Did Harold kill him? What? But why? Scarecrows are supposed to be nice!” she exclaimed. Wendy had felt bad for how they had treated Harold but there had to be better ways to resolve issues than to kill someone. To make matters worse, Tomie’s comment about the hidebehinds only made her shiver, “But the other girl said—” she started before she slowly turned around to look behind her just in case. Wendy could almost make something out in the shadows—she quickly whipped her head back around to stare at the fire, terrified.

She brought her hands up to her ears when Benny spoke, screaming when Hazel shrieked, closing her eyes tightly. This was awful, she shouldn’t have come here, she told herself, waiting for her impending death before she opened her eyes and realized that Rion was talking about his cat.

Trudy’s story, on the other hand, had a much nicer ending but was still pretty scary. But at this point, Wendy was actively trying to tune out the scary bits and focus on the nicer parts. She had never heard the story before but wondered if Trudy had made it up herself, it was very detailed. But before she could feel any comfort in the fact that maybe all stories were not going to be as scary as Harold had been, Isis chimed in with a story of her own, her eyes widening as she heard it. It wasn’t particularly scary in the traditional sense but it scared her, especially with the images in her head as the story unfolded. “Why is there a green baby?” she whispered to Shelby who was siting next to her, “Why is time running backwards? What? I don’t get it, this is scary,” she turned to Trudy. She tried not to look behind her as she thought she heard something. “I want to go back to my room,” she admitted quietly.

Maybe he had been trying to spook the others, maybe he hadn't, but when he heard something moving around in the underbrush beyond the light of their fire he managed to scare himself a bit. His shoulders straightened as he looked behind him sharply and sighed when they all realized it was a cat. Close call. No monsters, or aliens, or upperclassman, so they were safe for now. Turning back Benny listened closely to Trudy's story and by the end he was smiling. He liked it when they had happy endings, even if the twelve-year-old knew that wasn't always applicable.

Turning to listen to the American student who had joined them Benny blinked a few times at her accent, finding it a bit jarring but he understood the words just fine. Her story was a bit creepier than Trudy's, and suspenseful too. By the time she was close to finishing, he ends he was at the literal edge of his little stump of a seat. The stick he'd been burning marshmallows with had long fallen to the ground beside him. And his eyes were wide as he waited for the conclusion. The headless horseman bit caught his attention the most, and he pictured the stake and why he didn't sleep and it gave him shivers.

"But who is the hero?" He asked, suddenly, after Isis had finished speaking and began to look around at them. Benny saw Wendy whispering to Shelby and silently wondered if she was thinking the same thing. Benny loved stories, comics, tales, epics, all of it but he needed there to be clear cut heroes and villains. Otherwise, he got lost in all the other stuff. "Who do we root for? The Gray Raven?"