Unfortunately that was the point where the chaos began. I must have mixed up a weather charm with the sand, as suddenly the sand started blowing around. Nothing too terrible at first, but after a few minutes it was starting to get into a full-blown sandstorm. The other students in the common room just stood and stared, while one of their pet dogs was trying to catch the sand in his mouth. The next few students to descend the stairs from the dorms were covered in sand as soon as they set foot in the common room. We didn't need snowmen, not with real-life walking 'sand-students'. I could feel myself getting redder, as I wanted the ground to just swallow me up.

Some of the students were laughing and there was even a mini sand-ball fight taking place, but that was nothing compared to the next few moments. I'd asked a House Elf if we could have some snacks, and they chose that particular moment to appear with some sandwiches, slices of cake and glasses of pumpkin juice. The first House Elf slipped on the sand, sending the sandwiches flying into the sand dune. One of my fellow students was disorientated with the sand storm, and walked straight into the next house elf, the student ending up with pumpkin juice all over their clothes. And I have no idea what happened to the slices of cake - that House Elf just vanished without a trace....

Niamh Doyle, Gryffindor

(With apologies to the House Elves for all the sand!)

"Today is the day!" I announced to no one in particular as I cheerfully leaped out of bed, slipped on my robes, and headed out the door. As I neared the Great Hall, I noticed the doors were shut tight and a large sign hang menacingly: "Feast Canceled!"

"What's going on?" I asked as I approached a group of hungry students standing outside. "There's no food left! The House Elves can't even make breakfast, let alone a huge holiday feast!" One student said. "They can't magic up the meals either!" Another chimed in. I was floored, "How is that possible!? This is a disaster!"

Even the professors were at a loss for why cooking could no longer be done with a wave of a wand. Then I had an idea, "We'll do it ourselves!" I took charge and delegated the responsibilities between the remaining students and Hogwarts staff. Professors went to decorate, Ravenclaws went to the library to find recipes, Gryffindors went to the stores to buy ingredients, Slytherins went to the kitchen to help the House Elves make the main courses and side dishes, and Hufflepuffs went to the bakery to grab as many desserts as they could carry.

"Phew!" I exhaled as I brought the last dish out and set it on one of the long tables. The feast began and students filled their plates with their days hard work.

No one ever figured out the exact reason for the sudden magic hiccup, but rumors began to circulate that a particularly grumpy wizard put a powerful hex on the school in an effort to ruin the holiday cheer - little did they know, it would do the exact opposite.

So, let’s say there’s this Hogwarts student named Jonas Ketch. And Jonas is, like, a sixth year at Hogwarts - his house is irrelevant. And he hears stories about Hogwarts in the past and how there used to be this chamber underneath the castle. Well, it’s probably not there anymore, Jonas figures, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give the illusion that it is.So, after much preparation, Jonas digs a simple hole between where the castle lie and where the Black Lake resides; he uses an extension charm so that once inside, the relatively grave-sized hole becomes a large maze of tunnels beneath the earth. All the tunnels lead to the same place: an open chamber in the center with a giant basilisk statue.

Jonas spent the entire year expanding his network, which was impressive because he already knew almost everyone at the school, save for the newest first-years. During the last week of classes, or more specifically during end-of-the-year testing, is when the party began. A few Ravenclaws who thought their grades too important and a few Hufflepuffs who felt sympathy for their teachers went to classes, but everyone else in the school… they were underground. Partying.

Needless to say, things got a bit out of hand. Respectably, not soul spilled the details to any one of the teachers, but that does nothing when a Gryffindor decides to be the life of the party and pack some homemade fireworks for an underground party. The vibrations caused earthquakes in the entire area. Portraits fell off their walls in the castle, the moving staircases lost their normal rhythm. Even in the enchanted forest, the rumbling could be felt, scaring the centaurs into a stampede that led them through the castle. Mermaids leaped from the lake at the disturbance and wailed in displeasure. But all of the students, who were still underground, were completely unaware of the chaos that ensued above them.

Jonas had a secret about these chambers, though, and he was saving it for the grand finale. When it seemed that the rave was finally dying down - when the band members got tired and the refreshments ran dry and people’s legs turned to jelly (from dancing and not from spells) - that was when Jonas revealed the big bang.

“It’ssssssss time to sssssstart phasssssse two!”

Everyone stopped then. Even if you are pureblood and grow up with magic, it’s not everyday you witness a giant stone basilisk talking underground to a bunch of young witches and wizards. Jonas smirked, knowing what would happen next. The snake laid its head on the ground and opened its mouth wide to form a doorway. Students held their breath as they waited. They kept waiting and began looking at one another questioningly when five minutes passed and nothing happened.

“Hey, sorry we’re late!” Stumbled in a recent graduate as she hugged some of her nearby friends. The flood gates were open now and all kinds of people were wading in. One random Gyffindor came barreling in on what looked like a winged bear singing: “The party don’t start till I walk in!”

And there you have it. Approximately 20 students attended classes that day. Meanwhile, the teachers spent the entirety of the next several days not only searching for the missing students but also retrieving fallen portraits; playing music to reset the rhythm of the moving staircases; righting crooked paintings; herding hysterical centaurs; calming enraged mermaids; soothing frightened magical creatures; and locating all the house elves (for they had been invited to the party as well). From then on, Jonas was known as the “Snake Charmer” - although, he was never allowed out of the castle and on school grounds again with a teacher, prefect, or head student present to supervise him, it was well worth it. You can never regret a good party, after all.

Merlin was excited for the holidays, going back home with his parents and pets was the most wonderful thing of the holidays. Seeing his friends was also something he was looking forward to. “Can’t wait to see Gabriel, Tamsin, Niall, Bart, Stella, meet Tegan, and it’s just going to be great!” He tells his girlfriend River () who was sitting next to him. “I’m going to finish packing, must make sure to keep my pets safe.” He left to his room but remembered he wanted to get a potion he was brewing and went to get it, what he didn’t know was that something fell inside his potion and changed it. “There it is, mom would be proud how well it turned out.” He put it on a bottle and before closing it, a cat jumped from under the table and the bottle spilled completely on the table. “No! It’s ruined.” Suddenly the table started vibrating and moving on it’s own. It had turned green like grass and now had a creepy face. “Merlin’s beard what is that?” The table laughed and even when Merlin started sending spells to stop it, the table started moving fast and eating all on its way, growing bigger and bigger as it went. “Help!”

Merlin ran out screaming for help and the students screamed as the creepy table ate everything on its way. Professors started trying to stop it as well but it didn’t work. “Nothing stops it!” Merlin ran and the table followed him. “Someone stop it!” The table was so big now that it was breaking everything on its way and eating most things as well, it ate statues and paintings among other things like books, plants, and walls. Merlin reached the great hall while screaming for help. “It’s going to eat the entire school! Headmistress!”

All professors lined up to attack the table, they managed for it to threw up some of the items it ate and with that it became smaller and smaller. “It’s working!” Merlin wondered if he could just turn into a dragon and eat it or if he would turn into an eating table too. After the professors made the table throw up and returned to its size, Persnickety returned it to a simple table. “I’m sorry but I don’t even know how it happened! My potion was spilled but it was not for bringing things alive, it was a sleeping potion. Something must have toyed with it.” He felt terrible for everything that had broke and the professors started fixing everything back to normal. It was time to go back home. “Good thing I didn’t bring it home.”

But no, this was a knock. And not just one knock! It seemed that every entrance to the castle was being tested, every window being peered into, trying to see what wonders were in the fantastic old building. The Hogwarts staff were perplexed. Headmistress Persnickety sprang into action though. "Miss Kain, check the perimeter. Heads of House, gather your students into their common rooms - enlist the assistance of your prefects. All other professors - either secure a door or be ready to Obliviate. The Muggles have found us."

With that pronouncement, pure chaos erupted. Pureblood students were in a panic, while the Muggle-borns were merely curious - perhaps their families had coming looking for them? Everyone was rushed to their dormitories, some eagerly trying to catch a glimpse of Muggles in the castle and others trying to keep their heads down and remain unseen.

When the dust finally settled and all the students were tucked away and all the Muggles had their memories properly altered, the truth came out. Some enterprising wizard had thought to make a fortune by selling Muggles tours of a famous castle. He managed to break the Muggle-repelling charms and enchantments surrounding Hogwarts to bring his tourists on a very expensive journey (no refunds, of course).

Headmistress Persnickety was appalled that Hogwarts' security had been breached without anyone knowing until it was too late, and ordered for additional charms, enchantments, and alerts to be implemented immediately. And so ended the chaotic day the Muggles came to Hogwarts.

When she was finished and properly dressed, she came back to her bed to put her sleep clothes away. Her suitcase was already packed and Muir and Neirin would be fine with travelling around her neck. She wrapped a scarf around her neck and went to the Great Hall for breakfast. When she arrived there, she noticed the dark expression in the headmistress' face. Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders and got herself a cup of tea and some English buns with Marmelade.

After a while, when more students had arrived, the headmistress rose to her feet and cleared her throat. " Ahem. Good morning, students. Unfortunately, I have some bad news. " Within seconds, students started whispering about what could have happened. Elizabeth looked up, mildly interested on what the headmistress would say. If only the other students would calm down. It was just impolite and she shook her head while drinking some tea. The headmistress made an exploding noise with her wand to gain attention again. " I have to tell you that the magic of the Hogwarts express has stopped working. We've already been investigating the cause but we still don't know how to get it back to function. I'm afraid those of you who wanted to go home for the holidays... Can't leave. " A storm of comments and discussion arose in the great hall and this time, Elizabeth couldn't help it but feel sympathy for them. She wouldn't be going home. She eyed her food and wasn't hungry anymore, so she moved her plate away from her. Why couldn't the faculty come up with something different? The headmistress and the teachers were trying to calm the other students down. They achieved this, but slowly. She felt a sudden glimpse of bravery flicker up - normally she never spoke up, unless it was in the classrooms. " Professor Persnickety, may I have a word? ", she asked, raising her hand. The headmistress seemed surprised, but nodded at the prefect. " Of course, Miss Covington. ", she said and awaited her response. " why are we so reliant of the train? Before we had this vehicle, people travelled to hogwarts as well. What about Floo powder or portkeys? The students could travel directly to their families or to the Leaky Cauldron. Portkeys could go to platform 9 3/4 as their families would be waiting there either. For the way back to Hogwarts, you could do the same. But I'm sure the competent staff of Hogwarts will be able to solve the train problem over the holidays. " She ended her explanation with a winning smile. The Great Hall had become quite silent for a moment, before the headmistress looked at Elizabeth with delight. " What a wonderful idea, Miss Covington! I'll get everything done so everyone who wants can go home for Christmas. " The great Hall was filled with cheer now and buzzing with excitement. Elizabeth took another cup of tea and drank it while some of her housemates congratulated her for her brilliant idea. Even some of the other students came to the Slytherin table to talk to her. Elizabeth smiled politely while thinking that she had done this mostly for herself. She wouldn't have spoken up if she had stayed at the Castle.

In Gryffindor Tower, Paddy and Aria were taking turns taking terrified First Year boys and making them turn the spiral staircase up to the girls' dormitories into a slide. "Whee! This is more fun than hijacking a broom," yelled Paddy. Aria transfigured her skirt into pants and slid headfirst into a pile of cushions. "Incoming!" Get out of the way firsties! Move it!"

Down in the Slytherin Dungeon, Drew and Liz had commandeered the entire common room for themselves. They took turns running back and forth between a table heaped with pastries and the largest window. "Lumos! Lumos! Lumos!" It had been the Slytherin Prefects' dearest ambition to communicate via Morse code with the Giant Squid. Liz had come up with the idea to tell him to snatch her rivals while they sunbathed on the banks of the Black Lake, and Drew wanted to tell him to tickle the prettiest girls. Their eyes glittered with glee and their mouths were full of choux cream.

Keet and Keliora paraded around Ravenclaw Tower wearing gaudy imitations of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. "Diamonds and sapphires are the only rocks bothering with," trilled Keet. "Always remember though, nothing under 2 carats darling," Keliora purred. They primped and preened in the Mirror of Erised, jostling for position every so often. "We should have asked Naos to bring this up here sooner!"

Hufflepuff Basement was an array of enchanted indoor fireworks. Gwen had bought out the stock of Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and set them all off at once. "Boom!" The castle’s rafters shook as a dizzying Catherine wheel exploded into a torrent of sparks upon careening into a red and gold phoenix. Gwen just calmly sipped from a dainty willoware tea cup and then began laughing with mirth. A house elf with a pail of water was sprinting away from what looked to be a glittering Common Welsh Green.

(OOC: This was fun to do!)

Chaos ensued with the intermingling of houses being forced to camp out in the great hall, or literally being forced to sleep in an upside down space between their classes and dormitories. With little to no guidance the youngest students began making forts out of their robes and decorating their sections of the stairs to pass the time. A pair of students even took the opportunity to try and break into the restricted section of the library, but unfortunately the librarian had not been detained because of the stairs debacle and the pair was given detention for the remainder of the term.

Eventually the school was able to flu-powder in a stonemason who was eventually able to calm the entire situation down, with a stern talking to and perhaps a few flicks of his wand. Afterwards rumors erupted with many students claiming to know who it was, but at the risk of boils breaking out on their foreheads, they all held their tongues and the real culprits were never caught. One of the more believable rumors had it that one of the senior students who ran the art club was getting revenge on someone for saying muggle art had no place in the art history books of the wizarding community. Still, others said it was largely thanks to Peeves, or perhaps his fault entirely.

„No!“ Lysandra quickly kicked the door shut, then jumped into the direction of the big window with the balcony outside. However, she was too late. Not with an elegant whoosh yet with loud clinking hooves and some squeaking, a pygmy unicorn lit on the window bench, opening the very one with a flourish of unicorn dust. „How did it ever find me here?“ Lys thought, thinking about the last times this special member of the elven forest unicorn family has wreaked havoc over once peaceful places, unintended yet nevertheless.

With arms extended, the young girl approached the even younger unicorn who needed another 350 years to be called an adult. „Glyxi! How nice you visiting! How come?“ Perhaps she lost her way, Lys thought, yet not likely. The unicorn whinnied and nudged Lysandra´s head a tick too eager which made the part-fae stagger and falling down to her bed to a hiss of Frida. Irritated, the unicorn looked up to the armoire, only seeing a flash of green eyes and a baring of claws. It took a step back which was a stride into the void. Splat! With rowing legs, the unicorn teen tumbled down from the window sill, resurfacing on a frozen path surrounding the pupil´s wing of Hogwards. Clumsy, it slipped and fell onto its back, then sliding down in the direction of one of the game-keepers compounds.

Lysandra leaned out of the window and craned her neck, watching the scenery with growing horror. Wasn´t this the pen of the poffle of Puffskeins? For feast days, many more than usual slept there, being immensely important for eating the leftovers and so helping to clear up the house for the holidays when guided by a good instructor.

Glyxis had picked up pace and soared the frozen path down and down, caming in like a bombshell, bottom first, hitting the Puffskein´s fence and punching a hole into it. Annoyed and with a squeak, the unicorn came to a stop then, shivering. The Puffskeins, however, seized the chance and escaped, starting out for the kitchens. Lysandra sighed. There went their banquet. It was out of the question that the little critters would leave a crumb of the feast meal.

It started snowing from the ceiling, a lovely touch which brought joy to the assembly. Yet the snow was different from what it used to be. It was not the usual make-believe but actual fluffy snow touching the floor and tables. At first no one really minded, it was all good fun and the imps were quite pleased with themselves, their "prank" was a success.

The really problem began when the snow kept falling, heavier and heavier, all the while not melting once it was down. What was mere inches a few minutes ago was now nearly a feet tall and it kept growing. Many students following the lead of a couple of Ravenclaws placed shield over their plates in hope to salvage their diner. The headmistress was up with the other professors and they stated waving their wands at the ceiling.

Little good did it do. Now not only was it snowing fiercely but a strong wind had risen. Sooner than anyone could have predicted a full snow storm was raging in the Great Hall. Like the imps would say latter, it wasn't part of the plan, at all. Hats were flying, little first years grabbed the tables and benches to not join them in the air. Students and professors alike took refuge under the tables as the storm kept roaring around them. If one wished to find beauty in the situation they would have said that frozen gravy is just as beautiful as ice, and mince pies are scary when the threaten to smash in your head rather than be smashed by your fork.

Under the Head Table, the Headmistress was trying to will the castle's magic back in line, it worked a bit. At least the wind had died down, yet the snow kept falling. Sensing the wizards distress a few house elves popped in the room, several feet over them, they huge eyes took in the disaster. It is well known, elvish magic is more powerful than human's. The Great Hall ceiling slowly stopped pouring snow and again could we see the night sky with its stars.

Precociously, everyone emerged from under the tables, with a great deal of warming and fire spell. The level of snow reached an average Fourth year waist. Though once the fear and surprise past, it really shouldn't be a surprised to our reader that a massive snowball fight happened without any distinction of house and year, which to be fair made the place even more chaotic than it already was. It was to be later called the Great Hall Chaos and was remembered for years. Rumors were strong that one students dared to narrate the story on a blank page of "Hogwarts: a History" which was definitely not approved by the Librarian.

Neither the mysterious writer nor the imps were ever discovered but the magic of the ceiling and the Library books' enchantements were strengthen. We know, we broke them. Mischief managed.

Unfortunately, it would not stay serene for long. Sterling, her new pet magpie, had been watching everything from one of the banisters with a glint in his eyes. He had been an early Christmas gift from her friend Rain, who happened to own one of the most extensive aviaries Keet had ever seen. She knew that magpies adored shiny things almost as much as nifflers, and she was a bit concerned with the way that Sterling was looking at all of the perfectly arranged decorations. She approached him cautiously, not wanting to startle him and cause a scene. "Sterling, step up," she said firmly, placing her index finger within easy hopping distance. Sterling would have none of that, though. He let out a squawk and made straight for the tree.

"Sterling, no!" she shrieked, chasing after him. Too late. Sterling had already made himself at home in the tree, removing one of the glittering snowflake ornaments she had so meticulously crafted, and dropping it to the floor. But he didn't stop there! He proceeded to hop to and fro, removing every ornament from the tree and flinging each one to the floor with a gleeful squawk. Some of the ornaments smashed and broke. Keet was so flustered that she didn't think to use an impediment jinx right away, and when she did, he dodged it nimbly and headed straight for a poor unsuspecting first year. It didn't take her long to figure out why, the frightened girl was wearing a very sparkly necklace. Sterling had landed on her shoulder, and was tugging at the necklace, trying to pry out the glittering stones. The girl covered her head with her arms and squeaked in fear, clearly not thrilled about the new "friend" she had made. "I'm so sorry!" Keet cried sympathetically, "I haven't had the chance to fully train him yet," she explained. While he was preoccupied with the stones, she cast a successful impediment jinx on him, releasing the necklace from his mouth and prying his tightly clasped claws from the girl's jumper. "Back into your cage, mister, and no treats today!" she chided.

After Sterling was locked securely back in his cage, Keet proceeded to repair the broken ornaments, magic the decorations back into place, and to try to comfort the poor first year girl. The few other students that had been present at the time were giggling and whispering, how embarrassing! She sighed, at least the ordeal was over now... or so she thought. In her preoccupation with all of the Christmas preparations, Keet had forgotten to recast the silencing charm on her pet fwooper, Disco. He had been watching silently from a perch she had conjured for him in the corner, but when he saw the ornaments whizzing through the air and hanging themselves back on the tree, he let out a happy chirp!

Keet froze, knowing what it would mean if she couldn't silence him fast enough. Thinking quickly, she conjured up some fluffy earmuffs for herself and everyone else present in the room. She put her pair on and instructed everyone else to do the same. She tried to cast her silencing charm on Disco, but at hearing the sound of his voice for the first time in ages, he was whirring excitedly about the room, chirping and whistling and making quite a racket. What if his chirping drove someone mad? She started to panic, casting silencing charms left and right, but Disco was too fast. He dipped, he rolled in midair, he dodged every charm. How could she have been so careless, she could be expelled for this! As anxiety took over, she felt about to pass out.

At that moment, she started and opened her eyes. Confused, she looked around. She was in her four poster bed, and both Sterling and Disco were safely snoozing silently in their cages on the bedside table. She gave a great sigh of relief, it had all been a very stressful dream. Laughing, she recast Disco's silencing charm, just in case, and tightened the latches on both of their cages. She didn't want her dream to become a premonition!

Students were screaming, some crying, some huddled in groups talking frantically, and some looking downright excited. All the while professors were attempting to herd everyone to the Great Hall and maintain control and calm.

“What’s going on?” Drew asked one of the other students. He felt that he’d failed as a prefect because he had no clue about things.

“We’re not at Hogwarts,” was the answer.

Drew paused and looked at the other student, obviously a firstie, and equally obviously insane. “What do you mean? Of course we’re at Hogwarts.”

The student shook his head. “Not what I heard. They’re saying we’re somewhere else.”

Drew found that unbelievable considering he could see with his own eyes the familiar paintings, halls, and stairs of Hogwarts castle. Then as the first year ran off, Drew chanced to look out of a window. He blinked. They were still inside the castle, but they were definitely not at the usual location!

“Students, inside the Great Hall! Move it!” called one of the professors, before Drew could ponder the situation or ask further questions. “Prefects! Stay with your house until we have this sorted!”

What in Merlin’s name is going on?? Drew thought as he hurried to join a group of Slytherins. He spotted Poppy and Lenore and longed to ask them but they were busy helping the professors. He sighed and set to work rounding up his housemates and going into the Great Hall.

Just as he was entering the door, a house elf came careening past and bumped into him. The elf screamed and started to run away, but Drew quickly grabbed him. “Wait! What’s happening?” the boy asked.

“Not Dumbles! No! Dumbles didn’t mean to!” the elf squealed.

“Easy, it’s alright,” Drew tried to calm the distraught house elf. He looked younger than most of the Hogwarts elves and Drew was trying to recall if he’d ever seen him before. Not that he knew all the elves in the castle. “What is it you didn’t mean to do?” he asked.

“Move us!” the elf declared and promptly burst into tears, attempting to rake his nails over his body. “Bad bad Dumbles! Dumbles not have mighty magic like namesake!”

Drew grabbed Dumbles’ wrists to stop him from harming himself. “Stop that,” he commanded firmly. “Now tell me what you did.”

Though tears, screams, self-recrimination, and attempts at self-harm as punishment, Dumbles was able to convey his crime to Drew. Apparently the house elf was young…a mere adolescent of a house elf and the offspring of an elf couple who had long work for and worshipped the wizards and witches of Hogwarts. Named in honor of Dumbledore, Dumbles, now that he was old enough to work in the castle, had decided to practice a bit with his own magic and move the tables in the Great Hall. Unfortunately, his magic wasn’t fully under control and the spell went wrong. He succeeded in moving the entire CASTLE to the other side of Hogsmeade village!

Drew managed to talk Dumbles into coming with him to find the Headmistress. Once the story was told, Dumbles’ parents were alerted and through their combined, and controlled, magic, along with help from the Hogwarts staff, the castle was returned to its proper location.

And all this before breakfast! Drew thought to himself. Well, there’s never a dull moment at Hogwarts!

Drew Wilder~ Slytherin