HP Halloween drabbles

[donnaimmaculata]

It turns out, hp_halloween, the Halloween-themed gift exchange, is quite a demanding fest: 70 double-drabbles, all posted on one day, ranging from fluffy rom-com to chilling horror tales... I have finally managed to read my way through this year's batch, and here are some of my favourites:

The One Good Thing by magnetic_pole. Severus Snape, Eileen Prince.
Because of all the heart-breaking things that happened to Severus, this is the worst.

Ghosts in the Machine by rivertempest. Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall.
Because major character deaths make for a hilarious ghost story.

Malice by gamma_x_orionis. Tom Riddle.
Because Tom Riddle is on his creepiest on Halloween.

Negotiations by shadowycat. Severus Snape/Minerva McGonagall.
Because Severus and Minerva are perfectly matched here.

Enough by westernredcedar. Argus Filch
Because Filch's Halloween wish will break your heart.

The Last Laugh by _hannelore. Lucius Malfoy, Dobby.
Because Dobby's revenge is very clever indeed.

Gleaming in the Moonlight (The Truth Hurts) by flipflop_diva. Pansy/Hermione.
Because it takes only a few words to convey that all is lost.

The Maiden and the Crone by pauraque. Minerva McGonagall/Rose Weasley.
Because of the poetic, otherworldly spin it lends to the old trope of the maiden and the crone.

And I had already linked to my gift before, the Bellatrix-centric horror masterpiece To and Fro by kellychambliss.

I wrote A Thinking Cap for bonfoi, whose pairing requests included the Sorting Hat/Hogwarts Castle. How could I resist?

The moment I decided to give this pairing a go, I knew I would have to write it in verse form, because the Sorting Hat would sing his love to the Castle. So the challenge was to write a poem in exactly 200 words. And the amazing thing was: it worked. As I wrote what I thought was the rough draft, I fully expected I would have to do a lot of editing afterwards. However, it turned out I had hit the word count almost exactly on the first try - the draft had 199 words. All I had to do was change "mind-reading" to "mind reading", and I hit my target. I've no idea how that happened! It did please me immensely, I can tell you.