hh_clubs | Insomniacs Club, Term XXXV, Activity II: Urban Legend. VOTING!

Activity: Urban Legend
Deadline: VOTING UNTIL JUNE 14, 10.00 PM UTC (TIMEZONE CONVERTER)
Points: 1st/2nd/3rd/Participation Only: 50/40/30/10 points.
Details: ~~Invent your own night time themed urban legend story and adapt it to the Harry Potter world in a piece of writing between 100-300 words.~~ (Once the deadline is over, we'll have voting and members can vote for the one they found most enjoyable/scariest!).

A. You know why they discourage students from becoming Animagi, right? Because it's hard and sometimes things can go really, really wrong. Take the giant squid in the lake, for example. That's not actually a giant squid at all. No, that is a student who was discovered illegally learning how to become an Animagus at the age of 15. This was before Professor McGonagall was at the school because usually if she hears about students seeking Animagi status, she intervenes. But the school leadership at that time decided not to do anything, not to try to stop the student or discourage them, and let nature take its course. Nature did--and violently. The student was trying to train to become a normal-sized squid, but something went terribly wrong and they grew to a giant size. They tumbled into the lake and tried to return to human form, but realized with some panic that they couldn't. They were stuck. And they're still stuck today. Giant squids live for a long time, you know...

B. If you should ever find yourself lost in the Forbidden Forest and suddenly hear the gentle melody of wind chimes you should stand completely still and cover your eyes. Never open your eyes until the sound is entirely gone lest you make eye contact with the creature lurking nearby. No one that has seen it has lived long enough to give a description but many that have had close calls say that it is a bringer of death and moves silent as a dementor. However, if you should ever find yourself lost in the forest and you see a sudden blue flame in the distance immediately cast a Patronus Charm and cover your ears. Do not uncover your ears or you will be drawn away by the sound of beautiful singing that creates utter confusion for witches and wizards and drives them to wander deeper into the forest. Follow your patronus and it will be able to lead you to safety by following the creature's guiding melody. People have called this creature a bringer of life and a protector of lost children.

C. In the wizarding world, the biggest fear children have is not of Voldemort, but of the Bogeyman. From a young age children are told of the bogeyman visiting children in the night, creeping out from the shadows and out from under beds, to steal the noses of children who pick their noses. Parents warn children that if they don’t stop picking their noses that the Bogeyman will come and take it away. Many children don’t believe the tales of the Bogeyman, of course, but those who do say he’s made entirely of bogies, and keeps a special cabinet where he stores the noses of all the children who pick their noses.

Whilst there has never been any confirmed sightings of the Bogeyman (other than that of raving, noseless children), it’s a legend that continues to be passed down through generation, and the common phrase “If you don’t stop picking, the Bogeyman will take your nose away!” can be heard from exhausted parents shopping in Diagon Alley.

D. There lives a snake at the bottom of the hill. It hisses and twists constantly, it's eyes on the look-out for the next meal. It is no ordinary snake, with glowing orange eyes and fangs the size of a fence, able to swallow a child with just one gulp. It leaves those it considers to be kin alone, so all Slytherins (and children of Slytherins) are left safe from it's hunter, with all others at it's mercy. One look into it's eyes and your feet stop moving, but you're able to move the rest of your body. It enjoys it the most when it's prey tries to be brave, as it hates the Gryffindors the most, and believes that these are the most tasty. None who have ever seen this foul beast have ever lived to tell the tale, but those who are pure of heart and blood will live to see another day.

E. The most infamous tree in the wizarding world is the willow tree known as The Hanging Tree or Cotton's Tree.. The latter name refers to Nathaniel Cotton; a notorious Half-Blood highwayman who, for the better part of 1777, would lie in wait behind the willow, then terrorize the coaches that rattled down the dark lane.

Three Muggle brothers he attempted to hold up on October 31st, took it upon themselves to administer vigilante justice. After slaying Cotton's horse, they strung him up on that very tree, disembowelled him, watching as he slowly met his end, then carved their names and deed into the bark. The men were due to attend a nearby party, however, they never arrived. Their cousin, fearing for their safety, ventured out in search of them. Eventually, he found them; all lying beneath the tree; mouths frozen in silent screams, their insides turned out. Above them, the dead weight of Cotton's body swung from side to side in the late autumn chill.
Fearing for his own life, he fled, but not before he noticed the carving and the fact that tree itself appeared to be sentient. He swore the tree had grinned, that the branches groped at him, tore his clothes. An extremely superstitious man, he vehemently believed Cotton's spirit entered the tree and slaughtered his cousins. The villagers were having none of it, and he was executed by hanging himself for the murders.

Exactly a decade later, three more boys were found dead beneath the tree. Terrified, the thirty Muggles that made up the population of Twin Pines, fled. The village remains abandoned to this day. Cotton's Tree still stands. More mysterious deaths have been recorded over the years; always on Halloween nights...

F. As you probably know, the Muggles have a superstition about Friday the 13th. Because Muggle tradition refers to a famous religious and political leader being assassinated on Friday the 13th several millennia ago, Muggles tend to expect bad things to happen on that day.

Well, here in the Wizarding World we have our own unlucky day: instead of Friday the 13th, we learn to fear Saturday the 31st. Popular legend holds that the Saturday the 31st curse was broken when Lord Voldemort's attempt to kill Harry Potter was thwarted on a Saturday the 31st several decades ago; however, inexplicable things with magic still happen on that day. For example, on the most recent Saturday the 31st, just over seven months ago, everyone's wand stopped working for five minutes at high noon. Nine months earlier, another Saturday the 31st saw the pay phone box entrance at the Ministry of Magic collapse into dust.

The next Saturday the 31st isn't until the end of the year (it will be the first and only one of 2016); naturally, that will give the Ministry of Magic plenty of time to prepare for the fateful day.

VOTE: (as always, voting for yourself isn't allowed).

Reminder: You do not have to be a club member to vote, but if you're not, I can't list you as a participant for points in the system. You can sign the roster here.