On the whole, the weather had been temperamental lately. One minute, it was absolutely bucketing it down, and the next, it was bright sunshine. The amount of rain had turned the ground into a muddy mess, but at least the tents provided perfectly adequate shelter, and a gazebo had been erected over the community dining table to protect everyone from the elements.

Despite the temperamental weather, however, it had been fairly warm throughout the past two weeks, so the chill in the air during dinner that evening was particularly noticeable, even before the dark, hooded figure by the Ministry's representative's desk had been seen.

Nervously, the Ministry representative approached the table.

"I'm afraid we have a visitor," he said, addressing everyone at the table and hoping that anyone not there could hear him. "This is a Dementor, one of the Guards at Azkaban. It's a high security prison. He's just here to, well, ensure that a certain escaped criminal isn't hiding amongst you.

"I don't expect he'll be here for more than an half an hour, so do try not to worry too much. They can make people rather, well... uncomfortable."

Bowing his head slightly, he left the Outsiders to their meal.

[And so, a Dementor is lurking around the camp, just in case one of the Outsiders is secretly Sirius Black. They're known to sap the happiness out of the environment, and - in cases where there are true horrors in someone's past - cause traumatic memories to resurface.

The chilly, depressed feeling can be lifted by the deliciousness of chocolate, though the Outsiders will need to discover this on their own. Good thing there's dessert.]

Over the last week, it had been growing much colder. The dull, near constant rain of the last few weeks had cleared, and each morning saw a glittering frost carpeting the grounds. Some of the teachers had taken this to mean "Christmas is coming", in particular Professor Flitwick, who had decorated his classroom with tiny, glittering fairies.

With the Christmas Holidays fast approaching, the atmosphere in the castle was fairly relaxed for the most part, but a couple of new Outsiders arriving had caused a few whispers. Thankfully, after the students had become a little more familiar with the ones already present, the whispers were largely wondering why they had arrived so close to the end of term, and why the majority were winding up in Gryffindor House.

Some of the students, however, were clearly feeling a little more hostile towards the new arrivals. It was surely not coincidence that the various suits of armour had taken to harassing the Outsiders - grabbing them, following and chasing them, snatching things from their hands and occasionally even attempting to strike them.

If they listened carefully, the sound of faint laughter might just be heard.

[Yes, a few sixth year Slytherins have decided it'd be a great idea to try and scare the Outsiders. Suits of armour around the castle have been charmed to bug them and them alone - some are just a nuisance, and some are aggressive, depending on who's charmed it.]

At Hogwarts, it was rather often that things weren't quite as they were expected to be. Most students had by now acclimatised to many of the school's quirks: they knew which steps to avoid, which doors changed their passage on a Friday, and to not be surprised when a mirror told them to go brush their hair. Today, however, things were definitely strange, even for Hogwarts.

There was something wrong with the mirrors.

Every time someone walked past a mirror, it always seemed to be reflecting something entirely different from what it was supposed to. Tropical islands, dusty deserts, modern cities of metal and glass... but nearly every time a confused student turned to double check, the mirror seemed to return to normal.

It didn't disappear every time, though. Sometimes, the image would linger there, showing the students and teachers of Hogwarts something entirely unfamiliar. And, every so often, there would be a person there, just as confused as they were, and with plenty of questions.

Was it worth stopping for a chat?

[This marks the beginning of our Visitor Event. Visitors and members alike are welcome to start a thread in this post. Please note that visitors will always be on the other side of the mirror, and not in Hogwarts itself.

This event will last for one week. Our event guidelines can be found here, so please check them over if you haven't done so already!]