Little Witch Halloween

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY HIGH-PLEDGING PATRONS! THANK YOU!

There are limitless things that could be written about during a Luna Nova Halloween but I just went for simplicity this time around. Perhaps in the future I'll spice it up a bit more but for now, enjoy~

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.

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														Little Witch Halloween

Halloween had always been one of Akko's favorite holidays.

Though it wasn't really celebrated very religiously in her home country, as a child she'd always loved hearing about it and how it was viewed in other parts of the world. She'd loved the idea of getting to dress up as different creatures and people and go door-to-door for free candy.

But most of all, she'd loved the idea of witches.

Halloween was really the only night of the year when everyone in the world seemed to love and accept witches. Especially after Chariot had suffered her ridicule and went into hiding, Halloween became a source of comfort for Akko – to know there were still non-magical humans out in the world who still appreciated witches.

She'd always thought it was fate that her aunt had given her a black kitten on her fifth birthday, and he had grown up alongside Akko, sitting next to her as she carved pumpkins and dressed up every Halloween season.

The holiday held only fond memories for her.

So naturally, as her first ever Halloween at Luna Nova approaches, Akko is bursting with energy.

She's very delighted to see that the academy is willing to decorate for her favorite holiday. The lights in every hallway are either dimmed or lit up by orange bulbs. Enchanted pumpkins float here and there, many of which are occupied by tiny flame sprites peeking out through the carvings.

The free-roaming familiars have never seemed more in-place than they do during Halloween. Cats occupy every other window sill, bats dangle from the rafters, crows and ravens and owls perch on shoulders.

Akko's a little disappointed that Halloween is on a school night this year, which had led the professors to discourage any student-run events, such as haunted house set-ups.

But there was a game of Ghost going around the dorm rooms, in which a spell was cast outside of a team's room to leave behind a little floating puff of smoke in the form of a generic ghost. The team who found it outside their door would then have to pass it on to another dorm within twenty-four hours, but they couldn't pass it if anyone could see them do it.

Akko is very excited this morning – Halloween morning itself – to find it outside her room and guesses it was from Amanda. She wastes no time whatsoever in leaving it outside of Diana's room.

She knows the three of them are typically out of the room early, so Akko isn't worried at all about being found out. She waves her wand and leaves the little ghost floating at the door before scurrying back to get ready for class.

As she slips back into the room and closes the door, a wide grin spreads across her face.

"Done!" she reports back to her teammates.

Lotte and Sucy are already getting dressed.

"Good job," the former says.

"Wonder if that was a good idea though," Sucy mutters. "Giving it to Diana and them. She could totally ignore it and then the game's dead."

"Aww, you don't think she'd really do that, do you?"

"Wouldn't be surprised if she did."

"I'm not sure either," Lotte says.

Akko puffs up her cheeks in a pout as she begins to change into her uniform.

"Hrrmm, well either way, at least we got to play! I love these kinda games! I hope the professors don't assign a lot of homework tonight. That'd just be a crime."

"Well it's not like we can go trick-or-treating in town," Lotte reminds her.

"I know, but still! I just wanna have Halloween night free to have fun!"

"Guess we'll have to find out."

With Sucy's comment, the three of them grab their books and head out the door.

Of course the setting of the darker hallways and floating pumpkins have been giving off the right vibes all week, but nothing beats the feeling of seeing them today on Halloween itself.

Akko's fears of it potentially being a difficult day in classes are gradually melted away like the candlesticks in the windowsills.

In their history class, they learn all about Halloween, how it is celebrated in different cultures, and mainly how it affects witches. It's a lecture Akko's actually completely engaged in for once.

In their flying classes, Instructor Nelson has them play a few themed games that involve flying a course and magically gathering pumpkins along the way. Pumpkins with smiling faces give points while ones with frowning faces deduct.

And since Akko can sort of fly her broom now, she can actually play along with her friends.

She isn't surprised to see Diana and her team playing, if not for the fun of it like everyone else, than simply to participate in class.

But of course, Amanda's team ends up victorious due to her incredible athletic skills and Constanze's customized brooms. The prize is a bag of candy, which Jasna doesn't hesitate to open up and start showering the treats down on her classmates.

Everyone is all smiles and laughter, even the professors.

For lunch, there are pumpkin pies and other sweet treats available. The lights in the cafeteria are turned off and only candles are lit, allowing the girls to gather around in groups and tell scary stories.

Akko's truly grateful that Luna Nova is celebrating her favorite holiday as best it can given the school schedule.

But her favorite part of it is her final lecture of the day with Professor Ursula. She gives a lecture on the astronomy around Halloween time over the years and how the stars have shifted over the last decade.

As the lecture draws to an end, she puts her supplies away and cancels the map of the sky she'd created with her spell.

"I hope you all enjoyed the special lecture. Now then, being it is a school night, we advise you not to go into town, or if you do, do not go alone and do not to stay out past curfew. Though the reputation of witches has improved in recent months-"

Akko doesn't miss it when Professor Ursula sends a kind smile her way.

"-even so, not everyone is a fan. And though Halloween night should be a day to celebrate us, we staff have to discourage any outings."

There are a few dejected groans from the class, Akko included. But Professor Ursula raises her wand for silence.

"However, you didn't think I'd be sending you all off today without a bit of a treat, now did you?"

Now that she has everyone's attention, they all watch curiously as she walks over to her desk. It's decorated with two dozen or so tiny pumpkins the size of golf balls. With a quick spell, she levitates them all and expands them to a regular size. Then, she sends them all out floating across the room, one to each student.

"Happy Halloween! You may do what you please with them, just try not to make a mess!"

The girls clap and squeal in delight, calling out 'thank you!'s to her. Akko reaches up for her pumpkin and takes it out of the air, hugging it into her lap, then turns to Lotte and Sucy.

"Waow~! This is so cool! I've never had a professor give us pumpkins on Halloween before! That's way more festive than a piece of candy!"

"I'll say," Lotte agrees. "That was so nice of Professor Ursula."

Akko grins as she thinks about what she wants to carve on her pumpkin. Maybe some kind of face? Then again I've never been good with the jagged pointy teeth. I always mess up or cut off at least one of them. Chariot's symbol? Hmm but I've done that the last five years...

"Akko!"

"You coming?"

Her teammates and classmates are already filing out of the room. Akko jumps up with her pumpkin in her arms.

"Yeah!"

Most of the girls change their pumpkins back into a smaller form so they're easier to carry, but Akko keeps hers as it is, lugging it across the room to the exit with one last call of thanks to Professor Ursula.

"So!" she says to her teammates. "Where do you guys wanna go? Do you wanna carve these back at our room? It might be a little cramped but-"

"Oy, Akko!"

The three witches pause and turn to the source of the voice. Amanda, Jasna and Constanze walk up, also holding small pumpkins. Amanda greets Akko with a friendly pat on the head.

"You guys wanna come chill out in our room for a bit?"

Akko turns to her team.

"Sure! What about you guys?"

"Of course!"

"Sounds fine."

"Okay!" Akko turns back to Amanda. "Then let's-"

"I fail to see how your reasoning makes any sense."

A familiar sigh sounds from behind them and all six witches turn to see Diana sauntering up, flanked by Hannah and Barbara, a small pumpkin in each of their hands.

"Diana!" Akko tries to hold onto her larger pumpkin with one hand so she can wave with the other. Diana looks her over and shakes her head.

"If you were worrying about your room not being large enough for the three of you, what makes you think Amanda's room will be any more accommodating to the six of you when it is the same size?"

"Oh... u-uh-"

"You require more space for so many of you. Why not stop by our room?"

"Yeah!" Barbara says. "I needed to talk to Lotte anyway!"

"And I have a few questions for Jasminka," Hannah comments.

The three witches wait expectantly for an answer. Akko looks back to her teammates and friends who all shrug and nod.

"Sure," Amanda says. "Guess we could swing by."

"Yeaayy!" Akko hugs her pumpkin. "Mini Halloween party in Diana's room~!"

Diana sighs and turns around to lead them all back.

When they near the dorm rooms, Akko quickly breaks away from the group to run back to her own room. Still cradling the ten-pound pumpkin, Akko strains to reach the desk where she'd prepared a few supplies for Halloween – a roll of newspapers and a kit of pumpkin-carving tools. She grabs everything and then hurries back toward Diana's room, eagerly pushing her way in to find the others all settling down.

"Okay!" she declares, placing her pumpkin on the floor. "I'll lay out the newspaper to cover as much of the floor as I can. And I only have one kit of carving tools so we're gonna have to share. Oh, Diana, do you guys have any markers? We can draw out our designs before we start carving!"

As Akko goes on babbling and spreading the newspapers all over the carpet, the other eight witches look down at her curiously.

"Um-"

"Akko?"

"What'cha doin' exactly?"

"Huh?" Akko looks up and around the room at all of her friends. They all seem confused, which makes her confused. "Didn't we all agree to come here so we could carve our pumpkins together?"

"Carve them?" Lotte says. "Um..."

"Not really," Sucy mumbles.

"Haaah? Then what the heck did we come here to do?"

The other girls all look around at one another, but ultimately it seems they leave the explaining up to Diana. The white-haired witch picks up her tiny pumpkin and draws her wand, swishing it over the vegetable until it becomes its normal size. She levitates it in the air in the center of the room and clears her throat.

"Akko, you are thinking about Halloween in a much more... traditional sense. Nowadays, witches use our pumpkins a bit differently. For example." Diana raises her wand to her pumpkin and calls out a spell. "Liutre Nomcorde."

The magic flows from her wand and wraps around the pumpkin. Without so much as touching it, she magically carves the top of the pumpkin off, and from inside a pleasant scent flows out. It isn't the usual smell of a pumpkin, but rather something much more soothing, like a combination of chestnuts, cinnamon, herbs, and the overall scent of autumn.

It causes everyone in the room to breathe out a happy sigh.

Diana levitates her pumpkin to the desk where it continues to radiate the wonderful scent.

Akko blinks up at her from her spot on the floor.

"That's it? D-Don't get me wrong, that's really neat! But doesn't using magic kinda take away... well, the magic of it? You're supposed to carve pumpkins with your bare hands and get all messy, right? Amanda!" Akko stands up and whips around to face her. "You're from America, right? So shouldn't you know all about that?"

Amanda folds her hands behind her head as though she were tanning and shrugs.

"I guess so. But I was never really into that stuff as a kid. I was more for goosey night. Y'know throwing toilet paper and smashin' pumpkins in the street!"

"Halloween's celebrated differently across the world," Lotte mentions. "Not everyone carves pumpkins and gives out candy."

"I know that," Akko pouts. "But do all witches just use magic to enchant their pumpkins? None of you have ever carved one before? Seriously?!"

Everyone shares glances around the room.

"Not really," Lotte says."

"Never had a reason to," Sucy agrees.

"They're too gross!" Hannah squeals.

"And slimy!" Barbara adds.

Akko looks to Amanda's team, but they all shrug as well.

And she doesn't even need to look at Diana. She knows a prestigious girl like her would never dare to get her hands that dirty.

Akko's shoulders slump for a minute, but she straightens up quickly.

"All righty then! Guess I've got no choice but to show you guys how it's done! Watch closely! First..."

She plops back down on the floor and grabs her pumpkin. Being the others feel a little guilty for putting a damper on her holiday, they all take seats on the couch or chairs or on the floor and gather around to watch her. Akko begins by sawing around the top of the pumpkin.

"First... you gotta cut off the top." She grabs the stem and gives a yank, pulling it off. There's a bit of a splatter, which sends Hannah and Barbara squealing and huddling behind Diana.

"Next-" Akko grabs each of her uniform's sleeves and rolls them up to her elbows. "You gotta gut it! This is the best part!"

She picks up one of the little orange scooping tools and plunges her arm right into the pumpkin without hesitation. The resulting splatter and squelching noises nearly make Diana's team turn as blue as their sashes. Even Amanda makes a face, while Lotte chuckles in apology for her teammate's behavior.

Akko scoops and grabs the stringy insides of the pumpkin and yanks them free, dropping them into a big squishy pile onto the newspapers. Sucy and Constanze seem unaffected, but only Jasna is actually enjoying this because she leans down to pick up the seeds and starts to munch on them.

When Akko's finally finished gutting her pumpkin she sits back and smiles in triumph.

"And now you gotta carve it! Usually with a spooky face or something! Here, watch this!"

She picks up one of the knives again and starts cutting out triangles, two for the eyes, one for the nose, and ten for the jagged teeth. She cuts thoroughly through the thick skin of the pumpkin before popping out each piece until a noticeable jack-o-lantern face is visible.

"Ta-da! Then you just gotta put a candle inside and let it light up! Easy as pie!"

Feeling accomplished, Akko sits back and wipes her arm across her forehead, not realizing she smears a trail of pumpkin innards on her face in the process.

While some of the others are complimenting her carving skills, Diana is reaching into her pocket to pull out her handkerchief and patting it across Akko's forehead, mumbling something about "barbarians." Akko giggles as Diana cleans her face off, then thanks her with a grin.

"So! Any of you guys wanna carve your pumpkins? I can help!"

It's little surprise when Amanda steps forward.

"Sure. I gotta admit I was always curious about it when I was a kid. Guess I shoulda tried carving 'em at least once instead of smashin' em."

"Great! Just make it its usual size and put it here! Think about what kinda design you wanna make!"

As Amanda enlarges her pumpkin and puts it down in front of Akko, the other witches hold onto their own pumpkins in their laps.

After making hers its normal size, Constanze pulls out a few gadgets and starts tinkering around with her tools, trying to give her pumpkin mechanical legs so it can move on its own.

Jasna turns her pumpkin into a pumpkin pie, which she divides into slices and starts passing around.

Hannah and Barbara use magic on their pumpkins too, carving them at a distance with the use of their wands. They cut not-so-scary shapes into them, like a crescent moon and an owl, then light them from the inside with color-changing candles.

Sucy casts a spell on hers that makes it start to rot green and sprout mushrooms.

Lotte calls forth a flame faery and lets it gently chew a hole in her pumpkin. It then crawls in and makes a home in the stringy insides, snacking on the seeds and providing a warm glow.

Diana's pumpkin remains untouched, still emitting a strong pleasant scent that relaxes everyone in the room. Not surprising for someone who has studied the healing spells and herbs of ancient times.

Once Akko's finished coaching and Amanda's finished carving, she reveals her pumpkin which has a bony skeleton face carved into it.

Then, the most shocking thing ever happens.

Diana clears her throat, picks up her pumpkin, and kneels down beside Akko.

"I would not mind if you assisted me in carving mine."

And Akko lights up brighter than all the pumpkins on campus.

"Sure!"

Everyone laughs and chats and eats as Jansa passes around handfuls of candy. On the floor, Diana is regretting her decision to join Akko in carving, but she refuses to back down now.

"Okay!" Akko chirps. "First roll up your sleeves 'cuz it's gonna get messy!" Saying as much, she starts rolling Diana's sleeves for her. The white-haired witch swallows.

"Akko-"

"Now since you already cut the top off yours you get to skip right to step two: gutting!"

"Akko, I-"

"Don't think twice about it! Just stick your hand right in!"

Akko grabs Diana's arm and does as she says, pulling Diana's hand in with hers. Diana shrieks softly at the feeling as a jolt shoots up her spine. Hannah and Barbara drop down to the floor to support her back and keep her from falling over.

In the end, Akko can tell Diana isn't cut out for this part of the process, so she offers to gut the pumpkin herself. She gathers up the seeds and divides them into two piles; one for her friends to snack on and one for Lotte's faery.

Once Diana's pumpkin is cleaned out, Akko pushes it back to its rightful owner, who has recovered for the most part.

Of course, being a perfectionist, Diana takes a very long time to meticulously carve a very simple shape on her pumpkin, determined to make it perfect despite the bumps in the vegetable. Everyone gathers around to see what she's designing and watches as she starts to carve it out.

The finished product is the ring symbol of Luna Nova, perfectly round and looking as though it were professionally-done. There's praise all around, including Akko's "Waow! Nice job, Diana!" as she throws her pumpkin-splattered arms around her.

"A-Akko!"

"Oops, sorry!"

Akko makes a peace offering by giving Diana a piece of candy.

The group of friends enjoy their evening together until curfew draws near. When it's time to leave, Akko's and Amanda's teams pick up their respective pumpkins and all of Akko's newspapers and supplies before heading out with a unanimous cheer.

"Happy Halloween!"

That night, the pumpkins they'd carved and enchanted together sit in their windows, looking over Luna Nova on the holiday that celebrates its students.

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A/N: I hope just this much will suffice. I wanted to include all the main teams for this and I wanted to play around with how each girl would use her pumpkin hehe

Happy Halloween!