The Other Castellan

Halloween

Chapter 20: Halloween

Soon, October arrived, bringing a damp chill over the grounds and dumping buckets of rain onto the castle. Colds became very common throughout Hogwarts, especially with the Slytherins. But that was to be expected since they lived in the Dungeons. Seriously, what were the Founders thinking? 

  Sometimes it was funny. Lucas remembered vividly the time he had to bully Theo into going to the Hospital Wing to get some Pepperup Potion and when he spiked Zabini's potion to make him breathe fire for a few minutes. It wasn't harmful, and Zabini still recovered from his cold. 

  Every time the Slytherin Team had a practice, Lucas would "let slip" of the date and time to the twins. He didn't think it mattered- even without anyone spying on the Slytherin Team, they were terrible. They counted on cheating, which wasn't a very good technique. The sheer number of fouls in every game the Slytherins played was insane. 

  As Lucas made his way into the castle after he came back from a hike in the Forbidden Forest, he bumped into Ginny.

  "What are you doing here?" Ginny asked.

  "Er, well, I may have snuck into the Forbidden Forest for a bit of a hike," Lucas admitted.

  Her eyes widened. "You what?" she shrieked.

  Lucas winced, then tensed as he heard a distance meow. "We should probably go," he said, dragging Ginny down the hall and into an abandoned classroom.

  "What was that?" she asked.

  "Right, it's your first year here," he muttered to himself. "That was Mrs. Norris. She's Filch's cat. Filch hates all students. If he catches you breaking a rule..."

  "Got it." She took a deep breath. "So, what were you doing in the Forbidden Forest?"

  "Told you, I was taking a hike." Lucas shrugged. "I'm ADHD."

  "Oh, don't remind me," Ginny sighed. "It was bad enough with Fred and George. Mum was going crazy. I think she was glad when they finally went here."

  "I can imagine," he replied. Turns out the twins weren't so different from the Stolls. "I have these friends, and they are an absolute pain to manage."

  "What are their names?" Ginny asked.

  "Travis and Connor Stoll," he said automatically. He smirked. "Their last name fits them since they're both pickpocketers."

  "Stole... as in the past tense of steal?" Ginny asked.

  "Yeah. But it's written as s-t-o-l-l."

  "Pretty funny."

  Lucas nodded. "What did you do in the Summer?"

  "Now? You're asking me now?"

  "Yes."

  She huffed. "It was bland for the most part. Then, near the end..." Ginny suddenly blushed fiercely. "Harry Potter appeared. In the middle of the night!"

  Lucas stared at her. "Do you have a crush on him?"

  "What?" Ginny spluttered, going even redder. "I-"

  "So you do have a crush on him," Lucas interrupted. 

  "And if I do?" Ginny asked him, crossing her arms. "What's wrong with that?"

  "It might become an obsession," he warned her. "At least think of him as a person, instead of the Boy-Who-Lived."

  She huffed. "Alright."