HP - Shadow Monarch! [BOOK 1]

Chapter 182 - A Ball Among Ghosts 01.

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]

Third Person POV

Hogwarts.

...

...

"You ready...?" Pandora asked, as the nighttime glow shone through the glass ceiling of the Room of Requirement, indicating it was night, and she hadn't returned to her dormitory.
She looked at Severus, smiling as she saw him approaching her, while he responded by raising an eyebrow.

"What is this?" he murmured. "I thought it wouldn't be something so important..." Snape said, after all, Pandora was wearing a silver dress fitted neatly to her body as if she were heading to a grand party—looking quite beautiful, by the way—while her white hair was curled up elegantly.

"But you're ready, aren't you?" she asked, looking at him and seeing nothing wrong.

Snape wasn't even wearing his Slytherin uniform but rather a hoodie with trousers that Muggles would wear on a normal day—these were clothes that wizards typically didn't own.

She had spoken with him as soon as he returned to the school after the trouble at the Notts' home, saying she wanted to see a place and needed his help. Snape had agreed to help her. She said it had to be very late, when everyone was sleeping, and they'd need to leave the school. But she... hadn't said anything about clothing, and Snape assumed it would be something away from prying eyes, which didn't seem to be the case when Pandora was dressed as if for a party, even more prepared than she was for Professor Slughorn's gathering.

"Well, anyway..." Snape changed the subject. "Where are we going?" he asked, as she gave him another smile.

"Did you know that tonight, as every year, there's a ball held by ghosts that reside at the school? Except no students are allowed to attend." She spoke as if revealing a huge secret.

"And you want to go there?" Snape remarked.

"Of course. Would you come with me?" she asked excitedly.

Snape nodded. He had already told her they'd go out, but he still scratched his head a bit.

"You know the ghosts fear me, right? I'm sure my presence might ruin this so-called ball," he said.

"We can talk to them. I'll let them know you aren't evil or going to hurt them, like they scream around when they see you," she said calmly.

Snape, however, wasn't sure about that—after all, he'd already strangled a ghost early last year—but Pandora hadn't finished speaking.

"Besides, I heard they have many portraits there. You're looking at portraits throughout the school... or even leaving to look for them. Wouldn't it be good for you to see them too?" she suddenly said, noticing Snape showing a spark of interest hearing that.

"I hadn't thought about it that way. Fine. Let's visit the ball," he said, breaking into a smile. "Where is this place?"

She looked at him thoughtfully.

"I can't explain it exactly. It's close to the castle, but you'd need to see it. We can go outside," she requested, and Snape nodded.

"All right. Let's do this the old-fashioned way," he said, without even changing clothes.

"Dobby," Snape called, as the house elf appeared before them.

"Master! Miss Pandora, you look very pretty, so you're going out with the Master?" he asked excitedly.

"No... I mean, yes, anyway, take care of things while my shadows will be working on brewing potions the rest of the night. We'll return in a few hours," Snape said as Dobby nodded, knowing how much his Master liked taking care of things.