Halley Wolffer

Chapter 4

The snow was so heavy that soon they could barely see the island and the castle, everyone was shivering and, to make matters even worse, the formerly peaceful water had turned savage thanks to the wind...

"We can do it!" Halley commanded from the leading ship, trying to cheer up the midgets and rowing with her magical staff- "Come on, everyone! Keep rowing, and keep singing!"

The freezing water was splashing them all, like the wind and the snow falling on the boats were not harsh enough. They had sailed already what looked like three quarters of the travel, but the island was still a good distance away and it seemed that they would never come to reach it...

"Hog's Wart! Hog's Wart! Would you teach us something please?" the first years would sing, Halley doing her best to memorize the lyrics as she tried to follow the thing- "Haggy Wartful Hog's Wart, here we come to learn! Teach us everything we need, after we have rowed all the way through your lake!"

Halley was cursing the snow, the wind and the waves, so busy singing and rowing that she did not realize that something very strange was lurking in the water not far from the boats...

"We need you filling our heads!" the song continued, everyone rowing as hard as they could- "Please do your best, and we shall do the rest... Hog's Wart! Hog's Wart! Would you teach us something please?"

Then, it happened:

Halley screamed as a great, black creature raised its head from the water some twenty yards to their left, a horned, reptilian head connected to a very long neck. A pair of huge and yellow eyes were looking at the boats with great curiosity, awful claws showing up in the surface all of a sudden as the thing began to swim towards them...

"What the heck is that?!" Halley shrieked, shaking from head to foot.

The first years were freaking out in every boat, and as Halley's emerald began to glow once again, the monster opened its mouth and a pair of great, purple fireballs were sent soaring through the air towards the boats... the magical attacks crashed on the water causing terrible blasts, the kids screaming and rowing for their lives.

"That's the Hallower!" Isabella yelled to Halley, her blue eyes frozen with fear- "My sister told me about it, it likes to destroy the boats!"

"We have to get out of its way!" Halley commanded, every boat now maneuvering in a desperate attempt to avoid the dragon.

Halley managed to steer Boat Seven to safety, but the other boats sailing behind them were not so fast: The great, black dragon rammed boats Three and Five, the little first years falling to the water as they screamed... a few of them were picked up by Boat Two, but many others were lost between the fragments of wood.

"Keep rowing, no matter what that thing tries to do!" Halley ordered, terrified to see that the Hallower was back on track to hunt the boats.

"Hog's Wart! Hog's Wart! Would you teach us something please? Please do your best, and we shall do the rest... Hog's Wart! Hog's Wart! Would you teach us something please?"

The Hallower seemed to be particularly slow that day, and after thirty terrifying minutes of desperate rowing, it looked like they were just about to reach the island. Halley would sometimes look behind just to realize that the dragon was steadily catching up, its yellow eyes gleaming of pleasure.

"Watch out!" Halley screamed, two purple fireballs flying towards them...

14-

The purple fireballs passed about a yard above the wooden boats, then crashing against the rocks of the island's shore and causing two powerful explosions... many older students were already there waiting for the first years, people screaming as they realized that the Hallower was coming.