the magic of ice

befriending hermione

The weeks passed by in a blur and before Elsa knew it, it was the night of the Halloween Feast. Elsa had never really liked Halloween much. When she was five, she saw all the village kids dressed up in all kinds of different costumes and went around trick-or-treating. Not only did they look ridiculous, they scared her. The green skin of the girls dressing up as evil witches, the scary masks the boys wore to impersonate Frankenstein's monster. And they all carried creepy-looking pumpkins with an assortment of sweets inside.

*flashback*

The young princess cried and ran into her parents' room, clutching tightly to them fearfully. They asked what was wrong and the little girl answered, tearfully:

"Why is everyone zombies?"

The king and queen of Arendelle looked at her, perplexed. "Zombies?" the king repeated, confused. "What zombies?"

"In the village," little Elsa replied, not loosening her grip on her parents' arms. "I saw them. They were everywhere."

To her surprise, her parents laughed. "Oh, that," the queen smiled gently. "Those aren't zombies. They're just little boys and girls like you."

Elsa shook her head. "No they're not. I don't have green skin or a scary face."

"Neither do they," the king said. "They're just pretending to be monsters for the Halloween Festival tonight."

"Oh," Elsa said, relieved. She loosened her grip slightly. "I don't like Halloween. It's scary. I don't ever want to pretend to be a monster."

Because the king and queen had didn't know what else to do, they laughed.

*end flashback*

Now she understood they were only kids trying to be scary, but she still hoped they wouldn't have to dress up. They no longer scared her so much, but she was still a bit squeamish whenever she saw a Halloween costume.

She walked with Harry and Ron to the Great Hall for their dinner (thank goodness they didn't have to dress up). The food, as always, was delicious. Roast beef, jacket potatoes, and salads, everything you could think of on one long table. There was even an assortment of chocolates, which made Elsa's mouth water. She absolutely loved chocolate. It was her favourite food. However, she forced herself to eat her actual dinner first and leave the chocolates for dessert. Unlike Harry and Ron, who were literally stuffing themselves full with chicken, she took a fair amount and ate nicely, just like her mother had taught her to.

"Well, aren't you a young lady?" Sir Nicholas' ghost came and sat next to her.

"Hi, Nick," she greeted cheerfully. "How's your day been?"

"Oh, fine," Nick said. "Apart from the fact that I wasn't allowed to join the Headless Hunt. But all in all, it's been pretty good."

"Aw, you would've been great at it." Elsa had no idea what this hunt thing was, but she still felt bad for the ghost. He was so nice. He smiled at her.

"Thank you, Elsa," he beamed. "You know, it's not every day one finds a young well-mannered child. They're very rare."

Elsa's face flushed with embarrassment. She looked around and realised someone was missing. "Where's Hermione?"

"She's in the bathroom," Parvati Patil told her. "She's been in there all afternoon. No one knows what's wrong with her and she wouldn't tell."

Elsa frowned, but then she saw Ron squirm in his seat uncomfortably and her frown changed into a suspicious glance. What did he do now? He and Hermione are always fighting. Not that she liked Hermione much. She was bossy.