AND THEY WERE WIZARDS. (Oh my god they were wizards)

This is Halloween

It's fourth year kiddos.

The Great Hall's enchanted ceiling reflected the clear night sky. The hall was decorated with giant pumpkins, live bats, and generally death themed foods for the Halloween feast.

"So the tradition of dressing up was because people wanted to ward off ghosts?" Emile asked.

"It was." said Logan, "I believe the real day of celebrating was meant to be All Hallows Eve, which is November first, but in today's economy you celebrate what they can market for."

Emile laughed, "yep. You could buy a car with all the pounds my parents spent on costuming and candy for trick-or-treating."

"Mine as well." Logan grinned, "though, they used galleons."

"Oh," Emile said, surprised, "You grew up knowing about galleons?"

"Yes," Logan replied, "why?"

"You just know so much about muggle science and stuff, I just wouldn't have guessed you were pureblood."

"I'm halfblood," said Logan, "my mother's muggleborn and I'm very close to my grandparents on her side. In any case, science is a subject any wizard, no matter their parentage, would do well to educate themselves in."

"Definitely." Emile agreed, "My parents are muggles. I wanted to be a psychologist before I got my Hogwarts letter."

"That..." Logan said thoughtfully, "that would actually be a very good career choice for you considering your personality and tendencies."

"Thanks."

"Are you still considering psychology as an option?"

"Well, I don't really know." Emile sighed, fiddling with his fork, "It kind of feels like a waste of schooling if I don't go into anything magical after seven years of learning. I mean, why even come here if i'm just gonna get a muggle job?"

Logan didn't speak for a long moment. This felt like a pep-talk Roman should be giving, not him. "Er- you know, your dreams and ambitions really shouldn't be influenced by your circumstances." He said, "you are a person gifted with empathy and creativity. You also happen to be a wizard. That does not invalidate your other skills."

Emile smiled. "Thanks, Logan."

"Of course."

After the dessert plates were cleared and all students were sent to their dormitories, Emile and Logan were stopped next to the exit doors by Dee. He, Remus, Roman and Remy were there as well. "Hold it there," Dee stopped them, "Remy and Remus have had an idea. We're just waiting for Virgil and Patton."

They waited curiously for their friends, who were some of the last to make their way out of the hall. Patton noticed them all first. "Hi guys! Happy Halloween!" he said, pulling Virgil along with him to meet the others.

"Good. Now that we're all here," Dee said, "you two tell them all."

Remus started, "well, Remy seems to be under the delusion he's better at pranks than I am. Crazy. I know."

"So we thought we'd hold a free-for-all prank war throughout the month of November," Remy added, "just so we know for certain. One point for every successful prank. Anyone else in?"

Dee and Roman raised their hands as Virgil said, "hell yeah, I've been waiting for a chance like this."

"You nerds up for it?" Roman asked, addressing Patton, Emile, and Logan.

"I'll just watch," Patton said cheerfully. Emile nodded.

"My skills are certainly lacking in the area of practical jokes," said Logan thoughtfully, "but would you allow the three of us to keep track of points and settle any possible disputes over what counts as a 'successful prank?'"

"Oooooh, that'd be fun!" Patton exclaimed.

"We can all vote, since there's an odd number." Emile chimed in.

"Then it's settled," Remus said with a tone of finality, "the five of us, against each other, whoever has the most points by the end of the month is the best prankster. Agreed?" They all nodded.

The walk back to all of their dorms would've been nothing extraordinary, if it weren't for the block up that happened half way through the corridor. The eight of them were bringing up the rear of the crowd, but could still see all the way from the staircase...

"Is that the demon cat?" Dee whispered to the others.

"I think it is..." answered Patton, worried, "what's that written on the wall?"

From the head of the group, they heard a snide voice shout, "'Enemies of the heir beware?' You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

The group looked around at one another, bewildered and concerned. "What... what does he mean?"

**********************

"The Chamber of Secrets." Logan explained the next day. They met in the courtyard during their break. The others listened intently as he presented his copy of Hogwarts, a History, which was dogeared in many places. "I'm not usually one to trust in rumors and legends, but this was the most likely explanation for the message on the wall." He opened the book to a page near the end. "Apparently, there was a dispute between the founders of Hogwarts over who to let attend the school. Salazar Slytherin felt they should only let in students of magical descent. The other founders, Godric Gryffindor in particular, disagreed."

"You told me the bloke was biggoted." Virgil said, addressing Remus, who nodded. "But what does that have to do with the paralyzed cat?"

"Slytherin left the school, but there's a legend that he built within the school a secret chamber, which contained a deadly monster, and when his heir finally came to the school, they would find the chamber, unleash its monster, and-" he hesitated, not quite knowing how to word it. "Basically... cleanse the school of muggle born students."

A heavy silence met his words. The group stole quick glances at one another, perhaps a few more at Emile and Virgil.

"Of course, that's only going off of a guess and the Malfoy kid's comment." Logan said, quickly.

"But an ancient monster from a secret chamber being controlled by Slytherin's descendant sounds like my best guess as to what could've done that to Mrs. Norris," Roman said, troubled.

"So... what does this mean for us?" Virgil asked uncomfortably.

"Since we're not sure if there's a specific target yet, we all need to watch our backs." Logan said.

"Yes," Dee agreed, "but Virge, Em, try to stay close to one of us when you can. Monster or no monster, someone wrote that message on the wall, which means someone at Hogwarts can't be trusted."

There was another solemn silence when the bell rang, signalling time to go to their next class. It was only broken when Remus remarked, "We're still doing the prank war though, right?"

They are indeed still doing the prank war. 

this was a short one, but it's necessary set up.