Hogwarts is My Home (A Harry Potter Fanfiction), Part 2/7

Chapter 5

Well, it’s finally October.  There’s a damp chill over the castle.  A lot of people are getting colds, Alex caught one yesterday.  Madam Pomfrey’s Pepperup Potion works instantly.  We even had to make some in Potions since her supplies were running low.  It’s been raining for so long.  The pumpkins that the gamekeeper, Hagrid, has been growing are now the size of garden sheds.

I was sitting in the common room, listening to music by The Weird Sisters (my new favorite Wizarding band) one Saturday evening, just chilling.  Everyone else was either studying, doing homework, reading, listening to music, talking, or sleeping.  Draco came in from Quidditch practice covered in mud.

“Oh no, if Filch saw you looking like that, he would have a fit,” I said, pulling an earbud out of my ear.  “I think there’s a spell that an older student can use to get rid of it.”

“Oh, I think I have one,” Charlie says, looking up from Break with a Banshee.  “Evanesco.”  The mud disappears.

“How do you know that?”  Blaise asks him.  “That’s O.W.L. level Transfiguration.”

“I was in the advanced Transfiguration class in Australia, it’s my best subject,” Charlie says nonchalantly.  Blaise nods.  He’s obsessed with good looks, so he’s probably jealous that Charlie can look better than him without even trying.  Haha, poor Blaise.

At seven o’clock on Halloween, I follow the rest of the Slytherin second years to the Great Hall.  There are thousands of live bats again, and Hagrid’s pumpkins are carved into jack o’ lanterns that three men can sit in.  They cast eerie shadows over the candle-lit walls.  Dumbledore even booked a troupe of dancing live skeletons for entertainment!  They’re up by the High Table now.  Dumbledore taps his spoon on his goblet, signaling for silence.

“Happy Halloween, Hogwarts.  I hope you all are having a good year so far.  I have one announcement to make before we eat our feast.  I would like to remind students that the forest outside of the grounds is forbidden to all students.  Any student caught in there will be severely punished, if they survive.  Thank you.  Please enjoy your feast!”  The food appears on the table.  There is a lot of pumpkin-related food.  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin stew, pumpkin dumplings, and pumpkin tarts.

“Who do you suppose went into the forest?”  Draco asks me while we’re eating.  “If he reminds us, that means someone did it.  So who do you think it was?”

“Probably the Weasley twins, or a couple of first years or seventh years.  You know how much the seventh years like to disobey the rules, the first years feel like they have something to prove, and the Weasley twins, well, who knows?” I say.

“Them, probably,” Grier says.  We all finish our food and the desserts appear.  There’s pumpkin pie, apple pie, pudding, swiss rolls, treacle tart, etc.  At the end, the ghosts come through the walls and do a gymnastic routine!  It’s interesting, I didn’t know the Bloody Baron was that flexible!

After the ghosts finish their routine, we’re all excused to our common rooms.  I’m walking back with the other Slytherins, talking and laughing, when the crowd stops dead.  I almost run into Seamus, who is in front of me talking to Madam Pomfrey.  I stand on my tiptoes to get a good look.  Why do I have to be so short?  Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger are standing in front of a large puddle, with shiny red writing on the wall that looks strangely like blood, and a large thing hanging from a torch light.  Suddenly, Filch, the caretaker, yells.

“My cat!  Potter has killed my cat!”  I look closely at the thing, and I see that it is indeed Mrs. Norris.  She’s hanging by her tail from the torch, and she’s not moving.  Could Harry have killed her?  Draco pushes his way to the front, and I follow him.

“The Chamber of Secrets has been opened again,” he says, reading the writing on the wall.  “Enemies of the heir, beware.  You’ll be next, Mudbloods!” he exclaims, looking directly at Hermione.  She looks away.  Wait, I’m Muggle-born too!  That was rude.  Professor Dumbledore, Professor Lockhart, and Professor McGonagall walk through.  I think I’m the only girl that’s not obsessed with Professor Lockhart.  He’s ugly!

“Argus!” Dumbledore says.  “Come with me, Argus.  You too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger.”  Lockhart steps forward eagerly.

“My office is nearest, Headmaster-- just upstairs-- please feel free--”

“Thank you, Gilderoy,” said Dumbledore.  The silent crowd parted to let them past.  Lockhart, looking excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore; so did Professors McGonagall and Snape.

“Alright students, back to your dormitories please!”  Madam Pomfrey exclaims.  We obey.

“Haha, Potter’s in trouble!” Draco crows once we get back to the common room.  “I could sing!”

“Don’t,” I advise.

“Well, I’m going to go to bed now, I’m tired.  Good night,” he says.

“‘Night,” I reply.  I should probably go to bed too.  I go to the girls’ dormitory and am about to fall asleep when Grier shakes me awake.

“Hey, I forgot, my mom said us and all our friends can stay at my house over winter break,” she says excitedly.

“Awesome!” I say.  “‘Night.”

“‘Night.”