𝘼 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 - HP OC

Year I Part IV | Hallowe'en

☆★☆ 

The leaves changed to match the color of the sunset I watched months ago with Jane and Eden. I hadn't realized how much time had passed already. Autumn was closing in on Hogwarts, and the Hallowe'en Feast was tonight.

Jane was obviously the most excited out of all of us.

'There's going to be loads of pumpkin everything,' she went on as we made our way to dinner. 'Pumpkin pie, pumpkin pasties, pumpkin—'

'Woah.'

Soren's mouth hung wide open as we were greeted by floating pumpkins and enchanted bats decorating the ceiling. The distinct smell of cinnamon and nutmeg spices floated in the air, and most of the school was already there.

'See you after dinner, Jane,' Eden said as we parted ways. 'You want to go to the library after?'

'The library?' Soren exclaimed. 'It's Hallowe'en! Let's figure out something to do instead. The library isn't going anywhere.'

I laughed as Eden shoved Soren lightly toward the table, listening to them argue over and over about Quidditch.

We found seats near the Prefects and Draco and his group of friends. Instead of glaring at me like he usually did, he gave me a look of comfort; even a small smile started to shine through. I nodded toward him, remembering our exchange at the astronomy tower just the night before. Pansy Parkinson shot me a defensive look, suspectful of my gesture to Malfoy. Though I knew it was nothing like that, she obviously read into it a lot more.

The feast was better than anything we've had so far this year, and that's saying a lot considering the Hogwarts food was better than most of the food I've been having my whole life.

Soren, Eden and I were debating on what to do after we finished eating. So far, we came up with reading ghost stories, telling ghost stories, going for a night hike, and playing Gobstones. Not one idea pleased everyone so we decided to leave it up to Jane; she was a natural mediator. All of a sudden, I heard the flapping of wings and a familiar cawing approach our table.

The raven was back.

I greeted him, and Eden stared at me with wide eyes.

'Who's this, Stell?' Soren recognizing my fondness for animals.

'I met him in the courtyard on the first day of school,' I explained. He began to shake his head anxiously and pointed a wing toward the large double doors. He was trying to warn us of something.

'What's wrong with it?' Eden asked.

'He's trying to warn us about something but I don't know what exactly—'

Professor Quirrell suddenly burst through the doors, running straight past the long dining tables.

'TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!' He screamed. Dumbledore stood up, a look of concern in his eyes. 'Thought you all should know.' As he trailed off, he passed out cold on the floor. Students shot up from their seats, screaming in terror. A troll in the castle? That was completely, utterly mad.

Professor Dumbledore silenced us just for a few seconds, explaining that we needed to follow our Prefects back to our dormitories. The problem was, the Slytherins were placed in the dungeons, so there was no doubt that we had to find another place to go. I motioned for the raven to climb on my shoulder, and he did with no hesitation. How he was able to warn us, I still don't know.

☆★☆

Slytherin followed Gemma and Felix from the hall and we gathered outside. Our Prefects paced thinking of a safe place to store us until the troll situation was dealt with.