Chapter 65
Time flew by, and soon it was just a week before Halloween. That afternoon, after sending Mr. Wolf a large bag filled with general fiction novels and retrieving the book he had lent him previously, Albert ran into Colin Clive in the castle hallway. He brought with him a message from Nick: the gathering would take place at 7:00 p.m. in the predetermined location.
It seemed that Nick's preparations for the Halloween party were about to begin. Albert returned to the common room deep in thought, only to run into Hermione, who had also been waiting for him.
When they had last seen Mr. Wolf, he'd remarked on how dull life in the Forbidden Forest could be and asked if they had any ideas for entertainment. Hermione, ever the book lover, had suggested that reading was a wonderful pastime.
So Albert and Hermione had lent Wolf a few hobby books that had been brought to the school. At that time, they had also discussed which book Wolf had enjoyed most. Now, Hermione had caught up to Albert, wanting to know more about Wolf's reading tastes.
"He said he loved all the books," Albert replied, "because before this, he was so bored he would have read any scrap of paper five times over."
"Seems like he's a diligent wolf," Hermione smiled. "Next time, I'll ask my parents to send me my encyclopedia set."
Hermione had a deep fondness for any creature with a thirst for knowledge—even a werewolf.
The day's lessons quickly came to an end. All of the classes, except for Lockhart's, were quite good. Albert still couldn't understand why Dumbledore had hired that man to teach.
After dinner, Albert rushed to the Room of Requirement to begin preparing the ghostly feast.
Upon entering, he found Nick already waiting with five or six dishes spread out before him. Each dish was steaming hot and looked far better than anything served in the Great Hall. Even with all the magic possessed by the house-elves, it would be impossible to make a cafeteria cauldron deliver meals as delicate and flavorful as these individually prepared ones.
Albert began casting his enchantments, and it took more than half an hour before the six dishes on the table were finally converted into a semi-ethereal state.
Then he pulled out a rune-inscribed parchment and placed it beneath each dish, instructing Nick to have the house-elves move the dishes to the designated location—but to never remove the rune paper. The runes enabled the food, now in its spiritual form, to be consumed by ghosts. Without the rune, it would revert and be unusable.
After finishing the spellwork, Albert sampled the leftovers. Though the food hadn't changed in appearance, it had lost all flavor and now tasted like chewing plastic.
Tired, Albert collapsed onto a couch and chatted with Nick. At some point, he had a sudden thought. The ghosts Nick had invited were from all across the United Kingdom, and many of them had witnessed important historical events. Perhaps they could offer something… interesting.
So Albert asked, "Nick, would it be possible for me to attend your banquet as a living guest?"
Nick seemed surprised. "I would be absolutely honored if you joined us! But I assumed you'd prefer the school's feast to our rather chilly celebration, so I didn't dare invite you. But you're more than welcome to attend—and not just you! You can bring your friends too. The more, the merrier!"
Albert returned to the common room and made the announcement to their study group, but most students weren't interested in attending a ghost party. For example, Ron, who was busy working on his Potions essay, thought it was odd to celebrate one's own death and assumed the event would be terribly dull. Most others felt the same way.
However, Hermione told Albert she'd go. After all, not many living people got to attend a banquet like the one described in the books. And Albert had hinted that several important story events would unfold during the party.
The next day, Albert returned to the Room of Requirement, and Hermione came with him, curious to see how Albert turned normal food into food ghosts could consume.
Nick thanked Hermione warmly for her participation. As Albert cast his spell, Hermione watched closely, trying to learn the secrets behind it. Unfortunately, the language barrier proved too much—she couldn't understand a word of Albert's incantations, as they were in Chinese. (He had discovered them in an old family library book.)
Eventually, Hermione gave up trying to learn the unfamiliar magic, though she couldn't help but marvel at Eastern wizardry. She also voiced her frustration that Hogwarts contained so little documentation on Eastern magic—just enough to spark curiosity, but never enough to satisfy it.
Two days before Halloween, Albert and Hermione entered the Room of Requirement once again, only to find Nick floating around in a panic.
Albert immediately asked, "What's wrong? You seem a bit... distressed."
Nick replied, guilt-ridden, "I've made a terrible mistake. I wanted everyone to taste a variety of dishes, so I had each one prepared differently. But today I realized—not everyone has utensils! How do you eat a steak without a knife? And if I start cutting them up now, there's no time left!"
Albert raised an eyebrow. "I thought ghosts could carry items from their past lives?"
"They can," said Nick, sighing. "But no one carries cutlery around with them when they die. And back in our time, everyone just cut meat with knives and ate with their hands. Forks weren't even common yet! Especially back in the days of Salazar Slytherin—cutlery like that didn't even exist."
"No worries," Albert reassured him. "I've got a solution."
He pulled a straw-like sword from his spatial bag and pricked his index finger, smearing the blade with a drop of blood.
When Hermione saw the blood touch the blade, a faint shimmer appeared along its edge. But as she leaned in for a closer look, the sword seemed unchanged.
Albert picked up a mental-state steak with a pair of tongs and sliced it cleanly in half with the sword.
Hermione's eyes widened. "How did you do that?"
"I just tried it out," Albert replied, shrugging. "The book only said that the Calamus Sword could cut through evil spirits. It's a traditional eastern weapon used in exorcisms—but it didn't say it could cut ghost food."
Suddenly, Nick flew forward. Despite Albert's quick reflexes in withdrawing the blade, the sword nicked the back of Nick's hand.
Watching the ghost stare in disbelief at the small wound, Albert assumed he was panicking. "Don't worry," he said quickly. "The Calamus Sword works on spirits like a normal sword would on a human body. You'll be fine in a few days."
Unexpectedly, Nick dropped to one knee and clasped his translucent hands.
"Master Albert," he said solemnly, "I have a request please, I
beg of you... restore me."