The students who challenged the arena afterward began to fail one after another.
Their eliminations took many forms. Some were bitten to 'death' by Trolls, others were crushed by them, and a few even burned themselves to 'death', creating a bizarre and varied collection of outcomes.
Even after returning to their dormitories at night and lying in bed, the young wizards continued to discuss it excitedly.
For a period of time afterward, the Advanced Tasks became the absolute focus of Hogwarts.
Discussing them, studying them, and trying to accumulate enough points to challenge them became the main topic in nearly every common room and corridor.
Even Quidditch practice was temporarily suspended. This made Wood extremely irritable, like a squirrel whose stash of nuts had been stolen, yet there was nothing he could do about it.
Sagres became one of the busiest people at Hogwarts.
He continued teaching students as usual, used his spare time to design new challenge dungeons, and also began researching Permanent Transfiguration.
However, the final project made no progress due to a lack of materials.
Time quickly advanced to late October. Halloween was approaching, and Sagres was once again tasked with decorating the castle this year.
This was a collective request from the students. They generally believed that last year's Halloween had been the most interesting they had ever experienced and strongly insisted that Professor Greengrass design the castle again this year.
A cold wind swept fallen leaves past the towers of Hogwarts Castle. October 31st had arrived, Halloween, and also the long-awaited Hogsmeade week for the students.
Early that morning, the area in front of the castle gates was filled with laughter.
Students wrapped in thick scarves, their faces flushed with excitement, chatted about Honeydukes' new sweets, the butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, and the latest prank items from Zonko's Joke Shop.
"Harry, are you really not coming with us?" Ron asked one last time, his face full of regret. "Do you want to ask Professor McGonagall again…?"
"No, Ron." Harry tried to sound casual, but his eyes strayed involuntarily toward the distant path leading to Hogsmeade. "You all heard what she said last time."
That permission slip, pressed beneath a pile of books, felt like a cold verdict.
You can't go to Hogsmeade without a guardian's signature.
Professor McGonagall had told him that, and despite his repeated pleas, she had not changed her mind.
Hermione tried to comfort him. "We'll come back early if we can, and we'll bring you some sweets."
"Don't worry about me," Harry said lightly. "Have fun. I'll see you at the feast."
All Harry could do was watch as Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean, Seamus… almost everyone he knew cheerfully joined the stream of students heading for Hogsmeade.
From behind, Percy patted his shoulder, wearing a look of satisfaction. "Good to see you're not going to Hogsmeade, Harry. It's really not as wonderful as people make it out to be."
He continued earnestly, "Yes, the sweet shop is decent enough, but aside from that, honestly, Harry, you're not missing much."
"Really?" Harry asked dully. "Then are you going?"
Percy nodded with great seriousness. "Of course."
With that, he straightened his robes and quickly joined the crowd heading toward Hogsmeade.
Harry couldn't help rolling his eyes. If there was nothing special about it, why was Percy in such a hurry?
He had considered using the Invisibility Cloak to follow them, but Hermione had firmly rejected the idea.
She had reminded him that Dementors could see through the Invisibility Cloak, and someone had recently mentioned spotting signs of Sirius in Hogsmeade.
Thus, as the last group of students vanished down the path to the village, the once-noisy castle fell instantly silent.
A familiar sense of loneliness quietly settled over Harry.
He sighed and turned back toward Gryffindor Tower. Maybe he could catch up on his Potions homework, or go over Hermione's notes.
However, as he passed through the entrance hall, the scene before him caught his attention.
Professor Greengrass was walking through the corridor, his wand in constant motion. With each wave of it, the ordinary hallway rapidly filled with a festive atmosphere.
Giant pumpkin lanterns floated and patrolled at his command, while flocks of black bats swooped back and forth through the corridor.
With an elegant downward flick of his wand, a scarlet carpet appeared at once. The woven fibers writhed as if alive, instantly transforming into countless tangled, twisting black vines.
Then he tapped the wall, and every wall lamp in the castle burst into an eerie blue flame, like soul-guiding lights from the underworld.
The stair railings transformed into bare white bones, and the figures within the portraits were given temporary, spooky makeovers.
Harry followed Sagres's footsteps into the Great Hall.
The enchanted ceiling there was already churning with blood-red clouds, within which enormous, terrifying skeletal claws could be faintly seen.
That was not all. Sagres raised his wand and pointed it at the massive crystal chandelier. The refracting prisms let out a harsh cracking sound as they transformed into countless inverted, glowing bat skeletons.
The long tables also became tombstones, with faces emerging from their surfaces, some even muttering jokes to themselves.
Harry stood at the entrance of the Great Hall, his loneliness forgotten, completely stunned.
Last year, the three of them had attended Nearly Headless Nick's five-hundredth Deathday Party, spending the entire evening in the underground classrooms listening to ghosts sing. Their voices had sounded like fingernails scraping across a blackboard. This time, there was no way they were going to miss the feast again.
This year's decorations also seemed even more refined and vivid than last year's, full of whimsical ideas while still retaining the mystery and perfectly balanced touch of "horror" that Halloween should have.
Sagres noticed Harry as well. He turned his head and gave him a slight nod.
"Didn't go to Hogsmeade?"
"Uh, no," Harry said quietly. "No one signed my permission form."
Sagres nodded. "The papers mentioned that someone spotted signs of what might be Sirius in Hogsmeade. I'll make time to check it out in a couple of days."
As he spoke, he casually waved his wand. "If you want to go then, you can come with me."
At those words, a spark of happiness flared in Harry's chest, but the shadow of Sirius immediately weighed down on him, and the smile vanished at once.
Sagres's eyes never left the object of his spell. "But you should understand, there won't be many students there by then, so it won't be nearly as fun."
"Why?" Harry asked without thinking.
"Because compared to interesting magical trinkets, the company of friends is the most important ingredient for happiness," Sagres said, still without turning around.
Harry nodded.
He stood there watching for a moment before finally speaking hesitantly. "Professor, do you know how to deal with Dementors?"
Sagres's constantly moving wand came to a halt.
"I do."
He then turned to look directly at Harry. "I know about your experience being attacked by a Dementor on the train. But I have to tell you, my method doesn't work for everyone."
"Then what method does work for everyone?" Harry asked eagerly.
"The Patronus Charm," Sagres replied without hesitation. "It's the spell Professor Lupin used on the train."
"Can you teach me, Professor Greengrass?" Harry's eyes were full of hope.
"I'm sorry, Harry." Sagres shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't."
"You don't know how?" Harry blurted out, then immediately realized how abrupt it sounded and hurried to apologize. "I'm sorry, Professor. I shouldn't have—"
Sagres waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine."
He considered it for a moment, then added, "The Patronus Charm is a relatively advanced form of white magic. I can teach you the incantation and the method of casting it, but I can't demonstrate it for you."
Harry wisely did not press for the reason. He quickly thanked Sagres, but the professor waved it off.
"Professors never dislike students who want to learn more," Sagres said to Harry, "especially magic that can protect oneself."
As he spoke, a sheet of parchment floated out of his pocket. He tapped it lightly with his wand, and dense, glowing lines of text immediately appeared across the page.
"These are the key points of the Patronus Charm. You can try practising it yourself, and if you make no progress, you can also ask Professor Lupin for guidance."
"Thank you, Professor." Harry smiled as he accepted the parchment, then looked up at Sagres again. "One more question, Professor."
"What is it?"
"Why was I the only one who fainted back then? I mean, on the train," Harry asked a little self-consciously. "Am I really weaker than everyone else?"
Sagres thought for a moment before explaining, "Dementors feed on people's happy emotions. Being more easily affected only means that your memories of happiness are relatively few. It has nothing to do with strength or weakness."
As he spoke, he flicked his wand, and a Dementor appeared out of thin air.
Harry instinctively took a step back, then froze, his eyes widening as he noticed something was wrong.
The Dementor had the grinning, foolish face of Gilderoy Lockhart.
"It's not that frightening, really, is it?" Sagres said, the corners of his lips lifting into a faint smile.
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