It was late October, and Halloween had arrived.
Thousands of pumpkin lanterns, carved with comical or terrifying faces, floated through the night sky, illuminating the castle. They formed a winding river of orange light up the stairs, casting a warm glow on the ancient stone walls.
In the Great Hall, the enchanted ceiling had been changed to a night sky, twinkling with stars and slow-drifting, ghost-shaped clouds. The four House tables gleamed, covered with deep purple velvet tablecloths embroidered with golden pumpkins and bats that sparkled in the candlelight. Each table was adorned with several intricately carved pumpkins, some as tall as five feet.
As the students settled in, Professor McGonagall stood in the center of the hall and waved her wand. Hundreds of bats flew out of the pumpkin carvings, their wings flapping, occasionally dropping candy from their wingtips.
While the students scrambled to catch the sugary rain, half a dozen ghosts suddenly popped out of the long tables, startling many with loud screams. The ghosts, who had arrived last, drifted about in their most splendid gowns. Nearly Headless Nick led the Gryffindor students on a tour of the preparations for his "headless hunting feast." In a corner of the hall, a group of younger students huddled around the Bloody Baron, who was telling spooky stories about medieval Hogwarts. The Baron's grim tales made the students shrink back in fear, yet their curiosity kept them leaning forward.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Fred and George were up to their usual mischief, enchanting some of the pumpkin lanterns to chase people around the hall, which filled the room with shrieks and laughter.
Aiden sat across from Adam, a look of misery on his face, muttering quietly, "Why isn't anyone scared of me?"
He was wearing an outfit that looked like it was made from tomato-sauce-stained clothes, adorned with the same intricate runes and symbols that decorated the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. But whenever he jumped out from a shadowy corner, the other students just burst into laughter after they saw his face.
Adam, without looking up from the wizard's chess book in his hands, said, "What do you mean? Look over there, at the Slytherin table."
Aiden glanced over and saw a young Slytherin student staring at him adoringly. When she noticed his gaze, she shyly looked away.
"That's not the kind of fear I want!" he complained, looking even more dejected.
Cedric smiled and tried to comfort him. "Don't worry, you can just make a mask and cover your face later." He then looked around the hall, leaning in to ask Adam quietly, "Where are Cho and Shirley? Aren't they coming to the Halloween feast?"
"They're still in the Hufflepuff common room," Adam replied, closing his book with a snap and handing it to Cedric. "They had me in the library all morning, then played Wizard's Chess in the common room all afternoon."
Cedric stared at the book, looking confused. "Why are you giving me this?"
Adam's face held a hint of exasperation. "Cho's been keeping Shirley company. When she got tired of reading, they played some chess. I beat her over ten times today." He continued, "Cho's competitive spirit is probably fired up, so she and Shirley might be replaying the game right now. She'll probably come find you to practice in the next couple of days."
Cedric immediately took the chess book, struggling to hold back a laugh.
Just then, Professor McGonagall rose from the staff table. After giving the opening remarks for the Halloween feast, she tapped her silver goblet. All sorts of Halloween delicacies appeared on the tables. The scent of roasted turkey mixed with the sweet aroma of pumpkin pie, eliciting joyful gasps from the hungry students.
The turkeys on the silver platters were barely there before their rosemary garnish turned into colorful spun sugar, and the dripping juices on the legs began to shimmer like fireflies. The jellies wiggled and giggled, shaped like cute pumpkins and bats, and laughed whenever someone poked them with a fork. The pumpkin juice goblets never ran empty, and the glass would show different Halloween designs, like a witch flying across the moon on a broomstick or ghosts dancing among tombstones.
"I feel like she's been staring at you this whole time," Cedric whispered, nudging Adam with his elbow.
"Who?" Adam's chewing on a piece of pumpkin pie stopped, and he looked up with a blank, innocent stare.
"Over there, by the Ravenclaw table."
Adam followed Cedric's gaze. At the far end of the Ravenclaw table, a tall witch was looking directly at him. Her intense stare was so unnerving that Adam yelped, slapping his hand over his face. He forgot about the pumpkin pie in his hand, which splattered all over his face, causing the other Hufflepuffs at the table to burst into laughter. They kindly offered him some napkins.
"The Grey Lady isn't usually that scary, is she?" Cedric asked, scratching his head in confusion. "She's the Ravenclaw ghost; I thought most students liked her."
Adam took a napkin from Aiden and wiped his face, still a bit shaken. When he looked back, the Grey Lady had vanished. Only after he was certain she was gone did he whisper, "You wouldn't understand... it's the oppressive feeling of a bad witch teacher, and the psychological trauma of a poor student."
Cedric looked even more puzzled. He thought Adam was studying with Mr. Scamander. He hadn't heard of the great wizard having a penchant for cross-dressing... Was that story in the Quibbler actually true?
"I can sense a familiar feeling about you. May I invite you to talk with me after the feast?" an elegant, slightly sorrowful voice came from behind Adam.
Adam's eyelid twitched at the sound, but he quickly composed himself. He turned around to find the Grey Lady standing behind him. She gave him a graceful, old-fashioned bow and sincerely repeated her invitation.
The students around them, especially the Ravenclaws, held their breath. They had never seen their proud ghost lady act so gently toward anyone. Even when Professor Dumbledore personally asked her to sing for the students on Halloween a few years ago, he was met with a polite but cold refusal.
"Can I finish this pudding first?" Adam asked hesitantly, pointing to the pumpkin pudding in front of him.
"I hope you and your friends enjoy the rest of this wonderful feast. I will be waiting for you at the spiral staircase beneath the Astronomy Tower," the Grey Lady said. She elegantly lifted the hem of her misty gown and bowed again. The silver brooch on her chest shone with a pearly white light.
Many of the students around them gulped, their goblets tipping unnoticed, soaking their robes with pumpkin juice. She then gracefully turned and glided out of the Great Hall.
Cedric's face took on the same miserable expression as Aiden's. "You can't... you shouldn't..." he said morosely. "Even if she wants to court you, you're too different. And she's a ghost!"
Adam stuffed a chicken leg in his mouth. "You don't need to remind me," he said with a huff. "I'm worried about something else."
"What's that?"
"She didn't hear what I said just now, did she?" Adam shuddered, recalling his teacher's methods, and his face ached with phantom pain.
After the feast, Adam made his way to the highest tower in Hogwarts. The Grey Lady was standing sadly at the bottom of the staircase, looking as if she had been waiting a long time. When she saw Adam, she managed a sorrowful smile and invited him to the top of the tower.
Looking out at Hogwarts shrouded in the night, with the distant sounds of laughter, Adam found the quiet atmosphere unsettling. He politely asked, "Grey Lady, what did you want to talk to me about?"
She elegantly shook her head and said softly, "I would prefer you to call me by my other name... Helena Ravenclaw."
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