The Celts believed that the souls of the deceased would return to their homelands, so they celebrated the New Year on October 31st.
They held the view that this was the moment when the boundary between life and death was at its thinnest.
This is how Halloween evolved.
The atmosphere of Halloween was particularly thick at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, situated in the Irish Highlands.
The giant pumpkins Hagrid had planted were ripe; these pumpkins were so immense they could practically serve as carriage cabins. Jack-o'-lanterns carved with ghostly faces could be seen everywhere in the castle, with orange-red magical flames burning inside their grinning mouths.
There were cloaked pumpkin-heads hiding around corners. When unsuspecting young wizards passed by, they would suddenly lunge out to give them a fright, then fly away with a muffled guffaw amidst the screams.
Although this was the gloomiest day at Hogwarts, there were more smiles on the young wizards' faces than usual.
Gryffindor's morning Charms class was a delightful session; Professor Flitwick believed they were now ready to learn the magic that made objects fly.
"Remember, it's a swish and flick of the wrist. And enunciating the incantation correctly is also very important—never forget the wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself lying on the floor with a buffalo standing on his chest."
"Professor, which spell did the wizard Baruffio mispronounce?"
A curious student raised their hand and asked.
"For the sake of your safety, I won't share that erroneous example with you. You must realize, a buffalo weighs nearly two thousand pounds; it would crush your bones instantly."
"When learning magic, do not deliberately attempt anything dangerous, especially now when you are just starting out."
Professor Flitwick waved his hand. "Now then, you may practice on your own."
The classroom grew noisy as everyone raised their wands and cast spells at the feathers before them. Compared to the minor magic learned in previous lessons, the Levitation Charm was much more difficult than the Wand-Lighting Charm.
"How are you finding it, Lynn?"
Professor Flitwick was quite attentive to Lynn. Although Lynn's aptitude for Charms paled in comparison to Transfiguration, Professor Flitwick still treated him very well.
"Maybe a little better? But I don't think there's any fundamental difference. My sensitivity to Charms is still very dull."
Lynn shrugged somewhat helplessly. "However, I can still barely master basic spells through extensive practice; I just don't use them very well."
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Lynn waved his wand, and the feather before him floated up lightly, hovering about a foot above the desktop.
"It's limited to lighter objects, probably no more than a hundred pounds. I practiced for nearly a week during the holidays to manage this."
"I think this is about the best I can do."
"It seems this problem is indeed troubling." Professor Flitwick scratched his head, looking a bit vexed. "The spells you cast are much weaker than normal, yet your magical power is no less than anyone else's—in fact, it's quite excellent. Professor McGonagall told me that you are already capable of using Transfiguration on larger targets."
"Yes, like turning a sofa into a buffalo, or into a baby elephant. I don't lack magical power, and the Transfigurations last for a long time."
"In that case, let me offer a small suggestion. If you truly struggle with incantation-based magic, you might want to shift your focus to Runic Magic. You can start learning Ancient Runes now. Once you've mastered Ancient Runes, I can teach you the methods ancient wizards used to cast magic before incantations became widely adopted."
"Runic Magic is a casting system completely different from incantations. It is more rigid, but it might suit you better. You have trouble communicating with your magic, and Runic Magic can bypass that flaw."
"Like this."
Professor Flitwick used his wand as a quill, writing a string of magical characters on a piece of parchment.
Then, tapping the tip of his wand on the paper, a blue magical flame flashed and vanished. The runes disappeared in an instant, and immediately, a feather floated up several feet into the air.
"Runes are magical characters that possess the power to resonate with magic; one could call them 'drawings of magic.' You write them down and activate them, and the target you point at will be affected by the magic. However, it is very rigid. Unlike spells, it cannot change according to your will. If you want to alter the effect, you need to activate the runes again and rewrite the configuration."
New runes were written out; the feather, originally floating several feet up, slowly descended and stopped in front of Lynn.
"Then... may I give it a try?"
Lynn was actually quite interested in this archaic method of casting. Although it was a bit rigid, it wasn't unusable.
"You have already learned runes?"
Professor Flitwick was slightly surprised.
"Yes, I flipped through some books before. I memorized the Common Dictionary of Ancient Runes because that knowledge is used when learning wand-crafting."
"It is truly a pity you didn't come to Ravenclaw. You should visit the Ravenclaw library when you have time; there are many books there that would be useful to you." Professor Flitwick spoke with some regret, then looked at Lynn with an encouraging gaze. "Well, try it now."
Several young wizards next to Lynn turned their heads to watch curiously. This was the first time they had learned that Lynn was actually not good at Charms, which was somewhat unexpected for them.
Mimicking Professor Flitwick's demonstration, Lynn treated his wand like a quill and began writing complex Ancient Runes on the parchment.
Under his control, the magic within his body gathered at the tip of his wand. As he wrote, handwriting glowing with a faint blue light appeared on the parchment.
"Hmm... you used a bit too much magic, and it's not very even. But it doesn't matter, it's only a Levitation Charm. Your Runic writing is very standard."
Professor Flitwick nodded. For a first attempt at writing a Runic spell, Lynn's performance was already quite impressive.
"Now you can try activating it with your magic. Selecting the target is a very important process in Runic Magic. Focus your mind."
"Yes, Professor."
Lynn took a deep breath, then used his wand to tap steadily and lightly on the runes he had written.
The runes on the parchment ignited in an instant. With a flash of blue light, the power of the Levitation Charm spread immediately, and gasps rang out across the classroom.
Centered on Lynn, an area with a radius of about five meters was completely covered by his magic. Tables and chairs floated up at that moment, hovering a full foot off the ground.
"Haha! Just like that!"
Professor Flitwick applauded with a smile. "For your first time casting with runes, I think that was excellent. You should practice more on how to precisely lock onto a target later on. Using this method to cast spells won't be a difficult problem for you, but if you want to master it more deeply, Lynn, you still have a long way to go."
After speaking, Professor Flitwick waved his wand, and the floating tables and chairs settled steadily back down.
"It seems you all just experienced the power of the Levitation Charm. So, have you found a bit more of a feel for casting now?"
Professor Flitwick turned his gaze to the other students in the classroom. "Remember, swish and flick. Imagine the sensation of floating lightly that you just felt; it will be very helpful."
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