MJs Hogwarts Journal Chapter 20

Friday 1^st November

Well that was another tortuous Potions class. You would think, after the fright of the troll escaping around the school, that Professor Snape would have been a little more sympathetic towards us. Then again, he could have walked in on the Slytherin Common Room disco last night and decided that he hated us all. Well, he defiantly acted like it. Limping around the classroom, Snape dragged his left leg as he hovered behind each of us in turn. Stopping at Hermione Granger, Professor Snape sneered, “Your little stunt Miss Granger hasn’t gone amiss to my ears. Just because I wasn’t present, doesn’t mean I don’t know what the three of you were playing at.” At this he glared at Potter and Weasley. “You’re just lucky you didn’t get yourselves killed,” he spat, before making his way back to the blackboard.

The lesson dragged on something terrible. A shiver trickled up my spine every time his stone eyes met mine. Stone eyes for a stone-like guy, I guess. Although every time I saw them there was something familiar about them that I just couldn’t shake. I have no idea what it is, and it’s been irritating me all day. On our way to lunch I decided to ask Jed his opinion. “Well you’ve seen Professor Snape every day for the last two months,” Jed pointed out. “He’s bound to look familiar.” I guess Jed was right. The only other thing I could think of was that he must have reminded me of an old schoolteacher from my Muggle school, but the longer I thought about it none of them rung a bell.

*

Entering the Great Hall, a voice appeared behind me and shouted, “Boo!” Gasping, I clung onto Jed’s arm tight. “Sorry,” came a giggle, as a pair of grey eyes bounced before me. “I didn’t mean to actually scare you.” Jed laughed along too. I glared at them.

“Good one José,” laughed Jed, giving her a high five. Holding a hand to my chest, I ignored them. Josie looked both ways, before sliding her fingers underneath the neckline of her blouse. A black string appeared at her neck, as she pulled out a pendent and showed it to us.

“Look Jed, Mel a key,” she gasped. Before Jed or I could respond, Josie had slipped the key back inside her blouse and pressed her finger to her lips. Dropping her hands to her sides she smiled, gripped her right elbow and looked between me and Jed. We both turned to see where she was staring.

“Josie!” called a boy in Ravenclaw robes as he came towards us. He had a head of dark brown hair with a side-swept fringe. I’m sure that I had seen him before. “Are you alright? I thought I heard you-” Josie cut him off.

“Oh, hi Malachi,” she called over to him, as he neared us. “Be right back,” she whispered to me and Jed, as she slipped through the gap between us and made her way over to the boy who had called her.

It wasn’t too long before Josie came skipping back towards us. “What was that all about?” Jed muttered, as Josie appeared at his shoulder.

“Maybe ‘Mel, a key,’ sounds a little too close to Malachi,” Josie told us going a little pink. She shrugged. “Fabian’s friend,” she added, seeing Jed’s frown. “I told him it was nothing.” I gave her a weak smile. Seriously, I felt lost. Why was a necklace so secretive that she couldn’t show Fabian’s best friend? It was just a piece of plastic, after all – right? “Follow me,” she whispered as she left Jed’s side and headed towards the Great Hall door. “I need to show you something.” Cupping her hand, Josie waved it towards herself. Jed and I both frowned at each other as we followed her out.

Josie led us down the main corridor and off by the third right – I have to admit, I have never walked down this corridor before. Stopping at some stairs, Josie led us around them to an archway underneath. The archway didn’t lead anywhere – it was just a little cubby under the stairs. “This used to be an escape point during the English civil war. Since then, part of the exit caved in, so they sealed it up to prevent the castle from sinking,” Josie informed us. Folding his arms, Jed rolled his eyes at her. “What?” she exclaimed. “I can’t help it. I like castles.”

“So, you wanted to show us this old hole in the wall that isn’t there anymore?” said Jed flatly.

“No,” sighed Josie shaking her head. “I wanted to show you both this.” Sliding her fingers underneath the neckline of her blouse, Josie pulled out a black cord. After fiddling with a knot at the back, she brought the stings around to her front and showed us the pendent.

In the palm of Josie’s hand sat a small, grey key. Okay, I should say silver, but its shininess had faded. This was definitely a rusty-grey. It was a chubb key – one of those with a long, thin stem that you hold on to. The sort of key that you would imagine locks the more old-fashioned doors (although my parents’ front door used to have one until they got it double glazed, now it uses a yale key).

“I found it,” whispered Josie. “Last night while everyone was running manic.”

“We’d better give it to Filch,” said Jed.

“Already tried,” Josie told him. “This is why it’s interesting. I went to Professor Flitwick’s office first thing this morning. He told me that he didn’t recognise it, but that Mister Filch probably lost it in the mayhem of last night. I didn’t want to go on my own – Mister Filch scares me,” she added, as she pulled the key back towards her. “So, Professor Flitwick came with me. When we got to the caretaker’s office, he said that he knew he hadn’t lost a key or anything for that matter. Professor Flitwick even asked him to check, which he did. Mister Filch said none of the keys are missing.”

“Now what?” I asked. Josie shrugged.

“That’s the thing. I don’t know,” she replied. “Professor Flitwick told me to keep hold of it in case anyone says that they’ve lost one, but he couldn’t see what a student would be doing with a key – we don’t need them. We don’t have anything to lock.”

“I still don’t get it,” Jed sighed, looping his thumbs through the straps of his backpack. “What’s this got to do with anything?” I could tell that he was hungry. We had just been on the way to lunch when Josie stopped us, and Jed’s stomach had been rumbling throughout Potions class.

“I don’t know,” Josie mumbled, staring at her shoes. I noticed for the first time that they had a purple stitched flower on the sides that matched the colour of her glasses. “But think about it…” she went on. “This castle is huge and so old. I bet that there are so many stories, hidden passages and secret tunnels running throughout it that not one person or ghost at this school knows about them all.”

“I still don’t get the point,” he grumbled.

“This key could lead anywhere,” gasped Josie, squeezing it tight in her palm. Retying it as a necklace and tucking it back into her blouse, she said to Jed, “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“No offense José, but it probably just unlocks a cupboard or an old trunk,” Jed told her. “Stop living in a fantasy story. Now can we please go get food?”

“Okay,” she mumbled with a shrug.

As we walked back to the Great Hall, I promised Josie that I would help her look for a book in the library that might help her to solve what the key unlocks. Oh, and Jed and I both promised to keep it a secret for her. Although what Jed had said had disheartened her, Josie still gave me a smile when I promised to help her look. It may have been a strained smile, but at least she still made the effort to try.

*

We weren’t sure where to start. I met up with Josie in the library straight after class. I brought my ‘A History of Magic’ by Bathilda Bagshot book with me and Josie went and found ‘Hogwarts: A History’ by the same author. Sitting at our favourite table in the library, we spread out our stuff (mostly so that no one else decided to join us) and began our search. I know that we really should have been studying – especially with the amount of homework that we keep getting, but this was fun. It was kind of like homework in one aspect, because we were learning an awful lot about the school (like: there are one-hundred-and-forty-two staircases in the castle, which I found out were created by one of the four founders, Rowena Ravenclaw). Josie seemed to think that it was a good idea to start the search with books by the same author. “Bathilda Bagshot did an awful lot of research on this castle,” Josie told me. “I read that she dedicated her entire life’s study to it.”

“Her entire life?” I found myself repeating. “Is she…?” Dropping the book, I shuddered, unable to even say the word. Josie laughed.

“No… she’s not dead,” Josie told me with a smile. “I just meant that she’s retired from writing. She lives in Godric’s Hollow – somewhere in west England.”

I had just finished reading about witch trials in the Medieval times, when an object skimmed past me across the floor. I flinched, losing the place in my book, as the pages swept in the breeze. My eyes shot to the floor. It was a bag. Jed’s bag. Two hands landed on my shoulders. I twitched my head up. Panting, Jed looked down at me. He muttered a, “Hi,” to both of us, before dropping himself down in his regular seat. “Merlin!” he gasped as looked down at the table. “How much mess are the two of you gonna make?” Pages of parchments scattered everywhere. Josie had three different inkpots placed out in front of her and five different quills. I had my History of Magic notes scattered about in front of me, as well as a stack of blank parchment. Swiping a hand across the table, Josie dragged some of the papers together. I felt my cheeks blush. Jed was right. The table was a little messy.

“What’ve you been running from this time?” Josie sighed, seeing Jed’s reddened face and hearing his heavy breathing.

“Running from? Running to is more like it,” he declared. “I ran all the way here from Snape’s office.”

“Really?” I gasped. That was pretty impressive. Jed usually struggles to make it from Potions to Herbology without puffing and panting or complaining of stitch. Then again, so do I. Jed shrugged.

“Well ya know,” he mumbled. “Most a the way.”

“Let me guess,” said Josie with a laugh. “You nearly got caught throwing Dungbombs or Barrelsplats into Professor Snape’s office?”

“No,” Jed declared. “I came here t’ tell ya somethin’. Something you,” he said looking at Josie. “Might find interesting.” I watched Josie’s eyes widen as Jed lent towards her.

“Now you ‘ave t’ swear not to repeat this to anyone,” Jed whispered as he folded his arms over the table and leant forwards against them. Josie looked towards me, then back at Jed and nodded. I nodded too. “I was stood outside a Snape’s office ‘n’ was about t’ knock to ask him for help with some Potions stuff, when I heard ‘im talkin’. I couldn’t make out the words, but it was his voice. Then someone else speaks,” Jed paused. Looking over Josie’s shoulder, then behind his own, Jed checked that no one else was around. It was after five o’clock in the evening – the library was dead. “It was Filch.”

“Filch?” I repeated with a frown. “What’s he doing in Snape’s office?”

“See,” said Jed as his eyes widened. “That’s what I was wondering. Snape asked him, “Does it look bad?” And Filch replied, “Nastier than the time yer got attacked by that beast of a hippogriff.” I heard Snape growl – he obviously didn’t wanna be reminded of that. Then Snape muttered something t’ do with three heads and he used the phrase, “Guarding it.” Guarding what exactly, he didn’t say. But what I did hear was Snape sayin’ that the troll was a distraction and then he said to Filch, “An’ you know whose part was the troll’s.” I ‘eard footsteps after that though ‘n’ I didn’t wanna get caught, so I ran all the way here.”

Okay, so numerous things raced around in my head. Someone or something had obviously attacked Professor Snape. I assumed that his limp, earlier, was due to him trying to stop the troll, but it sounds pretty serious. Three heads? Were there three trolls? Do trolls have three heads? Arh, but if the troll was a distraction, does that mean that something else attacked the professor or that something else has three heads? Is there something else sneaking around the school? And what was the thing that attacked Snape guarding? Wow, this really is a mystery.

“It made me think though,” Jed went on. “I know what I said before,” he sighed and looked down at the table. “But d’ya reckon that key has somethin’ t’ do with all that?” he asked as he looked at me. “It j’st seems a little too coincidental now that José finds some suspicious key after all that happened last night.”

I can’t believe how willing Jed now is to follow Josie’s theory of some magical mystery. He was totally against it earlier – okay he was hungry, but still. There must be more to what he overheard that what he actually explained. I guess it was one of those in-the-moment things.

“So,” Josie said as she put down a quill. I hadn’t realised that she had been writing – I was too busy trying to make sense of it all. “Professor Snape’s been attacked by a creature guarding something important. Either Professor Snape was trying to steal it for himself, or he was trying to stop somebody else from doing so,” Josie whispered as she stared down at the parchment that she had been writing on. “Whoever let the troll loose last night has another connection to trolls and the trolls were locked in the dungeons, if I remember correctly… Does that sound about right, Jed?” she asked as she lowered the piece of paper to the table.

“Pretty spot on,” Jed replied. “Only, I bet whoever let the troll loose used your key to do it with. They must have lost it during the ruckus.” I giggled. I couldn’t help it, ‘ruckus’ is a funny sounding word.

“So, does this mean that someone else has access to the dungeon keys other than the caretaker?” Josie asked Jed, frowning.

“Either that or they’ve copied it,” said Jed bluntly.

“Do wizards even have blacksmiths?” I asked.

“Sorta, but they wouldn’t clone a Hogwarst key,” said Jed.

“Cloning spell?” suggested Josie.

“Dunno,” Jed shrugged. “Does one even exist?” Josie shrugged at him.

“I haven’t heard of one,” she declared. “Wouldn’t people be cloning stuff all the time if there was?”

“True,” Jed muttered.

Now that we were all thinking about this together, things were slowly starting to make sense. Something bad had definitely occurred last night when the troll was let loose and whoever let it loose had used the key that Josie now possessed to make it all happen. “Shouldn’t we go to a teacher?” I asked.

“An’ who’d believe us?” Jed laughed. “What are we supposed to do? Go up to Professor McGonagall and say: Look, we’re a bunch a First-Years who’ve found a key that we think unlocks trolls in the dungeon, but Filch says all the keys are accounted for. By the way, something with three heads that’s guarding something, has attacked Professor Snape and whoever is in charge of the trolls released them as a distraction, possibly so that they could steal said something. Oh, and we’ve been listening in on Snape’s private conversations – just to let you know.”

“Jed’s right,” Josie said as she stared down at the table. Jed turned to her wide eyed. Even I was surprised to hear her agree with him. I guess we are so used to the two of them bickering that Josie agreeing with Jed made a pleasant change. “We have no proof that anything that we just figured out is true. We need evidence before we say anything.”

“Right,” said Jed with a nod. “So, we need to find out what that key unlocks and who lost it.” I nodded at him.

“Glad we’re all on the same page,” said Josie, looking up at us with a smile.

I have to admit, as crazy as this all sounds – it’s a little exciting. It’s like we’ve just formed our own little secret club. The three of us are in on a mystery that no one else knows all of the pieces to, apart from us. Once we find out what the key unlocks, and who lost it, we’ll be able to find out what they’re up to. It almost feels like we’re breaking the rules, but without anyone knowing. It’s so mysterious. Wow! It’s like I’m a part of my very own detective story. And I have my two best friends beside me. What more could I wish for? Perhaps a hint or a clue as to where to start would be nice… but Josie and Jed are finally agreeing on something. That on its own is special. I will have to savour the moment.

- Josie -

MJs Hogwarts Journal Chapter 19

Thursday 31^st October

Hallowe’en was amazing! I had to put the apostrophe in otherwise the Apostrophe Princess, Josie, would probably tell me off – she’s been reminding me all day. Okay, so first off, yesterday’s Flying lesson was cancelled, due to Hagrid carrying in the huge pumpkins (but I’ll get to that in a bit) ready for the display in the Great Hall. I’m a tad disappointed that our Astronomy class has been cancelled for this evening, but I’m glad in a way, because it means that I can catch up on sleep.

Professor Quirrell was acting rather peculiar (for him) in this morning’s Defence Against the Dark Arts class. He was rather upbeat, bouncing about the room on the balls of his feet, encouraging us all to take part. The most amazing thing was: he taught us three out of the six main defence spells for this year. Okay, so I can’t exactly do them, but at least I know how to do them now. And what exactly they are.

I think that witches and wizards must really believe in all that spooky monster stuff that I was always taught was nonsense when I was a kid. Quirrell seemed to want us to be able to protect ourselves from werewolves, vampires and bloodthirsty death hounds. Now I see why I’ve always loved the old-fashioned monster movies, because a part of me, somewhere deep down, knew that they were real – well at least based on something real. I took so many notes this morning that my wrist was absolutely killing me before second period even started.

The professor even let us all have a go at practising the new spells. I seriously have no idea how we managed to cram so much into an hour and a half. We learnt Protego (pronounced pro-tay-go) which is a charm used to shield yourself from dark charms. This spell involved moving your hand in a strong, straight, vertical line. Then there was Everte Statum (pronounced ee-ver-tay stah-tum) which is a spell used to send an opponent staggering backwards – maybe even off their feet if you try it hard enough. You keep your wand pointed at your opponent and if you perform it right, an orange spark should shoot from your wand. The third spell was Petrificus Totalus (pronounced pe-tri-fi-cus to-tah-lus) which paralyses your opponent, allowing only their eyes to move. I think that this one is the most deadly of the three. It seems absolutely terrifying. It involves some tricky wand manoeuvring too – like a horizontal hook.

When it came to performing the spell, Quirrell even taught us a weak dark art hex: Stingktum Alosca (pronounced Stink-kuh-tum al-ose-cah), which creates a slight tingling sensation on your opponent. It’s not too harmful and can’t cause any damage, but it does sting more than pins and needles and you still feel it for a while afterwards – I’ll explain how I know in a sec. Anyway, Professor Quirrell only taught us that spell so that we could practise shielding ourselves and casting defence attacks.

For the Practical, Quirrell paired us all off. I was with Scarlett. He wanted all of the boys to be paired with each other and the same for us girls – he claimed that at a young wizarding age, when one is only just beginning to discover their powers, boys are usually the ones who don’t know their own strength. He was worried that the power of their hexes and defence attacks might be too powerful against us girls. I’m not entirely sure that’s true – because I bet I could stir up a pretty strong Stingktum Alosca hex. But then again, if bigger meant stronger – I’d hate to be paired up against Vincent Crabbe; his spells must sting like an electric eel.

I’m glad that I was paired off with Scarlett. I never noticed it before, but I think that we’re quite well matched in terms of magical ability. We both seem to know what we’re doing and get the pronunciation and wand movement right, but it isn’t very often that anything other than colourful sparks shoot out at one another. It was kind of fun working with her. We kind of both encouraged each other to do better. We got there by the end of the class too. It’s scary to think that the stinging hex was easier to pull off that and of the defence spells. Seriously, the hex hurt way more that the defence attack. Well, like I said earlier, it didn’t hurt exactly, it was more like the after sting that affected me the most – well it affected everyone. Leaving Professor Quirrell’s class, all of us had shaking legs and throbbing wand arms.

*

None of our other classes did anything special for Hallowe’en though. Well, Professor Flitwick did dress up in a black cape, wore very pale make up and a set of fangs. He did look really cool – a little, mini vampire. The best part of the day though, was the evening feast. Entering the Great Hall in the early evening with Jed and Josie I gazed up at the ceiling. Where the outside whether is reflected, groups of bats swooped in and out of one another. I have a feeling that they were fake and just part of the sky’s illusion too, but they really added to the Hallowe’en atmosphere. The walls were all lined with black and orange striped streamers that looped around the pillars, clung to the walls and draped from the tables. Humongous pumpkins sat in the four corners of the room, as well as one in the centre of each of the houses’ tables and one at the teacher’s table. Humongous isn’t even the word to describe it. I have never seen one so big. If I were to have thrown my arms around one, my fingers wouldn’t have even hugged half of the pumpkin. I don’t know how Hagrid does it, but these pumpkins are the most amazing things that I have ever seen. Each one was carved with a different spooky looking face on it.

Having arrived at the Great Hall early (because I was too excited to see the decorations that I could not wait and dragged Jed and Josie along with me) we all sat together on the Ravenclaw table. There weren’t many students about, and Josie still seemed a little scared about nearing the Slytherin table, so Jed and I sat with her. As Jed and I sat down opposite her, I noticed a collection of regular-sized pumpkins piled up nearby. Staring at them a smile broke across my face. A hand thumped me on the back. I gasped. My heart pounded. Spinning my head around my eyes met with a massive brown, fur coat. I looked up. Letting out a breath I smiled. It was Hagrid. “You can help me out if ya want,” he smiled. “There’s enough pumpkins ta go around.” Handing me a pumpkin, Hagrid placed on in front of Josie too and slid a knife towards us both across the table.

“This is-” I began.

“Amazing?” Josie said with a giggle and a raised brow. “You’ve been saying that word all day.”

“Have I?” I laughed. “I hadn’t noticed,” but I guess it was because everything was amazing. Gazing at the pumpkin, I scrunched my mouth up into the right corner. What to make? There were so many different things that I could carve. But what would be the right one?

Hearing someone call Josie’s name from the Great Hall entrance, I spun around. It was Fabian. With a huge smile on his face, he dropped himself down next to Josie. “So?” he said as he gave a stretch. “What cha guys doin’?” I smirked. He didn’t seem fazed at all that Jed and I were sat at the Ravenclaw table. Maybe it is only Slytherins that care about that stuff?

As Josie explained to Fabian that Hagrid was letting us help carve pumpkins for the display, I watched as Jed stared ahead at Fabian. His eyes seemed to focus so intensely on one spot that after a while he shuddered.

“You okay?” I asked him as I poked his left arm.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled and folded his arms. Staring down at the table, his eyes flickered over to Josie and Fabian, before they locked with mine. “If I tell you something,” he muttered. “You have t’ promise not to judge me.” I nodded slowly. “Okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed, stiffening my back. He’s never judged me in any way and I’m Muggle-born, so why would I judge him?

“I’ve never carved a pumpkin,” he whispered.

“Really?” I asked. He nodded. I gave him a smile and a little shrug. “Then get ready Mister Edwards, for today you shall become Jack the Pumpkin King.” Josie laughed from across the table.

“Love it!” she exclaimed. “Or should I say: amazing!” Wow. She got my joke. Now that really was amazing. I didn’t think that anyone here would get it.

Teaching Jed how to carve a pumpkin was so much fun. What was the most fun, was knowing that he enjoyed it too. In the end, the two of us had carved an almost symmetrical, traditional jack-o-lantern. It had two triangular eyes, a triangular nose and a cute, curvy mouth with three square teeth (one at the top and two at the bottom). Josie and Fabian did a little bit more intricate carving than me and Jed. Theirs had slanted, evil looking eyes and a cave full of spikey teeth. It was pretty frightening, actually. “Do you like it?” Josie giggled as she and Fabian twisted it around to show us.

“Wow!” Jed gasped. “Yours looks amazing.”

“Maybe next year we’ll give you a run for your money,” I joked to Josie and Fabian.

“I hope you keep to your word,” Fabian laughed. “Because I love a challenge.”

“And now for the final touch,” said Hagrid as he appeared behind me and Jed. He handed me and Josie a tea light. “Wow, now these two are master pieces,” beamed Hagrid.

“Theirs is better,” Jed laughed, pointing a thumb at Josie and Fabian’s pumpkin.

“Now Jed – I like ‘em both,” said Hagrid with a huge smile. “Yer can never go wrong somethink simple and traditional. I fink it works the best.” At this Jed’s smile softened. I think he really appreciated Hagrid’s comment.

With our jack-o-lanterns lit, the four of us sat in the Great Hall waiting for the rest of the school to appear. I watched Josie bite her lip as she glanced over towards the entrance. I spun my head around to see what she was looking at. Priscilla and Scarlett came in with Pansy on Blondie’s arm a little behind them. I don’t think they noticed us as they sat down at the Slytherin table. “Don’t go yet,” Josie blurted out as she bounced up. She disappeared down the table and reappeared with two cups. “Now I’m not trying to show off,” she warned, as she glared at Jed. Jed threw his hands up in a sort of surrender. He wasn’t in the mood to pick a fight. That was good. “I just thought I’d show you something fun. It kind of suits the party-like atmosphere anyway,” she said as more students began filing into the Hall. “I haven’t done it with two before, so bear with me,” she said as she inhaled a deep breath. Holding her wand out, Josie moved it in a sort of jagged ‘n’ shape and projected, “Tarantallegra!” Both of the teacups began vibrating. You could hear their crockery surfaces tapping against the table. Then they began to bounce. Leaning against the far side of their rim, the surface of the teacups tapped against the edge of the table, before tipping over to the other side.

“Wow!” gasped Fabian clapping. “That’s the hardest First-Year charm. And you did it with two cups!” he exclaimed. Josie’s cheeks turned pink as she smiled at him. “Impressive,” he said as he patted her shoulder.

Upon hearing the china clattering and Fabian’s explosive comment, some of the students began looking over at Josie’s dancing teacups. The handles to both of the cups pressed themselves together and the cups began spinning around in circles.

Hearing someone huff behind me, I turned around to see Pansy pouting while Blondie tried to push her off his arm, as he tried to stand up to see what was going on. I rolled my eyes at them. If they weren’t centre of attention, then they weren’t happy. As I turned back around, Professor Flitwick appeared at my side and began clapping fiercely. “Bravo dear,” he said as Josie stopped the spell. “I see good things for you. Good things.” He shook her hand vigorously, before making his way up to the teachers’ table. Pinching her lips in Josie lowered her head and with her hand tried to hide her face from the many students that had gathered around. I guess she was only trying to show us and didn’t plan on the entire school watching. Worried that Jed would be irritated by how the whole thing turned out, I spun myself around to face him. My eyes widened with surprise as I saw that he started clapping. Fabian joined in too. Then others did. Pretty soon everyone who had witness the dancing teacups was applauding Josie. With her cheeks turning even more red, Josie pressed both of her hands up to her cheeks and leant into Fabian’s arm. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaning towards her whispered in her ear. I have no idea what he said, but it made her giggle.

Being as the Great Hall was growing full, as students came in for dinner, Jed and I retreated from the Ravenclaw table and re-joined Slytherin. Even some of them were talking about Josie’s magic. I was so happy for her that I could not stop smiling. My cheeks began stinging.

Once everyone had settled down, Professor Dumbledore silenced the Great Hall to make an announcement. “Tonight, is one of the most sacred nights on the wizarding calendar,” he announced. “It’s the day where we respect the living and toast to the dead. Before we begin tonight’s feast, I would just like to thank our Grounds Keeper, Hagrid, for his excellent work in both growing and carving these pumpkins.” The professor held his hands out in front of him to clap and everyone else did too. “Also,” he added. “I am aware that a few students have helped him this evening, carving a pumpkin or two, so I would like us all to thank them as well.” As the Hall broke into applause again Professor Dumbledore looked in my direction and smiled. My stomach tingled, as did my cheeks. “I know that some of you may have witnessed the little magical treat that occurred a few moments ago,” he said and glanced towards Josie. I turned around and smiled at her. “I just want to take the time to let all of you First-Years know how impressed I am with the quality of magic that you are producing. All of your teachers have been reporting to me with good news… yes good news,” Professor Dumbledore’s voice seemed to trail as though he wasn’t quite sure what to say next. “I also want to wish all of the Quidditch teams good luck with the new season just around the corner, especially Gryffindor and Slytherin, whose first match is this Saturday.” The room burst into applause and cheers again. “And on that note…” he said with a smile. “Let the feast commence.”

Food instantly appeared on the table. All of the plates, cups, bowls and cutlery turned gold, just like they were on the very first night. Cauldrons full of soups stirred themselves at various points along the table. There were piles of pumpkin pies, jacket potatoes, carrots, peas and broccoli. Goblets were topped to the brim, full of orange, glowing pumpkin juice. And there were loads of sweets too. Green liquorish snakes, pastel swirled gobstoppers, sugary jellies shaped like bats, pumpkins, cauldrons and broomsticks, a tower of chocolate frogs and a huge cauldron full of ‘Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’. “I bet we’ll be eating pumpkin all week long,” I joked to Jed. He agreed as we both piled more onto our plate.

“It’s not so funny you know,” came a voice. I jumped as the Bloody Baron appeared at my side. My heart raced in my ribcage. It wasn’t very often that he joined us for our evening meal. I guess being as today was a celebration, he decided to join in the fun.

“I-I’m sorry, Sir,” I stuttered, lowering my head. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Well offend me you did, young lady,” spoke the Baron in a rather harsh tone. “You see,” he said as he slid himself down between Jed and me. “It’s just not that fun being dead. Everyone jokes on and on about food, but me – I can’t taste the stuff. It goes in here,” he said pointing at his mouth. “And just comes out here,” he sighed pointing to the floor. Holding hands to their mouths, the boys tried hard not to snigger. “Well I never,” gasped the Baron.

The door to the Great Hall slammed open. Most students turned to see a stumbling Quirrell rush up towards the teacher’s desk. His turban was partially unravelled, and the fabric trailed behind after him. “T… t… t, t-t,” he stuttered all the while he fumbled past our table. Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair. “Troll!” yelled Quirrell. “T, t, t-troll!” Reaching the teachers’ table, he collapsed over it, in front of Professor Dumbledore. “In the dungeons… escaped…” he panted. “You need to know.” His body slithered down from the table into a heap on the floor.

“Troll!” some screamed.

“Run!” cried another. Everyone started shouting and wailing. Bodies were moving everywhere. People were crashing into each other. Foots were stepped on, hands were crushed. There was a bang. Followed by another. And another. Purple sparks shot up above our heads.

“Enough!” roared the Headmaster, after the seventh purple spark flashed through the air. In mid-motion, everyone froze. “Prefects!” he ordered, “lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!”

Ivy and Vlad stood up, on the seats, to get our attention. “Everyone,” Ivy shouted. “Follow me.”

“We’re not going to the dungeon!” one of the Fifth-Years objected. “The troll’s down there. We’ll get killed.”

“Don’t argue with me,” Ivy roared, jabbing her wand in the troublemaker’s direction.

“We’re only followin’ the professor’s orders,” Vlad insisted. “Now everyone follow Ivy, quickly. I’ll make sure we all keep together.”

And that was it. Hallowe’en was over. Everyone was rushed out of the Great Hall so quickly that everything seems a blur. I remember being pushed past the paintings and even the people inside them had fled. My pulse pounded in my ears all the while. I had no idea what a troll actually was, but from all the screams, I had a feeling that it wasn’t like the little toys with different brightly coloured hair that I remember as a kid.

I guess Hallowe’en wasn’t totally ruined. I mean, we got food sent down to us and we got to continue the party, a little, in our Common Room. It was a little more cosy, but in a way that’s what made it kind of uncomfortable for me. Someone decided to blast music. I’m not quite sure how they managed to do that being as the wizarding world has no electricity. I did try to ask Jed, but all I got out of him was something to do with the ‘Wizarding Wireless Network’, which I have no idea what that means. I’m guessing it’s some form of wireless radio, but I really don’t know. Once the music started, the whole Common Room turned into a sort of disco. People were dancing on tables and jumping on sofas. I had tried to sit in the corner by the fire, but Pansy pulled Blondie into a nearby seat and sat on his lap. I really didn’t want to hang around any longer, so I made my way up to bed.

I guess I should try to get some sleep soon. I just wish there was a spell to block out all of the noise. It’s a shame really, because I was looking forward to the Hallowe’en party in the Great Hall – I’m just not a huge fan of out-of-control, no adult supervision, mad teenage parties. I just felt a little out of place. I wasn’t sure where to go or whom to sit with. And wherever I stood, I just felt like I was in someone’s way. The annoying thing is, they all know that they’ll get away with it too, because we saw Professor Snape getting whisked away for Troll catching duty. Ivy reckoned that the teachers would be out trying to catch it until at least ten o’clock. I just hope everything’s back to normal tomorrow.

- Josie -