The Great Hall's decorations were even more elaborate.
One pumpkin lantern after another floated in midair, while countless bats made of black cloth flitted about overhead.
The swarms of black-cloth bats would even burrow into the pumpkin lanterns before flying out all at once to circle the ceiling, repeating the process over and over.
Unlike the Start-of-Term Feast, the Halloween Feast was much more relaxed, without so many rules and restrictions.
Dumbledore did not give a speech. Instead, he raised his glass and drank merrily with the teachers, chatting and laughing.
The students only needed to sit on the benches before they could begin enjoying the carefully prepared delicacies.
The feast was already halfway over by the time Ron and Harry finally arrived.
Both were drenched in sweat and looked thoroughly miserable.
Seeing her younger brother sitting beside him, Percy asked curiously, "Ron, why did you take so long to get here?"
"Fred and the others haven't arrived either... You didn't do anything bad, did you? Whatever you do, don't start imitating Fred and the others!"
"We didn't. We just went looking for someone..." Ron looked extremely awkward, his expression unnatural.
Neville wolfed down lamb chops and said indistinctly, "Harry, did you find Hermione?"
"Hermione got lost?" Percy frowned slightly. "What exactly happened?"
Ron and Harry exchanged glances. In the end, with Neville's help, they managed to explain everything.
"So... you searched the castle for a long time but couldn't find her?" Percy's brows drew tightly together. "Have you tried... the Girls' Bathroom?"
"Huh?" Harry and Ron were stunned. "Hermione is in the Girls' Bathroom?"
"I heard it from one of your classmates... Miss Pettier," Percy said. "She said Hermione was in the Girls' Bathroom, crying there all afternoon. Nothing they said could console her."
"Which Girls' Bathroom?" Ron pressed.