Halloween—Is This Going to Force the Plot Forward?

"Moo!"

Coal Ball was startled.

A pair of black eyes stared blankly at the pink starlight that flashed and vanished in an instant.

Dylan was somewhat surprised as well.

"Looks like the money wasn't wasted after all!"

Dylan waved his wand again.

"Lumos (Wand-Lighting Charm)!"

"Swish~"

Brilliant light-pink radiance dispelled the darkness in the room. Specks of light shimmered with an enchanting glow, weaving and colliding with one another. Every touch sent pink starlight bursting forth.

"Moo!!"

Coal Ball charged straight over and pounced at the patch of pink starlight.

But it missed completely.

"Moo?"

Dylan suddenly discovered a new source of amusement.

He waved his wand again.

"Whoosh!"

Pink starlight burst into existence.

Coal Ball pounced again.

"Hey! This is fun!"

He had never expected that beautifying his wand would somehow turn it into a cat toy wand!

Dylan spent nearly the entire afternoon playing with Coal Ball like that, tireless and without a care.

It was not until a jumble of footsteps and conversations sounded outside the door—clearly, quite a few young wizards had returned to the dormitory—that Dylan finally stopped.

"Whew!"

Dylan exhaled a breath of stale air. Looking at Coal Ball, who seemed somewhat tired as well, he raised the corners of his mouth in a fond smile.

He reached out and gently scratched Coal Ball's chin. Coal Ball narrowed its eyes in comfort, making a "huff-moo, huff-moo" sound in its throat and rubbing its head against Dylan's hand.

Coal Ball's adorable, foolish appearance made Dylan burst out laughing.

Although he had spent a long time fooling around today, Dylan did not feel that he had wasted his time.

On the contrary, after experiencing his state of mind once again, Dylan was pleasantly surprised to discover that all the pressure accumulated in his heart had vanished. His chest was filled with joy, which made even his exhausted body feel much lighter.

"Although eating dinner eases the pressure to some extent every time, I can't exactly gorge myself."

Playing around with Coal Ball all afternoon had unexpectedly caused all the pressure he had accumulated to completely dissipate.

I won't do anything today. I'll get a good night's sleep, recharge my energy, and keep fighting tomorrow!

Dylan first went to eat, then returned to the dormitory and fell into a deep sleep.

By evening, when Harry, Ron, and the others returned one after another, they were chatting as they entered the room and immediately saw Dylan sleeping soundly.

They exchanged glances in surprise, then all unconsciously slowed their movements.

"Hmm, is that the smell of roasted pumpkin?"

It was another early morning.

Dylan had just finished washing up and stepped outside when a rich fragrance reached his nose.

Halloween.

Dylan had paid almost no attention to holidays, but the smell of pumpkin made him realize that today was Halloween.

If I remember correctly, wasn't it during the Halloween feast that a Troll suddenly appeared from somewhere?

Dylan slung his little schoolbag over his shoulder and walked toward the Owlery, pondering as he went.

No, wait. Wasn't that Troll released by Quirrell?

Dylan's memory was somewhat hazy. He only vaguely remembered that Harry and the others had sneaked into the Girls' Bathroom and run into the Troll.

What had impressed him most at the time was that they had easily defeated the Troll with the Levitation Charm they had just learned.

"Trolls aren't something you see often. Not only are they few in number, but their teeth can enhance the effectiveness of Potions."

"Their livers can be used to make Potions that treat serious illnesses or curses."

"Their mucus also has unique magical properties and is extremely suitable for use in Potions."

Dylan arrived at the Owlery, fed Luna some food, and handed her the letter he wanted to send to his parents.

He then went to the Great Hall to eat breakfast.

Hmm, I can't kill the Three-Headed Dog, but I should at least be able to kill this thing, right?

The Three-Headed Dog had clearly been placed in the restricted area by Hogwarts.

There was no way he could go looking for trouble with it.

But this Troll... Dylan happened to be starting research on a new Potion. If he could collect the materials from this Troll, he would not have to go to the trouble of searching for them himself.

A full day of classes passed.

The students of Hogwarts all hurried toward the Great Hall to attend the Halloween feast.

Dylan walked among the crowd as well.

When he made his way over to Harry and Ron,

he noticed that Ron's expression seemed somewhat off.

"Hmm?"

Dylan blinked, then quietly asked Harry, "Is Ron feeling unwell?"

Harry glanced at Ron, who looked preoccupied, and pursed his lips.

"You performed really well in Charms Class this morning, didn't you? You used the Levitation Charm excellently."

"So?" Dylan tilted his head.

"So..." Harry paused and glanced at Ron again.

"After Professor Flitwick called Hermione up to practice the Levitation Charm again, Ron secretly said something nasty about Hermione because she didn't perform as well as you."

"And then..."

Hearing this, Dylan more or less understood what had happened.

During class, he was basically the professors' focus. Throughout the entire lesson, whenever there was time to interact with the students, the professors would more or less choose to speak with him.

As a result, he had not paid much attention to what was happening on Harry's side.

But after hearing Harry's explanation, Dylan said helplessly, "So he had barely finished saying something nasty before Hermione caught him in the act again?"

Harry nodded heavily.

"(-ι_-｀)..."

Dylan truly did not understand why Ron liked saying nasty things about people behind their backs so much.

The key was, if he was going to say them, he could at least say them more secretly. Yet every time, the person involved caught him red-handed.

Really, there was no one else like him.

"Actually, Ron hadn't said anything nasty about Hermione for quite a while. It was just this time... Hermione thinks Ron never regarded her as a friend."

Harry blinked. "And she also thinks Ron must have said a lot of nasty things about her behind her back."

"..."

Dylan smacked his lips.

For a moment, he was speechless.

"So what happened afterward? What's the situation now?"

"Hermione was already crying for the second half of class, and no one saw her for the entire afternoon."

"Uh..."

Did the plot just start?

Dylan had originally planned to sneak into the bathroom, secretly deal with the Troll, secretly break down the materials, and secretly finish everything.

He had never expected Ron to coincidentally anger Hermione so badly that she went straight into the bathroom again.

"Who knew girls could be so troublesome? I already said I was only joking! Besides, she really didn't perform as well as Dylan, did she?" Ron said stubbornly.

"But you also said she was being pretentious..." Harry added.

"...Was I wrong?" Ron glared.

"Even though I didn't do well with the Charm today, she didn't have to keep lecturing me!"

"So that was the real cause..."