Deathday Party

The chill brought by the continuous rain began to seep in from the bottom of the castle, making them want to pull their clothes tighter with every step. Fortunately, before they arrived, Sean had the foresight to tell Hermione to wear warm clothes, otherwise they would be shivering right now.

As he rounded a corner, Sean heard a sharp, piercing sound, like a shovel scraping back and forth in a wok.

"Oh, I'm really starting to regret it now," Hermione muttered, frowning.

A few steps further on, Nick, draped in a black velvet curtain, was greeting guests at the door.

"My dear friends," he said with great sorrow, "Welcome... I am deeply honored by your presence..."

He took off his hat with feathers and bowed to invite them in.

Sean and Hermione's breath formed puffs of white mist in front of them as they entered the classroom, which resembled a cold storage room, and peered around curiously.

Contrary to Sean's expectations, there were fewer than a hundred ghosts floating around in the huge classroom, most of them ghosts from Hogwarts Castle, and quite a few of them had even chatted with Sean.

On a stage covered with a black cloth, several ghosts dressed in formal attire are pulling a saw, while groups of ghosts are dancing a waltz to jarring 'music'.

"I thought there would be a lot of ghosts," Hermione said quietly, dodging a giant toad ghost.

"That's because, although Nick extended an invitation, many ghosts who weren't on campus declined. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so eager to invite you living people," someone chimed in.

Sean turned his head and saw a chubby ghost with lifeless eyes and a muffled voice.

"Oh, hello, Edmund," Sean greeted.

Edmund Gruber died in the Victorian era from eating a poisoned plum. He died at the main entrance of the Hogwarts dining hall, and as a result, he often interfered with students' meals out of spite.

However, the ghost obviously couldn't do anything. After getting used to Edmund's tricks, the students stopped caring about it and would even deliberately eat heartily in front of Edmund, which would infuriate him.

Sean and Edmund were quite familiar with each other. Although Edmund often played pranks, he would also help students when they couldn't find the stairs to the classroom—provided that you weren't carrying a sandwich from the cafeteria.

"Hello, Sean," Edmund greeted him sadly.

"Why haven't the ghosts from other places come over? I mean, you don't have to work, right?" Sean asked curiously.

Edmund floated to the table and sniffed the stinking salmon on it.

"You're right, the ghosts don't work. We spend most of our time reminiscing about the past," he seemed to smell a hint of decay, a look of enjoyment on his face. "But the ghosts also have their own premonitions. The Wailing Widow said in her letter to Nick that she felt things weren't going well lately, so she wasn't planning on coming from Kent County."

"Not peaceful?"

Edmund nodded, then said nonchalantly, "This isn't the first time. Every year people say things aren't peaceful, but nothing ever happens. Besides, can a ghost die again?"

"That makes sense," Hermione agreed, then asked curiously, "Can you really smell it like that?"

"A tiny bit, I can smell a tiny bit," Edmund mumbled, shoving his nose right into the salmon's belly. "It's better than nothing, right? I died late. People like Nick who died early would probably have to soak here all day to smell even a little bit."

After Edmund had enjoyed his meal for a while, Nick called him over, saying that a ghost from out of town was visiting Hogwarts for the first time and had gotten lost even though it could walk through walls. Nick asked Edmund to help bring the ghost back.

"Nick's just Envy that I get to enjoy this delicious food!" Edmund muttered resentfully as he left, glancing longingly at the maggot-infested salmon. "Are there any ghosts in England who didn't graduate from Hogwarts? Ha, what a lame excuse!"

Sean and Hermione stood at the edge of the classroom, watching the ghosts continuously open their mouths as they passed through various rotten, burnt food. They both took another step back.

The taste is so strong...

Sean pinched his nose, scanned the area, and spotted a short, plump female ghost.

She was probably the most gloomy and melancholic person Sean had ever met, and at that moment she was being teased by Peeves was wearing a bright orange top hat. Every time Peeves threw moldy peanuts at her, clear tears would stream down her little eyes.

"Is that the Moaning Myrtle?" Sean asked.

Hermione covered her mouth and nodded. She had just peeked at Nick's birthday cake and almost threw up.

Should I go over and ask how the other person died...? Sean wondered to himself.

He had already learned from Hermione that the Moaning Myrtle had been hiding in the abandoned girls' bathroom. Combined with the fact that Hagrid was still expelled, it meant that Riddle might have killed Moaning Myrtle and framed Hagrid.

However, Riddle's life or death is uncertain, and the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets hasn't moved at all, so paying attention to it now seems pointless...

He couldn't possibly subdue the Basilisk, could he?

When Sean captures Magical Creatures, he often needs to make eye contact with them. Basilisk, on the other hand, kills anyone it looks at, making Sean's complete counter.

Feeling the temperature around him getting lower and lower, Sean stamped his foot.

"Shouldn't we be going?" he said softly.

"I think you're right." Hermione covered her mouth and nose and nodded quickly.

While Nick was having a sad conversation with a ghost, they quickly walked to the door and then turned and left.

"Let's hurry, we should be able to make it to the last dessert." Sean led the way through the gloomy corridor toward the steps.

Hermione, who was following behind him, gagged. "I'm afraid I can't eat anymore. Why did I have to look at that cake... ugh..."

"You're just too curious," Sean said casually, then looked ahead.

His steps suddenly stopped, and Hermione bumped into his back.

"What's wrong, Sean —isn't this Mrs. Norris?"

In front of them, a withered cat was meowing anxiously at Sean.

"What's wrong?" Sean crouched down.

Although Filch was unlikable, Mrs. Norris at least let him off the hook once during Sean's first-year night out.