Halloween Banquet

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to wait for you here. He said I should take you to see him first, then let you go have dinner."

Pabbie walked up the steps, took the canvas bag from Harry, and tucked it together with her apron.

"You go on. I'll take these things to the kitchen. The House Elves should already have dinner ready."

Hagrid pushed open the castle doors and stepped aside to let Harry and Vivi in.

The Entrance Hall was bright with candlelight. As they passed along the corridor, a newly changed string of pumpkin lanterns hung outside the Hufflepuff Common Room, all uneven in shape and size, as if someone had hung them in a hurry.

They went through the corridor to a stone-carved door on the eighth floor. A Phoenix was carved into it, and under the light it seemed to be slowly beating its wings.

The door was pushed open from the inside. Professor Dumbledore stood in the middle of the office, wearing a deep purple robe, his silver-white beard hanging down over his chest.

"I got a message from Kingsley. He said the Confederation Technical Group had completed the final calibration of the Global Purification Program, and Mr. LeMay's Filter System had officially been put into long-term operation."

He turned slightly to the side.

"Please, sit."

Harry and Vivi sat down in front of the desk. Dumbledore sat as well and picked up a ceramic teapot from the desk.

He poured tea into three cups, handed one to Vivi, and set one in front of Harry.

"The Confederation Technical Group said Lucifer's three parts had been completely isolated, and his consciousness could not penetrate the barriers. Mr. LeMay estimated that the Filter System could operate steadily for at least fifty years. Before then, the Confederation Institute