Halloween (The Irregular Ticket Request Is Here Again)

Cultivating Mandrakes was a discipline in itself, but for the time being, it had nothing to do with Jon.

Perhaps Professor Sprout wanted Jon to learn about it, but Jon himself had no such desire.

What would he cultivate Mandrakes for?

To kill people?

Professor Sprout moved quickly. She soon finished tidying up the greenhouse, then led Jon back to her office.

"Mr. Smith, the Halloween feast is about to begin. Why didn't you go attend it?"

"Professor, you can just call me Jon."

Jon was not used to being called Mr. Smith. It made him feel as though he were in class.

"Alright, Jon." Professor Sprout smiled gently. "What did you come to see me about?"

Jon nodded and said somewhat nervously, "Professor, I wanted to ask you about something."

"What is it? Just tell me."

"It's like this, Professor. I feel that our house's... academic atmosphere isn't strong enough, so I want to establish a club."

"Establish a club?"

"A club is?"

"It's an organization where students can communicate with one another. Through this club, we can discuss problems we encounter in our studies."

Sprout seemed interested. "Like a club?"

"More or less..." Jon did not know the exact difference between the two. They were both interest-based organizations, so they probably were not that different, right?

"It would be a club that students from every year could join. We could exchange ideas and learn spells or other knowledge that we hadn't mastered well."

"Of course, that is a very good suggestion.

"If you were an older student, I would be very pleased that you had such an idea. But Jon, you are still too young.

"I know you are doing well in both Transfiguration and Charms, but I think you should properly consolidate what you have learned. You will learn advanced spells sooner or later, so there is no need to rush, is there?"

Professor Sprout smiled as she studied Jon before her. "Professor Flitwick mentioned this to me. He said you were very talented at Charms."

Was that so? That was quite nice.

Given Jon's usual personality, he should have known when to stop at this point. But the problem was that he needed an explanation for the exceptionally powerful spells he had mastered.

Otherwise, no matter how carefully he concealed it, there would come a day when he was discovered. There were so many formidable teachers in Hogwarts Castle; once he was found out, he would never be able to clear himself.

Even revealing his bloodline would not explain why he could improve so many spells.

Those were improvements made by a Legendary Wizard. No matter how talented Jon was, at his current magical level, he would still need another decade or two of study to accomplish something like that.

"It's like this, Professor. You misunderstood me. I don't intend to study upper-year magic ahead of time. You know, if I wanted to learn, I could naturally teach myself at home, but the other students in our house do not have that convenience. And I often hear the older students talking about the House Cup in the Common Room."

"Oh, the House Cup?"

Sprout's expression finally changed somewhat, and Jon quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He was not good at lying.

"Of course, and I don't intend to establish this club in my own name."

To avoid being interrupted again, he simply said everything in one breath. "I hope you will establish this club, Professor. As Hufflepuff's head of house, doing something for the students of your own house surely would not violate school rules, would it?"

"But there's no precedent for something like this at school?"

Sprout hesitated slightly. "Our house already has the most students. If we used this method to help our house win the House Cup, I'm afraid students from the other houses would not think it was fair..."

"But the other three houses have always had things like this."

Jon said with an innocent expression, "Ravenclaw's Common Room has many notes and insights left behind by previous students, all available for every Ravenclaw student to read."

"Oh? Is that so? If that is the case, then I can approve this proposal. You can go attend today's feast first. Before Christmas, I will find a suitable opportunity to establish this... club."

"Alright. In that case, I'll be leaving first."

Jon rose from his chair and prepared to leave. He had confidence in Professor Sprout's promise.

"Wait. Since you came up with the idea for this club, do you have any suggestions for its name?"

"Uh, I did think about that at first. What do you think of this name?"

Jon pulled a slip of paper from inside his robes and placed it on Professor Sprout's desk before leaving the office.

His conversation with Professor Sprout had taken quite a while. By the time he returned to the castle's entrance hall, night had already fallen outside.

Before he even reached the Great Hall, Jon caught the scent of delicious food, just like on the day school began.

Thinking about it now, the start of term felt as though it had only been yesterday.

Jon entered the Great Hall. Beneath the ceiling transformed into a starry sky floated countless candles, while a great swarm of bats flew back and forth overhead, occasionally circling above the dining tables. Huge pumpkins had been carved into lanterns and scattered around the hall.

A band invited to liven up the occasion played an unknown symphony. As soon as Jon entered, he saw someone like a conductor standing before the band, waving a wand—his baton.

And just like at the feast at the start of term, students from each house sat at their own house tables.

"Jon, over here!"

Stephen, who had been sitting in the corner of the Hufflepuff table searching all around for Jon, softly called out to him. His voice was faint and quickly drowned out by the laughter filling the Great Hall.

Jon ran over at the sound. He had barely sat down when he spotted Professor Sprout at the professors' table. She had already changed into a new robe, and she had arrived much faster than Jon had.

When he looked over, Professor Sprout was looking at him as well. Separated by a long distance, the two nodded to each other.

As they exchanged greetings, the plates before them were filled with freshly served food.

Fren, who had just seen Jon greet the head of house, grabbed a chicken drumstick. Eating as he did so, he leaned his whole body toward Jon.

"So, Jon, did you sort out the Club matter?"