Halloween Feast

By evening, the Great Hall had been decked out in colorful Halloween decorations. Huge pumpkins floated beneath the ceiling, while a thousand bats flapped around the walls and ceiling.

Another thousand, like low-hanging clouds, swirled above the tables, making the candle flames inside the pumpkins flicker.

The feast had not yet begun, but students from all four houses had already filled almost every seat. The professors were arriving one after another, too.

Dumbledore had even changed into an outfit befitting the Halloween theme. He wore pumpkin-colored robes, with little bats patterned on his hat, and chatted cheerfully with Professor McGonagall beside him.

Below the staff table, Harry and Ron were making desultory small talk.

They had not seen Hermione all afternoon. She had not even shown up for their afternoon class.

"I think she must have heard you talking about her behind her back," Harry whispered.

That was the second time he had said it that day.

That morning, shortly before classes ended, Gryffindor had a Charms lesson.

Professor Flitwick demonstrated a spell that could make objects fly: the Levitation Charm.

It was an extremely appealing bit of magic. Especially after seeing Professor Flitwick send Neville's toad flying all over the classroom, Harry had been longing to try it himself.

In class, Professor Flitwick paired them up to practice.

Harry partnered with a classmate named Seamus Finnigan, while Ron was paired with Hermione.

The former was one thing, but the latter was obviously a terrible match.

Ron never prepared for class in advance, and he was not especially talented at magic, so he was bound to run into problems while practicing the Levitation Charm.

As a top student, Hermione could never resist pointing out her partner's mistakes.

There was nothing wrong with that in itself. After all, that was why Professor Flitwick had put them in pairs.

The problem was that Ron disliked being lectured, and his family circumstances had left him somewhat insecure.

Hermione, meanwhile, was too forceful and excessively nitpicky.

As a result, some friction that had already been simmering between them flared up like a fuse.

In the heat of the moment, Ron had complained to Harry that Hermione was a nightmare and that it was no wonder nobody could stand her.

As luck would have it, Hermione had been just about to leave the classroom and heard every word...

"So what?" Ron said, though a trace of unease crept into his voice. He glanced around, and when he saw that Hermione was nowhere nearby, he added, "She must have noticed herself. She doesn't have a single friend in Gryffindor."

Hearing that, Harry did not know what else to say. He could only hope Hermione would feel better and come back by the time the Halloween Feast began.

But things did not go as he hoped. Even one minute before the feast started, Hermione had not returned to the Gryffindor table.

And nearby, Patil had mentioned to her friend Lavender that Hermione had run downstairs to the girls' bathroom that afternoon, crying, and would not let anyone comfort her...

Hearing that only made Ron feel more uneasy.

But his unease lasted just a minute. Once the grand feast began, he quickly forgot all about it and dug into the delicious food on the golden plates.

Harry, meanwhile, glanced toward Slytherin, trying to spot someone.

If there was anyone at Hogwarts besides the professors who could comfort Hermione, it was probably him.

Unfortunately, Glenn was nowhere to be seen at the Slytherin table—everyone there seemed to be looking for him, too.

Though Harry was a little worried, he could not bring himself to leave amid the cheerful atmosphere of the Halloween Feast.

It's not like we've left Hogwarts. It can't be that bad... Thinking this, he sighed and asked the golden plate for a baked potato with its skin on.

That should have been that. But fate sometimes played little jokes on people, just to give unprepared wizards a fright.

For example, five minutes after Harry got his potato.

It was still steaming when Professor Quirrell suddenly burst into the hall. His large turban was askew, and his face was full of terror.

The strong smell of garlic and his frantic entrance assailed everyone's senses, and all eyes turned toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

He ignored the people around him and went straight to Professor Dumbledore's chair. Leaning against the table, he gasped, "Troll... in the underground classroom... thought you ought to know."

Then he toppled onto the floor and passed out.

The hall erupted into chaos. Professor Dumbledore had to make his wand tip produce several deafening bursts of fireworks before everyone quieted down.

"Prefects," he said in a deep voice, "take the students from your houses to their dormitories at once!"

"Follow me! Don't get separated, first-years! As long as you do as I say, you won't have anything to fear from the troll! All right, stay close behind me. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!" Percy shouted to the Gryffindors.

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they went up the stairs.

"Don't ask me. Trolls are supposed to be incredibly stupid," Ron said. "Maybe Peeves let it in to add some fun to Halloween."

On the way, they passed crowds of people hurrying in different directions. As they struggled through a group of bewildered Hufflepuff students, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron by the arm.

Patil had just said that Hermione was downstairs!

After Harry told Ron what he was thinking, Ron bit his lip. He was not exactly eager to look for her.

In the end, though, they decided to sneak out of the line and head downstairs.

But as mentioned earlier, fate sometimes played little jokes.

Harry and Ron had not even started down the stairs. They had only turned a corner when they ran into Hermione.

The corners of her eyes were still a little red, but she looked much better.

Seeing her, Ron was still annoyed with her, but he felt relieved all the same.

"All right, we'd better get going," Ron said, turning to leave after Harry told Hermione about the troll.

But Hermione's expression suddenly turned horrified. She was too alarmed even to think about her argument with Ron that morning.

"Glenn!" she said in a panic. "Glenn's still in the classroom downstairs..."

In an empty underground classroom, Glenn studied the troll as it came toward him instead of running away.

There was no denying that trolls were a most unpleasant kind of Magical Creature.

Twelve feet tall, with dull, pockmarked skin and a terrible stench.

Compared with its enormous body, its basketball-sized head was truly pitifully small...

But come to think of it, how could there be a troll at Hogwarts?

Did they really make you fight a troll during the Sorting? After thinking it over for a moment, Glenn's furrowed brows relaxed.

That made perfect sense.