In the Grangers' room, Mr. and Mrs. Granger sat on either side of their daughter on the sofa, comforting her. Her mother stroked her hair and looked at her somewhat dejected daughter as she consoled her. "This isn't your fault, Hermione. This day is supposed to be decorated to be as terrifying as possible."
"When that Lucius used to make trouble for us, he was so arrogant and forceful. We didn't expect him to be this timid..." Mr. Granger stopped mid-sentence under his wife's glare and changed tack. "Don't worry. His family didn't blame us either."
"Emily contacted me through the mark. He doesn't have any major problems... but we sent two people in tonight..." Hermione lowered her head and pressed a hand to her forehead, then said worriedly, "And Helena, too. After she was frightened into flying off, she's disappeared. I don't know where she's hiding."
"That female ghost always seemed quite ladylike, but just now her face seemed to go white with fright, and she fled so quickly..." Mr. Granger recalled the earlier scene and instead looked rather pleased. "Hermione, doesn't that show you were very successful tonight? That girl is a ghost herself. Who would've thought you'd actually manage to make her afraid of ghosts?"
Feeling embarrassed, Hermione moved the hand pressed against her forehead to cover her face instead. What worried her more now was Helena telling her grandmother, Morgan le Fay, that Hermione had bullied her.
"Miss Granger," a voice came from the floor by the entrance. The Death Knight's head that Hermione had dropped on the floor earlier opened its mouth and asked in a muffled voice, "Seems like nobody's been willing to come over for ages. Can I put my head back on?"
"Oh, sorry, Ivar." Hermione sprang up from the sofa, scratched