Beyond the bronze doors lay a gloomy scene.
The first thing that caught the eye was four nearly rotted brown tables, arranged as if deliberately imitating the layout of Hogwarts' Great Hall. The tables were covered in black candles that gave off a pitch-black glow. The food on the gray plates had completely spoiled or gone moldy, releasing a foul stench.
There was also a stage at the front of the hall, where a band was playing a teeth-grating tune on a strange instrument. After Helena explained it, Xiwen learned that the peculiar instrument was called a musical saw. It was usually played with a bow and could produce a uniquely ethereal tone.
Xiwen thought the music was certainly ethereal enough—it was just rather hard on the ears...
At that moment, a troop of ghosts was putting on a splendid performance to the music.
Every member of the troop had a detached head and a sturdy ghost horse. Riding their mounts, they continuously tossed the heads in their hands into the air, where the rider behind them caught them and tossed them again. Back and forth they went, circling the stage like that.
The ghosts below watched their performance, cheering without end.
After making several laps, they suddenly stopped and split into two lines on opposite sides. The pitiful house-elf waiters below promptly brought up two hoops and set one up on each side of the stage.
The two teams used long-handled poles from horseback to knock their heads through the opposing team's hoops. The ghosts below voluntarily kept score for them, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Xiwen watched with great interest for a while, feeling that the activity was somewhat like cuju, a sport he had once heard of—except the ball had become heads, and the ghosts playing had nothing above