Halloween Eve

Flint raised his chin and addressed the players. "Listen up, all of you. Luo Bin Sear is officially a member of the Slytherin Quidditch Team. If anyone targets him again, you're disrespecting me and undermining team unity. I'll report you to Professor Snape, and if you get kicked off the team, you'll have no one to blame but yourself!"

Terence's broken leg had come first, followed by Snape's support. Add Robin's flying and ball skills, and there was nothing to fault. The players all said they would get along with their new Seeker.

Elsewhere, word of Robin's exploits on the pitch spread and caused quite a stir.

Hermione pushed through the crowd and looked the black-haired boy up and down with wide eyes. "You're not hurt?"

"Were you hoping I'd get hurt?"

"Of course not! Hey, don't walk away. I still have questions!"

He didn't have to think hard to know she wanted to ask about flying and Quidditch techniques.

Tsk. Once that little mouth got going, it was like a barrage of firecrackers. Luo Bin's exhausted body told him he needed rest.

After he gave the password, "Password," and went inside, the noisy voices finally faded away!

"Hermione, Robin trained for two hours. He must be tired. Let him rest!"

"Harry, you were at the pitch tonight too. Tell me again how Robin beat Terence. Remember, I want every detail!"

"But I've already told you three times!"

"Hmph. Sometimes you have to go over things a few more times before you remember all the details!"

Hermione gave Harry no chance to argue. She grabbed his robe sleeve and dragged him away, with Ron hurrying after them on his short legs!

Luo Bin returned to the dormitory, chased Crabbe and Goyle out, and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Draco's gray eyes fixed on the Broomstick beneath Robin's bed.

Lucius had bought him a broom, a Comet 260. It was one of the finer brooms, but beside a Nimbus 2000, it looked second-rate.

He'd wanted a Nimbus 2000 for ages, but his parents still refused to buy him one!

As if drawn by a spell, Draco walked over to his roommate's bedside. His pale fingertips were about to touch the broom when the bed slats creaked, startling him into snatching his hand back.

He swallowed nervously and looked up with care. Once he was sure Robin hadn't woken, he climbed back into his own bed, his heart still pounding!

The next day, after washing up, Robin gathered his heavy textbooks and said casually, "Huh. Scarlet Flyer seems to have moved a little to the right!"

"I didn't touch it!"

Draco shouted the words!

"I never said you did. Why so defensive?"

Without giving Draco a chance to snap back, Robin went to the Great Hall with a faint smile. After all the hard work he'd put in yesterday, his tray held one and a half times his usual amount of food today. He ate quickly, ignored the curious looks around him, and strode off to class!

For many days after that, Robin's life was full and busy. On top of his existing study schedule, he now had Quidditch practice two evenings a week. How could he not be busy?

Flint had originally demanded that he come three times a week. Luo Bin argued that twice was enough and said they could settle it with a match if Flint disagreed.

The moment Flint heard that, his left leg started aching. He had no desire to follow in Terence's footsteps, so he made up an excuse about how much coursework first-years had and agreed!

In the blink of an eye, October 31 arrived!

Before he knew it, Robin had been taking classes at Hogwarts for two months!

Early that morning, the Great Hall was filled with pumpkins of every size. Some had two eyes, a nose, and a mouth carved into them, with long wooden handles attached to turn them into jack-o'-lanterns.

It wasn't until roasted pumpkin appeared on the tables and the students around him excitedly discussed dressing up as ghosts to ask the professors for sweets that Robin realized Halloween was tomorrow!

Luo Bin spooned up pumpkin mash as he recalled the events of the original story.

After the midnight visit to the trophy room and the Broomstick incident, Hermione had decided Harry and Ron were behaving badly and would cost Gryffindor points. She'd turned into a disciplinarian, policing everything they did, much to their annoyance.

After several clashes, Hermione had stopped speaking to the two of them!

On October 31—today—Ron and Hermione were paired up in Charms to practice the Levitation Charm. They argued again over how to pronounce "Wingardium Leviosa."

After class, Hermione overheard Ron speaking badly of her in the corridor. Her loneliness, anger, and hurt all burst out at once. She skipped her afternoon classes and hid in the girls' bathroom to cry.

Harry and Ron felt guilty when they heard, but the Halloween decorations in the Great Hall soon distracted them. During the meal, Professor Quirrell burst in and announced that a Mountain Troll had entered the basement. Dumbledore ordered the Prefects to escort the students back to their common rooms and gathered the professors to head downstairs at once!

While following the crowd back to the common room, Harry remembered that Hermione didn't know about the Troll. He and Ron broke away to find her. They encountered the Troll on the way and managed to shut it in a bathroom, only to hear a piercing scream from inside and realize Hermione was there.

The two rushed into the girls' bathroom and, after a harrowing struggle, defeated the Troll. When Professor McGonagall questioned them, Hermione took the blame herself. The three made up, and from then on, Hermione stopped clinging so rigidly to school rules and joined Harry and Ron in one major adventure after another!

"Luo Bin, Professor Flitwick said we're learning the Levitation Charm today. Have you practiced it already?"

The bell-like voice pulled Robin from his thoughts. He cleared his throat and enunciated, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Wingardium Leviosa..."

Hermione repeated it quietly a few times, then took out a small bag of sweets. "Thanks. Here, my dad mailed these to me. He specifically told me I could only have two a day. You know he's a dentist. I can't finish them all myself, so help me out!"

"Sure!"

He unwrapped a sweet in blue foil. Its coolness instantly chased the lingering fatigue from his body. Mint—just the thing for someone obsessed with studying!

Seeing him accept the sweets, Hermione lifted her chin proudly, shot Harry and Ron a glare from afar, then turned toward the Entrance Hall!

"Luo Bin, you're the only one who'll put up with her!"

Ron spoke with a pout!

"Hermione can be a bit pushy, but she has plenty of good qualities, doesn't she?"

About two weeks earlier, Hermione had apparently realized Robin avoided her because she talked too much. She changed her approach: whenever they met, she got straight to the point and left as soon as she had her answer!

The whole exchange never took more than two minutes and barely interrupted his studies, so Robin no longer found her annoying. If he knew the answer, he told her. If he didn't, he recommended a relevant book or suggested she ask a professor. Little by little, they had grown closer.

But to outsiders, their unspoken arrangement made Hermione look rude. She asked her questions and walked away, so they thought her cold and calculating!

"Oh? How come I haven't noticed any of those good qualities?" Ron said indignantly!

Luo Bin shrugged as if he didn't know either, then quickly finished the food on his plate. He still had to get to class!

That evening, thousands of bats circled the walls and ceiling of the Great Hall. Jack-o'-lanterns lit by candles flickered, while little palm-sized storm clouds hopped above the long tables. Everything welcomed the arrival of Halloween!

Dumbledore was seated at the High Table, halfway through his speech, when Professor Quirrell pushed open the doors, his head wrapped in a turban. What happened next played out much as it had in the original story!