The attack on Halloween Eve!

Filch again!

Cyrus had almost reached the limit of his patience with the loathsome caretaker.

But the real headache was that cat. She probably had some Kneazle blood or something. Besides her exceptionally keen nose, she also seemed able to see through a little magic. Cyrus had nearly been exposed because of her several times. Otherwise, a mere Squib could never have done anything to him.

It was especially dangerous when he ran into not only Filch, but also Snape, who happened to be prowling around instead of sleeping late at night.

No wonder Tom had targeted that cat in the original story!

"Stop! Don't move! I've spotted you!" Filch shouted viciously at thin air. In fact, Cyrus was standing behind him. Mrs. Norris had followed his scent all the way to the Room of Requirement, but had found nothing.

After confirming that his Disillusionment Charm was still working, Cyrus hurried away without hesitation.

Just then, he heard Peeves mocking Filch behind him. "Poor Filchy, being led around by the nose!"

The two of them promptly turned on each other and began squabbling.

Halloween drew closer and closer, and Cyrus felt it was about time.

On Halloween Eve, everything around Hogwarts looked completely different from usual. The pumpkins in Hagrid's patch, which had previously been about as tall as Ginny, had now grown as big as sheds!

The pumpkins had been hollowed out. Some had been made into frightening jack-o'-lanterns, while the rest had become Pumpkin Juice on the dining tables. Bat decorations hung all over the castle. The ghosts were usually at their most active at this time of year, but this time, even Peeves was nowhere to be seen.

They had Sir Nicholas to thank for that. After all, today was the five-hundredth anniversary of his death.

At the feast, Percy looked around with a frown, while the twins sat with Lee Jordan, practically raising the roof.

"Fred! Where's Ron? Harry and Hermione are missing too." Percy grabbed one of the twins at random and immediately questioned him.

"I'm George! And you call yourself my brother!" George said, his eyes widening in annoyance. This time, he wasn't playing a prank. Percy really had mistaken him for Fred!

"Sorry..."

"All right, you want to know where little Ronnie's gone?"

"Now that's a brilliant story!"

Both twins immediately adopted expressions of delighted amazement, though they were probably enjoying the others' misfortune more than anything. "They've gone to a ghost party. Can you imagine? A ghost party! I bet everything they eat is rotten meat!"

"A ghost party?"

"Didn't you know? It's the five-hundredth anniversary of Nearly Headless Nick's death. I have to say, what an idea-celebrating the date you died!" Fred laughed and shook his head. He probably already considered Nearly Headless Nick a genius.

The twins had accidentally overheard Harry telling Ron and Hermione about it. At first, they had wanted to join in, but after asking around, Fred and George had abandoned the idea.

Wasn't it much better to eat piping-hot food and drink warming Pumpkin Juice in the Great Hall?

"Why don't you show a little concern for your sister? Ginny's missing too, you know!" George glanced toward the younger students, but saw no conspicuous red hair among the little Gryffindors.

"Ginny isn't feeling well. She'll come later. You two ought to pay more attention to her. She's had a cold for weeks!" Percy said sternly.

At that moment, all the students and staff of Hogwarts were gathered in the Great Hall. Even Filch was there.

Only his cat was still carrying out her unpopular duties, prowling through the castle corridors.

Now, she had caught a familiar scent.

The owner of that scent had escaped her far too many times lately, stirring Mrs. Norris's competitive streak. This animal with Kneazle blood possessed extraordinary intelligence, and she had come to regard Cyrus as a thorn in her side.

So she followed the scent toward the Third-Floor Corridor.

Controlling Ginny's body, Cyrus sat on the enormous basilisk's back.

He had kept the basilisk moving through the pipes all this time. Now it was time to take it out for a stroll. Conveniently, the annoying Moaning Myrtle had gone to the deathday party too. There was no one here except-

A cat!

Mrs. Norris sniffed with her head lowered, slowly approaching the bathroom door.

Water covered the floor, probably from a leaking pipe, which Mrs. Norris found rather unpleasant. But her competitive spirit overrode everything else, and she slowly padded through the clammy water and around the corner.

The next instant, two dim yellow lights appeared reflected on the water's surface!

Before Mrs. Norris could react at all, the basilisk's eyes petrified her!

"Finally, some peace and quiet from this annoying creature." Cyrus jumped down from the basilisk's head and picked up the petrified, motionless cat. She now felt harder than iron!

He hung Mrs. Norris on the wall and left a line of blood-red writing beside her.

Cyrus had actually been quite fond of cats before, but Mrs. Norris clearly didn't qualify. Any little creature that stood in the way of his resurrection had to be eliminated, no matter how cute it was!

At least temporarily.

Then Cyrus sent the basilisk back to the Chamber of Secrets to await his summons, while he leisurely returned to the feast and gave Ginny back control of her body.

Still somewhat dazed, Ginny opened her eyes and found herself at the Gryffindor table. She wasn't particularly surprised. Clearly, she had already guessed that "Mr. Riddle" had taken control of her body.

Mr. Riddle hasn't celebrated Halloween in fifty years either, has he?

Thinking that, she felt it was perfectly natural for Cyrus to miss the Halloween Eve feast at Hogwarts.

Of course, she herself had been looking forward to the holiday just as much.

Now, looking at the delicious food on the table, she couldn't hold back any longer and immediately began eating with gusto.

Beside her, Colin stared at her with his mouth open. Apparently, he hadn't expected Ginny's appetite to be unchanged despite her looking so pale.

Still, that was a good thing.

The feast soon ended, and Ginny followed the crowd back toward the Gryffindor Common Room. Strangely, although the Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms were in the dungeons and the basement respectively, Malfoy had somehow sneaked along after them.

They made their way cheerfully to the third floor, then immediately fell silent.

Hundreds of eyes fixed on three small, helpless figures in the empty corridor, and-

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware!"

Once Malfoy realized that Harry was standing ahead of them, he immediately pushed his way out and loudly read the blood-red writing on the wall, a look of delight spreading across his face.

He looked at the stiff, motionless cat hanging there. His cold eyes lit up, his normally bloodless face flushed crimson, and a savage grin appeared on his lips.

"You'll be next, Mudbloods!"