Strange--

Halloween was almost here, and the castle was gradually being decorated for the occasion. The suits of armor along the corridors, for instance, had been given pumpkin headpieces.

Hermione discovered that time passed at the same rate for the people on the other side of the group chat in this thing as it did for them, and that they were also preparing for Halloween.

Harry was quite looking forward to seeing how Halloween would be celebrated in the little box.

The Weasley Twins, who usually loved stirring up trouble, had been strangely quiet for the past couple of days. They hadn't touched the phone in two days.

Fred had spent a long time mentally preparing himself. That outrageous remark had been too much for a boy who was only thirteen.

George felt uncomfortable too, especially since, as far as they could see, the sentence hadn't been censored at all. The author had only censored it manually for fear of being thrown into the little black room.

It had been far too shocking.

But...

They were Weasleys, after all.

The brothers spent two and a half days digesting the fact that their fans in the group were perverts, then happily joined the conversation again.

With Halloween coming up, Fred was thinking about doing something explosive to add another glorious mark to the Weasleys' disciplinary record.

So he went to the group looking for inspiration.

In the main group.

My Younger Brother Isn't as Handsome as Me: Hey guys, there's a Halloween party at school, and I want to pull a prank. Any good ideas?

Fred wanted to see what kind of pranks his fans would come up with.

Kerun: !!

Mrs. Malfoy: Your school actually has a Halloween party?????

Bug Ming: WTF, what kind of heavenly school is that?!

Ron's Chicken Leg: Why doesn't my school have one?

My Younger Brother Isn't as Handsome as Me: ? You don't have one?! Come on, we have one every year. Isn't that supposed to be a tradition?

Magpie: ...

[Admin] Yan: Tradition?

Red-Lipped, White-Toothed The Chosen One: May I ask what country you're from, master?

My Younger Brother Isn't as Handsome as Me: ?

So had nobody even noticed his question? Fred felt as though he'd asked for nothing.

Wants to Make Friends: Halloween party?

Harry, who had been lurking in front of the screen, was shocked. He knew this was Fred's name. Were Fred and George about to start pulling pranks again?

Even more shocking, the people in the group seemed to be students too, and their schools didn't have Halloween parties!

Were they wizards too?

Harry wondered which schools they went to.

Unlike Harry, Malfoy thought these people had to be Muggles who had used some bizarre Muggle technology to invade Hogwarts through this thing.

Malfoy chose to ignore his second group chat, the Mrs. Malfoy Gathering Place, and the nearly twenty Mrs. Malfoys in it.

These Muggles were simply mad! They actually wanted to steal his father from his mother!?

Only my mother is worthy of being the supreme Mrs. Malfoy!

You Muggles can stop dreaming.

Draco looked at the phone and thought disdainfully, never once considering that the Malfoy in Mrs. Malfoy referred to him...

Lucius: ?

Main group--

Stepmother Literature: ? Guys, isn't there another possibility?

Stepmother Literature: Our bro here was asking for prank recommendations.

I Will Always Like Draco: ? Stepmother, you're so calm

Stepmother Literature: Because I'm studying abroad in a certain country, you know the one, and we're having a Halloween party in a few days too.

Stepmother Literature: Shy.jpg

Bug Ming: ? Fuck

Bug Ming: I bow down.jpg

Oh My Mother: It's Halloween.

Oh My Mother: Time to bring out that picture.

Kerun: ? Teacher Oh, calm down, there's still a week left!

Oh My Mother: Image-Anime Malfoy screaming in terror meme Halloween special edition.jpg

Bug Ming: Isn't that file name a bit...

I Will Always Like Draco: ? Every year?

Oh My Mother: No, no, no, I redrew it this year.

Stepmother Literature: I don't know whether to say Teacher Oh's love for the young master runs deep or...

Knowledge Is Power: ?

What's Wrong with Eating More?: Hahahaha! Malfoy!

Ron laughed himself silly in front of the screen without the slightest restraint. "Look at his face! I'll remember this for the rest of my life!" He and Harry were both in the dormitory for their lunch break, and Neville and Seamus weren't there, so Ron laughed out loud without holding back.

Even Hermione, who was in the library, was so shocked that she sent a question mark.

Harry was laughing too, though not as wildly as Ron.

George was even quicker, saving the picture in a flash.

There really was more fun to be had in this group.

Fred was just like Ron, laughing himself silly in front of the screen.

Lee Jordan leaned in beside the two of them to see what was inside the magical thing.

"That's Malfoy?? He actually got scared like that? Hahahaha!"

In the Slytherin Common Room, Blaise was trying very hard not to laugh.

Malfoy had looked over more than once, curious about what he was laughing at. Each time, he saw that Blaise was looking at something on his phone and turned away haughtily. He wouldn't read Muggle messages.

A bunch of people who weren't even wizards.

Well, it was a good thing he hadn't looked.

It had been posted in the main group, so basically everyone at Hogwarts who had a phone and checked the messages knew about it.

Well, except Malfoy.

After all, apart from Malfoy, Blaise was the only one in all of Slytherin who had a phone, and he'd even swiped it from Malfoy.

Blaise saw it, but he wasn't telling.

Ah, he was just having fun.

I Heard That If My Name Is Long Enough Someone Will Read It: Speaking of Halloween, though, we have to talk about Harry Potter's ill-fated entanglements with it.

James-Brand Shampoo: Is the annual stab to the heart starting again?

Bug Ming: Harry's parents died on Halloween.

Kerun: Fuck, a huge stab to the heart right off the bat?

Wants to Make Friends: They died on Halloween?

Harry suddenly felt a little dazed. Was that true?

How was he supposed to face the upcoming Halloween party now...?

Lightless Ming: No, no, no, don't bring that up on Halloween QAQ

Lightless Ming: Think how sad little Harry would be if he knew.

I Am Mrs. Malfoy Number Two: Think of something good. Wasn't it at the Halloween party in Harry's first year that Quirrell let the Troll in?

Kerun: ??

Kerun: How is that good?

I Am Mrs. Malfoy Number Two: Hehe, but the friendship between the main trio grew stronger /rose/rose

[A series of ellipses omitted here]

Dumbledore had a rare free moment at noon and checked the group messages.

He saw Mrs. Malfoy Number Two say that Quirrell would let a Troll in on Halloween during Harry's first year.

Dumbledore: ???

Wasn't Harry in his first year right now?

Wasn't Halloween next week?

That fellow Quirrell...

It was probably Tom's idea.

His target was likely the Philosopher's Stone.

Dumbledore paced in circles around his office.

Meanwhile, a small number of students had already erupted.

At dinner, some students began spreading and discussing the news they'd seen at noon.

"A Troll?!" Fred sounded excited. "He can actually get a Troll into the school?"

"That doesn't look like a prank, bro." George was equally surprised. Wood frowned in disapproval. "Hogwarts is the safest place there is. Quirrell couldn't possibly let a Troll in. He's a professor."

"But he's a dangerous person now, understand?" Fred grinned as he slung an arm over Wood's shoulder and secretly wiped the cream on his fingers onto Wood's robes.

"They said there's a face on the back of Quirrell's head." George lowered his voice. "They" were, of course, the people in the group. "And we also heard that the face might be You-Know-Who--"

That certainly counted as a horror story.

Wood's body jolted. "You can't joke about things like that, Fred."

"You've got the wrong name. I'm Forge."

"I'm Gred."

Wood: Speechless and frozen.

The brothers ran off, laughing.

Wood looked at another group chat on his phone: Wood, I Hate That You're a Block of Wood.

Wood felt puzzled and aggrieved. Why did they hate that he was a block of wood?

His name only sounded like wood, and besides, the things they usually talked about in the group were strange too.

Hello Everyone, My Name Is Quidditch: Running off to practice during a date is exactly the kind of thing Senior Wood would do.

Wood: Wake up, Senior won't go on a date with you.

Wood: He's got a face like your first love, so why is Quidditch the only thing he loves?! Damn it!

Hello Everyone, My Name Is Quidditch: But he's also fucking handsome when he plays Quidditch.

Wang Qiu: I can imagine that if you really got together with Senior, half your dates would be on the Quidditch practice pitch www

Wood: Damn it www

Hello Everyone, My Name Is Quidditch: It's hard to imagine what kind of personality the person Senior likes would have.

Wang Qiu: A girl who's good at Quidditch?

Armani: Maybe a highly intelligent heroine who can come up with all kinds of strategies?

Wood: Why can't it be me? /dog head holding a rose

Wood: To clarify, Senior and I aren't just rumored to be together. It's real.

M: ?

M: Move aside, my pee's yellow. I'll piss him awake.

LOL: Fuck off, Senior is mine.

Armani: ? I'll hoist Senior up, hop on a broom and sprint a hundred meters.

Wang Qiu: I'll take Senior at the finish line and say thanks /dog head

Wood read it over and over but still couldn't understand what they were doing. They really were strange. The twins said these people were their fans, but... would fans really discuss how to carry their idol off home?

Wood silently turned off the screen and put the phone aside. He'd be better off thinking about Quidditch strategy for after Halloween.

We have to win this year!

That was what Wood thought, full of fighting spirit.

And Halloween drew closer and closer.

The group also began enthusiastically discussing what they should do.

Bug Ming: How about a cosplay relay? We happen to have quite a few cosplay masters in the group!

My Younger Brother Isn't as Handsome as Me: ? Cool

"Playing himself"