Halloween Feast

Someone stole our food!

Walking home after class, William was stopped by the ghost of Gryffindor— "Nearly Headless Nick."

"I don't think any normal person would steal what you call 'food'," William said, shaking his head.

That's not food at all; it's practically rotten swill. Who would steal and eat that stuff!

Even... William wouldn't go to Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom; a casual stroll there would leave him suffocatingly smelly, a stench that couldn't be washed away.

"But there was much less food. The rotten tripe on the tap was gone, and the food in the sink was thrown on the ground."

Most importantly, all the maggots in the bathroom are gone; someone must have eaten them."Nearly Headless Nick, swore confidently.

"Could it have turned into a butterfly and flown away?"

"Of course not! I just checked the inventory at noon; someone must have stolen the food," Nicolas said angrily.

Could it be Peeves?

"It wasn't him. I promised Peeves I'd attend my Deathday Party; he won't cause trouble."

Since you checked at noon, the incident must have happened sometime between this afternoon and now.

William rested his chin on his hand and analyzed the situation carefully.

This is quite strange. The thief threw the food from the pool onto the ground, took away the most disgusting rotten tripe, and even cleaned out the maggots from the toilet...

This thief is something else; even William can't figure out what he's thinking.

Could it be Dumbledore's doing? As a Halloween surprise!

It was collected by Snape as an ingredient for some obscure Potions...

"It's just a little less food, is that a big deal?" William asked again.

"Of course it has an impact. 108 dishes, that's the standard for a royal state banquet... If there are fewer dishes, I'll lose face, especially if there are no maggots, people will think the food is fresh."

"Stop talking..." William forced himself to suppress his nausea and used his Occlumency to empty his mind, otherwise those images would linger in his head.

William and Nicolas discussed it for a while, Nicolas decided to ask Hagrid for some caterpillars to make up the scene.

This is the same as when a leader inspects and tells you to paint the walls white.

"William, would you like to come to my Deathday Party? It's my 500th birthday. I would be honored if you could attend," Nearly Headless Nick, invited.

William would bet he said that, and he'd said it to countless other people.

Cast a wide net, target the most... cheat whoever you can, it's an old trick.

"But I have to go to the college's Halloween party tonight, Anne said Dumbledore hired the Red Skull Dance Troupe."

Perhaps there's also the Father-Sorrowers.

"What's so interesting about a bunch of ribs?" Nicolas scoffed.

"Hey, Cedric, are you going? Moaning Myrtle's been telling everyone you're her date!" Nicolas suddenly shouted.

It turned out that Cedric and Cho were walking towards them together not far down the corridor.

"Moaning Myrtle's male companion, really?" Qiu looked at Cedric meaningfully.

"That's not true!" Cedric retorted angrily. "I don't know who gave Moaning Myrtle the idea to ask me to be her date, and she's been bothering me every night."

Moaning Myrtle also told me that Ollivander's grandfather was coming... but his grandfather hadn't actually become a ghost; he was trying to lie to me.

It must have been an idea from someone she knew; otherwise, she wouldn't have mentioned Mr. Ollivander!

William scratched his head, cleared his throat awkwardly, and said, "Cedric, it was probably the idea of Gryffindor students; they usually like to do this kind of thing."

Cedric nodded, and indeed suspected the twins.

Nicolas was somewhat disappointed to hear that Cedric wasn't going, and he looked at Cho again.

Qiu quickly changed the subject, "William, Professor Trelawney made another Prophecy about you in class today. She said if you don't go to her class soon, something bad will happen this semester."

Is this considered a threat?

The group entered the Great Hall and encountered Harry and Hermione, who were searching for something.

"Hey Harry, don't forget 7 p. m., the underground classroom, see you there," Nearly Headless Nick, reminded him.

Once Nicolas was out of sight, Harry sighed deeply and said, "I'd completely forgotten about the Deathday Party."

It turns out Harry was the only complete idiot who got fooled by Nicolas.

"Can I not go? I can just say I have a stomachache," Harry said.

He regretted agreeing to Nicolas's offer.

The thought of spending the Halloween party in a cold basement with a bunch of ghosts made him feel nauseous.

Is it that the food made by House-elf isn't tasty anymore, or that Dumbledore's jokes aren't corny enough?

Most importantly, he could see Qiu from time to time in the Great Hall, which was the happiest thing for him.

"Harry, you've promised, so you have to keep your word," Hermione reminded him.

"Easy for you to say, you don't even have to go," Harry muttered.

"We didn't agree!" Hermione tugged at William's arm. "Didn't we?"

William nodded and asked, "What were you looking for just now?"

"Find Ron," Harry said worriedly. "He said he was going to the toilet, and he's been there for almost an hour. I'm afraid he might have fallen in."

Harry thought it was a good idea to take Ron to the party.

"You don't need to look for Ron anymore."

Just then, the twins walked over from a distance.

"We just saw him being taken away by Filch. Ron was soaking wet, like he'd fallen into Black Lake," Fred said.

"Didn't Weasley go to the toilet? Why did he fall into the Black Lake?" Cho asked, puzzled.

The group was completely baffled. Could it be that Ron had taken care of the matter in the reeds by Black Lake?

Since Ron had been taken away by Filch, Harry had no choice but to attend the Deathday Party alone.

William and the others walked happily toward the Great Hall.

Hagrid's giant pumpkins hung in mid-air, resembling private boxes.

Clearly, Hagrid secretly cast Engorgement Charm on these pumpkins, which is why they are so large.

Anne, wearing a hat carved from a small pumpkin, poked her head out from the mouth of the large pumpkin and waved.

"Brother, hurry up and come up!"

Luna and Ginny peeked out together, both wearing the same skullcaps as Anne.

The Three Melon-Peel Sisters!

"So, we're going to spend our Halloween party on pumpkins this year?" George whistled.

"That's really fun!" Fred said happily.

He planned to release his Niffler to dig a hole under the Slytherin student's pumpkin.

Cedric looked around, searching for a smaller pumpkin... the kind that could only fit two people!

Well, Hagrid clearly hadn't considered this for Cedric.

Goodbye, his dream of a double room!

As night fell, Hogwarts ' Halloween Eve Feast officially began.

Dumbledore led a group of teachers into the largest pumpkin, while the other students also went into pumpkins in small groups.

As Dumbledore announced the start of the banquet, a dilapidated pirate ghost ship crawled through the castle wall.

Suddenly, Professor Kettleburn threw out Fire Salamander.

The Fire Salamander leaped into the air and spun wildly in the Great Hall, crackling and spewing sparks, accompanied by loud bangs. Orange-red sparks shot from Fire Salamander mouth, creating a beautiful and spectacular sight.

Hermione peeled the orange, put one piece into her mouth, and the other into William's mouth.

She tilted her head back and chuckled softly, "So Halloween Feast are this fun!"

William smiled.

Two years ago, Professor Snape was arrested by the Ministry of Magic; last year, Troll invaded Hogwarts...

Therefore, this kind of unremarkable dinner is exactly the kind of campus life William has been looking forward to.

William bit into the orange... He wondered where the House-elf had bought this orange.

So sweet!

Hermione stared blankly at William, then suddenly reached out and gently stroked the boy's smiling, curved eyebrows.

So beautiful!

(Thanks to the user "Name Eaten by the Feral Beast" for the donation)