The Law That Something Always Goes Wrong on Halloween
Inside the Ilvermorny Great Hall.
William sat at the faculty table, picked up his wine glass, and gently swirled it.
He took a sip of sherry, and the burning sensation spread from the tip of his tongue to his throat and then to his stomach, instantly warming him up.
William didn't like drinking, but in everyone's mind, Professor Targaryen was a young alcoholic.
Babbling was indeed a heavy drinker, but it was mostly because she was a vampire and liked to add dragon blood to her drinks to mask the smell.
Since William has come to Ilvermorny, he can only continue this habit of pretending to be Targaryen.
He took a few sips, then leisurely surveyed the peculiar Great Hall.
Compared to Hogwarts ' Halloween, Ilvermorny's is even more peculiar:
The starry sky, along with the blood-red full moon, drifting clouds, and distant mountains, were all projected in 3D using magic.
The rustling grass and trees around you create a hazy Halloween atmosphere.
These plants also cleverly conceal the harsh edges of this huge room, making one feel as if they are truly in a natural environment.
Numerous pumpkins floated in the sky, some containing candy, others ghost bombs.
Students simply need to use their wands to cast spells and accurately hit the pumpkins to obtain candies of various flavors.
In contrast, William found the Halloween Feast at Hogwarts rather unremarkable, having experienced it six times.
The only interesting things were the occasional performances by the White Bone Demon pole dance troupe and the Ghostly Decapitation Squad.
However, William wasn't in the mood to appreciate the performances.
He's exhausted right now, he's been drained all day by Babbling... he's really tired.
Literal meaning.
During the day, William, as agreed, went to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with Hermione.
But after he arrived, he realized he had been scammed.
William had clearly checked the class schedule during the summer vacation and knew that Targaryen would have no classes on Halloween Eve.
Unfortunately, he timed it perfectly, and that damned Veela Babbling, was also very cunning.
She deliberately took a week off by scheduling a day off, and then moved all her classes to today.
She's just waiting for William to teach her!
They even called it a test, to let him adapt to his new identity and avoid giving himself away.
Show your sister!
William really wanted to use his 12.5-inch stick to give Babbling an Avada Kedavra, to teach her a lesson about why flowers are so red.
But he eventually agreed.
Because Babbling had something to investigate, William suspected she might have gone to sleep.
Hermione, too, had been gone all day with Babbling, and no one knew where she'd gone.
William was the only one suffering through his Ancient Runes.
After the music ended, Ilvermorny began the division of students into different houses.
The sorting of new students into their respective houses occurs at the start of the academic year, whether it's Hogwarts or Ilvermorny.
But this year is special, as several young wizards are victims of the Obscurus incident in New York.
For example, Mera Picquery's brother, Lucas.
They were hospitalized for several months and underwent multiple rounds of psychological testing. Only after they were found not to have antisocial tendencies were they allowed to enter the school.
So, it just so happens to coincide with Halloween.
William never expected that attending Ilvermorny's Halloween Feast would lead him to witness the Sorting Ceremony.
Not all magic schools have a division system; each school has its own unique characteristics and doesn't like to follow trends.
However, Ilvermorny originated from Hogwarts, so it is often followed by others.
After all, the Founders Isolt Thayer, was the one who smuggled himself from the United Kingdom to United States aboard the Mayflower.
She likes to do everything according to Hogwarts standards.
However, unlike the Four Founders figures of Hogwarts whose names are the house names, Ilvermorny's name is:
Horned Serpent House, Wampus Cat House, Thunderbird House, and Pukwudgie House.
These four Magical Creatures, unique to North America, are also revered as the Four Divine Beasts and the Four Houses.
With Professor Gilbert Fontana bringing in the three young wizards, the Sorting Ceremony officially began.
"Lucas Picquery!" Professor Fontana exclaimed.
A thin boy stumbled into the rotunda and stood above the Gordian Knot in the very center of the stone floor.
There was no Sorting Hat in Ilvermorny, and in the four corners of the Great Hall, there were four enormous wooden sculptures of Fantastic Beasts.
These magical statues will consider whether they want students to study at their college.
They are willing to choose students' responses, and these responses vary:
The crystal embedded in the forehead of the Horned Serpent shines; the Wampus Cat roars; the Thunderbird flaps its wings and takes flight; Pukwudgie likes to raise the bow and arrow in his hand.
In very rare cases, statues from more than one college may represent a desire to recruit this student.
In this situation, students have the right to make their own choices.
In some cases, when a student is exceptionally outstanding, four colleges may simultaneously want to recruit the same student.
But this kind of thing only happens once every few decades.
Seraphina Picquery faced a similar situation back then. She ultimately chose the Horned Serpent House.
At first glance, this looks a bit like a popular talent show, "The Voice of China".
I never imagined that this kind of show was just a formula that the magical world had already used long ago.
At this point, both the Horned Serpent House and the Thunderbird House were willing to choose Lucas.
The Picquery family has been the Horned Serpent House for generations, so Lucas's choice was not surprising at all; he is now with Horned Serpent.
When only one girl remained in the division, the door was suddenly pushed open.
The music in the Great Hall stopped abruptly, and all the students looked towards the door.
The newcomer was not human, but a two-meter-tall, humanoid Magical Creatures.
He had a huge nose, long ears, and gray, smooth skin.
Pukwudgie!
Pukwudgie is an intelligent creature similar to Centaur; he emits a buzzing sound, like a deep, resonant tolling bell.
"A mass prison break has occurred at the Appalachia Wizarding Prison."
The prisoners are advancing along the Appalachia Trail towards Ilvermorny!
Upon hearing Pukwudgie's warning, William was speechless.
He knew that Tom was planning to escape from prison, which was why he came to the United States.
But he didn't know when he would escape.
The most outrageous thing is, if you're going to break out of prison, then break out! Why did you have to attack here?
Can't they even let people have a peaceful Halloween?
If that's the case, I might as well spend Halloween at Hogwarts.
Wait... did something go wrong at Hogwarts this Halloween?
William was immediately startled.
If nothing really happened, then he can basically conclude that:
Wherever Hermione goes, trouble follows!
She is the ultimate weapon of causality!
That must be it; William was simply dragged into it by mistake.
Just as he was pondering this, he heard that a large-scale prison break had occurred at the Appalachia Wizarding Prison, and the students were in a panic.
Chaos erupted in the Great Hall, and pumpkins scattered all over the floor.
Principal Eulalie Hicks stood up, his voice echoing in the Great Hall.
"Deans of all colleges," he said in a deep voice, "Take your students to their dormitories immediately!"
The other teachers activated the academy's defensive magic.
When Ilvermorny was first built, it was a military fortress, which could easily defend against some wizards.
However, Eulalie Hicks felt a strange sense of unease creeping into his heart.
The school has been developing steadily for decades, finally surpassing Hogwarts to reach its current state.
He'll be retiring in a few years, so of course he hopes the school will remain stable, at least not like Hogwarts next door!