Halloween

The Great Hall had been completely transformed. Thousands of candlelit pumpkins floated overhead, with swarms of live bats flying around among them. The four long tables were laden with Halloween-themed food.

Even Rose, who had already eaten several Fizzing Whizbees, tried a bite of everything.

As the feast drew to a close, it was time for the highlight of every Halloween: the ghosts took the stage. A group of pearly-white ghosts put on a vivid play about a medieval knights' war, and their wonderful performance won praise from nearly every student.

James and Sirius absentmindedly joined everyone else in applauding, squirming in their seats as though someone had put prickly balls on their benches.

"What's wrong with you two today?" Rose mouthed as she clapped.

James started to speak, then stopped, while Sirius kept glancing toward the staff table. Rose followed his gaze and saw the enormous Hagrid struggling to squeeze himself between two chairs, nearly knocking Professor Flitwick over in the process.

"Hagrid must have a secret!" An eager expression appeared on James's face. He couldn't wait to get to the bottom of it. "We've been watching him for weeks. Every so often, he goes deep into the Forbidden Forest-"

"-and we're going to find out his secret today." Sirius looked just as excited. The two of them slipped out of the noisy Great Hall, with Peter and Remus following behind.

"Where have they gone?" Lily frowned, staring toward the Entrance Hall. "Sneaking around like that—they must be off to break the school rules again!"

Lily was a warm and upright girl. She hated the way Potter always showed off so smugly and treated breaking school rules as proof of bravery, so when she saw him about to do something "bad" again, she wanted to stop him without a second thought.

Marlene was startled when Lily suddenly got up and left, and Rose followed immediately after her. "Where are you going?"

"Lily and I have a question we can't figure out, so we need to go to the library-" Rose hurriedly tossed the words over her shoulder. Seeing Lily's red hair disappear completely through the doorway, she rushed after her.

At the turn leading from the Entrance Hall to the outdoors, Lily was blocking James and the others, sternly warning them not to break school rules.

"Come on, Evans, don't make me cast a spell on you," James said anxiously. He craned his neck toward Hagrid's ginger-colored stone hut in the distance and saw Hagrid already heading for the Forbidden Forest with a large bucket.

"Don't go easy on her, James!" Sirius impatiently raised his wand. "We only need to put her to sleep for five minutes. People will find her when the feast ends in a bit."

Lily watched Sirius warily, her right hand gripping her wand tightly and sparks flashing in her green eyes.

"Don't be rash, Sirius. Maybe we could go another day-" Standing between his best mate and the girl he liked, James felt deeply torn.

"Another day?" Sirius scoffed. "We watched Hagrid for three weeks and finally settled on tonight! Move, James! Let me see what Evans can do. Isn't she with Snivellus all day long-"

A confrontation was about to erupt when Rose came running out at that very moment. The four boys were facing off against Lily, and Rose instinctively assumed that Lily was the one being bullied.

"You're not allowed to-" Rose shouted angrily. "Don't bully Lily!" She shoved Sirius aside, squeezed through the four boys and stood beside Lily.

"Oh, of course we weren't! We were discussing the weather—the moon is really full tonight!" Sirius quickly lowered his wand hand and shrugged innocently, then elbowed James in the ribs. "Isn't that right, mate?"

"Ow-of course, we love looking at the moon!" James said with a grimace. Peter nodded in emphatic agreement, while Remus nodded so hard his face contorted.

Rose eyed them suspiciously, then turned to Lily, trying to find out exactly what had happened.

"Hmph, they're asking for death. They want to sneak into the Forbidden Forest," Lily said angrily. "The Forbidden Forest is really too dangerous-stop, Potter!"

While Lily was distracted talking to Rose, the boys slipped nimbly past the two of them, leaving them staring at four retreating backs.

To Rose's surprise, Lily actually followed them, and they ran toward the Forbidden Forest one after another.

The Forbidden Forest was silent at night. Trees cast shadows all around, and the moonlight could hardly penetrate the tall, luxuriant branches and leaves.

Even Hagrid's towering figure looked small in the Forbidden Forest. In his right hand he carried a lamp giving off a faint glow, and in his left he held an iron bucket half as big as he was.

Beside Lily, Rose was almost holding her breath. "You said we couldn't break school rules," she whispered.

Lily's almond-shaped eyes remained fixed without blinking on Potter and the others, who were hiding behind a towering tree diagonally ahead. "But I can't just stand by and watch them get themselves killed," she said softly.

Rose wanted to tell her that they had actually done even more dangerous things, and were even doing one now—they were secretly practicing to become Animagi. But she couldn't. Lily was too upright and kind.

She began to feel guilty again. The food in her stomach began to churn together, and she felt a little sick again.

"You'd better go back to the castle." Lily looked at Rose worriedly, unable to leave either side alone. "You can go to Professor McGonagall and tell her where we went. We might lose points or get detention, but at least we'd be safe."

"I'm going with you," Rose said stubbornly, and Lily had no choice but to give in.

Whatever Hagrid had to do must have been very important. Although the six of them were extremely careful to conceal their movements, someone kept making noise, yet he never noticed. They followed Hagrid deep into the Forbidden Forest.

After about twenty minutes, the branches grew thicker, and it was almost too dark to see a hand held in front of their faces. The air grew colder too, and Rose's clothes caught on low branches several times.

Suddenly, a light appeared, but a low shout immediately put a stop to it, and it vanished.

But those few seconds were enough for them to see their surroundings: beneath their feet, the ground was covered in layers of fallen leaves, and spiders were packed densely across it.

They're One-Eyed Giant Spiders! Rose thought. How could I have forgotten? Hagrid secretly raised a One-Eyed Giant Spider in the Forbidden Forest.

But remembering now was clearly too late. Lily's palms were already slick with cold sweat. The two girls were holding hands, and Rose could barely keep hold of hers.

"Incendio!" a male voice suddenly rang out through the silent Forbidden Forest. Dazzling firelight illuminated the darkness, and the spiders were driven a good distance back. But as soon as the flames vanished, they came scuttling closer again.