The Halloween Feast

It was exactly 4:30 on the 31st of October at Hogwarts. Halloween was to be celebrated around the school. There were tarts, pudding and much more.

‘I can’t believe it!’ cried Olivia excitedly. ‘The feast starts after thirty minutes!’

‘I know right?’ agreed Amelia, admiring the extra decorations put in the Great Hall.

‘I’m starving,’ mumbled Isabell.

‘You always are,’ said Olivia, having a wide grin on her face.

‘Everyone, please remain seated,’ said Professor Dumbledore. The room was quiet, it seemed like everyone was holding their breath.

‘Thank you. Happy Halloween, and my last thing to say tonight… Enjoy the feast!’

With a swish of his wand, the food appeared on the plates. Pudding, apple bread, pumpkin pies, caramel corn, candy apples, pumpkin bread and tarts were displayed to the students, who started to eat immediately. The Ravenclaw ghost, Helena Ravenclaw appeared by the table and stared at the food.

‘Too bad ghosts don’t get to eat this stuff,’ said Isabell, chewing some toffee.

‘That is quite offensive,’ said Helena, making Isabell alarmed. ‘We ghosts have something called Deathday Parties, I hear Nicholas, the ghost of Gryffindor, is having his Deathday Party today in the dungeons.’

‘Well, I’m certainly NOT coming!’ said Isabell.

‘I am not inviting you, I am just saying that we ghosts do have some enjoyment,’ said Helena. ‘Surely a Ravenclaw would know.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Isabell sheepishly.

‘My mother accepted intelligent ones, she didn’t think of me as intelligent-’ but she had taken it too far. 

Oliva, Amelia and Isabell saw her cheeks were turning opaque.

‘Your mother?’ said Amelia.

‘I… need to go.’

‘What’s the deal with ghosts?’ Isabell said.

‘Well, obviously Helena is sad her mother didn’t see her the way she saw herself,’ Olivia said thoughtfully.

‘How do you know she’s named-?’ Amelia began.

‘Rowena Ravenclaw’s daughter was called Helena, and she said that Rowena Ravenclaw was her mother, but I also talked to her.’

‘Of course you did,’ said Amelia, grinning.

‘Surely you would know the Bloody Baron, he’s the ghost of the house we hate and loath the most, he was a friend of Rowena and Helena, maybe that’s why you were accepted in Ravenlaw!’

‘Oh yeah!’ Isabell said, attacking a pumpkin pudding in front of her. 

‘Isabell! Relax, you have time to eat it later!’ laughed Amelia.

‘Helena told me my ancestors were friends with the Ravenclaws, so she spends time with me, that’s why I have been missing last term a lot.’

‘Now you’re telling us this?’ Isabell said angrily.

‘Ok then, but I heard that your parents were both in Slytherin!’ exclaimed Amelia.

‘They weren’t… I think. But the sorting hat said I had a lot of ambition, but intelligence ruled over, so there,’ said Olivia apologetically.

‘No, I mean Professor Flitwick told me that your parents were in Slytherin.’

‘I’m sure they weren’t.’

‘How do you know your parents weren’t in Slytherin? After all they are dead-’ Isabell said.

A cheeky laugh interrupted Isabell. She jerked her head around, looking to see who had laughed. She saw Amelia looking up, her eyes more wide than they already were. Isabell looked up to see someone standing above her, with their feet glued to the ceiling. 

‘Peeves! Where are yeh?’ Filch the caretaker screeched, barging into the Great Hall.

The person-like figure looked like a little man with wickedly slanted, orange eyes, dressed in loud, outlandish clothes including a bell-covered hat and an orange bow tie. He had black hair and compared to the Hogwarts ghosts, he was solid-looking, not pearly white and transparent. The figure above them magically turned invisible, one of his long fingers on his mouth as he disappeared into thin air. Filch looked around, holding a whip and his bulging eyes scanning every inch of the room. A black ink bottle came out of nowhere and ended up on Filch’s balding head. Filch yelled in surprise and saw the figure laughing hysterically.

‘When I get my hands on yeh-’ began Filch, pointing a liver-spotted finger at the figure, whose name was Peeves. 

Peeves blew a raspberry on Filch then glided away, laughing wickedly.

‘I am going to talk to Helena,’ Olivia said suddenly, standing up and removing bread crumbs off her uniform. 

She rushed to Helena, who seemed to smile widely. 

‘Go ahead and gang out with your ghost lady. You have a giant friend, now you have a ghost friend! Who would want friends like that?’ Isabell said while she stared at the blurred figures of Helena and Olivia talking.

‘I’m going with her!’ said Amelia furiously. ‘Really, you should stop judging people for how they look, especially Olivia’s friends. Now if you excuse me, I’d like to find out more about ghosts. You can just sit here and eat pumpkin pies for the rest of the night!’

‘FINE! GO! I DON’T CARE!’ yelled Isabell coolly.

‘You never did care about anything, not even our friendship, you just care about yourself, and your almost dying mother, and your kind father!’ yelled back Amelia as she rushed to Olivia and Helena, who greeted her.

Olivia and Amelia avoided Isabell ever since, even in a whole month! Isabell was just spotted glaring at them.

‘She really didn’t change,’ said Olivia gloomily as she walked away from Isabell.

Tears slid down Isabell’s rosy cheeks. 

When everyone had finished their dinner and gone up to bed, Isabell was the only one wide awake. She got out of bed, not blinking at all as she walked across the Charms corridor, unsure what she was really doing. Peeves the Poltergeist came gliding above her and looked at her with glittering, mischievous eyes. 

‘Wandering around at midnight, ickle firstie? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you’ll get caughty!’

‘Not if you don’t give me away, Peeves, please,’ Isabell begged, looking at the figure standing directly above her. 

‘Should tell Filch, I should,’ said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. ‘It’s for your own good, you know…’

‘Get out of the way,’ Isabell suddenly snapped, changing her attitude and taking a swipe at Peeves – this was a big mistake.

‘STUDENT OUT OF BED!’ Peeves bellowed. ‘STUDENT OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!’ 

Filch, along with his red-eyed cat, came tumbling towards Filch.

‘Which way did she or he go, Peeves?’ Filch was saying. ‘Quick, tell me.’

‘Say “please”,’ Peeves said, a sweet tone in his voice. 

‘Don’t mess about, Peeves, now where did they go?‘ Filch yelled as Ms. Norris, his cat, hissed at Peeves. 

‘Shan’t say nothing if you don’t say please,’ said Peeves in his annoying sing-song voice.

‘All right – please.’

‘NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn’t say nothing if you didn’t say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!’

Isabell had run away and hid behind a bookshelf in the corridor, relieved Peeves didn’t blow her cover up. Peeves went past her, laughing loudly. Peeves saw her and threw white chalk at her, Isabell almost yelling. She walked back to the Common room, her entire face white.