On Halloween morning, the first lesson of the afternoon was Charms.
“All right, children, open The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 and turn to page two,” Professor Flitwick said in his high-pitched voice.
“For our first lesson today, we’ll be learning about the purpose and proper use of the Levitation Charm.
It is one of the most fundamental spells every witch and wizard should master.” “Wingardium Leviosa.
Remember, the wand movement is a swish and flick, and the emphasis falls on the ‘o’ in Leviosa, not the final syllable.
Pronouncing an incantation correctly is extremely important—never forget poor Wizard Baruffio, who said ‘s’ instead of ‘f’ and found himself lying on the floor with a buffalo standing on his chest.” Professor Flitwick demonstrated the movement once, giving his wand a neat swish and flick.
Neville’s pet toad, Trevor, immediately rose into the air as lightly as a feather and began drifting around the classroom.
“Quite simple, isn’t it?
Now, everyone, begin practicing!” “Tch…” Leo prodded the feather in front of him with his wand and muttered, “Wingardium Leviosa.” As expected, the feather did absolutely nothing.
“Wingardium Leviosa!” Seamus swung his wand with all his strength.
Pop!
Instead of floating, his feather gave a small explosion and began trailing a thin curl of dark smoke.
Harry, who had the misfortune of sitting beside him, was caught in the blast.
Half his face was blackened with soot, and his own feather had been blown to pieces.
Wiping his face with one hand, Harry looked helplessly toward Professor Flitwick.
“Professor, could I have another feather?” Ron, sitting nearby, was doing marginally better.
He swung his wand with great effort and growled through clenched teeth, “Wingardium Leviosa!” His feather gave the faintest little twitch.
“William, you’re supposed to swish and flick your wand, not stab the feather with it,” Hermione corrected bluntly.
Then she turned to Ron.
“And Ron, it’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa.
You have to draw out the ‘gar’ properly and put the emphasis on the ‘o.'” “Hmph.
Easy for you to say.” Ron looked unconvinced.
“Let’s see you do it, then.” “Wingardium Leviosa!” Hermione gave her wand a precise swish and flick.
The feather rose smoothly from the desk.
“Oh, excellent!” Professor Flitwick squeaked, clapping his tiny hands together.
“Everyone, look!
Miss Granger has done it!” By the time the lesson was nearly over, Ron’s mood had deteriorated completely.
“No wonder nobody can stand her,” he complained to Harry as they struggled through the crowded corridor after class.
Leo had remained behind in the classroom.
“Honestly, she’s a nightmare.
She acts like she’s the only person who knows anything.
No wonder she hasn’t got any friends.” Harry gave a hesitant, awkward response, clearly wanting to defend Hermione without knowing quite what to say.
“Oh, Ron, don’t say that…
Hermione’s—” “What did you say?” A cold voice came from behind them.
Ron had not even managed to turn around before Hermione raised her thick textbook and smacked him squarely across the face with it.
Harry stared after Hermione as she stormed away, then rubbed his forehead.
“…Hermione’s been spending a lot of time with Leo lately.
Maybe she’s picked up some of his habits.” “I think I heard someone crying.” “I think I can see tears and snot.” “Did some poor first-year get beaten up by a little witch?” “Who could it possibly be?” “Oh, look!
It’s our darling little Ronniekins!” Fred and George had just come out of their own lesson and happened to witness the entire scene.
Naturally, they wasted no time surrounding Ron and making the situation worse.
“George, Fred, maybe leave him alone for once,” Harry said helplessly, looking between the two brothers who were gleefully pouring fuel on the fire.
“Waaah…” Ron only looked more miserable.
Wiping at his tears, he turned and ran off.
He did not appear at the next lesson.
In fact, no one saw him for the rest of the afternoon.
“I didn’t actually hurt Ron badly, did I?” Hermione asked Harry later, beginning to look worried.
“Er, probably not.
His nose wasn’t even bleeding.” Harry thought about it.
“He’s probably just embarrassed because a girl made him cry, and then Fred and George saw the whole thing and started laughing at him.
That’s probably why he skipped class.” “But surely he wouldn’t skip dinner too?” “Definitely not,” Harry said with confidence.
“Let’s check the Great Hall first.
He might already be there.” ..
The Great Hall had been transformed for Halloween.
A thousand bats fluttered across the walls and ceiling, while another thousand swooped overhead like low clouds, making the candle flames inside the carved pumpkins flicker wildly.
Delicious food appeared all at once on the golden plates, just as it had during the start-of-term feast, and the entire hall was filled with laughter, conversation, and festive excitement.
“Ron really isn’t here?” Harry began to feel uneasy as he searched the Gryffindor table.
“Leo’s missing too.
You don’t think he went to cheer Ron up, do you?” Hermione rolled her eyes.
“Does Leo look like someone who would spend his time doing that?
We should ask around.” The two of them questioned Seamus, Percy, Fred, and George, but none of them knew where Ron had gone.
“Ron?” Neville frowned as he tried to remember.
“I think I saw him earlier…
but I can’t remember where.” At that exact moment, Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Great Hall.
His enormous turban was sitting crooked on his head, and his face was white with terror.
Everyone turned to stare as he stumbled toward Dumbledore’s chair, caught himself against the staff table, and gasped, “Troll—in the dungeons—thought you ought to know.” Then he collapsed face-first onto the floor.
The Great Hall immediately erupted into chaos.
Students began shouting and scrambling in panic until Dumbledore raised his wand and produced several piercing explosions of purple fire from its tip.
Only then did the hall gradually fall silent.
“Prefects,” Dumbledore said in a low, commanding voice after glancing at the unconscious Quirrell, “lead your houses back to their dormitories immediately.” “Follow me!
Stay together, first-years!” Percy shouted as he began herding the younger Gryffindors toward the doors.
“There’s nothing to fear from a troll as long as you follow instructions!
Come on, stay close behind me.
Make way, please!
First-years coming through!
Excuse me—I’m a prefect!” “How does a troll even get into Hogwarts?” Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.
“Maybe Peeves let it in for a bit of Halloween fun,” Seamus suggested.
Then he frowned.
“Leo and Ron still haven’t come back.
Are they really going to be all right?” “If the troll runs into Leo, I think the troll’s the one we should be worried about.
But Ron…” Neville suddenly stopped.
“I remember now!
Ron’s in the bathroom on the first floor!” “What?” Hermione exclaimed.
“That idiot doesn’t even know there’s a troll loose!” Harry clenched his fists and immediately began forcing his way in the opposite direction through the crowd.
Hermione and Neville hurried after him, squeezing their way past a confused group of Hufflepuffs.
..
In the girls’ bathroom on the second floor of Hogwarts, Leo idly played with his wand while chatting off and on with Moaning Myrtle.
They talked about magic, about Snape, Flitwick, and Dumbledore, and about what life at Hogwarts was like.
Then Myrtle asked Leo to take his clothes off so she could have a look.