The Chronicles of Sasha Leone & Trials of the Curse-Breaker (Hogwarts Mystery)

Chapter Four: Celebration of Halloween

It was Halloween (or Samhain). There were only two classes in the morning for the Ravenclaw first-years. First, they had Herbology with Slytherin, followed by Charms with Gryffindor. Sasha wasn't that excited at the prospect of the feast in the evening. Ever since her childhood she had disliked Halloween. Her adventurous dad had disappeared around this time of month, and her heartache was twice as bad since her older brother's disappearance.
So now, knowing what really happened that day, Sasha didn't want to celebrate. While for others it was a holiday, one of the most important in the Wizarding World, and it doubled as the date when Voldemort had been defeated by Harry Potter. Many overlooked that Halloween had made him an orphan and robbed him the chance to grow up, loved. But for Sasha, this day reminds her of the cruel separation from her father and older brother.
When the Ravenclaws took their seats in the Charms classroom after getting back inside after re-potting some plants in greenhouse one, the Gryffindors also entered.
The lesson was about the levitation charm. Professor Flitwick reminded them of the wand movement they had practiced. The swish and flick. Sasha, like usual, managed to do the charm on the first attempt. Ben wasn't too far behind her.
"Oh, look, Miss Leone and Mr. Copper has done it, ten points for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor," Professor Flitwick said.
That was normal procedure in Flitwick's class. The one to first get a spell got ten points, those that were second got five points. Finally, the lesson was over and as it was Halloween, Professor Flitwick let them go without homework. The Ravenclaws were the first to leave the room. They went to have lunch, but Sasha couldn't eat much and left the table quickly.
She went in the direction of their common room. She went to her room, opened the window and let Cadmus inside. He seemed to have felt that she didn't feel well today and was there to keep her company. "Thanks, Cadmus. I could use some company."
"That makes five of us." Sasha spun around to see Rowan and Tempest. She was stunned at the sight before her, her friends were standing next to her.
"A-Are you sure?" Sasha said softly.
Rowan smiled sympathetically and patted her shoulder. She remembered what Sasha had told her regarding her missing father and today's the anniversary of his mysterious disappearance. "We can get dinner from the kitchens if you want."
At that, the girls and her two pets stayed in the common room and were chatting with each other. But an hour later, Sasha had finally gained the courage to enter the Halloween Feast. But a moment later, they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Sasha's sadness out of her mind.
A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. Hagrid's vast pumpkins had been carved into lanterns large enough for three men to sit in. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. Once the girls were done with the feast, the trio were greeted by the Gray Lady.
"Hello Miss Gray Lady," greeted Sasha. "How's your Halloween doing for you?"
"Pretty well my dear," The Gray Lady said softly. "I've been invited by Nearly-Headless Nick to his Death Day." She smiled at the Ravenclaw girls. "Would you like to come with me to the party?"
"Sounds interesting," noted Sasha. "I'm in."
"A Death Day Party?" Rowan said eagerly. "I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those — It'll be fascinating!"
"Sorry, but I can't," said Skye apologetically. "I promise I'll help Naomi with her Potions homework."
Rain was still lashing the windows, which were now inky black, but inside, all looked bright and cheerful. The firelight glowed over the countless squashy armchairs where people sat reading, talking, or doing homework.
So, at seven o'clock, Sasha and Rowan walked straight past the doorway to the packed Great Hall, which was glittering invitingly with gold plates and candles, and directed their steps instead towards the dungeons. The passageway leading to Nearly Headless Nick's party had been lined with candles too, though the effect was far from cheerful: these were long, thin, jet-black tapers, all burning bright blue, casting a dim, ghostly light even over their own living faces.
The temperature dropped with every step they took. As Sasha shivered and drew her cloak tightly around her, she heard what sounded like a thousand fingernails scraping an enormous blackboard.
Sasha has gotten dressed in a soft and long-sleeved tan tunic and dark brown boots, she also has a dark blue cloak that has been sewed with sparkling diamonds that looks like shining stars dropped on the dark velvet cloth. Rowan has gotten dressed in a light brown tunic with a dark green cloak that has been sewed with sparkling, colorful gems that look like shining gemstones or battles dropped on the dark green velvet cloth.
They turned a corner and saw Nearly Headless Nick standing at a doorway hung with black velvet drapes. "My dear friends, welcome, welcome... so pleased you could come..." He swept off his plumed hat and bowed them inside. It was an incredible sight. The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, played by an orchestra on a black-draped platform.
A chandelier overhead blazed midnight blue with a thousand more black candles. Their breath rose in a mist before them; it was like stepping into a freezer.
"Shall we have a look around?" Sasha suggested, wanting to warm up her feet.
"Careful not to walk through anyone," advised Rowan, and the two girls set off around the edge of the dance floor.
"Girls!" Sasha and Rowan eagerly joined the Gray Lady and saw a familiar ghost wearing a ruff and tights. "Sir Nick, this is Sasha Leone and Rowan Khanna."
Sir Nick gave the two girls an elegant bow. "It's an honor to meet the two Ravenclaws that Helena has spoken about." Both Sasha and Rowan curtsied to the Ghost of Gryffindor.
After their conversation, they each went towards different locations to cheek out the Death Day party. Sasha and Rowan both passed a group of gloomy nuns, a ragged man wearing chains, and the Fat Friar, a cheerful Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking to a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Sasha wasn't surprised to see that the Bloody Baron, a gaunt, staring Slytherin ghost covered in silver bloodstains, was being given a wide berth by the other ghosts.
On the other side of the dungeon was a long table, also covered in black velvet. They approached it eagerly, but next moment had stopped in their tracks, horrified. The smell was quite disgusting. Large, rotten fish were laid on handsome silver platters; cakes, burned charcoal black, were heaped on salvers; there was a great maggoty haggis, a slab of cheese covered in furry green mould and, in pride of place, an enormous grey cake in the shape of a tombstone, with tar-like icing forming the words, Sir Nicolas de Mimsy-Porpington died 31st October, 1492.
Sasha watched curiously, as a portly ghost approached the table, crouched low and walked through it, his mouth held wide, so that it passed through one of the stinking salmon. Sasha grimaced at the sight and was glad that she and Rowan had both grabbed some chocolate chip cookies for their nighttime snacks.
As Sasha continued exploring the Death Day party, she spotted Rowan talking to some of the ghosts, her eyes bright with excitement and curiosity. She smiled softly as she gazed at the oddly haunting, but uniquely beautiful sightings all around her. Sasha hasn't seen anything like this before, but she was fascinated by the sight of it.
"Pip?" Sasha perked up and looked around curiously, but she couldn't find anyone familiar. She hadn't heard that old nickname for over four years. The only ones who knew that old nickname were Jacob, Duncan, and Olivia. But Jacob has disappeared, Duncan has passed away, and Olivia was traveling the world. But it was about as easy as finding a needle in a haystack.
Though, the ghost had clearly thought otherwise and stepped out from the ghostly crowd. The ghost was a familiar teenage boy. Sasha could make out his sleek hair, mischievous, but amazed dark eyes, and his Slytherin robes.
As she gazed at the young Slytherin ghost curiously, her memory had started to click back into place. She remembered being brought into the Three Broomsticks by Jacob, which led her into meeting Duncan Ashe and Olivia Green. As the unique trio spoke to each other about something in Hogwarts, Sasha befriended both Olivia and Duncan. But when nightfall came, she fell asleep in Duncan's arms, Jacob picked her up and took her home.
"Duncan?" whispered Sasha.
Duncan's eyes widened at the sight of her. The younger sister of Jacob Leone. "Sasha?" The girl smiled at him and nodded, her eyes glistening with joy as she gazed at him. They both wanted to hug each other, but they can't do it because one of them is a ghost of Hogwarts.
"Sasha, what happened?" Duncan asked.
"I should be asking you the same thing," replied Sasha.
As the duo started talking to each other and receiving answers of what happened in the past, they watched as the ghosts had started dancing on the dance floor with their partners. It was a unique sight to behold.