Ted returned to the dormitory, dropped his schoolbag onto his bed, and grabbed his guitar before heading to his usual spot.
The strings barely had time to settle into the melody before Helena appeared, her translucent form emerging from the shadows like mist under moonlight.
"Did you find anything last night?" she asked urgently, her voice carrying that same distant, melancholic echo.
Ted hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure. It might be some kind of magic left behind by Rowena Ravenclaw..."
"Mother..." Helena's expression crumbled, silver tears welling in her ghostly eyes. They slipped down her cheeks, vanishing the moment they hit the floor.
"I miss her so much. I want to tell her how sorry I am... I failed her expectations..." Her sorrow hung in the air like a fog that refused to lift.
How was he supposed to comfort a ghost carrying a thousand years of regret?
With Ted's limited knowledge of psychic magic and Muggle psychology barely scratching a century of research, there was no easy answer.
So, he did the only thing he could—he listened. Silent and patient, as Helena let out words she had kept buried for so long.
She spoke of the jealousy that had driven her to steal the diadem, hoping to surpass her mother's intellect, only to meet a tragic end in Albania while Rowena lay on her deathbed.
She spoke of how, centuries later, she had been deceived into revealing its location to a charming Slytherin student—none other than Tom Riddle.
Ted gripped his guitar, wishing he could offer her a handkerchief, a shoulder—something real to hold onto.
"It feels... better to say it aloud," Helena murmured after a long pause. "I've held those words in my mind for centuries... But let's talk about my mother's statue. No one has ever noticed the enchantment on it. Until now."
The statue in question was certainly unusual. A bust of Rowena Ravenclaw, but without her legendary diadem. Instead, her hair cascaded freely down her shoulders.
The fact that it had lasted a thousand years was remarkable, but Ted suspected it wasn't just due to superior craftsmanship.
The magic embedded in it was ancient and powerful—something beyond the standard preservation spells of the castle.
"It doesn't feel like normal magic," Ted mused, running a hand over his face in thought. "It's more like... a lingering presence, a consciousness."
Helena fell silent, as if processing his words. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, she said, "In my mother's final years, she abandoned runic enchantments and traditional spellcraft. She turned to... something else. A different kind of magic. I need time to investigate."
She glanced at Ted, an unreadable expression crossing her features. "Thank you, Ted." And with that, she vanished through the stone wall.
The afternoon classes passed in a blur, barely registering in the minds of the students. Excitement buzzed through the air like static electricity—Halloween had arrived.
By the time classes ended, Ron and Jerry couldn't even remember what subject they'd just left. But it hardly mattered.
After two months at Hogwarts, the first grand feast of the year was finally here, and the energy in the castle was electric.
Stepping into the Great Hall, Ted and his friends were momentarily stunned.
The room was bathed in golden candlelight, the flames flickering in floating jack-o'-lanterns that twisted eerily midair. On the high ceilings, enchanted bats flapped against the enchanted sky, occasionally swooping down before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Pumpkin pies were stacked high on the tables, steam curling off their surfaces, filling the air with a warm, spiced aroma that made their mouths water.
Then, a familiar sound rang in Ted's ears:
--------------------------------
Ding! A special event has been triggered:
[Ghostly Howls & Haunted Screams - Halloween Mission (Green)]
Is this it? Just pumpkin pie, floating candles, and bats? Halloween should be more than this! Give Hogwarts a real scare!
Objective: Terrify at least 10 students before the feast ends.
Progress: 0/10
Reward: 200 EXP + [Ghost Cloak (Green)]
--------------------------------
Ted's eyes gleamed with mischief. He turned to his friends. "Guys, this is way too tame. We can do better."
Ron blinked. "What do you mean? This looks awesome!"
Ted smirked. "As young wizards, it's our duty to make Halloween unforgettable. I have a plan…"
Jerry: "That sounds suspiciously Gryffindor of you."
Harley: "Did you steal my line?"
Ted: "Just listen. Here's what we're gonna do…"
...
Within minutes, the group had roped in the Weasley twins and their ever-enthusiastic friend, Lee Jordan. Together, they plotted something far beyond floating pumpkins and flickering lights.
As the feast kicked off, students dug into their meals, their laughter and chatter filling the hall. But then—
A bloodcurdling scream pierced the air.
All heads snapped toward the side entrance, where a pale-faced student stumbled in, eyes wide with terror. His robes were torn, his chest rising and falling in panicked breaths.
Then, behind him, a clawed, ghostly hand wrapped around his shoulder.
An eerie, guttural voice growled from the shadows.
A heavy axe swung down.
With a sickening thud, the student collapsed, his "lifeless" body sprawled across the stone floor, fake blood pooling beneath him.
A terrifying grimace the size of a carriage wheel loomed in the doorway, its eerie glow casting long, flickering shadows across the walls.
At that exact moment, an icy wind howled through the Great Hall as if the very castle had exhaled a breath of the damned. Students, who had been lost in conversation just seconds before, jolted in fright, their faces turning pale.
Then, as though a spell had broken all at once, more than twenty voices screamed in unison, the collective shriek nearly shattering the enchanted ceiling overhead.
The lights flickered ominously, plunging the hall into a dim, eerie twilight.
The scene became pure chaos—young witches and wizards scrambled in every direction, tripping over one another in a desperate bid to escape whatever horror had just entered the hall.
--------------------------------
Ding~ Task Completed: [Ghostly Wails and Howls of Halloween (Green)].
Reward: 200 XP, Item Card [Ghost Cloak (Green)].
[Ghost Cloak (Green)]
Item Card
Effect: Disguises the wearer as a ghost, allowing them to move silently.
Note: Looks convincing, but no, you still can't walk through walls. Don't even try it.
--------------------------------
Then, cutting through the hysteria like a wand through parchment, came a voice: "Quiet!"
It was familiar to everyone, its tone both commanding and reassuring. It seemed to carry a calming effect, as though woven with a hint of magic.
Dumbledore.
Without a sound, he and several professors had taken their seats at the head table, their expressions ranging from amused to mildly irritated.
Ted quickly motioned to his friends in the dim lighting: Go! Now!
He was ready to take the fall—after all, the mission was already a success.
Unfortunately, Snape had no intention of letting anyone escape.
His dark eyes gleamed with something between malice and satisfaction as he stepped forward, his robes billowing dramatically as if powered by an unseen force.
"Ah, our beloved Miss Know-It-All, our ever-inquisitive Mr. Wise-Guy…" His sharp gaze flicked to Harley, his lip curling slightly. "And of course, the usual troublemakers from Gryffindor."
He sneered, taking slow, deliberate steps toward them. "Let me think… Scaring students, attempting to disrupt the school's Halloween feast… Expulsion seems quite appropriate."
Ted nearly choked—was Snape serious? Might as well sentence them all to Azkaban for life while he was at it.
The other professors, however, weren't about to let Snape have his way.
Dumbledore calmly lifted his wand to his throat and, with a simple flick, cast the Amplifying Charm. "Students, remain calm. This was nothing more than a harmless prank, a little Halloween jest by some of our more… creative minds. Quite the display, I must say."
Murmurs swept through the crowd as realization dawned upon them—
They had been duped.
The "corpse" clutching an axe? That had been Jerry, expertly playing dead.
The headless specter? None other than Ron, perched on Neville's shoulders beneath a tattered cloak.
And that monstrous, gaping grimace? Ted had conjured it with Transfiguration, while Harley had manipulated it like a puppet.
The biting cold? Ted had used a Freezing Charm, combined with Hermione's Windy Spell to stir up the ghostly wind.
The Weasley twins had even pitched in, temporarily dimming the flames of the floating candles and torches with an Extinguishing Spell, making the entire hall feel like it had plunged into a haunted abyss.
Lee Jordan had acted as the panic instigator, strategically shrieking in the crowd to fuel the chaos.
Had the professors not intervened, their masterpiece would have reached legendary status—scaring the robes off half the school.
Ted's task tracker chimed again. Mission complete. Not just complete—overachieved. Over a hundred students had nearly jumped out of their skins.
Success.
Professor McGonagall, arms crossed, stepped forward with a look of exasperation. "You nearly ruined the entire Halloween feast. Gryffindor, twenty points deducted."
Professor Flitwick adjusted his spectacles before sighing, "Given Ted's confession that he masterminded this little… stunt, Ravenclaw will also lose twenty points."
Ted glanced at his task log:
[Student Life Without Deductions? Incomplete. (Blue)] Progress: 75/100.
Ted stifled a grin.
Totally worth it.