great-warnovel Chapter 28 Halloween Horror
Chapter 28 Halloween Horror
However, the ringtone didn't seem ready to let her off so easily.
The Halloween dinner was indeed as lavish as it had been at the start of the school year, including pumpkin pie, caramelized apples, and gingerbread that Hermione had never tasted before. Malfoy Castle seemed quite happy to invest in the holiday, which allowed Hogwarts' kitchens to get creative. The house-elves meticulously crafted cookies in the shapes of trolls and ghosts, but Hermione paid no heed to any of that; she was enjoying her first-ever unlimited dessert feast.
However, the ringing of the bell, which I had ignored in the afternoon, now sounded like a nightmare, rhythmically ringing in my ears.
At first, she was very concerned about the noise that only she could hear, but she couldn't tell where the sound came from or where it was coming from. She dragged Harry and Ron around the castle for a long time but still couldn't find it.
It wasn't until the banquet was about to begin that the gluttonous queen, urged by Ron, returned to her long table and began to subjugate the food that refused to submit to her.
As for the rhythmic ringing, let it ring. In Ron's words, "It looks cheap when it keeps ringing; it can't be anything important."
As Hermione savored her meal with gusto, she glanced around the Great Hall. Students and professors were gathered there, their faces beaming with smiles. The hall was decorated with bat and pumpkin decorations. Even Filch, usually a gentleman, was now wearing a bat tie, looking like a handsome and perfect vampire count from a novel, watching the students with a faint smile.
"Did you hear? Draco was punished by his dad to be put in jail tonight for daydreaming in class!" George and Fred said gleefully.
Hermione looked up and indeed didn't see Draco at the Slytherin table, nor did she see old Malfoy's sour face on the professors' table.
Only Professor McGonagall looked at the students with a rare gentle gaze. As for Dumbledore, he was not present, and even the sickly phoenix named Fawkes was absent. Perhaps Halloween was really not such an important day.
Just as I was thinking this, a loud bang suddenly rang out.
The hall doors were flung open, and Draco, his face filled with terror, trembled, his pale lips quivering, "Ghosts! Ghosts have rioted! They're everywhere!"
The bustling hall fell silent in an instant, and everyone stared at Draco, who looked as if he were about to collapse.
"I came out of my father's office, and then..." He fainted before he could finish speaking.
In an instant, screams and shouts nearly lifted the roof off. Hermione frowned as she noticed that the bells that had been ringing in her ears had suddenly become louder and more rapid.
"Ghosts!? What are those? Are there ghosts at Hogwarts?"
"Oh my god, ghosts really do appear on Halloween!"
The students were buzzing with discussion, some excited, others terrified.
"Quiet!" Professor McGonagall stood up and shouted in a loud voice.
Her face was ashen, and her expression was anxious, as if she had thought of something very serious: "Pomona, you stay here and look after the students. Philius, Lily, you come with me. The other professors, go patrol the castle!"
She turned to the students and said, "Prefect! Take a headcount! Everyone stay in the auditorium and don't go out! Wait for me to come back!"
The professors rushed out of the auditorium, while Professor Sprout directed the students to clear a table, remove the food from it, and gently place Draco on it.
"Fortunately, he was just passed through by a ghost and was a bit frightened, so he fainted." The fat professor wiped the sweat from his forehead and directed everyone to sit down.
"It's nothing serious, everyone sit down."
But even the usually kind and amiable Professor Sprout couldn't keep the students in line. The class was still in disarray, and even though Percy tried his best to fulfill his duties as prefect, he couldn't stop everyone from talking.
The Weasley brothers, in particular, are openly plotting to sneak out and see what a ghost looks like.
Hermione frowned, the ringing in her ears growing louder and louder, like an alarm blaring over the castle, a chilling aura descending from above like a deathly cloud.
Faint, mournful roars could be heard from outside the castle, as if the weeping of those stranded on the other side of the river.
Although the students were a little nervous, they remained relatively calm with the professor around, especially the seventh-grade students, who even seemed eager to try.
"Should we tell the professor? Even if it's the Heavenly Eye, it shouldn't last this long." Harry was a little worried, and Hermione looked terrible.
She shook her head: "Now is not the time. I will talk to Professor McGonagall afterward."
Suddenly, several white figures emerged from the wall and flew wildly in the air above the auditorium.
"It's a ghost!"
Several girls started screaming.
Professor Sprout drew his wand, pointed it solemnly into the air, and all the ghosts froze: "All students, come to me!"
As Hermione moved, she observed the ghosts. They had translucent, pearly-white bodies and wore clothes from the last century or even earlier. One of them had its head attached to its neck by only a tiny bit of skin, and it was roaring at the students below with a ferocious expression.
"Damn it, they can walk through walls!"
"There are more and more! There are more in the back too!"
More ghosts emerged from the walls, flying and weaving around the crowd, screaming menacingly as if enraged, tearing at themselves. Professor Sprout used unknown magic to drive them away, but seemed hesitant, refraining from using powerful destructive magic.
"Seventh-year students, protect your younger schoolmates." Professor Sprout was sweating profusely; the ghosts were gathering in increasing numbers, and she was starting to feel overwhelmed.
"Damn it, what are those professors patrolling outside doing? Why are there so many ghosts?!"
"Where do they usually hide? Underground at Hogwarts?"
Many older students stepped forward and cast spells with their wands, but they didn't have much experience dealing with ghosts, and many spells had no effect on them.
Hermione noticed that Filch, who had always been as steady as a rock, now had a stern face. He didn't take out his wand, but just stood silently beside the students, protecting the younger students with his body.
Suddenly, the bells rang louder, a gust of cold wind blew by, and all the candles floating in the hall went out, plunging the entire hall into darkness.
A loud bang came from afar, and the entire Hogwarts shook, seemingly coming to a standstill.
The timid children began to scream; the shimmering white ghost stood out starkly in the darkness.
Finally, a ghost broke through the blockade of upperclassmen and professors, passing through the chest of a Hufflepuff student.
A layer of frost immediately spread across the poor child's body, and he collapsed to the ground. Thanks to the little wizard's magical constitution, he was not frostbitten, but he must have been in great pain. If this happened a few more times, it would definitely endanger his life.
"Get away from that child!" Sprout roared angrily, but a dozen ghosts were entangled with her, preventing her from freeing her hands.