Halloween

Indeed, as reported by teachers, Lyra, Neville, and the sets of Black and Prewett twins along with Susan Bones excelled in academics and hands-on Herbology and Potions, while in regards to spells, they took to 'practice sessions' around the lake to perfect their skills in while hiding their accomplishments. Lyra, due to her powers, can sense if anyone was snooping on them while the Prewett boys still endured her training.

Right now, days passed…into their first Flying Lessons that always starts on the final week of October as around November, Quidditch Season will begin.

A lot of students are excited about it, while some nervous.

'Honestly, they're making a real big deal out of flying!' Corona said huffily. 'Honestly, what's the big deal anyway?'

'Well, not all of us grew up in the countryside so we can fly and no muggle witnesses you know.' Said Susan. 'I bet that most of these uppity purebloods aren't even allowed to fly at home.'

'Well, that goes for families with only one child due to serious fertility issues, they can't afford to lose the only kid they have.' Neville explained. 'I heard my mum and dad will try out this 'In Vitro' treatment muggles do if they wanted kids but couldn't.'

'Ooh…what's that?'

'It's a complicated process I read about in a book.' Said Lyra. 'Due to my dual heritage I have to be educated in both magical and muggle know-how…' she explained about medical science muggles studied about, about a woman's cycle first before she could explain what In Vitro is.

Many pairs of eyes popped wide and into this expression with gasps to match: ("(OAO)") They were all freaked out with what they have to do to do In Vitro. It does NOT help that Lyra's way of explaining was so detailed they'll have trouble sleeping.

'My parents will do what?!' Neville cried in shrill shock.

'Those muggle doctors are insane!' Lowell squeaked in horror.

'Well, if wizarding healers came up with Magical In Vitro, baby-making issues won't be such a big deal anymore you know.' Lyra snorted. 'But so far, nobody's thought of it yet.'

'Oh man, my parents are willingly going to do that, it's freaky, waaaay freaky.' Neville shuddered. 'And me mum's about 43 this year…that means 7 years before she hits menopause and can't have anymore kids.'

'Did they send mail? It's been quite a while now.' Lyra piped up.

'Not yet…'

Xxx

Flying Lessons came at the Quidditch Pitch. Gryffindors will have their classes with Slytherin on Monday-Wednesday while Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws will have classes on Thursday-Saturday.

And so…

At 3:30 that afternoon…Quidditch Pitch,

It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

'Well, what are you all waiting for?' she barked. 'Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up.' So they did. However, upon standing by a vacant broomstick everyone was close to.

The broomsticks in question? Too old, and looking typical of a witch's broom in muggle children's books: old and frayed, and do they even STILL work?!

Lyra has another thing to complain about. For a month straight, she was observing the school as they explored, finding things to complain about, borrow an owl and send it to the Daily Prophet to force the Governors to dish out funds to fix the school's…shortcomings. She also had to research about how Hogwarts is run, and the flow of money by asking her relatives who would research for her…and deliver the final blow in her stead to one Rita Skeeter, the Daily Prophet's most feared and hated Journalist who has the ability to sniff out people's dirty laundry and air it out in public with sheer sensationalism.

She will attack through the back door.

October 30, the day before Halloween…

Indeed, the Daily Prophet came out with Skeeter's full force.

Hogwarts: So Expensive yet Inadequate?!
By: Rita Skeeter

The article was about how money flows in Hogwarts and Hogwarts' Board of Governors before stating the many faults Lyra(as 'anonymous') found in the school. Starting with the School Boats, its old, worn-out facilities and furniture, renovation issues, the School Brooms in Flying Lessons and various disasters waiting to happen, as well as in such a state, Hogwarts Castle's only claim to fame as 'elite school' would be the teacher's curriculum and just that while the school has the appearance of an old, worn-out, haunted castle with furniture to match. And with the expensive tuitions, where does the rest of the money go after teachers and school staff as well as Hogwarts Governors get their salaries? Where do they go instead of fixing the many issues in the school?

An average student pays 7000 Galleons for their seven years. And with so many young witches and wizards attending before Voldemort happened, the school gets almost a million Galleons. Then post-Voldemort, the school now annually gets half a million. That's more than enough for an entire year's worth of salaries, so where does the rest go indeed! Teachers and the Infirmary Staff get 500 Galleons, Sickles and Knuts every month, the Caretaker and Gamekeeper gets 200, the Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions responsible for School and Kitchen Supplies gets 450 and the Librarian gets 300. The Headmaster's and Deputy Headmaster/mistress' Salary is the highest: 900 and 850. For Muggleborn orphans, they get a Scholarship Fund of 2000 Galleons to pay for their schooling and needs every year from the Headmaster/mistress but getting orphans is rare.

Within a year, about 132 students pays off a teacher's salaries and the salaries of the Hogwarts Infirmary Team. A total of 792000 Galleons a year. Then 144 students can pay off the salaries of the Caretaker, Gamekeeper, Chief Attendant and Librarian's Salaries, a total of 11400 Galleons a year. Finally, 288 students pays for the Headmaster and Deputy's Salaries totaling 1555200 and 1468800 in a year respectively. All in all, a total of 3827400 Galleons, Sickles and Knuts every year long before Voldemort came when Hogwarts' Student Populace was huge.

That's only ¼ of the money Hogwarts gets every year from students too, while the Hogwarts Governors' Salaries are exactly 1000 for doing so little in their offices! All they do is map down approved curriculums and that's it! And that doesn't even go past ¼ of yearly spending on salaries! As for food in Hogwarts, it takes only 600 Galleons to feed every mouth in the castle in a day. In a month they spend 18600 on food, and in a year, its 223200 Galleons. Still doesn't go beyond ¼!

While Post-Voldemort its justifiable as to why Hogwarts can't renovate as so few students come these years, thus a lot of teachers quit and the Governors began being so tight on the budget much to unhappy school staff, it does not excuse Prior-Voldemort so now after reading this article, the retired and current Hogwarts Governors are now 'under fire' by both the populace as to where the rest of the fortune goes and Gringotts is having a field day investigating and the goblins are sparing NO ONE as when it comes to money matters, they're more serious about it than the Ministry and statuses don't matter. Only financial issues.

Lyra stirred up trouble indeed and the alliance families used Skeeter for acting on it.

The school could not talk about anything else after that. Their families are so mad and even the teachers were angry about how they were being cheated out of if the Governors are pocketing everything else for themselves when the money could be used for improving Hogwarts' Image, facilities and furniture.

xxx

Halloween...another issue by Skeeter came out that morning.

According to the Goblins, the bulk of the fortune were now in personal vaults! The furious community exploded. Literally that the retired governors had to flee after the goblins took back the money taken from their vaults and put back into Hogwarts' Vaults, and the current governors are now under investigation as they took the post after the war.

The retrieved money which was bordering on billions was now used to fix Hogwarts, much to happy families' delight. There were plans on it on the holidays and as a result, all students MUST go home on Winter Break. No exceptions. The Daily Prophet went to Hogwarts upon acquiring permission to interview the teachers about their own complaints yet the Headmaster has his hands tied because of the funding the Governors were not-so-willing to shell out and was forced to endure a number of grumblings.

Lyra smiled deviously. The happiest school staff so far were the Flight Instructor, Potions Professor, Herbology Professor and the School Librarian.

Rolanda Hooch and her Predecessors before her complained about the brooms for thirty years since her employment. But each time, Dumbledore could not do a thing about it because of the Governors.

Severus Snape complained about his classroom that was made to be put underground when Ventilation is a MUST in brewing a classroom of Potions due to hazards of fumes mixing in confined space and its effects on the lungs when inhaled too much yet the Governors insist it must be underground and he had very snide and rude opinions about them too, calling them 'brainless imbeciles who know nothing' about the dangers of Potions in so many ways that the reporters had to take care of censoring his many insults at the Governors because underage witches and wizards read the paper too.

The Greenhouses look so decrepit and the conditioning of the glass walls and roof is so murky and musty that not even House Elves could do anything about it! Many Herbology Professors before Pomona Sprout and herself included complained about the old state of the Greenhouses and the cramped spaces.

The reason Madam Pince was so ANAL about careful book handling and vandalizing was because the books are so old, they're worn out and its easy to ruin a book, and she wants new books in the library so she has no such fears anymore. That, and the library is so old and outdated!

Filch complained that he never gets new cleaning supplies. He and the House Elves had to deal with extremely worn-out cleaning items all they get every month is a new supply of cleaning potions and polish, but what about other cleaning materials such as mops, rags, feather dusters and brushes?!

Hagrid complained about the school's gardening state and infestations of pests yet he could never do a thing about it without money and his own salary is not enough and that was how far he was willing to go. Thus not only is Hogwarts overrun with weeds with incredibly ugly gardens, but also unwelcome pests. That, and the school boats he uses every year to tour new firsties are so old he feared an accident would happen one day which is why he implemented 'No more than four' in a boat as more than four despite the roomy space…he feared what would happen. So yes, he too, wanted money to fix what's under his jurisdiction.

All that, everyone got in the Evening Prophet.

Its been two months since term started.

So far, nothing crazy going on other than firsties improving on their magic.

But it was also Halloween, meaning, loads of Halloween themes that Lyra came, dressed in leather-lace-and-frills dark goth loli with make-up to match and accessories with her hair in bottom-half ringlet coils AND dyed in brick red...

'Lyra, what on earth are you wearing?!' Giselle sputtered out as the trendy girl came downstairs the way she is now.

'What? It's Halloween isn't it?' Lyra blinked with a shrug. 'I would have gone as a bloody-gored zombie but I don't have enough make-up.' Giselle and Neville face-palmed. That's NOT what they're asking about.

'I don't want to know...' Neville choked. Lyra is a good and loyal friend.

Really.

But when it came to fashion and trends, she goes all the way, not caring what anyone would think. She does what she wants as long as she doesn't cross lines or annoy people. The most she did was startle people with her eccentricities and unpredictability.

But still, this is...wacky.

Muggleborns approved because it resembled gothic punk fashion to them and they're familiar with it!

xxx

Many pairs of eyes popped wide open. Not just Gryffindor.

The other three houses too. AND the teachers.

Granted, they're VERY FAMILIAR with the individualistic fashionista but THIS...

'Ms. Potter, what on earth are you wearing?!' McGonagall sputtered at the girl's very dark ensemble.

'Oh, my Halloween Costume since I don't have enough make-up and paint to look like a bloody torn-apart corpse.' Lyra said that a tad too cheerfully. 'I usually dress as a zombie or vengeful ghost every Halloween and scare the be-jabbers out of muggle neighbors but alas, lack of supplies.' she said in a mock, dramatic manner. 'Wanna see my pictures?'

'Knowing you I'd rather not!' Lowell snarked loudly from his table. 'I couldn't sleep for a week when you showed us those photos!'

'Yeah man, Professor McGonagall's gonna go cardiac arrest on us if she sees those!' Randy cackled, making said Professor glare at him.

'I'm not THAT old yet Mr. Prewett!' she huffed as the rest of the hall laughed weakly but they all wondered about those photos now...is it THAT scary that her usual peers couldn't sleep for a week after seeing it?

'You're good at art mate, too good.' Neville shuddered. 'I still can't sleep without the lights. Worse, they're wizarding photos!' Lyra cackled in a frightening, blood-chilling laughter(think Fatal Frame II's Sae's laughing mad) and people gave her a wide berth. A REALLY wide one and made everyone go O.o.

'Awwwie, maybe I could change that~?' Lyra squealed as she glomped him. 'I could do better~!'

'HELL NOO!' Neville freaked out. 'You're TOO into Halloween crazy girl!'

Then Professor Quirrell barged in, yelling about the Troll…

Students panicked and ran for the dorms, led by their Prefects, and had to spend Halloween in the safety of their dorms.