Chapter 9: The Very Witching Hour

Scorpius

With the very last week of October came the cold. A sharp, swift frost that would take your breath away.

Students covered their faces best they could with the thin house scarves. The lucky ones hame warmer, home-knitted scarves, and some had hats. The few with balaclavas were the warmest. But the for sure thing was if you didn't have your face covered, it would be at your own risk. Bare skin was nipped fiercel by the biting wind.

The cold wasn't the only thing that came with the dying days of October. It was the one word that was on everyone's chapped lips: Halloween.

There were many rumors floating around as to what would transpire at the famed Halloween feast. Apparently, the Hogwarts ghosts were going to sing pumpkin carols, the Wierd Sisters were going to have a concert and the staff were going to put on a play. Scorpius doubted any of that was going to happen.

But on the other hand, many of the things he had once doubted had come true.

He had doubted that he would be disowned by his father. He hadn't thought he would make some great friends. He didn't think he would be thrust into a freaky mystery.

Still, he couldn't picture Professor McGonagall getting drunk and doing the Hokey Pokey. Such were the rumors floating around.

Not suprisingly, crazy Ivy Blackburn was spreading most of them.

"Nearly Headless Nick is going to recreate his death using a student!"
"The Holyhead Harpies and Puddlemere United are going to have a Quidditch match in the Great Hall!"
"Hagrid bewitched his giant pumpkins and they are going to tap dance on the tables!"

Ivy was even going so far as to take bets. Scorpius couldn't belive her. Albus though Ivy was loopy. Rose thought Ivy was funny.

"It's just a game," Rose laughed. "No one is dumb enough to bet anything on that stuff. She's not going to make any money. Besides, no one can make up anything as crazy as Ivy can."

And she was right, for the most part. Chelsea Renee of Ravenclaw had started the rumor spreading, but once Ivy started the gossip, Chelsea's theories almost seemed plausible.

The only thing Rose was wrong about is when she said that Ivy wouldn't make any money. Sadly, that's not quite true. Almost everyone in the castle was betting something, and based on the crazy things Ivy had come up with, she was going to be very rich.

As the school filed into the Great Hall for the feast, Ivy was standing by the door, calling out her made up stories and shaking a can full of coins.

Scorpius' jaw dropped as a small crowd of people gathered around Ivy, coins in hand. He shook his head. People could do whatever they wanted with their money. He onther otehrh hand was going to be smart.

To call the Great hall plain is an understatement. It is always majestic, fabulous, stunning--anything but plain. But to call it that is even more of an understatement during holidays-- this one being Halloween.

Thousands of live bats hovered near the ceiling, swooping of one end of the room to the other. Giant pumpkins stood in every corner and smaller ones circled in the perimeter of the hall.

And the food! Scorpius thought he had seen all the food in the world at the Welcoming Feast. He was wrong. The food he saw now was so remarkably different he couldn't stop his eyes from were large pumpkins hollowed out and filled with rich soups and stews. Fantastically shapes pies and piles or candies and apples lined each side of the tables. Scorpius could almost hear the tables groaning from the weight of it all.

The only things missing from the room were the things Ivy had predicted. Scorpius wasn't suprised.

It was one of the most wonderful meals he had ever eaten. The food was perfect, and the flavors divine.

What's more, nothing overly exciting had happened. They all sang the school song, but that was it.

No explosions, riots or mass destruction.

As everyone filed out of the hall, full and sleepy, a cry went out.

"Nothing happened! I win! I was the only one to bet on nothing happening! What foresight! Ten galleons with 10 to 1 odds-- that's one hundered galleons!"

The ecstatic Hufflepuff raced over to claim his winnings from Ivy Blackburn.

It was the only money Ivy lost.

***

One week after the Halloween feast, the snow came.

It started in the afternoon, much to the teachers dismay. As soon as the first student noticed the flakes, everyone flew to the windows.

As soon as class was dismissed, it was a stampede to get outside. The seventh years had orginized a giant snowball fight, and no one wanted to miss it.

When the student body finally cam back in, everyone was soaking. All of them had been hit by at least one snowball.

The snow continued overnight, enveloping the castle in a thick white blanket. By the weekend, they were pretty much snowed in. .

Scorpius was glad of that, mainly because Rose had insisted on going to Hagrid's hut every weekend.

It's not that he didn't like Hagrid, just the food they were fed.

Scorpius was glad of the snow for another reason. It would give him time to do something he had been putting off for a long time. He was going to write a letter to his father.

He ran his hand through his hair. He was sitting at a table in the library with his best friends. Rose was somewhat patiently explaining a Charms theory to Albus.

Scorpius shook his head. Why was he doing this? He couldn't do this. But he had to get some answers. And to get answers he had to write the letter that he knew would be difficult.

Draco Malfoy,

Why? Why disown your only child? Why be so heartless and cruel? You have always been kind to me before. Why change your mind? Is it just because my school situation is not what you wanted? Or are you, as my friends say, just unchanged in your ways? Did you never grow up? I have grown up enough to ask that you accept me back into the family. Are you mature neough to grant me that?

Scorpius?

***

I like this chapter, and it`s one of my longest ones. Point for me! Please leave feedback. I love it!