Chapter Eighteen: The Body in the Haunted House
As Halloween approached and October came to a chilly end, Erin could hardly believe she had been at Hogwarts nearly two months. She had grown accustomed to her classes and teachers, and had already built herself a name amongst the first years. She wasn't as knowledgeable as Rose Weasley in the matter of test taking and answering questions, but her magical capabilities were equal or perhaps even better.
The tension between her and Charlie grew into a sort of rivalry, where each would attempt to answer first, complete the spell first, or just win the praise of the teacher- first. Nick said their enmity was silly but Erin could tell that he was on her side.
A week before Halloween, Albus and Rose, both pink from the cold, approached Erin and Nick. "You won't believe what the seventh years are planning!" Albus said excitedly.
"They're making a haunted house for the school," said Rose. She too looked rather interested. "They wanted to decorate the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade, but I heard Dippet wouldn't let them because its actually haunted," she said, lowering her voice.
"So what are they doing then?"
"They've built it out on the grounds," Albus said, "We passed it on our way back from Hagrid's. It's huge. I wonder what they'll put in it?"
"Oh, probably just some chimeras and a werewolf or two," James said as he drew level with them. Albus looked pale. "You think so?"
"Of course not," Rose snapped," the school would never allow that, it would be too dangerous."
"We'll see, little cuz," James said with a wink, "but don't say I didn't warn you guys."
The night of the Halloween feast Erin couldn't remember anyone wanting to leave dinner so early. The entire hall seemed to bristle in anticipation, wondering what the seventh years had in store for them. Finally, after dessert, Dippet rose. "I know you have all been waiting to explore the haunted house the seventh years have so kindly offered to prepare for us-"
Erin saw several seventh years grin wickedly.
"-so you may all go, house by house, to see, please wait your turn-"
But the students in the Great Hall didn't wait to listen. With one big uproar, the entire student body rose and sprinted out of the Great Hall towards the grounds.
"Come on!" Albus said, tugging on Erin and Nick. They followed the crowd through the entrance doors, and out into the icy cold that stung against their faces.
The haunted house was hard to miss. It was huge, as Albus correctly described it. Three stories high, complete with a chimney, balcony, and creepy, fluttering shutters, it seemed to fall straight out of a horror novel. Except the whole house looked as though it were held up entirely by magic.
Students were already pouring in. Erin could hear screams issuing from the inside.
The three of them entered with a group of Ravenclaws that included Rose and Alexander Rade, Erin's partner from Charms class. "Welcome to my home," a voice hissed. A skeleton emerged from the shadows of a dark corner. "I hope you enjoy your visit." He disappeared back into the darkness, cackling.
"Oh, very scary," Nick said, rolling his eyes, although Rose had let out a muffled squeal when the skeleton appeared suddenly.
They ventured through the house, and even Erin had to admit the decorations and ploys the seventh years had arranged to startle them were getting considerably scarier. She gave a violent start of surprise when the floor they were standing on shifted suddenly and formed a black pit in which she almost fell into. "It's fake, look," Nick said, stomping on the pit with his foot and hitting sturdy glass.
They deviated from the crowd, taking a left instead by the staircase so that they soon reached a dead end. "Nice move, Albus," Nick said, although it had been his idea to explore the separate landing.
Albus reached for the handle of a door against the wall. "Let's see what's in here…." He pulled it open. "Argh!"
Dozens of bats came soaring out, flapping their leathery wings in Erin's face. She shielded her face with her arms and heard her friends scampering off. "Wait!" she called, blundering after them. She took a turn and found that she was quite alone in a dark hallway.
Perhaps they went through one of these doors? She reached for the one nearest to her; checking that there were no unexpected flying creatures, she stepped inside. The room had a greenish glow about it. There were dolls lined up, one on top of the other, behind a glass screen. The room was empty with no other exits. She would have to try another door.
Before exiting, Erin paused. What she had thought to be dolls were really, on a closer look, very artfully designed dead bodies. She pressed her face against the screen, her breath fogging up the glass.
There was a little boy with his eyes closed and a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth; a woman with vampire features who had a stake through her heart; and….
Erin screamed, so loudly she thought for a crazy moment she might wake the bodies. And then she fell to the floor, unconscious.
"Erin? Erin? Are you alright?" came a concerned voice.
"I knew this wasn't a good idea," a voice said crossly.
Another, more brisk voice, said, "Some people just don't have the stamina."
Erin opened her eyes; it was very dark out. She was lying on the ground outside the haunted house. She could still hear laughter and shrieks from the students inside.
Nick was standing over her with Professor McGonagall, who looked very upset, and another woman who was dabbing Erin's forehead with a wet cloth. "Oh good, you're awake," the woman said. "Here, eat this, it'll make you feel better." Without waiting for a response, she pushed a piece of chocolate into Erin's mouth. Erin spluttered, choking on it, but felt an immediate warmth spread throughout her body after she had swallowed it.
"How're you feeling?" Nick asked as Erin sat up. She felt heat rising to her face, wondering why they were making such a big deal over her when they should be inside there.
"You fainted inside the house," Professor McGonagall explained. Her lips were stretched tight. "I told Dippet some students can't handle this, I told him…."
"No, I'm fine, its not that," Erin said as the woman bustled over her. "There's a body in there!"
"Yes, yes, I know, there are plenty of them, enough to give anybody a fright," Professor McGonagall said dismissively.
Erin shook her head frantically. "You don't understand. There's a real body in there, I swear!"
Professor McGonagall looked at her incredulously. "Ms. Lyths, its only a Halloween scare," she said, "surely you know all the decorations are fake…."
"Yes, but one of the bodies is real, he's dead!" she said loudly. Some of the students who had exited the house were looking at her funny. Professor McGonagall placed a firm grip on her elbow. "Poppy, maybe you should take Ms. Lyths to the hospital wing…."
"I saw him!" Erin cried, beating the woman named Poppy's hand away. "In the green room with the fake bodies. He's dead!" she repeated.
"What's going on here?"
Ender swept over, looking like a walking Halloween fright himself, with his gaunt face, black eyes, and billowing cloak.
"Erin says she saw a dead body in the haunted house," Nick answered.
Ender peered at Erin. "Is that so?"
"I know a dead body when I see one," she retorted.
A headless corpse was lying in its own blood. The girl backed away and tripped over an object on the floor. She screamed.
It was a head. Her father's head.
She saw her mother wasn't lying too far off.
"Headmaster!" Ender called suddenly. Dippet appeared at his side. "Yes?"
"Ms. Lyths says she saw a dead body inside the house. As improbably as that may be, I deem it prudent to check."
Dippet nodded. "Poppy, you can come as well, to be sure," Dippet said, and the three of them departed for the house.
Nick sat on the ground beside Erin. "There were a lot of scary things in there…" he began. Erin scowled. "I know what I saw." They fell silent. Erin felt her heart pounding; what if she was wrong and she had caused this whole commotion for nothing?... Or worse, what if she wasn't wrong?
It didn't take long for Dippet, Ender, and Poppy to return. Erin immediately knew from the look on Poppy's face. "It's horrible," the woman said in a whisper.
Professor McGonagall put her hand over her heart. "Oh dear Lord," she murmured. Ender pointed his wand at his throat and spoke, his voice magnified, "All students are asked to exit the haunted house immediately. This is an emergency." He turned to Dippet. "I'll go inside and clear the house; there are probably some kids who'll think its daring to stay." He stalked off back into the house as students emerged from all exits, muttering confusedly amongst themselves.
"I'll contact the Aurors," Dippet said to Professor McGonagall. "They'll want to come here themselves, now that Seamus Finnigan's body's been found."