James's O slowly faded from the sky in a dignified way.

When it was gone, Samantha piped up, "I'm going to take Stephanie and Courtney up to Hogwarts to sort out Courtney's future. Would the rest of you please wait here? If it's going to be a long time or if we will not return to Hogsmeade, we will send you a message."

Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily all chorused "yes" and waited in the tent.

Ten minutes later, a Hogwarts barn owl came zooming towards them faster than a cheetah chasing its prey.

The owl dropped a letter into Lily's hands and took off again with the speed of a rocket.

"This is Samantha's handwriting," recognized Lily.

"Read it aloud," chorused Devon, James, Hugo, and Ainsley.

Lily read aloud:

Dear Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily:

I have great news. As expected, mom and dad have agreed to adopt Courtney. Better yet, Professor McGonagall has given Stephanie and me permission to go home right away and not come back until Monday morning. We will be spending the rest of the weekend getting Courtney integrated into our family. Mom and dad are going to take Courtney, Stephanie, and me trick or treating in our Arizona neighborhood during the 7 p.m. hour tonight and they are also going to take us to a haunted house that opens at 9 P.M. tonight. As Halloween is apparently Courtney's favorite holiday as well as Stephanie's, they are both delighted to have the opportunity to spend this holiday together after having not seen each other for months. Samuel and Sarah are also taking us to the Arizona Cardinals game tomorrow and I'm excited to introduce Courtney to NFL football. I showed Courtney the pictures in my room that show how dad was jumping up and down in his seat at University of Phoenix stadium celebrating a Cardinals last second triumph over the rival Seahawks while at that EXACT same time mom was giving birth to me at a local hospital. Like you guys, Courtney said my Arizona Cardinals connection was the coolest story ever when she first heard it. Courtney will be allowed to decorate her room in any manner she chooses and has been informed that when we have you lot over to stay that Hugo will borrow her room. Courtney has also decided to leave the name Baylac behind and take the last name of Saver. I am inspired by how appreciative Courtney is towards me (and Samuel and Sarah) for being there for Stephanie and supporting her. I look forward to having Courtney as a sister now. Have a great Halloween and Stephanie and I will see you Monday morning-

Samantha.

"Good for Samantha," said James proudly, "Whatever else you think of Samantha, you can't deny that when the chips have been down, Samantha has rallied behind her friends. When Stephanie had nowhere to go Samantha took Stephanie into her family, and now, with Courtney having nowhere to go, she has taken Courtney in and by so doing reunited lost sisters."

"And I can't stress enough how decent Samuel and Sarah have been," added Lily clearly, "They signed up to have one daughter and now they have three daughters."

"I'm glad Courtney and Stephanie are getting to spend Halloween together," said Devon matter of factly, "They deserve that after everything they've been through."

"The question now is, "said Hugo, "What are we going to do with rest of our Halloween?"

James looked down at his watch.

"We only have time for one more stop in Hogsmeade," said James, "And since it's Halloween we should visit-

"THE SHREIKING SHACK!" interjected Hugo and Devon together.

"Yes," said James clearly, "We can't not go to the Shrieking Shack on Halloween!"

"I'm all for it then," said Lily simply, "It makes PERFECT sense to visit the most haunted building in Britain on Halloween."

"Exactly!" chorused James, Devon, and Hugo.

"I'm disappointed we won't be going to Zonko's," admitted Ainsley, "But sometimes, not getting my way in things just comes with the territory of being a girl."

"As a girl with two older brothers at home, who should understand that better than me," said Lily wryly, actually giving Ainsley a gentle pat on the back, "But I think the others are right in this case."

Next nanosecond, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily strolled towards the Shrieking Shack.

The skies turned suddenly grayer and cloudier. An ominous aura filled the air as Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily reached the Shrieking Shack.

The door opened of its own accord with a creepy creaking sound. Next nanosecond an unnatural wind howled and gusted so strongly that Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily were involuntarily lifted off their feet and literally blown into the Shrieking Shack and onto a staircase.

They landed on the twelfth stair from the bottom. A series of springs suddenly appeared on the thirteenth.

A few nanoseconds later, an invisible hand pushed Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily onto the thirteenth step.

"OUCH!" chorused Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily.

Almost instantaneously, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily were lifted off their feet and went soaring into the air.

The wind gusts snapped a hole in the roof, and up, up, up, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily soared.

Being blown away too quickly to think, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily landed back at Hogwarts, right in front of the entrance to the Great Hall.

Checking her watch, Lily screamed "JUST IN TIME!"

Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

But this wasn't the Great Hall as it would normally be.

Frankenstein music was playing through the hall. The only light in the hall emanated from dimly lit Jack O Lanterns.

The ceiling had bewitched to resemble a chilling and ominous sky.

There were tombstones situated by the walls and the tables all had bits and pieces missing from them as though bites had been taken out of them.

Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily all felt themselves shuddering a bit as they took seats at the Gryffindor table. The Frankenstein music and ceiling gave the whole Great Hall a huge aura of eeriness.

For the feast, they had special plates that were pitch black and in the shape of bats. And they also used pitch black cups with eye shaped thingys for straws.

The food itself was typical Hogwarts fare but on this night the liquid refreshment was blood.

Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily all shivered and quavered a bit whenever they took a sip.

But what everyone was really excited about was the Trick or Treat stations. Everyone knew that the candy being offered this was mostly candy meant to reflect the year's theme of Scary Halloween and they were excited about this.

Unlike last year's orange bags with black cats on them, this year, the students were given black bags with deep orange Jack O Lanterns on them to collect their candy in.

"Did anyone else keep their bags from last year?" Ainsley asked Devon, Hugo, James, and Lily curiously.

"Yes," replied Devon, Hugo, James, and Lily.

"Then we can all start a bit of collection of Halloween bags then," said Ainsley happily.

"I'll give mine to Stephanie, "said Lily, "As she's not here tonight and we know how much Stephanie loves Halloween."

"That won't be necessary," said Professor McGonagall from the staff table. "The Saver girls were given these bags before they left, and Courtney was also given a bag from last year as well."

"Good," said Lily approvingly, "The Savers are big Halloween fans and I'm glad they got those bags."

"Exactly," smiled James.

"You may start Trick or Treating now," said McGonagall, "Start at your own table and work your way around the hall."

Starting at their own Gryffindor table, Devon, Hugo, James, Ainsley, and Lily were treated to Halloween colored M&Ms, Cadbury Scream Eggs, and James's beloved Old Faithful bars.

Moving on to the Hufflepuff table, Devon, Hugo, James, Ainsley, and Lily collected Skittles Darkside, Blood orange Dots, and Peeps marshmallow ghosts.

Rotating on to the Ravenclaw table, Devon, Hugo, James, Ainsley, and Lily got blood flavored lollipops, licorice in the shapes of mummies and vanilla cookies in the shape of brooms.

Sliding over to the Slytherin table, Devon, Hugo, James, Ainsley, and Lily had their bags filled with, chocolate bats, chocolate cats, and of course, chocolate pumpkins.

Once they had finished collecting their candy, Devon, Hugo, James, Ainsley, and Lily all made their way back to the Gryffindor table.

"We need to decide," piped up Lily, "Which candies to eat now and which ones to save. It seems as though there are more specifically Halloween themed candies in our bags than there were last year."

"The way to make that decision," said James matter factly, "Is to decide how many candies we want to eat tonight and choose those that are MOST specificity related to our scary Halloween theme."

"Let's not overdose by eating too much at once but let's do favor a few that fit the theme and give us a few different flavors into the bargain," suggested Devon, "We're going to a have a few specifically Halloween themed candies left over no matter what we pick with this hall but let's try to choose two that fit the theme of Scary Halloween that also give us two different flavors."

"I say," offered Hugo, "Tonight we eat the Peeps Marshmallow ghosts, and the Cadbury Scream Eggs."

"THAT"S PERFECT!" chorused James and Devon.

"I guess that's settled then," said Lily.

Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily decided to eat their Peeps Marshmallow ghosts first.

Though they been bought in a muggle store, these Peeps had been bewitched and as such, when Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily opened them.

"BOO!" filled the hall in loud and freaky voices.

These "BOO!" noises continued to emanate from the Peeps until Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily took their first bites.

When they had finished the Peeps, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily moved on to the Cadbury Scream Eggs.

As with the Peeps, the Cadbury Scream Eggs had been bewitched.

The nanosecond that, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily opened the Cadbury Scream Eggs, a spooky screaming and screeching filled the entirety of the Great Hall.

Many people covered their ears and Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily all quickly took their first bites.

The interior greenish goo kinda freaked Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily all out in the darkness and atmosphere of the hall and they all screamed themselves.

"That was good candy," said James when they had finished the eggs.

"And the freakiness fits the Scary Halloween theme," smiled Devon, "As someone who wanted to do Scary Halloween all along, I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

"Albus was the other one who voted for Scary Halloween, " said Lily, remembering the first meeting of the Hogwarts Planning Club.

"And I'm just as happy as Devon with the end result," said Albus, drifting over to join Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily, "I, Rose, and Pamela chose the licorice mummies and the Cadbury Scream Eggs as the candies we ate tonight."

"I'm glad it went so well," said James happily.

"Hey, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily?" asked Albus, "Pamela and Rose have gone back to the common room; they have had as much Scary Halloween as they can handle. But I want to stay here and enjoy it more but would prefer not to do so alone. May I join you guys for a while."

"Of course!" chorused Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily.

Devon, James, Hugo, Albus, Ainsley, and Lily spent several more hours in the Great Hall, delighting in its creepiness.

They ended the night by going for a walk along the tombstone filled walls.

When they left the Great Hall, it was pitch black.

Instant Darkness Powder had clearly been used.

Devon, James, Albus, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily stuck tightly together as they walked very slowly back to Gryffindor tower.

A walk in the pitch black was the perfect fright to end the night.