At long last, the biggest event since the Start-of-Term Feast had arrived at Ilvermorny – Halloween. The students had to dress in their formal robes for the day, but Harry didn't mind. Othniel grumbled to himself as he changed into his formal attire. He heard sharp, sudden laughter as soon as he emerged from his privacy blinds.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Harry was laughing so hard, he nearly fell to the floor. "Good heavens, Othniel… haven't you ever heard of a mirror before?"

Othniel's eyes shifted back and forth. "Erm… yeah? Why do you ask?"

Harry was helpless to stop his chortling. "Well, for starters, you big goof, you missed a button on your sweater vest." He shook his head and grinned. "Also, your collar looks a little wonky… and you might want to run a comb through that hair of yours."

"Oh, you're just nitpicking," Othniel replied with an eyeroll. He sighed. "Uhm… it's not that bad, is it?"

Harry shrugged. "Weeeelllll… I'm not saying this to be mean, but you kinda look sloppy today, dude. I just don't want you to get a demerit from Missy or one of the other trustees."

"My sister Leah says I have the hygiene of a caveman," admitted Othniel. "I guess she might have a point…"

"Ya think?" Harry replied with a snicker. "Honestly, Othniel. You might want to double your efforts in maintaining your appearance… you might not think it'll mean anything now, but a couple of years from now… you'll be looking at girls differently. Girls like Tallulah."

"Hah!" yelped Othniel. "I don't think so, dude. Tallulah is all right, but to me… she's just like one of the guys."

Harry arched an eyebrow. "You say that now, but like I said… you'll probably change your tune during third or fourth year." He grinned at his friend. "A few months back, I had a bit of a conversation with my godfather Sirius. I thought he was insane for hinting that I could be… dating Ana one day… but in the two months I've spent here, I'm starting to think he's right. I mean, I'm not ready to date her now, but look at Nova. She's just the year ahead of Ana and she's already starting to look more woman than girl. Ana isn't going to have that 'little girl' look for too much longer, y'know."

"Your godfather's single, right? What could he possibly know about the fairer sex?" scoffed Othniel.

"He is a bachelor, yes," Harry confirmed. "But I trust the advice he gives me as he's dated countless girls. Mostly magical, but a few non-magical ones too. He says he's just waiting for the right one to settle down with, but I also thinks he cherishes the freedom that goes along with being single. I also get the feeling that being an actual father scares him a little bit, yet he's been wonderful in his role as godfather. He's British to the core, yet he willingly moved to Canada… just for me. And I'll always love him for it."

"He sounds like the kind of person that my parents have always warned me to stay away from," chuckled Othniel. "I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how being magical is compatible with Christianity… I brought my Bible with me and I still read it several times a week. The Good Book does provide some comfort, but it doesn't have all the answers… like, how can my family be proud of me even though I up and left them to study at some weird pagan school on the East Coast?"

"I don't know what denomination you are," Harry offered, "but have you like, gone to a confessional booth or talked to a pastor or anything?"

Othniel laughed bitterly. "Hah! I come from a staunch Methodist family… in fact, my maternal grandfather's the senior pastor at our church! Yeeeah… talking to him about my, erm, gifts is just going to be an awkward and uncomfortable conversation. He'd probably douse me with holy water and try and exorcise any malevolent spirits from my body."

Harry winced. "I see. I didn't grow up in a religious household, though my Aunt Rhonda did grow up Anglican. She doesn't like talking about that very much… perhaps she feels guilty for abandoning her faith. She doesn't talk about her side of the family very much as I think she has some strained relationships with her family back home. Maybe she'd be someone you can talk to as you have some common ground?"

"She's the non-magical one, right?" asked Othniel.

"Yeah," confirmed Harry. "She knows a few things about the magical world, but she can't cast spells or anything." He tilted his head a few degrees. "Thanksgiving is less than a month away… have you decided on what you wanted to do? You seemed to be torn the last time I asked…"

"Stay at the castle, I guess," murmured Othniel. "Like I said before, my folks are probably planning on going to my dad's parents in western Montana again."

"If you want, maybe you could spend Thanksgiving with my family in Surrey," offered Harry. "You'll still have the train ride, but other than the three and a half hour drive from Seattle to Greater Vancouver, you won't have to travel anywhere at least. There's going to be a pretty good gathering – besides myself, Uncle Roger, Aunt Rhonda, and Sirius, both Nova and Professor Lupin will be there."

"D'you think they'd be okay with that on short notice?" Othniel countered with some skepticism. "I mean, I guess I'm not opposed, but I don't want to inconvenience your family. On top of that, I'd feel a little weird spending Thanksgiving with a family that isn't mine." He shrugged. "Tell you what. I'd like a little time to mull it over. I'll get back to you by tomorrow at the latest."

Harry nodded. "That's fine. Just… no later than tomorrow." His eyes suddenly widened. "Speaking about tomorrow – that's Nova's birthday. I'll need to talk to Ana and see if we can do something for her. Chances are it won't be much, but even something simple like making and signing a homemade card would be a nice gesture. Would you be down for that?"

"She's more your friend than mine, but I can do that," agreed Othniel. "So if she's a third-year, that makes her what… fourteen?"

"That sounds right," said Harry with a small nod. "Oh, and when's your birthday? I'll need to remember that."

"Several months away," replied Othniel. "May 4th."

Harry grinned. "Cool. Mine's July 31st. I'll have to ask Ana and Tallulah what theirs is sometime. Hopefully I didn't already miss them…"

"I doubt it," surmised Othniel. "I'm sure they would have probably told us if it was their birthday already."

By the time four o'clock rolled around, hordes of students bolted for their respective dormitories to freshen up for the grand feast later that evening. While Harry headed to the latrine, the first thing Othniel did was open his drawers to find some comfortable personal clothes to change into when he heard a confused "Uhhh…" from across the room.

Othniel turned to his left and saw his roommate Quentin staring at him with a rather puzzled expression on his face. "What are you doing, Othniel? You did read the bulletin today, I hope?"

"I'm changing, what does it look like I'm doing?" replied Othniel. "I skimmed over it this morning…"

Quentin arched an eyebrow. "You might want to start reading those bulletins a little bit more carefully, man. It specifically said that all students are to remain in formal robes until after the feast. I'm surprised Harry didn't catch you first…" He let out a small, frustrated groan. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I get the feeling that you need someone to hold your hand to get through the day. Merlin, where would you be without Harry? He's the one who makes sure you get up on time, or you look presentable… and I've seen Tallulah harp on you about your schoolwork a couple of times."

The color flushed from Othniel's cheeks as his jaw dropped. "Does that make me, erm, bad?"

Quentin smiled wanly and shook his head. "No. I think you're a good kid, but a little responsibility isn't going to hurt you."

Othniel shrugged. "Okay… how would I go about doing that?"

Quentin chuckled. "Well, reading the daily bulletin in its entirety would be a good place to start. No, not everything will apply to you, but you'll want to read it anyway because you'll probably miss something important if you just search for what you think applies to you." He pulled out a small square mirror from his nightstand, and adjusted his bowtie. "And try listening to your friends and housemates more."

"But I do try," countered Othniel.

Quentin clapped Othniel on the shoulder. "Try harder," he murmured with a silly grin. "I'm going to the common room for a bit… I'll see you at dinner."

"See you," Othniel replied.

A few minutes before six, Harry and Othniel went with the rest of their housemates to the mess hall for the Halloween feast. The dining hall was certainly done up in style – many jack o'lanterns were hung from the ceiling, serving as spooky chandeliers. Several castle ghosts made an appearance, including a spectral headless horseman riding a thestral steed. Many students from all four houses whirled around as they heard an ominous, disembodied laugh… "Happy Hallow's Eve to all… hahahahahaha…" The rider charged at full speed, in between the Pukwudgie and Thunderbird tables, and disappeared into thin air before he reached the other side of the hall.

A tall, furry presence near the faculty table caught Harry's eye. "Is that… a sasquatch?" he wondered to himself. It was certainly very large, perhaps a full head taller than even the imposing Mister Floyd, and completely covered with shaggy, chestnut fur. Harry couldn't make out what the sasquatch was saying, as he could only hear an occasional grunt or growl, but Professor Fontaine appeared to understand him perfectly well.

Moments later, the sasquatch ambled down to the tables and communicated with some of the students in pantomime. The children sure seemed to get a thrill from his presence – at least Harry thought the sasquatch was a male – and even entertained some of them with corny magic tricks, such as pulling several tied handkerchiefs from a Thunderbird girl's ear, or making a Wampus boy's chocolate frog card disappear with sleight-of-hand.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tallulah asked Ana, pointing at the sasquatch. "He's a hoot!" She covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Ana grinned. "You mean Sylvester? Yeah, he's pretty good friends with Professor Fontaine. He'll make occasional appearances and have some fun with the students. He can't perform real magic, but don't tell him that. He's a little sensitive…"

"Does anyone besides Professor Fontaine understand him? He just kind of barks and growls," asked Harry.

"He doesn't speak English, but he understands it perfectly well," replied Ana. "He looks primal, but he's actually quite intelligent. If you know American Sign Language, you can use that to communicate with him."

"D'you know any sign language?" asked Othniel.

"I know a fair bit, yeah," replied Ana. "My grandfather's nearly deaf. He lost a lot of his hearing in the Korean War forty years ago, and it's been downhill ever since." She then turned to Harry, and beckoned him closer so she could whisper in his ear. "Oh, and meet me in the library after dinner so we can work on Nova's card together. Tallulah and Othniel can sign it in the morning."

"Great," Harry whispered back. "Works for me."

Ana giggled. "I'm surprised you brought it up earlier."

"Her birthday's really easy to remember," Harry replied with a shrug. "I figured I needed to do something nice for her, since she's basically my foster sister."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate the gesture," giggled Ana.

Whoosh!

The entire mess hall went dark – even the jack o'lanterns went out. There was a rush of cold, dry air that made everybody shiver to their cores. Some of the children whipped out their wands to cast a quick lumos spell, but the lights all died out in seconds.

"What's going on?" Tallulah whispered. "Is this… normal?"

"I don't know," Ana replied softly. "This definitely didn't happen last term."

Harry's ears perked up… he heard a soft, steady beating sound. He wasn't sure where the sound was coming from, but his heart raced. The steady beating sound grew louder and louder, as if something… or someone with less-than-good intentions was approaching. The beating continued for about a minute, and then… nothing.

Harry's pulse returned to normal for a fleeting moment, but his heart thundered once again. It was quiet… too quiet. If Professor Fontaine had a pin, he could drop it and Harry could hear it clearly from a hundred feet away, he figured. What came next, nary a soul was prepared for…

"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwgh!"

The most dreadful, terrifying, nerve-wracking roar literally shook the mess hall. Hundreds of students screamed at the top of their lungs in sheer horror – even Ana and Tallulah were holding each other for dear life. Harry slowly stood to his feet to find the source of that horrific din. Whatever it was, it wasn't inside the mess hall, he thought. It must have come from perhaps underneath the castle, or…

"Gah!" Harry put an arm over his eyes to shield them from the blinding light that he saw from outside. He saw something moving from behind what looked to be a bright silvery-blue cloud, but it was moving away from the castle. The strange cloud obscured whatever that creature was; its silhouette diminishing as it headed off in the horizon…