Susan recounted, "A decade ago on Halloween, my friends and I entered a friendly, others unfriendly, and a few just odd. Since not all of them were mean, we ended up joining their annual Halloween party. When Sarah Belington's ghost discovered we had her spellbook, Tom managed to get it to me, but Sarah caught him. I read the spell as she approached, breaking the haunting because, even though I wasn't much of a Wiccan, I was still the only Wiccan in the group. At first, I felt proud. But after that, we had to say goodbye to our new friends: Violet Wellington, the immortal talking cat, and Jack, the living jack-o-lantern. We met Violet again with her family, who thanked us for saving them and their home. Then Violet disappeared, heading to heaven with her family, while we celebrated in the backyard with a song before leaving, since we could."
Susan was teaching a class of teenagers outside the Wellington Mansion. Mrs. Piper explained, "After defeating the ghosts, the house became deserted, and it has remained so to this day. It's lousy now, and soon, they will condemn it since no one wants to live here. That's why the gates are locked." Mrs. Piper showed her class the lock on the gates, and they noticed that it resembled a scorpion. Victoria suggested, "I bet if people fixed this place up, they could sell it like that." Victoria snapped her fingers, and the mansion's gates opened. The class saw the gates open and wondered how that happened. "How'd that happen?" Mrs. Piper gasped. Natalie chimed in, "I don't know, but can we check the place out, Mrs. Piper? It looks so neat." Mrs. Piper replied, "We can look closer, but we won't go inside."
The class ran through the gates excitedly and took a closer look at the mansion. They didn't know that the gate's lock had somehow turned into a real scorpion. Once they reached the front porch, Victoria tried to open the door, but Mrs. Piper stopped her. "Sorry, but no one is allowed inside the house on this field trip," Mrs. Piper warned. "Because yes, I un-haunted the house, but legend has it that if someone relights Jack, the spell will take place, and the ghosts will return." Victoria looked down and saw something under the mat. "OK," Victoria muttered. The class left, but Victoria stayed for a minute, looked at the mansion, and rejoined her class.
After their field trip, the kids and Mrs. Piper got back on the bus and got dropped off at home. After getting dropped off, Victoria and Quinn met at their favorite magic store. They walked in, and the salesman recognized them. "Well, if it isn't Victoria and Quinn, my two favorite customers," Johnny welcomed them. "Hi, Johnny," Victoria called out. Johnny inquired, "Now, what magical thing are you interested in today?" Victoria and Quinn grabbed some Angelica leaves and read the back of the package. Victoria noted, "'ANGELICA LEAVES. Breaks curses, hexes, and spells.' Never know when something like that will come in handy." Victoria decided, "We'll take these Angelica leaves." Johnny checked them out, and Victoria put the pack in her bag, waving goodbye to Johnny, who had sold them the Angelica leaves. Before they left, Johnny got an idea. "Wait," Johnny called back. Victoria and Quinn waited, and Johnny continued, "Knowing you two, I think I have something you'd be interested in."
Johnny took them to the back room and showed them an old box. Johnny opened the box and showed them a magical staff. Johnny offered, "Buy one more pack of Angelica leaves, and I'll toss in this magical staff for free." Quinn took the staff and saw a dragon's head on it. Quinn asked, "What's so magical about this?" Johnny answered, "It's like a wand. Someone can bring the staff's magic to life, but only in the hands of a magical person like a witch or a Wiccan." Victoria declared, "I'll take it." Victoria then bought another pack of Angelica leaves, and Johnny gave Victoria the magic staff. Victoria smiled, "Bye. And thanks for the staff."
After Victoria and Quinn left, they went to Victoria's house, and a skeleton dropped on them when they opened the door. Victoria chuckled, "Nice try, Mom and Dad." Mr. and Mrs. Bullet emerged from hiding with a disappointed "Rats." Mrs. Bullet added, "By the way, happy birthday, honey." Quinn asked, surprised, "It's your birthday?" Victoria clarified, "Tomorrow is. I was born on Halloween. I'm going to be 13." Victoria and Quinn didn't think anything about Victoria's house was scary. Quinn and Victoria went to Victoria's room, where Victoria showed Quinn a book she had checked out from the library. Quinn read the title, "The History of Sarah Belington?" Victoria explained, "According to the book, she's the reason we found the Wellington Mansion we visited this afternoon haunted." Quinn opened the book and saw a picture of Sarah Belington casting a spell on the mansion. She then turned the page, and Victoria pointed out, "It also says no one knows what happened to her spell book." Quinn turned the page and saw a picture of her spell book. Then she turned the page and saw a picture of the staff the salesperson gave them. Wait a minute," Quinn interjected.
Quinn showed Victoria what she had seen in the book, and Victoria saw a picture of Sarah Belington holding the staff. Quinn explained, "It says here, this is Sarah Belington's magical staff. She used it for her hardest spells. And someone can bring the staff's power to life, but only in the hands of people who can control it, just like Johnny said." Victoria took the book from Quinn and remarked, "There doesn't seem to be anything in here about Mrs. Piper's defeat over her ghost." Victoria thought out loud, "I'm not surprised. The author wrote that book 50 years ago, not 10. Although it does say she wasn't always a witch. She was born one and didn't develop her powers until she turned thirteen. You know, I have an idea." Once Victoria got home, she went upstairs to her room, went online, and emailed all their friends, inviting them to her thirteenth birthday party at the Wellington Mansion the next day. She thought it was a perfect idea because she was born on Halloween and absolutely loved scary and magical things. In fact, her entire bedroom was packed with books and movies about ghosts, ghouls, and monsters, so hosting a party inside a real deserted mansion sounded like the ultimate birthday adventure and the perfect party for her.
On Halloween morning, Griffin, Mandy, Ned, Oscar, Quinn, and Victoria arrived at the deserted mansion, ready to decorate for the party and dressed in their Halloween costumes. Victoria dressed as a wicked witch to match her new dragon staff, Quinn as a spellbinding wizard, Griffin as a classic vampire, Mandy as a mysterious shadow, Ned as a glowing skeleton, and Oscar as a hairy werewolf. They carried in boxes of decorations, including giant orange jack-o'-lantern cutouts, hanging paper bats, fake spiderwebs, and bowls overflowing with trick-or-treat candy like chocolate bars, gummy worms, and candy corn. To set the mood, they plugged in a boombox and played tons of scary music and songs, including "Casper, The Friendly Ghost," "The Monster Mash," "Winnie the Pooh: I Wanna Scare Myself," and other classic Halloween tracks.
While they were busy hanging streamers and stacking the candy bowls, the lights suddenly went completely out for a minute, plunging the foyer into darkness.
"Mandy, don't do that!" Quinn called out, knowing Mandy was the one standing right by the light switch in the foyer.
"I didn't!" Mandy shouted back defensively.
When the lights flickered back on, Victoria looked at the old light switch and then at her friends. "I better tell my father that the lights in the foyer need fixing," Victoria said, assuming the old mansion's wiring was just faulty.
With the decorating finished, the kids decided to leave the mansion until the party started later that afternoon. As they walked out the front gates, Mandy stopped and looked back at the towering house, feeling suspicious because she thought it might be a ghost, but she wasn't sure.
Before the party officially started at 2:00 PM, Mr. and Mrs. Bullet came along to the mansion to help fix the faulty foyer lights. While Victoria's parents worked on the old wiring, the kids stayed busy putting the final touches on the big celebration. They put on the Hocus Pocus soundtrack songs they had picked out, filling the mansion with tracks like "Come Little Children," "I Put a Spell on You," "One Way or Another," and "The Witches are Back."
With the music echoing through the halls, the kids worked alongside Mr. and Mrs. Bullet to set up a massive buffet table. They stacked plates next to spooky snacks, birthday treats, and the endless bowls of trick-or-treat candy.
To make the afternoon even more special, they had also called the famous horror writer Eliza Creeps to the party. She arrived with a stack of her scariest books under her arm, ready to read her spine-chilling stories to the guests. With Victoria's parents having fixed the lights, the buffet fully stocked, and the author settled into a velvet chair in the library, the kids stood by the entrance and waited excitedly for their guests to arrive. Something they didn't know was that a black cat had been spying on them since they started decorating for Victoria's party.