The students and professors were stunned as they watched the strange creature bouncing and tumbling through the air, the being Sylas had called Peeves.
"Headmaster… what is that?" Vice-Headmaster Edward asked, unable to hide his bewilderment. "It looks like a ghost, but… clearly isn't one."
The other professors and students also turned toward Sylas, waiting for an explanation.
Sylas didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked toward Gandalf and Galadriel with a soft smile.
"Gandalf, Lady Galadriel, the two of you are learned and wise. I'm sure you've already perceived Peeves' nature. Would you explain it to everyone?"
"Lady?" Gandalf prompted gently.
Galadriel did not refuse. Her eyes, bright with ancient wisdom, observed Peeves with interest.
"All things in this world," she said slowly, "when shaped and nurtured by time, can give birth to spirits. Ancient forests, flowing rivers, ancient mountains, each can awaken a spirit of its own. And this Peeves… is a spirit born from this castle."
Everyone looked enlightened for a moment, then fell into deeper confusion.
"Lady Galadriel," Edward asked hesitantly, "but this castle was only built a little over ten years ago. How could it possibly give birth to a spirit?"
Galadriel's lips curved, and she turned toward Sylas. "That is thanks to your headmaster. Normally, natural spirits require thousands of years to gestate. But this castle is magical, every stone infused with enchantment. It transcends the usual limits of time. So its birth of a spirit is not strange."
Gandalf nodded and added,
"Furthermore, if the castle itself is the cradle, then the children's laughter, their emotions, and their overflowing youthful energy serve as nourishment. In a sense, Peeves is a 'spirit' born from the bond between the castle and its students."
Now everyone finally understood.
Peeves… was the spirit of Hogwarts.
And as the spirit of the castle, he likely held more innate authority within it than anyone except Sylas himself.
Just then, Peeves zipped past overhead, knocking floating candles aside, scattering them like confetti, even flicking droplets of hot wax toward the students with a gleeful cackle.
The professors twitched.
Several grabbed their foreheads.
This… was the castle spirit?
Lively, chaotic, mischievous, and absolutely unreliable.
Edward, especially, already felt dread forming in his stomach. In his eyes, Peeves was no different from the most uncontrollable child in the world, only louder, faster, and impossible to catch.
And something told him that this was just the beginning.
Sylas, watching Peeves twirling happily in the air, was equally helpless.
Perhaps because Peeves' image existed so vividly in his memory, when he assisted the castle's spirit in forming, that impression shaped the emerging personality.
Thus Peeves had been born following exactly that "Peeves-like" temperament.
Sylas couldn't help thinking ruefully:
'If only I had kept my imagination under control while casting the spell… I might have ended up with a calm, refined "ghost butler" instead.'
But it was too late now. Once a castle spirit is born, it cannot be changed.
Peeves would only vanish if the castle were destroyed, abandoned, or emptied.
And as more students arrived every year, their emotional energy would only strengthen him. With time, Peeves would grow increasingly powerful.
This castle was his domain, and no one except Sylas, the master of Hogwarts, could command him.
Like a ghost, Peeves was immune to all physical attacks. He could fly, slip through walls, and ignore all ordinary spells.
Even most dark magic could only hinder him temporarily, never destroy him.
But unlike ghosts, Peeves could touch physical objects.
The only limitation was that, as the spirit of the castle, Peeves could not leave the castle grounds.
Setting aside Peeves for the moment, Sylas noticed it was getting late. He immediately announced the end of the banquet and instructed each house to return to their dormitories.
The four Heads of House, no longer concerned about Peeves, led their students back to their respective common rooms.
As the students walked out, however, they excitedly discussed Peeves the entire way.
Sylas watched Peeves zip out of the Great Hall and begin roaming the castle, but he didn't interfere. Instead, he escorted Arwen, Gandalf, and Galadriel back to the Tower of Amonsul.
After Galadriel helped Arwen into their bedroom, Gandalf settled into the sofa by the fireplace in the living room. He idly teased the salamander dancing in the flames with a pair of tongs, pipe between his teeth, while glancing occasionally at Sylas, who was deep in thought.
"Sylas," Gandalf finally asked, "something troubles you?"
Sylas nodded, his expression solemn, his gaze dark and thoughtful.
"Just now, during the banquet… I felt a malicious gaze coming from the direction of the students."
"A malicious gaze?" Gandalf lowered his pipe, eyes narrowing. "Are you certain it came from the students' direction, Sylas?"
Sylas nodded again. "I'm certain. It was faint and vanished quickly, but I'm sure of where it came from."
He paused, then continued in a deeper tone.
"And Gandalf… as you know, I have the ability to read minds. So I attempted to scan the students' thoughts."
His expression hardened, his eyes locking with Gandalf's.
"But found nothing. Everything appeared perfectly normal."
Gandalf's face grew stern.
He trusted Sylas completely, and he knew very well how powerful Sylas' Legilimency was, powerful enough that even Gandalf had to continuously shield his mind from it.
There was no way a first- or second-year child could resist Sylas' mind-reading.
The fact that Sylas sensed malice but found no trace of it through Legilimency meant only one thing: the intruder had disguised themselves among the students and possessed enough skill to evade detection.
"Sylas… are you suspecting that someone infiltrated the school disguised as a student?" Gandalf asked quietly.
Sylas nodded. "It's the only explanation. I don't believe any child would harbor such malice toward me, and even if they did, they could never hide their thoughts from my Legilimency."
"What do you intend to do?"
"No need to rush. First, I'll check the new student list in the Admission Book to see if anything stands out."
Sylas grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, tossed it into the fireplace, and stepped into the emerald flames, vanishing.
About two minutes later, the flames turned green again, and Sylas stepped back out of the fireplace, holding a thick dragonskin tome.
...
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