Chapter 21 — The Mischievous Professor Dracula
Thus, Dracula became the designer of the Halloween feast's decorations.
On the last night of October, when the young witches and wizards arrived at the Great Hall in groups, they were instantly stunned.
The doors of Hogwarts had transformed into a gigantic, predatory mouth, with several sharp fangs hanging overhead, as if ready to chew the students to pieces.
In the magical world, Halloween held great significance for wizards.
Even the newest students had already experienced Halloween's atmosphere at least ten times, so this scene didn't frighten them. They were simply amazed, staring at the decorations in awe.
Of course, some first-years came from Muggle families. They had never seen anything like this before and were genuinely scared.
When a giant spider suddenly swung down from the "fangs," a few timid girls nearly screamed.
The interior of the Great Hall had changed completely.
The thousands of brightly floating candles in the air were gone, replaced by thousands of bats flapping wildly in the hall. Thick black clouds drifted above them.
On the magically enchanted transparent ceiling, storm clouds summoned by weather charms rumbled with occasional lightning strikes.
In the clouds, a small gap revealed a crescent moon, scattering faint moonlight through the drifting darkness.
Looking back at the hall, the four House tables had been transformed into stretches of black, withered wood. Countless gnarled, dry branches extended from the tables, with bats occasionally hanging upside down to rest.
At the front of the hall, Hagrid's enormous pumpkins had been carved into wicked grins. Inside the hollowed pumpkins, bright candles flickered, their flames swaying in sync with the movement of the clouds above the tables.
The largest pumpkin, enlarged by a swelling charm, dominated the front area, engulfing the faculty seating. Students could peek inside its mouth to see the professors, each dressed in different costumes.
Dumbledore sat at the center, perched on a pumpkin-shaped chair. To match the Halloween mood, he wore a pure white robe. Magic caused it to float slightly, making him appear like a ghost.
Short Professor Flitwick had placed a pumpkin helmet on his head. Sitting on a pumpkin chair far taller than the others, he resembled a tiny pumpkin knight.
Even the usually strict Professor McGonagall didn't have her stern expression this time. Using Transfiguration magic, she turned her pointed hat black, with a small black cat perched atop it, occasionally flicking its tail.
Snape was the only professor at the faculty table not wearing a Halloween costume. Yet his sullen expression and natural aura made him blend seamlessly with the spooky atmosphere, like a giant bat.
As for Dracula, he appeared no different than usual.
But when the students entered and he saw the new students' frightened reactions, he laughed with delight. His eerie grin revealed two sharp side fangs.
…
Fred and George were the first to embrace the Halloween spirit.
They painted each other's faces with black and white paint, creating crude skull masks, then screamed and rushed into the hall.
Taking advantage of the dim lighting, they blended among the students, occasionally shining their wands' light spells on their skull faces, startling anyone nearby.
In the dim light, Dracula's vision remained clear.
Seated at the faculty table, he lightly swirled a glass of vibrant red wine, contently watching the twins' antics—until they produced a handful of stink bombs and dung bombs…
Dracula's expression darkened. In an instant, he vanished from his spot.
The next moment, he appeared behind the twins and snapped his fingers. All the dung and stink bombs instantly froze into solid ice.
Fred and George felt their hands grow heavy and, realizing their bombs had turned into ice, finally noticed Dracula's presence.
"Professor! Weren't you just at the faculty table? How did you sneak up on us?" Fred instinctively tried to hide the ice-encased dung bombs behind his back.
The ice was too cold. His hands shook involuntarily, and the heavy ice chunks fell to the floor.
Dracula's eye twitched. Before the ice chunks could hit the ground, he summoned them into his hand and effortlessly confiscated George's stink bombs as well, storing them in his invisible, portable space.
"Professor, these are our hard-earned supplies! You can't just take them!" George pouted dramatically.
But with his skull-painted face, the expression looked both ridiculous and grotesque.
"It's Halloween. I can't fault you two for playing pranks during the festival," Dracula said, amused by their silly skull faces.
Then his expression turned serious. "But don't you realize we still have the feast coming up? Do you want everyone to eat in the stench?!"
Fred and George laughed sheepishly, unsure what to say.
"I've taken these away for now. Maybe I'll return them to you when I'm in a better mood."
Dracula, uninterested in further scolding, returned to his seat. His red-and-black cloak swayed lightly as he disappeared from sight.
The Halloween feast seemed poised to proceed normally, but to Dracula's surprise, only a few minutes later, the twins appeared again—this time sneaking into the giant pumpkin from the front and making their way to the faculty table.
"Seeing you two again does nothing to improve my mood. Forget about getting back those dung bombs," Dracula said impatiently.
"Professor, you misunderstand! We didn't come to retrieve the bombs," Fred quickly explained.
George nodded. "We just thought, since it's Halloween, there are certain traditions we should follow."
They exchanged mischievous glances and said in unison:
"Trick or treat!"
Dracula looked at them in surprise, then a playful smile spread across his face.
"Here you go!" He grabbed a handful of lollipops from the table and tossed them to the twins.
"Thank you, Professor!" Fred and George cheerfully caught the sweets and popped them into their mouths.
The next moment—
"Ugh!"
"Professor! Your lollipops taste like rust?!"
Dracula laughed merrily, his sharp side fangs peeking from the corners of his mouth.
"Now, haven't you figured out the role I'm playing?" he said lightly. "Lollipops with this taste are the most authentic for this character, don't you think?"
"You win, Professor! We give your vampire portrayal a perfect score!" Fred and George exclaimed in awe.
At that moment, Dumbledore, who had been watching the scene, waved at the twins.
"If you've suffered enough with Professor Dracula, come over here. I've got plenty of sweets for you." He handed over two large bags of Honeydukes' special edition candies to the twins.
They gratefully accepted the treats, tears of joy streaming down their faces.
Compared to the mischievous Professor Dracula, the Headmaster was far too kind!