After their terrifying encounter with the troll, Harry and the others finally hurried into the Great Hall.
The Halloween feast had already been underway for quite some time.
The entire hall glowed beneath thousands of floating pumpkin lanterns and enchanted ribbons drifting lazily through the air. Giant pumpkins carved with eerie expressions lined the walls, while an enormous jack-o'-lantern near the staff table flickered with deep orange light as though silently telling ghost stories to the entire castle.
Above everyone's heads, bats formed from magical firelight fluttered endlessly beneath the enchanted ceiling.
Occasional squeaks echoed through the hall, adding an appropriately unsettling atmosphere to the celebration.
The warm glow of candlelight illuminated the long house tables, which overflowed with roasted meats, pumpkin pastries, sweets, and steaming drinks. The air carried a delicious mixture of food, smoke, and faint traces of magic.
Then Leo walked in.
Still dressed as the terrifying paper groom.
The lively atmosphere froze instantly.
Silence spread across the Great Hall.
Then came the screams.
Several younger students stared at him in horror.
Others instinctively hid behind their friends.
One Hufflepuff nearly fell off his bench entirely.
Even older students looked visibly unsettled as the crimson-robed figure floated silently through the hall.
The professors reacted differently.
Some appeared curious.
Some looked alarmed.
A few seemed genuinely impressed.
Fortunately, Fred and George Weasley recovered first.
The twins exchanged excited looks before immediately rushing over.
"Merlin's beard," George exclaimed, staring at Leo's costume with sparkling eyes. "This is incredible!"
"You even made yourself float!" Fred added enthusiastically. "And taller, too! Honestly, if you weren't standing beside Harry, we wouldn't have recognised you."
Leo sighed helplessly.
The twins truly possessed limitless curiosity.
"Where did you get this outfit?" George asked eagerly.
"Can you make one for us?" Fred added.
Without much resistance, Leo pulled out his wand.
"Fine."
With a casual flick, the twins' original ghost costumes transformed into ragged crimson robes nearly identical to Leo's own.
Fred looked down at himself with delight.
"George," he announced dramatically, "we are absolutely terrifying."
"Let's go scare first-years immediately."
The twins sprinted away laughing like escaped lunatics.
Meanwhile, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle hurried over to Draco.
For once, Pansy looked genuinely concerned.
"Draco, are you alright?" she asked quickly. "We heard about the troll."
Crabbe and Goyle stood behind her like oversized bodyguards.
"Young Master, are you hurt?" Crabbe asked nervously.
"We were worried," Goyle added honestly.
Draco immediately lifted his chin.
"Of course I'm fine," he declared smoothly. "Though it was admittedly a close call."
His robes remained immaculate despite the earlier chaos, and the smug confidence in his eyes suggested he felt rather heroic about the entire ordeal.
Nearby, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Charlotte, Rose, and the others gathered together while discussing Leo's horrifying costume.
Ron still looked traumatised.
"When I saw Leo standing in that corridor," he muttered weakly, "I genuinely thought I was about to die."
Hermione, however, appeared fascinated.
"It's incredibly creative," she said while studying Leo carefully. "Honestly, if you removed the makeup, you'd probably look rather handsome in those clothes."
Then her attention shifted toward the robes themselves.
Despite the frightening appearance, the design possessed a strange elegance.
Especially the deep crimson colours.
After watching Leo casually transform the twins' costumes, Hermione immediately became interested.
"Leo," she asked hopefully, "could you make one for me too?"
"Of course," Leo replied. "But yours should look different."
With another wave of his wand, Hermione's robes transformed instantly.
A crimson phoenix-inspired dress appeared around her.
Elegant.
Mysterious.
The layered red fabric resembled living flames beneath the candlelight, while a dark veil partially concealed her face, creating an eerie beauty rather than outright fear.
The entire hall fell silent again.
Hermione blinked.
Then several nearby girls immediately looked jealous.
Charlotte reacted first.
"Leo! Me too!"
She pointed dramatically at the damaged clothing she had acquired during the troll attack.
"Rose and I need new outfits anyway."
Even Pansy glanced toward Hermione's transformed appearance with poorly concealed envy.
Although Pansy already wore an expensive silver-and-blue fairy costume decorated with enchanted gems, Hermione's crimson attire possessed an entirely different sort of charm.
Seeing everyone suddenly interested, Leo simply shrugged.
Changing clothing was hardly difficult.
One after another, the girls received transformed outfits inspired by ancient ghost stories and folklore.
Rather than copying the paper groom exactly, Leo customized each design.
Some appeared hauntingly elegant.
Others looked mysteriously unsettling.
The boys weren't spared either.
Instead of wedding robes, however, Leo transformed them into various eerie figures inspired by supernatural legends.
The reaction was explosive.
Students from every house immediately crowded around the group.
A Ravenclaw girl whispered excitedly to her friend.
"That dress is gorgeous…"
"It's creepy," a Hufflepuff boy admitted, "but somehow really beautiful."
Before long, students skilled in Transfiguration began attempting their own versions.
Unfortunately, Hogwarts students being Hogwarts students, things quickly became strange.
Some costumes sprouted wings that flapped continuously.
Others changed colours every few seconds like enchanted rainbows.
One Hufflepuff somehow enchanted his sleeves to scream whenever anyone touched them.
A Ravenclaw girl surrounded herself with glowing runes that floated dramatically around her head.
The entire Halloween atmosphere rapidly descended into magical chaos.
Naturally, the Hogwarts ghosts refused to miss the festivities.
Nearly Headless Nick floated grandly into the hall wearing a bloodstained scarf around his neck.
"Happy Halloween!" he announced cheerfully.
Several first-years screamed immediately.
The Fat Friar drifted behind him carrying a glowing pumpkin lantern.
"What a delightful evening!" he said warmly.
The Bloody Baron simply hovered nearby.
His normal appearance was frightening enough that no additional effort was required.
The combination of living students, magical costumes, floating bats, enchanted pumpkins, and actual ghosts transformed the Great Hall into something far stranger than a typical Halloween celebration.
It felt less like a school feast and more like a supernatural gathering of spirits and monsters.
As dinner continued, conversation naturally shifted toward the troll incident.
Every table buzzed with speculation.
How had the troll entered Hogwarts?
Was it an accident?
Would there be more danger?
No one seemed to have any answers.
Meanwhile, Leo's terrifying paper groom costume remained one of the most discussed topics in the castle.
Even students who had never spoken to him before found themselves asking questions about it.
Thanks to Leo, Hogwarts' Halloween celebration that year no longer resembled an ordinary magical holiday.
It had become something unforgettable.
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