The following day, before class started, Professor Snape walked towards his seat in the Great Hall, his cape billowing behind him. "Mr Lionheart, I expect an explanation for the sudden request that Sir Nicholas asked me." His voice dripped with venom as he spoke every word.
While he expected Professor Snape to be mad at the sudden request, he didn't expect it to this degree. Allen answered with a tint of nervousness in his voice. "Well, Sir Nicholas asked the Grey Lady to ask me to attend his death day, which falls on the thirty-first of October.
I didn't want to get in trouble for being out late, so I asked the Grey Lady to ask Sir Nicholas to ask you, Sir, for permission, after all, he is the one who invited me."
A vein popped off in his forehead, then he calmed himself letting out a long breath. "You can go, but when you return from the festivity, Sir Nicholas and another ghost needs to accompany you to explain the situation to the prefects. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Sir, thanks for the vote of confidence."
Professor Snape walked towards the staff table, ending the conversation.
Armand and William looked his way. "Uh, what was that?"
"Yeah, what is a death day? And why were you invited?"
Allen hesitated for a moment before answering. "Oh, um, apparently, a death day is like a birthday, but backwards, since they are celebrating the day they died, and Sir Nicholas invited me for some reason." He decided to keep a secret the fact that he was invited only to scare rude guests with his eyes.
"Oh, sick! Do you think we can go too?" William asked, but Armand put a disgusted face.
Seeing Armand react so strongly, William wondered what was wrong with it. "Is… is that not allowed?"
"No, no, you misunderstood me. It's just…" Armand let out a long breath before answering. "You know how ghosts can't feel anything, or eat anything, right?"
William nodded up and down, waiting for the reason.
"Well, they can… more or less taste something when the flavor is too strong."
"So they have a lot of spices in their food?" William turned his head to the side.
"No William, they have rotten food.
Food that has been kept for weeks, maybe years."
"R- Right. But if you know, what made you accept the offer?" Armand asked.
Allen stayed silent for a moment before speaking. "Well, I've read about the death day" From the second book in the series. "For ghosts, and thought it was interesting and wanted to see how it was in person."
Armand and William showed a bit of a disgusted expression on their faces. "W- Well, have fun."
William nodded his head, agreeing with what Armand said.
Allen let out a chuckle. "Thank you, I'll let you know how it went."
"Just omit the food details." Said Armand as he stood up, picking up his backpack.
"Will do. But just out of curiosity, you don't know a spell that can block my sense of smell?" Allen asked, now a bit worried after listening to Armand, he knew the food was going to be putrid, but maybe he underestimated how disgusting it would be.
"There might be something in a second year spellbook. We can check it after class, there's still time for the Sir Nicholas' death day, right?"
"Yeah, it's on the thirty-first."
William suddenly cried. "Wait! You are gonna miss Samhain to spend the rest of the night with a bunch of ghosts and putrid food?!"
"Of course not. I did told him I was gonna eat proper food first, then visit his party. So I'll just enjoy a bit of Samhain before going there." Said Allen as he stood up as well.
William followed suit and stood up. Walking towards their class.
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"What do you mean you are going to attend a death day on Samhain?! Then what about the feast?" Sophia cried. They just finished charms class and were walking towards the transfiguration classroom when William mentioned it.
"Well, yeah, Sir Nicholas asked me to go. And I 've found it intriguing, so I'll go."
Elsie added from the side. "You do know that they get rotten-"
Before she could finish talking, Allen did it for her. "Yes, Elsie, I know there's going to be a lot of rotten and putrid food.
Armand and I will be looking for a spell to block my sense of smell so I can enjoy the party a bit."
"… Enjoy? A death day?" Sophia asked, not believing what he was saying.
Allen shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, if they are celebrating it, or at least remembering it, it means that it's kind of like a party, isn't it? And it's the same with Samhain, we celebrate the dead by dancing and eating."
And I feel like if I can enjoy a death day from someone, maybe I can come to terms with my own. He kept such thoughts to himself.
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After their classes, the five of them went to the library. After they finished their homework for the day, they all went in different directions, looking for a charm book that might hopefully have a spell to block your sense of smell.
The looked and looked but couldn't find anything. Allen wondered if he could somehow try to do that without a specific spell, just like how he used to do before he knew his powers were magic.
"I think we should stop for today guys. It's not a matter of life and death, I can just hold my breath, or breath through my mouth." Allen said, seeing how exhausted their friends were.
"Right… I think that would be for the best." William stood up and stretched before picking up the books and putting them back on their place.
"Sorry we couldn't fin anything, but you did chose to go, so don't blame us if you end up smelling like-"
Allen interrupted her, giving her a smile, grateful for her help. "I get it Sophia, thanks."
His mind was filled with thoughts about trying to cast the spell just like how he used to do. With intention and willpower. Since his friends were with him, he couldn't just try use his magic, since his magic would light up his eyes with a green light. And honestly, he didn't want to give them a scare.
Afterwards they talked about a bit of school and what classes were harder than others for them.
All agreed that Astronomy was hardest by far, not because of subject, but because of the time they had to take the class.
It messed up with their sleep time big time, getting to a point where they would sleep through history of magic just to rest from the previous class.
"But you've been getting better at transfiguration, did something happen, Allen?" Elsie asked him. Wondering about the sudden up in performance.
"Well… you could say that, Professor McGonagall helped me out. Apparently I was casting the spells incorrectly." He shrugged his shoulders. Not wanting to go into details.
"What do you mean incorrectly? You've been able to cast the spells at the second or third try!" Sophia cried, then got quiet immediately, remembering how scary Madam Pince can be.
"Well, that's what Professor McGonagall said, so after that I've been following her advice and it's working so far." He answered.
Sophia, Elsie and William looked at him with suspicion. "And you aren't going to tell us? We need the help more than you!"
Allen laughed nervously, they were right, since it was more difficult for them to cast any transfiguration, only Armand could do it almost at the first try, and after Allen met with Professor McGonagall and told him about how to cast the spell, thinking about a specific period of time for the transfiguration to last, he was able to catch up to him. But this method wouldn't really work with his friends since the spell itself was already imbued with the amount of time that it needed to last. It was only Allen who for some reason, ignored those rules whenever he casted the spells. That's why he had to think about the specifics whenever he used a transfiguration spell.
"Why don't you ask Armand instead? He's better at transfiguration than me." Allen complained, trying to pass the problem to his friend.
"But it's different with him! He always could do it, but you got better after receiving advice from Professor McGonagall." William complained.
Allen let out a long breath before speaking. "Okay, I'm going to tell you what she told me, but that doesn't mean it's going to work."
The three of them nodded.
"Professor McGonagall told me to focus on the transfiguration whenever I'm using the spell. Focus on what you want the object to become, and for how long.
You need to picture it in your mind."
The three of them stayed silent for a moment before speaking. "Wait, that's it? That's nothing! Let's go try it right now!" William exclaimed, standing up from his chair.
Elsie followed suit, and Sophia was the last one to stand up. They all picked up their bags and walked towards the exit. Allen and Armand were behind of them.
"They are going to be disappointed when the spell doesn't work." Armand said to Allen.
He nodded. "It sounds easy, but you have to keep thinking about it so the spell can work so it can take a bit of a toll on your mind."
"Hmm, are you going to tell them?"
Allen massaged his chin looking at his friends who were almost running towards an empty classroom. "I don't want to rain on their parade, so it would be better if they find out by themselves."
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After trying the method Allen told them about, they realized that it was harder than just casting the spell, and decided to continue doing the normal method. Casting the spell while picturing the image of the object until the transfiguration happens.
When it was almost time for dinner they decided to leave to the Great Hall, and then eat a bit before going back to their dorms.
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The following day Allen went back to the Room of Requirements, there, he found Ravenclaw's ghost, seemingly resting her back on the troll's tapestry, as if waiting for him.
"Hello, Helena, I didn't expect you to be here."
"Hmm, I didn't expect to come back either, but since we will be going to Sir Nicholas' death day together, I thought it would be best to get to know each other."
Allen nodded, it made sense to him.
"Would you mind if I train first, then we can talk?"
"I don't mind, do your thing."
Afterwards, Allen spent almost two hours building and shattering the second shield of his Occlumency, then, when he got tired of the repetition, he decided to try his hand at the spell to make temporarily get rid of his sense of smell.
Just as a few years ago, Allen concentrated back again in his feelings, since it was so long since he did it. Then pushed through with the idea of 'getting rid of the sense of smell' with his willpower, he imagined something like two balls of magic blocking his nostrils.
After a moment, his eyes shone green. Helena flinched a bit, she was looking from the side, wondering exactly what he was doing.
Then, just as he imagined, two small balls of light blocked his nostrils, but he was still able to breathe properly. Allen raised an eyebrow, wondering if it worked. "Umm, Room of Requirements, can you appear something smelly?" He asked aloud, referring specifically to the room since Helena was there with him.
The room shook in agreement and after a few seconds, a putrid pie was in front of him, yet, Allen couldn't smell anything.
He canceled the effect of his magic and all of a sudden, he was assaulted by the horrid smell of meat.
Allen gagged in reflex but stopped himself from vomiting as he casted the spell back again, blocking his nostrils.
"Urgh, okay… It works.
Can you take it back where you found it, please?"
The room shook again, and the pie disappeared, nowhere to be seen.
When he looked towards Helena, she had an eyebrow raised, a questioning look on her face, wondering exactly what was wrong with him.