Until the afternoon, the four of them were occupied with making another batch of masks.
"Okay, I think it's almost finished," Lee Jordan said, "We need to generate momentum."
"Only just occurred to you?" George grinned. "I've already tasked the Hufflepuff students with spreading Muggle Halloween traditions."
"To increase the popularity of our products!" Fred chimed in immediately.
Harry couldn't help but laugh as he watched the two of them bantering. Having spent this time together, he realized that the Weasley brothers were natural entrepreneurs, with expansive ideas.
Exiting the abandoned classroom, several people emerged. Harry abstained from their sales activities. According to George, he was already exhausted enough. They could easily delegate such troublesome tasks to their older classmates.
Harry welcomed the chance to rest; after all, he was truly fatigued. With no morning classes and the afternoon flying lesson canceled due to Halloween, he had been meticulously carving magical texts with high intensity since morning.
Now, he felt a tingling sensation and swelling in his head.
Returning to the dormitory swiftly, Harry noticed a sizable package next to his bed.
"Did you bring this in for me?" Harry inquired, looking at Draco.
"Hmm." Draco, engrossed in a game of wizard chess with Crabbe, nodded absentmindedly. "What is it?"
"Candy from Duke Bee," Harry replied, unpacking the parcel. "Ordinarily, on Halloween, Muggles go door-to-door asking for sweets. But here at school, there's no such tradition."
With that, Harry handed Draco a handful of honey-flavored treats.
"I don't want it; I have my own sweets," Draco responded. His mother often sent him confections, which he didn't particularly enjoy, so he frequently gave them to Crabbe and Goyle.
"It's festive candy," Harry chuckled, offering another handful to Crabbe and Goyle.
After being roommates for so long, their relationship had improved significantly.
"Thank you," Draco acknowledged, stowing away the candy. Crabbe and Goyle eagerly unwrapped the sugary treats and popped them into their mouths.
In the common room, Harry generously distributed candies to some of his acquaintances.
As Harry exited the common room, he overheard someone muttering under their breath.
"Ugh, Muggle traditions. Candy, it's so silly and childish."
"Knowles, you'd do well to keep your opinions to yourself. It's holiday candy. At least it's a gesture of goodwill."
"Or maybe our little Norse prince simply craves candy and is envious because he hasn't got any? Perhaps you should write to your mother and ask her to send you some."
"Are you looking for trouble again?!"
…
Harry had never seen Hogwarts so lively. This was the first holiday of the school year, and everyone was exhilarated. Various Halloween decorations adorned the castle, fluttering and flying about.
Passing by the Great Hall, Harry observed a multitude of bats adorning the walls and ceiling, while others flew like dark clouds above the dining tables.
Hagrid's giant pumpkins had been enchanted with unknown magic. As young wizards passed by, the pumpkins twisted their expressions and emitted roars, attempting to startle them.
It was also the first time Harry had seen so many ghosts outside of the small dark room on the first day of school.
Nearly Headless Nick, usually sensitive about his condition, greeted passing students with a lifted, if slightly broken, neck.
Clearly, he wasn't in the best of moods.
The mischievous Peeves, embodying the Halloween spirit, focused solely on one aspect of the holiday promoted by the Weasley brothers.
Trick or treat!
"Trick or treat!" Peeves exclaimed, brandishing what looked like a giant, black booger at a young wizard.
"I...I don't have any candy," the young wizard stammered.
Harry recognized the voice; it belonged to Neville.
"Aha, no candy, eh? Then I've got something for you! Behold~ Peeves' super-sized, extra-delicious booger candy!!"
"Peeves, stop!"
Just before Peeves could smear the revolting substance on Neville's face, a chocolate bar materialized in front of him.
Neville turned around to see Harry holding out the chocolate.
Peeves glanced at the candy, his expression deflating suddenly.
"Boring. I don't want it. Keep it to yourself. I'm not interested," he grumbled, sauntering off in boredom.
He wasn't interested in candy; he just wanted to play pranks. It seemed he had gone along with the "trick or treat" tradition just for the sake of it, and now that he was being offered candy, he couldn't play along anymore—
"Aha, gotcha!"
With a triumphant cackle, Peeves abruptly turned around and hurled the large ball at Harry and Neville.
With a snap, the massive black mass seemed to collide with an invisible barrier before falling to the ground.
"Expected as much. Our trick-or-treaters are always vigilant," Harry chuckled.
"Damn Potter, what trickery did you use?" Peeves shouted.
But before he could finish his sentence, he felt a sharp blow to his head.
Raising his head, he found nothing there.
Just as he puzzled over this, invisible hands grabbed his legs and tossed him into the air several times.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Peeves let out a scream and darted through the wall.
"Potter's using dark magic! Potter's using dark magic!!"
"Hahaha." Harry couldn't contain his laughter at Peeves' antics. He then turned to Neville and handed him the chocolate he had offered earlier.
"Thanks for the save, Potter," Neville said, taking the chocolate and expressing his gratitude.
Harry waved it off. "No problem, it was nothing."
After rigorous practice, Harry had mastered the invisibility charm well enough to deflect Peeves' prank.
"By the way, have you seen Hermione?" Harry inquired, realizing he hadn't given Hermione any candy yet.
"I haven't seen her all afternoon," Neville replied, shaking his head.
"Oh, right. Hermione was also absent from class," he recalled suddenly. "She attended the morning Charms class but missed the second one."
Harry frowned, feeling a bit uneasy.
Hermione—skipping classes? It was so unlike her. Could something be wrong?
"Thanks, Neville," Harry said hurriedly, then made his way to the Gryffindor common room.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Neville might have missed something. It was one of those rare times he wished Neville was mistaken.