previously :
Harry, Ron and Hermione went into the Forbidden Forest to see Firenze the centaur and ask about the Party Ponies. Firenze told them what he knew and warned them of something bad happening on Halloween. An unexpected character followed them into the woods.
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T W E N T Y - F I V E
⋙⋘

October thirty-first was nearing, and as another day on the calendar was marked off, the thought of impending doom grew stronger. Percy felt rather like he was bathing in anxiety, and the problem was, no matter how hard he scrubbed himself with soap, he couldn't get clean. He'd never been the patient type and waiting for something bad to happen was something he was all too familiar with. This time, perhaps the stress of everything piling up, one on top of the other had finally got to his head.

He'd vowed to try harder; for Annabeth, his mother, and everyone else. So he had to shake his unease, and do what he's promised– try harder that is. He'd decided to start with the little things. For instance; every time he passed Harry, or a classmate of some sort, he would smile and say hello. He'd subtlety make sure he was always sitting next to the 'Potter-And-Friends-Squad' – that's what he'd taken to calling them in his head – at mealtimes, always looking for opportunities to jump into their conversation.

He would conveniently be at the library at the same time as they were, even though he hated reading. "I'm studying," he would insist. Then he'd look really confused as he was doing his homework (which wasn't that hard) and hope Genius Hermione would offer to help him which meant evidently, he'd get invited to their table. Percy even went as far as to follow them to Hagrid, the surprisingly friendly half-giant's cabin one time, claiming he was bored and he wanted to come along "just for the LOL's!" because from what he'd heard Hagrid told some pretty funny jokes. (He'd just made that part up because he needed an excuse.)

If any of them found his behaviour a little weird, they didn't comment. The other day Ron had even gone as far as to say hello to him first when they passed by each other.

Percy liked to think that was progress.

So maybe he was being a little– just a little forward, but he'd wasted almost two months at the stupid school already and done next to nothing. He simply didn't have time to waste anymore and he felt terrible about trying to force a friendship but he had no choice. Besides, it wasn't like Harry, Ron and Hermione were horrible people, and he found himself enjoying their company. He could only pray to the gods that he could earn their trust and friendship. He no longer just needed their help. He wanted it.

Clarisse, on the other hand, when he'd asked what she'd been doing, had insisted she was trying to make some friends with the Slytherins. "Those asshats are the key. If I can convince them to stop being such morons and to trust me than we can get their help in the war. Last time most of them were either with that evil scumbag or kicking back on the sidelines. Now shut up, quit questioning me, and do your part, Jackson."

So he did, but no matter how hard he tried, it didn't stop the inevitable from occurring.

It was funny how the less you wanted something to happen, the more it eventually would, and Halloween was more of a disaster than anyone could have expected.

⋙⋘

On the thirty-first, the school was a buzz of chatter and excitement. Of course, that was only to be expected of the oblivious teachers and students who were treating the day like they would any other year. None of them were aware of the foreseen tragedy. Neville was amongst those students living in bliss.

His laughter and excitement was naïve, and he wasn't aware of how envious some were of that. He watched from behind a bowl of pumpkin soup as Professor Flitwick stood on a high stool, hoisting up enchanted skeletons with his wand. A bunch of sixth year students who had not yet eaten, but had their first period free, were levitating Hagrid's carved pumpkins up into the air, and draping fake spiderwebs in the hallways. Even the suits of armour had switched their metal heads for Jack-o-Lanterns that were yet to be lit up. Naturally, the current decorations in the Great Hall were only just the beginning and Neville couldn't wait until the feast later in the evening.

"Is it always like this?" Percy Jackson, another Gryffindor seventh year queried, watching the decorations with a small amount of surprise. 

Neville grinned. "This is nothing. Just wait till you see everything tonight." He couldn't help but to take a little bit of pride in his school.  

Percy whistled appreciatively. "That big, huh?"

Neville hadn't talked to any of the overseas students that much and he had little to no knowledge on how they went about doing things but he suddenly found himself curious. "How did you celebrate at your old school?" he asked.

"My old school?" The comment appeared to take him off guard. "Uh, I don't really know. The usual, I guess?"

"You're from Australia, right?" Neville asked, lowering his spoonful of porridge back into the bowl with a splatter. He winced at the orange specks of pumpkin porridge that now dotted his otherwise black robes.

The dark haired boy choked on a mouthful of pancakes. "Er, no, I'm from America actually."

"Sorry," he apologised, his round face tinted pink in embarrassment. "Gran made me go to a muggle school for a few years. I remember learning about the countries but I was terrible." He faintly recalled tripping over a whole bunch of chairs and face planting through the chalkboard.

"You went to a muggle school?" Percy asked curiously, taking a bite out of his strangely blue pancakes. Neville thought that was odd. Maybe Percy had a fetish. 

"Gran thought I was all muggle," he explained. "Said I needed an education. There weren't any signs of magic until I was eight. My great-uncle Algie insisted I stopped going after then. He knew how miserable I was there. I never was much good at it."

Percy added an extra pancake to his stack. "School– muggle school," Neville wasn't sure why but the word muggle sounded odd coming from his mouth. "– sucked for me too. I went to six different schools. They all kicked me out."

His eyes widened. "Blimey! What did you do?" He asked incredulously. Percy was pretty awful in all of the classes they had together but he wouldn't have been expelled for that, would he?

He shovelled another bite of pancakes. "It wasn't my fault," he insisted. He scratched his head sheepishly. "So, anyway, what happens on Halloween?" The fact that Percy didn't want to talk about his experience in muggle school was obvious so Neville let it go. "The castle just gets decorated?"

"Well you see, every Halloween, Hogwarts has a wonderful feast. The whole castle gets decorated and one year, our old Headmaster, Dumbledore booked The Dancing Skeletons as a surprise. You're in for a real treat."

"Real skeletons?"

"Well you certainly wouldn't expect them not to be." The surprises from the previous years got Neville wondering what McGonagall might have organised for her first Halloween Feast as Headmistress.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Percy asked, snapping him back to reality.

"My gran says only if you attack them," Neville assured him. "But if you're worried about the skeletons, I don't think we'll be having any this year."

"Sounds fun," Percy muttered. "Do they dress up?" he joked.

At that moment, Ginny decided to sit down. "Happy Halloween," she chimed. Neville scooted over to make room for her, echoing the same statement back. Luna Lovegood sat down directly opposite him. "Morning Neville," she chirped. "Hello Ginny, Percy."

"Aren't you supposed to be at the Ravenclaw table?" he blurted at the same time as Percy asked, "How do you know my name?"

Luna answered Percy's question first. "I remember hearing that Slytherin girl saying it the other day. And oh yes, I suppose I am but they're quite tedious this morning. Rosie Hemmings can't stop going on about her new boyfriend whom she insists has an IQ higher than Einstein."

"Einstein? Who's that?" Neville wondered aloud, his forehead crinkling in confusion.

"Some sort of muggle genius apparently. I didn't stay much longer after she started to explain," she responded swiftly. At the same time Percy asked "You don't know who Albert Einstein is?" That was starting to get annoying.

Ginny opened her mouth to say something but Dean cut her off from the other end of the table.
"Oi! Harry! We don't still have Quidditch practice tonight, do we?" he belted out. She winced at the volume. Harry laughed. "Course not, it's Halloween!"

Luna sighed. "Gryffindors always seem to be quite loud." She shook her head as her soft voice floated through the air like helium. "But is it just me or does Harry sound a little bit...off?"

Percy's ears perked up. The action didn't go by unnoticed.

Neville shrugged. "Didn't really notice it."

"Ronald Weasley!" Ginny's hand came crashing down on the table out of nowhere.

"Yes, Ginevra?" her brother echoed back.

"I'm not a messenger! If you want his food, you ask him!"

"Fine!" Ron conceded. He looked past Neville and over to Percy. "Are you eating that?" He motioned to his second stack of pancakes that he'd left untouched by his first.

Percy was obviously surprised but he covered it up with a grin. "Oh yeah, I'm taking it to go," he said, standing up, and scooping up his plate.

Neville had no idea you could do that.

"What classes do you guys have today?" Percy asked them all as he added some extra syrup to his stack.

"Double Herbology first," he responded without missing a beat. It was his favourite subject, and possibly the only one he had even an inkling of skill for. Plants, gardening and greenery all tied in with magic was the best thing in the world. He eagerly awaited the lessons with Sprout.

"Cool. Me too."

"And I bet you also happen to have Charms third and fourth?" Hermione interjected, poking her head into the conversation. How did she do that?

"Actually I think I do." He checked his schedule. "How did you know?"

"It was just a guess. Don't mind me." She made a humph noise and folded her arms across the table. Weird. Neville felt like he was out of the loop with a lot of things. He'd have to ask Hermione about her behaviour later. Subconsciously, his fingers rested around the gold galleon he'd kept in his pocket since the Dumbledore's Army days. A smile made its way onto his face.

When Neville looked up, Percy was walking away, plate of pancakes resting in his arms. His eyes lingered on the boy a second longer, just long enough to see him quickly scrape the remainders of his food into a brazier when no one was looking. He frowned as Percy exited the hall as if nothing had happened.

"Does anyone find that a little odd?" Ginny asked. "He has all the same classes as Harry. Always at the same time. Convenient if you ask me."

"What about me?" Harry asked, finally joining in the conversation.

"We were just saying– oh never mind, I'll tell you later," Hermione said, brushing him off.

"Well, I had no idea you could take food to go," Ron commented in bewilderment.

⋙⋘

"Gather round! Gather round!"

Professor Sprout was a chubby little woman, with curling grey hair and a pointed hat balanced atop her hair. She clapped her hands together as the class encircled the long bench in the Greenhouse. Percy found himself wedged in-between Harry and the round faced boy named Neville he'd talked to at breakfast that morning.

Harry was tensed and stood with his back straight, eyes looking in every direction. As opposed to him, Neville was relaxed and eager, making sure to get as close as possible to Sprout so as not to miss a word. He clearly hadn't been lying when he'd said that Herbology was his favourite subject.

"Today I have a special treat for you all!" Professor Sprout announced, her rosy cheeks becoming pink with excitement. "We'll be growing Essence of Moonstone!"

Essence of what-now?

He looked towards Neville who's beam had brightened. Feeling his gaze, he turned to him. "Here that? Essence of Moonstone!" One of the things Percy had observed was that Neville was friendly but not to the point that it was creepy. Why in Hades name hadn't he spoken to this dude before? It would have helped him feel a hundred times less lonely. And why couldn't Neville be the kid he was supposed to get close to and not Harry because it would have been soooooo much easier if that were the case. Sure, he liked Harry, but damn that guy was closed off. Sometimes Percy would catch him looking at him like he was about to pull out a sword and do some fancy ninja moves on him. Come on, everyone knew he only did that to monsters.

"What's that?" he wondered.

Neville was only delighted to explain. "It's remarkable! At first, it's only a wee small plant at first–" he began enthusiastically. Only seconds later he was interrupted by the the teacher.

"Mr Longbottom," she cut in. "You seem to know what today's lesson plan will be, judging by your conversation with Mr Jackson. How about you share with the class?" Contrary, her tone wasn't an aggressive one, nor was it disapproving. She smiled proudly and gestured for Neville to come forwards. Percy nudged him in the shoulder and he took a few steps.

"Erm, well, Essence of Moonstone is a peculiar little plant. When you first plant it, it's a little bit small. It looks kind of like my Gran's turnips." That drew a small laugh. "But once it starts to grow, it becomes enormous," He spread his hands for effect, "and takes on a silver hue."

"And where is it planted?" Sprout prodded, wiping her muddy hands on the overalls that she'd chosen to wear over her robes that day, which Percy found quite weird.

"Usually by a water source. The roots grow towards water, and it's magical properties are beneficial for sea creatures," he explained, the words pouring out of his mouth like he was a dictionary. Percy was impressed.

"Thank you Mr Longbotton. That will be all." Neville glowed with happiness as he came to stand back next to Percy.

"You weren't kidding when you said you liked Herbology," he noted.

"And he's brilliant at it too," Harry blurted, overhearing the conversation. Neville blushed.

"Now!" Sprout yelled over the chatter that had resumed, effectively ending the conversation. Dammit. "I want each of you to choose a seed and follow me outside! You'll be needing your wands in today's lesson!"

They each collected a rugged green pouch from the front of the room and then filed out of the Greenhouse as a group. As the class crossed the grass, Harry split off from the two of them and moved over to Ron and Hermione. Percy watched him with an uncomfortable frown. He needed to get a move on with this annoying quest and Harry was making it incredibly difficult for him to forge a friendship.

Neville coughed awkwardly and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'm really sorry to be the one to tell you but he has a girlfriend."

Percy's head whipped around. "What?"

He muttered something under his breath and looked at the ground. "I don't think you're really much of his type. He's into, erm, ladies. And I don't think it would be fair to, erm, Annabeth–"

"I'm not gay!" Percy protested before he could finish the sentence.

"Jackson," Professor Sprout tutted. "Could you keep up the pace? I'm sure we can discuss your sexuality after class but right now I have a lesson to teach."

The class erupted with laughter. One of the Hufflepuff boys looked Percy up and down with a smirk and shrugged indifferently. "Sorry, you're not my type."

Percy was too surprised to utter a reply as they came to a stop in front of the lake.

"As I said before, the Essence of Moonlace can only be planted near a body of water," The Professor continued, and all talk of Percy subsided as the rest of the class listened attentively once more. "I want each of you to spread out across the embankment, leaving at least a metre space." He did as he was told and sat next to Neville who was looking rather apologetic. "Sorry," the boy mouthed.

"Now! Using your hands, I want you to dig a ten centimetre deep hole, about the size of a fist."

Percy carefully watched Neville dig a hole before doing the same thing himself. The ground was soft between his fingers. He piled the dirt to his side as he dug a small hole that somehow looked aesthetically pleasing.

"Now, I want everyone to remove their seed from its pouch."

Percy undid the knot around the green fabric to reveal a large and walnut shaped seed. It had flecks of silver dotting its exterior and was unexpectedly heavy.

"This is the difficult part," she continued, observing everyone. "As you can see, the Essence of Moonstone seeds are encrusted in a hard outer layer. The trick is getting them to open up. Can anyone tell me how we might go about doing that?"

Naturally, Hermione's arm was in the air first, much to Neville's dismay. "The power of song," she answered swiftly.

"That wold be correct, Miss Granger. Each of you must sing to your seed, let it know that it's welcome and supported. Let it know that it is needed. Sing, and your seed shall open up."

"I'm sorry what?" Percy retorted loudly. "You want us to sing?"

"That's precisely what I want you to do. Would you like to give the class a demonstration?"

Neville stifled his laughter as Percy struggled to form a coherent sentence. "I sound like a dying whale," was all he managed to finally get out.

"For the sake of your seed, and your classmates, I hope that's not the case. What about you, Mr Weasley?"

Ron looked horrified. "I think I'll pass," he choked out.

"Nonsense. None of you are brave enough to sing?"

Percy wasn't that brave to volunteer.

"And to think half of you lot are Gryffindors." She shook her head in disappointment.

"I'll sing, Professor," Teresa Nguyen, a petite girl from Vietnam, offered. The rest of the class let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Miss Nguyen. Five points to Hufflepuff for exceeding the bravery of your classmates. The rest of you, I want silence. The seed will only reveal itself in an environment where it feels secure and soothed."

Teresa swallowed nervously and then opened her mouth to sing. "Somewhere over the rainbow. Way up high. And the dreams that you dreamed of, once in a lullaby." Her voice was soft and clear like the breeze. She was only a few people away from Percy so he could faintly make out the seed in her hands. The outer layer cracked and slowly began to split. The specks of silver began to glow until soon the shell completely broke away. Teresa stopped singing and the class held their breath. In her palm was a small silver ball, the size of a pearl. A sparkling aura surrounded it. Slowly it dimmed until it was just a grey ball.

"Magnificent! Another fifteen points to Hufflepuff," Sprout declared, clapping her hands together in delight. "Now who would like to go next? How about you, Mr Macmillan?"

"I would rather not, Professor," he mumbled.

Sprout was having none of it. Percy felt horrible for 'Mr Macmillan.' He wasn't sure what his first name was. Enid or something.

The professor stared expectantly at the boy until he began to sing something from a musical. "Alright," she broke in after a few seconds. "You can stop now." The shell hadn't opened an inch. Enid looked positively disheartened.

"Sing amongst yourselves for now. The sooner you get your seed to open, the sooner you can leave this class."

Most exchanged nervous glances with each other. Percy turned to Neville. "This is stupid," he complained. "I'm not going to sing."

"You can't be that bad," Neville said helpfully.

Percy remembered singing Happy Birthday to one of his stupid classmates at Applebee's Delinquent Academy a.k.a 'school number three'. After that, singing Happy Birthday was banned and the school's voice program was abolished.

Permanently.

He was that bad.

Evidently, it had only taken a minute for the rest of their classmates to decide to just suck it up and sing. Maybe if he sung really quietly nobody would notice. "Alright little seed. Percy's gonna sing you a lullaby."

The only song that came to mind was one he'd heard Thalia playing during their trip to Mount Orthys. He cleared his throat. "Hellooooo, Helloooo, Hellooooooooo....With the lights out....uh it's less dangerous. Dun dun dun it smells like teen spirit–"

A thin hairline crack so small he almost needed a magnifying glass to see it, ran its way down the side of the shell. It was a miracle. He mentally patted himself on the back.

By the time the lesson was over, Percy had succeeded in breaking the seed from its shell with various out of order lyrics from the Nirvana song. He even threw in a little bit of the Wiggles theme. Then he'd buried the Essence of Moonstone in the hole and drizzled it with salt water.

Unfortunately once the class finished, the break between the second and third period flew by in the blink of an eye and next thing Percy knew, he was sitting in the middle row of Professor Flitwick's classroom.

On the bright side, he'd scored Harry as a table partner for the task they were doing.

"Today, working with your partner, we shall be returning to basic charms," Flitwick started. "As you all know, the focus on non-verbal spells will be a high priority this year, and some of you might even move on to performing a spell without a wand." Harry flinched.

"Working with your partner, I want you to run through the spells on the board and see if you are able to complete any non-verbally. Most of you will be familiar with these as you've learned them in your first year. Any objects you might need to perform the following spells, you can collect from my desk. You have until a quarter past! Begin!"

"Wingardium Leviosa," Harry told Percy. "We need a sheet of parchment to try it on."

"I'll get it." Percy walked to the front of the class and swiped a blank scroll from the basket. He headed back to the desk and handed it to Harry. "I haven't done this spell before," he added.

"That's alright. Maybe you should practice it with words first and then try it non-verbally."

"Sure. You might want to take a step back though. I'm probably going to stuff it up." Harry did just that.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

And would you believe it?

It floated.

Not just a measly centimetre off the table. More like a good few feet.

First he hadn't failed in Herbology. And now this?

Trick or treat? This was definitely his Halloween treat.

Harry himself was a little surprised and somewhat nervous. "You actually did it." He blinked as if to make sure he was seeing right. "Now try without speaking." The scroll floated back down to the desk and Percy pointed his wand again. He thought of the incantation. Wingardium Leviosa. This time the scroll didn't budge. It didn't even shake a little. That didn't bother him. He couldn't have everything and the positive mood he'd been put in would not be ruined by anything.

"Your turn," he noted. Mentally, he was squealing like a little child. Get your act together.

Harry nailed the spell the first try. "Nice one." Percy clapped him on the back in a friendly gesture.

"Yeah..." Harry trailed off. The smile was forced. That much he could tell.

⋙⋘

Soon enough, night fell and with it came the Halloween celebrations. The Great Hall was more alive than Percy had ever seen it be that evening and the festivities were more extraordinary than he could have imagined. The room was as dark as Nico's soul– just kidding, (it was a bit darker) and the ceiling reflected a clear night sky of tiny glowing stars. Hundreds of floating candles balanced precariously in the air, illuminating the hall with a soft orange glow. Platters of food hovered above the tables and some particularly naughty ones would dart away when they were reached for. He even spotted the suits of armour from the entrance walked around with their pumpkin heads, telling jokes to anyone who would listen.

Even Peeves had made an appearance, though mainly to cause havoc. The poltergeist, kept jumping out through the tables randomly, drawing shrieks of surprise. Someone had also carved rude drawings into the Jack-o-lanterns which were giving everyone a laugh, the only exception being some of the teachers. Professor Flitwick rushed around in a hurry as he tried to dispose of them.

It was awesome.

And what made things better? Percy succeeded in scoring a seat right in-between Harry and Hermione with Neville not far away. It was the third time he was in Harry Potter's presence that day. Wow, he sounded like some obnoxious fangirl.

"Can you believe it? HARREH BLINKED AT ME ERMAGHERD. I'M NEVER CLOSING MY EYES AGAIN SO I CAN SAVOUR THE MOMENT HIS EYES MET MINE!"

"I SWEAR I JUST INHALED HIS SCENT. HE SMELLS LIKE WALMART AND POTATO CHIPS WITH A HINT OF MOULDY ONIONS LIKE COULD'T YOU JUST DIE?!? DIS IS DA BEST DAY OF MA LIFE!!!! ASDFGHJKL!1!1!"

No. Just no.

Alas, the event of Halloween had not halted anyone's usual behaviours. For example; He was still acting like stalker, Ron was eating like there was no tomorrow, two drumsticks in his hands, eating both at the same time. Percy caught sight of a book underneath the table in the arms of Hermione as she read, engrossed in the words. Something he would never understand. Then there was Harry who was still acting a little off but not as much as before.

"Honestly Hermione," Ron remarked, wiping the grease from his cheek as he took yet another bite from his chicken, "You've got the weekend to study. It's Halloween! Put the book away. Better yet, burn it."

"I can't!" she protested. "I'm studying for the Potions quiz! I can't fail."

In perfect sync, Ron's drumstick fell from his mouth, Harry dropped his spoon, Dean (where did he even come from?) knocked over his glass and Percy toppled off his chair. "We have a Potions quiz?" they all exclaimed.

Harry and Ron who hadn't even realised that Dean and Percy were listening in on the conversation jumped in surprise. Hermione huffed. "Oh don't act so surprised. Of course we do. Slughorn told us about it two weeks ago. Don't you remember?"

They mutely shook their heads. Dean turned away to Seamus. "Did you hear we have a Potions quiz?" he hissed.

"I don't even do N.E.W.T Potions?" was Seamus' response.

In all honesty, Percy couldn't care less about the Potions quiz but seeing how much Ron and Harry were panicking gave him an idea. He scrambled back onto the bench just in time to help the other two beg. 

"Hermione, you've got to help us!" Ron pleaded, putting his hands together as if he were praying.

"We're going to fail without you," Harry added, falling to his knees.

"Yeah!" Percy chimed in. "What he said."

The three of them looked at him funny as if to say 'what are you doing invading our friendship circle?'

He cleared his throat. "I mean, you're the smartest witch in the year level. I really need to pass Potions so I can achieve my life-long dream of being an uh...Potions teacher, yep that–"

"You want to be a Potions teacher?" Harry broke in, incredulous.

Percy put a hand to his chest and feigned hurt. "What else? What better way to live out my days than growing old and greasy in a dungeon, teaching unappreciative teenagers?" Just thinking about it made him want to puke but he kept going. "I mean come on, I'm absolutely terrible so there's no way I can do this on my own." Good job, Percy. That was smooth.

"If you're terrible at Potions than why would you want to teach it?" Three equally suspicious gazes met his own.

"Uh, well, you see, my great grandmother..." he swallowed, "Helga...?" Yeah that would do. "She wanted me to achieve the dream she never could and become a potions teacher. Even though I hate potions I want to do it for her."

"That's not fair. You should pick a career that you want. What are you interested in?" Hermione asked, packing away her book. There was genuine care in her words.

Great. Now he felt bad for lying.

"I've never really thought about it," he answered truthfully. And he hadn't. His main concern was whether or not he'd live past twenty or be killed by a monster.

Finally, she exchanged a look with the other two and sighed. "I'll think about it."

"Thanks," he breathed. This was a step closer in the right direction. He could have like a study session with the three of them, convince them that he was trustworthy and then eventually drop the bomb that he needed their help in saving the world or whatever. Easy.

Speaking of saving the world. He suddenly remembered Rachel's warning and a chill ran down his spine. Nothing bad had happened yet. Instead of being comforting, the thought made him all the more anxious.

"Attention, students," McGonagall greeted. Her voice was louder than he was used to. She held her wand like a microphone, effectively enhancing the volume of her voice. "I hope you are enjoying the festivities."

A bubble of approval rippled through the audience. Once the noise died down, she adjusted her glasses and sighed. "Professor Flitwick would like to ask that the culprit of the ahem...pumpkin vandalism to come forward at some time this evening."
A few people snickered. When no one came forward she straightened up and let out another sigh before regarding everyone with a smile. "All other matters aside, I would like to introduce the Nearly Headless Ghosts to entertain us for the rest of the evening." She waved her hand and before anyone knew it, the tables were growing tiny feet and waltzing to the edges of the room. Some screamed as they were whisked off unsuspectingly but it was soon replaced with laughter. Soon enough, the centre of the room had been cleared out. He had barely a moment to process anything because without warning, the last of the candles were extinguished, plunging the room into darkness. The sounds of confusion echoed back and forth in the hall.

"What's going on?" Percy hissed.

"I'm not quite sure," a voice he thought belonged to Hermione responded somewhere to his right. "Shhhh! I think it's starting."

A small spotlight lit up in the very middle of the room, revealing the figure of a ghost, the harsh lighting providing it with a soft glow. The first thing he noticed was the head. It was hanging limply by a thread on its shoulders, like the ghost was almost beheaded but not quite. The next thing he noticed was some sort of wispy contraption in its hands, looking just as ghostly as the ghost. It lifted the object to its lips and a shrill sound rang out through the room. Percy cringed as the sharp noise pierced through the sound barrier and he fought the urge to cover his ears, because he reckoned that would be rude.

The ghost continued making the horrible noises for a few moments longer, long enough for Percy to realise that it was playing an instrument. It looked like a saxophone or something. Were saxophones supposed to sound that horrible?

"What's it doing?" he whispered again to Hermione.

"I think it's opening the show."

"Opening?" he exclaimed. "You mean there's more?"

Ron's face of equal horror matched his own, lit up in the light. Finally the ghost stopped and bowed. Everyone else clapped.

"Its over-" Ron begun, relieved. Alas, he'd spoken too soon. The lights went black and turned back on just as quickly only to reveal more nearly-headless-ghosts each carrying their own ghostly instrument.

"It's Nick! It's Nearly Headless Nick!" several students exclaimed. One of the ghosts who happened to be holding what looked like a violin waved gleefully.

And then the real performance begun. Screeching, scratching, blaring sounds that hurt Percy's ears. It was awful.

It was also classical music.

Everyone else (except Ron) seemed to enjoy it so maybe Percy just couldn't appreciate it.

"It's worse than Celestina Warbeck," Ron moaned.

"Oh, stop exaggerating," Hermione chastised.

"It's not that bad," Harry said.

In all fairness, Percy had heard Grover play worse.

"It's classical music," Syrenx said, confirming Percy's thoughts. He jumped in his seat. Where in Hades had she come from? Had she been sitting next to him that whole time. "I'll admit, it could use some improvement but-" She was cut off by a round of applause.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Nearly Headless Nick bowed, taking the center of the stage. "The Nearly Headless Ghosts and I have worked strenuously to produce this spectacular performance." More clapping. "Nearly Headless Ghosts can do things just as well as Headless Ghosts!"

Soon enough, the tables slid back into place as dessert was served. Nick glided around the room graciously accepting compliments from anyone and everyone.

The night was over all too soon. Maybe Rachel's prediction was incorrect. After all, the day was practically over and nothing bad had happened. Percy went to bed with that thought.

Not long after, he woke up to the sound of screaming.

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Ron with some chicken drumsticks...

Some things never change.

But moving to more important things. I've added a cast list and I think I nailed it. Found the perfect actors for some characters. 😏

If you've got any more suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

And here's where this authors note takes a bit of a grim tone.

This update took forever, and I can't promise that the next one will be any quicker because chances are it probably won't. Here's the thing, my motivation for writing this story is either 100% or 1%. I feel like I'm putting way too much effort in this for it just being a fanfic. I'd rather put my effort in writing something else that isn't fanfiction. My interest for this story is fading so I'm just going to update when I have the motivation to. I'm not going to discontinue this and leave everyone hanging because half of the good stuff hasn't even happened yet. I still want to try and finish this and I will try and update when I can. I'm just really busy and uninterested now. Sorry!

Steph x