Halloween Feast.

For the next few weeks the chess club meetings go well. Rupert wins the next two rematches that he demands from you. He really is quite good, and when he is watching you it is hard to actually outmaneuver him. The other first years are fairly certain that you are just lulling him into a false sense of security. Rupert still glares daggers at you whenever no one is watching, but you find a rough place in the social hierarchy of the group.

Surprisingly you are probably not the most gifted first year either. Its a toss-up; Ron Weasley, the young Weasley boy from the train, is also in the club, you've stalemated twice with him, and he never seemed to be taking the games all that seriously. He seems to be the kind of player who likes to experiment with new strategies rather than one who is focused on winning.

You manage to strike up a fairly decent rapport with the young Weasley; between Wizard's Chess and Studying the weeks just fly by. Before you know it Halloween arrives.

"So is Halloween like, I dunno, Wizard Christmas?" asks Jennifer

"No," says Ezra with a laugh, "Christmas is Wizard Christmas. For the most part its just a fun excuse to spook some muggles, who no one will believe because of the Holiday."

The Ravenclaw Common Room has been decorated with hallowed out gourds and cobwebs. The portal has been enchanted to look like a trilithon, very much like Stonehenge. In the corner is a large wicker effigy, ominously looming over the rest of the common room. The rest of the students begin to file out of the room and head to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall is likely to be completely decked out with Halloween flair. Jennifer and Ezra are walking near you in the group, and you find yourself lost in pleasant meaningless conversation. Gareth and Raj seem completely floored by the lavish decorations, and haunting atmosphere.

The Great Hall was covered in pumpkins and orange colored wreaths, the normally well lit room covered in misty spiderwebs that cast ephemeral shadows through the room and bring to mind the ghosts that normally litter the hallways of the school. You have made your way to your seat, and have the impression that you are waiting for something, and sure enough a parade of the school's ghosts begin to drift into the hall.

It is a marvelous spectacle of the Ghosts' lives after ****, full of drama and phantasmal acrobatics. Peeves is in rare form stealing the Headmaster's cap, and popping it on his own head while flitting through the hall.

When the show ends, food is served. The food is themed appropriately with little bits of bread pudding, pumpkin cakes, and a wide variety of sweets and treats. As the students settle into the feast, the warm and friendly atmosphere carries away the worries of the school year.

Its shaping up to be a Happy Hallowe--