#174 - Chapter 174 Don't make trouble, I'm starving to death

As night fell, the Great Hall of Hogwarts underwent a dramatic transformation.

Countless pumpkin lanterns hung from the high ceiling, their candlelight casting an eerie glow and creating a mysterious atmosphere.

The long dining tables were also adorned with meticulously carved pumpkin lanterns, each bearing a different ghostly face.

Besides the lanterns, the tables were laden with a sumptuous feast.

Students, dressed in a variety of bizarre Halloween costumes, gleefully enjoyed this special Halloween banquet.

Once the young wizards had their fill of the main courses, a variety of delectable desserts appeared on the tables.

Enormous pumpkin pies, golden and enticing, were topped with swirls of whipped cream, emitting a rich aroma.

Various ghost-shaped candies sparkled with an amber glow, sprinkled with colorful sugar.

There were also special chocolate cakes decorated with black chocolate spiders.

Through magic, these chocolate spiders, like the chocolate frogs the young wizards usually ate, came to life, constantly weaving webs of chocolate threads on the cakes, eliciting screams of delight from the youngsters.

However, unlike the joy of most of the young wizards, four young individuals were in a rather bad mood.

In the corridor outside the dungeons, Malfoy, clad in a suit of armor, grumbled at the three figures behind him as he walked.

"I must be cursed, my brain turned to mush for even thinking of following you three to see what's so fun."

"This year's Halloween banquet is a special costume party, and I dressed so handsomely for nothing, just for ghosts to see."

"Not only that, I haven't even had a bite of food yet. I wonder if I can still get a dessert if I rush back to the Great Hall now."

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy," Ron retorted, not tolerating Malfoy's complaints. "We didn't invite you to come along."

"You saw the three of us heading to the dungeons and decided to follow us of your own accord."

"It's not our fault you didn't get to eat."

Hearing Ron's words, Malfoy instantly flared up.

"Isn't it because you three are too strange? Not only are you not wearing special costumes, but you're also not attending the Halloween banquet, sneaking off to the dungeons."

"Considering your strange tendency to attract trouble, I thought there would be something interesting to see."

"I didn't expect..." Malfoy's voice lowered, "...that I would become the joke myself."

"Actually, Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party was quite enlightening," Hermione began, trying to end Malfoy and Ron's bickering.

"I never thought before that the ghosts' food would be so..." Hermione hesitated, carefully choosing her words, "...so special."

"They actually like moldy cheese, rotten fruit, spoiled meat, and cakes filled with maggots."

Hermione frowned.

Coming from a Muggle family, she had no idea that ghosts' banquets were held in this way. Although it was special, it was really not suitable for the living to attend.

It was truly enlightening, after all, she had never seen such scenes in books.

If she had known it would be like this, Hermione didn't know if she would have insisted on persuading Harry to come.

Recalling the disgusting scenes, she couldn't help but mutter, "That food was really a bit much to take."

Hearing Hermione's description, Ron's memory was triggered, and he immediately made a face as if he was about to vomit.

Malfoy also curled his lip, indignantly saying, "What delicacies do you think ghosts would eat?"

"Ghosts can't taste food like living people; they can only sense the aroma."

"Therefore, the stronger the smell, the more they like it."

"Those rotten foods are considered top-notch delicacies for ghosts."

He looked utterly unhappy.

Hmph!

If Professor Slughorn hadn't always taught him to be polite, he would have left the ghost banquet immediately, refusing to suffer with Harry and the others.

No!

If he had acted according to his previous personality, he would never have thought of following these three in the first place.

Harry was still immersed in the cold feeling that the ghosts had given him, completely uninterested in talking to his companions.

Moreover, the ghosts' music, like nails scratching a blackboard, made his head throb.

Hearing Malfoy's words, Harry just silently complained in his heart.

Since ghosts like strong-smelling food, he could send them a few cans of surströmming next time.

Coincidentally, he had six cans of surströmming in his Undetectable Extension Charm bag, all of which Sebastian had given him to deal with special situations.

The unique smell of surströmming would definitely be popular with all the ghosts.

Harry suspected that Sebastian had foreseen that he would attend the ghost banquet, so he had prepared such a suitable gift for him in advance.

It was just that he had left in too much of a hurry and forgot that he had such a suitable gift in his bag to give to the ghosts.

But now, Harry really didn't want to go back; he just wanted to go to the Great Hall to eat something to fill his stomach.

As for the surströmming, he would find time to give it to Nick separately next time.

Suddenly, Harry heard a cold, murderous voice in his ears.

"Kill... kill you..."

"So hungry..."

"...Murder..."

It was that familiar voice again!

He had told Ron and Hermione about it before, but they hadn't heard anything, making him wonder if he was hallucinating.

"Did you hear that?" Harry suddenly stopped and asked Ron and Hermione, "That strange voice I told you about before."

"The voice is intermittent, as if it hasn't spoken for a long time."

"Listen carefully, it's especially clear this time."

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. Although Harry was adamant, they really didn't hear anything.

Malfoy was confused, not knowing what Harry was talking about.

"Hey, Potter, what are you up to? What intermittent voice? There's nothing there."

"I'm warning you, don't play pranks on Halloween. I'm too hungry right now and don't have the energy to play such a moronic game with you."

"Shh!" Harry made a silencing gesture to Malfoy.

He noticed that the voice was gradually weakening, as if it was moving towards the ceiling.

"Come with me. I heard a voice saying it wants to kill someone; we have to stop it."

"Malfoy, please go find Professor Slughorn and ask him to help."

With that, Harry took off at full speed, heading upstairs. Hermione and Ron exchanged a look and quickly followed Harry's footsteps.

Seeing the three of them so serious, Malfoy's eyes lit up, and he became excited.

That's the feeling!

Exciting!

He knew that following Potter would definitely lead to some strange things.

Murder?

Could it be that another villain has sneaked into Hogwarts Castle?

It seems that he will once again be a hero, saving Hogwarts from danger.

Leaving the task of finding the professor to others.

Malfoy gripped his wand and staggered forward, shouting as he ran.

"Potter, let Weasley go find the professor; after all, he's the least brave among us."

"Wait for me!"

"I'm wearing a suit of armor; I can't run very fast..."