All Hallow's Eve
1991-First Year
October 31st or Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve. However, people called it, it was the greatest time of the year for Elizabeth. The main reason being the abundance of apple and pumpkin related treats she loved, but also since her birthday was only a couple days afterwards. It was bound to be a good time.
Her friends were already telling her they had something planned for the evening so she needed to make sure she had nothing planned. The one problem was that her birthday fell on the same day she had the meeting with Malfoy to work on their project and she had yet to bring it up.
Elizabeth thought it might be best is she told him during class to avoid another Great Hall incident. Really don’t want people to start thinking of her as the food fight starter. Not good.
She does think he’ll be happy to not have to interact with her for another night, but you never know. His moods aren’t predictable.
Anyway, that was next Tuesday’s problem. Today, she’ll have her fun.
Breakfast was completely normal until the post came and a brown owl left a package in front of her. She took the letter that was taped to the top and opened it. It was from her uncle. It read:
Dear little coccinelle (ladybug),
Your birthday is in a couple of days, but I know how much you love this spooky holiday. So, I’m sending your gift early.
You spoke about not being able to listen to your music and I know that can be really annoying. Also, I know it was you who took my Smiths shirt. I had to go buy a new one by the way.
Anyway, Hogwarts’ magic prevents electronic devices from working, but I believe I have found a work around and I do hope this works. I have left instructions on how to use it on the back of this, but if you have questions, feel free to send me a letter. Or if there’s other albums you want as well.
Your parents will also be sending you something, but I have no idea what. I was not privy to it, sadly. (sad face) I do not know how much you speak to them, but they are currently in Alaska and have limited access to floo networks. The reason I bring this up is that you probably will not be able to visit them for Christmas. Of course, you have the option to stay at Hogwarts, but I would love it if you stay with me this year. I have been invited to a friend’s home in the northern part of France. They have already said it was okay for you joining us. I’ll let you decide, but those are the options.
Okay, I’ve droned on long enough. Enjoy and Happy Birthday and Happy All Hallows Eve.
Todd
p.s. don’t eat all the candy in one shot. I don’t want to have to deal with booking more dentist appointments. Those people seriously scare me.
She opened the box and inside was a bunch of candy and chocolate, but also a couple of cassette tapes, AA batteries and a Walkman.
“What is that exactly?” Luna asked staring at the Walkman.
“You’ve never seen these before?” Erin answered.
The witch shook her head.
“It’s a music player. You just put these on your ears, put these inside and turn on. Boom music,” Liz explained. “But Hogwarts gets weird with technology. My uncle says it should work though. He probably did some spellwork or something. He’s rather smart.”
She grabbed one of the cassettes, Talking Heads: 77, and followed the instructions on the paper. She put the headphones on and she could hear the instrumentals starting and she smiled.
Wait, wait for the moment to come. Stand up, stand up and take my hand…
She took them off her ears and placed them on Luna.
“Oh, there’s music.” Her eyes lighting up with wonder and excitement.
Liz took them back and stopped the machine. She sorted through the different tapes, explaining the songs and the bands to Luna and Erin who actually didn’t know much about the music. Her mother tended to only have classical music playing in the house. “Staying away from the devil’s music as she would say.”
Elizabeth packed some of the candies into her bag saving them for later. She excused herself from the table to bring the rest up back to her dorm.
“Hey, wait up!” Hermione had caught up with her. “Was that a Walkman?”
“Yes, my uncle got it for me.”
“But how does it work here? I thought technology got weird here.”
Elizabeth started explaining to her what she suspected her uncle did as they walked towards Ravenclaw tower.
“I might try to work something like that. My parents don’t really like all the owl droppings on the house. It would be nice to just be able to telephone them.”
“I don’t know if that would work. You would need a landline, no?”
“Something to look into though. Thank you.”
Elizabeth nodded and the other witch walked away. She walked up the tower. The climb was still difficult, but it was getting easier every time she did it. Technically, she didn’t have class first period, but she made sure she didn’t just laze around. She dropped off the cassettes only keeping the Smiths’ debut album. Her favourite was This Charming Man, but Pretty Girls Make Graves was a close second. (Anyone else think it sounds suspiciously like Down Under by Men at Work, just me)
She left everything else in her trunk, and walked to the library.
Typically, she would go outside and be somewhat of an outdoors person, but today it was storming quite bad. Full thunderstorms and everything. So, the library was her place of choice and she grabbed her usual seat by the window. It was tucked away near the back, hidden by bookshelves on either side of her. A small candle sat in the middle of the table, never burning out, providing her light. Usually it wasn’t lit, but the rain slamming on the glass and the dark clouds decided the candle needed a flame.
She sat alone at a table and pulled out a couple of her books. She was in the middle of finishing her notes from the Astronomy class they had yesterday. Despite it being rainy today, last night was clear skies.
While they were looking at the sky and Professor Sinistra had pointed out many constellations and galaxies.
“And right there is the Draco Constellation. It is one of 48 constellations that Ptolemy listed in his time.”
Malfoy snickered in the back of the room. Yes, it was his name and he made a point of telling everyone that collection of stars was what he was named after. The Professor had to shush him on multiple instances. He was being a real pain in the … you know.
Her notes from that moment:
Ptomely Constellations: Draco (latin for dragon aka being a hothead and a prick who won’t shut it.)
She wasn’t particularly proud of that. Plus, it didn’t help that Erin had read her notes aloud and he heard her. Yeah, Malfoy kept glaring at her for the majority of the lesson after that.
She moved on and totally was not worrying about the fact that she had to see him again in History of Magic. Really, she wasn’t.
…
Elizabeth had no need to be so stressed when she got to the class. The boy wasn’t even there yet. She sat with Erin and Luna as she usually did and got her notes out. Professor Binns arrived in his ghostly form and the wizard was still nowhere to be seen. Elizabeth looked back at the door wondering where he was when the professor started droning on. She looked back at the board and started to take notes. The occasional doodle decorating the page.
Class passed and him and his lackeys never showed up. It was weird and Liz couldn’t help but come up with ideas of why Malfoy never came to class.
One was that he simply didn’t care enough to show up. It was the most logical since he usually fell asleep in this class anyway. Another was that he was waiting for his moment to strike her with a prank or something. Of course, him being killed crossed her mind, but that idea was ludicrous and she tried not to entertain that one.
Everything should be confirmed at supper.
…
The Great Hall was filled to the brim with laughter and joy. The candles and jack-o’-lanterns floated above them underneath the dark and starry night. The rain had cleared by the evening leaving the constellations and moon to shine brightly from the magical ceiling. There were turkeys, pumpkin pie, apple crumble and so much more scattered across the table. It was joyous and cozy.
Elizabeth, Erin and Luna were sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table, talking amongst themselves. Olivia and Isaac couldn’t join them this evening due to it being a holiday, but the pair seemed to be having their own fun time across the way. Erin waved at them and they waved and smiled brightly back.
Elizabeth did spot Malfoy at his own table. He seemed perfectly fine and happy. Her mind was clearly playing tricks on her earlier, making her think something was terribly wrong. Also, why should she care? He meant nothing to her. It was just the proximity, working together on the project. That’s the only reason she cared.
“TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!!” Professor Quirrell rushed into the Great Hall. “Thought you ought to know.” The man fell to the floor.
Everyone started screaming. A troll was serious business. The professors tried to get a handle on the situation, telling the prefects to direct the students to their respective common rooms. The Slytherins were a bit hesitant. Professor Quirrell quite literally said that the troll was in the dungeon where their dorm was situated.
Robert Hilliard and Penelope Clearwater were directing the Ravenclaws to the tower. Elizabeth spotted two boys drift off from their group. It was the Gryffindors and one had bright red hair. The other was dark messy black hair. She somewhat guessed who it was, but why they were doing it was something she was privy too.
“Come on Liz. We don’t want to get left behind.” Erin pulled at her robe and she looked away.
“Not my problem, I guess,” she thought.
As they rounded the corner, Erin pulled ahead to the group, but Elizabeth didn’t quite make it before a loud yell came from her right and stopped her.
The troll was no longer in the dungeon and was walking towards her. The other Ravenclaws were already far in front of her and the troll had just spotted her.
Elizabeth, in a split-second decision, ran back the way she came. The troll following behind her effectively avoiding her peers.
Where she was going, she had no idea, but she ran. Turning another corner, she saw a flash of white hair disappear behind a door and as she got there, whoever it was pulled her in.
They pulled her down and when Liz got her bearings, she was looking into dark grey eyes.
“Malfoy? What are you …”
“Shush. Do you want us to get eaten?” he whispered.
Elizabeth kept her mouth shut and waited for the thundering sounds of the troll’s steps to pass next to them. They were both crouched behind the door. He looked scared, not the normal sneer he worked.
It was weird, but refreshing to see. Malfoy was just a boy in the end, but that doesn’t excuse his bullying. She reminded herself that he still was mean and his family still believed in blood purity.
“Is it this a bad time to tell you that I can’t meet next Tuesday?”
He looked at her with a ‘are-you-serious-right-now’ look. “No, this isn’t-”
Loud footsteps sounded behind the door. They hunched closer together, holding their breaths. He smelt faintly of apples. He must have had one of the tartes.
“Okay not important right now, Elizabeth,” she scolded herself in her mind.
The steps stopped a moment and she could hear it getting closer to the door. It seemed to sniffing the entrance, but it quickly turned its head away, hearing something further down the hall. It moved on and the pair let out shaky breaths.
“You know for a Ravenclaw, I thought you would have better sense to not talk when someone’s tells you to shut it.”
“I talk when I’m nervous. Plus, you never told me why you’re hunched in a classroom. And also, why you saved me.” She gave him a pointed look.
“I got separated and it was rather idiotic of Dumbledore to send us towards the dungeons when the troll was supposedly there. What did you mean about next Tuesday?”
“Yeah, I thought that was weird. But yeah um… it’s my birthday next Tuesday and my friends have something planned that evening. So, I won’t be there.”
“You tell me now?!”
“I thought this was plenty heads up.”
He rolled his eyes. Elizabeth looked around the classroom they were squatting in. He was alone which was weird.
“Where are your little followers?”
“Like I said. Got separated. Plus, those two bumbling idiots aren’t very helpful when running away.”
“Aren’t they your friends?”
“Friends are overrated. You only have yourself to count on.”
“That’s a lonely way of thinking.”
He stared at her. His eyes were storming and Liz was entranced by it. He looked away. She did too, feeling embarrassed, but she wasn’t sure why.
“It’s gone. We can leave. I would appreciate you not mentioning anything about this.”
He got up and opened the door, nudging her out of the way so he could pass.
Elizabeth moved away from the door and she was left alone in the room, still sitting on the floor. Malfoy was unpredictable. He would say one thing and do another. For a moment, she thought that he was being nice. You know, saving her from the troll technically, but then he was so cold. Even the people he supposedly hung out with all the time weren’t his friends. She couldn’t understand it. Not that she needed to. He was never going to be her friend. There was no purpose for her to understand him. None.
She got up and left to the Ravenclaw tower. Hopefully, staying out of sight to not get in trouble.