The Admiral of Hogwarts

It was obvious that the banshees weren't singing in English. Fortunately, after listening carefully to a few lines of the chant, Hugo quickly discerned that the banshees were chanting in Latin.

The song they were singing was a ballad narrating the sorrowful love of a couple separated by death due to an accident.

At the same time, the banshees' singing possessed a certain magic. As they chanted, a large amount of silvery-blue mist appeared around them.

Soon, these mists transformed into various scenes and human figures, beginning to act out the story told in the song.

In this way, although the vast majority of people sitting here didn't understand the lyrics of the song, they could roughly understand the content through the artistic conception conveyed by the melody and the surrounding illusions.

Once the song was finished, the members of the banshee choir bowed to the surroundings and then retreated back underground.

Applause thundered in the hall. Everyone expressed that they had never seen such a wonderful performance before, and Hugo strongly agreed with their views. In his opinion, this was much better than the operas his parents had taken him to.

"That was truly a touching story," Professor Dumbledore said, stepping up to the stage and raising his hand to wipe away the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

"I imagine you wouldn't want to hear this old man ramble on and delay your dinner. So, let us celebrate to our hearts' content and eat heartily!"

As soon as Dumbledore's words as headmaster fell, all sorts of exquisite foods appeared on the tables. Feeling extremely hungry, Hugo immediately scooped some beef stew with potatoes from the plate in front of him into his bowl, then picked up his spoon and began to eat.

"The taste is indeed good. Harry and Ron are definitely going to regret it," Hugo said to his sister while eating various dishes he liked.

He had specifically observed the Gryffindor table when he entered the Great Hall, and as expected, he found that Harry and Ron were not there.

"I imagine the ghosts' party must have its own characteristics," Hermione said, swallowing the grilled salmon in her mouth after hearing what Hugo said. "It might not be as lively as here, but there might be things you wouldn't see at this Halloween feast."

"There really are things you wouldn't see at a Halloween feast, but they aren't good things," Veneto, sitting to Hugo's left, said, turning his head after hearing Hermione's words.

"I found a notebook from a traveler more than three hundred years ago in the small library in our common room. Although it doesn't contain much hard knowledge like spells or potion recipes, it does record a lot of news that ordinary people have almost never heard of."

"For example, this predecessor was once invited to a Deathday Party, which basically no living person has ever seen, and left a relatively detailed record."

Looking at Hermione's curious gaze, Veneto explained in detail, "According to this notebook, hundreds of ghosts often gather at Deathday Parties. So such occasions are as cold as an ice cellar."

"That does sound a bit terrible. Is there anything else besides that?" After hearing Veneto's words, Hermione shivered subconsciously and asked.

"There's nothing else special. In fact, the activities that those ghosts do when holding such banquets are not much different," Veneto said, tilting his head to think for a moment.

"Oh, right. At those parties, all the food prepared by the ghosts is burnt or rotten. After all, they don't have physical bodies, so they can only feel a little bit of the taste of the food through this strong smell."

"In other words, Harry and Ron need to endure the cold and hunger tonight," Hermione said with a look of pity on her face. "They really are miserable this time, but why didn't you remind them when Harry came over that day?"

"I wanted to remind them at first, but then I thought about it and decided against it," Veneto shrugged and said, "After all, it was an invitation extended to him by the ghosts of Harry's house, and Harry had already agreed. Telling them these things in this situation where they couldn't back out, I think, would only make them feel bad these few days and wouldn't have any other meaning."

"Uh—what you said does make a lot of sense." After hearing Veneto's words, Hermione rubbed her somewhat messy hair and said, "Now, I just hope they can find enough to eat to avoid going hungry all night."

After everyone had eaten and drunk until they were almost full, the banquet came to an end. When Professor Dumbledore announced that everyone could go back, the students from each house quickly gathered together and walked towards their respective common rooms, chatting happily with each other.

For example, the Ravenclaw students were discussing the content of the ghost story contest that night, and many students confidently stated that the ghost stories they had carefully prepared would scare the people who heard them into wetting their beds at night.

However, just as everyone was walking forward, the lively and chattering voices in the front row suddenly disappeared, and the group stopped as well.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, turning her head to inquire of Hugo. "Why isn't everyone continuing to move forward?"

"I think something might have happened up ahead," Hugo guessed what had happened in front. "We can go up front and see what exactly happened."

After speaking, Hugo squeezed to the front with the two ladies, and then saw a somewhat terrifying scene: Between two windows, on the wall one foot above the ground, some writing was smeared in blood, shining faintly in the light of the burning torches.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware."

And below this slogan, Mrs. Norris—the caretaker's favorite cat—was hung on the torch bracket, her body as stiff as a board, her eyes wide open, staring straight ahead.

However, unlike in the original book, there was no accumulated water in the corridor, and it looked as dry and flat as the floor in other places.

Next to the cat, in the center of the corridor, Harry and Ron stood there alone. Seeing this scene, all the students fell silent, and the air was filled with a heavy atmosphere.

Soon, someone raised their voice and broke the silence with a shrill tone.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You're next, Potter!" It was Draco Malfoy. He had squeezed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually pale face flushed red. He looked at the still, stiff cat hanging there, a grin on his face.

This should be the legendary love-hate relationship, Hugo thought after looking at Harry and Malfoy. It has to be said that these two people can indeed be said to be natural enemies, inexplicably clashing together no matter what the situation.

No wonder many fanfictions he saw in his previous life felt that there should be some special connection between Harry and Malfoy.