#lane used her wand to warm it back up again before he drank it which made jacob stupidly giddy bc yay magic 8D

[carewyncromwell]

“Goodbye...goodbye... Now it's just me and my little guy. And the house felt so big...and I felt so small... The house felt so big...and I felt so small.”

~“So Big / So Small” from Dear Evan Hansen

x~x~x~x

inspired by a conversation with @drinkyoursoupbitch

x~x~x~x

Lane woke up alone that following morning. Evan had left the house after the argument, and she didn’t see him again before she went to bed that night. Despite this, she didn’t panic -- she’d heard him come home, even if he didn’t come upstairs, so she’d assumed he was still angry and upset enough that he’d decided to hole up in his office for a night. Goodness knows he’d spent a couple of all-nighters in his office for work in the past...

This thought process went out the window, though, when Lane came downstairs. First she noticed all the lights were off and there was no sound of movement -- strange, since Evan was usually such an early riser. Then she noticed that one of the paintings on their wall -- a wedding gift Evan had received from his great-uncle -- was no longer hung up near the kitchen. Then she reached Evan’s office, the door of which had actually been left slightly ajar, rather than shut up as usual...and when she turned on the light, she felt like she’d been shot right through the heart.

It was empty. Completely empty, not just of Evan, but of everything. His desk and file drawers -- his bookcases and bright blue rolling chair -- his framed pictures and certificates of merit from work -- all of the little knickknacks that had trimmed every surface and wall, from the tiny model cars and antique glass soda bottles to the set of Elvis Presley Collector’s Plates...it was gone. All of it was gone. 

And as Lane shakily backed out of the office and dashed over to the kitchen, then to the dining room, and then through to the living room, only to find even more drawers pulled out and emptied and even more rooms stripped of certain art pieces, photographs, and select furniture pieces, the realization began to crystallize like chilling, numbing, horrified ice around her mind and heart.

It wasn’t just the stuff Evan was most emotionally attached to that was gone. He was too. 

She’d driven him away. The revelation that she was a witch -- that Jacob also had magic, and Carewyn undoubtedly did as well -- had driven him away...the only man Lane had ever loved, who she’d run away from home for, who had given her a reason to break away from the miserable life she’d had at the Cromwell estate -- the man through which she’d fallen in love with the Muggle World, all of its amazing technology and music and art and history, and the freedom it had afforded her for so long...

Evan Bach was gone. 

By the time Lane had teetered back to the entrance hall, she was barely able to stand. Although she attempted to grab hold of the stair banister to stay on her feet, it proved too difficult -- she collapsed onto her knees on the rug at the base of the stairs, curled up in a ball on the floor like a child, and covered her face in both hands as she fell apart in silent sobs. 

Lane lay curled up there at the base of the stairs alone for close to an hour. It was only when Lane heard her son Jacob walking over to her daughter Carewyn’s room on the other side of the upstairs hallway that she snapped back to reality. 

The blond-haired witch tentatively eased herself up, wincing slightly at the light pains in her shoulder, neck, and arm from lying on such a hard floor, and closed her eyes as she took several deep breaths. Then, wiping her face clean, she then turned her focus up onto the kitchen, her face devoid of any emotion.

She had to get breakfast on the table.

And so for the next half-hour, Lane went through the motions. She poured out milk and orange juice and cooked up the bangers and eggs, as usual -- at least cooking for three instead of four meant they wouldn’t have to buy any more for at least a day more. Fresh fruit might be a bit too much to afford on the regular, though -- best conserve the bananas for another morning, when they’ve run out of bangers...

Lane heard Carewyn first, out in the entrance hall. The little almost-three-year-old had been mumbling something Lane couldn’t quite make out -- talking to Jacob, undoubtedly. She’d always loved talking to her brother, even before she could talk properly. It had been background noise at first, until Lane caught the sound of Jacob whispering back to her.

“I know, Pip. But if we’re sad, it’ll only make Mum sadder...”

Lane straightened up sharply, looking back over her shoulder toward the empty kitchen door frame that led to the entrance hall.

“It’s just the three of us now,” said Jacob’s voice, “so it’s you and me that’s gotta look after Mum, from now on. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Carewyn’s voice came out as a sweet, but determined little chirp.

Lane turned back toward the eggs frying in the pan on the stove. As she stared down at them, she felt her eyes flooding with fresh tears again, even as she tried to detach herself from the painful numbness pulsing through her.

She’d been going through it in her head, what she’d planned to tell Jacob. She’d been logically hashing it out -- planning to pull him aside and talk to him separately, before explaining it much more simply to Carewyn. But all of that had been predicated on Jacob being angry and upset -- of her having to be the level head and the calm influence -- to hold him tightly until he stopped crying. But instead, here Jacob was, responding to the knowledge that his father had abandoned them by playing the part of the responsible big brother and son...thinking of Lane’s feelings first. Even though Jacob normally had so much trouble putting himself in other people’s shoes, he knew his mother well enough to know how hard Evan’s departure would be for her and how much more pain she’d feel, seeing him and Carewyn upset too. And so this boy -- at only eleven years old -- had put on the mantle of a mature, responsible adult, all in an attempt to show his mother solidarity. 

Instead of being comforted by this, however, Lane found herself feeling colder than ever.

She’d always tried so hard to make sure her children knew how much she loved them. After having grown up in a home so devoid of love as the Cromwell estate, Lane had learned how to truly love and be loved through raising her children. She had always cherished Jacob and Carewyn more than anything in the world, and she wanted them to know how important they were, especially to her, every moment of every day. 

And yet even with this, Lane knew she’d failed them, as a mother. She’d always tried so hard to mend the divide between Jacob and Evan, to no avail -- and yes, although part of that was because she couldn’t tell either of them about Jacob’s magical talent, Lane had always felt ill-equipped to handle their fights anyway. If she took Jacob’s side, then Evan felt like Lane was making him out to be “the bad guy” and turning Jacob further against him -- if she sided with Evan, Jacob felt even more alone and misunderstood than ever and would act out even more, to vent his frustrations. And so there were more than a few times Lane had just let the fight fizzle out and then try to talk to them separately when they were calmer, rather than stand between them or shut things down before things got out of hand. Lane had never been good around anger -- she’d always learned to shut any hurt or angry feelings down inside of herself, since her parents had always reacted with such displeasure in response to them. But Jacob’s anger hadn’t been unjustified. Neither had a lot of Evan’s. Yet in both cases, Lane just couldn’t cope with them when they were angry. In Evan’s case, it let him railroad her during fights, the way her brother Blaise and sister Pearl used to. But in Jacob’s...well, it seemed that, even though Lane had always wanted Jacob to feel free enough to express himself, he’d still learned to bottle up his pain and soldier through...just like she had...

As for Carewyn...Evan had just about never paid much mind to her. He’d completely plugged out of her upbringing, leaving it solely in Lane’s hands, out of the frustration and shame of being unable to be the father he’d wanted so desperately to be for Jacob. Part of Lane had selfishly enjoyed this, since she adored Carewyn just as much as she did Jacob, and just as much as Jacob adored Carewyn himself. Lane relished getting a front row seat to all of Carewyn’s little achievements -- eating solid foods for the first time, learning how to talk and walk -- her first birthday, her first Christmas -- seeing her react to one of her father’s Elvis records -- seeing how much Carewyn radiated with love for her and Jacob and somehow seemed to understand their feelings on a deeper level than most adults could, even when she was still barely speaking full sentences. Carewyn truly was a remarkable child, and Lane was so proud not only of her, but of how much Jacob had come into his own, just being her older brother. Jacob had been rather sullen and lonely, when he was young -- he’d felt like an outsider among his peers at school, and his teachers and his own father constantly haranguing him for misbehaviors he didn’t do on purpose couldn’t have helped matters. But once Carewyn was born, a new light had sparked to life behind Jacob’s eyes. It was a light Lane knew very well, for it was a light she herself had first experienced, through Jacob and Carewyn: it was the light of feeling truly understood -- of being the subject of truly unconditional, empowering love. 

And yet despite all this, Evan had never seen how wonderful Carewyn was. Truly, he had never known her at all. Why else would he have had no clue that Carewyn was just as magical and special as her brother was? Why else would he have the audacity to think that if Carewyn was simply separated from Lane and Jacob, she might turn out “normally,” like him? 

The memory of that final argument filled Lane up with a rage that scared her so much that she snatched the pan of eggs off the burner and moved it to the other side of the stove, since she didn’t trust herself to turn off the stove without breaking the switch. 

Lane had hoarded Carewyn to herself -- she knew this. Her and Evan’s marriage had been falling apart slowly, but Lane contented herself by throwing herself into mothering Carewyn and Jacob -- of enjoying all of their wonderful milestones and moments all by herself, even if it meant Evan wasn’t included. It was his choice that he wasn’t involving himself, after all -- she’d tried a few times to get him involved: it wasn’t her fault that he eventually always plugged back out...

And yet, logically, Lane knew it still was her fault, at least in part. She hadn’t always been the best wife to Evan, in helping him weather the emotional storm he’d been in...and she certainly hadn’t been the best mother to Carewyn and Jacob, if they were now responding to Evan’s departure not with sadness and grief, as she was...but stoicism. 

She’d wanted her children to feel free to come to her with their problems. She’d wanted them to never feel like she would demean their feelings or make them feel insignificant. But now...Jacob and Carewyn were taking on the role of parent and trying to take care of her. 

The knowledge flooded Lane’s heart with so much love for her children that it was breaking. 

After a long, long moment, Lane finally felt enough in control of herself that she turned off the stove’s burner properly and served the eggs onto the plates she had on the counter. 

“Jay,” she called with as strong of a voice as she could muster, “Winnie...it’s time for breakfast.”

The soft-spoken call was miraculously loud enough for Jacob and Carewyn to pick out -- both of them had been almost trained to listen for their mother’s soft voice. And so about ten seconds later, Jacob came into the kitchen, carrying Carewyn on his back. 

“G’morning, Mum,” Jacob said with a slightly forced attempt at a smile. 

The toddler, at the sight of her mother, began to squirm. Jacob put her down, and Carewyn toddled right over to Lane, throwing her arms around her knees and squeezing. 

“Mum?” she said. 

“Yes, sweetheart?” asked Lane. 

“I have a...I have a song for you,” she mumbled.

Lane raised her eyebrows as she took both of Carewyn’s hands and bent down to get on her level. “A song?”

Carewyn nodded without raising her head. “Mm-hmm. Jacob says I gotta be Pippa Passes, so...I gotta...have a song for you.”

Lane looked up at Jacob, who tried again to force that strained smile back on his face. 

Her own face crinkling up with a weak smile of her own, Lane returned her gaze to Carewyn. 

“...Go ahead, sweetie."

Her gaze staying on her mother’s hands holding hers instead of Lane’s face, Carewyn took a deep breath and sang in very fragmented lines --

“When the night...has come...and the land is dark... And the mooooon...is the only...light we'll see-ee... No, I won't be afraid! No, I won't be afraid! Just as loooong...as you stand...stand by me.”

This was all Carewyn knew of the song, so when she was done, she stopped abruptly, her eyes flickering hesitantly up to her mother’s face for approval. 

Her eyes softening around the fresh line of tears trimming the bottom lids, Lane brought a hand through her daughter’s ginger bangs fondly. 

“That was beautiful, Winnie,” she said very softly. “Thank you.”

She kissed her daughter’s forehead, her hand trailing though her hair, before straightening up to look at Jacob, whose sad smile was a bit more authentic now as he looked from Carewyn to Lane. 

“Come on, then,” said Lane, her soft voice a bit stronger than before. “We have a full day ahead of us...may as well start it out right with a proper breakfast.”

x~x~x~x

The entire rest of the day involved Lane telling Jacob and Carewyn all about the Wizarding World. She explained how the Wizarding World was hidden and why, and about the Ministry of Magic and the Statute of Secrecy. She told them about the Trace and the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad that had kept Jacob’s magic underwraps while they lived in a Muggle neighborhood. She told them about Hogwarts and about all of the interesting classes it taught -- about Diagon Alley, and all the stores where they could get Jacob’s supplies. And of course, she took some time to explain why she herself had lived like a Muggle in the Muggle World so long -- not just because of her marriage to Evan, but because of her leaving her unhappy home life with her own parents and siblings. 

Jacob asked many questions along the way, many of them eager and curious, but at one point, he actually interrupted Lane before she could answer one of the few questions Carewyn herself had decided to ask: “why did Dad leave?”

“Because he’s a no-good, heartless plonker,” Jacob said bitterly. “We’re better off without him.”

Lane’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. “Jay...”

“We are,” said Jacob. “It’s not like he cared about us even while he was here. He always shut himself up in his office and hid, rather than talk to us. I doubt he even knew Pip’s favorite color -- ”

“It’s blue, Jacob,” Carewyn reminded him amusedly.

“I know,” said Jacob with something of a smug smile, giving his sister a playful little side-hug. 

Lane brought a hand onto Jacob’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Jay...I know you feel like your father didn’t care. But he worked very long hours, both at the store and here at home, to make sure we lived comfortably. He sacrificed a lot of his own dreams to give us a stable place to live, and he worked very hard to try to provide for us. I couldn’t have raised you and Carewyn here at home, if Evan hadn’t worked as hard as he did -- ”

“Well, now we won’t be his problem anymore, I guess,” said Jacob very coldly. 

Lane’s eyes welled up with both reproval and sorrow. “Jay...”

Seemingly able to sense how unhappy her mother and brother both were, Carewyn shrank, her shoulders hunching and her eyes welling up with tears as she gave a loud sniff. 

Jacob immediately brought his arms around Carewyn and pulled her into his lap in a tight hug, his blue eyes burning with resentment as he turned away.

“I don’t want to talk about him anymore,” Jacob said lowly.

And so they didn’t for the rest of the afternoon. 

Lane didn’t broach the topic of Evan with Jacob again until after they’d put Carewyn to bed and Jacob and she came back downstairs to read in the living room. 

Lane made a mug of hot chocolate and brought it out to Jacob, putting it down on a coaster on the side table next to him. 

“Here,” she said gently. “I thought this might cheer you up.”

“Thanks, Mum.”

Jacob didn’t pick up the mug right away, though -- he was a bit too engrossed in his copy of The Once and Future King. 

Lane watched her son’s face carefully as she settled herself down in the armchair next to Jacob on the couch. She considered her words carefully before speaking.

“...Jay...I know you’re angry at your father for leaving.”

Jacob didn’t respond. He turned a page in his book.

“You’re more than entitled to be,” Lane said earnestly. “I’m upset too. I’m very upset with him, that he left without a word...that he left you and Winnie with no explanation...”

She swallowed. 

“...But you have to understand...what happened is just as much my fault as it is his -- ”

“Don’t say that!”

Jacob sharply put down his book. 

“Mum, it was not your fault!” he said fiercely.

Lane’s face softened sadly. “In a way, it was. I wasn’t honest with your father about a lot of things...and well, I should’ve known that would cause problems for all of us, down the line...”

“But you had to keep those secrets, Mum,” argued Jacob. “You said that the Statute of Secrecy said that people can’t tell Muggles about the Wizarding World unless they have a kid that’s born with magic. You weren’t allowed to tell him the truth -- you couldn’t even tell me the truth!”

“Yes,” said Lane, “but that doesn’t change the fact that I still had to lie to someone who I love...and marriages aren’t meant to be built on lies. Evan has always been open with me about who he is, where he came from, and what his family was like. He’s always trusted me unconditionally with those parts of himself he never shared with anyone else. I never trusted him that same way...and he wasn’t wrong to feel hurt, about that.”

“I don’t care how hurt he was!” said Jacob petulantly. 

He crossed his arms and turned away. 

“I don’t care if he’s hurt! I don’t care if he’s upset...he’s a fat, ugly, heartless old prat, and I hope he never comes back! I hope he just falls off a cliff and dies!”

“Jay!” Lane said in both dismay and reproach.

Jacob hugged his arms around himself even more tightly and shifted down the couch a bit, away from the hot chocolate on the side table. 

Her blue eyes softening with even more pain and sadness, Lane eased herself off of the armchair and down onto the floor. She then crawled over on her knees to her son, bringing a hand down onto his knee. 

Jacob looked down at his mother, his eyes crinkling up with both shame and resentment. 

“I saw him leave,” he muttered.

Lane was startled by this. 

“I heard him moving the last of his things out downstairs. I got up to go look, and I saw two of his friends helping him carry his office chair out. He then came back to close the door and noticed me at the top of the stairs. He sort of just stood there and stared...then without saying anything, he closed the door and left.”

Lane felt like her heart was being squeezed as she stared up at Jacob. The eleven-year-old boy’s eyes narrowed.

“He didn’t even bother to say goodbye to you,” he said through bared teeth. “He wouldn’t even look you in the face. Instead, he just slipped in, grabbed some stuff, and left, like a no-good, rotten coward! All because he found out he was wrong about me, all that time -- that I wasn’t acting out just to cause trouble, that I wasn’t a bad kid like he always thought...”

Lane’s eyes widened. “Jay...” 

“I don’t want you defending him!” Jacob burst out. “You’ve always loved us, and supported us, and he...he left us! He left us, and he hurt you, and -- and he’s never cared about us! He’s never cared about any of us -- especially Pip! He’s always acted like she doesn’t matter, like she doesn’t even exist! He never bothered to look at her without you making him -- never bothered to get to know her -- see how bloody brilliant she is...”

Jacob shut his eyes tight. His fists clenched at his sides.

“I hate him!” he spat. “He hurt you, and I hate him, and...and if he ever shows his face here again, I’ll kick his rotten arse.”

There was a tense silence. Jacob breathed in and out through his nose quietly like a dragon huffing smoke. 

Lane found herself momentarily overwhelmed by her emotions. She turned away, covering her mouth with her hand and closing her eyes. She herself took several deep breaths. Then, finally, she turned back around to face her son. She gave his knee a light squeeze.

“Jay...your father did not leave because of you,” Lane said very softly. 

Jacob looked down at her disbelievingly. “It’s because of my Hogwarts letter that you had to tell him everything.”

“That doesn’t mean that you having magic was what made your father angry,” Lane said very firmly. “It was my lying to him that made him upset -- it wasn’t you. It wasn’t any part of you.”

This wasn’t entirely true. Lane knew that Evan was upset at the thought that his wife and son could be completely out of his control and (in Jacob’s case) potentially immune to any discipline he could enact, but damned if she was going to let her son think what happened was in any way his fault...

Lane brought her hand on his knee up to run affectionately through his curly dark brown bangs. 

“And even if your father couldn’t handle the truth about the Wizarding World and our place in it,” she said more softly, “even if he ultimately can’t join this new world with us...that is a failing on his part alone. Not yours.”

Lane brought a hand up to her son’s face, coaxing him to look her in the eye.

“And...even if I can’t give you everything your father could...even if things are going to get harder, and I won’t be able to do everything I’ve been able to do before on my own...”

She swallowed, putting on her bravest face even through the tears in her eyes.

“...Even though...I know there’ll be times where I’ll fall short...I promise you...I will work very, very hard for you and Winnie...and I’ll make sure you know you can count on me...just as much as I counted on your father, to keep us afloat.”

Jacob frowned deeply. His eyes fell down to the floor again.

“I know, Mum,” he mumbled. “...I’ve always known that.”

Her eyes softening with both pain and fondness Lane leaned up to kiss her son’s forehead, ruffling his hair lightly as she gave him a hug. Jacob himself threw his arms around his mother and squeezed her back in a vice grip, almost desperate to comfort her just as much as she tried to for him.

“You’re not like him, Mum,” he said very lowly. “...You’ve never been like him.”

Lane’s expression grew more somber. Adjusting her arms around him, she brought her head down to rest on top of Jacob’s.

Jacob was right -- she wasn’t like Evan. As much pain as she felt at this thought, considering how long and deeply she’d been in love with Evan, Lane knew it was true...for abandoning her precious bairns -- regardless of the reason -- was something she knew she would never do. 

[everly-kindred]

Everly’s Diary - Entry #31

Synopsis: Eve details the festivities happening around Hogwarts, and the spooky happenings that have occurred. 

Words: 3,698

Date: 27th of October, 2026

Dear Diary, 

Things have gotten really spooky around the castle now that Halloween is approaching. We did pumpkin carving, went trick-or-treating, had the Halloween Bash, and I threw a Death Day Party for the ghosts of Hogwarts! There’s also been some strange things happening, and I’ve had another vision. This time, it was scary. 

I’ll start with the pumpkin carving, which we did on Friday. I carved a pumpkin with some stars and a moon, drank cider and ate pumpkin pie, and all of that was quite nice. I got to carve with Bonnie and meet this pumpkin person she had made in artificer club. I’ve decided I’m going to start going to artificer club because this pumpkin person was amazing! He has a little pumpkin for a head, a barrel for a body, and brooms and sticks for his arms and legs. He can move around and is very silly! He even tried to carve a pumpkin of his own. 

During pumpkin carving, there was a lot of shouting. One Ravenclaw girl was throwing a fit and pumpkin guts at the professors. I can’t remember why. There was also Nora, a girl in my house, a third-year I think. She had this sign that said that carving was murder and said that if we carved pumpkins, we wouldn’t get presents from ‘the great pumpkin’ on Halloween night. I’ve never heard of such a thing! Eventually, she fled, but not before screaming, ‘MURDER!’ which caused an older girl, a Slytherin I think, to flee screaming like she was actually being murdered. 

That night, Bonnie and I went around the castle to do trick-or-treating (and she brought her little pumpkin person! She calls him a punkeen. He had his own little bucket to collect candy for Bonnie.) I didn’t want to wear my full costume until the bash, but I did wear the tights and hat from my costume, and a black sweater dress. We knocked on eighteen doors in total, and got tricked a few times! 

I started in the dungeons, deciding to go from the bottom of the castle up to the top - or I tried to, anyway. I think Professor Waldgrave’s door was the first one I knocked on. His door was tricked with spiders that crawl out and then vanish. I really thought they were real! The other door I knocked on down in the dungeons was the Ghoul Studies room. I got candy that time, but then when another round of students approached the door, they got attacked with water balloons… I, unfortunately, was in the crossfire and got wet. But at least I got candy! 

Next, we went up to the second floor. This really colourful professor gave us chocolate frogs, but they started multiplying until we were buried in them! I managed to escape, and they vanished, but not before I could splat one on her door! But then she came back out and gave us real chocolate frogs and chocolate wands. 

Then, we went to the tapestry corridor, where a really grouchy professor gave us candy. Bonnie’s candy eventually turned into a pair of dirty socks, which was disgusting, but my candy remained normal. After that, we went to the long gallery, which is where most of the doors were, I think. The first door we went to there was opened by a very kind looking professor with a round face and a dimple in her cheek. She gave us this pumpkin to open, and when we did, it exploded! Purple firecrackers and glitter in the shape of bats and orange, green, purple and black streamers flew out and got tangled in my braids! But then we managed to get actual candy from her, too. 

The door after that was Professor Banks’. I got some pumpkin-shaped candies from her, but then when another group went by, I guess they got tricked. The hall started to fill with the smell of stink sap! So we got out of there pretty fast. After that, we went up and knocked on Professor Rask’s door. I really do have such a problem with not staring at Veela, and she’s no different! Every single time, I always end up going all moony-eyed like an idiot. Anyways, she gave us candy that made our voices sound like animals, which was pretty cool. 

Bonnie and I stopped to talk and watched as some students got pranked by flying, screaming books that came from Professor Reuter’s room. We knocked on his door and got tea flavoured chocolates, which might be my favourite candy that I got that night! I’ll have to ask him where he got it! 

We went to the Mythology professor’s room next, and when she opened the door, there was this loud sound and this puppet fell from the ceiling! It had a huge face and looked kind of like a creepy dog or… lion with three eyes. It certainly gave me a fright! I’ll have to ask her about it at our next class, I know she likes to do a lot of stuff involving her homeland, Japan. Then, she gave us candies shaped like the pretty flowers on top of lily-pads. Bonnie says they’re called lotuses. 

Eventually, we found our way to the Defense Against The Dark Arts tower, which was probably where the weirdest encounter was. There was already a group of kids there before we got to the door, and when they knocked on it… The door sprouted eyes, and began crying really loudly and spraying everyone with its… tears? Anyways, we braced ourselves and approached the door, and when we knocked, it actually opened. There stood Professor Lane, and he was like… I mean… He had Christmas music playing? And was dressed like he was going out into a blizzard, and he had this board thing? Anyways he gave us these chocolate pie things that his wife had made. They were really good! 

We went up to the charms room next. Professor Idylwild gave us these Turkish delights that tasted like butterbeer, and they made me feel all warm. She also gave us these orange and cinnamon flavoured ones, and they made me burp fire! I told Bonnie I was being transfigured into a dragon. Wouldn’t that be so fun?

We got some taffy from Professor Green, and I took a bite of it, but… It made me all confused. Bonnie had to hold my hand for a while, because I didn’t know which way was up! I ended up throwing those taffies away. 

Then we went to the Hospital Wing, and got some lavender lollipops from Matron O’Rourke. After that, we used the clocktower to go down to the grounds, because I wanted to check the groundskeeper’s hut and the owelry. When we went to the hut, we got rained on by these rainbow candies and some confetti, and I swear I could hear Professor Eastwood laughing. But then, Professor Dracheblume came out gave us some candy. There wasn’t anything at the owelry.

We went up to the sixth floor and found Deputy Headmistress Blightly’s room. The door was sort of ajar, so we stepped in. Blightly looked like she’d been possessed, and we heard this voice and turned around to see a ghost who looked just like her! But then, the real Blightly started laughing and explained the ghost was her dead twin. 

At this point, Bonnie was wanting to trick someone in return. She said that when you get tricked and don’t get candy, you get to trick the professor in return! So Bonnie did the gemino curse on the wood of the door and stuck a note on it for the trick-or-treaters to only touch the metal knocker - doubly clever so that the students know, but the Deputy Headmistress doesn’t. If someone touches the wood, the door will multiply! I wonder what it looked like when Blightly discovered that! 

Next, we discovered Vikander’s door. When he first opened it, he tied the shoe-laces of my boots together! That didn’t stop me from knocking again, though, and when I did he gave me Feathersweet chocolates, and told me not to get myself killed…

Then we went down to the Muggle Studies classroom, and got some fudge rockets from Professor Hellstar, though he did try to give us bogie-flavoured candy first, which I, of course, threw away! After him, we found the flying professor’s door. He gave us a prank broom at first, that popped into snitch-shaped bubbles, but then after that, he gave us actual candy - also inside of these weird brooms that we had to break open. 

He was the last door of the night. After that, I went back to my dorms to count out my sweets and stash them away. All the candy I got actually saves me a trip to Hogsmeade, which is good considering I had to set up for the death day party, anyways.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, there was this blaring organ music playing. Apparently, it comes from the clock tower! I want to go visit it, but Aures sent me a letter begging me not to. It fills the castle with ticking sounds, weird raspy laughter, and music that reminds me of the Phantom of the Opera. I’ve also heard whispers that it’ll steal your voice if you touch it! Or I did, anyway, but this was all later proved to be unfortunately all too true. 

I had finished my pumpkin costume, which was fairly comfortable as far as Hallowe’en costumes go! I stitched it up with felt and orange thread and painted on it with black paint. I made a hat with the same felt and some stuffing, and then wore my matching orange and black striped tights. I also made some leaves out of green felt and used green thread to sew them into my tights so that they looked like vines. 

We all waited outside of the Great Hall when the time drew near. Everyone’s costumes looked brilliant! Aures dressed as a faun, I saw a few students who wore white with blood spatter, a lot of winged creatures (Bonnie went as a dragon) and I overheard Talula saying she was the queen of thestrals, or something like that. 

I’m not sure how, but the professors managed to turn the inside of the Great Hall into what I imagine the forbidden forest looks like - but with a lot more jack-o-lanterns. It was absolutely amazing! Like what Professor Gallo had done to the divinations room, but more spooky! 

The Deputy Headmistress and Headmistress O’Keeffe showed up together, and Blightly was wearing a suit and a mustache! The Headmistress was wearing a black dress, but… It was fairly different from her other dresses. More, uh, showy I suppose. She looked brilliant! 

I talked to a girl, a Gryffindor prefect,  I think, who was dressed like an angel. She spoke so softly, and seemed sort of… distracted. Like she wasn’t all on earth, which is a feeling I think I feel very often. She had asked me if I knew the theme ahead of time since there were so many jack-o-lanterns and I was dressed as one. I said I hadn’t, and she mentioned something about foresight… and then quickly said that most people don’t believe in that, though. I told her I did (I know it all too well) and there seemed to be some sort of… an understanding between us. 

After that, Levi approached me. He actually remembered me this time and thanked me for not covering my face up too much, since his memory is so bad. He came dressed as a ringmaster and showed me he actually had to write it down on his hand to remember what he looked like. I showed him my hand, which still had ink on it from when I was reading on Thursday. I write down page numbers on my hands if I don’t have a bookmark. That, names, important times, things like that. He seemed happy that someone else writes stuff down on their hands, too. I suggested he use a notebook to write things down, in case a professor tries to clean the ink or something with magic. I told him if he wanted to go trick-or-treating, we could go together, since he gets lost so easy. 

I ate cakes and drank punch, and danced until I got too tired. I tried to sleep, though I had a hard time. The organ kept waking me up, and that night, I had the vision. It was such a vivid nightmare, but I knew it wasn’t just a dream. I dreamed I was looking into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room and saw a class was happening. I saw students, but I couldn’t figure out any of their faces. Vikander stood at the head of the class. He was covered in blood and was laughing evilly. Organ pipes had burst through the floor and filled the room with this awful off-key sound. It seemed like I was going to go deaf, and it felt like I couldn’t breathe. And then there was a whirlwind, and I was watching one of the large statues in the school fall over, and crush someone underneath it. I couldn’t tell who it was, and I couldn’t get to them in time to stop it. I woke up crying. 

This morning, I went to the owelry and wrote the same letter to as many of my friends as I could think of. ‘Stay away from DADA, and keep your distance from the statues.’ Cheryl wrote back and told me I should go to the hospital wing and talk to a healer, and that everything would be fine… Because she doesn’t know that what I saw wasn’t just a nightmare. 

Bonnie helped me set up the Death Day party. We got some of the rotting pumpkins from the patch by Dracheblume’s hut, and from the patch the Hufflepuffs had grown over by the greenhouses. We went to the kitchens and got rotting fish and meats from the garbage, and bribed the house elves for the stinkiest cheeses that they had. Bonnie even transfigured some black buttons into ravens! 

Then, she used magic to hang up these black silk curtains in the dueling room, to really make it look spooky. We even threw some spiderwebs on them! Then, we set up two tables. One table full of the smelly stuff for the ghosts, because I read that they like it and fly through it because it’s the closest thing to eating, while the other was filled with some of the untouched food from the bash. Bonnie also transfigured some cool lights that looked like creepy hands coming out of the floor, holding lanterns. 

Bonnie talked to me about being a prefect and Head Girl, which made me wonder if I would ever be chosen to be one. I ended up telling Bonnie about my dream, my worries and the reason I wrote the letter. And… I told her that I’m a seer. And she believed me! She told me I should tell O’Keeffe or Blightly, and then she left to go to Hogsmeade with the other prefects. I left and got dressed in the outfit I had planned - black from my neck to my toes. A silky shirt with ruffles, and a skirt that went down to my feet with gold detailing on the bottom. I used black ribbons in my hair, too. 

Then, it was time for the Death Day party. I stood at the door and offered coffee beans to everyone, for them to stick in their nostrils to block out the smell. The room had gotten really gross smelling at that point, after all, and I didn’t want to chase anyone away.

At first, Bobby was the only living person who’d shown up. I saw a lot of the ghosts I was familiar with, and some I wasn’t… Like there was this one ghost who had a cat face and a tail! So she must have died by some sort of transfiguration or potions mishap, I imagine. She even had paws. There was also another ghost who was the Ghoul Studies professor a long time ago, and I think he was saying the organ took his voice. Another ghost I saw was one with a big bloody slit across his throat. I wanted so badly to ask them how they died, but I know that questions like those are huge no-nos when it comes to ghosts. They’re sensitive about it and all. 

 While we were at the party, an owl post announcement was sent that anyone who goes to the clocktower will be suspended, because of how dangerous the organ has become. I find this sad, as the clocktower is one of my favourite places to go. That, the wooden bridge outside of the clocktower courtyard, the owelry, the pitch… I’m sure there are others, but those are the first few that come to mind. 

The cat-ghost suggested that the organ is stealing voices because it needs a voice of its own. The professor ghost pointed out when another voice was stolen as well, because a new chord was played all throughout the castle. Through a little bit of charades, he told us that when the chord changes, it means a new voice was stolen. 

The bloody ghost - whose name I learned was Castiel - asked me why I wanted to throw all the ghosts a death-day party. I told him the truth, of course - that we’d been learning about ghosts in Ghoul Studies, and I wanted to be kind and show that they’re appreciated. He said that of course I’m a Hufflepuff, which I’m not sure if I should take offense to or not. I suppose not. There’s nothing bad about being kind. 

The professor ghost used charades to tell me he used to teach ghoul studies. I asked him a few questions about the Battle of Hogwarts and all that, and then noticed that he had a cat with him. They seemed very close. Imagine being so close with your familiar that they’re there when you die! I read that Egyptians liked to be buried with their cats, I think because they’re meant to be protective. It makes sense if I think about it since Puck has been very sweet and protective towards me. Whenever I’ve felt sad or homesick, he’s come to my side. 

Then the other ghost, Castiel, asked me to guess how old he was. His appearance suggested the victorian era. He said he was born in 1895, and told me to stay away from vampires. I assume that’s how he died, but I know better than to ask. 

Jane joined us at one point, said hi, and then left, Marigold and Anton also visited, and then Deputy Headmistress Blightly arrived. She asked if we could speak, so we stepped into the hallway. Well, speak is a funny choice of word, because she had lost her voice to the organ. So it was more like… I was speaking, and she was using her wand to write words in the air. At first, I thought maybe Bonnie had said something to the professor, but actually, it was Essa! I had sent her a letter as well, and Blightly began asking me why I’d told Essa to avoid Vikander’s class. I told her I was a seer and she… immediately believed me. Just like Bonnie had. I’m starting to wonder if the curse of foresight is real, after all. 

Anyways, I told her I had a vision in my dream, and she asked me to describe it, so I did. I told her about Vikander, the organ, the statue - everything. All the while, the organ was using the voices it had stolen to make creepy choir music, laugh, and basically create enough nightmares for me to last a lifetime. It even shouted! But then, it got worse…

It spoke to me in my mother’s voice… Called me Bumblebee, told me it needed me to go to the clocktower. I thought for a second that it had gotten her, that I had to go rescue her. Its voice pulled me like a fish on a line! If Professor Blightly hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would’ve done… I might’ve run down there and lost my voice just like she had! She had to do a lot to convince me to stay put. It even made me hear my mother screaming, asking for help. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that sound. Essa walked me to the hospital wing so I could get a calming draught because the sounds were making me hysterical, and I also got a pair of the special earmuffs we wear when we handle mandrakes. Taking Cheryl’s advice, I also got a bottle of sleeping draught and dreamless sleep, because I sure as heck wasn’t going to fall asleep and not have nightmares without it. 

Essa mentioned having the ‘Sight’ as she put it, which I asked her about. She told me the future comes to her, which means… When Bonnie told me I wasn’t the only seer in the school, she was right. Of course, I told Essa that I also get the visions. It’s nice to know that I’m not alone.

So as you can tell, there has been a lot of good, and bad these past few days. Other than all of that happening, Bobby gave me his scarf, which was very kind of him because it was honestly freezing in the dueling room, surrounded by all of those ghosts. There’s something very… sweet and heartwarming about knowing that the scarf I’m wearing belongs to a dear friend. Honestly though, I felt like my fingers were going to fall off by the end of the party! I also sent a lot of pumpkin grams to my friends, but I haven’t gotten any yet. I wonder if I will. I think that’s all I have. My wrists hurt pretty bad and I’m completely exhausted, so I’m going to go to bed now, and think of what I want to do when Hallowe’en (or Samhain!) finally arrives.

Much love, Everly

About the Character: Everlina Rosemary Kindred is an imaginative Hufflepuff attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She keeps up with her magical journey through a series of diary entries, dream journals, and tarot readings, all documented for future reflection. Her diary is a small glimpse into her enchanted life, and her adventure into the wizarding world and all its splendors. If you’d like more information about Eve, visit her wiki page. 

About the Author: My name is Katherine! I am a 21-year-old Hufflepuff & Pukwudgie from Louisville, Kentucky. This page is my creative journey into the magical world, through the lenses of Second Life. Here I post diary entries, dream journals, and tarot readings all from my character’s perspective. If you’d like more information about me, visit my Flickr!