My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 271, Chapter 268: An Unexpected Sip of Food

Lynn found Hermione in front of the Gryffindor common room.

She was giving Harry and Ron a serious lecture.

"You promised Nick you'd attend his death anniversary dinner tonight. Since you made the promise, you can't go back on it. If you can't keep your word from childhood, what will you do when you grow up? Besides, I specifically called Lynn over for this."

Ron whispered in Harry's ear, "I guess she doesn't want to miss this opportunity to spend time with Lynn, rather than really wanting to attend some memorial service."

Harry nodded in deep agreement.

Hermione looked at them suspiciously: "What are you talking about?"

"No, we didn't say anything," Harry and Ron quickly denied. "We were just thinking that we really should keep our promise and attend Nick's death anniversary dinner."

Lynn reminded Harry and the others, "Ghosts' food isn't suitable for the living. If you don't want to go back to bed hungry tonight, I suggest we hurry over. That way, we might still make it to the tail end of the Halloween party, and there might still be some pudding left on the table."

The four of them walked together through the corridor where the Great Hall was located and heard loud singing coming from inside. It was said that Dumbledore had specially invited a skeleton band from outside to celebrate this year's Halloween.

"That sounds interesting," Harry muttered.

"Think of it this way: they only see a few skeletons singing, while we see hundreds and thousands of ghosts dancing," Lynn comforted him.

Nick held his death anniversary banquet in a huge underground classroom. Before they even entered the classroom, they could hear from afar the sound of what sounded like a thousand fingernails scraping across a huge blackboard.

Ron's lips trembled as he said, "So this is their dance music?"

No one answered Ron's question because they had already entered the underground classroom.

The room was packed with hundreds of milky-white, translucent figures, mostly wandering around the crowded dance floor, waltzing to the terrifying, trembling sound of thirty saws. The band playing the saws sat on a stage covered with a black cloth. A thousand candles were lit in a chandelier overhead, casting a midnight blue glow. Harry and his companions' breath formed puffs of mist in front of them, as if they had stepped into a freezer.

Only Lynn looked normal, as if she hadn't been affected by the cold air.

"You should have worn thicker robes, otherwise you might catch a cold if you stay here for too long tonight."

Harry exhaled. "It's certainly bad news that it's easy to catch a cold, but the good news is that because there are a lot of people with colds in the castle lately, Madam Pomfrey has prepared plenty of cold medicine."

Ron shook his head: "Forget it. That kind of medicine makes your ears smoke, and I don't want to perform the 'hair on fire' trick (the Weasleys all have dark red hair)."

Hermione stopped their conversation: "Stop talking about that, Nick's coming."

Nick, who was almost headless and draped in a black velvet veil, spotted them from afar and then floated over leisurely.

"Oh, it's very nice to have you here." His voice sounded quite sad. "I'm glad you brought your friends along, Harry."

Nick invited them in and gestured for them to make themselves at home, as he himself had other guests who had come from afar.

"He doesn't seem happy at all?"

"This is his death anniversary banquet, not his birthday banquet. The anniversary of going from a living person to a dead person is certainly not a happy day."

"You should be careful; it's not good to talk about others behind their backs."

As Harry and his two friends were talking quietly, they suddenly realized that Lynn had separated from them at some point.

They looked around and saw him chatting happily with a ghost nun not far away.

"The church considered my behavior unfaithful and an insult to God, so they crucified me and burned me alive. At the time, I was heartbroken because my lover had betrayed me, so I did not resist and let the flames engulf me. When I opened my eyes again, I had become a ghost." The ghost nun was telling Lynn about her death with great interest.

Lynn seemed quite impressed by her story, nodding and saying, "What an astonishing way to die! Were you one of the few witches burned at the stake during that period?"

"Of course, how could an adult wizard be afraid of Muggle fire? In history, fewer than ten witches have been burned at the stake by Muggles, and I am one of them." The nun's expression seemed very proud, but it was unclear what she was so proud of.

"Why is he having such a good chat with a ghost?" Ron asked incredulously.

Harry shrugged. "I've always felt that ghosts think differently from normal people, and people who can have common ground with ghosts must also think differently from us."

They forgot that Hermione was still right next to them, listening to them talk.

"Don't talk bad about Lynn behind his back!" She glared angrily at Harry and his companion, then dragged them away. "Lynn is busy with important matters right now, and we'd better not disturb him."

"How did she figure out Lynn was doing something important?" Harry and Ron stared at each other.

"His smile is so malicious," Hermione said irritably. "He used to smile like that when he teased me as a child."

Harry and Ron had complicated expressions. What had they been given such a surprise?

"Can you recall what it felt like when you became a ghost?" Lynn asked with a smile that he thought was friendly but which Hermione saw as malicious.

"What did it feel like?" the nun recalled. "I felt great pain when I was burned at the stake, and I also felt great pain when I was betrayed by my lover. I was in pain inside and out. Then, when I stopped feeling pain, I opened my eyes and found myself a ghost."

Lynn pondered her words and found her description to be quite abstract.

"Why would a living person like you be so interested in ghosts?" The nun wasn't stupid after all; she understood Lynn's true intentions.

Lynn wasn't embarrassed at all about being discovered, and spoke the truth: "I just want to know, if people can become ghosts after they die, where do all the dead who don't become ghosts go?"

The nun shook her head. "I can't explain why either. If you really want to know more about ghosts, you can talk to the fat monk. He's always been interested in these things, both in life and after death. Excuse me, I have to go dancing now."

After saying that, she turned and walked toward the dance floor.

(End of this chapter)