Brian couldn’t believe how accustomed he was to his new life. He no longer blinked an eye when stairwells shifted or ghosts glided past in the hallways. He no longer found it strange that he was living and learning in a castle. He didn’t even give a second thought to the fact that he could go “Accio” and something across the room would fly to him or say “Alohomora” when Nick locked him out of the dormitory as a joke.

He woke before the others and put on a sweater. The tower was getting chilly this time of year. Brian walked to the window and admired the grounds. Autumn was everywhere: in the orange and red leaves rustling in the Forbidden Forest, in the cool air, in the pumpkins that had been placed around Hagrid’s home.

Today was a day that Brian had been looking forward to for weeks: Halloween. Who would have guessed that he would ever celebrate the holiday with real wizards and witches? The timing couldn’t have been better either. Today was Saturday.

Brian crawled back under his covers for another twenty minutes, reading a book that Dumbledore had assigned him, until Nick woke up. They headed to breakfast, smelling cinnamon as they entered the Great Hall. There were jack-o-lanterns hanging in the air with a variety of faces. One even had the letters cut out to say Gryffindor.

They began eating while Brian asked what wizards usually did to celebrate today.

“What’s Halloween?” Nick asked, tilting his head and leaving his fork full of eggs hanging in midair.

“What’s Halloween?” Brian echoed. “You know... All Hallow’s Eve.”

Nick still seemed puzzled.

“You know. Where you dress up and go Trick or Treating.”

Nick scoffed. “Sure sounds like a muggle holiday.”

Brian was disappointed. Was Christmas going to be cancelled, too?

A few seconds later, Nick began to laugh. “I had you going there! The look on your face was brilliant. Of course we have Halloween!”

Phew, Brian thought. He threw a sausage at him. “So what do you do for it?”

“Well, there will be a feast here tonight. They usually have cauldrons of candy in the common room, so it’s a late night for everybody because of the sugar rushes.”

“That won’t be the only party going on tonight, you know.” AJ had appeared out of nowhere.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked.

“Well, Hogsmeade goes all out this time of year.”

“How would you know? Besides, it isn’t a Hogsmeade weekend.”
“Oh, Nickolas Think-Inside-the-Box Weasley, how can you even call yourself our brother? Do you think we only go into Hogsmeade when they let us?” AJ asked him.

“We have learned a thing or two in our over seven years here,” Alex added.

“Anyway, the Backstreet Broomstick is having a smashing party tonight,” AJ said.

“The Backstreet Broomstick?” Brian said, trying to remember where he’d heard that name. He’d never gone to Hogsmeade; during the weekend students had been allowed to go, he’d had too much homework to do. He’d spent most of September trying to catch up to other students.

“The club? They card there, and we aren’t old enough to get in!” Nick said.

“I thought you were considered an adult at seventeen in the wizarding world?”

“That’s true,” Alex told him. “You can Apparate and rent muggle cars and buy a home...”

“But you aren’t considered old enough to party,” AJ rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, we have that covered. Are you guys in?”

“But how do we get...”

“We told you. We have ways,” Alex said.

“What are you all talking about?” Howmione walked up, eying them suspiciously.

AJ held a finger up to his lips, knowing Howie wouldn’t approve of this sort of outing. “Eight in the common room?” he mouthed.

Brian hesitated, but Nick nodded and AJ and Alex left.

What if they were caught? He’d heard rumors of detentions that took place in the Forbidden Forest! Brian had never been a trouble-maker. Of course, with average grades, he hadn’t stood out much at all in Kentucky. Here, no matter what he did, he stuck out like a sore wand arm because of his scar. And he’d never seen Hogsmeade. A wizarding village sounded so interesting! If AJ and Alex had gone before without trouble, then Brian had no reason to doubt that tonight would be any different.

Brian spent all day worrying and wondering about Hogsmeade. He pulled out the same sweater he had this morning. He hoped that this along with his school cloak would be warm enough. But when he appeared at the stairs, Nick shook his head.

“You can’t wear anything that says Hogwarts, or they’ll know you’re a student and kick us out!” Nick said.

Brian tried to stop him before he finished, but it was too late. Howmione was standing behind Nick, arms crossed. Alex and AJ were standing next to Nick beside themselves because of his blunder. Well, they were sort of always beside themselves being twins.

As Brian retreated to find a different coat, he heard Howmione say, “Where would you be that didn’t allow students?... The Backstreet Broomstick? You could be expelled! That is the most ridiculous...”

Brian hurried to get ready, although he wasn’t sure if the trip could still go on now. Would Howmione tell on them? To his surprise, though, he returned to find Howmione a great deal calmer.

“Here, put this on for the trip,” AJ threw Brian something.

“You’re kidding?” Brian stared at the white sheet with the eye and mouth holes cut out. “Are we dressing as ghosts or something?”

“Don’t be absurd,” Alex said. “It’s so we aren’t seen.”

“Oh,” Brian said, a little more amazed this time. “Is this an invisibility cloak or something?”

“What? No,” AJ said, as if this statement was as absurd as the last. “But if someone sees us, they won’t know it’s us. Here, Howie. I brought an extra.”

“Thanks,” Howmione said, putting it on.

Brian was about to ask about this strange behavior when AJ led them to the portrait. Everyone else, they hoped, was still at the feast, which would be over soon. They needed to leave while everyone was still in the Great Hall, and they couldn’t afford talking at this point.

AJ and Alex led them down three flights of stairs down a hallway and down more stairwells. If anyone had seen the group, they would’ve seen five strange, fake ghosts walking around. Perhaps, since it was Halloween, they wouldn’t be that suspicious. This was a mute point as they made it to their destination unseen. Brian could smell the wonderful food, and wished for a moment they had simply chosen to attend the feast. He assumed they were near the kitchen. They reached the end of a long, stone corridor. All that stood there was a dusty, black grand piano.

Alex grabbed the broomstick propped against the wall and began to sweep while AJ moved towards the piano.

“Did you bring us all the way down here to clean?” Nick whispered.

Brian pointed and Nick glanced at the floor again. Underneath the dust was a trap door.

“It’s locked,” Nick noticed.

“Duh, Nick. That’s why we need the right key.” AJ examined the piano. Then, he pressed the upper C#. The deadbolt on the trapdoor magically opened, and they went into the underground passageway. They stored their white sheets here and began the long walk with a simple “Lumos” spell lighting the way.

The passage went down for a little while and winded this way and that; finally, they began to ascend.

“Shh,” AJ commanded. They were standing under another trap door, and he opened it just enough to peer out. “The coast is clear.”

They were standing in some kind of pub, where several wizards sat at the bar. The place was dark and slightly gloomy. Unnoticed, they slipped outside and Brian shivered.

“The Backstreet Broomstick is this way,” Alex informed them, leading them down a cobblestone street.

Brian was disappointed. In the other direction, he could see lights and hear music playing. On that adjacent street, he could see a shop window full of candies, which would be perfect today. Instead, they headed to what seemed like the outskirts of town. Soon he heard music again, although much louder with the bass blasting.

They neared the corner, where a neon green light read The Backstreet Broomstick. Underneath there was a heading: where wizards and witches can show their wild side.

“Remember the age restriction?” Howmione reminded them, speaking for the first time since the long walk.

“Yeah, we have it covered,” AJ pulled something out of his pocket.

Brian couldn’t believe what he saw: fake IDs.

“We enchanted them to show our pictures,” Alex explained.

Brian looked at the one he’d been handed. According to the ID, his name was Artius Saturnalian, and he was licensed to fly cargo broomsticks. He was also sixty-seven.

“Oh, these will never work. Their attendant will see right through these... look at the picture quality?” Howmione stated. “The picture glitches every time it moves. I think your wand movement was incorrect when you performed the charm.”

“Well, we have to at least try. We came all this way,” Nick said.

To Brian’s surprise, Howmione got out his wand. At first, Brian thought that he had come to his senses and planned to stop everyone. However, he walked up to Nick and muttered something that sounded like “Decayus Maximus” and, after a quick swish, held his wand in front of Nick’s face for two seconds.

Brian watched closely and realized... Nick looked older. He couldn’t explain exactly how, but he did. The only noticeable difference was the small, blonde goatee on his face.

“Cool! I’ve never been able to gr...” Nick stopped himself while AJ and Alex laughed.

Howmione performed this charm on everyone, including himself, and Brian walked over to a window to see his reflection. His hair was a bit shorter and he, too, now had some facial hair on his chin.

They walked inside and were greeted by a witch wearing a low-cut barmaid outfit. She glanced at them and said, “Go on in.”

“That was easy,” Nick said.

“That’s because my wandwork is excellent,” Howmione said.

They had to raise their voices to be able to hear each other over the band playing on stage. Wizards and witches, mainly in their early and mid twenties, were dancing on the floor. Brian walked past a witch with long, blonde hair talking to a friend. A wizard walked up and whispered something in her ear. The blonde witch scowled, trying to shoo him away. He said something else to her, and it must’ve been as inappropriate as the first time. Before he had the time to react, and his reflexes seemed extra slow, she had pulled out her wand and muttered something. His expression turned to one of extreme pain, and he hunched over. Brian couldn’t see anything wrong with the wizard, but he had the sneaking suspicion that, whatever the spell, it had been below the belt.

There were streamers on the wall and strings of what looked like real skeleton heads for decoration. Pumpkins acted as the centerpiece of each table. Some people were in costume. There was one wizard wearing hi-tops, a long skirt, and a ruffled shirt complete with a tie. Brian wondered if he’d decided to be a muggle for Halloween.

“Here,” AJ handed Brian a mug.

Brian asked what it was as he took it.

“Butterbeer! Cheers!” Their mugs clinked together.

An hour passed. Brian was on his second Butterbeer- which was a wonderfully sweet and foamy drink- and having a great time. At one point, when the lead singer had given the cue during a song entitled If You Want It To Be Good Girl, Get Yourself A House Elf, candy corn had fallen like rain.

“To think, all these Halloweens I’ve just been hanging out in the Common Room drinking Pumpkin Juice,” Nick laughed.

“Hey, where’s Howmione?” Brian said, suddenly looking around and realizing he’d disappeared.

Nick shrugged. Alex and AJ didn’t know either.

“He was here a minute ago,” Alex replied.

“How’d you guys get him to come, anyway?” Brian finally had the chance to ask.

AJ smirked and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a candy wrapper that read, Pushover Pumpkin Peeps. “Luckily, Howmione loves marshmellow, so it was easy to trick him into taking it. For a smart guy...”

“He sure is gullible,” Alex finished. “We’ve gotten him to drink four Butterbeers... He even chugged the last one.”

Just then, a new song started to play. Brian wanted to cover his ears as someone began to sing off tune. He looked up, horrified, when he saw that Howmione had taken to the stage. “What were you saying about Butterbeer?” he gave a harsh look to Alex and AJ.

“You say you want Howie around, but I’m not sure now if I wanna be down,” he sang into the microphone, swaying slightly with the music and the Butterbeer.

I think I wanna stay single

Just can’t look you in the eye

See I don’t want a girl who

Takes the network of floo

Powder to go see other guys

Makes me wanna die

For several, long minutes Howmione belted out Bye Bye Basilisk. Finally the song ended, and they pulled him off stage.

“What were you thinking?” AJ said. “What if someone recognizes you?”

“Relax,” Howmione said.

Talk about role reversal, Brian thought. They hadn’t been hiding, though, so Brian didn’t see why being on the stage made much of a difference. Yes, there were bright lights up there whereas the rest of the establishment was rather misty, but no harm had been done that he could see.

Nick seemed to agree with him, and they took turns doing impressions of Howmione. Even Howmione thought it was funny, although whether it was from the charmed candy or the plethora of beverages Brian couldn’t tell.

A moment later, a witch who was swaying even more than Howie walked up. She turned to him and said, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Howmione nodded. “I go to Hog...”

“...smeade,” Alex finished for him. “We’re visiting from London and staying in town this weekend.”

The witch put a finger on her chin. “I could’ve sworn...”

“Nope,” Alex said. “But nice to meet you.” He pulled Howmione with him and whispered to everyone that it was time to go. They walked into the chilly, dark night to sneak back into Hogwarts.