Chapter 82: 7th September 1991, Saturday: Part 1

A colourful poltergeist glided down the second-floor corridor, he flew high against the ceiling to avoid the attention of the students below. If he wasn't careful then he could be easily spotted, he had the option to turn invisible but that would take all the fun out of the hunt. He was one of the few ghosts that weren't monochromatic, this allowed him to show off his vibrant clothes. He wore a large bright red jacket with golden buttons with a puffy shirt underneath. He had brown leather shoes that curled at the ends, and long zebra-striped socks that were pulled over his blue baggy pants. His head was topped with a huge yellow jester's hat with bells which jingled as he flew through the air. His hair was long and black and his face was pale, he had deathly black lips and a big crooked red nose.

A huge mischievous grin was plastered across his face as he was deciding who should be his first target. He was feeling particularly excited because this was the first week of term and he hadn't had anyone to pull pranks on for over two months. He hated the summer holidays, they were so boring and felt like they went on for an eternity. The weekend was always the best time for pranks since the students wouldn't be attending their lessons, and the professors couldn't defend them from his shenanigans. He continued to fly down the corridor and was disheartened by how few students he came across, the ones he did spot didn't look very interesting.

He quickly lost his patience in this corridor and decided to head toward the Great Hall, he knew that some students would be coming in and out of there to do their homework. He would just have to be careful not to get caught by the Bloody Baron along the way. Just as he was about to leave the corridor, he floated past a large stone column that had a massive black slug resting on top of it. He didn't spare it much thought since it wasn't his problem if another weird creature from the Forbidden Forest sneaked into the castle, that's what the professors were for.

What stopped him in his tracks was the boy's head sticking out of one end of the large slug, that was something he had never seen before. At first, he thought that the student had been eaten by the creature but he could see that the boy was alive, he was still breathing and would occasionally wiggle around in it to get more comfortable. The poltergeist became more curious and decided to turn invisible so he could get closer. He wanted to find out what was going on with this slug-human hybrid, maybe it was a new species. He was disappointed to find that the creature wasn't a slug, it appeared to be some form of unusual artificial bedding that cocooned the student.

The student was a young boy, probably a first-year, with messy brown hair and a smooth pale face. The boy appeared to be fast asleep even though it was in the middle of the afternoon. The poltergeist also saw that the boy's left leg was sticking out of the opposite end of the cocoon, and their ankle was bound with a rope that was tied to a statue's arm. Because he was the most intelligent poltergeist in Hogwarts, he was able to deduce that this rope was to prevent the student from falling to their death. The boy was currently being suspended three stories off the ground and was on the verge of rolling off the pillar. It didn't take long for the poltergeist to choose this sleeping victim as his first target for mischief. He was going to give the boy a very rude awakening.

The poltergeist reappeared beside the boy's head and loudly shouted, "wakey-wakey!"

George was jolted awake by the voice screaming in his ear. He instinctively rolled away from the noise which caused him to teeter off the edge of the pillar he'd slept on, he flailed his hands but was restricted by the sleeping bag. Unable to prevent himself from falling, George plummeted headfirst toward the stone ground. Once he was a few feet away from hitting the floor, the rope tethering his leg to an angel statue was pulled taut. As his whole body came to an abrupt stop, an abnormally loud crunching noise could be heard travelling down his spine.

Right as the rope yanked on his ankle, George felt a lightning bolt travelled through his body which felt surprisingly good. This feeling must have been similar to an adjustment at a chiropractic clinic. With all the blood rushing to his head, George quickly woke up and realised the current situation he was in. He had found a comfortable spot on top of a pillar near the girl's bathroom last night and climbed to the top of it. He used some of the survival equipment in his sack to ensure a good night's rest, the robe prevented him from falling. The sleeping bag was to keep him warm because September in Scotland was very cold and the corridors were not heated.

Whilst hanging upside down, George pulled the sleeping bag off of his body and it fell to the ground in a clump. He twisted his head around and saw an oddly dressed ghost floating beside him with a scared look on his face. George immediately recognised that ghost as the poltergeist named Peeves which he had managed to avoid up to this point. He knew that this ghost was famous for causing mischief for both the students and staff alike, but he did not doubt that it was inevitable that Peeves would cross his path. Under the current circumstances, George was quite happy with Peeves' prank since it relieved a great deal of pressure from his back. The only downside was he could feel that some of the skin had torn around his groin where bruising would often form, he would need to transform within the next two weeks or risk infection.

Before George could even say hello, Peeves threw his hands into the air and turned around frantically.

He rapidly flew down the corridor whilst shouting hysterically, "it wasn't me, it wasn't me! He was like that when I found him, I swear on Myrtle's pimples!"

After such a dramatic reaction, George had a gut instinct and pulled out the mirror from his sack and saw that his eyes had turned red again. He immediately realised what had caused such an unusual reaction from Peeves. He'd just seen a student fall and hanged themselves, that incident resulted in large cracking noises and massive bulging red eyes. George assumed that Peeves was scared that his prank might have severely injured a student or perhaps even killed one. The consequences of such actions would result in Peeves being exercised from Hogwarts if he was caught.

The most important takeaway was the fact Peeves wouldn't go around telling staff about George's eyes, he had gotten extremely lucky in that regard. He didn't even want to think about the consequences if a member of staff had found him instead. George quickly put the mirror away and pulled out a sweet from under his shirt, the pain of taking another one out didn't even bother him. He swallowed it as quickly as he could before anyone else came down the corridor, it took a few attempts since swallowing upside-down was quite difficult.

Just as he felt the veiny hard boil sweet go down his oesophagus, George heard the light pitter-patter of footsteps coming towards him.

The footsteps were followed by a high-pitched voice that he immediately recognised, "Peeves! You better not be bothering the first-year students again. If I have to tell you one more time, you'll be out of this Castle before you can say, exorcism!"

To provide him with enough time for his eyes to change back to normal, George twisted his body so that his head was facing the opposite direction of Flitwick. He also adjusted his robes so they were covering his face, just in case someone came from the other direction. Although he couldn't see, George heard the footsteps increasing in pace until they stopped only a few yards behind him.

Flitwick's panicked voice could be heard after he spotted George, "what the devil has happened here?"

Believing that enough time had passed, George waved his hands in the air to turn his body so that he was facing Flitwick. He moved his robe to one side and looked down, or he guessed up in this circumstance, and saw an upside-down panicking half-goblin staring back whilst brandishing a wand. George was still under the effect of his own Calming Draught from yesterday so he didn't find it hard to perform even under these unusual conditions.

George smiled and waved, "what a pleasant surprise to see you here Professor Flitwick. I hope you're having a pleasant Saturday afternoon."

During his spinning, George had looked out of the corridor window and recognised that the location of the sun meant that it was at least one o'clock in the afternoon or later, this meant he had slept for well over twelve hours. All the labour and stress from the week must have piled up which resulted in an extra-long nap to allow his body to recover. He was slightly saddened that not only had he missed breakfast but also lunch as well, he was going to have to scavenge whatever snacks he could from the Great Hall after he finished talking to Flitwick.

George's positive mannerisms seemed to have alleviated some stress from Flitwick, his face relaxed slightly but he was still very confused.

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Flitwick asked him, "Mr Linwood, I hadn't recognised you. What are you doing hanging upside down?"

George's body started twisting again so he had to keep turning his neck to keep line-of-sight with Flitwick. He scratched his head whilst pretending to be embarrassed, the lying would now commence.

He hesitantly said, "it's a really stupid reason sir, I'm sorry for needlessly worrying you. The truth is, I have lost my owl."

Flitwick didn't look to be any less confused by George's explanation, "really, you're owl you say. And what does this have to do with hanging upside down by a rope like a caught rabbit."

George waited for his body to spin a full rotation before he started properly explaining what happened to him. By this point, lying came so naturally that it only took a second to come up with a story.

"Blinkie had been helping me cope with homesickness so I kept him in my dorm room for the first few nights. I was thinking of taking him to the Owlery once I felt better. One night I came back to my room and noticed that he, along with his cage, had vanished.

At first, I thought it was some form of an elaborate prank by some of the older students, but after a few days, I began to worry. I've started looking around the castle in my spare time and earlier today I thought I saw him at the top of that pillar", George said whilst pointing towards the pillar he had fallen from.

He continued, "so I climbed the pillar as safely as I could by tethering myself to the wall with a rope. I reached the top of the pillar and found it was only a fat pigeon. Then I was spooked by a colourful ghost dressed as a jester and fell, leaving me in this embarrassing state you see before you."

Flitwick took some time to process everything George had said since it was a pretty ridiculous story. After a few seconds, he eventually nodded his head and looked towards the ground where George's sleeping bag had fallen. He walked up to it and kicked it a few times as if to check if it was alive before looking back up at George.

The half-goblin asked, "you wouldn't happen to know what this creature is?"

George corrected him, "that would be my sleeping bag, professor. It's a muggle invention used for outdoor resting which I brought with me to Hogwarts. I had planned on wearing it if my search took me outside the castle. I must have dropped it when I fell."

For obvious reasons, George didn't want to tell any of the professors that he had slept the night in the corridor. He could only hope that Flitwick wouldn't think too hard about why a student would be prepping outdoor sleeping equipment other than to flaunt the curfew. Flitwick once again spent some time processing George's lies before nodding his head and forming an angry scowl on his face.

He spoke with a hint of aggression in his voice, "Peeves has stepped over the line this time, this is no longer a harmless prank. I will have to bring this up with the headmaster immediately."

Since Dumbledore could easily get information out of Peeves, George was quick to reassure Flitwick that the fault was with none other than himself.

He waved his hands while saying, "that isn't necessary. Peeves, the ghost that spooked me, was not responsible for my falling. He merely happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and scared me completely by accident, his terrified reaction to my fall proved this fact.

It was my stupidity which resulted in this accident occurring and I hold no one other than myself accountable. I should have come to a member of staff instead of going on this wild goose chase. Please don't hold someone else accountable for my mistake, professor. I wouldn't be able to live it down."

Flitwick looked quite indecisive as he responded, "very well, Mr Linwood. I hope this serves as a good reminder to not go around recklessly climbing school walls. Now then, do you need any help getting down?"

Flitwick pointed his wand towards George, he was probably planning on using the Wingardium Leviosa spell to gently lower George to the ground.

George politely declined, "there is no need sir. Since I got myself into this mess, it seems only appropriate that I get myself out."

Without waiting for a response from Flitwick, George pulled his legs to his chest whilst reaching for the knot binding his ankle. He untied the knot which allowed his body to fall the right way up, but he didn't let go of the rope. He pulled himself up and untied the other end of the robe from the statue before steadily sliding down the pillar like a fireman's pole. George then stuffed the rope and sleeping bag down his pants in full view of Flitwick, leaving the man befuddled. He checked his watch and noticed that the time was currently five minutes to three which was a little later than he had predicted.

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