"Of course. I'm willing to trade Mooncalf fur."
The moment Rock said that, Hagrid hurriedly waved his hands, snapped the lid back onto the jam jar on the table, and shoved it straight into Rock's arms.
"No need, Rock. I don't want the Mooncalf fur."
Halfway through the sentence, Hagrid suddenly started hesitating, his words coming out awkward and unsure.
"It's just… could you help me mail a letter to your grandpa?"
Rock gave him a skeptical look. If Hagrid weren't a broad, rough-looking half-giant, Tina might've mistaken that expression for one of Newt's starstruck fangirls.
"That's no problem at all," Rock said. "But I'm still giving you the Mooncalf fur."
It had been a birthday gift from Newt, sure—but trading it for unicorn hair would probably let Newt give Tina a real surprise.
Hagrid tried to refuse again, but Rock waved him off. "Hagrid, my grandma taught me when I was little never to take advantage of people. This one's settled."
"Ah… alright then."
Since Rock insisted, Hagrid had no choice but to agree. He then pointed at the other items in the hut.
"If there's anything here you like, feel free to take it. Consider it a little meeting gift for your grandpa."
"No, really," Rock declined and immediately changed the subject. "If you want to send a letter, you could write it now. I can take it to the owlery on my way back."
"Right! Yes, exactly—I'll write it now!"
Hagrid clapped his hands together and got up to look for paper and a quill.
"Man, your grandpa's fans are intense," Theo muttered quietly from the side.
"I think Hagrid's probably the only one like this," Rock said with a smile, not bothering to explain further.
After Hagrid finished the letter, they sat for a bit before getting up to say goodbye.
On the way back, Rock tucked the jam jar Hagrid had forced on him under his robes. Hagrid probably hadn't had any other containers, so Rock figured he'd transfer it into something better once he got back to the dorm.
If he actually dared to leave it in a jam jar, his grandpa would probably send a letter just to lecture him about it.
They hurried back to the Ravenclaw common room. As soon as they passed through the entrance and climbed the spiral staircase, they saw Penelope directing a few students as they decorated the room.
The enchanted night sky on the ceiling had shifted into a new style. Every now and then, one or two stars glowed with a cold blue light, slowly drifting across the ceiling.
"Penelope, are you decorating?" Rock asked, looking around. The changes weren't dramatic, but the Halloween vibe was unmistakable.
"Oh, it's you guys," Penelope said, nodding. "Yeah. The Head of House said Halloween's coming up, so the common room needs some festive touches."
Then she seemed to remember something and turned to Rock. "By the way, I heard you're pretty good with the Levitation Charm. How about you handle these candles?"
As she spoke, she pointed to several candles on the table, each burning with differently colored flames.
Blue. Silver. Purple…
Rock nodded and raised his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa."
A streak of blue light flashed with a soft pop, and dozens of candles floated smoothly up into the air.
Clap, clap—
Penelope clapped her hands and chuckled. "Nice levitation. Could you move them over there for me?"
After placing the candles where she indicated, Rock and the others finally left the common room and headed for their dorm.
"Honestly, Halloween at Hogwarts seems pretty fun," Theo said, smiling as he took in the decorations.
"Probably just the atmosphere," Rock replied. "At home, it's usually just the same few people. Even if it's lively, you're kind of used to it."
"I still think it doesn't need to be so creepy," Adam complained. "At the very least, they could avoid putting up weird stuff."
Rock and Theo exchanged a glance and buried their smiles.
The next few days were probably going to be rough for Adam.
Back in the dorm, Rock pulled a large glass storage jar out of his trunk and carefully transferred the unicorn hair into it.
Only then did he realize just how much unicorn hair was actually in that jam jar. Without even compressing it, the amount was enough to fill a small cloth pouch.
Rock couldn't help but marvel at Hagrid's generosity. That much unicorn hair, just sitting around unorganized…
If it had been properly sorted and sold, it would've fetched a very high price.
"I'm heading out for a bit," Rock said, standing up with the already-sealed package and Hagrid's letter. He also grabbed a can of cat food on the way. "Don't wait for me at dinner—I'll go on my own later."
Owls had "cat" in the name, after all… they'd probably eat it, right?
"Got it," Theo and Adam replied without looking up. They were already deep into a new game; wizard chess had been abandoned in a corner after they got bored of it.
After mailing the package, Rock began wandering through the castle on his own.
Meanwhile, he mentally reviewed his plans for improving his mental stat. Deep meditation helped—it increased his mental capacity a bit each time—but once it was full, it didn't do much.
Reading books or practicing precise Transfiguration also raised it, but the progress was painfully slow. Way too slow to hit the goals he'd set for himself.
"Forget it. If I'm stuck, I might as well grind skills instead."
Shaking his head, Rock turned toward the eighth floor, smoothly weaving around crowds before slipping into the Room of Requirement.
Wand in hand, he began practicing spells on the training dummy.
Lately, his routine had been to burn through skills until his mental capacity drained, then refill it through meditation—over and over again.
It was dull, repetitive work, but watching the experience numbers on his status panel steadily climb made it worthwhile.
Time passed quietly like that. Rock kept up his habit of writing home every two days, but there was still no progress on his grandpa Theseus's side.
He didn't rush it, sticking to his daily routine until—
The night before Halloween, the Great Hall had been fully transformed for the holiday. Even the portraits in the corridors cheerfully wished students a happy Halloween as they passed.
Adam, however, was not having a good time.
Ghosts drifted through the castle from time to time, swooping out to scare passing students before leaving them pale-faced behind, floating away in high spirits.
And among them all, Peeves was by far the most excited.
After all, it was the one time of year he could mess with students without getting stopped—though, to be fair, that never really stopped him the rest of the year anyway.