Peeves shifted from side to side, leaned in to peer at Lucien's face, then suddenly drifted back, flipped through the air, and floated toward the corridor window.
"Ah, I remember now. You're Luc... Lucien, Lucien!" Its voice rose several pitches. "Those twins mention you all the time, haha! But you're usually far too serious, even more boring than plenty of sixth- or seventh-years. No wonder you were sorted into Ravenclaw..."
Lucien's expression remained flat.
Peeves, apparently encouraged by the lack of reaction, continued chattering.
"I won't ask you anymore, I won't ask! How could a boring, honest young wizard like you understand how much fun last night's prank was? It was brilliant! Even the ghosts were affected. Myrtle stopped hiding in the toilet to cry, and even the Grey Lady smiled at people..."
Listening to Peeves ramble on, Lucien felt the headache that had just begun to ease worsen again.
His temples throbbed painfully.
What was that about mist just now?
Terry's note had mentioned mist.
Peeves was talking about mist.
And apparently it had spread far enough to affect even the ghosts.
The unpleasant suspicion forming in Lucien's mind became increasingly difficult to ignore.
"Peeves! There you are! Always darting about and snooping around!"
A sharp shout interrupted Lucien's thoughts and finally put an end to Peeves's racket.
A gaunt ghost emerged directly from the wall.
His hollow eyes were fixed firmly on Peeves, while his robes were stained with specks of silvery blood that gleamed coldly in the morning light.
Shackles hung from his wrists and ankles, though restraints made for the living obviously did nothing to hinder a ghost.
The moment Peeves saw him, its entire attitude changed.
"Oh, Mr Baron, why are you here..." Peeves's voice became noticeably smaller, filled with unmistakable panic. "Ah, I just remembered I've got something to do. I'm off!"
Before it had even finished speaking, it shot away toward the other end of the corridor.
It moved so quickly that the hat on its head fell off.
Even after flying some distance and noticing the missing hat, Peeves merely tossed Luna's necklace aside and reached back.
The hat immediately flew straight into its hand on its own.
Lucien watched for a moment.
It wasn't magic in the ordinary sense.
The hat seemed to be an inherent part of Peeves, almost like another part of its body rather than a separate object.
A moment later, Peeves's figure rapidly faded, as though being erased from existence, and disappeared at the end of the corridor.
As for the necklace...
By sheer coincidence, after being carelessly thrown aside, it traced an arc through the air and headed straight toward the open window.
Luna could only watch helplessly as it flew farther and farther away.
At this rate, it would fall onto the grass outside the castle.
"Accio necklace."
A soft incantation sounded.
The necklace paused briefly in mid-air, as though caught by an invisible hand.
Then, in the next second, it changed direction and flew straight into Lucien's palm.
Luna blinked.
Lucien wasn't holding his wand.
He had simply spoken the incantation and waved his hand.
Yet the necklace had flown over as obediently as a trained little bird.
"This is yours, right?"
Hearing Lucien's question, Luna finally came back to herself.
She stepped forward and took the necklace from his hand.
"Thank you. Otherwise, by the time I found it again, I'd miss morning class."
Lucien waved a hand to show that there was no need to thank him.
His head still hurt, and he couldn't understand why the girl absolutely had to wear the necklace to class.
It was only a necklace made from Butterbeer corks.
Butterbeer...
Ugh.
He was thirsty.
Lucien shook his head slightly, trying to clear away the scattered thoughts that kept appearing for no reason.
His mind felt unusually sluggish this morning.
He glanced toward the end of the corridor.
The gaunt ghost was slowly sinking back into the wall, the silvery bloodstains on his robes flickering faintly in the shadows before disappearing with him.
The Bloody Baron.
The house ghost of Slytherin.
Lucien didn't know the exact reason, but Peeves was extremely afraid of the Bloody Baron.
It was almost strange.
Peeves usually feared neither students nor professors, and even seemed to take pleasure in irritating people who could actually punish him.
Yet the moment the Bloody Baron appeared, Peeves fled without hesitation.
Lucien had no intention of investigating that mystery right now.
He withdrew his gaze and was just about to leave.
"That mist," Luna suddenly said in her soft, dreamy voice, "did you conjure it, Lucien?"
Lucien paused.
Then he turned his head, surprise flashing through his eyes.
"What?"
Luna tilted her head slightly.
Her clear silver eyes remained fixed on Lucien, not in an invasive way, but with the same strange seriousness she seemed to give everything around her.
It almost felt as though she were trying to see something deeper beneath his expression.
"That mist..." Luna said slowly. "It feels a lot like you."
Lucien stared at her.
Luna continued in the same calm tone.
"No matter what you seem like on the outside, deep down, you're actually a very happy person. That's nice."
Lucien froze.
For several seconds, he didn't know how to respond.
Happy?
That certainly wasn't what he had expected her to say.
Luna smiled.
Her large eyes narrowed slightly, giving her expression an unusually gentle quality.
"I hope you stay this happy forever."
Lucien remained silent.
As for this seemingly nonsensical remark, he couldn't make sense of it at all with his current headache.
Even if he had been feeling perfectly fine, he probably still wouldn't have understood Luna's train of thought.
What did she mean by saying the mist felt like him?
Could someone actually identify the caster of a Patronus merely from its atmosphere?
And why had she suddenly concluded that he was a very happy person?
Lucien looked at Luna for a moment, then glanced again toward the corridor where Peeves had disappeared.
Terry's note.
Peeves's song.
The stories about mist filling the castle.
Even Luna had somehow connected it to him.
His first attempt at the Patronus Charm had clearly caused far more trouble than he had realised.
Lucien rubbed his aching temple again.
He was thoroughly confused.
Just what had happened last night?
________
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