Chapter 96: The Banshee and the Songstress
Chapter 96: The Banshee and the Songstress
There was a soft "puh" sound as a mud ball whizzed past the students in the corridor and struck the marble floor in front of Filch, the caretaker, at a tricky angle.
Filch, who had been glaring at the mud on the floor, suddenly looked extremely displeased, and an aura of "keep away" seemed to emanate from him.
Albert and Lee Jordan also noticed the change in the corridor and stopped in their tracks, turning with the other students to look toward the source of the oppressive atmosphere.
Filch stiffly twisted his head to look in the direction the mud ball had come from, only to see another thumb-sized mud ball flying toward him.
Filch quickly sidestepped, his gaze lingering for a moment on the spot where he had been standing. Then, suddenly, he pushed through the crowd in the corridor and chased after the source of the mud balls.
His determination to catch the culprit made the students around him cast astonished glances at his back, and several even prepared to follow along to watch the excitement.
The other students began to speculate about who could be throwing mud balls at Filch.
In the opposite direction from Filch's pursuit, the twins appeared at the corner, waving at Albert and Lee. They had broad smiles on their faces.
"How was it?" Fred and George had just emerged from a nearby secret passage, and Albert raised his index finger to his lips in a shushing motion.
Indeed, it had been the Weasley twins who had thrown the mud balls at Filch, using a winged slingshot they had borrowed from Albert's Room of Requirement and mud balls made from dirt mixed with Mooncalf dung from their Herbology class.
Of course, the twins hadn't aimed at Filch himself but at the marble floor at his feet. However, anyone watching would have thought the mud balls were meant for Filch.
Now, Filch was chasing after them in a rage, but he wouldn't find anything, and it was unclear if some innocent bystander would be wrongly accused.
After returning to their common room, the group immediately went to take hot showers. When they came back downstairs, changed into fresh clothes, they heard others talking about Filch, who was still frantically searching for the culprit.
"Brilliant, just brilliant!" Fred's smile grew even brighter; it seemed that nothing pleased him more than seeing Filch in a bad mood.
"Eat quietly," Albert glanced at them and then nodded slightly toward Filch, who was sitting in a corner of the Great Hall, reminding them of his presence.
Albert hadn't eaten much lunch, as there would be a grand Halloween feast in the evening.
However, the incident with Filch had made the whole afternoon a pleasant one for the group.
Even Professor Blodwen, their Dark Magic Defense teacher, knew that the students weren't in the mood for class, so she spent the entire afternoon telling them interesting stories.
For example, in the middle of the 15th century, a minor earl who was a bit player in history had prepared to duel with the child of a suspected witch. He had ridden out on horseback with a lance, intending to spear the boy, but he had crashed headlong into an Ironskin Curse barrier cast by a witch, suffering multiple fractures and severe head trauma that left him an imbecile.
This story immediately piqued the students' interest in the Ironskin Curse, but the professor said that they wouldn't come across this curse until the higher grades, which left most of them disappointed.
"Is it difficult? By the way, doesn't Albert know this curse?" Lee Jordan muttered in confusion, his voice not too loud but still audible to many, earning Albert a bunch of suspicious glances.
Albert just smiled without confirming or denying anything. Let them guess! The Halloween feast in the evening quickly dispelled everyone's disappointment as they entered the Great Hall and were immediately drawn to the Halloween decorations.
Twelve huge pumpkins from Hagrid's garden behind his hut had been carved into huge lanterns, big enough to seat two or three students.
A large group of bats flew back and forth across the enchanted ceiling, occasionally swirling above the tables and making the candle flames in the small pumpkins flicker.
Before the feast began, Dumbledore first invited the famous witch songstress, Selina Wardbeck, to perform a song for them: "Children, Hit the Wacky Balls, Throw the Ghostly Balls."
Albert, sitting at the table, was completely bewildered. He had no appreciation for the music of this era, and while he felt that the witch songstress had a unique infectiousness to her voice, he just couldn't get into it like everyone else.
As everyone else got into the music, he sat alone at his seat, feeling awkward.
Sanna, sitting across from him, was in a similar situation, her face also reflecting her bewilderment.
Fortunately, the song didn't last too long, and it eventually ended amidst enthusiastic applause, with the witch songstress and her assistants temporarily leaving the stage.
"Why aren't you reacting? Don't you like Selina Wardbeck's songs?"
"It's very infectious music," Albert carefully chose his words, wanting to say, "Were you guys crazy just now?" but after considering it, he swallowed those words, not wanting to be drowned by the unknown objects known as fans.
"Right, Sanna?" He looked at the witch across from him.
"It's very peculiar music," Sanna, who was also from the Muggle world, couldn't appreciate this style of music either, and she could only manage a weak smile in response to Albert's question.
"It seems you don't like Selina Wardbeck's songs." There was a cunning gleam in Angelina's eyes.
"No, that's not it," Albert swallowed the piece of beef he had been chewing and answered vaguely, "I just... don't listen to music much. By the way, I thought you were also immersed in this wonderful music, but I guess not..."
"Cough, cough!" Angelina coughed dryly and quickly lowered her head to eat, while Alicia shook her head slightly beside her.
"My whole family are fans of Wardbeck; we like to play her songs during festivals," Fred mumbled with a chicken leg in his mouth.
"Yeah," George chimed in, "I heard that there's a banshee in Wardbeck's crew, and they often perform together. I wonder if we'll get to see the banshee here."
"A banshee?"
This topic immediately piqued everyone's interest.
"Are you sure it's a banshee?" Albert raised an eyebrow and asked, "Banshees are a type of dark creature. They say that hearing their cries is deadly."
"Selina Wardbeck is the hottest singer in all of Britain, and she's said to be a Hogwarts graduate," Lee Jordan said. "But the rumors about the banshee are true. My mother really likes that song she sang with the banshee."
"How do you know?" Sanna asked curiously, "And why didn't her banshee companion appear here today?"
"Headmaster Dumbledore would definitely not allow a banshee to appear at Hogwarts; it would scare a lot of timid students," Albert recalled the introduction of banshees in "Dark Forces: A Self-Defense Guide." "Banshees have long black hair that drags on the ground, a skull-like face, and green glowing eyes."
"Is that it?"
Suddenly, someone asked in a hushed tone.
"What does it look like?"
"Up there on the stage..."
Albert turned his head to look, and his expression froze. The fried potato he was about to put into his mouth slipped from his grasp, clattering onto the plate along with his fork.
Indeed, the figure on stage matched Albert's description eerily well.
It had long, black hair that trailed on the floor, a skull-like face, and eyes that glowed with an eerie green light. It was indeed a banshee.
The banshee opened its mouth wide, and an unearthly shriek reverberated through the hall.
As the shriek rang out, the musical accompaniment began, and the two sounds blended together seamlessly. The elderly witch, Selina Vazback, held a long, golden microphone and sang with abandon.
If Albert were to describe it, he would say that she was singing with her life on the line. However, the banshee's shriek wasn't as piercing and harsh as legends made it out to be. Instead, it melded perfectly with the music, becoming an integral part of the song.
But the most admirable part of the performance was yet to come: the dancer who danced with the banshee. Albert wondered how they had managed to overcome the psychological pressure of performing with such a creature.
When the song ended, even Albert couldn't help but join in the enthusiastic applause, not because he understood the lyrics, but because he admired the performers for their ingenious use of the accompaniment to mask the banshee's shrieks, creating such a unique and wonderful song.
Selina Vazback's third song was performed towards the end of the Halloween feast. When the audience learned the title, "You Stole My Cauldron But You Can't Have My Heart," there was a thunderous response, and the applause threatened to bring down the roof.
"Is this song famous?" Albert asked curiously.
"Very famous," Fred replied.
"My mom has always wanted to attend one of her concerts, but tickets sell out instantly. They're often resold at exorbitant prices on the black market. When Selina Vazback first released 'You Stole My Cauldron But You Can't Have My Heart,' fans rushed to her concerts regardless of the consequences, even causing a collision of three brooms once," Fred explained.
"Oh," Albert said nonchalantly. He wasn't much of a fan himself, so he took these things lightly. However, he was curious about the song's appeal and listened intently:
"You thought you were a fine wizard, enchanting me with your spells, But guess what, Mr. Wizard, you don't truly know me,
You think you're so clever, but you're just a fraud, ...
You stole my cauldron, And the toad from the pond,
Along with the memory vials, ...
You stole my cauldron, but you can't have my heart! (Her heart!)"
When the song ended, Albert still wore a confused expression.
To be honest, the song wasn't that impressive, or perhaps it was just the magical world's style that he couldn't appreciate. Without the banshee's accompaniment, this song was even less appealing than the previous one. In that moment, Albert felt like he could never understand the aesthetic sense of the magical world.
As he looked around, he saw everyone clapping enthusiastically, so he pretended to join in. There were shouts for an encore, but the brief commotion was quickly calmed by Dumbledore.
Selina Vazback and her team, including the banshee, left Hogwarts.
The Halloween feast ended on a slightly disappointing note, and Albert followed the crowd back to the Gryffindor common room.
Along the way, he overheard snippets of conversations about the banshee.
"I wonder how many people will have nightmares tonight?" Mark asked with a mischievous smile as he draped an arm around Albert's shoulder.
"Who knows? But it's certainly a bold idea, isn't it?" Albert shrugged off Mark's playful comment and waved at Mario and the others. "I think they should invite Peeves to join their circus troupe."
"Brilliant idea!" Mark exclaimed, his eyes twinkling. "By the way, you haven't been to practice in a while."
"I've been busy," Albert replied, deftly changing the subject. "There's always homework to do, and I have to attend the Transfiguration Club every week."
"Charlie wants you to take his place as Seeker," Mark stated directly. "To be honest, there aren't many suitable candidates in Gryffindor."
"Well, maybe next year or the year after, someone even better will show up," Albert said with a helpless expression, noticing Mark's skeptical look. "Fine, if we really can't find anyone suitable... we'll talk about it later."
"You'd make a great Seeker," Charlie piped up, appearing from nowhere and patting Albert's shoulder.
The reason everyone thought highly of Albert was that during a friendly Quidditch match, he had managed to catch the Golden Snitch before Charlie, leading Charlie to believe that Albert would be a worthy successor.
After all, in a game of Quidditch, the Seeker played a crucial role, often deciding the outcome of the match.
"You know I only play Quidditch for fun," Albert said, feeling trapped between the two.
"Playing Quidditch won't hinder your path to becoming an excellent wizard," Charlie insisted. "Professor McGonagall was an outstanding Seeker in her youth, and look at her now—she's a master of Transfiguration, your favorite subject. How can you not play Quidditch?"
Yes, Albert was Professor McGonagall's star student, or so some people believed.
While Albert was happy to hear Charlie and the others say these things, he also understood why they were so concerned about the matter.
The fact was that Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup in several years.
Albert, however, wasn't too worried about it. After Charlie graduated, there was still Harry Potter, the chosen one, to fill the role of Seeker.
Yes, the boy who would be known as Harry Potter, the Savior of the Wizarding World.
In Albert's eyes, though, he was more like a scapegoat.
"Ah!" Albert sat on the edge of his bed, covering a yawn with his hand. He picked up a nearby pillow and threw it at the Weasley twins, who were dancing and singing off-key in the dormitory.
"Merlin's beard, is this the infamous post-concert syndrome?" he muttered. He couldn't blame them for their excitement, as it was indeed a rare opportunity to hear Selina Vazback perform live.
"Hey, do you guys want to go for a night stroll?" George suggested.
"Maybe another day. Toss me that pillow," Albert said, catching the pillow Fred threw his way. He yawned again and snuggled back into his bed. Full bellies made one sleepy.
(End of Chapter)
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