Chapter 8 – Lunchtime Exploration
The lunch was great, and after filling our stomachs, we still had around an hour to laze around before our charms class began. To not let ourselves be overwhelmed by the food coma both Quincy and I was starting to feel, we decided the best solution was to explore the castle a little. That was when we ran into him... into it.
"Oooh? What is this? Are younglings sneaking off? Searching for a place for smoochie-smoochie? What a naughty, n-a-u-g-h-t-y boy and girl you are!"
"What?" I asked, wholly bewildered, failing to notice that Quincy next to me was frozen in place, turning redder than the tomato on our plates a few minutes ago. I never saw such a... tangible ghost before. No... this was not a ghost... a poltergeist?
"Oh, pretending to not know? Tsk-tsk-tsk!" He wiggled a finger at me while I was watching its strange, blazing eyes and the weird, jester-like clothes and hat it was wearing.
"Who are you?" I asked, baffled at the scenery and his annoyingly pitched voice.
"Peeves won't tell you!" It laughed, throwing a water balloon, from nowhere, straight into my face, soaking my head to toe.
"Peeves..." I murmured, wiping my face, turning a shade grimmer, while Quincy was quickly stepping away, trying not to get wet as a second one landed on my head.
"Ooooh, not that stupid, are you? Ohohohoho, Missy is not wanting more kissy-kissy? Ohohoho, is it time for a break up already?" It chortled, flying above us in circles.
Now I remembered. Father did tell me about him... the eternal pain of many students and caretakers. Peeves the poltergeist, a being that has been part of Hogwarts since its inception. Nobody knows how he came to be, but many think he is a manifestation of all the past and present students' collective mischiefs. Whatever he was in reality, I knew that it was best if we ran for it. As first-year students, we were not in any position to fight him. I grabbed Quincy's hand from nowhere and took for the stairs, hearing him laugh behind us.