The Fourth Year Of Usool Jahanara

10. Peeves Gets Us To Trouble.

We reached the interior of Hogwarts, thankfully not being seen by any teacher or anybody on the way.

We tiptoe-ed halfway to Ravenclaw Tower, we went silently walked across closed and sleeping portraits. We were walking on when-

"STOP!!"

We stopped dead. Hearts pounding hard, we turned back, but found no one.

"Who was that?" Caren asked, his hair again chalk white.

"I dunno!" The hair of my back stood straight.

"We've got to go fast!" Megan said, almost pulling the sleeve of my robes.

We turned and sped up, still careful not to make any sound.

"STOP RIGHT THERE! YOU THREE!!"

We heard it again. We exchanged terrified looks. The voice, it too seemed pretty stern and new. Gulping some air, we turned back but still, no one was present.

"I think someone's pranking us!" Megan said, half doubtfully and half scared.

"Yeah! Midnights are best for these kinds of pranks!" Caren welped.

"Almost midnight!" I said, again seeing my watch. "It's eleven...." I squinted my eyes. "....forty-three? Whatever! Let's get going."

I turned to go when I left a stifled scream.

A silvery-white being, which was a ghost (yeah! You heard it right) hung upside down with his nose centimeters away from mine.

Normally, I'm not scared of ghosts, especially after I came to Hogwarts. 'Cause it's always like you find your newspaper at your doorstep. The same goes for ghosts. But this sudden arrival of one, made me jump.

The ghost turned its neck, so that it became erect. That's when I came to know that he was not a ghost.

"Peeves?! Seriously?!" I whisper-yelled, taking deep lungfuls to level my heart beat. Peeves, the poltergeist cackled as he did a double back flip and landed like a gymnast, but in mid air instead of the ground. Caren clapped silently.

Hey, did I mention Peeves as a poltergeist? Well, it means that he is a ghost, but not a ghost! (Baffling, right?) Unlike House Ghosts and other ones, he could hold and toy around with things. His mischievous acts create history. Lately it became so frequent and so dangerous (Considering him throwing what seemed like a water balloon made a seventh year Gryffindor girl get nasty boils all over her face, last year) that we had to protect our heads wherever we go.

At the instance, he was infront of us in an empty corridor, fifteen miutes to twelve timing.

"Ooooh!" He said as if we fell prey for one of his evil pranks. "Who do we have here?"

"Look Peeves!" I tried to explain. "We are very happy to see you! ("No we're not!" Caren muttered. I elbowed him hard.) But we don't have time or interest for all your pranks. Please let us go!"

"Yeah!" Caren joined me. "It's midnight. We'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Almost midnight!" I corrected.

"As if it will cause an earthquake!" He retorted testily.

"Mm, hmm!" Peeves said, wagging his finger from side to side.

"Please Peeves! Everyone is asleep. Don't wake them up!" Megan pleaded.

Peeves looked at her as if she gave him an important task to do and he will certainly not do it.

"Hmmmm...... speaking of sleep.... it's been a while ever since I got this kind of a night. It would be great fun to wake them up, eh?"