As Charlie, Delilah, Nora, and Mira had prior commitment for the night of All Hallow's Eve, Octavius had recruited his brother (Septimus) and sister (Tertia) to accompany him inside the maze that led to the party. The idea had been excellent in theory, but as Octavius now wandered alone with his glasses askew and several
Gobstones light (they had made handy weapons), the idea lacked a certain something in execution.
Having outrun a swarm of something that looked horribly like scarab beetles, Octavius slowed to a stop as soon as he felt safe, and doubled over, resting his hands on his knees as he breathed in deeply. After a few minutes had passed and he could breathe without fear of passing out again, he straightened and sought to journey on.
Until the blood-curdling shriek.
The majority of the fibres of his beings had him turning away, but what if the shrieker had lost her wand? Octavius didn't think anyone would
die in this maze (well, not for very
long, anyway), but there were certainly some fearsome scares. He hurried in the direction of the whimpers, growing fainter, until he saw a woman sprawled on the ground. As he neared it, he saw—was that
Thomas McCormack?
Except he looked quite—dead. Octavius's confusion rose as he took in the costume of the other wizard, and his eyes fell once again on the woman on the floor. He stilled very suddenly, because was that—was that
R—
Before he could even complete the thought, Thomas's head jerked up in his direction, and suddenly fur sprouted across his face. He hunched over violently, and Octavius realised he was shifting into something—he was—it was—
THAT WAS A BOGGART!The beast hadn't even finished transforming into whatever horror Octavius thought it would assume, and his heartbeat was already trippling. He fumbled for his wand immediately, half-swearing and half-whimpering himself.
What was it, why couldn't he remember the bloody charm to— "Ruh-rid-
Rriddikulus!"
