Merry Christmas!

Arya's mind was filled with terrors she would rather not know. She wanted to slap herself. I should have said something, she thought regretfully. I should have said something before it was too late.

"....ghosts of Hufflepuff...too nice...wouldn't possess..." Finn's voice pierced through the void in her mind. It sounded a million miles away. "Gray Lady...too timid...possibly..Nick.."

Arya wanted to shout to them and give them their answer. She had realized far too late that something was actually wrong. At least this explained her dark mood. Once again, she struggled to move..

"It's no use, little one," the ghost's voice echoed in her head.

"Get out!" She struggled again, fighting his power over her.

The Bloody Baron had to be the nastiest spirit at Hogwarts. Of course, Arya thought, it was just her luck that he was the one possessing her. Why couldn't it have been the friar? For the last five minutes, when he really started to take over, he'd been telling her stories from his past. Showed was more like it; each memory played as clearly as if it was her own. The baron was a vile and cruel man in life, but it was his final act that he especially mourned over. The one that doomed him to an eternity of regret.

"She should have accepted," he moaned hauntingly, sending a shiver down Arry's spine.

"I would have run too, you soulless fiend, you didn't deserve her!"

This angered the spirit even more, and Arya was forced to sit through his last memories again.

Renard actually dropped the pumpkin cake he'd picked up when the girl announced that Ayra was possessed. He stared at her then leaned forward to look at Ayra. "She was okay a few minutes ago, I think. Just a little down" He said in concern and looked around at everyone.

He was really hoping Ayra was okay, especially when one of the boys surmised it was probably the Bloody Baron. Renard got shivers just thinking of getting possessed by the Slytherin's house ghost. The Baron scared him stiff. Renard bit his lip for a moment and then decided he might as well live up to being a Gryffindor. "Don't worry Ayra, we'll help you"

He thought for a few minutes about the possession and frowned. "Ask him what he wants. Maybe...if we do what he wants, he'll leave on his own"

Adelaine looked hard at Arya; her eyes were completely glazed over and no one could get any response from her anymore. It seemed the ghost had completely taken over now.

"I'll bet it was the Baron," Gavin said angrily. "He's one of the only ghosts missing from the feast, and he's more sinister than the devil."

The rest of the lads were in agreement, but Adele wasn't so sure. The Bloody Baron wasn't one for tricks like this, he usually steered clear of both the dead and the living. Why would he want to possess a little girl? If it was him, someone had put him up to it. But who?

"I can't imagine he'd do this on his own," Peyton said confidently, as if reading her thoughts. "Does Arry have any enemies?"

They all exchanged glances; Arry having enemies? It was almost laughable, the girl probably had more enemies than she could count.

"I would suggest Kolby, but he's not here," Adele sighed.

Arya wished she knew what was going on outside of her mind. She and the baron had been arguing back and forth for ages..at least, it felt like ages. It had probably only been about twenty minutes. Or had it? Time was a blur to her. Is this what it felt like to be a ghost?

"All I'm saying is, you could have just gotten her flowers," Arya insisted, trying to reason with His Bloody Baronship.

"I shall not say it again, child, you --"

He stopped mid-sentence and shushed her. The baron seemed to be listening intently to an outside voice, but all Arya could hear was more muffled talking.

"Good, so I'm not turning into a ghost," she thought to herself.

"Don't be a fool," the baron shot back. Arya grimaced, remembering that her thoughts were not just her own. With a huff, she listened to her ghost's conversation.

"Of course not, Helena, but I was goaded into it," he said with one of those chilling sighs.

More muffled words on the other side. Helena? Arya realized he was talking to his beloved victim.

"How should I know? Some Slytherin mischief group....What?....Well I don't particularly enjoy this girl's mind anyhow....No, no, I just meant she's too feisty, the word 'mind' is not always referring to Ravenclaw, Helena....Fine, I'll go."

Arry felt a tug, as though someone was pulling her hair. Just like that, the Bloody Baron was gone. Coming to her senses, Arya looked around hastily for the ghost, but he had already disappeared. Probably didn't want to interact with the Gray Lady more than he had to..she almost felt sorry for him. She snapped out of it when she heard the cheers.

"Welcome back, Arry!" Gavin's voice rang the loudest as he clapped her on the back.

"Thought we lost you there," Asher said with a grin.

"Well, if my work here is done--" the Gray Lady said, turning to go.

"He's sorry!" Arry shouted after her, then felt a cold presence behind her. Was the baron still here?

Helena turned, her expression hard to read. Without a word, she disappeared. Arya felt the baron's spirit go in the opposite direction.

"So, what did I miss?" she said nonchalantly, grabbing some bacon.

Fiona Ellington refilled her plate for the fifth time and glanced around the Hall as she took a bite of roasted goose. Her gaze zoned in on a small group at the end of a table, quite the mixture it was. She did love seeing House Unity. Something strange seemed to be going on, though.

A young Gryffindor girl (Arya, the scraggly child) was staring into space, her friends looking on in alarm...then there was Helena Ravenclaw. Odd, she doesn't normally interact, Fiona thought. But then, before she could blink, the Bloody Baron appeared!

"What on earth," she mumbled.

Then, as if nothing strange had happened, conversation at the table resumed. Ellington looked at the rest of the students; empty plates cluttered around, spilled goblets, messes everywhere. The Headmistress stood, ready to begin the dance and liven up this party. She took a deep breath, about to speak, when suddenly...

"HUZZAH!!"

With a crash, a dozen of the windows crashed, glass raining down. The Headless Hunt rode through, over tables and trees alike, shouting like drunkards (though, for the life of her, she couldn't see how a ghost could be drunk). The Hall fell into pandemonium, students screaming and running around as haphazardly as the Hunt. Finally, Ellington stood and shot red sparks into the air with a bang.

"ENOUGH!" The hall fell into silence; even the ghosts froze. "Students, you are dismissed. Sir Patrick, a word?"

And with that, the joyous Christmas Feast was over.