Chapter Text
"Nooooooo!" Barrel wailed as he held onto his friend's legs as she tried to leave the tree house. "You can't go! Lock and I will miss you!" Shock sighed as she tried to shake off the younger ghoul.
"It's only for a little while." She said.
"Seven years, Shock. That's a looong timeee!" Barrel cried.
"At least I'm not going to the University. That'll add several more years. I can do that here. I have to go to Hogwarts for basic schooling." Shock sighed and managed to kneel beside the wailing ghoul.
"I don't want you to go Shock! That'll just leave me and Lock here, without you to pull pranks with us." Barrel sniffed.
"I can write to you. Or send a Howler, that's a letter that speaks what it says. I mean, it's not like you won't ever see me again. It'll just be a bit of time." Shock managed a smile. It seemed to calm the ghoul down. She pulled him up. "Now, come on, I can't be late. I still have to go shopping for my school supplies." He nodded. Lock suddenly tackled her into a hug.
"I'll miss you SHOOOCCKK!" He shouted.
"Me too, Lock." Shock said. "Come on, we can say good bye in the town square." He let her out of the hug, but latched onto her arm, Barrel doing the same to her other, making it hard to carry her bag. Lock grabbed it and carried it for her. She smiled at her two brothers. When she had first entered the afterlife, she was scared. There was no one around and she was in the middle of the forest. She had wandered around calling out 'Hello? Anyone here? Hellooo?' until Lock had found her. He had brought her to where Barrel was and introduced her to him and Oogie Boogie. She could tell something was up with Oogie Boogie, her 'inherited' cop nose for trouble was sending out warnings like crazy. She ignored it and quickly became one of Boogie's Boys, a name from before she appeared in Halloweentown. She loved her brothers dearly, like she had loved her older brother when she was still alive. She had wondered how he was early on and on his birthdays in Halloweentown. They had reached the square where Jack Skellington, Sally, and the elder witches were waiting for her. She gave a smile at the Pumpkin King and Queen. Sally smiled at the young witch as she was being squished between the ghoul and devil.
"Shock, I hope you are ready." Sally said.
"As I'll ever be." Shock tried to wiggle out from inbetween the two. They tightened their grip for a moment but let her go. "I hope that Hogwarts is not bad."
"It is not." The oldest wich said. "It is a good place for any witch to learn her craft."
"How are the people there? They're not gonna hurt her or anything?" Lock asked.
"There's no telling with the students. The teachers, on the other hand, some of them have been there since I went there, and they're good, kind people." The youngest, besides Shock, said. Shock was the youngest, at eleven. The next youngest was fifty.
"Okay." Lock nodded. He turned to his sister. "Be safe. Prank lots of people and write to us about it. Don't let anyone boss you around."
"Do I now?" Shock chuckled.
"And come back to us. We want you back." Lock said.
"I know, soon as I am done, I'm coming back. You won't be seeing me until I'm done with school, keep that in mind." Shock nodded. "I'll be spending my breaks on the human world, but I'll be sure to bring a little bit of Halloweentown to the humans on Halloween."
"I hope so." Lock grinned. "You have to do some magic that can let us see it."
"I'll try." Shock grinned.
"Finish your goodbyes. We've got to go to Diagon Alley." The oldest witch said.
"Bye, Lock, Barrel." Shock was engulfed in a hug by the two boys. They stayed like that for a long while. Shock turned to Sally and gave a hug to the rag doll. She had taken to caring for the three kids after Oogie had gone. So, she was like an older sister/motherly figure. "Bye Sally, take care of them." She mumbled.
"I will. Be safe, Shock." Sally smiled. Shock gave a very quick hug to Jack. He patted her head.
"Come back in one piece, Shock." He said. In a very low voice to where only Shock could hear, he said, "on Halloween, when we're in the human world, I'll try to check in with you since you'll probably want to see some one familiar."
"Thanks, Jack." She whispered. He gave her a grin. The witches motioned for her to accompany the eldest to the portal. They stepped through the portal and Shock took in the sights of Diagon Alley, where many men and women where moving around. Shock looked at the letter the eldest witch handed her. First stop, Gringotts.