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Cobwebs, jack o' lanterns and other spooky decorations litter the halls and campus grounds. Eri watches from her window with a sharp pang in her chest, as students filter off campus to have fun going to gatherings and collecting candy.
Meanwhile, she's stuck in the dorms.
When Deku asked if she wanted to go shopping for costumes, she politely refused. It was one of the very few and rare times she has ever said no to him. After all, what was the point of getting a costume if she couldn't even go out at this time?
She asked, tried to persuade and begged them to let her go with the others, pointed out that with a few heroes with her, she would still be safe and her Quirk wouldn't be at risk of going out of control.
It was all in vain.
"We're still tracking down the men who hurt you," they said. "And even if they were all locked up now, kidnappings still happen. We really don't want you to put yourself at risk."
She silently left and quietly cried in her room for hours.
Some of 1-A knocked on her door a few times, but she quietly refused to see them. Not even Deku's peace offering of apple desserts—"They're really tasty and pretty!"—could lure her out.
Now it's evening, and Eri can only watch as family members of students and even some Pro Heroes (Mt. Lady, the Wild Wild Pussycats and even the bad man Endeavor) wander in and mingle with old friends and potential interns. But, maybe she doesn't have to watch. Momo did say something about brewing bad feelings being equally bad for the heart, so maybe Eri should just...turn away.
Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. There's bound to be some Halloween movies playing tonight, or she just pop open a Harry Potter book...
The ending credits to Halloween Town start rolling when someone knocks on Eri's door.
Deku and Shou poke their heads in. Eri can sort of see through the open gap and can see, for whatever but most likely obvious reasons, that they are in Gryffindor uniforms. 1-A must be going for a Harry Potter theme.
"Uh, Eri?" Deku's face is scrunched up a little. "We kinda need your help with something...!"
Shou places a box on the floor and slides it towards her. "You're gonna need to change though, so people know who you're supposed to be with."
Just like that, they close the door and leave her alone again.
Eri stares at the box for a moment. She remembers taking a quiz on the "magical" website with Deku for fun, and she ended up in Hufflepuff. Maybe they're doing something downstairs, and want her to help? Well, it's better than sitting up here moping, and if there's any of those apple treats left, she can try one.
She opens the box and, sure enough, it's a Hufflepuff uniform. Next to it is a Hogwarts acceptance letter and a custom wand—yew, nine inches, unicorn tail hair. Eri can sort of recall a very rough description the wand wood: "who ever has a wand of yew, has power over life and death."
She has just pulled on her Hufflepuff cloak when yet another person knocks on her door but...nobody answers. "Come in...?" she replies hesitantly. It only then occurs to her that maybe this is one of those stranger danger situations—
A boy around her age, with a horned cap and a Gryffindor cloak, slowly opens the door. "Um...are you Eri?"
Eri nods as she says, "I am." Is he another friend of Deku's? He certainly matches the description. Isn't his aunt one of the Wild Wild Pussycats? "Who are you?"
"I—I'm Kouta." He shifts on his feet. "We...um, they need some help. Some monsters and Death Eaters broke through the front gates."
What Deku and the others are up to finally clicks.
Eri grins wide and grabs her wand. "Let's chase off some Dark Wizards!" Kouta smiles at her response, knowing the plan has worked, and opens the door wide for her.
They run for the stairs, real and scented candles lighting the way, and Eri can see through the windows that some of U.A.'s population has changed costumes. Recovery Girl is Professor McGonagall, Tenny and Momo in Ravenclaw uniforms, Chako in a Hufflepuff uniform like Eri, Nezu looking funny in Dumbledore's beard...
While passing the floors, Eri asks, "Did anyone see Voldemort?"
Kouta hums. "I don't think so. I hope he's not here."
"Yeah, let's keep it that way."