Chapter 19
Crystal was walking down a hallway, deep in thought. She was thinking about tomorrow and how she would need to meet with the school's staff in her ghostly persona. She prayed that none of them would recognize her as Crystal. It wasn't that she believed their first thought upon seeing her would be, 'Gasp! This dead ghost girl is the alive human, Crystal Potter!'
No, she didn't think that would be their first thought. As far as they knew, being part ghost couldn't happen. Crystal was honestly surprised there weren't more half-ghosts out there. You would think that, in the past, there would have been a ghost and a human who experimented, but no—as far as she knew, Vlad Masters was the first Halfa in existence.
Crystal stopped walking, looked around the hallway she was in, and took in everything.
The hallway was narrow, with high, vaulted ceilings that seemed to stretch into the darkness. Unlike other hallways, there were no candles lit here, leaving it full of shadows.
Old, faded portraits of long-forgotten witches and wizards hung from the walls. They were all muted with age and neglect, their once bright colors now dim. These portraits didn't move like the ones in the other hallways; they were frozen in time. Crystal didn't know if it was because they were normal, non-magical portraits or if magical portraits required maintenance every few years to keep them animated.
It could also be that people had the ability to turn these things on and off—Crystal wasn't sure. But the still, faded portraits added a touch of creepiness to the dim hallway.
Cobwebs hung in the corners like fragile curtains, swaying softly in the cool, drafty air of the hallway.
The stone floor was uneven, worn down by centuries of footsteps. You could see a few indentations where people had walked more than in other spots. The stone was covered in a fine layer of undisturbed dust, muffling the sound of her footsteps as she stepped forward to explore.
There were a few old candle holders mounted on the wall, most of them containing extinguished candles. As she walked further into the hallway, she noticed that a couple of them were flickering weakly, causing eerie shadows to dance across the walls, adding to the creepiness of the place.
Crystal slowly walked further into the hallway. She hadn't been here before—she would have remembered seeing this creepy place if she had.
As she was walking past one of the doors, it suddenly burst open, and something—or someone—grabbed at her. She let out a high-pitched scream as she was pulled into the room before she could react.
Before Crystal could spin around and launch a high-powered ecto-blast at whatever had pulled her into the room, she heard very familiar laughter. She spun around and glared at the two pranksters she called friends.
"Fred, George, that wasn't funny!" she snapped.
It really wasn't funny. If she hadn't heard them laughing, who knew what condition they would be in right now? She had been preparing to fire one of her strongest ecto-blasts right at them—they could have died!
Not that they knew that, though. The two just thought they had scared her, and it was all in good fun.
"It was hilarious!" one of them cried as they kept laughing.
"You should have seen your face!" the other continued.
"We got you good, Crystal!" they both exclaimed at the same time.
Crystal sighed, calming her racing heart as she leveled a glare at the two of them, causing them to gulp.
"Did you just want to scare me, or was there a reason for pulling me into this room?" she asked, crossing her arms. She hoped she was pulling off the stern, disappointed friend look well. It was a bit tricky when she was both smaller and younger than these two, but she thought she did it well enough.
"Ah, yes, we do have a question for you!" the one on the left spoke up.
The one on the right continued, "You know we are pranksters at heart, and as such, we have our tricks for pulling them off, correct?"
Crystal slowly nodded, feeling a bit confused about where this was heading.
"What my handsome brother and I are about to show you must stay a secret," the one on the left spoke up again, his voice turning serious.
"If anyone were to find out about this, it would be taken away. This is the tool to our success!" the right one said, pulling a worn and torn piece of parchment paper from his pocket.
The two must have seen the confusion on her face because the right twin spoke up again, "Wait a second, and soon you'll understand."
He took his wand out and tapped it against the parchment while saying, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."
Crystal's eyes widened as she saw the parchment slowly turn into a map with names on it. She looked at the twins' faces and saw pride written across them.
"Did you two make this?" she asked, stepping a bit closer.
The twin on the left shook his head. "Sadly, no. We are not the geniuses who created this map. It was made by the pranking gods who went by the name 'The Marauders.'"
The right twin continued, "This map shows where everyone is at any given time. The map is never wrong, and that's what we want to talk to you about."
Crystal looked at them, confused, before her eyes widened as realization dawned on her, and she paled.
"Yeah, that's right. We have some questions about why your name keeps changing from Crystal Potter to Sapphire Phantom on the map."
"We also want to know why you keep vanishing from the grounds of Hogwarts. Where are you going?"
Crystal stared at the two in front of her, frantically trying to figure out a way to get out of this. She wasn't ready to tell anyone her secret, but it seemed like she had no choice in the matter. She always knew the twins were smarter than they let on; she just had no idea they had a tool like this in their arsenal.
She took a deep breath before letting it out, then looked at the twins as she chewed on her lip. "I'll tell you, but can it wait until tomorrow night? We can meet back here. You'll understand why I'm asking this, and I promise to explain everything tomorrow!" Crystal couldn't help but plead slightly.
She watched as the twins exchanged concerned looks, then slumped in relief when they agreed. This would give her more time to come to terms with telling them. She hoped they wouldn't snitch on her or abandon her, but she would have a bag packed and ready just in case they did.
She didn't think they were the kinds of people to do that, but she had only known them for a couple of months, and she didn't know them as well as she wished she did.
Crystal made her way back to the Hufflepuff dorm rooms and took a shower. She felt dirty after being in that old, abandoned hallway and needed to get the dust and cobwebs off her.
After getting dressed in her PJs, she spent the rest of the night with Susan, having fun together.
The next day, she told Susan and Cedric she would meet them later to hang out. Since she often went off on her own to explore, neither of them thought anything was off.
She turned into her ghost form the second she knew she was alone, then turned invisible and waited in the Great Hall for Madam Bones to show up.
The older woman arrived around noon, with a few Aurors following after her. Crystal waited until Dumbledore stood up and announced what was happening to the students.
It was clear that the purebloods were skeptical, but the Muggle-borns, several of whom had heard about Sapphire Phantom, the ghostly hero, were excited. She noticed that Granger looked excited too. Crystal didn't know if it was because she had so many questions or if she was a fan of Sapphire.
After a few moments, she flew out of the Great Hall, turned visible, and then flew back in with a smile. There was no need to let these people know she had been sitting with them the entire time, after all.
She spotted the twins sharing looks of shock and horror. She understood the shock, but she didn't know what the horror was about.
She had no idea that the two Gryffindors had just realized that Crystal was dead. They had no idea how she was both alive and also clearly dead, but they now understood why she was truly allergic to blood blossoms. They remembered her telling them about the accident she was involved in and realized that the girl had never lied; she had just twisted the truth.
Not that they would have blamed her for lying to them—this wasn't something you told someone lightly, after all. If the wrong person found out about this, Crystal would be in danger, and the Unspeakables would take her away to try and find out what made her tick.
As soon as that thought passed through their heads, both twins' eyes narrowed, and they resolved not to let that happen. Crystal was using these strange ghostly powers for good, fighting evil in the Muggle world. She was doing her part to keep the world safe, so they would do their part to keep her safe.
Crystal flew closer to Madam Bones and the headmaster and bowed her head in respect to the older woman.
"Good afternoon, ma'am. Have you got any volunteers to go to the Ghost Zone with me?" Crystal might know that the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor house ghosts had both volunteered, but these people didn't know that.
Madam Bones nodded. "Yes, Miss Phantom, these two ghosts behind me have asked to be allowed to go see this Ghost Zone."
Crystal glanced at the two house ghosts. "You are aware that there is a chance that you might not be able to become like me, correct? The experts in the zone think there's a high chance you can, but there's always the slim chance that you cannot. I don't want you to be disappointed if this is the case."
The Grey Lady nodded. "Yes, we are aware. I do not know why Sir Nicholas wishes to go, but I wish to learn more about this strange world."
Nearly Headless Nick nodded. "I want to be able to shove it in the Nearly Headless Hunt's faces that I was one of the first magical ghosts to go to this Ghost Zone."
Crystal let out a laugh. "Well, when we get there, we'll see what we can do about that awful part of your skin. I'll see if Frostbite can remove it."
Dumbledore decided to speak up. "May I ask, my dear, who is Frostbite? And are you sure this is worth taking these two away from their homes for?" Crystal could tell he was trying to make her feel bad, but she just gave him a look.
"Frostbite is the physician of the Ghost King and a good friend of mine. And I am not taking them away forever. Not to mention, they are the ones choosing to go. I am not forcing them. In fact, I told Madam Bones that I did not want any of the ghosts to be forced to come with me!" Crystal gestured at Madam Bones to make her point.
If you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't have seen the look of distaste on the headmaster's face, but Crystal had been looking for it, and she floated tall and strong.
After talking with the ghosts more, she answered several questions for the students and showed off a few of her powers. She didn't show the stronger ones because it was better for these people to underestimate her.
After she finished, she and the two Hogwarts ghosts went on their way. She glanced at the twins on the way out and gave them a slight smile before she left.