Chapter 21
The Headmaster quickly used his wand to let out several loud bangs to get the students' attention before he spoke, "Prefects, lead the students back to your common rooms. Stay calm."
Crystal watched as everyone prepared to return to their common rooms, yet no one—not even Madam Bones—spoke up about the obvious flaw in this plan. Ancients, did magic make people stupid or something?
She quickly spoke up, her ghostly voice echoing through the hall, "Are you all insane?!"
Heads turned toward her, confused and surprised, so she continued before anyone could ask what she meant. "Aren't the Slytherin common rooms in the dungeons or something? And the Hufflepuff rooms—well, I heard they're near the kitchens, which are also near the dungeons. Are you trying to get students killed?"
Crystal didn’t bother looking at the shocked and ashamed faces most of the adults now wore as she continued, "What would be smart would be to keep the students here with a few of the professors, seal up the doors, and then have the rest who aren't staying with the students look for the troll! In fact, I will gladly help look for this thing."
Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon glasses. She could tell he was frustrated about something, but she had no clue what. Did he want the Slytherins or Hufflepuffs to get hurt or something? She didn’t know, nor did she care at the moment.
"You are correct. It seems I was so worried about the troll that it slipped my mind that the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs would be so close to the area where the troll is," Dumbledore admitted, his voice tinged with worry and sadness. But Crystal didn’t buy it.
She gave him a curt nod before leaving to search for the troll. As she neared the dungeons, a shrill scream echoed from one of the upper floors. Her eyes widened as she shot toward the source of the scream.
She phased through floors and walls until she reached a girl’s bathroom. There, she saw Hermione Granger cowering in a corner, frozen in shock and horror as the troll swung its club toward her.
Crystal shot toward Hermione, grabbing her and turning them both intangible just before the club could hit. If she had been just a second later, the bushy-haired girl would have been toast, and both of them knew it.
Crystal quickly pulled Hermione through the wall and into the hallway. "Head toward the Great Hall. The nurse should still be there—go get checked out. I'll take care of this troll!" She didn’t give Hermione time to argue as she phased back into the bathroom through the wall to face the troll.
She fired a small ecto-beam at the troll's chest to test its strength. Trolls were resistant to magic, but she wasn’t sure if the same applied to ecto-attacks. Thankfully, the shot knocked the troll back, proving it wasn’t resistant to her powers. Narrowing her eyes, she shot a fireball at the troll's club, setting it ablaze. The troll dropped it with a bellow of confusion and sadness.
Under different circumstances, she might have felt bad for the creature. But this troll had almost killed a girl. Sure, Crystal didn’t like Hermione—she was one of the few who had been stealing from her—but that didn’t mean Crystal wanted her dead.
Minutes later, Crystal heard the professors and Aurors running down the hallway. She had held off knocking the troll out, wanting to show them that she could defeat it in one hit. She didn’t want anyone getting funny ideas about attacking her or the other ghosts at the school.
As soon as the door was blown open, she fired an ecto-beam at the troll’s head, knocking it out and sending it crashing to the floor. The ground shook as it fell, and she saw Snape grabbing onto the wall to keep from falling, while Professor McGonagall nearly did, if not for Madam Bones' support.
"What in Merlin’s name?" someone mumbled. Crystal wasn’t sure who it was. She turned to see the magicals crowding the doorway. She must have made quite a sight—floating over a downed troll with a blank expression.
After a moment, she broke the silence. "Aren’t there supposed to be wards to prevent things like trolls from getting into this place?" She raised an eyebrow as Madam Bones gathered herself.
"Yes, Miss Phantom, there are—or there should be. I promise you, I will get to the bottom of why the wards failed."
Crystal stared at the woman for a few moments before nodding. "Fine, I trust you, ma’am. Just keep these students safe."
Snape spoke up, his voice dripping with arrogance and annoyance. "And just why are we listening to this ghost girl? We do not have to answer to this dunderhead."
Crystal glared at him, but before she could retort, Professor McGonagall spun around and snapped, "Professor Snape, this young girl just saved the life of one of my lions—not to mention the lives of any other student who might have wandered into the troll’s path. She raised a very valid question and concern, and I will not have you insult her!"
Madam Bones added, her voice low and angry, "Not to mention she prevented your Slytherins from running into the troll had it been in the dungeons. I think you should show Princess Sapphire Phantom the respect she deserves!"
Crystal blushed as the professors stared at her in surprise at the title Madam Bones had used. "I’m still not used to being called Princess," she mumbled, self-conscious.
The professors exchanged looks of shock. They had known the ghost girl was important to the ghosts and the newly discovered Ghost Zone. They knew she and the king of the zone called each other cousins. But they hadn’t realized she was a princess. Now that they thought about it, her title seemed obvious.
Snape sneered at the girl, who reminded him of someone. He was sure she was arrogant—how could a princess be anything but? He turned and walked away, his black cloak billowing around him as he passed the arrogant, know-it-all Gryffindor.
Hermione stared at the ghost girl with wide eyes. She had heard of the ghostly hero, Sapphire Phantom, years ago. After discovering magic, she thought it might be a magical person breaking laws to save others.
That was until Madam Bones walked in one day with Sapphire Phantom floating behind her. She had listened in surprise as Sapphire explained what would be happening with the ghosts. Hermione had hoped to see the Ravenclaw ghost and Nearly Headless Nick at dinner, but she had been in the bathroom crying and missed seeing their new selves—if things had worked.
She remembered how she had been prepared to die when the troll swung its club at her. At the last second, Sapphire Phantom had saved her, pulling her through the wall to safety before going to fight the troll.
Her cheeks warmed as she stared at the ghost girl—her hero. For the first time, she understood why some people praised their saviors so much.
Hermione's gaze remained on Sapphire, her eyes taking in how the light shone on her pure white hair, accentuating its ice-blue highlights. She noticed how the jumpsuit fit her perfectly and admired how she had stood up for the students by pointing out that the wards to keep out dangerous magical creatures weren’t working.
Hermione saw how brave, selfless, and amazing Sapphire was. She vowed to learn all she could about her.
Crystal glanced at Hermione, who was staring at her from behind the professors. When their eyes met, Hermione blushed and looked away. Crystal held back a sigh as she realized she had gained a new admirer. Perhaps this would keep the girl from bothering her, Crystal thought.
Giving the adults one last stern look, Crystal floated over to Hermione and picked her up. She might not like the girl, but Hermione still needed to be checked by the school’s healer, who was still in the Great Hall.
Crystal reasoned she could get there faster and with less risk than the professors.
“I’m taking her to your healer to ensure she isn’t hurt. If she is, she’ll be treated,” Crystal said. She didn’t give anyone time to protest before flying off with Hermione in her arms.
She noticed the girl’s blush but pretended she hadn’t. Crystal didn’t want to encourage the crush but couldn’t let someone walk on a potentially sprained ankle, especially not after what had happened.
“So, why were you in the bathroom anyway? I was led to believe today was an important feast for you humans,” Crystal asked, partly out of curiosity and partly to break the awkward silence.
Hermione looked at her and then away. “...There’s this kid, Ron Weasley, and he was making fun of me. He said I was a know-it-all and that’s why I don’t have friends.”
Crystal listened, holding back a sigh. “Sounds like this kid is jealous of you. If you’re really smart and he’s bullying you for it, then he’s probably not the sharpest tool in the shed,” she said, glancing at Hermione before looking ahead.
“And about not having friends—I’ve heard from the ghosts that you tend to rely on authority and books to the point of treating their word as gospel. You lecture people for not doing homework or reading textbooks.”
Crystal continued speaking before Hermione could interrupt—she had seen her open her mouth to object. “You seem to forget that professors and people in charge are humans too. They make mistakes and aren’t all-knowing. It’s good to question them occasionally so they don’t think it’s okay to act without considering the students they’re supposed to be helping.
“Even the Ghost King asks his subjects to keep him in check so the power of his position doesn’t go to his head. Ghosts make mistakes too—I’ve made plenty.
“Also, remember that books are written by humans with their own biases. That’s why it’s important to cross-check with other sources. Even so, you shouldn’t take everything at face value. If you found a book about ghosts, I’m sure it would be full of misinformation. Muggle ghost hunters know more about us than magicals do. Even then, there’s still a lot about ghosts I don’t know—and I’ve been one for five, going on six, years.”
She paused before phasing into the Great Hall, looking down at Hermione’s thoughtful caramel-brown eyes.
“You should also remember that not everyone enjoys learning the way you do. Children like to have fun, and they should! If someone doesn’t do their homework or reading, that’s on them—not you. It’ll be their fault if they get a bad grade. Maybe they’ll learn from it, but they won’t if you keep nagging them.
“You should try a hobby outside of school—maybe gardening or asking your roommates for help with your hair. Extend an olive branch. There’s probably more to your classmates than you think.”
Crystal gave Hermione a slight smile. She could see the determination in her expression and hoped she would take her words to heart.
Flying through the wall, Crystal brought Hermione to Madam Pomfrey for a check-up.
Once Hermione was in safe hands, Crystal flew to Myrtle to ask if she wanted to come to the Ghost Zone to get a solid body. She explained she could only do a few at a time to avoid overwhelming the magicals.
After dealing with Myrtle’s loud crying, she agreed to return the next weekend, allowing everyone time to recover from the troll attack.
Crystal shot off toward her dorm, plopped onto her bed behind her curtains, and changed back into her human form. Lying on the plush mattress, she realized she’d hear about the troll from her roommates soon.
She just hoped her acting was convincing enough to fool them into believing she had no idea what had happened.