Hey, here's my new go at the story, The Ghost of a Mudblood. I originally wrote this on my first account and I hardly updated and when I did it was short chapters. I really liked the story line of it, but I added so much more than what I had originally so I will be more motivated to writing eventful chapters. I hope you enjoy this.
Oh, and another thing: this is rated T. It was originally rated M. I couldn't think of how to have Harry and Hermione do sexual things as ghosts. It just didn't seem very likely so I made some changes to the story.
Hope you enjoy!
Reviews are appreciated immensely, I will read everyone (:
"She's such a know-it-all, it's a wonder she hasn't got any friends," Ron told Harry.
"Ron, I don't think you should say tha-" Too late, the damage was done. Hermione stalked past them angrily taking extra care to bump into Ron. "Don't you think you should go talk to her?" Harry suggested.
"I dunno, I'm awfully hungry," Ron emphasized this by patting his stomach. "We'll talk to her at the Great Hall."
The Great Hall was as spectacular as it has always been. Various foods decorated the tables and many starving students have already began digging in. Ron seemed to be one of those people. Almost immediately, he ran up to the Gryffindor table to try and accomplish stuffing his face with potatoes as well as chicken at the same time. In the midst of all his food devouring, Ron didn't even notice that their stricken bushy haired friend wasn't at the table yelling at him to have some manners.
"Ron, dont you notice something missing?" Harry asked cautiously.
"Hmm? Weht arg y on tmkhing aboumt?"
"Hermione isn't here," Harry told him exasperated. Ron put his hands up as if surrendering.
"Harry, I dont see why you're so upset. Maybe she stopped at the library," Ron replied. "I mean... she's there every other hour isn't she?"
"Ron, that's hardly funny. Let's find her," Harry went to get up.
"You're trying to find Hermione?" Apparently Padma had overheard. "On my way over here I saw her go into the girl's bathroom, she looked pretty upset."
"See Harry? She's fine," Ron tried to pacify.
Harry seemed to agree, it's not like they were about to follow her everywhere. Their thoughts about Hermione drifted away as the smell of food drifted in. It was a spectacular feast until Professor Quirrell burst through the doors. Harry frowned, he always had a weird feeling about him.
All eyes were on Quirrell. "T-T-TROLL! IN THE D-DUNGEONS!" he yelled. All of the students went crazy. Standing abruptly from their seats and screaming.
"Silence!" Dumbledore said in a strong voice. "I would like all of the prefects to return you, calmly, to your common rooms at once."
"But our common room is in the dungeons!" Malfoy shouted, horrified.
"Right, the Slytherins will stay with the Hufflepuffs until this is sorted out." This caused most of the Slytherins to groan. "Now leave at once," Dumbledore commanded.
All of the students quickly stood up to find the prefects. Ron and Harry followed Percy down the corridors until they realized something.
"Hermione! She doesn't know about the troll!" Harry whispered to Ron.
"Should we find her?" Ron said surprised. "I mean... the troll is in the dungeons, she's not in the dungeons."
"Let's go!" Harry grabbed Ron and pulled him down the corridor.
"Hey, you two! Where are you going?" Percy Weasley's voice sounded. "Back here, both of you. You aren't to leave the group."
Ron and Harry frowned. "She'll be fine," Ron whispered. They made their way back to the Gryffindor common room without looking for Hermione.
"So you mean to tell me, that I'm going to be eleven for the rest of my life," Hermione practically shouted, getting frustrated. She never yelled at a Professor before.
"Well technically, your life is over so no," Dumbledore told her sadly.
"Oh great!" Hermione cried, covering her face with her hands. Dumbledore tried to pat her on the back, but his hand went right thew her. He shivered as if he had just been splashed with cold water. Hermione looked up and glared at him.
"Sorry, Miss Granger. I forgot," he said with remorse.
"Miss Granger?" Hermione wailed. Dumbledore looked taken aback. What had he said? "It's always going to be that way, isn't it? How is an eleven year old going to get married one day?"
Dumbledore contemplated telling her about the potion. He hated one of his students so desperate for an alternative from being a ghost.
"Mi-Hermione, there could be an option," Dumbledore started. Hermione suddenly stopped crying and looked up contently.
"What would that be professor?"
"There is a potion that will make ghosts age a year per vial they take," Dumbledore told the ghost.
"Oh, that's absolutely lovely professor! I'd like it now, please,"
"Well that could be a problem. You see, Miss Granger, there's a reason why all ghosts don't age. The ingredients to this potion are highly rare and very dangerous to come across," Hermione's face fell at these words. "In the potion, there are simple ingredients such as ashwinder, doxy eggs, and ginger, which I'm sure Professor Snape has extras you could use. The problem lies in finding unicorn blood. Unicorns are hard to come across, and even if you may find one, it's dangerous and forbidden to kill a unicorn."
"I don't quite understand, Professor. So what does this mean? What are we going to do?" Hermione questioned.
"Well you certainly can't kill a unicorn, much less leave the castle, but I am willing to be on the lookout for unicorns. I can't gaurentee I'll find one and it's definitely not the top of my priorities," Hermione frowned at this. "but I am willing to help you. I'm so delighted that Voldemort's," Hermione shuddered. "gone. There's not so many things to stress about anymore. Well atleast not yet." Dumbledore said.
"Thanks, Professor. I really appreciate it," Hermione said, genuinely greatful.
"Ah yes, It delights me to see a student much more happier. Care for a lemon drop?" Dumbledore's great blue eyes twinkled.
"I can't eat!" Hermione cried exasperated.
"Whoops," Dumbledore laughed.
"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione stalked (floated) up to Ron. "This is entirely your fault!"
"H-h-hermione? What are you doing here? I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me," Ron cried. He was shivering.
"I'm too young to die. I don't wanna leave this school. So many things to learn that I never got to learn. Atleast I can persue my studies," Hermione said coldly.
"I can't beleive your actually here! This is you, right? Oh, I'm so sorry Hermione!" Ron apoligised. He ran up to Hermione but stopped short when he remembered the fact that she was a ghost and it was practically impossible to hug her. He stood right infront of her awkwardly, not quite sure what to do.
"Yeah, yeah," Hermione said grudgingly. A smile flittered across her face as she realized that she couldn't stay mad at Ron. "Oh, it's okay Ron. If you really want to make it up to me would you please hold this book?" She nodded towards her all time favorite book Hogwarts: A History.
Ron was quick to obey, not wanting to mess anything else up. He was genuinely happy that Hermione was a ghost. It made him feel a little less guilt over making the decision to go to the Great Hall instead of following Hermione. Food just always got the best of him.
Just then, Harry walked into the room. Taking in the sight before him, Ron holding out the book before Hermione and her coffee eye's scanning the pages she saw many times before, he gasped as he realized Hermione was there. Well, not all of her, but atleast her spirit.
"Hermione! It's you! I've missed you so much," Harry, unlike Ron, actually hugged her but ended up falling straight through her. It felt as though icy water was being poured all over him. It was rather unpleasant, but he didn't care. His second-best friend was sitting right in front of him when she had just died days ago.
"Honestly Harry, it's only been two days," She rolled her eyes. "Nonetheless, I've missed you too," She smiled widely. "Oh and please never run through me again. It's an awful feeling."
"What's it like," Harry asked curiously. "to be dead, I mean. Is there a difference?"
"Oh no, it's all the same besides not being able to pick up anything," Hermione said and Harry nodded. "Honestly Harry, are you that thick? It's loads different. When the troll got to me, it hurt so bad. All of a sudden, everything stopped. Not the kind of stopped where everything is so numb from pain that you can't feel it but the actual stopped. There was nothing, no feeling at all. I woke up in the bathroom, the same spot where I had died. Dumbledore, Mcgonnagall, and Snape where there and they explained everything to me. I was horrified!"
"Do you, you know... Have emotions?" Harry asked bashfully.
"OF COURSE I DO! How cruel can you be? I can still cry and laugh, I'm just like you, but I can't feel any pain," Hermione said.
"Oh, so basically it's a plus being dead then?" Ron asked.
Hermione put her head in her hands. She was learning quickly, that even ghosts, got tired of talking.
Dumbledore knew Harry's suspicions of Professor Quirrell and he took great precaution in protecting the Sorcerer's stone. Fluffy, the three headed dog gaurded the entrance to the room where the stone lies. Dumbledore smiled as he thought of all Hagrid's strange pets. Atleast Fluffy came in handy. Fluffly wasn't the only thing gaurding the stone of course but Dumbledore hardly thought Quirrell could get past the dog alone. Dumbledore knew the possibility of Voldemort regaining power but without the stone that was close to impossible. The great headmaster allowed himself to think about one of his favorite students, Hermione Granger. She was close to desperate for being able to age with her classmates and Dumbledore understood that she atleast wanted to have enough potion to age all years of school.
Hermione was so concentrated in her education that she even continued going to classes ever since her death. At first, most of the teachers disagreed because it was a distraction to the other more alive students and Hermione couldn't participate in all of the needed activites to pass. Eventually, they all allowed her to study in the class even though she couldn't actually perform the spell. Hermione had a great sense just knowing how to do it, she felt it was essential. All of the teachers but one, Professor Snape agreed to teach the young ghost. He wasn't so lenient in allowing the fact she was dead slide. Hermione didn't like potions anyway though, and she had Ron (much to his displeasure) teach her what they learned in class that day. He felt he owed her something though, and agreed to it.
He knew it would be very hard for her to have to watch her peers have a good time and move on in life through the eyes of an eleven year old, so he took her request into thought. Dumbledore soon made plans for a walk in the Forbidden Forest. Maybe he'd get lucky and find one. It was a small step, but definitely a start.
Raising his wand to cast a soft lumos over the dark trees, Dumbledore felt slightly stupid. Why did he choose to do this at night? How cliche. Many people thought Dumbledore wasn't afraid of anything, this however was a lie. He was afraid of the things that couldn't be explained. As an example, darkness. What was it? He knew it was the opposite of light but what was light? The Forbidden Forest was full of darkness even in the day. Even when the sun is sifting through the tree leaves, the forest still manages to look eerie. Lord Voldemort on the other hand, could be explained. He was unpredictable, Dumbledore would give him that, but he could easily be explained. He was a wizard who had never got any love as a child and things went wrong. There was an explaination for most things, except darkness.
A twig snapped in the distance and Dumbledore quickly stood up straight while looking around frantically. His breathing slowed and his heart calmed down and he continued walking. Just then, another twig snapped and then another. Dumbledore's soft blue eyes widened as he realized that whatever stood in the darkness was getting closer to him. The creature was running now, straight towards him.
"Don't you know better than to come wondering around in our forests?" A deep voice said.
"Bane I suspect?" Dumbledore said knowingly. A cheasnut colored centaur stepped into the light.
"You've suspected correctly. Now what is it you're doing here? You're disrupting the pieceful night, much like everything else your kind are disrupting," Bane said coldly.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that quite right now. I must be going," Dumbledore said quickly, walking the same direction he was going, away from the castle.
"Well, you're going the wrong way. Your castle's that way," Bane pointed in the opposite direction. "And I wouldn't carry on going the route you're going. There's a unicorn dead a couple trees up. I reckon something dangerous killed it. It's not everyday you see a dead unicorn. There was blood all around it. I wouldn't go near the thing! And such a beautiful creature too, what a shame," Bane said sadly. He shook his head. "But of course, it's up to you. I will see that you get back to your land as soon as possible, though?"
"Yes, of course," Dumbledore replied quickly. "Thanks for warning me," he said even though he continued in the direction Bane warned him about. This was his lucky day.
Walking for a while longer, Dumbledore gasped and stood behind a tree, his eyes taking in the sight before him. It was dreadful. He saw the dead unicorn, it's blood shining silver in the moonlight but next to it was a hooded figure of which appeared to be drinking it's blood. His hand automatically moved to his wand pocket but it wasn't necessary. The cloked figure flew, literally, into the night sky.
Horrified, Dumbledore took out the vial with shakey hands and extracted as much blood as he could from the vials. He managed to get three vials. Dumbledore thought about what this must mean. One would only drink unicorn blood if they were close to dying and he knew of a person that had come close to dying. Voldemort.
When Hermione heard the news about the unicorn blood, she was simply ecstatic. She would wait to take the vials of course, she wanted to age alongside Harry and Ron. What Hermione really wanted to do was to pretend she wasn't dead. Dumbledore hadn't told her about Voldemort of course, it was nothing to worry an eleven year old about but he was happy he atleast found her some blood. Hermione told Harry about the potion they were going to prepare and Harry couldn't have been any happier. The Christmas holidays were approaching quickly though, and she was left with the dead feeling of not being able to leave the school to see her family. The ministry passed a law many years ago that ghosts had to stay near the place they died. They couldn't linger anywhere else, and this included Hermione's house. Atleast, she could age. That's what she kept telling herself.
Hermione spent most of her times at the library during the Christmas holidays. After all, her friends were gone and there was really no one else left. Few students decided to stay at the school, and the ones that did tended to be in the upper grades.
Much to her displeasure, Madam Pince, the school librarian wasn't too happy with the young ghost visiting her library so often. Hermione often made other students turn the pages of her book. Today was no exception. Hermione scanned the book shelves to see if the rumors were true. No way! Hermone thought, they have the new addition of Hogwarts: A History! She practically shouted. It only accured to her a few seconds later, that she actually shouted that. Pansy Parkinson, the evil pug-faced Slytherin sauntered towards her.
"Yes they do, Mudblood, and I think it's mine," Pansy grabbed the book, something Hermione couldn't do.
"Hey! I saw it first, and do you even know how to read?" Hermione asked.
"Yes Granger, although I would never be caught dead holding such an ugly book, I do know how to read," Pansy replied.
"Well give it here!"
"I don't think I will Mudblood. What are you going to do?" Pansy challenged. Hermione didn't really know what she could do, so she settled for swinging her arms through Pansy, causing Pansy to shiver violently. "S-s-stop it right now!"
"Give me the book, and I'll stop,"
"N-n-no way," Pansy managed to get out. "Madam Pince! Come quick, the Mudblood Ghost is trying to steal this book I was going to rightfully check out." Madam Pince rushed through the shelves to get to the scene.
"You," she pointed to Pansy. "I don't want that language. And you," she pointed to Hermione. "Please give that book to her."
"What? That's insane! I was going to read it first. Pansy doesn't even want to read it!" Hermione gasped.
"Yes, but she is well, alive. And it's only fair," Pince told her slowly.
Hermione burst into tears and ran through the library doors. Pansy smirked and chuckled as she took the book to the dungeons and threw it in the corner of her dorm where she would probably never see it again.
"Miss Granger, what seems to be the problem?" Dumbledore said.
"I can't do anything as a ghost. I hate it! I just want to be alive. That's all I want," Hermione sobbed. Dumbledore frowned and he wished he could help the young student more. There wasn't much more he could do. He figured he would go out to find more unicorn blood before things with Voldemort get too serious. When Voldemort gains more power, that's all Dumbledore will have time to think about. He would go out tomorrow, in daylight this time (mind you), to find more blood.
Dumbledore spent the rest of that night planning where to go to find more unicorn blood. The Forbidden Forest was out of the question. He wasn't lucky enough to find two unicorns in the same area. He knew of a place just north of Bulgaria that had a vast suplly of unicorns. The only problem was the treacherous terrain of the mountains. Dumbledore was certain he could make it back before the end of the Christmas holidays. Dumbledore was right about most things, but he wasn't right about that.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
^Most people do that before their stories start, I decided I'd be different.
On the side note, I KNOW that Harry and Ron stay at school for the xmas holidays so they can find the sorcerer's stone. I changed it, hence the reason this is just a FANfiction.
The whole stone/voldemort stuff will be included. Just at a slightly different time.