Muggle Ghosts
~The Geist Club~

Hermione Granger herself wondered what the Bloody Baron had meant by Grim Reapers. This concept and terminology she hadn't come across yet in any of her Wizarding books. However, from the tone of the Baron's voice, the ghosts at Hogwarts, for some reason, did not like the idea of Grim Reapers, whoever or whatever they might be. It also seemed that Muggle Ghosts seemed to attract them while Wizarding Ghosts did not.

She had to wonder if the Grim Reaper mentioned by the Hogwarts ghost was in any relation to the Muggle concept just as unicorns and vampires held a similar concept in their mythology. She shuddered at the thought of one being transporting those souls that were dead to wherever the dead remained until end times. This was why the Grim Reaper was prominently featured in some Muggle horror movies, which she never had dreamed of seeing.

Her thoughts though were interrupted by a huge clamor. Into her minds eye came the strangest ghost she had ever seen. He was dressed ludicrously and had a flippant grin on his face with an electrifying spark in his eyes that let one know that he had an evil vendetta out there, or at least an evilly mischievous streak. Hermione herself instantly found herself mistrusting him.

"Little firsties," he cooed, confirming her expectations of him.

"Go away Peeves," Percy Weasly snapped at the poltergeist. "Or I shall have to tell the Bloody Baron."

As Peeves left in quite a huff, Hermione found herself wanting to keep that little tidbit in mind for future reference. There were a lot of things that she would have to keep in mind for future reference actually. For example, there was a notable pattern to how the stairs changed. Some of the talking pictures would have to be ignored. It wasn't just because of stuffy attitudes either.

Floating amongst the paintings were Muggle ghosts floating around among everyone else. Only a very, very select few could see them, meaning those inside or outside of the painting. She and Neville watched, and one of the larger paintings, a painter to be exact, winked at them. She then spoke up. "I painted one in each of my paintings dears… though many have told me they aren't there, they really are."

One of the older students nearby that was traveling with them to the common room, let out a snort and commented on the fact that some wizards from the wizarding world were crazies. This in a way made Hermione feel a little upset if her secret ever came out, knowing that she would be classified as one of the crazies herself, which was defiantly something she didn't want to happen… especially since her sister already did that.

This also caused Hermione's new found courage in herself to make new friends to drastically drop. It wasn't as if she had ever been able to make friends in her home town. In fact, until she had met Neville Longbottom, she had always thought her only friend to be her cousin Ichigo, who had no qualms about her being as smart as she was. Of course, they all three shared one secret they really couldn't share with anyone else.

The other problem she found out quickly was that all four of the first year Gryffindor girls whom had been placed into the room they would be sharing for seven years were the type who seemed to be more into clothes and looks then anything else. Hermione figured that her sister would have been able to easily make friends with Patil and Lavender, along with the other two girls, as her sister was the social butterfly.

Hermione also found that she gravitated more towards the boys her age when it came to when it came to where she sat at the breakfast table as she found their conversations a lot more interesting, though not any bit more intellectual. She sat with Neville, so it quickly became clear that those two were likely good friends. Thus, she was able to hear things about the boys lives that she wouldn't have other wise.

She also received care packages from her relatives in Japan. It contained in it Kompeito and Pocky, two kinds of candy that she happened to like from the country and letters from all of them, including congrats from Ichigo for making it into the school. Most of the others in her class assumed that the candies were Muggle kinds of candy, so they didn't question her on them. Or if they were from Muggle families, they assumed they were some kind of Wizarding candy.

This made up somewhat for what Hermione came to realize. Without telling anyone she could see Muggle Ghosts, she still ended up standing out like a sore thumb due to the fact that she was Muggle Born and she excelled so much more then those who were born into wizarding families. And of course, Neville stood out due to his bad luck at everything, at least that was what everyone could aptly call it.

A lot of Gryffindors were extremely happy to have her winning extra points for their house from the teachers. They also figured that it was a good thing to have a really smart kid instead of Ravenclaw having her. Percy Weasly, to her disgruntlement, insisted on giving her tips. She also figured that Percy was the reason Ron had a problem with the concept of smart people.

The Ravenclaws on the other hand were somewhat perterved, not including the one who happened to have her twin in Gryffindor, about the fact that the smartest new student wasn't in their house, but in fact was in another house completely. A few of the older ones went so far as to ask the heads of the two houses on whether or not Hermione could be transferred. Many speculated that this effort would not have happened had she been sorted into Slytherin, as they wouldn't have dared.

Of course, as for Slytherin, they would have been orcastrizing her removal from their house if she had been sorted into it. Every single one of them it seemed, possibly even the Bloody Baron, loathed and despised her for the fact that as the smartest student, she was Muggle born, or as a good deal put it, Mudblood. Quite a few looks were given her as she passed through the hallways from these students. She also figured out too that they were likely wanted to make her life miserable, but couldn't figure out how to without getting in trouble.

She figured that this was especially true of one Draco Malfoy. The boy loathed, for some reason, the attention she was getting. Of course, it seemed to her that the boy wanted everyone's attention focused on him and him alone. He also for this reason had come to treat Potter in the same way. As for Ron, there seemed to be some sort of animosity between their two families. The boys also tended, as the immature pre-teens they were to throw insults at each other.

She knew too that he had to have been extremely jubilant when Snape had called her and Potter out in class. The reasons why had also been ludicrous to the point that many students not in Slytherin were in fact displeased with the treatment of the two Gryffindors. However, it was more for the fact that they didn't feel that Potter should have been judged for not knowing, while Hermione's actions no one really reflected upon.

Then came the Broomstick flying lessons with Madame Hooch. The brooms were rather old, and by Ron Weasly's statement, rather out dated. Hermione really didn't care, as she had not been able to find a look that explained how to fly a broom. The only thing she had figured out was that children's brooms only floated a few feet off the ground, which was to help to her as real brooms went high into the air.

Of course, even Draco Malfoy had problems with the use of the flying broomstick. Unfortunately, for everyone, Neville Longbottom had major problems with flying broomsticks as his went through the air and up high without him indicating that, it should have done so. And unfortunately, this ended in a trip to the hospital wing, and on top of that, Harry ended up chasing Draco on the brooms.

All of this Hermione ended up telling Madame Hooch about, as when she came back, she was shocked to find another student missing and her entire class talking profusely about the events that had occurred. This was causing a great deal of excitement and rumors were flying around that the two would get suspended. It was also then that Madame Hooch asked if Hermione would speak to her in her office after classes.

This caused a great deal of whispering. According to some of the Slytherins, Hermione was being asked to take remedial flying lessons, but then, this kind of statement could be expected from those in her house. The consolation was that Harry had made the Quiditch team due to Malfoy's stupidity. She also went to the trophy room with the boys, allowing them to see that Harry's father had been on the Quiditch team, also a Seeker.

When she got to Madame Hooch's office, which was rather small, she found herself staring at the walls that were covered with different brooms from different eras. The book shelves though, didn't have just books on Quiditch and flying, but also various Manga. All of them were some sort of English translation.

"Ahh… what people consider one of my sad hobbies. In fact, I believe in the Muggle world, a good deal of people of my age frown on otakus, though your age group is very much into it,"

"In Japan, the word has more negative connotations and should not be used like one does in English, for it does not mean geek but overly obsessive, sometimes bad, sometimes good. And it just doesn't refer to Manga, Anime and games either. It is also like using the term, rabid fan here,"

"I see… do you have any favorites?"

"Not really… my supply comes when it can and typically consists of what my cousins like," Hermione then returned to the subject at hand. "There was a reason why I was called in, wasn't there?"

"I remember how you could see Muggle Ghosts? No… not could, can…" the woman stated, clearing her voice.

"I remember you telling me not to tell anyone," Hermione commented.

"I know you told Neville and he told you… let's just say the Bloody Baron keeps an eye out for these kinds of things… he feels it is his job."

"This is what this about? Trevor passing on?"

"Neville's toad died," the confusion was evident on the teachers face.

"No… his toad is named after someone who died,"

"I see…" it was then that Madame Hooch decided to change her route of questioning. "Well… that's not what I was talking about. Bloody Baron felt that if… as he put it, don't get me wrong… and he didn't use this exact wording… you weren't Muggle Born and Neville wasn't… I hate saying this, but I'm afraid I have to agree with today's incident that he is right… that Neville is a klutz, you would both be right at home in his house."

"Is this a joke?" Hermione became more confused. "Is he trying to say all the Slytherins can see Muggle ghosts?"

"No…he'd just rather have all those who can see Muggle ghosts in his house. Well, actually, all the house ghosts want more in their houses, but the Baron… he pushed for it really more then any other ghosts… or I should say, complains about it. Especially since Slytherin tends to have the least or none at all over the years."

"Doesn't Muggle in the term Muggle ghosts mean anything to him?"

"Actually, your probably right. That may have a great deal to do with all of this. And truth be told, for there to be more then one a year, let alone three is above normal really, as the gift to see Muggle Ghost's is quite rare."

"Three… I'm assuming then Neville and I aren't the only ones then?" Hermione frowned.

"I really can't tell you who this person is, as there are some who tend to have the want to leave this subject alone. Especially since the one I am talking about is this way, so it seems,"

"It's not something my cousin speaks about with his friends. My sister things I'm… well, she things I'm a freak just for going to what she deems is a fake school," Hermione's eyes became distant.

"Anyways… onto what I called you here for…" Madame Hooch started. "While I said that one doesn't talk about things that are, to put it lightly, of this nature, that which others can't understand, there is a place that students with such gifts can speak to other students with the same gift. It's called the Geist Club,"

"Geist… as in short for poltergeist? As in Peeves the poltergeist?"

"Well, you're the first to deduce that one, though he tends to hang around when we have our meetings and tends too… never mind…"

"He's absolutely annoying…" Hermione shook her head in bewilderment.

Madame Hooch pushed forward a card with black and silver on it. "This is your official invite to the club Ms. Granger. As the instructor in charge of this club, I am delighted to have you, if you will join,"

"If it's a secret club, how am I supposed to know when the meetings are?"

"I give the meeting times and a pass as it is sometimes late at night… after hours to be exact. I'll have one of the other students to escort you the first time through… well, sort of. You'll understand when you see it," she then tapped her fingers. "Oh, and one more thing… considering what happened today… I'll send Neville his own pass, but I'll write his on yours also, as I have the feeling, he'll have the tendency to lose his.

M

Two nights later, Neville and Hermione were writing outside the Painted Lady so that the person escorting them could easily find them, as per their instructions by Madame Hooch. Hermione had also taken the time to show Percy Weasly their passes as he was a perfect and libel to become suspicious unless he was given a reason for all of this. A couple of her roommates had become curious also. As for Neville, none noticed.

The boy who found them was a third to fifth year Hufflepuff. As there had only been a week long worth of school roughly, it was quite understandable that the first two years wouldn't know who a good deal of the other students were, especially if they were from another house. The only surmisible reason would be gossip hounds, which she and Neville both happened to not be.

"You two must be Hermione and Neville," the boy smiled at the two. If Hermione had been a normal girl, she would have found him quite charming. However, she wasn't one to pay attention to outward appearance, but the inner kind. "I'm Cedric Diggory."

"Um…uhh…umm…" Neville stuttered out.

"Yes… We're Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom,"

"Then follow me," the boy commented. "Madame Hooch asked me to show you two to where the club meets."

Thus, the two first years followed after the older student. They became quite surprised when he stopped in front of a stone wall. Neville blinked a couple of times before commenting. "We're meeting in the hallway?"

"No.." the boy laughed. "This is as good of a spot as any. Try this. In your mind, imagine how desperate one is for a place to talk about others… about certain things."

This caused Neville and Hermione to glance at each other, then shrug their shoulders. The feelings to pinpoint were easy to fin as both were indeed in great want of a place to talk about these things with. Appearing in front of them was a doorway. Diggory opened the door, only to be greeted by a voice. "About time you two showed up."

"You two, this is Cho Chang. She's a second year Ravenclaw," the boy smiled.

The oriental girl in question waved to them from a pure blue upholstered couch. There were three other couches there in green, red and yellow. Hermione and Neville took seats on the red one, while Diggory took a seat on the yellow one, commenting "Now, when do we start?"

"You didn't tell us your year," Hermione suddenly blurted out. "You know our house and years… wouldn't it be polite for us to know yours?"

"Ohh… Diggory sempai," Cho's suddenly laughed. "You didn't tell them your year, shame. Means they can't call you sempai too until you do."

"Sempai," Neville had become confused.

"My mom is Japanese, my dad half Chinese, half British," the girl smiled. "Sempai is a Japanese word."

"But what does it mean?" Neville asked, still quite confused.

"Cho's never explained the word to me," Cedric sighed. "Thankfully, she only uses it while in the Geist Club, as it is rather embarrassing. She also calls the professors sensei while in here, which I've gotten to mean teacher."

"I take it your older then her," Hermione suddenly stated, rather then ask.

"Yeah… I'm a forth year. How did you know though?"

"I knew because of what sempai means," Hermione commented.

"Older then someone," came Neville's curious, yet still confused voice.

"Sort of. It is used for one with more experience then another. Kohai means the person has less experience," Hermione commented.

"So, I could possibly call Hermione sempai because she is smarter then all the Witches in our grade?" Neville asked Cho.

Cho suddenly laughed. "If Hermione is as smart as Flitwick says she is, I'll have to call her sempai."

"Now I really don't get it," Cedric shook his head. "I vote for not using the word."

The boy however, was the only one to raise his hand. Cho shook her head in mirth, "All opposing Sempai Diggory's proposal?"

Three hands shot up into the air, causing the other boy to shake his head. "I see I'm out voted… even if the other third new member showed up. Oh well, potential as this person still hasn't shown up or accepted the invitation. And even if they decline, they can still accept later on."

"If I hadn't me Hermione, I would have had my doubts as to whether or not to believe this club was real," Neville suddenly imputed.

"Either of you two interested in Quiditch?" the Hufflepuff asked somewhat hopefully, only to have the two shake their heads.

"I apologize… sempai assumes that since both of us are Seekers for our houses that you two might be interested in Quiditch," Cho shook her head. "We're here to discuss what we all have in common."

"One can hope that perhaps there is more then just Muggle ghosts that we have in common," came his reply as he crossed his arms in frustration.

"We start with the thing we know we have in common," Cho rolled her eyes. "I am able to hear them quite clearly. I always thought I had an overactive imagination as a child. That was until sempai pointed out I was actually hearing them."

"I can hear them, but only sometimes see them completely. Most of the time they're in the range of blob to blur," the Hufflepuff pointed out. "Because I saw them in varying stages, I never told anyone about this. However… Bloody Baron and the Fat Friar noticed I could see a Muggle ghost that had wandered in looking at the ruins."

"Yeah… it was shocked that they really weren't ruins… you told me that," Cho quipped.

"And the Bloody Barron, how to put it… scared the ghost off quick like. What about you two?"

"I had to many imaginary friends who told me to do things like stand on chairs, remove light bulbs while the lamps are still on, and jump off the roof…. I'm glad I never listened to the last one…" came the younger boys blurted out reply.

Hermione wasn't surprised at Neville's wander, it fit his personality. Cho remained calm, though she continued to look straight at the boy as if he had made a very bad joke, Cedric' jaw dropped for a few seconds. "Never mind… Hooch said there was… a certain incident earlier… I have to say… bad luck follows you it seems. Please don't be offended."

"None taken… I think…" Neville blubbered out again, completely unsure about himself.

"Why isn't he in Hufflepuff?" Cho suddenly asked.

"Cho! Everyone implies that Hufflepuff is where all the rejects go. I rather think that isn't the case," came Diggory's reply.

"Then again…" Cho ignored him. "I have to wonder how Granger wasn't placed in my house… Flitwick always brags on the smartest student of each year, and this first year isn't in our house so it seems."

"Cho!" Cedric shook his head, then folded his arms behind his head and crossed one leg over the other. "So, what about you Hermione?"

"Well… I've always been able to see them clearly and thought they were everyday people. However, my sister never could see them. I didn't know until I met my cousins that they were ghosts. Two of them can see them fully, the other partially."

"Hold on… that's four people in your family at least who have some sort of Muggle ghost site?" Cedric blurted out from his surprise.

"Yeah… Ichigo tried for awhile to find his mom… my blood Aunt after she died," Hermione commented.

"Strawberry…" Cho suddenly giggled.

"He hates that nickname," Hermione laughed. "I don't blame him as he has hair coloring like the Weaslys. I have a question… what are Grim Reapers?"

"Yeah… the Bloody Barron mentioned them earlier…" Neville commented, only to suddenly shudder as Peeves opened the door and the Bloody Barron came in with nearly headless Nick.

"Presenting, the Bloody Barron and the nearly headless git," Peeves trumpeted at them. "Hello newbie firsties… I am the official head of the Geist club, much like how these two are the head ghosts of their houses."

"Please…" the Barron muttered as Hooch came in, quite displeased.

"Goodie… two Gryffindors have joined the club," Nick smiled, ghosting to a sitting position near them, causing them to shudder.

"Do not rub it in," the Barron suddenly commented.

"Rub what in?" Neville asked, suddenly wishing he hadn't.

"I was unable to convince the other first year… that is in Slytherin, to join us," Hooch sighed. "And Peeves did not help. Anyways… I think I need to speak with Cedric and the Bloody Barron in order to try to convince him, as it will be hard to do so."

Cho sighed. "I guess the first meeting of the year is called adjourned."

"Good night sempai Diggory," Neville suddenly commented, causing both Hermione and Cho to laugh. Hermione then realized that her question hadn't gotten answered. However, as Cho left with them, she spoke up.

"I don't know what a Grim Reaper is, other then the fact it is best not to mention them to the ghosts. That's all I can tell you," the girl suddenly answered.

Author's notes – Well… I thought that this chapter would actually be shorter, but just the body text is nearing four thousand. Anyways, here are some notes about things in the fanfic.
Otaku – What Hermione said about the word Otaku is true, believe it or not. I can call myself an Otaku in the English sense, but I refuse to do it in the original context of the language, as it can literally mean rabid fangirl or fanboy.
Sempai – I so could not resist making fun of Diggory here. And I am planning on poor Neville to continue to call him Sempai outside of class.
Grim Reapers – I started a second fanfic, made up of one-shots… so far only one. It is because I was wanting to add details that are, well, they are important to how the two fandoms relate to each other, but if I had worked them into the fanfic, it would have caused problems. And my mind was buzzing and I had to get them out.