Disclaimer: I hold no rights over the Harry Potter series or the Danny Phantom series. Any and all direct quotes and texts belong to J. K. Rowling and are used for entertainment purposes only and not for profit or any additional benefits.

ΔOl

Chapter 16: The Goblet of Fire II

The sun had long since disappeared over the horizon, making it nearly impossible for Harry to see anything but his icy breath.

"Come on," Ron groaned irritably, "They're late! It's absolutely freezing out here! Where are they?"

Harry murmured in agreement as the cold began to spread up his legs (even Hermione's eager disposition had quickly become dismal) when a Ravenclaw second-year burst out, "Look! By the fields!"

Ron and Hermione's heads swivelled so fast Harry swore he heard them crick.

Looking over to where the Beauxbatons had stationed their giant carriage, their winged horses grazing nearby, an eerie green light was flashing in and out of existence, like a sharp tongue of electricity tasting the air, before bursting open with a loud crack. The horses whinnied frantically and galloped across the paddock out of sight.

Harry had to blink a few times until the green light had dimmed to reveal a deep glowing abyss, floating a few feet off the ground; the edges seemed to be trying to suck in everything around it as they flickered dangerously, like starving flames groping for kindling. Harry shivered.

"That's a 'ghost portal'," Hermione whispered excitedly from next to him, "It's a high potency of collective magic. It's similar to floo-powder, but there's no limit to where a person can go since it's not connected to a network. Only a collection of the most powerful wizards are able to make them, and it's rather dark magic."

"Why's it called a 'ghost portal'?" Harry asked. The flames seemed to dance in front of his eyes, beckoning him closer as they grappled at the night sky, dragging the darkness ravenously into its green depths.

"Because the only way to travel through one is to pass through somewhere they call the 'Land of the Dead', which is why most places have declared its use as prohibited."

Ron snorted, "The 'Land of the Dead'? You're joking. There's no way someone could even get into a place like that in the first place; you'd have better luck finding a banshee that can sing."

Hermione crossed her arms in front of her, "Well I never said that they went through the actual 'Land of the Dead', simply that the passageway has been called that."

"Shut up," Harry said, "Someone's coming."

Dark liquidly silhouettes had appeared from in the depths of the portal, gaining solidity the closer they came toward the opening. As the shadows reached the burning lip, the portal flashed a bright green again, forcing Harry to raise his arms and avert his eyes as he and his classmates were basked in the violent light. Turning back, he found the glowing green wormhole gone, replaced with a small gathering of students dressed sharply in red, white and blue.

Dumbledore waltzed up to the group toward a tall, bald man with a paunchy stomach, not unlike Uncle Vernon's, who was shoving his way past the students to greet the Headmaster partway, "Ah, you must be Professor Lancer, Headmistress Ishiyama's replacement. How excellent that we can finally meet," Dumbledore held out his palm.

Professor Lancer grasped the hand tightly in his own, "Quite, Professor Dumbledore. The Headmistress apologises for her absence, but she couldn't justify leaving the school unattended for such a long period of time," waving a hand at the gathering of teenagers behind him, he announced proudly, "May I introduce Casper Magical Seminary's Tetrawizard contestants."

Dumbledore smiled warmly at the misfit group, "Welcome, children, to Hogwarts. All of us here hope you enjoy your stay at our fine institution. Now I might suggest that we head inside, as the weather is decidedly nippy," he chuckled, leading the Caspers into the entrance hall.

"Finally!" Ron cried in relief, as the Hogwarts students hurriedly followed the American school back into the warmth of the castle and into the Great Hall. Collapsing into their seats at the Gryffindor table, Ron was disappointed to find Durmstrangs had already seated themselves with the Slytherins. Draco Malfoy was sliding into a spot next to Krum, leaning over eagerly to speak to him.

"Cheer up, Ronnikins, we've managed to bag the Caspers," Ron's brother, Fred, said, falling into the seat next to Harry, thrusting a thumb down the length of the table. The majority of Casper Magical Seminary sat together at the end, laughing uproariously at something a muscular blond was saying. Only two students (a tall, skinny boy with messy hair like Harry's and a pretty girl dressed in black with purple eyes and a severe haircut) sat away from the others, closer to Harry and his friends, as they whispered to each other with soft smiles.

Harry turned away from the private moment when George spoke up, sliding in next to Hermione with Lee Jordan, "I say, can you see what I see, Gred?"

"Would it be the packet of Filibuster Fireworks hanging out of that Casper's back pocket, Forge?"

"Indeed it is. Now, as a man after our own heart I feel like it's our responsibility to go introduce ourselves, don't you think, Lee?" George smiled widely as the twins shared a look with their friend, who seemed to be trying to keep himself from giggling hysterically.

"He's perfect."

"Why? Just because he's got a couple of fireworks you think he's going to want to hang out with you lot?" Ron scoffed.

"Ah, little brother of ours," A false look of pity spread across the twins' and Lee's faces, "You still have much to learn before you can even consider comprehending our greatness," Fred said conspiringly, standing up with a flourish, George and Lee following suit.

"Besides," George grinned down at Ron, "He's more likely to hang out with us than be stuck talking to your ugly mug," then the three of them wandered up the length of the table and dropped themselves down opposite the Casper couple, who jumped in surprise at the interruption.

"Well, that was rather rude of them," Hermione said, frowning as the three bowed low to the disgruntled-looking girl, noses nearly grazing the table-top, and shook hands with the tall boy, whose face was now the colour of his argyle sweater-vest.

"I know! I'm their brother! They shouldn't treat me like that!" Ron said outraged.

Harry simply watched the couple out of the corner of his eye as the boy hunched over to read a piece of parchment the twins had pulled out, the girl peering curiously over his shoulder. A mischievous lilt coming to rest on the duo's mouths as a fake wand was waggled in front of their faces.

ΔOl

There aren't enough words in the English language for 'school'. In actuality, a seminary is a school designed to teach worship and guide people to priesthood, but in this situation I altered its purpose to teach the ways of magic; hence why Danny's school is named Casper Magical Seminary.

I figured that since all the other schools had uniforms, Casper would have their own uniform as well, but modernised since British America (not Native America) is such a young country in comparison to their European counterparts. After a lot of thinking and considering, I decided to make the Casper's wear the uniform that Vlad Plasmius enforced on the students in the episode, Eye for an Eye, just to give you all a clearer vision.