Disclaimer: See previous chapter…

OOPS! I just realized that Oliver Wood may have graduated already! Isn't he in the same year as Percy? Okay here's a quick thought up background taking place while the group is in line @ Ariel's Grotto:

Chapter 9 addition:

"Hey, Oliver, what are you doing here? Are you on holiday too?" Harry asked, realizing he, Oliver, had graduated already and had no reason to come to WDW unless he was on vacation.

"Oh, the news was a bit of a shock for me," Oliver began to explain. "I got a letter as well from Hogwarts telling me to go here. They sent me about…3000 dollars to come. You see, I work at Hogwarts now." This news gave a bit of a shock to everyone.

"You? A professor?" Ron asked, confused that a mere 18-year-old could teach students of his generation.

"No, definitely not. Since the Quidditch team (hey, what else is he good at?) lost it's coach," Oliver continued, with a tone of pride, "McGonagal asked Dumbledore if I was allowed to stay as permanent Quidditch coach."

"That's great!" Harry said, happy to be seeing him next term.

"Yes, I did want to go to a professional team, but I couldn't leave the ol' school," Oliver said. Hermione and Ginny's eyes began to tear.

A/N: I'm thinking of writing a spinoff to this addition where Wood is headmaster of Hogwarts. Hey, my school principal was first a gym teacher and now he was promoted to the Board of Education! Anyway…on to Chapter 10!

Chapter 10: Gothic Ghosts and a Weeping Witch

"Welcome to the Haunted Mansion," a host said grimly as the guest piled into the entrance hall. The cast members were dressed in period costumes in shades of gray and black. The portraits of the former residents were just above their heads. Then the weirdest thing began to happen! The walls began to stretch and the pictures elongated, revealing more of the terrifying, though silly, stories of the portraits depicted. One sweet young woman was shown on a high wire above a tub with something not quite right floating inside. Then the room stopped stretching and the lights went out. The high glass ceiling showed a stormy sky and there was a flash of lightning! Finally the hall doors creaked open and revealed a gloomy hallway with stormy windows and menacing pictures. One depicted a beautiful woman, but when the lightning flashed, the picture changed for a second into the repulsive Medusa! On the back wall stood a bookcase with several large busts of the former residents.

"It's w-watching u-us," Neville said, pointy his shaking finger at the bust of a rather gruff looking man.

"Please board the doom buggies…two by two…" a cast member said monotonously. Here the group ran into a problem. Who was going to sit with whom?

"On no, there's nine of us!" Neville said trembling as they all stepped on the moving walkway that led to the Doom Buggies, the ride vehicles. "I don't want to go alone!"

"Don't worry, Neville," Ginny said. "I'll be happy to ride with you." She knew Harry would never ask to ride with her and didn't to ride with any of those other clowns-for-brothers anyway. Neville was very thankful and boarded the Doom Buggy, happy to be with a friend.

Fred and George and Lee had found Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell in line and rode with them. Gee, what a convenient coincidence.

"I'll ride with you Harry," Parvati said to her old dance partner. He agreed and they boarded together. Padma definitely did not want to go with Ron so she grabbed Oliver before Hermione got to him and they boarded as well.

"How did I get stuck with you?" Ron said to Hermione.

"I don't know but I'd rather ride alone than share a buggy with you," Hermione grunted, still angry with Ron's teasing.

"Suit yourself," Ron said, boarding a doom buggy by himself.

"You know the legend of the Haunted Mansion," a cast member said spookily to Hermione. She shook her head no. "There are 999 ghosts in the manor and we have room for one more!" He laughed like a maniac and Hermione sprinted into the buggy with Ron. Here are the seating arrangements:

( R Hr ) ( O Pd ) ( H Pr ) ( L KB ) ( F AJ ) ( G AS ) ( N G )

Hermione edged as far away from Ron and he did the same. Then a voice began to speak in the buggy.

"Welcome to the Haunted Mansion! I'll be your host! Your ghost host! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" a deep voice greeted.

"Ahhhhh!" Hermione cried, sliding into Ron.

"Hey, let me breathe a little!" Ron said pushing her away.

The tour wasn't too frightening at first. The séance room had a crystal ball and everything. All sorts of things were floating around the room. But where was the Fortuneteller? Why her head was in her own crystal ball.

"…these are the ghoulies from last Halloween! Awaken, oh spirits, with your tambourine!" the head chanted. Then a tambourine rattled in the background. The Haunted Mansion was actually more silly then scary. The buggies passed a poor man…er…zombie…crying to be released from a displayed coffin surrounded by dead decaying wreathes and flowers. His wrinkled deflated hands were trying to push up the nailed down lid.

"Hey! Lemme outta here! Hey!" the dead man yelped from under the lid.

"Now wouldn't that be great to have on Halloween?" Fred said to Angelina. "We'll hide it behind the Fat Lady's portrait and when the first years climb through, that's what will be greeting them!"

"I don't think I'd like that thing in the common room anytime of the year," Angelina said. (*Yeah, I borrowed those lines from Disneyland Showtime on Vault Disney)

There was a fancy ballroom with ghostly guests and transparent ballroom dancers. An organ player played a waltz in a minor key and skulls poured out of the pipes. The dancers reminded everyone of the ghosts back at Hogwarts and they enjoyed seeing the well-done ghosts. A birthday party table was laid out with 13 candles on the cake, but where were the guests? They soon appeared, and to everyone's surprise, the birthday girl was a familiar weeping witch.

"I'm not thirteen!" the witch bawled when she appeared. " 'Oh, let's all put 13 candles on the birthday cake. She won't care because she's dead!' " Her cries echoed in the great ballroom and ringed in the guests' ears. The ghostly witch began to bawl loudly and floated through the ride track, somehow causing the ride to stop. Neville looked as if Snape had decided to marry his Granny. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

"We are experiencing some technical difficulties. Don't worry, they won't bite! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha," the Ghost Host said as the Doom Buggies came to a halt. All the Hogwarts students' buggies had stopped in the ballroom and they got a better view of the ghosts. The ghost witch popped out of the ride tracks and went to sit with the other "ghosts".

"Look! It's Moaning Myrtle!" Harry said.

"Who?" Parvati asked. "Is it that annoying ghost girl in the girls' lavatories? What's she doing here?"

"Yes, I'm Moaning Myrtle!" Myrtle said, annoyed with Parvati. She saw Harry and began to giggle. "Hello Harry. Want to join me? I can push you off the ledge giggle and the we'll have a jolly old time!"

"Er…no thank you. What are you doing here?" Harry asked, wondering why one of the Hogwart's ghosts had come on vacation.

"What? A girl can't go on holiday like everyone else?" Myrtle said. She began to cry again. "Is it because I'm dead you don't think I need a vacation from the ugly old school! Baawwwwwaaaaaahaaaaaaa…she floats away and sits on top of the pipe organ"

"Myrtle, I didn't mean…" Suddenly, the ride started again and the doom buggies left the ballroom.

"Where are you all going? Leaving my party?" Then another ghost flew in, who certainly was not a Haunted Mansion ghost either.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! No one wants to stay with Bawling Bellowing Unpopular Moaning Myrtle!" the ghost laughed. It was Peeves the poltergeist. He picked up some of the glasses on the table to throw at Myrtle. A layer of dust was sifted into the air.

"Ahhhhh!" Myrtle screamed as a glass nearly missed her. She flew away into the Doom Buggy with Harry and Parvati, who left a nice space for her in the middle. Just as they were leaving, the Bloody Baron flew through the ballroom, scaring Peeves out of his wits!

"Oh how quaint," Myrtle said as she settled herself. Harry and Parvati felt a sudden chill on their sides as Myrtle shifted in her seat. They still weren't speaking to each other.

"Hello!" A ghost said from behind the flying wedding gown. He didn't notice that his head was almost off his neck.

"Yahhhhhh!" Parvati cried.

They soon descended down into an old graveyard, where thousands of ghosts were having a party.

"Happy Haunts materialize!"

"And began to vocalize!"

"Grim Grinning Ghosts, come out to socialize!"

Neville and Ginny were first to see the graveyard, and they shrieked and yelped when the ghouls popped out from behind their tombstones. Soon they found the lost old man and his dog. His face was pale and his leg was trembling as he heard the partying ghouls so near, yet so far. Neville's leg was trembling much quicker than the poor old man's was. The Fat Friar didn't help the situation when he popped through the old man's chest. Neville fainted.

"Oh this looks like fun!" Myrtle cried, fleeing into the graveyard. She joined the ghouls and weaved through the graveyard spooking unsuspecting Muggles.

Finally, as the Ghost Host had said, the tour was coming to an end and everyone, Muggles and wizards alike, were spooked by the final hallway (I'd hate to tell you why and ruin the best part of this attraction). All the boys had laughed the whole way through, well…except for Neville. Ginny had a hard time dragging him out of the buggy.

Hermione was still spooked by the house. She stuck close to Ron and Harry as they exited, afraid something else might pop out at them. Harry and Ron laughed all the way out. The Patil's left with a group of Ravenclaw 5th years. The Weasley twins and Lee and the Quidditch girls decided to ride again and headed back in line.

"We have to do that again!" Ron said. Out of breath from laughing so much.

"No!" Hermione said. She was still pale, but she wasn't as pale as Neville. His mouth was still hanging open with no words leaving his throat.

"You have to admit though," Ron said. "You just had cling to me every time you screamed!" Hermione blushed pink.

The group ended up in Frontierland at the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon. They enjoyed a hoop-dee-doo good time and enjoyed the show of can-can dancers, singing cowboys, and good ol' 19th century Midwest country music. This was much more enjoyable compared to the ghastly Haunted Mansion. After a light snack at the saloon, Neville chose the next attraction and they all headed to the Country Bear Jamboree. It was a toe-tappin' finger-snappin' country revue full with what else but the Country Bears.

On the way to Big Thunder Mountain, which Ron had chosen after "the frightfully dull bear show", the group met up again with Percy and Penelope Clearwater. The orange-brown mountain looked very rocky and unstable, with towers of rocks and goats atop the skinniest ones. Upon seeing the runaway mine train swoop past their heads, Neville decided to sit this one out. Penelope decided to skip it too, for she was still a tad green from the 3rd time she and Percy had rode it.

The line wasn't too short and wasn't too long, but the heat was unbearable. The afternoon sun was beating down on them and the Florida heat was getting too them. The desert feel of Frontierland made the group feel even hotter. The line seemed to move slower and slower. Harry's watch seemed to tick every five minutes.

"Oh this is ridiculous!" Hermione said, wiping the sweat off her face. She took her wand out of her pocket when Percy wasn't looking. "Aire Refresco!" A cool breeze sweeped all around her and Ron edged closer to feel it too.

"Let me breath a little," Hermione said, mocking Ron. He took out his wand when Percy snatched it away.

"Ronald Weasley! You know better than that!" Percy snapped, indicating they were still in the presence of Muggles

"But…but…but…" Ron whined.

"Heh, he sounds like a motorboat," Harry said. Yeah…too much sun for Harry.

Kram Nebuer has been struck by writer's block and is stopping now until the muses inspire again. If you have any suggestions, please e-mail me. I still have some ideas for this story to take place later, but now it seems a little dry…