A/N: I appoligize for the delay. I was off on spring break. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to post before my vacation, and this last week has been a bit hectic, getting back to school. Hopefully, I will be back to posting on a consistant basis. I realize this chapter is hardly long, but I didn't get much writing done on vacation. Hopefully the chapters will be getting longer. I just wanted to get this posted, since I haven't given you lot a new chapter in a while.

Disclaimer: It's all mine! Mwa ha ha haaaaaa! Or not. If you recognize it, it's J.K.'s. Details were referenced in the books and in the Harry Potter Lexicon.

Chapter Thirteen
"Different, I guess. You're not really part of events, more of a spectator, floating around instead of walking... It's hard to describe. I guess I'm used to it, and in some ways I never really had much of a chance to see what it was like to live."

She gave him a sympathetic look.

"I suppose there are probably other differences too."

"Like temperature," she grumbled ruefully, "one of the other ghosts walked right through me today. It's so cold! You all just radiate cold."

"Really? I wonder why," he remarked, watching her expression carefully. "Are there any spells with similar effects we could compare it to? Maybe that could help us figure it out."

Seeing her interested expression, he knew he'd played his cards right.

"Brilliant! I'll check the library, and tell you if I find anything."

The Weasley twins found Harry not long after Hermione left, as they entered the common room and headed to their favorite plotting corner.

"Harry!"

"There you are, mate!"

"So, what's the plan?" Harry asked, once they'd settled on the floor near the fire, Fred and George sitting so that they blocked Harry from view, for the most part.

"Well," began Fred, slipping Harry a parcel of food from the kitchens, "we need to drag you into our classes one of these days."

"Hmm, yes, and we'll have to make sure to shock them as much as possible-"

"Right you are, mate. So when do you think would have the most effect?"

"Perhaps about a week into classes?" Harry suggested.

"That'd be about right, give people time to get into a routine, so they can be properly, shall we say, surprised?"

"Sounds good to me, brother mine. Now Harry-"

"What'll you be up to 'till then?"

"Is that any of your business?"

"Easy there, mate, I was just wondering if you needed anything-"

"Have enough food, and you won't want to be too behind."

"What?" Harry queried.

"For when they find out," Fred clarified.

"They're bound to find out eventually-"

"And as it's looking like it'll take awhile-"

"You're going to be a good deal behind your year mates-"

"If we don't teach you anything."

They were under the assumption, Harry noted, that he was going to stay until he was discovered, and that once he was discovered, he would attend school here. He decided it would be best not to dissolution them. If he left at the end of this year, which was quite possible, he wouldn't have to deal with them, and they would most likely be suspicious if they knew he didn't intend to attend school here.

"You needn't worry, I'm sure Hermione will be quite willing to teach me the theory. I'll ask."

George snorted.

"You do that. Since you aren't interesting in a chance to learn the practical-"

"It's not exactly possible at this point."

"Oh, come on mate, you can practice using our wands-"

"We'll help you practice somewhere out of the way."

"Alright." Harry agreed. Despite his reluctance to allow the twins another role in his life, he could benefit from learning more spells.

"That's settled then."

As Harry had predicted, Hermione was quite happy to be of help.

"Of course! Everyone deserves a chance to learn, and you probably don't have much to do, being a ghost and all," she noted, "Besides, it'll help me review the material, and make sure I've learnt everything I need to. Make sure to ask questions on anything that's unclear. That way, I'll know if I missed information."

Within very little time, Harry came to highly doubt that it was possible for her not to know the text books by heart. However, since as far as she knew, he'd never have to perform the spells, she also added in other bits of information, which made his evenings a bit more interesting. Not only would she talk about what she would concentrate on to make a spell work, and what could make it go wrong, but she would also tell him about what mistakes other students made, or when they goofed off in class, or anything else she found amusing or interesting. It was, Harry thought, most likely because she was lonely, and also, as there was a sort of separation between him and the rest of the world, she found him easier to confide in.

'Note to self: never trust anyone so easily, especially for such reasons.'

"Some of the classes are a great deal more complicated then most students seem to think," Hermione was saying, "take potions, for example, you had to know a great deal of facts from Herbology, so you would know how different ingredients would interact. Apparently, according to the research I've been doing," she had a rather annoyed expression at this point, presumably due to the professor's lack of helpfulness, "depending on conditions such as temperature, humidity, and freshness of ingredients, it might require slightly different amounts of time, and proportions of various components. Correctly brewed potions can only be accomplished with knowledge as well as careful observation of the potion..."

She broke off the lecture with a sigh, slamming the book shut.

"I just wish he'd give us a chance. He's one of the worlds best potions masters, and won't even really try teaching us before assuming that we're hopeless."

"You're doing great, Hermione. You're obviously not hopeless, and as he doesn't seem to be very respectful to anyone, you've no need to worry."

Harry replied, trying to calm her down a little. Hermione, like many young children, had the tendency to feel like she had to be perfect at everything. Being only eleven, this was less than surprising. She was young enough to put a bit of excess significance on her studies, and combining this with the fascination with magic of someone new to the wizarding world, could be a tad bit excessive.

Despite being only eleven himself, Harry had experienced enough to not try and live his life to please others, or to believe, as he had as a small child, that magic could fix everything.

"It's not just that," she confessed, gazing downward, "It's just- oh, never mind."

"What?"

"It's none of your business!" she snapped.

"I'm sorry," she whispered a moment later, "it's been... a long day. We'll continue this tomorrow."

She gathered up her books, and moments later she disappeared up the steps into the girls dormitory.

Fred and George had decided to wait until Hermione had filled him in on more of the theory to have Harry try performing the spells, since it would be even more difficult than usual, trying to learn with another wizard's wand. The extra challenge, Harry thought, would probably be good for his skills in the long run.

Harry was, for the time being, however, left with a great deal of free time on his hands for until Fred and George thought it time to take him to scare their professors and classmates.

Within a few days, Harry knew the castle and it's secret passageways fairly well. He had even taken to wandering the Hogwarts grounds, invisible, as he'd never seen any of the real ghosts hanging around out there.

The weather was quite nice today, almost seeming to be late summer instead of early fall. A cool breeze gently ruffled the water in the lake, and swayed the blades of grass several inches below his feet. The students were still inside in their classes, and the grounds were pleasantly quiet.

He wandered towards the edge of the forest. Moments later, the door of the cabin nearby swung open. It was the man who'd led the first years from the platform.

The dog had started to bark.

"Wha's wrong, Fang?" the man asked, glancing around in bemusement. "There's no one anywhere near 'ere. C'mon..."

The dog was running right towards him, barking. Harry fled, floating higher as he moved towards the castle. He'd have to be a bit more careful, because had anyone else been there, it would only have taken one spell shot in the direction 'Fang' had been barking for him to have been caught.

A/N: Coming chapters will include pranks, Harry attending/disrupting classes, and more with the Slytherins, as well as other houses. Sorry if there was a bit too much of Hermione, studying, and other transition stuff in this one.

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter:

Zaptor- Glad it amuses you.

captuniv- It's great to hear someone liked the scenes with the Baron, and the Slytherin common room. They were very interesting to write, but also a bit harder.

hmm (anonymous)- Actually, considering that, a) Quirrel wasn't suspected by anyone but Snape, despite the large, odd smelling Turbin, b) If you think someone's dead, you'd probably be more likely to doubt if someone told you that they're alive, and c) Last chapter, when you commented, he'd been there for ONE DAY. I'm not saying he'll get away with it forever, but...

Heather- I'm afraid I can't really tell you. There's some of Snape's opinion in the chap where Harry appears in the great hall, and Harry can really only keep it up for a limited amout of time, for reasons no one has thought of yet. I think perhaps I should make people try and guess why...

Thestrals- Difficulty with magic? Definately. He most likely won't pick things up much faster than in the books, for reasons already hinted at... try and guess, it'll amuse me.

Caelistes- You like how I do the twins? Yay! Thanks!

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