Chapter 4: Casper's Arrival

ΔOl

The Great Hall was brimming with light and sound. Juniors and seniors fluttered excitedly around the room, gossiping and squealing as the clock in the foyer ticked over to a quarter past two. Outside the doors stood flocks of the lower grade Caspers, daring glances and whispering excitedly through the glass panels on the grand entrance before Professor Trunchbull's barking threats of detention sent them scattering.

Danny and Sam sat off to the far side of the room at one of the bronze tables. Sam was making an obvious effort to quell her excitement, eyes glittering as they travelled around the room, while Danny's stayed firmly shut, bruised purple from a lack of sleep. Anxiousness had kept him awake for most of the night, along with an unwelcome visit from Klemper, a rather socially repugnant Animus.

He barely flinched as another crack echoed through the Great Hall like a whip, a bright light coating the room, making the Caspers yelp in alarm before it flickered and died. One of the fourteen MACUSA officials cursed furiously, stationed by the ancient oak bench, before raising his wand again with the others and hissed out another round of complicated spells that Danny couldn't even begin to understand.

'You don't have to do this, you know,' Sam said in a low voice as the screaming died down.

Danny lifted his head sluggishly, giving it a soft shake, 'I don't have a choice. It'll look even more suspicious if I'm the only Casper not attending the tournament. Besides, Dumbledore said that if I don't the British Ministry might try and force me to help them.'

'But they can't do that! You have rights!' Sam spat, furious.

'I'm not human, remember? At least not to them. The Ministry can do whatever they want as long as I'm not considered an actual wizard – and there's no way I'm telling them my secret. Besides,' he said much more jovially, pulling a packet of Filibuster Fireworks out of his pocket with a grin, 'Might as well have some fun while we're there.'

Sam looked like she wanted to argue when another bright flash and the sound of shrieking made them look over at the MACUSA officials – Danny quickly tucked the fireworks into his back pocket.

A large gateway floated nearly a foot off the ground, the edges flickering like flames starving for air. The inside of the portal looked barren and cold, nothing but green that seemed to go on forever. Many of the students shivered at the sight. Danny was rather unimpressed. After all, his parents had successfully opened a portal in their basement three years ago without even resorting to magic.

'All right now, students. Everyone in place, seventh grade first, followed by sixth!' Headmistress Ishiyama called, motioning to Danny and his classmates. Professor Lancer, a bald and paunchy man dressed in pale blue robes, stepped in front of the gateway, wincing as the edges snapped at his cloak ends, making a nearby sixth grader squeal and scarper out of reach.

Danny, despite his unwillingness to leave Amity Park, ended up at the front of the line. The rest of his classmates stood further away, looking more than slightly hesitant. Lancer stared down at Danny with a sharp eye before announcing to the group, 'I want you all to stay in an orderly fashion – no wandering off and no foolish pranks. Is that clear?' He said the last part directly to Danny who rolled his eyes, tucking the Filibusters deeper into his pocket.

'Yes,' the group droned.

'Good, is everyone ready? Follow me, quickly now. We're already late as it is.'

Lancer hitched up his robes and, with only a flicker of hesitancy, strode through; the portal seemed to shift with the faintest of ripples, the green light encasing him as he stepped further until he became nothing but a watery shadow. A sharp poke in the back urged Danny to follow.

The air was cooler in the portal, he found himself standing next to Professor Lancer on a narrow craggy plane with soil so dark that it appeared purple. He glanced up at the sickly green sky that swirled and swayed in different hues. No matter how many times he had visited the zone, there was always something so eerily fantastical about it.

'Come along, Fenton. We may as well get started,' Lancer barked, pulling out his wand, 'Point me.'

The wand swivelled in Lancer's palm before settling west and the man strode forward, Danny following behind. Soon after he heard Sam's metal-capped boots hit the dirt. Danny gave her a grin, which she replied to with a roll of her eyes, jabbing a thumb at their classmates who were cautiously stepping through the portal, whimpering as they twisted and turned as if something was going to jump out at them from the green.

He shrugged, turning to catch up to Lancer who was beginning to shake quite noticeably the deeper they went. The hand holding his wand was quivering in trepidation and he jumped at every hollow howl that echoed through the abyss. After fifteen minutes of walking in near silence (excusing Dash Baxter's pathetic snivelling near the back), the Caspers reached the end of the path. Another gateway hovered in front of them, glowing so brightly it felt like staring into the sun.

Lancer lowered his wand, looking peaky, 'Now, I expect everyone to act accordingly. We are guests at Hogwarts and are being welcomed into a centuries-old tradition. Be smart, stay sharp, and by the Prestidigitation of Practical Potioneering Propriety, behave.'

Flicking his robes, he hurried his way through, the rest of the school rushing for the portal to get out of the strange cold. Danny followed his classmates at a much slower pace, Sirius Black and the responsibility that came with his capture etching his way into his thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through.

The first thing he noticed was that the sky was much clearer than home; the night was filled with thousands of stars, glistening against the stone of a majestic castle carved into the rugged Scottish landscape. A lake sat off to the side where an impressive ship lay docked. A dark forest sat further behind, the wind carrying come-hithers to his ears.

By the stairs leading up into the castle stood the students of Hogwarts, dressed in black robes with insignias stitched on their lapels and matching ties, looking dazed and cold as the final Caspers barged their way through after Danny. As the last student stepped out, the gateway flared brightly once more and disappeared with a pop.

Blinking the stars out of his eyes, he watched as Dumbledore made his way over to them. Lancer, who had shoved his way past Fernhilda Saunders, a relatively popular sixth grader, strode forward to meet him.

'Ah, you must be Professor Lancer, Headmistress Ishiyama's replacement. How excellent that we can finally meet.' Dumbledore offered his hand.

Lancer reached forward to grasp it firmly, '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.' He proffered a hand behind him at Danny and his classmates and announced, 'May I introduce Casper Magical Seminary's Tetrawizard contestants.'

Danny saw Dumbledore's mouth tilt into a grin when their eyes met, before he smiled broadly at the rest of the 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.'

'Finally!' one of the Hogwarts students moaned.

Danny darted forward with the rest of the Caspers, eager to get inside and discover the castle. They were quickly swept through the entrance into the Great Hall. Students had already settled themselves at four long tables, laughing and talking excitedly. The professors and their guests were seated at the front of the room, candles enchanted to float about their heads.

He supposed by the rapid-fire French that the shivering Beauxbatons were already seated at a table with Hogwarts students accented in blue, while Durmstrang, wrapped in their thick fur cloaks, sat at one donned in green. The Caspers had chosen the table with red. Sneaking a glance at a seated first grader's lapel he read the title Gryffindor.

A hand tugged at the sleeve of his shirt. Sam gestured to where Paulina and her friends had transfigured the silverware into hand mirrors to check their hair. 'Come on. Let's sit further up.'

She dragged him deeper into the room where a few vacant spots were open. Relieved, the pair sank onto the long benches that accompanied the tables, Danny loosening his tie with a grin as a few nearby Gryffindors stared peculiarly at them.

'I hope we get something to eat, I'm starving.'

'Danny! We just had lunch before when we left!' Sam rolled her eyes at him, 'I just want to know what their curriculum is. I heard they do Divination here!'

'I thought you already studied that?'

Sam rolled her eyes, 'Xylomancy hardly counts as foresight. It's like flipping a galleon and hoping for the best. Real Divination allows you to truly see the future.'

Danny wrinkled his nose, Divination sounded like the exact opposite of what he wanted to learn. He had had enough of the future after meeting Clockwork at the end of his fourth year – the shade of an ancient and powerful wizard renowned for dealing with time – and in result meeting himself.

'It'll be nice though, not being stuck with just the Caspers in class.'

Danny frowned, 'Just the Caspers?'

Sam scoffed, 'Were you even listening at the tournament assembly? We're combining classes with Hogwarts. You didn't really expect Lancer to be teaching both the sixth and seventh graders by himself, did you?'

'You mean I won't have to be stuck with Kwan as a Potions partner anymore?' Danny grinned, pumping his fist, 'Yes!'

She matched him with a smirk, 'Probably not. And who knows, maybe now we'll actually have some classes together.'

'I hope so,' Danny murmured, admiring the way her eyes glowed in the candlelight. Sam's purple smirk curved into a soft smile.

They jumped as someone dropped themselves into the seat opposite. Two boys dressed in Gryffindor robes with flaming red hair smirked at the two of them, twin copies of the other. Another boy followed suit at a more languid pace with short dreadlocks, looking like he was going to keel over at any point with laughter.

'Er, hello?' Danny said, pulling himself away from Sam.

'Hello,' the twins echoed. The other boy giggled delightedly.

'Can we help you?' Sam sniffed, looking less than impressed by the intrusion.

'Oh, where are our manners, George?' The boy on the left gasped.

The boy on the right nodded solemnly, 'Our mother would be so disappointed, Fred. We're practically barbarians.'

Two hands were shoved under Danny's nose, 'The name's Fred and George. And this is Lee; our good friend, fellow Gryffindor and avid supporter of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.'

'Er, hey. I'm Danny and this is Sam.' he grasped both their hands while Sam gave them a cool stare. 'What are Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?'

The twins grinned widely. George proudly announced, 'I'm glad you asked, friend. Why it is the name of our little business venture—'

'—magical joke products and whatnot. They've been rather popular so far, we've just started testing them on the first and second years—'

'—however, we've been thinking that we may need to broaden our demographics. It's difficult to get any sort of real reactions out of someone you've paid a few sickles for a trial.' One of the twins handed Danny an order flyer listing an assortment of joke products from fake wands to sickness-inducing candies.

'Okay,' Danny said slowly, eyes flicking between the three of them, 'What's that got to do with us?'

'Well,' George leaned forward conspiratorially, 'We couldn't help but notice that you had something rather peculiar sticking out of your back pocket.'

Danny blanched, yanking the Filibuster fireworks out of his trousers and stuffing them down the front of his sweater, glancing around in case Lancer or any of the other teachers caught him.

The trio laughed and Lee shook his head, 'Don't worry, no one else saw.'

Fred tapped the side of his nose, 'It'll be our secret.'

Sam gave an impatient huff, 'What do you want?' she barked.

'Fresh meat,' George stated, 'It's all good to hire a few firsties, but we'd really like the element of surprise—'

Fred gestured to a round-faced fourth grader sitting some little ways away, 'And it's getting a little boring tricking Neville all the time. Mentioning that, I wouldn't recommend eating any cream puffs while you're here.'

'I still don't understand what that has to do with me,' Danny frowned.

'Well, it's obvious you aren't friends with the prat and his cronies up there.' He turned to see Fred, George and Lee staring dispassionately at Dash Baxter who was thwacking Nathan Gert, an unpopular bespectacled boy, rather vigorously on the head with his wand like a beater's bat.

'Well you're not wrong,' Sam shrugged.

Something seemed to click in Danny's brain as Dash turned to a whimpering Mikey next.

'Fresh meat, huh?' he smirked, 'I could organise something.'

Sam whirled around on him, her mind not far behind, 'Danny, no!' she snarled, before whispering so low only he could catch it, 'You don't have time to mess around! What about Black?'

Danny just gave her an easy grin, 'Relax, Sam. It'll be fine. Dash has had this coming a long time.'

Fred, George and Lee crowed, slapping Danny on the back jovially.

The chattering died down as the staff entered the hall. Danny didn't recognise anyone besides Dumbledore except Mad-Eye Moody, who was clomping his way down past the tables glaring at anyone who caught his magical eye. Trailing behind Dumbledore was Lancer, who looked a fair deal calmer since he had stepped out of the portal and was proudly making his way to his designated seat.

A hook-nosed man was following him dressed in thick furs that suited the Durmstrangs, curling his goatee distractedly. Following him was the largest woman Danny had ever seen, so tall that he thought if he stood next to her he'd barely graze her collarbone. She was dressed in dark, expensive looking silks and at her arrival the Beauxbatons jumped to their feet. Danny, along with the rest of the school gave a short laugh at their eager expressions, but they didn't appear embarrassed, only seating themselves after their headmistress had taken her place to Dumbledore's left.

Dumbledore, however, remained standing, waving his arms as the room fell to silence, 'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and – most importantly – guests,' he started, beaming at the rather cramped Great Hall, 'I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable.'

'Yeah, right,' Danny muttered under his breath, earning an elbow in his side from Sam.

'The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast,' Dumbledore continued, 'I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!' He sat down and the plates in from of Danny seemed to fill with so much food and drink that he swore the table creaked under the weight. There was a great variety of dishes that Danny didn't even recognise, obviously specialty cuisines from Bulgaria and France.

He poked a dark, speckled galleon-sized lump of something that looked to have been burnt with his fork, 'What is this?' he asked, screwing up his nose.

'Huh? Oh, that's black pudding.' Lee said cheerily, dolloping a spoonful of mashed potatoes onto his plate.

'Where's the custard?'

Fred snorted as if he had said something particularly funny.

'What?' Danny demanded.

'It's not a desert, mate. It's a blood sausage.'

'I think I'll pass.' Danny told Sam who gave him a smarmy look, nibbling on a slice of ratatouille.

ΔOl

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