Chapter Text
Harry had a guilty pleasure that he wasn't afraid to admit: whenever he had nothing to do, or on nights when he couldn't fall asleep, he'd pull out the Marauder's Map and look around Hogwarts, watching what its various inhabatants were up to in other parts of the castle.
Usually there wasn't much beyond a student or two sneaking where they shouldn't, or Peeves and Filch chasing each other around, or the Slytherins doing... Whatever it is they do whenever they're not bothering Harry.
Tonight, though, Harry noticed something new popping up on the map.
"Hey, Ron? 'Mione? Come look at this," he prompted, and Ron and Hermione immediately popped onto the couch beside him.
It didn't take long for them to notice what Harry had.
Ron frowned as he poked at the map, and at the new name that had appeared.
"Who in Merlin's name is Ghost?" He asks. The little banner that was supposed to show people's name above their footsteps was empty.
Harry shrugs. "Maybe it just represents an actual ghost?"
"But the map doesn't show any of the other ghosts in Hogwarts," Hermione considered, leaning back with a hand under her chin. "Though, is this 'Ghost' even supposed to be on Hogwarts grounds?"
"I mean, technically, they're not actually in Hogwarts yet," Ron pointed out, gesturing at the map again. He was right: the nameless character was on the massive bridge leading up to the gates, which wasn't part of the grounds.
Or, at least, they were- until they suddenly moved up against the gate. Their footsteps disappeared, and a moment later, they shifted through the wall to the other side.
"Did- did that 'Ghost' person just Apparate!? In Hogwarts!?" Harry didn't know what 'Apparate' meant, but based on Ron's reaction, it clearly wasn't something that was supposed to happen.
Hermione shook her head. "It more looks like it just climbed over. Which," she continued with a frown, "implies they're some form of intruder."
Harry sighed. "And now, because we're the only ones who know, we're going to have to deal with it, aren't we?"
Nobody spoke for a long while. Eventually, Ron just sighed.
"Why is it always us?"
A small being, about the size of an average ten-year-old (not including its horns) with a jet-black body, a large white head, and wearing a grey cloak trodded its way through the midnight halls of Hogwarts, holding a small lantern in its hand. The lantern held a few small glowing insects within it, giving the white-headed enough vision for it to see the way forward. Several of the paintings on the walls grunted in annoyance as the creature's lantern threatened to wake them up, but fortunately, it was moving quickly enough that none of them were properly annoyed into criticizing or shouting at it.
It was in that moment that another small creature turned the corner, this one significantly more familiar to the castle's denizes: a ratty cat, which immediately froze as it caught sight of the intruder. Simultaneously, the intruder also stopped, meeting the cat's eyes in a staring contest that the cat had no hope of winning.
...
Eventually, the creature started walking forward once more, and the cat hissed. As if the noise were a cue, the creature drew the sword that had been holstered on its back, inscribed with runes and elegant symbols that only an expert metalsmith could've carved into the metal.
As soon as the blade was drawn, the cat fled. The creature tilted its head, as though confused at the reaction, before it shrugged and returned its blade to its place on its back.
It continued on, exploring the halls of Hogwarts, completely unphased by the encounter.
By the time the cat's owner, a caretaker named Filch, had arrived to confront the one who had threatened his cat, the creature was long gone.
The first time that Hogwarts was properly introduced to the one who would soon be recognized as Ghost was during breakfast in the Great Hall.
In particular, the somewhat-aptly-named Golden Trio were busy doing things other than eating. Ron and Harry were in the midst of a game of Wizard's Chess (which Harry was losing- badly) while Hermione was furiously writing with her quill as she completed next week's homework, a pile of extra parchment beside her.
It was in that moment that the creature wandered into the hall, staring up at the floating candles and artificial sky with what might could have been anything between bland curiosity to wonderment. Not that anyone could tell- its face was completely obscured by its mask.
For a while, it aimlessly walked around the Great Hall, occasionally sparking reactions from students, though most seemed content to ignore the creature in favor of stuffing their faces with excellently-cooked food.
It was when it was walking by the Gryffindor Table, though, that it froze- before its small cloak flared out as it dashed towards Hermione at high speeds.
She jumped as the creature seemingly appeared out of nowhere beside her- though, in reality, she just hadn't been paying attention. The creature was staring up at her with an intense gaze, which was impressive considering it lacked any ability to express itself.
"Um. Hello?" Hermione said. Instead of returning her greeting, the creature gestured at the pile of parchment on the table beside her.
"Oh! Would you like to borrow some?"
The creature nodded, before reaching inside of itself and pulling out a few dozen tiny shells, each one about the size of a fingernail.
Hermione blinked. "...Thank you?"
It nodded again, before it grabbed the entire pile of parchment paper and shuffled over to the Hufflepuff table, where there was a large span of empty seating. It hopped up onto the long bench-seat, at first facing away from the table, before it glanced at the students around it, and awkwardly shuffled its feet over to the other side to face the table.
Then, with a loud smack, causing several of the students around it to jump, it placed the parchment on the table, pulled out a quill- again, taking it out of its body as though it were made of water- and started to write with a resolute and determined air.
It was a lot harder for students to ignore the creature this time. The Hufflepuffs across the table from it lost interest in their breakfast as they leaned over to read what it was writing. Many Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, and even a few Slytherins, got up and wandered over, peeking over the small crowd's shoulders.
"It's making a map!" Someone announced, and immediately, a solid third of the crowd left, only to be replaced by almost as many students attracted by the statement.
Someone in the crowd said "why is it trying to draw the map sideways?"
It was true. The crowd could see that, rather than a top-down map, the creature was drawing the map from side-on, as though Hogwarts were a two-dimensional area. Despite the experienced linework and rapidly practiced system it was using, it was obviously having trouble getting it to work.
Someone tapped the creature on the shoulder. It glanced up at the person, who was a younger student with a camera.
"I think if you do it from above, it might be a lot easier."
The creature tilted its head, then grabbed another parchment and started to draw a map of the great room and the hallway outside. The drawing was shaky, likely since the creature was using a new method it was unused to.
It didn't take long for it to get used to the top-down method, though, and the people surrounding it started to lose interest and leave the creature to write.
Harry made a quiet noise to get Ron and Hermione's attention. The both looked over at him, and Harry subtly revealed the Marauder's Map, showing a crowd of names surrounding one: 'Ghost.'
"Huh." Ron shrugged. "Guess we don't have to deal with it after all, I suppose."
Immediately, Harry and Hermione groaned, letting their heads drop to the tale. Ron frowned in confusion, before his eyes widened as he realized his own mistake, then groaned and dropped his own head as well.
The life of a Chosen One and his best friends was never a boring one (not a good thing).