Chapter 5: Ghost problems
"Glad class is over for the day." Alex said as he walked. He was ready to just go and take a nap. It was exhausting keeping the transformation at bay. At first, he thought it was anger that did it, but it would happen when he was tired or if he was hungry. The weirdest time was when he felt bored in a math class. "A bunch of poppycock."
"Hurr hurr.." A fatty ghost laughed arrogantly. In his hand was a turkey that the ghost ate. It made no sense for it to eat. Unless it was just reflex in a way. Lingering actions from his death.
"It will be amazing. Just right to put the upstart in his place.." A very posh looking ghost said.
"I concur.." Another ghost that was dressed like a witch with sashes that were a dull gold that spoke.
Several ghosts were just chatting away with students in the area now. Passing them was an even bigger gathering.
"How did he piss off a bunch of ghosts?" A third year Ravenclaw student said in the corridor. He was blocking the way with a bunch of other students. "Guess family name isn't everything." The student next to him laughed till she caught the sight of Alex.
Immediately her face turned into a frown. She nudged the other student to the side.
"Oh look who it is." He did not try to hide the contempt in his voice.
"Oh, what is all this nonsense now?!" Alex said waving at the girl and giving her the middle finger as he passed. "Get bent yah.." He was about to call her something else, but stopped since gossip was something people just do. No need to escalate just yet. Turning on his heel he walked passed everyone. 'Why is it so easy for me to move through crowds? I haven't even bumped into anyone. Maybe I stink or something?'
In front of Alex was an assortment of ghosts in a row. They would have been blocking the walkway, making someone have to take a different way. But as a ghost and having no mass, it was useless. The gesture was there though.
A skinny ghost no more than 12 or 13 walked up to Alex. He unfurled a letter slowly as if to annoy him even further. Right as it was almost unraveled, the ghost dissipated. Alex walked right through him and went on his way to the dorms.
"Wait! I have been charged to read this to you!"
"Then read it yah igit. Don't stand on ceremony." Alex continued walking undisturbed. Behind a few of the students laughed at what was happening. A few Slytherin on the staircase smirked.
"Alright!" The ghost student walked up. "You have been challenged to a duel by Madame Clarissa. You are to be there no later than 6:00 in the Challenging hall."
"And if I don't?"
"You will be declared a yellow bellied coward amongst the ghost populace shaming yourself and your namesake." The ghost student said incredulously. "It is better to die than live with that shame. I would know." The ghost put its head down a little.
"Oh no. How will I go on?" Alex mocked as he put his hand to his face in terror. He then fanned his face and pretended to faint. "The ghosts are gonna beat me."
*Clap, clap!* Two ghosts applauded. They understood he didn't care. They were from Slytherin's house and smiled happily without any reservations.
"We will also report to other ghosts that you are a coward. All across the wizardry world."
"Bad move punch boy." Alex turned around and channeled his magic into his finger tips. In a flash he grabbed the ghost boy by the neck. Slowly the ghost's neck soldified but the others didn't see that. They just saw the magic glow. All they knew was that Alex was holding a ghost by the throat. Strangling him and giving him a few shakes. "Never threaten me again!"
His eyes turned into that of a snake as his voice reeked of malevolence.
"Ahhh!" The ghost let out a pained wail. It echoed in the corridor, till Alex moved to the side and dropped him. "Noooo!" On instinct, the idea of falling scared the ghost. Even though he had been dead for years and traveled through walls like the others.
"Have fun falling till the spell wears off, chump." Walking as if nothing happen, Alex went to the dorms ignoring the whispers. Checking over his arms, the scales did not appear at all. His anger didn't trigger it this time. It was not until the Prefect came that he bothered with anything else.
.
Some time later-
.
It had barely been a few hours of peace when something happened.
"You have to go to the ghost duel!"
"No, I don't. You go if you care so much about it." Alex thought for a bit. 'What will it take to get these people to cut me some slack?"
"If you win we can receive a ton of house points!" Alex sat up hearing that. "That got your attention Eh. If you win, it is worth big end-of-the-year points as well." The Prefect was quite happy that he had a way to rouse Alex into action.
"Do I get more for killing the ghost?" Alex asked expectantly.
"You can't kill a ghost. They are dead already."
"Uh huh killing a ghost." Alex got up and went to the dueling area. Surrounded by nothing but ghosts. A few unsavory student types as well. "Well, where is she? Or he? Don't want to call it an it. Oh, wait... I just did. Man pc sucks."
"I am madame.." Madame Clarissa looked expectant at Alex. Nearly headless Nick, ghost that was able to move his head sort off his head stood to the side as the officiator.
"Let's just duel damn it." Alex said. He was excited at the idea of dueling a ghost.
"Fine!" Madame Clarissa said.
"Begin!" Nearly headless Nick said.
"Hah!" The ghost fired a blast of magic. How she did it, Alex had no idea. But it was freaking Hogwarts and magic does stupid shit. The blast was green and wobbled in the air towards Alex.
*Scrchh!* The spell scratched against the bedrock of the room. Alex raised his wand to the front and poked at the spell. An eerie green torrent left his wand and stopped the blast. With a flick of his wrist, Alex sent the blast away completely.
"Stupify!" He yelled at Madame Clarissa. The burst of magic was a light blue that went towards her face. Alex blinded her for a while as he prepared his next spell.
"Tsssh!" Madame Clarissa made a shield to block it. The magic membrane deflated Alex's spell. Looking at his strange muttering, Madame Clarissa floated over and stared at him. Alex just smiled at her. "You need to be taught a lesson boy."
"Heh, not by you." Alex activated the spell he prepared.
"Wooo, wooo!" A howling wind passed in the area.
*Crack!* A statue in the corner drew everyone's attention. It was a distraction made by Alex.
"Solidify!" Alex yelled. Instantly a blue glow warbled out and made the ghost whole again. He then started to recite a chant to help him focus. Madame Clarissa already started resisting the first spell. She was understandably powerful. "I cast you out from our World into the next, you have trespassed long enough. Begone from the World of man and be no more.."
"I am solid!" The ghost didn't pay attention as she touched the ground in shock. Looking up, Madame Clarissa saw Alex's eyes. It caused her body to tremor as they started to glow golden.
"Wait I.."
"... Expel!" Alex finished. Instantly a white hue wrapped the ghost and she shattered to many pieces and disappeared. The hall turned quiet as no one said anything else. "Whew!" Taking a small breath, Alex turned and left back to his quarters.
Arriving, he took out his wand and waved it around. A small ball appeared with the ghost Madame Clarissa inside. With a thought, it disappeared into his spell matrix.
The ghost was having its mind raided for any spell knowledge. Inside several little balls started to churn and weave together the knowledge that was on the surface. The ghost knew things that were not in the library as well as stuff no longer taught.
Alex was grateful for the ghost and was doing his best to agitate them to get what he wanted after thinking it over briefly before. Christian would go the safer routes to get information. He would go the more.. extremely dangerous route.
Alex sat down to recover after he felt a change in his chest.
*Knock, knock!* The Prefect didn't even wait before coming inside.
"You killed a ghost!" Alex just stared at him. He gave a frown and shook his head. "Oh, my name is Tommery by the way." The Prefect said.
"Uh huh. I didn't kill it, unfortunately. I am not anywhere near strong enough to do so. Thus the Expel part at the end. It will be back... eventually." Alex could let the ghost go right now, but that would be stupid. He was still taking knowledge from her. "You may have knocked but you just barged in here. Rude."
"Sorry, but what you did was amazing." Tommery said. "The ghosts are in an uproar. Some afraid and some amazed by what you did. How did you make her solid?"
"Duno still working on it. It lasts for maybe 45 seconds. That is not good enough. It also makes it harder for me to ultimately kill the things." Alex shook his head in dismay. "But I have years to improve and figure it out. How much house points were received?"
"51 house points." Tommery said with a smile.
"Hmm, that is good. I will go through those quickly." Alex said. The Prefect looked shocked. "Oh, I only did it to get the points and test my spells. I most likely will lose those points in a month or so. If anyone gripes I can tell them stuff it. Since they were points I won myself. Do you know what I will do after I go through those? I know I don't.. need to get out of the blasted house competitions and focus on my studies."
"Check the rules on it. You will be surprised." Tommery added to be helpful. Looking at the clock he saw how late it turned. Getting up, Tommery paused at the door. "Alex are you.. going to be a dark wizard?"
"Pfft I doubt it. But I am pretty sure every wizard said that at one point. I will do what it takes to survive. This school is dangerous. The stairs literally can cause a student to walk into an area they shouldn't by mistake." Alex looked Tommery dead in the eyes. "If you are worried so much, you can always come talk to me directly. You might not like what you hear all the time." The Prefect nodded and left. "Now to deal with this." Alex wanted to actually question the Prefect more, however his body had a different idea. The scales started to appear.
*Crickle!* On his sleeve, Alex watched as underneath his arm turned scaly. Slowly he tried to push magic into it, to take control of the transformation. *Crackle.. crack.. crickle!* A few hours later it finished leaving Alex exhausted and magically spent. Draped in sweat and a weird chalky powder, Alex shuffled to the side and grabbed a bucket.
"Haa... ha.. this.. day.. is .. the pits." Swishing his wand, the chalky powder floated in the air off his body. The sweat was moved next into a bubble that floated. It was grey and smelled odd in a way that Alex couldn't quite put his nose on. "Ughh more things to figure out." A smile played on his lips. Despite the frustration of what was happening, the magic did excite him. With a flick, everything was stored and locked away. "Bedtime."
.
-Later that night-
.
Alex was turning in his bed. The only thing keeping his roommate from hearing anything, was the slight charm spell placed on his bed. Alex talked in his sleep on bad days. Living in Hogwarts was guaranteed to be filled with them. So he and Christian came up with several charms to take care of that. This was one of them.
In Alex's nightmare, he was traveling through the forest. However not as a man or as a boy. But slithering through in his snake form. Alex couldn't tell if he was hunting or searching. Then he saw it, a blasted Unicorn. It stared at him and spoke words he did not understand.
Shaking his head Alex tried to think of how to speak. He honestly couldn't remember how to do so at the time.
*Fwap!* Up above a giant bird came down. It walked over slowly to Alex and touched his face. Instantly knowledge appeared in his head and felt right again.
"Well, that is trippy." Alex said finding his voice finally. The Unicorn smiled at him and gestured towards his back. Two small wings appeared there. "Well just neato." A slight struggle as he tried to move them. They did not nudge and receded into his body. "Why can;t I have normal dreams?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
FrozenTide
FrozenTide Alexander Slytherin Ravenclaw II
Abilities: Linguistic Understanding, Controlled Regeneration, Magical Syphon
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone