The Castle's New Ghost

Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington had once been a knight, though that had been when he was still alive. Now, he was a ghost of Hogwarts.

In life, he had been a court wizard, but after making several mistakes, he was beheaded by the royal family. Tragically, the executioner's axe had not been sharp enough. Combined with a wizard's extraordinary resilience, it took dozens of blows before he finally died. Only a layer of skin remained connecting his head to his neck, leaving him with a head that had not completely fallen off even as a ghost. Thus, the ghosts of Hogwarts all called him Nearly Headless Nick.

That evening, Nicholas had just enjoyed a "delicious" meal in the ghost dining hall and was wandering through the castle, hoping to find a few new young wizards to give a fright. It had to be said that scaring first-years was one of the few pleasures these ghosts had.

At that moment, a black-haired, black-eyed ghost approached him—or rather, floated toward him. He wore ancient-looking white robes. He did not look like a wizard, but more like a traveler from some distant land. Though his face was somewhat pale, the shape of it made it clear that he was not Caucasian.

"I don't think I've seen you before," Nicholas asked. "New here?"

The black-haired, black-eyed ghost nodded. "I come from an ancient civilization in the East. When I was alive, I loved traveling the world, and I kept that habit after death."

Nicholas's eyes widened. "Such a thing is possible? As far as I know, ghosts can only exist in places they have visited. How are you supposed to travel the world?"

The black-haired ghost paused, then replied without changing his expression, "My footsteps covered nearly the entire world when I was alive. After becoming a ghost, I merely revisit the places I once traveled."

"I see. The world truly is full of wonders. Welcome to Hogwarts! My name is Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. You may call me Sir Nicholas."

The black-haired ghost smiled rather strangely. "Hello, Sir Nicholas. I have an English name—Stephen Strange. You may call me Doctor Strange."

This black-haired, black-eyed ghost was naturally Xiwen. After being reborn, he had accidentally used astral projection again, only to discover that his soul had not changed into the appearance of young Rozier along with his body. It had retained the build and features he had possessed at Kamar-Taj.

At the time, Xiwen had wanted to secretly use astral projection to read at home and save study time. Yet after his soul left his body, he discovered that he had somehow retained, exactly as it was, the soul that had once traveled through the multiverse. Its appearance had not changed in the slightest!

This involved the greatest secret of a transmigrator. He did not dare reveal it to anyone!

Xiwen had hidden this soul for ten years. Then, before the Sorting Ceremony, when he saw ghosts drifting through the castle, he suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

So, with a rather wicked sense of humor, he gave himself the name Stephen Strange. It had belonged to an interesting junior apprentice at Kamar-Taj before he left, and he used it to create an identity for his soul.

"Are you a doctor?" Nicholas asked curiously.

"Ah, no, I'm a Doctor. It's an academic title among Muggles," Xiwen explained. Then he thought about it and added, "I seem to be a doctor as well. Hmm, just consider me a doctor."

"Seem to be?" Nicholas's mouth twitched. Still, many ghosts often could not remember things from when they were alive, so perhaps not being sure of one's profession was understandable... probably.

"All right, Doctor Strange. Would you like me to show you around Hogwarts Castle?" Nicholas asked warmly.

"It would be my honor." Xiwen gave an elegant bow.

As Nicholas showed Xiwen around the castle, he introduced him to the lives of the ghosts there.

"Hogwarts has always welcomed ghosts from all over the world. Of course, only ghosts who have visited Hogwarts may live here. We formed a strict Ghost Council to manage the ghosts in the castle..."

Nicholas was undoubtedly a warmhearted ghost. He gave Xiwen a general understanding of Hogwarts Castle's surroundings and the many ghostly residents who lived there. He also specifically warned Xiwen not to enter classrooms while students were in lessons or professors' offices, as that would interfere with their studies and work.

The two passed through another wall and saw a short, plump ghost dressed like a religious clergyman.

"Good evening, Nick. And this is?" he asked curiously, looking at Xiwen.

"Good evening, Friar. This is Doctor Strange. He enjoys traveling the world and has just arrived at Hogwarts." Nicholas introduced Xiwen to the Fat Friar, then turned to Xiwen.

"This is the Fat Friar. He's a real old softie."

Xiwen greeted the Fat Friar amiably. "Pleased to meet you, Friar."

A broad smile spread across the Fat Friar's round face. "Ah, I'm pleased to meet you too, Doctor Strange. You may simply call me the Fat Friar."

The three ghosts began chatting happily. Xiwen wanted to learn about Hogwarts's history and environment from Nicholas and the Friar, while the two local ghosts were deeply interested in Xiwen's supposed experiences traveling the world.

Fortunately, Xiwen had once used portals to travel all over the world in search of a way to cure his illness, so he did not completely give himself away.

Suddenly, Xiwen felt something strike him. A half-rotten slipper passed through where his head was and fell to the ground.

He turned around and saw a small ghost with a pair of wicked black eyes and a huge mouth. He wore a blue-and-white striped pointed hat hung with countless bells, a red sweater covered in stars, and an orange-red bow tie. He was grinning at Xiwen from midair.

"Look what I've found—a new ghost!" As he spoke, he hurled the other slipper as well.

"Oh, don't do that, Peeves!" the Fat Friar said irritably.

Nicholas was even angrier as he shouted at Peeves, "I'll call the Baron over, Peeves!"

Nimbly avoiding the slipper, Xiwen asked curiously, "Is he a Hogwarts ghost too? How can he touch physical objects?"

"Strictly speaking, Peeves is a poltergeist, though he is indeed under the management of our Ghost Council," the Friar explained. "He's not bad at heart. He simply enjoys pranks."

Nicholas interrupted the Fat Friar. "All right, Friar, stop indulging Peeves. Look at what he's done!"

At that moment, Peeves somehow pulled out a pile of rotten eggs and threw them over while singing a terrible song:

A big foolish monkey from the East

Came to tour the castle grounds

He knows nothing of this place

So he's just a big foolish monkey

Xiwen's eye twitched as he dodged the rotten eggs. "It even rhymes..."

He looked at the Friar and Nicholas. "May I teach him a small lesson?"

Before the Fat Friar could speak, Nicholas nodded without hesitation. "If you can, please teach him a very big lesson!"

Looks like Peeves really isn't very popular, Xiwen thought.

He stared directly at Peeves, and a flash of light passed through his eyes.

Peeves had been laughing happily when the scene before him suddenly changed. He was no longer in Hogwarts Castle, but in a bottomless abyss.

Ever since he had been born as a poltergeist, he had never left Hogwarts. At that moment, Peeves was beginning to panic.

Without warning, he began falling into the abyss. The light and shadows before his eyes shifted rapidly, changing from an infinitely vast macrocosm into an infinitely tiny microscopic world, as though the entire universe were trying to drown him!

He fell, then came to an abrupt halt. Before he could recover, Peeves felt his body begin to split apart into countless pieces. Then those countless bodies crashed into the central one, driving him into a mad plunge...

Bang!

From Nicholas and the Fat Friar's perspective, Peeves suddenly froze in midair. Half a minute later, he abruptly plummeted at high speed and smashed into the floor.

Peeves struggled to lift his head from the floor and found that the scene before him had returned to the castle. He let out a shriek and staggered away from Xiwen.

That felt good. Xiwen smiled. He had long wanted to try the spell his teacher had used to scare his junior apprentice, but he had not expected to find an opportunity only after coming to this world.

The Fat Friar gave Xiwen a complicated look. "How did you do that?"

The mischievous smile on Xiwen's face stiffened slightly. He coughed, then said solemnly, "I am not a ghost formed through normal death. In order to travel the world, I cast a spell and voluntarily discarded my cumbersome body, becoming a special kind of ghost. As a result, I retained a certain degree of mental magic. I just cast an illusion on Peeves. Yes, that's right!"

"Such a thing can actually be done!" Nicholas looked as though his horizons had been broadened, and he exclaimed in amazement, "It seems that besides Bloody Baron, Peeves now has another ghost to fear."