Chapter 2
Harry decided he liked portal traveling a lot better than magically apparating. It was like moving through a calm, gentle, and warm river current while being set down softly all within less than a minute.
After his feet touched a firm surface, he finally opened his eyes—unknown up until now that he had closed them—to see a large white mansion in front of them.
Tall and large house, white bricks and gold accents here and there, and a white staircase that traveled up to large twin doors with golden knobs. There was a large, expensive looking black limo—and two other equally as impressive looking sports cars—in the long driveway leading up to the mansion from the golden gates. It was lucky that Clockwork had transported them within the gated area, Harry didn’t really want to break open the gate to get in, whether they used magic or not.
The grass was a brilliant and healthy green color as well as the bushes, trees, and other vegetation visible was shown to be well cared for. The flowers adorning some of the plants were just as healthy, as well as vibrantly colored and beautiful.
“What happened to my clothes?” Ron’s voice broke through Harry’s thoughts.
Turning to face everyone, who all seemed to be taking in the landscape as he had been, Harry noticed everyone was now wearing casual muggle clothing. Hermione, Ron, and Harry himself all wore some sort of T-shirt with jeans. Hermione had a pale baby blue sweater over her white shirt while Ron adorned a forest green sweater that zipped up, rather than went over his head as Hermione’s did. Harry didn’t have a sweater at all, but wore a long sleeved dark but pale green shirt. Dumbledore had a baby blue knitted sweater with beige slacks. Snape, in traditional Snape fashion, wore a long sleeved black button up with matching black pants. McGonagall had a white crochet sweater that was styled similarly to a shawl and wore a long navy skirt.
Everyone still had their wands either in some sort of discreet pocket or hidden somewhere not easily seen in the muggle clothing.
“It seems our friend Father Time wished for us to blend in as well as possible,” Snape drawled; unamused as he glared at his outfit, almost like he was trying to intimidate it away with his signature Snape Death Glare™ that the three Gryffindors had become well accustomed to over the years.
“I quite like it,” The Headmaster beamed, “Baby blue truly is my color,”
Snape was silent after that, but stared at Dumbledore as if he’d grown a second head. Though, he might have taken to that better than to continue wearing the clothing he was now.
McGonagall ignored both men as she took the lead by walking up the steps of the stairs to the mansion's large white doors and knocked loudly, everyone waiting anxiously behind her.
“Remember what Clockwork said,” Dumbledore warned them, “Do not raise your wands or give them any reason to think we are threats.”
The Headmaster was very blatantly staring at a certain Severus Snape as he spoke.
“I can handle myself,” Snape retorted, not even needing to turn his head to know Dumbledore had been staring directly at him.
The door suddenly opened before Ron could input something that would get him hexed by Snape, in front of muggles or not.
“May I help you?” The recognizable figure of Vladimir Master’s human form raised an eyebrow at the odd group of people at his door.
“I think you might be able to,” Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling brightly, “I am Albus Dumbledore. The two are my close colleagues; Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall.” He gestured to the two professors.
“And these three are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.”
The trio waved, Harry grateful he didn’t have to hear someone fawn over him for his name alone.
“Vladimir Masters,” The man moved out of the doorway to shake each of the professors’ hands, opening the door a bit wider as he stepped out, “I'm inclined to assume this is to be a discussion that should be gone over inside, correct?”
Dumbledore nodded, “If we may,”
Vlad stepped away—if he noticed Snape glaring at his hand that was the same one he shook, he showed no response to it—and the group of wizards entered the mansion as the owner of said mansion walked to the left side of his home, where a magnificent kitchen stood.
The mansion was elegant and beautiful, even more so on the interior. It had a large white and black marble staircase leading up to the second floor with golden hand rails. On the current floor they stood on was home to the kitchen on the left side and a rather big and cozy looking living room on the right. A fireplace adorning the center in the living room as furniture was propped around it.
“I’m afraid my home office is not quite large enough to hold so many people to be comfortable, so the kitchen’s table is what we’ll make do with. On the bright side of that, can I get you anything to eat or drink?” Vlad explained as he gestured for them to sit at the dining table in the kitchen.
“Tea, if that’s alright,” Dumbledore nodded.
Snape passed and McGonagall simply took water. Vlad gave the trio juice boxes and water bottles when they didn’t answer to let the professors talk. He handed Dumbledore a cup of tea.
“Is camomile tea alright?” He asked as the Headmaster laughed in response.
“It never isn’t,” Dumbledore took a sip of his tea.
McGonagall began to try and explain why they were here, “Mr. Masters, I’m sure you’re quite confused on why we are here. You see, we are—”
A loud crashing noise came from upstairs, interrupting the witch.
“Daniel,” Vlad sighed quietly before excusing himself for a moment.
“How are we supposed to try and explain everything,” Snape asked, “This isn’t exactly telling a child about Hogwarts and magic, this is much larger than that.”
For once in his life, likely one of the few times during the entire universe’s existence, Harry Potter agreed with Severus Snape.
Harry turned to Dumbledore, “How exactly are we going to tell them about Voldemort?”
Nobody flinched after being used to hearing the Dark Lord’s name for a while now.
“Our best bet is to try and gain their trust before telling them anything,” Dumbledore answered, “I believe Clockwork said we’d be here three days, perhaps we can try to gain their trust and alliance before telling them everything. They might be more inclined to help and believe us that way.”
Everyone nodded, it seemed like it was the best chance they had.
“Blimey, this kitchen would make Mom jump up and down for joy,” Ron drank his juice box.
“Clockwork told us that Daniel and Mr. Masters were halfas,” Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in thought, “The only two in existence, minus a clone of Daniel’s. But he didn’t explain how they came to be halfas in the first place,”
“They’re half-ghost,” Snape inputted sharply, “I’d assume it wasn’t a pleasant transformation,”
“But Daniel looked so very young,” McGonagall’s tone was filled with concern and sympathy, “The poor child, to be created by pain with powers of death as after effects,”
“You…” Harry’s thoughts were spinning, “You don’t think they–that they may have died somehow? In order to gain ghost powers?”
No one spoke, and soon everyone got distracted from the disturbing thought when a second crash came, this time it was closer than before.
Three teens around the Golden Trio’s age of about fifteen or sixteen ran into the kitchen as they panted and struggled to catch their breaths.
“You think Vlad would believe us if we said the library was like that before we got there?” An African-American boy wearing a red beret and some sort of electronic device in hand spoke to the other two as he gave a weak smile.
A girl with an outfit screaming dark and spooky snorted as she stretched her back, “That’s a great idea, Tucker! Let’s tell Vlad that his library was already blown up before we got here! He’ll totally believe us!”
Her sarcasm was very clear.
The third boy they recognized was the human form of Danny Fenton seemed to be in the least amount of exhaustion as he laughed and walked to the fridge. After he grabbed a metal cylindrical bottle, he uncapped it and took a large gulp—McGonagall's eyes widening slightly when she saw the liquid he drank out of it being an incredibly toxic-looking, glowing green color.
The trio had apparently not noticed the small band of wizards at their table.
“We’ll just tell him that Technus decided to visit, he knows how annoying the Master-of-long-winded-introductions can be,” Danny grinned as he recapped his beverage and set it on the kitchen’s counter.
The boy named Tucker snorted, “Accurate.”
“Accurate meaning Technus being the master of too long introductions or Vlad knowing how annoying he is?” The girl sat on the counter as Danny threw her a (normal) water bottle.
“Both, Sam. It’s always both,” Danny laughed as he finally turned around, noticing the wizards at last.
“Vlad!” He shouted in surprise, “You didn’t tell me you had a meeting today!”
Vlad entered the kitchen, “And you didn’t tell me that my car got blown up, how did that even happen?”
“Skulker,” Tucker coughed.
“Then Technus,” Sam snickered.
“And then Ember for the grand finale,” Danny gave a wide smile at Vlad as he did jazz hands. The elder man just raised his eyebrow, unamused.
“Daniel, Sam, Tucker, this is Mr. Dumbledore, Mr. Snape, and Ms. McGonagall, the teenagers are Harry, Ronald, and Hermione.
“Just Ron’s fine,” Ron mumbled.
“And simply our first names are quite alright,” Dumbledore gave a smile.
For a moment, Danny’s eyes flashed green before they went to their normal icy blue.
“Nice to meet you.” Danny gave a small smile, though it seemed slightly strained, “How can we help you?”
The green flash that adorned his eyes for less than a blink of said eye became a printed image in Harry’s mind.
That green, that horrid shade, that color was Killing Curse green. An exact replica of the color that haunted Harry’s nightmares. Despite the initial fear the color brought, the only thing that Harry could think about was Danny’s halfa status and the green colored relation to it.
The shade of Death was his ghost form’s eye color, could it be that Harry’s theory was right?
Had Mr. Masters and Danny died and somehow came back? What happened to them?
“I sure hope so, you see,” Dumbledore leaned forward with his hands folded in front of him, “We were all attending a convention when the bus we were riding on broke down. When we all got off to make a rest stop while it got fixed, we didn’t get on fast enough and it left without us. We don’t have any car or means of transportation, so I’m afraid we’re a bit stranded for the next three days until a bit of an old friend can pick us up,”
“We were hoping you might allow us to stay for the next three days,” McGonagall caught on quickly to Dumbeldore’s lie, “As we don’t really have much cash to afford a hotel or anything of sorts,”
“So you need a place to stay for the next few days,” Vlad Masters raised an eyebrow, “I suppose I can arrange for you to stay, but I do have a few places off-limits in my house. I’m a bit of an inventor and scientist, so I do ask if some places remained untouched by any curious visitors.”
Vlad’s eyes subtly drifted to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
“Of course,” Snape nodded, “It is your home, we are merely unexpected guests. Your rules are law,”
“Oof, don’t go all Walker on us, Vlad,” Danny gave his input as his two friends failed to cover their laughs.
“Oh, you’re hilarious, Little Badger,” The elder halfa rolled his eyes at the boy as he stood.
“You may follow me to your rooms, the children can be left to be acquainted with one another. Daniel will tell them what’s not allowed,” Vlad gestured for the three adults to follow them as they left the kitchen and disappeared upstairs.
“Alright,” Danny turned to the Golden Trio, “We can go to the library—”
“Danny,” Sam interrupted, “Technus, remember?”
Danny didn’t miss a beat, “Or we can head to our Chaos Room,”
Harry got up first as he followed the three friends while Hermione and Ron followed beside him.
The ‘Chaos Room’ was apparently a large room upstairs filled with arcade games, a mini fridge with many beverages and snacks, a large flat TV, video games, board games, two mini couches, and beanbags. Dubbed the ‘Chaos’ Room upon Vlad’s insistence that the three of them were nothing but chaos waiting to happen. And with Tucker, Sam, and Danny spending most of their time in that room, it felt like an accurate titling.
Tucker jumped onto a large, dark green beanbag and sprawled across it, swiping a bag of some sort of snack from the small table beside the beanbag.
“You guys hungry?” He asked as he munched on a muggle brand of chips Harry recognized as Cheetos.
“What on earth are those?” Ron pointed to the chip bag in Tucker’s hands.
“Cheetos? You’ve never had Cheetos before?” Sam sat on her own black bean bag as fiddled with a chained, silver locket necklace around her neck.
“Not where we’re from,” Hermione covered, “We’re from the UK,”
“Oh, so like, ‘pip, pip cheerio’ and all that stuff?” Tucker chomped loudly on the vibrant orange…puff of cheese?
“Tucker!” Sam scowled, “Don’t be so stereotypical,”
“However, if you’re asking if we’re from England, you would be correct,” Hermione answered.
Tucker stuck out his tongue at the darkly dressed teen as she rolled her eyes and smacked him on the upside of the back of his head.
“Ow!”
Harry couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, “It’s like watching an alternate version of Ron and Hermione,”
“Oi!”
“Harry, really?”
Danny was hanging upside down with his legs draped over the couch, tilting his head slightly to the side as he stared at Harry.
“I’m guessing read-head here is Ron and you’re Hermione based on that,” Dannny pointed to Hermione and then to Harry.
“I didn’t catch your name,”
“Vlad said it,” Sam sighed, “Don’t you pay attention,”
“I’ll answer that for him!” Tucker snickered, “No,”
Danny threw a bag of pretzels at Tucker in retaliation, who only caught it before ripping open the bag and began eating the snack food.
“Sorry, though, I kinda zoned out.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, an odd sight saying as he still remained upside down, “Uh…Harry, was it? Is that right?”
“It’s not a big deal,” Harry shrugged, “And yeah, my name’s Harry. Harry Potter.”
“Bond. James Bond.” Tucker said in a deep voice, obviously quoting something the magical beings didn’t recognize as Sam delivered a kick to his shin.
“Ouch!”
Danny swung himself upwards as he sat on the top of the couch on the edge, right side up, this time.
“So we got Harry, Ron, and Hermione,” He said, “Guess we should properly introduce ourselves, huh?”
“The goth over there is Sam,” He pointed.
“Goth?” Ron raised an eyebrow, “What’s that?”
Sam grinned and Tucker groaned.
“Quick, run while you still can!” Tucker yelled dramatically, “We’ll never escape her!”
“A goth—” Sam shot a look at Tucker, “is basically someone who dressed dark and…well, gothic. Spooky stuff like spiders, creepy monsters, myths, all that stuff I pretty much enjoy.”
“She’s also ultra-recyclable-vegetarian, or something like that,” Danny shrugged, “Pretty much means she doesn’t eat anything with a face on it, though she’d mellowed out to more of a vegetarian diet. It’s easier to spell that way,”
Sam playfully rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say, Danny,”
Danny pointed to Tucker, “And this is—”
“Tucker Foley! That’s ‘TF’ for Too Fine!” Tucker did finger guns.
“Ignore that,” Was the halfa’s advice as he finally introduced himself, “And I’m Danny. Vlad calls me Daniel, but I prefer to be called Danny by anybody else. Just...just never Dan. Bad experience with that name.”
Danny shivered at the three-lettered nickname, an odd reaction.
“So,” Hermione shifted into subtle attempts to get information out of Danny, “You and Mr. Masters are…relatives? You don’t call him ‘Uncle’ or ‘Dad’, or really anything like that, but you two seem close.”
Danny got a glazed over look in his eyes, “He’s my godfather, and I live with him,”
Sam and Tucker were quiet, but they gave looks of sympathy towards their friend. There was obviously a story there that the wizards weren’t in on. One that was likely too private to be shared.
“A bloody billionaire for a godfather,” Ron’s obliviousness to serious topics saved them all from an incredibly awkward silence, “Must be nice,”
Danny laughed, “Definitely a bonus around my birthday,”
“He got you a car the day you passed your permit test,” Tucker deadpanned, “If that’s not a ‘bonus’ I don’t know what is,”
“I think my birthday gift to him was still better than his gift to me,” The half-ghost smirked.
“You got him a box of Fruitloops,” Sam chuckled.
“No, I got him something that he could relate to!”
Tucker started to wheeze in laughter while Sam laughed as well.
“If you call Vlad ‘Mr. Fruitloop’ just once,” Tucker pointed to Ron, “I’ll give you twenty bucks,”
“How much is that in pounds?” The red-headed wizard asked.
“Oh shoot, I forgot you were british.”
“Speaking of Vlad,” Danny butted in, “I suppose I should tell you what’s off limits,”
“Is it just rooms or certain objects, as well?” Hermione asked.
“Rooms, mostly. Vlad’s office, room, and his study. My room, my study, and pretty much any other rooms with doors that are locked. Besides that, you’re free to explore,”
Danny then narrowed his eyes at Harry, the temperature in the room seemingly dropping while his expression became dark and serious.
“Although, I do have a question for you,” He said, his tone firm.
Sam and Tucker had shifted to stand beside Danny on each side of him, Sam had a finger hovering her bracelet while Tucker had some sort of small, cylindrical container in hand that almost looked like a lipstick bottle.
Harry’s hand subtly creeped into a large hidden pocket in his jeans, where his wand was hidden. He could see Ron and Hermione following his example out of the corner of his eye as well.
“What is it?” Harry tried to keep his voice steady and nonchalant.
“You’re not human, none of your little group is,” Danny’s eyes bore into Harry’s soul, “So, what are you? And why are you really here?”
“What do you mean?” Hermione tried to deflect the true accusation.
“Don’t bother lying,” Danny crossed his arms, “You each have some sort of powerful aura coming off from your jeans’ pockets. Besides—”
Danny’s eyes narrowed once more on Harry, “—Harry here practically reeks of Death power itself,”
“So I’ll ask again,” The halfa started, his tone now had an edge sharper than the blade of a dagger, “What. Are. You?”
Harry had a gut feeling that this was either going to end greatly or horribly. And his gut was really leaning towards the horrible part.