Hello, Who Are You?
The next morning Danny was woken up by Ron Weasley. The redhead apparently got over whatever problem he had with the halfa and even though they were not yet friends, they did talk for half an hour last night before falling asleep.
It made Danny feel much more welcome than he'd expected and he was glad that everything seems to be working out.
He got ready for another day of studying and went downstairs, where he was greeted by Molly, Hermione and Sirius. Sirius looked as though he hasn't slept again, probably because of what he told him yesterday. If he really had been surrounded by those dementors everyday, then Danny was sure it has scarred him way more than he made everyone believe.
Before he could sit down next to his uncle (Sirius told him to see him like one), the twins suddenly appeared in the room with a loud crack, making him flinch. George (he smelled slightly different than his twin, thanks again ghost half), patted his shoulder in good humour while Fred laughed at their mother's annoyed face.
With a smile, the young halfa sat down and poured some coffee into his mug. While Ron and his younger sister managed to grace them with their presence (Molly's words, not his), Danny looked at Hermione who seemed to be reading a book. "What are you reading, Hermione?", the witch looked up, surprised that someone interrupted her and smiled when she noticed Danny glancing at her questioningly "This is an old edition of Mayhem's Adventures- a powerful warlock who used to travel the world during medieval times and is rumoured to have met The Merlin. According to this book, Merlin was his companion for a long time, keeping Mayhem alive with his magic. Of course, this is just a story. No one is immortal, no matter how powerful. Even Flamel and his wife would have decayed at one point, since their bodies aren't meant to hold out for so long."
Danny smiled a bit "What about ghosts then?" Hermione raised an eyebrow, as if he was being stupid "Well, they are already dead, so I don't know about immortality. Something that is dead can't die, it's that easy." "So they are immortal, since they can't leave." Now the girl stared at him with an exasperated expression "Ghosts barely cling to the living realm here. That's why they are see-through. Their existence is a mystery, I admit, but they are not immortal, since immortality states that one is able to live forever. Ghosts don't live."
Danny made a face, what she said was partly true, for wizarding ghosts at least. No-maj ghosts could be considered 'alive' since they have to fulfill their obsessions and otherwise can do what they want. They may not have a heartbeat but if you left them alone, they would never fade- or die, as some ghosts called it. So technically, they are immortal. He was still curious about himself. Vlad once told him about his theory concerning halfas and he desperately hoped that the fruit loop was wrong.
After their small discussion, Danny watched Fred and George picking on Ron, who took it in stride since he was too busy shoving his mouth full with food anyways. He saw Ginny talking to both Sirius and her mom and he briefly wondered if he should send Ari overseas, just to get in contact with his family. He definitely should, he'd have to send letters to Harry later. Danny briefly wondered what his brother- and wasn't that still a weird thought- was doing the whole time. Maybe he was training to become some sort of super soldier, or wizard, who could defeat everyone.
After breakfast, everyone went to do their separate chores or duties, albeit Sirius was sulking as he went to the library to do some research. Danny however went upstairs, wrote a letter to his family and Sam and Tucker, letting them know that he was doing well so far and hasn't met Harry yet and send his beautiful owl off to the US.
Afterwards, he repeated what he did yesterday. Reading and learning as much as possible before he'd have practical classes soon.
He was feeling a little light-headed when his DADA professor turned out to be Sirius. Apparently, Dumbledore has not yet found a new teacher since the last one was discovered to be an impostor, the one before that a werewolf (nothing against you, Remus!), the one before that was a narcissist who lost his memories and the one in Harry's first year inhabited Voldemort's face on the back of his head.
Sirius joked that the position was cursed, Danny for once didn't doubt it. Instead he listened with apt attention to what his uncle had to say. He knew several spells by now, at least in theory but it turned out that he had some difficulties with actually casting the defensive spells which was really ironic. Sure, he managed the protego just fine, as well as most of the others but they weren't nearly as powerful as the regular charms and transfiguration spells he used yesterday.
He pondered why that could be but even Sirius shrugged, bragging about how awesome and talented both James and Harry are. Danny just smiled, he enjoyed listening to stories about his biological family "Wait, what do you mean, Harry can cast a Patronus? That isn't even taught at school!" Sirius raised his eyebrow "You are right, how do you know that though? It could be a spell taught grades 5 and up." Danny blinked, he hadn't thought of that. He only had the books up to fourth grade, so he was still missing a lot. Still, it's remarkable that Harry was able to master it when he was only thirteen. He himself was still a fully alive loser at the time.
"I know of the patronus because I read about it after you and Remus told me about Dementors." the man laughed "You sound like a bookworm, maybe you are more like Lily in that regard." The halfa scrunched his nose- he did not like reading. Reading about astronomy and certain scientific theories, sure, but only because that interested him. He didn't usually like to study things he didn't need.
They continued with their private lesson and afterwards he had once again Transfiguration, which was just as much fun as the previous day and finally he had his first Rune class. The material wasn't so much just yet but extremely interesting. He mostly had to memorize the meanings of all the different runes to be able to translate them properly. Funnily enough, his Ghost Tongue ability allowed him to speak and understand any language he hears but he can't read it. Except for Ancient Greek, probably because the symbols used were only mildly different from the written ghost language, also known as Lingvo Mouri- literally the Language of the Dead.
After his runes class, with an amused Professor Babbling left behind, probably because he mixed up the rune for "Dignity" with the one for "Adultery", Danny made his way to the basement, ignoring his stiff muscles and his ghost core's urges to go outside.
Danny didn't expect Professor Snape to behave any differently today- and he was right. If anything it seemed to annoy the teacher that Danny had a natural talent to know when he had to stir the potion, which was thanks to his minor time abilities he picked up a couple weeks ago.
Unfortunately that didn't mean he knew which ingredient was which and how to properly cut or squish them. Snape made sure to not let him forget that "Really, Potter? Can't even pick out the right Aconite?" "I'm sorry sir, but there is no Aconite among the ingredients." He pointed at the dozen different flasks, that were labeled with different names.
Snape smirked and Danny overcame the sudden urge to punch him, or at least ectoblast him a little. The bat man pointed at a flask labeled "Monkshood" and drawled "What is this then, Mister Potter?" The young wizard furrowed his eyebrows, what in the Ancients name? Monkshood wasn't Aconite, was it? He looked from the flask to the potions master and sighed "So, Monkshood is the same as Aconite?" The greasy haired man nodded "It would do you good to actually learn about all the ingredients important for potion brewing. Monkshood is also known as Wolfsbane. Remember that."
The rest of the lesson was spend mostly in silence and Danny managed to create an adequate potion, in his opinion. Snape tsked when he saw the results and left without another word. Danny thought that no comment was definitely an improvement, at least he didn't blow up the cauldron and the potion's colour was almost the same hue of green as in the potion book.
Even more exhausted than before, he made his way to the kitchen, where everyone was already eating. He didn't mind. When he was about done, several order members suddenly appeared after one another, his interest was peaked and he looked at Sirius with questioning eyes. The man glanced at Molly and then at the other kids before he sadly said "Sorry Danny, not today. Maybe I can convince them to let you have a part in the meeting some day... until then, try to behave yourself, will you?" He smirked as he said that and the raven head shook his head in wonder. His uncle would never stop being mischievous. Danny didn't care much about the order and their meetings anyway, if needed, he could just listen in with either his ghost hearing or personally and invisible.
He was about to enter his room when the other kids stoped him "Don't you wanna come with us to the twin's room?" Hermione asked with an open expression, the others nodded their heads in support "We are just going to talk you know, you don't have to if you don't want to, of course." Danny contemplated the offer, sure, he wanted to get to know them better but he really needed to fly today, so he shook his head apologetically "I'm sorry, I'm really tired right now. Maybe tomorrow?" The others nodded and walked towards Fred and Georges room.
Danny however created a doppelgänger who went to bed in his stead and then he transformed into his alter ego. With a joyous laugh he flew through the cool night and allowed himself to calm down and enjoy the wind in his hair.
About an hour later, his ghost sense activated and he was immediately on high alert. For once remembering his invisibility powers, he turned invisible and went towards the direction his ghost sense guided him to. He arrived a couple minutes later in an empty park somewhere around London. A bit uneasy he looked around and felt the ghost's presence close to him, when he looked to his left, close to a fountain, he found a floating blueish glowing ghost looking at the surface of the water.
The ghost was small with flowing dark hair and instead of legs they had a fishtail, almost like a mermaid. The halfa wondered shortly if the ghost in front of him was a natural born or a dead person, but quickly decided to just talk to them.
He dropped his invisibility and the ghost turned around in alarm, their eyes were glowing red, which was almost always an indication that a ghost was a) evil or b) being controlled, didn't even have to be mind control. Danny stepped back a little, his hand finding its way towards the Fenton Thermos that hung on his belt.
"Who are you?" the ghost wailed, literally. Danny had to cover his ears because their voice was hurting him. It took awhile before he let his arms drop and answered "I'm Phantom, I'm... not from around here and who are you?". The ghost giggled and the eyes lit up purple for a second "I am called Van or Vanessa, is tonight not beautiful?" She dreamily looked back at the water's surface and Danny stepped next to her, confused about her behaviour. It was definitely not normal, so he tried asking more questions "What are you doing here?"
Van's eyes darted to him and back to the water "I am waiting." "For whom?" Now the ghost laughed and the wail was noticeable once more, Dann flinched a little. His ears were way too sensitive.
"For my master of course." The halfa blinked. Master? Why would a ghost have a master? Although, her eyes were red and she was obviously being controlled. He remembered Freakshow and shuddered, not a nice experience. He pried for more information, he wanted- no, he needed to help her. Even though his parent's pills were definitely helping, his obsession to protect and help flared up.
"Who is your master?" "I can not tell you, ghost child. I am not supposed to tell others who my master is... I am not even allowed to talk to others unless Master orders me to." This was going to be complicated. "I see, yet you are talking to me. I promise, you can trust me. I am a ghost- just like you and I'm very curious?" Vanessa smiled dreamily "I suppose. I have not met another one of my kind in a long time. My master is Loyd Rainstedt, he lives nearby and is of the magical kind."
The magical kind? "Is he a wizard?", the ghost girl nodded and Danny cursed. Clockwork warned him that ghosts here in Britain were being controlled by wizards and witches, what in Pandora's name was he supposed to do now? He was tasked by his mentor to help ghosts like Vanessa, yet he had no idea how.
"How long have you stayed with... your master?" "I do not know. Long enough that he has aged and changed a lot. He found me in this fountain when bad wizards were around and damaged the veil between the non magical people and the magical ones. He used a spell on me to bind me to him and I have served him ever since." Rage grew inside Danny's core, making him buzz with anger and power, he grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes "I want to help you- to free you! Will you let me?"
She just smiled again "You may try but it will not work. Master does not take kindly to those that 'want to take me away'." Phantom grit his teeth and he breathed in an unnecessary breath "Okay, will you at least let me wait with you for him?" Van just nodded and they stood there for a long time. Finally, he heard and smelled someone coming closer, he immediately turned invisible and looked at the man who came out of the trees that cut the park off to the streets.
The man was probably in his sixties, so old for a no-maj but relatively young for a wizard or witch. He was wearing a t-shirt, which was weird for wizards and a pair of black trousers. Danny noticed the mark on Rainstedt's left arm. A snake entwined with a skull- and it was moving! Okay, maybe not that exciting anymore, but moving tattoos are pretty awesome.
Van bowed and the wizard patted her head "Such a good ghost. It has been almost 25 years since I have met you... I plan on gifting you to my son, who will serve the Dark Lord in my place, as I have grown weary." He stared at his forearm with the tattoo and Danny swallowed, so this guy was a Death Eater, huh. The situation was getting worse by the second. He still didn't know how he could save Vanessa. He knew that magic spells didn't work on ghosts unless they were of the 'taking control of the ghost' kind. As a halfa, he was at a double risk here. Still, he couldn't leave Vanessa here, he had to find a way.
Suddenly he remembered how Ghost Writer told him about the different types that could control a ghost: Mind Control, when the ghosts could not think for themselves anymore, Body Control, when the ghost had to obey every single order of the one they were bound to but still had their mind in tact and lastly Full Control, when the ghost couldn't think or move for themselves. It was the worst type of control, yet also the hardest to achieve and maintain.
When Freakshow took over, he used mind control on Danny, he managed to break it thanks to shock, which was the greatest weakness of this type of control. Emotions could break the hold of the puppeteer, it was also helpful to destroy the artifact that controlled the ghost.
Vanessa was being Body Controlled, the greatest weakness here was, that a person stronger than the master could break the connection the controlled ghost and their controller had. He basically had to defeat a Death Eater if he wanted to free Van. Great.
The wizard was about to take Van with him when Danny made his decision, he dropped his invisibility and took a fighting stance. Loyd's wand was in his hand immediately but he relaxed when he saw a ghost floating in front of him with an angry expression, almost feral. "Who might you be, ghost?" The ghost snarled "I'm Phantom and I challenge you to a fight, if I win, you give up on Vanessa, if I lose, you can do with me what you want."
Loyd smiled at the naive boy "Well, I don't mind giving you as a present to my Lord, I shall accept. However, I will use any means necessary."
They both positioned themselves across from each other, Danny trying to hide his nervousness and Rainstedt already thinking of how the Dark Lord would praise him for the ghost. He did say that he would like to have more muggle ghosts at his disposal. Even He had to admit how powerful they could be.
The halfa summoned some ecto energy in his fists and attacked. The wizard side stepped just in time and threw the Imperious at the ghost, Loyd knew of course that any other spell would harmlessly bounce off. Unfortunately for him, Danny evaded the spells thrown at him and attacked once more with his ectoblasts, he didn't want to hurt the man, he was still a mortal but he also had to win. So the moment Rainstedt prepared for another round of well aimed curses, Danny let his eyes glow a bright blue and trapped the Death Eater up to his chin within his ice. Nothing but another ghost could destroy it with great difficulties.
He grinned at the man "Why the heated look? The ice not cool enough for you? I think I win, so, if you admit defeat now, that would be great, dude." But Loyd Rainstedt just smiled "I did say I would use anything. Vanessa, I order thee, defeat the ghost in front of me."
Suddenly, the wailing from before threatened to destroy his eardrums and Danny dived out of the way, pressing his hands to his sensitive ears. Vanessa was looking at him apologetically but didn't cease her attacks. With the help of her fishtail she flung the water in the fountain at him, which he turned to ice in return. If it weren't for the wailing, he could trap Van in his thermos and win the fight but he was already exhausted, and his movements gor slower. Only then did he realize that the wailing has now decreased into a beautiful melody. Just hearing it made him sleepy and he realized that Vanessa was a natural born, a ghost who was created in the Ghost Zone. She was basically a siren.
His eyes dropped and his body grew weaker and slower, Vanessa threw her own ectoblast at him and he was hit in the chest, funnily enough, that woke him up and was able to concentrate on the pain instead of the melodically singing. He grabbed the thermos while Vanessa continued to sing and charge some more ectoblasts. Through the fogginess in his brain he yelled at her "Thank you for the performance but I think I'm getting too tired of this. So it's time to draw he curtains for tonight."
With that he pointed the container at her and absorbed the siren ghost. When he put the lid on it he murmured a quiet "sorry" and looked at the Death Eater, who stared at him. Danny floated towards him and stopped inches away from his face "I win, again, so you know the rules. Release Vanessa from your family's hold and swear you won't go after her to rebind her."
Sweat appeared on Rainstedt's forehead, as the magic inside him reacted to the ancient laws. He has lost in an accepted duel, he had to do as the winner said. If he didn't, he would die and Vanessa would be freed anyways. So he nodded and the chain metaphorically connecting Van and Loyd broke on its own accord. It could never be repaired, he realized that. Rainstedt expected Phantom to kill him now but instead the ghost boy melted the ice down to his knees "It will be gone by early morning, so I guess you can use that time to reflect on your actions. Unfortunately, I can't bring you to any Aurors or the Ministry, else we would already be on our way, so this is all I can do. Farewell."
The Death Eater stared at the retreating ghost form and a grin slowly spread across his face. The ghost would make a great present for his Lord indeed.
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After the fight with Vanessa and the Death Eater, Danny flew to the Themse to release Van who hugged him with tears running down her face. Her eyes had returned to their original purple colour and she told him how grateful she was, even as she swam to the natural portal that conveniently opened right then and there. Danny longed to go with her but he couldn't be sure another portal would open anytime soon to bring him back to the right place and time. At least he was able to create small portals large enough to fit his hand. He knew that Vlad could create his own portals by now but it took too much energy, so he barely used the ability.
After the natural portal closed and Vanessa was safely send back to her family's lair, which, interestingly enough he has met a few months ago, he made his way back, thinking about the problem at hand.
He knew now that Clockwork wasn't exaggerating, the ghosts here needed his help and he would help them. However, he couldn't do much right now and when he left to Hogwarts he would have an even harder time finding controlled ghosts.
He would figure it out, he almost always did. Danny promised to himself to use the nights to fly around both magical as well as no-maj London and area to find as many ghosts as possible. With that goal in mind he arrived at Grimmauld Place and gratefully flew straight into his bed, ignoring Ron's snores and falling asleep immediately.
The following days were spent in similar ways, he studied more than ever (though he also had the time and capability to do so for once), learned magic from his professors and joked around with the Weasleys and Hermione. At night he would search the area for ghosts and found two others who he could help without having to fight the witches who thought that they could be used like house-elves.
He also practiced his portal skills, so that he could leave Hogwarts anytime when the school year began, looking for more controlled ghosts. Finally, on August 5th, two weeks after he first arrived, he found a ghost in need in Privet Drive, Little Whinging. The reason he was here was at first not because of the ghost but because Remus (who finally came-unsuccessfully with whatever mission he had- back and took over the DADA lessons) told him where Harry lived, firmly believing that Danny wouldn't be able to visit him anyways.
So of course he snuck out and scoured the place for Harry, it was late evening/early night so he thought that his twin might already be in bed or at least at home and was almost at Number 4 when his ghost sense indicated a ghost nearby. The trail led him to the house opposite Harry's home and when he entered he was swarmed with cats. So many cats! Why would anyone have one anyways? Only crazed up fruit loops and evil supervillains would do that but this...
He sighed and looked for the trapped ghost, he eventually found him in the body of a brown-white cat who mewed at him in content. Apparently the ghost was too weak when he left the GZ and couldn't stay stabilized enough to return, so he inhabited a cat but couldn't get out of her and has since been stuck in the small body.
When Danny pulled him out the ghost purred and allowed Danny to keep him in his thermos for the moment. The halfa had his suspicions that Leather, as he had introduced himself, may have been a tad too long inside a cat.
He was about to go to Harry's house once more when his ghost sense activated, again. This time however, it wasn't the normal chill he had when a ghost was close, no, it was way worse. It almost hurt as the chill left his mouth, as if his ghost sense wasn't quite sure if it was supposed to react. Nevertheless, this wasn't normal, so obviously he went towards the being that created the uncomfortable feeling in his core.
When he was near a tunnel, a glowing silver stag was chasing a being that looked like it has escaped Tartarus out of it. He knew instinctively that the being was a dementor and the stag a patronus, he knew thanks to Sirius that Harry's patronus was one, so Harry was the one who casted it.
Danny flew to the tunnel entrance and saw Harry trying to chase away another one from some very bulky kid. He wanted to help so he threw an ectoblast at the dementor, hoping it would work, to his surprise, it did! The being screeched and tried to escape but Danny sucked it in with his Thermos, once again surprised. He hoped Leather wouldn't mind his company too much.
Finally he turned around and met the eyes of his shocked twin. He smiled tiredly at him and looked Harry up and down. He really was thin, his clothes were about five sizes too big and his eyes were a beautiful emerald green. Yet, he still looked like him and he could feel his magical core trying to reach out for the other core that felt so similar.
He suddenly got nervous and simply said "Hi." while rubbing his neck. He sincerely hoped his brother has had a nice summer so far, after everything he's heard.
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TW: Implied/ right out stated neglect and abuse
Harry has had an awful summer. Mind you, he hadn't had a great summer as far as he could remember. In all honesty, the best one might have been the one he had before fourth grade. Even though he witnessed Death Eaters attacking at the Quidditch World Cup. However, this time, it was the worst. He hated the blazing sun that burned his skin while he was forced to work in the garden, without any refreshments. If he weren't a wizard, he was sure he would have died long ago because of heatstroke or malnourishment.
He wasn't an idiot, of course he realized that most people got at least one meal per day and that meals were necessary to maintain important nutritions, so people could grow and actually function properly. Not him though. Ever since he came back to Number 4 Privet Drive six weeks ago, it was as though the past four years never happened. Sure, he was still oh so graciously given Dudley's old room but besides that he wasn't allowed to do much except do chores and leave the house for several hours or be locked up the rest of the day and night.
Harry wiped a bit of sweat from his face and stared at his calloused hands. It wouldn't even bother him so much, since he was rather used to this... mistreatment from his relatives, but ever since he had to watch Voldemort getting resurrected, he felt this anger inside him. As if his magic wanted to leash out and destroy everything in its path. He tried desperately to rein his magic in and to keep calm, doing breathing exercises that resembled meditation. He did not want to be held responsible for yet another accidental magic incident at the Dursley's like two and three summers ago.
Instead, he focused on his work, tried to ignore the anger in him when he didn't receive much mail from his friends and godfather. Tried to not feel hurt when Hermione and Ron made it sound as though they were spending the summer together, tried to ignore the pain he felt when Sirius assured him that he wasn't missing out on anything important, promising he would get to see him again soon and "to stay put". As if he could go anywhere, really.
He tore out the last of the weeds and examined his work. The garden looked perfect, normal. Exactly the way his aunt liked it. He sighed and looked up to the house. It wasn't very big and he has known it for forever and yet every time he stared at it, his chest clenched painfully and something deep inside him told him to run. He always ignored the feeling, except maybe the year after he accidentally blew up Aunt Marge. He had honestly feared for his life, he was sure Uncle Vernon would have beaten him to death if he'd had the time. Of course he got beaten after he came back the following year but at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
This summer however, he was punished solely because he screamed at night. He desperately tried to make his relatives understand that he couldn't do anything against his nightmares, that he really tried to make no noise but Uncle Vernon wouldn't have it. Since they didn't want to spend money on making his room sound-proof they eventually relented and bought themselves earplugs, however, since that was an inconvenience, they gave Harry double the amount of work. Probably hoping that it would tire him out enough that he wouldn't have any dreams.
Harry just scoffed at that, his dreams were worse the more tired he was. His nightmares took him back to the graveyard, forcing him to watch Cedric getting killed over and over again. Sometimes it was Harry who killed Cedric, a Harry with glowing red eyes and a crazed grin on his face and no remorse. Those nights were the worst. Even worse, sometimes he dreamt of being a snake, killing and eating helpless human beings. It was a miracle that Harry managed to keep any of the food he salvaged for himself down.
He went around the house and found his place underneath the window that led to the living room, where a weather man just announced today to be one of the hottest summer days in years. The past couple of weeks he used this place to hide from Dudley and his amassed group of goons and to subtly listen in to the news, making sure that Voldemort didn't do anything yet, since no one told him anything of value. Not even Sirius.
A pang of... something-anger?- went through him at the thought and the young wizard bit his lip, trying to calm down. He was suddenly very glad that he found the meditation book for free on the market shortly after he was sent back here. He felt his magic core calming down and once again wished he could ask Hermione about this, however, he didn't want to talk to her or Ron. They had their secrets, so it was his right to keep his. Even if it is probably not normal to suddenly have a stronger magic core than before.
Before his mind could wander further, a loud bang echoed through the empty street and Harry jumped up in alert. That sounded suspiciously like someone apparating. Without realizing it, his wand was in his hand and he held it up in a defensive stance. This is it, he thought, Voldemort has found me, I'm going to die. However, after a couple seconds he was still standing there and only came back from his panic stricken thoughts, when someone yanked him backwards with the collar of his shirt.
Uncle Vernon looked furious when Harry managed to turn his head to look at him. He wisely hid his wand immediately before his uncle grabbed him by his throat and started to throttle him. The boy's eyes flew up in panic and desperately tried to pry the man's hands away without much luck. He barely registered Vernon shouting at him, his face getting redder and redder by the second.
Despite the situation, the manic part of Harry couldn't help but laugh: Here he was, standing in the bright sun, no neighbours to be seen, getting strangled by his uncle, too weak to fight back. He wondered briefly what the Daily Prophet would write when the Boy-Who-Lived was killed not by Voldemort but by his very own uncle. Before he could fall into the darkness that started to appear in his peripheral vision, his aunt came to his rescue. She screamed something at Vernon and looked terrified, somehow Harry doubted she was terrified for him.
His uncle let go of him and the boy dropped to his knees, desperately breathing in fresh air, doubling over for a second as his vision began to clear. He was forced to look up when his uncle yanked his head up by his untameable hair "Listen here boy, I don't know what that noise was but no matter- if I ever see you again waving that damned stick around, you will regret it. Clear?"
The raven head nodded his head, his throat burning too much to give a verbal response. His aunt and uncle turned around, shutting the window and Harry scrambled away. The farther the better.
After a bit of walking he went into the nearby park with a small forest to the east. He knew from experience that there was a small creek and he craved for some cool water. When he found it he drank as much as he could, feeling a cooling sensation running down his bruised throat. Exhaustion made itself felt and Harry leant back against a tree, seated in a shaded area, his bare feet splashing lightly in the water. Feeling a bit more content he allowed himself to take a nap, closing his eyes he pushed the recent event far down into a metaphorical box in his mind and let himself lose consciousness.
When he awoke again, his feet were freezing as the water has cooled down considerably. The sun was but a sinking red fireball on the horizon and the forest has gotten really dark. Harry didn't mind the darkness, he has spent so much time in the cupboard that it was almost second nature for him. He realized that he should probably head back if he wanted to sleep on a bed tonight. Since it was already close to 11 pm he was certain that his cousin would be home soon again as well.
Trying to ignore his aching throat he made his way back, thinking about his life and just what he did to deserve being treated like this. Was this his punishment for his parents dying to protect him? He wished he'd have someone to talk to, someone he could share everything with, a family member who loved him for who he was. Sure, he had his best mates but both of them had a family to return to, to talk to when something really personal happened. Now that Harry had Sirius, one would think he had found the family member he so needed but then why was he not allowed to stay with his godfather?
Sure, the man was on the run, but according to the few letters he got, Sirius has found a safe place to stay at and still he only promised Harry that he could come soon. Why not now? Whywhywhy? Before his emotions could break free in a gust of magic, he bumped into someone. He blinked up, startled out of his thoughts and realized that he ran straight into Dudley, or Big D.
Ever since the Dursley spawn discovered boxing for himself, he had grown muscles where he had accumulated fat before. Thanks to that, he has gotten so full of himself that he even overcame his fear of Harry's 'freakishness'. Since Dudley knew that Harry was pretty much defenceless right now, he began using Harry as his punching bag once more, if he got him, that is. If anything, Harry has gotten much faster over the past month. Faster and thinner.
The huge boy stared at Harry in disgust and then pulled his face into a grimace, grinning down at Harry "Watch where you are going, freak! Or did you think too much about your boyfriend?"
Harry put his head to the side, while silently backing off a bit "What?" he asked, not sure what Dudley was trying to pull, said boy just grinned widely "Yes, of your boyfriend Cedric. What happened, hm? You always scream at night, yelling 'Cedric! Cedric! Nooo!' and 'Mommy, please'. Are you that scared of yourself, huh? Want to cuddle with your precious Cedric?"
While Dudley's goons laughed at his extremely bad joke, Harry saw red. His gaze twisted into a grimace and glared at Dudley, conveying all his hatred and anger at the much taller and heavier boy. It worked, the moment the other teenagers realized the murderous look on Harry's face, they took a step back and Dudley paled, trying to cover it up meekly "Ooo, you trying to scare me? I think you really are better fitted for an institute than some freakish school. Clearly you are completely nuts. Is your boyfriend already there? Is he waiting for you?"
Harry didn't care about anything in that second, he jumped to Dudley, grabbing his wand and pointing it at the bully "Listen here, I don't care what you say about me, but maybe you would like to experience how it is to watch one of your friends die. That's what Cedric was to me, a friend and someone to look up to, so don't you dare soil his name!"
Dudley was shivering now, stammering how Harry wasn't allowed to do anything to him, but apparently he remembered how that didn't stop the raven head two years ago, when Aunt Marge was blown up. The group leader glanced at his goons who all looked confused and terrified, maybe he should have treated Harry a bit more carefully? Or at least ignored him like he did the past years. Of course, the beans he had for a brain dismissed the thought immediately and made place for the fear he felt.
Before anything else could be said, a weird coldness began to surround Harry and the others. That was the last straw and Dudley's companions ran away, instinctively knowing that they had to get away. Harry apparently realized it, too. He recognized the feeling and furrowed his brows as he pushed Dudley forward and urged him to run. They ran for their lives, Harry damn well knowing that Dementors were close by and Dudley just feeling it in his deep rooted animalistic instincts. He also realized while huffing behind his much faster cousin that Harry was not the reason for this coldness and emptiness.
As they reached a small tunnel that led towards Privet Drive, a nearby puddle began to freeze over. The two boys stood stock still and didn't dare move, frozen in fear.
"W-what is going on, Harry?" In his fear, Dudley even called Harry by his name, instead of being surprised by that, Harry pulled his wand out for the third time that day, waving it around carefully and already trying to think of a happy memory "Dementors, they feed off your happiness. They are extremely dangerous and I don't know why they would be here."
As he said that he could see his breath condensing in the now very cold tunnel. Without a second warning two dementors shot towards the boys, one grabbed Dudley and before Harry could yell out the spell, the second one found him and began to absorb his feelings, his being. The now well-known vision of a poisonous green light filled his mind and a heart shuttering scream echoed in his ears. He felt himself getting weaker but still, he stood his ground, thinking of his first time flying on Buckbeak, feeling the happy emotions taking over, his hand raising on instinct and him shouting "Expecto Patronum!"
He watched a little detached as a half corporeal stag jumped out of the tip of his wand and began chasing the dementor away. He darkly remembered that there was a second one feeding off his cousin and was about to direct his patronus towards them, when an eerie green light from the other side of the tunnel hit the dementor in the chest. The creature let out a horrendous scream and turned towards the being floating in front of it. Harry watched in amazement as the being shot another green beam at the Dementor and was even more surprised to see the deadly creature trying to escape but the floating and slightly glowing being took out some sort of capsule, pointed it at the dementor and sucked it in.
When it turned to look at Harry, the wizard could see that the glowing being looked like a boy. A boy with a tired smile on his face. He had snow white hair that was floating in a non-existent wind and wore a black and silver jumpsuit of sorts that had a silver D with an integrated P in the middle of his chest. On the boy's silver belt hung the capsule and something that looked like the hilt of a sword.
Harry stared at the boy with a wide agape mouth and stared even more when the white haired boy with these illuminated green eyes chuckled und rubbed his neck as if embarrassed "Hi" he simply said. Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts and responded carefully"Err, hi. Who are you?" The boy floated towards him with an extended, gloved hand and answered "I'm Phantom, I'm a ghost but you can touch me, I seldom bite." the ghost boy winked mischievously.
That did nothing to reassure Harry, yet he took the offered hand and was surprised to feel the coldness radiating off of Phantom. It was a nice cold though, at least not as bad as the dementors'. It was even more surprising that he actually could touch him. So he wasn't like the ghosts in Hogwarts who were intangible and barely visible. He was about to respond when his cousin groaned and he remembered that he should bring Dudley back to his relatives. At least he still had his soul, so it seemed.
He glanced back at the ghost and whispered "I'm Harry" and hated how his voice still croaked. The whole face of Phantom lit up- quite literally and tensed immediately when he seemed to hear something "Someone's here, I'm gonna go invisible but don't worry, I won't leave you just yet, gotta make sure that you won't be attacked again." Before Harry could reassure the ghost that he did not need to stick around, after all, he was pretty sure a ghost had better things to do and he didn't quite feel comfortable around a dead person, as young as he might seem, the rasping voice of Mrs Figg sounded "Oh boy, oh no. Quick, we should get your cousin and yourself back home."
The wizard stared a bit dumbfounded at the older woman and was about to come up with a believable lie when she raised her voice "Make it quick! We don't want the dementors to come back! Oh don't look so surprised, I know what you are and who Dumbledore is, but i'm a squib, so I only knew that you were in danger. Blasted Mundungus, if I ever get my hands on him..."
She continued to mumble incoherent things and Harry lifted Dudley up, almost crashing down from his weight, when a second, invisible pair of hands supported his cousin. Suddenly he was glad for the ghost boy, even if he didn't trust him. Where did he even come from? Even more important: where did the dementors come from? Were they send to Little Whinging by Voldemort? And why did Mrs Figg never in the 14 years they've known each other ever said a word about her status and knowledge of the wizarding world? His anger came back as he followed his old caretaker silently, pointedly ignoring her mumbling.
He took a couple deep breaths and found himself in his self created fortress in his mind, where he managed to suppress his anger. When they finally reached Number 4 Privet Drive, Mrs Figg patted his shoulder and told him to stay put for now. Really helpful. It's not like the Dursley's would just believe him when he says that Dudleys current predicament was not his fault. He felt the presence of the ghost next to him as he entered the house and felt calmer than he had before.
The reaction of his aunt and uncle was instantaneous, Aunt Petunia screeched and ran to Dudley, cradling him in her stick like arms, shooting murderous glares at Harry and Uncle Vernon count help but yell at him "What happened? Answer now, boy, if you want to see the light of day again!" Harry swallowed "We were attacked by dementors, I managed to-" "Demons???" Aunt Petunia screeched and Uncle Vernon's face turned a dark blue. He gripped Harry's arm painfully and dragged him upstairs, when he threw him into his room he seethed with badly contained anger "We have been very, very lenient towards you, freak. The least we could expect was for your freakishness and everything related to it to stay away. Now don't try anything while we bring Dudley to a hospital, you'll receive your punishment later."
Without a second word the big man turned around and locked the door behind him. Harry watched as his relatives entered a car with Dudley looking rather queasy. It was their fault really, for not letting him say what happened, he could have told them that a chocolate bar would do wonders, now they left to a hospital that couldn't help whatsoever.
He sat down and just felt completely miserable, Hedwig hooted at him and he smiled slightly. He did not want to think about the next day. Before he could do anything else, the ghost boy appeared right next to him with a furious expression on his face and Harry jumped, having completely forgotten about Phantom.
The ghost boy turned towards him and ignored Hedwig's indignant screeches "That was your family?! What is wrong with them? If it weren't for you, Dudley could have died- you could have died. Do they not care at all? And what kind of a room is this, it's way too small and why did they lock you in? What if you have to go to the bathroom or get hungry, huh?" Somehow, the ghost's anger directed towards the Dursley's made Harry feel warm and he chuckled lightly, about to explain that he had worse, when suddenly two owls arrived at his window. At least he didn't have the bars in front of them anymore.
Both owls dropped off a letter each, both from the Ministry. As he read the first one, Phantom floated through the room, somehow unlocking the door so that Harry could leave whenever he wanted to. The first one told him that, because he used magic in front of a muggle, he lost his wand privileges and would be expelled from Hogwarts. Anger flushed through him and the letter started to burn in his hand, why? He just tried to protect Dudley and himself, why would he get punished so severely for this? Seething, he opened the second letter, instantaneously calming down. So the Ministry was talked into giving him a second chance but he would have to go to a trial on August 12, so in about six days.
He just hoped he would manage to go there, he still heard Uncle Vernon's promise in the back of his mind. Maybe his magic would protect him? Probably. He didn't want to test it but he couldn't just leave. Not with Voldemort out there, he could end up dead before he reaches the Leakey Cauldron. Though it was peculiar that nobody in the Wizarding community seemed scared or even careful, as if they just ignored the return of the Dark Lord.
Harry was startled out of his thoughts when a cold hand squeezed his shoulders and he blinked up to meet the glowing eyes of Phantom, who looked at him reassuringly. He awkwardly patted the hand on his shoulders and looked at Phantom expectantly "Who exactly are you? I mean, I know that ghosts exist but they are usually bound to a certain area and they are all barely tangible, so why can I touch you? And why do you have an American accent?"
The ghost laughed and to Harry's ears it sounded eerie, it was as though Phantom's voice always echoed a bit. The floating boy seemed to take a deep breath- why would he need to do that? He was dead- and began "I actually was raised in the US which is why I don't sound British. As for the reason that you can touch me and I am more than tangible, I am a no-maj- or for you muggle type of ghost. So, when I died I had a strong wish or rather desire and that kinda bound me to this form? Like, as a no-maj ghost I have this obsession that gives me strength and they are connected with all of my emotions. We even have our own Realm, known as the Ghost Zone.
"Usually, my kind of ghost, that also exists thanks to a certain substance called ectoplasm, has their own lair that gives them everything they need to fulfill their obsession and they don't come to the Human Realm but sometimes natural or artificial portals open up and some ghosts manage to come through and wreck havoc. I try to stop them or help them if they need it. Maybe you have heard of Amity Park?"
Harry's eyes lit up in recognition, he has in fact heard about the town. His uncle and aunt made nasty remarks about that place more than once, apparently the townsfolk claimed that ghosts invaded on a daily basis and their very own ghost hunters would hunt them and protect them. Though it was mostly a ghost called Inviso-Bill who protected everyone. So those stories were true? He asked the ghost in front of him and made a face at the name Inviso-Bill "Yeah, I hate that name. Like I said, I'm Phantom and it honours me that you've heard of me." A green blush appeared on his cheeks and Harry laughed in astonishment, could the day get any weirder?
They sat there in silence, Harry's head filled with hundreds of questions, so he settled on the most obvious one "Why are you here? Aren't you needed in Amity Park? And why did you help me?" Phantom sighed -again, a weird thing to do- and looked uncertain for a moment "You see, I technically died only a year ago. I was in an accident and had a pretty boring life before that. Until two weeks ago I led my normal life- after life, I fought ghosts and protected those close to me. I made enemies and allies alike but then I was visited by a wizard and he told me some things about a certain evil wizard called Lord Voldemort and some other stuff and that got me curious enough to come here. When I went to the Ghost Zone to talk to my allies, my mentor, who is the ghost of time, told me that a lot of stray or lost ghosts are stranded in wizarding Britain and under the influence of dark wizards, which is never good. So I'm trying to help and free them.
"It's surprisingly difficult but tonight I freed a small spirit who was stuck in the body of a cat for quite some time. I mean, Ancients, whoever lives across from here has way too many cats. When I was done I felt that something much more dangerous was close by and went into that direction where I met you and the dementors." He paused, unsure what else to say and Harry shrugged in understanding "But why were you visited by a wizard, how did he even find you?"
The ghost boy bit his lip and said "Well, apparently I am also a wizard?" "But didn't you just say you were a muggle born ghost?" Phantom laughed nervously and seemed to talk to himself before he straightened up "You see, Harry, I was given away for safety when I was still a baby and raised by no-majs and thus never knew about my heritage. Then an accident happened a year ago and now I'm like this." Harry was now thoroughly confused "That doesn't make much sense. You are dead, aren't you? Why would wizards still tell you that you were a wizard when you are a ghost? And if you actually are a wizard, why are you a muggle type of ghost?"
The ghost smiled, apparently happy that Harry asked these question. Harry himself felt a bit bad that the ghost, who was a hero in his city, was still so young when he died, what did his parents think? Did they know their son was a ghost?
"You know Harry, I didn't tell you the whole story and what I'm about to tell you is my biggest secret, I'm entrusting it to you. As a sign of goodwill, I suppose: The accident did kill me, which is why I look like this, but the moment I died, I was immediately resurrected, be it by my magic reacting to the ectoplasm in my system or the ectoplasm being so much that it both killed and saved me. Anyways, I came to I realize that I am a ghost, yes, but I'm also still human."
And then he did something Harry would never forget, he transformed. Glowing white silvery rings spread across the ghost's upper and lower half and where they went the outfit of Phantom changed. When the short light-show was over, Harry's mouth fell wide open. In front of him now stood a boy about his size, with the same raven black hair in a total mess and the same facial features, except that his eyes were ice-blue. Harry stood up from his bed and looked at the gho- no, boy, who looked so much like him. Said boy just rubbed his neck again and a gave a small wave
"Erm, so, in this form I'm Danny Fenton. I'm known as a halfa, so half-ghost half-human, discovered recently that I'm a wizard and that I'm your twin."