A tear drop stubbornly slid down the curve of his nose as he tried not to cry. He couldn't cry! It was weak, it was pointless, it hurt too much! Danny lifts his head to look out the living room window. The blinds are drawn, fully obstructing his view of the outside world and leaving a further unsettling dark feeling in the atmosphere. Why? Why did they have to die? He closes his eyes in pain. His parents. His friends. His sister...
His throat constricts with unshed emotion. 'I'll never see any of them again,' he thought, 'I'll never see them again. I never told my parents my secret before they died! Never told Sam that I liked her more than a friend. Never told Tucker that he was the best friend a guy could wish for and I wouldn't know what to do if he left. I never told Jazz that I loved her, even though I always made a fuss when she worried about me...'
Thick lines of moisture form at the lids of his closed eyes. His heart beats horribly like it is ripping him apart from the inside out. Why?
-----
"Danny!" a female voice, hoarse from overuse, screamed out over the ruined remains of a burned down building. Her long red hair was a messy disarray covered in black soot, her clothes were ripped and looked slightly burnt, her face was wet with tears and her feet were bare.
"Danny!" the young woman cried out again. She collapsed in a heap on the ground, her body wracked with sorrow as she tucked her head into herself. 'They were dead. They were all dead. With her own eyes, she had seen her parents trapped in the inferno. Sam and Tucker were trapped in a different room from fallen supports, and were killed before the fire even ended. Danny and I were together, with no other option left but to try to run for safety. Sam and Tucker were dead. Our parents were dead. It was just us. Then I tripped. "Jazz!" he screamed. He tried to catch me, reaching for my hand, but it was too late. The floorboards beneath me caved in to my sudden weight and I fell through. "Jazz!" he screamed again. That was the last I saw of him. The sound of his agonizing scream piercing my heart and haunting my nightmares. When I came to, I was buried beneath fallen debris. I had no idea how I survived. And with an effort, I managed to pull myself out of the ruin, and began to call for Danny hours upon hours with no success. He couldn't go ghost. Mom and Dad had the new and improved ghost shield up that worked even when Danny was in human form. Did that mean...? Was Danny..? Dead?'
Jazz felt tears run unguarded down her face again. 'Danny...'
-----
A voice interrupted Danny's thoughts.
"Mr. Fenton?"
Danny turns to see a man dressed in a white lab coat in the doorway of the small room. He appears to be some sort of doctor. The man looks at a clipboard and begins to scribble something down.
"I am Doctor Tzukami. I offer my condolences for your recently departed... family and friends," he said level in a sickeningly sympathetic voice. Danny glared at him. The doctor took no notice.
"I am in charge of child services..."
"I am not a child!" Danny insisted, crossing his arms secretly hoping for any sort of normalcy in this situation. They were gone...
"...under the age of eighteen. As such, I have been assigned to register you into a foster home where you can then be adopted..."
"W-what?" Danny was flabbergasted. They were going to put him up for adoption? How could they? He quickly rose to his feet.
"I refuse!" he shouted at the man.
"Now Daniel..." said the doctor. The man moved closer as if to grab Danny's arm. Danny backs up to avoid the man's grasp.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," Danny snarls. He moves towards the door. Just when he almost made it out of the place, he feels a strong grip clasp his arm.
"I'm afraid I can't just let you leave, Daniel. It is the law that anyone under the age of eighteen must live under the guidance of a legal guardian."
"Let go of me!" Danny shouted desperately at the man. He started tugging on his arm in an attempt to lose the strong grip.
"Daniel..."
"I don't CARE!" he screamed at the man. Green, ultra-sonic (or something), almost transparent waves of sound knocked the doctor off of Danny and sent him slamming into the opposite wall. The sound waves caused the chandelier to fall and shatter, the walls to crack, the table to collapse, the couch to flip, and miscellaneous items to explode or break upon contact. The man slumped down to the ground, clearly alive, but unconscious. Danny looked at the mess he inadvertently caused. Then he turned, and ran out of the place until he could run no more, and hid in an alleyway too tired to continue, promptly falling into a fitful sleep.
-----
A brown owl, flecked with black and Grey feathers, perched itself on one of the metallic remnants that survived from the accident. It hooted twice, attracting Jazz's watery attention.
"An... owl? In the middle of the day?" she spoke weakly, her expression confused and pained. The owl hooted again in annoyance. It was then that she noticed some sort of parchment tied to the owl's leg. She crawls over to the owl. This seemed so unreal. It had to be a dream! They couldn't all be dead! Her home couldn't possibly be burnt to the ground in some careless accident! And so there couldn't possibly be an owl, a famed nocturnal creature, in the middle of the day hooting at her and holding out a possible letter on its leg like some tamed messenger bird!
With shaky hands, she untied the paper from the owl's leg. Careful not to rip the paper apart, she carefully opened up the paper to reveal a letter stamped with what looked like a wax seal with four different animals on it. Opening the letter, she began to read:
Dear Ms. Fenton,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Our school is located in Britain. We regret to inform you that due to the flawed American system which only accepts pureblood magical lineage, that you are severely behind in your studies compared to the rest of the students your age. You will be placed in seventh year, but you need private instruction. Therefore, we are arranging your cousin, Harry Potter, son of Lily, your mother's younger sister, to teach you what he knows so you won't be as behind as you are now. A guide will arrive shortly to help you get your supplies and bring you to where you will receive tutelage. We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagal
Co-Headmistress and Head of Gryfindor House
Like she thought. This couldn't be real.
-----
Danny shivered, a blue mist coming out of his partially open mouth, shocking him awake. 'Ghost!' he thought subconsciously. With ease which only came from experience, he rolled to his feet and cautiously looked around.
"Hello?" he called, "Wherever you are, ghost, I know you're there!" Danny continued his search. He felt uncomfortable. Usually along with his sense to feel the ghost's presence, he could also gage a general direction of where they were. All he felt right now were annoying chills but no strong sense one direction compared to another.
"And how would a muggle such as yourself know of ghosts?" asked a male voice from somewhere in front of him.
Danny made a cocky grin he wasn't really feeling. Honestly, he was in pieces emotionally, worn physically, and had a ghost he couldn't see or detect properly somewhere around him. How was he supposed to feel?
"What? Haven't you heard? Ghosts are always coming around here. Just last week, an armored ghost attacked the school!"
He figured the mysterious ghost didn't know who he was since he hadn't mentioned the phrase 'halfa' and sounded genuinely surprised that he may have even believed in ghosts.
After an indeterminable time of Danny waiting there, tense, the voice spoke again.
"Do they attack often?"
Danny nodded. He had a feeling this ghost wouldn't attack him, but most did. He answered honestly, if a bit bitterly.
"Ghosts ruined my life."
"How so?" asked the ghost curiously.
Danny paused, not sure what to say.
"T-they... they invaded my home and a stray blast from one of them burnt my house down and killed all my friends and family," he managed. He was threatening to break down again as emotions once again were starting to overwhelm him.
"I am sorry, young muggle, for your pain," said the ghost, "but not all ghosts are like the one that took your loved ones."
Danny nodded again, weakly.
"I know. I have some sort-of friends in the ghost zone who aren't that bad."
A pause.
"You have been into the ghost zone?"
Danny sighed. There was absolutely no point to him keeping his secret anymore. He didn't really care what happened to him anymore, at least, not as much. Besides, it was a ghost. Shouldn't all ghosts know?
"I'm not exactly completely human anymore," he said softly. If the silence was any indicator, the ghost was curious and quietly encouraging him to continue.
"You see, about a year ago, I went into my parent's lab. They're ghost hunters and inventors in Amity Park. They were building a ghost portal, an entrance into the ghostly realm which they had been working on almost all their lives. But it didn't work. My friends... Sam and Tucker and I, we decided to go and check it out. I went inside to explore and tripped. My hand hit something that was on the wall which I realized later was the on switch inside the contraption. I was electrocuted and infused with ectoplasmic energy. I went in human, and came out half-ghost."
There was no response. Suddenly, to Danny's surprise, a form began to take shape in front of him until it looked like a human man from the medieval ages stood before him, his appearance see-throughy.
"You're the halfa hero, Danny Phantom," the ghost appeared to be looking at Danny with awe and respect.
Danny nodded again-he was doing a lot of that recently- and continued to study the ghost.
After a moment, the ghost spoke again.
"You say your family and friends have fallen. Would you be interested in joining me at the castle I reside?"
Danny gave a sad look at the mention of his family and friends, but decided to ask anyways,
"I don't really like the ghost zone. Why would I want to go to this castle? Who all stays there?"
The ghost smiled.
"Oh, this castle is not in the ghost zone, young phantom. It is in the wizarding world. There are other ghosts there like myself and completely non-hostile, and there are magic users, mostly students."
"A... magic school?"
"Yes. You can consider it a foreign cultural study if you wish."
"That's...cool. But wouldn't they suspect me?"
"They would think of you as just another ghost at Hogwarts, perhaps one with slightly more profound abilities."
Danny smiled.
"How so?"
"The ghosts of Hogwarts can't make themselves tangible unless for only a few moments. Peeves, the poltergeist, can hold a solid form the longest, and even then, only for a couple of minutes every hour or so."
Danny paused. Should he go? Heck, what more did he have to lose? He promptly transformed into his ghost half, noting the amazed expression on the other ghost's face.
"Lead the way."
He decided.
-----
"There's no such thing as magic, no such thing as magic, no such thing as magic," Jazz repeated softly to herself over and over like a well rehearsed mantra. She looked down at the note in her hands, "No such thing as magic," she repeated again, as if trying to make herself believe it was true.
"And what be so bad about magic, eh?" asked a friendly voice. She looks up and screams slightly, falling back onto her butt. The man before her is a giant! He had to be at least as tall as eight feet and perhaps two to three people wide in girth. He wore a scraggly beard and small beady black eyes as well as a worn brown outfit that looked like it has been out of style for centuries. She regathers her wits quickly.
"Magic doesn't exist, it's impossible! Something can't just be conjured by words or moved by thought! There is a reason behind everything which can be proven through time with scientific means! Magic is a myth that contradicts everything we know!"
"But magic does exist, I would think receiving a letter such as you have would have convinced ya," the man said.
"B-but how do you know of the letter?"
"Because I am the representative come to get ya."
"You? Look, I know I've been through a lot lately, but I'm not stupid, and I'm not crazy! Magic doesn't fit the mold, it doesn't exist, it can't exist," she insisted.
The man sighed.
"You said yourself that you've been through a lot. Where else are you going to go, girl? To your divorced aunt's? Way I hear it she doesn't take a likin' for kids such as yourself. If you come with me, you can be with people who are just like ya and people who would care about ya as well. Does everything have to fit science to be real? Or can something be real without explanation? What of miracles? What of faith? What of emotion? Is that science too? Haven't you ever seen something that couldn't be logically explained?"
Jazz opened her mouth to respond negatively, when she realized something with a painful twist in her heart. 'Danny...' she thought softly. How could anyone explain how someone could be alive and dead at the same time? Her own brother didn't even fit in the mold of what was known, what was possible, what was... safe. Did that mean he didn't exist? No... he existed in her heart and in the world, her brother...
The man smiled knowingly. "There is something, isn't there? Perhaps a time when something disappeared when you were sad? Something move when you were angry? Something unlock without a key? Jazz, you are a witch. And I reckon will be a bloody good one too."
Jazz smiles nervously at him.
"You really think so?"
The man grins at his success and his new believer.
"I know so."
-----
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Danny called towards the translucent ghost. He looked down nervously at the raging ocean waves.
"We're in the middle of the bleeping Atlantic!" he exclaimed irritated, "This can't be right!"
"We are going in the correct direction of the school," the ghost calmly stated from in front of him.
Danny quickly went intangible to avoid being hit by one of the sea birds the other ghost simply phased through.
"Just where is this place? It's not somewhere hidden like in Atlantis, is it?" he called over the thick winds. Unlike the other ghost, Danny still needed to breathe and was having some trouble adjusting to the strong wind current they were flying in.
"Hidden? Of course. It is a school of magic. What is this Atlantis you speak of?"
"You've... you've never heard of Atlantis? You know... the ancient underwater city?"
"Never heard of it. Is it a muggle legend?"
Danny crossed his arms annoyed.
"Must be..." he muttered.
They flew in silence for a while, both at speeds over a hundred and fifty miles per hour, give or take depending on the time of day and their moods.
"Land!" Danny shouted in relief. A dry chuckle escaped from the other ghost.
"Such trivial concerns are those of the living..." the ghost said with a small smile.
Danny gave him a glare before descending at break neck speeds down to the coastline.
"Well you don't have to worry about figuring out what to eat while in the middle of nowhere! At least now I can find somewhere with decent food we could rest at."
The ghost smiled again as Danny rushed behind a tree, transformed, then ran out towards a fast food restaurant.
"Ah... the joys of youth."
-----
"I think that's everything on my list Hagrid," Jazz said, mentally ticking off items like a checklist in her mind.
She had since found out the giant man's name was Hagrid. After that, deciding she really didn't have anything to lose, she went with him to Europe and found herself in awe of that which was the magical Diagon Alley. They had just finished shopping, the wand shop an interesting experience, robe shop a mess, and Jazz practically cooing over all the animals at the pet shop. Getting textbooks was the most orderly thing they did, however, Jazz, being a bit of a bookworm, had to be dragged out of there.
"Yup, that seems to be everythin'" Hagrid huffed.
Jazz looked down at the books in her arms. 'Danny would have loved this,' she thought. She felt tears start to prick at her eyes again and managed a watery smile for Hagrid.
"Is it true I have a cousin in the wizarding world?" asked Jazz curiously.
"Cousin... erm yup, ya shore do. Young 'arry quite the wizard if I may well add. You'll like 'em."
"Um... yeah. So where are we headed now?"
"Why, the Burrow, of course! That is where your cousin will be o' course!"
"Oh, right. Great." said Jazz sarcastically, though she was actually excited.
Hagrid didn't seem to take notice of her tone anyways.
-----
"What's in the owl, Harry?" asked Ron through a mouthful of food. Hermione glared at him. Ginny rolled her eyes. Fred and George gave identical grins.
"Ya, Harry! Whatcha got there, hey, hey?" asked George.
Harry turned the letter over.
"It's a letter, from Professor McGonagal!"
"But why would she want to contact you?"
Harry remains quiet, instead opting to tear open the letter. He pulls out the letter inside and begins to read (the most informal writing he had ever read written by McGonagal, so much so, that he almost doubted she wrote it if it were not for the usual neat script of hers...):
Dear Harry,
You have more relatives besides the Dursleys, also on your mother's side. Your mother had a slightly older sister named Madeline who moved to America and later married a man named Jack Fenton. Last I heard, they were known as eccentric, yet valuable ghost hunters of the more tangible kind of ghost before they died. I cannot go into details on their deaths simply because I do not know them. However, it has been discovered that their daughter, Jasmine Fenton, is in fact, a muggleborn witch only slightly older than yourself. As you could probably guess, she is severely behind. If you could tutor her, I will give you extra credit to start off the school year. After all, who better to teach her the basics than one's cousin who also has experience teaching them on prior occasions? Hagrid will arrive with the girl shortly.
-----
"Ahh!! Where's all the burger choices on the menu?!" Danny gave a panicked look left and right.
The waiter came to his table.
"Good evening, my name is Hansen, and I will be your waiter for today. Could I start you off with anything while you decide on your meal...?"
Danny snaps his attention up towards the man.
"They have waiters too?! At a fast food restaurant?!"
"Sir..."
"Do you have any real food on the menu? Burgers, fries, pizza?"
The waiter sighed exasperated.
"I'm afraid, sir, that we only offer what is on the menu..."
Danny looks at the menu again before grinning cheekily back at the man.
"What? Dirt?"
A few snickers could be heard from surrounding tables.
Hansen rolled his eyes.
"If that will be all, I'll return when you are ready." The man turned and left without another word.
The other workers giggled silently in a huddle off to the side.
"Tourists," they grinned, "gotta love 'em."
-----
Jazz took a few tentative steps towards the front door. The place literally seemed to be in the middle of nowhere by some sort of pasture.
'Well, good luck to ya,' the giant man had told her before promptly leaving her to her fate. Now she had the chore of talking to these people without a mutual acquaintance to help ease the situation.
She made it to the front door and knocked twice, quickly, before her nerves gave out.
There was a shuffling heard from the other side before the door opened slightly to reveal a bigger, orange haired woman peeking through.
"Password?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
"Password? There's a password?" Jazz asked, genuinely at a loss. Hagrid had said nothing about passwords.
The woman sighed.
"What's your name, dear?"
Jazz felt increasingly uncomfortable.
"Uh... Jazz Fenton...? I'm looking for my... er... cousin, Harry... Something. Is he here? Hagrid sent me..."
The woman closed the door in her face. Jazz crossed her arms annoyed. How rude, she thought.
Suddenly, the door reopens fully and the woman beckons her in.
"Welcome to the Burrow, the Weasley Household."
-----
"Harry?" Mrs. Weasley called, "everyone. We have a guest," she walked into the room.
"A guest?" asked Ginny, "from the order?" Mrs Weasley shook her head before turning towards the room she just came from.
"Jazz, dear? He's over here, come on over and meet everyone."
Harry's eyes widened as he recognized the shorted name from the letter he received not long ago. The door opens and a young woman with long orange hair and green eyes walks into the doorway. She looks around somewhat nervous, yet surprisingly calm.
"This is Harry," she points, "my sons, Ron and George, my daughter, Ginny, and their friend, Hermione." She smiles warmly at Jazz.
Jazz looks at all of them in turn before locking Harry's gaze. She gasps before looking away.
"W-what?" asks Harry, surprised and a little offended. This was his cousin? Great, another Dursley reception...
Jazz returns her gaze back to him. A tear trailed traitorously down her left cheek. Now Harry was alarmed.
"N-n-no-nothing," Jazz managed. She closed her eyes to help control her painful emotions.
"That doesn't look like nothing," Hermione responded.
Harry gave Hermione a look before returning his attention to Jazz.
"Jazz, what's wrong?"
Jazz opens her eyes, pleasantly surprised by Harry's compassion towards her in a such a short amount of time. But she also realizes she couldn't lie to him to his face either.
She sighs, defeated.
"I-i-it is just that... you look like... well... closely resemble... Danny," she said softly. Harry straightens his posture.
"Danny?" he asks.
"Who's this Danny fellow, past boyfriend?" asks Ron carelessly.
"Did you leave him behind in your hometown? Where is he?" asks Ginny thinking along the same lines as Ron.
Jazz frowns uncomfortable and sad.
"Danny... he...he...he died like my...our parents..."
They sobered up a bit. Harry reminded her of a dead...friend...wait...
"Wait... Our parents?" Hermione voiced.
Jazz nodded. "Danny was my precious little brother. I miss him like you wouldn't believe..."