Alrighty folks, if you hadn't already guessed, HP cannon and anything that even slightly resembled it has officially been thrown out the window of this moving train... because we are going completely off the rails for the rest of the story! Hurray!
Now you all get to experience my weird imagination put these poor characters through a bunch of equally weird situations!
Choo-Choo my friends, let's go!
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The window shattered, a glimpse of an ecto-green stun grenade surrounded by glittering glass was all the warning Danny got before he was blinded, deafened and choking on burning smoke. He tried to trigger his transformation on instinct, desperation and panic flooding his mind and pushing out any other coherent thought.
Too bad his powers were still on the fritz.
His transformation stuttered and then fizzled out of existence, his core pulsing painfully, out of sync with his fluttering heartbeat.
This was so much worse compared to how he'd felt after destroying the soul piece in the locket over Christmas. Back then he'd felt drained and out of sorts. Being near Wulf's portal to the Realms had helped a bit, but he'd still crashed and needed time to recuperate his ectoenergy for days afterwards.
But now?
He'd never felt anything like this. His nerves were hyperaware of any movement or thought, triggering his powers so strongly that it took all of his concentration to keep them from hurting his friends on accident. His core felt the weirdest. Far too big and far too energized. It felt like his body couldn't contain it all, his ribs already sore from the strain of keeping some semblance of control.
Whatever had happened to him in that corrupted magical portal must have really messed him up. His weird, detached memories of facing Voldy afterwards was not helping him keep calm about all this, either.
But then the Manson's had said the GIW were in London, and all that careful control went up in smoke. He'd been running from those monsters for months. He knew what most of their equipment was capable of. Tracking his ectosignature through his out of control powers merely an hour away from where they were actively searching for him? Well, the burning smoke filling his lungs and stinging his eyes as his transformation failed was answer enough.
He could just barely hear his friends muffled cries and screams, but nothing more than that. He was hacking and coughing up the distinctly anti-ecto flavored smoke, eyes shut tight with pain when he felt multiple arms on him, dragging him bodily away.
He tried to struggle, but the moment he was clear of the smoke and was able to start breathing again, the arms dropped him and his knees and hands were met with grass and dirt.
Heart pounding in his ears, he hacked and gasped in the suddenly clear air and scrubbed viciously at his eyes to try and clear them, muffled voices and movement setting his nerves on edge.
In seconds that lasted hours, Danny's core flared again, his ears popped, and his lungs cleared in a burning flash of pain and he finally managed to open his eyes to try to figure out what was going on.
They were outside in the front yard, Danny still panting on his hands and knees, while Harry and Hermione were crouched next to him, Ron and Draco standing tall and tense, but wands out of sight.
The Manson's were coughing close by, next to the door that had billowing white smoke still pouring out of it.
There was a clatter and very colorful swearing that revealed the Dursley family emerging from their own smoking front door followed closely by Sirius.
"There it is!" A man's gleeful voice had Danny's head snapping up to his left to find a painfully familiar looking suit, pointing an ecto-gun right at him. Danny's friends, who hadn't been affected by the anti-ecto smoke, wasted no time in crowding closer, blocking him from view with defiant looks and angry glares, but that didn't stop Danny's heart from dropping like a stone.
They were surrounded.
The GIW were as horribly pristine as ever, surrounding them and the house with both gleaming white SUVs and dark glasses-wearing agents that looked far to happy to be aiming guns at kids.
And suddenly he wasn't outside on a too-perfect lawn, but in a basement lab. The hum of the ghost portal at his back, his friends and family ready to protect him with their-
No.
"Quickly men, don't let it get away!" He was back outside once more. The GIW agent in charge readied restraints, large metal shackles that looked disturbingly similar to what he'd been forced to wear in the Ministry of Magic. The malicious grins surrounding them sharpened as the agents stepped closer, ecto-guns humming louder, ready to fire. It's a scenario that Danny wished had stayed in his nightmares.
"Stop right there!" Mrs. Manson's voice cut cleanly through Danny's mounting panic. "This is outrageous! You can't possibly have the jurisdiction to throw bombs into residential houses!"
"Mrs. Manson, step asi-'
"DON'T Mrs. Manson me! I'd like to see you try to explain away why you're attacking children! Do you have just cause? A warrant? Are you even in Europe legally? Is there any possible reason in existence that could justify you aiming illegal weapons at us now?"
Mrs. Manson was shouting shrilly, as loud as she possibly could. Sirius stalked forwards, teeth bared in a snarl, backing Mrs. Manson up and glaring harshly at any agent that dared to try to come closer to the house. Some of the agents stepped back, lowering their guns in surprise.
Danny noticed absently that lights were blinking to life in the windows of houses up and down the street, curious onlookers coming out of their homes. Then Mr. Manson was crouched down beside him.
"Quickly, get out of here!" The man whispered harshly, helping Harry and Hermione get Danny to his feet.
"But-"
"No, you need to get out of here! They're after you, Daniel, but we can keep them occupied long enough for you to escape!"
"But-" He couldn't just leave. He couldn't! They'd be in danger! They should be the ones running to safety while he led the GIW away! They-
"Daniel." Mr. Manson's voice was quiet but firm, drawing Danny back and chasing away the visions of what had happened last time.
"We'll be alright, Daniel. We'll find you after the GIW have been dealt with."
"But how-"
Mr. Mason cut Danny's question off with a low chuckle, turning back to the crowd of people emerging from their houses and gathering closer to the shouting match Mrs. Manson was dominating. "I would've thought you of all people would remember, Daniel-" Mr. Manson gave him a subtle push as he took a step closer to his wife. "If there's one thing we Manson's know how to do, it's whip an angry mob into a frenzy."
With that, Mr. Manson was by his wife's side, shouting down yet another white suited agent, adding to the chaotic distraction. Sirius was now snarling mere inches from the face of the agent holding the restraints, while the suits surrounding the house lowered weapons and turned uncertain eyes to the crowd of neighbors beginning to form, muttering, pointing and shifting ever closer, boxing the agents in.
"He's right, Danny, let's go!" Harry whispered urgently, moving quietly to the edge of the house while still keeping his eyes on Sirius and the Manson's.
"Someone call the Police!"
"Is the house on fire?!"
"Are they alright? Who are these people?"
"They have guns!"
"But their accents- they're american!"
As the crowds grew louder and more agitated with every passing second, Danny swallowed his panic and the mounting pressure within his chest as he forced his powers to remain dormant. They were so close. Edging as surreptitiously as they could away from the growing commotion, Harry and Hermione close to his sides and Ron and Draco blocking him from view.
"I don't want to hear it Agent B!" Mrs. Manson's voice was still loudest of all, urging the mass of people on in their opposition to the GIW. "If you don't back off now, we'll be sure to escalate this into an International Incident! Don't think we won't! We'll-"
They'd been so close. So, so close to getting away... but Danny's powers still weren't under control.
His core flared painfully, and he gasped out chilled air as frost covered the entire lawn in an instant, a green shield flickering and then fading just as quickly, yet still inciting gasps and cries of shock from the surrounding onlookers.
"Phantom!"
"It's getting away!"
"Run!"
Harry and Hermione lunged forward, shoving their way through the line of agents and the rest of the crowd, Danny between them with Ron and Draco right behind them. Screams rent the air as Sirius snarled viciously, and with a quick glance back, Danny saw an enormous black dog attacking the agents, tackling them to the ground where they didn't get back up again. The Manson's were now beside the Dursley's keeping out of the line of fire, but still shouting and yelling and just like Mr. Manson had said- whipping the gathered crowd into a frenzy, keeping a large portion of the GIW from chasing after them.
Sadly, it wasn't enough to keep all the GIW back, and soon there were blasts of ectoplasmic green only just missing Danny and his friends as they flew down the slowly darkening street. Hermione cried out in alarm as one shot missed her by hair, and in an instant his friends had their wands in their hands, and bright red stunning spells flung back over their shoulders, thoughts of keeping magic a secret forgotten as they tried to get away.
Danny panted harshly and tried to push down the images of what had happened the last time his friends had tried to help him get away from the GIW. Down, down, down, no way would he let that happen again.
A blazing shot grazed his shoulder, making him stumble as they all rounded the corner to a little neighborhood playground. Ron nearly caught him, but another ripping shudder of his core had him slip right through Ron's fingers and he fell roughly next to the chain-link swings.
"Danny!"
"Got you now, Ghost Boy!"
"Leave him alone! Stupify!"
The blast of red energy blazed from the tip of Harry's wand, but it only made one of the four agents that chasing them stumble and fall to their knees, before they shook their head and got back up again. His magic wielding friends couldn't help but gape in shock.
"What the-"
"How?"
"Phantom found more ghosts! They aren't using normal ecto energy!"
Wailing sirens echo in the near distance, the agents looked towards the sound in sudden alarm.
"Quickly! Capture them all!"
One of the agents hefted a larger gun that Danny realized too late was an ecto-net launcher. The glowing green net flew and expanded in an instant, headed straight for Harry and Draco who were closest to the agents. Danny moved on instinct alone as he surged forward, shoulder aching, and pushed his friends out of the way, ending up getting tangled in the net himself.
The agents shouts of triumph were instantly overcome by his friends shouts of horror. It was then that Danny remembered that the GIW suits were ecto-resistant to the nth degree. And since ghost stuff was resistant to magic...
"Their suits! Magic won't- magic won't work on them!" Was all Danny managed before a pulse of electricity was sent coursing through the net at the push of a button in one of the agent's hands. Danny grit his teeth to keep himself from screaming, as he struggled to free himself.
"Ha! Magic! Spouting nonsense won't save you now frea-" Ron decked the agent with a beautiful right hook, sending the man sprawling.
Hermione stormed forward, hair flying as she tackled the agent with the remote, and very kindly introduced the agent's face with the dirt beneath her feet. Draco and Harry raised their wands, a conjured flock of crows and a fire spell bloomed and stuck the last two agents, the indirect magic destroying their weapons, and distracting them long enough for Ron and Hermione to run back to them.
Soon, all four of his friends were by his side again, getting him untangled from the net, and then all standing ready for the agent's next move. But the sirens were now louder than ever, accompanied by flashing red and blue. The remaining two agents rounded on them in an instant, new weapons whipped out of nowhere, desperate fury guiding every move as they tried to take Danny and his friends down.
There was a thunderous bark from down the street, and Harry needn't have shouted "Sirius!" for them to know that the huge dog now racing towards them was there to help.
But Sirius was too far, and the agents far too close, guns aimed unerringly at their heads. Another step, sirens wailing, lights flashing, Sirius barking, and Ron shoved himself between them and the agents in one last act of desperation, accidentally sending Harry and Hermione sprawling back into Draco and Danny.
Danny lost his balance, falling back and unable to catch himself. It didn't stop him from trying though.
Danny reached behind him, the wound on his shoulder protesting harshly, his hand catching on nothing but the air as the whine of ecto guns charging another blast sounded loudly in Danny's ears.
A second stretched into an eternity, and then snapped back into whirling motion with his next breath.
Danny's hand caught on something and it pulled and stretched out behind him. He instinctively reached forwards as he continued to fall, latching onto Draco's cloak and dragging him down too. A ripping pulse under his fingers was all the warning Danny got before all he could see was swirling green.
All Danny could do was gasp before he tumbled down, farther than where the ground should be, the sounds of his friend's shocked screams the last thing he heard before he landed hard on unforgiving stone, a familiar green and purple streaked sky swirling above him.
And... And then Danny breathed. In.
His mind calmed.
Danny breathed. Out.
His core settled alongside his heart, one final pulse rippling outwards into the Infinite expanse.
Danny breathed.
.
.
What-
What just-
Where-
Harry's mind whirled and his heart thundered with adrenalin. He could still see the image of Sirius as Padfoot charging towards them from down the street, the white suits and dark sunglasses on the men pointing those shiny, glowing weapons at their faces, the images burned behind his eyes. But then Ron had moved to shield them all, before a strange ripping sound preceded a tingling cold crashing into them from behind.
Before Harry could turn to look despite the guns still aimed at their heads, Danny had gasped and Draco had yelled in surprise before a vice grip on Harry's arm was pulling him back. In a blur of movement and sound, Harry had instinctively grabbed Hermione and Ron as he was pulled back.
Just as the agents in white suits were shouting and reaching for them, a furious Grim had launched himself at the agents, pushing them back as well as pushing Harry and the others through a veil of formless mist that tingled across his bare skin like static. Harry's vision had filled with dreaded deathly green and they fell screaming into the unknown.
Harry hit the ground hard, and for a moment could do nothing but lay there in shock, only registering the chilly stone he now found himself on and the dizzying green and purple swirls that made up the sky.
A low groan nearby had Harry jolting out of his shock and he sat up quickly, wand in hand. But it was only Ron, favoring his arm as he sat up. Hermione was crouching nearby looking up at the green lit sky, and Danny was lying not much farther, features calm and, incredibly, at peace.
Draco was the first to his feet, and was decidedly not at peace.
"Oh, Merlin and Morgana! Are we dead! Have we died!"
Draco spun on the spot, wand raised but shaking as he panicked.
"Those men in white! They must have killed us with those muggle devices-"
"Draco."
Danny's voice was soft, echoey but in control, and it drew all their attention to their ghostly friend as he sat up with a sigh, a hand held on his wounded shoulder.
"You aren't dead. This-" Danny slowly got to his feet, faintly green glowing eyes following the vortexes of green and purple, tracking the many stone islands that surrounded them. "This is the Infinite Realms."
Hermione gasped in wonder as she stood beside Ron, who was gazing wide eyed at a floating island, not unlike the one they were currently on, drifting above them. Draco seemed too shocked to say anything and was just standing frozen, staring at Danny in disbelief.
"But- How on earth did we get here? To a whole other dimension? Did the GIW do this?" Harry asked.
Danny shook his head. "No, I think... I think I did."
"You what?!"
"On accident! I didn't mean to! I was panicking and we needed to get away! So when I fell backwards I think I... opened a portal?"
"Did you? You said you didn't have the power to open portals to the Realms!"
"I don't- didn't... I don't know! My powers don't exactly come with a guidebook, and I have no idea what's been going on with them since going into that corrupted magic-made portal!"
"Alright, hold on! Just- calm down a minute so we can figure this out." Hermione stepped forward, Ron just a step behind her, and now the five of them stood nearly shoulder to shoulder on their little island of stone. Harry took a bracing breath and let it out slowly, while Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Better. Now, for the sake of my sanity, we are going to put a pin in Danny's new ability to open portals, and focus on getting somewhere safe." Hermione continued stoutly, the shock of finding herself in another dimension having already made way for practical decisions and plans.
Harry wasn't quite there yet.
"But what about the GIW still on Privet Drive, Hermione. Sirius, the Mansons... the Dursleys even- they'll be facing those guys all al-"
"Sirius was the one to push us in here, mate." Ron cut in.
"What?"
"Those suits were pointing those weird muggle things at us, but you grabbed me and Hermione and we stumbled back a bit, but it was Sirius who came and pushed us the rest of the way into... whatever Danny did to get us here. Then he went and leapt onto the last two agents and that's the last thing I saw before all this." Ron gestured vaguely all around them.
"Ron's right, Harry. And Danny, don't start! They'll handle those so-called government agents. Sirius knows we went through the portal, he'll be able to tell the Manson's, too. And," Here Hermione pauses and eyes both Harry and Danny with a steely look, "Going back now would just put them and you in more danger. Especially you, Danny. They can handle themselves, so now we need focus on what we need to do next, instead of worrying about them. Alright?"
Harry huffed a frustrated breath. He knew it was likely for the best, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He'd come so close to losing Sirius tonight, and it was only because of Danny that his godfather was able to stay behind and deal with the agents alongside the Mansons.
Harry looked to Danny then, who was staring at his feet, fists clenched and eyes clouded with things that Harry couldn't, and likely didn't want, to see.
Danny, who'd been hunted and on the run from those agents for months before being summoned to Hogwarts. Danny, who'd lost his friends and family in his own home because he hadn't run when they'd told him to...
Harry let out another breath, far less frustrated now, and grabbed hold of Danny's good shoulder, watching his eyes clear and focus on Harry. Harry nodded firmly and then turned back to Hermione.
"You're right Hermione. Thanks."
Hermione nodded with a small smile, shoulders relaxing just a smidge.
"Can we even get out of here?" Draco asked, voice pitched a bit higher than normal. "Danny, you got us in, so you can get us out, right?"
All eyes turned to Danny then, and Danny hummed, a hand coming to rest over his chest.
"I'm- not totally sure? New powers for me have always taken a bit of work to get under control. And my core may have settled a bit now but... hmm... hold on."
Danny closed his eyes and after a moment, silver light burst into existence, so bright it almost hurt. Danny's transformation ring hovered strangely for a moment before parting slowly to reveal-
Hermione gasped loudly and Draco stumbled into Ron when an incredibly powerful wave of energy surged outwards from Danny, nearly knocking them all over from the force of it. The silver rings only made it twenty centimeters apart, revealing a stunning star-bright metal breastplate embossed with Phantom's symbol, before the rings burst into glittering starshards that fizzled and faded like the sparks from a flintstone.
Danny was left panting and wincing, doubled over with one hand on his chest.
"Ow- Ouch." Danny gasped. "That was a mistake."
"Blimey..." Ron breathed. "That... Danny... that looked like the armor you were wearing after you came back from the veil."
"It- what?"
Harry could only stare. Hazy memories surfaced, mixed feelings of unbridled fear and heart-rending relief as a shared body stared up at a being burning so impossibly bright and powerful.
Harry watched Danny's pinched look of confusion deepen into concern. It seemed Harry wasn't the only one with hazy, mildly concerning memories of that fight.
"Oh my goodness! Can you remember anything from when you went into the veil? Do you think you can still turn into your original ghost form?" Hermione wondered.
"I- I don't-"
"Look out!" Draco's warning came just in time for them to brace themselves as another floating island impacted their own. It sent them flailing back to the ground, but it also brought their attention back to their, admittedly bleak looking, situation.
"Maybe- we can talk about this somewhere safer?" Harry ventured, helping Ron to his feet.
"Yes- Right- Priorities." Hermione said, glancing over them all, eyes lingering on Ron still favoring one arm, Danny's wounded shoulder, Harry's shaking hands and Draco's death grip on Danny's jumper sleeve that remained even after he was helped back to his feet. "Danny, you wouldn't happen to know where we are, do you? Or perhaps, somewhere safe for us to go to figure out how to get back to the physical world?"
"Hmmm." Danny narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, looking to the sky at the other floating islands and then over the edge of their floating rock into endless green all around them. Finally, Danny straightened up with a sigh. "Alright, there's good news and there's bad news."
"Well... what's the good news?" Ron asked.
"The good news is that I know where we are. We're on the edge of Ancient Avalon; all these little stone islands sort of orbit the central castle. If you look closely you can see the ruin down there." Danny pointed over the edge of their little stone island.
Harry cautiously leaned over the edge and looked down to see an enormous castle below them, drenched in rippling shadows and surrounded by hundreds of other stone islands, like a planet surrounded by orbiting moons.
"Wow." Harry breathed, his sentiment echoed by Hermione, Ron and Draco who joined him in looking down at the ruins. He turned back to Danny, who was now rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but... what's the bad news?"
Danny sighed.
"'Well... I've never actually been to this part of the Realms before. I've only ever heard stories of this place."
"You- What? Why not?" Hermione asked.
"Well, for one thing, it's really far from the Sterila Wastes, where my parent's portal opened up. For another," Danny shrugged and then helped brace them all as another small island collided with theirs. "The only thing out here are rocks and ruins. Ghosts don't come here, and if there are any- ah, what did Professor Binns call them? Muggle-made ghosts? Death-born ghosts? The ghosts that I'm used to- if they form in this part of the Realms, they don't stay here long."
"But- Is that not a good thing? Didn't you fight all the ghosts you met before you were summoned to Hogwarts?" Draco spoke up, voice shaky.
"Eh, I mean- yeah, but you guys can't fly, and I can't use my powers, and even if I could, I wouldn't have been able to carry all three of you by myself. I may know the general direction of somewhere safe we can stay, but that doesn't really help when we can't get there. And we aren't going anywhere unless we can get some help."
"But- Then what will we do?"
"Hey, don't worry dude, we'll figure this out. Besides, one upside to there being no ghosts out here is that there's literally no chance of us being attacked, so... that's something."
It was at that very moment that Danny was tackled by a screaming, glowing blur and he was dragged off the side of their floating island.
"Danny!" Their collective shout echoed against the surrounding stone as they rushed to edge. But Danny had been dragged down past the orbiting islands to the central stone castle, the glow of what had to be another ghost shone like a beacon through the cracked castle walls far below.
"Quick!" Harry grabbed Ron and Draco's hands and they leapt onto a passing island island below them, Hermione hot on their heels and then guiding them onto the next island. As quick as they could they jumped from island to island, finally landing on the largest, central stone where the castle rested.
"This way!" Hermione pelted into the crumbling ruins, Harry, Ron and Draco not a second behind her. They rounded a corner into a huge courtyard, overgrown with gently swaying light blue grass, and found... Danny crouched low and hugging a small girl close to his chest.
She was sobbing, arms wrapped around Danny's neck, and Harry froze at the sight, Ron, Hermione and Draco stopping too. If the girl's suit, wisping white hair and glowing green eyes wasn't enough of a clue, the silver Phantom symbol on her chest told Harry exactly who this had to be.
"Oh Ellie, it's alright. I'm alright, I promise." Danny spoke softly, rubbing soft circles into Ellie's back.
"Don't lie to me Danny!" She hiccuped, green eyes blazing, "I jumped through the portal, just like you said! I waited for you to come in after me with your family but you never came! I had to watch as the portal exploded! I didn't know what happened to you or what to do, so I went to the Far frozen like you told me, and I waited a year, Danny! I searched for you high and low; I asked everyone! But natural portals stopped opening, and ghosts that made it to the physical world never came back! Until Wulf came to find me to tell me you were alive, I thought you had died the rest of the way!"
She broke down again into further sobs, and Danny's arms tightened around her, eyes glistening. Harry was speechless. Danny had told them of Ellie, had told them what had happened before he'd gone on the run, but they'd never... Harry had never thought of how she must have felt, trapped in another dimension with no news of what had happened to Danny.
It was another few moments before the the two were able to gather themselves and dry their eyes.
"But- but Danny, where's Jazz, Sam and Tucker? Your parent's? Are they still in the physical world? What about Vlad? Who were those- ah!"
Green eyes flared bright as a handful of liquid light was charged and aimed right at them. Panic and determination were in every line of the young girl's stance as she stood between them and Danny.
Harry stumbled back in surprise, shielding the others as Danny jumped forward quickly with hands raised.
"Whoa! Wait!" Danny planted himself before them, blocking them from the girl's fierce look and fiercer power. "Ellie! They're my friends!"
Ellie's handful of glowing green faded, but she still looked a skeptical, and confused. "But- Danny, what about Tucker and Sam? And..." Her eyes narrowed, nose scrunching in confusion, "They don't feel right... they aren't normal humans."
Well, that would be worrying if Harry's life were anything resembling normal.
Danny huffed a laugh. "Yeah, I know. Guess what Ellie, these guys... are wizards." Danny's grin was just shy of being smug, but Harry couldn't help but notice the not-so-subtle deflection.
Ellie's entire stance dropped into one of open surprise. "Wizards... as in magic! You guys are magic!" As if a switch flipped, they suddenly had an excitable young ghost girl flying circles around their heads asking any and every question that came to mind. It was such an abrupt shift that Harry couldn't help a surprised laugh.
It took a little while, and a lot of questions and answers later, but eventually they'd been able to introduce themselves properly to Ellie, and she'd apologized for suspecting them and trying to get Danny away from them.
Ellie took a real shine to Hermione, who was able and all too happy to answer all questions asked of her. They all decided to rest a bit within the semi-intact walls of the ancient stone castle, and Harry couldn't help but sigh with relief at the brief moment of calm.
Harry and Draco were sitting beside a low cobbled wall on the edge of the courtyard, pale vines with midnight blue leaves fluttered in a nonexistent breeze crept across the stone walls. Draco had been quiet, not saying much beyond telling them he was alright when they asked, which was understandable really. Harry wasn't really sure he'd been able to fully process the events of the last... Merlin, it's only been a day.
Harry sighed softly, and turned back to the courtyard. He'd unpack all that later. As all four boys sat and watched with varying degrees of worry as Hermione and Ellie began delving into an excitable discussion of the particular's of how magic interacted with a wizard's mind and body. Ellie was fascinated by the fact that as unknown and mysterious magic seemed to be, the only way for wizards to channel that energy was through funny words and a stick.
Harry almost laughed at the absurdity of the conversation while they were stranded on a desolate island in an infinitely expansive dimension.
They all really needed to go to bed.
"Hey Danny." Ron asked quietly as Danny helped wrap Ron's wrist in a torn off strip of Harry's school robe. Danny's shoulder had been bandaged the same way.
"Yeah?"
"You were pretty loose lipped with information that's usually kept a secret, eh? The Manson's, those muggles on the street, those GIW agents and now your sister? If the Ministry ever recovers, we'll be in loads of trouble." Ron grins tiredly.
Danny chuckled. "Can you really talk, Mr. 'Hey Hagrid this is Danny, tell us about the giants and we'll tell you how we summoned him!'"
Ron blushed a bit, but snorted softly too. "Fair enough."
"Wait, did you say GIW?" Ellie abruptly cut off from her discussion with Hermione.
"Oh yeah. We might've, sort've... forgotten to tell you why we needed to escape into the Realms in the first place." Danny petered off, avoiding Ellie's eyes. Harry noted that they'd neglected to tell Ellie anything at all beyond answering her questions about magic.
"The GIW are still after you? You and your friends haven't defeated them yet? I thought that's what you've been doing this whole time! That and trying to figure out why the Realms have been acting so weird! Ancient's Danny-" Ellie's white hair whipped around her head as she fretted and flew to Danny's eye level. "How did you even get to the Realms in the first place? Natural portals stopped opening months ago, and Wulf hasn't been able to open portals either!"
"Well, that's the thing- I opened a portal on accident while we were running away from the GIW. And before you ask; yes, it's a new power; no, I can't control it. My powers have been acting weird and out of control whenever I try to use them, so opening another one right now isn't a possibility. But, now that you're here, maybe we can figure out a way to the Far Frozen?"
"Far Frozen?" Hermione asked, helping Ron up to his feet.
"Mmhm." Danny nodded. "Frostbite's kingdom is safe and protected, we'll be able to rest up, heal up and figure stuff out, if only we could get there."
"Well, what about riding one of those floating islands?" Ron asked.
"You want me to push your sorry butts across the Realms on a rock?"
"C'mon Ellie, he could've meant he wanted me to push us all."
"Right. He definitely meant for the currently out of commission Great and Powerful Phantom to save the day! Can you even transform right now?"
"Well... no."
"Yeah, no wonder. I almost didn't recognize you when I sensed your ectosignature, you know. But knowing you, that pulse of staticky weirdness couldn't have been anyone else!"
"Hey!"
As Danny and Ellie descended into what Harry could only describe as a sibling squabble, a soft sound drew his attention to the deeper parts of the castle just beyond the courtyard's light. Draco stiffened and looked to the sound as well, so Harry knew he didn't just imagine it.
Slowly, very slowly, Harry turned to face the deepening shadows. Draco was at his shoulder, breathing in sharp gasps, the others remaining oblivious.
More soft noises, tap tap tapping against the stone, the source hidden in the dark just beyond the cracked inner wall of the castle. Harry couldn't find it in himself to move, to call out, to face yet another situation that they didn't have the energy for. They'd faced so much already... he's not sure they'd be able to face much more without breaking.
Draco seemed to be of the same mind, as they both simply stood, tense as bowstrings, waiting for the source of the soft, unseen sounds to make itself known.
Harry held his breath as the shadows deepened, moving and shifting to finally reveal-
"Rae?" Danny's incredulous voice at his shoulder startled Harry so badly that he moved on reflex and jabbed an elbow out, clipping Danny's hurt shoulder by accident. The slowly emerging thestral paused at Danny's hiss of pain, but before Harry could apologize, it trotted out into the open and nuzzled into a surprised but no less pleased looking Danny.
"Oh my gosh, what are you doing here? How-" Danny cut off as more thestrals emerged from within the ghostly stone castle. Harry realized then that Hermione, Ron, Draco and Ellie could clearly see the thestrals as well, their eyes wide and surprised.
"What are these things?" Ellie asked as she gently stroked a thestral's neck, gazing with wonder at the giant bat-like wings.
"Thestrals." Hermione breathed. "But how are they-"
"You know Hermione, this may be one time where we just... don't need to know how or why." Ron said tiredly, another thestral's snout pressed into his palm.
Hermione opened her mouth in protest, but paused. She finally sighed and nodded, allowing herself a small smile as she pet the neck of another thestral.
"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Draco muttered, all while running a grateful hand over the head of his own thestral. Harry chuckled at that, and the others either smiled or snorted in obvious agreement.
"Well, however you managed to get here, we could use your help getting to the Far Frozen. What do you say Rae?"
Rae only nuzzled further into Danny's chest, all while avoiding Danny's hurt shoulder. It was as good as they were going to get, Harry supposed.
Moments later, they were all mounted on their own thestrals, Ellie too, not wanting to miss out, and they were flying swiftly through endless swirling green.
"I still want to know how you know a thestral by name, Danny. And how you all met in the first place."
Danny chuckled. "Man, Ellie, It's a really long story... starting with what happened after you went through the portal, before it exploded..." Danny trailed off sadly, before shaking his head determinedly. "We'll tell you everything, Ellie, but first we all need to rest and recover. Oh, and Harry-" Danny twisted around his position between Rae's large wings to look at Harry, "Frostbite will probably know more on how to remove Voldy's soul piece as well."
"Really?"
"Yea-"
"I'm sorry. The Dark Lord's what?"
Harry sighed.
"Sleep first Draco. Then we'll tell you everything, too."