Ok, first off, you may have noticed I have not given an implicit date for this chapter, this is intentional. I put the date in the prologue to give you a reference as to where we were in the DP timeline in relation to the HP timeline. I don't plan on stating the date unless it's relevant to the plot. Now on to my nerdom.
Once again I do not own either Harry potter or Danny phantom
Chapter 1 – Heeding a Call to Arms with a Summons, and a Wizards Tour of Wonderland
Tap, tap, tap
Various clocks and odd assortments of strange metallic devices chimed in a short rhythmic pattern that echoed off the walls of the ancient office. Their small song would normally calm him, but Albus had too much on his mind to pay them any heed.
Tap, tap, tap
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and despite what anyone would tell you, a fantastic chef, sat in his chair in a strange state of mind, one he hadn't felt in in very long time. He wasn't distraught, though if he was, not without good reason. The rival of his old student turned dark lord was reason enough to feel unease. It wasn't sadness; He had felt plenty of that in the intervening time since end of the last term. The death of the promising young Cedric Diggory was truly a tragedy, compounded by his recent correspondence with the current minister of magic. It truly hurt Albus to see the vitriol denial of his old friend, one he once held confidence that should such dark times were to return, he would be strong in the face of such contention. It only was made worse by the fact that Fudge's methods of extreme refusal would be the perfect cover for Voldemort, too perfect to be mere coincidence. And so his friend would continue to inadvertently shield this horror. Albus would of course still offer his friend to come to his senses, but he wouldn't delude himself into thinking his calls would be answered. In fact, Albus was sure that he would loss several of his long standing titles before the start of the next term. 'Well, at least they can't take my cooking' Albus gave a soft, sad chuckle as continued taping the engraved wooden handle of his chair, looking down once again at his desk.
Tap, tap, tap
He looked up briefly to one of the enchanted clocks, reading the time, half past seven pm. He had called his Potions and Transfigurations instructors to his office a few moments ago, feeling he would need both their council in this matter. He again looked down at his desk, looking straight at the formal lettering printed on a standard piece of parchment he received not but thirty minutes ago, at seven on the dot. No, it wasn't distress that plagued him right now, and despite his regret in his friend's fearful action, he was not yet burdened by his sadness. No, for once in many decades of life, Professor Albus Dumbledore was befuddled, confused. Frankly he was well and truly stumped.
Tap, tap, tap
He idly wondered how long had it been since he felt this lost. Despite the rumors, Albus held no true sense of omniscience, just a good sense of his surroundings. Beyond his wand work, beyond any mastery of spells, the one thing he excelled at was his situational awareness. As impressive as a wizard he was, he found an open ear, a quick eye and a sharp mind had proven to be his most valuable assets, tools that over the years he had perfected in using. A strong front, mixed with a mastered control over his nerves made him seem impregnable, and all he need was a free ear in the right circles to weave together his near omnipresent status. Perhaps that, he mused, had unnerved Fudge more than he thought, made him more fearful then he was, ironically pushing Fudge and the needed hand of the ministry away, showing the flaws in his near perfect charade. But even with his faults hiding under the surface, Albus had become convinced that no matter how tangled the puzzle, he could, with a steady hand, pluck out an answer. But he was wrong, and the evidence of his error sat there on the desk, leaving him more puzzled then had been in years.
Tap, tap, tap
It was a gamble to begin with, he admitted. With the order reforming and the ministry baring aid, he had reached out to any who would answer the call. For the most part, the response was just as he had suspected would happen, but one anomaly sprang forth, one which could change the course of this war, for good or for ill he didn't know, and that troubled him the most. Sure, the power and resources of this potential ally where extraordinary, but such gains always came with a price, one he couldn't even fathom to what would be offered. It was a preverbal can of worms, yet despite his trepidation, it was one he knew he couldn't refuse to open. He couldn't simply dismiss the answer to his own call for aid, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't bursting with curiosity over this new development. Perhaps he should consult his good Divinations instructor, Albus had learned one couldn't just simply fish for a premonition, but surely such an odd turn of events had to …
Three sharp knocks broke Albus's musings, he looked up from his desk and spoke loudly and firmly "enter." His office door swung open with Severus Snape walked in with his usual ominous billowing cloak and ever present scowl, though holding less intensity then his usual ill demeanor, good thing to, news like this would require a cool head. Behind him walked in Minerva McGonagall, poised as ever and with neutral thin line on her lips.
"You called Headmaster?" said Severus said, an ever present note of sarcasm in his voice, as if to keep it at the ready for quick snip. "Yes," Albus nodded to them both and stood, he spook as he walked to a large pile of letters stacked by a table placed in the left hand corner of his office. "As you may have known, I had recently sent for aid for the order from outside our boundaries, notably in this case, America." Albus rested a hand on the letters to his side, each opened and read, and each filled with some of the most politely written refusals he had ever seen.
The American magical system was always a strange entity to him. Unlike their own British central government, the American ministry was a close confederation of regional covens, small or large communities that would operate mostly by their own regulations. There were of course agreed upon legislations shared between them. The statute of secrecy being an obvious first, as well as several provisions against discrimination latter voted into law, but beyond that the covens mainly governed themselves. Another curious note was their relation to their muggle community. As Britain became more isolationists, the American magical society was much more intermingled with their muggle countrymen, save a few die heart traditionalists communities or families that separated themselves. And despite a few privately funded institutions, much of their youth was even kept in the muggle school system, their magical training done at home or with other coven members after school hours. An odd system to be sure, but not one without its merit, especially, Albus noted, their close ties to their Muggle fellows. He had written to the allied covens, asking if there were any who would be willing to lend aid, but he knew, or at least thought it was in vain, expecting exactly this sort of reaction. If he was being honest, it was more of a political move than anything else. He had hoped that by writing to the American covens, he could spook Fudge into action, showing him just how serious he was. There was the risk that the minister would get word of his resounding rejection, but the ministry's isolationist, and more often than not, elitist stance had always been very alienating to their American fellows. If he knew the game as well as he thought he did, all the minister's office would hear was that he was talking with covens, leaving them to sweat in the implications. But that was all he knew it would amount to, small political maneuver. The covens, while each holding a varying degree of power, couldn't risk getting caught in such a dangerous endeavor. They may each have the right to act, but outside the states they would be representing the nation as a whole, and any incident would most likely lead to politically disastrous results, all to fall on the head of the coven in question. And the more powerful of the covens, the ones more likely to be able to take such a risk would be able to see right through this ploy, and do what Albus would admit was the smartest course of action, and keep their collective noses clean of it. He turned to his two instructors, as Minerva softly sighed.
"I suppose then we shall find no such relief in the covens then?" Minerva spoke with a small, sad, but assured note as Severus kept an uninterested frown on his face, such news was truly unsurprising. "Yes, as I sorted through these letters today, it seemed to be just that." Albus said slowly walking to the front of his desk. He reached forward a lifted one piece of parchment from the center, turned to face them and said "that was, until I received this right at the strike of seven." They blinked, almost in unison as Severus came forward and took the letter from his hands, quickly scanning the page as his eyes widened in shock. Quickly, he handed the parchment over to Minerva as she brought a hand to her mouth, a soft gasp escaping her lips.
Dear Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,
In regards to your request for support, I and my fellows would be honored to lend you a hand in these terrible times. If you would be so willing to, I would speak to you of our involvement. At Ten and ten minutes, forty two seconds the day after you receive this letter, a member of the coven will be arriving at your main gate with means to bring you and any trusted council to our current base of operation, Amity Park, Illinois. I hope to see you then professor; we have quite the important task before us,
Sincerely, Master of the Coven of Cronos
It was so strange to Albus, that such few lines to stir such resounding change. The acceptance of his call was one thing, but to be answered be the coven of Cronos? The coven itself was legendary in its own right. If the stories were to be believed, the coven had been around long before the founding of its current residing nation, far beyond even when the first settlers landed on its shores. It was ancient and secretive, said to operate all over the globe, its members silent and swift in their practice. And yet despite its fame, no one, not even someone as well connected as Albus had any real information about the coven itself. A few members were known, and there was word of their movement, but those stories were scarce at best. The most well-known members were intentionally public, and any story of their activity held no information as to their purpose. Even more mysterious was their leadership that, if the stories were true and if this letter was anything to go by they were, was headed by one person at any given time. Sufficient to say no one, not even Albus had ever met a master of the coven, he wasn't even sure such a person existed until now. They were an enigma, a shadowy organization of unknown function, and when they did visibly act, they did so in earth shattering ways. Albus remembered the firestorm that was Amity Park. The town had always been almost unnaturally connected to the spiritual plane, giving passage to all manner of spirits and creatures, long before the muggles had somehow settled into the region. The wizarding world at large already feared how long the secret could last with muggles in such a volatility hotspot. And then the news hit of 2 muggle scientists with the technology to affect the creatures, and the Wizengamot exploded into debate. Something had to be done with Amity, but with the risk of exposure only slightly above the real fear of the spiritual horrors that the town could harbor, any coven had to be suicidal to even contemplate touching such a disaster. Then along came the coven of Cronos, who with no real opposition by their fellow covens, willingly set up shop in the city. As shocking that such an enigmatic group such as them would be so brazen, that was nothing compared to the Fenton affair.
Albus had read of the story the Nightingale family in in his school days, a family of unparalleled huntsmen that disappeared into annals of history. A sad story to be sure, but one long past, leaving him quite surprised as the revived genealogy of the Fenton's came to light. doubly so when news of their children's magic came to be known as the youngest son dawned his clans old name, claiming his spot as heir and joining the coven. Albus knew little of Daniel Nightingale, only that he was around the same age as young Harry, and if the stories were true was under the direct tutelage of the mysterious master of the coven him or herself. A master now giving him summons.
"Surly this was sent in jest!" Severus said in quick anger, his fists clenched and his face held in a slight panic. "A joking response to a ridiculous request! They couldn't honestly think we'd believe such inanity!" Albus gave a long suffering sigh, he couldn't blame Severus for his outburst, this was rather hard to swallow. "I would be inclined to believe you Severus, if not for the letter's printed stationary below." Engraved at the bottom of the parchment was the seal of the golden cog, the symbol of the Coven of Cronos. The covens of America had all held some signifying mark, each enchanted to prevent forgery; the letter couldn't have been faked.
"But Albus!" Minerva nearly shouted out loud, her voice an octave a little higher than normal, "You can't serious be thinking of going! To Amity for Merlin's sake!?" They had all heard the stories; apparitions plagued the streets, elementals appearing weekly. Despite the covens work in somehow maintaining the image of Amity as some kind of tourist trap for muggles, if even half the stories were true, it would be enough to scare any witch or wizard witless.
"I'm afraid, Minerva that I must go." He turned from his instructors and walked towards his ever faithful phoenix, Fawkes. Albus looked his old companion, he had lost the little bouts of eagerness that the bird was prone to after being reborn, settling into a more aged calm, probably would last another 3 to 4 years until his next death. He smoothly petted the birds head as he spoke "while the Coven of Cronos may be … unorthodox, one cannot deny their effectiveness. And besides …" he shifted his hand down past Fawkes back and scratched right at the trouble spot he knew the old bird's beak couldn't reach "we are hardly in a position to be so exclusive in our aid." He lifted his hand from his old companion and turned to them, walking to his desk as he spoke. "The reality of the situation leaves us with little options, Voldemort has gone too underground to flesh out, and based on Severus's reports, he has the backing of more than half of Britain's old families at his side." Severus's fist declutched, but his eyes hardened, the odds were looking quite grim. "We cannot turn away those willing to defended the innocent from such darkness, eccentric or not." Albus griped the back wooden lining of his desk chair and fully turned as to have them both see him clearly. "I do not wish to put either of you or any other in this school in harm's way, but you both are my most trusted council." Albus paused, looking between the two of them.
"You are both free to decline, I will not force your hand, but I will be honest with you both, I have no earthly clue what to expect, and either of your presence would be a great asset." The two of them shared a quick glance and a nod, and then Severus spoke "While I cannot help but still feel … uncertain about these turn of events, I also cannot deny your evaluation of our current situation." His face settled into a familiar begrudged frown, if a little shakier then normal, giving Albus as clear of a note of acceptance as he would get from the man. Minerva spoke next, with a voice as calm and professional as she could muster "I suppose you are correct Albus, in the end, we must be thankful for any helping hand. I will accompany you, to offer whatever use I can." Albus nodded with a pleased smile, their presence would be a great comfort on this excursion. They both returned the nod and turned to walk back to the office door. Albus had turned and lookup up towards the windows of his office observatory, looking at the stars as the started to twinkle into existence with the dying light of the sun, hearing them leave but not of the door closing. Severus had quickly departed to no doubt prepare himself for the trip, with more than just his spare robe, but Minerva stood in the door way, turning her head slight to him and said softly "I just hope you have some idea what we'll being dealing with." She turned back and left, gently closing the door behind her. Albus gave one more sigh and said aloud "A hope, I'm afraid, we share my dear Minerva."
(~)
"Punctuality, it seems, is not a trait of our, would be allies." He sneered in agitation. Severus stood there with both his headmaster and fellow house head at the large gates of Hogwarts. Argus Filtch, ever dutiful and ever cautious, stood with them with his cat Mrs. Norris at his side, readily waiting to carry their few assorted bags and chests of luggage. In front of them was its courtyard and large, impressive bridge, bereft of any crazed American wizards or witches. It was nearly 10 after 10, and still no sign of the beginning of this farce, other than these foreigners apparent adherence to such a ridiculous claim in their letter. As if to personify this mysterious masters apparent clairvoyance, frankly, Severous found it trite. Suddenly he heard a familiar booming voice. It was faint, but considering the man wasn't visible, he had to be fairly far away.
"Ah, don't you go worryen 'bout that old patch, been dryin' up fer while now." He could see them now, the enormous form of the castle's grounds keeper walking past gatehouse of the bridge, and just to the left of the colossus was the outline of what Severus guessed was their American correspondent. As the due walked closer, he got a better gauge of the man, and was fairly surprised. He was fairly tall, still dwarfed by his companion, but if he had to guess, a few inches above Severous himself. The gentleman's hair wasn't merely receding; it was gone, with a clear waxed shine at the side of his head. The man appeared middle aged, with a striking goatee lining most of his chin and a sheepish smile on his lips. His attire was certainly not that of a traditional wizard, in fact he looked very much like any muggle off the London streets. He wore a light tan overcoat, over a white button up shirt and a green, wool sweater vest. Below he had a pair of standard pair of gray dress pants, a pair of black socks and black, well-polished dress shoes, marred slightly by the tell-tale evidence of smeared pumpkin pulp and seed. By all accounts, this man certainly did look the part of such obtuse and strange group of wizards. In fact, if not for the noticeable smears of soot, clearly gained from his international floo transit, Severus would doubt his wizarding status at all. This required … further investigation. As soon as the man was in range, Severus swiftly and cautiously sent his probe into the man's mind. But as soon as he did, he was slammed back with such force as to nearly cause him to physically step back, gaping only slightly at their guest before regaining his indifferent composure before the man even noticed. As Hagrid and the coven wizard entered the courtyard, Severus kept his cold stare, but internally, his mind was racing, and a quick glance at his head master showed the slightest raise in his eye-lids, the only evidence that he noticed just as Severus that oddity before him.
That wall was powerful, more powerful than any mental barrier then Severus had ever encountered, so much so that he doubted even Albus, with his great mastery, could penetrate it. Not only that, but Severus had felt a presence within that barrier, it was ancient, almost otherworldly, but even more startling was that it was clearly foreign to the man's mind. Not only had their guest made action to what Severus could only guess was two, simultaneous peering's into his mind but from what little Severus could deduce from that small moment of contact, the power behind that wall came from another. He couldn't tell where or how, but it was clear whoever or whatever it was, it was … afar. That shouldn't be possible. One can strengthen the guard of their minds, but no one could guard another's, not even Albus, who to Severus's knowledge was the world's greatest practitioner of such mental magic's. Perhaps, he mused, there was more to this master then just theatrics.
The American wizard and half-giant had finally stopped in front of the stairs to the main gate, when he had some sort of realization. "Oh I am so sorry," the man spoke. His voice, despite sounding a little mortified was smooth and a tad monotone and with a clear American accent, "I must look dreadful. Please, allow me to clean up a little." The man reached into his pants pocket and withdrew a black wood, 5 inch wand, which left Severus slightly perplexed. From what little he cared to hear of the American covens, he knew that certain groups their own, unique catalysts for their spell casting, and what even less he heard of the coven of Cronos led him to believe that their traditional tool was a staff. He could be wrong; after all, any information not directly stated by the group was little more than rumor. But if the stories were true, that would mean the man before them was more traditionally trained, or perhaps joined after his formal training. The bald wizard gave a short wave and a mutter incantation as the soot on his clothes and the stains on his shoes slowly dissolved. He placed his wand back in his pocket, walked towards Severus and company and gave a short, nodding bow before placing a hand before Albus and said with a large warm grin "Hello Professor Dumbledore, my name is Lawrence Lancer, but please call me Mr. Lancer, I'm a member of the Coven of Cronos, it's an honor to meet you." Albus in turn gave his usual soft simile and accepted the hand with a quick gentle shake "Hello Mr. Lancer, it is a pleasure to have you at Hogwarts." Their hands parted as the headmaster kept his right hand up and waved to Minerva to his right. "Here we have our Transfigurations instructor and head of Gryffindor house, Professor Minerva McGonagall." She gave the visiting wizard a slight nod and a quick handshake as Albus motioned to him and said "and over here we have we have or Potions instructor and head of Slytherin house, Professor Severus Snape." Severus supposed that cautious curiosity was no reason to be rude, and gave the man a quick, uninterested handshake. Mr. Lancer gave a small nod to both keeping a light grin "it's a pleasure to meet you both." Albus then turned next the group and gave an acknowledging wave of his hand to Filch, saying "and this gentleman here is the castle's caretaker, Mr. Argus Filch." The American moved to give itch his own handshake, but the old caretaker just sneered and muttered something eligible, yet no doubt scalding under his breath. Rude, but admittedly more civil then Severus had expected from him. After a short, awkward silence, Albus decided to press forward, motioned to the large grounds keeper and said "and I see you've already met our keeper of keys and grounds, as well as our instructor in care of Magical creatures, Professor Rubeus Hagrid." The foreigner a measure of his composure and gave a small chuckle, "ah yes, he was nice enough to help me to the gates after I lost my way from the local town, Hogmeade right?" he gave the grounds keeper an appreciative nod before continuing. "I really do apologize for being late; I've never been to such a traditional wizarding town before, I don't get much chance to travel and became a little sidetracked." Odd, Severus thought as he quirked and eye-brow, and spoke up "I was under the impression that the Coven of Cronos maintained many over-seas operations."
"We do," said Mr. Lancer turning more fully to Severus with a more sheepish expression. "But those are carried out by long-standing, highly trained members; I only joined the coven 5 years ago when they moved into my home town of Amity." He said as he placed his right hand on his chest, just over the slight pudge of his stomach. "I myself am just a local English teacher in one of Amity's local muggle schools. I help tutor some of the youth of the coven on some of the basics of their spell work, but I'm more of an involved citizen then an active member. The Master sent me as a sort of soft greeting before you see any of our more … eccentric membership." Well, thought Severus that explains a few inconsistencies, even if it left him unnerved. He couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable at the man's causal mention of his master. Severus knew it was merely a formal address, a traditional title that no one cared to change, but he found it too reminiscent of recent undercover work that while necessary, left an unsavory taste in his mouth. Not that he'd share any of this, but it did bring to mind one slight problem. "Well, if introductions are out of the way, good sir, I must ask as to our traveling arrangements." He asked, his arms folded behind his back, his indifferent stare still present. "Even if you sir are as uninvolved as you claim, you must understand that the matter at hand requires an appropriate level of discretion." They couldn't follow the man by floo, his own transit would most likely be ignored, but any Hogwarts instructor using the system would set off enough red flags to have Fudge informed before his morning tea. Port keys were also unlikely, never mind that the ministry would intercept them before they even reached the Atlantic, the risk of such a large transit by port key meant that at least one of them would defiantly not live through the trip, which left apparition a definitive no. The only means possible would be some form of cloaked transport, one that would have to somehow move passed all the ministries instruments, from the grounds of the castle it would be hidden, but just out of the forest and they'd have no chance.
The English teacher's sheepish expression turned into a wince and said "yes, we understand the situation and rest assured, we have set up a quick and hidden means of travel." He said ending with a nervous chuckle "though I can't honestly call the people in question discrete." He reached again into his pants pocket, but instead of his wand, he pulled out a very strange device. It was clearly muggle in design, a small black hexagon with a large green button on its top face, but its edge glowed with a neon green that confused Severus, and underneath the man's fingers, he caught a small glimpse a strange, neon green flame logo with some kind of large letter printed in the middle, but he couldn't fully make it out. He looked at his head master and fellow professor, but they deemed just as equally confused. He turned back to the teacher just as he pressed the button, the device's glowing edge started to blink and a soft beeping emitted from it, but beyond that nothing happened. "Excuse me sir," Minerva said with a confused address, "but what was this device meant to…" A load crack of thunder interrupted her, as they turned to the clear skies in shock. A few more load booms issued from the heavens before a large, swirling green vortex appeared from the sky! They barely had time to contemplate this development when a large black shape burst through the vortex and glided through the air as its portal vanished behind them in a dazzling flash of green and black. The Gliding creature genially flew down to the courtyard, becoming more clearly defined as it approached. Severus had never seen anything like it, if he had to guess, he would say it looked muggle in design, but that was only because he had never seen anything like it in the realm of magic. It was long, just a few feet shy of being as long as the courtyards width, its own width stretching to half the size of the gates and as tall as the central fountain. It was rectangular in shape with slick, smooth edging. The face jetted outward like that of a muggle aircraft, with a single gray window panel that showed nothing of the devices interior. The body itself was smooth save for one large strip of glowing neon green that lined the whole of the monstrosity, near its base, and showed no evidence of any openings for entry. At the front end of the craft were two angled wing like appendages, trimming in glowing neon green. The tail smoothed into a blunted point in the back, and held a large, spinning black ring lined in an interwoven glowing neon green design and large half cone like devices evenly distributed around the back of the large circle, rotating with it and shooting just past the devices tail with a sold glowing green color blasting from their tips and emanating a soft hum. To top off the oddity was the garish logo of neon green flames with a large italicized F in the middle. It truly was the strangest thing the potions master had ever seen, he stood them mouth agape merely trying to deuce what I was, let alone how it even arrived as it did.
The strange craft slowed as it made its way to the courtyard, turning to present its flank as it stopped a 4 meters above the ground, no doubt to keep its strange appendages from damaging the ground, and hovered in the air for a few seconds. Severus took this moment to compose himself and looked around. Hagrid had moved himself closer to the group to no doubt act as a shield if neccecary as Albus and Minerva seemed to be collecting themselves from their own astonishment. Filch and grabbed his cat and fled hide behind the castle's large gates, peering ever so slightly from behind his shield. Severus turned to the foreign wizard, who while looked completely unsurprised from the oddity's arrival, held a strange look of nervousness. A strange suction of air alerted all as they turned back to the device, a foot from the right crafts horrid logo they could see a door like indent had formed on the body as a strange metal platform began pushing out from the foot of this newly formed door. The Door continued to recede into the body of the craft before splitting in half and swiftly disappearing, as a soft wine died in the wind. "HELLO ENGLAND!" A large shout came from the craft as a large, orange shape burst from the door and jumped on the floating metal platform. "The Fenton's have arrived!"
Severus just stared, albeit no long slack jawed, but no less surprised. Before him stood one of the strangest men he had ever met, muggle or wizard. He was a giant of a man, almost reaching their grounds keeper's height, and seemed an equal in girth, but that wasn't what startled Severus, no it was his outfit that that had him baffled. His outfit was bright orange one piece suit, covered in strange pockets and logos and seemingly made of a strange, rubber like substance. The suits outline was lined with a long black strip that held an interwoven, glowing neon green design that ran of the man's arms, torso and legs and converged into a black collar at the suits only apparent opening for the head. He wore a strange, black belt that also held the same glowing, neon green interlay and an odd assortment of pockets and holsters. On his hands and feet were matching, rubber like gloves and boots outlined in neon glowing green and on his left wrist a dark gray band of metal. On his back was a pulled down, sold orange hood with attached glowing green goggles, leaving his face exposed. He had Raven black hair, graying just a tad at the bottom, dull teal eyes, and one of the largest grins Severus had ever seen. "Jack, honey," a stern female voice came from inside the ship, "you shouldn't shout like that." Out walked a woman wearing the same strange outfit, only teal instead of orange and her hood up. "Sorry Madds." The large man now known as Jack responded, grin plastered just as strongly on his face, "I'm just glad to see the family's only hunting grounds!" That stuck Severus out of his shock as he was beginning to process what was going on, and just what the odd loud oaf had just proclaimed to the heavens. The Fenton's themselves, here at Hogwarts of all places! The two muggles whom single-handedly brought the Wizengamot a step before blows and spells between them and here they there at one of the magical locations on earth! Mr. Fenton raised his left wrist and made a few taps on the metal band on his wrist and after a second the metal platform that held the couple slowly descended. As the two were lowered, Mr. Lancer spoke up in a still nervous tone "yes well, as you herd, these are the famous Fenton couple, Jack and Maddie Fenton." The platform rested on the floor as he finished. "They were gracious enough to agree to transport you to Amity and back for your meeting." As soon has he had finished, Jack Fenton rushed from the Platform giving a loud "Great to meet yea!" His wife followed and gave a polite bow of her head. Once a few befuddled and harsh handshakes were shard, the Fenton patriarch sept back and gave an awed whistle "Man! Jazzy-pants was right, this place is huge!" Minerva twerked an eyebrow in confusion "I beg your pardon but who?" The Fenton matriarch meanwhile had shed her hood, and exposed her face. She looked quite young, with light make-up, shoulder length brown hair and lavender eyes. She turned to Minerva while raising her left wrist at tapping her own strange bracelet as face lit up in strange neon green display of icons and images. She continued to tap away on her wrist mounted device, it giving off strange electronic and answered Minerva "oh that's just my husband's nickname for our oldest daughter, Jazmine." Her Husband came over and started to tap away at his own wrist, both seemingly inspecting the castle as she continued "she has a sort of fascination with the workings of foreign magical communities and said of all the European institutions of magic, this was one she'd love to visit the most." The strange muggle turned more fully to Minerva and gave a large smile, "it was professor McGonagall right?" she asked as Minerva gave a confused nod. Mrs. Fenton beamed and said "When we arrive in Amity, I should introduce you to Jazz, she's a huge fan of yours." Severus quirked an amused eyebrow as he saw an unfamiliar note of bashful surprise. "Is that so?" Albus answered with amusement clear in his voice, Mrs. Fenton's beaming face grew as Mr. Lancer spoke up with a much calmer domineer "oh yes, she's read all your publications on advanced application of transfiguration." He then chuckled, "Miss Jazmine Fenton is quite the prodigy; in bother her muggle and magical studies, though if I had to guess, you may be her favorite due to also being a cat animagus." Minerva's eyelids shot up and she responded "a fellow cat animagus? My, that is amazing, tell me, what breed is she?" Mr. Fenton's face seemed to be in danger of bursting under the weight of his smile; he dropped his wrist and brought out a simple leather wallet from his back pants pocket "An orange tabby! Look, I got a couple pictures right here!" He beamed as he opened the folds of his wallet to show a collection of family photos. Minerva had an ever increasing smile as she inspected the photos but Severus on the other hand couldn't care less. He was intrigued when he spotted an oddly dressed young wizard with a staff in hand and a blindfold over his eyes, he assumed that this young man must have been Daniel Nightingale that was really pointless to speculate.
The Fenton's picture presentation was halted as both the couple's wrist mounted devices began to beep as they brought them forward. "Analysis complete, you getting these readings Jack?" Mrs. Fenton said, and turned to her Husband you responded with his apparently perpetual glee "You bet! Looks like at least 300 shade class ghosts on the premise, with evidence of well over a 1000 in total shades and one poltergeist, man! Never seen this many Shades in one place before!" Severus's eyebrows once again shot upwards as a look of astonishment not only crossed his face as well as the other Hogwarts residents. "I'm sorry, but do you mean you can detect the lingering shades of wizards?" Albus inquired, awe clear in his voice, which would have been surprising in of itself if not for such a huge development. He could understand the Fenton's being able to detect apparitions and other stronger spirits, strange as it sounded. All they would need was the ability to utilize ectoplasm in some fashion. And while it seemed infeasible that muggles could control ectoplasm at all, the strange neon green energy pulsing from the engines of their craft had been enough evidence that they had enough to accomplish some level of control. But the ghosts of Hogwarts were different. They were comprised of little to no ectoplasm at all, certainly not enough to detect as finely as the couple had demonstrated. It could only mean one thing; the Fenton's had developed technology that could detect magic, maybe even actually effect or harness it! Merlin, if the ministry heard about this! He couldn't even fathom the backlash, but before he could even respond Mrs. Fenton turned to them and answered with a simple smile "sure, when we learned that magic existed, Jack and I just couldn't wait to research everything we could, though the coven's been a huge help, we couldn't have reached where we are today without them." Albus gave a genital nod, a couple strokes of his beard and said "fascinating" Severus couldn't help but internally cringe, he knew that look. For all of Albus's wisdom, he seemed at times far too eager to jump head long into some of the most dangerous of situations. Severus had to admit, even he was amazed at what these muggles had accomplished, but he couldn't even imagine the consequences of what would happen if the ministry at large had learned of the Fenton's breakthroughs, the wizengamot nearly tore itself apart when they herd of two muggles who could simply detect spirits.
Mr. Fenton gave a short few taps at his wrist and said "We know well enough to leave the shades alone, but if you're looking to get rid of that poltergeist, we'd be happy to nab'em! We've been wanting to run a few tests on the more malicious types of shades!" Even Severus, with all his self-control, couldn't help but actually smirk. To have that blasted trickster pulled to pieces on some lab table far, far away? The image alone pleased him enough to almost be persuaded to give the first year Gryffindor's an easier first day, almost. Filch himself seemed nearly ready to kiss Mr. Fenton in joy, but before the disgusting and mentally scaring scene could take place, Albus spoke up "Thank you for the offer Mr. Fenton, but I must decline your offer. Hogwarts has traditionally had a poltergeist since its founding, and while peeves might be the occasional nuisance, even he has his place in Hogwarts." Severus rolled his eyes at the wasted opportunity as Mr. Fenton merely shrugged and said "suite yourself," as Filch seemed as if he was about to either drop to his knees and beg, or cry, or both. Albus spoke again, politely addressing the Americans "perhaps we should continue this conversation another time? We really shouldn't keep your Coven master waiting." The trio of instructors swiftly lifted their wands and shrunk their assorted luggage to fit into their robe pockets. Severus looked up dubiously at the strange craft; they weren't really going to fly in that monstrosity were they? But he gave a silent, practiced sigh, he admitted that the only way this venture would work would be to use an unknown vehicle, and he seriously doubted any in the ministry could know about this masterpiece of insanity.
Albus gave one more word of farewell to Hagrid and Filch (the latter of whom was mumbling in a depressed sulk,) as the three of them cautiously joined the Fenton's and the American wizard on the waiting platform. Mrs. Fenton gave a few short taps on her wrist as their platform slowly rose in the air, stopping directly in front of the strange metal craft's still open door. Mr. Fenton then suddenly slapped his forehead and said "oh! Silly me, I almost forgot to place this baby in stealth mode!" confused, Severus almost asked what he meant when he brought his wrist forward again and gave a quick series of taps, then, suddenly the craft before them vanished, leaving only the metal platform and the open doorway which looked astoundingly out of place floating in the sky. With a small amount of unseen trepidation, Severus followed the Fenton's through the doorway and viewed the interior. The inside of the craft had simple chrome metal floor, walls and ceilings. The walls were lined with an assortment of strange consoles and stations that he could only guess at their function, with simple florescent lighting fixed into the ceiling. The room itself was clearly smaller than the full craft; making up what he could only gather was nearly a 1/5 of the front section of the body. A visibly closed doorway was centered right into the back wall, but the door itself held no knob, just a strange small console attached to its right. The center of the room had a variety of white cushioned benches and seats, each having individual armrests. The very most front had only two seats, situated in front of a large metal counter jetting outward from the nose of the ship, looking suspiciously similar in composition to the couple's wrist devices. Mr. Fenton gestured to the seats and said "go ahead and sit wherever you want, and remember to buckle up!" he then sat in the front left seat as his wife took the right and placed their hands on the metal counter and sure enough a large, neon green holographic display appeared on the metals surface, with the Fenton's beginning to make a series of taps. Severus decided to take a lone, single chair behind the couple as Minerva and Albus shared a bench to the immediate right of his own seat and Mr. Lancer alone to the bench on his left, just as the doors leading to the outside closed. The couple both stopped their tapping and each pressed a button that immediately produced a belted harness to keep them secured to their seats. Severus quirked and eyebrow and looked to his armrest, and sure enough there was a small interface of holographic buttons, on he could easily distinguish as some kind of harness. He hesitated for a second before realizing he wanted to be as safe as possible on this floating boat of madness, and pressed the button as did his compatriots as their securing harnesses snapped into place.
Mrs. Fenton turned and gave a beaming smile "Ok, is everyone safely snugged in? Cuz everyone's first ride tends to be a bit unnerving." "But there's nothing to worry about!" Mr. Fenton bellowed as he proudly pounded his fist into his chest, "I built the specter speeder mark 7 to be as safe as possible!" 7?! "And what pray tell!" Severus asked in a mixture of mostly frustration and slight panic, "Happened to the other 6?!" Mr. Fenton gave a quick awkward couple of coughs that sounded suspiciously like "not my fault, sun was in my eyes," The just filled him with confidence! He sat back with a scowl as Mrs. Fenton rebutted "There really isn't anything to worry about, we may have had trouble before, but ever since Tucker integrated the holographic interface, it's almost literally driven itse…"
"Who?" Minerva asked, "Tucker Foley" Mr. Lancer spoke up from his seat as they turned to him "He's a student at the local muggle school, but more notably a gifted young apprentice in the coven. He's a master of charms, and has worked with the Fenton's in integrating magic into machinery." Mrs. Fenton gave Mr. Lancer a grateful smile as she spoke "yes he's been a friend of our son since before their magic even came to light, and after he's been instrumental in our work. My husband and I work on theory and most of the hardware of the job, but he is a master of software, developing tools and systems with Fenton tech we couldn't even begin to imagine. You've noticed our wrist coms right?" she said, lifting her wrist to display the slick metal band around it. "He was the one who actually designed it, as well as our ships interface, speaking of which." She turned back to her own portion of the controls began entering a few taps along with her husband. The craft rose with barely a shake as the scenery changed in the front window of the craft from the courtyard to the bright clear sky above. The couple gave a few more short taps, "Inter-dimensional jump gate ready!" Mr. Fenton bellowed as the first resinous look crossed his face. The console lit up as a holographic image of the ship showed an image of the ship deploying some strange kind of cannon from its undercarriage. Then all of a sudden, a blinding green light shot from the bottom of craft, going several meters ahead before slamming to a halt by some invisible force. The Glowing light contract slightly in-place as it expanded into a large green vortex glowed brightly before them. "Ok! Here we go!" Mr. Fenton broke one more smile before making a few more taps as the craft hovered into the vortex.
(~)
Albus blinked as the blinding green of the vortex dissipated, a few spots still in his eyes before looked out of the curious craft's window and nearly gasped as he saw a birds eye view of the land below. Gone was the pointed horizon of the forbidden forest of the Hogwarts grounds, in their place were lush, green rolling plains as far as the eye could see, obscured by a gray fog as the clear sunny sky changed to the dimming of twilight. Jack Fenton kept his enormous smile as he explained "welcome to the good old US of A!" Albus sat their shocked as both his instructors looked with gapping mouths. They had seen the portal before, but to see it in use so personally was astounding. Poor Minerva looked ready to faint as she asked in whispered awe "how is this possible?" "With our ghost portal jump gate system of course!" Mr. Fenton boasted, but … "ghost portal?" Albus asked confused, surly they don't mean … "Yep, it's our crowning achievement, a portal to the ghost zone! A couple of years ago, all we could do was keep a permanent gateway in the lab to one random location in the zone. Now we can open a portal where ever we want, whenever we want! All we have to do is open two, closely connected portals in two separate locations, traveling just a millisecond in the ghost zone before bam! Instantaneous travel!" Mr. Fenton bellowed loudly over their accomplishments, which were rightfully ingenuous but this? This was beyond even his wits. A portal to the Nevernear, or ghost zone, was something he thought was well beyond magic. Sure, get the right ingredients, memorize the right incantations, and set up the right ritual and you could do a proper summoning. But even summoning some of the simplest of apparition's required near impossible regents and unbelievably large amounts of power from the castor or castor's, to access the realm itself was an almost impossible task. But here, these simple muggles, with nothing but intuition and determination, had accomplished something that even magic seemingly forbade. Once again, Albus was astonished by the couple, who were looking more and more like the ideal recruits.
He had seen the nervousness in his potions instructor when he inquired of their capacities, but he could see the great potential in the Fenton's technology and judged any risk to well worth the reward. They certainly had no problem sharing their discoveries, evidenced by Mr. Fenton still enthusiastically talking about the nuances of their work, speaking in muggle mechanical jargon he couldn't begin to understand with his wife jumping in to give a quick correction here and there. Despite his over-enthusiastic personality, Albus couldn't help but admire both Jack Fenton, it was clear that their profession was more than means of sustenance, but a true passion. If he was being honest, Mr. Fenton greatly reminded him of Arthur Weasley, whose family he had just recently relocated to the orders new, make shift headquarters at number 12 grimmauld place. It was unfortunate, but necessary, the Weasley family made it no secret were their loyalties lye, it would be too dangerous for them on their own. Perhaps, if things go well, he would be able to at least introduce Arthur to the Fenton's, as a small means to repay them for their loyalty, he was sure that both parties would get along swimmingly.
The craft continued to speed past the countryside as Mrs. Fenton broke her husband's lecture and said ""we're just about at Amity right now; normally we'd just open the portal above the destination, but we did want to spoke the populace with the portal, the sight of an open portal in Amity is enough to scare people off the streets." Albus broke from his thoughts and steeled himself in quiet determination; it was time to view possibly the most haunted land in the world. The rolling hills of the plains soon gave out to long stretches of roads as structures were seen on the distance. As they approached, Albus was given a closer look at this volatile hotspot and was inquiringly confused. Simple brick buildings, a few cozy apartments interspaced with small businesses, the inner workings of the city looked more industrial, but certainly nothing beyond any muggle city he had seen before. All in all, city had the look and feel of a simple small town, certainly nothing like what its fame should suggest. The couple gave a few taps as the craft pulled into an empty street, hovering just in front of 2 abandoned red brick buildings just a few blocks from the center of town. The door of the craft opened as Albus and his fellow passengers were instructed to press the harness icon on their armrests for release, and he, Minerva, Severus and Mr. Lancer moved to the door. "Sorry we can't come with, but we gotta dock the speeder back home." Jack Fenton said with his ever infectious grin as he and his wife stayed in their seats, then Maddie said "we've made a quick scan of the streets and you should be clear to enter the tower, no locals, and not even any ghosts." Her brows quirked together as she said "come to think of it, they've been quite for the past couple of days, shortly after the kids got off for summer school," She turned to the group of wizards at the doorway of the ship and asked "you wouldn't by chance no anything about that, would you?" Albus actually had a very good of what caused that, but the implications worried him tremendously. It wasn't unthinkable that a few of the spirits would remain cautious, Voldemort was known for binding a wayward spirit to syphon its power, but that such a volatile and remote hotspot such as Amity would go silent meant the beings of the spiritual plane sensed greater trouble than he expected, and that was not a good sign. It seems this partnership's necessity was even further proved, a quick look at Severus as his eyes widened before setting into a hardened frown showed his potions master thought the same thing, they couldn't be picky in their aid. Albus addressed the Fenton's and said "I do have a few ideas as to what the cause could be, but I'm afraid my dear that I'm not at liberty to share them yet, I apologies." Best now not to reveal too much until speaking with this master of theirs, though if proceedings went as he thought they would, he would tell them the full story before too long. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton shared a quick nod as the group stepped onto the platform, the door shutting behind them as the platform slowly descended to the street before rising again and disappearing with the rest of the craft, a soft hum slowly dying in the wind as the ship invisibly flew away. "Right then, please follow me." Mr. Lancer gestured to the group as they followed into the dark alleyway between the two buildings. As they walked into the darkness of the ally, Albus began to sense it, a powerful concealment charm laid before them. Soon they reached the dead end of a red brick wall, which to any muggle would be the end of the story, but the groups of Hogwarts instructors were familiar with such magic's. Swiftly, Mr. Lancer pulled out his wand and tapped the wall three times and said "tempus regias" under his breath. Just a second after stating the password, the bricks of the wall began to shift and move, becoming an arched corridor as touches that lined the hallway came alight. At its end was a sold purple door, trimmed in gilded gold with a solid gold, gilded knob and the golden cog of the coven of Cronos in the middle. Quickly they quickly walked down the hallway and reached the door as Mr. Lancer grabbed the knob and gave a beaming smile and said "well I suppose this calls for a dramatic introduction." He cleared his throat and said "dear instructors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I give you the Coven of Cronos's base of operations, Time Watcher's Tower!" He turned the knob and opened the door.
Beyond the door was an enormous circular room, easily the size of 3 great halls. The building itself was comprised of ancient, gray stones comprised almost all of the walls and floors, if not for the gilded stain glass windows on the walls that depicted several different clocks and cogs as well as giant, ancient selections of rugs and hardwood furniture interspaced within the large floor. In the center was a gigantic wooden beam slowly rotating in the center of a large hole in the floor, a small stone wall lined the pits edge. The pillar's massive frame reached upward to an incredible height before ending in a massive central cog in a sea of cogs and clockwork that made the rooms ceiling. Albus stepped in the room, silently marveling at the sight of it all, from the sheer size of the room, the beautiful craftsmanship of the surrounding furniture and the bustle of the local coven. There were all manner of wizards and witches in the room, some amongst a number of bookshelves and desks, furiously scribbling on muggle paper while others with a quill and ink on parchment. Others mingled on recreation tables and benches while others same and went from similar doorways lining the perimeter of the vast room. Mr. Lancer closed the door behind them as said "Now, I'm to escort you to Miss Jazmine Fenton, she will then personally bring you to the master's office." He walked in front of them and said "She should be somewhere on the grand floor, usually tutoring one of the students in either the magical or muggle studies, this way." He gave a quick wave as the group of them followed closely behind. As they walked, Albus looked among the crowd and saw in interesting distinction between two groups. The first were those who were busy with research or seemed to be tutoring younger family members, these people were dressed in traditional muggle garb and waved a traditional wand. The other group was different, these individuals were the ones coming to and from the many doorways, or were merely sitting in more recreational sections. These individuals wore long, different colored cloaks and all bore a visible image of the golden cog somewhere on their person, as well as each holding a variety of staves. It seems the good English teacher was speaking the truth about the more combat oriented members using the rumored staves, not that Albus thought he was lying but it never hurts to see the evidence for yourself. They continued walking through the crowd, some heads turned to gawk at the famous headmaster, but most went about their business. Albus continued to view the crowd as they walked and nearly gasped when he viewed a third group amongst the crowd, ghosts. Everything from the simple shade to glowing green apparitions to a few strange elemental creatures walked about, mingling within the crowd. The variety in power and type astounded him, even more so that they seemed perfectly docile, some even clearly baring the mark of the golden cog. Albus must have stopped at some point as Mr. Lancer turned to face the group, "surprised to see our other worldly companions I see." In hindsight, Albus had to admit that it should have been obvious, most spirits were known to be reclusive, never really interacting with human realm unless summoned or forced by their more malicious peers. But still, the fact that this coven had so many spirits willingly in their aid spoke volumes of their master, and while it was comforting to know that such a man was willing to lend a hand, Albus couldn't help but feel unnerved.
Who was this man? What kind of power did he wield to have the spirits readily in his employ, who could reign in one of the most spiritually volatile places in the world? And then there were mental shields to consider. He had to admit, he succumbed to his curiosity of their foreign guide when he arrived at Hogwarts and tried to learn just a bit more, and was just as equally surprised at the foreign guide as Severus. That would be just it, a strange oddity, possibly explained by a hidden item on the man until he sensed the Fenton's. Severus most likely didn't pick it up as he didn't attempt peer into the couples head but Albus didn't need to peer into their minds, his mastery allowed him to sense their defenses and he was silently shocked to feel the same shields as the man in front of him. He would think it a part of their equipment, some sort of defense they had constructed for protection if he couldn't feel the presence in their shields, the same ancient, powerful presence that left Albus feel bared by a higher power. It was one thing to boost wizard's mental defenses, perhaps with the right application and rituals it might be feasible, but to guard the minds of muggles was beyond anything he thought could ever be achieved, it meant the shield was entirely a foreign power, something beyond the conscious mind in question, something that was entirely impossible. And then finally was this room, quite possibly the most shocking aspect he found was not the spirits, nor the diversity of the wizards and witches in the room, it was that every single one had a mental guard of their own. Some, he felt, had constructed their own defenses, he could feel them coming from what seemed older or more proficient members of the coven, but for all the rest, the guard was absolute, all holding that same ancient presence. He made a quick look at his potions professor and while Severus was doing a good enough job at hiding it, it was evident to him that he was feeling just as unsettled. This was beyond just the power of a greater wizard; such power was frankly god-like. But amongst the crowd he could pick up an oddity in the mental wards.
It wasn't its power then confused him, but its feel. Unlike the predominant guard of the room, which felt ancient and authoritative, this was clearly young and free spirited. It was effective that the individual's thoughts couldn't be perceived, but either the person in question wasn't trained well enough to block out their emotions, or were unconcerned to hiding them. Curious, Albus moved a bit to the right of the group, scanning the crowed as he approached a large open section of rug with a few sparse chairs and tables for quick recreation. The rest of the group followed as Mr. Lancer came up to his left and said "Professor Dumbledore! Where are you- oh that's Jazz Fenton over there." He pointed to a small table where a young woman sat, a book in hand. She looked just as she did in the Fenton's pictures, with long, vibrant orange hair tucked behind her head with a simple teal headband. She wore a teal, silk top with long sleeves that stretched past her waist and down her right flank. Around her waist was a black sash and below that she wore a long black skirt the reached a little past the middle of her lower leg. On her feet were short black socks and black moccasins. To see the eldest Fenton child in person was an interesting development, equally so when he felt an equal guard over her mind as he did the majority of the crowd, but Albus's full attention was on her companion, the source of the strange mind he had sensed. She was young, appearing to be about 12 in age, no older then a second year. She had slightly pale skin and long, black hair tided in a ponytail with bandage cloth, it reminded Albus of Harry's unruly hair except this seemed to be treated with a conditioner to keep it straighter and more feminine in nature. She wore a hooded, grey-blue sweater and long red jeans with white and red sneakers on her feet. Around her neck was a silver pendent, shaped in as a small broadsword and a glowing red gem on the hilt. Albus was surprised to feel a fait trail of magic emanating from the pendent, similar to that of a wand, but truly, that was not the most shocking aspect of the girl; no it was the fact that she quite frankly didn't look completely human.
She had 6 white, stone like horns poking up from her hairline the ran in 2 pairs of 3 in a straight line on opposite sides of her head, each curving slightly to the back of her head and each tipped and a blazing red, her ears protruded from her head and were rounded, similar of a lion or other such larger feline, and were covered in short black fur with a small plumage of white and silver within the ear itself. On each of her fingers were small, white claws tipped with the same red as her horns. She had a long, black furred tail coming from the base of her spine; it was about 6 inches in diameter and in the same short black fur that reminded Albus of a jungle cat. The tail itself stretched to an impressive length, approximately one and a half times her height and ended in a small tuff of red fur at the tails tip. It seemed to ungulate slowly, similar to that of a reptile. The girl was currently using her tail as a make shift chair, propping herself up by her tail and folding her legs in mid-air, the tails movement only slightly moving the young girl as she stared intently at a transfigurations textbook in her lap,( the Scylla of her eyes were black and pupil's slitted and her iris's a striking ocean blue,) talking to the young miss Fenton "Ugh, I still don't get why I have to know so much about rat anatomy to turn a rat into a goblet, isn't magic supposed to be instinctual?" she said, in such a reminiscent frustration of one of his students, Albus nearly chuckled out loud. Second year transfiguration was always harder for those without a knack for the craft, and despite the strangeness of the girl before him, he couldn't help but feel to appease the teacher in him, nearly speaking up until Miss Jazmine beat him to the Punch. "Magic can manifest instinctually Danielle, but that doesn't mean it does the work for us." She chided the younger girl, "Magic by nature is just a power source, it's your mind and will that shape your spells, if you don't have the right understanding in how to shape it, the spell will merely apply that power to any stray effect it can, such as when during you charms practical you conjured a robin instead of water." She said, with a raised eyebrow and a stern look chastisement as her young student rubbed the back of her head and chuckled sheepishly. Albus couldn't help but smile, the girl shared more than a just a similar animagus form with Minerva, he looked back and nearly chuckled himself at the look of proud approval Minerva wore at her teaching. Speaking of animagus, Albus turned back and examined the girl that sat on her tail several meters away. She had lifted the book from her lap as she bit the bottom her lip, sharped teeth and fangs now visible as she moved her tail so she sat upside down, apparently trying to look at the material in a different perspective. It was faint, but he could feel a similar magic of that of an animagus around the girl, though it was strange.
With a typical animagus, the magic in question was present but subdued, only taking into effect when desired by the castor in question, and when in effect, be predominate to the point that to any sufficiently trained wizard, the magical nature of the form would be evident. The girls form was however different, impartial transformations while not infeasible were highly difficult to even achieve and even more so maintain. And yet, judging by what he could sense, she felt no strain, as if the form she was in was actually more natural than a full human. Albus was once a gain stunned, if not a little worried, the animagus magic's always carried a risk and he feared she was the victim of a misjudged transformation. He was tempted to peer inside her mind and see, her guard, while strong, seemed relaxed, with enough prying he might … no, Albus stopped himself. It would be wrong to try so on so young a mind, but just as he pulled back he sensed Severus extend his probe to the girls mind, apparently he had no such concern of her age. He was about to reprimand his instructor for his rude behavior when …
"HEY!"
The girls elongated ears snapped in attention as she jerk up and started right at the group before narrowing her eyes and he could feel Severus pushed back with such force that he had to take several steps back, a loud mental shout resounded. It nearly pushed Albus back as he started wide eyed at the girl. That was not just a trained defense; it was more akin to a natural defense mechanism, as if her being was naturally inclined to protect such intrusions. The girl used her tail as a spring and actually hovered a few feet in from of the group, tail unconsciously swishing behind her as she glared daggers at the potions master as Minerva started wide eyed at the whole scene. "It's rude to look into a person's mind without their permission bub! What gives you the right to just try and waltz into a lady's head?!" Severus, despite his surprise at the child's causal use at flight recomposed himself and sneered, though with a lesser intensity than usual. Child though she may be, the potions master couldn't really argue her point, he was caught red-handed. "You'll have to forgive him Dani," The calm voice of Jazmine Fenton came as she walked next to the young floating girl, now standing he saw the girl was just a few inches shorter then Severus "it can't be easy for a trained legilimancer in a room full of people whom he can't see within," she narrowed her eyes at Severus and frowned, leveling him a look of pure disapproval and said "even if was still rather rude." Albus couldn't help but give a soft chuckle, it really was too much like seeing a young Minerva all those years ago, made even better by Severus's mumbled and quick apology as the real Minerva held a respectful smile. Mr. Lancer spoke up as he walked to the two young girls and said "yes well, everyone this is Jazmine Fenton, one of our best students and tutors, and her younger sister, Danielle Fenton." Albus raised an eyebrow in curiosity, a third Fenton child? He hadn't heard news of a younger daughter, certainly not one with such bizarre magic. But then again he hadn't heard much of the other children beyond their names before this little excursion, and given the odd nature of the girls magic, he could understand the family being withholding such knowledge from the wizarding press, not that any would brave the town to bother the family anyway.
The eldest Fenton daughter stepped in front of Albus and company and said "please, call me Jazz, you must be Professor Dumbledore, I've read you dissertation on dynamic transmutation, it's an honor to meet you sir." She gave a large, warm smile and extended a hand to him, which he gladly accepted, with an equally warm smile. It really didn't surprise him that she had read his work, given what he had already heard of her studious nature, but to see one so dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge brought a warm feeling of pride swell in his chest. He might just recruit her to the staff in a couple of years, she clearly had the mind for the task and her perspective on such a spiritual ground would be a great benefit to the school, he'd have to look into once this war was done. She extended a hand to Severus and said "and you must be Professor Snape, I've also read about your work in refined ingredient extraction, it was truly fascinating." Severus only clue of surprise was a singularly raised brow as he took her hand and gave a quick, polite shake saying "It's always a pleasure to meet an individual who knows the value of sensible concoction, something my students apparently need to relearn every year." She gave a small giggle, shared by her younger sister behind her. Severus gave her an incredulous look as she quickly composed herself and said "oh I'm sorry, but that comment was something I might hear from my brother Danny." Mr. Lancer then joined his own soft chuckle "yes, that's true, Mr. Nightingale seems to have made sarcasm into his native language, as his English teacher I can't help but feel both annoyed and proud." So, the Fenton son had a common trait with the potions master, well at least Albus had a general idea of what to expect. Of what little he did know of the Fenton family ha was sure Mr. Nightingale would be near during the proceedings with the Coven master. Miss Fenton gave one smaller chuckle before turning the Minerva and said "And you are …" She stopped dead and brought both her hands to her moth as her eyes widened "Oh my gosh! You're Minerva McGonagall!" Minerva gave a genital smile of amusement as Albus heard Miss Danielle groaned and said "oh no." Immediately Miss Fenton clasped both hands around Minerva's hands, her mouth in a grin to rival her fathers and her teal eyes looking near to sparkling " Oh my gosh and such a huge fan of your work Professor McGonagall, I've read all your …!" She was cut off by her younger sister as she zoomed through the air and planted both her hands on Miss Jasmine's mouth and said "Jazz, sis, remember to breath…" She removed he hands from Minerva who looked to be suppressing a few chuckles for the young girl's sake as Miss Fenton collected her wits, her face flush in blush and her mouth in an embarrassed small smile. She spoke up "y-y-yes, of course, forgive me, you had business with the master right?" Her sister and said "It looks like we're finished with today's study session Dani, I want you to read the rest of chapter 2 as well as chapter 3 before our next session," The younger girl slumped in the air and gave a tired groan as Miss Fenton continued "why don't you go find Sam, she should be done with her DADA practical practice by now." The youngest Fenton perked right up and said "K, bye Jazz," she sped off, but stopping as Jazz gave a stern "ahem" and turned in midair with a sheepish smile "oh and bye Mr. Lancer and company!" She zoomed over the crowd before phasing right through one of the doors lining the walls, leaving her sister to sigh and Albus completely amazed and confused. What exactly was the youngest Fenton? An altered animagus could explain her form, while it was near impossible by regular means, the strange spiritual connection this land had could do untold things to her developing magic. But flight, the ability to pass through solid objects? Possible for one of the greatest users of magic, but certainly not for one so young and judging from what he sensed; it was done more by instinct than by a formed spell. There was so much of this coven that surprised him, it seemed this venture would bare greater fruit then he imagined.
Mr. Lancer stepped up with an amused shake of his head and said "always the free spirit that one," he chuckled at some apartment joke and continued "well I best be off myself, I've got papers to grade and lessons to plan, I'll leave you in Miss Fenton's capable hands." He gave s short nod and a couple quick handshakes and left, disappearing in the crowd behind them. Miss Fenton gave the man a small farewell wave before saying "all right, if you follow me, I'll take you to the master's office." She turned and led them to an opposite corner of the massive room, cutting through the crowd as they went about their business. Albus look around him as furniture changed from bookshelves and tables of the area become different assortments of furniture, from tables to benches, some even surrounding beautifully crafted water fountains and further still an assortment of stands and displays from wizard and spirit alike, all selling any assortment of wares. But as strange as his surroundings were, Albus couldn't help but focus on the girl, her strange magic and abilities leaving him stumped as to their nature. "You know," Miss Fenton said, barely turning her head back to Albus as they walked, "I don't mind a couple of questions sir, I'm sure Danielle wouldn't mind me clarifying a few things." She said on a small smirk, and Albus couldn't help but chuckle. Miss Jazmine might not have had legilimency, but she did have enough experience to pick up facial ques, and enough situational awareness to find the problem, he really would have to see about recruiting her, she would make a wonderful teacher. He gave a small nod of appreciation as she returned the gesture and said "yes well, as you might have deduced, she's an animagus, same as me and my brother." So the young Fenton son was also an animagus, it didn't really surprise him, based on what he read about the Nightingale family. Although rare, some families were known to have unique magical talents that ran in the family, and the Nightingale had the rare talent of animagus magic. When the family was still in its prime, its members counted for most of Europe's animagus and their eventual decline was one of the major reasons for the magic's own modern obscurity. Miss Jazmine continued "She originally had a panther form, as my brother had the old Nightingale trademark form of a white wolf." Severus quirked an eyebrow and spoke with only a slightly interested tone "Originally?" Minerva's face contorted into confusion and worry as she looked at the young woman. The group had stopped at one of the door lining the walls, but not yet stepping in, as Jazmine gave a small sad sigh and said "yes, originally they both had the usual animal forms, but …" she tapered off as she turned her head to the door and grabbed one hand in the other, a sad frown only half visible on her face "there was an accident in our parents lab a few years ago, I wasn't home at the time, so I was unaffected, I won't go into the details as their a little too personal, but it essentially left their magic … altered." She visibly recollected herself and continued through the door, on the other side was a long stretch of corridor, similar to the entrance they had walked through earlier. They continued through the corridor as Miss Jazmine continued "They were given a few spiritual abilities and spiritual magic's, like the flight and intangibility that you saw Dani use." Albus hesitated in his step for just a second before continuing; visibly looking intrigued as internally his mind was racing. The spiritual arts were an obscure and eldritch branch of magic, capable of feats nigh impossible, but were long forgotten due to their impracticality. In order to use them, one needed a steady supply of ectoplasm, which before the Fenton's was near impossible to obtain. But even with such a supply, one still had to learn how to effectively channel the energies through a series of catalysts and sufficient training otherwise you couldn't lift a pebble much less yourself. And yet, the youngest Fenton showed no such preparations, no runes or cumbersome artifacts, using such magic's as easily as breathing. It could only mean one thing; both she and the boy must have gained some form of symbiosis with the ectoplasm, being infused with it. The implications where staggering, if the boy had anywhere near the level of control as the girl…
He spoke up "Astounding, it must be difficult for them to control such abilities," Miss Jazmine relaxed, apparently glad to shift the subject away from the accident and said "at first it was, Danny could barely walk anywhere without accidentally phasing halfway through the floor, but then the master approached us and helped personally train both Danny and Danielle, as well as our friend Sam who's magic was similarly altered in a run in with a malevolent elemental." Another one?! Albus wondered was beginning to wonder how many in this coven could use the spiritual arts when he considered the young woman's words. It seems their new ally was a master of the spiritual arts, which would explain his involvement and association with the spirits of this town, but still left Albus no hint as to who this mysterious master was, perhaps a little more digging will shed a little more light. The group had reached the end of the hallway and exited thought a similar door into a large, circular ring of a room. It was composed of the same stone as the interior room and had a diameter of a third the interior room, which still left a fairly large gap between the walls. Looking up, Albus could see symmetrical doors lining up the walls of the tower, each row having an iron and stone catwalk as the rows seemed to stretch upwards at an impossible great height, ending stone ceiling that had large, dark iron chandeliers with clearly enchanted candles for lighting. In front of them was a large, vertical bronze gear contraption jetting halfway from the wall and floor. Wrapped around the gear was a bronze catwalk that sat level with a surrounding metal docking station that had a waist high metal fence lining around the cat walk except for a metal gate siting on opposite sides of the large gear, a metal post sat next to both gate with a wooden box filled with a few glowing orange buttons on its face. Behind the gear on the wall was a small metal track where half the gear rested and ran all the way up, through large gaps in the lining rows of catwalks, each with their own call stations. As the group approached the lift, Albus considered his words, what did he want to ask? He spoke up "Miss Fenton, if you don't mind me asking a little more about your sibling's animagus forms, how exactly where they altered?" Albus figured he'd ask the about the spiritual arts from the source itself, right now those altered forms intrigued him. Miss Jazmine turned her head a bit and said "oh yes, well, unlike a normal animagus who really can only chose between a full human form and a full animal, those two can alter, mix and match in any way they seem fit, though …" She had stopped for a second before continuing, reaching the gate of the lift and pushing it aside as she finished "you saw Danielle before right? Despite being able to turn and stay human for an indefinite amount of time, they both feel stiffed in a full human form, feeling much more naturally comfortable in a sort of half state, like you saw earlier." Her head dipped slightly as she sighed "well, I can't say they both can go fully human, Danielle can change everything back, but Danny … he lost the ability to change his eyes back, their permanently stuck in an altered state." He saw Minerva put a hand over her mouth aghast as Albus's own mouth set into a sad frown.
It wasn't the first time he heard of an animagus being stuck with some strange affliction, it was a dangerous skill to learn, but o happen to one so young was disheartening. Miss Jazmine turned and said with a small smile "it's not so bad, his training with the master has made so the blindfold doesn't actually inhibit him, and he seems to have adjusted well enough it's just ... Danny has a tendency to take on too much." She turned from them and sighed "it keeps him focused on his work, which is productive, and he certainly hasn't lost any of his humor." She said with a soft snort, eyes distant as she seemed lost in her worry, "Over all, he's happy and healthy, but that's because of the support around him, if he's left to his own devices, I can't help but worry for him." She finally let out one more sigh, looked down and opened the gate to the lift, saying "He has a bad habit of putting the weight of the world on his shoulders." She stepped in and they followed, with Miss Jazmine closing the gate behind them. She walked up to the side large face of the gear that had a small wooden plaque cover in orange glowing buttons, each having a number printed in black cursive on its face except for one large button that sat alone and above all the others, it had in the same font a CW icon, which Jazmin pressed. Albus could hear the mechanisms of the lift creak to life as the platform steadily rose, passing row after row in its accent. Finally, they reached the top row as the lift stopped to let them off. This row differed from the others, there were no doors lining the outer ring, instead, there was a long bridged catwalk that lead once again to a door in the inner pillar, this time with the initials CW within the golden cog in the center. As they walked over the catwalk, Albus pondered the initials of the door, it was a clear clue as to this master identity, but of the life of him he couldn't think of anyone they belong to. The finally reached the central door as Miss Jazmine grabbed the handle and opened the door. On the other side was the same sea of cogs and machinery that made the ceiling of the inner chamber, only now with them in the middle instead of afar, separated by only a similar catwalk that lead to a spiral staircase to their right. Despite their proximity, the cogs and wheels seem to give little to no noise, most likely charmed to remain silent. They acceded the stairs as Severus spoke up, saying with a little frustration "What in sort of blasted purpose could this collection of clockwork serve?" The neared the top as Miss Jazmine gave an amused smirk and said "funny you should mention that." Albus was perplexed until he reached to top, and for once in many a decade, Albus Dumbledore gave an audible gasp.
The stairs lead to a large stone walkway that stretched halfway into the radius of the circular chamber, with four identical pathways at each of the rooms four corners, all leading to a massive, central, circular platform of stone that sat in the middle of the sea of cogs. The outer surface of the platform was decorated with rare leather chairs and black wood, gold trimmed book cases and desks with an occasional display case that held an assortment of strange and curious trinkets. From the center of the platform started a strange metal platform of black and bronze curved plating, interlaced with simple glass that showed the detailed inner works of smaller, golden cogs that joined with the large sea below. In the middle of this metal platform was a raised section of circular steps at rose a standard story high and stopped with a 15 foot diameter circle at the top. The top platform had one, large central desk, made of black wood and trimmed in gilded gold with the same golden cog with the letter CW placed in the center of the front face of the desk. Behind the desk and directly opposite them was a massive clock face imbedded into the wall, reversed to show that it was the face of a clock tower, with a central horizontal pillar fastened from the center of the clock and hanging over the room, stopping in a series of cogs that hung several meters over the platform's desk and from a large black wood beam coming from the ceiling, which was to made from black wood and was triangularly arched and braced with large black wood beams. But it was none of this that made Albus gasp, no it was when he saw the starling amount of green and black. The large clock face was not comprised of some form of tempered glass, but of pure fel energy, it swirled and spun in green and black, moving like an ethereal liquid within the clocks surface. Bellow the clock face was open as the other worldly energies ran like a river down a troffer on the wall. The strange, water like power ran down into a large moat that ran down one of the large stone pathways and into two large moats within the central platform, one large one that timed the outer most edge of the platform, and one much smaller that ran the edge of the central metal platform. The outer ring of the central platform was raised slightly, as to keep the energies from flowing out and had large, black metal poles that lined the outer edge, each with their own flow of green and black energy don the middle. Mounted on each wear large, spinning, black gears with a large central hole in each that held a pool of swirling green and black, similar to the large clock face. Albus stood stunned, hardly believing what he saw.
Albus was not a man with a strict coded of plausibility; in fact he felt it was only healthy to expect the most impossible outcome in ones dealings, it was part of the reason he admired the Fenton parental figures so much. But not even he had his limits, and this fell squarely within them. They walked the three instructors awestruck at the sight before them as they reached the central platform and marveled. No one, no master of Occlumency, no wielder of hidden spiritual arts could have such free access to fel energy. No one could extract it, no one could channel it, it was a power reserved for the most powerful of spirits, but here it was, imbued into the very clockwork of the tower how … Albus paused in his walk as he remembered what the Severus had said and Miss Fenton's reaction,
Clockwork
He looked up to the central desk and started in disbelief at the initials on the desk … it couldn't be. "Well, looks like someone's at a loss for words." A young voice echoed through the room, causing all but Miss Fenton to look about as she just shook her head it wasn't loud enough to be a shout and the source was instantly visible, so it must have been enchanted, but person in question sounded very young, around Mr. Potter's age if he wasn't mistaken. Miss Fenton then looked up to the ceiling, looking around the black wood and said "and someone's forgetting their manners, mister." A soft chuckle echoed as Miss Fenton finally honed her sight on of the black support beams, look directly at a small flash of silver. Albus followed her line of sight and could make out a dark silhouette before something leapt from the large support beam bellow, the dark figure continued to plummet to the floor, Albus would have brought out his wand to catch the figure if he didn't see the person in question wear such a confident smirk. A few meters from crashing headlong into the stone platform, the being flipped in midair, brought his hands up and stopped deafly in midair before lowering his hands a gently gliding to the floor before them, dark coat billowing and hood still up, not even disturbed by the stunt. Now much closer, Albus could see the stuntman was a quite young, right at the age of a fourth year moving into his fifth term. He wore an odd assortment of black garb and in his hand, a dark wood staff whose central gem glowed a soft green before becoming a soft blue. He moved his hand to his hood, with the same smirk plastered on his face "hey, I'm not rude; I just learned master's method of making an entrance." The boy's face smirk marginally increased as Miss Fenton just rolled her eyes at the younger boys joke and said "fine, I guess I'll be the mature one again, professors, this is my little brother Daniel Nightingale." So this was the young Nightingale. Albus observed the youth before him, he tall for his age, reaching just below Severus's chin, and his hair was more hopelessly unruly then young Harry's, longer as well, putt into a rather impressive ponytail that was bound by what appeared to be a cloth bandage. Just as his sister said, a black cloth blindfold covered his eyes, hiding his more inhuman quality, though she was also correct in that it seemed to affect his vision at all, as he looked between the group with crossed arms, notably turning to Albus, which he had a good idea as to why. Like his little sister, This Fenton seemed to have his own mental shields, though these seemed quite different. For one thing, while he didn't test the boy's skill, he could sense that the walls were much stronger than his younger counterpart, not only that, but seemingly ever present, showing the trained caution he held. He might have seemed a jokester on the outside, but Albus could tell from the very way the boy breathed, he was tense and focused, ready for possible threat the three English visitors may possess. It made sense, they boy did wield a staff, the tool of the covens more combat oriented division, it only made sense that he was trained to anticipate any sort of threat, which made Albus think. He had no plans on involving anyone this young in the war, but the boy before them was sufficiently trained, and he was contemplating recruiting his parents. Mabey he could make a small exception, not necessarily for combat, but the boy could help keep Harry and company safe, and having such a strong Occlumancer near the boy would certainly … "so," Albus's thought was cut short as Miss Jazmine addressed her brother "where's the master? I was told you and he had some business to deal with before meeting the headmaster and company." The Young Fenton gave a short shrug before saying "eh, it was nothing, the council called us in to talk, something about master giving to many hints, it was getting repetitive so he sent me out first." Council? What council did he mean? Albus wondered as Miss Jazmine just sighed and said "you'd think those floating eyes would realize just how little control they have over him." Floating eyes? A council of floating eyes? That sounded like… Albus's eyes widened, it couldn't be…
"That would imply, dear Jazmine..." another voice echoed through the room, but this one was different, it was deep and sounded old and powerful. Just then a blue vortex with two spinning clock hands appeared just in front of the central mechanism that hung over the desk. A being stepped forth, clad in purple and gold, with blue skin and red, pupiless eyes that bore through Albus's very soul "That the role of the observer had any control over anything in the first place." The portal disappeared from the creature as he and his fellow instructors gaped in awe, the youth's both turned to the being and gave a small bow as Miss Jazmine said "hello, Master Clockwork." Albus's head snapped to the girl, before turning again to the entity before him, so it really is him…
The being returned the bow before addressing the British wizard "It is good to meet you Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall." The ancient spirt gently floated down to his desk at sat in his chair, placing to float right beside him. He sat his elbows on the table before interlacing his hands and smirked said,
"Well, it's about time we begin."
OK, first real chapter out, still no tucker, but he's coming, as will the rest just give it time. A few things I want to note here,
Sam and Tucker will NOT be getting animagus forms. It's not that I don't think they can't have them, but I can't keep giving out animal forms, I'm justifying Jazz and the Danny's having them as a sort of family thing and I do plan on other character being animagus (not saying who) but I don't want everyone suddenly turning into animals
I intentionally did not say that when Danielle phased through the door she turned see through. That isn't because they're in clockworks tower either, if that was the case then the wizards would be phasing through everything so CW has installed human world enchanted doors. No the reason Danielle didn't go see though is because I'm eliminating the trait of intangibility. If I'm being perfectly honest, that part of the show always seemed pointless to me, yea I get it from a practical sense, showing the state the character's in to stop people from being confused, but in written form, I don't see much of a point. Not to say there won't be transparent characters, such as the Hogwarts ghosts, it's just that intangibility won't make them transparent.
If I missed anything else you might want to ask, please post a question and I'll try to answer it in the next chapter. See you next time!
