A/N: I've marked this story as a cross-over, but it isn't exactly a true cross-over. It's more of a blending of both universes (western and wizarding world), if that makes sense. As such…this is a very alternate universe story and no hard feelings if that's not something you want to read. I hope you'll give the story a try anyway.

You would think living out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by these magnificent Ponderosa pines, that life would always be peaceful and uneventful. That couldn't be further from the truth. There always seemed to be some sort of dilemma or situation we were dealing with out here. Sure, my older brothers dubbed me 'Little Joe, a living tornado' as I constantly found myself in some predicament or another. But this time it wasn't about me, at least not entirely.

Being restricted to the ranch due to my last scrape gave me plenty of time to observe the comings and goings around the house. Odd things were happening around here. No, not the normal 'odd' things that seem to happen every other day. These were things I couldn't explain or wrap my head around. I wasn't the brightest in school, but I knew logically how things were supposed to happen and these things weren't logically correct. You would think I would have learned my lesson about butting my way into issues that weren't my concern a long time ago, but this is just the type of adventure I enjoyed most: a real mystery. And I was bound to solve it.

One Friday, I was left at home while the rest of my family headed out to get the cattle ready to move to a different pasture. I was left with strict instructions that Hop Sing was in charge and I was to mind him. I gave Pa one of my sincerest replies, promising to obey.

I've had twelve years to develop the perfect expression to get my Pa to believe me. Despite this, he still felt it necessary to give me one last look that carried more meaning than words alone and then left to join my brothers. Hop Sing mumbled that he was going to be working in the kitchen most of the day and not to bother him. That left me to continue an essay that was a helpful contribution from Adam as part of my last escapade. I only had a couple of paragraphs done so far and I figured if I could get a good chunk of it done today, maybe, just maybe, I might be let off restriction early.

All was going smoothly and for once I was actually focused on writing this dumb essay. However, my concentration was interrupted by a panicked shout from the kitchen.

"Little Joe! Bring water!"

Naturally, instead of just following the order, I had to first see what was going on that would cause Hop Sing to make this sort of request. As I rounded the wall that separated the dining room from the kitchen, I witnessed a small…no scratch that…a large fire inside the oven with flames shooting out in all directions.

Hop Sing was moving around the cramped kitchen desperately trying to put out the fire but to no avail. He's not normally one to catch our food on fire when cooking so I stood planted in place trying to figure out what had happened for what I thought was only a few seconds. In all reality, Hop Sing's anxious shout at me to get moving again indicated it was probably closer to a few minutes.

After one more glance at the raging fire, I hurriedly grabbed an empty bucket near the back door and then went to gather the needed water. Upon returning, I was nearly blindsided by Hop Sing as he carried a towel fully engulfed in flames causing me to almost drop the now full bucket of water on the floor.

It was then that I noticed that not only was the towel on fire, but also most of Hop Sing's right arm. Usually, it's Hop Sing taking care of us when we're hurt, not the other way around. Even so, I was fully ready to grab the salve and ride for the doctor as soon as he returned.

However, when he returned to the kitchen, there wasn't any evidence of a burn, not even a red spot. I might only be twelve years old, but I've been in my fair share of encounters with campfires or even a tiny match. I positively knew if you touched that flame, it hurt. And if you touched it long enough, it made your skin look like a tomato with blisters. How then was Hop Sing able to escape this incident without being injured?

Oh, I know… maybe it was his clothing. It probably protected his harm from burning. No, that couldn't be it. If he was exposed to the fire as long as he was to go from the oven across the kitchen and out the back door, the fire would have burned through the cloth sleeve. Plus, now that I think about it, Hop Sing had his sleeves rolled up as if he was trying to keep them from catching on fire in the first place. Everything about this situation was strange and was calling for me to do my own experimenting.

After supper that evening, we all were lounging in the Great Room. Pa was busy reading the latest edition of the Territorial Enterprise while Adam and Hoss set up the chessboard in preparation for an intense battle of the brains. That left me to get lost in my previous predicament.

Despite being early summer, we continued to light a small fire in the fireplace, especially at night when it could still get chilly. I stared over to the fireplace getting lost in the thoughts and questions that continued to swim around inside my head. How was Hop Sing not burned from touching the fire? Isn't all fire hot? Maybe, though, there might be some fire that you can touch, cooler fire perhaps. Is that even naturally possible? I figured there was only one way I was going to find out.

I glanced over to Pa and then over to my brothers. After I was confident they were all busy, I slid from my seat and casually made my way over to the hearth. Sitting down, I let out a relieved breath that I made it this far without anyone noticing.

I took one more quick glance at my family and then turned towards the fire gradually reaching my hand out.

"Joseph!" I nearly jumped a mile in the air. Pa should know better than to startle a person so close to the fire. "You know you're not supposed to touch the fire. What do you think you're doing, young man?"

I quickly pulled my hand back and stumbled to think up an acceptable reply. I must have taken too long as Pa firmly ordered me up to my room to wait for him to have a necessary talk with me.

Fantastic. Just how I wanted to end my day.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting on my bed waiting for my impending doom when I heard a knock at my door. As it swung open, I expected to see my Pa, but instead, my brother Adam strode through the open doorway.

"Where's Pa?"

"I noticed you haven't been acting yourself recently and told him I'd try to figure out what's going on with you first."

"Oh."

Oh. Honestly, that's the only response I could come up with at the time. Sure, older brother means well, but he's liable to give me an earful then still send Pa up for another lecture and my well-deserved comeuppance that only he knows how to dish out.

"Care to tell me what's going on? You have more common sense than to try to touch fire."

My brain did a mental tug-of-war on whether I should stick to the basic facts or tell him how strange things were happening and I was on a mission to figure them out. The safe option was the basic facts. I wouldn't be lying and yet I could continue my investigation without the meddling of my brother.

"Well, you know about the fire this afternoon in the kitchen?" I waited for a nod from Adam before continuing. "I was curious about how Hop Sing didn't get burned in the fire. I didn't know if some fire was safe to touch while others weren't. I mean, I remember you and Hoss and Pa all told me that fire is harmful, but I just had to find out for myself after what happened. Does that even make sense?"

Silence reigned in the room for what seemed like an hour to me. Finally, Adam answered. "I think it does. I know when I have a problem, I like to test out the hypothesis and see for myself if something is true or not. Just like me, you had a theory and wanted to see if it was true. So yes, I can comprehend and relate to what you were trying to do downstairs."

I smile formed across my face, but one look at Adam showed that while he understood, he didn't actually approve of the way I went about my idea downstairs. I quickly wiped the smile off my face and became solemn to make sure he knew how sorry I was.

"I really am sorry. I know I didn't go about it the right way, but I'm glad you understand. So, is there?"

Adam scrunched his eyebrows together, seemingly discombobulated by my rapid change in the conversation. "Is there what?"

"The fire. Is there a fire that people can touch, like a cold type of fire?"

"Oh. Not really. Fire can be cooler or hotter depending on how much fuel you provide it, but there isn't fire that's cool enough to touch. All fire is unpredictable and dangerous, as I'm sure you already understand."

"Yeah. So how come Hop Sing didn't get burned?"

Adam scratched his head. "I'm not quite sure. The laws of nature say he should have. Maybe he wet his arms before he grabbed the burning towel."

Darn. I thought I would make my investigation easier by Adam just telling me what happened, but my logical older brother doesn't even think it's possible, making the entire event even odder. Right away I knew his suggestion wasn't true as Hop Sing was calling for water. If he had enough water to wet his arms, he should have been able to put out the fire. I guess I'm going to have to increase my detective skills.

Adam stood and began to leave, but a dreaded thought returned to my mind when I remembered why I was in my room in the first place.

"Wait." Adam paused as he reached my bedroom door, turning around to face me. "Are you sending Pa up for my necessary talk now?"

A smirk grew across Adam's face. "I'll let you off easy this time only because I can relate to what you were trying to do. I'll smooth things over with him and tell him I took care of it this time." His smirk morphed into a generous smile.

Well, geez. Sometimes Adam was a pure pain in my side, but at other times, like right now, I sure was glad to have him as my brother.

I returned his smile with one of my own as he turned to leave me to my thoughts about my mission and detective work once again. Time to implement stage two.