Harry ran down the dilapidated manor's hall, with his best mate watching his back as they approached the eerie room lit only by candlelight.
They pressed themselves against the wall, with Harry taking the lead and his wand ready, listening to the chanting go on.
Whatever these dark wizards were summoning, it was powerful, and they couldn't just barge in and cut it out, that would just end up activating the defensive drawings in green ink all over the place and that wouldn't end up nicely.
(They had done their research, unfortunately for their foes, and knew they could enter in an exact certain moment, when the ritual became welcoming, but right before…)
"And now we present this sacrifice! For only death can call Death!"
"Now!" Harry commanded in a low voice that only Ron heard, and they entered the chambers wand blazing, with the rest of their squad following close behind. "Expeliarmus!" He bellowed, making the dagger held by the dark witch soar through the air and fall to the floor with a clatter.
A myriad of colours flew through the air as spells were cast, with their light reflecting on the cold stone walls.
"Depulso! Protego!" Harry yelled, sliding next to the unconscious muggle tied down to the stone table.
"Bombarda! Mate, cover me!" Ron began casting, seeking to undo the magical bindings as well as the muggle ones.
In between the battling and the arrival of the back-up Aurors, Harry and Ron could be excused for not noticing the ground shaking right away, or how the candle lights flickered before turning green…
"Potter! Weasley!" Kingsley Shaklebolt yelled at them whilst fending off two opponents at once. "What's going on?!"
What they knew he had actually asked, though, was 'Why is it going on? Didn't you just stop the sacrifice? Is that person dead?'
Ron took a limp wrist in his grasp and said, "It's still beating."
"Sir, the ritual wasn't completed!" Harry reported to his superior, then hastily put up another shield. "It shouldn't have worked…"
"Oh, but he's here!" One of the dark wizards said, a manic gleam on his face, right before Ron knocked him out with a desmaius.
Above them, green clouds began to spread in a spiral, thundering and glowing, slowly bringing out a royally-clad figure.
Ron, now carrying the victim bridal-style, looked at him with apprehension.
"Go." Harry said firmly.
"But-"
"Ron, go!" Harry looked pointedly at the unconscious muggle in Ron's arms, and his best mate reluctantly relented and took off running toward Kingsley.
"Bow down before Pariah Dark! King of the Gho-!" The frantic cry of joy was cut short when Harry sent a knock-back jinx at the witch.
The Man Who Lived stood straight, staring at the coalescing mist with his jaw set, ready to face Death down once again.
Danny opened his eyes and found himself in a room(? Chamber?) full of people in various states of consciousness, with the ones awake looking all at him.
"Uh, hi…" He said with a little wave of his hand.
The guy closest to him looked him up and down with a serious face.
"Uh, can someone tell me where are we?"
The magic world never really stopped surprising Harry, but that was alright, because it seemed to keep surprising itself as well. Take for example Phantom, the Ghost King, who seemed unable to stop fidgeting as he floated next to Harry.
"So, uh, can I leave, officer?" The boy asked.
Harry lifted an eyebrow. "You are not detained, I just need to ask you a few questions. Besides," he eyed the flaming crown perched atop his head (which was quite big for him, and looked about to fall down his head and end up as a collar), "I don't really believe I have enough authority to detain you."
The boy king put a hand on his nape and pursed his lips, so clearly not used to this that Harry took pity on him and chose to be straightforward.
"Why did you come here?" He started. "The ritual wasn't completed, no one died, so why- how did you get here?"
"Oh, well, I still don't know much about that, but I think I got an idea." The boy looked at him seriously, and continued. "These guys tried to summon the Ghost King, but their information is outdated, just a bit; the last King accepted sacrifices, but I don't, they are anathema to me and my Obsession." He explained. "I think that's why it worked, I mean, it probably wouldn't if they had actually killed someone, but outside of that, their stuff was pretty solid."
Harry watched as emotions crossed the boy that died's face, seriousness, solemnity, anger… then calm, and lastly, sheepishness again.
"You're not doing as they say, then." Harry barely asked, and mostly stated. "If the blood sacrifice didn't tie you to them, you can do as you please."
"Yeah, I guess so…"
Phantom looked around, and Harry looked around, and when their gazes met again, there was an understanding only a pair of trouble-magnets could share.
"Say, did they even know how to summon me, officer…?"
"Auror." Harry corrected.
"Officer Auror."
"No, that's- you know what? That's okay." The dead Kin seemed to notice Harry's brief struggle, but chose to ignore it and let Harry "Auror" Potter answer. "They had this book, an old thing, really, rather fragile, with all these dark spells and rituals and stuff. A lot of drawings of clouds and doorways…" That actually interested him, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting more answers from the teen.
"Shame if something happened to it and it… disappeared."
"Shame indeed."
They shared a moment of silence, barely a minute.
"Well, officer Auror, it was nice meeting ya but I got stuff to do back home."
"Oh, no, how could I possibly physically stop you?"
"You can't."
With a little wave, King Phantom disappeared from sight, far neater than Harry's Invisibility Cloak and was soon replaced by questions and exclamations from his fellow wizards.
Later, Harry would find out about an important, dangerous book disappearing into thin air.
For now, though, he just smirked and huffed out a laugh.
"Long live the dead King."