Chapter 3: The Magical Congress of the United States of America
ΔOl
The MACUSA building was nothing like what Danny expected. It was tall and imposing but overall looked no different from any of the other towering structures surrounding it, housing the headquarters for a rather popular fashion magazine.
Smartly-dressed no-majs flittered in and out of the revolving doors, oblivious to where Dumbledore and Danny stood off to the side – not that they could see Danny if they tried. Cloaked in invisibility, he had been carefully trailing behind the wizard, tracking the tall hat bobbing throughout the sea of people.
The Headmaster came to an abrupt stop short of the doors, nearly sending Danny colliding into his back.
'Why aren't we going in?' Danny hissed. Dumbledore ignored him, choosing to approach somebody on the far end of the building dressed in a doorkeeper's uniform.
'Albus Dumbledore,' he stated to the man, 'I have business with the President.'
The doorkeeper bowed low before turning to open a small, unassuming door behind him, ushering Dumbledore through. Danny swept in behind before the door was shut with a sharp clack.
He was met with an entirely different building than the one he had glimpsed through the doors outside. The MACUSA atrium was ginormous. Tall cathedral-like ceilings loomed overhead with industrial metal beams crisscrossing left and right, the staircases a garishly beautiful combination of marble, metal and gold. Two gilt bald eagles stood vigilant over the room, spanning over ten feet high, their heads twisting left and right at every suspicious movement. The whole building looked like the innards of a gigantic clock.
Danny nearly dropped his invisibility as a paper mouse scarpered underfoot, squeaking furiously before diving into a parcel porthole nearby. Wizards and witches fluttered past them in a hurry, wands waving as towering stacks of paper wobbled precariously behind them. Others were tucked in compartments where they tapped away on ancient typewriters.
'Come along, Danny,' Dumbledore said, leading the way up a grand flight of stairs where a house elf was seated at the top, offering complimentary wand-cleanings. Danny floated behind him, squeezing into an ancient-looking elevator manned by an equally ancient-looking goblin in a bell-boy uniform.
'The Ministry Ordinance room, if you please,' Dumbledore asked the goblin politely, who rolled his eyes and lifted a gnarled cane up toward the gleaming row of buttons, typing in a combination.
'I suggest you hold onto something,' Dumbledore murmured under his breath, but before Danny could ask why the elevator gave a violent jolt before it was flung backwards with an amazing force nearly sending him careening straight out of the box. Just as he found his feet, the elevator took a sharp turn, and Danny had the unique sense of his insides trying to escape through his throat as the floor fell beneath them.
It stopped just as quickly as it started, and Danny's feet landed with a heavy thump as the world span around him. 'Ugh,' he couldn't help but groan loudly.
'What was that?' barked the goblin, not looking at all put out by the ride.
'Hm? What was what?' Dumbledore said faintly. He ran a hand through his long beard in an attempt to make it appear less windswept. Danny didn't bother trying to fix his own hair.
'Nothin'.' The goblin bellboy grunted, slamming the door shut behind him and punching in another code to zoom off out of sight.
The corridor they stood in was narrow and dark. There were no windows and Danny had a rising sense of anxiousness as he stared at the single door at the end of the way.
'Come along, Danny,' Dumbledore said congenially, traipsing down the length of the corridor. Danny followed, taking deep breaths like Jazz always suggested when he was nervous or stressed.
The door creaked open of its own accord, and Danny was greeted to a small amphitheatre with tiered seating lining the room. The sconces on the walls glowed a soft blue and nearly a hundred faces stared down at the narrow flooring designed as a stage below, features cast so deep into shadow that Danny couldn't recognise a single face. Only the tips of their tall pointed hats evident.
At the head of the room stood somebody Danny recognised from Mr Lancer's numerous, mind-numbing history lessons. There, in all his thin-haired and mousey glory, stood President Samuel Quahog; a man whose bottom lip was renowned for quivering whenever he was nervous. Currently, the President looked as though he was going to bite his tongue in half with how ferociously his jaw was wobbling as his watery eyes flittered off to the side, toward where a man wearing a lime green bowler hat sat beside an older woman who permeated no-nonsense.
'Good day, Sir President,' Dumbledore called cheerily, sweeping his way into the room. Danny swiftly followed behind, still cloaked in invisibility, his heightened hearing catching the sound of the enchanted door clicking shut behind them.
A flurry of murmurs enveloped the crowd and Danny saw the man in the bowler hat frown in Dumbledore's direction as if the sight of the older man displeased him.
'Oh, Albus! Pleasure to see you, good fellow!' Quahog squeaks out is a soft voice, stepping down from his tier to shake Dumbledore's hand, 'Though, I must admit I am a little confused as to why you are here.'
'Yes, I think we all are,' scoffed the man in the bowler hat, 'We are here to speak on a rather important matter today, Dumbledore. Very important.'
'Ah, yes. The contract for the conferral of a Mr Daniel Phantom to the British Ministry of Magic, I believe, Fudge?'
The man's face became a blotchy purple that clashed horribly with the green perched on his head, 'H-how did you—?'
'This meeting was supposed to be a rather private matter, Albus,' Quahog muttered out weakly, wringing his hands. 'Nobody outside of this room was to know about it.'
'Ah, my apologies. However, I thought it would be rather important that some outside of this room knew of the situation at hand. Specifically, the one this meeting pertains to. Danny, if you would please?'
Licking his suddenly dry lips, Danny let his invisibility drip away. The President let out a violent squawk, nearly jumping half a foot in the air and setting his bottom lip into another bout of violent quavering. A flustered rush of noise surrounded him as witches and wizards alike craned their necks to get a closer look at him.
Danny gazed into the wave of faces all gawping down at him with fear and confusion, before he caught the stare of an eerie-looking man with mismatched eyes; one eye a dark beady black and the other electric blue eye that sat bulging in its socket, swivelling in every direction. A chunk of his nose was missing and the scars that littered his face left deep gouges in the low light. Danny quickly turned away.
'Sir President, I am certain that you already know of Mr Phantom, yes?' Dumbledore stated in an amused tone.
Danny offered a hesitant wave, 'Hey.'
Quahog looked about ready to keel over in shock before another wizard trotted over to haul him back up onto his platform.
'Why, Albus! You brought the creature here? Whatever reason why?' Burst out Fudge in alarm.
Danny scowled. Creature?
'Now, now, Minister. I see no harm in Phantom being here – quite the opposite in fact. He might give you some insight into how best to approach the situation,' Dumbledore hummed.
The no-nonsense woman stood abruptly and strode forward, 'Never mind that,' she states in a steely voice, 'What's done is done. We may as well continue on with the discussion despite. Dumbledore, Ministers, I suggest you take your seats.'
Dumbledore smiled at Danny before he strolled up into the tiers, seating himself beside the man with the odd eyes and hideous scars. Quahog nearly fainted into his own seat off to the side, an assistant magicking a small fan to blow air into his pallid face. The woman strode forward to stand on the platform, transfiguring a magistrate's bench from a piece of parchment as a carved gavel swooped into her hand.
She peered down her nose at Danny, who was beginning to feel almost more nervous than Quahog, 'My name is Amelia Bones, representative of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the Ministry of Magic in Great Britain. It is my role today to review your capacity.'
Danny swallowed thickly, 'My capacity?'
'Of capturing dark wizards, Mr Phantom. You have a recorded history with the MACUSA, no?'
'A couple of times, yeah,' Danny shrugged uncertainly, 'But—'
'For the records could you please state your species?'
'My species? Seriously?'
Bones indeed was very serious. Danny let out an exhausted huff.
'I'm an Animus.'
'Could you expand on what that is for the sake of myself and the audience.'
'Am I on trial or something?' Danny snarled.
Bones raised an eyebrow, 'No, Mr Phantom. Like I stated before this is merely a review of your capacity. It is important for all that are partaking to understand who and what you are so that we may find a conclusion.'
'Sounds like a trial to me,' he muttered before relenting, 'I don't know. I guess an Animus sort of like looking at your reflection.'
'Your reflection?' Bones quirked an eyebrow.
'Yeah, I mean, what do you see when you look in a mirror?'
'You see yourself.' A voice offered from the stands. Danny shook his head.
'Not really. I mean, sure, they look like you and move like you, but it's not really you.' He could feel the stares of the room.
'Are you insinuating that our reflections are someone else entirely, Phantom?' Bones asked curtly.
He shrugged, 'Maybe. I think so, at least. It's just always been weird to me that when you wave at a mirror, the other hand waves back.'
Murmurs swept through the room. A few of the witches magicked small mirrors from their satchels, waving hesitantly to themselves.
'How does an Animus appear?' Bones cut through the noise, her cool voice like a blade.
'No one really knows. Sometimes people die, and I guess their reflections don't have anywhere to go. Other times they just appear, like magic.'
'I was with the understanding that Animus were simply copies of ourselves, is that correct? How does that make you different from a ghost?' Bones asked, 'Are they not just shades of a person once living?'
He frowned, 'Not really. I mean, yeah, we get mistaken a lot because of the whole floating thing, but it's not like we can't interact with stuff. And really – like, c'mon, I'm not stuck in a time-loop like those lame sob-stories. I'm my own person, I still think and feel.'
Bones gave him a very peculiar look as if she had come to a conclusion that had surprised herself.
'It is to my understanding that Animi have other… abilities as well. Is that correct, Mr Phantom?' Fudge called out gleefully, 'Yours particularly are rather impressive.'
Danny rolled his eyes with a snort, 'Can you just tell me what I'm here for already?'
'We are looking for the capture of one particular wizard,' Bones offered, 'A man by the name of Sirius Black, whose crimes involve the release of classified intel to an infamous wizard—'
'Which wizard?' Danny interrupted.
'We do not speak his name.'
'That's helpful. Is this one of those don't ask, don't tell things?'
Bones ignored him, 'Sirius Black in turn also murdered his close friend and twelve muggles in clear sight of a non-magical community.'
'Oh. Er, okay...'
Bones continued, 'Sirius Black was supposed to live out the rest of his sentence in Azkaban, however last year he managed to escape. He is a dangerous and powerful man, and we find that it is of utmost importance that he is recaptured immediately, and for that we will need your help.'
Danny's head seemed to be absorbing information at only half its normal rate. He had captured dark wizards before, but nothing like this; he took down extremist blood puritans and black-marketers, not mass-murderers.
Taking a deep breath, Danny offered, 'Look, I don't really think I'm right for this job…'
Amelia Bones stared down at him with steely eyes, 'But this is what you do, isn't it? Capture dark wizards?'
'W-well, yeah, but…'
There was a hushed round of muttering from the audience that made his ears turn pink. He glanced up to see Fudge looking smug in his seat, but there was also a glimpse of impatience.
Bones pulled out a long sheet of parchment, 'Rebbek, Maverson, Vukovic, Brimble… You've collected an impressive number of names in a relatively short time. No failures in a capture, although you seem to have a habit of not following orders…'
'Can we hurry this along, Bones? I don't have all day for this nonsense! Just ship him off to Britain already!' barked Fudge.
Danny scowled. He was really beginning to dislike the Minister.
'Very well. All for having Daniel—'
'It's Danny,' he muttered quickly.
'—Phantom inaugurated as a temporary affiliate of the British Department of Magical Law Enforcement, under the agreement with the Magical Congress of the United States of America?'
Danny turned and watched as a multitude of hands soared into the air.
'All against?' The hands lowered to be replaced by the remaining few in the room.
'Very well, it is decided. Daniel Phantom, until further investigation you are to be classified as a dangerous creature and to be placed on probation until proven otherwise by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement—'
'What? Hey! You can't just—!'
'...You are to refer to Head Auror, Rufus Scrimgeour, every two weeks for the duration of your stay in Britain's magical community, with your sole focus being to capture Sirius Black, who has been charged for the murder of thirteen victims...'
The room seemed to tilt sideways and Danny's focus shifted in a swirl of light and dark. Dimly, he heard Bones adjourning the room and Quahog humbly accepting the British Minister's gratitude for his assistance in their endeavour. Fudge had a slight scowl on his face but still tipped his hat cordially to Bones, sweeping out the door with the other witches and wizards who nervously shuffled past.
Danny barely noticed when Dumbledore firmly gripped his arm to lead him out of the room, out of the corridor, out of the elevator and out of the building. He was only pulled back into reality when the sickening, squeezing sensation of Apparition flooded him, leaving him gasping for air as he fell to his knees. They had landed in Central Park, hidden by a small cluster of trees.
'What was that?' Danny scowled, light washing over him to return him to his normal state.
'Hm? Oh, my apologies. I did attempt to warn you that we were travelling, but you seemed rather distracted…'
'Not that!' Danny leapt up, brushing dirt off his knees, 'The review! I thought you said it would be good if I went! Now everything is ten times worse!'
'On the contrary, Danny. I believe that your brief appearance has actually swayed many months of deliberation over you.'
'What d'you mean?'
'I can assure you that many witches and wizards were under the impression that you were nothing more than a mindless, obsessive beast—'
'Oh, so you're saying they trust me now? That didn't stop them from assigning me a babysitter to pop in every other week.'
'Which is in my belief a far better outcome than what the Ministry originally had planned. Minister Fudge would most certainly have assigned an Auror to follow you, every hour of every day.'
'You're kidding.'
Dumbledore shook his head, 'I'm afraid not. Luckily, Amelia Bones is both fair and an excellent judge of character.' He must have read Danny's scepticism as he continued, 'Fudge may have appeared pleased with the results of today's meeting; however, he wasn't granted what he truly wanted.'
'And what's that?' Danny asked.
'Complete control over your abilities,' barked out a rough voice that made him jump.
The man seated next to Dumbledore in the review was hobbling his way over. Danny could see now that he only had one foot. Where his other should have been was replaced with a claw-footed wooden peg. His face wasn't any better in broad daylight – the scars littering his face looked jagged and white. Danny could only imagine that they were the result of a particularly nasty curse.
'What's he doing here?' Danny sputtered.
'Saving your buttocks, that's what!' The man growled back. Danny could barely understand him through his gravelly Scottish burr.
Dumbledore calmly bowed his head at the man, 'Danny Fenton, may I introduce to you Alastor Moody. One of the finest Aurors the British Ministry has ever seen.'
'Ex-Auror,' Moody spat, 'They can't seem to let me keep my peace though, can they? Dragging me back for the stupidest reasons. Like that pathetic excuse for a meeting.'
'I'm certain we both appreciate your exertions, Alastor.'
'Do I?' Danny muttered cynically.
Moody raised his remaining eyebrow at him, 'A sceptic, eh? Good. It's important to keep your wits about you. Constant vigilance!'
Dumbledore turned to Danny, 'Alastor has been working these last few months to deter the Ministry from discovering your secret.'
'So… he knows?'
'Of course I know! You think I lost my nose by not sticking it into other people's business? Once Dumbledore pointed out the similarities it wasn't difficult to put together the rest. After that, it was my job to make sure nobody else got it, got it?'
'Got it.' Danny parroted.
'Alastor has kindly agreed to take up the position as professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts this year at Hogwarts, in hopes that he will be able to aid you whenever I cannot.' Dumbledore said.
There was a sharp downward tug and Danny found himself eye to magical eye with Moody, who had a gnarled hand tightly gripping his shirt collar, 'Now I want you to listen, boy, this is important; The phoenix will always rise from the ashes. Repeat it back to me.'
'The phoenix will always rise from the ashes.' Danny murmured, 'What's it mean?'
'It's a code,' Moody hissed, 'In case someone tries to interfere – pretend they're someone they're not.'
'Why would they—?'
'The world is dangerous, Fenton. You'd best to be on your toes. Keep those words locked tight in your head. If you're ever in doubt, ask about how Fawkes is going. That's your answer.'
'Fawkes?'
'My phoenix,' Dumbledore supplied helpfully, 'The code is wordplay. I believe Miss Nymphadora Tonks came up with that particular expression. A way to secure the safety of the Order.'
Danny was beginning to feel overwhelmed, 'What's the Order?'
'Not so loud!' snapped Moody, eyeing off a pair of nearby power-walkers who blanched and sprinted out of sight, 'We can't talk here, it's too exposed!'
Dumbledore placed a reassuring hand on Danny's shoulder, 'It's nothing to concern yourself about right now, Danny. Just remember that Hogwarts is a safe place – whenever you are in need, help will always be given to you there. Now, I think it is about time that I return you to your classes.'
Danny shrugged checking his watch, 'I dunno, Arithmancy still has another ten minutes to go.'
He was promptly ignored. Dumbledore gripped Danny's forearm once again. Before they could leave, however, Moody hissed out, 'Don't forget the code! Remember the code!'
They disappeared with a pop.
ΔOl
I took a lot of influence of how the magical society works in America from the first Fantastic Beast film (haven't seen the second yet). The relationship between no-maj and wizards seems real messy, which I definitely wanted to imply – especially since it's been told that no-maj could only legally interact with wizards after the end of the WW2. That's a timeline of less than fifty years – barely two generations. I reckon there would still be a lot of segregation and bias lurking under the covers, so that was a fun, more gritty reality to explore.
Please leave a review – feedback is welcome as long as it is constructive.
