A/N - Usually, I update a little over a week, but since this one is so short, I decided to post it earlier. Enjoy!
The days dragged into weeks and Harry's concerns got worse. He never voiced his concerns, but Harry couldn't help the negative flow of thoughts running through his head. Maybe they just don't care enough to respond.
Jazz and Danny had inquired a couple times whether he was going to receive any mail this summer. He always responded with a half-hearted shrug, though he desperately wanted to tell them that of course he would receive mail from his friends. That they miss him just as much as Harry missed them. And Harry really missed the magical community. A pang of envy went through him as he thought about how Hermione's parents often took her to Diagon Alley before school last year, and that they were probably doing the same this year. Not to mention that Ron's family was all wizards, so he was constantly surrounded by magic.
Harry felt isolated by the lack of magic, and the lack of contact with people who understood magic. He wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school, and there were no wizards in Amity Park. Granted, Jazz and Danny loved listening to Harry talk about Hogwarts and the different spells he learned at school, but it wasn't the same as someone knowing what Harry was talking about. Whether it was discussing magical properties of a curse versus a charm, or talking about the different quidditch matches this summer while making bets on who would win, Harry was alone.
To make matters worse, Harry's birthday flew by with no news from his friends, or Hogwarts. Last year they sent his school supply list a week before his birthday. The days were dragging on, and he still has heard nothing. Harry began to wonder if they still wanted him at Hogwarts. He caused a lot of trouble last year, and Professor Dumbledore might not want him back. He couldn't imagine going back to normal school; he wouldn't fit in.
Harry's thoughts were on whether he'd ever return to the world of magic when he trudged into the kitchen and slumped into a chair. His mother stood over the stove cooking breakfast under the watchful eyes of Jazz. She wasn't going to let a reenactment of Thanksgiving ruin her day.
Yesterday, his parents noticed the end of summer drawing nearer and realized that they hadn't done much with their children. They resolved to change this by pausing their efforts on the portal, despite it being a chance to look into a world unknown, and spend some quality time with their children. They started with a family breakfast.
"Cheer up, Harry!" Danny said. He winked at his brother and muttered, "At least the food isn't reanimated this time."
"Har, har," Harry grumbled. He turned his head to his mother. "Shouldn't we be worried that Hogwarts hasn't sent a letter yet?"
"Now Harry, I'm sure your teachers need a break just like you do. No need to go into a tizzy because they want to enjoy their summer break," Maddie reasoned, flipping a pancake.
Harry grumbled incoherently and silently fumed to himself. In all honesty, Harry did not think he needed a break from Hogwarts. Besides being with Danny and Jazz, Harry felt the most at home at Hogwarts and would rather be there than stuck in muggy Illinois. If he'd known that his parents would be as distant as they were, he probably would have protested more when he talked to Professor McGonagall about staying. Maybe next year he could convince her that he could stay and be able to bring his siblings with him. If there is a next year, he thought glumly.
"I don't know, Mom. Hogwarts seems like a well run school," Jazz began, "and last year Harry got his letter a week before his birthday. It's now been two weeks since his birthday and he hasn't heard anything from them. I think Harry might be righ-'' Jazz stopped when Maddie dropped a pancake on the floor.
Maddie turned to Harry heartbroken. "Harry, sweetie, we never celebrated your birthday." Guilt filled her face. "I'm so sorry, Honey."
"It's okay," Harry mumbled. "Danny and Jazz took me out to the arcade." He didn't mention that they 'borrowed' money from Maddie's purse to celebrate. As Jazz put it, 'If they can't participate, they can compensate.'
Jack entered the kitchen from the basement as Maddie looked at Harry meaningfully. "I'll tell you what, let's go somewhere nice and fancy for dinner to celebrate you turning 12!"
"Happy birthday, son!" Jack exclaimed, not realizing it wasn't his actual birthday and patting Harry roughly on the back. Harry coughed up the orange juice he was sipping.
"Thanks, Dad," he sputtered.
"My baby's almost a teenager," Maddie said with a sniff. "Soon you'll be leaving us behind to see the world."
"He already does that," Danny muttered. Harry jabbed him playfully in the ribs with a fork. Danny slapped his hand away with a halfhearted glare.
From the living room the phone rang. Jack went out to answer it in his usually excited voice, while Maddie continued to cook breakfast. Seeing that her mom was not adding or using any ectoplasm-infused ingredients or tools, Jazz took a seat next to Harry.
From the kitchen they could all hear Jack's boisterous voice called out, "Vladdie! How've you been?!"
Maddie's eyes widened with shock. "Vlad's calling? We haven't heard from him in years!"
"Who's Vlad?" Jazz asked.
"An old college friend," Maddie replied nostalgically. She placed the food on the table, and everyone snatched a flapjack. It was surprisingly delicious, though it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise since Jazz oversaw the cooking. Maddie added as they ate, "Twenty years ago he dropped all contact and we haven't heard from him since."
"What kind of name is Vlad?" Danny snarked, pouring copious amounts of syrup on his pancake.
"He's probably Russian," Jazz said thoughtfully while chewing on a piece of bacon.
Harry smirked and looked at Danny. "Or he's a vampire." He wiggled his fingers in the air.
Danny snorted. Taking on a Russian accent he said, "I vant to suck your blood!"
The kids laughed together. "Now boys, that's no way to talk about someone," Maddie chastised. Jack walked in and sat down at the table with a big grin on his face.
"Good news! Vladdie's in town and wants to come over and check out our progress on the portal! When I told him about our dinner plans, he offered to treat us out to Miseria E Nobilta!"
Maddie looked dreamily and said, "I've always wanted to go there." She shook her head and added skeptically, "But isn't that a bit extravagant for our family? I don't think we have the clothes for such a fancy place, dear."
"It's Vladdie, Mads, I'm sure he wouldn't care what we wore," Jack replied cheerfully. He winked at his kids and added, "And no restaurant will keep this guy from the comfortable polyurethane of a hazmat suit."
Harry, Danny, and Jazz groaned in unison.
"Dad, if it's a nice restaurant, they often have clothing regulations," Jazz argued, trying to save her and her family some unneeded embarrassment.
"And Harry doesn't want to pretend to be a snob on his birthday," Danny added, crossing his arms.
"And we don't even know this Vlad guy. If we're celebrating my birthday, I'd rather spend it as a family. We could order take out and play some board games." Harry said reasonably, pulling out his inner Hermione.
He was impressed by the united front he and his siblings could have when faced with the possibility of going out in public with their parents. He loved his parents, but they were not well received in the public's eye. And if he was honest with himself, he understood why the public hated them so much. They constantly caused havoc when chasing after 'ghosts', and their inventions were very temperamental which often caused property damage.
"Nonsense! Vlad's practically family!" Jack said. "He'll love you guys! He hasn't had much of a family even while growing up."
Maddie hummed with agreement. "He had a terrible accident in college which landed him in the hospital for a few years. When communication fell between us I thought he started to make new connections, but I suppose he's still pretty lonely if he's calling us now," she said sadly. Her eyes hardened and she looked at her children firmly. "We are going to have dinner with Vlad and that's final."
With that their family breakfast was finished in mild irritation. Harry trudged upstairs leaving Danny to clean up since Jazz basically cooked breakfast. He grumbled softly to himself but didn't protest. He felt bad that Harry's birthday dinner was spoiled.
Harry trudged upstairs and plopped onto his bed. A small cough interrupted his dark musings. He turned to discover a short knobby figure with bug eyes and batlike ears. Harry gaped at the strange creature and struggled to move his mouth. Once he did, he asked, "Who're you?"
"My name is Dobby, sir, and I have important news to tell you." Harry stared at the small fellow. He was wearing nothing but a ratty pillowcase for clothing.
"I know it's pretty hot outside, but would you like some layers? You can't be comfortable in that." Dobby blinked at Harry then burst into tears.
"Harry Potter is most honorable. Making sure a lowly house elf is treated well in his presence," Dobby sobbed.
Harry shifted uncomfortably, unsure what to do with the 'house elf.' "There, there," he said, deciding to pat Dobby on the back. He was nervous of drawing his parent's attention. They'd probably think the elf was some variation of ghost and try to kill him. He began walking to the closet. "I'm just doing what any decent person would do. I'm sure I have an old sweater that might fit you somewhere. Maybe even a pair of shorts."
The elf looked horrified as Harry spoke. "Dobby must not accept any form of garments!" he said firmly. "Dobby must wait until his masters give Dobby clothing before he can accept one from another."
"How come?" Harry asked curiously, stopping mid-search.
"If Dobby is given a piece of clothing from his master, then he will be free," he said longingly. He then shook his head and grabbed the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick and began swinging it at his head. Harry frantically ran over to the elf and snatched the bat before he could do anymore damage.
"What was that for?" Harry asked angrily.
"Dobby had bad thoughts toward his masters and needed to be punished," the house elf replied woefully.
"So your punishment is to hit your head with a baseball bat?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Any nearby object would suffice, Harry Potter," Dobby said. He turned to look for a new object, but Harry quickly grabbed Dobby's wrist and turned to face him.
"Cut it out! I don't want to see you hurt yourself!" he yelled. Dobby's eyes began to well up in tears.
"Harry Potter is too kind!" Dobby cried. "It's the reason Dobby needs to warn Harry."
Harry was mid eyeroll but stopped at Dobby's last sentence. "Warn me about what?" he asked seriously.
"Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts!" Dobby yelled earnestly.
"Not gonna happen," Harry replied firmly. Dobby struggled to say his next words.
"But dark things are going to happen!"
"Like what?" Harry asked skeptically. Dobby opened his mouth but then grabbed Danny's metal rocket and began banging it on his head. A few pieces crumbled to the ground. Harry quickly grabbed the rocket. "Would you quit it?!" he seethed.
Dobby looked crazily at Harry. "Why would Harry Potter want to go back to Hogwarts, when none of his 'friends' have responded to a single letter? Why would Harry Potter want to go back to Hogwarts when the school hasn't said they wanted him back?"
"Ron and Hermione have been busy this summer!" Harry defended. "And the school is just taking a long time to send out their letter - hey! How do you know I haven't received anything?"
Dobby fidgeted. "Harry Potter must not go to Hogwarts," he repeated insistently. Abashedly he pulled out a stack of mail and added, "Dobby had to make some sacrifices in order for this to happen."
"You stole my letters?" Harry growled angrily. He tried to grab the stack but Dobby pulled away fearfully.
"And Dobby will continue to do so until Harry Potter agrees not to go to Hogwarts. Dobby will do whatever he can to make this happen!" Dobby said firmly.
Harry narrowed his eyes at the house elf. This whole summer he thought that Ron and Hermione had forgotten about him; that the whole wizarding world had forgotten that he existed. The cause of these sad emotions raging through him stood right in front of him.
"Give those back!" he shouted.
"I didn't take anything!" came an indignant voice entering the bedroom. Harry looked over to see Danny walking in the room in confusion. He looked back at Dobby, only to find that he disappeared. This isn't over, he silently promised the elf.
Danny spotted his rocket on the floor and he gave an indignant yelp. "My rocket! Harry, what the heck?!" He picked up some of the pieces that had broken off during the scuffle. "Not cool. Next time wait till I'm finished before crash landing it." He shook his head and grumbled to himself, "Everyone knows that destroying them is only fun after the building process is complete."
Harry was too wrapped from his conversation with the elf to respond, and Danny was too busy picking up his rocket remains to notice. Though he was inwardly grateful that Danny wasn't the sentimental type, disturbing thoughts ran through Harry's head at his predicament.
It was alarming how long Dobby had been spying on him, and judging by the large stack of envelopes, it was a long time. Not only that, but the elf practically promised he would interfere again. He could still be in his bedroom for all Harry knew!
"You're welcome by the way," Danny grumbled, stirring Harry out of his thoughts as he placed the broken rocket pieces on the desk. Seeing Harry's quizzical look he continued, "For doing all the dishes you were supposed to help with." He looked down at the rocket fragments sullenly. "This is the thanks I get, I guess." Shaking his head, he turned to Harry and continued with a lighter tone. "Anyway, turns out mom's cooking still sucks. She left about half the food in the pan because it was burnt onto it." A glint of mischief flashed in his eyes. "But I'll burn a blind eye -" he smirked, "since the unburnt food was actually pretty good."
Harry swallowed thickly and shoved his issues with the elf aside for later. He gave his brother a sardonic grin. "I guess that's the secret - make extra food so that at least some of it might taste good."
"That must be how 'Il Ristorante di Pompous Butts' works," Danny snickered.
"That's not the name of the restaurant, but I think you're onto something," Harry said with a smirk.
"Might not be the name, but it's definitely gonna be true."
Harry groaned. "Ugh, can this day get any worse?" he exclaimed, flopping on his bed.
Danny gasped. "Dude! You just invoked the wrath of Murphy! His Law is gonna come and find you. You better run!"
Harry simply groaned and rolled over.
A/N - Well, Vlad's finally making an entrance. Let's see how our favorite vampire ghost reacts to the Fenton dynamics!
*Miseria E Nobilta is Italian for 'Poverty and Nobility'
*Il Ristorante di is Italian for 'The Restaurant of'
Can you guys what kind of restaurant they are going to? ;)
Thanks again for all your comments!