Dean and Alastair landed in front of a diner as they were quite hungry, so they decided to get something to eat. They walked into the diner and seated themselves as the sign in front said to seat themselves instead of waiting to be placed. All the while, they continued talking about how to meet the angel.
"What do you think? How can we meet that angel...Castiel was it?" Dean asked.
The pair stopped their current conversation as the waitress came to give them the menu and asked what they wanted to drink. Alastair ordered a coffee and Dean ordered a coke. As soon as the waitress left, they pursued the menu to decide what they were going to eat before putting them aside. Resuming the conversation from earlier after the waitress came back with their drinks, and they had ordered, Alastair replied to Dean while taking a sip of her coffee.
"Yes, but he would need to take a vessel for him to be able to talk to us properly."
"So he will have to convince some idiot to say yes to him," Dean groaned, that could take ages and he didn't want to wait that long.
Alastair nodded. "A faithful person who is willing to play host for an angel," she replied before she snickered. "How fortunate that I don't have to take someone by force or any other way."
"So you don't want to take me?" Dean told her with a lopsided grin.
"Oh you, I would like to take anyplace anytime." She snickered even more.
"You're insatiable, I hope you know that," Dean replied with a chuckle of his own.
They continued drinking their own drinks mulling over the fact that the Angel needed a vessel to properly speak. A short while later, the waitress came back with their dinner. Both stayed silent, just enjoying the food. They were halfway through their meal when Alastair suddenly perked up.
"Cover your ears and get under the table," she told Dean before following her own advice.
Not a moment later, they heard the same high-pitched shriek from the Angel trying to communicate without a vessel. Every window burst and any other glass in the diner, showering everyone in bits of broken glass and other things like drinks or food. Luckily the diner was relatively empty. Only three other customers and the waitress were there, so the casualties were limited.
"That son of a bitch! Hasn't he learned that we can't understand him from the last time?" Dean growled once the shrieking had stopped, so it was safe for him to get out from under the table now.
"Obviously he is a really dense specimen," Alastair crawled out right after Dean and stood up before looking around and sighing.
It was fortunate that the other customers, who were currently looking around in confusion, only had scrapes and no severe injuries. However, Alastair wasn't overly concerned about them anyway.
"We need to get a hold of that idiot, and fast, before he does some serious damage," Dean growled.
It wasn't that he was overly concerned about the damage that stupid angel could cause. Still, he really didn't want to have to explain to some idiot about why that angel was following him around like a good little puppy.
Alastair nodded in agreement brushing off the dirt from her clothes and the few stray pieces of glass that were still stuck in her hair. Throwing some money for the food and the coffee on the counter, Dean and Alastair left the diner.
"How do we get that idiot to get himself a vessel before meeting with us?" Dean questioned.
"I have no idea, but I hope that he gets the hint himself," Alastair said while shaking her head before wrapping her arms around Dean's midsection. "In the meantime let's get a hotel room, I can think of far more interesting things we could be doing other than waiting for him to get the hint."
Dean agreed wholeheartedly with that statement. They soon found themselves in a motel room, finally having some time alone for the first time since they had left hell.
It was two days later that Dean and Alastair were finally able to meet the angel. To prevent any more glass from shattering, they now lingered in an abandoned warehouse waiting and hoping that the angel finally would show up, and they were not disappointed. Dean was just about to call it a day when suddenly the corrugated iron roof started to rattle as if a storm was raging outside, though they knew that this was not the case. Soon after the bulbs exploded showering them with shards of glass and sparks. Dean instinctively raised his arms to cover his face. While Alastair just watched the entrance impassively.
The door of the barn burst open. A man wearing a beige trench coat entered, the man was at an average height with brown hair, blue eyes, and a dopey expression.
"Finally," Dean said with a deep sigh. "Took you long enough to get the hint that we don't understand a damn thing when you shriek at a frequency that's perfect for shattering glass."
"I am sorry," the man replied in a tone that indicated that the man might fall asleep at any time. Afterwards, he flared his wings that were now visible as shadows on the wall behind him. "My name is Castiel, and I'm an angel of the Lord. Some people can understand us. I thought you were one of them, but I was obviously wrong."
"Obviously," Dean replied sarcastically ignoring Alastair's snickering. "What do you want?"
Castiel looked at Alastair strangely, trying to gauge who the woman that was so casually leaning against a wall observing everything was. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Her? Ignore her, she's just my girlfriend," Dean waved him off, but Castiel walked closer to Alastair while raising a hand as if he wanted to tap her on the forehead.
"If you touch me, angel, it will be the last thing you do," Alastair sneered while flaring her power towards the angel without giving away who she really was.
Castiel stumbled a step back upon feeling the power of the woman. "That...how...!"
It seemed that Castiel didn't know what to say anymore or do about the woman that now looked at him challengingly. Deciding that he would leave her alone for now, he turned back towards Dean.
"I was sent to get you out of hell, but you weren't there. How did you get out?" he asked, slightly puzzled.
"How I got out of hell?" Dean laughed. "That was easy...I walked out through the front door."
That seemed to confuse the angel, even more, he once again looked back and forth between Dean and Alastair.
"Through the front door?" he questioned, his disbelief quite audible in his tone.
"Yes, the front door, is that so hard to believe? Now what do you want?" slowly but surely Dean grew impatient.
"God ordered me to tell you that heaven has a job for you," Castiel replied, wondering what exactly was going on here.
The longer he took for this job, the more Castiel wondered what exactly he was missing. First, he couldn't find Dean in hell because he was already out, and now there was this woman that oozed power from every pore of her body. He didn't know what to think anymore. Oh, then there was also the fact that Dean's brother wasn't anywhere near him, which confused him even more. According to heaven's information, the two were inseparable, so why was Sam not here? However, he was most likely together with that demon Ruby, he knew that Sam was drinking her blood.
"Yeah, I got that," Dean countered. "What job exactly?"
"Help to stop the apocalypse," Castiel said as if that was clear. "And you have to stop your brother or we will."
"Stop my brother?" Dean inquired surprised.
"Yes, he is drinking demon blood from Ruby," Castiel replied.
Dean blinked a few times before he started to laugh uproariously and even Alastair couldn't hide her amusement anymore.
"Say how old is your information?" he asked once he cooled down enough. "To your information, Ruby is dead!"
"What?" was the very eloquent and startled response.
"Yes, since Christmas actually. She managed to piss off the wrong boy," Dean snickered upon recalling the memory of how Harry, an eleven-year-old boy, killed her;. However, he would never have wished it upon him because something like that changed a person.
Castiel though looked at Dean as if he had suddenly decided to grow a second head, so Dean elaborated his statement.
"On Christmas or better yet a day later, Sam and I bumped into Loki, accompanied by a boy called Harry Potter. We decided to chaperone them on their holiday when Ruby showed up and tried to kidnap Harry, or whatever else she wanted to do to him. In retaliation, Harry killed her, so no, Sam is not with her and certainly is not drinking her blood. As far as I know, Loki actually severed the hold the demon blood had on him. He's currently attending Hogwarts together with Loki and Harry," he explained to the angel who was now even more shocked and confused.
"Harry Potter?"
Of course, Castiel knew who Harry Potter was, the one destined to vanquish that idiot Riddle, but what was he doing in America? And better yet, how had he managed to kill Ruby? Several things certainly didn't add up that was for sure, the main thing being how heaven could have missed all of this. First Dean was already out of hell, then the fact that Ruby was already dead for over four months. Now the little tidbit that Sam was currently attending Hogwarts. Since when was Sam magical anyway? All his powers came from the demon blood fed to him in his early years, didn't it?
"Listen Castiel, I seriously suggest that you update your information and if you want to talk afterwards call this number." Here Dean handed over one of his business cards with his phone number.
Castiel looked at the card before he nodded and looked straight at Dean. "Very well, Dean Winchester," he said before he vanished without saying anything else.
Dean blinked a few times in surprise before turning around to Alastair.
"Can we keep him? I like him," he told the demon.
Alastair walked over to Dean with a broad smirk. "It would be amusing to corrupt him," she whispered seductively, pulling Dean in a long deep kiss.
Hogwarts – Two days later
It was Wednesday. Every student and teacher was sitting in the great hall enjoying their lunch when suddenly a commotion at the Ravenclaw table gained the Gryffindor group's attention. Loki was the first to look up. When he looked over to the Ravenclaw table, his face became serious, which was shocking because Loki was never serious.
"It has begun," he told those sitting around him.
Sam also looked over to the Ravenclaw table. He saw a ghost that undoubtedly wasn't a Hogwarts ghost due to it being in colour and not the usual silvery grey of the Hogwarts ghosts. In an instant, Sam reached into his pouch. Thanks to some enchantments it was bottomless. He pulled out a shotgun which he with a swift movement chambered a round. Quickly walking over to the Ravenclaw table, he continuously pointed the gun towards the ghost when suddenly other spectres appeared.
"Would someone please tell me what is going on here?" the voice of McGonagall echoed through the hall which was well audible thanks to the silence of the students who were shocked and surprised.
"It's complicated, I'll explain everything as soon as this is over. I need everyone to stay calm," Loki shouted. To the surprise of most teachers, the students followed his order even if some shifted nervously in their seat.
Sam watched the ghost, that now held up his hands, critically when a hand was placed on the barrel. Instinctively Sam turned around and pointed the weapon at what he deemed a new thread only to come face to face with a woman who had flaming red hair and smiled at him.
"I'm Lily, Harry's mother, don't worry, magical ghosts are not as severely affected by this ritual. It is the Muggle ghosts you should worry about," she told him.
Sam narrowed his eyes but, in the end, nodded at her when a scream echoed through the hall. At the Hufflepuff table, an older student was cornered by his grandfather if the pleads were anything to go by. Sam vaulted over the Ravenclaw table to get to the ghost, but Harry was quicker, he shot a ghost-repelling spell at the spirit dispersing it.
"Anyone here knows the ghost repelling spell?" the boy loudly addressed the entire hall but all the students stayed silent. However, Severus, Flitwick and to their surprise, Sprout stood up and walked over to him.
"What is going on?" Flitwick questioned, his worry and concern clear to everyone.
"Homicidal ghosts of those persons whose death you're connected to in any way, magical ghost though seem to be harmless," Harry explained in an abridged version.
"We need to disperse those that are violent. Salt, iron or the ghost repelling spell will work though I doubt that they'll stay gone for long," Sam added.
In the meantime, Sam shot two more ghosts while more and more showed up. It seemed that the older students especially had one or more relatives that had died.
"Why are you using a gun?" Severus wondered while shooting off a spell himself.
"Better aim, I'm not as used to using a wand as I am a gun," Sam replied when suddenly a black man appeared in front of him. He recognised him as the FBI agent from the police station where Lilith had attacked him and Dean. He made short work of the ghost knowing that otherwise he would be attacked.
Amidst the chaos also appeared three persons that everyone could have done without, the Dursleys. Vernon instantly lurched at Harry shouting obscenities. Harry quickly ducked out of the way of the obese man while hexing him in the meantime.
"Care to explain that?" Severus questioned in a dangerously low voice.
Harry winced knowing that the man would want to know why Vernon thought it was apt to beat him up for his "freakishness".
"I lived with them since my parents died?" he stated though it came out more like a question.
Harry played tag with Vernon continually hexing him for good measure. Severus happily joined in on after getting a glimpse of what Harry's life must have been like for the last ten years. Lily had a few choice words with her sister, Petunia. In other words, she beat her to a pulp for daring to hurt her son even if it was just complicity by not helping him. James though had some fun showing Dudley how it feels to be bullied.
However, as much as they would have liked to give them a further piece of their mind, they had work to do. So Harry quickly got rid of the ghosts by repelling them before going back to hexing the other new spirits that appeared or returned after having been dispersed already. What Harry didn't look forward to, was the talk with Severus that would inevitably follow soon and where he would have to tell him about his previous living situation.
Luckily for everyone involved, the students stayed seated or even hid under the table so that the group had a clear line of fire. In the meantime, it seemed that the magical ghosts decided to stay with their relatives, using the opportunity to talk to them while crouching down so that they weren't in danger of being hit.
At the head table
Those teachers who weren't fighting the ghosts tried to calm down the panicking students or defended those who were attacked until the ghosts could be dispersed. So it went unseen by the students and the teachers, that Dumbledore had blanched considerably and continually backed away from a ghost that relentlessly followed him. That was until he bumped into the wall behind the teachers' table. In front of him was the ghost of a beautiful young girl he knew only too well, Ariana Dumbledore.
"You...you're dead...how?" Dumbledore didn't know what to say while trembling in fear, not fear of the ghost in front of him but fear of what she might reveal, fear that he was the one responsible for her death.
Ariana smiled softly at him before, with the last step, she stood as close to her brother as one could without touching each other. She raised a hand and gently cupped Dumbledore's chin.
"It's been so long, so long since everything happened, that I died, and yet you still blame yourself for what happened," she said in a soft voice. "Stop blaming yourself for what happened."
"But...," Dumbledore replied, but she silenced him by placing a finger on his lips.
"None of you three are to blame for what happened. It was something that was bound to happen sooner or later, it was my own magic that killed me. I suppressed it for so long, and the situation in itself..." Again she smiled softly at his brother. "So stop wasting time blaming yourself. You're old, but you still have time, make up for past regrets, apologise for mistakes made."
For a long time, they both just stood there looking at each other before Ariana spoke up for the last time.
"I have to go, but we'll see each other again some time of that I'm sure." With that, Ariana faded out until she was gone completely.
Dumbledore slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground a strange expression on his face, a mix of surprise, shock and relief, tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
In the meantime, the others continued fighting to repel the ghosts who were hostile when suddenly every Muggle ghost started to fade into nothingness.
"I think it is over," Sam said with a deep sigh of relief.
"Yes, it is. Because we're magical we can stay for a few more moments, but soon we also have to go," James, who had stayed near his son during the entire thing, explained.
"It was nice to see you again, even if it was under such circumstances," Lily added.
"And I hope you'll come for a visit sometime soon," she added with a wink towards Harry and Severus.
Severus only nodded in acknowledgement while Harry launched himself towards his mother and embraced her in a tight hug, finding out that the ghosts were substantial enough to interact. Once he let go of his mother, he repeated the same thing with his father.
"I love you," Harry beamed at them happily.
"We love you too," his mother replied before turning towards Snape. "And Severus, it's nice to see that you own clothes in colours other than black, it suits you."
Everyone had a hard time suppressing their amusement over the slight blush that now adorned the cheeks of the typically stoic Potions Master.
"We have to go now," James said, and as soon as the last word fell from his mouth, they both started to fade away.
"Are you alright, Severus?" McGonagall asked in concern as soon as they were gone.
Severus smiled slightly and nodded. "I'm alright, Minerva. What I would like to know though is what in the name of Slytherin this was," he said.
Loki looked around, seeing that the students were mostly unscathed. Only a very few having a few scratches from when they hadn't been fast enough to repel the ghost, but they were already tended to. It was also good to see that the most severe thing a student was suffering from was the shock over the entire thing, but they should be fine again soon with a bit rest.
"I suggest you send the students to their common rooms to rest and get over the shock and we sit down somewhere quiet. I'll explain everything."
"Very well, we meet in an hour in the staff room," McGonagall said stiffly before she walked over to the Gryffindors to make sure that they were okay.
The other teachers also dispersed and walked to their houses while Sam, Harry and Loki stood there and looked at each other. Soon the twins, Neville and Hermione also joined them.
"That was cool," the twins said with broad grins. "But also a bit spooky."
"Cool isn't the word I would use," Hermione insisted. She had been attacked by her grandfather, who had died a few years prior, and that wasn't an experience she would like to repeat any time soon.
"Hermione, those ghosts...they weren't themselves if they weren't magical," Loki told her giving her a reassuring hug. "Whatever he said, I doubt he would have said it was he himself."
Hermione sniffed but nodded. "Thank you," she replied with a weak smile.
"Why don't you all go back to the common room while I explain to the teachers what happened?"
They all nodded and left to go to the Gryffindor common room when they saw that Harry wasn't coming with them. Turning around, they looked at him inquiringly, but Harry shook his head.
"I'll accompany Loki because I have a feeling that Snape will want to have a word with me," he told them.
"Professor Snape," Hermione scolded him good-naturedly with a smile.
"Only because I doubt that he would like for me to call him Severus in public," Harry retorted with a laugh.
The others looked at him as if he had finally lost it but turned around with a shake of their heads and left Harry and Loki standing in a now-empty great hall.
"That was quite a day," Harry sighed.
"And it isn't over yet," Loki snickered.
"Yeah, let's get this over with."
Somehow Harry had the feeling that the talk with the teachers would be by far worse than their fight against the vindictive ghosts.