MC4A - Paranormal Phantasm

Fill #15

Representations: Harry Potter; Captain Jack Sparrow; Magic; Hogwarts; The Black Pearl; Ghosts

Bonus Challenges: Casper's House; Second Verse (Mermaid); Second Verse (Rock of Ages)

Word count: 1,385

Beta: Aya Diefair

It had been two hundred years since Harry had said goodbye to his last friend, Mrs Luna Longbottom. She had told him that this day would come, and had told him where to go to get what he needed. Now he stood on a hill looking at what had been his home over two hundred years ago. The castle was no longer the grand sight it had once been; the north tower had fallen down and the greenhouse occupants had spread all over the grounds.

Extending his senses, he looked for the magic still alive. A tiny spark greeted him and he smiled, the last bit of magic in this world was ready for him. He followed Luna's directions to the centre of the castle and was welcomed in to the inner sanctum of Hogwarts. Her magic danced across his skin, a child-like excitement filling the air.

"Hello beautiful," he greeted her as he approached the pulsing heartstone that the Founders had based Hogwarts around. "Are you ready?"

The heartstone brightened and he smiled before getting to work. A piece of chalk drew the runic circle he had created around Hogwarts' centre, salt was placed in specific places on the circle as candles hovered above. At the side facing North he placed the Invisibility Cloak, East was the Resurrection Stone, South was the Elder Wand and at the West he placed himself.

The last vestiges of Magic came together to aid the ritual and its last children. Wind picked up, light shone in the room and the form of the ruined castle shimmered and shrunk. Harry opened his eyes as the wind died down and a slight rocking made itself known. He was no longer in a dark room made of stone, instead he was on board a ship sailing on the Black Lake.

"There we are, my pearl, we're free."

The ghosts that were still clinging to Earth wandered around the ship. Nearly-Headless Nick tipped his head in thanks towards Harry and the Bloody Baron started cackling madly, swooping up and down the masts as he explored his new home. Even Peeves was there, hovering in the crow's nest and throwing ghostly stink bombs down at the deck.

Hogwarts sent him a pulse of love and gratitude and he grinned. He would have to rename her, Hogwarts was no name for a free ship. The Black Pearl seemed right, a pearl born on the Black Lake. Harry gripped the wheel and directed his ship, his home, to their new life. A portal opened up and they left the now dead wizarding world behind them for a new life of sailing the seas and seeing what will happen.

The new world was different, coarser, full of pirates and mythic treasures. He had tried joining the navy until he had gotten bored of being good. He wanted adventure, he and his pearl were not being used to their full potential so they left. They started a life of piracy and the rumours spread.

The Black Pearl, they said, a ship with a ghost crew whose captain had been spat out by Hell itself. It was the fastest ship to exist, aided by her innate magic and her captain. Some didn't believe the tales and some swore by them.

Harry changed his name. Harry, after all, wasn't a very good pirate name. And so, Captain Jack Sparrow was born and he sought out all the mythic treasures that the world held. A mistake was made, the wrong person was trusted, and he was thrown off his own ship. For ten years he searched for her, he could hear her calling to him but he was unable to get to her.

Then he found himself in Port Royal and thrown in prison by Commodore Norrington.

"You can do that for the rest of your life, he's never going to move," he said to the group of men in the cell next to him that were trying to bribe the dog holding the prison keys.

"Well excuse us for not having given up hope," one of the men spat back.

Jack snorted and went back to trying to locate the Black Pearl in his mind. A loud explosion interrupted him and his eyes snapped open, "I know those cannons."

She had found him, she was trying to get him back, but her aim was a bit off and the shot she had managed to get off without her current crew noticing had hit the other cell, he was still stuck. There was nothing worse, he decided, then being so close to having his ship back and not being able to get her. Although, she had removed one of the problems he had. There was now no one around to see him perform magic. With a grin, he accio-ed the prison door keys from the surprised dog and swiftly let himself out.

With long strides, he ran through the town. There were cheaters everywhere and every time he passed another one, it annoyed him even more. He tried to ignore it and just focus on getting to the Black Pearl. He finally snapped near the town centre when a whole group of cheaters passed by him.

"Alright!" he yelled, partially to himself and partially to the cheaters. "You lot, get back here and let me fix you!" The skeletal pirates stopped where they were, confused and pointing to themselves to make sure he was addressing them. "Yes, you. Come here."

Warily they approached and he could see the curse magic wafting around them. An old curse, one to make any thief angry he had stolen. "Hey, I know you!" one of them cried, pointing.

Jack rolled his eyes. Even away from the Boy-Who-Lived and Rita Skeeter, he still had to deal with being famous. Or rather, infamous. He was a pirate, after all. "Yes, yes, I'm sure there a lot of fascinating stories about me."

"You're the one Barbossa stole the ship from!"

Jack froze. These men were part of the crew that kept his pearl away from him? Well then. Not being the slightest bit gentle, Jack reached into the open chest of the man closest to him and pulled the curse away. As soon as it was out, the man turned back into flesh; he was no longer cheating. Jack grinned at the other men.

Just as quickly, he pulled the curse out of them too and they also reverted back to flesh. Vulnerable flesh that could quite easily be torn by some brave villager defending their home. "Have fun, boys," he said, waving as he started once more heading towards the docks.

The Black Pearl was almost deserted when he boarded, only a monkey and two watchmen remained playing with their finger bones. Jack pulled the curse from them and then sent them off beyond the veil. The Black Pearl creaked as she shifted on the slight waves and Jack sighed contentedly. Finally, he was back home.

He slowly made his way up to the helm, trailing his hand along the wood of his ship as he walked. "Did you miss me?" he asked when his hands finally wrapped around the wheel once more. A warm hug of magic whirled around him and he smiled. "Yeah, I missed you too. Let's go, lovely."

With magic filling the sails, and the Hogwarts ghosts drifting up out of the wood to resume their position of the crew, Jack steered his home out towards the vast ocean. There was treasure to be hunted and things to see. The Black Pearl was back in action. Barbossa had thought it was merely the ship that had given the Black Pearl and Captain Jack Sparrow such a reputation, but it wasn't.

The Black Pearl was full of magic with a crew of ghosts and her captain was the Master of Death, thrown back into life every time someone had tried to end him. They would exist long after Barbossa and the rest of his crew died, after piracy had quieted down and the air was more travelled than the sea. They would still be there when the ships started leaving Earth. Perhaps they might even join them. There was a whole lot of adventure out there, just waiting for someone to find it.