Danny Fenton was sitting in a lecture hall, listening to his lecturer on astronomy. He spun his pen around in his fingers and scribbled down a note on a formula to calculate the speed a star was travelling and how gravitational pull affected the star's trajectory. He scanned the board and double checked the formula on his page and put down his pen.
Suddenly the door opened and the sound of a bustling corridor interrupted the lecturer. The door thudded closed and Danny glanced up and saw two large men walk in. He frowned in confusion but shrugged it off. They were probably just mechanics or something. Technus had attacked a week ago and the computers hadn't been the same since. Danny still didn't know why the technology ghost had sought out revenge on him. They hadn't fought each other in over a year and that last fight hadn't even been that bad.
Danny picked up his pen and jotted down the lecturer's comment on a particular star that astronomers had recently discovered just outside the Milky Way. However he scowled in surprise and mild annoyance as the new comers sat down near him, one behind and one beside him. Danny brushed away the annoyance and focused on the lecturer again.
"You're Daniel Fenton, correct?" the man beside him asked. Danny glanced at the man and frowned.
"I prefer Danny. Whatever this is, can't it wait? I have a test on this stuff next week," Danny replied quietly and turned back to the lecturer.
"No, it can't. You have to come with us," the man behind him answered. Danny stiffened.
"Am I under arrest for something?" Danny whispered softly, his annoyance replaced by fear. Normal cops wouldn't be this discrete. They'd wait outside or just come out with the fact that he's under arrest. But the Guys in White… they'd been after Danny Phantom for a long time. Could these two men be trying to provoke him?
He glanced at the man beside him and nearly sighed in relief when he saw that the man had no white clothing on his person. The Guys in White were never seen out of their white uniforms, even under cover.
"No, you're not under arrest. But you have to come with us now," the man beside him answered. Danny shook his head.
"If I'm not under arrest then I don't have to do a thing you say," Danny decided.
"If you refuse to come with us, then we'll just go back and get new orders from the president," the man beside him growled menacingly. Danny frowned. President?
"You're with the government?" Danny muttered. The men hesitated.
"Yeah," the man behind him ventured.
Danny groaned as he missed another formula the lecturer rubbed off the board before he could finish copying it down.
"Why would the president want me?" Danny ventured and scribbled down the next formula.
"There's a ghost problem we need your help with," the man beside him admitted softly. Danny glanced at him.
"I think you have the wrong Fenton. My parents lead the ghost hunting in my family," Danny bluffed.
"We have already spoken with your parents. But you were recommended by an outside party," the man behind him replied.
"What outside party?" Danny immediately demanded. Starting to worry that perhaps his secret wasn't safe after all.
"You have to come with us before we tell you," the man beside him answered. Danny turned to the man and glared at him. Not afraid to show his annoyance anymore.
"So, I hope you understood all that and remember next week we have a mid-semester exam. It counts for ten percentage of your final grade so study well," the lecturer announced in conclusion. Danny's eyes widened and he turned to the board and groaned again as he saw the lecturer rubbing out the last formula, again before Danny could copy it. He dropped his head onto his notepad.
"If I fail, I'm blaming you," Danny mumbled and sat up. He packed away his things into his backpack and got up.
The men scowled in surprise and confusion but stood up as well. They stepped out of his way and followed him out of the lecture hall.
"Danny! Hey Danny!" a girl shouted to him. Danny turned to her and smiled.
"Oh, hey Tammy," Danny greeted, ignoring the men shooting him annoyed glares. Tammy, or rather Tamzin was a girl in his course with dyed purple hair and a preference for wearing bright clothes.
"Did you get all those formulas?" Tamzin asked. Danny shook his head.
"No, missed a couple at least. You?" Danny replied hopefully. Tamzin nodded.
"Yep, I'll text you them if you want," Tamzin offered. Danny grinned at her.
"Thank you so much. You're a life saver. If you ever need anything, let me know," Danny exclaimed gratefully. Tamzin grinned at him.
"Well, I do need a date to a party this weekend," Tamzin mentioned. Danny's smile vanished.
"Tammy, you know I have a girlfriend. And you know it's serious. I'm sorry, I can't be your date. But I could ask Tucker, he might be able to get here in time," Danny offered. Tamzin scowled and shook her head.
"No thanks. I'll find someone else. I'll text you later," Tamzin replied disheartened and disappeared into the crowd. Danny watched her go and shook his head. Tamzin had shown an interest him ever since they met the previous year.
"Mr Fenton," one of the men called to him. Danny scowled and turned to them.
"Yes?" he snapped.
"It is urgent that we bring you back to our base of operations," one informed him. Danny rolled his eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere without knowing why the government wants my help with ghosts, or at least what this outside party is," Danny grumbled, folding his arms defiantly. The two men shared an uncertain look.
"Are you willing to help us with a ghost problem?" one of them ventured. Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but what makes you so sure that I can help?" Danny answered distrustfully. Both men nodded.
"Then, we'll bring you in," the other decided and they grabbed his arms and turned him around.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Danny yelped as they walked him out of the building.
"Please come quietly Mr Fenton," one of the men requested.
"Then tell me why you're practically kidnapping me! You said I'm not under arrest, that means I can refuse to go with you," Danny snarled angrily. Getting many curious looks from passing college students.
"And we told you that this is urgent," the other reminded him.
"Danny?" a male student with light brown hair and glasses called in surprise. Danny glanced back at him and saw that it was Joseph, another student in his course.
"Oh, hey Joe! Mind taking notes for me in our next lecture?" Danny shouted back to his friend. Danny was out of sight before Joseph could answer.
Danny resigned himself to being taken wherever the men were taking him. He couldn't get away without turning intangible and blowing his secret. Besides, he was curious and really didn't want to have to explain why he'd been dragged through a crowded corridor by two surprisingly strong men. Five minutes later, they were standing in an alleyway. The men pushed an old boot into his hands and gripped his upper arms tightly with one hand each and the other held the boot. Danny was starting to wonder if these men were completely sane when he felt something tug behind his navel and he began to spin on the spot at dizzying speeds.
He collapsed to the ground suddenly without warning and retched.
"Warn me next time," he groaned, feeling extremely nauseous. He'd ridden countless roller coasters and been pulled through the Ghost Zone by the Infi-map but whatever that boot was, it was completely different. It felt… wrong. He shook the dizziness from his head and unsteadily got to his feet before the men grabbed his arms again and led him through the streets of some city. He didn't even see where he was heading and his vision only fully cleared once the men walked him into a building. He gasped at the sight and then realised what these people were.
He watched pages of paper fly through the air in the shape of birds before unfolding on desks. He saw numerous people wearing cloaks and some even wore pointed hats. They waved sticks at their work and were done in seconds. These men were wizards.
"Let me guess, your president isn't the same as mine," Danny commented. The men glanced at him before grunting in confirmation.
"Why didn't you just say that you were wizards? I would have come without question… well less questions," Danny inquired grumpily.
"Right, so we were meant to walk up to some no-maj and say that we need your help and that we're wizards," one man retorted sarcastically. Danny scowled.
"No-maj? Oh, I get it. Non-magical person. Well, when you put it like that… yeah! I thought you were some government cronies coming to arrest me for some reason. You can't just walk up to someone and say you have to come with us!" Danny replied.
"Why would we arrest you?" one of the men inquired suspiciously. Danny cleared his throat and turned to watch a witch send a memo through the air.
"Oh no reason. But you watch enough movies and you can get paranoid," Danny answered.
"Movies?" one of the men questioned confused. Danny glanced at him.
"Yeah, movies. Moving pictures with sound… tells stories. You wizards don't have that?" Danny explained. The men shook their heads. Danny laughed and shook his head.
"Don't know what you're missing guys," Danny commented.
"So, this outside party. Going to tell me about it yet?" Danny asked conversationally. The men glanced at each other and shrugged.
"You'll meet him soon. Not sure if you'd even know who he is, considering you're a no-maj and all," one man answered. Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Could surprise you. Go ahead, try me. No harm in telling me his name," Danny prompted. The man nodded.
"Guess you're right. Harry Potter," the man informed him. Danny's eyes widened and he laughed.
"Seriously, you should have just said. I would have come if you told me Harry was asking for me. We're friends," Danny told them.
"Really?" one of the men retorted disbelievingly. Danny nodded.
"Yep, Harry Potter, curse scar on his forehead. Took down Voldemort when he was just a baby," Danny confirmed, stunning the men. Danny smirked at the shocked expressions.
"Like I said, I could surprise you," Danny repeated cockily.
And that's how life's treating Danny. So let me know what you think of this chapter. I don't know much about astronomy so if there aren't formula and things in that, I'm sorry.
But with that… until the next chapter…
