A/N: Hey there! Sorry ever so much for the slow updates! If you go to my profile page, you'll know why I'm slow. The amount of people who like this fic is overwhelming to me! Considering it's my first proper fic I'm ecstatic about the reviews! I haven't got a single negative one yet. - Thanks to one reviewer Haruhibunny who suggested I do a recap of the last chapter as a fair amount of time passes between each one. Many, many thanks to Em Phantom for beta-ing this for me! But now, for your long-awaited 4th chapter!

Disclaimer: I own neither. If I did, I wouldn't be looking for a job…

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Danny, while in ghost form, will now be referred to as Phantom. :)

Recap:

He heard the wind whistling past him as he flew over a great lake. The usually shimmering surface was pitch black. No moon or stars were reflected. Curious at this change, the young half-ghost looked ahead for the castle. Sure enough there it was on top of the large hill. The dark castle was getting closer and closer. Danny was waiting for it to disappear when two crimson eyes appeared in the sky above it. The slitted eyes seemed to freeze his insides. Unable to move, Danny waited for the pain those eyes seemed to promise him. Without warning, a jagged bolt of lightning shot down in between the hate-filled eyes and a scream of pure agony ripped through the air. Danny, having been released from his paralysis when the lightning came, felt himself falling. He continued falling, unable to stop himself, until the darkness swallowed him.

Blue eyes twinkled behind half-moon glasses. Albus Dumbledore was pondering over the information the Order had told him. He knew Harry would want to know, but he didn't want to tell the boy potentially dangerous information. This…'Halfa' issue would need to be looked into. Albus wanted to send some people to investigate, but who? According to Tonks and Kingsley, four Aurors (including them) were leaving on a top-secret assignment to a place called Amity Park in America. 'With two Order members already there, it will be much easier to gather information.'he thought. 'Now to get one or two more over there without raising suspicion.'

Albus was left with these thoughts as he tried to figure out a way for it to work.

Harry looked around the dark place. It was intimidating to say the least. No matter how many times he said an incantation, no matter how hard he concentrated, his wand would not work. How Harry wished for some sort of light. A deep crimson glow was slowly starting to spread throughout the endless dark. Harry did not consider this much of an improvement. Hissing noises echoed around, reverberating off invisible walls. The hissing was too confused and overlapped for Harry to understand. The hissing was causing a build-up of pain to blossom in Harry's head. Just as he was about to start screaming for it to stop, a coldness seemed to fall over him. It was not the clammy cold the dementors caused. Strange though it was, Harry felt oddly protected by the chill. A green blast shot from somewhere and went straight up. Large rumbling and cracking sounds could be heard over the now pained hissing. The pain in his head was gone and Harry's surroundings turned white.

Two boys, many miles away from each other, both sat up in bed breathing heavily. Both pondered the strange dream they had.

Chapter 4: Cunning as a Fox, or...Wolf?


Remus Lupin sighed as he headed for the place Albus had managed to rent for him for a while. Between the two of them, they had managed to concoct a very convincing cover story. Remus, on behalf of the werewolves, was here investigating the rumours of a large 'wolf-man' said to have attacked a while ago. On the pretence of finding the 'wolf-man' and trying to convince it to return with him and the underground werewolves, Remus was going to keep an eye out for the 'halfa' and talk to it if he could. Remus sighed again as he stopped in front of the house whose address he held in his hand. Remus was not rich by any means, so to keep up appearances, the place did look a little run-down. He had been assured that everything worked. No, the reason this place was so cheap was because of the neighbours on the opposite side of the block. His backyard was connected to theirs, separated only by a fence. They were 'crazy, ghost-hunting, peace disturbing freaks' according to the real estate agency. He had actually been interested to hear this. Maybe they knew many ghosts? Maybe they even knew the halfa? He didn't want to ask them that directly though. It would raise suspicion. Walking to his new room for an untold amount of time, the werewolf sighed again and began to unpack.

Sunday. A blessed day where school was not involved. Three teens cherished this day, like they do every weekend. Although, for these three, work was still involved. Hunting and catching ghosts took time and effort. It was also a full time job around Amity Park. Danny, Tucker and Sam were heading to FentonWorks to cram in as much relaxing as they could. Danny, however, was troubled by the change in his dream. He had only felt that kind of fear a few times. When he saw his future, when the Nasty Burger exploded, when he was fighting Pariah, the Ghost King…

Sam, sensing something was weighing on Danny's mind, was fully prepared to make him talk about it. 'If he keeps bottling things up inside, it'll eat him away from the inside out.' Oh yes, Sam would make him talk.

Tucker was simply thinking of what was for tea at his house tonight.

The three entered the strange building and headed up to Danny's room. Closing the door, Tucker sat down on Danny's desk chair. Danny flopped down on his bed while Sam sat beside him.

"So, now what?" Tucker asked, shattering the peaceful quiet.

"Interesting, very interesting."

"Indeed, Gred, this merits deep investigation."

"Indeed it does, Forge."

"Count us in!" George said excited. Mischief danced across the eyes of the twins.

"We were hoping you'd say that." Ginny grinned.

"How are we going to find out if it IS too important to tell us?" Hermione asked, frowning slightly. "I'm sure they'll put an Imperturbable Charm on the door, after all, they've done it before. So we can't use the Extendable Ears."

Everyone frowned at this. The Extendable Ears were really their only way to find out things. If the door was Imperturbed, they'd have to wheedle the information out of someone.

"We'll have to check. I'll flick some Dungbombs at it like I did last time." Ginny piped up.

"Ron and I will stand just on the stairs to relay the signal up if it's clear or not. If it is, you'll have to lower the Extendable Ears down quickly or we might miss something important." Harry said. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

"They'll probably get enough Order members together by tomorrow. Everyone, keep an eye out and let the others know if they're heading into a meeting." Fred announced, a serious look on his face.

"Roger that, captain!" George exclaimed, saluting his twin. Fred's serious look slipped off his face as everyone in the room laughed. The twins shooed the others from their room so no-one thought they were plotting something.

"I dunno, Tuck," said Danny with a little amusement colouring his tone. "I mean, look at us! We finally get some free time and we have no idea how to fill it in!"

Sam and Tucker had to nod at that. The silence was starting to grate on Sam when Tucker suddenly pointed out the window. "I thought that house was empty? How come there's a light on?"

Danny and Sam spun around on the bed and saw that Tucker was right. A light was indeed on. They could vaguely see a figure going back and forth in front of the window. Sam was the first to comment.

"Maybe someone moved in?"

Danny snorted in laughter. "They can't have lived around here or heard of my parents if they moved there."

Tucker looked thoughtful. "Maybe they're from another country and don't speak English very well and got it because it's cheap?" The others nodded, thinking it entirely plausible. Suddenly Danny groaned.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, concerned.

"I just hope my parents don't think whoever-it-is is a ghost. Or that my mum cooks them something as a welcome," the youngest Fenton said with apprehension. "I don't want anyone else, definitely not the new neighbours, to be attacked and possibly sprayed with goo, OR poisoned by my mother's toxic ecto-cooked food."

"Oh," Chorused his two best friends.

"Well," Sam said slowly, "maybe WE should go over there now, before your parents do and warn them?"

That perked Danny up immediately. "Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Let's go right now!"

Sam and Tucker followed him as he bounced down the stairs and out the front door.

Remus unpacked the few things he brought with him. He had ended up moving empty boxes out the way for most of the time. The only other important thing he had to do was to try and keep away from the Aurors. Kingsley and Tonks were to be informed about his presence and role here before they left with the Ministry Aurors. He was pondering ways to subtly gather information on the 'halfa' and the 'wolf-man' when he heard the doorbell. 'I don't know anyone here…maybe it's just a sales clerk or something?' he thought, a slight frown marring his face. Shrugging to himself, he walked over to the door and opened it, fully expecting an adult with a case of some sort. What he saw at his door was unexpected, to say the least. Standing there with slightly nervous, but determined looks on their faces, were three young teenagers, a girl and two boys.

Remus blinked. "Uh, hello, can I help you?"

The three teens blinked back. They weren't expecting him to speak good English, but he sounded British. Danny, determined to warn this stranger about the danger of opening the door to his parents, gathered his courage and looked the man straight in the eyes.

"Hello, my name is Danny Fenton and this is Sam and Tucker," he said, indicating his friends. "My family lives in the building whose backyard yours faces." Danny smiled, hoping the guy hadn't heard of his parents and thought their son was crazy too.

Remus blinked again. 'The 'ghost-hunters' son? Interesting. Wonder if he knows of the 'halfa' or the 'wolf-man'? He smiled back at the teen, who seemed to relax at that for some reason. "Nice to meet you Danny, Sam, Tucker," he said, shaking hands with each in turn. "What brings you to my new doorstep?"

"Just thought I should give you a warning beforehand."

Remus gained a slightly surprised look. "Warning? Whatever for? Oops, where are my manners? Come in and you can tell me." He held the door open, gesturing for them to enter, to which they obliged.. He ushered them to sit around a small table in the kitchen. "Would you like a drink or something?" he asked. All three politely refused. "So," he started, after getting comfortable. "What did you want to warn me about?"

Danny clasped his hands in front of him, elbows resting on the table. "Well, I don't mean to sound rude Mr. uh…."

"Remus Lupin. But please, just call me Remus."

"Okay, Remus. As I said, I don't mean to sound rude or offensive, but if my parents, Jack and Maddie, come to your door, please be careful. They both wear HazMat suits, so you should recognise them right away."

"Your parents? Why would I need to be careful? I've heard they only attack ghosts."

Danny blinked at that. 'So he HAS heard. Must be brave or poor to still move here…'

"Well, yes, they never attack humans, but…" Sam trailed off, turning to Danny.

Heaving a sigh, Danny continued.. "They can be a little paranoid sometimes. They may spray ectoplasmic goo at you if they suspect you're a ghost, which I'll be sure to tell them you aren't so that doesn't happen. It won't hurt, but it's a pain to clean up. Once I tell them there is a new neighbour who ISN'T a ghost, my mum will probably bake you something as a welcome gift." Here he stopped for a moment, a slight grimace on his face before he finished. "It's not that my mum is a bad cook, it's more the fact that she uses ecto-powered things to cook food with. It tends to turn the food nasty. If you're lucky, it'll just be glowing. But I have seen many things my mum cooks come to life and attack."

Remus sat there, not quite sure what to think of this information. "So, uh…what do you suggest?"

"If my mum comes with food, accept it. That will satisfy her. Once she's gone though, it would be best if you threw it away or flushed it immediately."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it, Danny. Is that all, or is there something else?"

Tucker decided to add to the conversation. "Yeah. If you see a ghost, run. You might get hurt if you stick around and watch the fight."

"Fight? I didn't know the ghosts fought, or do you mean when the Fentons fight them?"

"Well, Danny's dad isn't a very good aim, but no. I'm not really referring to the Fentons. I meant there's a good ghost that fights the others to protect people."

Remus raised a brow. 'Could this be a lead?'

Sam, misinterpreting his look for scepticism, hoped to get him to believe that Danny was a good guy. 'It's too risky to say Danny Phantom as he might make the link. We should just call Danny's ghost-side Phantom.' Looking Remus right in the eye, Sam made her stand. "Yes, he IS a good ghost. A lot of people, including Danny's parents, think he's evil but he's not. Phantom is not dangerous or evil, so if you see him, please don't call any ghost hunters."

"Phantom? Okay, I'm willing to give this ghost a chance if you all say he's good. But…what does he look like?" he asked the teens. "I'd love to meet him and talk to him myself if I can." Inwardly the werewolf smiled. 'If I could personally meet the only 'good' ghost here, that would be a perfect way to start my search. This Phantom might even know the halfa. He might even BE the halfa! For these kids to say he's good when most don't, they must know him or have spoken to him personally.'

Sam decided to describe 'Phantom'. "Well, he looks like a teenage boy, has white hair, green eyes and wears a black and white HazMat suit with a white logo on the chest."

'He's colourful? Not just see-through and pearly white? Now I HAVE to meet this ghost.' Remus nodded. "Thankyou. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for him. You kids don't happen to know a way to get a message to him, do you?"

This shocked Danny a bit. Quickly gathering his wits, he decided to choose his next words carefully. "Well, he does enter the lab in the basement of my house whenever he catches a ghost. The portal to the place all the ghosts come from is in there. It's usually shut, but every now and then a ghost will manage to get out." Danny looked a little cheesed at that as he said it. "Anyway, he has this device that catches ghosts. When he gets one, he lets it go through the portal. I catch him down there sometimes. I'm sure I could pass on a message for you."

Remus was curious about this portal to 'where ghosts come from' but that could wait, he told himself. "When you see him next, could you please ask if I could meet him? I just want to ask him a few questions."

Sam narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not saying that to lure him into a trap are you?" The suspicion was clear in her tone.

"A trap? Why would I trap who you three claim to be the good guy? No, I just want to ask him if he knows of this other ghost I've heard about."

Tucker was just about what ghost, as they could most likely tell him themselves when he felt Danny step on his toes. Looking over, he saw his half-ghost friend slightly shake his head in a warning. Danny didn't want this guy to know that they had such knowledge. Things could become complicated.

"Sure. I'll probably see him sometime tonight or tomorrow. Do you want me to tell him to come straight here?" Danny asked rather bluntly.

Remus smiled at the three. "Yes please. It doesn't matter what time it is. It would probably be best if he came over sometime during the night. He'll probably have less chance of being caught by your parents that way, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so. That's probably the best time for him to meet you anyway. He's usually very busy during the day as I hardly see him then." Danny was rather intrigued that the new guy wanted to meet 'Public Enemy no. 1' and was looking forward to coming here as Phantom later tonight. "We better go, though. My parents don't know we came here and I don't want them to think we got kidnapped by a ghost." Danny said, rolling his eyes.

"Sure, let me show you out." Remus sat up and took the three to his front door. As he opened it, he turned to them. "Thanks for the warning about your parents. I'll make sure to be careful, like you said. Oh, and thanks for passing on my message when you see Phantom, too."

The three teens stepped outside. Smiling, Danny replied, "No problem. Phantom could use another person on his side, too. And I'd hate to see you attacked by some ecto-cooked monster. See ya around!" With that, they waved and walked around the block. They split up, Sam and Tucker heading home though, as they had homework to finish.

It was nearing midnight according to the clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen. Remus, too anxious about maybe meeting Phantom tonight, was sitting at the table drinking tea. 'My first day here and I already have a lead! It would certainly save me a lot of searching if this Phantom knows the halfa or the wolf creature. It would be even better if he IS the halfa! It would certainly fit. The only 'good' ghost around, fights and captures all the others and is apparently colourful as well.. I hope my hunch is right. That way I know the 'dreaded powerful halfa' is actually friendly.' Just then however, Remus was interrupted by a slight cough, the type you do to get someone's attention. He looked around for the source when he spotted a glowing figure, floating in the air about 2-3 meters in front of him. He took in the intruders appearance. 'White hair, green eyes, black and white suit with logo and looks like a teenager. So this is Phantom? Very interesting, not only can I see colours on him, he's actually solid-looking!'

Phantom, fighting the urge not to squirm under the man's gaze, gave a small wave. "Uh, hi, I'm Phantom. You're Remus Lupin, right?"

"Y-yes, I am. I'm glad to see Danny delivered my message. I'll be sure to thank him tomorrow." Remus said with a kind smile. He was pleased to see Phantom visibly relax.

"Danny told me you had something you wanted to ask me, Mr. Lupin?" he said, truly curious.

"Just call me Remus. Mr. Lupin makes me feel old." Remus said with a slight chuckle. Phantom blinked, but gave a small chuckle of his own.

"Ha ha, okay then, Remus. What can I do for you?"

Remus smiled, knowing then and there that he had an ally. "Well, I'm actually looking for a couple of ghosts. I was wondering if perhaps you could help me."

'So he really was telling the truth about what he wanted…' the half-ghost hero thought with a smile. "Sure, do you know their names?"

Remus sighed, seeming to deflate slightly at that. "Unfortunately, no. I have a description of one and a…title of sorts, of the other."

Phantom nodded. "Okay, I can still probably help you. Just tell me what you know."

The werewolf nodded. "The description I have is of a large wolfish creature said to have attacked this town a few months ago. I think it was wearing some type of green clothing. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

To say Phantom was surprised was a bit of an understatement. "You must be talking about Wulf. What are you looking for him for, if I may ask?"

"His name is Wulf? You know him then?" Replied Remus, a bit startled to have such information already.

"Well, yeah. He's my friend. He only attacked because some bad ghost named Walker that caught him put a shock collar on him and would zap him if Wulf didn't do what Walker wanted. He's really a nice guy. What do you want him for? I won't let you hurt him!" Phantom declared, his eyes briefly glowing as he sent a withering glare at Remus.

Remus was a bit shocked at the sudden outburst and the way Phantom's eyes lit up. "N-no, you have me all wrong! I wanted to warn this…Wulf."

Phantom calmed a bit at that. He was still a little tense though. "Warn him of what? Wulf's only left the Ghost Zone twice since I've known him." He muttered under his breath, "That I know of anyway…"

"I wanted to warn him that a group of people in Britain have heard of him and want to 'recruit' him, one could say, to their cause." Remus frowned. "They are a vicious group and would use Wulf to kill and injure countless people. Since you know him, could you warn him to be on the alert? From what you've said, it sounds as though Wulf wouldn't cooperate if they did catch him. But they would most likely use something like that shock-collar you mentioned."

Phantom wasn't expecting a confession like that. In a state of numb shock, he floated to the ground. "I-I…I'm not sure where he lives in the Ghost Zone…but if I do happen to run into him…I'll be sure…to pass on the warning…"

Remus was watching Phantom's reaction closely.. The teenage-looking ghost was just too interesting not to watch. "Thankyou," he replied sincerely. 'If the werewolves ask me where he is, I'll just say he was impossible to find or get in contact with. Which is sort of true.'

"What about the other one you're looking for? Do you need to warn them of something, too?" As he asked, Phantom's mind was racing, thinking of all the ghosts he knew with a 'title'. He hoped it wasn't Prince Aragon. Or the Ghost King. Or Skulker, Ghost Zone's 'Greatest Hunter'.

"Well," Remus started, trying to figure out an inconspicuous way to word this. Giving up, he decided to be blunt. "I have only heard it spoken of by ghosts. I'm not sure if it IS a ghost itself. They call it the 'Halfa'. And yes, I need to warn this 'halfa' too."

Phantom's brain almost shut down. If ghosts had a heartbeat, he was sure he'd probably be having a heart attack right now. 'He knows, he knows, he knows…' Was constantly running through his head.

Remus was again watching Phantom intently. 'He knows something, that much is plainly obvious. Could my hunch have been right? Is Phantom this 'halfa' Umbridge is searching for?' Clearing his throat, he attempted to gain Phantom's attention. 'Attempted' being the main word. Failing, Remus stood up and stopped in front of the catatonic-like ghost. Waving his hand in front of the ghost's face elicited no reaction either. Getting slightly worried now, Remus wondered if he would be able to touch Phantom. His hand always went through the ghosts at Hogwarts, but Phantom looked so solid. Slowly reaching out, his right hand hovered over Phantom's left shoulder. Slightly gritting his teeth, he brought his hand down, expecting his hand to go straight through and feel like it was encased in a bucket of ice. The shocked expression on his face when his hand made contact was priceless. Sirius would have paid any amount to get a picture of this moment. Remus felt a chill coming from Phantom, but that was all. He gently grabbed Phantom's other shoulder and softly shook him.

"Hey, hey! Phantom? Can you hear me? Answer me!"

Remus felt a wave of relief as Phantom seemed to come back to himself. Blinking, the teenage ghost's mind registered someone gripping his shoulders. Looking around slowly, his eyes rested on Lupin's. Remus gave a nervous smile. "Glad you came back, I was getting worried."

"Huh?" Was his reply.

"Phantom? Are you okay?"

"Uh…"

"Phantom? Phantom, are you alright?" The concern in his voice was evident.

Phantom licked his lips. "D-did you say……h-halfa?" he managed to stutter out.

"Yes…" Remus replied warily, scared that Phantom would relapse. "Do you know the halfa?"

'Maybe they're after Vlad?' His mind reasoned. 'After all, I'm not the only halfa. I'm not the first either.' The second halfa ever to exist wanted to find a way to confirm which halfa. There were three if you counted Dani, his clone. "Do you know anything of this halfa? I might know something if you can tell me more." Phantom said, his voice slowly becoming steadier..

Another wave of relief washed over the werewolf. He wasn't sure why he cared for this ghost so much. He felt, deep down, some sort of kinship with the spirit, but…

"All I know is the halfa's powerful. Some people, who are after the halfa, have tracked it here."

'That doesn't help, Vlad and I both live here…' Phantom thought with dismay. "Are you absolutely sure there's nothing else? I can't help you at the moment. Anything else? Anything at all?"

Remus frowned, straining to remember everything Dumbledore had told him that he had heard. "I think…I'm not sure mind you, but I think the only other thing I know is that this halfa defeated someone named the Ghost King. I'm sorry, I don't know anymore."

Phantom's brain went into overdrive. "Th-that…was…m-m-me!" he managed to squeak out before he fell to his knees and went into a silent state of shock once more.

A/N: There you have it. Not including the 600 words the recap took up, this chapter is more than twice the length of the others. I hope this somehow sort of makes up for the long waiting periods I keep putting you guys through. puppy eyes Also, if you're wondering why Danny admitted it was him, he's in shock, give the guy a break! When most people get like that, their mouth tends to act without much guidance from the brain. :)

Remember, the more reviews I get, the more motivated I am. I wrote this entire chapter just today (14/3/08) after getting a late review to the third chapter telling me to update. I know it's much later than that now, but my beta accidentally deleted the copy I sent her and it took her a couple of weeks to get around to emailing me for another.

While I really do appreciate all those who take them time to leave a review, could you please write more than just "update soon"?

I still appreciate it, but I'd like a little feedback. While the fact that you want me to update means you like the story, I'd like to know why. Add in which part you liked best, which one least, if you thought something didn't look or sound right…please? I need to know if my writing is improving!

So, to those nice 20 odd people out of roughly nearly 2000 who click on my story and actually review, thankyou! hugs Please keep reviewing!