AUTHOR'S NOTE (AN): I meant for chapter three to kinda shaky with plot details. I will clear that up in this chapter, I hope! Thank you to 'Random Flyer and 'Dark Phoenix' for their extended reviews. Oh, and for all the HP fans out there, assume that Danny is coming in 1 week after the department of Mysteries battle. SPOILER: plot will only take one week so I can fit this story in a lot of places in the HP timeline!
"Yes, yes, 500 new windows for the southwest corner, Victorian style AB4, yes that's fine I approve. What…oh yes, let those Polish workmen in. No, no, NO I will not disclose anything concerning the incident. Yes Mr. Cronick, the payment will be in within one week, 1 million galleons, 1.1 million?, I thought we agreed on just a million? Well all right, just, just go over to table 24 and sign the papers." Dumbledore felt exhausted as he passed on to the next person in line, feeling as if the line of various people with countless concerns would never end.
The large hall, usually meant for storage was more packed than platform 9 and ¾ before departure of the train. The usual clutter had been stored away and tables set up along the sides of the vast hall. Each table had several Hogwarts staff manning them, with some of the tables having goblins who were dealing with the excessive amounts of paper work that was being passing around. There was shoving, shouting, and it looked like all of Hogwarts wanted into the hall. The air was becoming foul and had been stuffy even before the hall had been filled up with people. By now, people were at the end of their ropes and hysteria was becoming common. Arguments erupted at every table and Dumbledore himself, despite his endless patience, needed to leave the hall.
Dumbledore left the hall through a small side door and wiped his face. He had been up since the incident last night and been desperately trying to keep the entire school to a moderate level of control. Considering that the entire office wing of Hogwarts was in ruins, it was incredible that all offices had relocated to the hall, although for how much longer this set up would work was in question. Never less the hall was serving well, even when the entire school had business. Concerns and issues had poured in, ranging from everything from missing artifacts, to how to finance the reconstruction of the ruined areas of the school. Dumbledore had been doing his best, contracting several magical construction firms from as far away as Russia to send in hundreds of workers to begin clearing away the wreckage and rebuilding the school. He had also sent out a call for all available help from the surrounding area to come in to help with cleaning the school.
Dumbledore closed his eyes and stood against the wall as he calmed his throbbing head. So many concerns! Not to mention that many of the windows in the school had been shattered, the infirmary could barely keep up with the hundreds of casualties from last night and…
A goblin ran up "Sir, a dozen officials from the ministry of magic are on their way. They'll be here in 20 minutes"
And the ministry of Magic was being as nosy as it usually was, this was going to be an interesting meeting alright!
But Dumbledore had 20 minutes before that and a burning question on his mind.
Hogwarts is vast, but Dumbledore knew his way almost better than any other person in the building. Even so, it took several minutes as he wended his way to the top of the castle, through the various staircases and hallways, to the old study wing. The old study wing had once been used for tutoring and private studying although most of those functions had been moved to the library wing. Now the wing consisted of several empty rooms that were forgotten and seldom visited. Although it was a great place to hide…
Dumbledore walked down to study room 5 on his right and took a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. The room had a single chair, a small window that admitted the bright light from a clear sunrise outside, a small table with a glass of water and bit of food, and a collapsible bed on top of which laid Danny Fenton, still sleeping heavily.
Dumbledore felt himself filled with pity for the sleeping boy, and then anger for the damage the boy had caused. But any anger was brushed away as the boy tossed and turned from a bad dream. Rather similar to another boy that Dumbledore knew well…
Dumbledore sat on the small, ordinary chair and pulled it up to Daniel's bedside. He scrutinized the boy's face that had several small but definitive and deep scars, indicating his wild lifestyle. He was healing from last night remarkably fast, with the largest cuts already sealed and well on their way to fading while many of the smaller cuts had vanished along with many of the minor bruises. At this rate, young Daniel would look as if nothing had ever happened with a day.
Dumbledore took out his wand and gently pressed it to Danny's forehead. Muttering the incantation, Dumbledore entered the mind of the young American.
Everything was covered in mist as a maze rose up before Dumbledore. Moving cautiously, the mind continued to shift and maze changed with the walls swirling around the headmaster and presenting paths that closed and opened. On either side scenes of a chaotic life were unveiled. Fears were the most prevalent of the emotions and Dumbledore looked on interest. Swirling throughout the entire mind were the faces of a few people. A large man, wearing a ridiculous orange suit floated by, his large girth reminding Dumbledore of Hagrid, except with no beard and graying and short cropped hair that complemented his jolly but excitable face."Jack" Dumbledore murmured the sudden though passing through his mind. The image floated on, replaced by a image that emanated the feeling of love and fear, combined. It was an average height woman, with a functional light blue suit and goggles that indicated a scientist. "Maddie" thought Dumbledore
A series of different pictures popped up, one of a young girl dressed primarily in black. An affectionate emotion came on strongly from this image that changed to longing and hope. Dumbledore shook his head and grinned at the image. "Sam, his interest I am presuming" Finally a girl appeared with long straight red hair, moderate apparel that spoke of organization and determination. A strong feeling of family came from her image a burning deep affection that nearly overwhelmed the headmaster. Last but not least was a dark skinned boy with a red cap and a muggle electronic in hand. From this image came a feeling of friendship, and great affection for what was clearly a close friend.
Dumbledore passed the images and began passing to the fears. On the left, was an image of a man with a cape, a suave and confident face that was similar to an image of, Daniel? Yes it was, but an evil Daniel, with his eyes a dark crimson red that were filled with bloodlust. His teeth were stained red with evil fangs on the sides and his suit covered in….
Dumbledore shuddered at this scene and moved on. There was one final image, that was had so many emotions coming out that Dumbledore was tempted to pass it on, but he realized this was the memory that he had been searching for. Dumbledore entered the image and saw a modest city, with a few tall buildings along a coast line, all covered in rapidly falling snow. Moving down to one of the streets, there was a modest brick urban house with a large metal structure on top and the words illuminated, FENTON WORKS. Dumbledore entered and his heart fell at the scene. "Looks like I was too late" Dumbledore thought because it was clear of the black magic that had been used here. The rooms were trashed with tipped over furniture and destroyed plaster board. The floor was covered in dust, various broken household items, loads of papers and books, and to the left and right, one could see burn marks that decorated the walls. Dumbledore moved sadly through the memory. Finally he saw it. On the back of the front door, was a message burned into the back of the door.
The Phantom will come to the central park of Amity Park in one week if he values the safety of his parents. Failure to comply is instantaneous death for the family.
Dumbledore opened his eyes, which filled with sadness. "So it was true, I was too late to protect" Dumbledore considered as he looked on the troubled face of the young man.
Danny gave a quiet moan and stirred. Blinking, he brought his hand to his hair and slowly rubbed his aching head. For him, he felt soar all over, he hadn't been that beat since the time Skulker, Ember, and Technus teamed up and ambushed him during the night in his bedroom.
Slowly propping up his head, Danny finally got his motor running and began to take in his surroundings.
"huh, what in the heck happened last night, blah, feel like crap, all right, what now"
Danny quickly assessed the room. He was surrounded by bare walls with alternating bits of paint with grey brick. The ceiling was vaulted leading to an arched door way with an old fashioned wooden door. A window just behind Danny let light flood the room and in front of him…
Was Dumbledore, the strange wizard he had met last night been sitting, slightly hunched over, his entire posture speaking of weariness. His face was filled with sorrow and regret. Danny opened his mouth to speak, but Dumbledore was quicker than that.
"Daniel, you are under my care now, so please have considerations. You have destroyed part of my schooled, injured many of my fellow teachers and students, and cause the greatest uproar that this school has had all year, so my inquiry is, what explanation do have for your behavior in the last 15 hours?"
Danny suddenly remembered everything from last night, his house, his missing parents and Jazz, the battle outside the school. Danny's stomach squeezed as a feeling of doom washed over him. Stammering, Danny hardly prevented his voice from conveying the message that he realized he was in deep manure.
"Well, uhhhhh…, yea I um, I have…problems!
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and Danny winced. Danny gave a long sigh and hung his head. "I gotta find a better way to keep a low profile"
In a quiet and apologetic voice, Danny began to try to dig himself out of the deep hole he was currently in. "Well sir, I apologize for the battle, I go a little off the deep end when people close to me get hurt. I was just a little too protective I guess. But I don't think a heartfelt apology is going to fix much"
Sighing, Danny put his hands together and twitted his thumbs. "My family means so much to me, I-I guess that I went off the deep end last night because I have worked my butt off trying to keep my family safe, and when they were just gone…I…I just had to blame it on someone and you were the only ones I could think of"
Danny looked up and his eyes flashed their famous green "If you have them, so help me I will redo everything I did last night and…"
Dumbledore hardly acknowledged the rising anger Danny exhibited and, in an emotionless and dead serious tone, "Daniel, a heartfelt apology or anger does not assist save anyone.
Sighing, the aged professor leaned back and closed his eyes.
"For decades I have fought him, and now, Voldemort is coming close to that victory that would ruin the world. I only have wished to protect this school"
Danny glared and his eyes burned green "EXACtly my point, you have people you care for as well, so…wait, you never told me about um…Valdaymart who in the heck is this guy?"
Dumbledore opened his eyes with a passion, and he sat up, his muscles tensed "I should of illuminated you of him" Dumbledore hissed
"He was once a student, and a most talented one at that, but he was…different, and he had no good intentions for the school, his mind thought merely of the power he could posses. I tried to stop him, but he had too much will power, too much potential and charm for me or anyone to really consider that he would become my, and the entire world's mortal enemy"
Dumbledore gripped the chair till his knuckles turned white, his face had a intense fiery look, his entire body radiating the emotions that he felt. Danny felt intimidated and drank it in as he sat back, his face slowly going from interested to slightly appalled.
"When he left the school, he unveiled his true nature, he wanted to become a god, he wanted to dominate, to control, to kill, to…"
Dumbledore shuddered as if telling the tale was torture.
"He was cocky, although he could afford to be, he thought no one had the power to inhibit his rise, and then he made a mistake, and a spell, a simple spell from a single boy was able to single-handedly defeat him."
Dumbledore now became livid and he locked eyes with Danny
"Now he arises anew, he arises and he comes. His face is as smooth as a snakes with slits for a nose, his eyes dance with evil, he only thinks of evil, only does evil, and all he does is malice. He comes close, oh so close, to pressing this school that dares stand in his way to capitulate, to bend to his will, and we are in war!"
The room seemed to darken and Dumbledore stood, a slight wind swirling around him and Danny gasped as he saw the man seem to rise and grow, with his face alive with a combination of fear, anger and intensity.
"And that is why Daniel, he kidnapped your parents, he wants to use you, exploit you, and that is why what you did last night is unacceptable, we cannot afford this damage during war!"
Danny shrunk, truly feeling remorse. Placing his head in his knees "Wow, this guy really knows how to motivate people, I-I need to learn to control my emotions,…what came over me last night?"
Danny suddenly looked up and in a pleading voice "I'm sorry, just do-don't know what came over me last night, I just have problems with my temper"
Dumbledore looked down to see Danny with his spirit being subdued. Condescendingly and in a sympathetic tone "I can be no harder on you than you are being on yourself, I am merely trying to show you the gravity of what you have done and trying to convince you that we are on your side"
Kneeling Dumbledore looked on young Daniel and gave a sigh
"Why, why does he have to through a curse in everything, he puts me in a predicament that I hoped I would never have to face. The child, so much emotion, so much…"
Dumbledore contemplated the odd situation that the young man was forcing on him, the boy could NOT go home, that would be dangerous even if the house wasn't watched, and Daniel could be in danger anywhere else than under Dumbledore's eye.
Dumbledore shuddered at the thought of Daniel being under Voldemort's control, considering what Daniel could do alone. With the right combination of magic and proper reinforcements with Daniel on hand, Voldemort could lay waste to the school.
Dumbledore took off his glasses and rubbed his head. This was too much, there was NO precedent to this situation, the simple thought of what Dumbledore had to do was unprecedented…
Dumbledore recomposed himself and in a stern voice "Daniel, please, understand that you are protected here, and as for your parents, I believe that he-who-shall-not-be-named will not harm them till you actively defy him. And he has given us a week to deal with this. "
Danny only buried his head ever further into his shoulders. Dumbledore looked at the boy with weary eyes. "Daniel, please stay in here, I will arrange food for you, I need to talk with you extensively later. I know you mean well, please keep that intention, I am personally looking out for your benefit. You must trust me if you have any hopes of seeing your parent and sister free again, I know you understand." Dumbledore sighed as his head went into overdrive thinking, trying to formulate a plan to deal with Daniel.
"I will see you in a hour, please stay put, but the bathroom is down the hall towards the window, on your left"
Dumbledore left the room, his face sad and contemplative. He regained a face of seriousness quickly "And now for the Ministry"
…
"Oh bother, what could Dumbledore possible require of me at this late hour, lights are out in 30 minutes and I still and finishing work! "
Harry Potter was feeling that the day would never end, "first every window shatters first thing at one in the morning, then after barely able to fall asleep, everyone gets up and the entire school goes belly up and then I can't go a single period without the class breaking into argument, seems as if all the teachers are in sick and the substitutes just dump us busy work and they have no clue how to do the assignments and now Dumbledore, alright, let me guess, some troll will raid the kitchen at 11 tonight!"
Harry had certainly had a day to remember, mostly because of the 'incident'. The most frustrating thing was that nobody seemed to have a clue what in the willows happened. Anyone who had directly witnessed the 'incident' had clammed up and anyone who knew details seemed to hardly acknowledge that the 'incident' had occurred at all. Even Hermonie seemed clueless.
The rumors that were flooding around ranged from a freak attack by he-who-shall-not-be-named to an attack by dragons. No matter what people said, nobody had a real plausible explanation for an entire section of the school being shut down and all the windows being broken. And how did entire teachers get encased in ice?
Harry shook his head as he left the Griffin house and went to the Great Hall as directed to talk to Dumbledore. "Perhaps Dumbledore was meeting concerning the 'incident"
…
Dumbledore sighed as he rubbed the scratched table. The meeting with Ministry of Magic had taken hours, and every minute had been consumed with the same questions over and over again.
"They are the cause of many of the miseries of this school I am sure. I am sure headmasters have a name for the insanity they cause…'ministry syndrome' or something along those lines" Dumbledore had made sure not to give a hint of Daniel, but the Ministry had been suspicious never less, but they hardly believed that it had not involved the Death Eaters.
Now there was a welcome sight. The great hall was silent, the night sky showing through the invisible rough and most of the floating candles had been extinguished. The moon shone through the windows and gave sight to the boy of average height with a tired look approach. Dumbledore smiled as Harry Potter sidled to the table. Dumbledore did not smile all that often, but today the sight of any one besides a staff member or official was a welcome sight indeed.
Harry looked tired and slightly irritated although he was clearly happy to see Dumbledore. His trademark scar was almost invisible in his mass of hair that draped onto his forehead but not into his glasses. His shirt, long sleeve red and white slightly stained but comfortable, matching well with his dark trousers. He looked somewhat similar to Daniel… The boy sat across the table from him
"I am sorry Harry, but my office happens to be in under repair currently, sorry we had to meet her"
"Oh that's all right Dumbledore, saved me walking anyhow, so…is this related to the incident, by any chance"
Harry's face fell as he noticed the grim look on Dumbledore's face. In a serious tone that had the 'you are about to do something uncomfortable' tone "Harry, have you recovered from the Mystery Department battle?" Harry gave a curt nod, and Dumbledore felt intensely pathetic due to the amount of discomfort that he was going to put Harry through. He readied his mind and "I have things for you in the past and you have reciprocated, correct"
Harry looked surprised "Why of course Dumbledore"
"Well then feel that I can and I shall ask you two things of you, first is trivial but of concern, I need to keep this in confidentiality but yes, yes this is entirely related"
Harry narrowed his eyes "alright, but I am guessing you aren't telling me anything more" Dumbledore nodded and returned attention. Harry hesitated and said in a tone of dread.
"What is the second request of me?"
Dumbledore let out a deep breath "I want you to have a shadow for a week"
"That isn't so bad!" Harry smiled and felt relieved, because he had thought Dumbledore was going to ask him to infiltrate the Slytheirn house, go on a quest or find someone of something that was dangerous, which was, in comparison to a shadow accompanying him for the rest of the week, seemingly easier than flying a broom stick if not slightly fun. Harry quickly considered the details and then quickly withdrew the thought "Well that is not so bad, depending on who the shadow is?"
Dumbledore tensed and said in a almost apologetic voice "to sum him up in two words, he is a full muggle and an American"
Harry let his jaw drop before throwing head back and roaring in laughter "YOU are joking!"
Harry suddenly flipped his head back into attention before looking Dumbledore in his sad eyes "You are not being serious are you?"
Dumbledore simply stared straight back at Harry with a blank look on his face
Harry the idea settle in, and then he moaned and slammed his head into the table "Oh Dear"
A.N.: Please Review; I need criticisms if the story is to get better! Thank you to all who previously reviewed
