Strangeness Across the Realms

by kings3476

A dark lord rises, a king of a dark realm stirs, and a prophecy becomes tangled beyond all reconciliation. Whether at war or school; one must always expect the strangeness across the realms. DP-HP Crossover with slight AU for HP and MAJOR AU for DP. its my first fanfic so please be gental.

4. Stormy meeting with the hatter

Very sorry this has taken so long to come out, I've been trying to secure my next semester while at the same time dealing with holiday madness, I'll try and get these finished sooner Also, everyone give a big hand to Serene Strayu, for beta-ing this chapter and hopefully future installments, check out her work.

I do not own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter.

Chapter 3-Return of the weary rabbit hunters and a stormy meeting with the Hatter

"So you actually ditched the observants?" Sam said, eyebrow raised as Danny rubbed the back of his neck,

"well, master clockwork said I was good to leave, besides…" he dropped his hand as he gave a casual shrug of his shoulders, "it's not like I haven't heard it all before..." he shifted his staff into his left hand and with his right dramatically pointed and spoke in an overdramatic deep voice

"Clockwork, you must do this! Clockwork, you must stop that! Clockwork, we've told you countless times to destroy the boy!"

Danny dropped his hands and snorted "Really, at this point I could recount their speeches in my sleep, screw council of observants, they should be called the council of naggers."

The group gave a good couple of chuckles as the golden cog lift finally stopped on the top floor, the five of them left the lift as Danny looked over the group. Sam was in human form, wearing a dark purple turtleneck with a frowning cartoon skull on its chest. Below that she wore long black pants, similar to her ghost form, but with no discernible pattern woven in and made of simple cloth instead of the magical spectral cloth of her ghost form's clothing. She wore black socks and simple black tennis shoes with black laces. Around her neck was the same ice crystal that in her ghost form, clasped her cloak, in human it hung off a dark iron chain necklace. Her hair was just as long as it was in her ghost form, tied into a single long pony tail with a new large black bat hair clip. She had a light amount of her typical gothic makeup and a small amused smirk on her face. In one hand she held her short staff, still giving a soft blue glow from her practice and in the other she held a typical DADA textbook.

Next to her was Tucker, who wore a black shirt that showed a cartoonish depiction of the evolution of man, only instead of man, it was the evolution of the computer. On top of that he wore a yellow, zip up hoody along with long tan khaki pants that whenever he walked gave a resounding clack of the numerous gadgets he held in many of his pockets. On his feet he wore long white socks and his usually tan hiking boots and on his head was his ever present red beret that seemed to almost never leave his head. On his left wrist was a similar device to that of Danny's parents, only slightly different. The band was generally smaller than that of Danny's folks, save for an elongated section on top that came to a rounded edge about a third of the way down tuckers forearm, forcing tucker to wear the strange device over his hoody sleeve. The device was tuckers dream project, something he always updated and upgraded and treated like it was his own child, and acted as both his PDA and wand.

When Sam and Tucker entered the Coven, Sam made it apparent that there was no place for her in the organization other than the combat division, but Tucker chose a different approach. He couldn't join the combat division… well he could, but couldn't dedicate himself beyond adequate physical performance. Instead, Clockwork had him train under the catalyst makers of the coven, learning the coven's unique way of making personalized magical catalysts. With his love of tech, magical ability, and access to both Fenton tech and the covens own resources, Tucker developed his own brand of magical tech, with his own personalized computational catalyst. He named the tech M.M.A, Magical Mechanical Assistant, and spent much of own personal study time on different ways to improve it. He was currently tapping away at the device as the conversation progressed,

"That may true dude, but you shouldn't outright ignore them, they already hate you, no need to give'm more ammo."

Danny shrugged as Danielle spoke up, floating at eye level with the group "whether he ignores them or not, it doesn't make a difference, these guys flat out hate hybrids." She gave a small huff and crossed her arms, she still kept herself partially transformed as her tail began to wave and sway beneath her.

"What I want to know," Danielle continued, "is why they seem so perfectly ok with Vlad doing whatever he wants. I don't hear them complain about every step and breath he still takes."

Danny shook his head as the group came to a stop in the middle of the catwalk to Clockworks office.

"oh trust me, they're no fans," he said, turning to his little sister with a small smirk, "they don't actively discuss him, at least not so openly, but in the rare events that they do need to acknowledge he exists, they never use his name, just 'the elder halfa' and when they do, it's like they're trying very hard not to spit it out."

He sat on top the walkways guide bar as Sam came up next to him, Tucker stayed in the middle as Jazz just cautiously leaned against it and Danielle aimlessly hovering between them.

She gave small snort and replied "So they're just being wusses, they can't actually go after the big bad halfa, just the one with a hero-complex."

The others gave another soft chuckle, except Danny who gave a small snort at the comment. He gave a small shake of his head as he was about to give his reply before the door at the other end of the catwalk opened. Out came the British wizards, with master clockwork as their guide as they made their way to Danny and company. He noted that they looked a little shaken from their private talk; of course they would never show this outwardly, but by the subtle way their aura's fluctuated, he could tell they were unnerved.

Aura sensing would always mystify Danny, even after it became natural for him. He had first learned how to use Aura sensing among his first lessons with Clockwork as simple means to identify and prepare for an incoming attacks. But it wasn't until he had donned his blindfold that he had unlocked its potential. Back then, focusing past his blindfold became annoying and painful, having to constantly focus to look, so he used aura sensing to help alleviate the burden and was shocked at what he felt.

It was like and unlike his regular sight all at once; His masters had told him that with training, he could feel everything around him, but being the little kid he was at the time, he barely payed attention. Now however, they're words made so much sense. It was like a veil of inky black had replaced invisible air, allowing for a few different spots and shades of gray to indicate a difference in atmosphere around him. The ground, walls, anything inanimate would be softer or sharper shades of blue flames, changing and contorting in shape to its visible counterpart with stark contrasts in color and density depending on any noteworthy change in the object's energy. This secondary sight, however, was not limited through just his eyes; it was like he was given a full, radial sphere of perception that would stretch on to the limits of his subconscious, and expand with a small amount of effort.

People and other organisms where a menagerie of a dancing bluish flame in a mock shape of their visible selves; they're energy, or Aura as it was actually called, fluctuating and alternating in shape or color depending on their state. It was fascinating and strange to Danny, not only in the appearance of the world behind this other sense but just how much information he could garner. Despite not having a visible component to discern in this state, he could still discern the color and even the composition of an object or person. He had no real way to describe it; he simply just gained the information at a glance. It was like discerning why certain smells felt the way they did, it was just how his brain processed it.

The first time he discovered this strange new sense, it had overwhelmed him, but after consulting his master, Danny harnessed this extra sense and refined it to the point of reflex. Nowadays he rarely even looked past his blindfold, opting to just sense everything around him. He didn't need to cut off his vision to use this extra sense, but he had grown accustom to the blindfold in his human form, given the usefulness in reading those around him. The 3 blue flames that represented the wizards flowed erratically, in such a way that he had come to know as distress. Interesting, but not really surprising, they were left alone with master Clockwork after all.

The wizards and spirit came to a halt in front of them as Danny and the others stopped leaning on the railings and moved to the middle of the catwalk. Master clockwork stepped aside and with his free hand motioned to the group.

"Now then for a few more introductions, you all have met the Fenton children, but these two…" Master clockwork motioned to both Sam and Tucker as they both gave short nods of recognition, "…are the other two transfer students, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley."

Sam gave a small frown, but didn't say anything as Tucker gave a small smile and wave. Professor Dumbledore came forward, a small welcome smile on his lips as he had his hands folded behind his back. It was quick, but Danny noticed the Professor noted both Sam's staff and Tucker's wrist.

"Hello there Miss Manson and Mister Foley, I am Professor Dumbledore, I trust young Mister and Miss Fenton told you the reason of our visit." The two nodded as Dumbledore's smile widened "Good! Then as Headmaster I would love to welcome you both to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, provided your parents agree to the transfer of course."

Danny gave a small, near unnoticeable snort as he looked at his nerdy friend, Tucker's parents would be no problem. They may not have been as ecstatic as Danny's about the whole your son is magic, but were still supportive of his magical education. He highly doubted they would have any real objections to the transfer, especially if it involved the words 'highly acclaimed boarding school'. The whole helping out a war effort might make them falter a bit, Danny thought, but he still doubted they'd say no. He had no question that if it wasn't for Mr. Foley's work, Tucker's friendship with Danny, and the educational opportunities given to Tucker by the coven, the Foley's would have left Amity's haunted and dangerous streets a long time ago. War or not, a School year watched over by the some of the best of Britain's magical community was a much safer option. He looked next to Tucker and frowned as he glanced at Sam, the issue for her wouldn't be if they would approve, in fact the issue would be that they would agree in a heartbeat.

Dumbledore turned to his two companions and mirrored Danny's master by giving each an acknowledging wave of the hand "and these two are my fellow instructors at Hogwarts, Professor Severus Snape …" The dark man kept his seemingly ever present indifferent frown as he gave a short nod in the group's direction, not so much giving a word. Dumbledore continued, not missing a beat "… and Professor Minerva McGonagall." The teacher gave a small polite smile and a much deeper dip of the head then her counterpart.

Tucker gave a small nod to both, keeping his smile and said a simple "'sup" which seemed to leave the three British wizards puzzled. Sam gave a soft laugh and spoke up "I see you don't speak 'geek trying too hard to be cool' I'll translate for you. He said hello."

Tuck gave an indignant wine as Sam to stock of the foreign company, folding her arms as she looked over to McGonagall and said in an inquisitive tone "so you're the Minerva McGonagall."

The professor quirked her head in confusion and respond "yes Miss Manson, I am, have you by chance read my work as well?"

Sam gave a quick chuckle and said "don't have to with your biggest fan as my tutor; She cites your work more than the actual textbooks." Danny didn't even need to sense the increasing red that colored his older sister's cheeks. Sam quirked an eyebrow and asked "she hasn't hounded you for autographs already has she?"

"Sam!" Jazz's yell only served to amuse Sam more as both she and Danielle shared a chuckle. Clockwork spoke up then, a small smirk on his face,

"Well, now that the group is properly introduced, perhaps we should make our way to Fenton works. I'm sure the Doctor's Fenton are anticipating their children's return."

His master turned to Danny and said "Daniel, if you wouldn't mind."

Danny gave a small nod before turning around and lifting his free hand to the other end of the catwalk. After hardly any concentration, a swirling black and green vortex emerged, startling the visiting teachers. He didn't need to look directly at them to tell he had some questions to answer, but he turned to look anyway, just to be polite. The three seemed to regain their composure, a little more quickly than he expected, but given the weird day they've had so far, he doubted much more would surprise them at this point.

"I guess you guys would like an explanation." He asked, his hand unconsciously rose to rub the back of his neck. Dumbledore stepped forward, a simple eyebrow raised as he tried to act as calm as possible. Danny had to admit, this guy's acting could give Vlad a run for his money, but he couldn't hide his aura, which by the look of it meant that he was bursting with curiosity.

"I must admit Mister Nightingale, I am intrigued. I assume this is some sort skill from the spiritual arts?" Man this guy was good, though Danny had to admit after giving it a little thought, it was kind of obvious; Still, kudos to the guy for quick thinking.

"well yes and no," Danny answered as he gave a small shrug of the shoulders "while it's true there are a few general skills inherent to the spiritual arts, much of what one can do is developed on a personal level." He moved his free hand to the portal "the portal you see is a unique skill that I developed, among others." Danny brought his free hand to his chest and waved between himself and the other halfas.

"Danielle, Sam, and I, each one of us has a unique set of skills that pertains to how our spiritual powers developed."

Danny turned and gave Danielle a nod, which she returned, then raised her arm and produced a small flame in her hand. The three teachers look impressed, but not all surprised, understandable given these guys were advanced magic users.

"Danielle, as you can see, developed pyrokinesis while Sam on the other hand…"

He waved a hand to her who gave a small nod, tossing her book to tucker who clumsily caught it and raised her free hand. It gave a soft forest green glow as vines began to wrap and grow around her hand and wrist, buds popping up and blooming into beautiful blueish purple blossoms. That had them surprised, as Dumbledore took a few steps forward and Sam handing him one of the buds to examine in his hand. He spun the blossom in his hand and breathed an amazed "astounding."

Sam, deciding to finish for Danny, cleared her throat and the three teacher's eyes fell on her. "I gained my powers from an elemental spirit of plant life, giving me biokinesis, or the ability to conjure and control plants."

Dumbledore, still gave an amazed stare before giving an appreciative nod and a friendly smile, Sam returned the nod and lowered her hand, giving a small wave as both the vines and the blossom in the old man's hand dissipated into nothing. Dumbledore gave a lasting glance at the disappearing blossom, pausing a second after it vanished and said,

"Fascinating, I had no idea that the spiritual arts could produce such diverse elemental abilities."

The old wizard raised his head and gave Danny an intrigued look before asking "I am curious Mr. Nightingale, as to what element you command."

Danny raised an eyebrow in suspicion; sure he could have just guessed that Danny, like the other two, had an element but he couldn't help but feel a little wary of the old man. From what Danny could sense, the old wizard was just as, if not more powerful than all the rumors about him suggest, in both his spell work and in his mental control. He could tell that the Headmaster hadn't used this ability, at least not yet, and while he was still a powerful in his legilimency, Danny was sure his spiritually strengthened guard could withstand an assault. That and judging by the feel of his aura, Danny got the impression that Dumbledore wouldn't be so invasive without good reason. Still, that fact he could feel it, that the old man could at any moment try and tap into anyone of their minds made Danny feel uneasy. Fortunately the knowledge of his master's wards and accepting nature of the man in question was slowly relaxing him, but he remembered his lessons well; always keep your guard up.

He turned to fully face the old man and lifted his free right hand with palm face up, similar to both Sam and Dani. His hand gave a soft blue glow as a frosty mist pooled around it, and number of ice crystals started to form and orbited in small rings around his palm.

"I have cryokinesis; I can control and conjure ice."

Danny dissipated the ice and motioned his hand towards the portal "Now, not to be rude, but can we go now? It's not easy keeping a portal open this long."

Dumbledore's look of curiosity melted into a gentle smile and said "no I don't suppose it is."

With that the group as a whole made their way to the portal at the end of the catwalk. With as much composure as possible, the three Hogwarts teachers entered the vortex, followed by Clockwork, Danny's friends, and Danny himself, who closed the portal behind him.

(~)

Albus had to admit it; this was not what he expected.

He remembered the last strange vortex he had entered this day, namely the one that brought him across the world while flying within that amazing craft of the Fenton's, but this otherworldly doorway was much different. Before, the transit was instantaneous from one point to the next, with only a flash of bright green accompanying them. This however was like walking atop a strange corridor of green liquid, though he knew better than to think it was merely liquid, the knowledge of which left once again astounded. The boy might not have acknowledged it as such, but Albus knew full well that this corridor of energy couldn't be anything other than fel energy, meaning the boy (or possibly even all three of the spiritually trained children) had power over the ancient force. Once again he was amazed, from young Miss Fenton's tale; he had assumed that the children in question had only had a simple measure of ectoplasm infused into them, giving a few spiritual abilities.

But this, elemental control, the ability to traverse the worlds, this was certainly beyond anything he could have imagined. He gave a few quick glances behind him at his newest charges. The eldest Fenton daughter might not have spiritual abilities of her younger siblings, but she was still quite the accomplished witch. Coupled with her knowledge of her parents work and her level attitude, she will be of great help to the order and great support to Harry in the coming semester. Then there was the young Mr. Foley; Albus recognized the device the boy had been tapping on as a similar tool the Fenton's were using, however with a very drastic difference. Whereas the couple's tools were empowered by basic spiritual energies, Albus could sense the telltale traces of magic emanating from the boy's device, too similar to be anything other than the boy's own unique catalyst. If he remembered correctly, the Fenton's had mentioned that Mr. Foley had designed the strange device himself, making him the youngest crafter Dumbledore had even seen. He would have to remember to speak with this young man; any crafter no matter their age would be invaluable to the order.

Albus gave a quick glance from the elder sister and young crafter to the three spiritual users. The young Miss Manson had already proven herself to have quite the defiant streak, her attitude and body language spoke of one who refused to be ignored. Which he could hardly refute given her abilities, which Albus had to admit, he had never seen before. Magic itself was not unfamiliar with the elements; there were a plethora of elemental spells one could perform. But they were considered higher level material, and even most of the spells in question were hardly beyond simple manipulation, nothing like what these children could do. And despite a multitude of odd or unique spells, Albus had never heard of any that could command plant life; much less conjure such life by will.

He watched as the girl was engaged in a personal discussion with the youngest Fenton child, the girl seemingly orbiting her older companion as her tail swished to and fro without thought. The Youngest continuously baffled Albus, from her unique animagus form to the pendant around her neck, which hummed with too familiar a magic to be anything else but a magical catalyst. Then there was the young Mr. Nightingale, who despite giving his younger sister a warm smile as he listened to her talk, stood ever guarded. Albus eyed the young wizard a little closer, there was far more to the boy then he was letting on. In all the time he had seen the boy, he had yet to see a trace of his own altered animagus form, not even the hybrid form that by the eldest sister's own admission was much more comfortable for the two. It was clear the boy was keeping a cautious step, it was evident in the boys every motion, he was not one to forget a potential threat.

The walkway shortly ended into a small oval opening into the cement slabs of a sidewalk, as the group exited the strange vortex and back into the mortal city of Amity. The street was glowing with a faint orange as the ever dwindling embers of twilight were subtly peeking from the horizon and the twin obfuscations of the faint mist and increasing clouds over head. The portal closed behind them as Albus stared at the building before them with a soft chuckle and an intrigued face.

Lawrence Lancer was correct; the word subtly could truly never describe the Fenton's.

The building itself was simple enough, a three stories tall red brick apartment, with a few windows here and there. What set it apart was, first, the green neon blaring sign that spelled "Fenton works" Laterally down next to the entrance, with a small arrow jetting from the bottom pointing to the door. And second, and most obvious being the enormous disk like structure that was precariously mounted to the top, covered in such strange muggle devices that he could only guess as to their function.

A quick turn of the head to his staff nearly had Albus in chuckles again. Minerva just stared on bewildered while poor Severus look as if wronged by fate, at least for a fraction of a second before forcefully bring out his indifferent frown. As if sensing Severus's discomfort (which Albus had a sneaking suspicion the boy could) Mr. Nightingale gave a small embarrassed laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

"hehe … yea, our parents aren't exactly the most… reserved of home owners, but still they …"

The boy stopped abruptly and turned his head to the home's front door. He brought his free hand from the back of his neck and to his face and said "Oh no" with a regretful sigh before squaring his shoulders and reaffirming his grip on his staff. Albus was about to inquire as to what troubled the boy before he felt a strange buildup of power behind the door. It was strange, powerful, yet stable, feeling almost … artificial. Just then the front door was kicked open as the lumbering form of Jack Fenton popped out with a resounding cry of "Ghost!"

In his hands he held a strange, silver gun like device. It had a glowing green neon trim and an assortment of flashing interfaces. The barrel of the device was massive; easily equaling the size of a grown man and from its maw was an intense glowing green of a building shot. Before Albus had any time to warn the Fenton Patriarch, a massive orb of green energy shot from barrel and speed towards the group. Just as he was about to erect a shield to guard the others, a faint buzz was heard, and in a quick flash of blueish white light, Mr. Nightingale appeared before him, hovering a few feet in the air with his feet spread and both hands on his staff. As the shot approached, the boy gave a quick sweep of his staff and batted the shot away, like an oversized bludger.

The shot arced high and far into the air, just a few meters above the roofline. The boy, while still deftly hovering in mid-air, brought his right hand into the air and leveled and open palm to the shot. He then clenched his fingers into a fist and immediately the ball of green energy exploded high above them. The resulting explosion of green created a small shockwave that slightly shook the ground around them. As the shaking subsided, the boy dropped down the few feet from where he was perched, with barely a tap as feet touched the ground.

Albus once again leveled the young teen an intrigued glance, as well as the man who seemed to just now realize what he was shooting at. Trigger happy tendencies aside, the power behind the weapon was astounding, so much so that he wasn't quite sure if he could shield everyone from the damage. Admittedly, even after seeing the couple's impressive technology, Albus wasn't too convinced of their status as hunters of the spectral; to think of muggles effectively staving off beings that challenged the best of magic seemed too farfetched. But if the doctors Fenton had weapons as powerful as that at their disposal, the idea seemed far, far more feasible. Then there was the boy, who again and again proved to be a growing enigma. One does not just flick away such power like it was child's play, and then just simply detonate it by whim.

Albus and the rest came up closer to the boy as he sent an incredulous frown towards his father. The giant in orange finally lowered his suits hood and gave the crowd a sheepish grin and a few embarrassed chuckles.

"Yea … sorry about that."

The man lowered his gun before outright dropping it into the air. Before the gun could even drop a few inches from the man's grasp, the device began to glow and dissipate into nothing before their very eyes. Albus felt his eyelids flash wide for just a fraction of a second before reigning in his face to a pleasant smile of intrigue. As much as he would love to inquire more about the Fenton's fascinating tools, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Didn't mean to startle you all like that!" Said Jack Fenton as he waved the group through the doorway "The Fenton finder just picked up a fairly large spike in ecto energy, and, well this dry season has left us a little… jumpy."

The Fenton father opened the door wider and with his typical exuberance and ushered them all into the strange abode. Despite the strangeness of the home's exterior, the interior was much more subdued. A simple blue carpet, a few pieces of furniture and appliances and just a few family photos paced around the modest living room. As the group settled into the simple room, Albus took note of the photos lining the walls. Some were of the family, some of the Fenton children along with Miss Mansion and Mister Foley, all with varying degrees of age. As he looked, he noted a strange consistency; all the children, including Miss Mansion and Mister Foley appeared in varying degrees of age, from infancy to their current age. All except the Young Danielle, who only seemed to appear in the photos that seemed a few years old. Now that was odd, but before he could investigate further, the Fenton Matriarch stepped out from the kitchen.

"Professors! Hello! Jack and I figured you'd be by soon, are you ready for us to take you back?"

The mother asked in as friendly tone as possible, she had her own hood down while holding a wooden stirring spoon. Time's warden then stepped forward and answered "Not yet I'm afraid, we'd actually like to discuss a few things with you and Jack."

The women turned her head to the time master a gave a small nodding bow and gave a large smile "oh Mr. Clockwork, I didn't see you there, sure, we'd love to talk, I'm just about finished with dinner, would you like to join us?" Albus wasn't sure whether to laugh or gasp, here was a veritable god amongst them and these two muggles treated him like an old family friend.

Before the time master could respond, Jack Fenton gave an excited grin as he rubbed his hands together and bellowed "that's great Mad's! Can't wait to eat, how about I give you a hand!" the couple walked back to the kitchen as the children gave each other a few worried glances. With trepidation, Jazmine stepped forward and gave a worried shout.

"Uh, mom, I know it's not exactly polite, but maybe we should go get take out or something."

Albus blinked as he gave another look at the children, nervousness radiated from each of them; as if anticipating a coming disaster, which left him confused. Surely Mrs. Fenton wasn't that terrible a cook, perhaps the Fenton parents had incorporated their spiritually empowered devices to … no, no, no that would be ludicrous. Just because the couple was fairly odd didn't mean they'd make anything too outlandish, they knew better than to cook with ectoplasm… right?

As if answering Albus's summons, a large crash came from the kitchen, and the Fenton parents came running from the doorway, guns in hand as they turned about face to the shambling monster that had followed them. It was a creature of brown and neon green sludge, with flakes of carrots, potatoes, peas, and chunks of beef swirling about its body. The top portion of the gelatinous monstrosity had a large enclave opening that served as the creature's mouth and two blood red spheres of light for its eyes. The creature gave an inhuman squeal as the family of hunters tore into the abomination, the couple with an assortment of strange spectral firearms, Miss Mansion and Mr. Nightingale with a flurry of black and green bolts of energy, and the Two Fenton daughters with twin blasts of fire, one from a wand and the other conjured from the palm.

The reanimated horror gave one last dyeing cry of pain as it was quickly being erased from existence, all while Albus himself stared dumbfounded at the oddity before him. As the assault stopped, the Amity locals dropped their respective weapons as Maddie Fenton turned to look around the group and gave a sheepish chuckle,

"So … does pizza sound good to anyone?"

Albus, who finally regained his wits started to give a few good natured laughs before giving a nod of affirmation.

"Well" He thought, "at least the order meetings won't be too boring, I'll just be sure Molly Weasley keeps them from the kitchen, though Sirius may intentionally let them cook if he gets wind of this."

A cry of excitement came from both the young Mister Foley and Jack Fenton as the group as a whole began to calm themselves down from the strange encounter. Mister Foley and Jack Fenton followed the mother hunter back into the kitchen, followed by Minerva who had pick up a light hearted dialogue with her soon to be teaching assistant. Albus was about to follow when a strange presence pricked at the edge of his perception.

He turned and saw the three spirit masters all had moved to the closest window of the room, each looking out and to the sky and frowning with the time master just a few feet behind them, a neutral expression on his face.

Albus looked out himself and saw the increasing cloud cover had grown to a thick, black blanket of clouds that blocked the new night sky and loud clasps of thunder rolled within the new storm. Albus narrowed his eyes at the storm, focusing his senses as he took in the strange air he felt. This storm was clearly not natural, it held a weight and power that felt pervasive and wrong, which only increased as arcs of red lighting started to shine through the dark cloud cover.

Albus turned to his potions master; Severus stood there, eyeing the children with indifference as he looked between them. Each one of the spiritually empowered youths held a stern glare towards the darkened cloud cover, looking as if they wished for nothing more than the violent end to the cloud. Albus looked again to Severus and as the potions master's indifferent frown had grown to a border line scowl, he did even need legimancy to know the Slytherin head cursed the children's powerful mental shields. A loud sigh brought his attention back to the group as the Mister Nightingale turned to his master,

"Guess I can't hold off that talk with the fruit loop any longer huh?"

The time master's unreadable expression morphed into his typical smirk "you knew he wouldn't let you go before at least one last parting threat."

The boy's shoulders slumped as he gave an exasperated sigh

"I know … but a guy can dream can't he?"

The time master gave an amused snort as the boy turned to his younger sister. She and Miss Manson had turned from the window and now looked at the young man. Miss Manson had had a look of hard determination as she kept her arms folded and the grip on her staff firm. The youngest Fenton however was different, gone was her usual enthusiasm as she had descended from her floating to the floor below, showing herself to be a good couple of heads shorter than her tall brother. She tried to keep a determined frown, but the gesture was shaky at best as her head had slowly declined, her left arm crossed her stomach as her hand rubbed her right elbow, her tail slowly wrapping around her legs.

The boy gently brought his hand to her shoulder, knelt before the girl and gave a small shake to bring her face back to his,

"Dani ..." he said, in a soft kind voice, "why don't you stay here with everyone else, somebody has to keep tucker from eating my share of the pizza."

He lowered his Hand from her shoulder as the younger animagus gave a small chuckle to her brother's words, but still kept her head lowered and shook it back and forth, opening her mouth to give a rebuttal before another hand landed on her other shoulder, this time from Miss Manson, who gave a small sweet smile and said,

"You don't have to go if you don't want to Dani."

She too knelt down before the girl, moving her hand from her shoulder to push one of the girl's stray bangs from her eyes before continuing "Nobody would ever think less of you for it, nobody has the right to think less of you." She dropped her hand as the young animagus gave a few sniffs as a few tears dotted her eyes, before gave a quick rub of her eyes and gave both teenagers a beaming smile. The whole exchange, Albus and his companion hadn't said a word, carefully observing the conversation and feeling slightly confused.

It was clear whatever the source of the strange storm was not only known to them, but none too welcome. He contemplated what this could mean and based on what he'd seen so far, it seemed to him to involve one of the town's local spirits. He hadn't the ability to discern a spiritually based power so far, at least not with the precision that the boy had shown, but he could pick up the small disruptions in the field around him, and from what he could discern from the storm, this anomaly had a familiar spectral feel about it. Curious, but most likely unrelated to the looming threat they faced, still, it never hurts to be cautious.

The youngest Fenton gave a quick "thanks" and enveloped her brother and Miss Manson in a quick hug before leaping back into the air and darted straight for the kitchen. The two teenagers stood up and smirked at each other before Mister Nightingale's turned into a small frown and shouted "Dani! Make sure not to eat too much ok?!" a loud and clearly distracted affirmation came from the girl in the kitchen as her brother just shook his head.

The two teenagers turned towards each other again with a regained serious air. The boy seemed to be building his resolve to say something to his female counterpart, taking a quick breath and said in a pleading voice,

"Sam …"

The girl seemed unamused and set into a deeper frown before she folded her arms, narrowed her eyes and firmly grasped her staff before a small dark green and black film colored her silhouette and her eyes flashed a deep green.

"I might be wrong, Daniel James Nightingale…" she said in an even, seemingly calm voice that radiated bloodlust "… But I could swear you were about to ask me to stay behind."

Her words seemed to become increasingly sharp as she took a step towards the boy, who backed off a step in turn; a cold sweat broke off the boy's brow and Albus didn't even need to see his eyes behind the blindfold to tell the look of panic they held.

The Girl's dark frown morphed into a large smile as she closed her eyes that, despite looking much kinder than her earlier expression, held the same threat of harm to her victim.

"But you wouldn't say that, right Danny?" She asked in light, sweet tone as the boy gulped down his nerves. He gave a couple shaky chuckles before responding,

"o-of course not, never even crossed my mind." The poor Nightingale heir brought both hands up, one still holding his staff, to placate the girl as Albus forced himself not to even chuckle, if only to help the boy save face. Miss Manson's eyes opened as her terror inducing grin morphed into a true smile and said "great, open up a portal and let's go talk down the cheese head."

The boy gave a relieved sigh before turning to face Albus and Severus, apparently the boy had not forgotten them in his panic.

"I'm sorry professors, but Sam and I need to go, there's an … acquaintance here in town that we need speak to before we leave."

Albus cocked an eye before running his fingers through his long beard; he had figured there was a third party involved, the only question was who. He was curious, but if the source truly was just another facet of the town's spiritual strangeness, then it had little relevance to his visit. So instead of asking who, he asked.

"Will this acquaintance be a hindrance to these proceedings?" As long as the entity was no threat to the war effort, Albus was content to let sleeping ghosts lie. The boy frowned in thought and annoyance,

"I don't think so, I doubt he's done anything to involve himself in this mess, but I'd still like to make sure."

Albus gave the youth a quick, appreciated nod before responding "Then by all means proceed, in truth, I have no power over your dealings until those transfer documents are signed, would you like me to inform your parents of your departure?"

The boy shook his head "no need, Danielle will have given them the run down before long, thanks though."

Albus and the boy shared a quick nod in confirmation before the youth raised his free hand and summoned another portal to his and Miss Manson's right. Just as the two were about to leave, the time master spoke up from behind them, Still standing just behind the children.

"Remember Danny that a master of the game doesn't win by a crushing victory,"

The boy stopped to contemplate the spirit's words, looking upon his master's face that while looked neutral, held a solemn tone of forebodence.

"He traps his opponent by tricking them into what they think is an easy triumph, turning swift victory into crushing defeat."

The spirit gave a short pause, before continuing "remember, beware the honey words of the cornered snake, for a venomous creature does not drop its guard without reason."

The boy turned his head down for a small second to think before giving his master a determined nod. The boy turned back to his portal as he and Miss Manson stepped through, disappearing in the swirls of green and black as the gate disappeared behind them.

(~)

He had to admit, the boy truly did have an eye for location; the view was simply breathtaking.

Several thousands of feet in the air, in the center of a large, black pillar of tumultuous cloud stood a sharply dressed man, who was defiantly ignoring gravity as he looked above the night sky to view a gorgeous display of star light.

He wore a large black, business dress overcoat that draped across him like a kingly robe. The Coat was obviously expensive, made only from the finest of materials, with a large pen pocket over the left breast, stuffed with a dazzling, moniker silk cloth neatly folded and tucked. The buttons were each ivory white and richly engraved in a golden V and white ivory, with a gilded gold engraved pair of cuffs on the coats wrists. The coat was left unbuttoned and flowed open, revealing a while silk interior lining.

under the expensive coat was an equally expensive black business suit that also had white Ivory buttons and another silk cloth tucked into the breast pocket, only this time with a masterfully gilded gold pocket watch and chain the ran from the pocket tied to the upper button of the suit and ended with a gilded gold and embroidered gold plate with his stylized V in the middle.

Visible from above the collar line of the suit was a black button shirt with similar white ivory buttons, and at the collar was a simple white silk band wrapped underneath the folded collar. Below he wore a matching pair of business appropriate suit pants and an expensive black leather belt with a plain silver buckle. On his feet were black silk dress socks with an expensive pair of well shined black leather dress shoes.

The man himself was fairly well aged, within his mid-forties, but looked no older than his early thirties with a long face that held no blemish or scar. The only features that hinted his true age where the seemingly ever present dark rings underneath his eyelids and his long, straight, pure gray hair, tied into a long pony-tail for convenience sake(It seemed an unfortunate curse of his kind to forever deal with such long hair, at least his wasn't like the boys and was tamable.)His eyes were a clouded blue and on his chin was a notably large white goatee. He was fairly tall, with broad shoulders the carried an authoritative air, but was at the same time thin, toned by practice instead of genetics.

On his hands were black leather gloves that at first glance would seem of just a simple expensive design, except for the central circles on the back of the hands. The runic circles were lined in silver embroidery and looked to be written in some ancient, long forgotten language. In the center of both gloves were 2 red triangle shaped jewels, each side tapered on their sides like a cut gem except for one sold straight face on each side that. If you brought both gems together, it would show that they were once one whole square shaped gem that was cut straight down the middle. The gloved hands were clasped behind the man in question as he had his head tilted up to the night sky.

Vladimir Masters was usually not one to star gaze, his skills and passion were earthbound, simply looking from above down to govern and rule the small creatures that scurried beneath him. This coming game however, could not be played from his usually preferred high ground; he had to approach this on a level playing field, or in this case, the rightful stage for beings of their power. So for once he would wait, for any other the thought of such consolidation was insulting; he was Vlad Masters, he didn't wait on others behalf, others waited for him and his decrees, to show just who held the rightful imperative. If it were any other, he would simply demand they should be as fortunate as to be recognized by him, but this was no corporate stooge or some bumbling spirit binder; this was one was worth his time and so much more. So he would wait, looking below his feet for a few seconds he was sure the boy had received his summons and would no doubt be here shortly. Looked up again at the unhindered few of the starry night sky with a small smirk and narrowed eyes he decided he could indulge in a little stargazing for once; after all, his little badger loved to star gaze himself.

A silent sigh left the man's lips as withheld the heavenly view, from his few probes he sent to spy on the boy (before he gained his insufferably advanced sense of sight.) Vlad had garnered a few choice murmurings from the brooding teen. Apparently young Daniel used this spot to reflect, strange for a boy of his age but then again he supposed the boy deserved a few moments of introspection. He knew all too well the strange transition to suddenly change species, and the boys altered animagus form wasn't of much help in that regard. It may have been a few years since the boy's collision with fate, but it took more than time to mend these scars. Another sigh left his lips as his sinister smirk softened; it seemed this spot offered too good a chance to reflect to pass up.

Vladimir Masters had what some would call a … unusual upbringing, being a part of one of the few remaining isolated pure blooded families left in America. Their attitude was to be expected, proud, proper, and absolutely intolerable. They demanded perfection, poise, and the magical talent to supply the affirmation to their own biased opinion. That was his life, to be always properly groomed, to always affirm and self-affirm their apparent superiority, and to be of the unquestionable elite in the pursuit of greater magic's. And like a passing calamity, it all fell apart his eleventh birthday, when his was discovered to be a squib. It honestly wasn't that great a shock, his magical ability had always been quite dismal, but his parents and elders had always said that he would grow into his abilities, he had to, he was a Masters. But when he had become old enough to be tested, the results showed he had only the tiniest of magic; that was the definitive last straw that broke the camel's back. Like that, he was all but thrown from his home, given to a family of loyal servants and was banished from the grounds of what would have been his rightful estate.

All of those years, training him to be the head of the family, preparing him to be on top of the magical world stage, telling him again and again of his obvious superiority over others, pointless. And for what, not meeting a basic standard, for being too like the muggles? What made those pompous fools of his family think that they were so superior, their magic? He seen the magic of the "lesser" family servants, the ones one kept a strong tie to the muggle countrymen, and there was hardly a discrepancy. Sure, the power and resources of his family meant the children had a leg up in terms of a quality magical education, but that meant nothing in the long run, a little hard work of a determined youth could have these so called lesser witches and wizards greatly outshine any fool with a silver spoon in their mouth.

Resentment and bitterness swelled in the young Vlad, the betrayal of his family taught him something very important, true power comes from more than just a claim.

His new guardians were kind enough, they weren't heavenly but he could hardly complain considering they took him in. He was registered into a local muggle school, seeing as he couldn't attend any magical institutions, and was given a structured tutoring program to help him catch-up with his peers. It wasn't long however until he greatly outshined his classmates of course, estranged or not he was taught to be the best, and that's exactly what he would be. He also kept up with his magical studies, reading the old hand me down textbooks the older kids of the family had finished; Squib or not, he wasn't going to let his family's opinion define what he did.

So the years passed, as Vlad grew more and more cultured to the muggle way of life, adapting to the trends of the times and spiking and dyeing his hair, continuing in his studies into college and reveling in the life his elders would have abhorred. It was there at Amity University that he meet his destiny, in the form of beautiful woman and an over eager oaf. He was struck the second he laid eyes on her, her perfect form, her perfect hair, her perfect smile, everything about her sung perfection. Then there was Jack, the fool, he honestly couldn't see how he could have stood the buffoon, much less actually form a friendship with the idiot, but then again everyone was entitled to a few follies of youth, doubly so if the result produces such miracles.

He'd never thank Jack for his accident, the long months he spent in agony as the ectoplasm simmered and burned to take root, but all of that torture was worth the rewards. The revelation of his form was a shock, but the power it afforded him was far too much, even more so when he had accidentally casted his first true spell. It was an accident; he had gone to the local magic's market to find any information on spirits that might help him further develop his powers. A passing wizard had dropped his wand and being nothing if not polite, Vlad had grabbed the tool to give it back to its owner. Imagine his surprise when he had carelessly gave the wand a wave and a nearby stand of potion ingredients was blown to pieces. He hadn't even heard the wizard's outcry to careful with his wand waving, he was too focused on his hand to even hear the world around him.

He approached his new found magic as he did everything in his life, with quick and ruthless efficiency, in just a few short years of becoming a halfa; he had his magical and spiritual abilities at their peak, and ready to return to his ancestral home.

A dark smirk reappeared on his lips at the thought of his return, the outcry, the shock, and most satisfying of all … the fear. He'd never tell Daniel of that night, he'd never tell a soul, it was a personal memory, one for his own happy reminiscing.

Come morning, all that was known was the lost heir of the masters had come home after "terrible tragedy," to take ahold of his birthright. With his past behind him and a couple well planned "business" dealings lining his pockets, Vlad Masters was set to make his mark on the world. All he needed now was the love of his life, but fate it seems truly was a master of irony, for as he built his empire, he unwittily allowed the cursed fool who branded him to take his love.

They had reached out many times to reconnect, and despite the perfect opportunity to remove the oaf, he never responded, the sight of them happily together would be too painful for him to bear. With his beloved out of his reach, for the time being, Vlad charged forward to secure his empire. From petty theft to crushing commercial giants, from simple displays of ghostly power to forcing spectral kingdoms to bow before him, Vlad made sure that both realms knew and feared the name Masters. But over the years, as he built his empire outward, he toiled inward.

As the years passed, the solitude of his high position began to weigh heavily upon him. He felt isolated, singular in purpose and being, the only one of his kind. After a little more than a decade he decided to extend an ear to his old candle, to see how their little family was doing. No sooner had he found their address did the news explode in the magical community. The coven of Chronos taking ahold of Amity; the discovery of the Fenton's work and most shocking of all to him, the children's magic. To think the oaf's lineage held such astounding importance; well, perhaps it was time to "reconnect" with his old college friend after all these years.

He had sent a few simple tests at first, nameless ghouls with barely the ability to think beyond attacking the nearest moving object, a few stray fledgling apparitions, nothing serious, but was surprised at the results. Not of their failure, he had assumed with Maddie's brilliance, the oaf had more than enough equipment to repel these simple attempts, and if not, the local coven would be enough to minimize the damage. No what startled him were the reports of the young spirit that bore the covens mark. Vlad was no uninformed fool; he had spent enough time in the upper echelons of the zones political power to know who headed the Coven of Chronos, so a spirit of the level of an apparition or greater in their employ was not so startling, but even so, a spirit of such power willingly protecting self-proclaimed ghost hunters made no sense. Not only that, but the spirits apparent age and human like appearance were clearly disproportionate with its power confounded him. Clearly, this couldn't be done from afar, so Vlad decided it was time to confront his greatest love and most hated individual face to face. After all, he had planned to reclaim his beloved eventually, why wait? And it would give him time to evaluate the children, and see if they took enough of their mother to be spared. He couldn't come to them, not without some preparation against the time master's lackeys, so he had the family come to him, with a simple gathering for their college reunion.

And it was there he met Daniel, and the wheels of fate turned again.

Finally, after all this time another halfa, another of his kind; not only that, but a halfa son from his beloved Maddie; even after his rejection, those two facts alone made his spirits soar. It didn't matter that the boy was also Jack's son, it didn't matter that he clearly took too much from his father's side, the opportunity … no, the fact that he would soon have his beloved in his hands and a son to raise as his own washed all negatives aside and strengthened his resolve, he would have his heir and his love, no matter what.

A small spark of red charge colored his vision for a fraction of a second, easily suppressed so that any passer by wouldn't have noticed a thing, but to Vlad, it meant his guest had arrived.

Oh, make that guests as the clear signature of the third half reached his senses; obviously Miss Mansion couldn't be persuaded to simply sit on the side and wait. Vlad was rather torn about the girl; initially, she was a bad influence on his little badger, always helping to keep the boy as far from Vlad as she could. She was his support, a great pillar of strength for Daniel, and while he had contemplated undermining or flat out destroying that support to gain a step closer, he never could risk it. For starters, that accursed time master was still an ever present problem, and while his nature as time's caretaker limited the elder spirit, Vlad's own hybrid status left him in a sort of exploitable loophole for the time master. And to be honest, Vlad wasn't sure he could do that to his little badger; He would of certainly go to extreme means to realize both his and the boys destiny, but he couldn't help but feel a measure of sympathy for the boy, seeing as he was once in his very shoes.

And then the girl did the unimaginable and became a halfa herself, filled with a fel core and elemental power beyond any traditional magical means. As distressing as it was to have such a powerful entity now actively undermining his work, he couldn't lie how elated he felt at the increasing number of their emerging race. Even that failure of a clone that Daniel continued to shelter brought a smile to his face, and then a frown, thinking of the madness emerging an ocean away. He might have liked the idea of an increase in halfas, but the madman in Britain would bring far, far more problems than needed. With his thoughts back on business, Vlad opened his eyes, looking out into the horizon. A small chuckle escaped his lips,

"We're never going to get anywhere with you just staring a hole into my back Daniel."

"Then say what you want if you want to leave so soon."

A calm, neutral rebuttal came a few meters behind him; to anyone else, it would seem uninterested, but Vlad could hear the angry bite of the boy's tone; after all, he helped sharpen those words. He turned around and behind him stood/floated Daniel Nightingale, in human form with his right arm keeping his staff vertical and his left placed firmly at his side. Behind him stood Samantha Mansion, also in human form and with her arms crossed her staff in her right hand as well. The girl's face was the textbook example of loathing, and all of it pointed at him, whereas Daniel's was the perfect example of neutral. Before, when he was just a child, Daniel was quite expressive about his distaste for Vlad's machinations, but now the boy had been well trained. Anger, while a boost to a certain degree, left one mentally vulnerable, as did any emotion; facial expressions where key into reading a person's mood, and based on what they projected, one could do a lot with that information; especially, as the boy had learned, for someone as well trained as Vlad. So the boy had learned to school himself, (so had the girl, but she knew she wasn't of tonight's focus, so could afford such a display of animosity) Learning how to suppress his emotional displays so as not to give Vlad more ammo to use against him.

The sight of such a well-trained display had him look closer at the boy and in doing so, he always had to himself suppress the urge to sigh in reminiscence. When he had met Daniel at his college reunion those years ago, the boy was barely even 9 years old, and hardly even came to the man's waist in height. Now here he was, a little more than a month away from his fifteenth birthday and was just a head shy of his own height. His little badger had grown on him, gone was the bumbling inexperienced young spirit, and in his place was a hardened hunter. He successfully suppressed the urge to sigh as his smirk grew,

"Now Daniel, where have your manners gone?" He asked in a mocking tone as he leaned forward ever so slightly and paced around the boy, as if he was reprimanding a small child, "It's quite rude to arrive unannounced and expect the host to be so accommodating."

The boy kept his head tracked on Vlad's movements, to make sure he could see his neutral face as often as possible, a sign that the boy wasn't going to hide from him, and responded "and here I could have sworn you once said that there was no need for formalities between us."

So the boy was throwing his words from a previous encounter back at his face, funny. A dark chuckle purred from Vlad's throat as he came full circle in his pacing and turned to fully face the boy.

"Then I suppose …" Vlad began, his arms dropped from his back as his eyes flashed red "… there's no need for disguises as well."

A black ring of energy popped into existence around Vlad's midsection, before splitting as they traveled up and down his person, changing the man into his ghost form.

In this form, he wore a white, eighteenth century imperial overcoat, with a matching waist coat, covered in gilded glowing silver and black fabric. The Buttons of both pieces of clothing were of a black ivory, moniker by an italicized P. around his waist was a black, silver embroidered cloth belt with a matching pair of white cloth pants.

His glove catalysts had changed with him, turning from simple leather gloves to large, thick black leather gauntlets that reached past half of his fore arm. A matching pair of black leather boots adorned his feet, each a few inches away from his shins.

Draped over his shoulders was a long, flowing white and black embroidered cape, trimmed in a woven black tassels and lined with the inside being a deep crimson red pattern that looked as if constructed by a tightly packed assembly of crimson feathers. The cape was clasped in place by black leather and silver embroidered shoulder pads, which were trimmed in small, crimson red feathers.

The collar of the waist coat was turned high and rested past his partly exposed Adam's apple, leaving the rest of his head exposed. What was once a pale white complexion was now sickly blue skin, with ebony black hair replacing his aged silver. The hair was slicked back; becoming a flowing black river that ended a half a foot past the back of his neck, save for a few stray tussles that spiked up from the back of his head.

From the corners of his forehead where 2 black horns that swept outward and backward about half a foot, looking very demonic. His teeth began to sharpen as his ears grew upwards into a sharp point. The Scylla of eyes turned black as pupils silted, his irises becoming a deep crimson. An ethereal wind caused his cape to billow as his being gave a soft glow; a growing film of deep crimson pulsed around his frame. With a now fanged smirk, he stood before the boy before gesturing toward him with a quick upturned hand.

"Now that I've gotten more comfortable, how about you two follow suite."

The boy's expression remained stoic, but Vlad could feel the animosity behind those covered eyes as if the boy was trying to set him ablaze with a stare. He felt pride well within him, every interaction the boy; from a simple chat to the occasional brawl he could see the growth in the youth. He may not yet be his son, that wretched time master held too close a hold on the boy, but Vlad nearly sang with joy as he saw more and more of himself in young Daniel with every passing encounter. Doubly pleasing was the fact that Daniel saw it too, much to the boy's annoyance and Vlad's, adamantly childish glee.

Without even so much as flinching, a white halo of light popped into existence around the boy. Like Vlad, the ring of light split in half and traveled the length of the boy's body, revealing his ghost form.

When the boy was first turned, he found himself dressed in the inverted jumpsuit as his base dress in his ghost form. But over time and training, the boy's mastery of his powers reflected in the altered clothing of his current state. On his chest was a pure white, hooded robe, the length of which matched the overcoat of his human form, but lacking the assortment of buttons that lined the seam. The robe was made of an odd, otherworldly material, looking almost organic and hugged the boys frame like another skin.

His sleeves where merged with white, skin tight gloves of the same material as the rest of the garment. Each glove had a black diamond pattern printed on the back of the hands. The underside of both the fore arm and hand of the glove were also covered in pure black that stretched into elongated triangles at the elbows and finger tips.

The robe was closed around the boy's torso; a section of two inch wide black trim ran from the lining of his hood and down to a liquid metal belt around his waist. The belt was of the boys own creation, along with the helping hand of his tech specialist friend, incorporating some of the more useful features that Fenton works had to offer (no doubt by his beloved Maddie's hands.) The lower section of the robe flowed freely from the belt into 5 large segments, each ending in triangular points and each lined with the continuous black trim. Said black trim was engraved in a long, looping line of arcane runes that glowed powerful green.

The inner lining of the robe was usually pure black, but would, like the black section of cloth of his palms, bleed a Fel green whenever the boy lost his temper. On his legs the boy wore large, loose black pants that would typically blend perfectly into the black of the robe, making it appear as if the boy had no upper legs. On his feet were pure white boots of similar composition as the strange robe, which stretched up past the boy's knees where the child's pants were securely pulled in. It created a strange effect, the black of the robes causing the white to visibly pop out, as if the boys lower legs were disconnected from the rest of his body.

On the robes back was a large black diamond that held line after line of green glowing runes and an assortment of black streaks that radiated from the diamond outward along the white surface of the robe. They looked tribal by nature and while they didn't cover much of the white of the robe, only cover roughly thirty percent in total, evenly spread across the whole surface of the cloth and would, like the other sections of black, bleed fel green.

The boy's hood was usually up, which would cause an interesting effect of shading the upper section of the boy's face, showing only the boy's mouth and lower jaw, excluding two glowing green eyes.

But the boy willing chose to summon the hood down, showing his face in ghost form. Again, when the boy first turned, not much of his person changed from his human form, but again, as he gained more power his ghost form had reflected his growth. Whereas before, the boy's skin had darkened only slight degree, barely noticeable from his usually complexion, now the boy's skin had darken far more, looking more foreign than his parentage would suggest (perhaps the family had a distant relation that was brought to the surface by the boys change, something to check later.) The rest of his face however, reflected more of his more ectoplasmic nature.

Like Vlad, the boy's ears had elongated, even when he suppressed his animagus form, but whereas Vlad's had pointed upwards, not unlike that of a bat, the boy's blasted backwards and out, like that of a typical fantasy elf. His teeth had changed as well, becoming sharper, looking more menacing, giving the boys occasional grin in this form a slightly disturbing quality, something he knew the boy hated. His eyes had as well changed, Black Sclera with glowing green irises and silted pupils, but the boy had no cover for them in this form, after all, what would be the point? Over his eyes and lining his neck and lower jaw were streaks of black and green tribal marks, similar to those of the boy's robes, which continued downwards and covered the boy's body. While they looked not unlike tattoos, they were in fact developed naturally, a sign of the raw fel power that coursed through his body.

As always the boy's hair was a pure white, bound by a black cloth and held in a similar style as his human form but whereas before in simply changed color, now it softly glowed a pure white, and seemed to ebb and flow, like a stationary flame. As it moved by both the energy of its form and the wind around them, Vlad could garner a glimpse in-between the boy's forward bangs and see the fruits of a more lamentable venture. On the boy's forehead was a small line of crystal blue ice that jetted out ever so slightly in small, horn like points, with the ends of each crystal seemingly giving off a soft white glow.

This was what had become of the crown of fire; now known as the crown of ice, which like the ring had changed as soon as it came into Daniel's possession, becoming bound to his ghost form. Right now the crown was willing being suppressed by the boy, poking just ever so slightly out from his forehead. With just a little concentration, he knew the boy could bring it out in full and while it wouldn't match the power gained from both the ring and the crown in tandem, it still would give the boy a tremendous boost. Speaking of the ring, it still laid strung on the chain around the boy's neck, just under his outfit, not once in the few years the boy had the ring did he see reason to activate both.

While comforting that the boy wouldn't outright use his newfound power on Vlad, it still lingered as an ever present threat. Still, Vlad was as always ever crafty, and knew just why the boy never wore the two marks of the throne. Because it would be just what Vlad himself would do, to use all that power for his own ends, regardless of what some other fools would say. Ironically, the power to destroy him became the perfect tool to exploit, reminding the boy just how easy it would be to unleash that power, how satisfying it was to forcefully contort things to one's favor, just how close a step he was from filling Vlad's own shoes. He had to be careful in pushing the boy, but Vlad was nothing if not careful, and with every whisper of temptation, he saw more and more his words hit their mark.

The Final article of change was the boy's staff, it had elongated by a little over a foot, and green runes blazing into life lined the black wood of the staff. The bottom interwoven end of the staff had threaded open with a plume of pure Fel energy spewing forth from the bottom, like a small blade (as was its purpose). The top weave around the crystal had also changed, the weave extending into two large slits in opposite sides of the staff with the now brightly glowing green crystal stationed evenly in the middle of these two new openings. From the crystal spewed forth two large channels of pure Fel energy, one stretching just a foot and a half from the back of the staff, and the other a good three feet, each channel of energy held a slight curve in the flow of green and black, indicating the staff had become a scythe.

The rings had finally run their course, and there stood his little badger with the same indifferent and cold stare fixed solely on Vlad. Yet despite the change, the boy had yet to bring out even a trace of his animagus in front of him. Any discomfort the boy felt in suppressing the form while human was doubly so in ghost, but the boy was defiantly not showing him a hint of his altered form. One would think this just an act of defiance, but Vlad knew better, the boy was deliberately trying to meeting him on equal ground, both the boy and Miss Manson knew Vlad had his own form to suppress. Miss Mansion had as well finished her transformation; with her own more evident glare not moving an inch.

"There!" She said, arms still firmly folded and with more force and strength than was strictly needed for him to hear "We've all gotten casual; start talking, we have school plans to prepare."

Vlad quirked an amused eyebrow and turned his head to the girl; not even going to entertain the thought that he didn't know about that hm? He turned his head back to the boy and saw no trace of regret at the young woman's remark; it seems both know better than to assume he didn't already know. He once again placed his hands behind his back and began to pace around the boy, a sign of how little has changed, even in these forms.

"Very well then, I suppose we should get to the meat of things before any pleasantries."

He continued to pace as he watched the boy, considering his next gamble. He had to be careful in this game, had had once too often underestimated his little badger and had paid the price, but tonight would be the night he sowed the seeds to his future plans, he had to, before the boy was whisked away to fight another's war. Not that he would stop the boy, to be honest the sooner this oversea farce was rectified, the quicker his plans would proceed, but his lack of involvement in the matter wouldn't prevent Vlad from make a profit.

"I take it the two of you have at least an acceptable grasp of the situation at hand?" He said, and upturned hand gesturing between the two. They gave no response for no response was necessary, and only after he gave an affirmative nod did the boy speak up,

"I just have just one thing to say Plasmius," the boy's words were cold and sharp, spoken with what some would call monotone if not for the undercurrent of seething resentment.

Vlad in response gave "tsk, tsk" before addressing the boy in an obviously faked hurt tone, "Daniel, you can't honestly believe I would have a hand in bringing that mad man back do you?"

They boys face didn't so much as twitch as he gave his response "No, but I know you well enough to know you won't leave this to us, you're too much of an opportunist shark to pass that up."

A pleased smirk crossed Vlad's face at the boys back handed insult, showing he was more pleased than angered, and though the boy gave no facial response, the ever so soft glow of green in the black of the boys clothing mixed with the ever so slight drop the heat of the surrounding air was response enough. The boy continued,

"So I'll just tell you this now, back off."

The tone was just as cold, but the force behind those words could send chills without an actual drop in temperature. Vlad's smirk grew as he inched closer to the boy.

"My my Daniel, quite the commanding voice you have there, I'd dare say you could stop even Skulker cold with the ice in that voice."

The boy gave no response as Vlad continued his pace, slowly circling closer by the word, each word morphing his voice into sweet honey.

"And why not, after all, what threat am I now? You have the crown and ring, and with your mastery of fel and ice, I can hardly compare."

Not entirely true, while the boy's raw power did exceeded his own, his years of experience and training to purposely oppose greater fel powers gave him a great edge in battle, but he needed more than just power for this opponent.

Vlad continued to pace, grow ever so closer, not unlike a viper circling its prey. He continued to speak to the boy, his voice easily melding to an authentic plea of remorse, seeming like an earnest reflection of misgivings, adding more honey for the trap.

"Honestly, why should I even stand in your way? Not just in this upcoming conflict, but at all? I have been the only one of my kind for far too long." A soft sigh exited his lips as he was just a foot behind the boy, facing perpendicular to the boy with his arms behind his back.

"And now Here I am, with two of the only ones who understand my plight and already I've made enemies out of the both of them."

He turned to the girl, then to the boy, showing the softest, most genuine smile he could, to seem as authentic in his approach as possible.

"Perhaps …" he said, raising his hand and reaching for the boy's shoulder "… it's time to stop trying to force a win."

The boy didn't respond, neither did the girl, it seems his words had struck their targets, now it was time to seal the deal as his hand approached the boy's shoulder … to immediately retch it away as a soft, blue while film encircled Young Daniels frame. Vlad wasn't fast enough as a small portion of his lower glove and a small bit of his cape had passed through the white film and shredded into oblivion upon contact, leaving a noticeable hole in his glove and a trimmed off corner of his cape.

The soft blue white glow was a very tricky technique of the boy's cryokinetic abilities, taught to him by those insufferable abominable snow freaks of the far frozen. The film itself looked more like a frosty mist emanating from the boy, with just a touch more color than being completely see-through. But instead of cool water particles, this mist was in fact trillions of tiny, microscopic ice crystals, each consisting of four sharp, curved blades. The boy could manipulate them as he saw fit, usually keeping them constantly spinning at ridiculous speeds and each, being made of spiritually crafted ice, where ludicrously dense, making a cloud of countless, invisible sawblades. The boy could coat himself and objects in a film of them to make an untouchable coat of armor, or shot of a few of these blades to make nearly invisible projectiles that could practically slice through anything. The boy could even augment his defense further by stopping the blades rotations and interlinking their curved edges to create a form of icy chainmail that could form not only around him, but in the air around him as well. The many possibilities of this technique mixed with the boy's now extraordinary extended sight created a near invincible defense, in more than one way it seems.

Vlad had back stepped a few feet from the boy, who gave no response to any of this, his smirk dropped into a neutral frown. Wordlessly he brought his hand out with his cape to inspect the damages, and with a little concentration and a flash of crimson, the damages to his glove and cape were mended in an instant. The film of blue white mist died around the boy as he spoke without even turning around,

"… maybe it would be time to surrender the game if you didn't so obvious want to continue playing."

Vlad gave no response; he simply looked at the boy, calmly watching him in silence. Finally, after a few moments the boy turned his head ever so slightly and said "I meant what I said, you should just back off, not even the observants want to get involved in this, their leaving us with all the hard work with barely their usual amount of nagging."

Vlad still gave no response, giving his own neutral frown as the boy turned his head to once again face forward. "I know you want to make a profit Vlad, but if anything in what you just said held even a shred of truth, you'll stay away…"

The boy turned around completely and walked straight past Vlad, saying softly as he passed,

"It isn't worth it."

Vlad still gave no response, not as the boy passed, not as he opened a rift for both him and his friend, not as they both changed back before entering, not even when the rift closed behind him.

A few seconds past before finally, Vlad lifted his palm up and inspected it.

"Not worth it hm …"

He said, amusement dancing on his voice. The boy may have once again refused, but the seeds have been sowed. They may not have been ready to take root now, but Vlad had time and time again proven to be a very patient man, and eventually those seeds would bear fruit. A smirk grew on his lips as he clenched his fingers into a tight fist,

"You may be right my dear boy…" He said, a dark chuckle growing from his throat,

"But you will be worth far more than the cost."

(~)

Ok, A LOT I wanna talk about here, again, sorry about the long wait, gonna try and get these out sooner, first up …

Dumbledore's head his getting crowded-

I honestly didn't mean to use Dumbledore's perspective as often as I have so far, but it's just to easy to do so. At this point, Danny and co. are too well informed of the going on's that that trying to write in their perspective would essentially be a lot of them describing what they already know, which is unavoidable, but something I should really limit. In this regard, Dumbledore is perfect, he's observant enough to pick up other character's emotional states as well as not knowing enough so that the story naturally develops with him. When they gang get to London, then I'll most likely start giving Danny and the others more time for a perspective shift, but for now, Dumbledore is the perfect vehicle.

Danny and Sam's relationship with Danielle-

Ok, I'm going to state this out flat here, "I AM NOT DOING A REVEALED PARRENTAGE THING WITH THESE THREE" so there won't be a jerry springer with a paternity test, 'you're the father/mother' between these three. It's not to say I don't like the Danny Sam official parent of Dannielle angle, It's just not what I want to do. I do want to reveal exactly what I plan with this, I want that to be more evident in the story, but for now, no official Dad Danny Mommy Sam subplot.

Vlad's redesign-

Not much here, I just thought of how not make Vlad look like he's trying to be more regal. The whole "hidden form" thing I was alluding to? Well, read and wait to find out (evil chuckle). Finally, no hair horns, sorry, but there is no way I can make that look intimidating.

Danny's ghost form redesign-

I think we all kind of have an idea of what a cool new look for Danny's ghost form would look like, for me, this is kind of the closest I can get to having that expressed without drawing it myself, cuz I'm a crappy artist.

Vlad's backstory-

My thought process with this was simple, what would make a villain like Vlad? Whenever I saw the character in the show, I always saw him as both acting as what he felt was just proper, as well as trying to show his importance, showing an odd mixture of self-importance with what I could only see as a massive inferiority complex. It was like he was radiating sociopathic assurance while at the same time trying to enforce his confidence. I thought of what could make a character like that and this is, in my opinion, as good a means to such a character in the harry potter universe can allow.

Once again I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, pls post a comment, I'd love to hear how you feel I should improve the story, thx!