Previous Chapter: Chapter 11
Chapter 7: Shadows and False Hope
Danny thought he saw something move along the bright hallway and quickly ducked down the darkened stair well. He tried muffling his footsteps from echoing off the stone walls while moving as quickly as possible from the upper landing. He could hear the shouts of students' echoing above and hoped their noise would cover his retreat.
After moving down several sets of stairs and making some turns, Danny paused to regain his breath. He looked around, hoping that he hadn't made himself too lost that he couldn't make his way back. With a groan, Danny realized the area he'd wandered into looked suspiciously like a dungeon. The stone walls were uneven and damp, dimly lit by torches that hung at far spaces along the corridor. Shadowy doorways with thick wooden doors were cut into the stone at random intervals down the corridor.
The halls were eerily silent, making the slightest noise echo off the walls and seem three times as loud. Danny found himself turning to look over his should every few seconds and jumping at unexpected shadows. He found a particularly dark corner and put his back to the wall, letting his breathing settle down after his mad run. The cold seeped in through his thin t-shirt, but he stayed where he was. He needed to regroup and plan his next step.
The best thing to do would be to find out how they'd brought him here and then see if it could send him back. Unfortunately, Danny had no idea how to do that short of asking someone and he hesitated at that. He didn't know any of these people and the reactions from the students here didn't inspire any confidence in him. The old man, Headmaster Dumbledore, seemed reasonable enough. He hadn't panicked upon seeing Danny and he hadn't let himself be swayed by the hysteria coming from the others, but he was more powerful than he looked. Danny didn't know how the old man forced back Danny's powers, it was almost like magic, but Danny didn't fancy getting into an all out fight with the man. Definitely better to just avoid them all together.
Danny sighed, it looked like his best choice was to go back up to the room and see if he could find anything that could send him back. If that didn't work, he'd get out of the building and try to figure out where he was exactly. After that…he'd figure out later.
With some semblance of a plan in his head, Danny moved out of his dark corner. He still didn't hear any sign of life in the quiet dungeon. It seemed his pursuers hadn't thought to come down here yet. Now would be the best time to go and search the tower room with everyone else off searching for him. Careful of his footsteps, Danny headed back down the direction he'd come.
Ten minutes later, Danny was thoroughly lost. He couldn't find the staircase that had originally dropped him into the dungeon no matter how much he back tracked. If he didn't know better he would have said the thing had moved on him or the hallways themselves were changing. He still couldn't transform to phase up through the ceiling. The only part of his luck that seemed to be holding out was that he hadn't run into anyone while wandering around, yet.
Danny's building frustration, however, made him careless and after passing the same route for seemingly the third time Danny stepped out from a corner and directly into the path of a black robed figure. The sudden collision surprised Danny out of his simmering aggravation. He reeled back a few steps to regain his balance before he tried to turn and flee down the other way. A hand shot out and grabbed the collar of his shirt before he could make it more than two steps.
With a small cry of distress, Danny tried to wrench himself from the hand, but it held with an iron fist. "So this is the intruder?" a cold voice commented above him. "Stop fighting, boy, or I will make you."
Danny could hear the sneer in the man's voice. Pausing in his thrashing, Danny twisted to get a better look at the man. He was much taller than Danny. His black robes only accentuated his height. The sallow skin, stringy hair, and black eyes immediately had Danny thinking of a vampire, kicking up his heart rate another notch. The dungeon setting certainly added to the impression as the man glared down on Danny.
The man pulled out his own stick, flicking it with a mutter. Danny stared in surprise as a silver bird shot out the end and flew off through the walls. It's gotta be magic, Danny thought desperately to himself, briefly going over all the times he'd seen ghosts perform magic or magic like powers. It had never ended well, with the exception of last Christmas and that could be considered a draw since it had also started his problems in the first place.
"One muggle boy? Hardly impressive," the man scoffed to himself, drawing Danny from his thoughts as he turned and started dragging Danny back down the corridor.
The movement woke Danny out of his stunned compliance. Reaching up, Danny grabbed the hand still holding his shirt. He twisted the hand, turning underneath it to put the joint into a lock. The hand let go of his shirt as the man gave a surprised and pain-filled gasp. Danny pushed the man farther down the corridor and farther off balance, before turning to run back the other way. He was half way down the hall, almost to a turn off when ropes came out of nowhere and wrapped around his legs and arms, pinning them and making him tumble to the ground in a skid.
Danny twisted and fought against the ropes but they refused to budge. If anything, they only became tighter, coiling painfully over Danny's body like snakes until he couldn't move at all. "Let me go!" Danny yelled, more out of reflex than any belief he would be released.
A gag soon followed the ropes as the thin man approached. "I think not," he snarled as he rubbed the wrist Danny had twisted, "The Headmaster can deal with you." Another flick of his magic wand and Danny was floating down the hall after him.
Soon they were heading up the stairs Danny had such difficulty finding only a few minutes ago. He glared in annoyance, eyes and head twisting around to better see his surroundings. He thought it was the same staircase he came down, but at the time he had been so focused on getting away he hadn't paid too much attention to his surroundings. Danny couldn't help a small eye roll at his own carelessness. The ropes had slacked off slightly with his lack of struggling, but they felt tense against him, ready to tighten again at the slightest sign of an escape attempt. Not wanting the ropes to clamp down again, Danny resorted to waiting, he'd get a chance to get free again he told himself. He just had to wait until right moment.
They continued on at the top of the staircase, moving through brightly lit hallways. Large windows let in bright sunlight while candles and torches lit the corridors with no natural light. Curiosity overcoming some of his fear and aggravation, Danny's eyes moved from the suits of armor to the tapestries and then to the paintings as they walked. The gag still fit snugly over Danny's face muffled his gasp of surprise when he realized the portraits were moving. They pointed at him and the professor as they passed, moving from frame to frame to whisper with each other.
They didn't encounter nearly as many students as Danny thought they would, traveling through the halls in the middle of the day especially after the ruckus that had happened less than an hour ago. The few that they did see along the way stopped and stared, wide eyed and slack jawed, before Danny's captor sent them running with a glare.
"Ah, Severus, you found him," Dumbledore's voice called from further down the hallway.
Danny twisted to see, but the restraints tightened again, forcing him to return to his original position. He could hear the old man's footsteps approach and rolled his eyes as far as he could. Soon, the Headmaster appeared from the corner of his eye and moved into view.
"You didn't need to be so harsh," Dumbledore admonished, frowning at the ropes wrapped around Danny's body, "He's only a boy."
"So you say," Severus grumbled more to himself than the Headmaster, rubbing his wrist.
Dumbledore turned to Danny, patting him on his shoulder, "We'll have you out of those in a moment, my boy, but first we should get to a more private location."
With that, Dumbledore turned and hurried down the corridor, Severus following with Danny floating after. They passed through a strange doorway that closed up after them and up a circular escalator. Danny couldn't help the fluttering of fear and nerves as they entered a beautiful, round office. These people, whoever they were, were like nothing he had ever encountered before. He didn't know how to react. The Headmaster seemed kind enough, despite what he'd done to Danny's powers. Then this new person, Severus, as Dumbledore had called him, seemed almost the complete opposite. Either way, they both could do things with those sticks, magic wands, or whatever that Danny wouldn't have thought possible for normal humans. He mentally berated himself for the hundredth time for getting close to the pink bubble.
As soon as they were in the room and the door was firmly shut, Dumbledore turned to Danny saying, "I'm going to release your bonds now, please do not attempt anything and remain calm. With any luck we can have this all sorted out in a short time." He waved his wand.
Then, sudden, Danny was free. The ropes and gag disappeared and he was set down to the ground, feet first. It was so unexpected he could only blink for a moment, face open with shock. Dumbledore had said they would set him free, but he hadn't really believed him. He closed his eyes a moment, looking for the cold core in his center, but couldn't quite bring it forth. A glance at the closed door and window, and he sighed to himself. A squashy chair appeared behind him and Dumbledore gestured for him to take a seat. He slowly complied, perching on the edge of the chair, eyes narrowed with wariness
The suspicion was met by a calm and gentle smile from the Headmaster who settled down into a chair behind a desk covered in whirling and smoking instruments. The darker man, Severus, hovered menacingly a few paces away, arms folded and face set in a glare. He was certainly the more intimidating one of the two, but long experience in fighting ghosts told Danny the old man would be the more powerful one in a fight.
"As I said before," Dumbledore began after a beat of silence, "I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is Professor Snape, an instructor here."
Danny did little more than glance at the professor again before turning his eyes back to Dumbledore. He refrained from saying anything, wanting to leave the talking to the old man. He didn't want to implicate himself anymore than that ghost already had.
Dumbledore only let the pause stretch out for a moment. "I want you understand, first and foremost, Danny, that you have nothing to fear. No one from this school will hurt you here."
Danny wanted to keep his mouth shut, had gotten into too much trouble by talking without thinking but he couldn't curb his question. "What did you do to me?" he blurted.
"I was attempting to verify Sir Nicholas's information. If I had realized how distressing it would be for you I would not have done so. From what I gathered from Sir Nicholas's tone, it seemed common knowledge to him that you were this Halfa."
"It probably was, for him. He's a ghost after all," Danny grumbled half to himself, folding his arms over his chest and looking down. A frown spread over his face.
"Am I to take it that such a thing is not generally known by the living?" Dumbledore asked, more seeking for confirmation than really asking.
"It isn't, or at least it wasn't," Danny grimaced, his anger at being revealed fading out of him. It wasn't their fault really, they didn't know. "Where I'm from ghosts aren't well liked or tolerated. If they found out what I am it would turn into trouble."
Dumbledore leaned forward in his seat and Danny could see genuine concern in his eyes, "And where are you from?"
Danny hesitated in answering. He didn't like telling them about himself. As it was now, they only knew that the ghost Danny Phantom could also turn into a teenage boy. Plus, it went against every instinct he had developed to just tell strangers about himself. Still, he argued silently, they might be able to find a way home for him.
"I'm from Amity Park, that's in the States," Danny said, "but I was lost in the Ghost Zone when I was brought here. I'm guessing I'm somewhere in England right now."
"Scotland, actually," Dumbledore corrected, "Your accent gives you away as well, my boy. Now, if I might ask, what is this Ghost Zone?" The old Headmaster leaned forward the light of curiosity sparking in his eyes.
Danny glanced behind him as he answered, trying to keep the other man in his periphery as the professor circled around the room. "The Ghost Zone is the place where ghosts come from and live. It's sort of the other side of this world."
"The Afterlife?" Professor Snape asked in a sharp tone, coming around to stand beside the Headmaster's desk.
Danny, hesitated, furrowing his brow as he tried to find a good way to explain it. "Not really. Not everyone who dies goes there, only the people who come back as ghosts. Then there's also creatures who were never human to begin with but were born in the Ghost Zone, kinda like their own forms of life except instead of carbon-based they're ectoplasmic-based…" He trailed off unsure how to explain it all.
The Headmaster threw Snape a look, but turned back to Danny, "I've never heard of such of a place, and though the prospect is quiet intriguing, I do believe we are getting off the subject. How, exactly, were you brought here?"
"I came across this pink bubble. I touched it and suddenly found myself floating above the table in that room," Danny explained, thinking back to how the pink bubble had drawn him in and the strange humming that had filled his ears. Stupid trap.
Dumbledore laced his fingers together, tapping his thumbs against each other as his eyes wandered to the ceiling in thought. "Sybil was attempting demonstrate a séance to her students today. It is quite possible what you witnessed was the other end of the summoning spell to bring forth the spirit." He looked back down to Danny and noticed Danny's slight confusion. "Sybil Trelawney is the divination teacher here at Hogwarts. Séances can be particularly dangerous since one can never be sure what you will call forth. All too often, it can turn out to be a dark spirit, which is why the shielding spell was in place when you first arrived."
Danny let his head fall into his hands as his elbows rested on his knees. That would make sense, in its own strange way. The Ghost Zone was full of permanent portals to various different worlds, why wouldn't there be a way for a temporary portal to be established, especially if you could use magic. "So… she basically opened a temporary portal designed to lure in ghosts and it brought me here." Danny summarized more for his own benefit than the two adults in the room.
"That would be an accurate description, yes," the old man agreed, Danny could hear the sympathy in his voice.
"I guess it isn't too bad," Danny said, running a hand through his hair, "As far as worlds go this one seems to be relatively harmless. There's no dinosaurs." He gave a weak smile. Then, noticing the confusion on the two men's faces elaborated, "The Ghost Zone is filled with portals that lead to different times, places, and worlds. My own parents built a portal using technology in our basement, and another device that can make temporary portals appear anywhere. That's how I got sucked in the Zone in the first place."
"And did your parents also make you this…Halfa? Or is that natural where you are from?" Professor Snape asked, his scowl warring with curiosity as he gestured to Danny.
Danny snorted. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation with anyone, voluntarily. "No, this is not normal. And it's not really their fault either. It's more my fault than anything. This is just what happens to a person when they are electrocuted by an extremely high amount of ectoplasmicly charged electricity, I think. It's what happened to me at least. Please don't tell anyone else."
Dumbledore nodded. "If I had known you wished to keep it a secret I would not have revealed you, especially in such a setting."
"Is there any way you can send me back? Either to the Ghost Zone or to my home town?" Danny asked, hope shinning in his eyes like the sunlight through the windows.
Dumbledore took a moment, standing up and pacing to the large bookcase that lined one wall. While the darker Professor Snape resumed his position of quiet scrutiny. "Normally, when the séance is completed the spirit is sent back to where they came from. However, since it was interrupted the connection with that particular place was destroyed. I am afraid we do not have a way to send anyone to this Ghost Zone you mentioned, that I know. Even if there were, there is no way to know exactly what point you came from so you could be sent to anywhere within that realm."
Danny's mind frantically searched for alternatives. "Is there any way you could just send me home? I was sort of lost when I got pulled here anyway, so it's not too big a deal going back where I was."
Dumbledore considered this before confirming, "This Ghost Zones has portals to many different worlds and times you said?"
Danny nodded. He had a pretty good guess where this was leading.
"In that case, if you came from this world and merely come from the non-magical community in the United States, then we should not have any difficulty in sending you back to your own town. However-"
"If I come from a different world altogether there's nothing you can do to help me," Danny finished, torn between hope and defeat. If he was in his own world then this could be the last step in getting home. Granted he'd never heard of anything like these magic people, but there were plenty of weird things in the world he'd never encountered. If he wasn't in his own world though, he'd have to somehow find a portal back to the Ghost Zone and pray it dumped him off somewhere near known territory. Somehow, Danny knew it would probably be the latter.
Dumbledore nodded his head in confirmation. "There are a few theories about traveling to different planes of existence as well as parallel dimensions, but they are merely theoretical. There are no current means of practical application of which I know." He brought his clasped hands up to his chin, resting it on them for a moment as his eyes turned inward. "No," he continued after a moment, "I cannot think of anyone who has attempted actually breaching a dimensional barrier, most do not even believe they exist. I will research further, however, and confer with some of my fellows."
"You won't tell them about me, will you?" Danny asked, at once wary and nervous.
"Do not worry yourself, my boy," the old Headmaster shook his head, "I will be very discreet and will not mention your existence at all. Perhaps Mr. Lovegood will know of some acquaintances who have knowledge in this field."
Professor Snape snorted from the side of the room causing Danny's head to whip around. He'd almost forgotten the man was there.
"The Lovegoods only associate with crackpots and conspiracy theorists," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for them to hear.
"Precisely," Dumbledore smiled, "Since many orthodox researchers in the wizard world do not believe in the possibility of separate dimensions or the ability to break that barrier, we will have to seek out some unorthodox ones."
"Couldn't we at least check if my own world isn't here to begin with?" Danny asked, breaking in between the exchange. It was a long shot, yes, but he couldn't quite squelch the hope that his home might be out there.
"Of course," Dumbledore stood, reaching for a heavy bound leather book on the bookcase behind him. He opened the cover revealing an old and elaborate atlas. "I do not know the precise location of your town, but if you would indicate it for me here, I should be able to get you fairly close."
Danny moved to peer over the map of the United States Dumbledore had opened to. The colored and hand drawn maps reminded Danny of the early maps from history class except these maps seemed to be completely accurate and up to date with the modern world. He had to squint a little at the stylized writing but soon found the area where Amity would be located, if it were big enough. "It should be right about here," he said pointing it out, "But it's pretty small."
"Very well," Dumbledore said, pulling out a slightly used quill from his desk. He tapped it with his wand murmuring under his breath. The quill glowed for a moment before returning to normal. Turning to Danny he held out the quill. "This is a portkey," he said, "It will take you to a predetermined location once I activate it. Generally, it is best not to use it over such a long distance, but the most you will feel is some nausea and dizziness. Don't worry, it's quite safe," he added at Danny's slight hesitation.
Danny took the quill, turning it over in his hands. It certainly didn't look magical. "How will I know how to get back if my home's not there?"
"It has a preprogrammed time of return. I was not sure how long it would take you to find your home from where it will take you so I set it for this time tomorrow. That will give you twenty-four hours to find your town and determine if this is indeed your world or not. If it is your world, then merely put the quill down somewhere out of reach and it will return here on its own. If it is not your world then keep hold of it and it will bring you back here to my office and we will further discuss your options."
Danny nodded, hope and nervousness closing his throat. Dumbledore counted down and suddenly there was a tugging somewhere by Danny's navel and he was spinning, unable to let go of the feather in his grasp. It seemed to go on for hours but was probably only minutes before his feet slammed into the ground. Danny's knees buckled and he went down to all fours, fingers grabbing at the grass to still the spinning world. He had to take several deep breaths to fight back the nausea rising up from the experience. He stayed on the ground for several minutes, probably longer than the actual ride, forehead resting on the cool grass and gulping in lungs full of air.
When Danny finally pushed himself up to his knees and feet he still swayed as the world tilted to the side. "Some nausea and dizziness my foot," he grumbled to himself, "that thing's worse than the tilt-a-whirl on crack."
Taking a few shaky steps, Danny managed to take in the area he had landed. His eyes swept the grassy field, noticing the highway at the far end and the closer tree line. "Still," he said to himself as he recognized the location as being only a few miles outside of town, "the old coot definitely knows what he's doing."
The sun shone down morning light from the time difference making Danny groan as he realized how tired he was. Perhaps, the trip had compounded the problem since he hadn't felt this bad back in Dumbledore's office, but he couldn't deny that he was starting to feel dangerously run down. He wondered if he shouldn't have asked for a twenty minute nap back at the school, but looking around the field and knowing he was potentially so close to home gave him new strength. Picking up the feather and placing it securely into his pocket, he turned toward where Amity should be.
Danny tested his powers. They were still out of reach, but just barely. The effect of the spell must be wearing off. He started walking, checking his powers occasionally. As soon as he could access them, he transformed and started flying back to town though it would only wear him out more. If he was home, he could just crash on his couch and sleep for the rest of the day, family permitting. If he wasn't home, he'd just find another place to curl up and probably cry himself to sleep, with the feather crushed in his grip, of course, so he wouldn't get left behind.
The scenery passing beneath him was painfully familiar. The roads curved in the same patterns with the same cars speeding along. The trees and fields lining the highways were indistinguishable from the ones back home. Even the billboard announcing Amity was the same as his home. Watching all this fly below, Danny tried not to let his hopes get too high too quickly. There were probably plenty of worlds that looked just like every other world. It didn't mean he was home so he tried to save himself the larger disappoint in case he got to the town and found his house missing or changed.
Despite this, Danny couldn't help his heart speeding as he sighted Amity. The brick buildings, the stores, the town park were exactly as he remembered them. He even recognized some of the people milling about on the late morning streets. He picked up his speed without even realizing it. Flying above the buildings and streets he headed straight for his house, fingers crossed and eyes locked on his goal.
His bee-line flight was brought to a dead stop as Danny came into view of his house, though. The brick house was there, the window frames and door painted the same color and the neighboring buildings carbon copies of his own world, but there was no Fenton Works. The precarious machinery and antennae array that drew so many complaints and building code inspectors to their house was completely absent. There was not even any indication it had ever been there to begin with.
Danny hung in mid air staring with wide eyes at the house. He knew this was the more likely scenario, but he still couldn't help his hopes crashing down inside him. Hands hanging limply at his sides Danny suddenly felt the crushing fatigue bearing down on him, magnified by the enormous disappointment he'd just had. He needed to find a place to rest.
Plus, without the Fenton Ghost Portal, this Amity was probably not used to seeing ghosts flying around their streets like his own. It would be best to get out of sight, go back to human and stay that way until he departed. With one last glance at the house, Danny turned and headed for an alleyway to change back.
Perhaps, he could find a natural portal to the Ghost Zone, Danny told himself. There were plenty of natural portals around his own Amity that opened and closed regularly. Of course, he didn't know if those portals were results of the larger, permanent portal his parents had built. He had twenty-four hours to look though, before going back.
Danny changed and immediately slumped against the wall as his exhaustion hit him a new wave. He'd look after he'd gotten a rest, Danny thought, heading to a quiet part of the park nearby where he could hunker down under a tree in the sun. He double checked to make sure the feather was still in his pocket before lowering his tired and sore body to the ground. As he closed his eyes and let himself relax into sleep he tried to reconcile himself that he might be trapped in this world for a longer than he wanted. Hopefully, someday he'd find a way home.
::THE END::
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