Disclaimer: I'm not rich, and I can't draw anything anywhere near recognizable. You figure it out.

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Chapter 10

The next morning, Harry glanced around and realized that the others weren't up yet. Shrugging, Harry climbed out of bed and checked the time. 'Gah, it's only nine?' He sighed. 'Oh, well. Might as well get up.' Quickly, Harry got dressed and went down to the common room.

Hermione was already down there, and she was staring at one of the chairs with something like a combination of exasperation and amusement. Harry blinked as he realized that it was the same one that Danny had been in before, during their late night/ early morning meeting.

Hermione glanced up at him and motioned him over, putting a finger to her lips when he started to say something. Harry blinked, shrugged, and did as he was told. Looking, he saw a sight that immediately explained Hermione's amusement.

Danny was in a position very similar to one he had seen Crookshanks in during a rare moment of relaxation. Danny was half on his back and had his arms folded across his stomach. His head was turned toward the fire, and his legs were curled up. He was literally half on his back, because from roughly the waist up he was on his back, and from the waist down he was on his side.

Harry considered for a long moment, trying not to laugh. Then he had a wicked idea. "Think we should get a camera?" The reaction was immediate.

Danny was slowly drifting awake, aware that someone was standing over him, but also aware that it wasn't an enemy. His only human 'enemies' were the jocks at school, and all ghosts set off his ghost sense. Since he didn't sleep at school and his ghost sense hadn't gone off, it wasn't an enemy. Danny was vaguely aware of being in a position that Sam had once said gave her a crick in the neck just looking at him, but he didn't care.

Danny was just starting to drift off to sleep, when he heard six words that immediately made him figuratively sit up and take notice. "Think we should get a camera?"

Of course, literally Danny was in no position to 'sit up and take notice.' The best he could do was let out a loud yelp as he fell head first off the chair, barely managing to keep from hitting his head on the floor by throwing out his arms. A moment later, his legs followed, and Danny winced as he banged a knee against the stone floor. 'That's gonna hurt later.'

Glaring up at Harry and Hermione, who were staring at him, he told them. "You are not going to get a picture of me sleeping in some weird position!" Climbing to his feet, he dusted off his knees and muttered under his breath, "Bad enough mom does it so much."

Stalking off with as much dignity as he could manage while blushing and limping slightly, Danny hoped they wouldn't take that as a challenge.

As soon as Danny was out of sight, Harry grinned evilly. Hermione gave him a wary look. "Mione, don't the twins sell those little Wizarding cameras, for recording really good pranks?"

Hermione stared at him. "Harry!" Despite herself, Hermione was seriously considering the idea. "I think so, but how many would we need?"

Harry grinned. When she wanted to be, Hermione could be just as mischievous as him. "Oh, just three. No reason to get more than that, after all." Hermione just shook her head, but part of her was intrigued by the idea.

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Upstairs, Danny quickly got dressed. Once he was done, he once more dug through his trunk for a moment before he found what he was looking for. Grumbling softly, Danny pulled out a small towel. He didn't know how it had gotten there, but he'd found it with his stuff that he'd gotten from home. It was probably just Jazz being weird again.

Climbing into his bed and closing the curtains, he carefully used his ice powers to form a bunch of small ice cubes on the towel and pressed the make-shift compress to his right knee, which he'd landed on wrong. It was already beginning to swell up.

Neville yawned as he woke up. Glancing around, his gaze landed on a bed that hadn't been there last year. It took him a moment to remember. 'Oh, yeah. We got a new student.' Neville heard a hiss of pain, and decided to get up and see what was going on.

Danny frowned as he heard movement coming towards his bed, and pulled himself up carefully so that he could dive to either side if he had to.

Neville paused just beyond the bed, trying to remember the guy's name. "Danny? You okay?"

Danny blinked, startled. "Yeah, I'm fine." He poked his head out of the curtains, keeping his icepack against his knee. "Why'd you ask?"

Neville frowned as he noticed the way Danny was positioned. "I just heard you and wondered what was going on. Did something happen to your knee?"

Danny frowned. 'Should have known. He's one of Harry's roommates, and a friend as well. Of course he'd notice something.' "I fell out of a chair and landed on it wrong. It's nothing."

Neville rolled his eyes and without thinking about it reached out and grabbed Danny's wrist to pull him along. "You'd better let Madame Pomfrey look at it, anyway. It could get worse."

Danny rolled his eyes, but tossed the compress back onto his bed. He didn't want whoever Madame Pomfrey was—probably the school nurse or Healer—ask where exactly he had gotten ice while he was in his dorm room. "You do this to Harry a lot, don't you?"

Neville blushed, but forged straight on through the Common Room. Harry and Hermione were in a corner, probably planning something. "Not a lot, Ron and Hermione are usually the ones to drag him off to the Hospital Wing, but all his friends do it sometimes."

Danny rolled his eyes and easily slipped his wrist out of Neville's grip. "Despite the resemblance, I'm not him. You can just show me where it is." 'Besides, something like that will be good to know.'

Neville blushed again, and started off toward the Hospital Wing. "Sorry."

Danny shrugged. "'Sokay. I understand the reasoning. I just don't like being dragged around."

On the way there, Danny couldn't help looking around. There was just so much magic here! He unconsciously walked beside Neville, idly noticing that he felt a bit like some of the plants Hermione had beat into his head while trying to teach him Herbology.

Neville watched him look around, and blinked when he saw Danny step over a trick stair without seeming to notice. He watched a bit closer, and when Neville went toward a trick door, Danny walked with him without hesitation, even though it was well hidden. Finally, he spoke. "You can sense magic, can't you?"

Danny started, and glanced over at Neville. He had almost forgotten the other boy was there, simply following the nearest route to a place that seemed filled with healing magic. "What?" Neville repeated the question, and Danny blinked. "Huh. You're the first to notice. Or realize, actually. How'd you know?" He tilted his head curiously, and Neville was reminded of a curious fox.

Neville gestured behind him as Danny, slightly in the lead, opened the door in front of them. "You skipped a trick step without seeming to notice and you just led the way to the Hospital Wing like you've been here for years."

Danny glanced back and blushed slightly as he realized Neville was right. "Ah, right. Could you not tell? I like letting people figure out things about me without help." He grinned. "More fun that way."

Neville shook his head but agreed. "Madame Pomfrey should be out soon."

Just then, a rather stern-looking woman came out. "I'm right here, Mr. Longbottom. How'd you manage to land in the Hospital Wing your first day back?"

Danny laughed. "Well, you're popular." He quickly hopped up on the nearest bed. It didn't hurt to walk, but he didn't like the way his knee was swelling up, either.

Neville blushed. "Clumsy. I mostly get sent from Potions." Turning to Madame Pomfrey, he answered her question. "I'm not the one who needs to be here, Madame Pomfrey. I was just showing Danny the way." 'Even though he didn't really need it…

Madame Pomfrey bore down on Danny, and Danny had to try hard not to flinch as she immediately waved a diagnostic charm over him. "Hmm, nasty bruise, slight swelling. You came down on this hard, young man. You must be the new student; I'd remember that much scarring on one of my patients."

Danny winced at the reminder of all the scars he'd gotten ghost hunting. "Ah, yeah." Before he could go on, Madame Pomfrey swept off for a potion. Danny shook his head. "Is she always like that?"

Neville shrugged. "Not really, she's probably just annoyed that it's the first day back and someone's already here." He wanted to ask him about the scars Pomfrey had mentioned, but decided not to. No telling if he'd get annoyed or simply clam up and refuse to answer.

Madame Pomfrey swept back in and handed Danny a potion. "Drink all of that. And I have to congratulate you, Mr. Fenton. You've broken the record of being the first student of the year to come to the Hospital Wing."

Danny blushed, but considered the potion for a moment, sniffed it, and finally took a sip. He made a face at the taste, but since it didn't seem harmful, he forced himself to slug it back. "Blech. Let me guess, the taste keeps people from taking too much."

Madame Pomfrey smiled slightly. "There is that. And, of course, Severus—Professor Snape to you—has never seen the point in making his potions taste good."

Danny rolled his eyes and absently rubbed his knee. It took him a moment to realize there was no pain. "Huh. That stuff's fast." He gently explored the area and it didn't take long to find that the swelling was gone, and the only pain he felt was when he pressed the spot below his kneecap where he'd landed. From what he could tell, he probably still had an impressive bruise, but that was it.

Madame Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at his casual assessment of his own injuries, but knew better than to ask. She decided to wait until she could catch him alone. "Be careful with that until tomorrow. If you manage to bang your knee again, it will take a bit more than a potion to fix it." Without another word, she calmly swept back to her office.

Danny smirked and got down from the hospital bed. 'Oh, I'll be careful. In fact, I'll just fly around until I find something interesting.' He felt a slight warning coming from his midsection and quickly amended that thought. 'After breakfast.'

Neville led the way out of the Hospital Wing. "Well, do you want a tour or something? There aren't really any classes until Monday, so today and tomorrow are pretty much our only real free days." When he didn't get an answer, Neville turned to look, but Danny was gone. He blinked. 'How'd he do that? There aren't any secret passages around here, and as far as I know he didn't have anything to turn him invisible.'

Danny smirked and used his intangibility to sink into a wall, just in case. There, he changed to his Phantom form, the bright light hidden by stone. 'Better find that Great Hall place. Then I can explore.'

Keeping himself invisible, Danny flew up so that he was just below the ceiling and stretched out his senses to get a better feel for the place. It didn't take him long to find the Great Hall, and he quickly landed outside and sunk into the stone once more to change. Coming out, he made sure that nobody was around before slowly fading in and walking into the large room.

Danny quickly ate his breakfast and slipped out before anyone came over to talk to him. 'Might as well have fun with this while I can. I'll just be another ghost haunting the school.' He changed and flew invisibly to the ceiling, letting the laughter he felt bubbling up echo through the halls.

Many heard the eerie laughter, which seemed to have its own echo to add to that created when it traveled the halls. Everybody decided that it must have been a ghost, though they had never heard laughter like that before. Only two people knew for sure who it must be.

Hermione hissed in frustration. "Come on, Ron. You have to hear about this, and we can't tell you here!"

Ron sighed. "Fine, 'Mione. Just a minute." He grabbed a piece of toast and calmly buttered it, but before he got a chance to eat it, Hermione was hauling him out of his seat and out of the Great Hall.

Harry followed behind, knowing better than to protest. Hauling all her books around made Hermione very strong, and she'd have no problem hauling him off as well as Ron. 'Sometimes I hate being short.'

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Some time after, Danny was beginning to think he'd really like this place. 'So much magic is going to be distracting, though. I'll have to explore now, or I'll never be able to concentrate in class.' He flew down around the dungeons and found both the Potions classroom and the Slytherin Common Room. 'Yeesh. That hat said I could fit in down here, but I'm glad it put me in Gryffindor. Even the magic feels stifling down here. And it's cold.'

Rubbing his arms, Danny left quickly. It wasn't just a physical cold, the magic itself made him feel cold. He wasn't sure what to make of it, and if he tried to explain it he knew he wouldn't be able to, but Danny decided that he would do his best to avoid the Slytherin Common Room.

Finally, he decided that it was time to take care of something else. Closing his eyes and focusing for a moment, he soon honed in on Harry's magic, which was easier to find than Ron's or Hermione's.

Following the trail amid all the magic of Hogwarts wasn't easy, but Danny knew what he was looking for and it didn't take him long. As he had thought, Harry and Hermione had managed to grab Ron and were telling him about the night before.

Harry shook his head. "So anyway, I go down to the common room and Danny's there. He tells me some stuff, and explains that the guy I saw was Phantom. I asked him who Phantom was, and he said—"

Danny took his cue. "'Why don't you ask him yourself?'" He became visible seemingly lounging against the wall near the ceiling. "Hey, Harry. Spreading tales?" He glanced around the small room, which looked like the three had taken over. Poking at the magic with his senses, he smiled. 'Thought so. Weird, it's like its changing. Huh? Aaah.' The magic seemed to become warmer, and Danny relaxed as the last of the chill from the Slytherin Common Rooms was banished. "What is this place, anyway?"

All three jumped and stared at him when he first spoke. Ron let out a surprised, "Bloody hell…" Hermione was too surprised to notice, but she was also the first to recover. "How'd you get in here? The door's locked and no one else is supposed to know about it but some friends of ours. And it's the Room of Requirement."

Danny shrugged. 'Room of Requirement?' "Well, unless you've got some way of keeping a ghost out, locks don't do much good." He twisted upside down and stretched, looking down at them from that angle. "And just because you never realized I was there doesn't mean I never took the time to figure out the feel of your magic."

Harry blinked. "You can sense our magic? How?"

Danny shrugged. "Course I can. So can Danny. Make's it easier to find you and all that."

Ron shook off the shock he felt at seeing the strangely solid ghost. "But how do you do it?"

Danny shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I didn't quite realize what it was at first. When Snape and Dumbledore were in Amity Park, Dumbledore was setting off warning bells, but we didn't know why. Wasn't until we were around you guys for a while that it clicked." He came down and hovered roughly in front of them, looking like he was sitting cross-legged in mid-air. "Though it did explain why Danny said Mr.-er Professor Lupin reminded him of Wulf."

The trio blinked. They had almost forgotten that. Then Hermione shook her head in frustration. "But how did you hide so well? We never even suspected that you were there!"

Danny smirked and turned invisible and intangible. While the three looked around and tried to find him, he flew up behind Hermione. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he whispered in her ear.

Hermione shrieked in surprise and whirled toward him, but Danny was already back where he'd been before. By the time Hermione had stopped looking around wildly, trying to figure out where he was and Ron and Harry had managed to calm her, he looked like he'd never moved an

inch. "I've been like this for years. Keeping out of the sight of people who never even suspected I was there was easy."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth, obviously trying to figure out what to say. Danny smirked. "Well, if everybody else could see you now. Smartest witch of her class, speechless." Hermione growled and looked like she might lunge at him. He smirked and turned invisible once more. "Bye now."

Danny turned intangible and floated up to the ceiling, watching with amusement as Hermione tried to find him. 'Better go make an appearance as Fenton. Don't want them to suspect anything.'

Danny had been exploring for long enough that it was closer to lunch time than breakfast. He flew to an empty corridor that was fairly close to the Great Hall, and transformed back to human, though he stayed invisible. Glancing around to make sure no one was there, he slowly became visible, walking out of a shadow. It probably would have looked very strange to an observer, but Danny didn't really care.

Danny calmly slipped into the Great Hall and sat down near where he'd sat earlier. There were only a few other students, since lunch hadn't officially started yet. Watching the door, Danny smiled as he saw the trio come in.

Hermione looked rather frazzled and frustrated, and the other two were keeping their distance and acting cautious of her. 'Well, at least she won't be taking her frustration out on me. I won't give her an excuse.' He smirked. 'Better yet, I can rile her up worse and watch her try to hex a ghost.'

Danny was just trying to figure out how to manage that, when a large owl flew down from the rafters. Danny blinked as it landed in front of him. "What the…?I got a letter?"

The owl stuck its leg out arrogantly, practically ordering him to take the letter tied to it. Danny rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. "Yeah, yeah, keep your feathers straight. Geez, you remind me of Vlad…"

He absently glanced at the front of the envelope, and sucked in a startled breath when he saw who it was from. His head whipped up, but the owl was already flying away, apparently at top speed. Danny stared after it, practically growling. He barely managed to keep his eyes from glowing a shade of green never seen in humans.

Harry glanced over at Danny, and his eyes widened when he saw how angry the other boy looked. Without thinking, he reached over and grabbed Hermione, who had been going toward him, probably wanting to complain about Phantom. "Mione, it might not be a good idea to talk to Danny right now."

Hermione glanced up, and saw the way Danny was practically glaring a hole into the envelope he held. "When did he get that? Mail was supposed to come this morning." She strode over, obviously intending to ask. Ron shrugged and followed her. Harry felt like tearing out his hair. 'Why do I seem to be the only Gryffindor with self-preservation instincts?'

Danny looked up when he heard steps coming near him and glared at Hermione. She looked surprised, and he glanced down. 'Well, might as well see what 'dear old Vladdie' wants.' He snorted softly and tore open the envelope. He had already checked, and there didn't seem to be any booby traps on it.

Daniel,

I hope this letter finds you in good health. But then, I have heard that the healer at your new school was one of the best.

By the way, how do you like Hogwarts? Before you ask, I have known about the magical world for some time. After all, I am a businessman, and there is quite a bit of …business to find in the magical world. I found out where you had gone quite recently. Your parents were talking about how you had gone, and wondering what you would learn while you are there.

I look forward to your answer to this letter, Daniel, but if you are unable to send one, I understand. I will simply instruct Cassius to wait for a reply next time. I warned him that it might not be a good idea to stay once you found out who the letter was from.

Vlad Masters

P.S. I do hope you won't be letting the skills you learned in Amity Park go to waste.

Danny was practically growling by the time he read the P.S. Once he did, he stared. 'He wouldn't. Not even Vlad would do something that stupid.' He dropped his head down on the table. 'Ah, hell, who am I kidding? Of course he would.'

Danny didn't need to look up to see that Ron, Harry, and Hermione were watching him. Abruptly, he stood up and started to walk away.

Hermione frowned after Danny. "Aren't you going to eat?" she asked, surprised.

Danny shook his head. "I've suddenly lost my appetite."

Hermione frowned, but decided not to go after him. In the three months she had known him so far, she had realized two things. One was that she knew very little about Danny that wasn't related to the tutoring she'd given him. The second was that, when he wanted to be, Danny could be extremely stubborn.

Danny stalked out, glad that Hermione had decided not to nag. 'I don't know what I'd do if she went into some kind of mother hen mode. Probably shoot her.'

Danny shook his head, trying to dismiss the thought. Unfortunately, it left room for thoughts of Vlad's letter to creep in, and that was just as bad, if not worse. Sighing, he found the nearest door to the outside, using only his ability to sense magic to find his way. Once he was outside, he strode down to the lake and took off the cumbersome robe he had to wear as part of the school dress code. He also took off his shirt, knowing that it would soon be soaked with sweat if he didn't.

Settling into a familiar stance, Danny lost himself in the movement of his staff and body. He wouldn't get anywhere trying to figure Vlad out. It hadn't worked before, and he doubted it would work now.

His movements sped up, and soon he was really getting into it. Danny felt a small smile form on his face, feeling better already. In its own way, practicing like this was a bit like meditation for him. It calmed him, and he could always think a little easier by the time he was done. It was something he desperately needed right then. 'I'll have to talk to everybody later. Find out what's happening at home…'

Lavender and Parvati had been outside, talking dreamily about boys, when they saw the new guy walk out. He seemed angry, and they glanced at each other, trying to figure out if they should leave. Then Danny took off his robe, and they decided to stay a little longer. His shirt followed, and they drooled.

Glancing at Parvati, Lavender smirked. "I never would have thought he'd be so…built."

Parvati nodded in agreement. "And he's got all those scars. But they make him look really hot."

Lavender nodded agreement, and a wicked thought crossed her mind. "Do you remember the Summoning charms?"

Parvati's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Lavender had already summoned Danny's robe. Not to be outdone, Parvati summoned his shirt. "No reason not to enjoy it for as long as possible."

Lavender grinned and they settled in for a long wait. "Besides, the other girls would kill us if they knew we didn't take this opportunity."

Danny sensed the touch of magic, but since it wasn't directed at him, he ignored it. He'd regret that, once he remembered where he'd felt that particular flavor of magic before. But for now, he was oblivious, lost in movement.

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AN: Okay, I was going to get this out yesterday, but I decided that there were a few things I needed to fix, and I wrote a bit more, and here you go. I hope it was worth the (slight) delay. Another thing, I've hurt my knee like I had Danny do, and it is not fun. But I needed an excuse to send him to the Hospital Wing (or anywhere, actually, but that was convenient.) and have Neville figure out that he senses magic. And later, Danny jokes to himself about haunting Hogwarts. And we finally show signs of a plot! And it only took ten chapters. Go figure.