Danny would have fallen after the portkey stopped if it hadn't been for the wizards holding him.
"Stupid creature, probably thinks we'll let it go if it plays dead," one of the wizards grunted. Danny pushed down his nausea and tried to ignore his dizziness.
"Please, listen to me. I'm not dangerous! I'm on your side!" Danny resumed his desperate reasoning.
"Shut up," another wizard ordered.
"No! You have to believe me! I want to help you!" Danny retorted. He was shoved down the dimly lit corridor and into a small room. He was pushed down into a chair and his arms held down against the arm rests. Suddenly chains snaked their way across his body and bound his arms and legs and torso to the chair. They were so tight they cut into his flesh.
The wizards then filed out.
"No! Stop! Listen! This is a set up! It's exactly what the ghosts want!" Danny screamed as they slammed the door shut, leaving him in darkness.
"They want me out of the way," Danny finished in a defeated whisper.
"And I am," he thought to himself bitterly. His dizziness and nausea returned as the adrenaline faded. Danny leant his head back and shut his eyes and groaned as the spinning in his head returned.
The moment Harry, Steven and the wounded witch returned by portkey to MACUSA, Harry sprinted down the corridor to find Danny. Steven took the witch to get better trained medical help before tracking down Danny himself.
Harry ran straight for the front desk. Despite having spent the majority of the evening in the building yesterday, he didn't know the layout. He skidded to a stop in front of the witch sitting behind the welcome desk.
"Hey, where did they take Danny? The aurors arrested someone, where did they take him?" Harry asked before the witch could inquire what he wanted. The witch blinked in surprise.
"Suspects are taken to the third floor detainment room and their wands are confiscated. I'm sorry, but visitors are not permitted," the witch explained with an air that suggested that she'd explained this before. Harry shook his head.
"There's been a misunderstanding, thanks," Harry concluded and ran to the lifts.
Harry emerged on the third floor and marched down the carpeted hallway, checking each door sign for the detainment room. He found it and spotted a hatch on the door. It could only be opened on the outside and it was clearly so that aurors could check on their suspects without opening the door. Harry opened the hatch and peered inside. He spotted a witch sitting in the corner, looking furious. He also saw three wizards pacing the room. Harry craned his neck to see if Danny was just keeping his distance from the magical folk but there was no sign of Danny.
"Mr. Potter, what are you doing?" a male voice called behind him. Harry spun around and the hatch snapped shut.
"Where did you take Danny?" Harry demanded, recognising the wizard as one of the many aurors that had arrested Danny.
"The creature? We've taken him where he deserves," the wizard answered.
"He's not a creature! He's a person! And you have to let him go, he's done nothing wrong," Harry exclaimed angrily. Now he understood why Danny was so protective of his secret. Within an hour of it being blown, he changed from a defenceless muggle to a dangerous creature in this man's eyes.
The wizard shook his head and sighed.
"You didn't see it, but that creature is one of those ghosts. He's dangerous Mr Potter and must be dealt with. I understand it's hard, but it's alright to admit that you were wrong. That creature is pretty convincing. No one would blame you if you took a break from this investigation Mr Potter," the wizard replied, giving Harry an understanding and sympathetic smile. Harry blinked and shook his head.
"No, you don't understand. He's not with those ghosts. He's on our side! Where did you take him?" Harry retorted. The wizard shook his head sadly.
"Mr Potter, let this go. He's out of auror jurisdiction anyway. The department of dangerous magical creatures have him now," the wizard informed him. Harry's eyes widened. He shook his head.
"No. No! He's not dangerous. Where is that department?" Harry inquired. The wizard's eyes widened in worry.
"Mr. Potter, if you don't stop this, I'll be forced to detain you. You should be glad, one of those dangerous creatures has been caught and now we can figure out what we're dealing with. This is the break we've been looking for," the wizard warned him. Harry bit his lip. If he got arrested then he wouldn't be able to help Danny. Harry nodded reluctantly.
"I'll… be in Steven's office if you need me," Harry relented, feeling horrible for listening to the wizard.
Steven left the injured witch behind in the infirmary and walked straight to the department for dangerous magical creatures. He wanted to talk to Danny. He wanted to understand. Steven was now certain that this had been the secret he had sensed. Harry had known about Danny and had even tried to help him. Steven stopped outside the head of department's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" a female voice called. Steven stepped inside.
"Hello Cecilia," Steven greeted the witch. She smiled warmly at him.
"Steven. How can I help you?" Cecilia retorted kindly.
Steven smiled.
"Recently a creature was apprehended by a team of aurors, I'd like to talk to it," Steven informed her. Cecilia bit her lip.
"I'm sorry Steven, I can't let you talk to it. But, I can let you see it. Two of my wizards are already questioning it and testing a large variety of spells on it to find one that works," Cecilia answered. Steven nodded.
"I understand, thank you," Steven replied. Cecilia smiled and scribbled a note for him to show guards that he had permission to see the creature.
Steven took the note and went to the holding cell that Danny was being held in. He showed a couple of security wizards the note and soon was in the observation room. Danny didn't look too well. His head wound contrasted sharply with his pale skin. He was sweating profusely and he looked extremely dazed. He was tied to a chair by a number of chains. Steven bit his lip and ventured close to a speaker so that it could hear what was being said.
"How many of you are there?" one of the wizards questioned. Danny shook his head.
"Please, turn down the heat. If you don't I'll die," Danny slurred. The wizards gave a humourless bark of laughter.
"Right, we turn down the heat and you escape, not likely. Answer our question," the second wizard retorted. Danny shook his head.
"Not answering that," Danny mumbled. The first wizard pointed his wand at Danny and a string of electricity struck Danny. He yelped in pain.
"Make a note, this lightning spell works," the first wizard called to the second.
"Please, listen to me. This is what those ghosts want. I can stop them, but you have to let me go," Danny pleaded weakly. The wizards frowned at him.
"How many times, you're not a ghost! You're some creature that can be mistaken for a ghost," the second wizard snapped.
"Poor beast, doesn't even know what it is," the first wizard muttered.
Steven watched the scene with growing regret and concern. He may not know much about whatever Danny was but he could tell that he wasn't lying about being on death's door. Steven flinched in sympathy as Danny was struck again by the lightning spell and was so weak that he hardly moved. He bit his lip. He shook his head and sighed.
"I'm not going to get answers here. I need to speak with Harry," Steven decided and left the observation room.
Harry had looked through every file he could find. He had to do something. If he could prove that Danny wasn't involved in these attacks then maybe he could save the halfa. Steven walked in and frowned at the number of files strewn around the room.
"Harry, what are you doing?" Steven asked. Harry looked up.
"Trying to help Danny. Look I know it looks bad but you don't know Danny like I do and I know he's not dangerous," Harry replied. Steven bit his lip and shook his head.
"There's something you need to know. There was a theory that these ghosts had a leader. We spotted him a few times leading the attacks but never got a clear picture. But… it looked a lot like Danny's other… appearance," Steven informed him. Harry blinked at Steven.
"I don't believe that. Like I said, you don't know him like I do," Harry repeated. Steven sighed and got the file he'd compiled on the leader sightings. He handed it to Harry. Harry stared at the file and nervously opened it. He blinked in shock at the picture. It wasn't clear but Harry couldn't deny that the figure had white hair and wore black and white.
"No, there has to be another explanation. I know Danny. He would never attack anyone. Not like this. He hunts ghosts, that's all. He's being set up," Harry denied the proof in front of him.
"Harry…" Steven began and cautiously drew nearer the distressed wizard.
"No! Steven, you don't know Danny like I do. He's been set up before and he's being set up now. Just trust me. I don't have to hide Danny's secret anymore. I'm being honest with you. You told me that you trusted me!" Harry exclaimed desperately.
Steven stopped and stared at Harry. He considered the wizard. He hadn't lied when he said he trusted Harry. But Danny… could he trust that creature enough to believe that he'd been honest with Harry?
"Okay, answer my questions as best as you can… and I'll consider our next move," Steven relented. Harry scowled with determination.
"What do you want to know?" Harry asked. Steven smiled.
"What is Danny?" Steven inquired. Harry nodded.
"It's a long story. But I'll try to keep it brief. Danny is something called a halfa. Half ghost, half human," Harry began.
"Wait, you mean his mom or dad is-" Steven muttered with a mixture of disgust and disbelief. Harry shook his head.
"No. Danny wasn't born a halfa. His parents created a muggle device called the Fenton Ghost portal. It didn't work and when Danny was fourteen, he went inside and accidently switched it on. When Danny told me about it, he said he didn't really remember what happened only that it hurt. Then he woke up like… that other Danny. He calls his ghost half Danny Phantom," Harry explained.
Steven frowned in thought.
"But ghosts can't do the things these ghost can," Steven mumbled. Harry shook his head.
"There are three types. Poltergeists, wizarding ghosts and the ghosts that Danny deals with. These ghosts can chose to be intangible, er… go through things. They can use their ghost energy as weapons too. I didn't know about that until I met Danny," Harry informed him. Steven bit his lip.
"How did you meet Danny?" Steven ventured. Harry smiled.
"Danny taught in Hogwarts for a year, as did I," Harry answered.
Steven scowled in confusion.
"So, everyone at Hogwarts knew about this?" Steven accused. Harry shook his head.
"No, only a few of the staff and the ghosts. Minerva McGonagall, Poppy Pomfrey, Rubeus Hagrid and me. Oh, and my friends and wife know about Danny. But we all agreed to keep Danny's secret," Harry explained. Steven shook his head.
"Why?" Steven whispered.
"Because Danny was afraid that this would happen. He'd be arrested and treated like some creature. Apparently there are muggle ghost hunters after him too. It was why he didn't want to work with you. He was worried you'd find out about him and from there it would spiral out of control. Steven, he was scared of being experimented on," Harry answered. Steven's eyes widened in shock.
"Do you know how he differs from… normal humans?" Steven asked cautiously. Harry bit his lip.
"Not really. I know that heat is dangerous for him. He has an ice core. It means he can form ghost ice. It makes him resilient against cold temperatures but if he gets too hot, his core could melt and he'd drown. Why? Is that important?" Harry replied and frowned with concern as the other wizard began to look worried.
"I saw him a little while ago. He asked the wizards questioning him to turn down the heat. It's that serious?" Steven muttered. Harry nodded.
"Yes! If he's asking them to turn it down, you have to. His core wears him out when he gets too warm because it tries to cool him down. But if he's already tired, it gets dangerous," Harry exclaimed, panicking at the news. He'd seen first-hand how dangerous it was for Danny to get too hot. But the difference this time was he was helpless to help the halfa. Steven glanced at the door and came to a decision. He'd trust Harry's judgement. He shut the door and turned to Harry.
"If we're going to help Danny, you need to tell me what he can do. I need to know everything if we have a chance of breaking him out of there," Steven told Harry determinedly.
See, Steven's not a bad guy… just needed to know he could trust Danny first. Let me know what you think of the story so far.
Until the next chapter.