The gathered members gasped in shock, a few of them pulling out their wands out of habit.
"Merlin's beard Dumbledore!" the scraggly, dark haired wizard at the head of the table exclaimed angrily. Clearly more shocked than furious though.
"This is Danny Phantom. An, until now, unknown type of ghost. Voldemort has been recruiting others like Danny," Dumbledore informed the group. Danny noticed a number of the members shudder or yelp softly at the mention of Voldemort's name.
"Danny, these are some of our more senior members of the order. Sirius Black, who kindly lent us this building for our use. Arthur and his wife Molly Weasley. Arthur works in the Ministry and helps us find new members. Professor Minerva McGonagall, teacher at Hogwarts and deputy head. Kingsley Shacklebolt. Alastor Moody, also known as Mad-Eye. Nymphadora Tonks, whom prefers to be referred to by her surname. They are all aurors in the Ministry. Professor Severus Snape, another member of the Hogwarts faculty. And of course, you know Remus," Dumbledore introduced the adults, gesturing to each in turn. Danny gave them all a friendly wave and nervous smile. He really felt like he'd been dropped in the deep end here.
"I really don't see how a ghost can help fight You Know Who," Tonks remarked. Dumbledore smiled calmly.
"Ah, but you forget, Danny here, is different to ghosts you've dealt with in the past. He is extremely powerful. Danny, would you mind demonstrating one of your more tangible powers?" Dumbledore requested. Danny bit his lip and channelled his ice energy into his hands. His neon green eyes switched to a ghostly blue, alarming the adults.
"I don't see how changing his eye colour can help fight," Snape sneered, clearly not impressed. Danny scowled at the teacher and formed a snowball in his hand.
"My eyes changed colour because I was doing this. And I can do more than just snow," Danny retorted, startling the adults by his confident young voice.
Danny then morphed the snowball into ice and then into an icy sword.
"That's just a few things I can do. There's tons more where that came from," Danny concluded and handed the sword to Dumbledore. Dumbledore's eyes glittered with mirth and excitement. Dumbledore then passed the sword to Sirius, who after inspecting it himself passed it along.
"Impressive, but a sword can't do much against a wand," Mad-Eye growled. Dumbledore nodded.
"True. But you need to remember that Voldemort has ghosts like Danny on his side. Having Danny, who has first-hand experience with a number of them can only be beneficial. And need I remind you Alastor? Danny was able to get into this room without even you knowing," Dumbledore replied, ignoring the flinches around the room at the mention of Voldemort.
The group shared glances as they started to understand what Danny could do for the order.
"Which is why I want Danny's membership to remain secret. Only the most senior will know that he is with us," Dumbledore resumed.
"Are you going to send him into the enemy's ranks as a second spy?" Kinsley asked. Dumbledore shook his head.
"No, Voldemort is already aware that Danny won't join him," Dumbledore answered, ignoring the flinches.
"How?" McGonagall inquired.
"Because he already asked me. And I said no," Danny informed them, surprising the adults, bar Lupin and Dumbledore.
"Which is how I met him. We believe Voldemort sent four dementors after Danny," Lupin added. The room fell quiet.
"Four?" Mrs Weasley whispered.
"At least. Boxed me in and tried to kiss me," Danny confirmed, Lupin nodding grimly in agreement.
"Voldemort must have been very angry then, that or worried about you turning on him," Mad-Eye mused. Danny shrugged.
"I did threaten his Death Eaters when I told them to clear off. And most ghosts I deal with have an idea of what I'm capable of," Danny replied.
"You threatened his followers? You've got guts kid," Sirius laughed. Danny smirked.
"What will Phantom do then if he can't be a spy for us?" Snape inquired. Dumbledore nodded slowly.
"Right now, I'm not sure. He will be staying at Hogwarts. Perhaps, during the school year he can watch over Harry. But he will no doubt help should a ghost attack and has the ability to react in time," Dumbledore answered. Snape frowned.
"Surely there are enough eyes on Potter at the school without employing one such as Phantom," Snape pointed out.
"Never hurts to be extra careful. And I can watch without getting caught. I may not have been to Hogwarts before, but in my old school, teachers were something to avoid. Especially when doing something against the rules," Danny retorted, not entirely sure why he was making the argument. Playing guard for a teen in a school, it didn't promise to be exciting. Dumbledore smiled at the teen.
"I couldn't agree more. And that doesn't mean that will be all of Danny's duties," Dumbledore added.
Snape sat back in his chair, curling his lip in annoyance. Dumbledore turned to the others.
"Now, to business. Arthur, any promising possible members?" Dumbledore inquired. Danny listened to the conversation. Apparently "Hagrid" would be making contact with the giants in a few days. Kingsley had sent one of his colleagues on a wild goose chase after Sirius to the coast of Ireland. Mad-Eye had a lead on a Death Eater but nothing concrete yet. Lupin agreed to cover Mr Weasley's shift guarding the prophecy since the Ministry worker had to pull a double shift to catch a wizard messing with toilets. Snape informed the group that Voldemort had been sending Death Eaters to Little Whinging to look for Harry. Dumbledore took in all the reports, issuing a few commands or agreeing to suggestions.
"Alastor, send Mundungus to keep an eye on Harry for the next few days. I'll set up a rota system to take effect after that. I'll warn Arabella," Dumbledore decided.
Then the meeting was concluded. Mrs Weasley asked if any would be staying for dinner and Dumbledore quickly but politely declined. Danny turned invisible and left the house with Dumbledore, catching sight of the group of teens on the landing again.
"Danny, take my arm and I'll apparate us to the school gates," Dumbledore ordered and Danny invisibly complied. Again, he felt light and gaseous as they apparated. Dumbledore, once they appeared outside the gates, flicked his wand to open the gates and led the way up the dim path.
"Any questions?" Dumbledore asked, knowing the answer.
"Yeah. What are aurors? Is Severus? Is he a spy for Voldemort? Why did some of them flinch or whatever whenever Voldemort was mentioned?" Danny questioned. Dumbledore chuckled.
"I'm surprised, but glad, you didn't ask during the meeting. An auror is employed by the Ministry, wizard government, to capture dark wizards. Wizarding criminals if you will. Sirius was wrongly convicted of murder years ago and unfortunately can't be exonerated. Severus is a spy. He used to work for Voldemort but during the first war due to Voldemort's actions changed sides. I'm not at liberty to explain the details, Danny, so don't ask. And lastly, Voldemort is so feared by witches and wizards that most daren't even speak his name Danny. As a result, uttering the name can frighten people even if spoken in a normal setting and volume. Think of it like a curse word. It isn't and you shouldn't be afraid of the name. But that is why," Dumbledore answered calmly as they walked, well Danny floated.
Danny nodded slowly.
"Is Hagrid part of the order?" Danny asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"He is. He is also a teacher at Hogwarts and the school grounds keeper. He is a very loyal and trustworthy man," Dumbledore confirmed. Danny smiled.
"Are there many members of the order?" Danny inquired.
"Oh yes. Unfortunately not enough to outnumber Voldemort and his forces, but enough for guerrilla warfare. Hit and run stuff. Espionage more so than soldiers in a full on war," Dumbledore clarified, seeing Danny's confusion at the term guerrilla. Danny nodded slowly.
"Unfortunately our efforts are hindered by the Ministry and the Daily Prophet, a wizarding newspaper. The Ministry doesn't want to admit Voldemort is back and so have sadly labelled myself and Harry liars and regularly questions our sanity. As such, in addition to constant assurances that Voldemort isn't back and everything is fine, recruiting is near impossible. And with next to no one on the lookout, Voldemort is working with very little opposition," Dumbledore admitted.
Danny frowned.
"Wait, if you and Harry are lying, how does your government explain that kid ending up dead? Heart attack?" Danny retorted sceptically.
"They refuse to comment further than it was a tragedy. There have been disappearances Danny, but the Ministry refuses to bring them to the public's attention," Dumbledore answered. Danny scowled.
"That's ridiculous. Shutting your eyes and pretending doesn't make threats like Voldemort disappear," Danny scoffed. Dumbledore nodded.
"I wholly agree Danny. But due to the slander against me and Harry, there are very few people that are willing to listen. That is why new members such as yourself are so important," Dumbledore replied.
Danny smiled at the wizard as they reached the castle entrance.
"Now, I'll take you to your room first and I'll give you a tour. Remus will be here tomorrow to start teaching you about our world. I want you to be well versed in our spells, customs, creatures and so on. It will help you immensely when passing yourself off as a wizard and probably in stressful situations such as battles. Also we may need to research what spells work on you and which don't. Very few spells work on the ghosts I've met, but you could be another case entirely," Dumbledore decided and walked inside the school.
So, that's Danny's first order meeting done. Like I said before, this fanfic follows Danny's journey. Harry and other characters will only feature when Danny comes across them.
But next we have Danny's first real experience of Hogwarts. I don't count the pit stop in the school entrance hall to drop off Danny's bag personally.
Let me know what you guys think so far.
Until the next chapter.