Disclaimer: Not mine, which is probably a good thing. I wouldn't be surprised if Danny was tempted to hurt me for this one.

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Chapter 11

After lunch was over, Harry and Hermione went out to see if they could find Danny. "Well, whenever he didn't have to be around anyone, or didn't want to, he went somewhere to practice, didn't he?" Hermione suggested calmly.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. The weather's nice, maybe we should check outside."

Hermione turned and led the way to the closest door leading outside. It didn't take them long to find the right one. When they glanced around, they saw movement down by the lake and had to stare.

Danny cut an impressive form practicing. His staff was moving almost too fast to see, and a fine sheen of sweat had formed all over his body. Since he was shirtless, the muscles normally hidden by his clothing were obvious, as were the many scars.

Stepping forward a bit, almost mesmerized, Hermione called, "Danny?"

Hearing his name, Danny whirled toward the source and had his staff pointed at Hermione's throat before he realized who it was. As soon as he did, he pulled it away and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, sorry about that. You surprised me." He was panting and felt much calmer than he had earlier.

Hermione nodded, slightly wide-eyed as she rubbed her throat. "Ah, right. Sorry. Won't happen again."

Danny nodded sheepishly and glanced around, looking for his clothes. They weren't where he'd tossed them, and he blinked and looked a bit more. Finally, the others spoke.

Ron stared. "Where's your shirt, mate? And what happened to you, anyway?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know and my family hunts ghosts." He moved away, trying to figure out where they were. Finally, he tried to see if he could sense his own faint signature that was imprinted on all his clothing once he'd worn it for a while. It didn't work. "Great, where are they? Heck, at this point I'd settle for either one!"

He paused and then suddenly stalked off in a random direction. The trio couldn't figure out what that was about, but they quickly followed.

Lavender and Parvati saw Danny coming their way. With a startled glance at each other, they tried to scramble away.

Danny saw the movement, and whistled shrilly. A loud screech from above announced the presence of Tobias, and he whistled again. A moment later, Tobias dived toward the girls, and they scrambled out of hiding, shrieking fearfully.

Danny was immediately in front of them, blocking off escape. "Alright, where are they?"

The two tried to look innocent, but it was rather hard when they felt intimidated by him. They had seen how fast he was, after all. Of course, that wasn't the only reason they couldn't act innocent. Lavender shook her head. "Where are what? We were just admiring the view." She couldn't stop her eyes from roaming over his body, making it obvious which view she meant.

Danny rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, trying to hide his discomfort at being checked out so blatantly. He didn't need to look back to see the trio come up behind him. "My clothes."

Parvati's eyes widened. "Um! We were going to return them, it was just a joke!"

Danny leaned forward and looked her directly in the eye. "Where. Are. They?"

Intimidated, Parvati gestured helplessly behind her. Danny moved past, but she couldn't move for a long moment. 'Man, he's hot!'

Danny scooped up his shirt and pulled it on, very aware of the gazes of the two girls. 'How am I going to get back at them? Hmmm, I'll have to think about it.' The robe came next, and he knew he wasn't imagining the protesting whimpers coming from two different throats. 'Shit. This is going to end badly, I just know it.'

Later, Danny would look back on that moment and realize just how badly he had underestimated that one. For now, he was simply trying to plan a suitable revenge. If only he'd had telepathy instead of the ability to sense magic.

As soon as they were moving away, Parvati leaned over toward Lavender. "Are there any cameras we can set up somewhere?"

Lavender nodded, watching Danny even though the bulky robe kept them from seeing anything of interest. "I think the Weasley twins sell some. I heard Harry say something about it earlier."

Parvati glanced at her before returning her gaze to Danny. "Is that safe?"

Lavender thought about it for a moment. "Probably not. But I don't know where else we'd get some."

Danny was more than halfway to the castle before he'd had enough of the gazes on him. Whirling around, he yelled, "Would you stop undressing me with your eyes!"

Parvati spoke without thinking. "Well, we could do it literally, but this isn't the best spot for it." (1) Beside her, Lavender burst out in giggles, causing Parvati to blush as she realized what she'd said.

Danny fought the blush rising in his cheeks as he walked as fast as he could to the castle, leaving the other three to rush after him. 'I am so glad that wasn't loud enough for them to hear.'

Hermione was trying very hard to keep from laughing, but it wasn't working very well. 'I so have to tell Ginny about this.'

Harry was grinning too, half in humor and half in relief. 'Well, at least I'm not the only one anymore.'

Ron simply laughed. "You do realize that's going to be all over school by tomorrow, don't you?"

Danny lost his fight with the blush, and since Ron had long enough legs to keep up somewhat, he caught it. "Don't start." He glared over at Ron, but it was hard to be intimidating when your face felt like it was on fire, and Ron didn't seem affected. He laughed instead.

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Ron was right. By the next day, everybody in the school had heard about it, and Danny was having a hard time keeping himself from turning invisible in sheer embarrassment. Danny would have happily skipped breakfast, but Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Hermione helped to practically drag him out of the boys' dorm. Hermione had steamrolled the others into helping and practically frog-marched Danny halfway to the Great Hall before he gave in.

"Alright, alright! I'll go. Anything to avoid coming into the Great Hall at wand-point." He grumbled and shook her off. While she hadn't held him at wand-point, it had been close.

Hermione smiled sweetly. "Oh, don't worry. I thought you might give in. You took a bit longer than I'd have thought, but it doesn't matter."

Danny glared at her. "If I didn't know it was impossible, I'd say you've been talking to my sister." He slipped out of reach, but kept ahead, not knowing what Hermione would do if he fell behind.

Ginny glanced up at him with an amused grin. "How'd you get roped into this, Neville?"

Neville blushed slightly. "Hermione's persuasive. That's all I'm going to say."

Ginny laughed. "So, did you hear about what happened yesterday?"

Neville grinned and the blush faded. "Your brother has a big mouth." Ignoring the protest from Ron he continued, "He was telling the whole common room about it."

Danny stared straight ahead, fighting a blush. The blush was winning. Walking a bit faster, he was soon in the Great Hall. Unfortunately, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. He froze in the entrance when what felt like every eye in the room turned toward him. For someone who had practically been an outcast at his last school, it was extremely intimidating. He barely conquered the urge to either run or turn invisible.

Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled Danny toward the Gryffindor table. He quickly chose a spot on the very end, with his back to the wall. The others surrounded him and sat down, knowing he'd be mobbed otherwise.

Ginny grinned. "Don't tell me you've never had to deal with a lot of people being attracted to you."

Danny shook his head, warily watching the rest of the students. The teachers had gone back to their meal and conversations, thankfully, as had most of the guys and some of the girls. The rest were watching him. And whispering to each other, too. "Nope. Sam, Tuck, and I were kind of outcasts. Bottom of the social ladder and all that." He ate quickly, wanting to get out of there.

The others glanced at each other in surprise. Danny had never really mentioned what his other school had been like. Hermione was the one to pounce. "Why were you outcasts, then?"

Danny shrugged, calming slightly. "Casper's a big football-type school, and there are a lot of jocks and cheerleaders. Tucker's a techno-geek, and Sam's a Goth. And I was just the puny loser with freaky parents." When he continued eating, it was a bit slower than before, since he knew that he probably wouldn't be allowed to leave until at least some of their curiosity was taken care of.

Neville glanced at the others, and decided to ask. "I've heard of football from Seamus, but what are those other things?"

Danny blinked. "Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot. Anyway, a jock is somebody who plays a lot of sports. A cheerleader, well, they basically cheer at games. Tuck probably has any kind of technology you can think of, and Sam wears a lot of dark clothing and has a…different outlook on life."

He grinned at their confused looks. "Example: whenever Sam wears a bathing suit, she'll wear a cape to protect herself from the sun. Whenever Tucker or I ask if she gets sweaty in all that, she tells us 'Goths don't sweat, we simmer.'" He managed to imitate the tone she usually used, and they all snickered.

Ginny glanced up and blinked. Nearly every girl in the room was whispering and staring toward Danny. There was also something else a bit strange. 'Nearly everyone that's staring at Danny is done eating. They must be waiting for him to leave.' She glanced over at Danny. 'Should I warn him? Nah.'

Once he'd eaten enough, Danny stood to leave. "Well, see ya later, guys." He quickly left the Great Hall, wanting to get away from those eyes. Unfortunately, many followed. 'Oh, shit.' Walking quickly, he tried to get away, but even with his magic senses, they knew the school better than him. He almost ran into a group that had gotten ahead of him, and when he turned around, there were more.

Hearing their calls only made him speed up. "Wait, Danny! We just want to see you practice/your scars/your muscles!" A few seemed to be trying to explain exactly how, and Danny managed to run even faster, hitting speeds that would have made sprinters drool.

It only took one look to decide what had happened. 'I was joking; I didn't mean to tempt fate!' Turning, he took the only route open to him and ran as fast as he could. 'I didn't think I'd actually get a fan club!' He glanced back, and saw that they were falling behind. 'I am so getting revenge for this!'

As soon as he was sure that none of them were close enough to see, Danny turned intangible and invisible and sank halfway into the wall. The girls that had been following him swept by and he breathed a soft sigh of relief. 'Yikes. I'm hiding for a while.'

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Snape snorted when he saw the mass exodus of what seemed to be nearly every female student in the hall. 'That boy will be trouble. Though if it will be his own fault or that of a scheming Dark Lord is anyone's guess.'

Flashback

Soon after Danny had been picked up from his home at the beginning of the summer, Snape had been called by Voldemort. Dumbledore had already given him permission to answer any questions the Dark Lord had about Danny Fenton, but he was hoping that they wouldn't come up. Unfortunately, he knew that was unlikely.

Kneeling before the Dark Lord, Snape was unsurprised to see that he was the only one who had been called. It was not the first time, as many times Voldemort had called him simply to have him make some potion or other.

Voldemort considered his kneeling servant, knowing without doubt that he was scanning the room. "You may rise, Severus."

Snape rose, careful to still show respect for Voldemort. 'The things I do in this war…'

Voldemort smirked. He knew how proud Severus was. "Tell me. I have heard word that you and that muggle-loving fool Dumbledore went to a student's house in America. Care to explain?"

Severus mentally winced. He hated giving anything related to the students—even the ones he hated—to Voldemort. Especially information. "His name is Daniel Fenton, my lord. He is sixteen years old and only recently found out about magic."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "And how was he able to hide himself from the magical world for so long, Severus?"

Snape swallowed. "He did not say, my lord. Only that a friend of his must have been responsible. In the middle of the conversation, the one I believe he meant came in. Mr. Fenton called him Clockwork."

Voldemort blinked, honestly startled. He fingered his wand threateningly and rose. "Are you sure of this name, Severus?"

Snape nodded, not letting on that he was curious about Voldemort's reaction. "Yes, my lord. Mr. Fenton greeted him by name."

Voldemort smiled. "Interesting. It seems your new student has strong connections." He considered that for a long moment, and Snape dared not interrupt. Finally, he spoke. "Tell me the rest."

Snape quickly gave Voldemort a rundown of the entire meeting. When he was done, Voldemort nodded, pacing. "Interesting indeed. You say that he has expressed dislike for Dumbledore."

Snape nodded. "Yes, my lord."

Voldemort paced in front of his throne for a long moment before he turned to Snape. "You are dismissed, Severus. Be ready for the next time I call."

Snape bowed deeply and left. Staring after him, Voldemort smiled. It was by no means a nice smile. "Interesting indeed."

End Flashback

Snape shook his head as he watched Lupin go down to talk to the other Gryffindors that Fenton had been sitting with. 'Anything that Voldemort has an interest in can not bode well for anyone.'

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Back in the Great Hall, Ginny laughed when she noticed many of the girls get up and leave, obviously following Danny. Harry stared after them. "Almost makes you pity him, huh?"

Hermione nodded agreement, but Ron blinked. "What? It's just some girls."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "That, oh oblivious brother of mine, was not 'just some girls.' That was a pack of wolves, set on chasing down their prey. Namely Danny."

Remus, walking by, snickered when he heard that. "I'd have to agree with you there, Miss Weasley." Ginny blushed slightly, but he simply continued. "The next time any of you see him, would you have Danny come to my office? Tell him it's about his schedule for the year."

They all agreed, and Remus left, still chuckling at Ginny's choice of wording. 'Pack of wolves, indeed. In fact, I don't know which would be scarier. Rabid fan-girls or rabid wolves?'

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Remus happened to catch the scent of many different girls following one path, and out of curiosity he followed the trail. 'Who knows? I might be able to get them to leave poor Danny alone.'

Danny cautiously stepped out of the wall, though he held himself ready to dive in at a moment's notice. He heard someone walking toward him, and would have done just that if he hadn't recognized the magical signature. 'Mr.-er, Professor Lupin?'

Danny slumped against the wall. 'Thank you, God.' Stepping out of the shadow, he almost bumped into Lupin. "Uh, Professor, help?"

Remus smiled at the sincere plea. "Come on, you can hide in my office for a while, and we'll discuss your schedule for the school year."

Danny closed his eyes and seemed to sag in relief. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Remus grinned. "Can't deal with that many girls at once? Some guys dream about being chased by hordes of girls."

Danny shook his head. "They can have it. I already have a girlfriend." He shuddered. "Besides, the only reason anybody wants to have a fan club is they don't and don't know what it's like."

Remus raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the wary teen. "You seem to know."

Danny smirked. "Friend of mine. He's kind of famous in my hometown, and I've seen him try to deal with his Phan club." His smirk widened. "It didn't work out too well. They just got more obsessed." 'Thankfully, none of them associated 'wimpy Danny Fenton' with 'ghostly hero Danny Phantom.' Made life a bit easier for me.'

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It didn't take long for Danny to find out what was going on. Hermione had managed to tutor him enough that he was in the right year, but it was only the bare bones, so to speak. To build up his knowledge enough that he wouldn't get frustrated and fall behind, Danny was going to continue to be tutored.

Remus smiled. "You'll probably take extra lessons in DADA with Harry and his Defense Club, if he continues it. If he doesn't, Harry is still your best bet for help. Most of the time, I will be the one tutoring, and Harry, Ron and Hermione may join in, but at certain times, I will be…unavailable."

Danny nodded. "Alright. So it'll be a lot like over the summer, except with more teachers."

Remus smiled slightly. "Something like that, yes. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape hashed out a schedule between them of when would be best for you to train with them."

Danny blinked. "Why? I'd think they'd just assign a tutor or something."

Remus smirked. "You showed quite an aptitude for both subjects over the summer. It seems they had both decided that you would get tutoring from them directly, and neither knew about the other until they went to tell Dumbledore."

Danny blinked, imagined that scenario, and laughed. "I almost wish I was there!"

Remus grinned. "When I asked Dumbledore, all he would tell me was that it was an interesting experience, watching them."

Danny laughed. "I bet!"

Remus smiled. "Anyway, as for Herbology," he ignored the face Danny made at the mention of the subject, "you are likely going to split time between lessons with Professor Sprout and Neville."

Danny blinked. "Neville? I guess that makes sense, he did feel kind of like the plants…" He trailed off when he realized what he'd said, and Remus stared at him.

Remus blinked after a long moment, watching Danny want to disappear. "'Felt like the plants'? Can you sense magic, Danny?"

Danny squirmed and resisted the urge to disappear, literally. "Uh, yes?"

Remus blinked again. "That's a very rare talent. And it's not always easy to realize that someone has it, either."

Danny stared at him for a long moment. "What do you mean? Wouldn't it be easy to tell?"

Remus shook his head. "Not really. I mean, those who have it usually have an aptitude for casting magic, especially after it's been demonstrated to them, but they often don't even realize that they are doing something most can't."

Danny grinned sheepishly. "I wasn't sure what it was until after Hermione cast a spell for the first time." He shrugged. "By the time I did, I decided to not say anything until someone figured it out."

Remus sat back a little. "Has anyone?"

Danny quirked a smile. "Yeah, actually. Neville."

Remus blinked. "Neville?"

Danny nodded sheepishly. "I guess I jumped a trick step without thinking about it."

"Interesting…" He shook his head quickly. "We've gotten off subject. Let's see, Ancient Runes, COMC, History of Magic, and Astronomy are the other classes you're taking. From what I understand, you had absolutely no trouble in Astronomy." He glanced at Danny, who had a proud smile on his face. "In fact, Hermione was rather miffed about that."

Danny blushed. "I've wanted to be an astronaut for years. So I studied the stars a lot."

Remus smiled. "Since it would be rather pointless anyway, you won't get assigned tutoring in History. Most people fall asleep anyway."

Danny smiled slightly. "I read some of the book and ended up taking a nap for three hours." He ducked his head. "At least it's a good cure for insomnia."

Remus quickly turned his laughter into a cough and moved on, but he couldn't suppress his smile. "Right. If you have any trouble in Ancient Runes, Hermione would be the best one to ask for help."

Danny nodded. "If she ever wants to be a teacher, this year is going to be good practice for Hermione."

Remus nodded agreement. "Anyway, here is your class schedule, as well as the times set for tutoring." He held out several sheets of parchment.

Danny nodded and accepted the papers. Standing, he was about to go when something occurred to him. "Uh, Professor? Not that I'm not grateful, but why are you the one explaining all this to me? I'd have thought it'd be Professor McGonagall."

Remus smirked. "Dumbledore decided it would be best to choose a slightly more… neutral person to do this. After all, if Minerva had been the one to explain, Severus likely would have come as well, and you may have been witness to another incident between them."

Danny blinked and thought about it. "Uh, thanks. That does explain a lot." He turned to go, shaking his head. 'I may not like the man, but I know Dumbledore could describe something if he had to. If he said interesting, he meant interesting. As in cat and dog interesting. Cat and dog fighting over something interesting. With me as the 'something' they're fighting over. Not something I want to be in the middle of.'

Without thinking about it, Danny made his way up to the Gryffindor tower, avoiding as many people as possible. With his senses on high, he managed to get there without running into anyone. 'I have a feeling this year is going to be 'interesting'.'

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(1) Sorry, but I couldn't resist. And can you imagine the look on Danny's face?

AN: Yeah, some people will probably object about the speed that Danny's fanclub forms, but it was mostly for humor value anyway. Would you believe I've had that planned pretty much from the beginning? Fun times for Danny ahead. evil grin Of course, Danny'd likely object... Too bad, I'm the author.