Previous Chapter: Chapter 15

Chapter 11: The Bubble

Danny couldn't help himself or the curiosity that was vibrating inside of him just as much as the rock and ferns around him. Eyes steady on the bubble and with the luring hum still in his ears, Danny jumped off the island, transforming into his ghostly self mid-leap. He flew up to the bubble, only noticing the slight pull it was exerting on him when he stopped to get a better look. Even just floating in place he found himself drifting toward it and had to focus his momentum slightly backwards to maintain a steady position.

It looked like a giant soap bubble, lightly pink on the outside with a glossy, shifting surface all around. The inside was empty and he could see through, the curved sides of the bubble distorting the view across from him. The glow wasn't nearly as noticeable up close, but that was most likely because the thing seemed to take up his entire vision, leaving nothing to compare it to. The humming, however, was definitely more noticeable. It hummed in his bones and hair, though it wasn't unpleasant. It filled his ears and head, blocking out all other sound.

Danny stopped resisting the drawing pull of the bubble, drifting a little closer with the absence of his constant back pedaling. With the briefest hesitation, he reached out to touch the bubble. He'd gotten that close, after all, and nothing bad had happened. Plus, the thing didn't feel dangerous. It practically wanted him to come closer. He could feel it, or sense it in the way the humming grew in volume the closer he got, like a happy purr.

Danny ran a tentative finger across the surface before pressing a palm up against the bubble. He marveled at the way the surface shifted, changing color slightly and swirling like soap film over water. A giggle bubbled up from his chest and Danny felt a sudden dizzying giddiness pass through him. It was smooth and warm, but the heat it gave wasn't the searing fire of ghostly origin. Instead, it was the warmth of the living like the real world. He pushed against the bubble, cautiously testing the surface tension.

At first, it didn't give way, his hand bouncing back harmlessly against the surface. Then, suddenly, his hand was pulled into the bubble as though some invisible force had grabbed him by the wrist. It didn't stop there, either. It continued to pull, forcing Danny to prop his other hand against the bubble only to have that one pulled in immediately, as well. The artificial giddiness vanished as soon as his hand sank beneath the surface and Danny realized with icy dread he'd been led into a trap. He tried to back pedal, but with both hands trapped he had no balance and no position to lever himself away and he was quickly pulled all the way into the bubble.

The sudden jerk of being dragged through the surface left Danny disorientated and off-center. It took a moment for the world to stop spinning and him to be able to take in what was going on around him. When he did open his eyes, Danny started at finding himself not trapped in a floating soap bubble in the Ghost Zone but floating above a table rimmed with candles in a dim room filled with teenagers. He blinked in surprise at finding the many eyes staring at him with equal astonishment. Giving the room a quick glance, Danny took in the many round tables scattered across the circular room. The air was heavy and stifling with scents of incense after the chilly expanse of the Ghost Zone.

The crowd that sat around the table stared up at him in dumbstruck amazement. They all wore the same black dresses, though with different colored trim. Danny thought they might be students of some sort, students with the dumbest looking school uniforms he'd ever seen. The only adult in the room was draped in many colorful shawls, making up for the lack of color on her pupils. Her large, overly magnifying glasses plus the colorful clothing and beads gave her the appearance of a large dragonfly.

"That's not a ghost!" someone exclaimed in a British accent after another moment of shocked silence.

Danny turned to find the nay-sayer. He only found more shocked faces, but defended himself anyway. "I am so a ghost!" he said, indignant as he glared around the table as though they had all proclaimed his non-existence.

"No you're not!" another voice cried out with accusation and this time Danny spun fast enough to face his accuser, a red headed boy with a splash of freckles.

"Yeah! Ghosts are pearly white and transparent!" another kid agreed, a girl this time.

Danny crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly feeling like he was back on the playground squabbling over the existence of the Easter Bunny. "Oh really," Danny said, smugness in his voice, "and how many ghosts have you met?"

"Loads, actually, there are hundreds of ghosts in the castle," A black-haired boy with round glasses next to the red head said.

Danny couldn't do more than blink, the wind taken out of his sails and his smug grin dropping off his face like a dead bird. There were hundreds of ghosts? Here? All of them the pearly-see-through-white of poor horror movies?

"Well, Professor Trelawney did say 'spirit' not 'ghost' specifically," someone else commented in a reasonable tone. Danny didn't bother trying to see who said it.

"But I am a ghost!" Danny tried to speak over the increasing number of voices; apparently the shock had worn off.

"Are not!" the first voice spoke again, sounding accusatory.

"Are too!" Danny snapped back, feeling too cornered and trapped to care about being childish.

"Maybe he's a poltergeist like Peeves!" someone called out, trying to be helpful but only adding to the confusion and disorder as those around him agreed or dismissed his idea.

"Or he's a DEMON!" a high-pitched voiced yelled above all the rest, causing the side conversations to fall silent for a moment as everyone gaped with round, frightened eyes.

"Oh Professor!" someone said sounding like they were breaking the news of a beloved pet dying, "When Headmaster Dumbledore finds out you summoned a demon to the school you're going to be in so much trouble!"

The thin, dragonfly-lady went sheet white as she continued to stare in disbelief at Danny. "But….It's never worked before," she said in a faint voice.

Danny, for his part, couldn't believe this was happening. He opened and closed his mouth several times before saying, "I am NOT a DEMON!"

"Yes you are!" the kid called out as the rest of the students began whispering frantically again.

Danny threw up his hands at the hopelessness of trying to argue. He finally understood how Jazz felt when trying to convince their parents of anything. He looked around the room again, focusing on avenues of escape and spied several shawl-draped windows and what appeared to be a trapdoor in the floor.

Determined to get away from the annoying group of students, Danny took off in the direction of the windows. If he could get outside, he could figure out where he was and hopefully find a way back home. Danny was stopped, however, by some invisible force that ran around the table. He crashed into it head first, knocking himself back with a dazed blink. The loud BONK! And the sharp "Ow!" from Danny silenced the conversation as all eyes snapped to him again.

"It's trying to escape!" several people cried sending their fellow students into a panic. They were suddenly all out of their seats, pushing and shoving to get down the trap door first as the professor vainly tried to regain order. In a few seconds, Danny found himself alone in the strange, stifling room, vague cries of "Someone get Dumbledore!" and "Where's my camera?" floating up from the still open trapdoor.

Danny blinked a few times, still trying to understand what exactly had just happened. Giving up with a shake of his head, he instead focused his attention on the barrier that was preventing his escape. It seemed to run the entire way around, up to and across the ceiling and along the table top. Intangibility didn't work, neither did ecto-beams, blasts, or ice. Danny even tried regular invisibility and plain old smashing the barrier with his fist. All he did was hurt his fist. The only thing he didn't try was his ghostly wail, afraid of being trapped in such a small space with so much power, that and becoming human again because he found he couldn't bring forth his human side. Whatever the shield, force-field thing was, it was keeping him a ghost as well as trapped over the table.

With no other ideas or options to explore, Danny settled in to wait. He didn't have to wait long before a new round of voices and noise clamored up from the still-open trapdoor. Moments later an aged white head rose through the door. The man was tall, his height accentuated by his long white beard and flowing blue robes. Danny watched the man approach, a calm and pleasant expression on his old face and in his light blue eyes. That alone made Danny feel better, knowing at least this man wasn't panicking. He waited for the man to speak first, though, not wanting to start the roundabout conversation again.

"Hello," the man said in a friendly voice, "My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster of this school. May I know your name?" he asked head cocked slightly in inquiry.

"Danny Phantom," Danny said, automatically putting his hand out but remembered the barrier and pulled it back to fold over his chest. "I'm not a demon, you know," he said after the barest second, not wanting the man to have the wrong impression from the hysterical students, "Or a poltergeist."

Dumbledore chuckled lightly, his eyes twinkling, completely at ease. "Oh, I'm quite aware of that," he said with a smile.

The students from before were beginning to creep back into the room led by the black haired boy and his red headed friend, edging closer behind the old Headmaster. Their curiosity was plain on their faces as it over came their fear.

"The question is," Dumbledore continued, ignoring their growing audience, "what exactly are you?"

Danny hesitated, eyeing the group with distrust and apprehension. He knew they wouldn't believe him, but he said it anyway, a slightly pleading tone entering into his voice, "I'm a ghost, just a ghost."

One of the students snorted from behind Dumbledore, but Danny forced himself to ignore them. Here was a person willing to listen to him and he didn't want to ruin that by yelling at the man's students. A few other whispers broke out among the crowd of students but they silenced immediately when Dumbledore spoke again.

"We have many ghosts here in the castle," Dumbledore said, spreading his arms wide, "I am sorry but you appear quite different from them." He sounded slightly sympathetic as though he were breaking some unfortunate news.

Danny opened his mouth to reply, though he was unsure what he was going to say, when any words were cut off by his ghost sense going off and a pearly white ghost appeared from the floor, shooting up to float next to Dumbledore.

"You sent for me, Headmaster?" the ghost asked, his voice prim and proper with a slightly older version of the British accent that was shared around the room. His clothes were out of date by several centuries, looking more like those Shakespearian movies Lancer was always trying to make them watch. For a moment, Danny wondered what one of Princess Dora's subjects were doing out of the Ghost Zone before he realized none of her court were so pearly white and completely powerless.

"Sir Nicholas," Dumbledore said pleasantly, as though he were making introductions at a garden party, "I was wondering if you could enlighten us all about our visitor here." He gestured toward Danny with a hand, directing the other ghost's gaze.

Sir Nicholas turned his head to glance at Danny before his eyes went impossibly wide and he gave the biggest double take Danny had ever seen, causing his head to slip and slide disturbingly as though not fully attached. "My…my word!" he exclaimed looking at Danny in amazement, "Headmaster, do you know who this is?" he asked, not taking his eyes off Danny.

When the Headmaster failed to reply and the students remained in rapt silence, Sir Nicholas continued, "Why this is Danny Phantom, The Halfa!"

"Halfa?" Dumbledore asked, his tone showing his unfamiliarity with the term as the students around and behind him whispered in confusion.

Danny had the unsettling feeling of the floor dropping out from under him, though he hovered a foot above the table, his mind stuttering in panic.

Sir Nicholas continued to explain, blithely unaware of Danny's panic stricken face. "A Halfa is a ghost who is still half living, half human, half ghost. They still live and exist on the earthly plane while at the same time possessing all ghostly powers."

The explanation was met by sudden gasps and incredulous, wide-eyed stares from the students as Dumbledore, white eyebrows raised, pulled out a long thin stick from his robe. He waved it at Danny, muttering a word or two under his breath. Suddenly, the chill Danny associated with being a ghost was pushed back. It was a gentle but firm push condensing the ethereal sensation back into the cold core within Danny's chest. With a cry of surprise, Danny flashed back to human and fell to the table with a thump, scattering candles onto the floor. He looked down, praying he was mistaken, but to his horror found his regular street clothes with regular human limbs. He looked up at the cries of surprise that swept through the cramp room, fearful eyes finally falling on the man who'd forced him to reveal his true self.

Dumbledore was reaching down, a concerned look in his eyes and he moved to help Danny up. "My dear boy, are you all right?" he asked.

Danny's brain failed him. He just didn't know how to cope with the situation. He opened his mouth to reply but the only thing that came out was, "Uh…"and then he ran.

Danny launched himself off the table, dodging between students who shrank back in surprise and fear. Somewhere behind him he heard his name called, but he was already bounding down the trapdoor landing with a roll on the floor below. It wasn't really a conscious decision, running, just a knee jerk reaction to a situation he'd had nightmares about for over a year. Finding himself in front of so many people, all of whom had just learned his secret, had sent his mind into survival, fight or flight overdrive. He couldn't fight a bunch of school kids, so he ran.

Even now, as Danny leapt down the stairs, three or four at a time he wasn't thinking so much as just putting as much distance between himself and the situation as possible. He pelted down the curved staircase, pushing off walls as his speed overtook his ability to turn corners. A few times he felt a sharp twinge in his wrist as he landed the wrong way against a stone wall, but kept going.

The stairwell ended abruptly, spilling out into a torch lit corridor. There was another staircase immediately to the left that went down into the dark. The hallway to the right led off along that floor. Danny thought he could see sunlight farther down that hallway, but hesitated. From behind, echoing shouts followed close behind him. They knew these halls better than him and could easily trap him if necessary. He tried phasing over to Phantom but couldn't coax the cold out of his chest. Whatever the old Headmaster had done, it was still working on him. He could go toward the sunlight and make a break for it, or he could hide in the darker corridor, wait for the others to pass and then find his way out at his own pace.

If the people here brought him to the school with their stupid little soap bubble, maybe they had a way to send him back to the Ghost Zone. There he at least knew the span of dangers and had a rudimentary understanding for how things worked. If they could send him to the Zone they might even have a way to send him directly back to Amity! He could look for it after shaking his pursuers. Perhaps, in a few minutes, his ghost powers would come back and he could go invisible until he found a way to escape from this lunatic asylum.

Danny doubted that would be the case though, it felt too much like Vlad's Plasmius Maximus without the pain, to hope for getting his powers back any time soon. If that old man could do this to him with just a stick and a couple mumbled words Danny didn't want to wait around and find out what harm they could really do to him.

That still left the question which way to go, and time was running out.

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If Danny should hide in the darkened stairwell and wait till everyone passes: GO TO CHAPTER 7

If Danny should go down the corridor and attempt to make his escape right away: GO TO CHAPTER 20

Feel free to leave a review at any point during the story! ;)