A/N: YOOOOOOOOOO! :^D nice you see y'all again! I've been reading more Danny Phantom fanfics and watching the episodes again, scavenging canon things that I forgot about and can use. I've noticed tons of fanfics have way different ways to portray Danny. Usually he's either really self-centered or way too modest. But pshaw. XD he's both! Nah but seriously, I try to keep Danny his dorky sarcastic self in this fic. But soon his anxiety might spill over and EVERYONE WILL DIE.
Not really.
Here's the next chapter!
Amity
"- should tell you something..."
Jazz's eyes snapped up at Sam's words. Was she about to give away Danny's secret? Should she let her? It might be best to explain the situation... but...
No. Her parents having a total freakout about Danny disappearing is one thing, but they do NOT need all that guilt and shock to add onto the already growing pile of anxiety.
"Danny is-" Sam began before having the unexpected shock of a hand clapped over her mouth.
"A Fenton!" Jazz exclaimed with vigor after interrupting Sam's sentence with her hand. "And Fentons won't be stopped that easily! Right guys?" She said the last part while looking at Tucker and Sam pleadingly.
The two younger teens eyed her in thought before hesitantly nodding their approval. The adults looked at the children disbelievingly before Jack seemed to gain spirit and stood up straight with a determined smile.
"That's right!" He yelled. "Danny can face this challenge, and we'll help him by making more gadgets! Come on Maddie!" He grabbed his wife's hand and she looked a bit uplifted by her husband's spirit.
"Alright honey!" She said as she walked with him down to the ghost lab. "Let's upgrade our weapons and get back our baby boy!"
The two disappeared into the basement and the trio they left behind were visible relieved at the adults forgetting their original plan in the excitement of their own bloodline. Surprisingly, Jazz was the first to recover.
"What were you thinking!" She said to Sam, who glared at her defiantly. "You can't just go spreading other people's secrets like that!"
"I was thinking about Danny!" The goth replied loudly. "I didn't know what else to do! I'm- i'm just-" the girl sighed and deflated a little. "I'm just worried..."
Tucker watched them and was a bit shocked when Sam looked so forlorn suddenly. He put an awkward hand on her shoulder.
"Uh... there, there." He supplied. Sam just rolled her eyes at his effort and Jazz sighed knowingly.
"I'm worried too," the redhead said in a defeated tone. "But Danny will pull through this. He always does!"
Sam smiled sadly at her and sighed again. "Yeah," she said. "I hope..."
Tucker watched the two girls with a sadness of his own. He just couldn't stand there and see everyone in such states of disrepair. No, this was a time for action.
"Yeah, well I have a feeling that hoping isn't going to get us anywhere," said the techno-geek in a uncharacteristically determined air. "I think it's about time we did something."
*i'msorryi'msorryi'msorryplsdon'tkillme*
Hogwarts
In the time period after the first class Danny was allowed to show himself right until Halloween, an abundance of things had changed for the halfa.
First off, he was allowed to stay visible now and was often seen floating above students or in the back of a classroom, trying to keep attention off of him.
This turned out to be rather hard.
Danny kept catching students staring and pointing at him, sometimes blatantly gaping at him as he passed by. Also, he didn't really notice, but a small group of girls from various houses had taken to following him around the halls in between classes.
Danny didn't know what that meant, but he never really had understood girls.
Other things he'd been up to would be, most prominently, spying on those Gryffindor kids he'd taken an interest in.
Well, he wouldn't really call it spying as much as close investigation. He took a liking to them, seeing as they remind him of him and his friends. He knew they looked nothing like him, Sam or Tucker, but the redhead and smart one seemed to bicker a lot and that reminded him of those good days when he would be stuck in the middle of a food argument between his two best friends.
Well, those weren't the best of memories, but he would take what he could get.
Danny noticed how weird some people acted around Harry. He assumed this was because of the Grim thing he'd seen in that odd fortune teller's attic, but it looked like there was something more to it. Maybe it had to do with that funky scar he had on his forehead? Oh well. He guessed he would find out sooner or later.
Danny had taken to following those three around, earning him some suspicious glances from the boys and a few calculating ones from the girl when he'd hang around a few yards away. He'd heard some snickered whisperings of "ghost stalker" from other students, however, and so he decided to lay low around them for awhile.
Could he make friends? Would anyone want to be friends with a ghost? He'd noticed that the school had a few bullies in the Slytherin house, so he decided that the students weren't a far cry from the ones at Casper high, magic or not. He guessed he should probably just stay in the background and not get noticed so he doesn't get in trouble and find out what that remote could REALLY do.
None of this stopped him from invisibly following Harry around however. He was learning about Quidditch when he floated around during the Gryffindor team's practice time, and it seemed like a very bizarre and dangerous game.
He wanted to play it.
But he'd never been much of a sports person and he doubted he would ever be allowed anyway. Oh well.
Danny was also quite upset that he wasn't allowed in the dorms. Who knows what amazing wizardy stuff they could be hiding, right out of his reach! It was very upsetting. He had nothing to do either when the trio of kids went into classes he wasn't allowed in. But at least he was able to stay around at other points.
Danny was getting a teensy bit worried about his sanity at this point, but he was probably exaggerating. Being away from his 'obsession' for this long couldn't hurt him THAT much... could it? Well, enough thinking about that, it'll get him anxious.
It was breakfast on the morning of Halloween. Danny had always liked the holiday. Well, at least more than he liked Christmas. He spotted three he was 'investigating' and floated over to their table invisibly, to avoid stares, and heard them talking about that Hogsmeade place and how Harry wasn't allowed to go. Danny had learned about the place when he overheard some students talking about it previously. After asking Lupin, the man said that he wasn't allowed to go by Dumbledore's orders. The halfa understood that the headmaster was trying to keep him safe, but it was difficult to ignore the thought of a WIZARD village full of WIZARDS. He consoled himself though on the fact that even if he tried to escape, the dementors could see through invisibility and he hated and feared those things so much, it was almost instinctual. Or... maybe it WAS instinctual, he didn't really know. They were just so CREEPY. He probably wouldn't get passed that artificial ghost shield anyway.
Danny was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the trio getting up, and he followed them to the entrance hall where students were being checked for slips by Filch, and ushered out the door to Hogsmeade. He watched as Harry's friends left him and followed as the scrawny black haired boy made his way up the stairs and into his common room, where the ghost boy had to stop, being unable to proceed.
However, the bespectacled boy soon exited with an annoyed word from that weird fat lady on a painting they have for a doorway, and made off for the library with Danny behind him. He soon encountered a less-than-happy Filch, who told him to go back to his dorm room, which he proceeded to not do, and instead started climbing a staircase and walking down corridors in the vague direction of the owlery. It was in one of these corridors where he was stopped by Professor Lupin.
"Harry?" Said the man, looking around his office door. "What are you doing?" He asked as the boy doubled back to see who had spoken. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"
"Hogsmeade," Harry said in a some-what casual voice.
"Ah," said Lupin. He seemed to think for a moment. "Why don't you come in? I've just taken delivery of a grindylow for our next lesson."
"A what?" said Harry as he followed the Professor back into his office. Needless to say, Danny followed. The two talked a bit over the water demon in the tank in a corner of Lupin's office. Danny, having seen it already, wasn't paying too much attention to the small lesson. Though he did hear something about brittle fingers...?
When the two sat down and began talking about many subjects, Danny succumbed to his thoughts and only started out of them when he heard his alter ego's name.
"Phantom," Lupin sighed. "I know you're there. Why don't you come into the visible spectrum for a bit?"
Danny gulped and turned visible to Lupin's expectant gaze, looking a bit nervous when Harry spun around in his seat with wide eyes.
"May I ask you why you were following Potter, Phantom?"
Danny considered for a bit, trying to come up with a lie.
"Umm," he mustered. "I was bored...?"
Lupin gave him a disbelieving look but sighed after a moment.
"Okay, I suppose I can believe that. But maybe next time find something else to occupy your time?"
Danny mumbled a "fine" and Lupin nodded, turning back to Harry. He then began discussing the topic again, completely ignoring Danny, when he was interrupted by a knock at the door. He called "come in," and the door opened to reveal Snape holding a steaming goblet. The man regarded Danny and Harry with distaste, and him and Lupin proceeded to have a short conversation with concealed animosity before Snape left, taking his air of self-importance with him.
Lupin began drinking from his cup, keeping up his cheery self as Harry tried to imply that Snape was probably poisoning him. Danny watched this all with a strange look. Was that some sort of wizard medicine? It looked WAY worse than that gross pink stuff he remembers from his early childhood. That stuff tastes like it was brewed by the devil to make children hate life. Ooor maybe he was exaggerating again...
Before he knew it, Lupin had drained the goblet and Harry had to leave. As soon as he did, Lupin turned to Danny with a stern look.
"Don't be causing trouble Phantom," he said. "Remember that we're watching you."
Danny barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Oooooo scaaary. But all the same and phased through the door into his cold room, (A/N: did it have a door before? Cuz it does now) leaving a slight draft in the room as he left.
*Haha it's not over yet*
In the Gryffindor common room, Ron and Hermione had just gotten back from Hogsmeade. After a bit of discussion, they decided that they better go down to the Great hall for the Halloween feast. This didn't stop their small discussion on the way, however.
"Hey guys," Harry started. "have you noticed that Phantom has been following us around quite a bit?"
"Yeah I did!" Exclaimed Ron. "Weird that one. D'you think he might work for you know who?"
This startled Harry a bit. Surprisingly, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind.
"No... Dumbledore would never take that chance, would he?" He said carefully.
"Well, he DID hire Snape." Ron replied as they entered the dining hall, leaving Harry to think this over. He trusted Dumbledore's judgement, but... maybe he should keep a closer eye on Phantom.
Said Phantom was floating in the hall with a look of awe and shock on his face. The ghost boy was taking in the incredible decorations like he had never seen anything like it before. Who knows, maybe he hadn't.
When the feast started, Harry watched the ghost fly around and pick food off of nearly everyone's plates, though mostly the Slytherin's. He took this as a good sign. Harry also noticed that Hermione was watching Phantom curiously as well, though Ron was just stuffing his face.
After a lot of eating and watching both Phantom and Snape with varying levels of suspicion, the entertainment began. The ghosts of Hogwarts had happily agreed to do some formation gliding and even a reenactment of Nearly Headless Nick's botched beheading. Phantom seemed to enjoy this immensely. He was sitting cross-legged above the Gryffindor table and was watching with interest.
As the feast ended, everyone headed out and Harry lost track of Phantom when he was mocked by Malfoy about dementors for the hundredth time. Him and his friends all made their way up to their tower, where to their surprise, they found a large group of agitated Gryffindors standing in front of the painting.
"Why isn't anyone going in?" Asked Ron as Harry took a look over a bunch of heads at the portrait. It seemed to be closed. Percy came bustling through the crowd and when he reached it, silence fell over them all until the head-boy told someone to fetch Professor Dumbledore.
As Dumbledore arrived and the Gryffindors parted the let the head-master though, Harry, Ron, and Hermione got to see the portrait, and what they saw made Hermione grab Harry's arm in horror.
The painting had been slashed at so viciously that remnants and chunks of it littered the floor. The fat lady was nowhere to be seen. Dumbledore took one quick look at the painting and turned to Snape and McGonagall, who had both just arrived on the scene.
"We need to find her," said the man. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
"You'll be lucky!" Said a cackling voice.
It was Peeves, of course, looking quite the wreckage and worry as he bobbed over the crowd.
"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore said calmly. Peeves's grin faded a bit and was replaced by an oily voice no better than his cackle. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore.
"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said a bit too happily. "Poor thing," he added unconvincingly.
"Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore said quietly.
"Oh yes Professorhead," replied Peeves carefully. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and spoke between his legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."
*still not done yet. This is very long*
All of the students were sent back to the great hall, them being told that the castle must be searched for Sirius black and that includes the dorm rooms. The prefects and Head girl and boy were in charge of guarding the exits and keeping the students in line.
"-Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," the headmaster added to Percy, who looked immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts. Even Phantom if need be."
Dumbledore then paused while leaving the hall, and said, "Oh yes, you'll be needing..." the man casually waved his wand and the tables cleared out and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.
"Sleep well," said Dumbledore as he closed the door behind him.
As the entire room began to buzz excitedly, the invisible ghost boy, who was there the entire time, began to set out to find the trio he'd been following around for quite a while. He saw them as they each picked up a sleeping bag and dragged it to a corner to talk quietly.
The halfa approached them silently as they began to whisper amongst themselves, him catching bits and pieces of their conversation every now and then. It was when Hermione seemed to sense something and turned around, eying the general direction he was in, when Danny began to suspect they knew he was there.
After their confused glances at Hermione when they noticed her staring at the air somewhere above them, Harry and Ron began to feel a chill emanating from the spot she was staring at. They both figured out what that meant quickly. It was Harry who was the first to fill the silence.
"Phantom? Are you spying on us?"
They could imagine his awkward and startled expression as he floated there uneasily.
"Uhh..." the specter said as he dropped invisibility just enough for them to see the outlines of the ghost. "Well, I wouldn't say spying exactly..."
Hermione sighed at this and decided to make her opinions known.
"Alright Phantom, I have some questions and I need them answered. I think it's about time that all of us have a private talk."
Phantom sputtered and looked taken aback by her request. But before he could answer the girl spoke again.
"Meet us in the corridor outside, we'll decide where to go from there." Hermione said this quite firmly and left no argument. The ghost floated there, considering, before he hesitantly nodded and disappeared from sight once more.
Once the cool feeling had gone away entirely, Hermione turned towards her friends, who were staring at her in a mixture of utter shock and confusion.
"Why'd you do that?!" Ron said with a disbelieving face turned in her direction.
Hermione looked very assured in herself as she answered his question.
"I have my own theories as to why Phantom is REALLY here, and I don't think i'd ever get the answer from a teacher. So, we have to ask Phantom."
"But how do you think we'll sneak out of here?" Harry asked. "There are prefects guarding all the entrances, and teachers looking in every inch of the school!"
"If my theories are correct, Phantom will help us out with that. All we need to do is get outside of this room."
*Still not over. man you guys are lucky today*
It was around 3 in the morning when Dumbledore had come in. He, Percy, and Snape had a conversation regarding Sirius Black and how he could have gotten in. Once they had cleared out, the three friends looked at each other in confusion.
"What was all that about?" Ron mouthed. Harry shrugged. After around two minutes, Harry turned to the other two and mouthed,
"let's go."
The others nodded and it was then when they started slowly inching out of their sleeping bags and towards the exit. It was a slow and careful operation, one that would look quite ridiculous to onlookers if any had been there. They were already close to a corner, so it didn't take too much of an aggravatingly long time to get to the door.
Once they finally got there and made sure the coast was clear, they snuck out into the hall, all of them thinking about how surprisingly easy that had been.
"What do we do now?" Ron whispered quietly to his friends.
"I don't know," Harry replied. It would only be a minute or two before a teacher came around the corner and spotted them. But before they had too much time to regret their decision of coming, all three of them felt a cool touch on their shoulders and experienced the strange feeling of intangibility before they were phased up and into a boy's bathroom on one of the higher floors. (A/N: keep in mind that Danny only has two arms so he probably touched one of them with his foot or something. XD)
After the three Gryffindors got over the shock of what had just happened, they started looking at the slightly anxious specter in front of them. This was the third time they had seen him, but the first time they really saw him up close and personal.
He had bright white hair which looked a silvery gray in the shadows, and shining, glowing emerald eyes. He had a slight glow around him which lit up the darkened room and cast a small glow onto their faces and the objects around him.
Phantom cleared his throat.
"You uh... you wanted to see me?"
This snapped the trio back into their senses.
"Hm yes!" Hermione quickly responded. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, Phantom!"
"Ok," said the white haired teen as he got into a more comfortable position. "Shoot."
"Right... ahh, so the first thing is-"
Hermione began, only to be interrupted by Harry.
"Do you work for Voldemort?"
The ghost boy considered this.
"Umm... Voldy-who?"
The three were taken aback by this revelation. He didn't even know who Voldemort was?
"You know, Voldemort. The dark wizard, really dangerous and murderous famous wizard...?"
The ghost shrugged.
"I was only really introduced to this wizard stuff not too long ago."
"Which brings me to my next question!" Hermione cut him short. "Phantom, were you brought here against your will?"
He thought about this.
"I guess you could say that, yes."
"I knew it!" The girl nearly screeched. "That's why you have that thing around your neck, right? Is that a collar?"
"Hehe..." the floating specter laughed nervously. "Well, it's definitely not a fashion accessory..."
Hermione was positively livid, surprising her friends. She hadn't been like this since the house elves...
"That's so wrong!" She quietly screeched. "You have as much sentience as all of us! They can't keep you here!"
The boy shrugged helplessly.
"Well, I guess they kinda can. I can't leave Hogwarts or the ministry will get me I guess...? I'm not too sure how this works."
Ron was now trying to calm Hermione down as she fumed at the injustice. Harry, however, was still suspicious of the ghost boy.
"How do we know you're not lying to us?" He asked. "How do we know you don't work for Voldemort?"
Suddenly he had an idea.
"Wait," Harry said, walking over to him. "Let me check something..."
He pulled up the sleeves of the ghost's jumpsuit as if checking for something as the specter let out cries of "hey! What the-"
After he checked both of the other's arms, the boy felt somewhat relieved.
"No dark mark," he said with a relieved expression. "Sorry, I had to check."
"Uh... that's okay I guess..." the ghost boy said as he put his sleeves back down.
It was then when Ron decided to join in after calming Hermione down somewhat.
"Hey," he said. "So, why do you follow us around then?"
The ghost rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and laughed nervously.
"Well, uh..." he began. "I kinda left my friends back in the town I left... you guys remind me of them a bit."
All three of the other teen's faces immediately softened and turned a bit sympathetic towards Phantom.
"Aww man..." Ron said. "That's too bad..."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "That must be hard.
Hermione's face turned into a look of determination. "You can be our friend while you're here." She said, and her two friends and Phantom all looked at her questioningly.
"Really?" They all said simultaneously, and Hermione grinned. "Yes, I think that will work out quite nicely."
Phantom relaxed a little and started smiling. This was the first true kindness he'd been shown since he'd gotten here!
"Great!"" He said happily. "I don't have to stalk you anymore!"
They all paused and then laughed at that statement, relaxing in each other's presence for the first time. After a bit of talking they all decided it was probably time to return to the great hall.
"You should probably put us back now Phantom." Hermione suggested.
"Sure," Phantom smiled. "But hey, you can call me Danny." He then turned them all intangible and invisible and phased them down to the great hall and back into their spots.
The golden trio went to sleep with thoughts running through their heads, but were forced to ignore them and drift off like nothing had even happened.
A/N: *collapses into a tired heap on the ground and groans* FIIINALLYYYY. You guys are so spoiled by me, you know that? XD It's 4:38 AM and the lights are still on! Appreciate me and this ridiculously long chapter! Hehe. Now, to explain Danny's stalking habits, he has an obsession like all the other ghosts, but his is protection! He can't protect Amity Park or his friends, so he's looking to protect something or someone else, which happens to be the golden trio, and probably eventually Hogwarts! I'm so excited! And please don't hurt me because of the false revealing to his parents! I'm sorry I mess with you guys! Hehe. Well, I think that's everything! WAIT, also, since the answer chosen was B, how do you want Danny to come to Jump City? Via Freakshow, or via Guys in White? This is the last question i'm asking about that! Now, until next time! Flames will be used to light Dumbledore's beard on fire! GET THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER!