Merry Christmas, guys. Enjoy a nice long chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter.
Danny was happy, which seemed to be a daily occurrence ever since he came to Hogwarts. On the street, he remembered, he'd had to suffer all the put downs, and all those 'holier than thou' bastards, along with almost everyone pretending he didn't exist. Here, however, he had friends who actually enjoyed his presence, teachers that actually cared about his education, and all the while living in a castle that hummed with magic in every brick.
He eventually became used to the constant flow of magic in the castle, even during meals where every witch and wizard were assembled, magic and energy cracking through the air. He had a suspicion that not many people were this sensitive to magic as he was, but he wouldn't know.
"Danny?" Daphne said, breaking him from his train of thought. "Staring out into space again?"
"If he didn't, he'd have to listen to your blabbering voice," Pansy Parkinson said with a vicious grin. Daphne stiffened at the insult, but didn't say anything. She just looked Pansy in the eye for a second, and turned back to Danny; her posture screamed indignation. Pansy had a gleeful expression on her face.
"Well, I personally like listening to your 'blabbering voice', so let's head back to the common room. Zabini's already there," Danny said.
Pansy's gleeful expression melted into a frown. She glared at the two first-years' retreating backs, and said to Theodore Nott, "What does he even see in her? She's just a stupid twat."
Nott just shrugged, not really wanting to talk to pug-face Pansy when he was trying to enjoy his dinner.
Pansy continued talking anyway, "Those three-acting all high and mighty and keeping to themselves, with Fenton leading the way. They even talk to kids in other houses!"
Nott made an unidentifiable 'hmm' while gnawing on a chicken leg.
"Who does he think he is, anyway? He's from bloody America, he's got no connections here!"
Nott decided that his dinner wasn't worth the rest of this conversation, so he stealthily snuck away while Pansy was still fuming about Fenton.
"She's such a-ugh! Dear Morgana, I can't stand that pug-face!" Daphne muttered angrily as she and Danny walked swiftly to the doors of the Great Hall. "If Mother didn't force me to be nice to her, I would pound her to the ground!"
Danny smiled wryly. "You could always stick the frogspawn we use in Potions in her socks. She won't even know it's you!"
Daphne sighed. "Yeah, she would. All the other girls in our year worship her, you should see Bulstrode-"
"Oi, Fenton!" Just as they were about to exit the Great Hall, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle walked up to them. Draco had a look on his face that reminded him of nosy officers at the station, trying to catch him pickpocketing.
"Yeah?" he said, already regretting this conversation, like most of his talks with Draco.
"I noticed Longbottom and the mudblood know-it-all hanging around you," he said. "Just what are you playing at?"
"Er, sorry?" Danny said, confused.
Draco looked impatient. "I get that you don't know anyone here besides Longbottom," he said in a patronizing tone, "but really? Granger?"
The more Draco spoke, the more Danny's eyes narrowed. Sheesh, was it his business who he was friends with? No!
"Granger's a friend of Neville," Daphne cut in, making Malfoy's eyes turn to her. "And Neville is the only heir to a very powerful pureblood family. I'd like to keep on his good side, if you know what I mean."
"Ha! Longbutt will never amount to anything, he'll be a miserable failure his whole life."
"Shut up!"
The outburst was not from Danny, but from Weasley, who was standing nearby with Potter beside him. Danny could see Hermione and Neville's surprised looks, still seated at their table.
"Stop insulting Neville, it makes you look even stupider than usual," Potter said. Daphne and Danny's eyebrows wen tup at the normally quiet celebrity's mean insult.
Draco's ears went pink. "Watch yourself, Potter," he spat, "making enemies this early in school isn't a smart choice."
"Why? You already hate us," Weasley pointed out.
Draco just smirked. Crabbe and Goyle leaned toward them menacingly, cracking their knuckles. Weasley stayed rooted to the spot, but Potter said, "You're a lot braver when you have your little friends with you."
Danny wanted to whistle, but refrained. Who knew Potter was this good at comebacks?
"I'd take you any time on my own," said Draco. "Tonight, if you want. Wizards duel. Wands only-no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizards duel before, I suppose?"
Danny shared an incredulous look with Daphne. Malfoy couldn't be serious.
"Of course he has," said Ron. "I'm his second, who's yours?"
"Merlin, they're serious," Danny thought, wanting to facepalm.
"Crabbe. Midnight, all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that always unlocked." With that last comment, Draco and his lackeys stalked off.
As soon as he was out of sight, Daphne groaned. "Idiots," she said, then walked away without a word.
The three of them looked at each other. "Seriously?" Danny asked flatly. Weasley just shrugged.
"He's your housemate."
"Guys!" Potter said, catching their attention. "What is a wizards duel? And what do you mean, you're my second?"
"Well, a seconds there to take over if you die," said Weasley. He quickly elaborated, after seeing the look on Potter's face, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."
"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"
"Throw it away and punch him on the nose."
"Woah, wait!" Danny cut in, who had bee listening in silence. "You're actually going to do this?"
"Yes," Weasley said tersely.
"I can't believe you two!" Hermione said, who had just walked up, flanked by Neville. "Do you know how many points you could cost us when you get caught?"
"If we get caught," Weasley said, both him and Potter looking annoyed that Hermione had been eavesdropping.
"Look, she's right. This isn't worth it," Danny said. "Filch is like an insomniac-"
"Whatever, Fenton," Weasley snarled. "We were defending our friend, which is a lot more than what you're doing."
Hermione gasped. "Ronald!"
"It's true!"
Danny closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. "You know what? Fine. Go to the stupid duel. I'll see you later, Neville. Hermione."
With that last word, he turned around and headed back to his common room.
The four Gryffindors silently watched Fenton push open the doors of the Great Hall and leave. Hermione was furious, Ron was stubborn, Neville was a bit in shock, and Harry was feeling a little bit bad at what was said to their Slytherin friend.
"I can't believe you said that, Ronald-you know Danny has to put up with Malfoy a lot more than the rest of us-"
"Then why does he let them walk all over him? If someone said that about my friend, I would've clobbered them-"
"Stop," Neville said, surprising all three of them. "Danny-Danny's my friend. So just-just don't, o-okay?" Neville had a pleading look in his eyes for a moment, then quickly exited the Great Hall. The three remained standing there in silence.
"Look," Hermione said. "Don't go to that duel tonight because of your wounded pride. It's quite selfish, and I really expected better from you two." She then stormed out of the Great Hall, after giving them one last look of contempt.
"Ugh, people," Ron moaned. "We're not going to get caught. Filch'll be asleep by then."
"Let's just go back to the common room," Harry said, a bundle of nerves in his stomach beginning to churn.
Danny walked back to the common room at a brisk pace, his thoughts darker than usual. "Stupid Weasley," he thought. "Does he think I like being pushed around by Draco?" His frown deepened.
He really, really, wanted to stop Draco from tormenting Neville, but there wasn't much he could do without facing years worth of consequences. Zabini and Daphne always lectured him about how powerful the Malfoy family was, especially in the Slytherin House.
"If only Draco didn't have Snape in the palm of his hand," he muttered to himself as he approached the common room entrance. He knew Snape wouldn't tolerate half of the things Draco did if he didn't have a connection to his father. It felt like everyone had a connection to Lucius Malfoy.
"Serpens," he grit out through clenched teeth, and entered the common room. He ignored Draco, who was playing some kind of card game with Crabbe and Goyle (who clearly didn't get it) and walked up to Daphne, who was sitting on a lone couch.
"Where's Zabini?" he asked as he sat down.
"Bathroom," she said. Noticing his frown, she asked, "What's eating you?"
He sighed. "Just something Weasley said."
Daphne smiled wryly. "Sometimes, when listening to your Gryffindor and Hufflepuff friends, I turn on what I like to call a 'stupid filter' for my brain. It's a little easier to listen to them like that."
"Oh, they're not that bad."
"I use it on you, too."
"Hey!"
"Oh, nevermind. What did Weasley say?"
Danny just shrugged, wanting to get of the topic.
"Oh, no. You are not going to do that avoiding thing you always do." She glared at him. "What did he say."
"Fine. He just...well, I can't really stop Draco," he lowered his voice a little, "from bullying Neville. And, well, he pointed that out, I guess."
Daphne sighed. "There's nothing you can really do about that," she said sadly. "He'll lose interest over time, even you know that."
"Yeah...I know." "Doesn't make me feel any better, though," he thought.
They both sat there in silence for a bit, then started to chat about other things: whether Danny finished that Herbology essay (he did, barely) and if they were looking forward to the Halloween feast. Zabini came back while they were still talking, but he stopped to talk with Draco before he came over.
"So Potter and Weasley are having a duel?" Zabini said as he said down next to Danny.
Danny snorted. "Yeah, right. A couple of first-years are having a wizard duel."
"Draco'll probably just skip it and leave them to be caught by Filch," Daphne added.
"That's what he is doing," Zabini said.
"What?" Danny said. "Oh, crap. That's clever. Man, Hermione's going to kill them…"
"Are you going to tell them?" Zabini asked.
"Don't," Daphne ordered. "They need to learn from this."
Later that night, Danny lay in bed, listening to Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle snicker to themselves as they got in bed.
"Hope they get expelled, the idiots," Draco said.
Danny waited about an hour before he slowly sat up and checked the time. Eleven-thirty, better go check if they actually went to the trophy room.
"Stubborn bastards, of course they did," he thought as he slipped out of the common room intangibly. He was going to have to stay invisible in the halls, which he knew would drain him and he'd be exhausted the next day, but Hermione would kill him if he let those idiots get caught.
He snuck around the dark halls, the near pitch-black lighting never affecting him. It all looked vaguely dim to him, and if he could see himself, he would notice his eyes glowed faintly green.
As he approached the trophy room, he heard quiet whispers. When he came closer to their backs, he was surprised to find the pajama-clad Hermione and Neville with Potter and Weasley.
"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Weasley whispered.
"He's not coming at all," Danny muttered, making all four of them jump and whirl around.
"Danny!" Neville wheezed, "don't s-scare me like that."
"Malfoy's not coming?" Potter whispered.
"Must've gotten scared, the coward-"
"Shh!" Danny said when he heard a sound from the next room.
"Sniff around my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."
Danny's eyes widened when he realized it was Filch talking to Mrs. Norris. That cat could find him anywhere, if she caught his scent…?
Potter was thinking along the same lines, and motioned for them to follow him out of the room. They were almost out of danger when Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak, and broke out into a run-he tripped, grabbed Weasley around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor.
Danny winced at the loud noise, knowing at least have the school heard that crash. "Now is not the time to be a klutz, Nev!"
"RUN!" Potter yelled, and they sprinted off into the gallery. Many twists and turns later, along with a trip down a hidden passageway, they found themselves near the Charms classroom, miles away from the trophy room.
"I think we've lost him," Potter panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and sputtering.
"It was a trap," Danny said. "Draco was never going to come, and he probably tipped Filch off that you'd be here tonight."
"Fat lot it did us-" Weasley said, but Danny cut him off.
"Listen here, Weasley-"
"Quiet!" Hermione said. "We've got to get back to our common rooms!"
Potter just sighed frustratedly, and said, "Let's go."
They must've gone only a few feet before a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. Danny groaned at the sight of Peeves. He gave a squeal of delight from above their heads.
"Be quiet, Poltergeist!" Danny whispered viciously, deeply regretting setting a foot out of his dorm.
"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."
"We don't have time for this," Danny snarled. He raised up a hand and drew a rune in the air. "Banish." His voice echoed a little down the hall, and Peeves vanished in a screaming swirl of ghost matter.
The other four stared at him. "What the bloody hell was that?" Weasley demanded.
Danny was about to shush them again when he heard rapin footsteps approaching. "Filch is coming. Hide!"
They ran to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door. Weasley fumbled with the handle, but it was locked.
"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door. "We're done for! This is the end!"
He could hear Filch coming closer.
"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohamora!"
The lock clicked and the door swung open-they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.
"Where did they go, Mrs. Norris? Smell around." Filch said. After a bit of indiscernible mumbling, it was silent behind the door.
"He thinks this door is locked," Potter whispered. Neville was tugging on Danny's shirt incessantly, and he turned to snap at him, and caught sight of it.
Potter continued, "I think we'll be okay."
"Might want to rethink that," Danny said in a wavering voice.
Potter, Weasley, and Hermione all turned around to face the towering creature. It was a dog; sort of.
"Cerberus," Danny thought hysterically as the three-headed dog began to growl. "Merlin, save us."
Potter, the only one who wasn't petrified at the moment, scrambled to open the door. Cerberus growled louder as he fumbled with the doorknob.
"It's jammed!" Potter said, his voice cracking hysterically. The 'dog' bared it's teeth and was about to strike, and they all knew they were going to die.
Fueled by some strange, buried instinct, Danny tackled all four of the petrified children, crowded them against the door, and pushed.
They all fell out of the room, toppling over each other. They all scrambled forward to avoid the razor sharp teeth that were sure to follow them, but all that happened was a loud thump and muffled growls. They turned towards the door, only to find it still closed.
They had gone through the door. All of them.
Danny choked a little on his breath in, feeling strangely horrified. He knew the extent of his powers; he could turn only himself intangible and invisible, and only one at a time. He couldn't turn people intangible, much less four other people.
"How…?" Hermione said, wide-eyed and terrified.
"Go," Potter gasped. "We need-we need to go."
So they went, running away from the hellish scenario they had just faced. They ran all the way up to a painting he didn't recognize, a chair against a serene view of the ocean.
"She's still not there?!" Hermione said shrilly between gasps.
Neville sank to his knees and whimpered. Weasley stood behind him in shock.
"What just happened?" Weasley said.
"Unless I'm hallucinating, we just found Cerberus in our school," Danny said.
"Cerberus," Hermione muttered, hugging herself as the adrenaline began to wear off. "Three-headed dog from legend is now guarding something at our school."
"Guarding something?" Potter asked incredulously.
"Of course, don't you see? It was standing on trap door," she snapped. "It has to be guarding something."
All four of them stared at her for a second in shocked silence. "How the hell did you notice that?!" Danny exclaimed.
"It was right under its foot!"
"I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads!" Weasley said. Hermione humphed and turned away.
Just then, a fat woman in a pink dress walked into the frame in front of them. "What in the world are you doing? she said, bewildered.
"Nevermind that, pig snout!" Potter said. The lady gave him an odd look, but the frame swung aside and revealed what Danny assumed to be the Gryffindor common room.
"And that's my cue to leave," Danny said. "This is the last time I warn you guys of something. Freaking Murphy's Law."
Without waiting for them to turn around, Danny phased through the floor, hoping that Neville might cover for him. He landed softly on the floor below the Gryffindor common room, and paused a little to gather his bearings.
He was one floor away from the Slytherin dormitories, with a bit of walking in between. Eventually, he found himself carefully phasing inside the first-year dorm. The other boys were sound asleep. He was exhausted; he had used too much power.
"Just make it to the bed…" he thought sluggishly as he tumbled toward it. He ended up tripping on his trunk, and toppled to the floor next to his bed. Too exhausted to care, he fell asleep.
Oh Mylanta, this chapter was really long! Nine pages. I kind of wrote almost all of it in one day, too. After weeks of trying to put it to paper, it all comes out at once, like strange word diarrhea. Eh, that was probably not the best comparison, but who cares.
Hope you liked this chapter, it's one of my favorite scenes in the books. Sorry I had to cut or worse, expelled from it, but I couldn't fit it in. Maybe I'll put that line in later in the story. But, for now, enjoy all this word diarrhea.
If you have any comments or critiques, don't hesitate to tell me! (grammer and spelling too, I like to be picky on that) and if you think flames are critiques, go ahead and write those too.
Until next time.