Disclaimer: I hold no rights over the Harry Potter series or the Danny Phantom series. Any and all direct quotes and texts belong to J. K. Rowling and are used for entertainment purposes only and not for profit or any additional benefits.

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Chapter Twenty-One: The House Elf Liberation Front

Harry thoroughly enjoyed Divination class for the most part now that he was friends with Ron again. They were still doing star-charts and constellations, and made Professor Trelawney extremely pleased when they predicted their most gruesome deaths, but she quickly turned annoyed when they openly snorted at Lavender's proclamation that Uranus's alignment was a foreboding sign for those connected to the Canis Major constellation.

"I would think, Mr. Potter," The Divination Professor had sniffed, her eyes narrowing behind her enormous glasses, "That you would take these warnings more severely, given your circumstances. Why, while I was doing my nightly viewings of the crystal ball yesterday evening, I saw something most ominous," her eyes purposefully flickered towards Harry.

Parvati leaned forward in her seat, "What was it, Professor?"

Trelawney watched them all closely before whispering mystically, "Death, my dear."

All eyes in the room fell on a red-faced Harry, who hunched back over his chart to angrily scribble down Lavender's supposition. An obvious sound of disgust came from the far side of the room, making him lift his head.

Danny Fenton's friend, Sam, sat scowling in the corner looking quite out of place in her black-dyed uniform and sharp-cut bob, seated in one of the squashed, winged armchairs and surrounded by Trelawney's prized pink teacups; a thick, aged book open in her lap. Harry had forgotten she was even there. The seventh-year had arrived at the beginning of the lesson asking if she could sit in since Casper didn't qualify Divination as an actual subject.

Ron had then loudly stated that they didn't either and Trelawney had assigned him two extra constellations.

Trelawney blinked owlishly at the girl, "Is something the matter, er, Samantha, was it?"

The girl's lip curled, "It's Sam," she replied surly, "And I was just wondering why you'd willingly teach fourth graders about star-reading for personal gain. Everybody knows it's a dangerous art – that's why centaurs never speak of what they see. Star-reading should only be used for selfless reasons to benefit the earth, not people."

Trelawney looked taken aback before she placed a sympathetic hand on the older student's shoulder, "Oh, don't be silly, my child. It is obvious that you simply do not possess the Inner Eye of Divination – for if you did, you'd be able to see that the only true way to seek your path is through that of the stars. The reason the centaurs refuse to tell us is that they are merely spectators of the art, they don't have the true ability."

Sam snapped her tomb shut and stood, making the Divination teacher jump back in a flurry of shawls and scarves, her many necklaces clinking together as the darkly dressed Casper stormed over, a polar opposite with her heavy boots and dramatical dark makeup. Harry heard Ron fail to hide a snort of laughter as Trelawney's shuffled behind one of the chintz chairs out of reach.

"Ma'am, my family has had the gift of foresight and divination for generations, and I know for a fact that star-reading should never be used for oneself. Who are you to tell me wrong?" Sam gritted out.

Trelawney looked indignant, her voice turning stern. Harry gave up trying to write down notes on his star-chart to stare at the two. Parvati and Lavender were blatantly gaping, "I shall have you know that I am a direct descendant of the great Cassandra Trelawney – one of the most renowned seers in all of Britain. I'm certain that your family could never be more gifted than mine," Trelawney finished proudly with a flick of her wrist.

Sam raised a mocking eyebrow, "Ever heard of Elphaba Manson? I'm her granddaughter."

Trelawney's face turned ashen and her bottom lip quivered before she rushed across the other side of the room, extinguishing her scented candles with a wave of her wand, "Class is over. Everyone out!" she hissed, "And remember, death always looms over us. Some closer than others."

Harry and Ron, having not even bothered unpacking most of their things for class, were one of the first to the ladder, climbing down only after Sam who had been closest to the trap door. At the foot of the ladder, Harry was surprised to find Danny Fenton leaning on a nearby wall.

Harry watched Sam storm moodily over to the tall boy, and he and Ron followed after the duo as they made their way down the spiral staircase together.

"You know, the whole 'death looms over us' thing might have been much more impressive if she hadn't used the exact same line at the end of last year," Harry said conversationally as he carelessly shoved his star-chart in his bag, "But if I'd dropped dead every time she told me I'm going to, I'd be a medical miracle."

Ron mimicked him, his parchment almost tearing with the force he stuffed it in his own bag, "You'd be some sort of extra-concentrated ghost," he chortled.

A sudden yelp distracted the two as they looked down to see a wide-eyed Danny Fenton sunk knee-deep in the staircase, Sam's wild eyes flicking back and forth between Harry and Ron as her hands hovered over her friend.

Harry frowned, "Weird. I don't remember there being a trick step here."

"Me neither," Ron shrugged.

Danny spoke up, "A-a what?"

"You don't have those at Casper?" Harry asked. At their silence he explained, "They do it all the time here – some staircases move around on you, other steps make you stuck. Hold on, we'll get you out of there."

Ron looked disgruntled at the idea of helping, but reluctantly moved to the right of Danny, Harry on his other side, and looped an arm across their shoulders. A deep cold sunk into Harry's bones when he touched Danny, making him shiver, "Whoa, you're freezing!"

Danny shared a sharp look with Sam before he muttered, "Sorry."

Pulling Danny out wasn't as difficult as most trick-step victims. There wasn't any of the usual resistance that Harry found when stuck in a staircase. Danny seemed to simply slide out of it. He awkward rubbed the back of his head, "Well, thanks for that," Danny said, "I guess I'll be seeing you around."

With a small wave the two scurried off, but before the turned around the bend, Harry thought he heard Sam hiss, "They weren't talking about you!"

The staircase was quiet as the couple disappeared from sight, "He's strange, that Fenton fellow," Ron wrinkled his nose.

"I think he's alright. Better than any of his other classmates," Harry defended.

Ron shrugged, "I guess. I just thought if I had the power to change into a sixty foot, fire-breathing dragon at will I'd have stopped that blond prat and his friends from picking on me ages ago. Or sat on Malfoy."

Harry laughed, "Maybe he just likes to keep a low-profile. I know I would."

Just then Parvati and Lavender rushed past the two, giggling to one another.

"Don't walk on that step!" Harry warned them, pointing at the one Danny had fallen into, "You'll get stuck."

"No we won't. There aren't any trick-stairs until the third landing down," Parvati said with an upturn of her nose. Obviously she was still annoyed at how they'd treated her favourite Professor. With that, she and Lavender purposefully stomped on the step and flounced off.

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Fun fact: this entire story was inspired by just one sentence Ron said in this chapter:

"You'd be a sort of extra-concentrated ghost," said Ron, chortling, as they passed the Bloody Baron going in the opposite direction, his wide eyes staring sinisterly.

And that is how this story was born.

I thought I'd rough out Sam's character a little more, she's kind of been a bit of a creepy lurker in the background a lot. Tucker's coming soon too, don't worry.

A lot of you sent in suggestions to different animagi – and many of them seemed to revolve around animals that can handle cooler temperatures, due to Danny's ice-core. I personally disagree with that as I don't feel that Danny's ice-powers represent him as a whole; it's just something he is capable of doing. Very cool concept though.

There were so many fantastic suggestions to what animals Danny could have been that I just have to list them down:

Badger (adorably fitting – I honestly feel Vlad got it in one there); Dragon; Black Eagle; Arctic Owl; Ice Phoenix (I don't believe this is actually cannon; the closest I could find to an ice bird in mythology was a Native American legend of the Pomola, a bird that resides in the mountains near the Penobscot and Abenaki tribes); Threstal; Siberian Husky; and an Alpha Wolf (which I'm guessing is just a regular wolf in a dominating role, pack-wise, even though Danny's a bit of a loner).

Someone did say that they didn't like Danny as an orca as whales are too fat, which made me laugh.

Updates are on Sunday. And you can't blame me this time for this chapter being a day late! There were 503 server issues. Ha!

Review please and thank you.