I'm back with another one! The story of an undercover ghost-powered girl in a school of wizards continues. I really hope everyone is doing okay during this covid-19 pandemic. Pretty stressful, huh. Hopefully this new chapter will provide some small comfort, or at the very least a temporary distraction in these troubling times. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom created by Butch Hartman and owned by Nickelodeon. The original Harry Potter books written by J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter movies owned by Warner Brothers studios.
Chapter 18: Scout Phantom
When Danielle wasn't attending Quidditch practice or making at least an appearance in doing homework, she was spending the remainder of her weekend exploring the castle, looking for a suitable place for Hermione and the rest of the group from the Hog's Head to safely practice defensive spells.
This turned out to be more difficult than she had anticipated. Thus far, any place big enough that Danielle had found, at least from a basic flyover, was determined on her part to be too easily discovered by anyone simply passing by. Particularly a nosy puffball like Umbridge.
Of course, it also didn't help much that Danielle had been practically desperate for a chance to explore the castle anyway. Thus, she had allowed herself far too often to get so easily distracted and fascinated by anything that may or may not potentially move on its own during her search.
With the past few nights of stealthy adventuring, investigating, and avoiding post curfew teacher patrols, the weekend came to a close much faster than Danielle thought was fair. Even to the point of oversleeping Monday morning. Thankfully, not by much, due to Danielle's natural habit of early-rising, but still enough to earn her a few raised eyebrows from some of her housemates by the time she had entered the Hufflepuff common room.
"'Bout time, sleepyhead," Susan Bones trumpeted to her. "Usually you're awake long before any of us."
"Hard time getting to sleep last night," Danielle fibbed casually with a shrug.
Just then, she realized that an abnormally large group of her fellow Hufflepuffs were surrounding the notice board. "What's going on?" she inquired quizzically.
"Take a look, Fenton," Zacharias bluntly ordered, waving her over.
Danielle obeyed, though reluctantly, considering who was issuing the command. Once she reached the notice board, though, she realized there was indeed a good reason for the crowd.
A sign had been affixed to it that was so large, it covered everything else on it. This new sign was printed in large black letters and there was a highly official-looking seal at the bottom beside a neat and curly signature that Danielle instantly grew suspicious of before even properly reading it.
By order of the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts
All student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded.
An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
Permission to reform may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge.)
No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.
Any student found to have formed, or belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four.
Signed,
Delores Jane Umbridge
High Inquisitor
Once Danielle finished reading through the new decree, she groaned, running her hand down her face. This was exactly what she had been afraid of when discovering that group in the Hog's Head during the weekend.
However, having also half-expected this sort of thing to happen, Danielle's surprise of it was quickly replaced by annoyance. Perhaps even mingled with mild amusement. Seriously? If Professor Umbridge was really so determined to catch perpetrators, such a stark message that she was on to them was certainly not a way to do it. Amateur. And could Umbridge possibly have been any more blatant in her assertion of authority by covering over the entire notice board? If this was a reflection of the level of competency the whole rest of the Ministry had back when dealing with Voldemort the first time, then it was no wonder they were now simply trying to avoid the issue altogether. These guys were absolutely hopeless.
On the other hand, considering Harry Potter had been a part of that Hog's Head group, the forwardness of the message might very well have been deliberate. It was certainly no secret that Umbridge was out to get Harry, so it was entirely possible that she was using this as another way to morally beat him down. Danielle still couldn't forget the first time she saw the bloodied words I must not tell lies carved into the back of Harry's hand.
Well, regardless of the reason for this new decree, Umbridge knowing about that secret meeting in the Hog's Head at all was still going to complicate things for that little group.
"Well…" Danielle voiced aloud. "This is going to be inconvenient."
"Tell me about it," Zacharias huffed. "I've always done my best to avoid Umbridge, but now I'm gonna have to actually go to her personally to ask permission to reform the Quidditch team if we're gonna play at all."
Danielle hadn't thought of that, remembering only at that moment that teams had also been included in the notice of being disbanded unless approved to reform by Umbridge. Come to think of it, disbanding student organizations that were probably as old as the school itself seemed rather excessive if all Umbridge wanted was to keep a Defense group from forming. Perhaps even paranoid.
"Oh, I don't think Quidditch will be so much the problem as the…er… other thing we had talked about over the weekend," Susan lowered her voice after her eyes shifted a bit at the other students present.
Danielle feigned nonchalance, having an idea of where this conversation was about to go.
Suddenly, Ernie cut into the group, beckoning Zacharias and Susan to a more secluded corner of the common room where Hannah and Justin had apparently already gathered, away from the other students who had not been present in the Hog's Head that day.
"You don't suppose this is up because of that specifically?" Ernie whispered to the group.
Called it. Danielle thought as she walked over to the sofa, pretending to be looking for something in her school bag. As Hermione was the only one who knew that Danielle had figured out what the meeting was really about, she felt it best to play innocent for now.
"But how could she have even known about it?" Hannah asked, sounding surprised.
"Who knows? Fenton showed up, didn't she?" Zacharias remarked.
Almost immediately after the mention of her name, Danielle suddenly felt several pairs of eyes on her back. Unable to resist, she turned around to find that Zacharias in particular had already been glaring in her direction.
"You got something to say to me, Smith?" Danielle challenged, stiffly closing her bookbag.
"Oh, stop it, you two," Susan intervened tiredly. "Honestly, do you both have to have a go at each other every time you make eye-contact?"
"Ask her," Zacharias accused with a deliberate look at Danielle.
Danielle folded her arms defensively in response.
In the corner of her eye, she could see the other students beginning to clear out of the common room, glancing warily between Danielle and Zacharias. Perhaps their arguments had now become so commonplace that people tended to avoid being in the same room during their heated debates. For this particular case, Danielle wasn't complaining about the result of a steadily emptying common room.
"Well…" Hannah began, glancing apprehensively between Zacharias and Danielle. "I suppose there are some things about the circumstances that are… But of course you wouldn't…right, Danielle?"
"Of course she wouldn't," Justin interjected instantly, making the people in closest proximity to him jump a little. "She's been contradicting Umbridge since her first day here. She'd be among the last to tell her."
"I'd rather hear it from Fenton," Zacharias demanded coldly, folding his arms imposingly and not taking his eyes off of Danielle.
Danielle returned the look, but after seeing the same question in Hannah's, Justin's, Susan's, and Ernie's eyes, she let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, yes. I do know about the Defense Against the Dark Arts group you guys were organizing in the Hog's Head."
Justin, Hannah, and Susan exchanged surprised looks while Zacharias took over, still with his denunciatory manner, "And how did you know about it?"
"Frankly, it was obvious, Zack," Danielle replied with another roll of her eyes.
"Your first visit ever to Hogsmeade and you just happened to walk into the one place in the whole village where an exclusive meeting was taking place?" Zacharias interrogated, skeptically.
Danielle scoffed. "Even I could tell from the outside that a dump like that couldn't possibly have been a typical hangout for students of such a well-respected school. Especially our own prefects." She indicated Hannah and Ernie, who blinked and tried to look innocent. "You think a sight like that wouldn't at least make me curious?"
Zacharias narrowed his eyes while the others behind him exchanged guilty but more thoughtful looks this time.
"Given what I was able to pick up just from a glance, to be perfectly honest, I'm really not surprised Umbridge found out," Danielle went on. "But, seeing as 'Lady Ministry' only finds reading an extremely opinionated book to qualify as "teaching", I thought a side-group for actually learning the spells was a good idea. So, no. I wasn't the one who told Umbridge, or anyone,anything."
"See, Zack?" Justin piped in triumphantly, as though Danielle's testimony was all the proof anyone needed. After another moment's pause, even Zacharias let out a reluctant sigh in agreement that Danielle's explanation made sense.
Danielle felt rather surprised and slightly confused that they trusted her enough to simply take her word for it. But also rather touched. She didn't have much chance to reflect on it before the conversation continued, however.
"Still," Susan started up again. "that leaves us with the fact that Umbridge clearly knows that meeting happened." She indicated the notice board for emphasis.
"No doubt," Justin deliberated. "You think Potter and those Gryffindors are still gonna go through with it after this?"
"Knowing that lot?" Zacharias remarked with a scoff.
"Come on, everyone." Ernie said, gesturing toward the giant barrel hole in his taking charge manner. "I'm sure they'll be in the Great Hall by now. Let's head up there and ask them what they think."
He began leading the way out of the common room when Danielle stepped in front of him, cutting him off with a baffled expression. "Talk to them in the Great Hall? Are you guys nuts?"
"Well, where else would they be for breakfast?" Ernie shrugged as though indicating the completely obvious.
Danielle slouched forward with an increasingly flabbergasted look. "So it hasn't occurred to you that those aforementioned Gryffindors won't be the only ones in the Great Hall? That there will also be certain teachers? Whom you're trying to hide this from? That will be in that exact same room? Watching from a point that overlooks the entirety of that same Great Hall?"
Ernie's originally affronted disposition at being contradicted turned to one of concern that he then shared with the others. Now it seemed to be sinking in that it would indeed look quite suspicious to Umbridge if a whole flurry of Hufflepuffs that don't normally leave their own table during mealtimes suddenly waltzed right over to the Gryffindor table to talk to Harry Potter of all people. Especially on the same morning as this new anti-student-organization decree went up.
Danielle raised a lazy eyebrow that practically said to the group 'and you wonder how Umbridge figured you out so easily?'
A few in the group shuffled their feet in embarrassment before Hannah asked shyly, "But then…how will we be able to find out what the plan is?"
This was an excellent question. Everyone took a moment to think, including Danielle. If they couldn't communicate with Harry without drawing attention to themselves, how were they going to get information regarding the secret Defense group?
Danielle idly looked towards the notice board. Most of the students in Hufflepuff house seemed to have already read or had heard about the new decree by now and had headed out of the common room for breakfast, leaving the "ne'r-do-well" fifth years quite alone in the common room now. That, or anyone else was simply not wanting to be caught in whatever the exchange student and Quidditch captain might have been arguing about, not even caring whether or not the other fifth years around them were having any success in calming them.
Danielle absentmindedly walked over to where the imposing new decree was posted, as though hoping to get some inspiration as she silently reread the words of the decree. All student Organizations, Societies, blah, blah…disbanded, blah blah blah, is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students-"
"Huh." Danielle thought aloud, tapping her chin in thought as the gears in her head began turning. The decree only applied to groups of three or more people. "Well, we may not be able to approach Harry directly, but according to this, my normal study sessions with Hermione don't require approval."
"You and Granger study together?" Susan asked curiously, coming up behind Danielle.
"We met during the summer before I came here. She's been more my tutor, really." Danielle explained matter-of-factly. "Anyway. Since it's already part of my normal routine, meeting up with her shouldn't draw suspicion. I can talk to her today and relay the message back to you guys by tonight."
"You'd do that, Fenton?" Ernie said, looking surprised by the offer.
"Just Dani is fine. Really." Danielle said with a sigh at being addressed by her last name all the time by people her own age. Was that a regular British custom?
"But…you're not even taking Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hannah put in. "You don't need to be a part of this…er…thing," she added carefully as though still worried about eavesdroppers in the common room.
Danielle shrugged dismissively. "Just because I'm not taking the OWLs doesn't mean I don't want you guys to do well on them." She mentally added that it also didn't hurt that doing so would specifically undermine Umbridge.
"Thanks, Danielle. We owe you one," Justin said with relief.
Danielle nodded and started heading towards the barrel hole to exit the common room when Zacharias's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"And you're sure we can trust you with something like this?" he asked suspiciously.
Danielle turned to face him, frowning.
"I mean, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to report to the High Inquisitor during the time you say you'll talk with one of the Gryffindors," Zacharias folded his arms again, eyeing Danielle distrustfully.
Before Danielle could say anything in response, Susan stepped in to the rescue. "Are you implying that your own teammate would want to get us all expelled? That's preposterous, Zack!"
"I'm serious!" Zacharias spat at Susan before turning back to Danielle. "You weren't one of the ones that signed that parchment to agree not tell Umbridge about what we were up to. What is keeping you from selling us out?"
Danielle rolled her eyes again. "I might not get along with you, Zack, but that doesn't mean I'd go as far as deliberately getting everyone expelled. After all, who else am I going to keep winning arguments with?" She added with a sly smile.
Justin and Susan snorted with laughter while Zacharias growled for a straight answer to his question.
With a sigh, Danielle held up her hands in defense. "Look. If I was going to turn you in, you would have been in Umbridge's office days ago, getting grilled for it. Not that she could really do anything about it anyway," she finished with another shrug.
"Er… How's that?" Ernie asked confused.
Zacharias was still glaring.
"The Hog's Head meeting happened two days ago. This new rule was only put into effect today." Danielle indicated the notice board.
"Sooooooo….?" Hannah pressed, looking lost.
Danielle smiled knowingly. "Sooooooo, you can't expel someone for breaking a rule that was never there to break in the first place. Right?"
Zacharias and the others exchanged looks at this. Based on the mischievous grins that slowly started stretching across some of their faces, Danielle could tell that they had caught on to what she was hinting at. The new rule could only apply to them if their meeting in the Hog's Head had happened after it was enacted. However, since the meeting took place before the rule was made, by all rights, no one participating in that meeting had technically done anything wrong and therefore couldn't be convicted for it.
"See?" Danielle concluded to Zacharias specifically. "Umbridge has nothing to pin you down for, even if I did tell her. So, I think during the time it takes for me to report back from Hermione, you're safe either way."
Zacharias grunted, looking off to the side and fold his arms tightly with a huff.
"And another win on wits for Danielle, it seems," Justin teased. Which earned him a roll of the eyes from Zacharais.
"I'll see you later, team captain," Danielle playfully saluted as she turned and skipped to the barrel hole.
000000
That afternoon, as planned, Danielle and Hermione were sitting in their usual study spot with their History of Magic books and notes sprawled out in front of them, glancing at scrolls and leafing through pages once in a while, but not at all discussing their homework on the subject. Apparently Hermione had been just as eager to discuss details of the Defense Against the Dark Arts group as Danielle had been.
"So you're sure that new decree isn't up because of one of them?" Danielle asked quietly, once the subject of how the information had possibly leaked to Umbridge had come around. Hermione had told her with assurance that she had a way to prevent a sellout from the inside, but Danielle thought it wouldn't hurt to just be sure.
"No signs have pointed to anyone that was on the list so far," Hermione replied with a shake of her head. "And even if they did, I'm quite certain they'll wish they hadn't."
In noticing a rather crafty look on Hermione's face as she said this, Danielle gave her a curious look, pressing for details.
After her eyes shifted around for potential eavesdroppers, Hermione leaned in closer, lowering her voice and grinning as though about to share a particularly juicy bit of gossip. "I put a jinx on the piece of parchment that we all signed. If anyone on it starts telling Umbridge, let's just say it will literally be written all over their faces."
Hermione pulled away, looking quite mischievous as she picked up some pieces of parchment. Probably more for camouflage than actual study.
Danielle blinked and stared at the sudden abrupt end to the explanation, feeling rather confused. It felt to her like there wasn't all that much shared despite Hermione's obvious satisfaction with herself.
A moment of silence followed in which Danielle straightened herself up in thought.
"So… Disfigurement?" she asked, blankly. "Literal disfigurement?"
Hermione nodded proudly, still looking at her work. "That's right."
"That's it?"
Danielle's somewhat angered tone made Hermione glance at her. The smile on her face vanishing.
"Disfigurement after they've already spilled the beans?" Danielle exclaimed, barely containing her voice from complete outburst in her own disbelief. "That's your preventative strategy? Seriously?"
Hermione blinked, looking shocked. "Well…I thought-"
"Hermione, it's still the same result!" Danielle fumed quietly, burying her face in her hands. First Hermione's choice of meeting places, and now such minimal security measures against a Ministry veteran? Wasn't she supposed to be exceptionally bright for her age? "You may as well have just handed that list straight to Umbridge! She would still know by that point and you'd all still get busted!"
"But-"
"You honestly think a makeover after the fact is going to keep people from stabbing you in the back?"
"Well, I can't revise the contract now that it's already been signed," Hermione quickly interjected defensively before Danielle could lecture any further. "And even if I could, what do you expect me to do? Keep them from making the choice altogether? A method like that would be nothing short of the Imperiouse Curse."
"What are you talking about?" Danielle asked lazily, unsure of the relevance to the situation.
"It's one of the three Unforgivibles. The ones punishable by a lifetime in Azkaban?" When Danielle just raised her eyebrow at this, it was Hermione's turn to be frustrated. "You should have come across it at least once in your reading this summer."
Danielle stared off and whizzed through her memory. Perhaps not from the reading but she thought she did recall Dumbledore mentioning such a curse before. Though he never specified its purpose. "It was a lot of reading, in case you hadn't noticed." Danielle shrugged, though still with a challenging look, wondering how it had anything to do with Hermione's latest show of carelessness.
"Well," Hermione began in a rather put-off manner. "Impirius is the curse which allows the caster to manipulate people against their will."
Danielle paused. "So, like…mind control?"
"Complete control of another person," Hermione specified quietly, but forcefully. "With or without the victim's consent. And something I will not resort to in this case, even if it is for a good cause." Then, as though to mark the end of the discussion and finalizing her stance on the matter, Hermione snapped her attention to a piece of parchment she very intently focused on writing on with a huff.
Whether or not what she was writing was actually for her homework or just scribbles for the sake of camouflage was beside the point to Danielle now, as she suddenly felt too aghast to respond. At first, Danielle thought to follow Hermione's lead in pretending to study, though she couldn't keep her mind from sinking into thoughts of another nature entirely.
She remembered her cousin telling her about having been mind-controlled before. He said he couldn't remember it very clearly, but it didn't keep away how violating and impressionable the feelings of the experience had been. He had been forced to commit crimes he would never have dreamed of doing otherwise. Even endangering his own friends while under its influence.
His and Danielle's overshadowing ability worked the same way, yes, but they usually avoided using it if they could. Certainly never with the intention of harming anyone. It only hit Danielle just now that there were many other ways to turn someone against their own will without using such techniques. Any of which would be considered just as immoral. Even inhumane. Umbridge's idea of 'detention' certainly already fit that category
The whole point of this secret Defense group was to get away from how that old hag was running things. Not to start enforcing them the way she would. True, Hermione's cautionary measures weren't the way Danielle would have handled it, but at this point, it was certainly no excuse to try to force something onto anyone they never agreed to.
"I'm…sorry." Danielle eventually said to Hermione, finally breaking the silence between them. "I…I didn't mean to imply for you to…" she lost the last of her sentence as though fearing to even mention the idea of mind-control.
Hermione sighed heavily. "It's quite alright," she said quietly, pausing in her writing. "And… I appreciate your advice on this matter, Danielle. I do. You're right, I really shouldn't have been so hasty in just inviting anyone who seemed interested in learning. And now… with this new decree over our heads…" She put down her quill and wearily sat back in her chair, rubbing her face as though discontented with herself.
"So…you think you shouldn't do it anymore?" Danielle asked slowly.
"No, no. Harry, Ron and I have already decided that we were doing it anyway," Hermione answered offhandedly, folding her arms in thought. "Many in Gryffindor still think we should. I suppose we'll just…have to be more careful about it from now on. Which means we'll need a secure place to practice now more than ever." She finished, giving Danielle a serious look.
"Right." Danielle nodded knowingly.
"Any progress on that, by the way?"
Danielle shook her head. "I didn't really find much last night, but I plan to do a more thorough sweep tonight. You've been here longer than I have though. I don't suppose you have any ideas on where I could look first to make it easier?"
"Hmm." Hermione looked up in thought. "Well… I could write down a list of general requirements for you so you can at least narrow down your search."
"That could help. Thanks."
000000
As all there was to say was that the secret defense club was still happening and merely to keep a lookout for suitable places to practice for the time being, it didn't take long for Danielle to get the word back to the involved Hufflepuffs back in the common room when classes had adjourned for the day. (Hermione said that Ron's sister, Ginny had been dating someone from Ravenclaw, so she would get the message to them through him.)
Once everyone had gone to bed for the night, Danielle was at it again with searching the castle, this time with more focus on finding a particular place and armed with the list of requirements Hermione had written down.
1. Can fit twenty-eight people
2. Safe to practice defensive spells
3. Shields lots of noise.
4. Preferably not well known. Even by staff.
5. Hard for outsiders to find.
As the night dragged on however, Danielle was beginning to wonder if such a place that fit all these requirements could actually be found, even in the Wizarding World. Let alone within the boundaries of one castle, even as big as Hogwarts. In fact, Danielle wasn't sure how the castle could suddenly seem so much bigger and yet so much smaller at the same time. There were just so many possibilities with secret doors and passageways even with an ability to fly through thick stone walls. On the other hand, with how limited a selection Danielle felt there was here in regards to something as specific as what the Hog's Head group required, she wondered if she'd have better luck if her range to search included structures outside of the Hogwarts grounds.
It had to have been near midnight when Danielle found herself perched on the roof of the highest tower of the castle, staring up at the cloudy night sky, trying to think. Any of the places she had found that were big enough and off the beaten path of either student or staff seemed to have some form of danger about it, or otherwise some inconvenient complication that would only make it difficult for Hermione's little group.
The Forbidden Forest was too well known of and already specifically off-limits to students because of all the dangers that lurked there. Plus it was too easy to be spotted crossing the grounds to get to the forest by anyone who happened to be looking out a window from the castle.
There was a trapdoor in the third floor corridor that seemed to house a long shaft that led straight down to a Devil Snare: A giant predatory plant that was known to strangle the life out of anyone or anything that violated its personal space; or so Danielle had learned in Herbology. Plus, the only way to get out through the trap door would be by flight, and not all of the students were Quidditch players and therefore wouldn't all have their own broomsticks. Even if there were enough broomsticks among the group to share for it, that was not including the fact that any suspected offhand Quidditch club that wasn't even taking place outside would be just as illegal as a Defense group. Danielle could already imagine the confused looks in seeing the number of Hufflepuff students, whose common room was in the basement, taking their broomsticks up the stairs, passed the entrance hall doors, rather than outside towards the Quidditch pitch.
Another possibility Danielle managed to find was a huge underground chamber with an overall serpentine theme in the architecture. However, apart from being just plain creepy, Danielle had caught signs of past cave-ins down there. Also, oddly enough, the only entrance into this chamber that she could find was through a girl's bathroom that a ghost named Myrtle liked to haunt: An entrance that additionally could only be opened with a special language that wasn't commonly known. Myrtle said it was called parsletongue. Even taking time to make sure everyone knew a password in a weird language, there was no way the number of boys in Hermione's group going in and out of a girls out-of-order lavatory wasn't going to draw suspicion of one type or another before long.
The next option was a narrow tunnel Danielle had found beneath the surface of the grounds that ended up leading to an old shack that was all the way in Hogsmeade. However, the shack was too small and looked far too unstable for almost thirty people to practice potentially wild spells. Further, Danielle had discovered that the Hogwarts entrance to the tunnel was covered over by a huge, extremely violent tree that would surely get someone injured before the study group even started training sessions.
While there were situations where 'learning on the job" was agreeably prudent, Danielle strongly felt that simply trying to set foot into the designated meeting place was a bit extreme for practicing Defense Against the Dark Arts. How Umbridge could possibly say with a straight face that there was nothing to worry about with such unforgiving dangers right inside the same school she was teaching at was beyond Danielle's comprehension.
Danielle let out a heavy sigh, feeling hopeless, and a bit apprehensive. Many of the problems these locations had could easily be bypassed with a touch of spectral energy added in. For example, Danielle could simply Go Ghost and fly all the students down the trap door on the third floor and out again when the training sessions were done. Even without having to completely reveal her alter ego, just a bit of invisibility in getting students to a destination like the Forbidden Forest undiscovered would certainly come in handy as well. A brief moment or two of intangibility could easily bypass some of the more complicated entrances like the whomping willow or password-protected bathroom sink. Provided of course that absolutely none of the twenty-something students would freak out at Danielle having highly unusual powers and spread the word, intentionally or not.
Danielle sighed. Those seemed like pretty long odds. Especially as Hermione wasn't exactly careful about the kind of people that had been invited to that initial meeting to begin with. Still… if it was a matter of just getting in and out of an otherwise perfect meeting place, was admitting she was a little weird to a handful of students worth making sure they learned to defend themselves from the secretly growing threat outside their school?
CRASH!
Danielle momentarily lost control of her limbs as they flailed about before she bolted upright at a loud disturbance, half expecting to hear her Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack crying out, GHOST! Instead, a maniacal cackle that directly followed clued the teen hybrid into exactly who was interrupting her thoughts at this critical time.
Growling and clenching her fists in aggravation, Danielle dove intangibly through the roof she was sitting on, furiously following the metallic-sounding noises toward the source of the disturbance.
"PEEVES!" She shouted angrily as soon as she had flown through the wall of the trophy room where Peeves was vandalizing the awards.
Peeves froze in the middle of dropping a particularly large trophy that hit the stone floor with a loud clang.
"Ah! Your…your Phantomness?" Peeves stuttered sheepishly, hovering on the spot and obviously trying to look innocent among the clearly visible wreckage. "Er…out for a midnight stroll are we? Lovely evening, isn't it-"
"Forget the hundreds of people that are trying to sleep in this castle," Danielle snapped, feeling nettled just at the sound of the poltergeist's voice. "Some of us are using their inability to do that to try and think!" As though to emphasize her point, Danielle allowed her own tension and anger to manifest itself in the way of flames that lit up her very being. "So if-you wouldn't-mind!"
"I'll leave now, Miss Phantom!" Peeves said instantly and bolted from the room with an audible whimper.
Letting out a groan, Danielle took in a slow, cooling breath that extinguished the flames she was engulfed in. Now that that was over-
"Well now."
Danielle quickly spun around towards the unexpected voice behind her.
The pearly white, slightly transparent figure of Nearly Headless Nick was hovering a few paces in front of the Bloody Baron, the Slytherine house ghost. Both seemed to have just entered through the wall.
"It would seem that your fearsome reputation now has some competition, Baron." Nick said with a playful smile. "Not that I would expect any less from a relation of the Great Phantom."
Right. Danielle thought to herself. I guess Professor Binns would have spread the word about me by now. She sighed inwardly. And just in time to have an audience while she was at her worst. How much had the two of them just witnessed?
She carefully eyed the Bloody Baron when he huffed indignantly. "Shouldn't you be in bed, young Hufflepuff?"
Before Danielle could think of how to respond to this, yet another Hogwarts ghost floated through the wall. A young lady with a long flowing dress and hair to match. Danielle suspected this was another house ghost, the Grey Lady.
"Oh, don't mind him, Miss Phantom," She told Danielle dismissively. "he's just miffed about his thunder being stolen."
Surprised, Danielle just shrugged. "I'm…just appreciating a moonlit stroll like any other ghost would."
The Bloody Baron raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Then you're not concerned that someone might report a rogue Hufflepuff student out of bed, stargazing on the roof of the topmost tower in this weather?" he remarked with a hint of warning in his voice.
Danielle scoffed unconcerned by the mild threat. "What are the chances they'd believe a rogue Hufflepuff managed to get on the roof of the topmost tower? Unseen. Without a broomstick. Or a wand. Looking like this." She posed dramatically in presentation of the fact that she looked nothing like a current Hogwarts student in her very non-wizardlike apparel and inverted coloring of her Phantom form.
The Gray Lady chuckled at this. "Let alone would even bother to in this current weather. Well played, young Phantom. Well played."
The Bloody Baron let out another huff, but after a pause seemed more thoughtful. "Yes…she is rather quick-witted. Perhaps she should have been in Slytherine."
To this, the Gray Lady let out a scoff. "Begging your pardon, milord, but it's not as though Slytherines are the ones known for being quick-witted."
Obviously making a show of maintaining his composure, the Bloody Baron turned proudly towards the Gray Lady. "With respect, milady, your mother's house may have the reputation for it, but that doesn't mean Ravenclaw are the only individuals worth the acknowledgement of being clever."
Danielle rolled her eyes. Not this again. Funny how everyone seems to think I belong everywhere else except where I already am." She complained to herself.
Before the ghosts could continue the debate, she floated up through the ceiling to go back outside and find the perch she had been sitting on before Peeves's uproar.
As Danielle re-positioned herself on the rooftop, her feet dangling over the edge, she couldn't stop thinking about the conversation between the two ghosts about the different Hogwarts houses. Why did it have to be such a big deal which house she was in? It's not like a student's placement within them really meant much anyway. After all, Hermione was top of her entire year, and she wasn't in Ravenclaw. Neville's knack for Herbology made him an ideal candidate for Hufflepuff. Zacharias Smith's ambition and attitude, (especially when it came to Quidditch) could certainly rival several Slytherines. Danielle was definitely not the only student around here that could have easily fit the stereotypical mold of another house.
Besides. She had asked to be in Hufflepuff. She still remembered specifically telling the Sorting Hat that she wanted to be in a place where she could be as unassuming as possible. Hufflepuff just happened to fit that requirement. True, some of her actions had earned her some unnecessary and unwanted attention, but by the end of the day, the fact that she was a Hufflepuff seemed to get people to subconsciously dismiss her from under the radar. It was good for her continued work as a spy. She was getting rather sick of all the people who kept saying that she didn't belong where she was already satisfied to be.
"Ah, here you are."
Danielle turned toward her newest source of disturbance with a sigh, not surprised to find that it was Nearly Headless Nick again. But this time, for some reason, he was accompanied by the Fat Friar.
"I do beg your pardon for those two back there, Miss Phantom." Nearly Headless Nick apologized. "They have a very lengthy history that extends back to even when they were still living that they apparently felt the need to carry over into the afterlife."
Just wishing she could be left alone for long enough to sort out her own thoughts tonight, Danielle tried to dismiss it. "Just Danielle is fine. Or Dani. With an I."
"Aha. That explains some of the confused rumors." Nick commented with a knowing smile. "It is an honor to meet you, Miss Danielle Phantom."
"Um…" Meet her? Danielle had already been greeted by Nick during the Entrance ceremony at the start of the year.
"I understand that we've already been introduced in the Great Hall upon your arrival here, but it's still a pleasure to get to know the heroic side of you as well," Nick explained, apparently having read her confusion.
Danielle looked off in the distance, propping her face in one hand. "Yeah, I seem to be a real bundle of help around here lately," she mumbled glumly. So far, her work as a spy for Dumbledore didn't seem to be amounting to much against a power-creeping Ministry. And she was certainly not being much help to the secret defense group right now either.
"Oh, don't mind the Bloody Baron, Miss Danielle," Nick put in, seeming to assume that Danielle's gloominess had more to do with the more immediate situation. "It's quite trivial, really. It's just common knowledge around here that he is the only one that can actually control Peeves at all. You simply beat him to the punch this time."
"And he does hate to lose," The Fat Friar chuckled with a small shake of his balding head.
Danielle just sighed heavily, deciding to just roll with the conversation. "Well, sorry, I was just…" she paused suddenly. "well…"
"Trying to think, I take it?" Nick suggested helpfully with a deliberate grin.
Danielle let out a nervous laugh, looking away. So they had heard her lose her temper at Peeves. Or at least, Nick had.
"It must be something quite grueling for such thoughts to have forced you out of bed to wander about the castle against regulations, ghost or otherwise." The Fat Friar commented.
Danielle didn't answer. She resorted to staring down at her feet that were now swinging slightly as they dangled over the edge of the turret roof she sat on.
Silence followed for a moment in which Danielle was certain both Nick and the Friar were giving her prodding looks behind her back that she dared not turn and look at in fear it would prompt her to tell them about her personal well-being.
Another moment later, the Fat Friar, followed by Nearly Headless Nick unexpectedly floated within her sight, nearly startling her. They stopped to face her squarely, hovering on the spot in front of her, as though the ground weren't really so far beneath them.
Back home, most of the people who would think to console Danielle didn't have the ability to float fifty feet in the air. Guess there was no escaping a face-to-face here after all.
"Miss Phantom, if I may," the Fat Friar began kindly, "many of the ghosts taking residence here at Hogwarts have been around for centuries and therefore would have much in the way of wisdom to offer to students who would ask. So… if there is anything we can assist you with, we'd certainly be happy to. Even if merely a sympathetic ear is what is sought."
"I…um..." Danielle found herself at a loss. The Fat Friar may have been the Hufflepuff house ghost, but she didn't feel like she had interacted with him all that much since she had arrived in Hogwarts. Yet here he was, offering her advice like an old friend. Was he always like this with the other students, or just her because of her ghostly reputation? Either way, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to feel grateful for his offer, or just awkward.
She looked toward Nick, who gave her a soft, encouraging smile, tilting his head to the side slightly-until it suddenly flopped off his neck from leaning too far, before he righted it again, looking like nothing had happened. Either way, looking between the two ghosts, they both seemed to be rather eager to help in one way or another and could definitely tell that something was on her mind.
Having a feeling that they probably wouldn't leave her alone otherwise anyway, Danielle sighed in defeat. Probably still a good idea to be careful in how much she divulged though.
"Well…" Danielle began thoughtfully. "I don't suppose either of you would know of an out-of-the-way space in the castle with enough room to practice some…combat moves?"
"Ah, the whole 'low profile' ordeal?" The Fat Friar said with realization and winking at her knowingly. "I see."
Nick nodded in agreement-then straightened his head again afterwards. "Hm. Yes, I imagine there's not much around here that allows you the chance to sharpen your personal set of skills. Quite especially with that…Umbridge woman lurking about."
"No kidding." Danielle replied bluntly at the mention of the so-called teacher. "But the thing is, I'd like it also to be a place I can access without having to use my powers.
Nick and the Friar looked at each other, confused.
"I try not to get in the habit of being completely reliant on them all the time," Danielle explained. "I'd like to have that backdoor option in case something happened."
"Aah," The Fat Friar nodded slowly in understanding. "And that's what the dilemma is, isn't it."
Danielle groaned loudly, laying backwards and sprawling herself across the roof. "I've been looking through this entire castle all night and haven't found any place big enough that's also secluded with that option." She said exasperatedly. Then she lifted her head, looking hopefully at the two ghosts. "You veterans to the area have any ideas?"
Nick and the Friar took a moment to think. The looks on their faces weren't exactly encouraging to Danielle.
"That is a rather difficult one, especially considering this backdoor option you wish to have included," said Nick. "I'm not sure I know of a place within the school grounds." He looked to the Friar as though asking his opinion.
"Nor I," the Friar commented with a sad shrug and shake of his head. "So Sorry, Miss Danielle."
Danielle sighed, letting her head rest back on the roof, closing her eyes, as though in defeat. Guess it was too much to hope for.
"However, have you by chance consulted the house elves?" The Friar asked.
Danielle's eyes suddenly snapped open. She perked up, looking at him.
"The house elves?" She repeated, remembering the big-eared creatures working in the kitchens back when Justin had shown her the way to them. "Would they know?"
The Fat Friar shrugged with a it's possible look. "Well, it has been their duty to perform various tasks all across the school and its grounds for generations," he said, matter-of-factly. "If anyone around here has had as much opportunity to come across secret nooks and crannies in this castle, they would have."
"Yes, true." Nick agreed thoughtfully. "I'd certainly say it would be worth the trip to the kitchens."
"Huh." Danielle felt a pang of hope rise within her as she sat herself up, unable to stop a slight grin from crossing her face. "You know, maybe I will. But…maybe keep this just between us?"
"Oh, of course, Miss Phantom." Nick said instantly with a slight bow.
"Mum's the word." The Friar piped in happily. "I do hope you find what you're looking for."
So do I. Danielle thought to herself, trying not to get her hopes up too much, but feeling excited all the same at finally having a proper lead. "Thanks for the tip," she called gratefully as she turned intangible, tucked her knees towards her chest and rolled backward, allowing herself to fall through the roof to the inside of the castle.
"You're quite welcome, Miss Phantom," she heard Nick and the Friar call happily back after her.
Danielle flew intangibility through the castle floors, all the way down to the basement, landing in front of the giant fruit bowl painting. After looking around to make sure she was alone in the corridor, she reverted to her human form. Unlike the Hogwarts ghosts, the house elves didn't know about her alter ego. At least that she knew of.
She tickled the pear in the painting, but just as she reached for the door-handle it turned into, Danielle suddenly began to wonder whether or not presenting herself in Hogwarts Student form in front of the house elves was a good idea. Would they tell the rest of the castle staff that a student had been out and about well after hours? Or was that option still better than a complete stranger skulking the castle at night, asking about secret hiding places within it?
Deciding to stay in human form, Danielle pulled the painting open and stepped up into the passage to the kitchens. As what happened with Justin, no sooner had she closed the painting behind her than she was almost instantly swarmed by helpful little house elves, coming to greet her, despite the late hour.
"Good evening, miss!" said one
"Trouble sleeping, miss?" said another.
"We can provide a soothing herbal tea to help, miss." A third quickly offered.
Danielle did rather like that idea, but decided to tuck the thought away for future reference. It wasn't sleep she desired. Not at the moment.
"So…you're not gonna scold me for being out of bed like this?"
"Scold, miss?" One house elf gasped.
"Heaven forbid, miss!" another cried covering his mouth.
"To show such disrespect to any we serve, miss…" another whispered, sounding horrified at the very thought.
"Unthinkable, miss!"
"Then, you wont report me being here at this time to a teacher or something?" Danielle clarified uncertainly.
"It is our duty to serve. Not to question, miss," one elf piped in, insistently.
"Well…okay then…um…" Danielle wasn't sure how to feel about all the doting, but she shook off her uncertainty, remembering why she was here. "Anyway, can I ask you guys something?"
"Anything, miss."
Danielle knelt down, which seemed to astound the elves that she would descend to their level. Trying to ignore this, and still wondering how good the elves were at keeping secrets, she cleared her throat to begin. The elves closing in on her, eager to hear her request.
"See…I've, uh…been looking for a place to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts. In secret, mind. I was wondering if… maybe you guys might know of somewhere in the castle that can help with-"
Suddenly she heard the painting door opening behind her and her heart skipped a beat. She almost turned invisible, but remembered the house elves were watching, so she impulsively bolted to her feet, spinning around, only to receive a sudden blast of screaming sounds in her face that made her cry out and stagger backwards, nearly tripping over some frightened elves.
Danielle just managed to keep herself balanced and looked up to find two tall redheaded boys backed flat against the doorway, one almost on top of the other. A tense few seconds passed in which she, Fred and George stared wide-eyed at each other in stiff silence before breathing a huge, collected sigh of relief.
"Merlin's beard, Danielle!" George heaved with a hand over his chest. "You nearly gave us a heart-attack!"
"You're one to talk!" Danielle exclaimed, feeling her heart pounding still. "I thought you might have been a teacher on patrol coming in for a midnight snack or something."
"Well what are you doing in here, if not to raid the pantry?" Fred questioned, sounding almost accusatory after pushing George away from him, as he had been backed flat against the wall from the three of them scaring each other.
"Um…" Danielle stammered trying to think of an explanation, when she suddenly felt a slight tug on her robes that made her look down.
"Dobby knows just the place, miss!" It was the clothed house elf Danielle had spotted in the back the last time she had been here. Only he seemed to have collected several more hats to stack on his head since then. This time, he was close enough for Danielle to notice that he also had on several layers of oversized socks on his little feet and hand-knit scarves, long enough to trip him up if he hadn't wrapped them so many times around his neck.
"Huh?" Danielle's mind was still recovering from the three-way fright with Fred and George, leaving her completely lost as to what the elf named Dobby was getting at.
"What place?" Fred and George asked in unison, glancing at each other in just as much confusion.
"It is known by us house-elves as the Come and Go Room, miss." Dobby continued excitedly, seeming completely oblivious to the overall befuddlement of the students. "Or else as the Room of Requirement."
"Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not," another elf piped in eagerly.
"But when it appears, it is always equipped with the Seeker's needs."
"Dobby has used it, Miss! Many times!" Dobby pronounced proudly.
Danielle felt her mind suddenly snap back to reality in time for realization to kick in that they were answering her question about the secret meeting place she had been looking for. Boy, these guys didn't miss a beat, even after an unexpected scream-fest between students right in front of them.
"Hold on a minute…" Fred stepped forward, also reminding Danielle of his and George's presence. "This room wouldn't happen to be somewhere on the seventh floor, would it?"
"Why, yes indeed, sir," a house elf confirmed.
"Blimey…" George whispered, realization seeming to dawn on him. "Fred, you don't think it's that room where…"
"Yeah, I think you're right," Fred nodded, sounding in awe. "Only we've never been able to find it again after that, have we?"
"T'is true for many, sir," one of the elves commented.
"Only a very few people even knows about it because they happens to stumbles across it when they needs it, but never finds it again, sir." said another.
"But it's always there waiting to be called into service, sir."
000000
A few minutes and a quick snack later that she simply could not turn down from the house elves, Danielle found herself making her way up to the seventh floor where they said this Room of Requirement was. The room sounded almost too good to be true for all the long hours Danielle had spent looking for such a place. She just had to go and see it herself, despite the late hour, if only to prove it was actually real. The elves had offered to apperate her directly to it to save her some time, but Danielle thought it better to get there on foot. She knew she'd remember the way there better if she found it herself. Though she would have preferred not having the company.
"You didn't have to come with me, you know," Danielle told Fred and George, feeling somewhat annoyed, "I may be new around here, but I can still count to seven."
"Nonsense," George retorted, waving a dismissive hand. "We can't allow a fellow troublemaker to risk getting caught wandering about after hours with us around."
"Besides," Fred added. "If this room is really what the house elves say it is, it might be just what we're looking for for something of our own."
Danielle knew they were talking about the Defense club they were forming with Hermione, which was ironically what she was looking for the room for in the first place. But as far as the twins knew, Danielle wasn't supposed to know about it, so she kept quiet.
"Yeah," George continued. "Just wish we had thought to ask the house elves about it ourselves."
"So you guys venture into the kitchens often this late at night?" Danielle inquired.
"Well, not just late at night," George replied.
"Pretty much whenever we feel like a party," Fred said with a shrug.
"Or just hungry."
"Can't brainstorm on an empty stomach, you know."
"Brainstorm, huh?" Danielle commented, thoughtfully.
Fred smirked, proudly. "Yeah, it's basically common knowledge in our house that we want to start our own joke shop."
Danielle nodded, intrigued, but also unsurprised.
"Though we don't often see other students in the kitchens when we're looking for brain food." George eyed Danielle with mock suspicion. "What were you doing in there, anyway?"
Danielle smirked with a raised eyebrow at George. "It's basically common knowledge in my house how to get into the kitchens, since our common room is just down the hall from them anyway."
"Oh, right…" George said thoughtfully, rubbing the back of his neck as though embarrassed that he should have known such a simple fact. "I suppose it would be."
"So what's your excuse?" Danielle asked, eyeing them both in her own mock suspicion. "You sure came a long way from your common room not to get caught by Filch just for a midnight snack."
Fred and George exchanged mischievous grins.
"Oh…we know a few ways of getting around the castle without running into authority figures," Fred said slyly, running his hand along the edge of a tapestry on the wall they were passing before pulling it aside to reveal a hidden passage Danielle never knew was there.
After getting over her initial surprise, she glanced between the Weasley twins, who looked rather smug at their own brilliance.
Danielle scoffed amusingly with a shake of her head. "Knowing you two, I'm somehow not surprised," she told them, giving them both knowing looks.
In response, Fred gave a dramatically chivalrous bow, gesturing for Danielle to enter the passage first, which she did after she gave her own dramatic bow that was an almost perfect imitation of Fred's, which made George let out a snort.
As Danielle stepped into the passage, running her hand along the inner stone wall, she wondered how on Earth she had not come across it before in all the time she had been exploring the last few nights. Or perhaps she had and just didn't remember? In focusing so much on finding a much bigger place than this, maybe she simply didn't bother heeding it. Not that it mattered anyway with her ability to pass through walls in the first place, but it was probably still something to keep in mind when there were people around and she was wanting to keep her powers under wraps. It also made her wonder if things like this might be easier to find by simply exploring the castle as a human, rather than using her powers to try to take in everything at once.
"Are there other hidden passageways like this?" Danielle asked the twins curiously, once they had reached the other side of the passage from behind another tapestry.
"Oh, several," Fred said certainly.
"Yeah, we pretty much know this castle like the backs of our hands," George put in.
"Not to mention are quite familiar with the teachers' patrol routes."
Danielle blinked. Knowing the layout of the castle by heart was one thing, but also patrol routes? She had only known full-on criminals that went to that kind of trouble.
"Just how often have you guys snuck out at night?" she asked, faltering slightly.
Fred and George suddenly stopped, looking like they thought perhaps they had said too much…or…wait. Was it more because of the sudden disturbance Danielle just realized was coming from around the corner to the next hall?
"Not often enough to take into account a few wildcards, apparently," Fred whispered urgently.
Danielle felt her heart-rate speeding up as all three froze in the corridor as though wanting to ask each other what they should do when Mrs. Norris, Filch's pet cat, suddenly came tearing around the corner, letting out a terrified screech of a meow. Then she slowed to a halt directly in front of them, staring at them all with those suspicious, yellow eyes.
Fred, George and Danielle looked horrified at one another, remembering another piece of common knowledge in Hogwarts: Wherever Mrs. Norris was, her master was never far behind.
"Run," they all said quickly in unison before bolting in the opposite direction. As the did so, they heard an unmistakable Peeves cackle (which explained what had previously scared Mrs. Norris) followed quickly by a furiously cursing Filch, fast approaching behind them.
"Quick! In here!" Fred exclaimed, stopping at a door to an empty classroom. Without even bothering to see if it was locked first, he hurriedly pulled out his wand and incanted, "Alohamorah."
The lock gave a satisfying click before Fred pulled the door open, ducking inside the darkened classroom. His twin and Danielle quickly followed and they snapped the door closed behind them, plunging them into almost complete darkness, save for streams of pale moonlight coming from the windows and the strip of flickering torchlight in the corridor coming from under the door.
"We'll have to stay in here and hope they just pass by," Fred whispered to the others, sounding out of breath as he backed slowly from the door with quiet footsteps.
There was a sharp intake of breath from George when a shadow fell over the strip of light from under the door, accompanied by a few scratching noises and a meow.
Danielle let out a barely audible growl in irritation. Seriously? Even after being scared half to death by a maniac like Peeves, the cat still remembers to tattle on any student she could to her precious Filch?
Before Danielle or the Weasley twins could caution very far from the door to hide further in the classroom, they heard Peeves letting out his signature cackle from right outside the door.
"Gotcha, kitty!" the poltergeist cried triumphantly before the classroom door suddenly burst open, temporarily blinding Danielle with the light flooding in from the corridor-and an unexpected splash of water in her face.
Danielle spluttered and coughed from some of the water getting in her mouth and quickly used the end of her sleeves to wipe it away from her eyes, hearing Fred and George cry out in protest on either side of her, apparently from also getting splashed. Once Danielle managed to blink her vision clear, she saw that the water had come from a sopping wet mop that Peeves was madly swinging around, trying to whack Mrs. Norris as she dashed around the classroom, somehow being nimble enough to avoid the poltergeist's repeated strikes. Unless his goal was simply to get the cat wet rather than actually hitting her with the mop.
Either way, it wasn't long before Mrs. Norris was chased almost directly into the trio, at which moment, Peeves stopped in his midair tracks in noticing them.
"Ooh, naughty kiddies out of bed, is it?" Peeves cackled gleefully, rotating himself to hang upside down in midair. "And the redheaded prankster twins, no less."
Just then, Danielle and the others, including upside-down Peeves, turned their heads in hearing Filch's voice still cursing after the poltergeist, quickly closing in on their position.
Peeves turned back to them with an evil glint in his eye, cackling again as he mischievously rubbed his hands together with the mop handle still between them. This caused the mop to pinwheel some extra splashes of slightly dirty water onto all of their robes. Fred and George grunted in protest, using their arms to shield their faces from the wet onslaught.
"Hee hee hee. Ooh, I wonder what old Filch'll think, when he sees you two troublemakers being such a bad influence on this poor impressionable little…" He trailed off and his eyes popped in horror in realizing that the the significantly shorter student standing between the twins was a very wet and very angry-looking, ghost-powered Danielle. Who's mood only got worse when Mrs. Norris came up beside her, hissing menacingly at all four of them, looking quite dry compared to the three students.
"Your…your Phantomness! I…I didn't mean…" Peeves tried to explain in a panic, righting himself to bob closer to Danielle's narrowed eye-level. That's when Danielle stepped up in front of Fred and George and snatched the mop out of his now trembling hands.
"You missed," Danielle teethed menacingly at Peeves. Then, with a quick jerk of her hands, she stiffly extended the wet end of the mop above Mrs, Norris and sent some intangibility through it, making whatever water was left in the mop to drain out in a rush that fell right on top the cat, thoroughly soaking her before she scurried off with an indignant meow.
In hearing hurried, uneven footsteps just out in the corridor, Danielle was reminded that Filch was nearly upon them now. Danielle looked at the wide-open door, then toward Fred and George, who were desperately looking around, then, making a snap decision, Danielle growled in frustration, throwing the mop aside.
"Well, I hope you've had fun tonight, Peeves," the ghost girl seethed, pointing an accusatory finger at the cringing Poltergeist. "Because you've officially earned an overnight stay in the Fenton Thermos for this."
With that, she spun around, grabbing the front of a surprised Fred and George's robes with one hand each, closed her eyes tight, and triggered another ghost-power.
Reminder: IF YOU SPOT ANY GRAMMAR OR SPELLING ERRORS, PLEASE BRING THEM TO MY ATTENTION THROUGH A PRIVATE MESSAGE. NOT AS PART OF A REVIEW! My thanks in advance for your consideration. ^_^
Suspense! So. Yeah. Seems Dani's about to get busted one way or another, huh?
Anyway. Been a while coming with this chapter, but Umbridge's famous Anti-Student-Club decree has now been issued and now we've seen the Hufflepuff student's reaction to it in their common room. With a Dani crossover involved of course. Then there was that talk with Hermione afterwards that involved Danielle's take on her "security measures". Personally, I had quite a bit of fun writing about the moments with Peeves and Danielle blowing up at him. And it made sense to me that the ghosts would be able to direct her to the house elves to find out about the Room of Requirement. The moment when she and Fred and George nearly bumped into each other in the kitchens, scaring each other, was more of a last-minute decision. I was kind of just running with the moment, but it seemed to work. At least for me. (shrug)
As it's been a long time since I last updated this story, my writing style might have changed some in between chapters. I do have a general layout of what's going to happen in the next chapter, so hopefully, I'll get the next chapter done within the next few weeks. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this one. I wish you all well and that you'll stay safe and healthy through this pandemic. Until next time. ;)