"Voldemort's followers continue to wreak havoc on the wizarding world," Kingsley Shacklebolt reported as a way to begin the meeting. "Nothing too major in the past few days; at least, no new deaths have been reported, but a few people have been put in the hospital."

"And Fudge?" Arthur Weasley asked.

"Knows of the issues, but refuses to believe it's because of You-Know-Who's return, as per usual." The Auror's voice was laden with tiredness, clearly at his wit's end with the Minister's refusal to see sense. "I am afraid this will continue to escalate unless he acknowledges they aren't completely unorganized."

"The Death Eaters are getting orders," Remus added. "It's clear they know what they're doing, and they're having a grand time with it."

At the head of the table, Albus laced his fingers together. "Is there any word of what more they could be planning? Severus?"

The Potions professor scowled. "The same reports. The Dark Lord is moving in on his weapon, hoping it will give him an edge on the wizarding world, and, as always, as a way to kill Potter. Knowledge is his goal here."

Sitting closest to the door, Danny looked up from his hands to ask, "Knowledge for what, exactly?" After a moment, he added, "Clearly his goal isn't only terrorism."

"He has tried and failed again and again to get rid of Harry," Sirius said, "and each time to no avail. If he has found something that can give him an edge in any way, whether it be a special wand or - or whatever, he will do anything in his power to stop it. He knows Harry is the only thing standing in his way."

Jake cleared his throat. "Oh?"

Sirius looked like wanted to answer, but Molly cut in. "Shouldn't we talk more about the movements of those ghastly Death Eaters instead? So Danny and Jake know where and who is most dangerous to the students?"

"I appreciate your concern for the children," Albus said kindly, "but you must understand that Jake and Danny aren't only here to visit. They are capable fighters who have been invited to join the Order by the decision of Minerva and I, and we firmly believe they have a right to know everything. We must be transparent, despite them being, admittedly, very young."

Molly pursed her lips, reluctantly assenting.

To Jake, Albus said, "There is a prophecy which connects Lord Voldemort and young Harry together. In it, it states that Harry is a threat to him, and that neither can live while the other survives-"

"The hell?" Jake interrupted, sitting straight. "Neither can what while the other what?"

"Does Harry know about this?" Danny asked in a lower voice.

A few people in the room shifted uncomfortably. "I cannot burden him with the knowledge," Albus said.

"Lemme get this straight-" Jake's voice was rising, and beside him, Danny stared at the old man in disbelief, "You're not telling Harry Potter, a fifteen-year-old kid, about a prophecy which places him in the supposed position of killing a dark wizard, the sole reason why said wizard is targeting him specifically? When are you planning on telling him? Before Voldemort kills him?"

The room fell into deadly silence. Sirius stared straight ahead at the wall, eyes seemingly trying to burn a hole into into the wallpaper.

"You're sending him to his death," Danny managed to choke out. "I can't believe you people."

"We," Molly said in a high pitched voice, "will do no such thing. We won't - I won't - let that happen. He means too much. He deserves so much."

"It's why we have to find the prophecy before You-Know-Who," Remus said. "He cannot be allowed to know the specifics. If he doesn't, we can keep Harry safe, and they may never have to fight."

Danny turned his gaze to Dumbledore. The man's face was near unreadable, but in his eyes lay a flicker of unrest. He knew something the others didn't.

"If Potter were to know all that happens in the Order, we may be in more danger than before," Snape drawled, sounding entirely unsympathetic. "He has a link to the Dark Lord. There is still the danger of becoming possessed."

"That won't happen," Molly protested. Snape only gave her a slight eye roll.

The Order members all wanted to keep Harry safe, especially Molly and Sirius, who both had a large soft spot for the boy. And, as much as both Jake and Danny hated to admit it, they were right, in a way, about keeping the prophecy a secret. If Voldemort did have a link to Harry's head because of what had happened fourteen years ago, then keeping the prophecy a secret would have no effect, as the murderer would be able to glean it from Harry's head, anyway.

It was infuriating, however, that Harry had no idea any of this was happening. As the days went on by, Dumbledore's manipulation techniques were becoming more and more apparent.

"Do not mention this to the others, please," the headmaster now told them. "Keeping Harry in the dark will not be for long, I can assure you. And we will provide him with all the help we have."

Though Jake didn't quite buy it, Danny recognized the subject change and nodded haltingly. "Yeah. Right. Jake?"

"Whatever," the dragon muttered.

From there, issues turned to the movements of the Death Eaters, as Molly had suggested. Danny and Jake kept most of their thoughts to themselves, each keeping a mental tally on how many times Albus continued to show a side of his that seemed to thrive off of secrets and subtle manipulation.

"What do you think?"

From the other end of the line, Fu Dog sighed. "I honestly don't know, kid. Seems sketchy to me. You sure your chi froze?"

"Not like, literally," Jake replied, irritation leaking into his voice. "I told you, it was like it kinda just stopped whatever it was doing. I couldn't shift forms. I was paralyzed."

"And it wore off after you calmed down."

"Yep." He picked at the bedsheets nervously, legs drawing closer to his chest. From the sparring room, he could hear Danny kicking at the dummies, as well as the occasional ectoblast.

"Tell ya what, Jakey," Fu said at last. "I'll look into the lore a bit to see what kind of spell that was. It sounds vaguely familiar, but once you've lived as long as me, you tend to forget some stuff. You understand…"

Jake waved his hand dismissively, though he knew his animal guardian couldn't see it. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Fu."

"'Course, kid." The line went silent for a couple moments, then Fu spoke up again, and this time, his voice sounded much more worried. "You sure you don't want any backup? This sounds serious. Why keep you guys trapped without letting you go beforehand?"

Jake sighed, rubbing his temples. "It's okay, Fu. Y'all got enough on your plate back at home. Danny and I'll keep it covered here, try and figure out just what the hell is going on. Although…" he trailed off.

"What?"

"It's just, with the way the Ministry workers - at least, the ones we've met - have been treatin' us, it's like we were brought here against their will. Dumbledore made it sound like it was more of a compromise, y'know, we come to the school and they let in their own leeches or whatever, but I don't know." The dragon groaned. "I think they were telling the truth about us watching out for the kids, but obviously there's somethin' more going on."

"A larger threat?"

"If it's a threat," Jake said, "then what do they think it is? Us, or the murderer no one believes is actually back?"

"You and Danny, you're crazy powerful, compared to the wizards," Fu told him. "I'm actually a bit worried about Danny. Haven't heard about halfas, like, ever. Anyway, the point is, the wizards are totally in the dark here. And I know you are, too, but you still have the Council at your back. Wizards, though? They just have to trust that you're on their side."

Jake raised a brow. "I have the Council at my back? Dawg, the Council hates my back." He glanced back at the opening to the sparring room. "And don't worry about Danny. Dude's chill. I like him. Might bring him back to New York sometime, when this is all over."

"Hey, I'm down for that. This is his phone you're calling from?"

"Yeah, mine ran out of juice a while back, but he managed to charge it with his own powers."

"I'm saving the number, then. This is a much quicker way to reach you than through those dumbass owls."

Jake laughed. "Alright, Fu. But, uh, remember time zones." He plucked at the sheets again. "I should probably get to Danny before he destroys the training dummies. I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

"See ya, kid," Fu grunted. "I'll get back to you on that spell. And be careful, okay? The old man'll have my hide if anything happens to you. Don't stick your nose in places you'll regret."

"Me?" Jake scoffed. "Get in trouble? Please, yo."

"Don't say I didn't warn ya!" Fu Dog yelled into the phone, then a click sounded and the line went dead.

Jake stared at Danny's cell for a few more moments before letting out a long sigh and setting it down on the nightstand. He stretched his arms, wincing as his joints popped. "Yo, Casper!" he yelled while swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "It's six thirty, wanna do anything?"

Something in the training room crashed to the floor, followed by a yelp. Jake hurried over and stuck his head through the doorway, eyes falling to where several sticks had fallen to the ground, Danny lying haphazardly on top of them in ghost form.

"Dummy knocked me out of the air," Danny told him as way of explanation. His words were slightly slurred, and he was clutching his head. At the center of the circular room, an enchanted training dummy stood impassively, waiting for its opponent to stand up again.

Jake tried and failed to contain a snort.

"Ow," Danny moaned dramatically.

"Here." Jake walked over and helped him up. He poked the halfa's head, who winced. Brows furrowing, Jake said, "Yeah. We're gonna relax for the rest of the evening."

Danny shot him a weak thumbs up.

The two made their way to the small bathroom, where Danny changed back into Fenton and pushed his hair out of the way to examine his head. A slight bruise looked to be forming, but the boy just shrugged, saying it'd disappear sometime during the night.

Jake, having already taken a shower beforehand, went back to his bed and rifled through his luggage to see how many clothes he had left. The two had agreed to ask one of the staff where they could wash their clothes, since their room lacked a washing machine. Though he didn't like it, Jake knew the answer would likely be going to the house elves.

Danny was finished with his shower in five minutes, and soon enough, he'd joined Jake at the bed, where they retrieved the schedules and spent a grueling hour looking through different class options over the next few days. While Danny intended to keep his promise of returning to DADA, Jake was adamant about going to Care of Magical Creatures. "I wanna see some firecrabs," he exclaimed.

Danny laughed. "How do you know they're teaching the students about firecrabs now?"

"We'll find out!"

By the time they'd decided on a game plan, the clock had hit eight o'clock. Distantly, Jake noted that Harry would be out of his detention by now.

They went to bed early; Danny wanted to eat breakfast in the Great Hall and follow the Trio around for a bit before heading off to their classes, then have some time to relax before training by the Forbidden Forest again (closer to the school this time). Over the next few days, Jake suggested going to the library to read up on spells that could potentially shorten out magical energy, and see if they could find anything on ectoenergy as well.

(Danny groaned at the prospect of research. Which, well, mood. Jake could sympathize.)

They joined the Gryffindor table at breakfast, getting there early so they didn't have to deal with too many people making room for them on the benches. The only students already sitting were maybe a dozen by the end, two boys bickering over whether jam or whipped cream was better on pancakes, and Neville Longbottom reading a book on Herbology.

Danny and Jake sat across from him, the halfa waving at him when he looked up. Neville smiled broadly and closed his book with a snap, leaning forward eagerly.

"You guys were brilliant yesterday!" he sang. "Umbridge was fuming the rest of the class, but it was so worth it!"

Jake grinned at him as his goblet filled with tea. "Did we start an uprising?"

"Well, no… she actually took off a lot of points from students for whispering to one another, but like I said, worth it." He was nearly bouncing in his seat. "Everyone's been talking about you two and what you said!"

Danny cocked his head. "Good things?"

"Of course!" Neville assured him. "I heard Harry stirred up some trouble, too?"

Jake nodded. Danny couldn't help but smile at Neville's excitement; clearly, Umbridge was already hated throughout most of the school, even though not everyone had had her yet. And despite the adults' recommendations not to stir up trouble, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself for making her so angry.

Realizing he'd zoned out of the conversation, Danny forced himself out of his thoughts to hear Jake say, "...pretty funny how riled up she gets when I use her first name. None of the other teachers have much problem with it, but Dolores? Oh, it's gonna be so much fun."

"Careful," Danny laughed, punching Jake's shoulder, "you don't wanna make her too mad, she might snap."

"What's she gonna do? Croak at me? That toad could never win in a fight against me."

"Oh, Great American Dragon, your strength is unparalleled," Danny said, putting a the back of his hand to his forehead.

Jake raised his eyebrows at Neville. "It's true, yo."

"As is your ego-"

"A'ight, Casper, you wanna go?"

"It's a date!" Danny yelled, going intangible as Jake threw a piece of bacon at him.

The three of them laughed heartily and moved on to talking more about school, prompting Neville into a passionate speech about Herbology and how much he was going to enjoy this year. Though Danny didn't understand half the plants he was talking about, it reminded him of Sam back in Amity, and a familiar pang of homesickness shot through him.

I hope I'll be able to go home during Christmas break. Even if I have to endure another Santa Claus discussion with my parents.

The Great Hall filled with more students as they talked, and within minutes, most of the wizards had arrived. Jake and Danny waved at a few kids who greeted them, usually those that had seen them in their classes already, or recognized them from the stories about Umbridge's class. Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived not long after, with the intelligent witch complaining loudly about how Fred and George shouldn't have been selling their candy to "those poor, easily manipulated first years."

"'Sup, nerds," Jake said as way of greeting. "Hey, where are y'all goin' for your next classes?"

Ron sighed. "Umbridge first period, Double Potions second, then, uh…"

Hermione chimed in, "We have Care of Magical Creatures today."

"Yeah, that."

Danny, letting Jake handle scheduling, turned to Harry, who had barely said a word. He was clutching his hand, eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the table, deep in thought. Danny bumped his shoulder against his, saying, "You good?"

Harry started, whipping his head around to stare at Danny with wide eyes. A moment later he relaxed, nodding. "Yeah, just had a late night."

"Something up with your hand?" Danny asked, eyeing Harry's fingers tapping incessantly on his knuckles of the hand he was hiding.

Harry shoved the hand in the pocket of his robe. "Nothing," he muttered. At Danny's worried look, he added, "Itches a little. I'm fine."

Danny recognized the tone. I'm fine.

("Danny, have you eaten today?")

("Are you okay, dude? You're limping.")

("Why won't you tell me what's wrong, little brother? I'm only trying to help.")

("Danny, sweetie, is there something you're not telling us? You've been so withdrawn recently…)

I'm fine! You don't have to worry about me, just had a late night. Box Ghost, you know how it is. Hey, look, I've got homework to do, so maybe we should focus on that? Seriously, guys, there's nothing wrong. I'm peachy. Don't worry about me. I'm okay.

"Alright, man," Danny told Harry, not one to shove. "But, uh, I'm here if there's anything you wanna talk about."

The wizard nodded haltingly, turning back to the table and piling his plate high with food.

Danny took a deep breath (and though it wasn't necessary for him to function, the motion felt familiar, grounded him) and told himself he'd keep and eye on Harry, be there for him when he'd need it, as he'd promised.

"I'm fine" was a bullshit term. Danny would know.

He wouldn't push, though. That would only make Harry less likely to talk.

Danny turned his attention back to Jake, who had been animatedly beguiling the students around him with stories from America as a World Dragon in training. Hands spread wide and waving about, he was in the middle of describing another illegal goblin black market he and his grandfather had thwarted.

"I laid down some kickass Kung-Fu," Jake recounted, voice dripping with excitement and just a little too much of smugness, "and, like, Gee had been trainin' me for years before my first transformation, so I was already pretty good at that - and, man, you should've seen their faces! Imagine tryna sell some organs or whatever and suddenly two dragons come in doing martial arts!" He laughed, and around him, the students gaped at him in awe. "Never stood a chance!"

Danny grinned viciously. It was hilarious to see how much Jake enjoyed the attention, though no doubt he was exaggerating a little. Suddenly in the mood to mess with him, Danny spoke up. "Weird, I didn't see you using kickass Kung-Fu when I wiped the sparring mat with your dragon butt."

Jake whipped his head around to glower. "First off," he said threateningly, jabbing his index finger in the air, "That was the first night we were at Hogwarts, and last I checked, I beat you the time after that. As for the Kung-Fu, I totally did, you just didn't know because you're ignorant. Secondly, Casper, stop laughing- " he sighed in exasperation as Danny laid his head on the table, back heaving with snickers, "-I was going easy on you. It would suck if I gave you any serious injuries and wouldn't have anyone to complain to."

"Sure you did," Danny gasped, clutching his stomach.

"I was."

"Of course." He lifted his head and forced a neutral facial expression, but his lips continued to twitch traitorously. Around them, the Gryffindors watched the exchange with wide eyes, unsure whether or not to laugh.

Jake poked Danny in the shoulder. "I could beat you again."

"Really?" Danny taunted, thoroughly enjoying the mayhem he was causing. "I highly doubt that."

Jake stood up from the table, causing the bench to slide back with a screech as a little bit of dragon strength bled into his motions. The students sitting on the bench yelped at the movement and stared at him flabbergasted. The dragon leaned in close to Danny, who continued to stare at him impassively, a relaxed smirk on his face. "You. Me. Training room. Now."

Danny cocked an eyebrow. "Wow, even standing you're barely taller than me."

"As entertaining as it would be to watch you two beat each other up," Hermione drawled before Jake could fly at him, "I believe the mail has arrived. Jake, if you don't want to be attacked by owl claws, I would sit down."

"He's too short, they wouldn't be able to see him, anyway," Danny managed to get in before going intangible again as Jake swiped at him, his hands turned into claws.

A few other kids had called out, "Mail!" in warning, and while the majority ducked their heads, some brave souls sat higher to try and spot their owl. They came in through the windows from the top of the room, screeching and hooting, the rustle of papers louder than their wings. While some landed on the tables, others simply dropped their letters and packages in front of the students, whether it be on their food, next to their food, on their head, or in their hands. Really, it was a rather dangerous environment. Not to mention the feathers everywhere.

Though Danny hadn't seen the mail system in progress before, he chose to keep his head ducked and pray the owls didn't try and attack him. Animals had always reacted strangely to him ever since the accident, and he wasn't going to try his luck with a predator bird that sported very sharp talons.

And maybe he let his head go intangible, but it wasn't like he'd ever admit it.

Jake, however, had different ideas. He rapped his knuckles on Danny's back, yelling, "Look up, bitch, we got mail, too!"

Ah, friendship.

He felt an initial surprise at getting mail through wizard means, since Sam and Tucker were the only people at home who'd know about it. He figured they would tell Jazz about everything, as well as how to reach him through owl mail-

Danny's eyes blew wide. Shit, I forgot to tell Jazz about everything.

"Oh my God, she's gonna kill me when I get back," Danny moaned. And after a thought, "Again."

He didn't have much time to dwell on the fact, however, as almost immediately he had to yelp and go intangible again when a large box dropped on his head.

"What the hell!" Danny screamed at the parliament of owls that had dropped the parcel, now sitting on the bench inside his transparent body, sending chills up his spine. He floated away from the bench and went solid again behind it, glancing at Jake, whose box had landed on his food in front of him.

Jake raised an eyebrow at Danny. "Wow, they really seem to hate you."

Grumbling, Danny grabbed the box and hefted it up onto a free spot on the table, initially struggling a bit at how heavy it was. He plopped back down on the seat and inspected the box, which looked to be a normal, cardboard package - hell, there was even a half-scratched out Amazon logo, leading Danny to believe Tucker had probably packed it himself. A smile flitted onto his face. Warmth in his chest.

Jake was already tearing into the tape, using dragon claws to open the package. Danny grabbed the box by its sides, turned it intangible, and lifted it up, revealing what was inside.

"Aw, man," Jake said softly as he looked into his own package. He picked out a few letters, some of them white while others were stuck with dozens of stickers, and grinned as he held up a bag of candy. While he tore into the candy (not even saving it, the motherfucker, didn't he know how valuable that was), Danny looked at his own pile.

Letters, like Jake. A few wristrays. Candy. Some packed Fenton toast? Gross, but thoughtful.

He read a few of the letters, smiling brightly at the messages. His parents wished him luck at the "internship" and asked him to find some time to call so they could talk, and Jazz told him to keep his head high and to relax as much as possible. She also mentioned how she'd kill him once he'd gotten home for not telling her about magic, but Danny chose to ignore that fact.

Sam and Tucker talked about how they wished him luck, how boring life in Amity was already, and how they were keeping an eye out for Vlad, who so far had done nothing. As for the ghosts, they'd gone up a bit as they realized Danny hadn't been out in a while, but between all the ghost hunters, they were able to keep up. (So sit your ghost ass down and don't come for us, 'cause we're doing fine here, thank you very much, Tucker wrote.) School was slow at the moment but they predicted lots of studying in Danny's future, and, according to Sam, he no longer had an excuse not to do it, since he wouldn't be fighting ghosts all the time.

Right, well, she could try, but at this point, the Lord himself would have to descend from the heavens in order to keep Danny from procrastinating.

And anyway, they hadn't gotten their materials yet, so-

"No no no no no," Jake moaned suddenly. "They sent us textbooks."

Danny raised his eyebrows in disbelief. He looked at the contents of the box again, and sure enough, beneath all the other gifts were several suspiciously-wrapped parcels - which Danny would find out to be his geometry, history, and chemistry books, as well as several notebooks, folders with worksheets already tucked inside, and a list of learning targets for each class.

FUCK! Danny mentally yelled.

"FUCK!" Jake yelled out loud, the bastard.

Right, he was no longer in Amity Park among impressionable five-year-olds. He could swear all he wanted.

"What subjects did you get?" Danny asked Jake, who sullenly pushed his pile towards him. Danny barked a laugh. "Oh, you have to do biology. Good luck."

"You," Jake said with the beginnings of a cheeky grin, "get to help me."

"I will not-"

"Oh, look at me," Jake sighed, "a helpless freshman, unable to study on my own, struggling through unfamiliar territory. If only there were a big, strong, sophomore around who could assist me in my teachings, show me the ways of algebra and biology before it's too late for my developing brain-"

"Alright, alright, you shit," Danny groaned. "I'll help you with your…" He waved his hand around. "Biology."

"And algebra."

"Long, I will murder you."

"Looking forward to it," Jake replied cheerfully, slapping the covers of his textbooks pointedly.

It was then that the subject turned to classes again, leading Neville to recount the Roasting of Dolores Umbridge by Jake and Danny, to which many of the kids began congratulating them, as well as apologizing for how awful she was. Danny, touched, gave them a broad grin with the message that they'd always be happy to help anyone if Umbridge gave them a hard time.

"Who you gonna call?" Jake snickered.

"If you start humming the Ghostbusters theme because I'm a ghost, I'm leaving you," Danny told him.

"I thought you'd appreciate that. It's a goddamn pun."

"It's only funny the first hundred times," Danny said. "Tucker did it all the time."

Of course all the muggleborns immediately began singing the Ghostbusters theme. Initially, Danny groaned and buried his head in his hands, but after a while joined in as well, suddenly inexplicably happy.

As he looked around at the people singing, the wizards who hadn't grown up around nonmagicals slightly confused, Jake laughing loudly, Danny realized why.

They didn't care. They didn't care that he was half-dead, that he made the air cold and could shoot green acid from his fingers; they didn't care who or what he was because to them, he was just another teenager with a few weird quirks. A teenager which had successfully established himself as approachable and hated Umbridge as much as them. Someone they could relate to.

He could relate to these kids. He actually had something in common with them.

He and Jake stayed there for the rest of breakfast, singing Ghostbusters off key and enjoying the friendliness around them in a magic school, and Danny couldn't help but notice how the smile he wore hurt his cheeks, something that hadn't happened in what felt like months.

Both he and everyone here were part of a world many didn't understand, trying their best to survive in a war-ridden Earth, and somehow, they'd all found the silver lining to enjoy themselves as much as they could.

Jake and Danny decided to tag along with the Trio to today's DADA lesson, if only for the sake of getting it over with. Though Umbridge gave both of them a dirty look when they entered the room (and really, how could Danny resist flashing his eyes green, if only to see her jump?), but otherwise didn't acknowledge them.

Jake asked for a textbook again, and like last time, had one flying toward him at the speed of light, which he managed to catch and respond with a cheeky retort. Not long after that, they'd begun reading (or, in their case, Jake huffing in disappointment while Danny stared at the skeleton hanging from the ceiling in boredom).

A few students raised their hands throughout the class, ignored by the teacher. Danny took to watching the class, mind wandering to the secrets Hogwarts had and what it could entail for them.

Jake's friend, Fu Dog, had yet to get back to them on a spell that could've been put on the warding, but Danny had his phone in his pocket in case he chose to call sometime during the day. The representatives hadn't gone outside to check the border again, and neither particularly felt up to seeing if any of the other wards in the castle had the same effect. Besides, Danny wasn't sure if he felt comfortable letting Jake near that thing again. He'd had such a strong reaction, and more exposure to it couldn't be healthy.

Wow, I'm the Mom Friend now, Danny thought with a jolt, suppressing a laugh. He was reminded of Jazz constant nagging, Tucker's near-force-feeding him lunch, Sam's lectures on learning to hone his powers in a healthy way. Now, with Jake's turbulent personality, Danny found himself trying desperately to keeping him from blowing something up. No doubt one of them would snap before the year was over.

Danny looked down at his hands. The warding bothered - Jake too, undoubtedly - him more than he'd like to admit. It was one thing to keep them inside Hogwarts. It was another to keep them inside in such a way that it caused Jake to react like that.

Whatever had happened to him, it'd worn off as soon as he'd calmed down. And if that was a constant, it meant, hopefully, that they may be able to overpower the spell if they stayed calm long enough. If Jake stayed calm long enough. Danny wasn't sure what would happen if he touched the ward.

He mulled the idea over in his mind. It could work, and if it did, it'd be incredibly useful. If the spell really did depend on the element of surprise, then becoming accustomed to it could make it lose its power. And if they managed that, they'd have a surefire way of leaving Hogwarts should the need arise.

Then came another thought, a voice in his brain which had been nagging at him ever since yesterday: Was it really the Hogwarts professors that put it there? Why would they put something so potentially harmful to keep them in when they knew Danny and Jake were allies? They were teenagers. It wouldn't be that hard to persuade them to stay, as long as a little guilt-tripping was involved. Maybe a little bribery. Not… not whatever this was.

But if Hogwarts didn't do it, then who did? The Order? The Ministry?

Danny slid his gaze over to the toad, who was sitting in her desk, glaring at the students.

Nah, he doubted she had the capacity to.

The will, though. Maybe he shouldn't rule her out completely.

Danny inwardly groaned. He was going to have a headache if he sat on this any longer. Right now, all he wanted to do was fly around the castle, practice his powers, pull some pranks on some unsuspecting students…

Maybe he'd be able to master duplication while he was here. Danny imagined the expression on Vlad's face if he did manage that and had to contain a laugh.

Now back to being bored out of his mind, Danny took out his phone and checked his texts from under his desk. ("No fair," Jake hissed.) He sent a thank you message to Sam and Tucker, as well as Jazz.

The class managed to go maybe fifteen minutes before the bell rang before people began to fidget in their desks, tapping their quills against the table, and sighing loudly. Danny looked at Harry and was amused to see him glaring vehemently at Umbridge, who stared right back with a bit of a nervous frown. Honestly, he'd pay to see a throwdown between them.

He looked like he was going to argue with her about something, but Hermione tugged at his sleeve, a silent warning. Harry sighed, laying his chin on his desk, his hands in his lap, and Danny took the opportunity to try and see what he'd been so adamant to hide during breakfast. Too many people were in his way, however, the shadows too thick, and Danny soon gave up, leaning back in his chair with a bored huff.

"How much time left," Jake groaned quietly.

"Like, ten minutes," Danny answered, checking the time once more before stuffing his phone back in his pocket.

"No talking!" Umbridge hissed from the front.

"Jesus Christ," Jake softly moaned while Danny plastered a grin on his face, calling, "Gotcha, Dolores!"

They didn't react (albeit a few snorts) to her outraged intake of breath, the class ringing with quiet laughter. Satisfied, Danny put his arms behind his head, closed his eyes, and waited for the class to end.

"I am never," Jake vowed, "doing that again."

"I hear ya, Shorty," Danny sighed, ignoring the grumbles of I'm not that short! "Hey, Harry, mind if we meet up later with you for Care of Magical Creatures today as well? Jake won't stop talking about firecrabs."

"'Course," Harry said, walking beside him, Ron on his other side. "Though I don't think we'll be looking at firecrabs."

"Malfoy will be there," Ron added.

Danny's lips twitched. "Oh, great, I can mess with him. Jake stole my thunder last time."

"I will again," Jake said.

"Not if I do it first!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, brushing a curl out of her eyes as she walked. "Are you two seriously arguing on who gets to pick on Malfoy?"

"It's a serious issue," Danny defended.

"We're only avenging you," Jake said with a wink, and Hermione laughed.

"Well, come on then," Ron butt in, voice strangely icy. "Don't want to be late."

Jake looked over, noticing the glare from the redhead. Woah, okay, he's defensive. Wasn't like was flirting.

Trixie's voice found its way into his head. Jakey, you're always flirting. You flirt with anything that moves. It's kind of weird, actually. A unicorn will not go out with you.

I just have a charming personality! Past-Jake argued.

Well, he could worry about it later.

Danny and Jake parted ways from the Trio to head to the library while they attended Double Potions, determined to find information on possible spells that could be on the border. Of course, being the idiots that they were, they got maybe ten minutes of searching in before messing around and finding overly specific book titles, as Danny and Harry had done back in Diagon Alley. The fact they were allowed in the Restricted Section made it all the more entertaining.

They didn't stay long, only skimming the titles. Jake found himself nervous to dig deeper, almost as if some great evil were to be uncovered if he continued to search. So they called it a day and wandered the halls, saying hello to the ghosts, until Double Potions was over, where they met the Trio back by the Great Hall.

"After you," Jake said, bowing with a flourish.

The five of them chatted on the way Care of Magical Creatures, mostly complaining about Umbridge. Harry and Ron lamented about all the essays they were already assigned, each leaning on each other with a hand to their head for maximum dramatic effect. Beside them, Hermione chastised them about procrastinating, but Jake could tell she was having just as much fun as them. Danny listened to them talk, occasionally interjecting to add his own past school experiences.

"At least you don't have to do geometry," was a popular sentence. Jake worried he didn't actually know he had at least six other subjects to work on as well.

They reached Care of Magical Creatures, an area just outside the Forbidden Forest and maybe twenty feet away from Hagrid's cabin, where Professor Grubbly-Plank stood waiting. Most of the other students had already arrived, and Jake could clearly distinguish Slytherin from Gryffindor, and in a corner underneath a tree, the white-blond hair of one pleasant Draco Malfoy. He wrinkled his nose as if rich, racist snob were a disturbing scent that had wafted towards him.

A few students expressed their concerns over Hagrid not being there, to which Grubbly-Plank (and wow, Jake needed to know her first name, because that was too much of a mouthful) replied in clipped words that he would return soon and any news on his condition was confidential.

Since these students had already been here yesterday, she wasted no time introducing herself, launching directly into the learning targets for this unit and reminding students, as all teachers would be for the rest of the week, of the importance of OWLs. After that, Jake showed more interest as she brought out a box of what looked like green stems of plants, except they moved and crawled about, and he could just make out a pair of beady brown eyes on each of them.

She introduced them as bowtruckles and delved into a lengthy explanation about their origin, talking about Germany and some Scandinavian forests, most of which Jake had to fight to stay awake for. He understood the importance about learning as much as he could while his grandfather was away, he knew that, but there would always be a part of him that rebelled at the very thought of having to take notes.

They were then passed out among the students, to which Jake and Danny shared with the Trio in order to get a closer look. Danny poked at the leaves, curious, and the bowtruckle stared at him with wide eyes, but made no move to attack.

"They're peaceful," Hermione told him, "at least, until someone threatens their home. Do you want to hold one?"

Danny nodded, eyes wide and starry as he allowed the thing to crawl onto his palm. Jake laughed at his shell shocked expression, though had to admit the creature was pretty cute. Maybe they lived in America. Haley would kill to have one as a pet.

Hearing a rather loud bout of laughter off to the side, Jake lifted his head and looked off to where Malfoy and his friends stood around. The Slytherin held an arm of a bowtruckle between his fingers as he dangled it above the ground, sneering as it flailed around, trying to find purchase.

Jake growled, already taking a step forward, but Hermione called out a, "No, look," prompting him to notice the already furious Grubbly-Plank stomping towards the bunch. He calmed down and watched with a satisfied grin as she chewed Draco out, taking the bowtruckle tenderly from his hands and taking it back to the box.

"Serves him right," Harry said cheerfully, still close to Danny as he continued to peer at their own bowtruckle. The halfa grinned.

Grubbly-Plank collected the bowtruckles after a few more minutes and proceeded to talk about their diet, to which Jake immediately zoned out and began playing rock-paper-scissors with Danny. The class flew by after that, and soon enough, Jake and Danny had reached the last class of the day, a simple Muggle Studies class that had the both of them reeling by the time it was over.

"I will never look at a shower curtain the same way again," Danny commented as they made their way to the Great Hall for some food.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

"It's just-" Jake wiped tears from his eyes, "-the way she explains it. God, I can't deal with these guys…"

"A shower curtain!" Danny cackled. "How the hell does she manage to talk about a shower curtain for an hour!"

Through heavy laughter, they managed to put some food in their stomachs before heading to the library again, where they stayed in the non-restricted portion of the room, skimming through different charms.

Three hours later and they'd found nothing; the sky had begun to darken, the room becoming more crowded as students came to study before bed. Jake yawned heavily and closed the current book he'd had open, something about petrifying spells that had to do more with the body than with magical energy, and suggested they call it a night.

The next few days passed by in a blur; Danny and Jake slipped into a routine of waking up early, going to breakfast, attending some boring elective classes to get it out of the way (all while avoiding Umbridge, mind you), spending time in the library, walking around the grounds, eating, sparring, and going to bed, fitting some school work in there if they were lucky. Though they couldn't tell any of the wizards of what they were doing about the borders, they allowed themselves to become closer to the Trio, as well as Neville, who'd taken a particular liking to Danny after learning about Sam. The halfa got the distinct impression that kid secretly hoped for her address so he'd have someone to send letters to about whatever new plant he'd found.

Keeper tryouts for Quidditch were on Friday, and for whatever reason, Ron wanted no one to find out. Danny and Jake had watched him practice on the field one evening after a late training session by the Forbidden Forest, and, well… he was good. Not professionally so, obviously, but the way Harry and Ron talked about Quidditch, Danny thought the likelihood of him making the team was rather high.

Harry found out eventually, of course. Him and Danny had been walking down the hall together, the latter of which had decided to keep him company as he walked to the common room after Umbridge's third detention for the week. Jake had waved him off, yawning, already nearly half asleep after a long day at the library (and no success thus far).

"Ron, that's brilliant," Harry said with a grin as his friend shyly told him about the practices. "And no, of course I wouldn't think it's stupid, I think it's great! You'll be a great addition to the team."

"You really think so?" Ron asked hopefully.

"I know so," Harry told him with conviction, turning to Danny.

Danny nodded eagerly, not too keen on letting any of them know he had already seen Ron practice. "We're rooting for you, man!"

Ron gave him a small smile; he'd certainly warmed up to the representatives in the time they'd spent together, chatting much more openly, though Danny felt like he was still more comfortable around him than Jake. Why, he had no idea.

"Thanks, mates," Ron said. "Hey, Harry, you finished that report for Potions, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Harry sighed, taking his hands out of his pockets and running one through his hair. "Took me a bloody long time, but 'Mione's great-"

Whatever Harry said afterwards, Danny didn't hear. He was too busy staring at the boy's hand.

The cuts looked recent, bloody, and way too clean to be any normal scratch. Before he could think any more, Danny blurted, "Show me your hand, Harry."

Harry trailed off from his sentence. "What? Why?" He discreetly tried to put his hand back in his pocket.

In a moment, Danny had seized Harry's wrist, ignoring the shout and sharp pull, and stared in horror at the cuts on his hand. A sharp intake of breath and he'd dropped it, feeling sick to his stomach.

I must not tell lies.

"Who did that?" Danny demanded as Ron took a long look at the hand, his face blanched.

Harry glared at the floor. "It doesn't matter."

"It bloody well does," Ron hissed. "Harry, what - why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want you to worry!" Harry said, a twinge of defensiveness tainting his voice.

Though he could sympathize, Danny knew there was a line to be drawn. And that line entailed a very severe discussion with a certain professor. "Did she do this?"

Harry scowled. "It doesn't matter. I've only got till Friday, then I'm scott-free."

"Dammit, Potter!" Danny seethed. He felt his core pulse in his chest, sending ice and acid through his veins. "She's cutting you up. You aren't even a little bothered by this?"

"Danny's right," Ron said. "You've got to tell someone."

"I will not," Harry insisted. "It's exactly what she wants. I won't give her the satisfaction."

"I think we're beyond that," Danny argued. As much as he appreciated spiting authority, this… this was abuse. They couldn't seriously let this slide.

"Just till Friday," Harry begged. "Please, don't tell Dumbledore. If it gets worse, I'll talk to him. But right now, it's fine. It barely hurts. Look, the bleeding's already stopping."

Bullshit. That thing would scar, Danny was sure of it. He had plenty of personal experience.

In the end, Harry and Ron made their way back to the common room, Danny reluctantly agreeing to hold off on telling anyone until Harry decided he wanted to. That didn't mean he wouldn't have a lengthy discussion about it with Jake, though, as well as make Umbridge's life a living hell.

Oh my God, Danny thought as he floated up through the floors and to his room, where no doubt Jake was bored out of his mind without him. I really am the Mom Friend.

"We have to go back," Danny said on Thursday night, lying in bed with the lights off.

"Hmm?" Jake struggled to stay awake, mentally thanking whatever deity may exist for the warmth of his covers.

"The border. We have to go back."

Oh, he was awake, all right.

"Are you insane?" Jake said incredulously. "Uh, no way. Remember what happened last time we went there?"

"You won't be touching anything, believe me," Danny reassured him. "Though I do think it loses its power the calmer you feel, but that's not the point." He waited a beat. "We need to know what it'll do to me."

"Don't be ridiculous. Fu should be gettin' the results back to us any day now."

"He doesn't know anything about me, though," Danny argued. "The only way to be certain is to test it out ourselves."

Jake stared at the ceiling, biting his lip. On one hand, he had a point. Better to be prepared, right?

On the other…

"I don't think-" His voice cracked a little. "Danny, I dunno how to deal with things like… things like-"

"Like a panic attack?" Danny asked softly. When Jake didn't answer, he continued, "Don't worry about me. We have an idea of what may happen, and we know it'll likely stop if I stay calm."

"Yeah, but… but what if it's worse with you? Like, way worse?" Jake let out a frustrated sigh, gathering a fistful of bedsheets in quivering hands. "I've never dealt with this sort of thing. I'm used to having my grandpa to help, or Fu, hell, even my sister - I can't-" he let out a snarl. "Dammit! We have no idea what we're doing here, Fenton! We don't know these people!"

The air, laden with tension, was broken by Danny's worried, "We can get through this."

Jake laughed hollowly. "Since when are you the optimist? Honestly, this place is messin' with our heads."

Danny let out a breathy laugh. "I'm trying not to think about how much I wanna bash my head against the wall, actually." A pause. "Look, we can do our normal rounds tomorrow, and I'll keep an eye on the border. Later, if you want, while you head back, I can check it out-"

"Alright, now you're trippin'," Jake cut in. "No way am I leaving you alone, you butt. We're in this together or not at all."

He knew Danny was smiling on the other side of the curtain. "'Butt?' What, no creative swear words tonight?"

"Oh, fuck off, Fenton."

Danny laughed. "There he is." A rustling sounded, leading Jake to envision the halfa turning over in bed. "Good night, Shorty. Let's hope we don't die or whatever."

"'Night," Jake intoned, trying his hardest to fall asleep.

The covers felt like a cage around his body. He threw them off and sighed at the cool air that kissed his bare skin.

reader238: thank you! i'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! that's a really good question - in terms of Independent and Protected, most of the species, or at least certain groups of which, that are tied to wizarding law are Independent as well. goblins, while not all kinds are Independent, have ties to the wizarding world, like those at Gringotts. i just noticed there seemed to be different races of goblins and giants (between the HP books and the ADJL show), and thought that may have affected communication between the Dracos. really, any species registered as Independent is outside of dragon law, but they still have a responsibility to keep the magical secret. maybe some of them joined wizarding groups later on, and those laws extended onto them, too. really, they have the freedom to reestablish themselves under the wizarding community, but unless they register as Protected once again themselves, they won't be affected by the wizards reaching out to dragons again, since they're a different species altogether.

as for the ectoranium, i'd say it has no real effect on magic, but it's a powerful weapon to ward against ghost energy that would try to cancel it out. i'm not too sure if it's made of ectoplasm or not, but really, the ectoenergy is what really affects magic the most. the more ectoenergy something has, the more it can stop magical energy. so if ectoranium were to have some sort of ectoenergy (which i'm assuming it does, seeing as how it's able to affect ghosts so much; maybe it absorbs ghost energy, which is how it weakens them?), then yes, it could potentially affect magic as well, though not to the same degree as ectoenergy. the idea is really interesting actually, and i haven't thought about it, so thanks for bringing that up! it gives me a few ideas...

thanks so much for the review!

have a lovely day, everyone!