The walk from the Hospital wing back to his office was entirely on muscle memory. His mind a haze of new information and all the possibilities that are now available to him.
A half-human boy, summoned directly into the strongly warded Hogwarts grounds. Who then flew from the top of the North tower into the Forbidden Forest with minimal injury.
Dumbledore had found the young man talking through his situation and trying to come up with a plan of action for himself. This told of experience in confusing, stressful and high risk situations.
He had given no indications of pain to his injured arm or hand; a high pain threshold. He was used to being injured.
The moment he'd made his presence known, Danny had sprung into action. He had found the possible threat and settled into an experienced defensive stance. The boy was accustomed to combat.
The questions he asked; determining where he was, what his situation was, and ensuring his safety. He was not used to being safe, or to a decent meal or bed.
He was more interested in the magic being used to clean him up, rather than the fact that his wounds weren't healing.
The scars trailing up his arms, and around his neck, spoke of more hiding beneath his shirt. He was used to being injured but not getting them healed professionally. He let them heal on their own? He did it himself?
How incredibly sad.
How incredibly... fascinating.
There was more to the mysterious boy's story, and his status as a half-human played a very large part, he was sure.
Half human and half... what? What could change its form, fly and was able to be summoned? He hadn't the foggiest idea, but he was determined to find out.
What if the boy had more powers at his disposal?
What if he could help in the effort against Voldemort and his followers?
It was an intriguing idea, and one he was very interested in exploring.
However.
He had to keep his promise of keeping the boy safe.
Safe from danger, which included the Ministry of Magic.
Sighing slightly, he reached the top of the spiraling staircase leading into his office.
He was mildly surprised to find his office empty when he entered. He would have thought that Professor Trelawney and especially Professor Umbridge to want to badger him for details as to why he suddenly departed. Professor Dippet's portrait informed him that the Professors left when dinner began.
It was just as well, he could now inform the entire staff on the situation at once, and come up with a way to keep the boy here, to keep him away from the Ministry of course.
Walking past Fawkes, as he ruffled his gorgeous red and gold plumage, he settled into the chair behind his desk, and prepared his message that would schedule an important staff meeting tomorrow morning.
He would talk to Danny tomorrow as well, before the meeting. He needed to get as much information as he could about the boy himself, and his circumstances, and then relay pertinent information to his staff.
Next, he turned his attention to keeping the boy safe from the hands of the Ministry.
He had work to do.
This was the best decision he'd ever made.
He'd slept all night in an actual bed, and both the dinner last night, and his current breakfast was probably the best tasting food he'd ever eaten in his life.
He had no idea what the actual time was anymore; time zones and sleep deprivation will do that to a person.
Madame Pomfrey had already unwrapped his injuries to find them fully healed, eyebrows scrunching a bit in confusion. But she had just shaken her head a bit, given him his breakfast on a tray, and then bustled off to what he assumed was her office.
He was just having some orange juice, when the Hospital Wing doors opened. He expected Professor Dumbledore coming in to ask him questions like he'd said, and was therefore a bit surprised to see three of the robed students that attended this magic school.
So surprised that he promptly choked on his drink.
Sputtering slightly and then swallowing, he gaped at the students that were now starting at him with wide eyes.
He felt a little self conscious under their gazes. He shouldn't, now that he was cleaned up (courtesy of a shower and α fresh set of clean pajamas provided by Madame Pomfrey).
They all just... stared at each other awkwardly. That is, until the girl of the trio stepped forward hesitantly.
"Uhh. He-Hello. My name is Hermione." She said gesturing to herself. "And these are Ron and Harry." She gestured to the tall, lanky red headed boy, and then a black haired boy with glasses beside her.
"Um, what is.. uh." She paused here to look directly at him a moment. "What may we call you?" She asked him.
After getting over his surprise, and looking the trio over in an initial threat assessment (Dumbledore said he'd be safe here, but that didn't mean he couldn't be cautious), he didn't see any signs that they meant any harm to him.
So, after a moment, he answered, "Danny. My name is Danny. If, uh, if you're looking for Madame Pomfrey I think she's in the back..."
"Oh no, we didn't come to see Madame Pomfrey," Harry cut in quickly, "we were, uh, actually there when you were... well..." he faltered a moment.
"Harry and Ron were there when you arrived at Hogwarts, and we just wanted to make sure you were alright?" Hermione picked up the explanation.
Oh. Well, this was a nice change. They noticed him. (A bit hard to not notice him, if they were there when he was summoned, but he will take what he can get).
"Yeah, actually. I'm doing a lot better now. Thank you for asking, and..." He paused here studying the boys, when it suddenly came to him.
"You two! I remember you! You blocked the pink lady from yelling at me!"
Harry and Ron looked surprised a moment, but then they chuckled a bit.
"Yeah, Umbridge was not being all that kind to you, and we didn't want the toad doing anything that could hurt you or anyone else in the classroom." Ron said proudly.
With the air of tension thoroughly dissipated, Danny gestured to the area beside his bed.
"Would you like to sit down?"
They smiled at him, and then gathered chairs and settled down.
"Where are you from? Your accent is weird." Ron asked suddenly.
Hermione slapped Ron's arm with her hand then exclaimed, "Ron! That was rude!"
He laughed along with Harry at Ron's nonplussed expression.
"It's alright, I thought all the British accents were weird at first too, until I was told where I was. I'm from the States." He answered.
"Really? That's a long ways away! Won't your family be worried that you've suddenly disappeared on them?" Hermione asked, turning away from Ron.
Ah, the obligatory questions about his family. Oh boy, how to quietly deflect this question without inviting more questions.
"No. No one knew where I was when I was summoned. I was, uh, traveling at the time, and then I was suddenly here, so..." Danny was totally not doing himself favors here. How had he kept his secret as long as he had, before?
An awkward silence descended once again. He pushed away his now finished food tray, and then looked over the magic trio. Then, before he could think better of it...
"Are you all really magic? I mean, training to be wizards and a witch at this super cool magic school?" He asked with a no small amount of wonder.
The trio looked at him surprised, before Harry spoke up.
"Are you not a wizard too?" He asked carefully.
"Oh no, I didn't even know real magic was a thing before coming here. But it is super cool though! From what i've... seen... so far..." he trailed off seeing their stunned faces.
"What?"
"You're a muggle?!" Ron exclaimed.
"Well that doesn't sound like a nice name, but I don't know what it means, so I couldn't say."
"Oh, no! We aren't insulting you! Muggle is the term the wizarding community uses for people that don't have magical abilities. We're really sorry, it's just... we didn't think that anyone that could be summoned by a magical summoning would not, well... be magical too." Hermione explained worriedly.
"Oh, please don't worry, I've been called far worse." Danny assured her.
"So it was a magical summoning then? Man, maybe that's why this one worked when all the ones I saw before wouldn't be even close to working on me." Danny muttered to himself.
"Other summoning rituals? So, you know why you were summoned, even though you aren't magical?" Harry asked excitedly, looking as if he had been waiting to ask this of Danny since the beginning.
Danny paused and looked down at his clenched hands on his lap.
What was he going to do now? These guys were nice but they were practically strangers. But Harry and Ron were in the classroom, so they've already seen him transform, so they at least know he's not normal already. But if they knew more, would they still treat him like this? Like he was welcome? Like he was normal? He didn't want to risk that, but...
Ugh. He couldn't explain it to himself, but even with all the reasons why he shouldn't explain more, why he should just thank these people for their hospitality and leave to find his way again, not involve them in the mess of his life further...
His mind jumped to how Dumbledore had asked to help him despite knowing he wasn't all human, how Madame Pomfrey had treated his wounds and given him food and a safe place to clean himself up and rest, to the trio sitting beside him. They had come to see if he was alright, and they didn't even know him...
He wanted to tell them.
He just felt so heavy with the weight of what had been happening to him. It would be nice to get some of the weight off. He couldn't tell them what had happened most recently, but maybe he could explain how this all started.
But how to tell them. He had no idea.
He had never done this before. Explained that he wasn't fully human anymore. That he was essentially one-of-a-kind, the last of his very small species in this world. That he was part...
Sam and Tucker were there, Jazz figured it out, and his parents... well he wasn't the one to tell them; but he was grateful that they all supported him and loved him just the same despite knowing the truth.
He looked up at the trio then, and found that they were all waiting patiently for his answer.
He sighed. Well... here goes nothing.
"I can be summoned because, I'm not entirely human." He paused to swallow his nerves.
"I wasn't born this way though, both my parents were human. They were scientists; brilliant scientists that specialized in the paranormal and studied ectology."
"Ghosts. They studied ghosts." He clarified, seeing their confusion.
"When I was four years old, they began to build their greatest invention. A portal into the dimension between dimensions; or the infinite realms. A gateway to where ghosts lived."
A deep sigh.
"Ten years of working on that portal, a giant hole cut deep into a wall; and then, a few months after I had turned fourteen, they finished it."
He smiled ruefully.
"They were so excited. Ten years of hard work, and they were finally ready to punch a hole into reality itself in our basement. But, when they tried to turn it on, it sparked a bit, but then... stopped. It just didn't do anything. It didn't work."
He sighed, "It didn't work."
Glancing at the trio, he saw they were staring at him with rapt attention, following his every word.
"They were devastated, my parents. They had worked so hard, and for their prized invention to just... not work. It broke them. It was their life's work, and I hated seeing them like that."
"Not too long after the portal had failed, my best friends and I went down to my basement to check out the lab, and to see the portal." He laughed dryly.
"We weren't even supposed to be down there. But my parents and my sister were out of the house, and Sam... She really wanted to see the portal. She... she really liked the idea of a gateway to a whole other dimension, filled with things unknown."
He paused again to try to still his shaking hands.
"While we were down there, Sam wanted a picture of us near the portal. Then we got the brilliant idea to explore the inside of the portal. I knew it wasn't a good idea, but I was young and stupid and hanging out with my friends and I..."
Breathing shakily, he closed his eyes, preparing for what came next.
"I put on a safety suit. My parents made it for me, it looked like an astronauts suit, because they knew I wanted to become one. I put on the suit, and then went through with exploring the empty, non-functional portal. Sam and Tucker were excited for me, and excited about the mystery and danger of it all. We were all, just, so, so stupid."
"I walked into the portal. The further I got, the darker it became. I put my hand on the wall to steady myself, to make sure I didn't fall. Then, my hand brushed against a switch. Which, I guess, was an 'On' switch."
"...I couldn't get out in time..."
Hermione gasped, her hand jumping to her face to cover her mouth. Ron had paled considerably, freckles standing out starkly across his nose. Harry had frozen, green eyes wide and horrified.
"The portal turned on while I was still inside," he choked out, "and I died."
"Just, not all the way. Or, I died and was brought back by the amount of electricity and ecto-energy that is required to open a portal. We were never able to figure it out for sure. But after everything..."
The green light enveloping him, the freezing electricity that danced across his skin, his friends screaming his name, his own scream of agony. The pain he felt, as his very being was altered in that instant that seemed to last a lifetime.
"After everything, I still came out of the portal, but I was different. I looked different and felt different, and could do all these things that I couldn't before. It wasn't until a few very confusing and scary weeks later that I could actually control any of it, and had a word, a label, for what I had become."
He turned to the trio then, looking at them directly before he took the final plunge.
"Halfa. It's what the other ghosts called me. Half human, half ghost; a halfa."
He laughed dryly to himself.
"I think they meant it as a slur when they called me that, but it's the only word we have."
"It's been two years since then, and I've gotten much better at controlling my powers. I had my friends to help me through it all. Especially when malevolent ghosts and poltergeists came through the now working portal to wreak havoc on my town. I was able to fight back, and keep them from hurting people. I took them down, and then returned them the to Ghost Zone, as my parents called it."
He paused again, reminiscing.
"I was good at what I did, and was glad that I could help in any way I could. It gave me a purpose and helped me to make sense of my new powers and how to use them."
He snorted without humor.
"That is, until a few months ago..."
He sat quietly, lost in his thoughts. He jumped when Ron broke the silence.
"Bloody Hell! You went through all that! And you were summoned here because you're half ghost!"
"And because you are a protector! You protected people with your powers!" Harry suddenly realized, turning to Ron, "Remember what Trelawney said before we started the summoning? That this particular ritual was supposed to summon a protector from the beyond because we are in a time of need for balance or something? That's why you must have been summoned specifically, Danny!"
"Oh Danny," Hermione said shakily, "I'm sorry about everything you went through, but I'm glad you were summoned here, so now you have a chance to recuperate."
"Yeah! You should stay here for a bit, mate! We'll be able to teach you all about magic, and you can show us your ghost powers!" Ron exclaimed excitedly.
"Ron! Professor Dumbledore will let him stay for sure, but Danny should rest before anything else!" Hermione cut in.
"I don't know Hermione, Ron has a point. If Danny stays he can practice his abilities safely, and we can teach him about magic and how it..." Harry attempted to intervene.
As Hermione retorted, the trio devolved into a light argument amongst themselves.
Danny stared at them, stunned. He knew that they were witches and wizards in training and had probably seen a few crazy things themselves, but they just... accepted him.
Just like that.
He should't be surprised, but he was.
He felt so much lighter.
He laughed softly, cutting off their squabble as they looked at him.
Still chuckling, he said, "Thank you, guys. Thank you for listening and believing me, this is the first time I've actually had to explain all of this to anyone, so... Thank you."
The trio returned his smile, and Ron and Harry jumped to tell him about places they could show him in Hogwarts, and where it would be best to practice both magic and ghost powers. Hermione looked on, amused at their antics.
Before they could continue much further, they heard a quiet chuckle from the Hospital wing doors.
Turning towards the doors, they all saw Dumbledore looking at them with a small smile.
"Good morning Danny, I hope you slept well. I see you are already making friends." The headmaster then nodded towards the trio, but kept his eyes on him.
"Yes. Thank you Mr. Dumbledore. Harry and Ron were there when I was summoned, so they came with Hermione to see if I was alright."
Ron snorted in amusement but tried to hide it with a cough.
"It seems they were curious about you as well. I hope you don't mind, but I heard much of your explanation as you answered their questions. With your permission, I would like to pass on the pertinent information to my staff so they know of the situation." Dumbledore stated, raising an eyebrow in question.
"Oh. Uh, sure. As long as i don't have to retell everything again, I'm okay with that. But, if I'm going to be leaving soon because I'm a," he paused looking at the trio quickly, "what'd you say I was? A muggle?" At Hermione's nod, he turned back to Dumbledore.
"If I have to leave soon because I'm a muggle, and this is a magical school, then you don't need to go through the trouble, I can just leave..."
"If I may Danny," Dumbledore interrupted him, "Here at Hogwarts, you being a muggle doesn't have much consequence in this particular circumstance, since an ordinary muggle wouldn't be able to see Hogwarts at all. You being a half ghost, as you say, must make you immune to much of our warding magic."
Here, he paused, looking at Danny over his half moon glasses.
"It is my understanding, from overhearing your explanation, that you are in a place that your family doesn't know where you are? And you do not have a safe place to stay, due to this? If you would like to stay here, you are more than welcome. I can assure you, you will not be bored, as we have subjects that don't require the use of a wand, or any kind of magical ability. You would be welcome to accompany Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, and Ms. Granger in their classes that do not require a wand if you wish. At least, until you feel that it is safe and a good time to leave." Dumbledore stated, surely.
Danny looked to the trio in question. They stared at him, and nodded their heads vigorously.
"Mr. Dumbledore, that sounds, amazing. Thank you." He said, starstruck at this turn of events.
Nodding himself, and smiling, Dumbledore turned again towards the door.
"If you will excuse me then, I have to inform the staff, and prepare for your inclusion into our excellent school. Before I go, would you allow me to know your full name, for the register?"
"Oh. Sure, my full name is Daniel Fenton, but I still prefer Danny."
"Thank you Mr. Fenton, I'm sure we will speak with each other soon." Dumbledore then left the room.
After a few moments of silence that followed Dumbledore's departure, Ron broke the silence again by snorting out a laugh.
"Mate! You just," he broke off to laugh some more, "You just called him 'Mr.' Dumbledore!"
He continued to laugh, with Harry joining him after a moment.
"What?" Danny asked confused? "Was that wrong?"
"Oh no Danny, its not wrong exactly, its just that we all know him as Professor Dumbledore. We just never heard anyone call him Mr. Dumbledore before." Hermione explained, giggling as well.
He must have still looked confused, because the three students renewed their laughter after looking at his face.
He joined in after a moment, happy to enjoy a lighthearted moment.
They continued to chat for a while, until Hermione told Harry and Ron they needed to get to class. They left with the promise to come visit him again between and after their classes.
Once the door closed again, Danny could only marvel at how much his weird, messed up life had changed in such a short time.
What could possibly happen next?
Woo! What a chapter. (Evil laughter surrounds me as I think of what is to come!)
Also some Manipulative!Dumbledore for your reading pleasure, and Danny getting brave and making friends! 'sniff' I'm so proud!
Anyway, I'm back! Took my Boards, passed, and now... ugh. I'm moving to my new job. Which is YAY! very much so, but moving across the country is pretty stressful. (I have to drive a week with my cat, so please send your thoughts to her as she has to put up with me for that long).
Once I'm settled, I should be able to get more consistent with uploading stuff, or... I'll try to be. ;)
Thank you for reading!