A/N: Good news. I finally went back to Book 1 and revised everything. There's a new prologue in there as well (the very first chapter), which I recommend reading, because it establishes the setup and frame story from the get-go.

Interludes and the previous chapter still require some revising however. I am worried about the tone shift being too sharp, and the fact that some things in chapter 1 redefine what was said or suggested in book 1, even if the frame structure explains it. Rereading, Monsters so far definitely feels much more bleak.

Please let me know what you think. :)

Patch report:
- Wrote new prologue for story, in older!Danny's perspective to set up frame structure narrative more explicitly
- Renamed Book 2 to "Monsters"
- Changed characterization and tone of events (major actual events remain the same)
- Added scenes and altered book 1 climax chapters to make more sense and be more thematically impactful (again, major events stay the same, but some things are clearer and have more pay-off)
- Emphasized concurrent storyline of older!Danny, to go along with the events of younger!Danny as he writes them
- Fixed various inconsistencies (like Dean, who was raised muggleborn, saying "Flying is easy" before the first flying class)
- Deleted irrelevant beginning scenes and generally cut down on words
- Removed cringe
- Removed Herobrine

Chapter Two
A Penchant for Misadventure

"What do you reckon this 'Chamber of Secrets' business is all about?" Ron whispered, leaning forward into the huddle the seven of them - the Gryffindor boys plus Hermione, who was practically an honorary member - had formed, conspicuously, in the common room. The older students were periodically sending them annoyed glances for taking up all the space.

"Maybe," Seamus said, wiggling his fingers, "it's ghooostly business."

Danny gave him an unimpressed look.

Annoyingly, Seamus had at some point decided that the little bit of what Danny had told Seamus about November - the month he was possessed by a ghost - was prime joking material. Seamus had been raised in the Wizarding World and where ghosts were completely harmless, so somehow, the combination of very sparse information, Danny repeatedly waving off their concerns, and the ribbing over Danny's previous claim of "ghostitis", had led Seamus to believe that November, at least, was not a very serious matter after all and could be freely joked about.

"Oi, rub off, mate," Ron, who knew more, said.

"We're looking for serious theories," Hermione added, pursing her mouth into a tight frown.

Tension sparked. Everyone, except Danny, swiveled their heads to glare at Seamus. Danny's somewhat confused gaze remained fixed on the rest of them.

"Alright, alright," Seamus said, rocking back on his heels. A stupid grin was still plastered to his face, but he looked confused. "You guys don't have to take it so seriously. I was only joking."

"Right," Ron muttered.

"Alright," Harry coughed, breaking the atmosphere deliberately. "Any more ideas about the Chamber of Secrets?"

Neville bravely volunteered, voice warbling only a little.

"I think," he said, "we shouldn't poke our heads into it. It's none of our business, isn't it?"

Everyone was now giving Neville very unimpressed stares, but Danny was quick to jump to his defense.

"Seconded," he said quickly. "It was probably a prank anyway. Everyone hates Filch's cat, right?"

He didn't really believe that, but it was better that the others didn't get involved in anything dangerous. Hermione and Harry however, were giving him betrayed looks.

"Come on, Danny," Harry said, "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"Yeah," Dean piped up, who was raised muggle, "we're in a magic school here. I doubt anything's just a prank, and not like this."

"'Sides," Seamus said, somewhat hesitant as he looked around the circle, "Fred and George don't know anything about it either. If it were a prank, they'd have heard at least something."

"Well," Hermione said, somewhat regretfully, "I suppose before we start jumping into conspiracy theories, we should look at all the other options first. Could it have been an accident?"

"With that written on the wall?" Ron raised his eyebrows. "No chance."

"What about…"

"A DADA training exercise?" Danny blurted out hopefully.

They all looked at him again.

"Danny," Hermione said, sounding frustrated. "Why don't you want us to talk about this?"

"Why do you?" he shot back. Then, "If it is something, which I'm sure it isn't, looking into it will just put you guys in danger. The teachers can handle it."

"But," Hermione said, frowning. "We were only just talking about it?"

"Besides," said Harry, "I didn't exactly see the teachers handling it last year."

They all turned silent. They had all seen that chamber, where Quirrell's dead body had been. Even if McGonagall had tried to stop them from seeing it, they had been there, and had seen Danny.

"Right," Seamus said, voice determined. "We're going to figure out what's going on, before everything gets screwed up."

Hermione, whose face was set into grim lines, and Ron, whose face was set into angry lines, both nodded. Danny looked around, and to his horror, saw the same determination on all of their faces, except for Neville.

"I still think -" Neville began.

"Hey, you lot!" a voice came from above, and they all turned to see Percy Weasley hovering over them. Strangely enough, a younger redhead girl, dressed in Gryffindor robes was right next to him, and he had a tight grip on her robes. Percy looked furious, a sight that Danny had never seen before. "You all shouldn't be taking up this much space in the common room. Find some other place to huddle," he snapped.

Ron stared at his older brother in disbelief. "Percy -"

"Scram," he said, without looking at them. They all dashed to their feet, even Ron, and began walking to their dorms, sharing sullen glances.

Danny lingered behind, thinking to ask Percy what was wrong, but the prefect immediately turned to the younger girl beside him, bowing down onto one knee to meet her height.

"Ginny," the older boy said, his anger suddenly turning into mortification, face still flushed red, "please, never, follow me again like that…"

Danny quickly slipped off and ran after the other boys.

Monsters

Two hours later, Danny found himself in a dark classroom, nestled away in a corridor near the Gryffindor dorms. He had slipped away while the others slept.

"Let's do this thing," Danny whispered to himself, squeezing his eyes shut. He raised his right hand into the air in the shape of the fist, hoping it would help him feel more heroic and less ridiculous. "Going ghost."

He squeezed the coldness in his chest, and there was a flash of light, and he was a ghost.

His legs disappeared into a tail beneath him, and he began hovering in the air. He opened his eyes, and the classroom was now illuminated by a soft white glow. His hands were gloved in white, an inverse of the hazmat suit he had worn into the portal.

He floated for a moment, feeling uncertain. Then –

He hardened his heart, growing in determination.

Now was his chance to do something. He had something no one else in this castle did: he could float, turn invisible, and go through walls. It was perfect for getting to the bottom of the petrification and the "Chamber of Secrets" mystery. He had to do something to help, and – if he admitted it to himself – he was somewhat excited to give his new powers a real test run, now that he wasn't going slowly insane courtesy of ghostly possession and wasn't in a house chock full of ghost-sensing equipment. The mystery only provided the perfect excuse. And Filch's cat's petrification was entirely curable, so he couldn't feel too bad about taking advantage of it either.

If only I could get the hang of these powers, he thought woefully, as he suddenly shot a foot up in the air.

Breathing deeply, he made an effort to stabilize himself. He had noticed that his ghostly powers usually acted up when he was emotional, similar to how the octopus ghost had grown stronger by rocking Danny with strong emotion. Horrible emotions, and horrible sights. He shivered at the memory. But that was neither here nor now.

Focus, he told himself, breathing in the way Jazz had taught him to calm himself, after they had moved. Stay calm.

Slowly, he lowered to hover again a few inches off the ground.

Alright. Next step, invisibility.

This one came much more easily to him. It was easy to imagine himself hiding into himself, disappearing, stepping just a little bit sideways to slip into a comfortable in-between where no one could find him –

There.

He stared at his hands, and was pleased to see that they had disappeared, along with the rest of his body. Luckily, full invisibility did not reveal his grotesque innards.

And, next… he thought, gaze drifting towards the classroom wall.

Intangibility.

He swallowed, releasing his invisibility.

This was the most daunting ability. It required shutting down his instincts, his deep knowledge that humans were not meant to pass through other objects. It was like running into that wall to get to the Hogwarts Express the first time, except the brick wall at King's Station had never failed to let him pass.

Most of the walls he had tried this on in the past month had not been so acquiescing. To his most painful recollection.

Unfortunately, it was probably his most useful ghostly ability, and so he had to learn it.

Nervously, he stepped forward, pressing his hand against the wall. He closed his eyes again, imagining sinking into it, stepping into that in-between the same way he would for invisibility –

Nothing. Fear and nervousness began beating a rapid tattoo in his heart, and he took a step back.

I can't do this when I'm scared of it, Danny thought, opening his eyes again.

He frowned, and took his hand off the wall.

Well, he'd try again another day. There was no one around to force him to face his fear, and he wasn't keen on slapping his face into stone again and again. Flying and invisibility would have to do for today.

Cautiously, he stepped sideways again, into the in-between, becoming invisible once again. He opened the classroom door, and slipped out, closing the door after him with a soft clink.

He looked around uncertainly. Portraits lined the wall, but they were all asleep. Some of them had comic bubbles expanding from their noses, and snoring sounds filled the hallway.

Shrugging, he picked a direction to float, away from the common room. He didn't have a better way to investigate.

It wasn't long before he got bored. Hogwarts at night was almost exactly the same as it was by day, except all the portraits were sleeping, no one was walking around or talking, and it all really felt rather creepy. Though, when you were the ghost, it was hard to be too spooked.

Danny's lips quirked into a smile at the thought.

Eventually, he decided to head back to the dorms. All in all, his first night exploration of the castle had in fact been a rather dull experience.

Or, maybe not, Danny thought, catching a glimpse of Sir Cadogan in one of the portraits during his journey back. He was still on his fat pony, but his head periodically bobbed up and down, as if the knight had been desperately trying to stay awake but was failing in this sacred task.

Danny glanced around. All the other portraits were empty, likely vacated due to Cadogan's impressive snoring. He smirked, an idea coming to him.

He hovered in front of the portrait, invisible.

"Sir Cadogan," he whispered eerily. "Sir Cadogan."

"W-what?" The knight abruptly jolted awake, nearly jumping a foot off from his pony's back. He looked around. "Where - where are ye, ye foul fiend?" He whirled his pony around, who was looking very sleepy and reluctant, and poked his sword in the air a couple of times. "Reveal thyself!"

Laughing, Danny made himself visible. "It's just me, Sir Cadogan," he said, grin on his face, arms pressed against his stomach in a futile attempt to keep it in.

"M-monster!" The knight pointed the sword at him, jabbing it futilely. "Let me get at ye!"

Danny's grin died.

"... Sir Cadogan? You really don't - "

The sound of footsteps, running. Danny whirled around in the air, seeing wandlight in the distance. His eyes widened. This wasn't good. Whoever was there, would clearly know he was there. When he was in ghost form, Danny was like a glowstick.

Sir Cadogan kept yelling behind him.

"Ye fiend - get back here - "

Danny instinctively drifted away from the footsteps, away from Cadogan.

Crap, he thought. What should I do? This isn't good. I don't want to get into trouble.

Then,

I'm an idiot. Ghost powers.

He closed his eyes, and thought about becoming invisible.

"- give me fair fight, ye wretched..."

He stepped sideways, into that in-between.

Mercifully, Sir Cadogan fell quiet.

It was just then that the footsteps reached him. Tentatively, Danny opened his eyes, floating backwards as he did so, towards the ceiling so that he couldn't be touched. He looked down at the newcomer.

It was Remus Lupin.

His professor, his friend, was sniffing the air.

He felt a familiar sinking feeling. Like he had just made a terrible mistake.

"Reveal yourself," the man said roughly, turning around every which way, a wild look in his eyes. His hair was rumpled and the man was in his pajamas, other than the patchwork cloak that enveloped him. He had clearly just gotten out of bed.

Danny had only a moment to feel guilty before Remus' eyes locked onto him.

No, he realized, when the man's gaze passed over the rest of him and vaguely to the left. He still can't see me.

But when Remus pointed his wand confidently towards him, Danny knew that the man knew where he was.

"Reveal yourself, ghost," the professor said again, his stance shifting. The rugged, well-mannered man suddenly screamed 'DANGEROUS' to Danny's instincts. "I'm warning you."

Danny realized that this was going to be far, far worse than the trouble he would get in for being out past curfew. Pressing himself against the ceiling, he knew that he couldn't just phase through it, like the other ghost had.

"Very well," Remus said, voice hardening. "The hard way it is, then. Ectonum -"

Danny didn't wait long enough to hear the rest of the spell. He ran - flew - pushing himself to go as fast as he could, until he was faster than he had ever been on a broom. A neon green bolt of light flew after him, nearly grazing him, and he realized that he needed to move, twist and turn and dodge, and so he did, twisting and turning and dodging like his life depended on it.

He flew and flew, until he barely knew where he was, who he was anymore. He darted and twisted and dodged, and all he knew was the primordial instinct to flee and no other thoughts filled his mind.

Finally, he threw himself into an empty classroom, where the door was cracked open just a bit, and collapsed to the ground. A flash of light, and suddenly his heart was pounding, and he could feel the chill of the cold

floor seep into his bones.

Loud footsteps, a minute later, pounded down the hallway.

Was it… was it over?

He stared at the door, where the shaft of light that entered and left as the footsteps passed. He didn't dare to close it. He didn't dare to move.

He waited. First a minute, then ten. Then another ten. Finally, he dared to pick himself up from the floor, shivering.

Remus had just attacked him, he realized, with a dawning horror.

Remus.

Because… he was half-ghost?

He felt fear clutch his heart.

Sir Cadogan hadn't recognized him. If Danny hadn't kept himself hidden, hadn't made himself invisible, would Remus have?

Would it have mattered?

He pushed the thought to the side, because of course, if Remus had recognized him, he would have stopped. Remus was his friend. His protector. Even if Danny was, was part ghost now, he wouldn't…

He remembered that wild look in his eyes. The feeling of danger emanating from his friend.

He remembered Remus pointing his wand at Danny while he was still human, the very first day he returned to Hogwarts.

He shivered again.

Then, not daring to go invisible again, crept his way back to the Gryffindor dorms.

The Fat Lady took one look at him and his haggard expression, eeped, and let him in the moment he mumbled the password.

Growing Up

It had taken a long time for Danny to notice, but the portraits had begun acting funny around him. Well, "begun" was a misnomer. They had been acting funny around him for a long time now, but it was only now that he was realizing it.

The first time he had really noticed, was when Seamus was making a passing comment, that had sent a nearby portrait into howls of laughter. The portrait was apparently easily amused.

And easily frightened, too, because when the portrait's eyes landed on Danny, the laughter abruptly cut off, and the man's face paled.

No one else noticed, too drawn into their conversation, but it had bothered Danny.

He remembered now, after Nocturne's visit, what he had done, but it was a memory that still remained fuzzy, fractured.

"There, now, it'll be alright," the portrait had murmured reassuringly, the day after the ghost had first possessed Danny.

(And something within Danny had snapped at the words.)

(He remembered a static fuzz, then staring at a torn portrait.)

Now the Fat Lady was scared of him too. Had probably been for a while, but it was only now that she showed it so obviously, when he returned back to his dorm, haggard, in the middle of the night.

What had he done back then?

If he had only torn a frame, and that portrait was safe, would they all be so scared of him?

Guilt and wretchedness swirled inside of him.

He remembered Sir Cadogan's words.

"M-monster," he had called him.

It was safe to say that Danny would not sleep well that night.

Monsters

"Hermione," he said during breakfast, eyes lined with dark circles. "Do you remember that letter we found last year, in Quirrell's office?"

Quirrell's slack face had besieged him in nightmares, and somehow the letter he wrote had gobbled Remus in a dream, in the sparse moment of dream Danny had managed to catch. When he woke up, heart beating fast, he had been filled with a need to know what had happened with that letter. Then he had the remaining three hours of the night to think and obsess about it.

The letter had been signed 'Parventium', and addressed to the Minister of Magic. Danny's logical mind confirmed that it was probably important. He had been lucky, though, to discover Hermione in the Great Hall, early in the morning, when scarcely anybody else was up.

Hermione looked up from her book. Hermione, classically, was reading as she thoughtlessly shoveled down breakfast into her mouth.

"Hmm?" she intoned, mind catching up to the spoken words. "Oh! The letter."

She frowned.

"Yes," she said carefully. "I do, in fact, remember it." She laughed, carefully. "What an old thing. I wonder where it went?"

He stared at her suspiciously.

"Now," she said, leaning forward, book abandoned. "What do you really think about the Chamber of Secrets? I've been searching everywhere, and I could almost swear I've heard the name before, but the library is all out of Hogwarts, A History..."

"You didn't bring your copy?" he asked.

"Well, I did," she said. "But someone must have taken it. I left it on my bedside table…" She frowned. "Must've been one of the other girls."

Now his attention perked up.

"You think they would take your stuff?"

She shrugged, still frowning. Her eyes drifted down back to her thick textbook, as if she would spontaneously start reading it mid-conversation.

"What about that letter?" he pressed. Now he was certain that she was hiding something, if her suspicious laughter earlier weren't clue enough. Did someone steal the letter?

Her eyes drifted back to him.

Then she sighed.

"This school," she said regretfully, "isn't all too good, is it?"

"Huh?"

"Just think about it, Danny. Our DADA professor last semester kidnapped you. He casted the Imperius curse, which is highly illegal in the wizarding world. Our potions professor is continuously nasty towards Harry and me, and doesn't seem to take into account merit at all. And Professor Binns… don't get me started on Professor Binns. Now this Chamber of Secrets business?" She frowned, severely. "And that's only scratching the surface."

Danny had to admit that she was right, but didn't understand what she was getting at. He told her as much.

"I want to," she said, hesitating. "I want to change it. Make something right. There's so much - I've been thinking - like the House system -"

"What's wrong with the Houses?" Danny frowned.

"Well," she said, "well, I've been reading, you know, muggle books, and I think such division is a terrible idea. It always leads to conflict between sides, and it's stupid. Look how Draco and Harry fight all the time - "

"I thought they just didn't like each other."

Hermione looked at him skeptically.

"In any case," she continued. "It's become well-known that 'all dark wizards come from Slytherin', nowadays." She made air quotes as she said it. "At least, that's what Ron said once, and the other boys all agreed. Can't you see how that's dangerous?"

Danny frowned, eyebrows furrowing. It wasn't something he had thought about much.

Encouraged to see him at least considering it, she continued on.

"And - and there's much more. Maybe, maybe the Houses themselves aren't a problem, but the attitude the teacher's have is. Snape turning a blind eye to the Slytherins teasing us… And honestly, I get the feeling that the teachers are all more interested in politics or something else, rather than actually teaching us. It's like the priority isn't on students or learning at all," she fumed.

That didn't sound right to Danny.

"But… what about Professor McGonagall?" he asked. "Flitwick? Sprout? Remus?"

They all were rather good teachers. He could name a couple of others, besides.

"Well," she said. "Well." She opened her mouth again, then thought better of it.

"And what does this have to do with the letter?" he asked again, feeling disgruntled now.

"Just… just think about it," Hermione started again, somewhat desperately. "Maybe I've come about this the wrong way. All of those things are… well, just thoughts. The real problem is, well, the real problem is… is that Hogwarts isn't just a school. It's a, a fortress and it isn't safe. Why did Dumbledore decide to hide the Sorcerer's Stone here? It sounded to me like Dumbledore knew Quirrell was up to something, from what you've told me, and he let all of those bad things happen to you. Beneath the school,when we went to get you… Then there's also that Quidditch match, where Harry almost died, and we were found... And that ghost... If we're just in a school where the students are meant to be safe and learn, then why could all of these bad things happen?"

Danny stared at her wearily. It was too early and he was too tired, he thought, for this type of conversation.

"They were trying, Hermione." A flicker of doubt rose within him, as he said it though.

It struck him as remarkably similar to something he had said to Jazz once, about Quirrell. Now he could only remember how Remus had chased him through the halls.

"But why bring the Sorcerer's Stone here?" she persisted.

"I'm sure Dumbledore had some reason," he said, though he was feeling somewhat dubious about Dumbledore after the headmaster refused to tell him why Quirrell had Voldemort on the back of his head. "And it's not going to happen again. It was just a one-time…"

"But what if," Hermione said quietly, interrupting him. "This 'Chamber of Secrets' is the same thing all over again? Another student hurt? Danger at Hogwarts?"

Danny was quiet. Other students had begun to enter the hall, the noise of clinking utensils and friendly chatter trickling in.

"Only a cat was petrified, Hermione," he said.

"And we ruled out all the innocent causes," she said. "Something else must be going on. Petrification is quite rare, powerful magic. And that message… 'enemies of the heir, beware'."

"The teachers can handle it," he said stubbornly. He didn't want her to get involved again in some Hogwarts misadventure. Seeing him, and Quirrell's body, in that mess of the chamber with the Sorcerer's Stone, had affected all of his friends. He knew it had. He didn't want it to happen again.

He looked down at his hands. He held a utensil, limply, in his right. A fork.

Maybe I can do something too, he thought.

The fork suddenly fell to the table with a clatter. He stared at it wide-eyed. It had passed through his hand. He looked up, panicked, but thankfully, Hermione hadn't noticed. It would be too much to explain, after two months of school.

"You keep saying that," Hermione said, her eyes intent on her book, tracing the cover, her lips drawn into a frown. Then she looked back up at him. "But what I'm saying is, what if they don't?"

Danny, briefly, remembered Neville falling off his broom, so long ago. He had been the one to help his friend. Madam Hooch hadn't done anything to help.

Hermione was right. At least with this last bit.

What if they don't? The words echoed in his mind.

Well, he thought, staring at the fork, a sudden drive to act making his heart beat fast. He had these ghost powers now. He had to make the most of them, to do something to help.

He could prove that he wasn't a monster.

He struggled to hide his passion as he looked up to meet Hermione's gaze. He was so distracted by the effort that he failed to notice that same fire burning in her.

After that, they didn't talk any more on the subject, each lost in their own ideas. The others soon arrived, and they quickly filled the table with boisterous laughter and far too many jokes that tried, and often failed, to be witty.

Danny was halfway to Transfigurations class when he realized that Hermione still hadn't told him anything about the letter.

Growing Up

Danny's spell fizzled out before he had finished speaking the first word.

He scowled, even though he had expected it. This had happened every time he had snuck out to practice his ghost powers. There was just something about ectoplasm that blocked the flow of magic, or twisted it into something wild, uncontrollable, so that it dispersed before he could harness it into a spell.

Professor McGonagall was having them try to turn animals into water goblets today. It was a hard enough task that the other students were failing, too, so Danny didn't have to worry about too many questions.

Still, it was frustrating. It felt like every time he practiced his ghost powers, he was giving up on magic.

Danny was just about to try the spell again, when Hermione's hand raised high beside him.

"Yes, Ms. Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked, an eyebrow raised. Hermione hadn't even tried the spell yet. "Do you have a theoretical question?"

Hermione dropped her hand, leaning forward intently. "Professor, what is the Chamber of Secrets?"

The entire class's attention snapped to Professor McGonagall. Wands stopped mid-spell, idle conversations mid-sentence.

"The Chamber of Secrets," McGongall said sharply, "is not something we will discuss in this class. Please, only questions related to class."

Everyone kept staring.

"But professor," Hermione continued relentlessly, "if there's something dangerous in the school, and it's to do with the Chamber of Secrets, don't we have a right to know?"

Professor McGonagall looked at her for a long moment, saw her determination, then swept her gaze around the classroom only to find the rest of the class in agreement. She sighed.

"Alright," she said. "You may very well have a point, though everything we know is only legend and unconfirmed suspicion." She quickly resumed a lecturing tone, pacing back and forth across the classroom as she spoke. "To understand what the story behind the Chamber of Secrets, you first must learn about the history of Hogwarts and its founding. As you well know, Hogwarts had four founders: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They lived in a time of great magical persecution, and often looked for certain qualities when taking in their students. Gryffindor for bravery, Ravenclaw for intelligence, Slytherin for cunning, and Hufflepuff for anyone who needed it." She took a breath. "However, at some point, it is told that the founders reached a disagreement. Salazar Slytherin refused to take in any muggleborn students, citing that they came from families that persecuted the wizards. He tried to convince the other three that they also should not accept muggleborn students. Which," she said sternly, "is only a persecution of its own kind."

Her story held the class in rapt attention. Her gaze roved over the students, taking in their reactions before continuing the story.

"This, at least, is well confirmed in historical documents. The Chamber of Secrets, however, is not. It is said that Salazar Slytherin, upon leaving Hogwarts, created a Chamber that would eradicate Hogwarts of its muggleborn students. This, however, is completely hearsay and due to undue speculation. I would advise all students to refrain from perpetuating any panic or false rumors. Whatever the cause of Ms. Norris' petrification is, we teachers will handle it."

"Now," she said sharply, "back to work. I want you all to have cast vera verto successfully at least once by the end of the class."