Danny tried to keep up with Dumbledore as the wizard walked through the enchanted halls of Hogwarts, but moving staircases, living statues and interactive pictures were very distracting. But Dumbledore was patient and merely found Danny's awe amusing. However in such a haunted building, it was only a matter of time before they encountered a ghost. A lady in waiting of old was floating down the corridor before she noticed Danny Phantom, who was entranced by a particularly animated argument in a picture. She squealed in surprise and delight and flew over to Danny.

"Phantom?!" she exclaimed, attracting his attention. Danny frowned in confusion before becoming alarmed and formed a ghost ray in his hand.

"That's close enough," he growled. The pearly white, translucent ghost froze.

"I'm sorry. I forgot myself. Forgive me. I was merely excited to meet the ghost that defeated Pariah Dark," the ghost apologised. Dumbledore blinked in surprise and glanced at Danny. The teen allowed his ghost ray to fade.

"So, you like me? Like Frostbite?" Danny asked. The ghost nodded.

"Sorry about that. How did you hide from my ghost sense?" Danny muttered embarrassed, a light green blush tinging his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck.

The ghost shook her head.

"I should have known better. And I don't know Phantom. Perhaps it is because we are different types of ghost," the female ghost replied graciously. Danny shrugged.

"However let me be the first to welcome you to Hogwarts Phantom. And watch out for Peeves. He's a poltergeist who loves to cause problems. He means no harm, but he can get carried away," the ghost concluded before curtsying and leaving.

"Care to enlighten me Danny?" Dumbledore inquired. Danny's blush deepened.

"Er, have you ever heard of the Ghost King? Well, he attacked my home over a year ago. I fought him and pushed him back into his prison. As a result, some ghosts like me. Guess you could say, among ghosts, I'm as well-known as Harry. And like Harry not everyone likes me. It pays for me to be ready for an attack than being too trusting. But, it would have been nice to have a warning," Danny replied, giving Dumbledore a pointed raised eyebrow. Dumbledore dipped his head.

"I apologise. I wasn't aware of the situation. Thank you for explaining it. But I am intrigued to hear more of your adventures," Dumbledore retorted apologetically. Danny smirked.

"I'd be happy to tell some," Danny agreed.

They continued on their way and soon reached a disused classroom on the fifth floor with an adjoining office. The office was clean, spacious and ready to be occupied.

"I took the liberty to organise a place for you to stay. Feel free to use this and the classroom to your liking. I will have the door locked. House elves will clean the room once a week on an agreed day to give you as much privacy as possible. I will provide you with a set of school robes with a house of your choice as a disguise when in Hogwarts. I expect you to wear it on your human form when in this school during class times. Any questions?" Dumbledore explained while Danny took in the room, dresser, fireplace, four poster bed and everything in between. Danny smiled.

"I can't think of any. Except, what's a house elf?" Danny replied.

"You'll see soon enough. Would you prefer to have a tour now? Or in the morning?" Dumbledore answered. Danny shrugged.

"I'm still running on American time. And I'm used to being up half the night," Danny retorted. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Then a tour and dinner it is," Dumbledore decided.

Dumbledore led the way through the castle, pointing out particular rooms and sights. They ate their dinner together in the Great Hall on the top table, at which time Danny told Dumbledore a few stories. Dumbledore then showed Danny to the kitchens, explaining that the halfa would have to eat there during term time. Danny was astonished to meet the house elves. They were short, grey skinned creatures with orb-like eyes and bat ears. They were very polite and eager to serve. Danny wasn't used to that but he was impressed by the creatures. There were two in particular that caught Danny's attention. One passed out on the ground surrounded by what appeared to be beer bottles and another wearing numerous garments, rarely correctly and most were brightly coloured and clashed with other garments. They were called Winky and Dobby, free house elves, Dumbledore explained. Dumbledore then showed Danny the dungeons and the grounds. Taking care to warn Danny of the Whomping Willow. Then Dumbledore showed Danny back to his room for the night.

It was near mid-day by the time Danny emerged from his room. He made his way down to the Great Hall where Dumbledore and Lupin were having an early lunch. They greeted Danny with smirks that the teen ignored, he was not a morning person, a trait he seemed to have picked up from Sam.

"I've been thinking Danny. Perhaps I should teach you Occulemncy. It isn't a magic based skill, but Voldemort is quite competent at Legillemens and that could threaten both your secret and involvement with us," Dumbledore commented.

"Alright. What does that all mean?" Danny replied. Dumbledore smiled kindly.

"Legillemens is in essence mind reading. Occulemency is a method of closing your mind to that technique," Dumbledore clarified. Danny blinked.

"When can we start?" Danny inquired seriously. Dumbledore smiled.

"Whenever you wish. But in order to learn, I would need to attempt to break into your mind. Trial and error are wonderful teachers. Therefore, you would need to trust me with everything. All your secrets. I'm not asking you to tell me them but during practice, there is a high chance of me seeing things you'd otherwise wish I didn't. Everything would be completely confidential, I assure you," Dumbledore warned. Danny chewed his lip, understanding what the lessons could mean. Dumbledore could learn about his alternate future. Would the wizard trust him then?

"Would you explain the basics before we start?" Danny inquired hesitantly. Dumbledore nodded confidently. Danny sighed. The benefits outweighed the risks. Make Dumbledore a little wary and safeguard his mind and protect his secret and family or risk having his mind read and teaching Voldemort everything he knew.

"Alright then. So when do we start?" Danny decided carefully. Dumbledore nodded.

"Practicing the technique can be mentally exhausting. I think we should practice in the evenings. So in the meantime, Remus will be teaching you about wizard duelling and curses and hexes," Dumbledore concluded.

Lupin was a good teacher but it was frustrating to learn these spells, some had Dash written all over it, and to be unable to use them. But learning about some spells Danny could already see the usefulness. True, he couldn't use them himself, but he knew what spells were more dangerous than others. Lupin used the time to also test the spells on Danny, explaining each spell and counter curse beforehand. Most spells didn't work. Stunning spells did but there were others like bat bogey hexes that did nothing. It seemed that appearance altering spells did nothing, and physical spells only worked as long as Danny was tangible, such as a spell to conjure vine like ropes. It was an informative couple of hours that left Danny aching. Lupin then gave Danny a lesson on the numerous magical creatures present in the world, starting with Dementors, werewolves and boggarts.

That evening after dinner, Lupin staying for the next few days, Dumbledore and Danny met in Dumbledore's office. An hour later and Danny was drained. He'd kept his alternate future secret and was even able to push Dumbledore out a couple of times. It was a start.

And Danny starts his training to prepare him for his time in the wizarding world.

Let me know what you guys think so far.

Until the next chapter.