The next morning Danny was woken up by George shouting through his door that breakfast was ready. For the third time in a row, Danny woke up in a panic. He rolled out of bed, falling to the ground and hitting his head on the bedside cabinet. He scrambled to his feet, still half asleep, and readied himself for an attack.
"I'm up! What's going on?!" Danny exclaimed. George sniggered.
"Breakfast," George repeated. Danny glared at the closed door and relaxed his stance.
"Run Weasley," Danny growled. George laughed and Danny heard the twin start downstairs. The halfa pulled on his clothes and tousled his hair. Slipping on his shoes, Danny opened his door and spotted Harry and Ron leaving their room.
"Morning," Ron yawned. Danny grunted tiredly.
"I'm going to kill your brothers," the halfa hissed.
"For what?" Harry inquired.
"I thought the house was on fire or something," Danny answered with a scowl. Ron chuckled.
"They finally got you," the red head remarked. Danny glared at the younger teen. Harry frowned questioningly at Ron.
"First night I got here, I realised that Fred and George introduced themselves by saying the other's name. Ever since they've been trying to prank me," Danny explained. Harry smirked, finally getting the joke. Danny rolled his eyes and made his way to the kitchen.
"Danny!? What happened?!" Hermione exclaimed, seeing the bruise forming already on Danny's forehead.
"Those chuckleheads," Danny grumbled, whacking both twins on the back of the head as he passed.
"Hey! Only George woke you," they complained in unison.
"And I'm too tired to care or to try and tell you apart," Danny retorted grumpily. Mrs Weasley handed Danny a plate of food and Danny sat down beside the coffee pot, discretely pouring himself a cup.
"How are you tired?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Never been a morning person. And been up for almost three days straight," Danny replied, pausing to take a gulp of coffee.
Mrs Weasley frowned as the halfa took another gulp of strong black coffee before picking up a fork. Ron and Harry walked in then and accepted their own breakfasts.
"What are we doing today mum?" Fred inquired.
"We're going to tackle the drawing room. It's a big job and we probably won't get it done today. But there's a doxy infestation," Mrs Weasley answered.
"Doxy?" Harry repeated. Hermione huffed and reeled off an explanation of the creature adding that Lupin taught them a couple of years ago. Danny finished his breakfast and poured himself a second cup of coffee.
"Danny, should you really be drinking so much? Do your parents know you drink that much strong coffee?" Mrs Weasley finally commented.
"Yes," Danny lied.
"I think he means no," George muttered helpfully. Danny glared at the twin. Mrs Weasley didn't miss the exchange and deliberately moved the coffee pot out of Danny's reach. Danny rolled his eyes before downing the rest.
"I should get going anyway," Danny decided, getting to his feet.
"Where are you going? Aren't you going to help us with the cleaning?" Harry interjected.
"Well, actually I was given the job to tell Dumbledore everything in the meeting. So I'm going there and will probably have to run some errands for him. Have fun with the doxies," Danny informed them, giving them a wave as he left.
"Hmm, I hope Dumbledore doesn't ask him if he wants a cup of coffee. That much can't be good for him," Mrs Weasley muttered.
"Does he even know everything? He looked pretty tired last night. Dung fell asleep," Ron pointed out. His mother nodded.
"Oh, Danny was awake throughout the meeting, it was only afterwards that he dozed off. He really didn't have to sleep so little while on duty," Mrs Weasley assured him. Harry glanced at the door feeling a little guilty that the teen had been up guarding him rather than sleeping, but that quickly changed to anger that Danny didn't seem to trust Harry to protect himself.
Danny stepped out of the house and quickly ducked into his quiet, dark corner. He changed into his ghost form and teleported to Hogwarts. Appearing in his given room, Danny flew through the corridors to Dumbledore's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Dumbledore answered uncertainly. Danny smirked and phased inside.
"Hey Professor. I'm here to catch you up, if it's not a bad time," Danny announced. The headmaster smiled.
"Of course not Danny, please take a seat. Lemon drop?" Dumbledore replied and offered a paper bag filled with yellow hard-boiled sweets.
"No thanks, just had breakfast," Danny declined politely. Dumbledore smiled and calmly took one for himself.
Danny then gave a brief rundown of everything discussed the previous night, including the conversation with Harry. Dumbledore was quiet for a moment.
"I think having our secret weapon check out the department of mysteries is a good idea. Are you up to it? You might get lost," Dumbledore finally replied. Danny nodded.
"It was my idea. Besides, if it gets really bad, I can always phase out, or teleport. But there was something else I wanted to tell you. That drought in London, I think Vortex, a ghost is behind it. It feels like his work. But I won't be able to track him down until he's more obvious," Danny informed the wizard.
"You're sure?" Dumbledore asked. Danny sighed.
"As much as I can be considering my ghost sense didn't go off. But that might not be Voldemort's order. Vortex sees weather as art, making a drought could be his way of doodling. He's usually a lot more obvious," Danny admitted.
"We'll keep an eye on the weather. For now, you need to catch up on the days you missed with Miss Fisher," Dumbledore replied. Danny sighed as he agreed to take an extra day where possible.
Danny returned to his previous routine, except on Saturday nights, Danny scouted the department of mysteries. He was starting to figure out the layout. Most of his Fridays were sacrificed to Miss Fisher for additional lessons. This continued until the Monday before Harry's hearing.
Harry had been growing more and more worried and Danny could understand. This hearing could make or break the rest of the wizard's life. Either things stayed the same, or he got expelled, wand snapped and he became completely defenceless. Danny could understand and felt for the teen. That night, Danny went to bed with the others, but an hour later, Mrs Weasley knocked on his door. Being a light sleeper, Danny's eyes cracked open and he groaned. The witch stepped inside.
"Sorry Danny, but Dumbledore is here and wants to talk to you," Mrs Weasley murmured gently. Danny lifted his head and squinted at her silhouette. He flopped back down.
"Alright, be down in a minute," he yawned. Mrs Weasley propped a hand on her hip, recognising the "snooze button" from dealing with her own children.
"Danny, Dumbledore is a very busy man. Hurry up," Mrs Weasley prompted sternly. Danny sighed loudly, feeling a lot more awake.
"Okay, I'm awake. I'll be down in a sec," Danny retorted. Happy by the more alert answer, the witch left. Getting dressed quickly, Danny stumbled out his room and quietly went down to the kitchen.
"Good evening Danny. Sorry to wake you but I wanted to speak with you alone," Dumbledore greeted the groggy teen. Mrs Weasley left them alone.
"What's up?" Danny asked. Dumbledore smiled.
"I'd like you to stay with me at Hogwarts for the next couple of nights. As I'm sure you know, Harry's hearing is on Wednesday," Dumbledore began. Danny nodded in confirmation.
"Well, I'm afraid that Cornelius may attempt to sabotage Harry by changing the venue or time last minute. So, I want you to accompany me to ensure that Harry isn't late for the hearing," Dumbledore explained.
"And I have to leave tonight because�" Danny asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"I will be leaving very early on Wednesday and won't be back beforehand. Your cover is that you're visiting home for a few days as you won't be able to for a while," Dumbledore answered.
"Oh, how true is that cover?" Danny inquired. Dumbledore sighed sadly.
"I'm afraid, very. Once term begins, between lessons with Miss Fisher, order duties and Phantom, there will be very little spare time. I have already told Miss Fisher that you won't be attending lessons this week, but for appearances, you are," Dumbledore replied.
Danny sighed but nodded. He grabbed a couple of things from his room before leaving the house. Changing to Phantom, he teleported Dumbledore to Hogwarts. The surprise visit home was welcomed by his friends and family the next day. Dumbledore sent Danny to bed early as they got up at five that morning to get to the Ministry. Danny turned invisible and followed Dumbledore inside. Then Dumbledore sent Danny to watch Amelia Bones, she was supposed to lead Harry's hearing.
Danny waited in her office until she arrived at seven. She did some filing before a paper plane flew into the room.
"Potter, time changed. Hmm, odd place," the witch muttered to herself. Danny's eyes widened in alarm as she packed up everything she needed and marched out of the room. He floated to the desk and found the memo.
"Eight! That's in fifteen minutes! I have to tell Dumbledore and Harry," Danny mumbled to himself. He quickly memorised the memo and flew invisibly back to Dumbledore, phasing through walls and floors.
"Professor. Eight in courtroom ten. You were right," Danny whispered, causing the wizard to jump in surprise. Dumbledore scowled. He spotted Tonks coming into work, curly blonde hair today.
"Tell Tonks, she'll get that info to Arthur and Harry. I just hope that it's fast enough," Dumbledore muttered urgently as he made his way to the lifts to make his way to the courtroom. As Dumbledore marched, he made a memo which he sent through the air to find Mrs Figg, Harry's witness. Danny flew to Tonks.
"Try not to react, it's Phantom," Danny breathed in her ear. Tonks stumbled over her feet in surprise but the witch was exceptionally clumsy already so it wasn't too suspicious.
"Merlin's beard," Tonks growled.
"Dumbledore told me to tell you this message. It needs to get to Harry and Arthur," Danny informed her. Tonks gave a slight nod, heading towards the lift.
"The hearing is now at eight in courtroom ten," Danny relayed. Tonks gasped.
"Hurry," Danny concluded. Tonks scowled as she punched the button in the lift.
Danny then worked on finding the hearing himself. It took a few minutes but Danny soon found the courtroom, arriving at the same time as Harry. The halfa smirked before phasing into the room. Harry walked in seconds later as Danny floated into a vacant seat.
Not really much to say to be honest.
Let me know what you guys think so far.
Until the next chapter.
