Almost a week after Danny was chased out of Hogwarts, he decided to head back. He gathered his Hufflepuff school uniform. He scowled at them in annoyance. Tucker and Sam had found it hilarious when they heard the house mascot for Hufflepuff was a badger. He shoved the robes into his rucksack and added a couple more pieces of clothes and an extra thermos. He returned to the living room. He'd missed his family dearly over the previous few months and had treasured the visit. Although he had to keep out of sight of others as they'd spread a story that he was studying in a boarding school in a different state.
"Well, I'd better get going. It's already going to be late when I get to Hogwarts," Danny announced. Maddie wrapped her arms around her son.
"Oh sweetie. Be careful. Will you be back for Christmas?" she asked. His parents had their annual argument frequently already that week about Santa's existence. Danny shrugged.
"I don't know until Dumbledore says. Sorry mom," Danny answered softly.
"We understand. And we're proud of you sweetheart," Maddie replied with a warm smile.
"Yeah, doing so much for a bunch of people we don't know. That's something heroes do," Jack agreed. Danny smirked.
"Well, I'll try and get in contact soon," Danny concluded.
"Are you sure about teleporting? You got pretty sick last time," Jazz interjected. Danny nodded as he pulled away from his farewell hug with Sam and moved to Tucker.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Besides, I need to get to Hogwarts quietly," Danny retorted.
"Just don't push yourself too much little brother," Jazz replied as Danny hugged her.
"I won't," Danny muttered. Once he'd given his farewells, he took a deep breath and changed to his ghost form. He gave his loved ones one last smile and teleported to Dumbledore's office.
He stumbled and fell into a table piled high with books. He retched as the sudden wave of dizzying nausea hit him.
"Danny!?" Dumbledore shouted in alarm and jumped up from his seat.
"Are you alright?" Dumbledore inquired worriedly and helped the halfa to an empty seat, pulling Danny's backpack off his shoulders.
"Ye-yeah. Teleported from Amity Park. At least I didn't get sick this time," Danny groaned. Dumbledore conjured a glass of water for the halfa.
"Is that where you've been all this time?" Dumbledore asked. Danny nodded.
"Taking a holiday while we were all worried about him. Disgraceful!" one of the paintings scoffed angrily.
"It was the first place I thought of and I didn't really know where else to go," Danny admitted, ignoring the painting.
Dumbledore flicked his wand at the destroyed table and repaired it.
"What happened? Why was Dolores chasing you?" Dumbledore asked. Danny took a deep breath and put down the goblet. He then recounted the previous Saturday for the headmaster, the paintings making their opinions known. Once Danny finished, he felt a lot better and began to float comfortably in the air. Floating always felt more natural than sitting on something solid in his ghost form. Dumbledore sat in his chair and considered the new information.
"So, what do you want me to do now?" Danny inquired nervously.
"After the school holidays, return to your previous duties. But be careful of Dolores. I understand your reasons for angering her, but she was furious after you left. She will not be forgiving if she catches you," Dumbledore decided. Danny nodded.
The portraits, again, felt the need to voice their opinions of the situation. There was suddenly a knock on the door. Danny zoomed higher in the air and turned invisible. The paintings silenced themselves and Dumbledore extinguish a number of the lights in the room. The door opened and three people entered, McGonagall, an ashen faced Ron Weasley and a sweat-drenched Harry Potter.
Danny bit back a worried gasp. Harry then explained that Mr Weasley had been attacked by a snake. Dumbledore turned his gaze to the ceiling, almost directly at Danny. The halfa wasn't sure if it was only a ploy to avoid Harry's gaze or if it was the wizard's way of communicating to Danny.
"How did you see this?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"Well… I don't know. Inside my head, I suppose-" Harry answered, clearly frustrated and getting angry.
"You misunderstand me. I mean… can you remember-er- where you were positioned as you watched this attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside the victim, or else looking down on the scene from above?" Dumbledore corrected.
"I was the snake. I saw it all from the snake's point of view," Harry admitted. Dumbledore blinked and almost invisibly glanced at the door. Danny understood. Harry had accidently slipped into Voldemort's mind while asleep and saw Mr Weasley getting attacked. Someone had to save the injured wizard, check on the prophecy and try and find and catch the snake.
Danny gave a slight nod despite being invisible and phased out of the room. He then teleported to the Ministry, straight to the department of mysteries. It was dimly lit and eerie. Danny changed into his human form and ran through the shelved corridors. It didn't take long to find Mr Weasley. His wounds were bleeding badly, his breathing was laboured. Danny bit his lip but moments later he heard someone shouting for help in the distance. Danny sighed in relief. Dumbledore sent one of the portraits to get help for Mr Weasley. Danny sprinted through the corridors when he heard people rushing to the scene and suddenly heard something sliding along the ground. Danny turned a corner and without warning, a massive snake lunged at him. He instinctively threw his arm upwards to block the snake from biting his neck.
Inch long fangs sank into his forearm. Danny gasped in shock and with his other arm punched the snake in its large yellow eye. The snake reared backed and Danny kicked the snake further away. He was just about to make an ice dagger or sword when the snake retreated in to the gloom. Danny chased the snake but quickly lost sight of it. He ignored the burning in his arm as he quickly checked where they knew Voldemort and Harry's prophecy was kept. Certain that the prophecy was safe, Danny teleported to the closest safe place. Grimmauld Place.
It was late. Easily past one in the morning. Danny reverted back to human and hissed as the pain in his arm flared up. He gritted his teeth and stumbled over to a streetlight. Underneath the light, Danny examined the wound. It was bleeding heavily and there was congealed black blood and venom at the edges. His head ached and he felt weak. That snake was obviously venomous. He needed medical attention but how could he explain why he got bitten? Taking a deep breath, Danny thought about number twelve Grimmauld Place and stumbled to the door. Leaning heavily against it. He weakly knocked.
Sirius was quick to answer it. The wizard blinked in surprise before frowning in concern.
"Danny? What are you doing here?" Sirius asked.
"Can that wait for a sec Sirius? I need-" Danny mumbled before his legs suddenly went from under him. Sirius gasped and grabbed the teen before he hit the ground.
"Sirius? Is that mum?" a male voice called from inside the house. Sirius dragged the halfa inside and managed to bring Danny into the kitchen. Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and Harry were sitting there waiting for news on Mr Weasley.
"Blimey, what happened?" Fred exclaimed.
"I dunno. He just knocked on the door like this," Sirius answered.
"Coffee. I need coffee," Danny panted as Sirius set the halfa down in a chair.
"Danny, you need a healer not coffee!" Sirius shouted.
"I can't go to a healer. Just… just do it," Danny mumbled. Sirius frowned worriedly before starting to boil water.
"I'll have it cold," Danny interjected. Sirius blinked before making a cold cup of black coffee. He handed it to Danny. Danny gulped it down and slowly the caffeine took effect.
"Thanks. I can't afford to fall asleep right now," Danny informed them.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Wasn't fast enough. Got bit," Danny answered.
"Bit?" Ron repeated.
"Massive snake. Sirius, I need two bowls of water, alcohol and rags," Danny requested.
"Alcohol! Danny I think you're too young to drink!" Sirius exclaimed.
"I'm not going to drink it. It's muggle medicine. Learnt it from my dad," Danny retorted, lying effortlessly having memorised his fake back story.
Sirius blinked in surprise. He quickly grabbed two bowls of water, a handful of rags and a half-full bottle of firewhiskey. Danny grabbed a rag and soaked it in one of the bowls. Then in one fluid movement wiped away the flowing blood and surrounding venom on his skin. This wasn't his first snake bite. A few months ago a ghost snake attacked Amity Park and he got bitten in the leg and Sam and Tucker managed to treat the bite and they didn't need a doctor. It helped that his heart beat slower than a normal human. He also had a faster metabolism and healed quickly.
He quickly and expertly cleaned the wound, wringing the rag out in one bowl, while soaking it in the other. He then dropped the filthy rag on the table. It was covered in blood and congealed venom. Danny then grabbed the firewhiskey and opened the bottle one-handedly as his bitten arm was too weak and took a swig but didn't swallow.
"I thought you weren't going to drink it!" Sirius exclaimed. Danny then spat the whiskey out into the water he'd washed the rag in.
"Not drinking. Sterilising," Danny retorted. He then pulled his arm around and placed his lips around the wound. He then sucked on the wound, drawing venom and blood into his mouth which he spat the mouthful of into the bowl.
"What are you doing?!" George shouted in alarm.
"Getting the venom out," Danny replied.
Everyone stared at Danny as he sucked even more blood and venom out of his wound. The venom tasted bitter and rotten. Different to the metallic of his blood. It was a subtle difference, but noticeable. Eventually the wound no longer tasted of venom and Danny grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey again. He took another swig and rinsed his mouth out before taking another swig and slowly blew it into the wound. He hissed as the alcohol burned the wound. He then grabbed another rag and poured the whiskey on it and draped it on the bite. He tied a knot using his teeth to tighten it and keep it in place. Danny then sat back in the chair exhausted, passing out.
An action packed chapter. Danny got back to Hogwarts just in time.
Let me know what you think of the story so far.
Until the next chapter.
