I am so sorry for not updating sooner! Like I said last chapter, I had a piano recital, and exams to study for (which I just found out yesterday that I aced!), and after that I had a small case of writer's block. After that I accidentally ran the trash can into the company car (don't ask…), so I wasn't allowed on the computer. Then FanFiction wouldn't let me update! Grr…However, thank you for all those awesome reviews.
Thanks to Mysterious Prophetess, Kingofsouls, littlekittykat, timydamonkey, SquirrelGirl13, Leppers, l&a, Anasumi, bob, Darth Frodo, The Violent Tomboy, Esme Kali Phantom, Phantom of a Rose, Lt. Commander Richie, phoenixwings07, beachbum330, Ghostboy814, Halfa-NariMaruko, charizardag, Sahxyl, Shadow49, My Eternal Façade, and Shiva the Sarcastic for reviewing!
Whew, this chapter was a real killer to write…half of it's sort of a filler chapter. We see some slight plot development in the last section, though…I think.
Please review:)
Look at those birds. They look so happy and cheerful, perched in the tree outside that window, grooming themselves. We should be quiet so we won't scare them awa—
"We have to go to Muggle school!" someone suddenly shouted furiously.
Bye-bye, birdies.
Let's look inside the window, where we will find the cause of the disturbance—namely, Ron, who was waving his arms around angrily like a windmill while his friends, Harry and Hermione, merely look slightly annoyed.
"Now, I know this comes as a slight shock…" Mr. Weasley began. "But truthfully, we hadn't noticed this slight technicality until recently."
"Until recently?" Harry asked. "You mean having us go to the Muggle school was a spur-of-the-moment thing?"
"Well…yeah," said Tonks, shrugging.
"Wait…" Hermione said thoughtfully. "Mr. Weasley, the mandatory schooling age for most states in the US is sixteen! We're seventeen, so it shouldn't matter!"
"Most states," said Mr. Weasley. "In other states, you are required to attend school until you are eighteen years of age. This, unfortunately, happens to be one of those states." (1)
"Couldn't we just tell the school board or whoever's in charge that we're getting tutored?" Hermione asked. "It'll get truant officers off our back, and we can deal with anyone else that's nosy enough to decide to snoop."
"We need someone with a Muggle college diploma for that, I'm afraid," said Tonks. "We don't know how to get one, and it's out of the question to put a spell on the entire school board just to get the three of you out of going to Casper High. It'll be much easier just to follow the law and lie low. We'll attract far less attention that way, and we'll be safer because of it."
"We'll get homework," said Hermione. "How are we supposed to have enough time to do it and learn magic?"
"We'll just make the Ministry Aurors do it," Mr. Weasley said nonchalantly. He ignored Tonks, who muttered under her breath, "About time they became useful for something."
"What about Ron and Harry?" Hermione pointed out. "Harry can't cram six years of non-magic schooling into his brain in just one summer vacation! I've read a few Muggle textbooks because my parents suggested it, so if I work hard no one will suspect anything. And then there's Ron who's never been a Muggle student…you can't expect him to learn everything about the non-magic world in less than three months!"
Tonks grinned, pulling a rather large vial of a thick, mud-like liquid out of her coat pocket. It swirled around the glass container sluggishly and looked quite unappetizing.
"I had to pull a few strings at the Ministry to get this," she said. "This is called the Potion of Knowledge. Its effects are only temporary, and it's strictly forbidden during tests and exams and whatnot. Very expensive to buy, and very time-consuming to brew. A cauldron-full costs almost as much as a Firebolt, and takes about a year to make. The potion's very tricky to cook up, and the effects last only a week."
"What does it do?" Harry asked curiously.
"It's rather obvious…drink a vial and you'll gain whatever knowledge was brewed into the potion," Mr. Weasley explained. "Don't ask me how the process occurs, I'm no masters at potions. It's a complicated recipe, and the results are rarely ever worth the effort…really, a year of labor and only a limited amount of knowledge for just a week!
"But it's perfect for our current predicament. A vial a week, and the Muggles will never notice that Ron and Harry aren't one of them," Mr. Weasley finished. Ron gazed at the beaker suspiciously.
"Er…what does it taste like?" he asked, dabbing his finger into the murky brown liquid and tasting a drop tentatively. "Bleargh…it's like mud!" he howled. "Are we supposed to drink that?"
"Pretend it's yogurt," Hermione suggested.
"…You're joking, right?"
Harry Potter and the Ghost of Amity Park
Chapter Four: A Touch of Magic
And that was why Ron, Hermione, and Harry found themselves outside Casper High on September 5th, fighting their way through the crowd of students milling around on the school lawn.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" a tall, bulky boy shouted over his shoulder threateningly when Ron ran into him. Ron opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Hermione.
"Don't attract attention," she hissed. "Let's just get over to the office to get our schedules. Look, there it is."
Stepping into the office, they were shocked to see—
"Professor McGonagall?" Harry, Hermione, and Ron chorused, disbelief etched on their faces as they saw their Transformation teacher sitting behind a desk reading a letter that was spewing out of the fax machine. She glanced at them sharply, motioning for them to talk softer.
"That's Ms. McGonagall now," she said.
"W-What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
"We obviously couldn't leave you here without protection," said Prof—er, Ms. McGonagall. "So I sent in an application to be in the secretary for Casper High. You'll also find that Kingsley Shacklebolt will be your history teacher, and a few members of the Order have taken some potions to disguise themselves as teenagers."
"They won't be following us around all day, will they?" Harry asked.
"Not noticeably," McGonagall answered vaguely, turning around to straighten a stack of papers. She handed them their schedules. "Run along now, you three. Don't be late for your first lesson; this school is a virtual maze during the mad morning rush."
McGonagall had never spoken truer words, for as soon as Harry, Hermione, and Ron stepped outside the office, they were swept away in the crowd. Apparently, the beginning of the school year was a time of chaos, the day students made up for lost time misbehaving at school. The trio fought their way through the throng of people, discreetly elbowing and shoving their way through.
They barely made it to class in time. The bell rang just as they rushed into the classroom and, as all the good seats were taken, plopped into three seats in the back corner of the room. They glanced around the classroom curiously. The teacher, a bald, overweight man, was filling out the absentee form, ignoring the pandemonium that was mainly caused by a muscular blonde who was throwing a football to his friend, an Asian teen in a letterman jacket.
"Hey, Kwan, seen Fenton around anywhere?" the first boy asked his friend. "I haven't beaten him up the whole summer." He cracked his knuckles threateningly.
"No…he's probably late again. Maybe you should ask his loser friends," Kwan answered.
Harry felt someone elbow him sharply in the ribs. He turned around scowling, only to see Ron pointing to the other side of the classroom.
"Hey, isn't that Sam and Tucker?" he asked, surprised. Harry and Hermione turned to where he was pointing.
"Well…I guess we should've expected this," said Hermione. "I mean, they're around our age, so of course they're still in school. I hope they won't blurt out our secret or anything."
"We couldn't let the Ministry do a memory charm on them because Phantom would get mad," Harry reminded her. "Besides, it'd probably cause more problems because Danny Phantom would remember everything and remind them anyway, so—"
"You know Danny Phantom?" an eager, accented voice came from behind the three teenagers, making them jump nervously. "Oh! Did you talk to him? Did he mention me?" They turned around to see a Latino girl who was staring at them hungrily. "Isn't he hot? I'm Paulina by the way. Phantom and I go way back," she bragged.
Smiling flirtatiously at Harry and Ron (and completely giving Hermione the cold shoulder), she simpered, "Bye, boys. See you around."
The three blinked, confused, as they stared at her retreating figure. "Well…I think I just got snubbed," Hermione remarked.
"You should watch out for Paulina," a voice advised from behind them. "She'll sweet talk anyone when they have something she wants, and then completely snob them when she's no longer interested." The three turned around to see a pair of familiar faces.
"Sam and Tucker!" Hermione exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in a really long time."
Lowering his voice, Harry said, "About that thing where the Ministry attacked you and all that…sorry, you know, we didn't really—"
"That's okay," said Tucker, cutting him off. "You already said it wasn't your fault. Besides, we're not dead yet, so—"
"Class, please be seated," the teacher called out as the tardy bell rang and the students scrambled for their seats. "For those of you who are new, I am Mr. Lancer. I'd like to introduce our new students this year, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger. They have come from Britain and are staying for a year. I trust you'll make their visit a pleasant experience."
Mr. Lancer glanced at an empty seat in the back of the classroom between Tucker and Sam and sighed. "Is Danny late again?" he asked monotonously. Apparently, this didn't seem to be uncommon situation.
"Uh…think so, Mr. Lancer," Sam said. "His dad blew something up in the lab. Danny got stuck with clean-up duty."
The teacher sighed. "Tardy on the first day of school…not a good start to the school year." Behind his back, Sam and Tucker scowled darkly, the latter muttering something about an "ungrateful, out of shape teacher."
Just the door burst open, slamming against the wall loudly. A boy with black hair raced in, panting.
"Sorry Mr. Lancer," he gasped. "My sister's car broke down and—"
"I thought your father was making you clean the lab," Mr. Lancer said, raising his eyebrow.
"Uh…yeah, that too…" he said, trailing off uncertainly.
"Go to your seat, Danny," Mr. Lancer sighed. "As it is the first day of school, I'll be lenient—be warned that next time, you will be assigned detention.." Danny sighed and slumped in his seat, glaring darkly at the back of Mr. Lancer's bald head.
Harry felt another nudge, and he turned around to face Hermione.
"That Danny kid looks familiar," she whispered to him. Harry glanced at the boy, surveying him carefully. Come to think of it, he felt like he had seen him before somewhere. Problem was, he just didn't seem to be able to remember where. Had he seen him in a crowd somewhere? Highly unlikely…faces were hard to remember when they were mixed with a throng of people. Maybe he had spoken to him before? No, he would've remembered that clearly.
"Psst, Ron," Harry whispered. "Ron…Ron!" Hermione rolled her eyes when all of Harry's attempts to get Ron's attention were futile, then picked up her eraser and tossed it at the back of Ron's head. He jumped and nearly fell out of his seat.
"Blimey, what was that for?" he complained, rubbing the back of his head. "I hope that's not going to leave a mark. Who taught you how to throw, Hermione?"
"Look at that boy that just came in," she said, ignoring Ron's remarks. "Doesn't he look familiar?" Ron glanced at him.
"Ah…no," he said. Shrugging, he added, "Maybe he's just someone from the Order that took one of those de-aging potions so they could guard us or something."
"Couldn't be…he's friends with Tucker and Sam," said Harry, tilting his head towards the three, who were talking in whispers with their heads bent together conspiratorially.
"Hmm…" Hermione muttered to herself. "There's something weird about those three."
"Of course there is, two of them hang out with ghosts," Ron said. "And—"
"Ron, Harry, and Hermione, is there something you wish to share with the class?" Mr. Lancer asked, frowning at the three.
"Um…no, sir…"
"Then I suggest you be quiet. Now, who can tell me how adverbs can be used…"
The three Hogwarts students slumped down in their seats. This was the beginning of a long school year.
Three and a half hours later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing in the middle of the cafeteria, looking for a place to sit. Hermione was staring apprehensively at her food and poking it tentatively with her fork.
"Are we actually supposed to eat this slop?" she asked, sniffing the green, gooey glob of Meatloaf Surprise cautiously. "It looks a little…inedible. And green. Meatloaf usually isn't supposed to be green."
"I think I liked the food at Hogwarts a lot better," said Ron, looking nauseated. "And we still can't find any seats. Muggle school sucks so far."
"Maybe we can go sit with Tucker, Sam, and that Danny guy over there," Harry pointed out. "And if they won't let us we could always go sit with them." He motioned toward a table at the left. "I think two of those kids over there kind of resemble Lupin and Tonks, and the guy beside him has eyes that don't match. It's probably Moody."
With that, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked over to Danny's table.
"Hi…um, everywhere else is full. Can we sit here?" Ron asked (with a feeling of déjà vu—he had asked Harry nearly the same thing on the Hogwarts Express during their first year).
The three glanced at each other before shrugging. "Why not?" said Sam. "Suit yourself."
Everyone plopped down in their seats, and Ron, Harry, and Hermione began nudging their food, none of them daring to actually put it in their mouth and taste it.
"First time with school cafeteria food?" Danny asked sympathetically. "Eat the fruit cup but leave the green meatloaf crap alone," he advised. "Oh, I'm Danny by the way."
"Hi Danny, I'm Hermione, and that's Harry and Ron," said Hermione, deciding to introduce everyone.
"Hi," said Danny. "Tucker and Sam told me about you." Lowering his voice he added, "Wizards and witches, huh? You'll fit in Amity Park fine."
Hermione nearly sprayed her mouthful of water out all over the table. "You told him?" she asked Tucker and Sam. "Why did you tell him? We should probably do memory charms on all three of you now! Who knows how far this secret could spread?"
"Hey, relax," Sam said, crossing her arms. "Danny's not gonna tell anyone, are you, Danny?"
"Of course not," he agreed. "I'm a lot better at keeping secrets than you think." He stuffed a mouthful of French fries into his mouth before suddenly gasping. A half-chewed fry was forced down his throat and he began choking.
"I'll be right back!" he said through his coughs, then stood up and ran out of the cafeteria.
"What's up with him?" Ron asked, swallowing his food and glancing at Danny, who had sprinted out the door. He missed the nervous look that Tucker and Sam exchanged.
"Um, actually, we should be leaving too…" Tucker said uneasily. "Lunch is almost over anyway, and—"
Someone in the cafeteria suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream. It was followed by a dozen others, and one of the lunch ladies ran out from the kitchen. Another plump old lady came out hot on her heels, holding a drumstick. She seemed pretty normal…except for the fact that she was floating a foot high in the air and that a trail of meat hovered behind her, winding through the cafeteria and into the storage room. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw at least half of the students in the room jump up apprehensively. In the commotion, no one noticed Tucker and Sam rush out the cafeteria, going the way Danny had gone.
The old lady (was she a ghost?) floated up to Dash. "Would you like some beef, dear?" she asked sweetly. Caught off-guard by her pleasant behavior, Dash shook his head 'no,' confused.
"Then dine on my fury!" she screeched, hair flaming out of its net as various forms of meat swirled around her, creating a mini-tornado. Dash gulped and stumbled backwards, whimpering unintelligibly and stuttering up a storm.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were at a loss to what they should do. Should they risk exposing themselves and attack this thing with magic? And what if their suspicions were right, and it was a ghost? Magic probably wouldn't affect it. They saw "Moody," "Tonks," and "Lupin" reach uncertainly up to their sleeves, and Harry caught sight of wands. So he was right—those were the guards that McGonagall had mentioned, the ones who drank the de-aging potion. And they seemed to be on the brink of blowing their cover to attack this…thing.
"You know, the bingo hall is still in need of a few more players," a familiar voice called from the ceiling. Looking up, Harry was relieved to see Phantom's face poking through the roof. He could tell that Tonks and the rest of the group were too. In fact, some of the students had even stopped screaming. True, it was because the cafeteria was nearly deserted already, but everyone seemed to have stopped panicking and was…cheering Phantom on? That was a little weird—shouldn't they be scared?
The ghost answered by hurling a large shower of meat his way, snarling viciously. Danny Phantom dodged a frozen chicken that was sent flying with enough force to knock his head off, blasted three steaks nonchalantly out of his way, and swooped between a string of sausages, neatly avoiding becoming entangled in the meat.
"You children are still skin and bones!" the angry ghost howled, veins sticking out of her neck in her anger. "And that is why you must all eat today's Meatloaf Surprise! IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!"
"Surprise!" Phantom said cheerfully, suddenly drawing a thermos out from behind his back and aiming it at the Lunch Lady. With a high-pitched whine, a blue beam of light shot out, surrounding the bipolar lunch lady ghost and sucking her into the containment device. He glanced around at the now messy cafeteria, chuckled sheepishly, then disappeared from sight.
"Wait! Danny Phantom, come back!" Paulina called, running up waving her arms desperately. "Darn it, I missed him again!" she wailed.
"Well…that was…strange," said Harry. He went up to Tucker and Sam, who had returned to their table. "Do things like these happen all the time here?"
"Like I said before, welcome to Amity Park," Sam droned. She suddenly started as if something had surprised her and glanced under the table. To Harry, Ron, and Hermione's surprise, Danny was emerging from it, looking slightly disheveled.
"You were under the table?" Ron asked. "But you…didn't you just go…what the…I'm confused," he finished, scratching his head.
"Oh? Uh…you must not have noticed me hiding under the table from the Lunch Lady," Danny answered nervously. Harry and Ron seemed to accept his answer and followed him and his friends out the door. Hermione trailed behind them, staring thoughtfully at Danny's face.
She was beginning to feel the gears of something turning in her brain…
(1) Honestly, I have no idea which state's mandatory schooling age is 18…so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that it's not a random state out in the middle of nowhere, since I know Amity Park is located in either the Chicago area, or California.